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diff --git a/40939-0.txt b/40939-0.txt index 57561f6..702e288 100644 --- a/40939-0.txt +++ b/40939-0.txt @@ -1,29 +1,4 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Under Cover, by Roi Cooper Megrue and Wyndham Martyn - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. 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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/license - - -Title: Under Cover - -Author: Roi Cooper Megrue - Wyndham Martyn - -Illustrator: William Kirkpatrick - -Release Date: October 5, 2012 [EBook #40939] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -[The chapters in the original book pass from CHAPTER FIVE to CHAPTER -SEVEN; there is no chapter numbered SIX. A list of typographical errors -corrected follows the etext. (note of etext transcriber)] - - - - -UNDER COVER - -[Illustration: HE FOUND DENBY'S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE. - -Frontispiece. _See page 266_.] - - - - -UNDER COVER - -BY - -ROI COOPER MEGRUE - -NOVELIZED BY WYNDHAM MARTYN - -WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY -WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK - -[Illustration] - -BOSTON -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY -1914 - -_Copyright_, _1914_, -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE AND -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. - -_All rights reserved_ - -Published August, 1914 - -THE COLONIAL PRESS -C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - -HE FOUND DENBY'S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE _Frontispiece_ - -HE TURNED TO AMY. "YOUNG WOMAN, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST" PAGE 105 - -"DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON'T YOU--DICK?" 186 - -"NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER," HE SAID. "HERE'S YOUR MONEY" 288 - - - - -UNDER COVER - - - - -CHAPTER ONE - - -Paris wears her greenest livery and puts on her most gracious airs in -early summer. When the National Fete commemorative of the Bastille's -fall has gone, there are few Parisians of wealth or leisure who remain -in their city. Trouville, Deauville, Etretat and other pleasure cities -claim them and even the bourgeoisie hie them to their summer villas. - -The city is given up to those tourists from America and England whom -Paris still persists in calling _Les Cooks_ in memory of that -enterprising blazer of cheap trails for the masses. Your true Parisian -and the stranger who has stayed within the city's gates to know her -well, find themselves wholly out of sympathy with the eager crowds who -follow beaten tracks and absorb topographical knowledge from -guide-books. - -Monty Vaughan was an American who knew his Paris in all months but those -two which are sacred to foreign travelers, and it irritated him one -blazing afternoon in late July to be persistently mistaken for a tourist -and offered silly useless toys and plans of the Louvre. The _camelots_, -those shrewd itinerant merchants of the Boulevards, pestered him -continually. These excellent judges of human nature saw in him one who -lacked the necessary harshness to drive them away and made capital of -his good nature. - -He was a slim, pleasant-looking man of five and twenty, to whom the good -things of this world had been vouchsafed, with no effort on his part to -obtain them; and in spite of this he preserved a certain frank and -boyish charm which had made him popular all his life. - -Presently on his somewhat aimless wanderings he came down the Avenue de -l'Opéra and took a seat under the awning and ordered an innocuous drink. -He was in a city where he had innumerable friends, but they had all left -for the seashore and this loneliness was unpleasant to his friendly -spirit. But even in the Café de Paris he was not to be left alone and he -was regarded as fair game by alert hawkers. One would steal up to his -table and deposit a little measure of olives and plead for two sous in -exchange. Another would place some nuts by his side and demand a like -amount. And when they had been driven forth and he had lighted a -cigarette, he observed watching him with professional eagerness a -_ramasseur de megot_, one of those men who make a livelihood of picking -up the butts of cigars and cigarettes and selling them. - -When Monty flung down the half-smoked cigarette in hope that the man -would go away he was annoyed to find that the fellow was congratulating -himself that here was a tourist worth following, who smoked not the -wispy attenuated cigarettes of the native but one worth harvesting. He -probed for it with his long stick under the table and stood waiting for -another. - -The heat, the absence of his friends and the knowledge that he must -presently dine alone had brought the usually placid Monty into a wholly -foreign frame of mind and he rose abruptly and stalked down the Avenue. - -A depressed-looking sandwich-man, bearing a device which read, "One can -laugh uproariously at the Champs Elysées every night during the summer -months," blocked his way, and permitted a woman selling fans of the kind -known to the _camelots_ as _les petits vents du nord_ to thrust one upon -him. "Monsieur does not comprehend our heat in Paris," she said. "Buy a -little north wind. Two sous for a little north wind." - -Monty thrust a franc in her hand and turned quickly from her to carom -against a tall well-dressed man who was passing. As Monty began to utter -his apology the look of gloom dropped from his face and he seized the -stranger's hand and shook it heartily. - -"Steve, old man!" he cried, "what luck to find you amid this mob! I've -been feeling like a poor shipwrecked orphan, and here you come to my -rescue again." - -The man he addressed as Steve seemed just as pleased to behold Monty -Vaughan. The two were old comrades from the days at their preparatory -school and had met little during the past five years. Monty's ecstatic -welcome was a pleasant reminder of happy days that were gone. - -"I might ask what you are doing here," Steven Denby returned. "I -imagined you to be sunning yourself in Newport or Bar Harbor, not doing -Paris in July." - -"I've been living here for two years," Monty explained, when they were -sheltered from interruption at the café Monty had just left. - -"Doing what?" - -Monty looked at him with a diffident smile. "I suppose you'll grin just -like everybody else. I'm here to learn foreign banking systems. My -father says it will do me good." - -Denby laughed. "I'll bet you know less about it than I do." The idea of -Monty Vaughan, heir to the Vaughan millions, working like a clerk in the -Crédit Lyonnais was amusing. - -"Does your father make you work all summer?" he demanded. - -"I'm not working now," Monty explained. "I never do unless I feel like -it. I'm waiting for a friend who is sailing with me on the Mauretania -next week and I've just had a wire to say she'll be here to-morrow." - -"She!" echoed Denby. "Have you married without my knowledge or consent? -Or is this a honey-moon trip you are taking?" - -A look of sadness came into the younger man's face. - -"I shall never marry," he returned. - -But Steven Denby knew him too well to take such expressions of gloom as -final. "Nonsense," he cried. "You are just the sort they like. You're -inclined to believe in people too much if you like them, and a husband -who believes in his wife as you will in yours is a treasure. They'll -fight for you, Monty, when you get home again. For all you know the trap -is already baited." - -"Trap!" Monty cried reproachfully. "I've been trying to make a girl -catch me for three years now and she won't." - -"Do you mean you've been finally turned down?" Steven Denby asked -curiously. It was difficult to suppose that a man of his friend's wealth -and standing would experience much trouble in offering heart and -fortune. - -"I haven't asked yet," Monty admitted. "I've been on the verge of it -hundreds of times, but she always laughs as I'm coming around to it, and -someone comes in or something happens and I've never done it." He sighed -with the deprecating manner of the devout lover. "If you'd only seen -her, Steve, you'd see what mighty little chance I stood. I feel it's a -bit of impertinence to ask a girl like that to marry me." - -Steven patted him on the arm. "You're just the same," he said, "exactly -the silly old Monty I used to know. Next time you see your charmer, risk -being impertinent and ask her to marry you. Women hate modesty nowadays. -It's just a confession of failure and we're all hitched up to success. I -don't know the girl you are speaking of but when you get home again -instead of declaring your great unworthiness, tell her you've left Paris -and its pleasures simply to marry her. Say that the Bourse begged you to -remain and guide the nation through a financial panic, but you left -them weeping and flew back on a fast Cunarder." - -"I believe you are right," Monty said. "I'll do it. I ought to have done -it years ago. Alice is frightfully disappointed with me." - -"Who is Alice?" the other demanded. "The lady you're crossing with on -the Mauretania?" - -"Yes," said Monty. "A good pal of mine; one of those up-to-date women of -the world who know what to do and say at the right moment. She's a sort -of elder sister to me. You'll like her, Steve." - -Denby doubted it but pursued the subject no further. He conceived Alice -to be one of those capable managing women who do so much good in the -world and give so little pleasure. - -"What are you doing in Paris now?" Monty presently demanded. It occurred -to him that it was odd that Denby, too, should be in the city now. - -"Writing a book on the Race Courses of the World," he said, smiling. "I -am now in the midst of Longchamps." - -Monty looked at him doubtfully. He had never known that his friend had -any literary aspirations, but he did remember him as one who, if he did -not choose to tell, would invent airy fairy fancies to deceive. - -"I don't believe it," he said. - -"You are quite right," Denby admitted. "You've got the key to the -mystery. I'll confess that I have been engaged to guard Mona Lisa. -Suspicious looking tourists such as you engage my special attention. -Don't get offended, Monty," he added, "I'm just wandering through the -city on my way to England and that's the truth, simple as it may seem. I -was desolate and your pleasing countenance as you bought a franc's worth -of north wind was good to see. I wondered if you'd remember me." - -"Remember you!" Monty snorted. "Am I the kind to forget a man who saved -my life?" - -"Who did that?" Denby inquired. - -"Why, you did," he returned, "You pulled me out of the Nashua river at -school!" - -The other man laughed. "Why, it wasn't five feet deep there." - -"I can drown anywhere," Monty returned firmly. "You saved my life and -I've never had the opportunity to do anything in return." - -"The time will come," Denby said lightly. "You'll get a mysterious -message sometime and it will be up to you to rescue me from dreadful -danger." - -"I'd like to," the other retorted, "but I'm not sure I'm cut out for -that rescue business." - -"Have you ever been--" Denby hesitated. "Have you ever been in any sort -of danger?" - -"Yes," Monty replied promptly, "but you pulled me out." - -"Please don't go about repeating it," Denby entreated, "I have enemies -enough without being blamed for pulling you out of the Nashua river." - -Monty looked at him in astonishment. Here was the most popular boy in -Groton School complaining of enemies. Monty felt a thrill that had -something of enjoyment in it. His own upbringing had been so free from -any danger and his parents had safeguarded him from so much trouble that -he had found life insipid at times. Yet here was a man talking of -enemies. It was fascinating. - -"Do you mean it?" he demanded. - -"Why not?" said Denby, rolling himself a cigarette. - -"You hadn't any at school," Monty insisted. - -"That was a dozen years ago nearly," Denby insisted. "Since then--" He -paused. "My career wouldn't interest you, my financial expert, but I am -safe in saying I have accumulated a number of persons who do not wish me -well." - -"You must certainly meet Alice," Monty asserted. "She's like you. She -often says I'm the only really uninteresting person she's fond of." - -Denby assured himself that Alice would not interest him in the slightest -degree and made haste to change the subject, but Monty held on to his -chosen course. - -"We'll all dine together to-morrow night," he cried. - -"I'm afraid I'm too busy." - -"Too busy to dine with Alice Harrington when you've the opportunity?" -Monty exclaimed. "Are you a woman-hater?" - -A more observant man might have noted the sudden change in expression -that the name Harrington produced in Steven Denby. He had previously -been bored at the idea of meeting a woman who he concluded would be -eager to impart her guide-book knowledge. Alice evidently had meant -nothing to him, but Alice Harrington roused a sudden interest. - -"Not by any chance Mrs. Michael Harrington?" he queried. - -Monty nodded. "The same. She and Michael are two of the best friends I -have. He's a great old sport and she's hurrying back because he has to -stay on and can't get over this year." Monty flushed becomingly. "I'm -going back with her because Nora is going to stay down in Long Island -with them." - -"Introduce me to Nora," Denby insisted. "She is a new motif in your -jocund song. Who is Nora, what is she, that Monty doth commend her?" - -"She's the girl," Monty explained. He sighed. "If you only knew how -pretty she was, you wouldn't talk about a trap being baited. I don't -think women are the good judges they pretend to be!" - -"Why not?" Denby demanded. - -"Because Alice says she'd accept me and I don't believe I stand a ghost -of a chance." - -"Women are the only judges," Denby assured him seriously. "If I were you -I'd bank on your friend Alice every time." - -"Then you'll dine with me to-morrow?" Monty asked. - -"Of course. You don't suppose I am going to lose sight of you, do you?" - -And Monty, grateful that this admired old school friend was so ready to -join him, forgot the previous excuse about inability to spare the time. - -"That's fine," he exclaimed. "But what are we going to do to-night?" - -"You are going to dine with me," Denby told him. "I haven't seen you, -let me see," he reflected, "I haven't seen you for about ten years and I -want to talk over the old days. What do you say to trying some of -Marguery's _sole à la Normandie?_" - -During the course of the dinner Monty talked frankly and freely about -his past, present and future. Denby learned that in view of the great -wealth which would devolve upon him, his father had determined that he -should become grounded in finance. When he had finished, he reflected -that while he had opened his soul to his old friend, his old friend had -offered no explanation of what in truth brought him to Europe, or why he -had for almost a decade dropped out of his old set. - -"But what have you been doing?" Monty gathered courage to ask. "I've -told you all about me and mine, Steve." - -"There isn't much to tell," Denby responded slowly. "I left Groton -because my father died. I'm afraid he wasn't a shrewd man like your -father, Monty. He was one of the last relics of New York's brown-stone -age and he tried to keep the pace when the marble age came in. He -couldn't do it." - -"You were going into the diplomatic service," Monty reminded him. "You -used to specialize in modern languages, I remember. I suppose you had to -give that up." - -"I had to try to earn my own living," Denby explained, "and diplomacy -doesn't pay much at first even if you have the luck to get an -appointment." - -Monty looked at him shrewdly. He saw a tall, well set up man who had -every appearance of affluence. - -"You've done pretty well for yourself." - -Denby smiled, "The age demands that a man put up a good appearance. A -financier like you ought not to be deceived." - -Monty leaned over the table. "Steve, old man," he said, a trifle -nervously, "I don't want to butt in on your private affairs, but if you -ever want any money you'll offend me if you don't let me know. I've too -much and that's a fact. Except for putting a bit on Michael's horses -when they run and a bit of a flutter occasionally at Monte Carlo I don't -get rid of much of it. I've got heaps. Do you want any?" - -"Monty," the other man said quietly, "you haven't altered. You are still -the same generous boy I remember and it's good for a man like me to know -that. I don't need any money, but if ever I do I'll come to you." - -Monty sighed with relief. His old idol was not hard up and he had not -been offended at the suggestion. It was a good world and he was happy. - -"Steve," he asked presently, "what did you mean about having enemies and -being in danger? That was a joke, wasn't it?" - -"We most of us have enemies," Steven said lightly, "and we are all in -danger. For all you know ptomaines are gathering their forces inside you -even now." - -"You didn't mean that," Monty said positively. "You were serious. What -enemies?" - -"Enemies I have made in the course of my work," the other returned. - -"Well, what work is it?" Monty queried. It was odd, he thought, that -Denby would not let him into so harmless a secret as the nature of his -work. He felt an unusual spirit of persistence rising within him. "What -work?" he repeated. - -Denby shrugged his shoulders. "You might call it a little irregular," he -said in a lowered voice. "You represent high finance. Your father is one -of the big men in American affairs. You probably have his set views on -things. I don't want to shock you, Monty." - -"Shock be damned!" cried Monty in an aggrieved voice. "I'm tired of -having to accommodate myself to other people's views." - -Denby looked at him with mock wonder. - -"Monty in revolt at the established order of things is a most remarkable -phenomenon. Have you a pirate in your family tree that you sigh for -sudden change and a life on the ocean wave?" - -Monty laughed. "I don't want to do anything like that but I'm tired of -a life that is always the same. You've enemies. I don't believe I've -one. I'd like to have an enemy, Steve. I'd like to feel I was in danger; -it would be a change after being wrapped in wool all my life. You've -probably seen the world in a way I never shall. I've been on a -personally conducted tour, which isn't the same thing." - -"Not by a long shot," Steven Denby agreed. "But," he added, "why should -you want to take the sort of risks that I have had to take, when there's -no need? I have been in danger pretty often, Monty, and I shall again. -Why? Because I have my living to make and that way suits me best. You -notice I am sitting with my back to the wall so that none can come -behind me. I do that because two revengeful gentlemen have sworn -bloodthirsty oaths to relieve my soul of its body." - -Monty tingled with a certain pleasurable apprehension which had never -before visited him. He was experiencing in real life what had only -revealed itself before in novels or on the stage. - -"What are they like?" he demanded in a low voice, looking around. - -"Disappointing, I'm afraid," Steven answered. "You are looking for a -tall man with a livid scar running from temple to chin and a look before -which even a waiter would blanch. Both my men have mild expressions and -wouldn't attract a second glance, but they'll either get me or I'll get -them." - -"Steve!" Monty cried. "What did they do?" - -Denby made a careless gesture. "It was over a money matter," he -explained. - -Monty thought for a moment in silence. Never had his conventional lot -seemed less attractive to him. He approached the subject again as do -timid men who fearfully hang on the outskirts of a street fight, -unwilling to miss what they have not the heart to enjoy. - -"I wish some excitement like that would come my way," he sighed. - -"Excitement? Go to Monte and break the bank. Become the Jaggers of your -country." - -"There's no danger in that," Monty answered almost peevishly. - -"Nor of it," laughed his friend. - -"That's just the way it always is," Monty complained. "Other fellows -have all the fun and I just hear about it." - -Denby looked at him shrewdly and then leaned across the table. - -"So you want some fun?" he queried. - -"I do," the other said firmly. - -"Do you think you've got the nerve?" Steven demanded. - -Monty hesitated. "I don't want to be killed," he admitted. "What is it?" - -"I didn't tell you how I made a living, but I hinted my ways were a bit -irregular. What I have to propose is also a trifle out of the usual. The -law and the equator are both imaginary lines, Monty, and I'm afraid my -little expedition may get off the line. I suppose you don't want to hear -any more, do you?" - -Monty's eyes were shining with excitement. "I'm going to hear everything -you've got to say," he asserted. - -"It means I've got to put myself in your power in a way," Denby said -hesitatingly, "but I'll take a chance because you're the kind of man who -can keep things secret." - -"I am," Monty said fervently. "Just you try me out, Steve!" - -"It has to do with a string of pearls," Denby explained, "and I'm afraid -I shall disappoint you when I tell you I'm proposing to pay for them -just as any one else might do." - -"Oh!" said Monty. "Is that all?" - -"When I buy these pearls, as you will see me do, with Bank of France -notes, they belong to me, don't they?" - -"Sure they do," Monty exclaimed. "They are yours to do as you like -with." - -"That's exactly how I feel about it," Denby said. "It happens to be my -particular wish to take those pearls back to my native land." - -"Then for heaven's sake do it," Monty advised. "What's hindering you?" - -"A number of officious prying hirelings called customs officials. They -admit that the pearls aren't improved by the voyage, yet they want me to -pay a duty of twenty per cent. if I take them home with me." - -"So you're going to smuggle 'em," Monty cried. "That's a cinch!" - -"Is it?" Denby returned slowly. "It might have been in the past, but -things aren't what they were in the good old days. They're sending even -society women to jail now as well as fining them. The whole service from -being a joke has become efficient. I tell you there's risk in it, and -believe me, Monty, I know." - -"Where would I come in?" the other asked. - -"You'd come in on the profits," Denby explained, "and you'd be a help as -well." - -"Profits?" Monty queried. "What profits?" - -Denby laughed. "You simple child of finance, do you think I'm buying a -million-franc necklace to wear about my own fair neck? I can sell it at -a fifty thousand dollar profit in the easiest sort of way. There are -avenues by which I can get in touch with the right sort of buyers -without any risk. My only difficulty is getting the thing through the -customs. It's up to you to get your little excitement if you're game." - -Monty shut his eyes and felt as one does who is about to plunge for the -first swim of the season into icy water. It was one thing to talk about -danger in the abstract and another to have it suddenly offered him. - -Steven had talked calmly about men who wanted to part his soul from his -body as though such things were in no way out of the ordinary. Suppose -these desperate beings assumed Montague Vaughan to be leagued with -Steven Denby and as such worthy of summary execution! But he put aside -these fears and turned to his old friend. - -"I'm game," he said, "but I'm not in this for the profits." Now he was -once committed to it, his spirits began to rise. "What about the -danger?" he asked. - -"There may be none at all," the other admitted. "If there is it may be -slight. If by any chance it is known to certain crooks that I have it -with me there may be an attempt to get it. Naturally they won't ask me -pleasantly to hand it over, they'll take it by force. That's one danger. -Then I may be trailed by the customs people, who could be warned through -secret channels that I have it and am purposing to smuggle it in." - -"But what can I do?" Monty asked. He was anxious to help but saw little -opportunity. - -"You can tell me if any people follow me persistently while we're -together in Paris or whether the same man happens to sit next to me at -cafés or any shows we take in." He paused a moment, "By Jove, Monty, -this means I shall have to book a passage on the Mauretania!" - -"That's the best part of it," Monty cried. - -"But Mrs. Harrington," Denby said. "She might not like it." - -"Alice can't choose a passenger list," Monty exclaimed; "and she'll be -glad to have any old friend of mine." - -"That's a thing I want to warn you of," the other man said. "I don't -want you to give away too many particulars about me. Don't persist in -that fable about my saving your life. Know me just enough to vouch to -her that I'm house-broken but don't get to the point where we have to -discuss common friends. I have my reasons, Monty, which I'll explain -later on. I don't court publicity this trip and I don't want any -reporter to jump aboard at Quarantine and get interested in me." - -"I see," cried the sapient Monty and felt he was plunging at last into -dark doings and mysterious depths. "But how am I to warn you if you're -followed? I shall be with you and we ought not to let on that we know." -He felt in that moment the hours he had spent with detective novels had -been time well spent. - -"We must devise something," Denby agreed, "and something simple." He -meditated for a moment. "Here's an idea. If you should think I'm being -followed or you want me to understand that something unusual is up, just -say without any excitement, 'Will you have a cigarette, Dick?'" - -"But why 'Dick,'" Monty cried, "when you're Steve!" - -"For that very reason," Denby explained. "If you said Steve merely I -shouldn't notice it, but if you say Dick I shall be on the _qui vive_ at -once." - -"Great idea!" cried his fellow conspirator enthusiastically. "When do -you buy them?" - -"I've an appointment at Cartier's at eleven. Want to come?" - -"You bet I do," Monty asserted, "I'm going through with it from start to -finish." - -He looked at his friend a little anxiously. "What is the worst sort of a -finish we might expect if the luck ran against us?" - -"As you won't come in on the profits, you shan't take any risks," Denby -said. "If you agree to help me as we suggested that's all I require of -you. In case I should not get by, you can explain me away as a passing -acquaintance merely. Don't kick against the umpire's decision," he -commanded. "If they halved the sentence because two were in it I might -claim your help all the way, but they'd probably double it for -conspiracy, so you'd be a handicap. You'll get a run for your money, -Monty, all right." - -"I'm not so sure," said Monty doubtfully. - -Denby fell into the bantering style the other knew so well. "There's one -thing I'll warn you about," he said. "If a very beautiful young woman -makes your acquaintance on board, by accident of course, don't tell her -what life seems to you as is your custom. She may be an agent of the -Russian secret police with an assignment to take you to Siberia. She may -force you to marry her at a pistol's point and cost your worthy -progenitor a million. Be careful, Monty. You're in a wicked world and -you've a sinful lot of money, and these big ships attract all that is -brightest and best in the criminal's Who's Who." - -Monty shivered a bit. "I never thought of that," he said innocently. - -"Then you'd better begin now," his mentor suggested, "and have for once -a voyage where you won't be bored." - -He glanced at the clock. "It's later than I thought and I have to be up -early. I'll walk to your hotel." - -During the short walk Monty glanced apprehensively over his shoulder a -score of times. Out of the shadows it seemed to him that mysterious men -stared evilly and banded themselves together until a procession followed -the two Americans. But Denby paid no sort of attention to these -problematic followers. - -"Wait till I've got the pearls on me," he whispered mischievously. "Then -you'll see some fun." - - - - -CHAPTER TWO - - -Although the carriages and automobiles of the wealthy were no longer -three deep in the Rue de la Paix, as they had been earlier in the -season, this ravishing thoroughfare was crowded with foot-passengers as -Monty and his friend made their way under the red and white awnings of -the shops into Cartier's. - -The transaction took very little time. The manager of the place seemed -to be expecting his client, to whom he accorded the respect that even a -Rue de la Paix jeweler may pay to a million-franc customer. Bank of -France notes of high denominations were passed to him and Steven Denby -received a small, flat package and walked out into the sunshine with it. - -"Now," said the owner of the pearls, "guard me as you would your honor, -Monty; the sport begins, and I am now probably pursued by a half dozen -of the super-crooks of high class fiction." - -"I wish you'd be serious," Monty said plaintively. - -"I am," Denby assured him. "But I rely on your protection, so feel more -light-hearted than I should otherwise." - -"You are laughing at me," Monty protested. - -"I want you to look a little less like a detected criminal," Denby -returned. - -"If I happened to be a detective after a criminal I should arrest you on -sight. You keep looking furtively about as though you'd done murder and -bloodhounds were on your track." - -"Well, they are on our track," Monty said excitedly, and then whispered -thrillingly: "Have a cigarette, Dick." There was trembling triumph in -his voice. He felt he had justified himself in his friend's eyes. - -"What is it?" Denby asked with no show of excitement. - -"There was a man in Cartier's who watched us all the time," Monty -confided. "He is on our trail now. We're being shadowed, Steve. It's all -up!" - -"Nonsense!" his companion cried. "There's nothing compromising in buying -a pearl necklace. I didn't steal it." - -Suddenly he turned around and looked at the man Monty indicated. His -face cleared. "That's Harlow. He's one of Cartier's clerks, who looks -after American women's wants. Don't worry about him." - -By this time the two had come to the Tuileries, that paradise for the -better class Parisian children. Denby pointed to a seat. "Sit down -there," he commanded, "while I see what Harlow wants." - -Obediently Monty took a seat and watched the man he had mistaken for a -detective from the corner of his eye. Denby chatted confidentially with -him for fully five minutes and then, it seemed to the watcher, passed a -small packet into his hand. The man nodded a friendly adieu and walked -rapidly out of sight. For a few seconds Denby stood watching and then -rejoined his friend. - -"Anything the matter?" the timorous one demanded eagerly. - -"Why should there be?" Denby returned. "Don't worry, Monty, there's -nothing to get nervous about yet." - -Monty remembered the confidential conversation between the two. - -"He seemed to have a lot to tell you," he insisted. - -Denby smiled. "He did; but he came as a friend. Harlow wanted to warn me -that while I was buying the necklace a stranger was mightily interested -and asked Harlow what he knew about me." - -"There you are," Monty gasped excitedly, "I told you it was all up. Did -Harlow know who the man was?" - -"He suspected him of being a customs spy. Our customs service takes the -civilized world as its hunting ground and Paris is specially beloved of -it." - -"What are you going to do?" Monty asked when he had looked suspiciously -at an amiable old priest who went ambling by. "They'll get you." - -"They may," Denby said, "but the interested gentleman at Cartier's -won't." - -"But he knows all about you," Monty persisted. "It will be dead easy." - -"He doesn't," the other returned. "Harlow took the liberty of -transforming me into an Argentine ranch owner of unbounded wealth about -to purchase a mansion in the Parc Monceau." - -"That was mighty good of him," Monty cried in relief. "That fellow -Harlow is certainly all right." - -Denby smiled a trifle oddly, Monty thought. "His kind ways have won him -a thousand dollars," he returned. "Did you see me pass him something?" - -Monty nodded. - -"Well, that was five thousand francs. I passed it to him, not in the -least because I believe in the mythical stranger--" - -"What do you mean?" the amazed Monty exclaimed. It seemed to him he was -getting lost in a world of whose existence he had been unaware. - -"Simply this," Denby told him, "that I disbelieve Harlow's story and am -not as easily impressed by kind faces as you are. I think Harlow's -inquisitive stranger was a fake." - -Monty looked at him with a superior air. "And you mean to say," he said -with the air of one who has studied financial systems, "that you handed -over a thousand dollars without verifying it? I call that being easy." - -"It's this way," Denby explained patiently. "Harlow knows I have the -necklace and he's in a position to know on what boat I sail. If I had -not remembered that I owed him five thousand francs just now he might -have informed the customs that I had bought a million-franc necklace and -I should have been marked down as one to whom a special search must be -made if I didn't declare it." - -"But if he's a clerk in Cartier's what has he to do with the customs?" -Monty asked. - -"Perhaps he is underpaid," the other returned. "Perhaps he is -extravagant--I've seen him at the races and noticed that he patronized -the _pari mutuel_--perhaps he has a wife and twelve children. I'll leave -it to you to decide, but I dare not take a risk." - -Monty shivered. "It looks to me as if we were going to have a hell of a -time." - -"A little excitement possibly," Denby said airily, "but nothing to -justify language like that, though. You ought to have been with me last -year at Buenos Ayres, Monty, and I could have shown you some sport." - -"I don't think I'm built for a life like that," Monty admitted, and then -reflected that this friend of his was an exceedingly mysterious being of -whose adult life and adventures he knew nothing. For an uneasy moment he -hoped his father would never discover this association, but there soon -prevailed the old boyish spirit of hero-worship. Steven Denby might not -conform to some people's standards, but he felt certain he would do -nothing criminal. One had to live, Monty reflected, and his father -complained constantly of hard times. - -"What sort of sport was it?" he hazarded. - -"It had to do with the secret of a torpedo controlled by wireless," -Denby said. "A number of governments were after it and there collected -in Buenos Ayres the choicest collection of high-grade adventurers that I -have ever seen. Some day when I'm through with this pearl trouble I'll -tell you about it." - -But what Denby had carelessly termed "pearl trouble" was quite -sufficient for the less experienced man. He had a vivid imagination, -more vivid now than at any period of his career. Paris was full of -Apaches, he knew, and not all spent their days lying in the sun outside -the barriers. Supposing one sprang from behind a tree and fell upon -Denby and seized the precious package whose outline was discernible -through the breast pocket of his coat. Monty suddenly took upon himself -the rôle of an adviser. - -"It's no use taking unnecessary risks," he said. "I saw you put those -pearls in your breast pocket, and there were at least six people who had -the same opportunity as I. It's just putting temptation in the way of a -thief." - -"I welcome this outbreak of caution on your part," said Denby, laughing -at his expression of anxiety, "but you'll need it on board ship most. -The greatest danger is that a couple of crooks may rob me and then pitch -me overboard. Monty, for the sake of our boyhood recollections, don't -let them throw me overboard." - -"Now you are laughing at me," Monty said a trifle sulkily. - -"What do you want me to do?" Denby demanded. - -"Put those pearls in some other place," he returned stubbornly. - -Denby made a pass or two in the air as conjurers do when they perform -their marvels. - -"It's done," he cried. "From what part of my anatomy or yours shall I -produce them?" - -"There you go," Monty exclaimed helplessly, "you won't be serious. I'm -getting all on the jump." - -"A cigarette will soothe you," Denby told him, taking a flat leathern -pouch from his pocket and offering it to the other. - -"I can't roll 'em," Monty protested. - -"Then a look at my tobacco has a soothing effect," the elder man -insisted. "I grow it in my private vineyard in Ruritania." - -Monty turned back the leather flap to look at his friend's private brand -and saw nestling in a place where once tobacco might have reposed a -necklace of pearls for which a million of francs had been paid. - -"Good Lord!" Monty gasped. "How did you do it?" - -"A correspondence school course in legerdemain," Steven explained. "It -comes in handy at times." - -"But I didn't see you do it and I was watching." - -"An unconscious tribute to my art," Denby replied. "Monty, I thank you." - -Monty grew less anxious. If Steven had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve -there was no reason to suppose he must fail. - -"I don't think you need my advice," he admitted. "It doesn't seem I can -help you." - -"You may be able to help a great deal," Denby said more seriously, "but -I don't want you to act as if you were a criminal. Pass it off easily. -Of course,"--he hesitated,--"I've had more experience in this sort of -thing than you, and am more used to being up against it, but it will -never do if you look as anxiously at everybody on the Mauretania as you -do at the passers-by here. You can help me particularly by observing if -I am the subject of special scrutiny." - -"That will be a cinch," Monty asserted. - -"Then start right away," his mentor commanded. "We have been under -observation for the last five minutes by someone I've never laid eyes on -before." - -"Good Lord!" Monty cried. "It was that old priest who stared at us. I -knew he was a fake. That was a wig he had on!" - -"Try again," Denby suggested. "It happens to be a woman and a very -handsome one. As we went into Cartier's she passed in a taxi. I only -thought then that she was a particularly charming American or English -woman out on a shopping expedition. When we came out she was in one of -those expensive _couturier's_ opposite, standing at an upper window -which commands a view of Cartier's door. They may have been -coincidences, but at the present moment, although we are sauntering -along the Champs Elysées, she is pursuing us in another taxi. She has -passed us once. When she went by she told the chauffeur to turn, but he -was going at such a pace that he couldn't pull up in time. He has just -turned and is now bearing down on us. Take a look at the lady, Monty, so -you will know her again." - -A sense of dreadful responsibility settled on Montague Vaughan. He was -now entering upon his rôle of Denby's aid and must in a few seconds be -brought face to face with what was unquestionably an adventuress of the -highest class. He knew all about them from fiction. She would have the -faintest foreign accent, be wholly charming and free from vulgarity, and -yet like Keats' creation be a _belle dame sans merci_. But, he wondered -uneasily, what would be his rôle if his friend fell victim to her -charms? - -He was startled out of his vain imaginings when Denby exclaimed: "By all -that's wonderful, she seems to know one of us, and it's not I! You're -the fortunate man, Monty." - -A pretty woman with good features and laughing eyes was certainly -looking out of a taxi and smiling right at him. And when he realized -this, Monty's depression was lifted and he sprang forward to meet her. -"It's Alice," he cried. - -Denby, following more leisurely, was introduced to her. - -"I came last night," she explained. "Michael's horse won and there was -no more interest in Deauville or Trouville and as I must buy some things -I came on here as soon as I could. I thought I saw you in Cartier's," -she explained, "and tried to make you see me when you came out, but only -Mr. Denby looked my way so I dared not make any signs of welcome." - -She seemed exceedingly happy to be in Paris again, and Denby, looking at -her with interest, knew he was in the company of one of the most notable -and best liked of the smart hostesses among the sporting set on Long -Island. The Harringtons were enormously rich and lived at a great estate -near Westbury, not far from the Meadow Brook Club. The Directory of -Directors showed the name of Michael Harrington in a number of -influential companies, but of recent years his interest in business had -slackened and he was more interested in the development of his estate -and the training of his thoroughbreds than in Wall Street activities. - -For her part she took him, although the name was totally unfamiliar, as -a friend of Monty's, and was prepared to like him. Whereas an -Englishwoman of her class might have been insistent to discover whether -any of his immediate ancestors had been engaged in retail trade before -she accepted him as an equal, Alice Harrington was willing to take -people on their face value and retain them on their merits. - -She saw a tall, well-bred man with strong features and that air of -_savoir faire_ which is not easy of assumption. She felt instantly that -he was the sort of man Michael would like. He talked about racing as -though he knew, and that alone would please her husband. - -"I've spent so much money," she said presently, "that I shall dismiss -this taxi-man and walk. One can walk in Paris with two men, whereas one -may be a little pestered alone." - -"Fine," Monty cried. "We'll go and lunch somewhere. What place strikes -your fancy?" - -"Alas," she said, "I'm booked already. I have an elderly relation in the -Boulevard Haussmann who stays here all summer this year on account of -alterations in the house which she superintends personally, and I've -promised." - -"I hope she hasn't sacrificed you at a dinner table, too," Denby said, -"because if you are free to-night you'd confer a blessing on a fellow -countryman if you'd come with Monty and me to the Ambassadeurs. Polin -is funnier than ever." - -"I'd love to," she cried. "You have probably delivered me from my aunt's -dismal dinner. I hadn't an engagement but now I can swear to one -truthfully. Men are usually so vain that if you say you're dreadfully -sorry but you've another engagement they really believe it. The dear -things think no other cause would make a woman refuse. But my aunt would -interrogate me till I faltered and contradicted myself." - -They left her later at one of those great mansions in the Boulevard -Haussmann. The house was enlaced with scaffolding and workmen swarmed -over its roof. - -"It's old Miss Woodwarde's house," Monty explained. "She's worth -millions and will probably leave it to Alice, who doesn't need any, -because she's the only one of all her relatives who speaks the truth and -doesn't fawn and flatter." - -"It takes greater strength of mind than poor relations usually have, to -tell rich relatives the truth," Steven reminded him. - -Monty had evidently recovered his good spirits. "I knew you'd like her," -he said later, "and I knew she'd take to you. We'll have a corking -dinner and a jolly good time." - -"There's one thing I want to ask of you," Denby said gravely. "Don't -give any particulars about me. If she's the sort I think her she won't -ask, but you've got a bad habit of wanting people to hear how I fished -you out of the river. I want to slip into New York without any -advertisement of the fact. I'm not the son of a plutocrat as you are. -I'm the hard-up son of a man who was once rich but is now dead and -forgotten." - -"Do hard-up men hand a million francs across for a string of pearls to -put in their tobacco-pouches?" Monty demanded shrewdly. - -"You may regard that as an investment if you like," Denby answered. "It -may be all my capital is tied up in it." - -"You're gambling for a big stake then," Monty said seriously. "Is it -worth it, old man?" - -For a moment he had an idea of offering him a position in some of the -great corporations in which his father was interested, but refrained. -Steven Denby was not the kind of man to brook anything that smacked of -patronage and he feared his offer might do that although otherwise -meant. - -"It means a whole lot more to me than you can think," Denby returned. "I -have made up my mind to do it and I think I can get away with it in just -the way I have mapped out." Then, with a smile: "Monty, I've a proper -respect for your imaginative genius, but I'd bet you the necklace to the -tobacco-pouch that you don't understand how much I want to get that -string of pearls through the customs." - -"The pouch is yours," Monty conceded generously. "How should I guess? -How do I know who's a smuggler or who isn't? Alice says she always gets -something through and for all I know may have a ruby taken from the eye -of a Hindoo god in her back hair!" - -He looked at his friend eagerly, a new thought striking him. He often -surprised himself in romantic ideas, ideas for which Nora was -responsible. - -"Perhaps you are taking it for someone, someone you're fond of," he -suggested. - -"Why not?" Denby returned. "If I were really fond of any woman I'd risk -more than that to please her." - -Monty noticed that he banished the subject by speaking of Alice -Harrington's _penchant_ for smuggling. - -"I hope Mrs. Harrington won't run any risks," he said. "In her case it -is absolutely senseless and unnecessary." - -"Oh, they'd never get after her," Monty declared. "She's too big. They -get after the little fellows but they'd leave Mrs. Michael Harrington -alone." - -"Don't you believe it," his friend answered. "They're doing things -differently now. They're getting a different class of men in the -Collector's office." - -"I suppose you'd like the old style better," Monty observed. - -"Oh, I don't know," said the other. "It's more risky now and so one has -to be cleverer. I've often heard it said the hounds have all the fun and -the fox none. - -"I'm not so sure of that, Monty; I think a fox that can fool thirty -couple of hounds and get back to his earth ought to be a gladsome -animal." - -"I'll find out when we're in West Street, New York," Monty said grimly. -"I'll take particular notice of how this fox acts and where the hounds -are. If you harp on this any more I shall lose my appetite. What about -Voisin's?" - -"Eat lightly," Denby counseled him. "I'm going to treat you to a -remarkable meal to-night; I know the chef at the Ambassadeurs, and the -wine-steward feeds out of my hand." - -"I don't see why you shouldn't buy necklaces like that if you have those -Ambassadeurs waiters corralled. They soaked me six francs for a single -peach once," Monty said reminiscently. But he wondered, all the same, -how it was Steven should be able to fling money away as he chose. - -His friend looked at him shrewdly. "You're thinking I ought to patronize -the excellent Duval," he observed. "Well, sometimes I do. I think I've -patronized most places in Paris once." - -"Steve, you're a mystery," Monty asserted. - -"I hope I am," said the other; "I make my living out of being just -that." - -They walked in silence to the Rue St. Honoré, Monty still a bit uneasy -at being in a crowded place with a friend in whose pocket was a million -francs' worth of precious stones. Once or twice as the pocket gaped open -he caught a glimpse of the worn pigskin pouch. Steven was taking wholly -unnecessary risks, he thought. - -As they were leaving Voisin's together after their luncheon it happened -that Monty walked behind his friend through the door. Deftly he inserted -his hand into the gaping pocket and removed the pouch to his own. He -chuckled to think of the object lesson he would presently dilate upon. - -When they were near one of those convenient seats which Paris provides -for her street-living populace Monty suggested a minute's rest. - -With an elaborate gesture he took out the pouch and showed it to Denby. - -"Did you ever see this before?" he demanded. - -"I've got one just like it," his friend returned without undue interest. -"Useful things, aren't they, and last so much longer than the rubber -ones?" - -"My pouch," said Monty, beginning to enjoy his own joke, "looks better -inside than outside. I keep in it tobacco I grow in my private orchid -house. Look!" - -He pulled back the flap and held it out to Denby. - -Denby gazed in it obediently with no change of countenance. - -"You're not a heavy smoker, are you?" he returned. - -Instantly Monty gazed into it. It was empty except for a shred of -tobacco. - -"Good God!" he cried. "They've been stolen from me and they put the -pouch back!" - -"What has?" the other exclaimed. - -"The pearls," Monty groaned. "I took them for a joke, and now they're -gone!" - -He looked apprehensively at Steven, meditating meanwhile how quickly he -could turn certain scrip he held into ready money. - -Steven evinced no surprise. Instead he rose from his seat and placed a -foot upon it as though engaged in tying a lace. But he pointed to the -cuff on the bottom of the trouser leg that was on the seat by Monty's -side. And Monty, gazing as he was bid, saw his friend's slender fingers -pick therefrom a string of pearls. - -"I know no safer place," Denby commented judicially. "Of course the -customs fellows are on to it, but no pickpocket who ever lived can get -anything away from you if you cache it there. On board ship I shall -carry it in my pocket, but this is the best place in Paris when one is -in strange company." - -Monty said no word. His relief was too great and he felt weak and -helpless. - -"What's the matter?" Denby demanded. - -"I want a drink," Monty returned, "but it isn't on you." - - - - -CHAPTER THREE - - -THERE are still restaurants in Paris where a well chosen dinner delights -the chef who is called upon to cook it and the waiters who serve. And -although it is true that most of the diners of to-day know little of -that art which is now disappearing, it happened that Steven Denby was -one who delighted the heart of the Ambassadeurs' chef. - -Monty was a happy soul who had never been compelled to consult his -pocketbook in a choice of restaurants, and Mrs. Michael Harrington was -married to a gourmand who well distinguished the difference between that -and the indefensible fault of gluttony. Thus both of Denby's guests were -in a sense critical. They admitted that they had dined with one who -agreed with Dumas' dictum that a dinner is a daily and capital action -that can only worthily be accomplished by _gens d'esprit_. - -There are few places in Paris where a dinner in summer can be more -pleasantly eaten than the balcony at the Ambassadeurs, among slim -pillars of palest green and banks of pink roses. In the distance--not -too near to be disturbed by the performers unless they chose--the three -Americans saw that idol of the place, the great Polin at his best. -French waiters do not bring courses on quickly with the idea of using -the table a second time during the dining-hour. The financial genius who -calculates _l'addition_ knows a trick worth two of that. - -Still a little anxious that Denby might not be able to stand the -expense, Monty fell to thinking of the charges that Parisian -restaurateurs can make. "They soaked me six francs for a peach here -once," he said for the second time that day. - -"That's nothing to what Bignon used to charge," Alice Harrington -returned. "Once when Michael's father was dining there he was charged -fifteen francs. When he said they must be very scarce in Paris, Bignon -said it wasn't the peaches that were scarce, it was the Harringtons." - -"Good old Michael," said Monty, "I wish he were here. Why isn't he?" - -"Something is being reorganized and the other people want his advice." -She laughed. "I suppose he is really good at that sort of thing, but he -gets so hopelessly muddled over small accounts that I can't believe it. -He was fearfully sorry not to have seen his colt run at Deauville. I -shall have to tell him all about it." - -"I read the account," said Denby. "St. Mervyn was the name, wasn't it?" - -She nodded. "He won by a short head. Michael always likes to beat French -horses. I'm afraid he isn't as fond of the country as I am. The only -thing he really likes here is the _heure de l'aperitif_. He declares it -lasts from four-thirty till seven." She laughed. "He has carried the -habit home with him." - -"Did you win anything?" Denby asked. - -"Enough to buy some presents at Cartier's," she returned. "I've bought -something very sweet for Nora Rutledge," she said, turning to Monty. -"Aren't you curious to know what? It's a pearl la vallière." - -"Then for Heaven's sake, declare it!" Monty cried. - -"Oh, no," she said, "I'll pay if it's found, but it's a sporting risk to -take and you can't make me believe smuggling's wrong. Michael says it's -a Democratic device to rob Republican women." - -"Ask Mr. Denby," Monty retorted. "He knows." - -"And what do you know, Mr. Denby?" she demanded. - -"That the customs people and the state department see no humor in that -sort of a joke any longer. You read surely that society women even have -been imprisoned for taking sporting risks?" - -"Milliners who make a practice of getting things through on their annual -trip," she said lightly. "Of course one wouldn't make a business of it, -but I've always smuggled little things through and I always shall." - -"Well, I wouldn't if I were you," said Monty. "Mr. Denby has frightened -me." - -Alice Harrington looked at him curiously. - -"Have you been caught?" she asked with a smile. - -"I've seen others caught," he returned, "and if any sister of mine had -to suffer as they did by the publicity and the investigation the customs -people are empowered and required to make, I should feel rather -uncomfortable." - -"What a depressing person you are," she laughed. "I had already decided -where to hide the things. I think I shall do it after all. It's been all -right before, so why not now?" - -He shrugged his shoulders. "It may be the new brooms are sweeping clean -or it may be the state department has said smuggling shall no longer be -condoned. I only know that things are done very differently now." - -Monty looked at him in amazement. His expression plainly meant that he -considered his friend the proprietor of an unusually large supply of -sheer gall. - -"I heard about that," she said, "but one can't believe it. There's a -mythical being known only by his initials who is investigating for the -state department. Even Michael warned me, so he may have some inside -tip. Have you heard of him, Mr. Denby?" - -"I was thinking of him," he answered. "I think they call him R. B. or R. -D. or some non-committal thing like that." - -"And you believe in him?" she asked sceptically. - -"I'm afraid I do," he returned. - -"The deuce you do!" Monty cried, aggrieved. He had been happy for the -last few hours in the belief that his friend was too well armed to get -detected, and here he was admitting, in a manner that plainly showed -apprehension, that this initialed power might be even on his track. - -"You never smuggle," Alice Harrington said, smiling. "You haven't the -nerve, Monty, so you need not take it to heart." - -"But I do nevertheless," he retorted. - -"Monty," she cried, "I believe you're planning to smuggle something -yourself! We'll conspire together and defeat that abominable law." - -"If you must," Denby said, still gravely, "don't advertise the fact. -Paris has many spies who reap the reward of overhearing just such -confidences." - -"Spies!" She laughed. "How melodramatic, Mr. Denby." - -"But I mean it," he insisted. "Not highly paid government agents, but -perhaps such people as chambermaids in your hotel, or servants to whom -you pay no attention whatsoever. How do you and I know for example that -Monty isn't high up in the secret service?" - -"Me?" cried Monty. "Well, I certainly admire your brand of nerve, -Steve!" - -"That's no answer," his friend returned. "You say you have been two -years here studying Continental banking systems. I'll bet you didn't -even know that the Banque de France issued a ten thousand franc note!" - -"Of course I did," Monty cried, a little nettled. - -Denby turned to Mrs. Harrington with an air of triumph. - -"That settles it, Monty is a spy." - -"I don't see how that proves it," she answered. - -"The Banque de France has no ten thousand franc note," he returned; "its -highest value is five thousand francs. In two years Montague Vaughan has -not found that out. The ordinary tourist who passes a week here and -spends nothing to speak of might be excused, but not a serious student -like Monty." - -"I will vouch for him," Mrs. Harrington said. "I've known him for years -and I don't think it's a life suited to him at all, is it, Monty?" - -"Oh, I don't know," said he airily. "I may be leading a double life." He -looked at her not without an expression of triumph. Little did she know -in what a conspiracy he was already enlisted. After an excellent repast -and a judicious indulgence in some rare wine Monty felt he was -extraordinarily well fitted for delicate intrigue, preferably of an -international character. He stroked his budding moustache with the air -of a gentleman adventurer. - -Alice Harrington smiled. She was a good judge of character and Monty was -too well known to her to lend color to any such notion. - -"It won't do," she averred, "but Mr. Denby has every earmark of it. -There's that piercing look of his and the obsequious way waiters attend -on him." - -Monty laughed heartily. He was in possession of a secret that made such -an idea wholly preposterous. Here was a man with a million-franc pearl -necklace in his pocket, a treasure he calmly proposed to smuggle in -against the laws of his country, being taken for a spy. - -"Alice," he said still laughing, "I'll go bail on Steve for any amount -you care to name. I am also willing to back him against all comers for -brazen nerve and sheer gall." - -Denby interrupted him a little hastily. - -"As we two men are free from suspicion, only Mrs. Harrington remains -uncleared." - -"This is all crazy talk," Monty asserted. - -"I know one woman, well known in New York, who goes over each year and -more than once has made her expenses by tipping off the authorities to -things other women were trying to get through without declaration." - -"You speak with feeling," Mrs. Harrington said, and wondered if this -friend of Monty's had not been betrayed by some such confidence. - -"Are you going to take warning?" Denby asked. - -She shook her head. "I don't think so. You've been reading the American -papers and are deceived by the annual warnings to intending European -tourists. I'm a hardened and successful criminal." She leaned forward to -look at a dancer on the stage below them and Denby knew that his -monitions had left her unmoved. - -"When were you last at home?" she demanded presently of Denby. - -"About six months ago," he answered. "I shall be there a week from -to-morrow if I live." - -The last three words vaguely disturbed Monty. Why, he wondered crossly, -was Denby always reminding him of danger? There was no doubt that what -his friend really should have said was: "If I am not murdered by -criminals for the two hundred thousand dollars' worth of valuables they -probably know I carry with me." - -"Have you booked your passage yet?" she asked. - -It occurred to her that it would be pleasant to have a second man on the -voyage. Like all women of her world, she was used to the attentions of -men and found life deplorably dull without them, although she was not a -flirt and was still in love with her husband. - -"Not yet," he answered, "but La Provence goes from Havre to-morrow." - -"Come with us," she insisted. "The Mauretania sails a couple of days -later but gets you in on the same morning as the other." She turned to -Monty. "Isn't that a brilliant idea?" - -"It's so brilliant I'm blinded by it," he retorted, gazing at his friend -with a look of respect. Not many hours ago Steven had asserted that he -and Monty must sail together on the fastest of ships, and now he had -apparently decided to forsake the Compagnie Transatlantique only on -account of Alice Harrington's invitation. - -"I shall be charmed," was all he had said. - -Monty felt that he was a co-conspirator of one who was not likely to be -upset by trifles. He sighed. A day or so ago he had imagined himself -ill-used by Fate because no unusual excitement had come his way, and now -his prayers had been answered too abundantly. The phrase "If I live" -remained in his memory with unpleasant insistency. - -"We ought to cross the Channel by the afternoon boat to-morrow," Alice -said. "There are one or two things I want to get for Michael in London." - -"It will be a much nicer voyage for me than if I had gone alone on La -Provence," Denby said gratefully, while Monty continued to meditate on -the duplicity of his sex. - -When they had taken Mrs. Harrington to her hotel Monty burst out with -what he had been compelled to keep secret all the evening. - -"What in thunder makes you so careful about people smuggling?" he -demanded. - -"About other people smuggling, you mean," Denby corrected. - -"It's the same thing," Monty asserted. - -"Far from it," his friend made answer. "If Mrs. Harrington is suspected -and undeclared stuff found on her, you and I as her companions will be -more or less under suspicion too. It is not unusual for women to ask -their men friends to put some little package in their pockets till the -customs have been passed. The inspectors may have an idea that she has -done this with us. Personally I don't relish a very exhaustive search." - -"You bet you don't," his friend returned. "I shall probably be the only -honest man aboard." - -"Mrs. Harrington may ask you to hold some small parcel till she's been -through the ordeal," Denby reminded him. "If she does, Monty, you'll be -caught for a certainty." - -"Damn it all!" Monty cried petulantly, "why can't you people do the -right thing and declare what you bring in, just as I do?" - -"What is your income?" Denby inquired. "Your father was always liberal -with you." - -"You mean I have no temptation?" Monty answered. "I forgot that part of -it. I don't know what I'd do if there wasn't always a convenient paying -teller who passed me out all the currency I wanted." - -He looked at his friend curiously, wondering just what this act of -smuggling meant to him. Perhaps Denby sensed this. - -"You probably wondered why I wrung that invitation out of Mrs. -Harrington instead of being honest and saying I, too, was going by the -Cunard line. I can't tell you now, Monty, old man, but I hope some day -if I'm successful that I can. I tell you this much, though, that it -seems so much to me that no little conventionalities are going to stand -in my way." - -Monty, pondering on this later when he was in his hotel room, called to -mind the rumor he had heard years ago that Steven's father had died -deeply in debt. It was for this reason that the boy was suddenly -withdrawn from Groton. It might be that his struggles to make a living -had driven him into regarding the laws against smuggling as arbitrary -and inequitable just as Alice Harrington and dozens of other people he -knew did. Denby, he argued, had paid good money for the pearls and they -belonged to him absolutely; and if by his skill he could evade the -payment of duty upon them and sell them at a profit, why shouldn't he? -Before slumber sealed his eyes, Montague Vaughan had decided that -smuggling was as legitimate a sport as fly-fishing. That these views -would shock his father he knew. But his father always prided himself -upon a traditional conservatism. - - - - -CHAPTER FOUR - - -Less than an hour before the Mauretania reached Quarantine, James -Duncan, whose rank was that of Customs Inspector and present assignment -the more important one of assistant to Daniel Taylor, a Deputy-Surveyor, -threw away the stub of cigar and reached for the telephone. - -When central had given him his number he called out: "Is that you, -Ford?" Apparently the central had not erred and his face took on a look -of intentness as he gave the man at the other end of the line his -instructions. "Say, Ford," he called, "I've got something mighty -important for you. Directly the Mauretania gets into Quarantine, go -through the declarations and 'phone me right away whether a man named -Steven Denby declares a pearl necklace valued at two hundred thousand -dollars. No. No, not that name, Denby, D-E-N-B-Y. Steven Denby. That's -right. A big case you say? I should bet it is a big case. Never you mind -who's handling it, Ford. It may be R. J., or it may not. Don't you worry -about a little thing like that. It's your job to 'phone me as soon as -you get a peek at those declarations. Let Hammett work with you. -Bye-bye." - -He hung up the receiver and leaned back in his chair, well satisfied -with himself. He was a spare, hatchet-faced man, who held down his -present position because he was used to those storm warnings he could -see on his chief's face and knew enough to work in the dark and never -ask for explanations. - -He did not, for instance, lean back in his chair and smoke cigars with a -lordly air when Deputy-Surveyor Daniel Taylor was sitting in his big -desk in the window opposite. At such times Duncan worked with silent -fury and felt he had evened up matters when he found a Customs Inspector -whom he could impress with his own superiority. - -When a step in the outside passage warned him that his chief might -possibly be coming in, he settled down in an attitude of work. But there -entered only Harry Gibbs, dressed in the uniform of a Customs Inspector. -Gibbs was a fat, easy man, whose existence was all the more pleasant -because of his eager interest in gossip. None knew so well as Gibbs the -undercurrent of speculation which the lesser lights of the Customs term -office politics. If the Collector frowned, Gibbs instantly dismissed the -men upon whom his displeasure had fallen and conjured up erroneous -reasons concerning high official wrath. Since Duncan was near to a man -in power, Gibbs welcomed any opportunity to converse with him. He seldom -came away from such an interview empty-handed. He was a pleasant enough -creature and filled with mild wonder at the vagaries of Providence. - -Just now he seemed hot but that was not unusual, for he was rarely -comfortable during the summer months as he complained frequently. He -seemed worried, Duncan thought. - -"Hello, Jim," he said when he entered. - -Duncan assumed the inquisitorial air his chief had in a marked degree. - -"Thought you were searching tourists on the Olympic this afternoon," he -replied. - -Gibbs mopped his perspiring head, "I was," he answered. "I had two -thousand crazy women, all of 'em swearing they hadn't brought in a -thing. Gosh! Women is liars." - -"What are you doing over here?" Duncan asked. - -"I brought along a dame they want your boss Taylor to look over. It -needs a smart guy like him to land her. Where is he?" - -"Down with Malone now; he'll be back soon." - -Gibbs sank into a chair with a sigh of relief. "He don't have to hurry -on my account. I'll be tickled to stay here all day. I'm sick of -searching trunks that's got nothing in 'em but clothes. It ain't like -the good old days, Jim. In them times if you treated a tourist right -he'd hand you his business card, and when you showed up in his office -next day, he'd come across without a squeal. I used to know the -down-town business section pretty well in them days." - -"So did I. Why, when I was inspector, if you had any luck picking out -your passenger you'd find twenty dollars lying right on the top tray of -the first trunk he opened up for you." - -Gibbs sighed again. It seemed the golden age was passing. - -"And believe me," he said, "when that happened to me I never opened any -more of his trunks, I just labeled the whole bunch. But now--why, since -this new administration got in I'm so honest it's pitiful." - -Duncan nodded acquiescence. - -"It's a hell of a thing when a government official has to live on his -salary," he said regretfully. "They didn't ought to expect it of us." - -"What do they care?" Gibbs asserted bitterly, and then added with that -inquiring air which had frequently been mistaken for intelligence: -"Ain't it funny that it's always women who smuggle? They'll look you -right in the eye and lie like the very devil, and if you do land 'em -they ain't ashamed, only sore!" - -Duncan assumed his most superior air. - -"I guess men are honester than women, Jim, and that's the whole secret." - -"They certainly are about smuggling," the other returned. "Why, we -grabbed one of these here rich society women this morning and pulled out -about forty yards of old lace--and say, where do you think she had it -stowed?" - -"Sewed it round her petticoat," Duncan said with a grin. He had had -experience. - -Gibbs shook his head, "No. It was in a hot-water bottle. That was a new -one on me. Well, when we pinched her she just turned on me as cool as -you please: 'You've got me now, but damn you, I've fooled you lots of -times before!'" - -Gibbs leaned back in enjoyment of his own imitation of the society -lady's voice and watched Duncan looking over some declaration papers. -Duncan looked up with a smile. "Say, here's another new one. Declaration -from a college professor who paid duty on spending seventy-five francs -to have his shoes half-soled in Paris." - -But Gibbs was not to be outdone. - -"That's nothing," said he, "a gink this morning declared a gold tooth. -I didn't know how to classify it so I just told him nobody'd know if -he'd keep his mouth shut. It was a back tooth. He did slip me a cigar, -but women who are smugglin' seem to think it ain't honest to give an -inspector any kind of tip." Gibbs dived into an inner pocket and brought -out a bunch of aigrettes. "The most I can do now is these aigrettes. I -nipped 'em off of a lady coming down the gangplank of the Olympic. They -ain't bad, Jim." - -Duncan rose from his chair and came over to Gibbs' side and took the -plume from his hand. - -"Can't you guys ever get out of the habit of grafting?" he demanded. -"Queer," he continued, looking at the delicate feathers closely, "how -some soft, timid little bit of a woman is willing to wear things like -that. Do you know where they come from?" - -"From some factory, I s'pose," Gibbs answered with an air of candor. - -"No they don't," Duncan told him. "They take 'em from the mother bird -just when she's had her young ones; they leave her half dead with the -little ones starving. Pretty tough, I call it, on dumb animals," he -concluded, with so sentimental a tone as to leave poor Gibbs amazed. He -was still more amazed when his fellow inspector put them in his own -pocket and went back to his desk. - -"Say, Jim," Gibbs expostulated, "what are you doing with them?" - -"Why, my wife was asking this morning if I couldn't get her a bunch. -These'll come in just right." - -"You're a funny guy to talk about grafting," Gibbs grumbled, "I ain't -showing you nothin' more." - -"Never you mind me," Duncan commanded. "You keep your own eyes peeled. -Old man Taylor's been raising the deuce around here about reports that -some of you fellows still take tips." - -Gibbs had heard such rumors too often for them to affect him now. "Oh, -it's just the usual August holler," he declared. - -Duncan contradicted him, "No, it isn't," he observed. "It's because the -Collector and the Secretary of the Treasury have started an -investigation about who's getting the rake-off for allowing stuff to -slip through. I heard the Secretary was coming over here to-day. You -keep your eyes peeled, Harry." - -"If times don't change," Gibbs said with an air of gloom, "I'm going -into the police department." - -He turned about to see if the steps he heard at the door were those of -the man he had come to see. He breathed relief when he saw it was only -Peter, the doorkeeper. - -"Mr. Duncan," said the man, "Miss Ethel Cartwright has just 'phoned -that she's on her way and would be here in fifteen minutes." - -Gibbs looked from one to the other with his accustomed mild interest. He -could see that the news of which he could make little had excited -Duncan. It was evidently something important. Directly the doorkeeper -had gone Duncan called his chief on the telephone and Gibbs sauntered -nearer the 'phone. To hear both sides of the conversation would make it -much easier. - -"Got a cigar, Jim?" he inquired casually of the other, who was holding -the wire. - -"Yes," said Duncan, taking one from his pocket. - -Gibbs reached a fat hand over for it, "Thanks," he returned simply. - -Duncan bit the end off and put it in his own mouth. "And I'm going to -smoke it myself," he observed. - -Gibbs shook his head reprovingly at this want of generosity and took a -cigar from his own pocket. "All right then; I'll have to smoke one of my -own." - -Just then Duncan began to speak over the wire. "Hello. Hello, Chief. -Miss Ethel Cartwright just 'phoned she'd be here in fifteen minutes.... -Yes, sir.... I'll have her wait." - -When he had rung off, Gibbs could see his interest was increasing. -"What do you think of her falling for a bum stall like that?" - -"Who?" Gibbs demanded. "Which? What stall?" - -"Why, Miss Cartwright!" said Duncan. "Ain't I talking about her?" - -"Well, who is she?" the aggrieved Gibbs cried. "Is she a smuggler?" - -"No. She's a swell society girl," said Duncan in a superior manner. - -"If she ain't a smuggler, what's she here for then?" Gibbs had a gentle -pertinacity in sticking to his point. - -"The Chief wants to use her in the Denby case, so he had me write her a -letter saying we'd received a package from Paris containing dutiable -goods, a diamond ring, and would she kindly call this afternoon and -straighten out the matter." Duncan now assumed an air of triumph. "And -she fell for a fake like that!" - -"I get you," said Gibbs. "But what does he want her for?" - -"I told you, the Denby case." - -"What's that?" Gibbs entreated. - -Duncan lowered his voice. "The biggest smuggling job Taylor ever -handled." - -"You don't say so," Gibbs returned, duly impressed. "Why, nobody's told -me anything about it." - -"Can you keep your mouth shut?" Duncan inquired mysteriously. - -"Sure," Gibbs declared. "I ain't married." - -"Then just take a peek out of the door, will you?" Duncan directed. - -The other did as he was bid. "It's all right," he declared, finding the -corridor empty. - -"I never know when he may stop out there and listen to what I'm saying. -You can hear pretty plain." - -"He is the original pussy-foot, ain't he," Gibbs returned. He had known -of Taylor's reputation for finding out what was going on in his office -by any method. "Now, what's it all about?" - -Duncan grew very confidential. - -"Last week the Chief got a cable from Harlow, a salesman in Cartier's." - -"What's Cartier's?" Gibbs inquired. - -"The biggest jewelry shop in Paris. Harlow's our secret agent there. His -cable said that an American named Steven Denby had bought a pearl -necklace there for a million francs. That's two hundred thousand -dollars." - -"Gee!" Gibbs cried, duly impressed by such a sum, "But who's Steven -Denby? Some new millionaire? I never heard of him." - -"Neither did I," Duncan told him; "and we can't find out anything about -him and that's what makes us so suspicious. You ought to be able to get -some dope on a man who can fling two hundred thousand dollars away on a -string of pearls." - -Gibbs' professional interest was aroused. "Did he slip it by the -Customs, then?" - -"He hasn't landed yet," Duncan answered. "He's on the Mauretania." - -"Why, she's about due," Gibbs cried. - -"I know," Duncan retorted, "I've just had Ford on the 'phone about it. -This fellow Denby is traveling with Montague Vaughan--son of the big -banker--and Mrs. Michael Harrington." - -"You mean _the_ Mrs. Michael Harrington?" Gibbs demanded eagerly. - -"Sure," Duncan exclaimed, "there's only one." - -Gibbs was plainly disappointed at this ending to the story. - -"If he's a friend of Mrs. Harrington and young Vaughan, he ain't no -smuggler. He'll declare the necklace." - -"The Chief has a hunch he won't," Duncan said. "He thinks this Denby is -some slick confidence guy who has wormed his way into the Harringtons' -confidence so he won't be suspected." - -Gibbs considered the situation for a moment. - -"Maybe he ain't traveling with the party at all but just picked 'em up -on the boat." - -Duncan shook his head. "No, he's a friend all right. She's taking him -down to the Harrington place at Westbury direct from the dock. One of -the stewards on the Mauretania is our agent and he sent us a copy of her -wireless to old man Harrington." - -"He sounds to me like a sort of smart-set Raffles," Gibbs asserted. - -"You've got it right," Duncan said approvingly. - -"What's Taylor going to do?" Gibbs asked next. - -"He's kind of up against it," Duncan returned. "I don't know what he'll -do yet. If Denby's on the level and we pinch him and search him and -don't find anything, think of the roar that Michael Harrington--and he's -worth about ninety billion--will put up at Washington because we frisked -one of his pals. Why, he'd go down there and kick to his swell friends -and we'd all be fired." - -"I ain't in on it," Gibbs said firmly; "they've no cause to fire me. But -how does this Miss Cartwright come in on the job?" - -"I don't know except that she is going down to the Harringtons' this -afternoon and Taylor's got some scheme on hand. I tell you he's a pretty -smart boy." - -"You bet he is," Gibbs returned promptly, "and may be he's smarter than -you know. Ever hear of R. J.?" - -"R. J.?" Duncan repeated. "You mean that secret service agent?" - -"Yes," Gibbs told him with an air of one knowing secret things. "They -say he's a pal of the President's." - -"Well, what's that to do with this?" Duncan wanted to know. - -"Don't you know who he is?" - -"No," Duncan retorted, "and neither does anyone else. Nobody but the -President and the Secretary of the Treasury knows who he really is." - -Gibbs rose from his chair and patted his chest proudly. "Well, I know, -too," he declared. - -Duncan laughed contemptuously. "Yes, you do, just the same as I do--that -he's the biggest man in the secret service, and that's all you know." - -Gibbs smiled complacently. "Ain't it funny," he observed, "that you -right here in the office don't know?" - -"Don't know what?" Duncan retorted sharply; he disliked Gibbs in a -patronizing rôle. - -"That your boss Taylor is R. J." - -"Taylor!" Duncan cried. "You're crazy! The heat's got you, Harry." - -"Oh, indeed!" Gibbs said sarcastically. "Do you remember the Stuyvesant -case?" - -Duncan nodded. - -"And do you remember that when Taylor took his vacation last year R. J. -did some great work in the Crosby case? Put two and two together, Jim, -and may be you'll see daylight." - -"By George!" Duncan exclaimed, now impressed by Gibbs' news. "I believe -you're right. Taylor never will speak about this R. J., now I come to -think of it." He raised his head as the sound of voices was heard in the -passage. - -"There he is," Duncan whispered busying himself with a sheaf of -declarations. - -Gibbs looked toward the opening door nervously. It was one thing to -criticize the deputy-surveyor in his absence and another to meet his -look and endure his satire. His collar seemed suddenly too small, and he -chewed his cigar violently. - - - - -CHAPTER FIVE - - -Daniel Taylor entered quickly without acknowledging the presence of his -inferiors and crossed to his desk by the window. He was a man above -medium height, broad of shoulder, thick through the chest and giving the -idea of one who was alert and aggressive mentally and physically. Those -in the service who had set themselves against him had been broken. His -path had been strewn with other men's regrets; but Taylor climbed -steadily, never caring for what was below, but grasping eagerly for -power. - -Naturally a man of his type must have had other qualities than mere -aggressiveness to aid him in such vigorous competition. He had commended -himself to the powers above him for snap judgment and quick action. And -although men of his temperament must inevitably make mistakes, it was -notorious that Taylor made fewer than his rivals. - -Toward men like Duncan and Gibbs who were not destined to rise, men who -could be replaced without trouble, Taylor paid small heed. They did what -he told them and if they failed he never forgot. It was to the men -above him that Taylor showed what small social gifts nature had given -him. He had sworn to rise in the service and he cultivated only those -who might aid him. - -After glancing over the papers arranged on his desk he called to Duncan: -"Has Miss Cartwright been here yet?" - -"No, sir," Duncan responded promptly. - -His superior pushed the buzzer on his desk and then looked across at the -uncomfortable Gibbs. "Want to see me?" he snapped. - -"Yes, sir," Gibbs made answer as Peter the doorkeeper entered in answer -to Taylor's summons. - -"Then wait outside," Taylor said, "I'll see you in five minutes." - -"Yes, sir," Gibbs said obediently and made his exit. - -The deputy-surveyor turned toward the attendant. "Peter, let me know the -instant Miss Cartwright arrives. Don't forget; it's important. That's -all." - -He dismissed Peter with a nod and then called to Duncan. - -"Did Bronson of the New York Burglar Insurance Company send over some -papers to me relating to the theft of Miss Cartwright's jewels?" - -Duncan took a long envelope and laid it on his chief's desk. "Here they -are, sir." - -Taylor looked at the documents eagerly. "By George!" he cried, when he -had looked into them, "I knew I was right. I knew there was something -queer about the way her diamonds were stolen." - -Duncan looked at him frowning. He prided himself upon his grasp of -detail and here was the Chief talking about a case he knew naught of. -"What diamonds?" he asked. "The case wasn't in our office, was it?" - -"No," said Taylor, "this is a little outside job my friend Bronson's -mixed up in, but it may be a help to us." He went on reading the papers -and presently exclaimed: "It's a frame-up. She wasn't robbed, although -she collected from the company on a false claim." - -"But I can't see--" the puzzled Duncan returned. - -"No," said his chief, cutting him short. "If you could, you'd have my -job. Has the Mauretania got to Quarantine yet?" - -"Not yet, sir," Duncan answered. - -"Telephone Brown to notify you the minute she does. Tell him we've got -to know as soon as possible whether Denby declares that necklace; -everything depends on that." - -"But he may declare it," Duncan observed sagely. - -"If he does we haven't a case," his superior said briefly, "but I've a -feeling there's not going to be a declaration." - -"I think so, too," Duncan asserted, "and I'm holding Ford and Hammett to -search him." - -Taylor frowned and drummed on the desk with his fingers. "I don't know -that I want him searched. Let them do nothing without my instructions." - -"But, Chief," Duncan protested, "if he doesn't declare the necklace and -you don't have him searched he'll smuggle it in." - -"I know, I know," Taylor said impatiently, "but I've got to be cautious -how I go about taking liberties with a friend of Michael Harrington's. -He has more influence than you've any idea of. We've got to be sure we -have the goods on Denby." - -Duncan looked at the other with grudging admiration. "Well, I guess it -won't take R. J. very long to land him." - -Taylor turned on the speaker with a scowl. "What's he got to do with -this?" - -"I thought you might have interested him in it," Duncan said meaningly. - -"I don't know anything about him," Taylor returned. - -It was like the Chief to refuse to take his underlings into his -confidence, Duncan thought, so he took his cue and changed the subject. - -"Well," he said, reverting to the proposed search of Denby, "if we don't -go through him at the dock, what are we going to do?" - -"Let him slide through easily and think he's fooled us," Taylor said. -"He may be pretty clever. Do you remember that man who stuck the -sapphire we were hunting for into a big rosy apple he gave to a woman in -the second cabin and then took it away from her before she had time to -eat it? We'll see if he talks to anyone, but I think he'll take the -pearls right down to Westbury. He'll be off his guard when once he gets -down there." - -"Have you got one of the Harrington servants to spy for us?" Duncan -cried. - -"I've got what will be better than that with a little luck," Taylor said -with a smile. "Don't you know that Miss Ethel Cartwright is going down -to Westbury this afternoon to spend the week-end with the Harringtons?" - -"You don't mean you're going to use her?" Duncan exclaimed, incredulity -in his tone. - -"It wouldn't be a bad idea, would it, Jim?" - -"It would be a peach of an idea if you could do it, but can you?" - -Taylor chuckled. It was plain he had some scheme in his crafty brain -that pleased him more than a little. - -"I'm going to answer that as soon as I've had a little confidential chat -with Miss Cartwright." - -He broke off to turn to the doorway through which Gibbs' head protruded. - -"Can I see you now, Chief?" Gibbs asked. - -"What is it?" Taylor snapped. - -"There's a deaf and dumb chicken out here," Gibbs replied anxiously. - -"A what?" the other demanded. - -"A girl that can't hear or speak or write. They say she's smuggled a -bracelet in but they've searched her eight times and can't get a trace -of it, so they sent her to you." - -"They don't expect me to make the ninth attempt, do they?" the Chief -queries. - -"Why, no," Gibbs told him, "but they thought you might hand her the -third degree." - -"Bring her in," the autocrat commanded. When Gibbs had closed the door -Taylor turned to Duncan. "She's probably bluffing. Put that chair here. -We'll try the gun gag on her. There's a revolver in my second drawer. -When I say 'Go,' you shoot. Got it?" - -"Yes, sir," Duncan said, anticipating a theatrical scene in which his -chief would shine as usual. Duncan always enjoyed such episodes; he felt -he shone with reflected power. - -Gibbs dragged in a young girl and stood her in front of the chair to -which the Chief had beckoned. "Sit down," Gibbs commanded. The afflicted -woman who was named, so Gibbs said, Sarah Peabody, remained standing. -"Hey, _squattez-vous,_" her captor commanded again in a louder voice. -Still Sarah was unmoved. Gibbs scratched his head and summoned his -linguistic attainments to his aid. - -"_Setzen sie_," he shouted, but Miss Peabody remained erect. - -Gibbs turned away with a gesture of despairing dignity. "I'm done," he -asserted; "that's all the languages I know. I used to think it was a -terrible thing that women could talk, but I guess the Almighty knowed -more than I did." - -Duncan essayed more active measures. He pushed her into the seat. "Hey -you," cried he, "sit down there." - -Gibbs watched a little apprehensively. If Sarah Peabody had been normal, -he would have pictured her as a slangy and fluent young woman with a -full-sized temper. He had dealt with such before and they invariably -defeated him in wordy combat. In duels of this sort Gibbs was slow to -get off the mark. - -Taylor came toward the afflicted one and looked shrewdly into her face. -"She's not shamming," said he. "She's got that stupid look they all have -when they're deaf and dumb." He watched her closely as he said this. - -"She ain't spoke all day," Gibbs volunteered, "and no woman what could, -would keep from talking that long." - -"Women will do a lot for diamonds," his chief observed. - -"None of 'em ever do me for none," Gibbs remarked placidly. - -Suddenly Taylor addressed the girl roughly. "If you're acting," he -cried, "you'd better give it up, because I'm certain to find out, and if -I do, I'll send you to jail." Still the girl paid no attention but only -stared ahead blankly. "So you won't answer, eh?" said her inquisitor. -"Going to force my hand, are you?" He raised his hand to signal Duncan -and then added: "Go." - -The loud report of the revolver, while it made Gibbs jump, had no effect -upon the young woman. Taylor shook his head wisely. "I guess she's deaf -and dumb all right, poor girl. What's it all about, Gibbs? What is it -you think she's done?" - -"She's got a bracelet chuck-full of diamonds, and we can't find it." - -"How do you know she's got it?" the Chief asked. - -"She showed it to a woman who was in the same cabin," Gibbs returned, -"and the woman came and tipped us off." - -"Why, the dirty hussy!" cried the girl, who had previously been bereft -of hearing and speech, rising to her feet, her eyes flashing, and her -whole face denoting rage. - -Gibbs looked at her, his eyes bulging with startled surprise, and then -turned his ox-like gaze upon Taylor. - -"For the love of Mike!" said Gibbs at length, but Sarah Peabody cut -short any other exclamations. - -"Do you know why she told about me?" the girl demanded. "She wanted to -alibi herself and make you folks thinks she was an honest God-fearing -lady that would never smuggle--and she had four times as much as I did. -Why, it was her who put me up to smuggling and taught me to be deaf and -dumb." Sarah ground her white teeth in anger. "I'd like to meet her -again some time." - -"You shall," Taylor cried. "When we arrest her we'll need your evidence -to testify against her." - -"You can bet I won't be deaf and dumb then," Miss Peabody cried -viciously. - -"Where's the bracelet?" Taylor snapped. "Don't waste time now." - -But the smuggler was no fool and not intimidated by his tones. "Wait a -minute," she said craftily. "What's going to happen to me?" - -"Produce it, pay the duty, and we'll let you go free for the tip." - -"You're on," said Sarah joyously. "Just take a look at the ring handle -of my parasol. I've painted over the stones, that's all." - -Gibbs grabbed it from her and examined it closely. "Well, can you -approach that?" he said helplessly. "And I've been carrying it around -all day!" - -Taylor turned from his examination of the parasol as Peter the -doorkeeper entered. "Miss Cartwright here?" he asked quickly. - -"Yes, sir," answered the man. "She's just arrived." - -"Bring her in as soon as these get out," Taylor said dismissing him. - -"Take her away now, Gibbs," he said, indicating the owner of the magic -parasol. "Turn her over to Shorey, he can handle her from now on." - -"All right, sir," Gibbs said, still undecided as to why he had been -fooled. - -Sarah looked at him with scorn. "I'll be glad to have someone else on -the job. I'm sick o' trottin' around with a fat guy like him." - -"Say, now," Gibbs protested in an injured manner. - -But Taylor had a bigger scheme on hand and waved her away impatiently. -"Take her along, Gibbs." - -She gave Taylor an impudent little nod of farewell. "Ta-ta old Sport. I -certainly fooled you, when you had that gun shot off." - -Gibbs had grabbed her by the arm and was now pushing her toward the -door. "And I could have kept it up," Miss Peabody asserted in a shrill -tone, "if it hadn't made me sore, her putting over one on me like that. -And she was so blamed nice to me. But when one woman's nice to another -she means mischief, you can bet your B. V. D.'s." - -Even Taylor smiled as she went. He had nearly met defeat but his -habitual luck had made him victor in the end. He hoped it would aid him -in a far more difficult interview which was to come. - -Duncan took advantage of his good humor to ask a question. - -"Do you really think you can get Miss Cartwright to help us on the Denby -case?" - -He had so often seen her name in the society columns that he doubted if -his chief, clever as he was, could successfully influence her. - -Taylor looked at him curiously. There was in his eyes a look that spoke -of more than a faint hope of success. Few knew better than Duncan of his -ability to make men and women his tools. - -"Jim," he said with an air of confidence, "I wouldn't be a bit surprised -if she offered to help us." - -The door opened and Peter entered. - -"Miss Ethel Cartwright," he announced. - -Taylor rose to his feet as she entered and bowed with what grace he -could as he motioned her to a chair. - -Miss Cartwright was a tall, strikingly pretty woman of twenty-seven, who -looked at the deputy-surveyor with the perfect self-possession which -comes so easily to those whose families have long been of the cultured -and leisured classes. It was plain that this rather languid young lady -regarded him merely as some official whom she was bound to see regarding -a matter of business. - -"Sorry if I kept you waiting, Miss Cartwright," Taylor said briskly. - -"It doesn't matter in the least," she returned graciously. "I've never -been at the Customs before. I found it quite interesting." - -"My name is Taylor," he said, "and I'm a deputy-surveyor." - -"You wanted to see me about a ring, I think, didn't you?" - -"Yes," he answered. "The intention evidently was to smuggle it through -the Customs." - -"Do you really think so?" she demanded, interested. "I haven't the -faintest idea who could have sent it to me." - -"Of course you haven't," he said in his blandest, most reassuring -manner. It was a manner that made the listening Duncan wonder what was -to follow. His chief was always most deadly when he purred. "It's a -mistake," he continued, "but the record will probably shed some light on -the matter. Duncan," he called sharply, "go and get those papers -relating to Miss Cartwright." - -His assistant looked at him blankly. - -"Papers?" he repeated. "What papers, sir?" - -"The papers relating to the package sent Miss Cartwright from Paris." -There was a significance in his tone that was not lost on Duncan. Gibbs -would have argued it out, but Duncan though in the dark followed his -cue. - -"Oh, _those_ papers," he answered. "I'll get 'em, sir." - -When he had gone the girl turned to Taylor. - -"Do you know," she asserted, "I feel quite excited at being here and -sitting in a chair in which you probably often examine smugglers. One -reads about it constantly." - -"It's being done all the time," he responded, "among all sorts of -people. Now, Miss Cartwright, since we are talking of smuggling, I'd -like to have a little business chat with you if I may." - -The girl looked at him astonished. She could not conceive that a man -like the one looking at her could be serious in talking of a business -proposition. - -"With me?" she demanded, and Taylor could see that the idea was not -pleasing. He resolved to abandon his usual hectoring tactics and adopt -softer modes. - -"I mean it," he asserted. "You said you've read about all this smuggling -and so on. Believe me, you've not read a thousandth part of what's going -on all the time, despite all our efforts to check it. The difficult part -is that many of the women are so socially prominent that it isn't easy -to detect them. They move in the sort of world you move in." He leaned -forward and spoke impressively. "But it's a world where neither I nor my -men could pass muster for a moment. Do you follow me?" - -"I hear what you say," she said, "but--" - -He interrupted her, "Miss Cartwright, we are looking for someone who -belongs in society by right. Someone who is clever enough to provide us -with information and yet never be suspected. We want someone above -suspicion. We want someone, for instance, like you." - -That his proposition was offensive to her he could see from the faint -flush that passed over her face and the rather haughty tone that she -adopted. - -"Really, Mr. Taylor," she cried, "you probably mean well, but--" - -Again he cut her short. - -"Just listen a moment, Miss Cartwright," he begged. "I have reason to -know that your family has been in financial difficulties since your -father died." He looked at her shrewdly. "The position I hinted at could -be made very profitable. How would you like to enter the secret service -of the United States Customs?" He could see she was far from being -placated at his hint of financial reward. - -"This is quite too preposterous," she said icily. "It may possibly be -your idea of a joke, Mr. Taylor, but it is not mine." - -"I'm not joking," he cried, "I'm in dead earnest." - -"If that's the case," she returned, rising, "I must ask you to get the -papers regarding the ring." - -"They'll be here at any moment," he answered. "I'm sorry you don't care -to entertain my proposition, but it's your business after all. By the -way," he added, after a moment's pause, "there's another little matter -I'd like to take up with you while we're waiting. Do you recall a George -Bronson, the claim agent of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, the -company which insured the jewels that were stolen from you?" - -"I think I do," she returned slowly, "but--" - -"Well, that company has had a great deal of trouble with society women -who have got money by pawning their jewels and then putting in a claim -that they were stolen and so recovering from the company on the alleged -loss." - -The girl looked at him, frowning. "Are you trying to insinuate that--" - -"Certainly not," Taylor purred amiably. "Why, no. I'm merely explaining -that that's what Bronson thought at first, but after investigating, he -found out how absurd the idea was." - -"Naturally," she said coldly. - -She had come into the deputy-surveyor's office with an agreeable -curiosity regarding a present sent her from Paris. But the longer she -stayed, the less certain did she feel concerning this hard-faced man -opposite her, who had the strangest manner and made the most -extraordinary propositions. What business was it of his that her jewels -had been stolen? - -"But there were some things he could not understand," Taylor went on. - -"May I ask," she cried, "what Mr. Bronson's inability to understand has -to do with you?" - -"Simply," said Taylor with an appearance of great frankness, "that he -happens to be a very good friend of mine and often consults me about -things that puzzle him. The theft of those jewels of yours mystified him -greatly." - -"Mystified him?" the girl retorted. "It was perfectly simple." - -"Perhaps you won't mind telling me the circumstances of the case." - -"Really," she returned sub-acidly, "I don't quite understand how this -concerns the Customs." - -"It doesn't," he agreed readily, "I am acting only as Bronson's friend -and if you'll answer my questions I may be able to recover the jewels -for you." - -The girl's face cleared. So far from acting inimically, Mr. Taylor was -actually going to help her. She smiled for the first time, and resumed -her seat. - -"That will be splendid," she exclaimed. "I did not understand. Of course -I'll tell you everything I know." - -"The first feature that impressed Bronson," said the deputy-surveyor, -"and me, I'm bound to add, was that the theft seemed to be an inside -job." - -"What does that mean?" Miss Cartwright queried, interested. - -"That there was no evidence that a thief had broken into your home." - -"But what other explanation could there be?" she inquired. "Our family -consists of just my mother, my sister and myself, and two old servants -who have lived with us for years, so of course it wasn't any of us." - -"Naturally not," Taylor agreed as though this explanation had solved his -doubts. "But how did you come to discover the loss of the diamonds?" - -"I didn't discover it myself," she told him. "I was at Bar Harbor." - -"Oh," said Taylor with the confidential air of a family physician. "You -were away. I see! Who did find out?" - -"My sister. It was she who missed them." - -"Oh, your sister missed them, did she?" he said. - -He pushed the buzzer and wrote something on a slip of paper. - -"So of course," the girl continued, "it must have been some thief from -the outside." - -Taylor looked thoughtful. "I suppose you're right," he admitted, and -then asked quickly: "I wonder if you'd mind telephoning your sister to -come down here now?" - -"Why, she came with me," Miss Cartwright returned. "She's outside." - -"That's fine," he said brightly. "It makes it easier." He pushed the -buzzer again. "Perhaps she'll be able to help us." - -"She'll come if I wish," said the elder sister, "but she knows even less -about it than I do." - -"I understand that," Taylor said smoothly, "but she may remember a few -seemingly unimportant details that will help me where they wouldn't seem -significant to you." - -He looked up as Peter came in. "Ask Miss Cartwright's sister to come in -for a moment. Tell her Miss Ethel wants to talk to her." - -"Amy will tell you all she can," the girl asserted. - -"Just as you would yourself," Taylor said confidentially. He had no -other air than of a man who is sworn to recover stolen diamonds. Ethel -Cartwright admitted she had misjudged him. - -"It must be wonderful to be a detective and piece together little -unimportant facts into an important whole." - -"It is," he answered a trifle drily; "quite wonderful." - -Amy Cartwright was brought into the deputy-surveyor's room by Peter. -Plainly she was of a less self-reliant type than her elder sister, for -the rather startled expression her face wore was lost when she saw -Ethel. She was a pretty girl not more than eighteen and like her sister -dressed charmingly. - -"You wanted me, Ethel?" she asked. - -"Yes, dear," the elder returned. "Amy, this is Mr. Taylor, who thinks he -may be able to get back my diamonds for me." - -Amy Cartwright shot a quick, almost furtive look at Taylor and then -gripped her sister's arm. "Your diamonds!" she cried. - -Taylor had missed nothing of her anxious manner. "Yes," he said. "Your -sister has been kind enough to give me some information in reference to -the theft, and I thought you might be able to add to the facts we -already have." - -"I?" the younger girl exclaimed. - -"Yes," her sister commanded. "You must answer all Mr. Taylor's -questions." - -"Of course," Amy said with an effort to be cheerful. - -Taylor looked at her magisterially. "How did you discover your sister's -jewels were stolen?" - -"Why," she replied nervously, not meeting his eye, "I went to her -dressing-table one morning and they weren't there." - -"Oh!" he exclaimed meaningly. "So they weren't there! Then what did you -do?" - -"Why, I telephoned to the company she insured them in." - -"Without consulting your sister?" he asked. His manner, although quick -and alert, was friendly. Ethel Cartwright felt he was desirous of -helping her, and if Amy seemed nervous, it was her first experience with -a man of this type. She had so little experience in relying on herself -that this trifling ordeal was magnified into a judicial -cross-examination. She determined to help Amy out. - -"You must remember," she said to Taylor, "that I was out of town." - -"Of course!" Amy exclaimed with a show of relief. "How could I consult -her when she was in Maine?" - -"Were you certain she hadn't taken her diamonds with her?" he asked. - -Amy hesitated for a moment. "I think she must have told me before she -left." - -"Hm!" he ejaculated. "You _think_ she did?" - -Amy turned to her sister. "Didn't you tell me, Ethel?" - -Miss Cartwright knit her brows in thought. "Perhaps I did," she -admitted. - -"But you didn't telegraph your sister to make sure?" Taylor queried. - -"Why, no," the girl said hesitating and seemingly confused. "No, I -didn't." She was now staring at her interrogator with real fear in her -eyes. - -"Well, that doesn't make any difference," he said genially, "so long as -the jewels were stolen and not merely mislaid, does it?" - -"No," she said with a sigh of relief. - -"There's one other point," he said, turning to the elder sister. "You -received the compensation money from the company, didn't you?" - -"Naturally," she said tranquilly. - -"Please don't think me impertinent," he said, "but you still have it -intact, I presume?" - -"Only part," the girl returned. "I gave half of it to my sister." - -"I rather thought you might have done that," he purred as though his -especial hobby was discovering affection in other families, "That was a -very nice generous thing to do, Miss Cartwright. But you realize of -course that if I get your jewels back the money must be returned to the -Burglar Insurance people in full,"--he looked significantly at the -shrinking younger girl,--"from both of you." - -Amy Cartwright clasped her hands nervously. "Oh, I couldn't do that," -she exclaimed. - -Ethel turned to her in astonishment. - -"But Amy, why not?" - -"I haven't got it all now." - -"But, dear, what did you do with it?" Ethel persisted. - -Taylor seemed to take a keen interest in Amy Cartwright's financial -affairs. - -"That's quite an interesting question," he observed judiciously. "What -did you do with your half?" - -"I--I paid a lot of bills," the girl stammered. - -"Paid a lot of bills!" her sister exclaimed. "But Amy, you distinctly -told me--" - -"One minute," Taylor interrupted. "Now, Miss Amy," he said sharply, -"what sort of bills did you pay?" - -"Oh, dressmakers and hats and things," she answered with a trace of -sullenness. - -"Of course they gave you receipts?" he suggested. - -"I don't remember," she answered. - -"Oh, you don't remember," he said, fixing her with his cold eye. "But -you remember whom you paid the money to?" - -"Of course she does," Ethel cried, coming to her sister's aid. She was -herself puzzled at this strange man's attitude. "You do, don't you, -Amy?" - -"Why, yes," the other said weakly. - -"Give me the names!" Taylor demanded, and then looked angrily up to see -who had entered his office unbidden. It was James Duncan, apologetic, -but urged by powers higher than those of his chief. - -"The Collector and the Secretary want to see you right away, sir," he -announced. - -"I can't leave now," Taylor cried angrily. And in that moment both girls -realized of what ruthless metal he was cast. Gone was the amiable -interest in family matters and the kindly wish to aid two girls in -getting back their trinkets, and there was left a strong remorseless man -who showed he had them very nearly in his power. - -But Duncan dared not go back with such a message. - -"I explained you were busy, Chief," he said, "but they would have you -come down at once, as the Secretary has to go back to Washington. It's -about that necklace. The one coming in on the Mauretania this -afternoon." - -"Oh, very well," his superior snapped. "I shall have to ask you ladies -to excuse me for five minutes." - -"Certainly," Ethel Cartwright returned. - -At the door Taylor beckoned to Duncan and spoke in a whisper. "Get -outside in the corridor and if they try to leave, stop 'em. And I shall -want to know what they've been talking about. Understand?" - -"Sure, Chief," Duncan returned. - -When both men had gone from the room Amy clung half-hysterically to her -strong, calm sister. "Oh, Ethel, they know, they know!" - -"Know what?" Ethel asked, amazed at the change in the other. - -"That man suspects," Amy whispered. "I know he does. Did you see how he -glared at me and the way he spoke?" - -"Suspects what?" Ethel asked. "Amy, what do you mean? What is there to -suspect?" - -"Don't let them take me away!" the younger sister wailed. "Oh, don't, -don't!" - -Ethel drew back a step and looked into the trembling Amy's tear-stained -face. - -"What is this you are saying?" she asked sharply. - -"Ethel, your jewels weren't stolen." There was a pause as if the girl -were trying to gather courage enough to confess. "I took them. I pawned -them." - -"Amy!" cried the other. "You?" - -"I had to have money. I took them. A woman told me I could get it by -pretending to the company the things were stolen. She said they'd never -find it out and would pay. I tried it, and they paid." - -Miss Cartwright looked down at her, amazed, indignant, horrified. - -"Do you mean to say you deliberately swindled the company?" - -"I couldn't help it, Ethel," she declared piteously. "I didn't think of -it in that way. I didn't mean to. I didn't, indeed." - -"Why, why, why? Why in God's name did you do it? Tell me quickly, why?" - -Amy could no longer meet her sister's glance. She dropped her head. - -"I lost a lot of money gambling, playing auction bridge." - -"Playing with whom?" Ethel demanded sharply. - -"People you don't know," the younger answered evasively. "It was while -you were away. It wouldn't have happened if you'd been home. We all -dined together at the Claremont and afterwards they simply would play -auction. I said no at first but they made me. I got excited and began to -lose, and then they said if I kept on the luck would turn, but it -didn't, and I lost a thousand dollars." - -Ethel Cartwright needed no other explanation as a key to Taylor's -manner. It was certain that he knew and would presently force her poor -frightened little sister into a confession. It was no time for blaming -the child or pointing out morals, but for protecting her. - -"Ssh," she whispered, "Ssh!" - -"I didn't mean to do it," Amy reiterated. "Believe me, I didn't." - -"Tell me what happened then?" Ethel asked in a low tone. - -"I couldn't pay, of course, and the other women said they'd have to ask -mother or you for the money and if you wouldn't pay I should have to go -to jail. I didn't know what to do. I nearly went out of my head, I -think. At last Philip Sloane offered to lend it me." - -The elder recoiled from her. "That man!" she cried horrified. "Oh, Amy, -and how often I have warned you against him!" - -"There was nothing else to do," her sister explained. "You were away and -I had no one to go and ask." - -"Stop a minute," Ethel said. "If you borrowed the money and paid the -debts, why did you need to take my diamonds?" - -Amy hung her head. "When he lent me the money he said I could pay it -back whenever I wanted to, in a hundred years if I liked." - -"Well?" Ethel cried anxiously. "Well?" - -"But a day or so later he came to see me, mother was out, and his -manner was so different I was frightened. He--he said a girl who accepts -money from a man is never any good, and nobody will believe them no -matter what they say. I didn't think men could be like that. He said -he'd forget about it if I went away with him. He said nobody would know -it--he could arrange all that--and he threatened all sorts of things. -Oh, everything you said about him was right." - -"Go on," her sister commanded, in a hard staccato tone. "What then?" - -"At first I thought of killing myself but I was afraid. And then I saw -your jewel-case and I pretended they were stolen. I got half the money -from the pawn-shop and the other half from you when the company settled. -It was wicked of me, Ethel, but what could I do?" - -Ethel put her arm about the poor sobbing girl very tenderly. - -"My poor little sister," she whispered, "my little Amy, you did the -better thing after all. But you should have told me before, so that I -could have helped you." - -"I was afraid to," the girl said, looking into the face above her, "I -meant to have told you next month when that money is coming from -father's estate. I thought we could pay the company then so that I -shouldn't feel like a thief. I'm so glad I've told you; it has -frightened me so!" But the grave expression on Ethel's face alarmed her. -"Why do you look like that?" she demanded. - -"It will be all right," Ethel assured her. "But you know those dividends -have been delayed this month and neither mother nor I have any spare -money if the Burglar Insurance people want to be paid back. I daresay we -can arrange something, so don't be frightened. And remember, this man -Taylor can't know certainly. He only suspects, and we ought to be able -to beat him if we are very careful. I'm so glad you told me so that I -know what to do." - -"But I'm afraid of him," Amy cried. "I shall break down and they'll put -me in prison. Ethel, I should die if they did that." - -"I'll save you, dear," Ethel said comfortingly. "You know you have -always been able to believe in me, and I will save you if only you try -to control yourself." - -"Then let me go home," Amy cried, panic-stricken by the thought of -another interview with the resourceful Taylor. "I shall break down if I -stay here." - -"That will be best," Ethel agreed, and went quickly to the door, behind -which she found Duncan on guard. - -"Sorry, miss," he said respectfully, "but you can't go." - -"I'm not leaving," Ethel Cartwright explained, "I still have to talk -with Mr. Taylor, but my sister must go. She isn't feeling very well. She -wants to go home." - -Duncan shook his head. "Neither of you can go," he returned, as he -closed the door. Amy looked about her nervously for other means of -escape. - -"You see," she whispered, "they're going to keep me here a prisoner! -What shall I do?" - -"Leave everything to me," Ethel commanded. "Let me do the talking. I -shall be able to think of some way out." - -"There isn't, there isn't!" Amy moaned. - -"Stop crying," the elder insisted. "That won't help us. I've thought of -a plan. I'll invent a story to fool him. He won't be able to find out -whether it's true or not, so he'll have to let us go, and when he does, -he won't get us back here again in a hurry." - -"Oh, Ethel, you're wonderful!" Amy exclaimed, her face clearing. In all -her small troubles she had always gone to this beautiful, serene elder -sister, who had never yet failed her and never would, she was confident. - -When Taylor entered a minute later he found the two girls looking out -of the big window across the harbor. They seemed untroubled and unafraid -and were discussing the dimensions of a big liner making her way out. - -"Sorry to have had to leave you," he said briskly, "especially as things -were getting a bit interesting." - -Ethel Cartwright looked at him coldly. It was a glance which Taylor -rightly interpreted as a warning to remember that he occupied a wholly -different sphere from that of the daughters of the late Vernon -Cartwright. But it daunted him little. The Secretary of the Treasury had -just told him that his work was evoking great interest in Washington. -And the Collector somewhat cryptically had said that Daniel Taylor might -always be relied upon to do the unexpected. For Washington and -Collectors, Taylor had little respect. Unconsciously he often -paraphrased that royal boast, "_L'État c'est moi!_" by admitting to his -confidants that he, Daniel Taylor, was the United States Customs. - -"I quite fail to see," Miss Cartwright observed chillingly, "what all -this rather impertinent cross-questioning of my sister has to do with--" - -"You will in a minute," he interrupted. - -"Meanwhile," she said, "I can't wait any longer for those papers about -the ring." - -"There isn't any ring," he said suavely. "That was just a pretext to get -you here. I was afraid the truth wouldn't be sufficiently luring so I -had to employ a ruse." - -She looked at him, her eyes flashing at his daring to venture on such a -deception. "You actually asked me to come here because you thought I had -swindled the company?" - -"Well," he observed genially, "we all make our little mistakes." - -"So you admit it was a mistake?" she said, hardly knowing what to make -of this changed manner. - -"I'm quite sure of it," he asserted. "_You_ are innocent, Miss -Cartwright. How am I so sure of it? Because I happen to have the thief -already." - -"You have the thief?" Amy cried, startled out of her determination to -say nothing. - -"Yes," he told her nonchalantly, "I've arrested the man who robbed your -sister. Poor devil, he has a wife and children. He swears they'll -starve, and very likely they will, but he's guilty and to jail he goes." - -"Are you sure he's guilty?" Amy stammered. - -He leaned over his desk and looked at her surprised. "Why, yes," he said -slowly. "Have you any reason to think different?" - -"No, no!" she cried, shrinking back. - -"But I have," Ethel said calmly. "I have every reason to believe he is -innocent." - -"_You_ have?" Taylor cried, himself perplexed at the turn things were -taking. - -Amy looked at her sister, wondering what was coming next. - -"I know who stole them," Ethel went on. "It was my maid." - -"Your maid!" the deputy-surveyor cried. "Why didn't you tell the company -that? Bronson never told me about it." - -"She didn't disappear till after the claim was paid, you see," Miss -Cartwright explained. "Then I got a note from her confessing, a note -written in Canada." - -"Whereabouts in Canada?" he demanded. - -"I don't recall it," he was told. - -"You don't? Well, what was your maid's name then? I'd like to know that, -if you can remember it for me." - -"Marie Garnier was her name." - -He took up a scribbling pad and inscribed the name on it. "Marie -Garnier," he muttered, and pushed the buzzer. "Why didn't you tell me -this before?" - -"What was the good?" Miss Cartwright returned. "I was fond of Marie--she -was almost one of the family--and I didn't want to brand her as a -thief. When I learned she had escaped to Canada where the law couldn't -reach her--" - -She was interrupted by Duncan's entrance. "Yes, sir?" said he to his -chief. - -Taylor handed him the leaf he had torn from the pad. "Attend to this at -once," he ordered. - -"Now, Miss Cartwright," he remarked, "I'd like to ask why it was you -made this admission about Marie Garnier." - -"Because I do not want to see an innocent man go to prison," she -returned promptly. - -"Oh, I see. And did your sister know it, too?" - -"No," she answered quickly. - -"Why hadn't you told her?" he demanded. - -"Really," said the elder Miss Cartwright with an expression of -innocence, "I didn't think it made any difference." - -Taylor was obviously annoyed at such a view. "Your behavior is most -extraordinary," he commented. - -"You see, I know so little about law, and insurance and things like -that," she said apologetically. She did not desire to offend him. - -"You ought at least to have known that you owed it to the company to -give them all the information in your possession," he grumbled. - -"I never thought of it in that way," she said meditating. - -"There seems a whole lot you young ladies haven't thought of," he said -sourly. - -Miss Cartwright rose from her seat without haste. "Come, Amy," she -commanded. "We can't wait any longer and we are not needed." - -As they turned toward the door the telephone bell rang and Taylor stayed -them with a gesture. "Just one moment, please, Miss Cartwright." - -The girls watching him saw that the news was pleasant for he chuckled as -he hung up the receiver. Then he rose from his seat and came to where he -stood between them and the door. - -"Miss Cartwright," he cried, "when you didn't know what town in Canada -your maid was, I felt you were lying. Now I know you were. I just had my -assistant telephone to your mother." He pointed an accusing finger at -them. "You never had a maid named Garnier, and the last one you -had--over a year ago--was called Susan. You put the blame on a woman who -doesn't exist, and you did it to shield the real thief." He touched the -crouching Amy on the shoulder. "This is the real thief!" - -"She isn't, she isn't!" Ethel cried. - -But Taylor paid no attention to her. He concentrated his gaze on the -younger girl. "You swindled the company," he affirmed. - -"No, no," she wailed, "I didn't." - -Ethel came to her rescue. "How dare you," she cried to Taylor, "make -such an accusation when you have no proof, nor anyone else either?" - -"That's all very well," Taylor exclaimed, "but when we get the proof--" - -"You can't, because there isn't any," she asserted. - -"Of course I see your game," the man said; "you're just trying to -protect your sister. That's natural enough, but it will go easier with -both of you if you'll tell the truth." - -The two girls answered him never a word. Amy was too frightened and -Ethel, her tactics unavailing, found her best defense in silence. - -"So you won't answer?" Taylor said after a pause. "Well, of course the -stuff is pawned some place. That's what they all do. So far, Bronson has -only searched the pawn-shops in New York. He didn't give you credit for -pawning them outside the city, but I do. Now we'll see where your sister -did go." He went to the telephone again. "Hello, Bill," he said when he -had secured the number, "Go over to Bronson at the New York and get a -description of the jewels reported stolen from a Miss Ethel Cartwright. -Have all the pawn-shops searched in Trenton,"--he fastened his harsh -look on Amy Cartwright as he called out the names,--"Boston, Washington, -Providence, Baltimore, Albany, Philadelphia--" - -[Illustration: HE TURNED TO AMY. "YOUNG WOMAN, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST." -_Page 105_.] - -As he called out the last city the girl gave a gasp of terror, and -triumph instantly lighted up her inquisitor's grim face. - -"So you pawned them in Philadelphia?" he cried. - -"No, no!" she moaned. - -"I did it," Ethel Cartwright exclaimed. - -"No, you didn't," Taylor said sharply. "You're only trying to save her. -You can't deceive me." He turned to Amy, "Young woman, you're under -arrest." - -"No, no," the elder sister besought. "Take me. She's only a child; don't -spoil her life. I'll do whatever you like; it doesn't matter about me. -For God's sake don't do anything to my little sister." - -"She's guilty," he reminded her, "and the law says--" - -"If somebody pays, what difference does it make to you or the law? Isn't -there anything I can do?" she pleaded. - -Taylor paced up and down the room for a half minute before answering, -while the two watched him in agony. To them he was one who could deliver -them over to prison if it were his whim, or spare if he inclined to -mercy. - -"Surely there is some way out?" Ethel asked again. - -"Yes," he said, "there is. You can accept my proposition to enter the -secret service of the United States Customs." - -"Oh, yes, yes," she cried, "anything!" - -Taylor rubbed his hands together with satisfaction and pride in his -inimitable craft. "Now you're talking!" he exclaimed. "Then we won't -send the little sister to prison." - -Amy sobbed relief in her sister's arms. - -"Then you won't tell Bronson?" Ethel asked. - -"No," he said, "I won't tell Bronson." - -Ethel sighed, and felt almost that she would faint. - -"Now I'm sorry for you two," Taylor said more genially, "and as long as -you do what I tell you to, we'll leave the little matter of the jewels -as between your sister and her conscience. I'll let you know when I need -you. It may be to-night, it may be not for a month or a year, but when I -do want you--" - -"I shall be ready," the girl declared. - -"Say, Chief," Duncan said looking in at the door,-- - -"Get out, I'm busy," Taylor shouted. - -"I thought you'd like to know the Mauretania was coming up the bay," -his satellite returned, slightly aggrieved at this reception. - -"She is?" said the other. "Wait a minute then. Now, Miss Cartwright, -good afternoon. Remember what is at stake, your future, and your -sister's happiness. And don't forget that my silence depends on your not -failing me." - -Only a man of Taylor's coarse and cruel mould could have looked at her -without remorse or compunction. He did not see a beautiful refined woman -cheerfully bearing another's cross. He saw only a society girl, who had -matched her immature wits against his and lost, was beaten and in the -dust. There was a pathetic break in her voice as she answered him. - -"I shall not fail you," she said. - -Duncan closed the door after them. - -"Well?" Taylor demanded eagerly when they were alone. "Did Denby declare -the necklace?" - -"No, sir," Duncan returned promptly. - -"Then I was right," the other commented. "He's trying to smuggle it in. -Jim, this is the biggest job we've ever handled." - -"Ford and Hammett are at the dock all ready to search him when I give -the word." - -Duncan was sharing in his chief's triumph, but Taylor's next command was -disappointing. - -"Don't give the word," he enjoined. "There's to be no search." - -"No search?" exclaimed the chagrined Duncan. - -"No," Taylor told him. "Just let him slide through with the ordinary -examination. Trail Denby and his party to Westbury and be sure none of -them slip the necklace to anyone on the way out there, but no fuss and -no arrests, remember. Meanwhile, get up a fake warrant for the arrest of -Miss Amy Cartwright. It may come in handy." - -"Yes, sir," said Duncan obediently. - -"And when you've told Ford and Hammett what they are to do, change your -clothes and make Gibbs do the same, and meet me at the Pennsylvania -Station at six o'clock." - -"Where are we going?" Duncan asked. He could see from his chief's manner -that something important was in the wind. - -"To Long Island," he was told. "We are going to call on Miss Ethel -Cartwright." - -"Then you can use her to land Denby?" his subordinate cried excitedly. - -"Use her?" the deputy-surveyor said with a grim smile. "Say, Jim, she -doesn't know it, but she's going to get that necklace for me to-night." - -He hurried out of the room, leaving Duncan shaking his head in -wonderment. His chief might have qualities that were not endearing, and -his manner might at times be rough, but where was there a man who rode -through obstacles with the same fine disregard as Daniel Taylor? - - - - -CHAPTER SEVEN - - -Mrs. Harrington admitted freely that she had been very far-seeing in -asking Denby to travel on the Mauretania with her and Monty. She was one -of those modern women who count days damaging to their looks if there -comes an hour of boredom in them, and her new acquaintance was always -amusing. - -One day when they were all three sitting on deck she asked him: "What -are you going to do when you get home?" - -"Nothing particular," he replied, "except that I want to run down to -Washington some time during the month." - -"You see," Monty explained, "Steve is a great authority on the tariff. -The Secretary of the Treasury does nothing without consulting him. He -has to go down and help the cabinet out." - -"That's hardly true," Denby said mildly, "but I have friends in -Washington nevertheless." It was obvious Monty was not taken in by this. -He only regarded his friend as a superb actor who refused to be -frightened by the hourly alarms his faithful assistant took to him with -fast-beating heart. Young Vaughan told himself a dozen times a day that -this excitement, this suspicion of the motives of all strangers, was -undermining his health. He had complained of the dull evenness of his -existence before meeting Denby in Paris, but he felt such a lament could -never again be justified. He found himself unable to sit still for long. -He marvelled to see that Denby could sit for hours in a deck-chair -talking to Alice without seeming to care whether mysterious strangers -were eyeing him or not. - -"I asked you," Mrs. Harrington went on, "because, if you've nothing -better to do, will you spend a week with us at Westbury? Michael will -like you, and if you don't like Michael, there's something seriously -wrong with you." - -"I'd love to come," he said eagerly. "Thank you very much." - -"Hooray," said Monty. "Alice, you're a sweet soul to ask him. Of course -he'll like Michael. Who doesn't?" - -"Everybody ought to," she said happily. "Do you know, Mr. Denby, I'm one -of the only three women in our set who still love their husbands. I -wouldn't tell you that except for the reason you'll find out. He's the -most generous soul in the world and when I go to him with a bank-book -that won't balance, he adds it up and says I've made a mistake and that -I'm on the right side. How many husbands would do that?" - -"I might," Monty asserted, "because I can't add up long columns, but -Michael's a demon at statistics, or used to be." - -"He's such an old dear," Mrs. Harrington went on. "His one peculiar -talent is the invention of new and strange drinks. I never come back -from any long absence but he shows me something violently colored which -is built in my honor. And Monty will tell you," she added laughing, -"that I have never been seen to shudder while he was looking. Have I, -Monty?" - -"You're a good sport," said Monty, "and if ever I kill a man, it will be -Michael, and my motive will be jealousy." - -"Well, you needn't look so unhappy about it," she cried, as a frown -passed over his face and he sank back in his chair, all his good-humor -gone. - -Monty had in that careless phrase, "If ever I kill a man," reminded -himself vividly of the dangers that he felt beset him and his friend -Steven Denby. He had been trying to forget it and now it was with him to -stay. And another and a dreadful thought occurred. Would Denby take -those accursed pearls with him to the Harrington mansion on Long -Island? It was so disquieting that he rose abruptly and went into a -secluded corner of the upper smoking-room and called for a cigar and a -pony of brandy. - -His attention was presently attracted to a stout comfortable-looking man -who was staring at him as though to encourage a bow of recognition. He -had noticed the stout and affable gentleman before and always in the -same seat, but never before had he sought acquaintance in this manner. -There was no doubt in Monty's mind that the man was one of those suave -gamblers who reap their richest harvests on the big fast liners. No -doubt he knew that Monty was a Vaughan and had occasionally fallen for -such professionals and inveigled into a quiet little game. But Monty -felt himself of a different sort now. - -There was no doubt that the affable gentleman had fully made up his mind -as to his plan of action. He rose from his comfortable chair and made -his way to the younger man with his hand held out in welcome. - -"I thought it was you," he said, and wrung Monty's reluctant hand, "but -you are not quite the same as when I saw you last." - -"No doubt," Monty said coldly; "I am older and _I_ am not the fool I -used to be." - -"That's good," said the affable gentleman pressing the button that was -to summon a steward. "Your father will be glad to hear that." - -"Have the kindness to leave my father alone," the younger commanded. -Never in his life had Monty found himself able to be so unpleasant. -There was, he discovered, a certain joy in it. - -"Why, certainly," said the other a trifle startled, "if you wish it. -Only as he and I were old friends, I saw no harm in it." - -"Old friends?" sneered Monty. "Let me see, you were the same year at -Yale, weren't you?" - -"Of course," the affable stranger said, and turned to see the advancing -steward. "What will you have?" he asked. - -"I don't drink with strangers," Monty said rising. - -"Strangers!" cried the other with the rising intonation of indignation. -"Well, I like that!" - -"Then I shall leave you with a pleasant memory," Monty said. "Good day." - -"Stop a moment," the stranger asked after a pause in which rage and -astonishment chased themselves across his well-nourished countenance. -"Who do you think I am, anyway?" - -"Your name and number don't interest me," Monty said loftily. He noted -that the steward was enjoying it after the quiet inexpressive manner of -the English servant. "But I've no doubt at some time or another I lost -money to you--your old college friend's money of course--in some quiet -game with your confederates." - -"Now, what do you think of that!" the red-faced man exclaimed as he -watched Monty's retreating figure. But the steward was non-committal. He -was not paid to give up his inner thoughts but to bring drinks on a -tray. - -The stout and affable gentleman was a member of the Stock Exchanges of -London and New York and made frequent journeys between these cities. He -held the ocean record of having crossed more times and seen the waves -less than any stock-broker living. He had passed more hours in a -favorite chair in the Mauretania's smoking-room than any man had done -since time began. He was raconteur of ability and had been a close -friend of the elder Vaughan's years before at Yale. And he burned with -fierce indignation when he remembered that he had held the infant Monty -years ago and prophesied to a proud mother that he would be her joy and -pride. Joy and pride! He snorted and fell away from his true form so far -as to seek the deck and suck in fresh air. - -There he happened upon Mrs. Harrington talking to Denby. She knew -Godfrey Hazen. He had often been to Westbury, and Michael esteemed him -for his great knowledge of the proper beverage to take for every -emergency that may arise upon an ocean voyage. - -"What makes you look so angry?" she exclaimed. - -He calmed down when he saw her. "I've just been taken for a professional -gambler," he cried. - -"I thought all stock-brokers were that," she said smiling. - -"I mean a different sort," he explained, "the kind that work the big -liners. I just asked him to have a drink when he said he didn't drink -with strangers and hinted I had my picture in the rogues' gallery." - -"Who was it?" she inquired. - -"That ne'er-do-well, Monty Vaughan," he answered. - -"Monty?" she said. "Impossible!" - -"Is it?" he said grimly. "We'll see. Here comes the young gentleman." - -Monty sauntered up without noticing him at first. When he did, he -stopped short and was in no whit abashed. "Trying a new game?" he -inquired. - -"Monty, don't you remember Mr. Hazen?" Alice said reproachfully. - -"Have I made an ass of myself?" he asked miserably. - -"I wouldn't label any four-footed beast by the name I'd call you," said -Mr. Hazen firmly. - -"Why didn't you tell me your name?" Monty asked. - -"You ought to have remembered me," the implacable Hazen retorted. "Why, -I held you in my arms when you were only three months old." - -"Then I wish you had dropped me and broken me," Monty exclaimed, "and I -should have been spared a lot of worry." Things were piling up to make -him more than ever nervous. He had overheard two passengers saying they -understood the Mauretania's voyagers were to have a special examination -at the Customs on account of diamond smuggling. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hazen," -he said more graciously, "but I've things on my mind and you must accept -that as the reason." - -When he had gone Mr. Hazen was introduced to Denby and prevailed upon to -occupy Monty's seat. - -"I don't like the look of it," Mr. Hazen said, shaking his head. "At his -age he oughtn't to have any worries. I didn't." - -"If you can keep a secret," Mrs. Harrington confided, "I think I can -tell you exactly what is the matter with Monty and I'm sure you'll make -excuses for him, Mr. Hazen." - -"Maybe," he returned dubiously, "but you should have heard how he called -me down before a steward!" - -"Monty's in love," Mrs. Harrington declared, "and after almost two -years' absence he is going to meet her again; and the dread of not -daring to propose is sapping his brain. You're not the first. He's been -out of sorts the whole time and I've had to smooth things over with -other people. Come, now," she said coaxingly, "when you were young I'm -sure you had some episodes of that sort yourself, now didn't you?" - -Mr. Hazen tried not to let her see the proud memories that came surging -back through a quarter of a century. "Well," he admitted, "if you put it -that way, Mrs. Harrington, I've got to forgive the boy." - -"I knew you would," she said, and talked nicely to him for reward. - -Then the romance which he had resurrected faded; and the sight of so -much salt in the waves--the unaccustomed waves--induced a provoking -thirst and he rose and after a conventional lie retired to the -smoking-room. - -"All the same," Mrs. Harrington remarked to Denby, "I am worried about -the boy." - -"He'll get over it," said Steven. - -"I hope so," she returned. "His nerves are all wrong. I thought he had -the absinthe habit at first, but he's really quite temperate, and it's -mental, I suspect. It may be Nora; I hope it is. She's a dear girl and -Monty's really a big catch." - -"Didn't you say you had bought her a present, some valuable piece of -jewelry?" - -"Which I have sworn to smuggle," she returned brightly, "despite your -warning." - -"For your sake I wish you wouldn't," he said, "but if your mind's made -up, what will my words avail?" - -"I'm not stubborn," she cried, "even Michael admits that. I am always -open to conviction." - -"If you smuggle, you are," he said meaningly. "Really, Mrs. Harrington, -you've no idea how strict these examinations are becoming, and this -vessel seems specially marked out for extra strict inspections. The -popular journals have harped on the fact that the rich, influential -women who use this and boats of this class, are exempt, while the woman -who saves up for a few weeks' jaunt and brings little inexpensive -presents back, is caught." - -"Are you sure of that?" she demanded. - -"Why, yes," he returned. "It doesn't seem quite fair, does it?" he -demanded, looking at her keenly. "It doesn't seem playing the game for -the first cabin on the Mauretania to get in free while the second cabin -gets caught." - -"Have you ever smuggled?" she asked. - -"Maybe," he said, "but if I have, it has not been a habit with me as -with some rich people I know, who could so easily afford to pay." - -"Suppose I do smuggle and get caught, I can pay without any further -trouble, can't I?" she queried. - -"You're just as likely to be detained," he told her. "To all intents and -purposes, it's like being under arrest." - -"Oh, Lord!" she cried. "And I shouldn't be able to get back to Michael?" - -"Probably not," he said. "You see, Mrs. Harrington, you'd be a splendid -tribute to the impartiality of the service. The publicity the Customs -people would get from your case would be worth a lot to them. -Indirectly, you'd possibly promote hard-working inspectors." - -"But I don't want to be a case," she exclaimed, "I'm not anxious to be -put in a cell and promote hard-working inspectors. And think of poor -Michael all ready with a crimson newly-devised drink pacing the floor -while I'm undergoing the third degree! Mr. Denby, I still think the laws -are absurd, but I shall declare everything I've got. I wonder if they -would let Michael hand me his crimson drink through the bars." - -Just then Monty made for them and dropped into his deck-chair. - -"I'm going to be an honest woman," she declared, "and smuggle no more. -Mr. Denby is the miracle-worker. I shall probably have to borrow money -to pay the duty, so be at hand, Monty." - -He looked across at Denby and sighed. His friend's serene countenance -and absence of nerves was always a source of wonderment to him. -Hereafter, he swore, a life in consonance with his country's laws. And -if the first few days of the voyage had made him nervous, it was small -comfort to think that the really risky part had yet to be gone through. -In eliminating Alice Harrington as a fellow smuggler Monty saw -extraordinary cunning. "Well," he thought, "if anyone can carry it -through it will be old Steve," and rose obediently at Alice's behest and -brought back a wireless form on which he indited a message to the absent -Michael. - -Monty Vaughan had crossed the ocean often, and each time had been -cheered to see in the distance the long flat coast-line of his native -land. There had always been a sense of pleasurable excitement in the -halt at Quarantine and the taking on board the harbor and other -officials. - -But this time they clambered aboard--the most vindictive set of mortals -he had ever laid eyes on--and each one of them seemed to look at Monty -as though he recognized a law breaker and a desperado. Incontinently he -fled to the smoking-room and ran into the arms of Godfrey Hazen. - -"Never mind, my boy," said that genial broker, "you'll soon be out of -your misery. Brace up and have a drink. I know how you feel. I've felt -like that myself." - -"Did you get caught?" Monty gasped. - -"No," he said, for he was a bachelor, "but I've had some mighty narrow -squeaks and once I thought I was gone." - -He watched Monty gulp down his drink with unaccustomed rapidity. "That's -right," he said commendingly. "Have another?" - -"It would choke me," the younger answered, and fled. - -Hazen shook his head pityingly. He had never been as afflicted as the -heir to his old friend Vaughan. Poets might understand love and its -symptoms but such manifestations were beyond him. - -When Steven Denby opened his trunks to a somewhat uninterested inspector -and answered his casual questions without hesitation, Monty stood at his -side. It cost him something to do so but underneath his apparent -timorous nature was a strength and loyalty which would not fail at need. - -And when the jaded Customs official made chalk hieroglyphics and stamped -the trunks as free from further examination Monty felt a relief such as -he had never known. As a poet has happily phrased it, "he chortled in -his joy." - -"What's the matter?" he demanded of Denby when he observed that his own -hilarity was not shared by his companion in danger. "Why not celebrate?" - -"We're not off the dock yet," Denby said in a low voice. "They've been -too easy for my liking." - -"A lot we care," Monty returned, "so long as they're finished with us." - -"That's just it," he was warned, "I don't believe they have. It's a bit -suspicious to me. Better attend to your own things now, old man." - -Monty opened his trunks in a lordly manner. So elaborate was his gesture -that an inspector was distrustful and explored every crevice of his -baggage with pertinacity. He unearthed with glee a pair of military -hair-brushes with backs of sterling silver that Monty had bought in Bond -street for Michael Harrington as he passed through London and forgotten -in his alarm for bigger things. - -"It pays to be honest," said Mrs. Harrington, who had declared her -dutiable importations and felt more than ordinarily virtuous. "Monty, -you bring suspicion on us all. I'm surprised at you. Just a pair of -brushes, too. If you had smuggled in a diamond necklace for Nora there -would be some excuse!" - -The word necklace made him tremble and he did not trust himself to say a -word. - -"He's too ashamed for utterance," Denby commented, helping him to repack -his trunk. - -There were two Harrington motors waiting, both big cars that would carry -a lot of baggage. When they were ready it was plain that only two -passengers could be carried in one and the third in the second car. - -"How shall we manage it?" Mrs. Harrington asked. - -"If you don't mind I'll let you two go on," Denby suggested, "and when -I've sent off a telegram to my mother, I'll follow." - -"I see," she laughed, "you want the stage set for your entrance. Very -well. Au revoir." - -Monty surprised her by shaking his friend's hand. "Good-by, old man," -said Monty sorrowfully. He was not sure that he would ever see Steven -again. - - - - -CHAPTER EIGHT - - -Michael Harrington walked up and down the big hall of his Long Island -home looking at the clock and his own watch as if to detect them in the -act of refusing to register the correct time of day. Although it was -probable his wife, Monty and the guest of whose coming a wireless -message had apprised him, would not be home for another hour, he was -always anxious at such a moment. - -He was a man of fifty-eight, exceedingly good-tempered, and very much in -love with his wife. When Alice had married a man twenty-four years her -senior there had been prophecies that it would not last long. But the -two Harringtons had confounded such dismal predictions and lived--to -their own vast amusement--to be held up as exemplars of matrimonial -felicity in a set where such a state was not too frequent. - -His perambulations were interrupted by the entrance of Lambart, a butler -with a genius for his service, who bore on a silver tray a siphon of -seltzer water, a decanter of Scotch whiskey and a pint bottle of fine -champagne. - -Lambart had, previously to his importation, valeted the late lamented -Marquis of St. Mervyn, an eccentric peer who had broken his noble neck -in a steeplechase. Like most English house-servants he was profoundly -conservative; and after two positions which he had left because his -employers treated him almost as an equal, he had come to the Harringtons -and taken a warm but perfectly respectful liking to his millionaire -employer. Lambart was a remarkably useful person and it was his proud -boast that none had ever beheld him slumbering. Certain it was that a -bell summoned him at any hour of the day or night, and he had never -grumbled at such calls. - -Harrington looked at the refreshment inquiringly. "Did I order this?" he -demanded. - -"No, sir," Lambart answered, "but my late employer Lord St. Mervyn -always said that when he was waiting like you are, sir, it steadied his -nerves to have a little refreshment." - -"I should have liked the Marquis if I'd known him," Michael Harrington -observed when his thirst was quenched. "I think I could have paid him no -prettier compliment than to have named a Rocksand colt after him, -Lambart. The colt won at Deauville last week, by the way." - -"Yes, sir," Lambart returned, "I took the liberty of putting a bit on -him; I won, too." - -"Good," said his employer, "I'm glad. He ought to have a good season in -France. I like France for two things--racing and what they call the -_heure de l'aperitif_. When I go to Rome I do as the Romans do, and I -have the pleasantest recollections of my afternoons in France." - -He noticed that Lambart, bringing over to him a box of cigars, turned -his head as though to listen. "I believe, sir," said the butler, "that -the car is coming up the drive." - -He hurried to the open French window and looked out. "Yes, sir," he -cried, "it is one of our cars and Mrs. Harrington is in it." - -Michael Harrington rose hastily to his feet. "Great Scott, my wife! The -boat must have docked early." He pointed to the whiskey and champagne. -"Get rid of these; and not a word, Lambart, not a word." - -"Certainly not, sir," Lambart answered; "I couldn't make a mistake of -that sort after being with the Marquis of St. Mervyn for seven years." - -He took up the tray quickly and carried it off as Nora Rutledge--the -girl for whose sake poor Monty had passed hours of alternate misery and -hope--came in to tell her host the news. - -"Alice is here," she cried, "and Monty Vaughan with her." - -Nora was a pretty, clever girl of two and twenty with the up-to-date -habit of slangy smartness fully developed and the customary lack of -reticence over her love-affairs or those of anyone else in whom she was -interested. But for all her pert sayings few girls were more generally -liked than she, for the reason that she was genuine and wholesome. - -"Fine," Michael said heartily. "Where are they? How is she? Was it a -good voyage?" - -A moment later his wife had rushed into his arms. - -"You dear old thing," she exclaimed affectionately. - -"By George! I'm glad to see you," he said, "you've been away for ages." - -"You seem to have survived it well enough," she laughed. - -"Tell me everything you've done," he insisted. - -While she tried to satisfy this comprehensive order, Monty was assuring -Nora how delighted he was to see her. - -"It's bully to find you here," he said, shaking her hand. "I nearly -hugged you." - -"Well, why didn't you?" she retorted. - -"I've half a mind to," he said, stretching out his arms; but she drew -back. - -"No. Not now. It's cold. Hugs must be spontaneous." - -"Where's Ethel?" Mrs. Harrington called to her. - -"Upstairs, changing. You see we didn't think you could get in so early -and you weren't expected for another half-hour. She ought to be down in -a minute or so." - -"Why didn't you come down and meet us, old man?" Monty asked of his -host. - -"Wife's orders," Harrington responded promptly. - -"It's such a nuisance to have people meet one at the pier," Alice -explained. "I'm sure Monty was glad you weren't there to witness his -humiliation. He was held up for smuggling and narrowly escaped -deportation." - -"Oh, Monty," Nora cried, "how lovely! Was it something for me? Don't -scowl when I ask a perfectly reasonable question." - -"It wasn't," Monty said wretchedly. He had in his joy at meeting her -forgotten all about smuggling and now the whole thing loomed up again. -"I've got half Long Island in my eyes, and if you don't mind, Alice, -I'll go and wash up." - -"And you won't tell me anything about your crime?" Nora pouted. - -"Meet me in the Pagoda in five minutes," he whispered, "and I will. It's -mighty nice to see a pretty girl again who can talk American." - -"As if men cared what girls say," she observed sagely. "It's the way -they look that counts." - -When Monty was gone she strolled back to where Alice was sitting. - -"Did you have a good trip?" she demanded. - -"Bully," Alice answered her. "Steven Denby's most attractive and -mysterious." - -"Denby!" Harrington repeated. "Why, I'd clean forgotten about Denby. -Where is he?" - -"The limousine was so full of Monty and me and my hand-baggage that we -sent him on in the other car. He had to send some telegrams, so he -didn't overtake us till we were this side of Jamaica, where they -promptly had a blow-out. He won't be long." - -"What Mr. Denby is he?" Nora asked with interest. - -"Yes," Michael asked, "do I know him? I don't think I ever heard of -him." - -"Nor did I," his wife told him. "Perhaps that's what makes him so -mysterious." - -"Then why on earth have him down here?" her husband asked mildly. - -"Because Monty's devoted to him. They were at school together. And also, -Michael dear, because I like him and you'll like him. Even if I am -married, love has not made me blind to other charming men." - -"But, shall I like him?" Nora wanted to know. - -"I did the minute I met him," Alice confessed. "He has a sort of 'come -hither' in his eyes and the kind of hair I always want to run my hand -through. You will, too, Nora." - -"But you see I'm not a married woman," Nora retorted, "so I mayn't have -your privileges." - -Alice laughed. "Don't be absurd. I haven't done it yet--but I may." - -"I don't doubt it in the least," said Michael, contentedly caressing her -hand. - -"He has such an air," Mrs. Harrington explained, "sort of secret and -wicked. He might be a murderer or something fascinating like that." - -"Splendid fellow for a week-end," her husband commented. - -She looked at her watch. "I'd no idea it was so late. I must dress." - -"All right," Nora agreed. "Let's see what's become of Ethel." - -"Just a minute, Alice," her husband called as she was mounting the broad -stairway that led from the hall. - -"Run along, Nora," Alice said, "I'll be up in a minute." - -"I'll go and wait for Monty," the girl returned. "I think you're going -to be lectured." She sauntered out of the French windows toward the -Pagoda. - -"Well," said Alice smiling, "what is it?" - -"I just wanted to tell you how mighty glad I was to see you," he -confessed. - -"And, Mikey dear," she said simply, "I'm mighty glad to see you." - -"Are you really?" he demanded. "You're not missing Paris?" - -"Paris be hanged," she retorted; "I'm in love with a man and not with a -town." - -"It's still me?" Michael asked a little wistfully. - -"Always you," she said softly. "One big reason I like to go abroad is -because it makes me so glad to get back to you." She sat on the arm of -his chair and patted his head affectionately. - -"But look here," said Michael with an affectation of reproof, "whenever -I want a little trot around the country and suggest leaving, you -begin--" - -She put her hand over his mouth and stopped him. - -"Oh, that's very different. When we do separate I always want to be the -one to leave, not to be left." - -"It _is_ much easier to go than to stay," he agreed, "and I've been -pretty lonely these last six weeks." - -"But you've had a lot of business to attend to," she reminded him. - -"That's finished two weeks ago." - -"And then you've had the insidious Lambart and all the Scotch you -wanted." - -"'Tisn't nearly as much fun to drink when you're away," he insisted. "It -always takes the sport out of it not to be stopped." - -"Oh, Fibber!" she said, shaking her head. - -"Well, most of the sport," he corrected. He held her off at arm's length -and regarded her with admiration. "Do you know, I sometimes wonder what -ever made you marry me." - -"Sometimes I wonder, too," she answered, "but not often! I really think -we're the ideal married couple, sentimental when we're alone, and -critical when we have guests." - -"That's true," he admitted proudly, "and most people hate each other in -private and love each other in public." Michael hugged her to emphasize -the correctness of their marital deportment. - -"You are a dear old thing," she said affectionately. - -"Do you know I don't feel a bit married," he returned boyishly, "I just -feel in love." - -"That's the nicest thing you ever said to me," she said, rising and -kissing him. "But I've got to go and find Ethel now." - -"You've made me feel fairly dizzy," he asserted, still holding her hand, -"I need a drink to sober up." - -"Oh, Michael," she cried reprovingly, and drew away from him "I believe -you've been trying to get around me just for that!" - -"Oh, no, you don't," he said smiling. "Now, do you?" - -"No, I don't, Mikey," she admitted. "But be careful, here's Monty and -Nora." - -"Heavens!" cried Nora, looking in, "still lecturing, you two?" - -"You do look rather henpecked," Monty said, addressing his host. - -"Yes," Michael sighed, "we've been having a dreadful row, but I'm of a -forgiving nature and I'm going to reward her. Monty, touch that button -there, I want Lambart." - -Alice looked at him in wonderment. "What do you mean?" - -"Wait," he said with a chuckle. "Lambart," he commanded, as the butler -stood before him, "bring it in." There was respect in his tone. "It -ought to be at its best now." - -On a silver salver Lambart bore in and presented to his mistress a large -liqueur glass filled with a clear liquid of delicate mauve hue. - -Alice looked at it a little fearfully. "Oh, Mikey," she said, "is this -another new invention?" - -"My best," he said proudly. - -"Can't I share it?" she pleaded. - -"No more than I can my heart," he said firmly. "It is to be named after -you." - -Heroically she gulped it down. - -"Oh, how sweet it is," she exclaimed. - -"I know," he admitted. "But as it isn't sugar you needn't mind. I use -saccharin which is about a thousand times as sweet. And the beauty of -saccharin," he confided to the others, "is that it stays with you. When -I first discovered this Crême d'Alicia as I call it, I tasted it for -days." - -"It's a perfectly divine color," Nora remarked enthusiastically. "I've -always dreamed of a dress exactly that shade. How did you do it?" - -"Experimenting with the coal tar dyes," he said proudly. "I'm getting -rather an expert on coal tar compounds. That color was Perkins' mauve." - -"That was more than mauve," Nora insisted. "I've plenty of mauve -things." - -He raised his hand. "No you don't, Nora! You don't get the result of my -years of close study like that. I'll make you each a present of a bottle -before you go. We'll have it with coffee every night. Mauve was the -foundation upon which I built." - -"It's a little rich for me, Mikey dear," his wife said anxiously. "I -think it will make a far better winter cordial. I'm going upstairs to -see Ethel now." - -He watched her disappear and then turned to Nora and Monty with a -twinkle in his eye. "I think after my labors I need a little cocktail. -In France they call this the _heure de l'aperitif_, as Monty probably -knows, and I have a private bar of my own. Don't give me away, -children." - -Nora looked at her companion with a frown. She had been looking for his -coming, and now when he was here, he had nothing to say. - -"What's the matter with you?" she demanded suddenly. - -"I'm wondering where Steven is," he returned anxiously. "A blow-out -oughtn't to keep him all this time." - -"But what makes you jump so?" she insisted. "You never used to be like -this. Is it St. Vitus's dance?" - -He turned to her with an assumption of freedom from care. - -"I am a bit nervous, Nora," he admitted. "You see, Steven and I are in a -big deal together, and, er, the markets go up and down like the -temperature and it keeps me sorts of anxious." - -"You don't mean to say you've gone into business?" she said. - -"Not exactly," he prevaricated, "and yet I have in a way. It's something -secret." - -"Well," said Nora, with sound common sense, "if it frightens you so, why -go in for it?" - -"Well, everything was kind of tepid in Paris," he explained. - -"Tepid in Paris?" she cried. - -"Why, yes," he told her. "Paris can't always live up to her reputation. -I'd been there studying French banking systems so long that I wanted -some excitement and joined Steve in his scheme." - -"Oh, Monty," she said interested, and sitting on the couch at his side, -"if it's really exciting, tell me everything. Are you being pursued?" - -He looked at her aggrieved. "Now what do you suggest that for?" he -demanded. - -"But what is it?" she insisted. - -"I can't tell you," he said decidedly. "Steve is one of my oldest -friends and I promised him." - -"Oh, yes, I've heard all about him," she cried a little impatiently. -"You and he went to college together and sang, 'A Stein on the Table,' -and went on sprees together and made love to the same girls, and played -on the same teams. I know all that college stuff." - -"But we didn't go to college together," he said. - -"Alice said you did," she returned, "or to school or something together, -but don't take that as an excuse to get reminiscent. I hate men's -reminiscences; they make me so darned envious. I wish I'd been a man, -Monty." - -"I don't," said he smiling. - -"Don't try to flirt with me," she exclaimed, as he edged a little -nearer. - -"Why not?" he demanded. - -"You don't know how," she said and smiled provokingly. - -For a moment Monty forgot pearls and Customs and all unpleasant things. - -"Teach me," he entreated. - -"It can't be taught," she said. "It's got to be born in you." She cast -her eyes down and looked alluringly at him through curling lashes. -There was the opportunity for Monty to see whether he had any skill at -the ancient game, but a sudden numbing nervousness took hold of him. And -while he could have written a prize essay on what he should have done, -he had not the courage to make the attempt. - -"Well?" she said presently. "Go on." - -"I wonder where Steve is?" he said desperately. - -"You're hopeless," she cried exasperated. "I don't know where 'Steve' -is, and I don't care. I hope he's under the car with gasoline dripping -into his eyes." - -Poor Monty groaned; for it was equally true that he at this particular -moment was anxious to forget everything but the pretty girl at his side. - -"Nora," he said nervously, "for the last year there's been something -trembling on my lips--" - -"Oh, Monty," she cried ecstatically, "don't shave it off, I love it!" - -He rose, discomfited, to meet his hostess coming toward him with Miss -Ethel Cartwright, a close friend of hers whom he had never before met. -He noticed Michael quietly working his unobtrusive way back to the -position where Alice had left him, wiping his moustache with -satisfaction. - -"Monty," said Mrs. Harrington, "I don't think you've ever met my very -best friend, Miss Cartwright." - -"How do you do," the girl said smiling. - -"Be kind to him, Ethel," Michael remarked genially. "He's a nice boy and -the idol of the Paris Bourse." - -"And an awful flirt," Nora chimed in. "If I had had a heart he would -have broken it long ago." - -"Do you know," Alice said, "it has never occurred to me to think of -Monty as a flirt. Are you a flirt, Monty?" - -"No," he said indignantly. - -"You needn't be so emphatic when I ask you," she said reprovingly. She -sighed. "I suppose it's one of the penalties of age. I've known him a -disgracefully long time, Ethel, before the Palisades were grown-up." - -"I'm sorry I didn't get down to meet you, Alice," Miss Cartwright said, -"I did mean to, but business detained me." - -"Business in August!" Nora commented. - -"I'm glad you didn't," her hostess observed. "We were disgraced by -having in our merry party a smuggler who was caught with the goods and -narrowly escaped Sing Sing." - -"There you go again," Monty grumbled. "I hate the very sound of the -word." - -"I say, Ethel," Michael observed, watching her closely, "you do look a -bit pale. Business in weather like this doesn't suit you. No bad news, I -hope?" - -He knew that the division of the late Vernon Cartwright's fortune was -very disappointing and might narrow the girls' income considerably. - -"It turned out all right, thank you," the girl answered nervously. - -"How's Amy?" Mr. Harrington asked. He was fond of the Cartwrights and -had known them from childhood. "Why isn't she here?" - -"It isn't to be a big party, Michael," his wife reminded him. "Men are -so scarce in August I didn't ask Amy. She's all right, I hope, Ethel?" - -"Yes, thanks," Miss Cartwright answered. - -"I wonder where Steve is?" Monty said for the fifth time. "He ought to -have that tire fixed by now." - -"I hope he hasn't smashed up," said Alice. - -"So do I," Michael retorted. "It was a mighty good car--almost new--and -I left a silver pocket-flask in it, I remember." - -"Is someone else coming?" Ethel Cartwright asked. - -"A perfectly charming man, a Steven Denby." - -"Steven Denby?" Miss Cartwright cried, her face lighting up. "Really?" - -"Do you know him then?" Mrs. Harrington asked. - -"Indeed I do," she answered. - -"What, you know Steve?" Monty asked in surprise. - -"Tell us about him," Nora besought her. - -"Yes, who is he?" Michael wanted to know. "Alice has been trying to -rouse me to the depths of my jealous nature about him!" - -"Isn't he fascinating?" Alice observed. - -"I can only tell you all," Ethel Cartwright declared, "that I know him. -I met him in Paris a year ago." - -"Didn't you like him?" Alice inquired. - -"I did, very much," the girl said frankly. - -Nora spoke in a disappointed manner. "Well, he's evidently yours for -this week-end." - -"I daresay he won't even remember me," the other girl returned. - -"Oh, I bet he will," said Nora, who was able to give Ethel credit for -her charm and beauty. "I shall just have to stick around with Monty--a -wild tempestuous flirt like Monty!" - -"Oh, I don't mind," Monty said with an air of condescension, "not -particularly." - -"It's time to dress, good people," Michael reminded them. - -"Come on, Nora," Alice said rising. "Come, Monty. Ethel, you'll have to -amuse yourself, as Michael isn't to be depended on." - -"You wrong me, my dear," Michael retorted. "I'm going for my one -solitary cocktail and then I'll be back." - -"And only one, remember," Alice warned him. - -"You know me, my dear," he said, "when I say one." - -"You sometimes mean only one at a time," she laughed. "You are still the -same consistent old Michael. And by the way, if Mr. Denby does happen to -turn up, tell him we'll be down soon." - -"I'll send him in to Ethel if he comes." - -"Yes, please do," the girl said brightly. - -When she was left alone in the big hall, the coolest apartment in the -big house during the afternoon, Ethel Cartwright went to the French -windows and looked out over the smooth lawns to the trees at the back of -them. A long drive wound its way to the highroad, up which she could see -speeding a big motor. The porte-cochère was at the other side of the -house and she retraced her steps to the hall she had left with the hope -of meeting the man she had liked so much a year ago in Paris. - -A minute later he was ushered in, but did not at first see her. Then, as -he looked about the big apartment, he caught sight of the girl, and -stood for a moment staring as though he could hardly venture to believe -it was she. - -"Miss Cartwright," he cried enthusiastically, "is it really you?" - -She took his outstretched hands graciously. "How do you do, Mr. Denby," -she said. - -"Mr. Harrington told me to expect a surprise," he cried, "but I was -certainly not prepared for such a pleasant one as this. How are you?" - -"Splendid," she answered. "And you?" - -"Very, very grateful to be here." - -"I wondered if you'd remember me," she said; "it's a long time ago since -we were in Paris." - -"It was only the day before yesterday," he asserted. - -"And what are you doing here?" she asked. - -"Oh, I thought I'd run over and see if New York was finished yet." - -"Are you still doing--nothing?" she demanded, a tinge of disappointment -in her voice. - -He looked at her with a smile. "Still--nothing," he answered. - -"Ah," she sighed, "I had such hopes of you, a year ago in Paris." - -"And I of you," he said, boldly looking into her eyes. - -Her manner was more distant now. "I'm afraid I don't admire idlers very -much. Why don't you do something? You've ability enough, Mr. Denby." - -"It's so difficult to get a thrill out of business," he complained. - -"And you must have thrills?" she asked. - -"Yes," he answered, "it's such a dull old world nowadays." - -"Then why," she exclaimed jestingly, "why don't you take to crime?" - -"I have thought of it," he laughed, "but the stake's too high--a thrill -against prison." - -"So you want only little thrills then, Mr. Denby?" - -"No," he told her, "I'd like big ones better. Life or even death--but -not prison. And what have you done since I saw you last? You are still -doing nothing, too?" - -"Nothing," she said, smiling. - -"And you're still Miss Cartwright?" - -"_Only_ Miss Cartwright," she corrected. - -"Good," he said, looking at her steadily. "By George, it doesn't seem a -year since that week in Paris. What made you disappear just as we were -having such bully times?" - -"I had to come back to America suddenly. I had only an hour to catch the -boat. I explained all that in my note though. Didn't you even take the -trouble to read it?" - -He looked at her amazed. "I never even received it." There was a touch -of relief in his voice. "So you sent me a note! Do you know, I thought -you'd dropped me, and I tell you I hit with an awful crash." - -"I sent it by a porter and even gave him a franc," she smiled. "I ought -to have given him five." - -"I'd willingly have given him fifty," Denby said earnestly. "It wasn't -nice to think that I'd been dropped like that." - -"And I thought you'd dropped me," she said. - -"I should say not," he exclaimed. "I was over here six months ago and I -did try to see you, but you were at Palm Beach. I can't tell you how -often I've sent you telepathic messages," he added whimsically. "Ever -get any of 'em?" - -"Some of them, I think," she said smiling. "And now to think we've met -here on Long Island. It's a far cry to Paris." - -"For me it's people who make places--the places themselves don't -matter--you and I are here," he said gently. - -The girl sighed a little. "Still, Paris is Paris," she insisted. - -"Rather!" he answered, sighing too. "Do you remember that afternoon in -front of the Café de la Paix? We had _vin gris_ and watched the -Frenchman with the funny dog, and the boys calling _La Presse_, and the -woman who made you buy some 'North Wind' for me, and the people crowding -around the newspaper kiosks." - -In the adjoining room Nora was strumming the piano, and was now playing -"_Un Peu d'Amour_." She had looked in the hall and finding the stranger -so wholly absorbed in Ethel Cartwright, had retired to solitude. - -"And do you remember the hole in the table-cloth?" Ethel demanded. - -"And wasn't it a dirty table-cloth?" he reminded her. "And afterwards we -had tea in the Bois at the Cascade and the Hungarian Band played '_Un -Peu d'Amour_.'" He looked at the girl smiling. "How did you arrange to -have that played just at the right moment?" - -They listened in silence for a moment to the dainty melody, and then she -hummed a few bars of it. Her thoughts were evidently far away from Long -Island. - -"And don't you remember that poor skinny horse in our fiacre?" she asked -him. "He was so tired he fell down, and we walked home in pity." - -"Ah, you were tender-hearted," he sighed. - -"And we had dinner at Vian's afterwards," she reminded him, and then, -after a pause: "Wasn't the soup awful?" - -"Ah, but the string-beans were an event," he asserted. "And that -evening, I remember, there was a moon over the Bois, and we sat under -the trees. Have you forgotten that?" - -"I don't think that would be very easy," she said softly. - -"And we went through the Louvre the next day," he said eagerly, "the -whole Louvre in an hour, and the loveliest picture I saw there -was--_you_." - -Denby glanced up with a frown as Lambart's gentle footfall was heard, -and rose to his feet a trifle embarrassed by this intrusion. Lambart -came to a respectful pause at Miss Cartwright's side. - -"Pardon me," he said, "but there is a gentleman to see you." She took a -card that was on the tray he held before her. - -"To see me?" she cried, startled, gazing at the card. Denby, watching -her closely, saw her grow, as he thought, pale. "Ask him to come in. Mr. -Denby," she said, "will you forgive me?" - -"Surely," he assented, walking toward the great stairway. "I have to -dress, anyway." - -"Your room is at the head of the stairs," Lambart reminded him. "All -your luggage is taken in, sir." - -Denby looked down at her. "Till dinner?" he asked. - -"Till dinner," she said, and watched him pass out of sight. She was a -girl whose poise of manner prevented the betrayal of vivid emotion in -any but a certain subdued fashion. But it was plain she was laboring now -under an agitation that amounted almost to deadly fear. - -A few seconds later Daniel Taylor strode in with firm assured tread and -looked at the luxurious surroundings with approval. - -"Good evening, Miss Cartwright," he exclaimed genially. "Good evening." - -"My sister," she returned, trembling, "nothing's happened to her? She's -all right?" - -"Sure, sure," he returned reassuringly, "I haven't bothered her; the -little lady's all right, don't you worry." - -"Then what do you want here?" she cried alarmed. No matter what his -manner this man had menace in every look and gesture. She had never been -brought into contact with one who gave in so marked a degree the -impression of ruthless strength. - -"I thought I'd drop in with reference to our little chat this -afternoon," he remarked easily. "Nice place they've got here." - -"But I don't understand why you have come," she persisted. - -"You haven't forgotten our little conversation, I hope?" - -"Of course not," she said. - -"Well," he continued, "you said when I needed you, you'd be ready." He -looked about him cautiously as though fearing interruption. "I said it -might be a year, or it might be a month, or it might be to-night. Well, -it's to-night, Miss Cartwright. I need you right now." - -"Now?" she said puzzled. "Still, I don't understand." - -He lowered his voice. "A man has smuggled a two hundred thousand dollar -necklace through the Customs to-day. For various reasons which you -wouldn't understand, we allowed him to slip through, thinking he'd -fooled us. Now that he believes himself safe, it ought to be easy to get -that necklace. We've got to get it; and we're going to get it, through -one of our agents." He pointed a forefinger at her. "We're going to get -it through you." - -"But I shouldn't know how to act," she protested, "or what to do." - -Taylor smiled. "You're too modest, Miss Cartwright. I've seen some of -your work in my own office, and I think you'll be successful." - -"But don't you see I'm staying here over Sunday?" she explained. "I -can't very well make an excuse and leave now." - -"You don't have to leave," he told her. - -"What do you mean, then?" she demanded. - -"That the man who smuggled the necklace is staying here, too. His name -is Steven Denby." - -"Steven Denby!" the girl cried, shrinking away from him. "Oh, no, you -must be mad--he isn't a smuggler." - -"Why isn't he?" Taylor snapped. - -"I know him," she explained. - -"You do?" he cried. "Where did you meet him?" - -"In Paris," she replied. - -"How long have you known him?" - -"Just about a year," she answered. - -"What do you know about him?" Taylor asked quickly. It was evident that -her news seemed very important to him. "What's his business? How does he -make his living? Do you know his people?" - -"I don't think he does anything," she said hesitatingly. - -"Nothing, eh?" Taylor laughed disagreeably. "I suppose you think that's -clear proof he couldn't be a smuggler?" - -"I'm sure you are wrong," she said with spirit; "he's my friend." - -"Your friend!" Taylor returned. His manner from that of the bluff -cross-examiner changed to one that had something confidential and -friendly in it. "Why, that ought to make it easier." - -"Easier?" she repeated. "What do you mean by that?" - -"Well, you can get into his confidence. See?" - -"But you're wrong," she said indignantly. "I'm sure he is absolutely -innocent." - -"Then you'll be glad of a chance to prove we're wrong and you're right." - -"But I couldn't spy on a friend," she declared. - -"If your friend is innocent it won't do him any harm," Taylor observed, -"and he'd never know. But if he's guilty he deserves punishment, and -you've no right to try and protect him. Any person would only be doing -right in helping to detect a criminal; but you,"--he paused -significantly,--"it's just as much your duty as it is mine." He showed -her his gold badge of authority for a brief moment, and although it -terrified her there was too much loyalty in her nature to betray a -friend or even to spy upon one. - -"No, no! I can't do it," she said. - -"So you're going back on your agreement," he sneered. "Two can play that -game. Suppose I go back on mine, too?" - -"You wouldn't do that," she cried horrified at his threat. - -"Why not?" he returned. "It's give and take in this world." - -"But I couldn't be so contemptible." - -Taylor shrugged his shoulders. "If I were you I'd think it over," he -recommended. - -"But supposing you're wrong," she said earnestly. "Suppose he has no -necklace?" - -"Don't let that disturb you," he retorted. "Our information is positive. -We got a telegram late this afternoon from a pal of his who squealed, -giving us a tip about it. Now what do you say?" - -"I can't," she said, "I can't." - -He came closer, and said in a low harsh voice: "Remember, it's Steven -Denby or your sister. There's no other way out. Which are you going to -choose?" - -He watched her pale face eagerly. "Well," he cried, "which is it to be?" - -"I have no choice," she answered dully. "What do you want me to do?" - -"Good," Taylor cried approvingly. "That's the way to talk! Denby has -that necklace concealed in a brown leather tobacco-pouch which he always -carries in his pocket. You must get me that pouch." - -"How can I?" she asked despairingly. - -"I'll leave that to you," he answered. - -"But couldn't you do it?" she pleaded. "Or one of your men? Why ask me?" - -"It may be a bluff, some clever scheme to throw me off the track and I'm -not going to risk a mix-up with the Harringtons or tip my hand till I'm -absolutely sure. It don't pay me to make big mistakes. You say Denby's -your friend, well, then, it'll be easy to find out. If you discover that -the necklace is in the tobacco-pouch, get him to go for a walk in the -garden; say you want to look at the moon, say anything, so long as you -get him into the garden where we'll be on the lookout and grab him." - -"But he might go out there alone," she suggested. - -"If he does," Taylor assured her, "we won't touch him, but if he comes -out there with you, we'll _know_." - -"But if I can't get him into the garden?" she urged. "Something may -happen to prevent me!" - -"If you're sure he has it on him," Taylor instructed her, "or if you -make out where it is concealed, pull down one of these window-shades. My -men and I can see these from the garden. When we get your signal we'll -come in and arrest him. Sure you understand?" - -"I'm to pull down the window-shade," she repeated. - -"That's it, but be careful, mind. Don't bring him out in the garden, -and don't signal unless you are absolutely certain." - -"Yes, yes," she said. - -"And under no circumstances," he commanded, "must you mention my name." - -"But," she argued, "suppose--" - -"There's no 'buts' and no 'supposes' in it," he said sharply. "It's most -important to the United States Government and to me, that my identity is -in no way disclosed." - -"It may be necessary," she persisted. - -"It _cannot_ be necessary," he said with an air of finality. "If it -comes to a show-down and you tell Denby I'm after him, I'll not only -swear I never saw you, but I'll put your sister in prison. Now, good -night, Miss Cartwright, and remember you've got something at stake, too, -so don't forget--Denby to-night." - -He went silently through the French windows and disappeared, leaving her -to face for the second time in a day an outlook that seemed hopeless. - -But she was not the only one in the great Harrington mansion to feel -that little zest was left in life. Monty was obsessed with the idea that -his friend's long delay was due to his having been held up. The -automobile lends itself admirably to highway robbery, and it would be -easy enough for armed robbers to overpower Denby and the chauffeur. - -Directly he heard Denby's voice talking to Lambart as he was shown into -his room, Monty burst in and wrung his hands again and again. - -"Why, Monty," his friend said, "you overpower me." - -"I thought you'd been held up and robbed," the younger man cried. - -"Neither one nor the other," Denby said cheerfully, "I was merely the -victim of two blow-outs. But," he added, looking keenly at his -confederate, "if I had been held up the pearls wouldn't have been taken. -I didn't happen to have them with me." - -"Thank God!" Monty cried fervently. "I wondered if that telegraphing to -people was just a ruse or not. Hooray, I feel I can eat and drink and be -merrier than I've been for a month. I never want to hear about them -again." - -"I'm sorry, old man," Denby said smiling, "but I shall have to ask you -for them." - -"Me?" Monty stammered. "Don't joke, Steve." - -"But you very kindly brought them over for me," Denby returned mildly. -"They're in the right-hand shoe of a pair of buckskin tennis shoes. I -put them there when I helped you to repack your trunk. Do you mind -bringing them before I've finished dressing?" - -Monty looked at him reproachfully. "Sometimes I think I ought to have -gone into the ministry. I'm getting a perfect horror of crime." - -"You're not a criminal," Denby said. "You helped me out on the voyage, -but here you are free to do as you like." - -Monty set his jaw firmly. "I'm in it with you, Steve, till you've got -the damned things where you want 'em, and you can't prevent me, either." - -When he brought the precious necklace back Denby calmly placed the pouch -in his pocket. "Thanks, old man," he said casually. "Now the fun -begins." - -"Fun!" Monty snorted. "Do you remember the classic remark of the frog -who was pelted by small mischievous boys? 'This may be the hell of a -joke to you,' said the frog, 'but it's death to me.'" - -"I've always been sorry for that frog," Denby commented. - -"But, man alive, you are the frog," Monty cried. - -"Oh, no," Denby returned, making a tie that had no likeness to a vast -butterfly. - -"Your frog hadn't a ghost of a chance, and he knew it, while with me -it's an even chance. One oughtn't to ask any more than that in these -hard times." - -He sauntered down the stairs cool and debonair to find Ethel Cartwright -still looking listlessly across the green lawns. - -"Those gentle chimes," he said, as the dinner-gong pealed out, "call the -faithful to dinner. I wish it were in Paris, don't you?" - -She pulled herself together and tried to smile as she had done before -Taylor had dashed all her joy to the ground. - -"Aren't you hungering for string-beans?" he asked, "and the hole in the -table-cloth, and the gay old moon? But after all, what do they matter -now? You're here, and I'm hungry." He offered her his arm. "Aren't you -hungry, too?" - - - - -CHAPTER NINE - - -Very much to Denby's disappointment he found that he was not to take -Ethel Cartwright in to dinner. Nora Rutledge fell to his lot, and -although she was witty and sparkling, she shared none of those happy -Parisian memories as did the girl his host had taken in. - -Plainly Nora was piqued. "I thought from what Monty told me you were -really interesting," she said. - -"One must never believe anything Monty says," he observed. "It's only -his air of innocence that makes people think him honest. His flirtations -on board ship were nothing short of scandalous and yet look at him now." - -And poor Monty, although to him had fallen the honor of taking in his -hostess, was paying no sort of attention to her sallies. - -Nora glanced at him and then looked up at Denby. "I'm really awfully -fond of Monty, and I'm worried--if you'll believe it--because he seems -upset. Monty," she called, "what's the matter with you, and what are you -thinking about?" - -"Frogs," he said promptly. - -"We'll have some to-morrow," Michael observed amiably. "They induce in -me a most remarkable thirst, so I keep off them on that account." - -"He's thinking," Denby reminded her, "of the old song, 'A frog he would -a-wooing go!' I've heard of you often enough, Miss Rutledge, from -Monty." - -"Well, I wish you'd started being confidential with the _hors -d'oeuvres_," she said, "instead of waiting until dessert. If you had, -by this time you'd probably have been really amusing." - -She rose at Mrs. Harrington's signal and followed her from the room. - -"What I can't see," observed she, "is why we didn't stay and have our -cigarettes with the men." - -"I always leave them together," Alice Harrington said with a laugh, -"because that's the way to get the newest naughty stories. Michael -always tells 'em to me later." - -"Alice!" cried Nora with mock reproof. - -"Oh, I like 'em," Alice declared, "when they're really funny, and so -does everybody else. Besides, nowadays it's improper to be proper. -Cigarette, Ethel?" - -Miss Cartwright shook her head. "You know I don't smoke," she returned. - -Nora lighted a cigarette unskilfully. "That's so old-fashioned," she -said, in her most sophisticated manner, "and I'd rather die than be -that." She coughed as she drew in a fragrant breath of Egyptian tobacco. -"I do wish, though, that I really enjoyed smoking." - -"What do you think of our new friend, Mr. Denby?" Alice asked of her. - -"I like him in spite of the fact that he hardly noticed me. He couldn't -take his eyes off Ethel." - -"I saw that myself," Mrs. Harrington returned. "You know, Ethel, I meant -him to take you in to dinner, but Nora insisted that she sit next to -him. She's such a man-hunter!" - -"You bet I am," the wise Nora admitted--"that's the only way you can get -'em." - -Mrs. Harrington turned to Ethel Cartwright. "Didn't you and Mr. Denby -have a tiny row? You hardly spoke to him through dinner." - -"Didn't I?" the girl answered. "I've a bit of a headache." - -"I'll bet they had a lovers' quarrel before dinner," Nora hazarded. - -Alice Harrington arched her eyebrows in surprise. "A lovers' quarrel!" - -"Certainly," Nora insisted. "I'm sure Ethel is in love with him." - -"How perfectly ridiculous," Ethel said, with a trace of embarrassment in -her manner. "Don't be so silly, Nora. I met him for a week in Paris, -that's all, and I found him interesting. He had big talk as well as -small, but as for love--please don't be idiotic!" - -"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," laughed her hostess. - -"I don't blame you, Ethel," Nora admitted frankly. "If he'd give me a -chance I'd fall for him in a minute, but attractive young men never -bother about me. The best I can draw is--Monty! I'm beginning to dislike -the whole sex." - -"Theoretically you are quite right, my dear," said the maturer Alice; -"men are awful things--God bless 'em--but practically, well, some day -you'll explode like a bottle of champagne and bubble all over some man." - -"Speaking of champagne," Nora said after a disbelieving gesture at the -prophecy, "I wish I had another of Michael's purple drinks. He's a -genius." - -"Do tell him that," the fond wife urged. "The very surest way to -Michael's heart is through his buffet. I knew he'd taken to mixing -cocktails in a graduated chemist's glass, but this excursion into the -chemistry of drinks is rather alarming. He would have been a most -conscientious bartender." - -"Does he really drink much?" Nora demanded. - -"Not when I'm at home," Alice declared. "Nothing after one. If he goes -to bed then he's all right; if he doesn't, he sits up till five going -the pace that fills. I wouldn't mind if it made him amusing, but it -makes him merely sleepy. But he doesn't drink nearly as much as most of -the men he knows. What makes you think he does, is that he makes such a -ceremony out of drinking. I don't think he enjoys drinking alone. Nora," -she added, "do sit down; you make me dizzy." - -"I can't," Nora told her. "I always stand up for twenty minutes after -each meal. It keeps you thin." - -"Does it?" Mrs. Harrington asked eagerly, rising from her comfortable -chair. "Does it really? Still, I lost nine pounds abroad!" - -"Goodness!" Nora cried enviously. "How?" - -"Buttermilk!" Alice cried triumphantly. - -"And I walked four miles this morning in a rubber suit and three -sweaters, _and_ gained half a pound," Nora declared disconsolately. - -"I do wish hips would come in again," Alice Harrington sighed. "Ah, here -come the men," she said more brightly, as the three entered. - -Michael was still bearing, with what modesty he could, the encomiums on -a purple punch he had brewed after exhaustive laboratory experiments. - -"It's delicious," Denby declared. - -Michael sighed. "I used to think so until my wife stopped my drinking." - -Even Monty seemed cheered by it. "Fine stuff," he asserted. "I can feel -it warming up all the little nooks and crannies." - -"Purple but pleasing," Denby said, with the air of an epigrammatist. - -"Did they tell you any purple stories?" Michael's wife demanded. - -"We don't know any new stories," Denby told her; "we've been in -England." - -"Do sit down, all of you," Alice commanded. "We've all been standing up -to get thin." - -"If they're going to discuss getting thin and dietetics," Michael said, -"let's get out." - -"Woman's favorite topic," Monty remarked profoundly. - -"But you mustn't sit down, Alice," Nora warned, as her hostess seemed -about to sink into her chair. "It isn't twenty minutes!" - -"Well, I think it is twenty minutes," she returned smiling, "and if it -isn't I don't care a continental." - -"Women are so self-denying," Michael Harrington observed with gentle -satire. - -"And sometimes it pays," his wife said. "Do you know, Nora, there was a -girl on the boat who lost twelve pounds." - -"Twelve pounds," Michael exclaimed, and then by a rapid-fire bit of -mental arithmetic added: "Why, that's sixty dollars. How women do gamble -nowadays!" - -"Pounds of flesh, Michael, pounds of flesh. She was on a diet. She -didn't eat for three days." - -"That's not a bad idea," Nora said approvingly. "Sometime when I'm not -hungry I'll try it." - -Ethel Cartwright had refrained from joining in the conversation for the -reason she had no part just now in their lighter moods. Their talk of -weight losing had been well enough, but Michael's misinterpretation of -the twelve pounds brought back to her the cause of Amy's misfortune and -plunged her deeper into misery. - -She walked toward the window and looked over the grass to the deep gloom -of the cedar trees opposite. And it seemed to her that there were moving -shadows that might be Taylor and his men ready to pounce upon a man to -whom a year ago she had been deeply drawn. There was a charm about Denby -when he set himself to please a woman to which she, although no blushing -ingénue, was keenly sensible. - -"Seeing ghosts?" said a voice at her elbow, and she turned, startled, -to see his smiling face looking down at her. - -She assumed a lighter air. "No," she told him brightly. "Ghosts belong -to the past. I was seeing spirits of the future." - -"Can't we see them together?" he suggested. "I shall never tire of -Parisian ghosts if you are there to keep me from being too scared. Let's -go out and see if the moon looks good-tempered. The others are talking -about smuggling and light and airy nothings like that. Shall we?" - -"No, no!" she said, with a tremor in her voice that did not escape him. -"Not yet; later, perhaps." - -She could, in fact, hardly compose her face. Here he was suggesting that -she take him into a trap to be prepared later by her treachery. But she -had what seemed to her a duty to perform, and no sentiment must stand in -the way of her sister's salvation. And there was always the hope that he -was innocent. At any other time than this she would have wagered he was -without blame; but this was a day on which misfortunes were visiting -her, and she was filled with dread as to its outcome. - -She moved over to Mrs. Harrington's side, gracefully and slowly, free so -far as the ordinary observer could see from any care. - -"So you are talking of smuggling," she said. "Alice, did you really -bring in anything without paying duty on it?" - -"Not a thing," Alice returned promptly. "I declared every solitary -stitch." - -"I'd like to believe you," her husband remarked, "but knowing you as I -do--" - -"I paid seven hundred dollars' duty," his spouse declared. - -"Disgusting!" Nora exclaimed. "Think of what you could have bought for -that!" - -"Please tell me," Michael inquired anxiously, "what mental revolution -converted you from the idea that smuggling was a legitimate and noble -sport?" - -"I still don't think it's wrong," Alice declared honestly. "Some of you -men seem to, but I'd swindle the government any day." - -"Then, for Heaven's sake," Nora wanted to know, "why waste all that good -money?" - -Alice waved a jewelled white hand toward Steven Denby. - -"Behold my reformer!" - -Ethel Cartwright looked at him quickly. Her distrust of motives was the -result of her conversation with Daniel Taylor, who believed in no man's -good faith. - -"Mr. Denby?" she asked, almost suspiciously. - -"What has Mr. Denby to do with it?" Nora cried, equally surprised that -it was his influence which had stayed the wilful Alice. - -"He frightened me," Alice averred. - -"I want to have a good look at the man who can do that," Michael cried. - -"I'm afraid Mrs. Harrington is exaggerating," Denby explained patiently; -"I merely pointed out that things had come to a pass when it might be -very awkward to fool with the Customs." - -"They didn't give us the least bit of trouble at the dock," she -answered. "I wish I'd brought in a trunk full of dutiable things. They -hardly looked at my belongings." - -"That sometimes means," Denby explained, "that there will be the -greatest possible trouble afterwards." - -"I don't see that," Nora asserted. "How can it be?" - -"Well," he returned, "according to some articles in McClure's a few -months ago by Burns, very often a dishonest official will let a -prominent woman like Mrs. Harrington slip through the lines without the -least difficulty--even if she is smuggling--so that afterwards he can -come to her home and threaten exposure and a heavy fine. Usually the -woman or her husband will pay any amount to hush things up. I was -thinking of that when I advised Mrs. Harrington to declare everything -she had." - -"But you said a whole lot more than that," Mrs. Harrington reminded him. -"When our baggage was being examined at Dover, you spoke about that man -of mystery who is known as R. J. It was cumulative, Mr. Denby, and on -the whole you did it rather well. My bank-book is a living witness to -your eloquence." - -Ethel asked rather eagerly, "But this R. J., Mr. Denby, what is he?" - -"I've heard of him," Michael answered. "Some man at the club told me -about him, but I very soon sized that matter up. If you want to know my -opinion, Ethel, R. J. is the bogey man of the Customs. If they suspect -an inspector he receives a postal signed R. J., and telling him to watch -out. It's a great scheme, which I recommend to the heads of big business -corporations. I don't believe in R. J." - -Ethel looked up at Denby brightly. "But you really believe in him, don't -you?" - -"I only know," he told her, "that R. J. has many enemies because he has -made many discoveries. Unquestionably he does exist for all Mr. -Harrington's unbelief. He's supposed to be one of these impossible -secret service agents, travelling incognito all over the globe. He is -known only by his initials. Some people call him the storm-petrel, -always in the wake of trouble. Where there is intrigue among nations, -diplomatic tangles, if the Japs steal a fortification plan, or a German -cross-country aeroplane is sent to drop a bomb on the Singer Building, -R.J. is supposed to be there to catch it." - -"What an awfully unpleasant position," Nora shuddered. - -"Think of a man deliberately choosing a job like that!" Monty commented. - -"So," Denby continued, "when a friend of mine in Paris told me that R.J. -had been requested by the government to investigate Customs frauds, I -knew there would be more danger in the smuggling game than ever. I -warned Mrs. Harrington because I did not want to see her humiliated by -exposure." - -"That's mighty good of you, Denby," Michael said appreciatively; "but -all the same I don't see how--supposing she had slipped in without any -fuss some stuff she had bought in Paris or London and ought to have -declared--I don't see how if they didn't know it, they could blackmail -her." - -"That's the simplest part of it," Denby assured him. "The clerk in the -kind of store your wife would patronize is most often a government spy, -unofficially, and directly after he has assured the purchaser that it -is so simple to smuggle, and one can hide things so easily, he has -cabled the United States Customs what you bought and how much it cost." - -"They do that?" said Michael indignantly. "I never did trust Frenchmen, -the sneaks. I've no doubt that the _heure de l'aperitif_ was introduced -by an American." - -Miss Cartwright had been watching Denby closely. There was forced upon -her the unhappy conviction that this explanation of the difficulties of -smuggling was in a sense his way of boasting of a difficulty he had -overcome. And she alone of all who were listening had the key to this. -It was imperative--for the dread of Taylor and his threats had eaten -into her soul--to gain more explicit information. Her manner was almost -coquettish as she asked him: - -"Tell me truly, Mr. Denby, didn't you smuggle something, just one tiny -little scarf-pin, for example?" - -"Nothing," he returned. "What makes you think I did?" - -"It seemed to me," she said boldly, "that your fear that Mrs. Harrington -might be caught was due to the fear suspicion might fall on you." - -Denby looked at her curiously. He had never seen Ethel Cartwright in -this mood. He wondered at what she was driving. - -"It does sound plausible," he admitted. - -"Then 'fess up," Michael urged. "Come on, Denby, what did you bring in?" - -"Myself and Monty," Denby returned, "and he isn't dutiable. All the -smuggling that our party did was performed by Monty out of regard for -you." - -"I still remain unconvinced," Ethel Cartwright declared obstinately. "I -think it was two thoughts for yourself and one for Alice." - -"Now, Denby," Michael cried jocularly, "you're among friends. Where have -you hidden the swag?" - -"Do tell us," Nora entreated. "It'd be so nice if you were a criminal -and had your picture in the rogues' gallery. The only criminals I know -are those who just run over people in their motors, and that gets so -commonplace. Do tell us how you started on a life of crime." - -"Nora!" Monty cried reprovingly. Things were increasing his nervousness -to a horrible extent. Why wouldn't they leave smuggling alone? - -"I'm not interested in your endeavors," Nora said superciliously. -"You're only a sort of petty larceny smuggler with your silver -hair-brushes. Mr. Denby does things on a bigger scale. You're safe with -us, Mr. Denby," she reminded him. - -"I know," he answered, "so safe that if I had any dark secrets to reveal -I'd proclaim them with a loud voice." - -"That's always the way," Nora complained. "Every time I meet a man who -seems exciting he turns out to be just a nice man--I hate nice men." She -crossed over to the agitated Monty. - -"Mr. Denby is a great disappointment to me, too," Ethel Cartwright -confessed. "Couldn't you invent a new way to smuggle?" - -"It wasn't for lack of inventive powers," he assured her, "it was just -respect for the law." - -"I didn't know we had any left in America," Michael observed, and then -added, "but then you've lived a lot abroad, Denby." - -"Mr. Denby must be rewarded with a cigarette," Ethel declared, bringing -the silver box from the mantel and offering him one. "A cigarette, Mr. -Denby?" - -"Thanks, no," he answered, "I prefer to roll my own if you don't mind." - -It seemed that the operation of rolling a cigarette was amazingly -interesting to the girl. Her eager eyes fastened themselves intently on -a worn pigskin pouch he carried. - -"Can't you do it with one hand?" she asked disappointedly; "just like -cowboys do in plays?" - -"It seems I'm doomed to disappoint you," he smiled. "I find two hands -barely sufficient." - -"Sometime you must roll me one," she said. "Will you?" - -"With pleasure," he returned, lighting his own. - -"But you don't smoke," Alice objected. - -"Ah, but I've been tempted," she confessed archly. - -"The only thing that makes my life worth living is yielding to -temptation," Nora observed. - -"That's not a bad idea," Michael said rising. "I'm tempted to take a -small drink. Who'll yield with me and split a pint of Brut Imperial?" - -"That's your last drink to-night," his wife warned him. - -"I'm not likely to forget it," he said ruefully. "My wife," he told the -company, "thinks I'm a restaurant, and closes me up at one sharp." - -"Let's have some bridge," Mrs. Harrington suggested. "Ethel, what do you -say?" - -"I've given it up," she answered. - -"Why, you used to love it," Nora asserted, surprised. - -"I've come to think all playing for money is horrible," Ethel returned, -thinking to what trouble Amy's gambling had brought her. - -"Me too," Michael chimed in. "Unless stocks go up, or the Democratic -party goes down, I'll be broke soon. How about a game of pool?" - -"I'd love to," Nora said. "I've been dying to learn." - -"That'll make it a nice interesting game," Monty commented. He knew he -could never make a decent shot until the confounded necklace was miles -away. - -"Then there's nothing else to do but dance," Alice decreed. "Come, -Nora." - -"No," Michael cried, "I'll play pool or auction or poker, I'll sit or -talk or sing, but I'm hanged if I hesitate and get lost, or maxixe!" - -Alice shook her head mournfully. "Ah, Michael," she said, "if you were -only as light-footed as you are light-headed, what a partner you'd make. -We are going to dance anyway." - -Ethel hesitated at the doorway. "Aren't you dancing or playing pool, Mr. -Denby?" - -"In just a moment," he said. "First I have a word to say to Monty." - -"I understand," she returned. "Man's god--business! Men use that excuse -over the very littlest things sometimes." - -"But this is a big thing," he asserted; "a two hundred thousand dollar -proposition, so we're naturally a bit anxious." - -Monty shook his head gravely. "Mighty anxious, believe me." - -Whatever hope she might have cherished that Taylor was wrong, and this -man she liked so much was innocent, faded when she heard the figure two -hundred thousand dollars. That was the amount of the necklace's value, -exactly. And she had wondered at Monty's strained, nervous manner. Now -it became very clear that he was Denby's accomplice, dreading, and -perhaps knowing as well as she, that the house was surrounded. - -She told herself that the law was just, and those who disobeyed were -guilty and should be punished; and that she was an instrument, -impersonal, and as such, without blame. But uppermost in her mind was -the thought of black treachery, of mean intriguing ways, and the -certainty that this night would see the end of her friendship with the -man she had sworn to deliver to the ruthless, cruel, insatiable Taylor. -It was, as Taylor told her, a question of deciding between two people. -She could help, indirectly, to convict a clever smuggler, or she could -send her weak, dependent, innocent eighteen-year-old sister to jail. And -she had said to Taylor: "I have no choice." - -Denby looked at her a little puzzled. In Paris, a year ago, she had -seemed a sweet, natural girl, armed with a certain dignity that would -not permit men to become too friendly on short acquaintance. And here it -seemed that she was almost trying to flirt with him in a wholly -different way. He was not sure that her other manner was not more in -keeping with the ideal he had held of her since that first meeting. - -"I should be anxious, too," she said, "if I had all that money at stake. -But all the same, don't be too long. I think I may ask you for that -cigarette presently." - - - - -CHAPTER TEN - - -Denby stood looking after her. "Bully, bully girl," he muttered. - -"Anything wrong, Steve?" Monty inquired, not catching what he said. - -Denby turned to the speaker slowly; his thoughts had been more -pleasantly engaged. - -"I don't understand why they haven't done anything," he answered. "I'm -certain we were followed at the dock. When I went to send those -telegrams I saw a man who seemed very much disinterested, but kept near -me. I saw him again when we had our second blow-out near Jamaica. It -might have been a coincidence, but I'm inclined to think they've marked -us down." - -"I don't believe it," Monty cried. "If they had the least idea about the -necklace, they'd have pinched you at the pier, or got you on the road -when it was only you and the chauffeur against their men." - -Still Denby seemed dubious. "They let me in too dashed easily," he -complained, "and I can't help being suspicious." - -"They seemed to suspect me," Monty reminded him. - -"The fellow thought you were laughing at him, that's all. They've no -sense of humor," Denby returned. "What I said to-night was no fiction, -Monty. Cartier's may have tipped the Customs after all." - -"But you paid Harlow a thousand dollars," Monty declared. - -"He wasn't the only one to know I had bought the pearls, though," Denby -observed thoughtfully. "It looks fishy to me. They may have some new -wrinkles in the Customs." - -"That damned R. J.," Monty said viciously, "I'd like to strangle him." - -"It would make things easier," Denby allowed. - -"All the same," Monty remarked, "I think we've both been too fidgety." - -"Dear old Monty," his friend said, smiling, "if you knew the game as I -do, and had hunted men and been hunted by them as I have, you'd not -blame me for being a little uneasy now." - -With apprehension Monty watched him advance swiftly toward the switch on -the centre wall by the window. "Get over by that window," he commanded, -and Monty hurriedly obeyed him. Then he turned off the lights, leaving -the room only faintly illuminated by the moonlight coming through the -French windows. - -"What the devil's up?" Monty asked excitedly. - -"Is there anyone there on the lawn?" - -Monty peered anxiously through the glass. "No," he whispered, and then -added: "Yes, there's a man over there by the big oak. By Jove, there -is!" - -"What's he doing?" the other demanded. - -"Just standing and looking over this way." - -"He's detailed to watch the house. Anybody else with him?" - -"Not that I can see." - -"Come away, Monty," Denby called softly, and when his friend was away -from observation, he switched on the light again. "Now," he asked, "do -you believe that we were followed?" - -"The chills are running down my spine," Monty confessed. "Gee, Steve, I -hope it won't come to a gun fight." - -"They won't touch you," Denby said comfortingly; "they want me." - -"I don't know," Monty said doubtfully. "They'll shoot first, and then -ask which is you." - -Denby was unperturbed. "I think we've both been too fidgety," he -quoted. - -"But why don't they come in?" Monty asked apprehensively. - -"They're staying out there to keep us prisoners," he was told. - -"Then I hope they'll stop there," Monty exclaimed fervently. - -"I can't help thinking," Denby said, knitting his brows, "that they've -got someone in here on the inside, working under cover to try to get the -necklace. What do you know about the butler, Lambart? Is he a new man?" - -"Lord, no," Monty assured him. "He has been with Michael five years, and -worships him. You'd distress Lambart immeasurably if you even hinted -he'd ever handed a plate to a smuggler." - -"We've got to find out who it is," Denby said decidedly, "and then, -Monty, we'll have some sport." - -"Then we'll have some shooting," Monty returned in disgust. "Where is -that confounded necklace anyway? Is Michael carrying it around without -knowing it?" - -"Still in my pouch," Denby returned. - -As he said this, Miss Cartwright very gently opened a door toward which -his back was turned. Terrified at the thought of Taylor's possible -intrusion, she had been spurred to some sort of action, and had -sauntered back to the big hall with the hope of overhearing something -that would aid her. - -"I know they mean business," she heard Denby say, "and this is going to -be a fight, Monty, and a fight to a finish." - -The thought that there might presently be scenes of violence enacted in -the hospitable Harrington home, scenes in which she had a definite rôle -to play, which might lead even to the death of Denby as it certainly -must lead to his disgrace, drove her nearly to hysteria. Taylor had -inspired her with a great horror, and at the same time a great respect -for his power and courage. She did not see how a man like Steven Denby -could win in a contest between himself and the brutal deputy-surveyor. -"Oh," she sighed, "if they were differently placed! If Steven stood for -the law and Taylor for crime!" - -Everything favored Taylor, it seemed to her. Denby was alone except for -Monty's faltering aid, while the other had his men at hand and, above -all, the protection of the law. It was impossible to regard Taylor as -anything other than a victor making war on men or women and moved by -nothing to pity. What other man than he would have tortured her poor -little sister, she wondered. - -To a woman used through the exigencies of circumstances to making her -living in a business world where competition brought with it rivalries, -trickeries and jealousies, the ordeal to be faced would have been almost -overwhelming. - -But the Cartwrights had lived a sheltered life, the typical happy family -life where there is wealth, and none until to-day had ever dared to -speak to Ethel as Taylor had done. She was almost frantic with the -knowledge that she must play the spy, the eavesdropper, perhaps the -Delilah among people who trusted her. - -As she was debating what next to do, she heard Monty's voice as it -seemed to her fraught with excitement and eager and quick. - -"Will you have a cigarette, Dick?" she heard him call. Instantly Steven -Denby wheeled about and faced the door through which she appeared to -saunter languidly. Something told her that Monty had discovered her. - -"Still talking business?" she said, attempting to appear wholly at ease. -"I've left my fan somewhere." - -"Girls are always doing that, aren't they?" Denby said pleasantly. There -was no indication from his tone that he suspected she had been -listening. "We'll have to find it, Monty." - -"Sure, Steve, sure," Monty returned. He was not able to cloak his -uneasiness. - -"Steve?" the girl queried brightly. "As I came in, I thought I heard you -call him 'Dick.'" - -"That was our private signal," Denby returned promptly, relieving poor -Monty of an answer. - -"That sounds rather mysterious," she commented. - -"But it's only commonplace," Denby assured her. "My favorite parlor -trick is making breaks--it always has been since Monty first knew -me--and invented a signal to warn me when I'm on thin ice or dangerous -ground. 'Will you have a cigarette, Dick' is the one he most often -uses." - -"But why 'Dick?'" she asked. - -"That's the signal," Denby explained. "If he said 'Steve,' I shouldn't -notice it, so he always says 'Dick,' don't you, Monty?" - -"Always, Steve," Monty answered quickly. - -"Then you were about to make a break when I came in?" she hinted. - -"I'm afraid I was," Denby admitted. - -"What was it? Won't you tell me?" - -"If I did," he said, "it would indeed be a break." - -"Discreet man," she laughed; "I believe you were talking about me." - -He did not answer for a moment but looked at her keenly. It hurt him to -think that this girl, of all others, might be fencing with him to gain -some knowledge of his secret. But he had lived a life in which danger -was a constant element, and women ere this had sought to baffle him and -betray. - -He was cautious in his answer. - -"You are imaginative," he said, "even about your fan. There doesn't seem -to be a trace of it, and I don't think I remember your having one." - -"Perhaps I didn't bring it down," she admitted, "and it may be in my -room after all. May I have that promised cigarette to cheer me on my -way?" - -"Surely," he replied. Very eagerly she watched him take the pouch from -his pocket and roll a cigarette. - -Her action seemed to set Monty on edge. Suppose Denby by any chance -dropped the pouch and the jewels fell out. It seemed to him that she was -drawing nearer. Suppose she was the one who had been chosen to "work -inside" and snatched it from him? - -"Miss Cartwright," he said, and noted that she seemed startled at his -voice, "can't I get your fan for you?" - -"No, thanks," she returned, "you'd have to rummage, and that's a -privilege I reserve only for myself." - -"Here you are," Denby broke in, handing her the slim white cigarette. - -She took it from him with a smile and moistened the edge of the paper as -she had seen men do often enough. "You are an expert," she said -admiringly. - -He said no word but lighted a match and held it for her. She drew a -breath of tobacco and half concealed a cough. It was plain to see that -she was making a struggle to enjoy it, and plainer for the men to note -that she failed. - -"What deliciously mild tobacco you smoke," she cried. Suddenly she -stretched out her hand for the pouch. "Do let me see." - -But Denby did not pass it to her. He looked her straight in the eyes. - -"I don't think a look at it would help you much," he said slowly. "The -name is, in case you ever want to get any, 'without fire.'" - -"What an odd name," she cried. "Without fire?" - -"Yes," he answered. "You see, no smoke without fire." Without any -appearance of haste he put the pouch back in his pocket. - -"You don't believe in that old phrase?" - -"Not a bit," he told her. "Do you?" - -She turned to ascend the stairs to her room. - -"No. Do make another break sometime, won't you--Dick?" - -[Illustration: "DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON'T YOU--DICK?" _Page -186_.] - -"I most probably shall," he retorted, "unless Monty warns me--or you." - -She turned back--she was now on the first turn of the staircase. "I'll -never do that. I'd rather like to see you put your foot in it--you seem -so very sure of yourself--Steve." She laughed lightly as she -disappeared. - -Monty gripped his friend's arm tightly. "Who is that girl?" - -"Why, Ethel Cartwright," he rejoined, "a close friend of our hostess. -Why ask me?" - -"Yes, yes," Monty said impatiently, "but what do you know about her?" - -"Nothing except that she's a corker." - -"You met her in Paris, didn't you?" Monty was persistent. - -"Yes," his friend admitted. - -"What was she doing there?" - -Denby frowned. "What on earth are you driving at?" - -"She was behind that door listening to us or trying to." - -"So you thought that, too?" Denby cried quickly. - -"Then you do suspect her of being the one they've got to work on the -inside?" Monty retorted triumphantly. - -"It can't be possible," Denby exclaimed, fighting to retain his faith in -her. "You're dead wrong, old man. I won't believe it for a moment." - -"Say, Steve," Monty cried, a light breaking in on him, "you're sweet on -her." - -"It isn't possible, it isn't even probable," said Denby, taking no -notice of his suggestion. - -"But the same idea occurred to you as did to me," Monty persisted. - -"I know," Denby admitted reluctantly. "I began to be suspicious when she -wanted to get hold of the pouch. You saw how mighty interested she was -in it?" - -"That's what startled me so," Monty told him. "But how could she know?" - -"They've had a tip," Denby said, with an air of certainty, "and if she's -one of 'em, she knows where the necklace was. Wouldn't it be just my -rotten luck to have that girl, of all girls I've ever known, mixed up in -this?" - -"Old man," Monty said solemnly, "you are in love with her." - -Denby looked toward the stairway by which he had seen her go. - -"I know I am," he groaned. - -"Oughtn't we to find out whether she's the one who's after you or not?" -Monty suggested with sound good sense. - -"No, we oughtn't," Denby returned. "I won't insult her by trying to trap -her." - -"Flub-dub," Monty scoffed. "I suspect her, and it's only fair to her to -clear her of that suspicion. If she's all right, I shall be darn glad of -it. If she isn't, wouldn't you rather know?" - -For the first time since he had met his old school friend in Paris, -Monty saw him depressed and anxious. "I don't want to have to fight -her," he explained. - -"I understand that," Monty went on relentlessly, "but you can't quit -now--you've got to go through with it, not only for your own sake, but -in fairness to the Harringtons. It would be a pretty raw deal to give -them to have an exposé like that here just because of your refusal to -have her tested." - -"I suppose you're right," Denby sighed. - -"Of course I am," Monty exclaimed. - -"Very well," his friend said, "understand I'm only doing this to prove -how absolutely wrong you are." - -He would not admit even yet that she was plotting to betray him. Those -memories of Paris were dearer to him than he had allowed himself to -believe. Monty looked at him commiseratingly. He had never before seen -Steven in trouble, and he judged his wound to be deeper than it seemed. - -"Sure," he said. "Sure, I know, and I'll be as glad as you to find after -all it's Lambart or one of the other servants. What shall we do?" - -Denby pointed to the door from which Miss Cartwright had come. "Go in -there," he commanded, "and keep the rest of the people from coming back -here." - -Monty's face fell. "How can I do that?" he asked anxiously. - -"Oh, recite, make faces, imitate Irving in 'The Bells,' do anything but -threaten to sing, but keep 'em there as you love me." - -Obediently Monty made for the door but stopped for a moment before -passing through it. - -"And say, old man," he said a little hurriedly, nervous as most men are -when they deal with sentiment, "don't take it too hard. Just remember -what happened to Samson and Antony and Adam." - - - - -CHAPTER ELEVEN - - -When Monty had gone, Denby took out the pouch and placed it -conspicuously on the floor so that anyone descending the stairs must -inevitably catch sight of it. Then, as though thinking better of it, he -picked it up and placed it on one of the small tables on which was an -electric shaded lamp. After looking about him for a hiding-place from -which he could command a view of it and yet remain undiscovered, he -decided upon a door at the left of the hall. - -He had waited there only a few seconds when Ethel Cartwright's steps -were heard descending. - -"Oh, Mr. Denby," she called, "you were right, the fan was in my room -after all." Then, as she became conscious that the room was empty, she -paused and looked about her closely. Presently her eyes fell on the -precious pouch so carelessly left. For a moment the excitement bereft -her of ability to move. Here, only a few yards from her, was what would -earn her sister's safety and her release from Taylor's power. - -But she was no fool and collecting her thoughts wondered how it was -possible so precious a thing could be left open to view. Perhaps it was -a trap. Perhaps in the big hall behind one of its many doors or -portières she was even now being watched. Denby had looked at her in a -stern, odd manner, wholly different from his former way and Mr. Vaughan, -of whom she had heard often enough as a pleasant, amiable fellow, had -stared at her searchingly and harshly. An instinct of danger came to her -aid and she glanced over to the door behind her which was slightly ajar. -She remembered certainly that it was closed when she had gone upstairs -for her supposititious fan. - -As calmly as she could she walked to the wall and touched the bell that -would summon a servant. In a few seconds Lambart entered. - -"Please find Mr. Denby," she said, "and say that I am here." - -Before he could turn to go, she affected to discover the leathern pouch. - -"Oh, Lambart," she exclaimed, "here's Mr. Denby's tobacco; he must have -forgotten it." - -The man took up the pouch, assuming from her manner that she desired him -to carry it to the owner. "No, I'll take it," she said, and reached for -it. Lambart only saw what was to him an inexcusably clumsy gesture which -dislodged it from his hand and sent it to the floor, in such a manner -that it opened and the tobacco tumbled out. But the girl's gesture was -cleverer than he knew for in that brief moment she had satisfied herself -it was empty. - -"Oh, Lambart," she said reprovingly, "how careless of you! Have you -spilt it all?" - -Lambart examined its interior with a butler's gravity. - -"I'm afraid I have, miss," he admitted. - -"I think Mr. Denby went into the library," she said, knowing that the -door behind which someone--probably he--was hiding, led to that room. - -Hearing her, Denby knew he must not be discovered and retreated through -the empty library into a small smoking-room into which Lambart did not -penetrate. The man returned to Miss Cartwright, his errand -unaccomplished. "Mr. Denby is not there," he said. - -"Then I will give him the pouch when I see him," she said, "and, -Lambart, you need not tell him I am here." - -As soon as he was gone, she ran to the window, her face no longer -strained but almost joyous, and when she was assured that none watched -her, lowered the curtain as a signal. - -Taylor must have been close at hand, so promptly did he respond to her -summons. - -"Well, have you got him?" he cried sharply as he entered. "Where is -he--where's the necklace?" - -"You were wrong," she said triumphantly, "there is no necklace. I knew I -was right." - -"You're crazy," he retorted brutally. - -"You said it was in the tobacco-pouch," she reminded him, "and I've -searched and it isn't there at all." - -"You're trying to protect him," Taylor snarled. "You're stuck on him, -but you can't lie to me and get away with it." - -"No, no, no," she protested. "Look, here's the very pouch, and there's -no necklace in it." - -"How did you get hold of it?" he snapped. - -It was a moment of bitter failure for the deputy-surveyor. The sign for -which he had waited patiently, and eagerly, too, despite his impassive -face, was, after all, nothing but a token of disappointment. He had -hoped, now that events had given him a hold over Miss Cartwright, to -find her well-fitted for a sort of work that would have been peculiarly -useful to his service. But her ready credulity in another man's honesty -proved one of two things. Either that she lacked the intuitive knowledge -to be a useful tool or else that she was deliberately trying to deceive -him. But none had seen Daniel Taylor show that he realized himself in -danger of being beaten. - -"He left it lying on the table," she assured him eagerly. - -Taylor's sneer was not pleasant to see. - -"Oh, he left it on the table, did he?" he scoffed. "Well, of course -there's no necklace in it then. Don't you see you've let him suspect -you, and he's just trying to bluff you." - -"It isn't that," she asserted. "He hasn't got it, I tell you." - -"I know he has," the implacable Taylor retorted, "and you've got to find -out this very night where it is. You'll probably have to search his -room." - -She shrank back at the very thought of it. "I couldn't," she cried. "Oh, -I couldn't!" - -"Yes you could, and you will," he said, in his truculent tone. "And if -you land him, use the same signal, pull down the shade in his room. -We'll be watching, and I've found a way to get there from the balcony." - -"I can't," the girl cried in desperation. "I've done what you asked. I -won't try to trap an innocent man." - -He looked at her threateningly. "Oh, you won't, eh? Well, you will. I've -been pretty nice to you, but I'm sick of it. You'll go through for me, -and you'll go through right. I've had your sister followed--see here, -look at this--" He showed her the fake warrant Duncan had prepared at -his bidding. "This is a warrant for her arrest, and unless you land that -necklace to-night, she'll be in the Tombs in the morning." - -"Not that, not that?" she begged, covering her face with her hands. - -"It's up to you," he retorted, a smile of satisfaction lighting up his -face. He could see that he would be able to hold Amy's warrant over her -head whenever he chose. She was beaten. - -"But what can I do?" she said piteously. "What can I do?" - -"I'll tell you," he said less harshly, "you're a good-looking girl; -well, make use of your good looks--get around him, jolly him, get him -stuck on you. Make him take you into his confidence. He'll fall for it. -The wisest guys are easy when you know the way." - -"Very well," she said, brightening. It seemed to her that no better way -could be devised than to convince Taylor he was wrong. "I will get -around him; I will get his confidence. I'll prove it to you, and I'll -save him." - -"But you don't have to give him your confidence, remember," Taylor -warned her. "Don't give him the least tip-off, understand. If you can -get him out in the garden, I'll take a chance he has the necklace on -him. We'll nail him there. And don't forget," he added significantly, -"that I've got a little document here with your sister's name on it. -There's somebody coming," he whispered, and silently let himself out -into the garden. - -It was Denby who came in. "Hello," he said, "not dancing, then?" - -"Hello," she said, in answer to his greeting. "I don't like dancing in -August." - -"I'm fortunate to find you alone," he said. "You can't imagine how -delightful it is to see you again." - -Her manner was particularly charming, he thought, and it gave him a pang -when a suspicion of its cause passed over his mind. There had been other -women who had sought to wheedle from him secrets that other men desired -to know, but they were other women--and this was Ethel Cartwright. - -"You don't look as though it is," she said provocatively. - -He made an effort to appear as light-hearted as she. - -"But I am," he assured her. "It is delightful to see you again." - -"It's no more delightful than for me to see you," she returned. - -"Really?" he returned. "Isn't it curious that when you like people you -may not see them for a year, but when you do, you begin just where you -left off." - -"Where did we leave off?" she demanded with a smile. - -"Why--in Paris," he said with a trace of embarrassment. "You don't want -to forget our Paris, I hope?" - -"Never," she cried, enthusiastically. "It was there we found that we -really were congenial. We are, aren't we?" - -"Congenial?" he repeated. "We're more than that--we're--" - -She interrupted him. "And yet, somehow, you've changed a lot since -Paris." - -"For better or for worse?" he asked. - -She shook her head. "For worse." - -He looked at her reproachfully. "Oh, come now, Miss Cartwright, be -fair!" - -"In Paris you used to trust me," she said. - -"And you think I don't now?" he returned. - -"I'm quite sure you don't," she told him. - -"Why do you say that?" Denby inquired. - -"There are lots of things," she answered. "One is that when I asked you -why you were here in America, you put me off with some playful excuse -about being just an idler." She looked at him with a vivacious air. - -"Now didn't you really come over on an important mission?" - -Poor Denby, who had been telling himself that Monty's suspicions were -without justification, and that this girl's good faith could not be -doubted even if several circumstances were beyond his power to explain, -groaned inwardly. Here she was, trying, he felt certain, to gain his -confidence to satisfy the men who were even now investing the house. - -But he was far from giving in yet. How could she, one of Vernon -Cartwright's daughters, reared in an atmosphere wholly different from -this sordid business, be engaged in trying to betray him? - -"Well," he said, "suppose I did come over on something more than -pleasure, what do you want to know concerning it? And why do you want to -know?" - -"Shall we say feminine curiosity?" she returned. - -He shook his head. "I think not. There must be something more vital than -a mere whim." - -"Perhaps there is," she conceded, leaning forward, "I want us to be -friends, really good friends; I regard it as a test of friendship. Why -won't you tell me?" - -He shrugged his shoulders. "Shall we say man's intuition? Oh, I know -it's not supposed to be as good as a woman's, but sometimes it's much -more accurate." - -"So you can't trust me?" she said, steadily trying to read his thoughts. - -"Can I?" he asked, gazing back at her just as steadily. - -"Don't you think you can?" she fenced adroitly. - -"If you do," he said meaningly. - -"But aren't we friends," she asked him, "pledged that night under the -moon in the Bois? You see I, too, have memories of Paris." - -"Then you put it," he said quietly, "to a test of friendship." - -"Yes," she answered readily. - -He thought for a moment. Well, here was the opportunity to find out -whether Monty was right or whether the woman he cared for was merely a -spy set upon him, a woman whose kindnesses and smiles were part of her -training. - -"Very well," he said, "then so do I. You are right. I did not come to -America idly--I came to smuggle a necklace of pearls through the -Customs. I did it to-day." - -The girl rose from her seat by the little table where she had sat facing -him and looked at him, all the brightness gone from her face. - -"You didn't, you didn't!" - -"I did," he assured her. - -She turned her face away from him. "Oh, I'm sorry," she wailed. "I'm -sorry." - -Denby looked at her keenly. He was puzzled at the manner in which she -took it. - -"But I fooled 'em," he boasted. - -She looked about her nervously as though she feared Taylor might have -listened to his frank admission and be ready to spring upon them. - -"You can't tell that," she said in a lower-keyed voice. "How can you be -sure they didn't suspect?" - -"Because I'm comfortably settled here, and there are no detectives after -me. And if there were," he confided in her triumphantly, "they'd never -suspect I carry the necklace in my tobacco-pouch." - -"But your pouch was empty," she cried. - -"How do you know that?" he demanded quickly. - -"I was here when Lambart spilt it," she explained hastily. "There it is -on the mantel, I meant to have given it to you." - -"I don't need it," he said, taking one similar in shape and color from -his pocket. - -"Two pouches!" she cried aghast. "Two?" - -"An unnecessary precaution," he said carelessly, "one would have done; -as it is they haven't suspected me a bit." - -"You can't be certain of that," she insisted. "If they found out they'd -put you in prison." - -"And would you care?" he demanded. - -"Why, of course I would," she responded. "Aren't we friends?" - -He had that same steady look in his eyes as he asked: "Are we?" - -It was a gaze she could not bring herself to meet. Assuredly, she -groaned, she was not of the stuff from which the successful adventuress -was made. - -"Of course," she murmured in reply. "But what are you going to do?" - -"I've made my plans," he told her. "I've been very careful. I've given -my confidence to two people only, both of whom I trust absolutely--Monty -Vaughan and"--he looked keenly at her,--"and you. I shan't be caught. I -won't give in, and I'll stop at nothing, no matter what it costs, or -whom it hurts. I've got to win." - -It seemed to him she made an ejaculation of distress. "What is it?" he -cried. - -"Nothing much," she said nervously, "it's the heat, I suppose. That's -why I wouldn't dance, you know. Won't you take me into the garden and -we'll look at the moon--it's the same moon," she said, with a desperate -air of trying to conceal from him her agitation, "that shines in Paris. -It's gorgeous," she added, looking across the room where no moon was. - -"Surely," he said. "It is rather stuffy indoors on a night like this." -He moved leisurely over to the French windows. But she called him back. -She was not yet keyed up to this supreme act of treachery. - -"No, no," she called again, "don't let's go, after all." - -"Why not?" he demanded, bewildered at her fitful mood. - -"I don't know," she said helplessly. "But let's stay here. I'm nervous, -I think." - -"Nonsense," he said cheerily, trying to brace her up. "The moon is a -great soother of nerves, and a friendly old chap, too. What is it?" he -asked curiously. "You're miles away from here, but I don't think you're -in Paris, either. It's your turn to tell me something. Where are you?" - -He could not guess that her thoughts were in her home, where her poor, -gentle, semi-invalid mother was probably now worrying over the sudden -mood of depression which had fallen upon her younger girl. And it would -be impossible for him to understand the threat of prison and disgrace -which was even now hanging over Amy Cartwright's head. - -"I was thinking of my sister," she told him slowly. "Come, let's go." - -Before he could unfasten the French windows there was a sound of running -feet outside, and Monty's nervous face was seen looking in. Nora, -breathless, was hanging on to his arm. - -Quickly Denby opened the doors and let the two in, and then shut the -doors again. "What is it?" he demanded quickly. - -"Don't go out there, Steve," Monty cried, when he could get breath -enough to speak. - -"Why, what is it?" Ethel Cartwright asked nervously. - -"Nora and I went for a walk in the garden, and suddenly two men jumped -out on us from behind the pagoda. They had almost grabbed us when one -man shouted to the other fellow, 'We're wrong,' and Nora screamed and -ran like the very devil, and I had to run after her of course." - -"It was dreadful," said Nora gasping. - -"What's dreadful?" Alice Harrington demanded, coming on the scene -followed by her husband. They had been disturbed by Nora's screams. - -"Won't someone please explain?" Michael asked anxiously. - -"It was frightful," Nora cried. - -"Let me tell it," Monty protested. - -"You'll get it all wrong," his companion asserted. "I wasn't half as -scared as you." - -"I was talking to Nora," Monty explained, "and suddenly from the -shrubbery--" - -"Somebody stepped right out," Nora added. - -"One at a time," Michael admonished them, "one at a time, please." - -"Why, you see, Monty and I went for a walk in the garden," Nora began-- - -"And two men jumped out and started for us," Monty broke in. - -"Great Scott," Michael cried, indignant that the privacy of his own -estate should be invaded, "and here, too!" - -"What did you do?" Alice asked eagerly. - -"I just screamed and they ran away," Nora told her a little proudly. -"Wasn't it exciting?" she added, drawing a deep breath. "Just like a -book!" - -"Michael," his wife said, shocked, "they might have been killed." - -"What they need is a drink," he said impressively; "I'll ring for some -brandy." - -"I'd be all right," Monty stated emphatically, "if I could get one long -breath." - -"You do look a bit shaken, old man," Denby said sympathetically. "What -you need is a comforting smoke. You left a pipe on the table in my room. -Take my tobacco and light up." - -Monty looked at the pigskin pouch as his friend handed it to him. "Gee!" -he said, regarding it as one might a poisonous reptile, "I don't want -that." - -"That's all right," Denby said. "I can spare it. And when you're through -with it, drop it in the drawer of the writing-table, will you? I always -like to make myself one for coffee in the morning. I've smoked enough -to-night." - -By this time Monty understood what was required of him. He took the -pouch respectfully and crossed toward the stairs. "I'll leave it in the -drawer," he called out as he ascended the stairs. - -Michael had been looking through the glass doors with a pair of -binoculars. "I see nothing," he declared. - -"But suppose they come back later, and break in here at night?" Alice -cried. - -"I shall organize the household servants and place Lambart at their -head," he said gravely. "He is an excellent shot. Then there are three -able-bodied men here, so that we are prepared." - -"I'm sure you needn't take any such elaborate precautions," Denby told -him. "No men, after once warning us, would break in here with so many -servants. I imagine they were a couple of tramps who were attracted by -Miss Rutledge's rings and thought they could make a quick getaway." - -"This is a lesson to me to provide myself with a couple of Airedales," -Michael asserted. "Things are coming to a pretty pass when one invites -one's friends to come down to a week-end party and get robbed. It's -worse than a hotel on the Riviera." - -"Well, they didn't get anything," Nora cried. "You should have seen me -run. I believe I flew, and I do believe I've lost weight!" - -"But oughtn't I to go out and see?" Michael asked a little weakly. - -"Certainly not," Alice commanded him firmly. "I can imagine nothing more -useless than a dead husband." - -He took her hand affectionately. "How right you are," he murmured -gratefully. "I think, though, I ought to ask the police to keep a sharp -watch." - -"That's sensible," his wife agreed. "Go and telephone." - -"Goodness," Nora cried suddenly, "I haven't any rings on. I must have -left them on my dressing-table." - -Alice looked alarmed. "And I left all sorts of things on mine. Let's go -up together. And you, Ethel, have you left anything valuable about?" - -"There's nothing worth taking," the girl answered. - -"You look frightened to death, child," Mrs. Harrington exclaimed, as she -was passing her. - -Ethel sat down on the fender seat with a smile of assurance. "Oh, not a -bit," she said. "There are three strong men to protect us, remember." - -"Yes--two men and Michael," her hostess laughed, passing up the stairway -out of view. - -"The moon is still there, Miss Cartwright," Denby observed quietly. -"Surely you are not tired of moons yet?" - -"But those men out there," she protested. - -"I'm sure they weren't after me," he returned. "They wouldn't wait in -the garden, and even if they are detectives, they wouldn't get the -necklace, it's safe--now." - -Ethel Cartwright shook her head. "I'm afraid I've got nerves like every -other woman," she confessed, "and the evening has been quite eventful -enough as it is. I think I prefer to stay here." - -She glanced up to see Monty descending the stairs. All this talk of -robbery and actual participation in a scene of violence had induced in -Monty the desire for the company of his kind. - -"I thought I'd rather be down here," he stated naively. - -"All right, old man," Denby said smiling. "Glad to have you. Did you put -the pouch where I said?" - -"Yes," Monty answered, handing him a key, "and I locked it up," he -explained. - -"Good!" his friend exclaimed, putting the key in his pocket. - -Miss Cartwright yawned daintily. "Excitement seems to make me sleepy," -she said. "I think I shall go." - -"You're not going to leave us yet?" Denby said reproachfully. - -"I was up very early," she told him. - -"I guess everything is safe now," Monty assured her. - -"Let's hope so," Denby said. "Still, the night isn't half over yet. -Pleasant dreams, Miss Cartwright." - -She paused on the half landing and looked down at the two men. - -"I'm afraid they won't be quite--that." - -Monty crept to the foot of the stairway and made certain she was passed -out of hearing. "Steve," he said earnestly, "she's gone now to get into -your room." - -"No, she hasn't," Denby protested, knowing he was lying. - -Monty looked at his friend in wonderment. Usually Denby was quick of -observation, but now he seemed uncommonly dull. - -"Why, she never made a move to leave until she knew I'd put the pouch in -the drawer. Then she said she was tired and wanted to go to bed. You -must have noticed how she took in everything you said. She's even taken -to watching me, too. What makes you so blind, Steve?" - -"I'm not blind," Denby said, a trifle irritably. "It happens you are -magnifying things, till everything you see is wrong." - -"Nonsense," Monty returned bluntly. "If she gets that necklace it's all -up with us, and you needn't pretend otherwise." - -"Make your mind easy," Denby exclaimed, "she won't get it." - -"May I ask what's going to stop her?" Monty inquired, goaded into -sarcasm. "Do you think she needs to know the combination of an ordinary -lock like that top drawer?" - -"The necklace isn't there," Denby said. - -Monty looked at him piteously. "For Heaven's sake don't tell me I've got -it somewhere on me!" - -Denby drew it out of a false pocket under the right lapel of his coat -and held the precious string up to the other's view. "That's why," he -observed. - -"Then everything's all right," Monty cried with unrestrained joy. - -"Everything's all wrong," Denby corrected. - -"But, Steve," Monty said reproachfully, "the necklace--" - -"Oh, damn the necklace!" Denby interrupted viciously. - -Monty shook his head mournfully. His friend's aberrations were -astounding. - -"Steve," he said slowly, "you're a fool!" - -"I guess I am," the other admitted. "But," he added, snapping his teeth -together, "I'm not such a fool as to get caught, Monty, so pull yourself -together, something's bound to happen before long." - -"That's what I'm afraid of," sighed Monty. - - - - -CHAPTER TWELVE - - -On the way to her room Ethel Cartwright met Michael Harrington, a box of -cigars in his hand, coming toward the head of the stairway. - -"Whither away?" he demanded. - -"To bed," she returned. "The excitement's been too much for me." - -"This box," he said, lovingly caressing it, "contains what I think are -the best that can be smoked." He opened and showed what seemed to her -cigars of a very large size. "I'm going to give the boys one apiece as a -reward for bravery." He laughed with glee. "And as Lambart is going to -be one of the search party, I'm going to give him one, too. He'll either -leave at my temerity in offering him the same kind of weed his employer -smokes, or else he'll have it framed." - -"A search party?" she said. "What do you mean?" - -"We're going to beat the bushes for tramps," he said. "I am directing -operations from the balcony outside my room. The general in command," he -explained, "never gets on the firing-line in modern warfare." - -"Is Mr. Denby going?" she asked. - -"No, no," he said. "I can't expect my guests to expose themselves to the -risk of being shot. Don't you be alarmed," he said solicitously, "I -shall be at hand in case of trouble." - -When she reached her room she sat motionless for a few moments on the -edge of the bed. Then suddenly, she rose and walked along a corridor and -knocked at the door of the room she knew was Alice Harrington's. - -"Alice," she said nervously, and there was no doubt in the elder woman's -mind that the girl was thoroughly upset, "I'm nervous of sleeping in the -room you've given me. Can't I sleep somewhere near people? Let me have -that room I had the last time I was here." - -"Why, my dear girl, of course, if you want it," Alice said -sympathetically. "But it isn't as pretty, and I especially had this -bigger room for you. Don't be a silly little girl; you'll be asleep in -five minutes. Better still, I'll come and read till you're drowsy." - -"Please humor me," the other pleaded. "I'd rather be where, if I scream, -someone can hear, and the men are sleeping down there, and one after all -does depend on them in emergencies." - -"All right," Alice said good-humoredly, "I'll ring for the servants to -take your things in." - -"We can do it," Ethel said eagerly. "I've only one cabin trunk, and it -weighs nothing. Why disturb them?" - -When they had moved the baggage down the halls to the smaller room, -there was no key to lock the door which led to a connecting room. - -"Whose is that?" Ethel demanded. - -"Mr. Denby's," she was told. "I always give men big rooms, because -they're so untidy. Michael will know where the key is. He has every one -of the hundred keys with a neat label on it. He's so methodical in some -things. By the time you're ready for bed I'll have it." - -A few minutes later the intervening door was safely locked and Mrs. -Harrington had left the girl, feeling that perhaps she, too, would be -nervous if she had not her Michael close at hand. - -Directly the girl was alone she sprang out of bed and hurriedly put on a -white silk negligée. So far her plans had prospered admirably. The -bedroom from which she had moved was so situated that if she were to -undertake the search of Denby's room, she must pass the rooms of her -host and hostess and also that of Nora Rutledge. And this search was -imperative. Out in the darkness Taylor and his men were waiting -impatiently. Presently a band of men, armed in all probability, would -sally forth from the house and might just as likely capture the Customs -officers. Supposing Taylor took this as treachery on her part and -denounced her before the Harringtons? Nothing would save Amy then. - -If only she could discover the necklace and give the signal in time so -that the deputy-surveyor could come legitimately into the house! She -told herself that she must control this growing nervousness; that her -movements must be swift and sure, and that she must banish all thought -of the man she had met in Paris, or the punishment that would be his. - -Fortunately his guests could not escape Michael and his big cigars; and -cigars, as she knew from her father's use of them, are not consumed as a -cigarette may be and thrown quickly away. - -The key turned in the lock stiffly and it seemed to her, waiting -breathless, that the sound must be audible everywhere. But as quiet -still ruled outside in the corridors, she pushed the door half-open and -peered into the room. It was dark save for the moonlight, but she could -see to make her way to a writing-table, on which was an electric lamp. - -She turned it on and then looked about her nervously. It was a large, -well-furnished room, and to the right of her a big alcove with a bed in -it. There was a large French window leading to the balcony which Taylor -had noted and proposed to use if she were successful in her search. - -She did not dare to look out, for fear the search party might see her, -so she centered her attention upon the locked drawer in which the -necklace was awaiting her. There was a brass paper-knife lying on the -table, heavy enough she judged, to pry open any ordinary lock. Very -cautiously she set about her work. It called for more strength than she -had supposed, but the lock seemed to be yielding gradually when there -fell upon her anxious ear sounds of footsteps coming down the corridor. - -She sprang to her feet and listened intently, and was satisfied herself -that she was in imminent danger. Putting out the light she turned to run -to her room, and in doing so knocked the paper-knife to the floor. To -her excited fancy it clattered hideously as it fell, but she reached her -room safely and locked the door. - -She was hardly in shelter before Denby came into his room and switched -on the light. He was still smoking the first third of his host's famous -cigar. He sauntered to the window and looked over the lawn and wondered -what luck the searchers would have. He had permitted himself to be urged -by Harrington to a course of inactivity. It was not his wish to be -brought face to face with his enemy while he had the jewels in a place -they would instantly detect. He took the pearls from their hiding-place -and threw them carelessly on the table. Then seeing the paper-knife on -the floor he stooped to pick it up. But lying near it were little -splinters of white wood that instantly arrested his attention. He knelt -down, lit a match, and examined them without disturbing them in any way. -And then his eyes travelled upward, until the scratches by the lock were -plain. - -Experience told him plainly that the drawer had been attempted and that -recently, in fact, within a half-hour since Monty had placed his pouch -there with the pearls as he supposed in it. - -While he was standing there motionless, sounds in the hall outside -disturbed him. Presently a knock sounded on the door. Before answering -he picked up the pearls and placed them in his pocket. Then he called -out: "Who is it?" - -"It's me," came Monty's voice in answer. - -"Come in," he called. - -Monty entered nervously. "Everything all right?" he demanded. - -"Yes," his friend said, and then looked at him. Monty's appearance was -slightly dishevelled. "What's happened?" he asked. - -Monty ignored the question. "I was afraid everything might be all -wrong," he cried. "This is the first time I've been able to swallow -comfortably for an hour. I thought my heart was permanently dislocated." - -"What's been happening downstairs?" Denby inquired. - -"Nothing," Monty told him, "and it's the limit to have nothing happen." - -"I thought Harrington was organizing a search party." - -"Oh, we searched," Monty admitted. "I was nominally in charge, but -Lambart was the directing genius. He was an officer's orderly in his -youth and is some tactician, believe me." Monty pointed to his muddied -knees. "He stretched clothes-lines over the paths to catch the tramps, -and I was the first victim. We looked everywhere, all of us, Lambart, -the under-butler, two chauffeurs and I, and we didn't even flush a cat." - -"That's odd," his listener commented. "They'll be back. They're not -frightened away by you fellows with lanterns. They'll be back." - -"I bet they will," Monty grumbled, "and with the militia." - -"Don't lose your nerve now, old man," Denby counselled. - -"I wish I could," Monty cried. "This certainly is getting on it. It's a -lesson not to get discontented with my lot. I've got that creepy feeling -all the time that they're coming closer to us." - -"But that's the real sport of it," Denby pointed out. - -"Sport be damned," he said crossly. "Your ideas about foxes and mine -don't coincide. I don't think he likes being hunted. And at that he's -got something on us; he knows who's chasing him." - -"So shall we soon," he was reminded. - -"Yes," Monty grumbled, "when we're shot full of holes." - -"Don't be afraid of getting shot at," Denby said smiling. "You amateurs -have no idea how few shots hit the mark even at short range. I've been -shot at three times and I've not a scar to show." - -"Job must be your favorite author," Monty commented sourly. "I hate the -noise. I'm scared to death; I thought I wanted excitement, but life on a -farm for me hereafter." - -"But, my dear boy," Denby said more seriously, "you are not in this. -They're after me and this." He held up the necklace. "You're a spectator -merely." - -"Rot!" Monty cried. "I'm what they call an accessory and if you think -I'm going to clear out now, all I can say is you ought to know me better -than that. I want to be doing something; it's the talking that gets on -my nerves. They'll be here soon, you may bet on that. They're going to -search this room." - -"Somebody's done that already," he was told. - -"Who?" Monty cried anxiously. "That girl?" - -"I think not. Her room is in the other wing, as I found out indirectly. -To come here she'd have to run an awful risk. If she comes it will be -later, when everyone is asleep." - -"Then who could it have been?" Monty demanded. He turned suddenly on his -heel. - -There was someone even now listening at the door. Then there was a -faint, discreet knock. He dropped into the nearest chair and looked at -the other man with a blanched face. - -"Pinched!" he cried. - -"Hsh!" the other commanded softly, and then louder: "Come in." - -The smiling face of Michael Harrington beamed upon them. In his hands he -carried a tray whereon two generous highballs reposed. - -"Hello, boys," he cried genially, "I've brought up those two nightcaps I -promised you. Nothing like 'em after excitement such as we've had." - -"You never looked so good to me, Michael," Monty cried affectionately. - -"Now, Denby," Michael said, handing him the glass in Lambart's best -manner. - -"Thanks, all the same," his guest returned, "but I don't think I -will--not yet at any rate." - -"Good!" Michael cried. "Luck's with me." He drained the glass with the -deepest satisfaction. "Ah, that was needed. Now, Monty, after your -exertions you won't disappoint me?" - -"Not for me, either," Monty exclaimed. - -"Splendid," said the gratified Michael. "At your age I would have -refused it absolutely." He looked at the glass affectionately. "I'll -take the encore in a few minutes. Alice does cut me down so dreadfully. -Just one light one before dinner--mostly Vermouth--and one drink -afterward. I welcome any extra excitement like this." - -"Aren't you master in your own house?" Denby asked smiling. He had -fathomed the secret of the happy relations of his host and hostess, and -was not deceived by Harrington when he represented himself the sport of -circumstances. - -"You bet I'm not," said Michael, without resentment. "By the way," he -added, "if you want your nightcaps later, ring for Lambart. He's used to -being summoned at any hour." - -"I won't forget," Denby returned. - -"I hope you won't," his host assured him. "I'd hate to think of Lambart -having a really good night's rest." He pointed to an alarm on the wall -by the door. "But don't get up half asleep and push that red thing over -there." - -"What on earth is it?" Monty asked. "It looks like a hotel -fire-alarm--'Break the glass in case of fire.'" - -"It's a burglar-alarm that wakes the whole house." - -"What?" Denby cried, suddenly interested. "You don't really expect -burglars?" - -"I know it's funny," Michael said, "and a bit old maidish, but I happen -to be vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, and I've -got to have their beastly patents in the house to show my faith in 'em." - -"I'll keep away from it," Denby assured him, looking at it curiously. - -"The last man who had this room sent it off by mistake. Said a mosquito -worried him so much that he threw a shoe at it. He missed the -mosquito--between you and me," Michael said confidentially, "we haven't -any out here at Westbury--but he hit the alarm. I'm afraid Hazen had -been putting too many nightcaps on his head and couldn't see straight. -Mrs. Harrington made me search the whole house. Of course there wasn't -anyone there and Alice seemed sorry that I'd had my hunt in vain. The -beauty of these things," the vice-president commented, "is that they -warn the burglars to get out and so you don't get shot as you might if -you hadn't told 'em you were coming." - -Michael took up the second glass and had barely taken a sip when quick, -light footfalls approached. - -"Good Lord," said he, "my wife! Here, Monty, quick," placing the -half-emptied glass in Denby's hand and the one from which he had first -drunk in Monty's, "I count on you, boys," he whispered, and then strode -to the door and flung it open. - -"Are we intruders?" his wife asked. - -"You are delightfully welcome," Denby cried. "Please come in." - -"We thought you'd still be up," Nora explained. "Michael said he was -bringing you up some highballs." - -"Great stuff," Monty said, taking his cue, "best whiskey I ever tasted. -Nothing like really old Bourbon after all." - -Michael shot a glance of agonized reproach at the man who could make -such a stupid mistake. "Monty," he explained to his wife, who had caught -this ingenuous remark and had looked at him inquiringly, "is still so -filled with excitement that he doesn't know old Scotch when he tastes -it." - -"Your husband is a noble abstainer," Denby said quickly, to help them -out, "we place temptation right before him and he resists." - -"That's my wife's training," said Harrington, smiling complacently. - -"I'm not so sure," she returned. "Putting temptation before Michael, Mr. -Denby, shows him just like old Adam--only Michael's weakness is for -grapes, not apples." - -"We've come," Nora reminded them, "to get a fourth at auction. We're all -too much excited to sleep. Mr. Denby, I'm sure you're a wonderful -player. Surely you must shine at something." - -"Among my other deficiencies," he confessed, "I don't play bridge." - -Nora sighed. "There remains only Monty. Monty," she commanded, "you must -play." - -"Glad to!" he cried. "I like company, and I'm not tired either." - -Suddenly he caught sight of Denby's face. His look plainly said, -"Refuse." - -"In just a few minutes," Monty stammered. "I was just figuring out -something when you came in. How long will it take, Steve?" - -"Hardly five minutes," Denby said. - -"It's a gold-mine you see," Monty explained laboriously, "and first it -goes up, and then it goes down." - -"I always strike an average," Michael told him. "It's the easiest way." - -"Is it a good investment?" Alice demanded. She had a liking for taking -small flutters with gold-mines. - -"You wouldn't know one if you saw it," her husband said, laughing. - -"I learnt what I know from you," she reminded him. - -"I'd rather dance than bridge it," Nora said impatiently, doing some -rather elaborate maxixe steps very gracefully and humming a popular tune -meanwhile. - -"Be quiet," Alice warned her; "you'll disturb Ethel." - -"Has Miss Cartwright gone to bed?" Denby asked her. - -"She felt very tired," Alice explained. - -"It's wrong to go to bed so early," Nora exclaimed. "It can't be much -after two." - -She sang a few bars of another song much in vogue, but Alice stopped her -again. - -"Hush, Nora, don't you understand Ethel's in the next room asleep, or -trying to?" - -"I thought it was empty," Nora said, in excuse for her burst of song. - -"Ethel insisted on changing. She was very nervous and she wanted to be -down near the men in case of trouble." - -"And I had to go through forty-seven bunches of keys to get one to fit -that door," her husband complained. Denby shot a swift glance toward -Monty, who was wearing an "I told you so" expression. "She seemed -positively afraid of you, Denby, from what my wife said," Harrington -concluded. - -"You're not drinking your highball, Mr. Denby," Alice observed. - -"I'm saving it," he smiled. - -"That's a very obvious hint," Nora cried. "Let's leave them, Alice." She -sauntered to the door. - -"Very well," her hostess said, "and we'll expect you in a few minutes, -Monty. You're coming, Michael?" - -"In just a moment," he returned. "I've got one more old wheeze I want to -spring on Denby. He's a capital audience for the elderly ones." - -"When Mr. Denby has recovered," she commanded, "come down and play." - -"Certainly, my dear," he said obediently. - -"And, Michael," she said smiling, "don't think you've fooled me." - -"Fooled you," he exclaimed innocently, "why, I'd never even dream of -trying to!" - -His wife moved toward Denby and took the half-finished highball from his -hand. - -"Michael," she said, handing it to him, "here's the rest of your drink." - -She went from the room still smiling at the deep knowledge she had of -her Michael's little ways. - -Michael imbibed it gratefully. - -"My wife's a damned clever woman," he exclaimed enthusiastically, as he -trotted out obediently in her wake. - -Directly he had gone Denby went quickly to the door and made sure it was -closed tightly. "It was that girl, after all, Monty!" he said in a low, -tense voice. "She tried to pry open the drawer with that paper-knife. -You can see the marks. I found the knife on the floor, where she'd -dropped it on hearing me at the door." - -Monty looked at him with sympathy in his eyes. "That's pretty tough, old -man," he said softly. - -"It's hard to believe that she is the kind of woman to take advantage of -our friendship to turn me over to the police," he admitted. Then his -face took on a harder, sterner look. "But it's no use beating about the -bush; that's exactly what she did." - -"I'm sorry, mighty sorry," Monty said, realizing as he had never done -what this perfidy meant to his old friend. - -"I don't want to have to fight her," Denby said. "The very idea seems -unspeakable." - -"What can we do if you don't?" Monty asked doubtfully. - -"If she'll only tell me who it is that sent her here--the man who's -after me--I'll fight him, and leave her out of it." - -"But if she won't do that?" Monty questioned. - -"Then I'll play her own game," Denby answered, "only this time she -follows my rules for it." As he said this both of the men fancied they -could hear a creaking in the next room. - -"What's that?" Monty demanded. - -Denby motioned to him to remain silent, and then tiptoed his way to the -door connecting the rooms. - -"Is she there?" Monty felt himself compelled to whisper. - -Denby nodded acquiescence and quietly withdrew to the centre of the -room. - -"Has she heard us?" asked his friend. - -"I don't think so. I heard her close the window and then come over to -the door." - -He crossed to the desk and began to write very fast. - -"What are you doing?" Monty inquired softly. - -Denby, scribbling on, did not immediately answer him. Presently he -handed the written page to Monty. "Here's my plan," he said, "read it." - -While Monty was studying the paper Denby moved over to the light switch, -and the room, except for the rose-shaded electric lamp, was in darkness. - -"Jumping Jupiter!" Monty exclaimed, looking up from the paper with knit -brows. - -"Do you understand?" Denby asked. - -"Yes," Monty answered agitatedly; "I understand, but suppose I get -rattled and make a mistake when the time comes?" - -"You won't," Denby replied, still in low tone. "I'm depending on you, -Monty, and I know you won't disappoint me." When he next spoke it was in -a louder voice, louder in fact than he needed for conversational use. - -"It's a pity Miss Cartwright has gone to bed," he exclaimed. "I might -have risked trying to learn bridge, if she'd been willing to teach me. -She's a bully girl." - -"Don't talk so loud," Monty advised him, grinning. - -"In these dictagraph days the walls have ears. Let's go outside. We -can't tell who might hear us in this room. We'll be safe enough on the -lawn." - -"A good idea," Denby agreed, moving away from the connecting door which -they guessed had a listener concealed behind it, and turning out the -lights. And Ethel Cartwright, straining her ears, heard the door opened -and banged noisily, and footsteps hurrying past toward the stairway. It -was at last the opportunity. - - - - -CHAPTER THIRTEEN - - -SHE turned the key, less noisily this time, and stepped into Denby's -room. Making her way to the drawer she gave it a gentle pull. But it was -still fastened, and she grasped the heavy brass knife when of a sudden -the room was full of light, and Denby stepped from the shadow of the -door where he had been concealed. - -"Oh!" she cried in terror, and turned her face away from him. - -He walked slowly over to the table by which she stood. - -"So you've come for the necklace, then? Why do you want it?" - -She looked at him in desperation. Only the truth would serve her now. - -"I am employed by the government. I was sent here to get it," she -answered. - -"What?" he cried. "The charming Miss Cartwright a secret service agent! -It's quite incredible." - -"But it's true," she said. - -"Who employed you?" he asked sharply. - -"I can't tell you that," she said slowly. - -"Then how can I believe you?" he asked her. - -"But it's the truth," she insisted. "For what other reason should I be -here?" - -"Women have collected jewels before now for themselves as well as their -governments," he reminded her. - -She flushed. "Do you wish to insult me?" - -"I don't think you quite realize your position," he said. "I find you -here trying to steal something of mine. If you tell me the name of the -man, or men, under whose orders you are acting, I may be able to -believe." - -"I can't tell you," she cried; "I can't tell you." - -"It's most likely to be Bangs," he said meditatively, and then turned to -her quickly. "It was John H. Bangs of the secret service who sent you." - -At all costs she knew she must keep the name of Daniel Taylor from him. -To admit that it was a fellow official would do no harm. - -"Yes," she said; "it was." - -Contempt looked from his face. "You lie, Miss Cartwright, you lie!" - -"Mr. Denby!" she cried. - -"I've no time for politeness now," he told her. "There is no Bangs in -the secret service." - -"But you, how can you know?" she said, fighting for time. - -"It's my business to know my opponents," he observed. "Can't you tell -the truth?" - -"I can't tell you who it was," she persisted, "but if you'll just give -me the necklace--" - -He laughed scornfully at her childish request. Her manner puzzled him -extremely. He had seen her fence and cross-examine, use her tongue with -the adroitness of an old hand at intrigue, and yet she was simple, -guileless enough to ask him to hand over the necklace. - -"And if I refuse you'll call the men in who seized Mr. Vaughan, thinking -it was I, and let them get the right man this time?" - -"I don't know," she said despairingly. "What else can I do? I can't -fail." - -"Nor can I," he snapped, "and don't intend to, either. Do you know what -happens to a man who smuggles in the sort of thing I did and resists the -officials as I shall do, and is finally caught? I've seen it, and I -know. It's prison, Miss Cartwright, and gray walls and iron bars. It -means being herded for a term of years with another order of men, the -men who are crooked at heart; it means the losing of all one's hopes in -prison gloom and coming out debased and suspected by every man set in -authority over you, for evermore. I've sometimes gone sick at seeing men -who have done as I am doing, but have not escaped. I'm not going to -prison, Miss Cartwright, remember that." - -"But I don't want you to," she cried eagerly, so eagerly, that he -groaned to think her magnificent acting should be devoted to such a -scene as this. "I don't want you to." - -"Then there's only one way out of it for both of us," he said, coming -nearer. - -"What?" she asked fervently. - -"Tell them you've failed, that you couldn't find it anywhere." - -"I couldn't," she said vehemently. - -There was a certain studied contempt in his manner which hurt her badly. -And to know that he would always regard her as an adventuress, -unprincipled and ready to sell herself for the rewards of espionage, and -never have even one pleasant and genuine memory of her, made her -desperate. - -"I didn't intend you to lose on the transaction," he said coldly. "I'll -give you ten thousand dollars." - -"Oh, no, no!" she cried, "you don't understand." - -"Twenty thousand, then," he said. "Only you and I would know. Your -principals could never hold it against you. Isn't it a good offer?" - -She made a gesture of despair. "It's no good." - -"Twenty thousand no good!" he jeered. "Think again, Miss Cartwright. It -will pay you better to stand in with me than give me up." - -"No, no!" she cried, half hysterically. - -"It's all I can afford," he said. Her manner seemed so strange, that for -the first time since he had found her in his room, he began to doubt -whether, after all, it was merely the splendid acting he had supposed. - -"I can't accept," she told him. "I've _got_ to get that necklace; it -means more than any money to me." - -He looked at her keenly, seeking to gauge the depth of her emotion. - -"Then they've got some hold on you," he asserted. - -"No," she assured him, "I must get the necklace." - -"So you're going to make me fight you then?" he questioned. - -"I've got to fight," she exclaimed. - -"Look here," he said, after a moment's pause, "let's get this thing -right. You won't accept any--shall we call it compromise?--and you won't -tell me for whom you are acting. And you won't admit that you are doing -this because someone has such a hold on you that you must obey. Is that -right, so far?" - -For a moment she had a wild idea of telling him, of putting an end to -the scene that was straining her almost to breaking-point. She knew he -could be chivalrous and tender, and she judged he could be ruthless and -hard if necessity compelled. But above all, and even stronger than her -fear of irrevocably breaking with him and being judged hereafter as one -unworthy, was the dread of Taylor and that warrant that could at his -will send Amy to prison and her mother possibly to her grave. She -hardened herself to go through with the ordeal. - -"So far you are right," she admitted. - -"Then it remains only for us two to fight. I hate fighting women. A few -hours ago I would have sworn that you and I never could fight, but a few -hours have shown me that I'm as liable to misread people as--as Monty, -for example. You say you've got to fight. Very well then; I accept the -challenge, and invite you to witness my first shot." - -He walked to the door through which she had come and opening it, took -the key from her side of it, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. - -"What do you mean?" she cried. - -"Merely that I'm going to keep you here," he retorted. "I was afraid we -might be interrupted." - -"Open that door!" she commanded quickly. - -"When I am ready no doubt I shall," he returned. - -"You wouldn't do that?" she cried, beginning to realize that she was to -have no easy victory if indeed victory were to be her reward. - -"I regret the necessity," he said. "These methods don't particularly -appeal to me, but we have declared war, and there's no choice." - -"But I don't understand," she said nervously. - -"Don't you?" he said, coming nearer and looking at her closely. "Don't -you understand that you are a beautiful woman and I am a man? Have you -forgotten that it's nearly three, and you are in my room, the room next -which you begged to be moved? They were a little puzzled at your wanting -that key so badly, and when you're found here _en negligée_--for you -will be found here--I think I know the world well enough to judge what -construction will be placed upon that discovery." - -For the moment she forgot about everything but the personal aspect of -the situation in which she found herself. That this man of all others -should be willing to compromise her reputation awakened the bitterest -contempt for him. - -"I thought at least _you_ were a _man_!" she cried. - -"I am," he returned without heat. "That's just it, Miss Cartwright, I'm -a man, and you are a woman." - -"And I thought you were my friend," she exclaimed indignantly. - -"Please don't bandy the name of friendship with me," he said with a -sneer. "You of all women that live, to dare to talk like that! You knew -I liked you--liked you very much, and because you were so sure of it, -you wheedled me into betraying myself. You smiled and lied and pledged -our friendship, and called to mind those days in Paris, which were the -happiest recollections of all my life. And yet it was all done so that -you might get enough out of me to lead me, with a prison sentence -awaiting me, to the man who gives you your orders." He took a few swift -paces up and down the room. "This indignation of yours is a false note. -We'll keep to the main facts. You are sworn to betray me, and I am sworn -to defeat you." - -"Don't think that," she said wretchedly; "I wasn't--" - -"And when I told you the truth," he went on inexorably, "you asked me to -go into the garden where they were waiting for me." - -"I couldn't help it," she said, as calmly as she was able. - -"And when you thought I was sending the necklace here you trumped up a -flimsy excuse so that you might be able to steal in here and get it. Is -that sort of thing in your code of friendship?" - -"I wasn't trying to trap you," she explained. "I thought you were -innocent, and I wanted to convince them of it, too." - -"No doubt," he said tauntingly, "and when you found out I was guilty, -you still tried to save me, I suppose, by asking me to walk into their -trap?" - -The girl made an effort to defend her course of action. She knew that -without the admission of the truth he must feel his point of view -unassailable, but she wanted him not to think too hardly of her. - -"After all," she declared, "you had broken the law. You are guilty. Why -should my behavior be so called into account?" - -"It isn't that at all," he returned impatiently. "You didn't play the -game fairly. You used a woman's last weapon--her sex. Well, I can play -your game, too, and I will. You shall stay here till morning." - -"You don't dare to keep me!" she cried. - -"Oh, yes, I do," he retorted easily. - -She assumed as well as she could an air of bravado, a false air of -courage that might convince him she was not so easily frightened as she -felt. - -"And you think the possible loss of my reputation is going to frighten -me into letting you go?" - -"I do," he said readily. - -"Well, you're wrong," she assured him, "I have only to tell them the -truth about the necklace and what I'm doing here--" - -"But the truth is so seldom believed," he reminded her, "especially when -you've no evidence to support it. A lie is a much more easily digested -morsel." - -"All the evidence I need," she asserted, "is in that locked drawer." - -"Quite so," he admitted. "I'd forgotten that, only it happens you're -wrong again." He drew the necklace from his pocket and showed it to her. -"It's a beauty, isn't it?" - -Moving over to the table he scribbled a few words on a sheet of paper. - -"What are you doing?" she asked. - -"Manufacturing evidence," he returned calmly. - -"Meanwhile," she said, gathering courage, "I propose to leave this -room." - -"An excellent idea from your way of thinking," he said, looking up. -"Naturally I'm interested to know how." - -"I'll show you," she responded, and moved quickly to the bell button -which she pushed violently. "Now, Mr. Denby," she cried triumphantly. -"This is my first shot! When the servants come, I shall take the -necklace with me." - -She was disappointed to see no trace of alarm on his face. Instead, he -answered her calmly enough. - -"What a pity you did that--you'll regret it so very soon." - -"Shall I?" she said satirically, and watched him go to the window. As he -did so, a low whistle was heard coming from the lawn beneath. Then he -took the necklace, wrapped it in the note he had written, and tossed it -through the opening. - -"I hardly think you'll take it with you," he observed suavely. - -"I shall get it," she returned. "I shall tell the Harringtons exactly -what you are, and that you threw it on the lawn." - -"Wrong again, Miss Cartwright," he said patiently. "If you'll stand -where I am, you will see the retreating figure of my friend Monty, who -has it with him. Monty managed rather well, I think. His whistle -announced the coast was clear." - -"But he can't get away with those men out there," she reminded him. - -"Monty waited until they were gone," he repeated. "For the moment, your -friends of the secret service have left us." - -"Then I'll tell Mr. Harrington about Monty, that he's your accomplice." - -He shook his head. "I hardly think they'd believe that even from you. -That Montague Vaughan, whose income is what he desires it to be, should -lower himself to help me, is one of the truthful things nobody could -possibly credit. If you could ring in some poor but honest young man it -would sound so much more probable, but Monty, no." - -She looked at him like a thing stricken. Her poor bravado fell from her. -She felt beaten, and dreaded to think what might be the price of her -failure. - -"And since you forced me," he added, "I've had to play my last card. The -note that I threw to Monty was a letter to you. He'll leave it where it -can easily be found." - -"A letter to me!" she repeated. - -"It contained a suggestion that you try to get the room next mine, -pleading nervousness, and come here to-night. It was the invitation--of -a lover." - -"You beast!" she cried, flaming out into rage. "You coward!" - -"You had your warning," he reminded her. "The note will be conclusive, -and no matter what you say, you will find yourself prejudged. It's the -world's way to prejudge. The servants don't seem to be coming, and -you'll be found here in the morning. What explanation will you have to -offer?" He waited for her to speak, but she made no answer. - -"I think the episode of the necklace remains as between just you and -me," he added slowly, watching her closely. - -"The servants will come," she cried. "I shan't have to stay here." - -"If they disappoint you," he remarked, "may I suggest that -burglar-alarm? It will wake everybody up, the Harringtons, Miss -Rutledge, and all, even if they're in bed and asleep soundly. Why don't -you ring it? Miss Cartwright, I _dare_ you to ring it!" - -Just then there came the sounds of footsteps in the corridor, then a -knock at the door. Denby waited calmly for some word from the girl. The -knock was repeated. - -"Well," he whispered at last, "why don't you answer?" - -She shrank back. "No, no, I can't." - -Denby moved to the door. "Who is it?" he asked. - -Lambart's respectful voice made answer: "You rang, sir?" - -"Yes," he returned, "I forgot to tell you that Miss Cartwright wished -to be called at seven. Call me at the same time, too. That's all, -Lambart; sorry to have had to disturb you. Good-night." - -He stood listening until the man's footsteps died away. Then he turned, -and came toward the girl. - -"So you didn't dare denounce me after all," he said mockingly. - -"Oh, I knew it was all a joke," she said, with an attempt to pass it -over lightly. "I knew you couldn't be so contemptible." - -"A joke!" he exclaimed grimly. "Why does it seem a joke?" - -"If you'd meant what you'd said, you'd have called Lambart in. That -would have answered your purpose very well. But I knew that you'd never -do that. I knew you couldn't." - -"I'm afraid I shall have less faith hereafter in woman's intuition," he -returned. "I can keep you here, and I will. No other course is open to -me." A clock outside struck. "It's just three," he observed. "In four -hours' time a maid will go to your room and find it empty. It's a long -time till then, so why not make yourself as comfortable as you can? -Please sit down." - -The girl sank into a chair more because she was suddenly conscious of -her physical weakness than for the reason he offered it her in mocking -courtesy. - -"I can't face it," she cried hysterically; "the disgrace and -humiliation! I can't face it!" - -"You've got to face it," he said sternly. - -"I can't," she repeated. "It's horrible, it's unfair--if you'll let me -go, I'll promise you I won't betray you." - -"You daren't keep silent about me," he answered. "How can I let you go?" - -"I'm telling you the truth," she said simply. - -"Then tell me who sent you here," he entreated her. "You know what it -means to me; you can guess what it means to you. If you tell me, it may -save us both." - -"I can't!" she cried. "I can't! Oh, please, please!" - -He took her in his arms, roughly, exasperated by her denial. - -"By God, I'll make you tell!" he said angrily. - -"Don't touch me," she said shuddering. - -"Who sent you here?" he demanded, not releasing her. - -"I'm afraid," she groaned. "Oh, I'm afraid. I hate you! I hate you! Let -me go! let me go!" - -"Who sent you here?" he repeated, still holding her. - -"I'll tell," she said brokenly. Then, when he let her go, she sank into -a chair. "I can't go through with it--you've beaten me--Oh, I tried so -hard, so hard, but you've won. It's too unfair when it's not my fault. -You can't understand, or you wouldn't spoil my whole life like this. -It's not only me, it's my mother, my sister--Amy." - -Denby, watching her hardly controllable agitation, was forced to -readjust his opinion concerning her. This was not any adventuress -trained in artifice and ruse, but the woman he had thought her to be in -the deepest sorrow. The bringing in of her mother and sister was not, he -felt sure, a device employed merely to gain his sympathy and induce -leniency in her captor. - -And when it seemed she must sob out a confession of those complex -motives which had led her to seek his betrayal, Denby saw her clench her -hands and pull herself together. - -"No," she said, rising to her feet, her weakness cast off, "I won't -quit--no matter what happens to me. I'll expose you, and tell them -everything. I'll let them decide between us--whether they'll believe you -or me. It's either you or my sister, and I'll save her." - -He was now more than ever certain he was stumbling upon something which -would bring him the blessed assurance that she had not sold herself for -reward. - -"Your sister?" he cried eagerly. - -"They shan't send her to prison," the girl said doggedly. - -"You're doing all this to save your sister from prison?" he asked her -gently. - -"She depends on me so," she answered dully. "They shan't take her." - -"Then you've been forced into this?" he asked. "You haven't done it of -your own free will?" - -"No, no," she returned, "but what else could I do? She was my little -sister; she came first." - -"And you weren't lying to me--trying to trick me for money?" - -"Can't you see," she said piteously, "that I wanted to save you, too, -and wanted you to get away? I said you were innocent, but they wouldn't -believe me and said I had to go on or else they'd send Amy to prison. -They have a warrant all ready for her in case I fail. That's why I'm -here. Oh, please, please, let me go." - -Steven Denby looked into her eyes and made his resolve. "You don't know -how much I want to believe in you," he exclaimed. "It may spoil -everything I've built on, but I'm going to take the chance." He unlocked -the door that led to her room. "You can go, Miss Cartwright!" - -"Oh, you are a man, after all," she cried, deep gratitude in her voice, -and a relief at her heart she could as yet scarcely comprehend. And as -she made to pass him she was startled by a shrill sharp whistle -outside. - -"The devil!" he cried anxiously, and ran to the window. - -"What is it?" she called, frightened. It was not the low whistle that -Monty had used, but a menacing, thrilling sound. - -"Your friends of the secret service have come back," he answered, "but -they mustn't see us together." Quickly he lowered the window-shade, and -stepped back to the centre of the room, coming to a sudden pause as he -saw the terror on the girl's face. - -"Oh, my God," she screamed, "what have you done? That was the signal to -bring Taylor here." - -"Ah, then, it's Taylor," he cried triumphantly. "It's Taylor!" - -"Oh, I didn't mean to tell," she said, startled at the admission. "I -didn't mean to let anyone know." - -"I wish you had told me before," he said with regret, "we could both -have been spared some unhappy moments. I know Taylor and his way of -fighting, and this thing is going to a finish." - -"Go, before he comes," she entreated. - -"And leave you alone to face him?" he said more tenderly. "Leave you to -a man who fights as he does?" He looked at her for a moment in silence -and then bowed his head over her white hand and kissed it. "I can't do -that. I love you." - -"Oh, please go while there's time," she pleaded; "he mustn't take you." -She looked up at him and without shame, revealed the love that she now -knew she must ever have for him. "Oh, I couldn't bear that," she said -tremulously, "I couldn't." - -He gazed down at her, not yet daring to believe that out of this black -moment the greatest happiness of his life had come. "Ethel!" he said, -amazed. - -"I love you," she whispered; "oh, my dear, I love you." - -He gathered her in his strong arms. "Then I can fight the whole world," -he cried, "and win!" - -"For my sake, go," she begged. "Let me see him first; let me try to get -you out of it." - -"I stay here, dearest," he said firmly. "When he comes, say that you've -caught me." - -"No, no," she implored; "I can't send you to prison either." - -"I'm not going to prison," he reassured her. "I'm not done for yet, but -we must save your sister and get that warrant. He must not think you've -failed him. Do you understand?" - -"But he'll take you away," she cried, and clung to him. - -"Do as I say," he besought her; "tell him the necklace is here -somewhere. Be brave, my dear, we're working to save your sister. He's -coming." - -"Hands up, Denby," Taylor shouted, clambering from the balcony to the -room and levelling a revolver at the smuggler. Without a word Denby's -hands went up as he was bid, and the deputy-surveyor smiled the victor's -smile. - -"Well, congratulations, Miss Cartwright," he cried; "you landed him as I -knew you could if you tried." - -"What's the meaning of this?" Denby cried indignantly. "Who are you?" - -"Oh, can that bunk!" Taylor said in disgust. - -"Where's the necklace, Miss Cartwright?" - -"I don't know," she answered nervously. - -"You don't know?" he returned incredulously. - -"I haven't been able to find it, but it's here somewhere." - -"He's probably got it on him," Taylor said. - -"All this is preposterous," Denby exclaimed angrily. - -"Hand it over," Taylor snapped. - -"I have no necklace," Denby told him. - -"Then I'll have to search you," he cried, coming to him and going -through his pockets with the practised hand of one who knows where to -look, covering him the while with the revolver. - -"I'll make you pay for this," Denby cried savagely, as Taylor -unceremoniously spun him around. - -"Will you give it to me," Taylor demanded when he had drawn blank, "or -shall I have to upset the place by searching for it?" - -"How can I get it for you with my hands up in the air?" Denby asked -after a pause. "Let me put my hands down and I'll help you." - -Taylor considered for a moment. Few men were better in a -rough-and-tumble fight than he, and he had little fear of this beaten -man before him. "You haven't got a gun," he said, "so take 'em down, but -don't you fool with me." - -Denby moved over to the writing-desk and picked up a heavy beaten copper -ash-tray with match-box attached. He balanced it in his hand for a -moment. "Not a bad idea is it?" he demanded smiling; and then, before -Taylor could reach for it had hurled it with the strong arm and -practised eye of an athlete straight at the patent burglar alarm a few -feet distant. - -There was a smashing of glass and then, an instant later, the turning -off of light and a plunge into blackness. And in the gloom, during which -Taylor thrashed about him wildly, there came from all parts of the house -the steady peal of the electrical alarms newly set in motion. - -And last of all there was the report of the revolver and a woman's -shriek and the falling of a heavy body on the floor, and then a -silence. - - - - -CHAPTER FOURTEEN - - -No sooner had Michael Harrington seated himself at the card-table with -his wife and Nora than he picked up a magazine and, as he always said, -"kept the light from his eyes." Some men--few there be--who boldly state -they desire to sleep, but Michael was of the tactful majority and merely -kept the light from his eyes and, incidentally, prevented any observers -from noting that his eyes were closed. - -He considered this a better way of waiting for Monty than to chatter as -the women were doing of the events of the night. - -"I wonder what's become of Monty?" Alice asked presently. - -"He's kept us twenty minutes," Nora returned crossly. "I saw him go out -in the garden. He said it was to relieve his headache, but I really -believe he wanted to capture the gang single-handed. Wouldn't it be -thrilling if he did?" - -"A little improbable," Alice laughed; "but still men do the oddest -things sometimes. I never thought Michael the fighting kind till he -knocked a man down once for kissing his hand to me." - -"It was fine of Michael," Nora said. "The man deserved it." - -"I know, dear," her hostess said, "but, as it happens, the man was -kissing his hand to his infant son six months old in an upper window. It -cost Michael fifty dollars, but I loved him all the more for it. Look at -the dear old thing slumbering peacefully and imagining I think he's -keeping this very gentle light from his eyes." - -"It's the two highballs he had in Mr. Denby's room," the sapient ingénue -explained. She harked back to Monty. "I wish he were as brave about -proposing. I've tried my grandmother's recipes for shy men, and all my -mother ever knew, I know. And yet he does get so flustered when he -tries, that he scares himself away." - -Alice nodded. "He's the kind you've got to lead to the altar. I had -trouble with Michael. He imagined himself too hopelessly old, and very -nearly married quite an elderly female. He'd have been dead now if he -had. Here's your prey coming in now." - -Monty entered the card-room from the garden, nervously stuffing into his -pocket the precious package which Denby had thrown to him. - -"I hope I haven't delayed the game," he apologized. - -"We didn't even miss you," Nora said acidly. - -"Were you supposed to be in on this game?" - -"Don't be cross, Nora," Alice advised; "you can see his headache has -been troubling him. Is it better, Monty?" - -"What headache?" he asked. "I haven't had a headache for months. Oh, -yes," he added, confused, "that neuralgic headache has gone, thanks. -Shall we play?" - -"Yes, let's," Nora said. "Michael dealt before he went to sleep." - -"Wake up, Michael," his wife said, tapping him with her fan, "you're not -at the opera; you're playing cards." - -"I haven't slept for a moment," he assured her, after a pause in which -he got his bearings. "The light was too strong--" - -"So you shaded your eyes," his wife went on. "Well, when they are -unshaded will you remember we're playing?" - -"Who opened it?" he demanded with a great effort. - -"Bridge, my dear," Alice reminded him, "not poker--bridge, auction -bridge." She paused a moment while the clock struck three. "And it's -three o'clock, and it's quite time you began." - -"One no trump," Nora said, after looking at her hand cheerfully. - -"It isn't your bid," Alice corrected her, "although I don't wonder you -forgot. It's Michael's; he dealt." - -Michael tried to concentrate his gaze on his hand. There seemed to be an -enormous number of cards, and he needed time to consider the phenomenon. - -"What'd the dealer draw?" he asked. - -"But we're not playing poker," Alice said. - -"It was Monty who confused me," he said in excuse, and looked -reproachfully at his vis-à-vis. "What's trumps?" - -"It's your bid," Nora cried. "You dealt." - -"I go one spade." - -"One no trump," Monty declared. - -"Two royals," Nora cried, not that she had them, but to take it away -from Monty. - -"Pass," said Alice glumly. She could have gone two royals, but dared not -risk three. - -"Give me three cards," Michael cried more cheerfully. The way was -becoming clearer. - -"Michael," his wife said reprovingly, "if you're really as tired as -that, you'd better go to bed." - -"I never broke up a poker game in my life," he cried. "It's only the -shank of the evening. What's happened, partner?" he yawned to Nora. - -"I went two royals," she said. - -Michael looked at his hand enthusiastically. "Three aces," he murmured. -"I'd like to open it for two dollars--as it is, I pass." - -"Two no trumps," said Monty. When the rest had passed, Nora led and -Monty played from the dummy. Michael, at last feeling he was rounding -into form, played a low card, so that dummy took the trick with a nine. - -"Anything wrong?" he asked anxiously as Nora shook her head. - -"If you don't want to win you're playing like a bridge article in a -Sunday paper," she returned. - -"This game makes me sick," he said in disgust. "Nothing but reproaches." - -"I wish Mr. Denby were playing instead of poor Michael," Nora remarked. - -"Steve's got the right idea," Monty commented. "He's in bed." - -"Great man, Denby," said Michael. "He knows you can't sit up all night -unless you drink." - -"We'll finish the rubber and then stop," his wife said comfortingly. "Do -remember it's not poker." - -"I wish it were," he exclaimed dolefully. "No partners--no -reproaches--no post-mortems in poker. If you make a fool of yourself you -lose your own money and everybody else is glad of it and gets cheerful." - -"After this then, one round of jacks to please Michael," said Alice. - -"And then quit," Monty suggested. "I'm tired, too." - -"I'm not tired," Michael asserted. "I'm only thirsty. It takes this form -with me. When I'm thirsty--" - -Michael stopped in consternation. Overhead, from all parts of the house, -came the mechanical announcement that burglars had broken in. The four -rose simultaneously from the table. - -"Burglars!" cried Michael, looking from one to the other. - -"Good Heavens!" Nora gasped. - -"What shall we do?" cried Alice. - -"It's gone off by accident," Monty asserted quivering, as there came -suddenly the sound of a shot. - -"Somebody's killed!" Alice exclaimed, with an air of certainty. - -Michael was the first to recover his poise. "Monty," he commanded -sternly, "go and find what's the matter. I'll look after the girls." - -Alice looked at him entreatingly. "You'd better go," she said; "I shall -feel safer if you see what it is. You're not afraid, Michael?" - -"Certainly not," he said with dignity. "Of course they're armed. Hello, -who's here?" - -It was Lambart entering, bearing in his hand a .45 revolver. - -"The burglar-alarm, sir," he said, with as little excitement as he might -have announced the readiness of dinner. "The indicator points to Mr. -Denby's room." - -"Good old Lambart," his employer said heartily. "You go ahead, and we'll -follow. No, you keep the beastly thing," he exclaimed, when the butler -handed him the weapon. "You're a better shot than I am, Lambart." - -"Mikey," Alice called to him, "if you're going to be killed, I want to -be killed, too." - -The Harringtons followed the admirable Lambart up the stairway, while -Nora gazed after them with a species of fascinated curiosity that was -not compounded wholly of fear. Intensely alive to the vivid interest of -these swiftly moving scenes through which she was passing, -Nora--although she could scream with the best of them--was not in -reality badly scared. - -"I don't want to be killed," she announced with decision. - -Monty moved to her side. He had an idea that if he must die or be -arrested, he would like Nora to live on, cherishing the memory that he -was a man. - -"Neither do I!" he cried. "I wish I'd never gone into this. I knew when -I dreamed about Sing Sing last night that it meant something." - -"Gone into what?" Nora demanded. - -"I'm liable to get shot any minute." - -"What!" she cried anxiously. - -"This may be my last five minutes on earth, Nora." - -"Oh, Monty," she returned, "what have you done?" She looked at him in -ecstatic admiration; never had he seemed so heroic and desirable. "Was -it murder?" - -"If I come out of it alive, will you marry me?" he asked desperately. - -"Oh, Monty!" she exclaimed, and flung herself into his arms. "Why did -you put it off so long?" - -"I didn't need your protection so much," he told her; "and anyway it -takes a crisis like this to make me say what I really feel." - -"I love you anyway, no matter what you've done," she said contentedly. - -He looked at her more brightly. "I'm the happiest man in the world," he -declared, "providing," he added cautiously, "I don't get shot." - -She raised her head from his shoulder and tapped the package in his -pocket. "What's that?" she asked. - -"That's my heart," he said sentimentally. - -"But why do you wear it on the right side?" she queried. - -"Oh, that," he said more gravely, "I'd forgotten all about it. It -belongs to Steve. That shows I love you," he added firmly; "I'd -forgotten all about it." - -As he spoke there was the shrill call of a police whistle outside. "The -police!" he gasped. - -"Don't let them get you," she whispered. "They are coming this way." - -"Quick," he said, grabbing her arm and leading her to a door. "We'll -hide here." Now that danger, as he apprehended it, was definitely at -hand, his spirits began to rise. He was of the kind which finds in -suspense the greatest horror. They had barely reached the shelter of a -door when Duncan and Gibbs ran in. - -"Come on, Harry," Duncan called to the slower man, "he's upstairs. Get -your gun ready." - -Nora clasped her lover's hand tighter. "There'll be some real shooting," -she whispered; "I hope Alice doesn't get hurt. Listen!" - -"The Chief's got him for sure," Gibbs panted, making his ascent at the -best speed he could gather. - -"They've gone," Nora said, peering out; then she ventured into the hall. -"Who's the chief?" she asked. - -"The chief of police I guess," he groaned. "This is awful, Nora. I can't -have you staying here with all this going on. Go back into the -card-room, and I'll let you know what's happened as soon as I can." - -"But what are you going to do?" she asked. - -"I'm going to wait for Steve; he's very likely to want me." - -"I'm not afraid," Nora said airily. - -"But I am," he retorted; "I'm afraid for you. Be a good girl and do as I -say, and I'll come as soon as the trouble's over." - -"I just hate to miss anything," she pouted. "Still if you really wish -it." She looked at him more tenderly than he had ever seen her look at -any human being before. "Don't get killed, Monty, dear." - -Monty took her in his arms and kissed her. "I don't want to," he said, -"especially now." - -When the door had shut behind her he took out the necklace with the idea -of secreting it in an unfindable place. He remembered a Poe story where -a letter was hidden in so obvious a spot that it defied Parisian -commissaries of police. But the letters were usual things and pearl -necklaces were not, and he took it down from the mantel where for a -second he had let it lie, and rammed it under a sofa-cushion on the -nearby couch. That, too, was not a brilliant idea and, while he was -wondering if the pearls would dissolve if he dropped them in a decanter -of whiskey on a table near him, there were loud voices heard at the head -of the stairway, and he fled from the spot. - - - - -CHAPTER FIFTEEN - - -When the Harringtons followed their butler into Denby's room, they were -appalled at what they could not see but heard without difficulty. A -strange voice, a harsh, coarse voice rapping out oaths and imprecations, -a man fighting with some opponent who remained silent. While they who -owned the house stood helpless, Lambart turned on the lights. - -The sudden glare showed them Denby was the silent fighter. The other -man, a heavily built fellow, seemed for the moment blinded by the -lights, and stopped for a second. And it was in this second that Denby -uppercut him so that he fell with a thud to the floor. - -Then they saw Denby pick up a revolver that was lying by the stranger's -side. - -"What's the matter?" cried Michael, while Lambart busied himself with -making the room tidy and replacing overturned chairs. - -"This man," said Denby, still panting from his efforts, "tried to break -in, and Miss Cartwright and I got him." - -"Good Lord!" Michael ejaculated. - -"How splendid of you!" Alice cried. "Ethel, you're a heroine, my dear." - -Taylor, who had not been put out by the blow, scrambled to his feet and -was pushed into a chair. Denby stood conveniently near with the revolver -a foot from his heart. - -"I never saw a more typical criminal," Michael said, severely looking at -the captive; "every earmark of it. I could pick him out of a thousand. -Now, Denby, we want to hear all about it." - -"He's crazy," Taylor shouted indignantly. "Don't you believe him. He's -the crook. I'm an agent of the United States Customs and I came here to -get Denby." - -"That's a pretty poor bluff," Denby scoffed. "This porch climber was one -of the two who held up Monty and Miss Rutledge in the grounds to-night." - -"I said they'd break in!" Alice cried, and believed her statement. "And -how fortunate Ethel moved her room. This man looks like the sort who -wouldn't stop short of murder, Michael." - -"The lowest human type!" Michael cried. "Look at his eyes and ears, and -nose!" - -"I tell you I came to arrest him!" Taylor cried, striving to keep his -already ruffled temper. - -"Arrest that charming man?" Mrs. Harrington cried with scorn. "Was -there ever anything so utterly absurd!" - -"Absurd!" he sneered. "You won't think so when you learn who I am. Ask -that girl there; she knows; she'll tell you whether I'm absurd." - -Instantly they all centred their gaze on Ethel. For a second she looked -at him blankly. "I never saw the man before," she told them. - -"You didn't, eh?" Taylor cried, after a pause of sheer astonishment, "I -guess you'll remember me when I serve a warrant for your sister's -arrest. It's in my pocket now with other papers that prove I'm working -for the United States Government." He made a motion as though to get -them but found Denby's gun close under his nose. - -"No you don't," Denby warned him. "You've probably got a neat little -automatic pistol there. I know your sort." - -But when he seemed about to relieve the deputy-collector of his papers -Taylor shouted a loud protest. - -"Very well," Denby cried. "If you had rather Mr. Harrington did, it's -all the same to me. Mr. Harrington," turning to his host, "will you -please remove whatever documents you find in his inner pocket, so that -we may find out if what he says is true." - -"Surely," Michael returned. "I like every man to have justice even if -the electric chair yearns for him." Carefully he removed a bundle of -papers neatly tied together. And one of them, as Ethel Cartwright saw, -was the warrant made out for her sister's arrest. She wondered why Denby -had invited inspection of them, but was not long to remain in doubt. - -"Now," said Michael judicially, "we'll do the thing properly." - -But before he had unfolded a single one of the papers, they were -snatched violently from his hand, and Denby, gun pointed at Taylor, was -backing to the door. "Keep out of range, Harrington," the retreating man -warned. He cast a swift look of triumph toward Ethel. "It's all right, -Miss Cartwright," he called cheerfully. "Don't worry, it's all right -now." - -As the door closed, Taylor sprang from the chair with a curse. "Grab -him, I tell you," he cried raging. "He's a crook. The Government wants -him, and they'll hold you people responsible if he gets away." He blew -his whistle loudly, and then rushed out of the door and down the hall -taking the steps four at a time. - -The French windows were open and out of them he ran, calling sharply for -his men. But Gibbs and Duncan were even now fiercely searching the other -wing and disturbing frightened servants above. It was not for some -minutes that they made their way to their chief, and searched the -grounds as he bade them. - -And even here they were frustrated. Lambart's tactical genius had -forbidden him to remove the clothes-lines he had laid to bring wandering -tramps low, and among them Duncan and Gibbs floundered with dreadful -profanity. - -There were two other men aiding them now, Ford and Hammett, who were -stationed outside the grounds to watch the only road by which Denby -could escape. When Taylor was satisfied they were doing what they could, -he came back into the big hall where the frightened group was awaiting -him. - -"We'll get your friend yet," he observed disagreeably to Mrs. -Harrington. "It's bright moonlight, and my men'll nab him." - -"But he's not my friend," she objected; "I had no idea he was that kind -of a person." - -"When I find a man like that a guest in a house like this," Taylor -retorted, "I think I'm justified in calling him your friend. You'll have -time to think what to say later when you're called as a witness." - -"I want to beg your pardon, Mr. Taylor," said Michael anxiously. The -idea of being cross-examined and made a fool of by a bullying counsel -horrified him. He'd be a jest forever more at Meadow Brook and Piping -Rock. The Harringtons casually to pick up a smuggler and make him free -of their exclusive home! Never had he needed a drink to steady his -nerves as he did now! - -"Well, I certainly think there is an apology due me," Taylor sneered. He -was not one to forget an affront and Harrington had alluded to his -criminal type in a way that rankled yet. - -"But how could we know?" asked Mrs. Harrington; "he seemed perfectly all -right, although I did say he might be a murderer." - -"That'll come out in court," Taylor reminded her disagreeably. "If it -hadn't been that my men were here to swear to me, I'd have spent the -night in one of your little one-horse jails, and he'd have got away. -When I do get him he'll remember Daniel Taylor till the day he dies." - -Monty, overhearing these direful threats from behind a door, and happy -because of his friend's escape, walked boldly in. - -"Did you get the burglar?" he demanded airily. - -"There wasn't any burglar," Alice told him. - -"It was your old friend Denby that caused all the trouble," Michael -informed him, "the old friend you introduced into my house. I tell you, -Monty--" - -"Don't explain," Taylor commanded. "Now," he snapped to Monty, "have -you seen Steven Denby in the last ten minutes?" - -Monty found with glee that so far from being nervous he was enjoying the -scene. He only regretted that his moustache was not long enough to -permit him to curl it to a fierce and martial angle. He was glad that -Nora had crept into the room and was watching him. - -"Isn't he in bed?" he demanded, yawning. - -"You know he isn't in bed," Taylor answered. "Maybe you're his pal--in -on this job with him. Come here." - -Monty wished to refuse, but Taylor had a compelling manner, so he -advanced with an insolent slowness. - -Alice Harrington flew to his defence. "That's too absurd!" she cried. -"We've known Mr. Vaughan since he was a child." - -"Who is this person?" Monty demanded superciliously. - -"Never mind who I am," Taylor said gruffly, and started to search him. - -"Don't hurt him," Nora cried, rushing to her fiancé's side. - -"It's all right, Nora," Monty said; submitting quietly. "He thinks he's -doing his duty. When you're through with me," he said to Taylor, "I'll -take you to my room. You'd probably like to go through that, too." - -"Here, that'll be enough from you," Taylor said frowning. "You aren't -smart enough to be Denby's pal. Clear out--get back to the nursery." - -Nora cast a glance of vivid hatred at him, but Taylor turned his back on -her. - -"Do you want us any longer?" Michael asked. - -"No," he was told. "You can go and leave me with this girl," pointing to -Ethel, who had not said a word. "I want a little talk with her." - -"Please keep her out of it," Michael asked him. "I'm sure she's -absolutely innocent in the matter." - -Taylor looked at him, exasperated. "See here," he cried, "you've put -enough obstacles in my way to-night as it is! Do you want to put any -more?" - -"It's all right," Ethel Cartwright said quickly; "there's just some -misunderstanding. Please go!" - -"All right, then," her host answered. "Come, Alice, I need a drink -badly." - -"My dear," she said affectionately, "under the circumstances you may -have an all-night license." - -He had turned to go when Lambart approached him. "I beg your pardon, -sir, but can I have a word with you?" - -"What is it?" Michael demanded anxiously. The news evidently affected -him, and Taylor looked suspicious. "What's this mean?" the -deputy-surveyor asked. - -"A long distance from my partner," the agitated Harrington returned. "I -stand to lose nearly a million dollars if something isn't done. Excuse -me, Alice--I'll use the upstairs 'phone." He hurried upstairs. - -"Well," said Monty to Taylor--Nora was hanging on his arm and he felt he -would never again be afraid--"do you want me any longer?" - -"I thought I sent you back to play," Taylor snarled. - -Ostentatiously Monty turned his back and walked leisurely to a door. - -"You are perfectly splendid," Nora exclaimed with ecstasy in her voice. -"I'd no idea you were so brave." - -"Oh, you can never tell," Monty returned modestly. - -Alice joined them in retreat. "Michael's thirst is catching," she -asserted. "I'm for some champagne, children, are you?" - -"Sure," said Monty. "What's a quart amongst three?" - -Taylor watched them depart, sneeringly. He hated the idle rich with the -intensity of a man who has longed to be of them and knows he cannot. The -look he flung at Miss Cartwright was not pleasant. - -"What did you mean by telling them upstairs that you had never seen me -before?" he cried vindictively. - -"You said under no circumstances was I to mention your name." - -He looked a trifle disconcerted at this simple explanation. He was in a -mood for punishment, and rebuke. - -"Yes," he admitted, "but--" - -"You said it was imperative your identity should not be disclosed," the -girl reminded him. - -"I suppose that's true in a way," he conceded; "but when you saw me -wanting to prove who I was, why didn't you help?" - -"I was afraid to do anything but follow your instructions," she said -earnestly. "I remembered that you swore you'd put my sister in prison if -I even said I'd ever seen you before." - -"Well, then, we won't say any more about it," he returned ungraciously. -"How did you find Denby had the necklace?" - -"I got into his room and caught him," she explained. "He had it in his -hand." - -"Yes, yes!" he cried impatiently; "go on." - -"And when the lights went out and there was a shot, I screamed, and -naturally I couldn't see what happened in the dark. I thought you had -killed him and I was frightened." - -Taylor frowned. He did not like to remember that directly the flash of -his gun had disclosed his position Denby had sprung on him like an arrow -and knocked him down. Denby had scored two knock-downs in one night, and -none had ever done that before. There was a swelling on his jaw and -three teeth were loosened. Denby should pay for that, he swore. - -While he was thinking these vengeful thoughts, Duncan hurried in through -the French windows. - -"Say, Chief," he shouted, "Denby didn't leave the house. He's up in his -room now." - -"How do you know?" Taylor cried eagerly. - -"Gibbs climbed up on the roof of the pagoda; he can see the room from -there and Denby's in it now." - -"Now we've got him sure," his chief cried gleefully. - -"And Harrington's with him," Duncan added excitedly. - -"What!" Taylor ejaculated, stopping short on his way to the stairs. The -two men talking together spelled collusion to him, and opened up -complications to which he had hardly given a thought. - -"Gibbs said they were talking together," his subordinate continued. - -"I was right at first," Taylor exclaimed; "I thought that might be the -game, but he fooled me so that I would have sworn he was innocent. -Denby's smuggling the necklace through for Harrington. Jim, this is a -big job, get out there to make sure he don't escape by the balcony. Have -your gun handy," he warned; "I've got mine." He looked over to Ethel, -whose face betrayed the anguish which she was enduring. "And I'll get -the drop on him this time." - -"No, no," she cried, "you mustn't!" - -"You knew all the time he was back in his room and you've been trying to -fool me--you're stuck on him." - -"No, no, you're wrong," she said desperately. - -"Am I?" he retorted; "then I'll give you the chance to prove it. Send -for Denby and ask him what he did with the necklace, and where it is -now. Tell him I suspect you, and that he's got to tell you the truth, -but you won't turn him over to me. Talk as if you two were alone, but -I'll be there behind that screen listening." He took out his revolver -and pointed to it meaningly. "If you tip him off or give him the -slightest warning or signal, I'll arrest you both, anyway. Wrong, am I?" -he sneered. "We'll see; and if you try to fool me again, you and your -sister will have plenty of time to think it over in Auburn. Now send for -him." - -There was a big screen of tapestry in one corner of the hall near the -stairs. Behind this he had little difficulty in hiding himself. - -The girl watched him in terror. It seemed she must either offer the man -she loved bound and helpless to his enemies, or else by warning him and -aiding him in escape, see him shot before her eyes. There seemed here no -way out with Taylor watching her every look and movement from his -hiding-place. - -She stretched out her tremulous hand to grasp the table for support and -clutched instead the silver cigarette-box, the same she had offered -earlier to Denby. Her deep dejection was banished for she saw here a -chance to defeat her enemy by a ruse of which he could not know. -Watching her, Taylor saw her returning courage, and congratulated her. -She knew, he thought, that her only chance was to play the square game -with him now. - -"Well," he called from his concealment, "why don't you send for him?" - -"I'm going to!" she answered, walking to the bell and then coming back -to the table. "You'll see you've been all wrong about me." - -"I guess not," he snarled, adjusting the screen so as better to be able -to see her from between its folds. He noticed that Lambart passing close -to him as he answered the bell had no suspicion of his presence. - -"Mr. Denby's in his room," she told the man, "please say I'm alone here -and wish to speak to him at once." - -"Yes, madam," Lambart said, and a few seconds later could be heard -knocking at a distant door. - -"I can see you perfectly," Taylor warned her. "When Denby comes in, stay -right where you are and don't move, or else I'll--" He stopped short -when Lambart descended the staircase. - -"Mr. Denby will be with you immediately," the butler said, and left the -hall. - - - - -CHAPTER SIXTEEN - - -Denby came eagerly down the stairs, looking about him with no especial -care. He had learned that the special service men assumed him to have -made good his escape and were contenting themselves with surrounding the -gardens. - -"What's happened?" he asked, coming quickly toward her. "Is everything -all right now? Where is--" - -Ethel interrupted him. "Will you have a cigarette, Dick?" she asked, -pushing the silver box to him. - -He took it calmly enough but instantly realized her warning. His alert -gaze swept about the room and dwelt no longer on the screen than any -other of its furnishing, but he knew where his enemy was hidden. -"Thanks," he said simply, and lighted it with a hand that was steady. - -"Now we are alone," she said, "and those men imagine you are not here, -and I admit you've beaten me, please tell me the truth about that -necklace. What have you done with it?" - -"Are you still persisting in that strange delusion?" he asked calmly. "I -never had a necklace, Miss Cartwright." - -"But I know you did," she persisted, "I saw it." - -"Ah, you thought you did," he corrected. "We went all over that in my -room and I imagined I had persuaded you. Why do you want to know this?" - -"The agent of the secret service has been here," she told him, "and he -suspects that I am defending you and won't believe what I say. If you'll -tell me the truth, I'll get him to let you go." - -"Then the secret service agent is just as wrong as you," he remarked. "I -have no necklace. Because I knock down a man who breaks into my room at -night and escape rather than be shot, am I supposed on that account to -carry these fabulous necklaces about with me? I don't care even to -prolong this conversation, Miss Cartwright." - -At this point Lambart entered, and coming toward him, delivered a small -package. - -"Pardon me, sir," the butler began, "but Mr Vaughan asked me to take -this to your room." - -"What is it?" Denby asked, and a slight movement behind the screen -betokened the curiosity of the man hidden there. - -"Mr. Vaughan didn't say, sir," Lambart returned. "He only said it was -very important for you to get it immediately." Lambart bowed and -retired. - -"I wonder what on earth Monty can be sending me at this time of the -night," said Denby, balancing the thing as though to judge its contents -from the weight. "It must be important, so forgive me if I see what it -is." - -He tore the envelope open carelessly, and out of it dropped the -necklace. Quickly he stooped down and picked it up, putting it in his -left-hand coat-pocket. - -The girl could not refrain from giving a cry as he did so. "Oh," she -exclaimed, "we're done for now." - -There was a crash behind them as the screen clattered to the floor and -Daniel Taylor stepped over it, levelled gun in hand. - -"Hands up, Denby," he commanded, and then blew his police whistle. - -He looked sourly at the trembling girl by the table. "I don't know how -you tipped him off, but you two are damned smart, aren't you? But I've -got you both now, so it's just as well it happened as it did." - -Gibbs and Duncan burst in, their anxious faces breaking into smiles of -joy. The Chief's temper if his plans miscarried was a fixed quantity and -an unpleasant one. They had been consoling themselves outside, and -Duncan had been wishing he had Gibbs' outside job. Now everything would -be well and they would each be able to boast in his home circle of -to-night's exploit. - -"You're both under arrest," Taylor said, addressing his captives. -"Boys," he commanded his satellites cordially, "take her into one of -those side rooms and keep her there till I call. They can talk without -speaking, these two. I'll question 'em separately." - -For the second time within an hour he searched Denby. From the -right-hand pocket of his dinner jacket he took an automatic pistol. From -the left he drew out the string of pearls. - -"It's a pippin, all right," Taylor muttered, his eyes gloating over the -treasure. "How much did you pay the girl?" - -"Not a cent," his prisoner asserted. "Nothing. You're all wrong there." - -"Then why did she tip you off just now?" - -"She didn't tip me off," Denby told him. "She didn't say a word, as you -yourself must have heard." - -"Can it! can it!" Taylor retorted impatiently. "I saw the result all -right, but I couldn't get on to the cause. What did she do it for?" - -Denby shrugged his shoulders and smiled a little. It was the first time -he had come off his high horse. - -"Maybe," he hinted, "she didn't want to see me go to prison." - -"Oh, you pulled the soft stuff, eh?" Taylor said. "Well, she tried to -double-cross me and that don't pay, Denby. She'll find that out, all -right." - -Denby assumed a certain confidential air. "Look here, Taylor," he said, -"so long as she did the decent thing by me, I'd like to see her out of -this. You've got me, and you've got the pearls--Why not let her go?" - -Taylor shook his head. He did not signalize his triumphs by the freeing -of captives or the giving of rewards. "I guess not," he returned with -his sourest look. "You've both given me a lot of unnecessary trouble, -and I think a little trip down south ought to fix you two comfortably. -What do you say to five years in Atlanta? Fine winter climate they say." - -"Then I guess we are up against it;" Denby sighed. - -"You are, son," Taylor assured him; "right up against it." - -"Take it out on me," the other implored; "ease up on her. It isn't as if -she were a grafter, either. Why, I offered her twenty thousand dollars -to square it." - -"Tried to bribe a Government official, eh?" Taylor observed. "That don't -make it any better for you." - -"Oh, you can't prove it against me," Denby returned easily. - -"Twenty thousand dollars," Taylor muttered; "twenty thousand dollars! So -you _were_ trying to smuggle it in for the Harringtons, then?" - -"I hate bringing names in," said Denby, looking at him shrewdly. - -"Well, they'll have to come out in court anyway," the other reminded -him, and then reverted to the money. "Twenty thousand dollars!" he -repeated. "It seems to mean a whole lot to you--or somebody--to get this -through, eh?" - -"It does," Denby returned, "and it's a big lot of money; but I'd rather -pay that than sample your winter climate down south--see?" He looked at -him still with that air of confidence as though he expected Taylor to -comprehend his motives. - -"Say, what are you trying to do?" Taylor said sharply; "bribe me?" - -"What an imagination you have!" Denby said in astonishment. "Why, you -couldn't be bribed, Mr. Taylor!" - -"You bet your life I couldn't," the deputy-surveyor returned. - -Denby sighed. "What a pity I didn't meet a business man instead of -_you_." - -Taylor's sharp eyes looked at the speaker steadily. - -"You couldn't square it even with a business man for twenty thousand -dollars." - -Denby met his shrewd gaze without lowering his eyes. - -"If I'd met the right kind of business man," he declared, "I shouldn't -have offered twenty thousand dollars," he said meaningly; "I'd have -offered him all I've got--and that's thirty thousand dollars." - -A slow smile chased Taylor's intent expression away. "You would?" he -said. - -"I would," Denby answered steadily. - -"A business man," Taylor returned, "wouldn't believe you had that much -unless he saw it with his own eyes." - -"I should prove it," Denby answered. And with his first and second -finger he probed behind his collar and produced three new -ten-thousand-dollar bills. - -"Beauties, aren't they?" he asked of the staring Taylor. - -The official seemed hypnotized by them. "I didn't know they made 'em -that big," he said reverently. - -When Denby next spoke, his tone was brisker. "Look here, Taylor, I -haven't been in Paris for two years." - -There was understanding in Taylor's face now. "You haven't?" he -returned. - -"And in case of a come-back, I've witnesses to prove an alibi." - -"You have?" Taylor responded, his smile broadening. - -"How much does the Government pay you?" Denby questioned. - -Taylor's eyes were still on the bills. "Three thousand a year," he -answered. - -Denby inspected the crisp bills interestedly. "Ten years' salary!" he -commented. "You couldn't save all this honestly in your lifetime." - -Denby raised his eyes and the two men looked at one another and a -bargain was as certainly made as though documents had been drawn up -attesting it. - -Taylor's manner altered instantly. He removed his hat and became a -genial, not to say jocular, soul. - -"Too bad," he said sympathetically, "a mistake like that happening." - -"It is a bit inconvenient," Denby allowed. - -"I'm sorry to have bothered you," the deputy-surveyor assured him, "but -you're all right, Mr. Denby. I figured from the first that you might be -a business man, and that's why you slipped through so easily." - -"You're a pretty smart man, Mr. Taylor," Denby admitted, "and I think -these belong to you." He held out the money. - -"Yes, I think they do," Taylor said eagerly, reaching out for the bills. - -"Wait a minute!" Denby cried, holding the money back. "How do I know you -won't take it and then double-cross me?" - -"I'll give you my word for it," Taylor assured him fervently. - -"That security isn't good enough," Denby remarked slowly. "We haven't -done business together before, and those two men of yours--are they in -on it?" - -"Not on your life," Taylor laughed. "I haven't split with anybody for -five years. This is a one man job, Mr. Denby." - -"That may be," the other protested, "but they saw you pinch me!" - -"I'll tell them it was all a mistake and I've got to call it off. I know -the kind of help I want when I'm tackling a one man job." - -"Do you think you can get away with it?" Denby asked doubtfully. - -"I always have," Taylor said simply. "There's no need for you to get -scared." - -Denby still seemed perturbed. "I've been hearing a lot about this R. -J.," he told the official. "I don't like what I've heard either. Is he -suspicious about you by any chance?" - -"What do you know about R. J.?" Taylor asked quickly. - -"Some friends of mine--business men--in London, tipped me off about him. -They said he's been investigating the bribery rumors in the Customs." - -"Don't you worry about him, my boy," Taylor said with a reassuring air, -"I'm the guy on this job." - -"That's all well enough," Denby said, "but I don't want to give up -thirty thousand and then get pinched as well. I've got to think about -myself." - -Taylor leaned across eagerly. "Say, if that R. J. has scared you into -thinking he'll ball things up, I don't mind admitting--in strict -confidence--who he is." - -"So you know?" Denby retorted. "Who is he? I want to be on my guard." - -"Well, he isn't a thousand miles from here." - -"What!" Denby cried in astonishment. - -Taylor tapped himself upon the chest with an air of importance. "Get -me?" - -"Well, that's funny," Denby laughed. - -"What's funny?" Taylor retorted. - -"Why, R. J. is supposed to be death on grafters and you're one -yourself." - -"I'm a business man," Taylor said with a wink. "I'm not a grafter--I -should worry about the Government." - -"Well I guess I'll take a chance," Denby said, after a momentary pause. - -"That's the idea," Taylor cried cheerfully. - -"Provided," Denby added, "you let me have a few words with your men. -They've got to understand I'm innocent, and I want to see how they take -it. You see, I don't know them as well as you do. They've got to back -you up in squaring me with the Harringtons. You've put me in all wrong -here, remember." - -"Why sure," Taylor agreed generously, "talk your head off to 'em." - -"And you'll leave the girl out of it?" - -"I'll do more than that," Taylor told him with a grin; "I'll leave her -to you." - -Denby heaved a sigh of relief. "Now we understand one another," he said. -"Here's your money, Taylor." - -"Much obliged," Taylor responded. He handed the other the pearls. "I've -no evidence," he declared in high good humor, "that you ever had any -necklace. Have a cigar, Mr. Denby?" - -[Illustration: "NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER," HE SAID. "HERE'S YOUR -MONEY." _Page 288_.] - -"Thanks," the younger man returned; "I'll smoke it later it you don't -mind. Now call 'em in." - -"Certainly," Taylor said briskly. "And say, I'm glad to have met you, -Mr. Denby; and next time you're landing in New York and I can be of use, -let me know." He leered. "I might be of considerable use, understand?" - - - - -CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - - -Taylor walked briskly across the hall and threw open the door of the -room in which his subordinates were guarding their prisoner. "Duncan," -he called, "and Gibbs, come here." - -When they had come in with Ethel Cartwright, he turned to them -impressively. "Boys," he declared, "it was all a mistake." - -"What!" cried his men. - -"Thank God!" the girl cried softly. - -"Our dope was phoney. We were tipped off wrong by someone, out of -mischief or malice--I'll have to look into that--and we're all in wrong. -It was a case of mistaken identity, but Mr. Denby's been very nice about -it, very nice, indeed. Let the lady go, Jim." - -"I asked Mr. Taylor to send for you," Denby explained, "because I -thought it was due you, and I didn't want any come-back. I want you all -to understand the facts, if you don't mind waiting, Miss Cartwright." - -"Of course I'll wait," she said brightly. What had happened to change -things she could not guess, but she was confident the man she loved had -some magic to save them both. - -"Listen to him, boys," Taylor counselled. "You see, he's a bit anxious -to straighten things out, so tell him all you know. Fire ahead, Mr. -Denby." - -Denby addressed himself to James Duncan. "You got a tip from Harlow that -a Steven Denby had bought a necklace at Cartier's?" - -"Yes, sir," Duncan agreed. - -Denby now turned to Gibbs who assumed a character of importance. - -"Then you got a wireless that this Denby had sailed with Mrs. Michael -Harrington and Mr. Montague Vaughan, which threw suspicion on the lady -as a possible smuggler?" - -"That's right, too," Gibbs conceded, contentedly. - -"And yet," Denby remarked with inquiry in his tone, "you let Denby slip -through the Customs to-day, didn't you?" - -Taylor's satisfied expression had faded partially. "You see," he -explained, "we didn't have any absolute evidence to arrest him on." - -"Just what I was going to say," Gibbs remarked. - -"But after he got through," Denby went on, "you received an anonymous -telegram late this afternoon that Denby carried the necklace in a -tobacco-pouch, didn't you?" - -Taylor advanced a step frowning. "What's all this, anyway?" he demanded. -"How do you know about that telegram?" - -"I found it out to-night," Denby said pleasantly. - -"That's a private Government matter," Taylor blustered. - -Denby looked at him in surprise. "Surely," he said, "you don't object to -my making things clear? I was pretty nice to you, Mr. Taylor." - -Taylor's fingers nestled tenderly about the crackling notes in his -pocket. "All right," he assented, "go ahead." - -Denby turned on the expectant Gibbs. - -"You knew about that tip in the telegram?" - -"First I ever heard about it," Gibbs returned, open-eyed. - -"Then you didn't tell them?" Denby observed, looking toward their chief. - -"That was my own business," Taylor said impatiently. He wished this fool -cross-examination over, and himself out of Long Island. - -"Did it ever occur to you boys that it was rather peculiar that this -supposed smuggler wasn't searched--that he got through without the -slightest trouble?" - -"Why, the Chief didn't want to get in any mix-up with the Harringtons in -case he was wrong about Denby," Gibbs elucidated. - -"Oh, I see," Denby remarked, as though the whole thing were now -perfectly straightforward. "He told you that, did he?" - -"He sure did," Duncan agreed readily. - -"Don't you boys see," Denby said seriously, "that this whole job looks -very much as if the scheme was to let Denby slip through and then -blackmail him?" - -"I never thought of that," Duncan returned. - -"Me, neither," the ingenuous Gibbs added. - -"Wait a minute," Taylor said irritably. "What's all this got to do with -you? I admit we made a mistake--I'll take the blame for it--and we're -sorry. We can't remedy it by talking any more. Come on, boys." - -"Wait just a minute," Denby exclaimed. "Don't you know," he went on, -addressing himself to the two subordinate officials, "that it's rather a -dangerous thing to monkey with the United States Government? It's a -pretty big thing to fool with. You might have got into serious trouble -arresting the wrong man." - -"I haven't been monkeying with the Government," Gibbs said nervously. -All his official carelessness recurred to him vividly. "I wouldn't do a -thing like that." - -"Neither have I," Duncan made eager reply. - -Taylor took a hand in the conversation. "That's all settled," he said, -with an air of finality. "We all know Mr. Denby never had a necklace." - -"That's clearly understood, is it?" Denby returned. - -"What I say is right," Taylor retorted, and glared at his underlings. - -"What the Chief says is right," Gibbs admitted with eagerness. - -"What the Chief says is wrong," Denby cried in a different voice. "I did -smuggle a necklace in through the Customs to-day. Here it is." - -They looked at it in consternation. "What!" they ejaculated. - -Taylor had owed his safety ere this to rapid thinking. - -"Then you're under arrest!" he cried. - -"Oh, no I'm not," Denby rejoined, turning to the startled men. "Your -chief caught me with the goods and I paid him thirty thousand dollars to -square it." - -Taylor came at him with upraised fist. "Why, you--" he roared, "I'll--" - -Denby seized the clenched fist and thrust it aside. "You won't," he said -calmly; "you're only a bully after all, Taylor. You couldn't graft on -your own--you had to drag a girl into it, and you've made me do some -pretty rotten things to-night to land you. I've had to make that girl -suffer, but you'll pay for it. I've got you now, and you're under -arrest." - -"Aw, quit your bluffing," Taylor jeered; "you can't arrest me, Denby." - -"The man who'll arrest you is named Jones," Denby remarked. - -"Who the hell is he?" Taylor cried. - -"Ah, yes," Denby admitted. "I forgot that you hadn't met him officially -and that the boys don't know who he is either. Here's my commission." -Gibbs stared at the document ravenously. "And that's my photograph," -Denby added. "A pretty good likeness it's usually considered." - -Duncan was now at his comrade's side, poring over it. "It sure is," he -agreed. - -"This thing," said Gibbs the discoverer, "is made out in the name of -Richard Jones!" - -"Well, do you get the initials?" Denby queried. - -"R. J.," Gibbs read out as one might mystic things without meaning. - -"That's me," Denby smiled, "R. J. of the secret service. That's the name -I'm known by." - -Gibbs offered his hand. "If you're R. J.," he said admiringly, "I'd -like to shake hands with you. Are you, on the level, R. J.?" - -"I'm afraid I am," the other admitted. - -"It's a lie," Taylor shouted. - -Denby pointed to the paper. "You can't get away from that signature. -It's signed by the President of the United States." - -"I tell you it's a fake," the man cried angrily. - -"They don't seem to think so," Denby remarked equably. - -"This is on the level, all right," Duncan announced after prolonged -scrutiny. - -Denby turned to the deputy-surveyor. - -"Taylor," he said gravely, "for three years the Government has been -trying to land the big blackmailer in the Customs. They brought me into -it and I set a trap with a necklace as a bait. The whole thing was a -plant from Harlow's tip, the telegram I sent myself this afternoon, to -the accidental dropping of the pearls, so that you could see them -through the screen. You walked right into it, Taylor. Twice before you -came and looked into other traps and had some sort of intuition and kept -out of them. This time, Taylor, it worked." - -"You can't get away with that," Taylor said threateningly. "I'm not -going to listen to this." - -"Wait a minute," Denby advised him. "You've been in the service long -enough to know that the rough stuff won't go. You'd only get the worst -of it; so take things easily." - -He smiled pleasantly at the other men. "I'm glad to find you boys -weren't in on this. Take him along with you, and this, too." He tossed -the necklace on the table from which it slid to the floor at Gibbs' -feet. - -Gibbs made a quick step forward to recover it, but trod on part of the -string and crushed many of the stones. Poor Gibbs looked at the damage -he had done aghast. If the thing were worth two hundred thousand -dollars, a ponderous calculation forced the dreadful knowledge upon him -that he had destroyed possibly a quarter of them. Fifty thousand -dollars! Tears came to his eyes. "Honest to goodness," he groaned, -looking imploringly at the august R. J., "I couldn't help it." - -"Don't worry," Denby laughed. "They're fakes. Take what's left as -Exhibit A." - -Gibbs recovered his ease of manner quickly and took a few steps nearer -the fallen Chief. "And to think I've been working for a crook two years -and never knew it," he said, with a childlike air of wonder. - -Taylor looked at Denby with rage and despair. - -"Damn you," he exploded, "you've got me all right, but I'll send that -girl and her sister up the river. You're stuck on her and I'll get even -that way." - -Even in his fury he remarked that this threat did not disturb the man in -the least. He saw the girl blanch and hide her face, but this cursed -meddling R. J., as he called himself, only smiled. - -"I think not," Denby returned. "You forget that Mr. Harrington is -vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company and a friend of -the late Mr. Vernon Cartwright. I hardly think he will allow a little -matter like that to come into public notice. In fact, I've seen him -about it already." - -"Oh, get me out of this," Taylor cried in disgust. - -"Just a minute," Denby commanded. "I'll trouble you for that thirty -thousand dollars." - -"You think of everything, don't you?" Taylor snarled, handing it back. -"Is that a fake, too?" - -"Oh, no," he was told, "I borrowed that from Monty, who's been a great -help to me in this little scheme as an amateur partner." - -He put the bills in his pocket and took out the cigar Taylor had given -him. - -"Here's your cigar," he said. - -Taylor snatched it from him, and biting off the end, stuck it in his -mouth. He assumed a brazen air of bravado. "Well," he cried bragging, -"it took the biggest man in the secret service to land me, Mr. R. J., -but I've got some mighty good pals, in some mighty good places, and -they'll come across for me, and don't you forget it. After all, you're -not the jury, and all the smart lawyers aren't dead yet." - -"I don't think they'll help you this time," Denby said. "I believe -you'll still enjoy that winter climate." - -"Aw, come on, you dirty grafter," Gibbs cried contemptuously, and with -his partner led the broken man away. - -Ethel came to his side when they were alone. "Did you really mean it -about arranging with Mr. Harrington?" she cried. - -He looked down at her tenderly. "Yes," he said. "We've saved her." - -"And you are really R. J.?" she exclaimed wonderingly. - -"I really am," he returned. "Can't you guess how much I wanted to tell -you before? But I couldn't you know, at first, because I thought you -might be Taylor's accomplice. And later, I still dared not, because I -was under orders with my duty toward my Government. Can you forgive me -for making you suffer like that?" - -"Forgive you?" she whispered tenderly. "Haven't I said I love you?" - -He took her in his arms and kissed her. - -"And everything's all right now, isn't it?" she sighed happily. - -He looked at her whimsically. - -"Except that I'm hungry--are you hungry?" - -"Starved," she cried. - -"Let's ask for some food," he suggested. "Nothing would gratify Lambart -so much. But I don't think I've been so hungry since I was in Paris." - -"I wish it were Paris," she said. "Dear Paris, where I first found R. -J." - -"It shall be, whenever you say," he answered, "and I'll tell you all -about R. J. and the lonely life he led till he saw you." - -"And to think I could believe for a moment you were a criminal!" she -said, self-reproach in her voice, "and even try to trap you!" - -"But you've caught me," he said proudly. - -"Have I really got you, Steve?" she asked, softly, holding out her arms -to him. - -THE END - -[Illustration] - - * * * * * - -CORT THEATRE - -NEW YORK - -BEGINNING AUGUST 24th - -COHAN'S GRAND OPERA -HOUSE, CHICAGO - -BEGINNING AUGUST 31st - -SELWYN AND COMPANY - -PRESENT - -UNDER COVER - -_A melodrama of love, mystery -and thrills_ - -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -Ambassadeurs waiters corraled=> Ambassadeurs waiters corralled {pg 39} - -wrung his hand again and again=> wrung his hands again and again {pg -156} - -How women do gamble nowaday=> How women do gamble nowadays {pg 165} - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Cover, by -Roi Cooper Megrue and Wyndham Martyn - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - -***** This file should be named 40939-8.txt or 40939-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/3/40939/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/40939-8.zip b/40939-8.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index a75dd4a..0000000 --- a/40939-8.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/40939-h.zip b/40939-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2d691a4..0000000 --- a/40939-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/40939.txt b/40939.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c39fe82..0000000 --- a/40939.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8690 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Under Cover, by Roi Cooper Megrue and Wyndham Martyn - -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/license - - -Title: Under Cover - -Author: Roi Cooper Megrue - Wyndham Martyn - -Illustrator: William Kirkpatrick - -Release Date: October 5, 2012 [EBook #40939] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -[The chapters in the original book pass from CHAPTER FIVE to CHAPTER -SEVEN; there is no chapter numbered SIX. A list of typographical errors -corrected follows the etext. (note of etext transcriber)] - - - - -UNDER COVER - -[Illustration: HE FOUND DENBY'S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE. - -Frontispiece. _See page 266_.] - - - - -UNDER COVER - -BY - -ROI COOPER MEGRUE - -NOVELIZED BY WYNDHAM MARTYN - -WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY -WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK - -[Illustration] - -BOSTON -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY -1914 - -_Copyright_, _1914_, -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE AND -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. - -_All rights reserved_ - -Published August, 1914 - -THE COLONIAL PRESS -C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - -HE FOUND DENBY'S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE _Frontispiece_ - -HE TURNED TO AMY. "YOUNG WOMAN, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST" PAGE 105 - -"DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON'T YOU--DICK?" 186 - -"NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER," HE SAID. "HERE'S YOUR MONEY" 288 - - - - -UNDER COVER - - - - -CHAPTER ONE - - -Paris wears her greenest livery and puts on her most gracious airs in -early summer. When the National Fete commemorative of the Bastille's -fall has gone, there are few Parisians of wealth or leisure who remain -in their city. Trouville, Deauville, Etretat and other pleasure cities -claim them and even the bourgeoisie hie them to their summer villas. - -The city is given up to those tourists from America and England whom -Paris still persists in calling _Les Cooks_ in memory of that -enterprising blazer of cheap trails for the masses. Your true Parisian -and the stranger who has stayed within the city's gates to know her -well, find themselves wholly out of sympathy with the eager crowds who -follow beaten tracks and absorb topographical knowledge from -guide-books. - -Monty Vaughan was an American who knew his Paris in all months but those -two which are sacred to foreign travelers, and it irritated him one -blazing afternoon in late July to be persistently mistaken for a tourist -and offered silly useless toys and plans of the Louvre. The _camelots_, -those shrewd itinerant merchants of the Boulevards, pestered him -continually. These excellent judges of human nature saw in him one who -lacked the necessary harshness to drive them away and made capital of -his good nature. - -He was a slim, pleasant-looking man of five and twenty, to whom the good -things of this world had been vouchsafed, with no effort on his part to -obtain them; and in spite of this he preserved a certain frank and -boyish charm which had made him popular all his life. - -Presently on his somewhat aimless wanderings he came down the Avenue de -l'Opera and took a seat under the awning and ordered an innocuous drink. -He was in a city where he had innumerable friends, but they had all left -for the seashore and this loneliness was unpleasant to his friendly -spirit. But even in the Cafe de Paris he was not to be left alone and he -was regarded as fair game by alert hawkers. One would steal up to his -table and deposit a little measure of olives and plead for two sous in -exchange. Another would place some nuts by his side and demand a like -amount. And when they had been driven forth and he had lighted a -cigarette, he observed watching him with professional eagerness a -_ramasseur de megot_, one of those men who make a livelihood of picking -up the butts of cigars and cigarettes and selling them. - -When Monty flung down the half-smoked cigarette in hope that the man -would go away he was annoyed to find that the fellow was congratulating -himself that here was a tourist worth following, who smoked not the -wispy attenuated cigarettes of the native but one worth harvesting. He -probed for it with his long stick under the table and stood waiting for -another. - -The heat, the absence of his friends and the knowledge that he must -presently dine alone had brought the usually placid Monty into a wholly -foreign frame of mind and he rose abruptly and stalked down the Avenue. - -A depressed-looking sandwich-man, bearing a device which read, "One can -laugh uproariously at the Champs Elysees every night during the summer -months," blocked his way, and permitted a woman selling fans of the kind -known to the _camelots_ as _les petits vents du nord_ to thrust one upon -him. "Monsieur does not comprehend our heat in Paris," she said. "Buy a -little north wind. Two sous for a little north wind." - -Monty thrust a franc in her hand and turned quickly from her to carom -against a tall well-dressed man who was passing. As Monty began to utter -his apology the look of gloom dropped from his face and he seized the -stranger's hand and shook it heartily. - -"Steve, old man!" he cried, "what luck to find you amid this mob! I've -been feeling like a poor shipwrecked orphan, and here you come to my -rescue again." - -The man he addressed as Steve seemed just as pleased to behold Monty -Vaughan. The two were old comrades from the days at their preparatory -school and had met little during the past five years. Monty's ecstatic -welcome was a pleasant reminder of happy days that were gone. - -"I might ask what you are doing here," Steven Denby returned. "I -imagined you to be sunning yourself in Newport or Bar Harbor, not doing -Paris in July." - -"I've been living here for two years," Monty explained, when they were -sheltered from interruption at the cafe Monty had just left. - -"Doing what?" - -Monty looked at him with a diffident smile. "I suppose you'll grin just -like everybody else. I'm here to learn foreign banking systems. My -father says it will do me good." - -Denby laughed. "I'll bet you know less about it than I do." The idea of -Monty Vaughan, heir to the Vaughan millions, working like a clerk in the -Credit Lyonnais was amusing. - -"Does your father make you work all summer?" he demanded. - -"I'm not working now," Monty explained. "I never do unless I feel like -it. I'm waiting for a friend who is sailing with me on the Mauretania -next week and I've just had a wire to say she'll be here to-morrow." - -"She!" echoed Denby. "Have you married without my knowledge or consent? -Or is this a honey-moon trip you are taking?" - -A look of sadness came into the younger man's face. - -"I shall never marry," he returned. - -But Steven Denby knew him too well to take such expressions of gloom as -final. "Nonsense," he cried. "You are just the sort they like. You're -inclined to believe in people too much if you like them, and a husband -who believes in his wife as you will in yours is a treasure. They'll -fight for you, Monty, when you get home again. For all you know the trap -is already baited." - -"Trap!" Monty cried reproachfully. "I've been trying to make a girl -catch me for three years now and she won't." - -"Do you mean you've been finally turned down?" Steven Denby asked -curiously. It was difficult to suppose that a man of his friend's wealth -and standing would experience much trouble in offering heart and -fortune. - -"I haven't asked yet," Monty admitted. "I've been on the verge of it -hundreds of times, but she always laughs as I'm coming around to it, and -someone comes in or something happens and I've never done it." He sighed -with the deprecating manner of the devout lover. "If you'd only seen -her, Steve, you'd see what mighty little chance I stood. I feel it's a -bit of impertinence to ask a girl like that to marry me." - -Steven patted him on the arm. "You're just the same," he said, "exactly -the silly old Monty I used to know. Next time you see your charmer, risk -being impertinent and ask her to marry you. Women hate modesty nowadays. -It's just a confession of failure and we're all hitched up to success. I -don't know the girl you are speaking of but when you get home again -instead of declaring your great unworthiness, tell her you've left Paris -and its pleasures simply to marry her. Say that the Bourse begged you to -remain and guide the nation through a financial panic, but you left -them weeping and flew back on a fast Cunarder." - -"I believe you are right," Monty said. "I'll do it. I ought to have done -it years ago. Alice is frightfully disappointed with me." - -"Who is Alice?" the other demanded. "The lady you're crossing with on -the Mauretania?" - -"Yes," said Monty. "A good pal of mine; one of those up-to-date women of -the world who know what to do and say at the right moment. She's a sort -of elder sister to me. You'll like her, Steve." - -Denby doubted it but pursued the subject no further. He conceived Alice -to be one of those capable managing women who do so much good in the -world and give so little pleasure. - -"What are you doing in Paris now?" Monty presently demanded. It occurred -to him that it was odd that Denby, too, should be in the city now. - -"Writing a book on the Race Courses of the World," he said, smiling. "I -am now in the midst of Longchamps." - -Monty looked at him doubtfully. He had never known that his friend had -any literary aspirations, but he did remember him as one who, if he did -not choose to tell, would invent airy fairy fancies to deceive. - -"I don't believe it," he said. - -"You are quite right," Denby admitted. "You've got the key to the -mystery. I'll confess that I have been engaged to guard Mona Lisa. -Suspicious looking tourists such as you engage my special attention. -Don't get offended, Monty," he added, "I'm just wandering through the -city on my way to England and that's the truth, simple as it may seem. I -was desolate and your pleasing countenance as you bought a franc's worth -of north wind was good to see. I wondered if you'd remember me." - -"Remember you!" Monty snorted. "Am I the kind to forget a man who saved -my life?" - -"Who did that?" Denby inquired. - -"Why, you did," he returned, "You pulled me out of the Nashua river at -school!" - -The other man laughed. "Why, it wasn't five feet deep there." - -"I can drown anywhere," Monty returned firmly. "You saved my life and -I've never had the opportunity to do anything in return." - -"The time will come," Denby said lightly. "You'll get a mysterious -message sometime and it will be up to you to rescue me from dreadful -danger." - -"I'd like to," the other retorted, "but I'm not sure I'm cut out for -that rescue business." - -"Have you ever been--" Denby hesitated. "Have you ever been in any sort -of danger?" - -"Yes," Monty replied promptly, "but you pulled me out." - -"Please don't go about repeating it," Denby entreated, "I have enemies -enough without being blamed for pulling you out of the Nashua river." - -Monty looked at him in astonishment. Here was the most popular boy in -Groton School complaining of enemies. Monty felt a thrill that had -something of enjoyment in it. His own upbringing had been so free from -any danger and his parents had safeguarded him from so much trouble that -he had found life insipid at times. Yet here was a man talking of -enemies. It was fascinating. - -"Do you mean it?" he demanded. - -"Why not?" said Denby, rolling himself a cigarette. - -"You hadn't any at school," Monty insisted. - -"That was a dozen years ago nearly," Denby insisted. "Since then--" He -paused. "My career wouldn't interest you, my financial expert, but I am -safe in saying I have accumulated a number of persons who do not wish me -well." - -"You must certainly meet Alice," Monty asserted. "She's like you. She -often says I'm the only really uninteresting person she's fond of." - -Denby assured himself that Alice would not interest him in the slightest -degree and made haste to change the subject, but Monty held on to his -chosen course. - -"We'll all dine together to-morrow night," he cried. - -"I'm afraid I'm too busy." - -"Too busy to dine with Alice Harrington when you've the opportunity?" -Monty exclaimed. "Are you a woman-hater?" - -A more observant man might have noted the sudden change in expression -that the name Harrington produced in Steven Denby. He had previously -been bored at the idea of meeting a woman who he concluded would be -eager to impart her guide-book knowledge. Alice evidently had meant -nothing to him, but Alice Harrington roused a sudden interest. - -"Not by any chance Mrs. Michael Harrington?" he queried. - -Monty nodded. "The same. She and Michael are two of the best friends I -have. He's a great old sport and she's hurrying back because he has to -stay on and can't get over this year." Monty flushed becomingly. "I'm -going back with her because Nora is going to stay down in Long Island -with them." - -"Introduce me to Nora," Denby insisted. "She is a new motif in your -jocund song. Who is Nora, what is she, that Monty doth commend her?" - -"She's the girl," Monty explained. He sighed. "If you only knew how -pretty she was, you wouldn't talk about a trap being baited. I don't -think women are the good judges they pretend to be!" - -"Why not?" Denby demanded. - -"Because Alice says she'd accept me and I don't believe I stand a ghost -of a chance." - -"Women are the only judges," Denby assured him seriously. "If I were you -I'd bank on your friend Alice every time." - -"Then you'll dine with me to-morrow?" Monty asked. - -"Of course. You don't suppose I am going to lose sight of you, do you?" - -And Monty, grateful that this admired old school friend was so ready to -join him, forgot the previous excuse about inability to spare the time. - -"That's fine," he exclaimed. "But what are we going to do to-night?" - -"You are going to dine with me," Denby told him. "I haven't seen you, -let me see," he reflected, "I haven't seen you for about ten years and I -want to talk over the old days. What do you say to trying some of -Marguery's _sole a la Normandie?_" - -During the course of the dinner Monty talked frankly and freely about -his past, present and future. Denby learned that in view of the great -wealth which would devolve upon him, his father had determined that he -should become grounded in finance. When he had finished, he reflected -that while he had opened his soul to his old friend, his old friend had -offered no explanation of what in truth brought him to Europe, or why he -had for almost a decade dropped out of his old set. - -"But what have you been doing?" Monty gathered courage to ask. "I've -told you all about me and mine, Steve." - -"There isn't much to tell," Denby responded slowly. "I left Groton -because my father died. I'm afraid he wasn't a shrewd man like your -father, Monty. He was one of the last relics of New York's brown-stone -age and he tried to keep the pace when the marble age came in. He -couldn't do it." - -"You were going into the diplomatic service," Monty reminded him. "You -used to specialize in modern languages, I remember. I suppose you had to -give that up." - -"I had to try to earn my own living," Denby explained, "and diplomacy -doesn't pay much at first even if you have the luck to get an -appointment." - -Monty looked at him shrewdly. He saw a tall, well set up man who had -every appearance of affluence. - -"You've done pretty well for yourself." - -Denby smiled, "The age demands that a man put up a good appearance. A -financier like you ought not to be deceived." - -Monty leaned over the table. "Steve, old man," he said, a trifle -nervously, "I don't want to butt in on your private affairs, but if you -ever want any money you'll offend me if you don't let me know. I've too -much and that's a fact. Except for putting a bit on Michael's horses -when they run and a bit of a flutter occasionally at Monte Carlo I don't -get rid of much of it. I've got heaps. Do you want any?" - -"Monty," the other man said quietly, "you haven't altered. You are still -the same generous boy I remember and it's good for a man like me to know -that. I don't need any money, but if ever I do I'll come to you." - -Monty sighed with relief. His old idol was not hard up and he had not -been offended at the suggestion. It was a good world and he was happy. - -"Steve," he asked presently, "what did you mean about having enemies and -being in danger? That was a joke, wasn't it?" - -"We most of us have enemies," Steven said lightly, "and we are all in -danger. For all you know ptomaines are gathering their forces inside you -even now." - -"You didn't mean that," Monty said positively. "You were serious. What -enemies?" - -"Enemies I have made in the course of my work," the other returned. - -"Well, what work is it?" Monty queried. It was odd, he thought, that -Denby would not let him into so harmless a secret as the nature of his -work. He felt an unusual spirit of persistence rising within him. "What -work?" he repeated. - -Denby shrugged his shoulders. "You might call it a little irregular," he -said in a lowered voice. "You represent high finance. Your father is one -of the big men in American affairs. You probably have his set views on -things. I don't want to shock you, Monty." - -"Shock be damned!" cried Monty in an aggrieved voice. "I'm tired of -having to accommodate myself to other people's views." - -Denby looked at him with mock wonder. - -"Monty in revolt at the established order of things is a most remarkable -phenomenon. Have you a pirate in your family tree that you sigh for -sudden change and a life on the ocean wave?" - -Monty laughed. "I don't want to do anything like that but I'm tired of -a life that is always the same. You've enemies. I don't believe I've -one. I'd like to have an enemy, Steve. I'd like to feel I was in danger; -it would be a change after being wrapped in wool all my life. You've -probably seen the world in a way I never shall. I've been on a -personally conducted tour, which isn't the same thing." - -"Not by a long shot," Steven Denby agreed. "But," he added, "why should -you want to take the sort of risks that I have had to take, when there's -no need? I have been in danger pretty often, Monty, and I shall again. -Why? Because I have my living to make and that way suits me best. You -notice I am sitting with my back to the wall so that none can come -behind me. I do that because two revengeful gentlemen have sworn -bloodthirsty oaths to relieve my soul of its body." - -Monty tingled with a certain pleasurable apprehension which had never -before visited him. He was experiencing in real life what had only -revealed itself before in novels or on the stage. - -"What are they like?" he demanded in a low voice, looking around. - -"Disappointing, I'm afraid," Steven answered. "You are looking for a -tall man with a livid scar running from temple to chin and a look before -which even a waiter would blanch. Both my men have mild expressions and -wouldn't attract a second glance, but they'll either get me or I'll get -them." - -"Steve!" Monty cried. "What did they do?" - -Denby made a careless gesture. "It was over a money matter," he -explained. - -Monty thought for a moment in silence. Never had his conventional lot -seemed less attractive to him. He approached the subject again as do -timid men who fearfully hang on the outskirts of a street fight, -unwilling to miss what they have not the heart to enjoy. - -"I wish some excitement like that would come my way," he sighed. - -"Excitement? Go to Monte and break the bank. Become the Jaggers of your -country." - -"There's no danger in that," Monty answered almost peevishly. - -"Nor of it," laughed his friend. - -"That's just the way it always is," Monty complained. "Other fellows -have all the fun and I just hear about it." - -Denby looked at him shrewdly and then leaned across the table. - -"So you want some fun?" he queried. - -"I do," the other said firmly. - -"Do you think you've got the nerve?" Steven demanded. - -Monty hesitated. "I don't want to be killed," he admitted. "What is it?" - -"I didn't tell you how I made a living, but I hinted my ways were a bit -irregular. What I have to propose is also a trifle out of the usual. The -law and the equator are both imaginary lines, Monty, and I'm afraid my -little expedition may get off the line. I suppose you don't want to hear -any more, do you?" - -Monty's eyes were shining with excitement. "I'm going to hear everything -you've got to say," he asserted. - -"It means I've got to put myself in your power in a way," Denby said -hesitatingly, "but I'll take a chance because you're the kind of man who -can keep things secret." - -"I am," Monty said fervently. "Just you try me out, Steve!" - -"It has to do with a string of pearls," Denby explained, "and I'm afraid -I shall disappoint you when I tell you I'm proposing to pay for them -just as any one else might do." - -"Oh!" said Monty. "Is that all?" - -"When I buy these pearls, as you will see me do, with Bank of France -notes, they belong to me, don't they?" - -"Sure they do," Monty exclaimed. "They are yours to do as you like -with." - -"That's exactly how I feel about it," Denby said. "It happens to be my -particular wish to take those pearls back to my native land." - -"Then for heaven's sake do it," Monty advised. "What's hindering you?" - -"A number of officious prying hirelings called customs officials. They -admit that the pearls aren't improved by the voyage, yet they want me to -pay a duty of twenty per cent. if I take them home with me." - -"So you're going to smuggle 'em," Monty cried. "That's a cinch!" - -"Is it?" Denby returned slowly. "It might have been in the past, but -things aren't what they were in the good old days. They're sending even -society women to jail now as well as fining them. The whole service from -being a joke has become efficient. I tell you there's risk in it, and -believe me, Monty, I know." - -"Where would I come in?" the other asked. - -"You'd come in on the profits," Denby explained, "and you'd be a help as -well." - -"Profits?" Monty queried. "What profits?" - -Denby laughed. "You simple child of finance, do you think I'm buying a -million-franc necklace to wear about my own fair neck? I can sell it at -a fifty thousand dollar profit in the easiest sort of way. There are -avenues by which I can get in touch with the right sort of buyers -without any risk. My only difficulty is getting the thing through the -customs. It's up to you to get your little excitement if you're game." - -Monty shut his eyes and felt as one does who is about to plunge for the -first swim of the season into icy water. It was one thing to talk about -danger in the abstract and another to have it suddenly offered him. - -Steven had talked calmly about men who wanted to part his soul from his -body as though such things were in no way out of the ordinary. Suppose -these desperate beings assumed Montague Vaughan to be leagued with -Steven Denby and as such worthy of summary execution! But he put aside -these fears and turned to his old friend. - -"I'm game," he said, "but I'm not in this for the profits." Now he was -once committed to it, his spirits began to rise. "What about the -danger?" he asked. - -"There may be none at all," the other admitted. "If there is it may be -slight. If by any chance it is known to certain crooks that I have it -with me there may be an attempt to get it. Naturally they won't ask me -pleasantly to hand it over, they'll take it by force. That's one danger. -Then I may be trailed by the customs people, who could be warned through -secret channels that I have it and am purposing to smuggle it in." - -"But what can I do?" Monty asked. He was anxious to help but saw little -opportunity. - -"You can tell me if any people follow me persistently while we're -together in Paris or whether the same man happens to sit next to me at -cafes or any shows we take in." He paused a moment, "By Jove, Monty, -this means I shall have to book a passage on the Mauretania!" - -"That's the best part of it," Monty cried. - -"But Mrs. Harrington," Denby said. "She might not like it." - -"Alice can't choose a passenger list," Monty exclaimed; "and she'll be -glad to have any old friend of mine." - -"That's a thing I want to warn you of," the other man said. "I don't -want you to give away too many particulars about me. Don't persist in -that fable about my saving your life. Know me just enough to vouch to -her that I'm house-broken but don't get to the point where we have to -discuss common friends. I have my reasons, Monty, which I'll explain -later on. I don't court publicity this trip and I don't want any -reporter to jump aboard at Quarantine and get interested in me." - -"I see," cried the sapient Monty and felt he was plunging at last into -dark doings and mysterious depths. "But how am I to warn you if you're -followed? I shall be with you and we ought not to let on that we know." -He felt in that moment the hours he had spent with detective novels had -been time well spent. - -"We must devise something," Denby agreed, "and something simple." He -meditated for a moment. "Here's an idea. If you should think I'm being -followed or you want me to understand that something unusual is up, just -say without any excitement, 'Will you have a cigarette, Dick?'" - -"But why 'Dick,'" Monty cried, "when you're Steve!" - -"For that very reason," Denby explained. "If you said Steve merely I -shouldn't notice it, but if you say Dick I shall be on the _qui vive_ at -once." - -"Great idea!" cried his fellow conspirator enthusiastically. "When do -you buy them?" - -"I've an appointment at Cartier's at eleven. Want to come?" - -"You bet I do," Monty asserted, "I'm going through with it from start to -finish." - -He looked at his friend a little anxiously. "What is the worst sort of a -finish we might expect if the luck ran against us?" - -"As you won't come in on the profits, you shan't take any risks," Denby -said. "If you agree to help me as we suggested that's all I require of -you. In case I should not get by, you can explain me away as a passing -acquaintance merely. Don't kick against the umpire's decision," he -commanded. "If they halved the sentence because two were in it I might -claim your help all the way, but they'd probably double it for -conspiracy, so you'd be a handicap. You'll get a run for your money, -Monty, all right." - -"I'm not so sure," said Monty doubtfully. - -Denby fell into the bantering style the other knew so well. "There's one -thing I'll warn you about," he said. "If a very beautiful young woman -makes your acquaintance on board, by accident of course, don't tell her -what life seems to you as is your custom. She may be an agent of the -Russian secret police with an assignment to take you to Siberia. She may -force you to marry her at a pistol's point and cost your worthy -progenitor a million. Be careful, Monty. You're in a wicked world and -you've a sinful lot of money, and these big ships attract all that is -brightest and best in the criminal's Who's Who." - -Monty shivered a bit. "I never thought of that," he said innocently. - -"Then you'd better begin now," his mentor suggested, "and have for once -a voyage where you won't be bored." - -He glanced at the clock. "It's later than I thought and I have to be up -early. I'll walk to your hotel." - -During the short walk Monty glanced apprehensively over his shoulder a -score of times. Out of the shadows it seemed to him that mysterious men -stared evilly and banded themselves together until a procession followed -the two Americans. But Denby paid no sort of attention to these -problematic followers. - -"Wait till I've got the pearls on me," he whispered mischievously. "Then -you'll see some fun." - - - - -CHAPTER TWO - - -Although the carriages and automobiles of the wealthy were no longer -three deep in the Rue de la Paix, as they had been earlier in the -season, this ravishing thoroughfare was crowded with foot-passengers as -Monty and his friend made their way under the red and white awnings of -the shops into Cartier's. - -The transaction took very little time. The manager of the place seemed -to be expecting his client, to whom he accorded the respect that even a -Rue de la Paix jeweler may pay to a million-franc customer. Bank of -France notes of high denominations were passed to him and Steven Denby -received a small, flat package and walked out into the sunshine with it. - -"Now," said the owner of the pearls, "guard me as you would your honor, -Monty; the sport begins, and I am now probably pursued by a half dozen -of the super-crooks of high class fiction." - -"I wish you'd be serious," Monty said plaintively. - -"I am," Denby assured him. "But I rely on your protection, so feel more -light-hearted than I should otherwise." - -"You are laughing at me," Monty protested. - -"I want you to look a little less like a detected criminal," Denby -returned. - -"If I happened to be a detective after a criminal I should arrest you on -sight. You keep looking furtively about as though you'd done murder and -bloodhounds were on your track." - -"Well, they are on our track," Monty said excitedly, and then whispered -thrillingly: "Have a cigarette, Dick." There was trembling triumph in -his voice. He felt he had justified himself in his friend's eyes. - -"What is it?" Denby asked with no show of excitement. - -"There was a man in Cartier's who watched us all the time," Monty -confided. "He is on our trail now. We're being shadowed, Steve. It's all -up!" - -"Nonsense!" his companion cried. "There's nothing compromising in buying -a pearl necklace. I didn't steal it." - -Suddenly he turned around and looked at the man Monty indicated. His -face cleared. "That's Harlow. He's one of Cartier's clerks, who looks -after American women's wants. Don't worry about him." - -By this time the two had come to the Tuileries, that paradise for the -better class Parisian children. Denby pointed to a seat. "Sit down -there," he commanded, "while I see what Harlow wants." - -Obediently Monty took a seat and watched the man he had mistaken for a -detective from the corner of his eye. Denby chatted confidentially with -him for fully five minutes and then, it seemed to the watcher, passed a -small packet into his hand. The man nodded a friendly adieu and walked -rapidly out of sight. For a few seconds Denby stood watching and then -rejoined his friend. - -"Anything the matter?" the timorous one demanded eagerly. - -"Why should there be?" Denby returned. "Don't worry, Monty, there's -nothing to get nervous about yet." - -Monty remembered the confidential conversation between the two. - -"He seemed to have a lot to tell you," he insisted. - -Denby smiled. "He did; but he came as a friend. Harlow wanted to warn me -that while I was buying the necklace a stranger was mightily interested -and asked Harlow what he knew about me." - -"There you are," Monty gasped excitedly, "I told you it was all up. Did -Harlow know who the man was?" - -"He suspected him of being a customs spy. Our customs service takes the -civilized world as its hunting ground and Paris is specially beloved of -it." - -"What are you going to do?" Monty asked when he had looked suspiciously -at an amiable old priest who went ambling by. "They'll get you." - -"They may," Denby said, "but the interested gentleman at Cartier's -won't." - -"But he knows all about you," Monty persisted. "It will be dead easy." - -"He doesn't," the other returned. "Harlow took the liberty of -transforming me into an Argentine ranch owner of unbounded wealth about -to purchase a mansion in the Parc Monceau." - -"That was mighty good of him," Monty cried in relief. "That fellow -Harlow is certainly all right." - -Denby smiled a trifle oddly, Monty thought. "His kind ways have won him -a thousand dollars," he returned. "Did you see me pass him something?" - -Monty nodded. - -"Well, that was five thousand francs. I passed it to him, not in the -least because I believe in the mythical stranger--" - -"What do you mean?" the amazed Monty exclaimed. It seemed to him he was -getting lost in a world of whose existence he had been unaware. - -"Simply this," Denby told him, "that I disbelieve Harlow's story and am -not as easily impressed by kind faces as you are. I think Harlow's -inquisitive stranger was a fake." - -Monty looked at him with a superior air. "And you mean to say," he said -with the air of one who has studied financial systems, "that you handed -over a thousand dollars without verifying it? I call that being easy." - -"It's this way," Denby explained patiently. "Harlow knows I have the -necklace and he's in a position to know on what boat I sail. If I had -not remembered that I owed him five thousand francs just now he might -have informed the customs that I had bought a million-franc necklace and -I should have been marked down as one to whom a special search must be -made if I didn't declare it." - -"But if he's a clerk in Cartier's what has he to do with the customs?" -Monty asked. - -"Perhaps he is underpaid," the other returned. "Perhaps he is -extravagant--I've seen him at the races and noticed that he patronized -the _pari mutuel_--perhaps he has a wife and twelve children. I'll leave -it to you to decide, but I dare not take a risk." - -Monty shivered. "It looks to me as if we were going to have a hell of a -time." - -"A little excitement possibly," Denby said airily, "but nothing to -justify language like that, though. You ought to have been with me last -year at Buenos Ayres, Monty, and I could have shown you some sport." - -"I don't think I'm built for a life like that," Monty admitted, and then -reflected that this friend of his was an exceedingly mysterious being of -whose adult life and adventures he knew nothing. For an uneasy moment he -hoped his father would never discover this association, but there soon -prevailed the old boyish spirit of hero-worship. Steven Denby might not -conform to some people's standards, but he felt certain he would do -nothing criminal. One had to live, Monty reflected, and his father -complained constantly of hard times. - -"What sort of sport was it?" he hazarded. - -"It had to do with the secret of a torpedo controlled by wireless," -Denby said. "A number of governments were after it and there collected -in Buenos Ayres the choicest collection of high-grade adventurers that I -have ever seen. Some day when I'm through with this pearl trouble I'll -tell you about it." - -But what Denby had carelessly termed "pearl trouble" was quite -sufficient for the less experienced man. He had a vivid imagination, -more vivid now than at any period of his career. Paris was full of -Apaches, he knew, and not all spent their days lying in the sun outside -the barriers. Supposing one sprang from behind a tree and fell upon -Denby and seized the precious package whose outline was discernible -through the breast pocket of his coat. Monty suddenly took upon himself -the role of an adviser. - -"It's no use taking unnecessary risks," he said. "I saw you put those -pearls in your breast pocket, and there were at least six people who had -the same opportunity as I. It's just putting temptation in the way of a -thief." - -"I welcome this outbreak of caution on your part," said Denby, laughing -at his expression of anxiety, "but you'll need it on board ship most. -The greatest danger is that a couple of crooks may rob me and then pitch -me overboard. Monty, for the sake of our boyhood recollections, don't -let them throw me overboard." - -"Now you are laughing at me," Monty said a trifle sulkily. - -"What do you want me to do?" Denby demanded. - -"Put those pearls in some other place," he returned stubbornly. - -Denby made a pass or two in the air as conjurers do when they perform -their marvels. - -"It's done," he cried. "From what part of my anatomy or yours shall I -produce them?" - -"There you go," Monty exclaimed helplessly, "you won't be serious. I'm -getting all on the jump." - -"A cigarette will soothe you," Denby told him, taking a flat leathern -pouch from his pocket and offering it to the other. - -"I can't roll 'em," Monty protested. - -"Then a look at my tobacco has a soothing effect," the elder man -insisted. "I grow it in my private vineyard in Ruritania." - -Monty turned back the leather flap to look at his friend's private brand -and saw nestling in a place where once tobacco might have reposed a -necklace of pearls for which a million of francs had been paid. - -"Good Lord!" Monty gasped. "How did you do it?" - -"A correspondence school course in legerdemain," Steven explained. "It -comes in handy at times." - -"But I didn't see you do it and I was watching." - -"An unconscious tribute to my art," Denby replied. "Monty, I thank you." - -Monty grew less anxious. If Steven had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve -there was no reason to suppose he must fail. - -"I don't think you need my advice," he admitted. "It doesn't seem I can -help you." - -"You may be able to help a great deal," Denby said more seriously, "but -I don't want you to act as if you were a criminal. Pass it off easily. -Of course,"--he hesitated,--"I've had more experience in this sort of -thing than you, and am more used to being up against it, but it will -never do if you look as anxiously at everybody on the Mauretania as you -do at the passers-by here. You can help me particularly by observing if -I am the subject of special scrutiny." - -"That will be a cinch," Monty asserted. - -"Then start right away," his mentor commanded. "We have been under -observation for the last five minutes by someone I've never laid eyes on -before." - -"Good Lord!" Monty cried. "It was that old priest who stared at us. I -knew he was a fake. That was a wig he had on!" - -"Try again," Denby suggested. "It happens to be a woman and a very -handsome one. As we went into Cartier's she passed in a taxi. I only -thought then that she was a particularly charming American or English -woman out on a shopping expedition. When we came out she was in one of -those expensive _couturier's_ opposite, standing at an upper window -which commands a view of Cartier's door. They may have been -coincidences, but at the present moment, although we are sauntering -along the Champs Elysees, she is pursuing us in another taxi. She has -passed us once. When she went by she told the chauffeur to turn, but he -was going at such a pace that he couldn't pull up in time. He has just -turned and is now bearing down on us. Take a look at the lady, Monty, so -you will know her again." - -A sense of dreadful responsibility settled on Montague Vaughan. He was -now entering upon his role of Denby's aid and must in a few seconds be -brought face to face with what was unquestionably an adventuress of the -highest class. He knew all about them from fiction. She would have the -faintest foreign accent, be wholly charming and free from vulgarity, and -yet like Keats' creation be a _belle dame sans merci_. But, he wondered -uneasily, what would be his role if his friend fell victim to her -charms? - -He was startled out of his vain imaginings when Denby exclaimed: "By all -that's wonderful, she seems to know one of us, and it's not I! You're -the fortunate man, Monty." - -A pretty woman with good features and laughing eyes was certainly -looking out of a taxi and smiling right at him. And when he realized -this, Monty's depression was lifted and he sprang forward to meet her. -"It's Alice," he cried. - -Denby, following more leisurely, was introduced to her. - -"I came last night," she explained. "Michael's horse won and there was -no more interest in Deauville or Trouville and as I must buy some things -I came on here as soon as I could. I thought I saw you in Cartier's," -she explained, "and tried to make you see me when you came out, but only -Mr. Denby looked my way so I dared not make any signs of welcome." - -She seemed exceedingly happy to be in Paris again, and Denby, looking at -her with interest, knew he was in the company of one of the most notable -and best liked of the smart hostesses among the sporting set on Long -Island. The Harringtons were enormously rich and lived at a great estate -near Westbury, not far from the Meadow Brook Club. The Directory of -Directors showed the name of Michael Harrington in a number of -influential companies, but of recent years his interest in business had -slackened and he was more interested in the development of his estate -and the training of his thoroughbreds than in Wall Street activities. - -For her part she took him, although the name was totally unfamiliar, as -a friend of Monty's, and was prepared to like him. Whereas an -Englishwoman of her class might have been insistent to discover whether -any of his immediate ancestors had been engaged in retail trade before -she accepted him as an equal, Alice Harrington was willing to take -people on their face value and retain them on their merits. - -She saw a tall, well-bred man with strong features and that air of -_savoir faire_ which is not easy of assumption. She felt instantly that -he was the sort of man Michael would like. He talked about racing as -though he knew, and that alone would please her husband. - -"I've spent so much money," she said presently, "that I shall dismiss -this taxi-man and walk. One can walk in Paris with two men, whereas one -may be a little pestered alone." - -"Fine," Monty cried. "We'll go and lunch somewhere. What place strikes -your fancy?" - -"Alas," she said, "I'm booked already. I have an elderly relation in the -Boulevard Haussmann who stays here all summer this year on account of -alterations in the house which she superintends personally, and I've -promised." - -"I hope she hasn't sacrificed you at a dinner table, too," Denby said, -"because if you are free to-night you'd confer a blessing on a fellow -countryman if you'd come with Monty and me to the Ambassadeurs. Polin -is funnier than ever." - -"I'd love to," she cried. "You have probably delivered me from my aunt's -dismal dinner. I hadn't an engagement but now I can swear to one -truthfully. Men are usually so vain that if you say you're dreadfully -sorry but you've another engagement they really believe it. The dear -things think no other cause would make a woman refuse. But my aunt would -interrogate me till I faltered and contradicted myself." - -They left her later at one of those great mansions in the Boulevard -Haussmann. The house was enlaced with scaffolding and workmen swarmed -over its roof. - -"It's old Miss Woodwarde's house," Monty explained. "She's worth -millions and will probably leave it to Alice, who doesn't need any, -because she's the only one of all her relatives who speaks the truth and -doesn't fawn and flatter." - -"It takes greater strength of mind than poor relations usually have, to -tell rich relatives the truth," Steven reminded him. - -Monty had evidently recovered his good spirits. "I knew you'd like her," -he said later, "and I knew she'd take to you. We'll have a corking -dinner and a jolly good time." - -"There's one thing I want to ask of you," Denby said gravely. "Don't -give any particulars about me. If she's the sort I think her she won't -ask, but you've got a bad habit of wanting people to hear how I fished -you out of the river. I want to slip into New York without any -advertisement of the fact. I'm not the son of a plutocrat as you are. -I'm the hard-up son of a man who was once rich but is now dead and -forgotten." - -"Do hard-up men hand a million francs across for a string of pearls to -put in their tobacco-pouches?" Monty demanded shrewdly. - -"You may regard that as an investment if you like," Denby answered. "It -may be all my capital is tied up in it." - -"You're gambling for a big stake then," Monty said seriously. "Is it -worth it, old man?" - -For a moment he had an idea of offering him a position in some of the -great corporations in which his father was interested, but refrained. -Steven Denby was not the kind of man to brook anything that smacked of -patronage and he feared his offer might do that although otherwise -meant. - -"It means a whole lot more to me than you can think," Denby returned. "I -have made up my mind to do it and I think I can get away with it in just -the way I have mapped out." Then, with a smile: "Monty, I've a proper -respect for your imaginative genius, but I'd bet you the necklace to the -tobacco-pouch that you don't understand how much I want to get that -string of pearls through the customs." - -"The pouch is yours," Monty conceded generously. "How should I guess? -How do I know who's a smuggler or who isn't? Alice says she always gets -something through and for all I know may have a ruby taken from the eye -of a Hindoo god in her back hair!" - -He looked at his friend eagerly, a new thought striking him. He often -surprised himself in romantic ideas, ideas for which Nora was -responsible. - -"Perhaps you are taking it for someone, someone you're fond of," he -suggested. - -"Why not?" Denby returned. "If I were really fond of any woman I'd risk -more than that to please her." - -Monty noticed that he banished the subject by speaking of Alice -Harrington's _penchant_ for smuggling. - -"I hope Mrs. Harrington won't run any risks," he said. "In her case it -is absolutely senseless and unnecessary." - -"Oh, they'd never get after her," Monty declared. "She's too big. They -get after the little fellows but they'd leave Mrs. Michael Harrington -alone." - -"Don't you believe it," his friend answered. "They're doing things -differently now. They're getting a different class of men in the -Collector's office." - -"I suppose you'd like the old style better," Monty observed. - -"Oh, I don't know," said the other. "It's more risky now and so one has -to be cleverer. I've often heard it said the hounds have all the fun and -the fox none. - -"I'm not so sure of that, Monty; I think a fox that can fool thirty -couple of hounds and get back to his earth ought to be a gladsome -animal." - -"I'll find out when we're in West Street, New York," Monty said grimly. -"I'll take particular notice of how this fox acts and where the hounds -are. If you harp on this any more I shall lose my appetite. What about -Voisin's?" - -"Eat lightly," Denby counseled him. "I'm going to treat you to a -remarkable meal to-night; I know the chef at the Ambassadeurs, and the -wine-steward feeds out of my hand." - -"I don't see why you shouldn't buy necklaces like that if you have those -Ambassadeurs waiters corralled. They soaked me six francs for a single -peach once," Monty said reminiscently. But he wondered, all the same, -how it was Steven should be able to fling money away as he chose. - -His friend looked at him shrewdly. "You're thinking I ought to patronize -the excellent Duval," he observed. "Well, sometimes I do. I think I've -patronized most places in Paris once." - -"Steve, you're a mystery," Monty asserted. - -"I hope I am," said the other; "I make my living out of being just -that." - -They walked in silence to the Rue St. Honore, Monty still a bit uneasy -at being in a crowded place with a friend in whose pocket was a million -francs' worth of precious stones. Once or twice as the pocket gaped open -he caught a glimpse of the worn pigskin pouch. Steven was taking wholly -unnecessary risks, he thought. - -As they were leaving Voisin's together after their luncheon it happened -that Monty walked behind his friend through the door. Deftly he inserted -his hand into the gaping pocket and removed the pouch to his own. He -chuckled to think of the object lesson he would presently dilate upon. - -When they were near one of those convenient seats which Paris provides -for her street-living populace Monty suggested a minute's rest. - -With an elaborate gesture he took out the pouch and showed it to Denby. - -"Did you ever see this before?" he demanded. - -"I've got one just like it," his friend returned without undue interest. -"Useful things, aren't they, and last so much longer than the rubber -ones?" - -"My pouch," said Monty, beginning to enjoy his own joke, "looks better -inside than outside. I keep in it tobacco I grow in my private orchid -house. Look!" - -He pulled back the flap and held it out to Denby. - -Denby gazed in it obediently with no change of countenance. - -"You're not a heavy smoker, are you?" he returned. - -Instantly Monty gazed into it. It was empty except for a shred of -tobacco. - -"Good God!" he cried. "They've been stolen from me and they put the -pouch back!" - -"What has?" the other exclaimed. - -"The pearls," Monty groaned. "I took them for a joke, and now they're -gone!" - -He looked apprehensively at Steven, meditating meanwhile how quickly he -could turn certain scrip he held into ready money. - -Steven evinced no surprise. Instead he rose from his seat and placed a -foot upon it as though engaged in tying a lace. But he pointed to the -cuff on the bottom of the trouser leg that was on the seat by Monty's -side. And Monty, gazing as he was bid, saw his friend's slender fingers -pick therefrom a string of pearls. - -"I know no safer place," Denby commented judicially. "Of course the -customs fellows are on to it, but no pickpocket who ever lived can get -anything away from you if you cache it there. On board ship I shall -carry it in my pocket, but this is the best place in Paris when one is -in strange company." - -Monty said no word. His relief was too great and he felt weak and -helpless. - -"What's the matter?" Denby demanded. - -"I want a drink," Monty returned, "but it isn't on you." - - - - -CHAPTER THREE - - -THERE are still restaurants in Paris where a well chosen dinner delights -the chef who is called upon to cook it and the waiters who serve. And -although it is true that most of the diners of to-day know little of -that art which is now disappearing, it happened that Steven Denby was -one who delighted the heart of the Ambassadeurs' chef. - -Monty was a happy soul who had never been compelled to consult his -pocketbook in a choice of restaurants, and Mrs. Michael Harrington was -married to a gourmand who well distinguished the difference between that -and the indefensible fault of gluttony. Thus both of Denby's guests were -in a sense critical. They admitted that they had dined with one who -agreed with Dumas' dictum that a dinner is a daily and capital action -that can only worthily be accomplished by _gens d'esprit_. - -There are few places in Paris where a dinner in summer can be more -pleasantly eaten than the balcony at the Ambassadeurs, among slim -pillars of palest green and banks of pink roses. In the distance--not -too near to be disturbed by the performers unless they chose--the three -Americans saw that idol of the place, the great Polin at his best. -French waiters do not bring courses on quickly with the idea of using -the table a second time during the dining-hour. The financial genius who -calculates _l'addition_ knows a trick worth two of that. - -Still a little anxious that Denby might not be able to stand the -expense, Monty fell to thinking of the charges that Parisian -restaurateurs can make. "They soaked me six francs for a peach here -once," he said for the second time that day. - -"That's nothing to what Bignon used to charge," Alice Harrington -returned. "Once when Michael's father was dining there he was charged -fifteen francs. When he said they must be very scarce in Paris, Bignon -said it wasn't the peaches that were scarce, it was the Harringtons." - -"Good old Michael," said Monty, "I wish he were here. Why isn't he?" - -"Something is being reorganized and the other people want his advice." -She laughed. "I suppose he is really good at that sort of thing, but he -gets so hopelessly muddled over small accounts that I can't believe it. -He was fearfully sorry not to have seen his colt run at Deauville. I -shall have to tell him all about it." - -"I read the account," said Denby. "St. Mervyn was the name, wasn't it?" - -She nodded. "He won by a short head. Michael always likes to beat French -horses. I'm afraid he isn't as fond of the country as I am. The only -thing he really likes here is the _heure de l'aperitif_. He declares it -lasts from four-thirty till seven." She laughed. "He has carried the -habit home with him." - -"Did you win anything?" Denby asked. - -"Enough to buy some presents at Cartier's," she returned. "I've bought -something very sweet for Nora Rutledge," she said, turning to Monty. -"Aren't you curious to know what? It's a pearl la valliere." - -"Then for Heaven's sake, declare it!" Monty cried. - -"Oh, no," she said, "I'll pay if it's found, but it's a sporting risk to -take and you can't make me believe smuggling's wrong. Michael says it's -a Democratic device to rob Republican women." - -"Ask Mr. Denby," Monty retorted. "He knows." - -"And what do you know, Mr. Denby?" she demanded. - -"That the customs people and the state department see no humor in that -sort of a joke any longer. You read surely that society women even have -been imprisoned for taking sporting risks?" - -"Milliners who make a practice of getting things through on their annual -trip," she said lightly. "Of course one wouldn't make a business of it, -but I've always smuggled little things through and I always shall." - -"Well, I wouldn't if I were you," said Monty. "Mr. Denby has frightened -me." - -Alice Harrington looked at him curiously. - -"Have you been caught?" she asked with a smile. - -"I've seen others caught," he returned, "and if any sister of mine had -to suffer as they did by the publicity and the investigation the customs -people are empowered and required to make, I should feel rather -uncomfortable." - -"What a depressing person you are," she laughed. "I had already decided -where to hide the things. I think I shall do it after all. It's been all -right before, so why not now?" - -He shrugged his shoulders. "It may be the new brooms are sweeping clean -or it may be the state department has said smuggling shall no longer be -condoned. I only know that things are done very differently now." - -Monty looked at him in amazement. His expression plainly meant that he -considered his friend the proprietor of an unusually large supply of -sheer gall. - -"I heard about that," she said, "but one can't believe it. There's a -mythical being known only by his initials who is investigating for the -state department. Even Michael warned me, so he may have some inside -tip. Have you heard of him, Mr. Denby?" - -"I was thinking of him," he answered. "I think they call him R. B. or R. -D. or some non-committal thing like that." - -"And you believe in him?" she asked sceptically. - -"I'm afraid I do," he returned. - -"The deuce you do!" Monty cried, aggrieved. He had been happy for the -last few hours in the belief that his friend was too well armed to get -detected, and here he was admitting, in a manner that plainly showed -apprehension, that this initialed power might be even on his track. - -"You never smuggle," Alice Harrington said, smiling. "You haven't the -nerve, Monty, so you need not take it to heart." - -"But I do nevertheless," he retorted. - -"Monty," she cried, "I believe you're planning to smuggle something -yourself! We'll conspire together and defeat that abominable law." - -"If you must," Denby said, still gravely, "don't advertise the fact. -Paris has many spies who reap the reward of overhearing just such -confidences." - -"Spies!" She laughed. "How melodramatic, Mr. Denby." - -"But I mean it," he insisted. "Not highly paid government agents, but -perhaps such people as chambermaids in your hotel, or servants to whom -you pay no attention whatsoever. How do you and I know for example that -Monty isn't high up in the secret service?" - -"Me?" cried Monty. "Well, I certainly admire your brand of nerve, -Steve!" - -"That's no answer," his friend returned. "You say you have been two -years here studying Continental banking systems. I'll bet you didn't -even know that the Banque de France issued a ten thousand franc note!" - -"Of course I did," Monty cried, a little nettled. - -Denby turned to Mrs. Harrington with an air of triumph. - -"That settles it, Monty is a spy." - -"I don't see how that proves it," she answered. - -"The Banque de France has no ten thousand franc note," he returned; "its -highest value is five thousand francs. In two years Montague Vaughan has -not found that out. The ordinary tourist who passes a week here and -spends nothing to speak of might be excused, but not a serious student -like Monty." - -"I will vouch for him," Mrs. Harrington said. "I've known him for years -and I don't think it's a life suited to him at all, is it, Monty?" - -"Oh, I don't know," said he airily. "I may be leading a double life." He -looked at her not without an expression of triumph. Little did she know -in what a conspiracy he was already enlisted. After an excellent repast -and a judicious indulgence in some rare wine Monty felt he was -extraordinarily well fitted for delicate intrigue, preferably of an -international character. He stroked his budding moustache with the air -of a gentleman adventurer. - -Alice Harrington smiled. She was a good judge of character and Monty was -too well known to her to lend color to any such notion. - -"It won't do," she averred, "but Mr. Denby has every earmark of it. -There's that piercing look of his and the obsequious way waiters attend -on him." - -Monty laughed heartily. He was in possession of a secret that made such -an idea wholly preposterous. Here was a man with a million-franc pearl -necklace in his pocket, a treasure he calmly proposed to smuggle in -against the laws of his country, being taken for a spy. - -"Alice," he said still laughing, "I'll go bail on Steve for any amount -you care to name. I am also willing to back him against all comers for -brazen nerve and sheer gall." - -Denby interrupted him a little hastily. - -"As we two men are free from suspicion, only Mrs. Harrington remains -uncleared." - -"This is all crazy talk," Monty asserted. - -"I know one woman, well known in New York, who goes over each year and -more than once has made her expenses by tipping off the authorities to -things other women were trying to get through without declaration." - -"You speak with feeling," Mrs. Harrington said, and wondered if this -friend of Monty's had not been betrayed by some such confidence. - -"Are you going to take warning?" Denby asked. - -She shook her head. "I don't think so. You've been reading the American -papers and are deceived by the annual warnings to intending European -tourists. I'm a hardened and successful criminal." She leaned forward to -look at a dancer on the stage below them and Denby knew that his -monitions had left her unmoved. - -"When were you last at home?" she demanded presently of Denby. - -"About six months ago," he answered. "I shall be there a week from -to-morrow if I live." - -The last three words vaguely disturbed Monty. Why, he wondered crossly, -was Denby always reminding him of danger? There was no doubt that what -his friend really should have said was: "If I am not murdered by -criminals for the two hundred thousand dollars' worth of valuables they -probably know I carry with me." - -"Have you booked your passage yet?" she asked. - -It occurred to her that it would be pleasant to have a second man on the -voyage. Like all women of her world, she was used to the attentions of -men and found life deplorably dull without them, although she was not a -flirt and was still in love with her husband. - -"Not yet," he answered, "but La Provence goes from Havre to-morrow." - -"Come with us," she insisted. "The Mauretania sails a couple of days -later but gets you in on the same morning as the other." She turned to -Monty. "Isn't that a brilliant idea?" - -"It's so brilliant I'm blinded by it," he retorted, gazing at his friend -with a look of respect. Not many hours ago Steven had asserted that he -and Monty must sail together on the fastest of ships, and now he had -apparently decided to forsake the Compagnie Transatlantique only on -account of Alice Harrington's invitation. - -"I shall be charmed," was all he had said. - -Monty felt that he was a co-conspirator of one who was not likely to be -upset by trifles. He sighed. A day or so ago he had imagined himself -ill-used by Fate because no unusual excitement had come his way, and now -his prayers had been answered too abundantly. The phrase "If I live" -remained in his memory with unpleasant insistency. - -"We ought to cross the Channel by the afternoon boat to-morrow," Alice -said. "There are one or two things I want to get for Michael in London." - -"It will be a much nicer voyage for me than if I had gone alone on La -Provence," Denby said gratefully, while Monty continued to meditate on -the duplicity of his sex. - -When they had taken Mrs. Harrington to her hotel Monty burst out with -what he had been compelled to keep secret all the evening. - -"What in thunder makes you so careful about people smuggling?" he -demanded. - -"About other people smuggling, you mean," Denby corrected. - -"It's the same thing," Monty asserted. - -"Far from it," his friend made answer. "If Mrs. Harrington is suspected -and undeclared stuff found on her, you and I as her companions will be -more or less under suspicion too. It is not unusual for women to ask -their men friends to put some little package in their pockets till the -customs have been passed. The inspectors may have an idea that she has -done this with us. Personally I don't relish a very exhaustive search." - -"You bet you don't," his friend returned. "I shall probably be the only -honest man aboard." - -"Mrs. Harrington may ask you to hold some small parcel till she's been -through the ordeal," Denby reminded him. "If she does, Monty, you'll be -caught for a certainty." - -"Damn it all!" Monty cried petulantly, "why can't you people do the -right thing and declare what you bring in, just as I do?" - -"What is your income?" Denby inquired. "Your father was always liberal -with you." - -"You mean I have no temptation?" Monty answered. "I forgot that part of -it. I don't know what I'd do if there wasn't always a convenient paying -teller who passed me out all the currency I wanted." - -He looked at his friend curiously, wondering just what this act of -smuggling meant to him. Perhaps Denby sensed this. - -"You probably wondered why I wrung that invitation out of Mrs. -Harrington instead of being honest and saying I, too, was going by the -Cunard line. I can't tell you now, Monty, old man, but I hope some day -if I'm successful that I can. I tell you this much, though, that it -seems so much to me that no little conventionalities are going to stand -in my way." - -Monty, pondering on this later when he was in his hotel room, called to -mind the rumor he had heard years ago that Steven's father had died -deeply in debt. It was for this reason that the boy was suddenly -withdrawn from Groton. It might be that his struggles to make a living -had driven him into regarding the laws against smuggling as arbitrary -and inequitable just as Alice Harrington and dozens of other people he -knew did. Denby, he argued, had paid good money for the pearls and they -belonged to him absolutely; and if by his skill he could evade the -payment of duty upon them and sell them at a profit, why shouldn't he? -Before slumber sealed his eyes, Montague Vaughan had decided that -smuggling was as legitimate a sport as fly-fishing. That these views -would shock his father he knew. But his father always prided himself -upon a traditional conservatism. - - - - -CHAPTER FOUR - - -Less than an hour before the Mauretania reached Quarantine, James -Duncan, whose rank was that of Customs Inspector and present assignment -the more important one of assistant to Daniel Taylor, a Deputy-Surveyor, -threw away the stub of cigar and reached for the telephone. - -When central had given him his number he called out: "Is that you, -Ford?" Apparently the central had not erred and his face took on a look -of intentness as he gave the man at the other end of the line his -instructions. "Say, Ford," he called, "I've got something mighty -important for you. Directly the Mauretania gets into Quarantine, go -through the declarations and 'phone me right away whether a man named -Steven Denby declares a pearl necklace valued at two hundred thousand -dollars. No. No, not that name, Denby, D-E-N-B-Y. Steven Denby. That's -right. A big case you say? I should bet it is a big case. Never you mind -who's handling it, Ford. It may be R. J., or it may not. Don't you worry -about a little thing like that. It's your job to 'phone me as soon as -you get a peek at those declarations. Let Hammett work with you. -Bye-bye." - -He hung up the receiver and leaned back in his chair, well satisfied -with himself. He was a spare, hatchet-faced man, who held down his -present position because he was used to those storm warnings he could -see on his chief's face and knew enough to work in the dark and never -ask for explanations. - -He did not, for instance, lean back in his chair and smoke cigars with a -lordly air when Deputy-Surveyor Daniel Taylor was sitting in his big -desk in the window opposite. At such times Duncan worked with silent -fury and felt he had evened up matters when he found a Customs Inspector -whom he could impress with his own superiority. - -When a step in the outside passage warned him that his chief might -possibly be coming in, he settled down in an attitude of work. But there -entered only Harry Gibbs, dressed in the uniform of a Customs Inspector. -Gibbs was a fat, easy man, whose existence was all the more pleasant -because of his eager interest in gossip. None knew so well as Gibbs the -undercurrent of speculation which the lesser lights of the Customs term -office politics. If the Collector frowned, Gibbs instantly dismissed the -men upon whom his displeasure had fallen and conjured up erroneous -reasons concerning high official wrath. Since Duncan was near to a man -in power, Gibbs welcomed any opportunity to converse with him. He seldom -came away from such an interview empty-handed. He was a pleasant enough -creature and filled with mild wonder at the vagaries of Providence. - -Just now he seemed hot but that was not unusual, for he was rarely -comfortable during the summer months as he complained frequently. He -seemed worried, Duncan thought. - -"Hello, Jim," he said when he entered. - -Duncan assumed the inquisitorial air his chief had in a marked degree. - -"Thought you were searching tourists on the Olympic this afternoon," he -replied. - -Gibbs mopped his perspiring head, "I was," he answered. "I had two -thousand crazy women, all of 'em swearing they hadn't brought in a -thing. Gosh! Women is liars." - -"What are you doing over here?" Duncan asked. - -"I brought along a dame they want your boss Taylor to look over. It -needs a smart guy like him to land her. Where is he?" - -"Down with Malone now; he'll be back soon." - -Gibbs sank into a chair with a sigh of relief. "He don't have to hurry -on my account. I'll be tickled to stay here all day. I'm sick of -searching trunks that's got nothing in 'em but clothes. It ain't like -the good old days, Jim. In them times if you treated a tourist right -he'd hand you his business card, and when you showed up in his office -next day, he'd come across without a squeal. I used to know the -down-town business section pretty well in them days." - -"So did I. Why, when I was inspector, if you had any luck picking out -your passenger you'd find twenty dollars lying right on the top tray of -the first trunk he opened up for you." - -Gibbs sighed again. It seemed the golden age was passing. - -"And believe me," he said, "when that happened to me I never opened any -more of his trunks, I just labeled the whole bunch. But now--why, since -this new administration got in I'm so honest it's pitiful." - -Duncan nodded acquiescence. - -"It's a hell of a thing when a government official has to live on his -salary," he said regretfully. "They didn't ought to expect it of us." - -"What do they care?" Gibbs asserted bitterly, and then added with that -inquiring air which had frequently been mistaken for intelligence: -"Ain't it funny that it's always women who smuggle? They'll look you -right in the eye and lie like the very devil, and if you do land 'em -they ain't ashamed, only sore!" - -Duncan assumed his most superior air. - -"I guess men are honester than women, Jim, and that's the whole secret." - -"They certainly are about smuggling," the other returned. "Why, we -grabbed one of these here rich society women this morning and pulled out -about forty yards of old lace--and say, where do you think she had it -stowed?" - -"Sewed it round her petticoat," Duncan said with a grin. He had had -experience. - -Gibbs shook his head, "No. It was in a hot-water bottle. That was a new -one on me. Well, when we pinched her she just turned on me as cool as -you please: 'You've got me now, but damn you, I've fooled you lots of -times before!'" - -Gibbs leaned back in enjoyment of his own imitation of the society -lady's voice and watched Duncan looking over some declaration papers. -Duncan looked up with a smile. "Say, here's another new one. Declaration -from a college professor who paid duty on spending seventy-five francs -to have his shoes half-soled in Paris." - -But Gibbs was not to be outdone. - -"That's nothing," said he, "a gink this morning declared a gold tooth. -I didn't know how to classify it so I just told him nobody'd know if -he'd keep his mouth shut. It was a back tooth. He did slip me a cigar, -but women who are smugglin' seem to think it ain't honest to give an -inspector any kind of tip." Gibbs dived into an inner pocket and brought -out a bunch of aigrettes. "The most I can do now is these aigrettes. I -nipped 'em off of a lady coming down the gangplank of the Olympic. They -ain't bad, Jim." - -Duncan rose from his chair and came over to Gibbs' side and took the -plume from his hand. - -"Can't you guys ever get out of the habit of grafting?" he demanded. -"Queer," he continued, looking at the delicate feathers closely, "how -some soft, timid little bit of a woman is willing to wear things like -that. Do you know where they come from?" - -"From some factory, I s'pose," Gibbs answered with an air of candor. - -"No they don't," Duncan told him. "They take 'em from the mother bird -just when she's had her young ones; they leave her half dead with the -little ones starving. Pretty tough, I call it, on dumb animals," he -concluded, with so sentimental a tone as to leave poor Gibbs amazed. He -was still more amazed when his fellow inspector put them in his own -pocket and went back to his desk. - -"Say, Jim," Gibbs expostulated, "what are you doing with them?" - -"Why, my wife was asking this morning if I couldn't get her a bunch. -These'll come in just right." - -"You're a funny guy to talk about grafting," Gibbs grumbled, "I ain't -showing you nothin' more." - -"Never you mind me," Duncan commanded. "You keep your own eyes peeled. -Old man Taylor's been raising the deuce around here about reports that -some of you fellows still take tips." - -Gibbs had heard such rumors too often for them to affect him now. "Oh, -it's just the usual August holler," he declared. - -Duncan contradicted him, "No, it isn't," he observed. "It's because the -Collector and the Secretary of the Treasury have started an -investigation about who's getting the rake-off for allowing stuff to -slip through. I heard the Secretary was coming over here to-day. You -keep your eyes peeled, Harry." - -"If times don't change," Gibbs said with an air of gloom, "I'm going -into the police department." - -He turned about to see if the steps he heard at the door were those of -the man he had come to see. He breathed relief when he saw it was only -Peter, the doorkeeper. - -"Mr. Duncan," said the man, "Miss Ethel Cartwright has just 'phoned -that she's on her way and would be here in fifteen minutes." - -Gibbs looked from one to the other with his accustomed mild interest. He -could see that the news of which he could make little had excited -Duncan. It was evidently something important. Directly the doorkeeper -had gone Duncan called his chief on the telephone and Gibbs sauntered -nearer the 'phone. To hear both sides of the conversation would make it -much easier. - -"Got a cigar, Jim?" he inquired casually of the other, who was holding -the wire. - -"Yes," said Duncan, taking one from his pocket. - -Gibbs reached a fat hand over for it, "Thanks," he returned simply. - -Duncan bit the end off and put it in his own mouth. "And I'm going to -smoke it myself," he observed. - -Gibbs shook his head reprovingly at this want of generosity and took a -cigar from his own pocket. "All right then; I'll have to smoke one of my -own." - -Just then Duncan began to speak over the wire. "Hello. Hello, Chief. -Miss Ethel Cartwright just 'phoned she'd be here in fifteen minutes.... -Yes, sir.... I'll have her wait." - -When he had rung off, Gibbs could see his interest was increasing. -"What do you think of her falling for a bum stall like that?" - -"Who?" Gibbs demanded. "Which? What stall?" - -"Why, Miss Cartwright!" said Duncan. "Ain't I talking about her?" - -"Well, who is she?" the aggrieved Gibbs cried. "Is she a smuggler?" - -"No. She's a swell society girl," said Duncan in a superior manner. - -"If she ain't a smuggler, what's she here for then?" Gibbs had a gentle -pertinacity in sticking to his point. - -"The Chief wants to use her in the Denby case, so he had me write her a -letter saying we'd received a package from Paris containing dutiable -goods, a diamond ring, and would she kindly call this afternoon and -straighten out the matter." Duncan now assumed an air of triumph. "And -she fell for a fake like that!" - -"I get you," said Gibbs. "But what does he want her for?" - -"I told you, the Denby case." - -"What's that?" Gibbs entreated. - -Duncan lowered his voice. "The biggest smuggling job Taylor ever -handled." - -"You don't say so," Gibbs returned, duly impressed. "Why, nobody's told -me anything about it." - -"Can you keep your mouth shut?" Duncan inquired mysteriously. - -"Sure," Gibbs declared. "I ain't married." - -"Then just take a peek out of the door, will you?" Duncan directed. - -The other did as he was bid. "It's all right," he declared, finding the -corridor empty. - -"I never know when he may stop out there and listen to what I'm saying. -You can hear pretty plain." - -"He is the original pussy-foot, ain't he," Gibbs returned. He had known -of Taylor's reputation for finding out what was going on in his office -by any method. "Now, what's it all about?" - -Duncan grew very confidential. - -"Last week the Chief got a cable from Harlow, a salesman in Cartier's." - -"What's Cartier's?" Gibbs inquired. - -"The biggest jewelry shop in Paris. Harlow's our secret agent there. His -cable said that an American named Steven Denby had bought a pearl -necklace there for a million francs. That's two hundred thousand -dollars." - -"Gee!" Gibbs cried, duly impressed by such a sum, "But who's Steven -Denby? Some new millionaire? I never heard of him." - -"Neither did I," Duncan told him; "and we can't find out anything about -him and that's what makes us so suspicious. You ought to be able to get -some dope on a man who can fling two hundred thousand dollars away on a -string of pearls." - -Gibbs' professional interest was aroused. "Did he slip it by the -Customs, then?" - -"He hasn't landed yet," Duncan answered. "He's on the Mauretania." - -"Why, she's about due," Gibbs cried. - -"I know," Duncan retorted, "I've just had Ford on the 'phone about it. -This fellow Denby is traveling with Montague Vaughan--son of the big -banker--and Mrs. Michael Harrington." - -"You mean _the_ Mrs. Michael Harrington?" Gibbs demanded eagerly. - -"Sure," Duncan exclaimed, "there's only one." - -Gibbs was plainly disappointed at this ending to the story. - -"If he's a friend of Mrs. Harrington and young Vaughan, he ain't no -smuggler. He'll declare the necklace." - -"The Chief has a hunch he won't," Duncan said. "He thinks this Denby is -some slick confidence guy who has wormed his way into the Harringtons' -confidence so he won't be suspected." - -Gibbs considered the situation for a moment. - -"Maybe he ain't traveling with the party at all but just picked 'em up -on the boat." - -Duncan shook his head. "No, he's a friend all right. She's taking him -down to the Harrington place at Westbury direct from the dock. One of -the stewards on the Mauretania is our agent and he sent us a copy of her -wireless to old man Harrington." - -"He sounds to me like a sort of smart-set Raffles," Gibbs asserted. - -"You've got it right," Duncan said approvingly. - -"What's Taylor going to do?" Gibbs asked next. - -"He's kind of up against it," Duncan returned. "I don't know what he'll -do yet. If Denby's on the level and we pinch him and search him and -don't find anything, think of the roar that Michael Harrington--and he's -worth about ninety billion--will put up at Washington because we frisked -one of his pals. Why, he'd go down there and kick to his swell friends -and we'd all be fired." - -"I ain't in on it," Gibbs said firmly; "they've no cause to fire me. But -how does this Miss Cartwright come in on the job?" - -"I don't know except that she is going down to the Harringtons' this -afternoon and Taylor's got some scheme on hand. I tell you he's a pretty -smart boy." - -"You bet he is," Gibbs returned promptly, "and may be he's smarter than -you know. Ever hear of R. J.?" - -"R. J.?" Duncan repeated. "You mean that secret service agent?" - -"Yes," Gibbs told him with an air of one knowing secret things. "They -say he's a pal of the President's." - -"Well, what's that to do with this?" Duncan wanted to know. - -"Don't you know who he is?" - -"No," Duncan retorted, "and neither does anyone else. Nobody but the -President and the Secretary of the Treasury knows who he really is." - -Gibbs rose from his chair and patted his chest proudly. "Well, I know, -too," he declared. - -Duncan laughed contemptuously. "Yes, you do, just the same as I do--that -he's the biggest man in the secret service, and that's all you know." - -Gibbs smiled complacently. "Ain't it funny," he observed, "that you -right here in the office don't know?" - -"Don't know what?" Duncan retorted sharply; he disliked Gibbs in a -patronizing role. - -"That your boss Taylor is R. J." - -"Taylor!" Duncan cried. "You're crazy! The heat's got you, Harry." - -"Oh, indeed!" Gibbs said sarcastically. "Do you remember the Stuyvesant -case?" - -Duncan nodded. - -"And do you remember that when Taylor took his vacation last year R. J. -did some great work in the Crosby case? Put two and two together, Jim, -and may be you'll see daylight." - -"By George!" Duncan exclaimed, now impressed by Gibbs' news. "I believe -you're right. Taylor never will speak about this R. J., now I come to -think of it." He raised his head as the sound of voices was heard in the -passage. - -"There he is," Duncan whispered busying himself with a sheaf of -declarations. - -Gibbs looked toward the opening door nervously. It was one thing to -criticize the deputy-surveyor in his absence and another to meet his -look and endure his satire. His collar seemed suddenly too small, and he -chewed his cigar violently. - - - - -CHAPTER FIVE - - -Daniel Taylor entered quickly without acknowledging the presence of his -inferiors and crossed to his desk by the window. He was a man above -medium height, broad of shoulder, thick through the chest and giving the -idea of one who was alert and aggressive mentally and physically. Those -in the service who had set themselves against him had been broken. His -path had been strewn with other men's regrets; but Taylor climbed -steadily, never caring for what was below, but grasping eagerly for -power. - -Naturally a man of his type must have had other qualities than mere -aggressiveness to aid him in such vigorous competition. He had commended -himself to the powers above him for snap judgment and quick action. And -although men of his temperament must inevitably make mistakes, it was -notorious that Taylor made fewer than his rivals. - -Toward men like Duncan and Gibbs who were not destined to rise, men who -could be replaced without trouble, Taylor paid small heed. They did what -he told them and if they failed he never forgot. It was to the men -above him that Taylor showed what small social gifts nature had given -him. He had sworn to rise in the service and he cultivated only those -who might aid him. - -After glancing over the papers arranged on his desk he called to Duncan: -"Has Miss Cartwright been here yet?" - -"No, sir," Duncan responded promptly. - -His superior pushed the buzzer on his desk and then looked across at the -uncomfortable Gibbs. "Want to see me?" he snapped. - -"Yes, sir," Gibbs made answer as Peter the doorkeeper entered in answer -to Taylor's summons. - -"Then wait outside," Taylor said, "I'll see you in five minutes." - -"Yes, sir," Gibbs said obediently and made his exit. - -The deputy-surveyor turned toward the attendant. "Peter, let me know the -instant Miss Cartwright arrives. Don't forget; it's important. That's -all." - -He dismissed Peter with a nod and then called to Duncan. - -"Did Bronson of the New York Burglar Insurance Company send over some -papers to me relating to the theft of Miss Cartwright's jewels?" - -Duncan took a long envelope and laid it on his chief's desk. "Here they -are, sir." - -Taylor looked at the documents eagerly. "By George!" he cried, when he -had looked into them, "I knew I was right. I knew there was something -queer about the way her diamonds were stolen." - -Duncan looked at him frowning. He prided himself upon his grasp of -detail and here was the Chief talking about a case he knew naught of. -"What diamonds?" he asked. "The case wasn't in our office, was it?" - -"No," said Taylor, "this is a little outside job my friend Bronson's -mixed up in, but it may be a help to us." He went on reading the papers -and presently exclaimed: "It's a frame-up. She wasn't robbed, although -she collected from the company on a false claim." - -"But I can't see--" the puzzled Duncan returned. - -"No," said his chief, cutting him short. "If you could, you'd have my -job. Has the Mauretania got to Quarantine yet?" - -"Not yet, sir," Duncan answered. - -"Telephone Brown to notify you the minute she does. Tell him we've got -to know as soon as possible whether Denby declares that necklace; -everything depends on that." - -"But he may declare it," Duncan observed sagely. - -"If he does we haven't a case," his superior said briefly, "but I've a -feeling there's not going to be a declaration." - -"I think so, too," Duncan asserted, "and I'm holding Ford and Hammett to -search him." - -Taylor frowned and drummed on the desk with his fingers. "I don't know -that I want him searched. Let them do nothing without my instructions." - -"But, Chief," Duncan protested, "if he doesn't declare the necklace and -you don't have him searched he'll smuggle it in." - -"I know, I know," Taylor said impatiently, "but I've got to be cautious -how I go about taking liberties with a friend of Michael Harrington's. -He has more influence than you've any idea of. We've got to be sure we -have the goods on Denby." - -Duncan looked at the other with grudging admiration. "Well, I guess it -won't take R. J. very long to land him." - -Taylor turned on the speaker with a scowl. "What's he got to do with -this?" - -"I thought you might have interested him in it," Duncan said meaningly. - -"I don't know anything about him," Taylor returned. - -It was like the Chief to refuse to take his underlings into his -confidence, Duncan thought, so he took his cue and changed the subject. - -"Well," he said, reverting to the proposed search of Denby, "if we don't -go through him at the dock, what are we going to do?" - -"Let him slide through easily and think he's fooled us," Taylor said. -"He may be pretty clever. Do you remember that man who stuck the -sapphire we were hunting for into a big rosy apple he gave to a woman in -the second cabin and then took it away from her before she had time to -eat it? We'll see if he talks to anyone, but I think he'll take the -pearls right down to Westbury. He'll be off his guard when once he gets -down there." - -"Have you got one of the Harrington servants to spy for us?" Duncan -cried. - -"I've got what will be better than that with a little luck," Taylor said -with a smile. "Don't you know that Miss Ethel Cartwright is going down -to Westbury this afternoon to spend the week-end with the Harringtons?" - -"You don't mean you're going to use her?" Duncan exclaimed, incredulity -in his tone. - -"It wouldn't be a bad idea, would it, Jim?" - -"It would be a peach of an idea if you could do it, but can you?" - -Taylor chuckled. It was plain he had some scheme in his crafty brain -that pleased him more than a little. - -"I'm going to answer that as soon as I've had a little confidential chat -with Miss Cartwright." - -He broke off to turn to the doorway through which Gibbs' head protruded. - -"Can I see you now, Chief?" Gibbs asked. - -"What is it?" Taylor snapped. - -"There's a deaf and dumb chicken out here," Gibbs replied anxiously. - -"A what?" the other demanded. - -"A girl that can't hear or speak or write. They say she's smuggled a -bracelet in but they've searched her eight times and can't get a trace -of it, so they sent her to you." - -"They don't expect me to make the ninth attempt, do they?" the Chief -queries. - -"Why, no," Gibbs told him, "but they thought you might hand her the -third degree." - -"Bring her in," the autocrat commanded. When Gibbs had closed the door -Taylor turned to Duncan. "She's probably bluffing. Put that chair here. -We'll try the gun gag on her. There's a revolver in my second drawer. -When I say 'Go,' you shoot. Got it?" - -"Yes, sir," Duncan said, anticipating a theatrical scene in which his -chief would shine as usual. Duncan always enjoyed such episodes; he felt -he shone with reflected power. - -Gibbs dragged in a young girl and stood her in front of the chair to -which the Chief had beckoned. "Sit down," Gibbs commanded. The afflicted -woman who was named, so Gibbs said, Sarah Peabody, remained standing. -"Hey, _squattez-vous,_" her captor commanded again in a louder voice. -Still Sarah was unmoved. Gibbs scratched his head and summoned his -linguistic attainments to his aid. - -"_Setzen sie_," he shouted, but Miss Peabody remained erect. - -Gibbs turned away with a gesture of despairing dignity. "I'm done," he -asserted; "that's all the languages I know. I used to think it was a -terrible thing that women could talk, but I guess the Almighty knowed -more than I did." - -Duncan essayed more active measures. He pushed her into the seat. "Hey -you," cried he, "sit down there." - -Gibbs watched a little apprehensively. If Sarah Peabody had been normal, -he would have pictured her as a slangy and fluent young woman with a -full-sized temper. He had dealt with such before and they invariably -defeated him in wordy combat. In duels of this sort Gibbs was slow to -get off the mark. - -Taylor came toward the afflicted one and looked shrewdly into her face. -"She's not shamming," said he. "She's got that stupid look they all have -when they're deaf and dumb." He watched her closely as he said this. - -"She ain't spoke all day," Gibbs volunteered, "and no woman what could, -would keep from talking that long." - -"Women will do a lot for diamonds," his chief observed. - -"None of 'em ever do me for none," Gibbs remarked placidly. - -Suddenly Taylor addressed the girl roughly. "If you're acting," he -cried, "you'd better give it up, because I'm certain to find out, and if -I do, I'll send you to jail." Still the girl paid no attention but only -stared ahead blankly. "So you won't answer, eh?" said her inquisitor. -"Going to force my hand, are you?" He raised his hand to signal Duncan -and then added: "Go." - -The loud report of the revolver, while it made Gibbs jump, had no effect -upon the young woman. Taylor shook his head wisely. "I guess she's deaf -and dumb all right, poor girl. What's it all about, Gibbs? What is it -you think she's done?" - -"She's got a bracelet chuck-full of diamonds, and we can't find it." - -"How do you know she's got it?" the Chief asked. - -"She showed it to a woman who was in the same cabin," Gibbs returned, -"and the woman came and tipped us off." - -"Why, the dirty hussy!" cried the girl, who had previously been bereft -of hearing and speech, rising to her feet, her eyes flashing, and her -whole face denoting rage. - -Gibbs looked at her, his eyes bulging with startled surprise, and then -turned his ox-like gaze upon Taylor. - -"For the love of Mike!" said Gibbs at length, but Sarah Peabody cut -short any other exclamations. - -"Do you know why she told about me?" the girl demanded. "She wanted to -alibi herself and make you folks thinks she was an honest God-fearing -lady that would never smuggle--and she had four times as much as I did. -Why, it was her who put me up to smuggling and taught me to be deaf and -dumb." Sarah ground her white teeth in anger. "I'd like to meet her -again some time." - -"You shall," Taylor cried. "When we arrest her we'll need your evidence -to testify against her." - -"You can bet I won't be deaf and dumb then," Miss Peabody cried -viciously. - -"Where's the bracelet?" Taylor snapped. "Don't waste time now." - -But the smuggler was no fool and not intimidated by his tones. "Wait a -minute," she said craftily. "What's going to happen to me?" - -"Produce it, pay the duty, and we'll let you go free for the tip." - -"You're on," said Sarah joyously. "Just take a look at the ring handle -of my parasol. I've painted over the stones, that's all." - -Gibbs grabbed it from her and examined it closely. "Well, can you -approach that?" he said helplessly. "And I've been carrying it around -all day!" - -Taylor turned from his examination of the parasol as Peter the -doorkeeper entered. "Miss Cartwright here?" he asked quickly. - -"Yes, sir," answered the man. "She's just arrived." - -"Bring her in as soon as these get out," Taylor said dismissing him. - -"Take her away now, Gibbs," he said, indicating the owner of the magic -parasol. "Turn her over to Shorey, he can handle her from now on." - -"All right, sir," Gibbs said, still undecided as to why he had been -fooled. - -Sarah looked at him with scorn. "I'll be glad to have someone else on -the job. I'm sick o' trottin' around with a fat guy like him." - -"Say, now," Gibbs protested in an injured manner. - -But Taylor had a bigger scheme on hand and waved her away impatiently. -"Take her along, Gibbs." - -She gave Taylor an impudent little nod of farewell. "Ta-ta old Sport. I -certainly fooled you, when you had that gun shot off." - -Gibbs had grabbed her by the arm and was now pushing her toward the -door. "And I could have kept it up," Miss Peabody asserted in a shrill -tone, "if it hadn't made me sore, her putting over one on me like that. -And she was so blamed nice to me. But when one woman's nice to another -she means mischief, you can bet your B. V. D.'s." - -Even Taylor smiled as she went. He had nearly met defeat but his -habitual luck had made him victor in the end. He hoped it would aid him -in a far more difficult interview which was to come. - -Duncan took advantage of his good humor to ask a question. - -"Do you really think you can get Miss Cartwright to help us on the Denby -case?" - -He had so often seen her name in the society columns that he doubted if -his chief, clever as he was, could successfully influence her. - -Taylor looked at him curiously. There was in his eyes a look that spoke -of more than a faint hope of success. Few knew better than Duncan of his -ability to make men and women his tools. - -"Jim," he said with an air of confidence, "I wouldn't be a bit surprised -if she offered to help us." - -The door opened and Peter entered. - -"Miss Ethel Cartwright," he announced. - -Taylor rose to his feet as she entered and bowed with what grace he -could as he motioned her to a chair. - -Miss Cartwright was a tall, strikingly pretty woman of twenty-seven, who -looked at the deputy-surveyor with the perfect self-possession which -comes so easily to those whose families have long been of the cultured -and leisured classes. It was plain that this rather languid young lady -regarded him merely as some official whom she was bound to see regarding -a matter of business. - -"Sorry if I kept you waiting, Miss Cartwright," Taylor said briskly. - -"It doesn't matter in the least," she returned graciously. "I've never -been at the Customs before. I found it quite interesting." - -"My name is Taylor," he said, "and I'm a deputy-surveyor." - -"You wanted to see me about a ring, I think, didn't you?" - -"Yes," he answered. "The intention evidently was to smuggle it through -the Customs." - -"Do you really think so?" she demanded, interested. "I haven't the -faintest idea who could have sent it to me." - -"Of course you haven't," he said in his blandest, most reassuring -manner. It was a manner that made the listening Duncan wonder what was -to follow. His chief was always most deadly when he purred. "It's a -mistake," he continued, "but the record will probably shed some light on -the matter. Duncan," he called sharply, "go and get those papers -relating to Miss Cartwright." - -His assistant looked at him blankly. - -"Papers?" he repeated. "What papers, sir?" - -"The papers relating to the package sent Miss Cartwright from Paris." -There was a significance in his tone that was not lost on Duncan. Gibbs -would have argued it out, but Duncan though in the dark followed his -cue. - -"Oh, _those_ papers," he answered. "I'll get 'em, sir." - -When he had gone the girl turned to Taylor. - -"Do you know," she asserted, "I feel quite excited at being here and -sitting in a chair in which you probably often examine smugglers. One -reads about it constantly." - -"It's being done all the time," he responded, "among all sorts of -people. Now, Miss Cartwright, since we are talking of smuggling, I'd -like to have a little business chat with you if I may." - -The girl looked at him astonished. She could not conceive that a man -like the one looking at her could be serious in talking of a business -proposition. - -"With me?" she demanded, and Taylor could see that the idea was not -pleasing. He resolved to abandon his usual hectoring tactics and adopt -softer modes. - -"I mean it," he asserted. "You said you've read about all this smuggling -and so on. Believe me, you've not read a thousandth part of what's going -on all the time, despite all our efforts to check it. The difficult part -is that many of the women are so socially prominent that it isn't easy -to detect them. They move in the sort of world you move in." He leaned -forward and spoke impressively. "But it's a world where neither I nor my -men could pass muster for a moment. Do you follow me?" - -"I hear what you say," she said, "but--" - -He interrupted her, "Miss Cartwright, we are looking for someone who -belongs in society by right. Someone who is clever enough to provide us -with information and yet never be suspected. We want someone above -suspicion. We want someone, for instance, like you." - -That his proposition was offensive to her he could see from the faint -flush that passed over her face and the rather haughty tone that she -adopted. - -"Really, Mr. Taylor," she cried, "you probably mean well, but--" - -Again he cut her short. - -"Just listen a moment, Miss Cartwright," he begged. "I have reason to -know that your family has been in financial difficulties since your -father died." He looked at her shrewdly. "The position I hinted at could -be made very profitable. How would you like to enter the secret service -of the United States Customs?" He could see she was far from being -placated at his hint of financial reward. - -"This is quite too preposterous," she said icily. "It may possibly be -your idea of a joke, Mr. Taylor, but it is not mine." - -"I'm not joking," he cried, "I'm in dead earnest." - -"If that's the case," she returned, rising, "I must ask you to get the -papers regarding the ring." - -"They'll be here at any moment," he answered. "I'm sorry you don't care -to entertain my proposition, but it's your business after all. By the -way," he added, after a moment's pause, "there's another little matter -I'd like to take up with you while we're waiting. Do you recall a George -Bronson, the claim agent of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, the -company which insured the jewels that were stolen from you?" - -"I think I do," she returned slowly, "but--" - -"Well, that company has had a great deal of trouble with society women -who have got money by pawning their jewels and then putting in a claim -that they were stolen and so recovering from the company on the alleged -loss." - -The girl looked at him, frowning. "Are you trying to insinuate that--" - -"Certainly not," Taylor purred amiably. "Why, no. I'm merely explaining -that that's what Bronson thought at first, but after investigating, he -found out how absurd the idea was." - -"Naturally," she said coldly. - -She had come into the deputy-surveyor's office with an agreeable -curiosity regarding a present sent her from Paris. But the longer she -stayed, the less certain did she feel concerning this hard-faced man -opposite her, who had the strangest manner and made the most -extraordinary propositions. What business was it of his that her jewels -had been stolen? - -"But there were some things he could not understand," Taylor went on. - -"May I ask," she cried, "what Mr. Bronson's inability to understand has -to do with you?" - -"Simply," said Taylor with an appearance of great frankness, "that he -happens to be a very good friend of mine and often consults me about -things that puzzle him. The theft of those jewels of yours mystified him -greatly." - -"Mystified him?" the girl retorted. "It was perfectly simple." - -"Perhaps you won't mind telling me the circumstances of the case." - -"Really," she returned sub-acidly, "I don't quite understand how this -concerns the Customs." - -"It doesn't," he agreed readily, "I am acting only as Bronson's friend -and if you'll answer my questions I may be able to recover the jewels -for you." - -The girl's face cleared. So far from acting inimically, Mr. Taylor was -actually going to help her. She smiled for the first time, and resumed -her seat. - -"That will be splendid," she exclaimed. "I did not understand. Of course -I'll tell you everything I know." - -"The first feature that impressed Bronson," said the deputy-surveyor, -"and me, I'm bound to add, was that the theft seemed to be an inside -job." - -"What does that mean?" Miss Cartwright queried, interested. - -"That there was no evidence that a thief had broken into your home." - -"But what other explanation could there be?" she inquired. "Our family -consists of just my mother, my sister and myself, and two old servants -who have lived with us for years, so of course it wasn't any of us." - -"Naturally not," Taylor agreed as though this explanation had solved his -doubts. "But how did you come to discover the loss of the diamonds?" - -"I didn't discover it myself," she told him. "I was at Bar Harbor." - -"Oh," said Taylor with the confidential air of a family physician. "You -were away. I see! Who did find out?" - -"My sister. It was she who missed them." - -"Oh, your sister missed them, did she?" he said. - -He pushed the buzzer and wrote something on a slip of paper. - -"So of course," the girl continued, "it must have been some thief from -the outside." - -Taylor looked thoughtful. "I suppose you're right," he admitted, and -then asked quickly: "I wonder if you'd mind telephoning your sister to -come down here now?" - -"Why, she came with me," Miss Cartwright returned. "She's outside." - -"That's fine," he said brightly. "It makes it easier." He pushed the -buzzer again. "Perhaps she'll be able to help us." - -"She'll come if I wish," said the elder sister, "but she knows even less -about it than I do." - -"I understand that," Taylor said smoothly, "but she may remember a few -seemingly unimportant details that will help me where they wouldn't seem -significant to you." - -He looked up as Peter came in. "Ask Miss Cartwright's sister to come in -for a moment. Tell her Miss Ethel wants to talk to her." - -"Amy will tell you all she can," the girl asserted. - -"Just as you would yourself," Taylor said confidentially. He had no -other air than of a man who is sworn to recover stolen diamonds. Ethel -Cartwright admitted she had misjudged him. - -"It must be wonderful to be a detective and piece together little -unimportant facts into an important whole." - -"It is," he answered a trifle drily; "quite wonderful." - -Amy Cartwright was brought into the deputy-surveyor's room by Peter. -Plainly she was of a less self-reliant type than her elder sister, for -the rather startled expression her face wore was lost when she saw -Ethel. She was a pretty girl not more than eighteen and like her sister -dressed charmingly. - -"You wanted me, Ethel?" she asked. - -"Yes, dear," the elder returned. "Amy, this is Mr. Taylor, who thinks he -may be able to get back my diamonds for me." - -Amy Cartwright shot a quick, almost furtive look at Taylor and then -gripped her sister's arm. "Your diamonds!" she cried. - -Taylor had missed nothing of her anxious manner. "Yes," he said. "Your -sister has been kind enough to give me some information in reference to -the theft, and I thought you might be able to add to the facts we -already have." - -"I?" the younger girl exclaimed. - -"Yes," her sister commanded. "You must answer all Mr. Taylor's -questions." - -"Of course," Amy said with an effort to be cheerful. - -Taylor looked at her magisterially. "How did you discover your sister's -jewels were stolen?" - -"Why," she replied nervously, not meeting his eye, "I went to her -dressing-table one morning and they weren't there." - -"Oh!" he exclaimed meaningly. "So they weren't there! Then what did you -do?" - -"Why, I telephoned to the company she insured them in." - -"Without consulting your sister?" he asked. His manner, although quick -and alert, was friendly. Ethel Cartwright felt he was desirous of -helping her, and if Amy seemed nervous, it was her first experience with -a man of this type. She had so little experience in relying on herself -that this trifling ordeal was magnified into a judicial -cross-examination. She determined to help Amy out. - -"You must remember," she said to Taylor, "that I was out of town." - -"Of course!" Amy exclaimed with a show of relief. "How could I consult -her when she was in Maine?" - -"Were you certain she hadn't taken her diamonds with her?" he asked. - -Amy hesitated for a moment. "I think she must have told me before she -left." - -"Hm!" he ejaculated. "You _think_ she did?" - -Amy turned to her sister. "Didn't you tell me, Ethel?" - -Miss Cartwright knit her brows in thought. "Perhaps I did," she -admitted. - -"But you didn't telegraph your sister to make sure?" Taylor queried. - -"Why, no," the girl said hesitating and seemingly confused. "No, I -didn't." She was now staring at her interrogator with real fear in her -eyes. - -"Well, that doesn't make any difference," he said genially, "so long as -the jewels were stolen and not merely mislaid, does it?" - -"No," she said with a sigh of relief. - -"There's one other point," he said, turning to the elder sister. "You -received the compensation money from the company, didn't you?" - -"Naturally," she said tranquilly. - -"Please don't think me impertinent," he said, "but you still have it -intact, I presume?" - -"Only part," the girl returned. "I gave half of it to my sister." - -"I rather thought you might have done that," he purred as though his -especial hobby was discovering affection in other families, "That was a -very nice generous thing to do, Miss Cartwright. But you realize of -course that if I get your jewels back the money must be returned to the -Burglar Insurance people in full,"--he looked significantly at the -shrinking younger girl,--"from both of you." - -Amy Cartwright clasped her hands nervously. "Oh, I couldn't do that," -she exclaimed. - -Ethel turned to her in astonishment. - -"But Amy, why not?" - -"I haven't got it all now." - -"But, dear, what did you do with it?" Ethel persisted. - -Taylor seemed to take a keen interest in Amy Cartwright's financial -affairs. - -"That's quite an interesting question," he observed judiciously. "What -did you do with your half?" - -"I--I paid a lot of bills," the girl stammered. - -"Paid a lot of bills!" her sister exclaimed. "But Amy, you distinctly -told me--" - -"One minute," Taylor interrupted. "Now, Miss Amy," he said sharply, -"what sort of bills did you pay?" - -"Oh, dressmakers and hats and things," she answered with a trace of -sullenness. - -"Of course they gave you receipts?" he suggested. - -"I don't remember," she answered. - -"Oh, you don't remember," he said, fixing her with his cold eye. "But -you remember whom you paid the money to?" - -"Of course she does," Ethel cried, coming to her sister's aid. She was -herself puzzled at this strange man's attitude. "You do, don't you, -Amy?" - -"Why, yes," the other said weakly. - -"Give me the names!" Taylor demanded, and then looked angrily up to see -who had entered his office unbidden. It was James Duncan, apologetic, -but urged by powers higher than those of his chief. - -"The Collector and the Secretary want to see you right away, sir," he -announced. - -"I can't leave now," Taylor cried angrily. And in that moment both girls -realized of what ruthless metal he was cast. Gone was the amiable -interest in family matters and the kindly wish to aid two girls in -getting back their trinkets, and there was left a strong remorseless man -who showed he had them very nearly in his power. - -But Duncan dared not go back with such a message. - -"I explained you were busy, Chief," he said, "but they would have you -come down at once, as the Secretary has to go back to Washington. It's -about that necklace. The one coming in on the Mauretania this -afternoon." - -"Oh, very well," his superior snapped. "I shall have to ask you ladies -to excuse me for five minutes." - -"Certainly," Ethel Cartwright returned. - -At the door Taylor beckoned to Duncan and spoke in a whisper. "Get -outside in the corridor and if they try to leave, stop 'em. And I shall -want to know what they've been talking about. Understand?" - -"Sure, Chief," Duncan returned. - -When both men had gone from the room Amy clung half-hysterically to her -strong, calm sister. "Oh, Ethel, they know, they know!" - -"Know what?" Ethel asked, amazed at the change in the other. - -"That man suspects," Amy whispered. "I know he does. Did you see how he -glared at me and the way he spoke?" - -"Suspects what?" Ethel asked. "Amy, what do you mean? What is there to -suspect?" - -"Don't let them take me away!" the younger sister wailed. "Oh, don't, -don't!" - -Ethel drew back a step and looked into the trembling Amy's tear-stained -face. - -"What is this you are saying?" she asked sharply. - -"Ethel, your jewels weren't stolen." There was a pause as if the girl -were trying to gather courage enough to confess. "I took them. I pawned -them." - -"Amy!" cried the other. "You?" - -"I had to have money. I took them. A woman told me I could get it by -pretending to the company the things were stolen. She said they'd never -find it out and would pay. I tried it, and they paid." - -Miss Cartwright looked down at her, amazed, indignant, horrified. - -"Do you mean to say you deliberately swindled the company?" - -"I couldn't help it, Ethel," she declared piteously. "I didn't think of -it in that way. I didn't mean to. I didn't, indeed." - -"Why, why, why? Why in God's name did you do it? Tell me quickly, why?" - -Amy could no longer meet her sister's glance. She dropped her head. - -"I lost a lot of money gambling, playing auction bridge." - -"Playing with whom?" Ethel demanded sharply. - -"People you don't know," the younger answered evasively. "It was while -you were away. It wouldn't have happened if you'd been home. We all -dined together at the Claremont and afterwards they simply would play -auction. I said no at first but they made me. I got excited and began to -lose, and then they said if I kept on the luck would turn, but it -didn't, and I lost a thousand dollars." - -Ethel Cartwright needed no other explanation as a key to Taylor's -manner. It was certain that he knew and would presently force her poor -frightened little sister into a confession. It was no time for blaming -the child or pointing out morals, but for protecting her. - -"Ssh," she whispered, "Ssh!" - -"I didn't mean to do it," Amy reiterated. "Believe me, I didn't." - -"Tell me what happened then?" Ethel asked in a low tone. - -"I couldn't pay, of course, and the other women said they'd have to ask -mother or you for the money and if you wouldn't pay I should have to go -to jail. I didn't know what to do. I nearly went out of my head, I -think. At last Philip Sloane offered to lend it me." - -The elder recoiled from her. "That man!" she cried horrified. "Oh, Amy, -and how often I have warned you against him!" - -"There was nothing else to do," her sister explained. "You were away and -I had no one to go and ask." - -"Stop a minute," Ethel said. "If you borrowed the money and paid the -debts, why did you need to take my diamonds?" - -Amy hung her head. "When he lent me the money he said I could pay it -back whenever I wanted to, in a hundred years if I liked." - -"Well?" Ethel cried anxiously. "Well?" - -"But a day or so later he came to see me, mother was out, and his -manner was so different I was frightened. He--he said a girl who accepts -money from a man is never any good, and nobody will believe them no -matter what they say. I didn't think men could be like that. He said -he'd forget about it if I went away with him. He said nobody would know -it--he could arrange all that--and he threatened all sorts of things. -Oh, everything you said about him was right." - -"Go on," her sister commanded, in a hard staccato tone. "What then?" - -"At first I thought of killing myself but I was afraid. And then I saw -your jewel-case and I pretended they were stolen. I got half the money -from the pawn-shop and the other half from you when the company settled. -It was wicked of me, Ethel, but what could I do?" - -Ethel put her arm about the poor sobbing girl very tenderly. - -"My poor little sister," she whispered, "my little Amy, you did the -better thing after all. But you should have told me before, so that I -could have helped you." - -"I was afraid to," the girl said, looking into the face above her, "I -meant to have told you next month when that money is coming from -father's estate. I thought we could pay the company then so that I -shouldn't feel like a thief. I'm so glad I've told you; it has -frightened me so!" But the grave expression on Ethel's face alarmed her. -"Why do you look like that?" she demanded. - -"It will be all right," Ethel assured her. "But you know those dividends -have been delayed this month and neither mother nor I have any spare -money if the Burglar Insurance people want to be paid back. I daresay we -can arrange something, so don't be frightened. And remember, this man -Taylor can't know certainly. He only suspects, and we ought to be able -to beat him if we are very careful. I'm so glad you told me so that I -know what to do." - -"But I'm afraid of him," Amy cried. "I shall break down and they'll put -me in prison. Ethel, I should die if they did that." - -"I'll save you, dear," Ethel said comfortingly. "You know you have -always been able to believe in me, and I will save you if only you try -to control yourself." - -"Then let me go home," Amy cried, panic-stricken by the thought of -another interview with the resourceful Taylor. "I shall break down if I -stay here." - -"That will be best," Ethel agreed, and went quickly to the door, behind -which she found Duncan on guard. - -"Sorry, miss," he said respectfully, "but you can't go." - -"I'm not leaving," Ethel Cartwright explained, "I still have to talk -with Mr. Taylor, but my sister must go. She isn't feeling very well. She -wants to go home." - -Duncan shook his head. "Neither of you can go," he returned, as he -closed the door. Amy looked about her nervously for other means of -escape. - -"You see," she whispered, "they're going to keep me here a prisoner! -What shall I do?" - -"Leave everything to me," Ethel commanded. "Let me do the talking. I -shall be able to think of some way out." - -"There isn't, there isn't!" Amy moaned. - -"Stop crying," the elder insisted. "That won't help us. I've thought of -a plan. I'll invent a story to fool him. He won't be able to find out -whether it's true or not, so he'll have to let us go, and when he does, -he won't get us back here again in a hurry." - -"Oh, Ethel, you're wonderful!" Amy exclaimed, her face clearing. In all -her small troubles she had always gone to this beautiful, serene elder -sister, who had never yet failed her and never would, she was confident. - -When Taylor entered a minute later he found the two girls looking out -of the big window across the harbor. They seemed untroubled and unafraid -and were discussing the dimensions of a big liner making her way out. - -"Sorry to have had to leave you," he said briskly, "especially as things -were getting a bit interesting." - -Ethel Cartwright looked at him coldly. It was a glance which Taylor -rightly interpreted as a warning to remember that he occupied a wholly -different sphere from that of the daughters of the late Vernon -Cartwright. But it daunted him little. The Secretary of the Treasury had -just told him that his work was evoking great interest in Washington. -And the Collector somewhat cryptically had said that Daniel Taylor might -always be relied upon to do the unexpected. For Washington and -Collectors, Taylor had little respect. Unconsciously he often -paraphrased that royal boast, "_L'Etat c'est moi!_" by admitting to his -confidants that he, Daniel Taylor, was the United States Customs. - -"I quite fail to see," Miss Cartwright observed chillingly, "what all -this rather impertinent cross-questioning of my sister has to do with--" - -"You will in a minute," he interrupted. - -"Meanwhile," she said, "I can't wait any longer for those papers about -the ring." - -"There isn't any ring," he said suavely. "That was just a pretext to get -you here. I was afraid the truth wouldn't be sufficiently luring so I -had to employ a ruse." - -She looked at him, her eyes flashing at his daring to venture on such a -deception. "You actually asked me to come here because you thought I had -swindled the company?" - -"Well," he observed genially, "we all make our little mistakes." - -"So you admit it was a mistake?" she said, hardly knowing what to make -of this changed manner. - -"I'm quite sure of it," he asserted. "_You_ are innocent, Miss -Cartwright. How am I so sure of it? Because I happen to have the thief -already." - -"You have the thief?" Amy cried, startled out of her determination to -say nothing. - -"Yes," he told her nonchalantly, "I've arrested the man who robbed your -sister. Poor devil, he has a wife and children. He swears they'll -starve, and very likely they will, but he's guilty and to jail he goes." - -"Are you sure he's guilty?" Amy stammered. - -He leaned over his desk and looked at her surprised. "Why, yes," he said -slowly. "Have you any reason to think different?" - -"No, no!" she cried, shrinking back. - -"But I have," Ethel said calmly. "I have every reason to believe he is -innocent." - -"_You_ have?" Taylor cried, himself perplexed at the turn things were -taking. - -Amy looked at her sister, wondering what was coming next. - -"I know who stole them," Ethel went on. "It was my maid." - -"Your maid!" the deputy-surveyor cried. "Why didn't you tell the company -that? Bronson never told me about it." - -"She didn't disappear till after the claim was paid, you see," Miss -Cartwright explained. "Then I got a note from her confessing, a note -written in Canada." - -"Whereabouts in Canada?" he demanded. - -"I don't recall it," he was told. - -"You don't? Well, what was your maid's name then? I'd like to know that, -if you can remember it for me." - -"Marie Garnier was her name." - -He took up a scribbling pad and inscribed the name on it. "Marie -Garnier," he muttered, and pushed the buzzer. "Why didn't you tell me -this before?" - -"What was the good?" Miss Cartwright returned. "I was fond of Marie--she -was almost one of the family--and I didn't want to brand her as a -thief. When I learned she had escaped to Canada where the law couldn't -reach her--" - -She was interrupted by Duncan's entrance. "Yes, sir?" said he to his -chief. - -Taylor handed him the leaf he had torn from the pad. "Attend to this at -once," he ordered. - -"Now, Miss Cartwright," he remarked, "I'd like to ask why it was you -made this admission about Marie Garnier." - -"Because I do not want to see an innocent man go to prison," she -returned promptly. - -"Oh, I see. And did your sister know it, too?" - -"No," she answered quickly. - -"Why hadn't you told her?" he demanded. - -"Really," said the elder Miss Cartwright with an expression of -innocence, "I didn't think it made any difference." - -Taylor was obviously annoyed at such a view. "Your behavior is most -extraordinary," he commented. - -"You see, I know so little about law, and insurance and things like -that," she said apologetically. She did not desire to offend him. - -"You ought at least to have known that you owed it to the company to -give them all the information in your possession," he grumbled. - -"I never thought of it in that way," she said meditating. - -"There seems a whole lot you young ladies haven't thought of," he said -sourly. - -Miss Cartwright rose from her seat without haste. "Come, Amy," she -commanded. "We can't wait any longer and we are not needed." - -As they turned toward the door the telephone bell rang and Taylor stayed -them with a gesture. "Just one moment, please, Miss Cartwright." - -The girls watching him saw that the news was pleasant for he chuckled as -he hung up the receiver. Then he rose from his seat and came to where he -stood between them and the door. - -"Miss Cartwright," he cried, "when you didn't know what town in Canada -your maid was, I felt you were lying. Now I know you were. I just had my -assistant telephone to your mother." He pointed an accusing finger at -them. "You never had a maid named Garnier, and the last one you -had--over a year ago--was called Susan. You put the blame on a woman who -doesn't exist, and you did it to shield the real thief." He touched the -crouching Amy on the shoulder. "This is the real thief!" - -"She isn't, she isn't!" Ethel cried. - -But Taylor paid no attention to her. He concentrated his gaze on the -younger girl. "You swindled the company," he affirmed. - -"No, no," she wailed, "I didn't." - -Ethel came to her rescue. "How dare you," she cried to Taylor, "make -such an accusation when you have no proof, nor anyone else either?" - -"That's all very well," Taylor exclaimed, "but when we get the proof--" - -"You can't, because there isn't any," she asserted. - -"Of course I see your game," the man said; "you're just trying to -protect your sister. That's natural enough, but it will go easier with -both of you if you'll tell the truth." - -The two girls answered him never a word. Amy was too frightened and -Ethel, her tactics unavailing, found her best defense in silence. - -"So you won't answer?" Taylor said after a pause. "Well, of course the -stuff is pawned some place. That's what they all do. So far, Bronson has -only searched the pawn-shops in New York. He didn't give you credit for -pawning them outside the city, but I do. Now we'll see where your sister -did go." He went to the telephone again. "Hello, Bill," he said when he -had secured the number, "Go over to Bronson at the New York and get a -description of the jewels reported stolen from a Miss Ethel Cartwright. -Have all the pawn-shops searched in Trenton,"--he fastened his harsh -look on Amy Cartwright as he called out the names,--"Boston, Washington, -Providence, Baltimore, Albany, Philadelphia--" - -[Illustration: HE TURNED TO AMY. "YOUNG WOMAN, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST." -_Page 105_.] - -As he called out the last city the girl gave a gasp of terror, and -triumph instantly lighted up her inquisitor's grim face. - -"So you pawned them in Philadelphia?" he cried. - -"No, no!" she moaned. - -"I did it," Ethel Cartwright exclaimed. - -"No, you didn't," Taylor said sharply. "You're only trying to save her. -You can't deceive me." He turned to Amy, "Young woman, you're under -arrest." - -"No, no," the elder sister besought. "Take me. She's only a child; don't -spoil her life. I'll do whatever you like; it doesn't matter about me. -For God's sake don't do anything to my little sister." - -"She's guilty," he reminded her, "and the law says--" - -"If somebody pays, what difference does it make to you or the law? Isn't -there anything I can do?" she pleaded. - -Taylor paced up and down the room for a half minute before answering, -while the two watched him in agony. To them he was one who could deliver -them over to prison if it were his whim, or spare if he inclined to -mercy. - -"Surely there is some way out?" Ethel asked again. - -"Yes," he said, "there is. You can accept my proposition to enter the -secret service of the United States Customs." - -"Oh, yes, yes," she cried, "anything!" - -Taylor rubbed his hands together with satisfaction and pride in his -inimitable craft. "Now you're talking!" he exclaimed. "Then we won't -send the little sister to prison." - -Amy sobbed relief in her sister's arms. - -"Then you won't tell Bronson?" Ethel asked. - -"No," he said, "I won't tell Bronson." - -Ethel sighed, and felt almost that she would faint. - -"Now I'm sorry for you two," Taylor said more genially, "and as long as -you do what I tell you to, we'll leave the little matter of the jewels -as between your sister and her conscience. I'll let you know when I need -you. It may be to-night, it may be not for a month or a year, but when I -do want you--" - -"I shall be ready," the girl declared. - -"Say, Chief," Duncan said looking in at the door,-- - -"Get out, I'm busy," Taylor shouted. - -"I thought you'd like to know the Mauretania was coming up the bay," -his satellite returned, slightly aggrieved at this reception. - -"She is?" said the other. "Wait a minute then. Now, Miss Cartwright, -good afternoon. Remember what is at stake, your future, and your -sister's happiness. And don't forget that my silence depends on your not -failing me." - -Only a man of Taylor's coarse and cruel mould could have looked at her -without remorse or compunction. He did not see a beautiful refined woman -cheerfully bearing another's cross. He saw only a society girl, who had -matched her immature wits against his and lost, was beaten and in the -dust. There was a pathetic break in her voice as she answered him. - -"I shall not fail you," she said. - -Duncan closed the door after them. - -"Well?" Taylor demanded eagerly when they were alone. "Did Denby declare -the necklace?" - -"No, sir," Duncan returned promptly. - -"Then I was right," the other commented. "He's trying to smuggle it in. -Jim, this is the biggest job we've ever handled." - -"Ford and Hammett are at the dock all ready to search him when I give -the word." - -Duncan was sharing in his chief's triumph, but Taylor's next command was -disappointing. - -"Don't give the word," he enjoined. "There's to be no search." - -"No search?" exclaimed the chagrined Duncan. - -"No," Taylor told him. "Just let him slide through with the ordinary -examination. Trail Denby and his party to Westbury and be sure none of -them slip the necklace to anyone on the way out there, but no fuss and -no arrests, remember. Meanwhile, get up a fake warrant for the arrest of -Miss Amy Cartwright. It may come in handy." - -"Yes, sir," said Duncan obediently. - -"And when you've told Ford and Hammett what they are to do, change your -clothes and make Gibbs do the same, and meet me at the Pennsylvania -Station at six o'clock." - -"Where are we going?" Duncan asked. He could see from his chief's manner -that something important was in the wind. - -"To Long Island," he was told. "We are going to call on Miss Ethel -Cartwright." - -"Then you can use her to land Denby?" his subordinate cried excitedly. - -"Use her?" the deputy-surveyor said with a grim smile. "Say, Jim, she -doesn't know it, but she's going to get that necklace for me to-night." - -He hurried out of the room, leaving Duncan shaking his head in -wonderment. His chief might have qualities that were not endearing, and -his manner might at times be rough, but where was there a man who rode -through obstacles with the same fine disregard as Daniel Taylor? - - - - -CHAPTER SEVEN - - -Mrs. Harrington admitted freely that she had been very far-seeing in -asking Denby to travel on the Mauretania with her and Monty. She was one -of those modern women who count days damaging to their looks if there -comes an hour of boredom in them, and her new acquaintance was always -amusing. - -One day when they were all three sitting on deck she asked him: "What -are you going to do when you get home?" - -"Nothing particular," he replied, "except that I want to run down to -Washington some time during the month." - -"You see," Monty explained, "Steve is a great authority on the tariff. -The Secretary of the Treasury does nothing without consulting him. He -has to go down and help the cabinet out." - -"That's hardly true," Denby said mildly, "but I have friends in -Washington nevertheless." It was obvious Monty was not taken in by this. -He only regarded his friend as a superb actor who refused to be -frightened by the hourly alarms his faithful assistant took to him with -fast-beating heart. Young Vaughan told himself a dozen times a day that -this excitement, this suspicion of the motives of all strangers, was -undermining his health. He had complained of the dull evenness of his -existence before meeting Denby in Paris, but he felt such a lament could -never again be justified. He found himself unable to sit still for long. -He marvelled to see that Denby could sit for hours in a deck-chair -talking to Alice without seeming to care whether mysterious strangers -were eyeing him or not. - -"I asked you," Mrs. Harrington went on, "because, if you've nothing -better to do, will you spend a week with us at Westbury? Michael will -like you, and if you don't like Michael, there's something seriously -wrong with you." - -"I'd love to come," he said eagerly. "Thank you very much." - -"Hooray," said Monty. "Alice, you're a sweet soul to ask him. Of course -he'll like Michael. Who doesn't?" - -"Everybody ought to," she said happily. "Do you know, Mr. Denby, I'm one -of the only three women in our set who still love their husbands. I -wouldn't tell you that except for the reason you'll find out. He's the -most generous soul in the world and when I go to him with a bank-book -that won't balance, he adds it up and says I've made a mistake and that -I'm on the right side. How many husbands would do that?" - -"I might," Monty asserted, "because I can't add up long columns, but -Michael's a demon at statistics, or used to be." - -"He's such an old dear," Mrs. Harrington went on. "His one peculiar -talent is the invention of new and strange drinks. I never come back -from any long absence but he shows me something violently colored which -is built in my honor. And Monty will tell you," she added laughing, -"that I have never been seen to shudder while he was looking. Have I, -Monty?" - -"You're a good sport," said Monty, "and if ever I kill a man, it will be -Michael, and my motive will be jealousy." - -"Well, you needn't look so unhappy about it," she cried, as a frown -passed over his face and he sank back in his chair, all his good-humor -gone. - -Monty had in that careless phrase, "If ever I kill a man," reminded -himself vividly of the dangers that he felt beset him and his friend -Steven Denby. He had been trying to forget it and now it was with him to -stay. And another and a dreadful thought occurred. Would Denby take -those accursed pearls with him to the Harrington mansion on Long -Island? It was so disquieting that he rose abruptly and went into a -secluded corner of the upper smoking-room and called for a cigar and a -pony of brandy. - -His attention was presently attracted to a stout comfortable-looking man -who was staring at him as though to encourage a bow of recognition. He -had noticed the stout and affable gentleman before and always in the -same seat, but never before had he sought acquaintance in this manner. -There was no doubt in Monty's mind that the man was one of those suave -gamblers who reap their richest harvests on the big fast liners. No -doubt he knew that Monty was a Vaughan and had occasionally fallen for -such professionals and inveigled into a quiet little game. But Monty -felt himself of a different sort now. - -There was no doubt that the affable gentleman had fully made up his mind -as to his plan of action. He rose from his comfortable chair and made -his way to the younger man with his hand held out in welcome. - -"I thought it was you," he said, and wrung Monty's reluctant hand, "but -you are not quite the same as when I saw you last." - -"No doubt," Monty said coldly; "I am older and _I_ am not the fool I -used to be." - -"That's good," said the affable gentleman pressing the button that was -to summon a steward. "Your father will be glad to hear that." - -"Have the kindness to leave my father alone," the younger commanded. -Never in his life had Monty found himself able to be so unpleasant. -There was, he discovered, a certain joy in it. - -"Why, certainly," said the other a trifle startled, "if you wish it. -Only as he and I were old friends, I saw no harm in it." - -"Old friends?" sneered Monty. "Let me see, you were the same year at -Yale, weren't you?" - -"Of course," the affable stranger said, and turned to see the advancing -steward. "What will you have?" he asked. - -"I don't drink with strangers," Monty said rising. - -"Strangers!" cried the other with the rising intonation of indignation. -"Well, I like that!" - -"Then I shall leave you with a pleasant memory," Monty said. "Good day." - -"Stop a moment," the stranger asked after a pause in which rage and -astonishment chased themselves across his well-nourished countenance. -"Who do you think I am, anyway?" - -"Your name and number don't interest me," Monty said loftily. He noted -that the steward was enjoying it after the quiet inexpressive manner of -the English servant. "But I've no doubt at some time or another I lost -money to you--your old college friend's money of course--in some quiet -game with your confederates." - -"Now, what do you think of that!" the red-faced man exclaimed as he -watched Monty's retreating figure. But the steward was non-committal. He -was not paid to give up his inner thoughts but to bring drinks on a -tray. - -The stout and affable gentleman was a member of the Stock Exchanges of -London and New York and made frequent journeys between these cities. He -held the ocean record of having crossed more times and seen the waves -less than any stock-broker living. He had passed more hours in a -favorite chair in the Mauretania's smoking-room than any man had done -since time began. He was raconteur of ability and had been a close -friend of the elder Vaughan's years before at Yale. And he burned with -fierce indignation when he remembered that he had held the infant Monty -years ago and prophesied to a proud mother that he would be her joy and -pride. Joy and pride! He snorted and fell away from his true form so far -as to seek the deck and suck in fresh air. - -There he happened upon Mrs. Harrington talking to Denby. She knew -Godfrey Hazen. He had often been to Westbury, and Michael esteemed him -for his great knowledge of the proper beverage to take for every -emergency that may arise upon an ocean voyage. - -"What makes you look so angry?" she exclaimed. - -He calmed down when he saw her. "I've just been taken for a professional -gambler," he cried. - -"I thought all stock-brokers were that," she said smiling. - -"I mean a different sort," he explained, "the kind that work the big -liners. I just asked him to have a drink when he said he didn't drink -with strangers and hinted I had my picture in the rogues' gallery." - -"Who was it?" she inquired. - -"That ne'er-do-well, Monty Vaughan," he answered. - -"Monty?" she said. "Impossible!" - -"Is it?" he said grimly. "We'll see. Here comes the young gentleman." - -Monty sauntered up without noticing him at first. When he did, he -stopped short and was in no whit abashed. "Trying a new game?" he -inquired. - -"Monty, don't you remember Mr. Hazen?" Alice said reproachfully. - -"Have I made an ass of myself?" he asked miserably. - -"I wouldn't label any four-footed beast by the name I'd call you," said -Mr. Hazen firmly. - -"Why didn't you tell me your name?" Monty asked. - -"You ought to have remembered me," the implacable Hazen retorted. "Why, -I held you in my arms when you were only three months old." - -"Then I wish you had dropped me and broken me," Monty exclaimed, "and I -should have been spared a lot of worry." Things were piling up to make -him more than ever nervous. He had overheard two passengers saying they -understood the Mauretania's voyagers were to have a special examination -at the Customs on account of diamond smuggling. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hazen," -he said more graciously, "but I've things on my mind and you must accept -that as the reason." - -When he had gone Mr. Hazen was introduced to Denby and prevailed upon to -occupy Monty's seat. - -"I don't like the look of it," Mr. Hazen said, shaking his head. "At his -age he oughtn't to have any worries. I didn't." - -"If you can keep a secret," Mrs. Harrington confided, "I think I can -tell you exactly what is the matter with Monty and I'm sure you'll make -excuses for him, Mr. Hazen." - -"Maybe," he returned dubiously, "but you should have heard how he called -me down before a steward!" - -"Monty's in love," Mrs. Harrington declared, "and after almost two -years' absence he is going to meet her again; and the dread of not -daring to propose is sapping his brain. You're not the first. He's been -out of sorts the whole time and I've had to smooth things over with -other people. Come, now," she said coaxingly, "when you were young I'm -sure you had some episodes of that sort yourself, now didn't you?" - -Mr. Hazen tried not to let her see the proud memories that came surging -back through a quarter of a century. "Well," he admitted, "if you put it -that way, Mrs. Harrington, I've got to forgive the boy." - -"I knew you would," she said, and talked nicely to him for reward. - -Then the romance which he had resurrected faded; and the sight of so -much salt in the waves--the unaccustomed waves--induced a provoking -thirst and he rose and after a conventional lie retired to the -smoking-room. - -"All the same," Mrs. Harrington remarked to Denby, "I am worried about -the boy." - -"He'll get over it," said Steven. - -"I hope so," she returned. "His nerves are all wrong. I thought he had -the absinthe habit at first, but he's really quite temperate, and it's -mental, I suspect. It may be Nora; I hope it is. She's a dear girl and -Monty's really a big catch." - -"Didn't you say you had bought her a present, some valuable piece of -jewelry?" - -"Which I have sworn to smuggle," she returned brightly, "despite your -warning." - -"For your sake I wish you wouldn't," he said, "but if your mind's made -up, what will my words avail?" - -"I'm not stubborn," she cried, "even Michael admits that. I am always -open to conviction." - -"If you smuggle, you are," he said meaningly. "Really, Mrs. Harrington, -you've no idea how strict these examinations are becoming, and this -vessel seems specially marked out for extra strict inspections. The -popular journals have harped on the fact that the rich, influential -women who use this and boats of this class, are exempt, while the woman -who saves up for a few weeks' jaunt and brings little inexpensive -presents back, is caught." - -"Are you sure of that?" she demanded. - -"Why, yes," he returned. "It doesn't seem quite fair, does it?" he -demanded, looking at her keenly. "It doesn't seem playing the game for -the first cabin on the Mauretania to get in free while the second cabin -gets caught." - -"Have you ever smuggled?" she asked. - -"Maybe," he said, "but if I have, it has not been a habit with me as -with some rich people I know, who could so easily afford to pay." - -"Suppose I do smuggle and get caught, I can pay without any further -trouble, can't I?" she queried. - -"You're just as likely to be detained," he told her. "To all intents and -purposes, it's like being under arrest." - -"Oh, Lord!" she cried. "And I shouldn't be able to get back to Michael?" - -"Probably not," he said. "You see, Mrs. Harrington, you'd be a splendid -tribute to the impartiality of the service. The publicity the Customs -people would get from your case would be worth a lot to them. -Indirectly, you'd possibly promote hard-working inspectors." - -"But I don't want to be a case," she exclaimed, "I'm not anxious to be -put in a cell and promote hard-working inspectors. And think of poor -Michael all ready with a crimson newly-devised drink pacing the floor -while I'm undergoing the third degree! Mr. Denby, I still think the laws -are absurd, but I shall declare everything I've got. I wonder if they -would let Michael hand me his crimson drink through the bars." - -Just then Monty made for them and dropped into his deck-chair. - -"I'm going to be an honest woman," she declared, "and smuggle no more. -Mr. Denby is the miracle-worker. I shall probably have to borrow money -to pay the duty, so be at hand, Monty." - -He looked across at Denby and sighed. His friend's serene countenance -and absence of nerves was always a source of wonderment to him. -Hereafter, he swore, a life in consonance with his country's laws. And -if the first few days of the voyage had made him nervous, it was small -comfort to think that the really risky part had yet to be gone through. -In eliminating Alice Harrington as a fellow smuggler Monty saw -extraordinary cunning. "Well," he thought, "if anyone can carry it -through it will be old Steve," and rose obediently at Alice's behest and -brought back a wireless form on which he indited a message to the absent -Michael. - -Monty Vaughan had crossed the ocean often, and each time had been -cheered to see in the distance the long flat coast-line of his native -land. There had always been a sense of pleasurable excitement in the -halt at Quarantine and the taking on board the harbor and other -officials. - -But this time they clambered aboard--the most vindictive set of mortals -he had ever laid eyes on--and each one of them seemed to look at Monty -as though he recognized a law breaker and a desperado. Incontinently he -fled to the smoking-room and ran into the arms of Godfrey Hazen. - -"Never mind, my boy," said that genial broker, "you'll soon be out of -your misery. Brace up and have a drink. I know how you feel. I've felt -like that myself." - -"Did you get caught?" Monty gasped. - -"No," he said, for he was a bachelor, "but I've had some mighty narrow -squeaks and once I thought I was gone." - -He watched Monty gulp down his drink with unaccustomed rapidity. "That's -right," he said commendingly. "Have another?" - -"It would choke me," the younger answered, and fled. - -Hazen shook his head pityingly. He had never been as afflicted as the -heir to his old friend Vaughan. Poets might understand love and its -symptoms but such manifestations were beyond him. - -When Steven Denby opened his trunks to a somewhat uninterested inspector -and answered his casual questions without hesitation, Monty stood at his -side. It cost him something to do so but underneath his apparent -timorous nature was a strength and loyalty which would not fail at need. - -And when the jaded Customs official made chalk hieroglyphics and stamped -the trunks as free from further examination Monty felt a relief such as -he had never known. As a poet has happily phrased it, "he chortled in -his joy." - -"What's the matter?" he demanded of Denby when he observed that his own -hilarity was not shared by his companion in danger. "Why not celebrate?" - -"We're not off the dock yet," Denby said in a low voice. "They've been -too easy for my liking." - -"A lot we care," Monty returned, "so long as they're finished with us." - -"That's just it," he was warned, "I don't believe they have. It's a bit -suspicious to me. Better attend to your own things now, old man." - -Monty opened his trunks in a lordly manner. So elaborate was his gesture -that an inspector was distrustful and explored every crevice of his -baggage with pertinacity. He unearthed with glee a pair of military -hair-brushes with backs of sterling silver that Monty had bought in Bond -street for Michael Harrington as he passed through London and forgotten -in his alarm for bigger things. - -"It pays to be honest," said Mrs. Harrington, who had declared her -dutiable importations and felt more than ordinarily virtuous. "Monty, -you bring suspicion on us all. I'm surprised at you. Just a pair of -brushes, too. If you had smuggled in a diamond necklace for Nora there -would be some excuse!" - -The word necklace made him tremble and he did not trust himself to say a -word. - -"He's too ashamed for utterance," Denby commented, helping him to repack -his trunk. - -There were two Harrington motors waiting, both big cars that would carry -a lot of baggage. When they were ready it was plain that only two -passengers could be carried in one and the third in the second car. - -"How shall we manage it?" Mrs. Harrington asked. - -"If you don't mind I'll let you two go on," Denby suggested, "and when -I've sent off a telegram to my mother, I'll follow." - -"I see," she laughed, "you want the stage set for your entrance. Very -well. Au revoir." - -Monty surprised her by shaking his friend's hand. "Good-by, old man," -said Monty sorrowfully. He was not sure that he would ever see Steven -again. - - - - -CHAPTER EIGHT - - -Michael Harrington walked up and down the big hall of his Long Island -home looking at the clock and his own watch as if to detect them in the -act of refusing to register the correct time of day. Although it was -probable his wife, Monty and the guest of whose coming a wireless -message had apprised him, would not be home for another hour, he was -always anxious at such a moment. - -He was a man of fifty-eight, exceedingly good-tempered, and very much in -love with his wife. When Alice had married a man twenty-four years her -senior there had been prophecies that it would not last long. But the -two Harringtons had confounded such dismal predictions and lived--to -their own vast amusement--to be held up as exemplars of matrimonial -felicity in a set where such a state was not too frequent. - -His perambulations were interrupted by the entrance of Lambart, a butler -with a genius for his service, who bore on a silver tray a siphon of -seltzer water, a decanter of Scotch whiskey and a pint bottle of fine -champagne. - -Lambart had, previously to his importation, valeted the late lamented -Marquis of St. Mervyn, an eccentric peer who had broken his noble neck -in a steeplechase. Like most English house-servants he was profoundly -conservative; and after two positions which he had left because his -employers treated him almost as an equal, he had come to the Harringtons -and taken a warm but perfectly respectful liking to his millionaire -employer. Lambart was a remarkably useful person and it was his proud -boast that none had ever beheld him slumbering. Certain it was that a -bell summoned him at any hour of the day or night, and he had never -grumbled at such calls. - -Harrington looked at the refreshment inquiringly. "Did I order this?" he -demanded. - -"No, sir," Lambart answered, "but my late employer Lord St. Mervyn -always said that when he was waiting like you are, sir, it steadied his -nerves to have a little refreshment." - -"I should have liked the Marquis if I'd known him," Michael Harrington -observed when his thirst was quenched. "I think I could have paid him no -prettier compliment than to have named a Rocksand colt after him, -Lambart. The colt won at Deauville last week, by the way." - -"Yes, sir," Lambart returned, "I took the liberty of putting a bit on -him; I won, too." - -"Good," said his employer, "I'm glad. He ought to have a good season in -France. I like France for two things--racing and what they call the -_heure de l'aperitif_. When I go to Rome I do as the Romans do, and I -have the pleasantest recollections of my afternoons in France." - -He noticed that Lambart, bringing over to him a box of cigars, turned -his head as though to listen. "I believe, sir," said the butler, "that -the car is coming up the drive." - -He hurried to the open French window and looked out. "Yes, sir," he -cried, "it is one of our cars and Mrs. Harrington is in it." - -Michael Harrington rose hastily to his feet. "Great Scott, my wife! The -boat must have docked early." He pointed to the whiskey and champagne. -"Get rid of these; and not a word, Lambart, not a word." - -"Certainly not, sir," Lambart answered; "I couldn't make a mistake of -that sort after being with the Marquis of St. Mervyn for seven years." - -He took up the tray quickly and carried it off as Nora Rutledge--the -girl for whose sake poor Monty had passed hours of alternate misery and -hope--came in to tell her host the news. - -"Alice is here," she cried, "and Monty Vaughan with her." - -Nora was a pretty, clever girl of two and twenty with the up-to-date -habit of slangy smartness fully developed and the customary lack of -reticence over her love-affairs or those of anyone else in whom she was -interested. But for all her pert sayings few girls were more generally -liked than she, for the reason that she was genuine and wholesome. - -"Fine," Michael said heartily. "Where are they? How is she? Was it a -good voyage?" - -A moment later his wife had rushed into his arms. - -"You dear old thing," she exclaimed affectionately. - -"By George! I'm glad to see you," he said, "you've been away for ages." - -"You seem to have survived it well enough," she laughed. - -"Tell me everything you've done," he insisted. - -While she tried to satisfy this comprehensive order, Monty was assuring -Nora how delighted he was to see her. - -"It's bully to find you here," he said, shaking her hand. "I nearly -hugged you." - -"Well, why didn't you?" she retorted. - -"I've half a mind to," he said, stretching out his arms; but she drew -back. - -"No. Not now. It's cold. Hugs must be spontaneous." - -"Where's Ethel?" Mrs. Harrington called to her. - -"Upstairs, changing. You see we didn't think you could get in so early -and you weren't expected for another half-hour. She ought to be down in -a minute or so." - -"Why didn't you come down and meet us, old man?" Monty asked of his -host. - -"Wife's orders," Harrington responded promptly. - -"It's such a nuisance to have people meet one at the pier," Alice -explained. "I'm sure Monty was glad you weren't there to witness his -humiliation. He was held up for smuggling and narrowly escaped -deportation." - -"Oh, Monty," Nora cried, "how lovely! Was it something for me? Don't -scowl when I ask a perfectly reasonable question." - -"It wasn't," Monty said wretchedly. He had in his joy at meeting her -forgotten all about smuggling and now the whole thing loomed up again. -"I've got half Long Island in my eyes, and if you don't mind, Alice, -I'll go and wash up." - -"And you won't tell me anything about your crime?" Nora pouted. - -"Meet me in the Pagoda in five minutes," he whispered, "and I will. It's -mighty nice to see a pretty girl again who can talk American." - -"As if men cared what girls say," she observed sagely. "It's the way -they look that counts." - -When Monty was gone she strolled back to where Alice was sitting. - -"Did you have a good trip?" she demanded. - -"Bully," Alice answered her. "Steven Denby's most attractive and -mysterious." - -"Denby!" Harrington repeated. "Why, I'd clean forgotten about Denby. -Where is he?" - -"The limousine was so full of Monty and me and my hand-baggage that we -sent him on in the other car. He had to send some telegrams, so he -didn't overtake us till we were this side of Jamaica, where they -promptly had a blow-out. He won't be long." - -"What Mr. Denby is he?" Nora asked with interest. - -"Yes," Michael asked, "do I know him? I don't think I ever heard of -him." - -"Nor did I," his wife told him. "Perhaps that's what makes him so -mysterious." - -"Then why on earth have him down here?" her husband asked mildly. - -"Because Monty's devoted to him. They were at school together. And also, -Michael dear, because I like him and you'll like him. Even if I am -married, love has not made me blind to other charming men." - -"But, shall I like him?" Nora wanted to know. - -"I did the minute I met him," Alice confessed. "He has a sort of 'come -hither' in his eyes and the kind of hair I always want to run my hand -through. You will, too, Nora." - -"But you see I'm not a married woman," Nora retorted, "so I mayn't have -your privileges." - -Alice laughed. "Don't be absurd. I haven't done it yet--but I may." - -"I don't doubt it in the least," said Michael, contentedly caressing her -hand. - -"He has such an air," Mrs. Harrington explained, "sort of secret and -wicked. He might be a murderer or something fascinating like that." - -"Splendid fellow for a week-end," her husband commented. - -She looked at her watch. "I'd no idea it was so late. I must dress." - -"All right," Nora agreed. "Let's see what's become of Ethel." - -"Just a minute, Alice," her husband called as she was mounting the broad -stairway that led from the hall. - -"Run along, Nora," Alice said, "I'll be up in a minute." - -"I'll go and wait for Monty," the girl returned. "I think you're going -to be lectured." She sauntered out of the French windows toward the -Pagoda. - -"Well," said Alice smiling, "what is it?" - -"I just wanted to tell you how mighty glad I was to see you," he -confessed. - -"And, Mikey dear," she said simply, "I'm mighty glad to see you." - -"Are you really?" he demanded. "You're not missing Paris?" - -"Paris be hanged," she retorted; "I'm in love with a man and not with a -town." - -"It's still me?" Michael asked a little wistfully. - -"Always you," she said softly. "One big reason I like to go abroad is -because it makes me so glad to get back to you." She sat on the arm of -his chair and patted his head affectionately. - -"But look here," said Michael with an affectation of reproof, "whenever -I want a little trot around the country and suggest leaving, you -begin--" - -She put her hand over his mouth and stopped him. - -"Oh, that's very different. When we do separate I always want to be the -one to leave, not to be left." - -"It _is_ much easier to go than to stay," he agreed, "and I've been -pretty lonely these last six weeks." - -"But you've had a lot of business to attend to," she reminded him. - -"That's finished two weeks ago." - -"And then you've had the insidious Lambart and all the Scotch you -wanted." - -"'Tisn't nearly as much fun to drink when you're away," he insisted. "It -always takes the sport out of it not to be stopped." - -"Oh, Fibber!" she said, shaking her head. - -"Well, most of the sport," he corrected. He held her off at arm's length -and regarded her with admiration. "Do you know, I sometimes wonder what -ever made you marry me." - -"Sometimes I wonder, too," she answered, "but not often! I really think -we're the ideal married couple, sentimental when we're alone, and -critical when we have guests." - -"That's true," he admitted proudly, "and most people hate each other in -private and love each other in public." Michael hugged her to emphasize -the correctness of their marital deportment. - -"You are a dear old thing," she said affectionately. - -"Do you know I don't feel a bit married," he returned boyishly, "I just -feel in love." - -"That's the nicest thing you ever said to me," she said, rising and -kissing him. "But I've got to go and find Ethel now." - -"You've made me feel fairly dizzy," he asserted, still holding her hand, -"I need a drink to sober up." - -"Oh, Michael," she cried reprovingly, and drew away from him "I believe -you've been trying to get around me just for that!" - -"Oh, no, you don't," he said smiling. "Now, do you?" - -"No, I don't, Mikey," she admitted. "But be careful, here's Monty and -Nora." - -"Heavens!" cried Nora, looking in, "still lecturing, you two?" - -"You do look rather henpecked," Monty said, addressing his host. - -"Yes," Michael sighed, "we've been having a dreadful row, but I'm of a -forgiving nature and I'm going to reward her. Monty, touch that button -there, I want Lambart." - -Alice looked at him in wonderment. "What do you mean?" - -"Wait," he said with a chuckle. "Lambart," he commanded, as the butler -stood before him, "bring it in." There was respect in his tone. "It -ought to be at its best now." - -On a silver salver Lambart bore in and presented to his mistress a large -liqueur glass filled with a clear liquid of delicate mauve hue. - -Alice looked at it a little fearfully. "Oh, Mikey," she said, "is this -another new invention?" - -"My best," he said proudly. - -"Can't I share it?" she pleaded. - -"No more than I can my heart," he said firmly. "It is to be named after -you." - -Heroically she gulped it down. - -"Oh, how sweet it is," she exclaimed. - -"I know," he admitted. "But as it isn't sugar you needn't mind. I use -saccharin which is about a thousand times as sweet. And the beauty of -saccharin," he confided to the others, "is that it stays with you. When -I first discovered this Creme d'Alicia as I call it, I tasted it for -days." - -"It's a perfectly divine color," Nora remarked enthusiastically. "I've -always dreamed of a dress exactly that shade. How did you do it?" - -"Experimenting with the coal tar dyes," he said proudly. "I'm getting -rather an expert on coal tar compounds. That color was Perkins' mauve." - -"That was more than mauve," Nora insisted. "I've plenty of mauve -things." - -He raised his hand. "No you don't, Nora! You don't get the result of my -years of close study like that. I'll make you each a present of a bottle -before you go. We'll have it with coffee every night. Mauve was the -foundation upon which I built." - -"It's a little rich for me, Mikey dear," his wife said anxiously. "I -think it will make a far better winter cordial. I'm going upstairs to -see Ethel now." - -He watched her disappear and then turned to Nora and Monty with a -twinkle in his eye. "I think after my labors I need a little cocktail. -In France they call this the _heure de l'aperitif_, as Monty probably -knows, and I have a private bar of my own. Don't give me away, -children." - -Nora looked at her companion with a frown. She had been looking for his -coming, and now when he was here, he had nothing to say. - -"What's the matter with you?" she demanded suddenly. - -"I'm wondering where Steven is," he returned anxiously. "A blow-out -oughtn't to keep him all this time." - -"But what makes you jump so?" she insisted. "You never used to be like -this. Is it St. Vitus's dance?" - -He turned to her with an assumption of freedom from care. - -"I am a bit nervous, Nora," he admitted. "You see, Steven and I are in a -big deal together, and, er, the markets go up and down like the -temperature and it keeps me sorts of anxious." - -"You don't mean to say you've gone into business?" she said. - -"Not exactly," he prevaricated, "and yet I have in a way. It's something -secret." - -"Well," said Nora, with sound common sense, "if it frightens you so, why -go in for it?" - -"Well, everything was kind of tepid in Paris," he explained. - -"Tepid in Paris?" she cried. - -"Why, yes," he told her. "Paris can't always live up to her reputation. -I'd been there studying French banking systems so long that I wanted -some excitement and joined Steve in his scheme." - -"Oh, Monty," she said interested, and sitting on the couch at his side, -"if it's really exciting, tell me everything. Are you being pursued?" - -He looked at her aggrieved. "Now what do you suggest that for?" he -demanded. - -"But what is it?" she insisted. - -"I can't tell you," he said decidedly. "Steve is one of my oldest -friends and I promised him." - -"Oh, yes, I've heard all about him," she cried a little impatiently. -"You and he went to college together and sang, 'A Stein on the Table,' -and went on sprees together and made love to the same girls, and played -on the same teams. I know all that college stuff." - -"But we didn't go to college together," he said. - -"Alice said you did," she returned, "or to school or something together, -but don't take that as an excuse to get reminiscent. I hate men's -reminiscences; they make me so darned envious. I wish I'd been a man, -Monty." - -"I don't," said he smiling. - -"Don't try to flirt with me," she exclaimed, as he edged a little -nearer. - -"Why not?" he demanded. - -"You don't know how," she said and smiled provokingly. - -For a moment Monty forgot pearls and Customs and all unpleasant things. - -"Teach me," he entreated. - -"It can't be taught," she said. "It's got to be born in you." She cast -her eyes down and looked alluringly at him through curling lashes. -There was the opportunity for Monty to see whether he had any skill at -the ancient game, but a sudden numbing nervousness took hold of him. And -while he could have written a prize essay on what he should have done, -he had not the courage to make the attempt. - -"Well?" she said presently. "Go on." - -"I wonder where Steve is?" he said desperately. - -"You're hopeless," she cried exasperated. "I don't know where 'Steve' -is, and I don't care. I hope he's under the car with gasoline dripping -into his eyes." - -Poor Monty groaned; for it was equally true that he at this particular -moment was anxious to forget everything but the pretty girl at his side. - -"Nora," he said nervously, "for the last year there's been something -trembling on my lips--" - -"Oh, Monty," she cried ecstatically, "don't shave it off, I love it!" - -He rose, discomfited, to meet his hostess coming toward him with Miss -Ethel Cartwright, a close friend of hers whom he had never before met. -He noticed Michael quietly working his unobtrusive way back to the -position where Alice had left him, wiping his moustache with -satisfaction. - -"Monty," said Mrs. Harrington, "I don't think you've ever met my very -best friend, Miss Cartwright." - -"How do you do," the girl said smiling. - -"Be kind to him, Ethel," Michael remarked genially. "He's a nice boy and -the idol of the Paris Bourse." - -"And an awful flirt," Nora chimed in. "If I had had a heart he would -have broken it long ago." - -"Do you know," Alice said, "it has never occurred to me to think of -Monty as a flirt. Are you a flirt, Monty?" - -"No," he said indignantly. - -"You needn't be so emphatic when I ask you," she said reprovingly. She -sighed. "I suppose it's one of the penalties of age. I've known him a -disgracefully long time, Ethel, before the Palisades were grown-up." - -"I'm sorry I didn't get down to meet you, Alice," Miss Cartwright said, -"I did mean to, but business detained me." - -"Business in August!" Nora commented. - -"I'm glad you didn't," her hostess observed. "We were disgraced by -having in our merry party a smuggler who was caught with the goods and -narrowly escaped Sing Sing." - -"There you go again," Monty grumbled. "I hate the very sound of the -word." - -"I say, Ethel," Michael observed, watching her closely, "you do look a -bit pale. Business in weather like this doesn't suit you. No bad news, I -hope?" - -He knew that the division of the late Vernon Cartwright's fortune was -very disappointing and might narrow the girls' income considerably. - -"It turned out all right, thank you," the girl answered nervously. - -"How's Amy?" Mr. Harrington asked. He was fond of the Cartwrights and -had known them from childhood. "Why isn't she here?" - -"It isn't to be a big party, Michael," his wife reminded him. "Men are -so scarce in August I didn't ask Amy. She's all right, I hope, Ethel?" - -"Yes, thanks," Miss Cartwright answered. - -"I wonder where Steve is?" Monty said for the fifth time. "He ought to -have that tire fixed by now." - -"I hope he hasn't smashed up," said Alice. - -"So do I," Michael retorted. "It was a mighty good car--almost new--and -I left a silver pocket-flask in it, I remember." - -"Is someone else coming?" Ethel Cartwright asked. - -"A perfectly charming man, a Steven Denby." - -"Steven Denby?" Miss Cartwright cried, her face lighting up. "Really?" - -"Do you know him then?" Mrs. Harrington asked. - -"Indeed I do," she answered. - -"What, you know Steve?" Monty asked in surprise. - -"Tell us about him," Nora besought her. - -"Yes, who is he?" Michael wanted to know. "Alice has been trying to -rouse me to the depths of my jealous nature about him!" - -"Isn't he fascinating?" Alice observed. - -"I can only tell you all," Ethel Cartwright declared, "that I know him. -I met him in Paris a year ago." - -"Didn't you like him?" Alice inquired. - -"I did, very much," the girl said frankly. - -Nora spoke in a disappointed manner. "Well, he's evidently yours for -this week-end." - -"I daresay he won't even remember me," the other girl returned. - -"Oh, I bet he will," said Nora, who was able to give Ethel credit for -her charm and beauty. "I shall just have to stick around with Monty--a -wild tempestuous flirt like Monty!" - -"Oh, I don't mind," Monty said with an air of condescension, "not -particularly." - -"It's time to dress, good people," Michael reminded them. - -"Come on, Nora," Alice said rising. "Come, Monty. Ethel, you'll have to -amuse yourself, as Michael isn't to be depended on." - -"You wrong me, my dear," Michael retorted. "I'm going for my one -solitary cocktail and then I'll be back." - -"And only one, remember," Alice warned him. - -"You know me, my dear," he said, "when I say one." - -"You sometimes mean only one at a time," she laughed. "You are still the -same consistent old Michael. And by the way, if Mr. Denby does happen to -turn up, tell him we'll be down soon." - -"I'll send him in to Ethel if he comes." - -"Yes, please do," the girl said brightly. - -When she was left alone in the big hall, the coolest apartment in the -big house during the afternoon, Ethel Cartwright went to the French -windows and looked out over the smooth lawns to the trees at the back of -them. A long drive wound its way to the highroad, up which she could see -speeding a big motor. The porte-cochere was at the other side of the -house and she retraced her steps to the hall she had left with the hope -of meeting the man she had liked so much a year ago in Paris. - -A minute later he was ushered in, but did not at first see her. Then, as -he looked about the big apartment, he caught sight of the girl, and -stood for a moment staring as though he could hardly venture to believe -it was she. - -"Miss Cartwright," he cried enthusiastically, "is it really you?" - -She took his outstretched hands graciously. "How do you do, Mr. Denby," -she said. - -"Mr. Harrington told me to expect a surprise," he cried, "but I was -certainly not prepared for such a pleasant one as this. How are you?" - -"Splendid," she answered. "And you?" - -"Very, very grateful to be here." - -"I wondered if you'd remember me," she said; "it's a long time ago since -we were in Paris." - -"It was only the day before yesterday," he asserted. - -"And what are you doing here?" she asked. - -"Oh, I thought I'd run over and see if New York was finished yet." - -"Are you still doing--nothing?" she demanded, a tinge of disappointment -in her voice. - -He looked at her with a smile. "Still--nothing," he answered. - -"Ah," she sighed, "I had such hopes of you, a year ago in Paris." - -"And I of you," he said, boldly looking into her eyes. - -Her manner was more distant now. "I'm afraid I don't admire idlers very -much. Why don't you do something? You've ability enough, Mr. Denby." - -"It's so difficult to get a thrill out of business," he complained. - -"And you must have thrills?" she asked. - -"Yes," he answered, "it's such a dull old world nowadays." - -"Then why," she exclaimed jestingly, "why don't you take to crime?" - -"I have thought of it," he laughed, "but the stake's too high--a thrill -against prison." - -"So you want only little thrills then, Mr. Denby?" - -"No," he told her, "I'd like big ones better. Life or even death--but -not prison. And what have you done since I saw you last? You are still -doing nothing, too?" - -"Nothing," she said, smiling. - -"And you're still Miss Cartwright?" - -"_Only_ Miss Cartwright," she corrected. - -"Good," he said, looking at her steadily. "By George, it doesn't seem a -year since that week in Paris. What made you disappear just as we were -having such bully times?" - -"I had to come back to America suddenly. I had only an hour to catch the -boat. I explained all that in my note though. Didn't you even take the -trouble to read it?" - -He looked at her amazed. "I never even received it." There was a touch -of relief in his voice. "So you sent me a note! Do you know, I thought -you'd dropped me, and I tell you I hit with an awful crash." - -"I sent it by a porter and even gave him a franc," she smiled. "I ought -to have given him five." - -"I'd willingly have given him fifty," Denby said earnestly. "It wasn't -nice to think that I'd been dropped like that." - -"And I thought you'd dropped me," she said. - -"I should say not," he exclaimed. "I was over here six months ago and I -did try to see you, but you were at Palm Beach. I can't tell you how -often I've sent you telepathic messages," he added whimsically. "Ever -get any of 'em?" - -"Some of them, I think," she said smiling. "And now to think we've met -here on Long Island. It's a far cry to Paris." - -"For me it's people who make places--the places themselves don't -matter--you and I are here," he said gently. - -The girl sighed a little. "Still, Paris is Paris," she insisted. - -"Rather!" he answered, sighing too. "Do you remember that afternoon in -front of the Cafe de la Paix? We had _vin gris_ and watched the -Frenchman with the funny dog, and the boys calling _La Presse_, and the -woman who made you buy some 'North Wind' for me, and the people crowding -around the newspaper kiosks." - -In the adjoining room Nora was strumming the piano, and was now playing -"_Un Peu d'Amour_." She had looked in the hall and finding the stranger -so wholly absorbed in Ethel Cartwright, had retired to solitude. - -"And do you remember the hole in the table-cloth?" Ethel demanded. - -"And wasn't it a dirty table-cloth?" he reminded her. "And afterwards we -had tea in the Bois at the Cascade and the Hungarian Band played '_Un -Peu d'Amour_.'" He looked at the girl smiling. "How did you arrange to -have that played just at the right moment?" - -They listened in silence for a moment to the dainty melody, and then she -hummed a few bars of it. Her thoughts were evidently far away from Long -Island. - -"And don't you remember that poor skinny horse in our fiacre?" she asked -him. "He was so tired he fell down, and we walked home in pity." - -"Ah, you were tender-hearted," he sighed. - -"And we had dinner at Vian's afterwards," she reminded him, and then, -after a pause: "Wasn't the soup awful?" - -"Ah, but the string-beans were an event," he asserted. "And that -evening, I remember, there was a moon over the Bois, and we sat under -the trees. Have you forgotten that?" - -"I don't think that would be very easy," she said softly. - -"And we went through the Louvre the next day," he said eagerly, "the -whole Louvre in an hour, and the loveliest picture I saw there -was--_you_." - -Denby glanced up with a frown as Lambart's gentle footfall was heard, -and rose to his feet a trifle embarrassed by this intrusion. Lambart -came to a respectful pause at Miss Cartwright's side. - -"Pardon me," he said, "but there is a gentleman to see you." She took a -card that was on the tray he held before her. - -"To see me?" she cried, startled, gazing at the card. Denby, watching -her closely, saw her grow, as he thought, pale. "Ask him to come in. Mr. -Denby," she said, "will you forgive me?" - -"Surely," he assented, walking toward the great stairway. "I have to -dress, anyway." - -"Your room is at the head of the stairs," Lambart reminded him. "All -your luggage is taken in, sir." - -Denby looked down at her. "Till dinner?" he asked. - -"Till dinner," she said, and watched him pass out of sight. She was a -girl whose poise of manner prevented the betrayal of vivid emotion in -any but a certain subdued fashion. But it was plain she was laboring now -under an agitation that amounted almost to deadly fear. - -A few seconds later Daniel Taylor strode in with firm assured tread and -looked at the luxurious surroundings with approval. - -"Good evening, Miss Cartwright," he exclaimed genially. "Good evening." - -"My sister," she returned, trembling, "nothing's happened to her? She's -all right?" - -"Sure, sure," he returned reassuringly, "I haven't bothered her; the -little lady's all right, don't you worry." - -"Then what do you want here?" she cried alarmed. No matter what his -manner this man had menace in every look and gesture. She had never been -brought into contact with one who gave in so marked a degree the -impression of ruthless strength. - -"I thought I'd drop in with reference to our little chat this -afternoon," he remarked easily. "Nice place they've got here." - -"But I don't understand why you have come," she persisted. - -"You haven't forgotten our little conversation, I hope?" - -"Of course not," she said. - -"Well," he continued, "you said when I needed you, you'd be ready." He -looked about him cautiously as though fearing interruption. "I said it -might be a year, or it might be a month, or it might be to-night. Well, -it's to-night, Miss Cartwright. I need you right now." - -"Now?" she said puzzled. "Still, I don't understand." - -He lowered his voice. "A man has smuggled a two hundred thousand dollar -necklace through the Customs to-day. For various reasons which you -wouldn't understand, we allowed him to slip through, thinking he'd -fooled us. Now that he believes himself safe, it ought to be easy to get -that necklace. We've got to get it; and we're going to get it, through -one of our agents." He pointed a forefinger at her. "We're going to get -it through you." - -"But I shouldn't know how to act," she protested, "or what to do." - -Taylor smiled. "You're too modest, Miss Cartwright. I've seen some of -your work in my own office, and I think you'll be successful." - -"But don't you see I'm staying here over Sunday?" she explained. "I -can't very well make an excuse and leave now." - -"You don't have to leave," he told her. - -"What do you mean, then?" she demanded. - -"That the man who smuggled the necklace is staying here, too. His name -is Steven Denby." - -"Steven Denby!" the girl cried, shrinking away from him. "Oh, no, you -must be mad--he isn't a smuggler." - -"Why isn't he?" Taylor snapped. - -"I know him," she explained. - -"You do?" he cried. "Where did you meet him?" - -"In Paris," she replied. - -"How long have you known him?" - -"Just about a year," she answered. - -"What do you know about him?" Taylor asked quickly. It was evident that -her news seemed very important to him. "What's his business? How does he -make his living? Do you know his people?" - -"I don't think he does anything," she said hesitatingly. - -"Nothing, eh?" Taylor laughed disagreeably. "I suppose you think that's -clear proof he couldn't be a smuggler?" - -"I'm sure you are wrong," she said with spirit; "he's my friend." - -"Your friend!" Taylor returned. His manner from that of the bluff -cross-examiner changed to one that had something confidential and -friendly in it. "Why, that ought to make it easier." - -"Easier?" she repeated. "What do you mean by that?" - -"Well, you can get into his confidence. See?" - -"But you're wrong," she said indignantly. "I'm sure he is absolutely -innocent." - -"Then you'll be glad of a chance to prove we're wrong and you're right." - -"But I couldn't spy on a friend," she declared. - -"If your friend is innocent it won't do him any harm," Taylor observed, -"and he'd never know. But if he's guilty he deserves punishment, and -you've no right to try and protect him. Any person would only be doing -right in helping to detect a criminal; but you,"--he paused -significantly,--"it's just as much your duty as it is mine." He showed -her his gold badge of authority for a brief moment, and although it -terrified her there was too much loyalty in her nature to betray a -friend or even to spy upon one. - -"No, no! I can't do it," she said. - -"So you're going back on your agreement," he sneered. "Two can play that -game. Suppose I go back on mine, too?" - -"You wouldn't do that," she cried horrified at his threat. - -"Why not?" he returned. "It's give and take in this world." - -"But I couldn't be so contemptible." - -Taylor shrugged his shoulders. "If I were you I'd think it over," he -recommended. - -"But supposing you're wrong," she said earnestly. "Suppose he has no -necklace?" - -"Don't let that disturb you," he retorted. "Our information is positive. -We got a telegram late this afternoon from a pal of his who squealed, -giving us a tip about it. Now what do you say?" - -"I can't," she said, "I can't." - -He came closer, and said in a low harsh voice: "Remember, it's Steven -Denby or your sister. There's no other way out. Which are you going to -choose?" - -He watched her pale face eagerly. "Well," he cried, "which is it to be?" - -"I have no choice," she answered dully. "What do you want me to do?" - -"Good," Taylor cried approvingly. "That's the way to talk! Denby has -that necklace concealed in a brown leather tobacco-pouch which he always -carries in his pocket. You must get me that pouch." - -"How can I?" she asked despairingly. - -"I'll leave that to you," he answered. - -"But couldn't you do it?" she pleaded. "Or one of your men? Why ask me?" - -"It may be a bluff, some clever scheme to throw me off the track and I'm -not going to risk a mix-up with the Harringtons or tip my hand till I'm -absolutely sure. It don't pay me to make big mistakes. You say Denby's -your friend, well, then, it'll be easy to find out. If you discover that -the necklace is in the tobacco-pouch, get him to go for a walk in the -garden; say you want to look at the moon, say anything, so long as you -get him into the garden where we'll be on the lookout and grab him." - -"But he might go out there alone," she suggested. - -"If he does," Taylor assured her, "we won't touch him, but if he comes -out there with you, we'll _know_." - -"But if I can't get him into the garden?" she urged. "Something may -happen to prevent me!" - -"If you're sure he has it on him," Taylor instructed her, "or if you -make out where it is concealed, pull down one of these window-shades. My -men and I can see these from the garden. When we get your signal we'll -come in and arrest him. Sure you understand?" - -"I'm to pull down the window-shade," she repeated. - -"That's it, but be careful, mind. Don't bring him out in the garden, -and don't signal unless you are absolutely certain." - -"Yes, yes," she said. - -"And under no circumstances," he commanded, "must you mention my name." - -"But," she argued, "suppose--" - -"There's no 'buts' and no 'supposes' in it," he said sharply. "It's most -important to the United States Government and to me, that my identity is -in no way disclosed." - -"It may be necessary," she persisted. - -"It _cannot_ be necessary," he said with an air of finality. "If it -comes to a show-down and you tell Denby I'm after him, I'll not only -swear I never saw you, but I'll put your sister in prison. Now, good -night, Miss Cartwright, and remember you've got something at stake, too, -so don't forget--Denby to-night." - -He went silently through the French windows and disappeared, leaving her -to face for the second time in a day an outlook that seemed hopeless. - -But she was not the only one in the great Harrington mansion to feel -that little zest was left in life. Monty was obsessed with the idea that -his friend's long delay was due to his having been held up. The -automobile lends itself admirably to highway robbery, and it would be -easy enough for armed robbers to overpower Denby and the chauffeur. - -Directly he heard Denby's voice talking to Lambart as he was shown into -his room, Monty burst in and wrung his hands again and again. - -"Why, Monty," his friend said, "you overpower me." - -"I thought you'd been held up and robbed," the younger man cried. - -"Neither one nor the other," Denby said cheerfully, "I was merely the -victim of two blow-outs. But," he added, looking keenly at his -confederate, "if I had been held up the pearls wouldn't have been taken. -I didn't happen to have them with me." - -"Thank God!" Monty cried fervently. "I wondered if that telegraphing to -people was just a ruse or not. Hooray, I feel I can eat and drink and be -merrier than I've been for a month. I never want to hear about them -again." - -"I'm sorry, old man," Denby said smiling, "but I shall have to ask you -for them." - -"Me?" Monty stammered. "Don't joke, Steve." - -"But you very kindly brought them over for me," Denby returned mildly. -"They're in the right-hand shoe of a pair of buckskin tennis shoes. I -put them there when I helped you to repack your trunk. Do you mind -bringing them before I've finished dressing?" - -Monty looked at him reproachfully. "Sometimes I think I ought to have -gone into the ministry. I'm getting a perfect horror of crime." - -"You're not a criminal," Denby said. "You helped me out on the voyage, -but here you are free to do as you like." - -Monty set his jaw firmly. "I'm in it with you, Steve, till you've got -the damned things where you want 'em, and you can't prevent me, either." - -When he brought the precious necklace back Denby calmly placed the pouch -in his pocket. "Thanks, old man," he said casually. "Now the fun -begins." - -"Fun!" Monty snorted. "Do you remember the classic remark of the frog -who was pelted by small mischievous boys? 'This may be the hell of a -joke to you,' said the frog, 'but it's death to me.'" - -"I've always been sorry for that frog," Denby commented. - -"But, man alive, you are the frog," Monty cried. - -"Oh, no," Denby returned, making a tie that had no likeness to a vast -butterfly. - -"Your frog hadn't a ghost of a chance, and he knew it, while with me -it's an even chance. One oughtn't to ask any more than that in these -hard times." - -He sauntered down the stairs cool and debonair to find Ethel Cartwright -still looking listlessly across the green lawns. - -"Those gentle chimes," he said, as the dinner-gong pealed out, "call the -faithful to dinner. I wish it were in Paris, don't you?" - -She pulled herself together and tried to smile as she had done before -Taylor had dashed all her joy to the ground. - -"Aren't you hungering for string-beans?" he asked, "and the hole in the -table-cloth, and the gay old moon? But after all, what do they matter -now? You're here, and I'm hungry." He offered her his arm. "Aren't you -hungry, too?" - - - - -CHAPTER NINE - - -Very much to Denby's disappointment he found that he was not to take -Ethel Cartwright in to dinner. Nora Rutledge fell to his lot, and -although she was witty and sparkling, she shared none of those happy -Parisian memories as did the girl his host had taken in. - -Plainly Nora was piqued. "I thought from what Monty told me you were -really interesting," she said. - -"One must never believe anything Monty says," he observed. "It's only -his air of innocence that makes people think him honest. His flirtations -on board ship were nothing short of scandalous and yet look at him now." - -And poor Monty, although to him had fallen the honor of taking in his -hostess, was paying no sort of attention to her sallies. - -Nora glanced at him and then looked up at Denby. "I'm really awfully -fond of Monty, and I'm worried--if you'll believe it--because he seems -upset. Monty," she called, "what's the matter with you, and what are you -thinking about?" - -"Frogs," he said promptly. - -"We'll have some to-morrow," Michael observed amiably. "They induce in -me a most remarkable thirst, so I keep off them on that account." - -"He's thinking," Denby reminded her, "of the old song, 'A frog he would -a-wooing go!' I've heard of you often enough, Miss Rutledge, from -Monty." - -"Well, I wish you'd started being confidential with the _hors -d'oeuvres_," she said, "instead of waiting until dessert. If you had, -by this time you'd probably have been really amusing." - -She rose at Mrs. Harrington's signal and followed her from the room. - -"What I can't see," observed she, "is why we didn't stay and have our -cigarettes with the men." - -"I always leave them together," Alice Harrington said with a laugh, -"because that's the way to get the newest naughty stories. Michael -always tells 'em to me later." - -"Alice!" cried Nora with mock reproof. - -"Oh, I like 'em," Alice declared, "when they're really funny, and so -does everybody else. Besides, nowadays it's improper to be proper. -Cigarette, Ethel?" - -Miss Cartwright shook her head. "You know I don't smoke," she returned. - -Nora lighted a cigarette unskilfully. "That's so old-fashioned," she -said, in her most sophisticated manner, "and I'd rather die than be -that." She coughed as she drew in a fragrant breath of Egyptian tobacco. -"I do wish, though, that I really enjoyed smoking." - -"What do you think of our new friend, Mr. Denby?" Alice asked of her. - -"I like him in spite of the fact that he hardly noticed me. He couldn't -take his eyes off Ethel." - -"I saw that myself," Mrs. Harrington returned. "You know, Ethel, I meant -him to take you in to dinner, but Nora insisted that she sit next to -him. She's such a man-hunter!" - -"You bet I am," the wise Nora admitted--"that's the only way you can get -'em." - -Mrs. Harrington turned to Ethel Cartwright. "Didn't you and Mr. Denby -have a tiny row? You hardly spoke to him through dinner." - -"Didn't I?" the girl answered. "I've a bit of a headache." - -"I'll bet they had a lovers' quarrel before dinner," Nora hazarded. - -Alice Harrington arched her eyebrows in surprise. "A lovers' quarrel!" - -"Certainly," Nora insisted. "I'm sure Ethel is in love with him." - -"How perfectly ridiculous," Ethel said, with a trace of embarrassment in -her manner. "Don't be so silly, Nora. I met him for a week in Paris, -that's all, and I found him interesting. He had big talk as well as -small, but as for love--please don't be idiotic!" - -"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," laughed her hostess. - -"I don't blame you, Ethel," Nora admitted frankly. "If he'd give me a -chance I'd fall for him in a minute, but attractive young men never -bother about me. The best I can draw is--Monty! I'm beginning to dislike -the whole sex." - -"Theoretically you are quite right, my dear," said the maturer Alice; -"men are awful things--God bless 'em--but practically, well, some day -you'll explode like a bottle of champagne and bubble all over some man." - -"Speaking of champagne," Nora said after a disbelieving gesture at the -prophecy, "I wish I had another of Michael's purple drinks. He's a -genius." - -"Do tell him that," the fond wife urged. "The very surest way to -Michael's heart is through his buffet. I knew he'd taken to mixing -cocktails in a graduated chemist's glass, but this excursion into the -chemistry of drinks is rather alarming. He would have been a most -conscientious bartender." - -"Does he really drink much?" Nora demanded. - -"Not when I'm at home," Alice declared. "Nothing after one. If he goes -to bed then he's all right; if he doesn't, he sits up till five going -the pace that fills. I wouldn't mind if it made him amusing, but it -makes him merely sleepy. But he doesn't drink nearly as much as most of -the men he knows. What makes you think he does, is that he makes such a -ceremony out of drinking. I don't think he enjoys drinking alone. Nora," -she added, "do sit down; you make me dizzy." - -"I can't," Nora told her. "I always stand up for twenty minutes after -each meal. It keeps you thin." - -"Does it?" Mrs. Harrington asked eagerly, rising from her comfortable -chair. "Does it really? Still, I lost nine pounds abroad!" - -"Goodness!" Nora cried enviously. "How?" - -"Buttermilk!" Alice cried triumphantly. - -"And I walked four miles this morning in a rubber suit and three -sweaters, _and_ gained half a pound," Nora declared disconsolately. - -"I do wish hips would come in again," Alice Harrington sighed. "Ah, here -come the men," she said more brightly, as the three entered. - -Michael was still bearing, with what modesty he could, the encomiums on -a purple punch he had brewed after exhaustive laboratory experiments. - -"It's delicious," Denby declared. - -Michael sighed. "I used to think so until my wife stopped my drinking." - -Even Monty seemed cheered by it. "Fine stuff," he asserted. "I can feel -it warming up all the little nooks and crannies." - -"Purple but pleasing," Denby said, with the air of an epigrammatist. - -"Did they tell you any purple stories?" Michael's wife demanded. - -"We don't know any new stories," Denby told her; "we've been in -England." - -"Do sit down, all of you," Alice commanded. "We've all been standing up -to get thin." - -"If they're going to discuss getting thin and dietetics," Michael said, -"let's get out." - -"Woman's favorite topic," Monty remarked profoundly. - -"But you mustn't sit down, Alice," Nora warned, as her hostess seemed -about to sink into her chair. "It isn't twenty minutes!" - -"Well, I think it is twenty minutes," she returned smiling, "and if it -isn't I don't care a continental." - -"Women are so self-denying," Michael Harrington observed with gentle -satire. - -"And sometimes it pays," his wife said. "Do you know, Nora, there was a -girl on the boat who lost twelve pounds." - -"Twelve pounds," Michael exclaimed, and then by a rapid-fire bit of -mental arithmetic added: "Why, that's sixty dollars. How women do gamble -nowadays!" - -"Pounds of flesh, Michael, pounds of flesh. She was on a diet. She -didn't eat for three days." - -"That's not a bad idea," Nora said approvingly. "Sometime when I'm not -hungry I'll try it." - -Ethel Cartwright had refrained from joining in the conversation for the -reason she had no part just now in their lighter moods. Their talk of -weight losing had been well enough, but Michael's misinterpretation of -the twelve pounds brought back to her the cause of Amy's misfortune and -plunged her deeper into misery. - -She walked toward the window and looked over the grass to the deep gloom -of the cedar trees opposite. And it seemed to her that there were moving -shadows that might be Taylor and his men ready to pounce upon a man to -whom a year ago she had been deeply drawn. There was a charm about Denby -when he set himself to please a woman to which she, although no blushing -ingenue, was keenly sensible. - -"Seeing ghosts?" said a voice at her elbow, and she turned, startled, -to see his smiling face looking down at her. - -She assumed a lighter air. "No," she told him brightly. "Ghosts belong -to the past. I was seeing spirits of the future." - -"Can't we see them together?" he suggested. "I shall never tire of -Parisian ghosts if you are there to keep me from being too scared. Let's -go out and see if the moon looks good-tempered. The others are talking -about smuggling and light and airy nothings like that. Shall we?" - -"No, no!" she said, with a tremor in her voice that did not escape him. -"Not yet; later, perhaps." - -She could, in fact, hardly compose her face. Here he was suggesting that -she take him into a trap to be prepared later by her treachery. But she -had what seemed to her a duty to perform, and no sentiment must stand in -the way of her sister's salvation. And there was always the hope that he -was innocent. At any other time than this she would have wagered he was -without blame; but this was a day on which misfortunes were visiting -her, and she was filled with dread as to its outcome. - -She moved over to Mrs. Harrington's side, gracefully and slowly, free so -far as the ordinary observer could see from any care. - -"So you are talking of smuggling," she said. "Alice, did you really -bring in anything without paying duty on it?" - -"Not a thing," Alice returned promptly. "I declared every solitary -stitch." - -"I'd like to believe you," her husband remarked, "but knowing you as I -do--" - -"I paid seven hundred dollars' duty," his spouse declared. - -"Disgusting!" Nora exclaimed. "Think of what you could have bought for -that!" - -"Please tell me," Michael inquired anxiously, "what mental revolution -converted you from the idea that smuggling was a legitimate and noble -sport?" - -"I still don't think it's wrong," Alice declared honestly. "Some of you -men seem to, but I'd swindle the government any day." - -"Then, for Heaven's sake," Nora wanted to know, "why waste all that good -money?" - -Alice waved a jewelled white hand toward Steven Denby. - -"Behold my reformer!" - -Ethel Cartwright looked at him quickly. Her distrust of motives was the -result of her conversation with Daniel Taylor, who believed in no man's -good faith. - -"Mr. Denby?" she asked, almost suspiciously. - -"What has Mr. Denby to do with it?" Nora cried, equally surprised that -it was his influence which had stayed the wilful Alice. - -"He frightened me," Alice averred. - -"I want to have a good look at the man who can do that," Michael cried. - -"I'm afraid Mrs. Harrington is exaggerating," Denby explained patiently; -"I merely pointed out that things had come to a pass when it might be -very awkward to fool with the Customs." - -"They didn't give us the least bit of trouble at the dock," she -answered. "I wish I'd brought in a trunk full of dutiable things. They -hardly looked at my belongings." - -"That sometimes means," Denby explained, "that there will be the -greatest possible trouble afterwards." - -"I don't see that," Nora asserted. "How can it be?" - -"Well," he returned, "according to some articles in McClure's a few -months ago by Burns, very often a dishonest official will let a -prominent woman like Mrs. Harrington slip through the lines without the -least difficulty--even if she is smuggling--so that afterwards he can -come to her home and threaten exposure and a heavy fine. Usually the -woman or her husband will pay any amount to hush things up. I was -thinking of that when I advised Mrs. Harrington to declare everything -she had." - -"But you said a whole lot more than that," Mrs. Harrington reminded him. -"When our baggage was being examined at Dover, you spoke about that man -of mystery who is known as R. J. It was cumulative, Mr. Denby, and on -the whole you did it rather well. My bank-book is a living witness to -your eloquence." - -Ethel asked rather eagerly, "But this R. J., Mr. Denby, what is he?" - -"I've heard of him," Michael answered. "Some man at the club told me -about him, but I very soon sized that matter up. If you want to know my -opinion, Ethel, R. J. is the bogey man of the Customs. If they suspect -an inspector he receives a postal signed R. J., and telling him to watch -out. It's a great scheme, which I recommend to the heads of big business -corporations. I don't believe in R. J." - -Ethel looked up at Denby brightly. "But you really believe in him, don't -you?" - -"I only know," he told her, "that R. J. has many enemies because he has -made many discoveries. Unquestionably he does exist for all Mr. -Harrington's unbelief. He's supposed to be one of these impossible -secret service agents, travelling incognito all over the globe. He is -known only by his initials. Some people call him the storm-petrel, -always in the wake of trouble. Where there is intrigue among nations, -diplomatic tangles, if the Japs steal a fortification plan, or a German -cross-country aeroplane is sent to drop a bomb on the Singer Building, -R.J. is supposed to be there to catch it." - -"What an awfully unpleasant position," Nora shuddered. - -"Think of a man deliberately choosing a job like that!" Monty commented. - -"So," Denby continued, "when a friend of mine in Paris told me that R.J. -had been requested by the government to investigate Customs frauds, I -knew there would be more danger in the smuggling game than ever. I -warned Mrs. Harrington because I did not want to see her humiliated by -exposure." - -"That's mighty good of you, Denby," Michael said appreciatively; "but -all the same I don't see how--supposing she had slipped in without any -fuss some stuff she had bought in Paris or London and ought to have -declared--I don't see how if they didn't know it, they could blackmail -her." - -"That's the simplest part of it," Denby assured him. "The clerk in the -kind of store your wife would patronize is most often a government spy, -unofficially, and directly after he has assured the purchaser that it -is so simple to smuggle, and one can hide things so easily, he has -cabled the United States Customs what you bought and how much it cost." - -"They do that?" said Michael indignantly. "I never did trust Frenchmen, -the sneaks. I've no doubt that the _heure de l'aperitif_ was introduced -by an American." - -Miss Cartwright had been watching Denby closely. There was forced upon -her the unhappy conviction that this explanation of the difficulties of -smuggling was in a sense his way of boasting of a difficulty he had -overcome. And she alone of all who were listening had the key to this. -It was imperative--for the dread of Taylor and his threats had eaten -into her soul--to gain more explicit information. Her manner was almost -coquettish as she asked him: - -"Tell me truly, Mr. Denby, didn't you smuggle something, just one tiny -little scarf-pin, for example?" - -"Nothing," he returned. "What makes you think I did?" - -"It seemed to me," she said boldly, "that your fear that Mrs. Harrington -might be caught was due to the fear suspicion might fall on you." - -Denby looked at her curiously. He had never seen Ethel Cartwright in -this mood. He wondered at what she was driving. - -"It does sound plausible," he admitted. - -"Then 'fess up," Michael urged. "Come on, Denby, what did you bring in?" - -"Myself and Monty," Denby returned, "and he isn't dutiable. All the -smuggling that our party did was performed by Monty out of regard for -you." - -"I still remain unconvinced," Ethel Cartwright declared obstinately. "I -think it was two thoughts for yourself and one for Alice." - -"Now, Denby," Michael cried jocularly, "you're among friends. Where have -you hidden the swag?" - -"Do tell us," Nora entreated. "It'd be so nice if you were a criminal -and had your picture in the rogues' gallery. The only criminals I know -are those who just run over people in their motors, and that gets so -commonplace. Do tell us how you started on a life of crime." - -"Nora!" Monty cried reprovingly. Things were increasing his nervousness -to a horrible extent. Why wouldn't they leave smuggling alone? - -"I'm not interested in your endeavors," Nora said superciliously. -"You're only a sort of petty larceny smuggler with your silver -hair-brushes. Mr. Denby does things on a bigger scale. You're safe with -us, Mr. Denby," she reminded him. - -"I know," he answered, "so safe that if I had any dark secrets to reveal -I'd proclaim them with a loud voice." - -"That's always the way," Nora complained. "Every time I meet a man who -seems exciting he turns out to be just a nice man--I hate nice men." She -crossed over to the agitated Monty. - -"Mr. Denby is a great disappointment to me, too," Ethel Cartwright -confessed. "Couldn't you invent a new way to smuggle?" - -"It wasn't for lack of inventive powers," he assured her, "it was just -respect for the law." - -"I didn't know we had any left in America," Michael observed, and then -added, "but then you've lived a lot abroad, Denby." - -"Mr. Denby must be rewarded with a cigarette," Ethel declared, bringing -the silver box from the mantel and offering him one. "A cigarette, Mr. -Denby?" - -"Thanks, no," he answered, "I prefer to roll my own if you don't mind." - -It seemed that the operation of rolling a cigarette was amazingly -interesting to the girl. Her eager eyes fastened themselves intently on -a worn pigskin pouch he carried. - -"Can't you do it with one hand?" she asked disappointedly; "just like -cowboys do in plays?" - -"It seems I'm doomed to disappoint you," he smiled. "I find two hands -barely sufficient." - -"Sometime you must roll me one," she said. "Will you?" - -"With pleasure," he returned, lighting his own. - -"But you don't smoke," Alice objected. - -"Ah, but I've been tempted," she confessed archly. - -"The only thing that makes my life worth living is yielding to -temptation," Nora observed. - -"That's not a bad idea," Michael said rising. "I'm tempted to take a -small drink. Who'll yield with me and split a pint of Brut Imperial?" - -"That's your last drink to-night," his wife warned him. - -"I'm not likely to forget it," he said ruefully. "My wife," he told the -company, "thinks I'm a restaurant, and closes me up at one sharp." - -"Let's have some bridge," Mrs. Harrington suggested. "Ethel, what do you -say?" - -"I've given it up," she answered. - -"Why, you used to love it," Nora asserted, surprised. - -"I've come to think all playing for money is horrible," Ethel returned, -thinking to what trouble Amy's gambling had brought her. - -"Me too," Michael chimed in. "Unless stocks go up, or the Democratic -party goes down, I'll be broke soon. How about a game of pool?" - -"I'd love to," Nora said. "I've been dying to learn." - -"That'll make it a nice interesting game," Monty commented. He knew he -could never make a decent shot until the confounded necklace was miles -away. - -"Then there's nothing else to do but dance," Alice decreed. "Come, -Nora." - -"No," Michael cried, "I'll play pool or auction or poker, I'll sit or -talk or sing, but I'm hanged if I hesitate and get lost, or maxixe!" - -Alice shook her head mournfully. "Ah, Michael," she said, "if you were -only as light-footed as you are light-headed, what a partner you'd make. -We are going to dance anyway." - -Ethel hesitated at the doorway. "Aren't you dancing or playing pool, Mr. -Denby?" - -"In just a moment," he said. "First I have a word to say to Monty." - -"I understand," she returned. "Man's god--business! Men use that excuse -over the very littlest things sometimes." - -"But this is a big thing," he asserted; "a two hundred thousand dollar -proposition, so we're naturally a bit anxious." - -Monty shook his head gravely. "Mighty anxious, believe me." - -Whatever hope she might have cherished that Taylor was wrong, and this -man she liked so much was innocent, faded when she heard the figure two -hundred thousand dollars. That was the amount of the necklace's value, -exactly. And she had wondered at Monty's strained, nervous manner. Now -it became very clear that he was Denby's accomplice, dreading, and -perhaps knowing as well as she, that the house was surrounded. - -She told herself that the law was just, and those who disobeyed were -guilty and should be punished; and that she was an instrument, -impersonal, and as such, without blame. But uppermost in her mind was -the thought of black treachery, of mean intriguing ways, and the -certainty that this night would see the end of her friendship with the -man she had sworn to deliver to the ruthless, cruel, insatiable Taylor. -It was, as Taylor told her, a question of deciding between two people. -She could help, indirectly, to convict a clever smuggler, or she could -send her weak, dependent, innocent eighteen-year-old sister to jail. And -she had said to Taylor: "I have no choice." - -Denby looked at her a little puzzled. In Paris, a year ago, she had -seemed a sweet, natural girl, armed with a certain dignity that would -not permit men to become too friendly on short acquaintance. And here it -seemed that she was almost trying to flirt with him in a wholly -different way. He was not sure that her other manner was not more in -keeping with the ideal he had held of her since that first meeting. - -"I should be anxious, too," she said, "if I had all that money at stake. -But all the same, don't be too long. I think I may ask you for that -cigarette presently." - - - - -CHAPTER TEN - - -Denby stood looking after her. "Bully, bully girl," he muttered. - -"Anything wrong, Steve?" Monty inquired, not catching what he said. - -Denby turned to the speaker slowly; his thoughts had been more -pleasantly engaged. - -"I don't understand why they haven't done anything," he answered. "I'm -certain we were followed at the dock. When I went to send those -telegrams I saw a man who seemed very much disinterested, but kept near -me. I saw him again when we had our second blow-out near Jamaica. It -might have been a coincidence, but I'm inclined to think they've marked -us down." - -"I don't believe it," Monty cried. "If they had the least idea about the -necklace, they'd have pinched you at the pier, or got you on the road -when it was only you and the chauffeur against their men." - -Still Denby seemed dubious. "They let me in too dashed easily," he -complained, "and I can't help being suspicious." - -"They seemed to suspect me," Monty reminded him. - -"The fellow thought you were laughing at him, that's all. They've no -sense of humor," Denby returned. "What I said to-night was no fiction, -Monty. Cartier's may have tipped the Customs after all." - -"But you paid Harlow a thousand dollars," Monty declared. - -"He wasn't the only one to know I had bought the pearls, though," Denby -observed thoughtfully. "It looks fishy to me. They may have some new -wrinkles in the Customs." - -"That damned R. J.," Monty said viciously, "I'd like to strangle him." - -"It would make things easier," Denby allowed. - -"All the same," Monty remarked, "I think we've both been too fidgety." - -"Dear old Monty," his friend said, smiling, "if you knew the game as I -do, and had hunted men and been hunted by them as I have, you'd not -blame me for being a little uneasy now." - -With apprehension Monty watched him advance swiftly toward the switch on -the centre wall by the window. "Get over by that window," he commanded, -and Monty hurriedly obeyed him. Then he turned off the lights, leaving -the room only faintly illuminated by the moonlight coming through the -French windows. - -"What the devil's up?" Monty asked excitedly. - -"Is there anyone there on the lawn?" - -Monty peered anxiously through the glass. "No," he whispered, and then -added: "Yes, there's a man over there by the big oak. By Jove, there -is!" - -"What's he doing?" the other demanded. - -"Just standing and looking over this way." - -"He's detailed to watch the house. Anybody else with him?" - -"Not that I can see." - -"Come away, Monty," Denby called softly, and when his friend was away -from observation, he switched on the light again. "Now," he asked, "do -you believe that we were followed?" - -"The chills are running down my spine," Monty confessed. "Gee, Steve, I -hope it won't come to a gun fight." - -"They won't touch you," Denby said comfortingly; "they want me." - -"I don't know," Monty said doubtfully. "They'll shoot first, and then -ask which is you." - -Denby was unperturbed. "I think we've both been too fidgety," he -quoted. - -"But why don't they come in?" Monty asked apprehensively. - -"They're staying out there to keep us prisoners," he was told. - -"Then I hope they'll stop there," Monty exclaimed fervently. - -"I can't help thinking," Denby said, knitting his brows, "that they've -got someone in here on the inside, working under cover to try to get the -necklace. What do you know about the butler, Lambart? Is he a new man?" - -"Lord, no," Monty assured him. "He has been with Michael five years, and -worships him. You'd distress Lambart immeasurably if you even hinted -he'd ever handed a plate to a smuggler." - -"We've got to find out who it is," Denby said decidedly, "and then, -Monty, we'll have some sport." - -"Then we'll have some shooting," Monty returned in disgust. "Where is -that confounded necklace anyway? Is Michael carrying it around without -knowing it?" - -"Still in my pouch," Denby returned. - -As he said this, Miss Cartwright very gently opened a door toward which -his back was turned. Terrified at the thought of Taylor's possible -intrusion, she had been spurred to some sort of action, and had -sauntered back to the big hall with the hope of overhearing something -that would aid her. - -"I know they mean business," she heard Denby say, "and this is going to -be a fight, Monty, and a fight to a finish." - -The thought that there might presently be scenes of violence enacted in -the hospitable Harrington home, scenes in which she had a definite role -to play, which might lead even to the death of Denby as it certainly -must lead to his disgrace, drove her nearly to hysteria. Taylor had -inspired her with a great horror, and at the same time a great respect -for his power and courage. She did not see how a man like Steven Denby -could win in a contest between himself and the brutal deputy-surveyor. -"Oh," she sighed, "if they were differently placed! If Steven stood for -the law and Taylor for crime!" - -Everything favored Taylor, it seemed to her. Denby was alone except for -Monty's faltering aid, while the other had his men at hand and, above -all, the protection of the law. It was impossible to regard Taylor as -anything other than a victor making war on men or women and moved by -nothing to pity. What other man than he would have tortured her poor -little sister, she wondered. - -To a woman used through the exigencies of circumstances to making her -living in a business world where competition brought with it rivalries, -trickeries and jealousies, the ordeal to be faced would have been almost -overwhelming. - -But the Cartwrights had lived a sheltered life, the typical happy family -life where there is wealth, and none until to-day had ever dared to -speak to Ethel as Taylor had done. She was almost frantic with the -knowledge that she must play the spy, the eavesdropper, perhaps the -Delilah among people who trusted her. - -As she was debating what next to do, she heard Monty's voice as it -seemed to her fraught with excitement and eager and quick. - -"Will you have a cigarette, Dick?" she heard him call. Instantly Steven -Denby wheeled about and faced the door through which she appeared to -saunter languidly. Something told her that Monty had discovered her. - -"Still talking business?" she said, attempting to appear wholly at ease. -"I've left my fan somewhere." - -"Girls are always doing that, aren't they?" Denby said pleasantly. There -was no indication from his tone that he suspected she had been -listening. "We'll have to find it, Monty." - -"Sure, Steve, sure," Monty returned. He was not able to cloak his -uneasiness. - -"Steve?" the girl queried brightly. "As I came in, I thought I heard you -call him 'Dick.'" - -"That was our private signal," Denby returned promptly, relieving poor -Monty of an answer. - -"That sounds rather mysterious," she commented. - -"But it's only commonplace," Denby assured her. "My favorite parlor -trick is making breaks--it always has been since Monty first knew -me--and invented a signal to warn me when I'm on thin ice or dangerous -ground. 'Will you have a cigarette, Dick' is the one he most often -uses." - -"But why 'Dick?'" she asked. - -"That's the signal," Denby explained. "If he said 'Steve,' I shouldn't -notice it, so he always says 'Dick,' don't you, Monty?" - -"Always, Steve," Monty answered quickly. - -"Then you were about to make a break when I came in?" she hinted. - -"I'm afraid I was," Denby admitted. - -"What was it? Won't you tell me?" - -"If I did," he said, "it would indeed be a break." - -"Discreet man," she laughed; "I believe you were talking about me." - -He did not answer for a moment but looked at her keenly. It hurt him to -think that this girl, of all others, might be fencing with him to gain -some knowledge of his secret. But he had lived a life in which danger -was a constant element, and women ere this had sought to baffle him and -betray. - -He was cautious in his answer. - -"You are imaginative," he said, "even about your fan. There doesn't seem -to be a trace of it, and I don't think I remember your having one." - -"Perhaps I didn't bring it down," she admitted, "and it may be in my -room after all. May I have that promised cigarette to cheer me on my -way?" - -"Surely," he replied. Very eagerly she watched him take the pouch from -his pocket and roll a cigarette. - -Her action seemed to set Monty on edge. Suppose Denby by any chance -dropped the pouch and the jewels fell out. It seemed to him that she was -drawing nearer. Suppose she was the one who had been chosen to "work -inside" and snatched it from him? - -"Miss Cartwright," he said, and noted that she seemed startled at his -voice, "can't I get your fan for you?" - -"No, thanks," she returned, "you'd have to rummage, and that's a -privilege I reserve only for myself." - -"Here you are," Denby broke in, handing her the slim white cigarette. - -She took it from him with a smile and moistened the edge of the paper as -she had seen men do often enough. "You are an expert," she said -admiringly. - -He said no word but lighted a match and held it for her. She drew a -breath of tobacco and half concealed a cough. It was plain to see that -she was making a struggle to enjoy it, and plainer for the men to note -that she failed. - -"What deliciously mild tobacco you smoke," she cried. Suddenly she -stretched out her hand for the pouch. "Do let me see." - -But Denby did not pass it to her. He looked her straight in the eyes. - -"I don't think a look at it would help you much," he said slowly. "The -name is, in case you ever want to get any, 'without fire.'" - -"What an odd name," she cried. "Without fire?" - -"Yes," he answered. "You see, no smoke without fire." Without any -appearance of haste he put the pouch back in his pocket. - -"You don't believe in that old phrase?" - -"Not a bit," he told her. "Do you?" - -She turned to ascend the stairs to her room. - -"No. Do make another break sometime, won't you--Dick?" - -[Illustration: "DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON'T YOU--DICK?" _Page -186_.] - -"I most probably shall," he retorted, "unless Monty warns me--or you." - -She turned back--she was now on the first turn of the staircase. "I'll -never do that. I'd rather like to see you put your foot in it--you seem -so very sure of yourself--Steve." She laughed lightly as she -disappeared. - -Monty gripped his friend's arm tightly. "Who is that girl?" - -"Why, Ethel Cartwright," he rejoined, "a close friend of our hostess. -Why ask me?" - -"Yes, yes," Monty said impatiently, "but what do you know about her?" - -"Nothing except that she's a corker." - -"You met her in Paris, didn't you?" Monty was persistent. - -"Yes," his friend admitted. - -"What was she doing there?" - -Denby frowned. "What on earth are you driving at?" - -"She was behind that door listening to us or trying to." - -"So you thought that, too?" Denby cried quickly. - -"Then you do suspect her of being the one they've got to work on the -inside?" Monty retorted triumphantly. - -"It can't be possible," Denby exclaimed, fighting to retain his faith in -her. "You're dead wrong, old man. I won't believe it for a moment." - -"Say, Steve," Monty cried, a light breaking in on him, "you're sweet on -her." - -"It isn't possible, it isn't even probable," said Denby, taking no -notice of his suggestion. - -"But the same idea occurred to you as did to me," Monty persisted. - -"I know," Denby admitted reluctantly. "I began to be suspicious when she -wanted to get hold of the pouch. You saw how mighty interested she was -in it?" - -"That's what startled me so," Monty told him. "But how could she know?" - -"They've had a tip," Denby said, with an air of certainty, "and if she's -one of 'em, she knows where the necklace was. Wouldn't it be just my -rotten luck to have that girl, of all girls I've ever known, mixed up in -this?" - -"Old man," Monty said solemnly, "you are in love with her." - -Denby looked toward the stairway by which he had seen her go. - -"I know I am," he groaned. - -"Oughtn't we to find out whether she's the one who's after you or not?" -Monty suggested with sound good sense. - -"No, we oughtn't," Denby returned. "I won't insult her by trying to trap -her." - -"Flub-dub," Monty scoffed. "I suspect her, and it's only fair to her to -clear her of that suspicion. If she's all right, I shall be darn glad of -it. If she isn't, wouldn't you rather know?" - -For the first time since he had met his old school friend in Paris, -Monty saw him depressed and anxious. "I don't want to have to fight -her," he explained. - -"I understand that," Monty went on relentlessly, "but you can't quit -now--you've got to go through with it, not only for your own sake, but -in fairness to the Harringtons. It would be a pretty raw deal to give -them to have an expose like that here just because of your refusal to -have her tested." - -"I suppose you're right," Denby sighed. - -"Of course I am," Monty exclaimed. - -"Very well," his friend said, "understand I'm only doing this to prove -how absolutely wrong you are." - -He would not admit even yet that she was plotting to betray him. Those -memories of Paris were dearer to him than he had allowed himself to -believe. Monty looked at him commiseratingly. He had never before seen -Steven in trouble, and he judged his wound to be deeper than it seemed. - -"Sure," he said. "Sure, I know, and I'll be as glad as you to find after -all it's Lambart or one of the other servants. What shall we do?" - -Denby pointed to the door from which Miss Cartwright had come. "Go in -there," he commanded, "and keep the rest of the people from coming back -here." - -Monty's face fell. "How can I do that?" he asked anxiously. - -"Oh, recite, make faces, imitate Irving in 'The Bells,' do anything but -threaten to sing, but keep 'em there as you love me." - -Obediently Monty made for the door but stopped for a moment before -passing through it. - -"And say, old man," he said a little hurriedly, nervous as most men are -when they deal with sentiment, "don't take it too hard. Just remember -what happened to Samson and Antony and Adam." - - - - -CHAPTER ELEVEN - - -When Monty had gone, Denby took out the pouch and placed it -conspicuously on the floor so that anyone descending the stairs must -inevitably catch sight of it. Then, as though thinking better of it, he -picked it up and placed it on one of the small tables on which was an -electric shaded lamp. After looking about him for a hiding-place from -which he could command a view of it and yet remain undiscovered, he -decided upon a door at the left of the hall. - -He had waited there only a few seconds when Ethel Cartwright's steps -were heard descending. - -"Oh, Mr. Denby," she called, "you were right, the fan was in my room -after all." Then, as she became conscious that the room was empty, she -paused and looked about her closely. Presently her eyes fell on the -precious pouch so carelessly left. For a moment the excitement bereft -her of ability to move. Here, only a few yards from her, was what would -earn her sister's safety and her release from Taylor's power. - -But she was no fool and collecting her thoughts wondered how it was -possible so precious a thing could be left open to view. Perhaps it was -a trap. Perhaps in the big hall behind one of its many doors or -portieres she was even now being watched. Denby had looked at her in a -stern, odd manner, wholly different from his former way and Mr. Vaughan, -of whom she had heard often enough as a pleasant, amiable fellow, had -stared at her searchingly and harshly. An instinct of danger came to her -aid and she glanced over to the door behind her which was slightly ajar. -She remembered certainly that it was closed when she had gone upstairs -for her supposititious fan. - -As calmly as she could she walked to the wall and touched the bell that -would summon a servant. In a few seconds Lambart entered. - -"Please find Mr. Denby," she said, "and say that I am here." - -Before he could turn to go, she affected to discover the leathern pouch. - -"Oh, Lambart," she exclaimed, "here's Mr. Denby's tobacco; he must have -forgotten it." - -The man took up the pouch, assuming from her manner that she desired him -to carry it to the owner. "No, I'll take it," she said, and reached for -it. Lambart only saw what was to him an inexcusably clumsy gesture which -dislodged it from his hand and sent it to the floor, in such a manner -that it opened and the tobacco tumbled out. But the girl's gesture was -cleverer than he knew for in that brief moment she had satisfied herself -it was empty. - -"Oh, Lambart," she said reprovingly, "how careless of you! Have you -spilt it all?" - -Lambart examined its interior with a butler's gravity. - -"I'm afraid I have, miss," he admitted. - -"I think Mr. Denby went into the library," she said, knowing that the -door behind which someone--probably he--was hiding, led to that room. - -Hearing her, Denby knew he must not be discovered and retreated through -the empty library into a small smoking-room into which Lambart did not -penetrate. The man returned to Miss Cartwright, his errand -unaccomplished. "Mr. Denby is not there," he said. - -"Then I will give him the pouch when I see him," she said, "and, -Lambart, you need not tell him I am here." - -As soon as he was gone, she ran to the window, her face no longer -strained but almost joyous, and when she was assured that none watched -her, lowered the curtain as a signal. - -Taylor must have been close at hand, so promptly did he respond to her -summons. - -"Well, have you got him?" he cried sharply as he entered. "Where is -he--where's the necklace?" - -"You were wrong," she said triumphantly, "there is no necklace. I knew I -was right." - -"You're crazy," he retorted brutally. - -"You said it was in the tobacco-pouch," she reminded him, "and I've -searched and it isn't there at all." - -"You're trying to protect him," Taylor snarled. "You're stuck on him, -but you can't lie to me and get away with it." - -"No, no, no," she protested. "Look, here's the very pouch, and there's -no necklace in it." - -"How did you get hold of it?" he snapped. - -It was a moment of bitter failure for the deputy-surveyor. The sign for -which he had waited patiently, and eagerly, too, despite his impassive -face, was, after all, nothing but a token of disappointment. He had -hoped, now that events had given him a hold over Miss Cartwright, to -find her well-fitted for a sort of work that would have been peculiarly -useful to his service. But her ready credulity in another man's honesty -proved one of two things. Either that she lacked the intuitive knowledge -to be a useful tool or else that she was deliberately trying to deceive -him. But none had seen Daniel Taylor show that he realized himself in -danger of being beaten. - -"He left it lying on the table," she assured him eagerly. - -Taylor's sneer was not pleasant to see. - -"Oh, he left it on the table, did he?" he scoffed. "Well, of course -there's no necklace in it then. Don't you see you've let him suspect -you, and he's just trying to bluff you." - -"It isn't that," she asserted. "He hasn't got it, I tell you." - -"I know he has," the implacable Taylor retorted, "and you've got to find -out this very night where it is. You'll probably have to search his -room." - -She shrank back at the very thought of it. "I couldn't," she cried. "Oh, -I couldn't!" - -"Yes you could, and you will," he said, in his truculent tone. "And if -you land him, use the same signal, pull down the shade in his room. -We'll be watching, and I've found a way to get there from the balcony." - -"I can't," the girl cried in desperation. "I've done what you asked. I -won't try to trap an innocent man." - -He looked at her threateningly. "Oh, you won't, eh? Well, you will. I've -been pretty nice to you, but I'm sick of it. You'll go through for me, -and you'll go through right. I've had your sister followed--see here, -look at this--" He showed her the fake warrant Duncan had prepared at -his bidding. "This is a warrant for her arrest, and unless you land that -necklace to-night, she'll be in the Tombs in the morning." - -"Not that, not that?" she begged, covering her face with her hands. - -"It's up to you," he retorted, a smile of satisfaction lighting up his -face. He could see that he would be able to hold Amy's warrant over her -head whenever he chose. She was beaten. - -"But what can I do?" she said piteously. "What can I do?" - -"I'll tell you," he said less harshly, "you're a good-looking girl; -well, make use of your good looks--get around him, jolly him, get him -stuck on you. Make him take you into his confidence. He'll fall for it. -The wisest guys are easy when you know the way." - -"Very well," she said, brightening. It seemed to her that no better way -could be devised than to convince Taylor he was wrong. "I will get -around him; I will get his confidence. I'll prove it to you, and I'll -save him." - -"But you don't have to give him your confidence, remember," Taylor -warned her. "Don't give him the least tip-off, understand. If you can -get him out in the garden, I'll take a chance he has the necklace on -him. We'll nail him there. And don't forget," he added significantly, -"that I've got a little document here with your sister's name on it. -There's somebody coming," he whispered, and silently let himself out -into the garden. - -It was Denby who came in. "Hello," he said, "not dancing, then?" - -"Hello," she said, in answer to his greeting. "I don't like dancing in -August." - -"I'm fortunate to find you alone," he said. "You can't imagine how -delightful it is to see you again." - -Her manner was particularly charming, he thought, and it gave him a pang -when a suspicion of its cause passed over his mind. There had been other -women who had sought to wheedle from him secrets that other men desired -to know, but they were other women--and this was Ethel Cartwright. - -"You don't look as though it is," she said provocatively. - -He made an effort to appear as light-hearted as she. - -"But I am," he assured her. "It is delightful to see you again." - -"It's no more delightful than for me to see you," she returned. - -"Really?" he returned. "Isn't it curious that when you like people you -may not see them for a year, but when you do, you begin just where you -left off." - -"Where did we leave off?" she demanded with a smile. - -"Why--in Paris," he said with a trace of embarrassment. "You don't want -to forget our Paris, I hope?" - -"Never," she cried, enthusiastically. "It was there we found that we -really were congenial. We are, aren't we?" - -"Congenial?" he repeated. "We're more than that--we're--" - -She interrupted him. "And yet, somehow, you've changed a lot since -Paris." - -"For better or for worse?" he asked. - -She shook her head. "For worse." - -He looked at her reproachfully. "Oh, come now, Miss Cartwright, be -fair!" - -"In Paris you used to trust me," she said. - -"And you think I don't now?" he returned. - -"I'm quite sure you don't," she told him. - -"Why do you say that?" Denby inquired. - -"There are lots of things," she answered. "One is that when I asked you -why you were here in America, you put me off with some playful excuse -about being just an idler." She looked at him with a vivacious air. - -"Now didn't you really come over on an important mission?" - -Poor Denby, who had been telling himself that Monty's suspicions were -without justification, and that this girl's good faith could not be -doubted even if several circumstances were beyond his power to explain, -groaned inwardly. Here she was, trying, he felt certain, to gain his -confidence to satisfy the men who were even now investing the house. - -But he was far from giving in yet. How could she, one of Vernon -Cartwright's daughters, reared in an atmosphere wholly different from -this sordid business, be engaged in trying to betray him? - -"Well," he said, "suppose I did come over on something more than -pleasure, what do you want to know concerning it? And why do you want to -know?" - -"Shall we say feminine curiosity?" she returned. - -He shook his head. "I think not. There must be something more vital than -a mere whim." - -"Perhaps there is," she conceded, leaning forward, "I want us to be -friends, really good friends; I regard it as a test of friendship. Why -won't you tell me?" - -He shrugged his shoulders. "Shall we say man's intuition? Oh, I know -it's not supposed to be as good as a woman's, but sometimes it's much -more accurate." - -"So you can't trust me?" she said, steadily trying to read his thoughts. - -"Can I?" he asked, gazing back at her just as steadily. - -"Don't you think you can?" she fenced adroitly. - -"If you do," he said meaningly. - -"But aren't we friends," she asked him, "pledged that night under the -moon in the Bois? You see I, too, have memories of Paris." - -"Then you put it," he said quietly, "to a test of friendship." - -"Yes," she answered readily. - -He thought for a moment. Well, here was the opportunity to find out -whether Monty was right or whether the woman he cared for was merely a -spy set upon him, a woman whose kindnesses and smiles were part of her -training. - -"Very well," he said, "then so do I. You are right. I did not come to -America idly--I came to smuggle a necklace of pearls through the -Customs. I did it to-day." - -The girl rose from her seat by the little table where she had sat facing -him and looked at him, all the brightness gone from her face. - -"You didn't, you didn't!" - -"I did," he assured her. - -She turned her face away from him. "Oh, I'm sorry," she wailed. "I'm -sorry." - -Denby looked at her keenly. He was puzzled at the manner in which she -took it. - -"But I fooled 'em," he boasted. - -She looked about her nervously as though she feared Taylor might have -listened to his frank admission and be ready to spring upon them. - -"You can't tell that," she said in a lower-keyed voice. "How can you be -sure they didn't suspect?" - -"Because I'm comfortably settled here, and there are no detectives after -me. And if there were," he confided in her triumphantly, "they'd never -suspect I carry the necklace in my tobacco-pouch." - -"But your pouch was empty," she cried. - -"How do you know that?" he demanded quickly. - -"I was here when Lambart spilt it," she explained hastily. "There it is -on the mantel, I meant to have given it to you." - -"I don't need it," he said, taking one similar in shape and color from -his pocket. - -"Two pouches!" she cried aghast. "Two?" - -"An unnecessary precaution," he said carelessly, "one would have done; -as it is they haven't suspected me a bit." - -"You can't be certain of that," she insisted. "If they found out they'd -put you in prison." - -"And would you care?" he demanded. - -"Why, of course I would," she responded. "Aren't we friends?" - -He had that same steady look in his eyes as he asked: "Are we?" - -It was a gaze she could not bring herself to meet. Assuredly, she -groaned, she was not of the stuff from which the successful adventuress -was made. - -"Of course," she murmured in reply. "But what are you going to do?" - -"I've made my plans," he told her. "I've been very careful. I've given -my confidence to two people only, both of whom I trust absolutely--Monty -Vaughan and"--he looked keenly at her,--"and you. I shan't be caught. I -won't give in, and I'll stop at nothing, no matter what it costs, or -whom it hurts. I've got to win." - -It seemed to him she made an ejaculation of distress. "What is it?" he -cried. - -"Nothing much," she said nervously, "it's the heat, I suppose. That's -why I wouldn't dance, you know. Won't you take me into the garden and -we'll look at the moon--it's the same moon," she said, with a desperate -air of trying to conceal from him her agitation, "that shines in Paris. -It's gorgeous," she added, looking across the room where no moon was. - -"Surely," he said. "It is rather stuffy indoors on a night like this." -He moved leisurely over to the French windows. But she called him back. -She was not yet keyed up to this supreme act of treachery. - -"No, no," she called again, "don't let's go, after all." - -"Why not?" he demanded, bewildered at her fitful mood. - -"I don't know," she said helplessly. "But let's stay here. I'm nervous, -I think." - -"Nonsense," he said cheerily, trying to brace her up. "The moon is a -great soother of nerves, and a friendly old chap, too. What is it?" he -asked curiously. "You're miles away from here, but I don't think you're -in Paris, either. It's your turn to tell me something. Where are you?" - -He could not guess that her thoughts were in her home, where her poor, -gentle, semi-invalid mother was probably now worrying over the sudden -mood of depression which had fallen upon her younger girl. And it would -be impossible for him to understand the threat of prison and disgrace -which was even now hanging over Amy Cartwright's head. - -"I was thinking of my sister," she told him slowly. "Come, let's go." - -Before he could unfasten the French windows there was a sound of running -feet outside, and Monty's nervous face was seen looking in. Nora, -breathless, was hanging on to his arm. - -Quickly Denby opened the doors and let the two in, and then shut the -doors again. "What is it?" he demanded quickly. - -"Don't go out there, Steve," Monty cried, when he could get breath -enough to speak. - -"Why, what is it?" Ethel Cartwright asked nervously. - -"Nora and I went for a walk in the garden, and suddenly two men jumped -out on us from behind the pagoda. They had almost grabbed us when one -man shouted to the other fellow, 'We're wrong,' and Nora screamed and -ran like the very devil, and I had to run after her of course." - -"It was dreadful," said Nora gasping. - -"What's dreadful?" Alice Harrington demanded, coming on the scene -followed by her husband. They had been disturbed by Nora's screams. - -"Won't someone please explain?" Michael asked anxiously. - -"It was frightful," Nora cried. - -"Let me tell it," Monty protested. - -"You'll get it all wrong," his companion asserted. "I wasn't half as -scared as you." - -"I was talking to Nora," Monty explained, "and suddenly from the -shrubbery--" - -"Somebody stepped right out," Nora added. - -"One at a time," Michael admonished them, "one at a time, please." - -"Why, you see, Monty and I went for a walk in the garden," Nora began-- - -"And two men jumped out and started for us," Monty broke in. - -"Great Scott," Michael cried, indignant that the privacy of his own -estate should be invaded, "and here, too!" - -"What did you do?" Alice asked eagerly. - -"I just screamed and they ran away," Nora told her a little proudly. -"Wasn't it exciting?" she added, drawing a deep breath. "Just like a -book!" - -"Michael," his wife said, shocked, "they might have been killed." - -"What they need is a drink," he said impressively; "I'll ring for some -brandy." - -"I'd be all right," Monty stated emphatically, "if I could get one long -breath." - -"You do look a bit shaken, old man," Denby said sympathetically. "What -you need is a comforting smoke. You left a pipe on the table in my room. -Take my tobacco and light up." - -Monty looked at the pigskin pouch as his friend handed it to him. "Gee!" -he said, regarding it as one might a poisonous reptile, "I don't want -that." - -"That's all right," Denby said. "I can spare it. And when you're through -with it, drop it in the drawer of the writing-table, will you? I always -like to make myself one for coffee in the morning. I've smoked enough -to-night." - -By this time Monty understood what was required of him. He took the -pouch respectfully and crossed toward the stairs. "I'll leave it in the -drawer," he called out as he ascended the stairs. - -Michael had been looking through the glass doors with a pair of -binoculars. "I see nothing," he declared. - -"But suppose they come back later, and break in here at night?" Alice -cried. - -"I shall organize the household servants and place Lambart at their -head," he said gravely. "He is an excellent shot. Then there are three -able-bodied men here, so that we are prepared." - -"I'm sure you needn't take any such elaborate precautions," Denby told -him. "No men, after once warning us, would break in here with so many -servants. I imagine they were a couple of tramps who were attracted by -Miss Rutledge's rings and thought they could make a quick getaway." - -"This is a lesson to me to provide myself with a couple of Airedales," -Michael asserted. "Things are coming to a pretty pass when one invites -one's friends to come down to a week-end party and get robbed. It's -worse than a hotel on the Riviera." - -"Well, they didn't get anything," Nora cried. "You should have seen me -run. I believe I flew, and I do believe I've lost weight!" - -"But oughtn't I to go out and see?" Michael asked a little weakly. - -"Certainly not," Alice commanded him firmly. "I can imagine nothing more -useless than a dead husband." - -He took her hand affectionately. "How right you are," he murmured -gratefully. "I think, though, I ought to ask the police to keep a sharp -watch." - -"That's sensible," his wife agreed. "Go and telephone." - -"Goodness," Nora cried suddenly, "I haven't any rings on. I must have -left them on my dressing-table." - -Alice looked alarmed. "And I left all sorts of things on mine. Let's go -up together. And you, Ethel, have you left anything valuable about?" - -"There's nothing worth taking," the girl answered. - -"You look frightened to death, child," Mrs. Harrington exclaimed, as she -was passing her. - -Ethel sat down on the fender seat with a smile of assurance. "Oh, not a -bit," she said. "There are three strong men to protect us, remember." - -"Yes--two men and Michael," her hostess laughed, passing up the stairway -out of view. - -"The moon is still there, Miss Cartwright," Denby observed quietly. -"Surely you are not tired of moons yet?" - -"But those men out there," she protested. - -"I'm sure they weren't after me," he returned. "They wouldn't wait in -the garden, and even if they are detectives, they wouldn't get the -necklace, it's safe--now." - -Ethel Cartwright shook her head. "I'm afraid I've got nerves like every -other woman," she confessed, "and the evening has been quite eventful -enough as it is. I think I prefer to stay here." - -She glanced up to see Monty descending the stairs. All this talk of -robbery and actual participation in a scene of violence had induced in -Monty the desire for the company of his kind. - -"I thought I'd rather be down here," he stated naively. - -"All right, old man," Denby said smiling. "Glad to have you. Did you put -the pouch where I said?" - -"Yes," Monty answered, handing him a key, "and I locked it up," he -explained. - -"Good!" his friend exclaimed, putting the key in his pocket. - -Miss Cartwright yawned daintily. "Excitement seems to make me sleepy," -she said. "I think I shall go." - -"You're not going to leave us yet?" Denby said reproachfully. - -"I was up very early," she told him. - -"I guess everything is safe now," Monty assured her. - -"Let's hope so," Denby said. "Still, the night isn't half over yet. -Pleasant dreams, Miss Cartwright." - -She paused on the half landing and looked down at the two men. - -"I'm afraid they won't be quite--that." - -Monty crept to the foot of the stairway and made certain she was passed -out of hearing. "Steve," he said earnestly, "she's gone now to get into -your room." - -"No, she hasn't," Denby protested, knowing he was lying. - -Monty looked at his friend in wonderment. Usually Denby was quick of -observation, but now he seemed uncommonly dull. - -"Why, she never made a move to leave until she knew I'd put the pouch in -the drawer. Then she said she was tired and wanted to go to bed. You -must have noticed how she took in everything you said. She's even taken -to watching me, too. What makes you so blind, Steve?" - -"I'm not blind," Denby said, a trifle irritably. "It happens you are -magnifying things, till everything you see is wrong." - -"Nonsense," Monty returned bluntly. "If she gets that necklace it's all -up with us, and you needn't pretend otherwise." - -"Make your mind easy," Denby exclaimed, "she won't get it." - -"May I ask what's going to stop her?" Monty inquired, goaded into -sarcasm. "Do you think she needs to know the combination of an ordinary -lock like that top drawer?" - -"The necklace isn't there," Denby said. - -Monty looked at him piteously. "For Heaven's sake don't tell me I've got -it somewhere on me!" - -Denby drew it out of a false pocket under the right lapel of his coat -and held the precious string up to the other's view. "That's why," he -observed. - -"Then everything's all right," Monty cried with unrestrained joy. - -"Everything's all wrong," Denby corrected. - -"But, Steve," Monty said reproachfully, "the necklace--" - -"Oh, damn the necklace!" Denby interrupted viciously. - -Monty shook his head mournfully. His friend's aberrations were -astounding. - -"Steve," he said slowly, "you're a fool!" - -"I guess I am," the other admitted. "But," he added, snapping his teeth -together, "I'm not such a fool as to get caught, Monty, so pull yourself -together, something's bound to happen before long." - -"That's what I'm afraid of," sighed Monty. - - - - -CHAPTER TWELVE - - -On the way to her room Ethel Cartwright met Michael Harrington, a box of -cigars in his hand, coming toward the head of the stairway. - -"Whither away?" he demanded. - -"To bed," she returned. "The excitement's been too much for me." - -"This box," he said, lovingly caressing it, "contains what I think are -the best that can be smoked." He opened and showed what seemed to her -cigars of a very large size. "I'm going to give the boys one apiece as a -reward for bravery." He laughed with glee. "And as Lambart is going to -be one of the search party, I'm going to give him one, too. He'll either -leave at my temerity in offering him the same kind of weed his employer -smokes, or else he'll have it framed." - -"A search party?" she said. "What do you mean?" - -"We're going to beat the bushes for tramps," he said. "I am directing -operations from the balcony outside my room. The general in command," he -explained, "never gets on the firing-line in modern warfare." - -"Is Mr. Denby going?" she asked. - -"No, no," he said. "I can't expect my guests to expose themselves to the -risk of being shot. Don't you be alarmed," he said solicitously, "I -shall be at hand in case of trouble." - -When she reached her room she sat motionless for a few moments on the -edge of the bed. Then suddenly, she rose and walked along a corridor and -knocked at the door of the room she knew was Alice Harrington's. - -"Alice," she said nervously, and there was no doubt in the elder woman's -mind that the girl was thoroughly upset, "I'm nervous of sleeping in the -room you've given me. Can't I sleep somewhere near people? Let me have -that room I had the last time I was here." - -"Why, my dear girl, of course, if you want it," Alice said -sympathetically. "But it isn't as pretty, and I especially had this -bigger room for you. Don't be a silly little girl; you'll be asleep in -five minutes. Better still, I'll come and read till you're drowsy." - -"Please humor me," the other pleaded. "I'd rather be where, if I scream, -someone can hear, and the men are sleeping down there, and one after all -does depend on them in emergencies." - -"All right," Alice said good-humoredly, "I'll ring for the servants to -take your things in." - -"We can do it," Ethel said eagerly. "I've only one cabin trunk, and it -weighs nothing. Why disturb them?" - -When they had moved the baggage down the halls to the smaller room, -there was no key to lock the door which led to a connecting room. - -"Whose is that?" Ethel demanded. - -"Mr. Denby's," she was told. "I always give men big rooms, because -they're so untidy. Michael will know where the key is. He has every one -of the hundred keys with a neat label on it. He's so methodical in some -things. By the time you're ready for bed I'll have it." - -A few minutes later the intervening door was safely locked and Mrs. -Harrington had left the girl, feeling that perhaps she, too, would be -nervous if she had not her Michael close at hand. - -Directly the girl was alone she sprang out of bed and hurriedly put on a -white silk negligee. So far her plans had prospered admirably. The -bedroom from which she had moved was so situated that if she were to -undertake the search of Denby's room, she must pass the rooms of her -host and hostess and also that of Nora Rutledge. And this search was -imperative. Out in the darkness Taylor and his men were waiting -impatiently. Presently a band of men, armed in all probability, would -sally forth from the house and might just as likely capture the Customs -officers. Supposing Taylor took this as treachery on her part and -denounced her before the Harringtons? Nothing would save Amy then. - -If only she could discover the necklace and give the signal in time so -that the deputy-surveyor could come legitimately into the house! She -told herself that she must control this growing nervousness; that her -movements must be swift and sure, and that she must banish all thought -of the man she had met in Paris, or the punishment that would be his. - -Fortunately his guests could not escape Michael and his big cigars; and -cigars, as she knew from her father's use of them, are not consumed as a -cigarette may be and thrown quickly away. - -The key turned in the lock stiffly and it seemed to her, waiting -breathless, that the sound must be audible everywhere. But as quiet -still ruled outside in the corridors, she pushed the door half-open and -peered into the room. It was dark save for the moonlight, but she could -see to make her way to a writing-table, on which was an electric lamp. - -She turned it on and then looked about her nervously. It was a large, -well-furnished room, and to the right of her a big alcove with a bed in -it. There was a large French window leading to the balcony which Taylor -had noted and proposed to use if she were successful in her search. - -She did not dare to look out, for fear the search party might see her, -so she centered her attention upon the locked drawer in which the -necklace was awaiting her. There was a brass paper-knife lying on the -table, heavy enough she judged, to pry open any ordinary lock. Very -cautiously she set about her work. It called for more strength than she -had supposed, but the lock seemed to be yielding gradually when there -fell upon her anxious ear sounds of footsteps coming down the corridor. - -She sprang to her feet and listened intently, and was satisfied herself -that she was in imminent danger. Putting out the light she turned to run -to her room, and in doing so knocked the paper-knife to the floor. To -her excited fancy it clattered hideously as it fell, but she reached her -room safely and locked the door. - -She was hardly in shelter before Denby came into his room and switched -on the light. He was still smoking the first third of his host's famous -cigar. He sauntered to the window and looked over the lawn and wondered -what luck the searchers would have. He had permitted himself to be urged -by Harrington to a course of inactivity. It was not his wish to be -brought face to face with his enemy while he had the jewels in a place -they would instantly detect. He took the pearls from their hiding-place -and threw them carelessly on the table. Then seeing the paper-knife on -the floor he stooped to pick it up. But lying near it were little -splinters of white wood that instantly arrested his attention. He knelt -down, lit a match, and examined them without disturbing them in any way. -And then his eyes travelled upward, until the scratches by the lock were -plain. - -Experience told him plainly that the drawer had been attempted and that -recently, in fact, within a half-hour since Monty had placed his pouch -there with the pearls as he supposed in it. - -While he was standing there motionless, sounds in the hall outside -disturbed him. Presently a knock sounded on the door. Before answering -he picked up the pearls and placed them in his pocket. Then he called -out: "Who is it?" - -"It's me," came Monty's voice in answer. - -"Come in," he called. - -Monty entered nervously. "Everything all right?" he demanded. - -"Yes," his friend said, and then looked at him. Monty's appearance was -slightly dishevelled. "What's happened?" he asked. - -Monty ignored the question. "I was afraid everything might be all -wrong," he cried. "This is the first time I've been able to swallow -comfortably for an hour. I thought my heart was permanently dislocated." - -"What's been happening downstairs?" Denby inquired. - -"Nothing," Monty told him, "and it's the limit to have nothing happen." - -"I thought Harrington was organizing a search party." - -"Oh, we searched," Monty admitted. "I was nominally in charge, but -Lambart was the directing genius. He was an officer's orderly in his -youth and is some tactician, believe me." Monty pointed to his muddied -knees. "He stretched clothes-lines over the paths to catch the tramps, -and I was the first victim. We looked everywhere, all of us, Lambart, -the under-butler, two chauffeurs and I, and we didn't even flush a cat." - -"That's odd," his listener commented. "They'll be back. They're not -frightened away by you fellows with lanterns. They'll be back." - -"I bet they will," Monty grumbled, "and with the militia." - -"Don't lose your nerve now, old man," Denby counselled. - -"I wish I could," Monty cried. "This certainly is getting on it. It's a -lesson not to get discontented with my lot. I've got that creepy feeling -all the time that they're coming closer to us." - -"But that's the real sport of it," Denby pointed out. - -"Sport be damned," he said crossly. "Your ideas about foxes and mine -don't coincide. I don't think he likes being hunted. And at that he's -got something on us; he knows who's chasing him." - -"So shall we soon," he was reminded. - -"Yes," Monty grumbled, "when we're shot full of holes." - -"Don't be afraid of getting shot at," Denby said smiling. "You amateurs -have no idea how few shots hit the mark even at short range. I've been -shot at three times and I've not a scar to show." - -"Job must be your favorite author," Monty commented sourly. "I hate the -noise. I'm scared to death; I thought I wanted excitement, but life on a -farm for me hereafter." - -"But, my dear boy," Denby said more seriously, "you are not in this. -They're after me and this." He held up the necklace. "You're a spectator -merely." - -"Rot!" Monty cried. "I'm what they call an accessory and if you think -I'm going to clear out now, all I can say is you ought to know me better -than that. I want to be doing something; it's the talking that gets on -my nerves. They'll be here soon, you may bet on that. They're going to -search this room." - -"Somebody's done that already," he was told. - -"Who?" Monty cried anxiously. "That girl?" - -"I think not. Her room is in the other wing, as I found out indirectly. -To come here she'd have to run an awful risk. If she comes it will be -later, when everyone is asleep." - -"Then who could it have been?" Monty demanded. He turned suddenly on his -heel. - -There was someone even now listening at the door. Then there was a -faint, discreet knock. He dropped into the nearest chair and looked at -the other man with a blanched face. - -"Pinched!" he cried. - -"Hsh!" the other commanded softly, and then louder: "Come in." - -The smiling face of Michael Harrington beamed upon them. In his hands he -carried a tray whereon two generous highballs reposed. - -"Hello, boys," he cried genially, "I've brought up those two nightcaps I -promised you. Nothing like 'em after excitement such as we've had." - -"You never looked so good to me, Michael," Monty cried affectionately. - -"Now, Denby," Michael said, handing him the glass in Lambart's best -manner. - -"Thanks, all the same," his guest returned, "but I don't think I -will--not yet at any rate." - -"Good!" Michael cried. "Luck's with me." He drained the glass with the -deepest satisfaction. "Ah, that was needed. Now, Monty, after your -exertions you won't disappoint me?" - -"Not for me, either," Monty exclaimed. - -"Splendid," said the gratified Michael. "At your age I would have -refused it absolutely." He looked at the glass affectionately. "I'll -take the encore in a few minutes. Alice does cut me down so dreadfully. -Just one light one before dinner--mostly Vermouth--and one drink -afterward. I welcome any extra excitement like this." - -"Aren't you master in your own house?" Denby asked smiling. He had -fathomed the secret of the happy relations of his host and hostess, and -was not deceived by Harrington when he represented himself the sport of -circumstances. - -"You bet I'm not," said Michael, without resentment. "By the way," he -added, "if you want your nightcaps later, ring for Lambart. He's used to -being summoned at any hour." - -"I won't forget," Denby returned. - -"I hope you won't," his host assured him. "I'd hate to think of Lambart -having a really good night's rest." He pointed to an alarm on the wall -by the door. "But don't get up half asleep and push that red thing over -there." - -"What on earth is it?" Monty asked. "It looks like a hotel -fire-alarm--'Break the glass in case of fire.'" - -"It's a burglar-alarm that wakes the whole house." - -"What?" Denby cried, suddenly interested. "You don't really expect -burglars?" - -"I know it's funny," Michael said, "and a bit old maidish, but I happen -to be vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, and I've -got to have their beastly patents in the house to show my faith in 'em." - -"I'll keep away from it," Denby assured him, looking at it curiously. - -"The last man who had this room sent it off by mistake. Said a mosquito -worried him so much that he threw a shoe at it. He missed the -mosquito--between you and me," Michael said confidentially, "we haven't -any out here at Westbury--but he hit the alarm. I'm afraid Hazen had -been putting too many nightcaps on his head and couldn't see straight. -Mrs. Harrington made me search the whole house. Of course there wasn't -anyone there and Alice seemed sorry that I'd had my hunt in vain. The -beauty of these things," the vice-president commented, "is that they -warn the burglars to get out and so you don't get shot as you might if -you hadn't told 'em you were coming." - -Michael took up the second glass and had barely taken a sip when quick, -light footfalls approached. - -"Good Lord," said he, "my wife! Here, Monty, quick," placing the -half-emptied glass in Denby's hand and the one from which he had first -drunk in Monty's, "I count on you, boys," he whispered, and then strode -to the door and flung it open. - -"Are we intruders?" his wife asked. - -"You are delightfully welcome," Denby cried. "Please come in." - -"We thought you'd still be up," Nora explained. "Michael said he was -bringing you up some highballs." - -"Great stuff," Monty said, taking his cue, "best whiskey I ever tasted. -Nothing like really old Bourbon after all." - -Michael shot a glance of agonized reproach at the man who could make -such a stupid mistake. "Monty," he explained to his wife, who had caught -this ingenuous remark and had looked at him inquiringly, "is still so -filled with excitement that he doesn't know old Scotch when he tastes -it." - -"Your husband is a noble abstainer," Denby said quickly, to help them -out, "we place temptation right before him and he resists." - -"That's my wife's training," said Harrington, smiling complacently. - -"I'm not so sure," she returned. "Putting temptation before Michael, Mr. -Denby, shows him just like old Adam--only Michael's weakness is for -grapes, not apples." - -"We've come," Nora reminded them, "to get a fourth at auction. We're all -too much excited to sleep. Mr. Denby, I'm sure you're a wonderful -player. Surely you must shine at something." - -"Among my other deficiencies," he confessed, "I don't play bridge." - -Nora sighed. "There remains only Monty. Monty," she commanded, "you must -play." - -"Glad to!" he cried. "I like company, and I'm not tired either." - -Suddenly he caught sight of Denby's face. His look plainly said, -"Refuse." - -"In just a few minutes," Monty stammered. "I was just figuring out -something when you came in. How long will it take, Steve?" - -"Hardly five minutes," Denby said. - -"It's a gold-mine you see," Monty explained laboriously, "and first it -goes up, and then it goes down." - -"I always strike an average," Michael told him. "It's the easiest way." - -"Is it a good investment?" Alice demanded. She had a liking for taking -small flutters with gold-mines. - -"You wouldn't know one if you saw it," her husband said, laughing. - -"I learnt what I know from you," she reminded him. - -"I'd rather dance than bridge it," Nora said impatiently, doing some -rather elaborate maxixe steps very gracefully and humming a popular tune -meanwhile. - -"Be quiet," Alice warned her; "you'll disturb Ethel." - -"Has Miss Cartwright gone to bed?" Denby asked her. - -"She felt very tired," Alice explained. - -"It's wrong to go to bed so early," Nora exclaimed. "It can't be much -after two." - -She sang a few bars of another song much in vogue, but Alice stopped her -again. - -"Hush, Nora, don't you understand Ethel's in the next room asleep, or -trying to?" - -"I thought it was empty," Nora said, in excuse for her burst of song. - -"Ethel insisted on changing. She was very nervous and she wanted to be -down near the men in case of trouble." - -"And I had to go through forty-seven bunches of keys to get one to fit -that door," her husband complained. Denby shot a swift glance toward -Monty, who was wearing an "I told you so" expression. "She seemed -positively afraid of you, Denby, from what my wife said," Harrington -concluded. - -"You're not drinking your highball, Mr. Denby," Alice observed. - -"I'm saving it," he smiled. - -"That's a very obvious hint," Nora cried. "Let's leave them, Alice." She -sauntered to the door. - -"Very well," her hostess said, "and we'll expect you in a few minutes, -Monty. You're coming, Michael?" - -"In just a moment," he returned. "I've got one more old wheeze I want to -spring on Denby. He's a capital audience for the elderly ones." - -"When Mr. Denby has recovered," she commanded, "come down and play." - -"Certainly, my dear," he said obediently. - -"And, Michael," she said smiling, "don't think you've fooled me." - -"Fooled you," he exclaimed innocently, "why, I'd never even dream of -trying to!" - -His wife moved toward Denby and took the half-finished highball from his -hand. - -"Michael," she said, handing it to him, "here's the rest of your drink." - -She went from the room still smiling at the deep knowledge she had of -her Michael's little ways. - -Michael imbibed it gratefully. - -"My wife's a damned clever woman," he exclaimed enthusiastically, as he -trotted out obediently in her wake. - -Directly he had gone Denby went quickly to the door and made sure it was -closed tightly. "It was that girl, after all, Monty!" he said in a low, -tense voice. "She tried to pry open the drawer with that paper-knife. -You can see the marks. I found the knife on the floor, where she'd -dropped it on hearing me at the door." - -Monty looked at him with sympathy in his eyes. "That's pretty tough, old -man," he said softly. - -"It's hard to believe that she is the kind of woman to take advantage of -our friendship to turn me over to the police," he admitted. Then his -face took on a harder, sterner look. "But it's no use beating about the -bush; that's exactly what she did." - -"I'm sorry, mighty sorry," Monty said, realizing as he had never done -what this perfidy meant to his old friend. - -"I don't want to have to fight her," Denby said. "The very idea seems -unspeakable." - -"What can we do if you don't?" Monty asked doubtfully. - -"If she'll only tell me who it is that sent her here--the man who's -after me--I'll fight him, and leave her out of it." - -"But if she won't do that?" Monty questioned. - -"Then I'll play her own game," Denby answered, "only this time she -follows my rules for it." As he said this both of the men fancied they -could hear a creaking in the next room. - -"What's that?" Monty demanded. - -Denby motioned to him to remain silent, and then tiptoed his way to the -door connecting the rooms. - -"Is she there?" Monty felt himself compelled to whisper. - -Denby nodded acquiescence and quietly withdrew to the centre of the -room. - -"Has she heard us?" asked his friend. - -"I don't think so. I heard her close the window and then come over to -the door." - -He crossed to the desk and began to write very fast. - -"What are you doing?" Monty inquired softly. - -Denby, scribbling on, did not immediately answer him. Presently he -handed the written page to Monty. "Here's my plan," he said, "read it." - -While Monty was studying the paper Denby moved over to the light switch, -and the room, except for the rose-shaded electric lamp, was in darkness. - -"Jumping Jupiter!" Monty exclaimed, looking up from the paper with knit -brows. - -"Do you understand?" Denby asked. - -"Yes," Monty answered agitatedly; "I understand, but suppose I get -rattled and make a mistake when the time comes?" - -"You won't," Denby replied, still in low tone. "I'm depending on you, -Monty, and I know you won't disappoint me." When he next spoke it was in -a louder voice, louder in fact than he needed for conversational use. - -"It's a pity Miss Cartwright has gone to bed," he exclaimed. "I might -have risked trying to learn bridge, if she'd been willing to teach me. -She's a bully girl." - -"Don't talk so loud," Monty advised him, grinning. - -"In these dictagraph days the walls have ears. Let's go outside. We -can't tell who might hear us in this room. We'll be safe enough on the -lawn." - -"A good idea," Denby agreed, moving away from the connecting door which -they guessed had a listener concealed behind it, and turning out the -lights. And Ethel Cartwright, straining her ears, heard the door opened -and banged noisily, and footsteps hurrying past toward the stairway. It -was at last the opportunity. - - - - -CHAPTER THIRTEEN - - -SHE turned the key, less noisily this time, and stepped into Denby's -room. Making her way to the drawer she gave it a gentle pull. But it was -still fastened, and she grasped the heavy brass knife when of a sudden -the room was full of light, and Denby stepped from the shadow of the -door where he had been concealed. - -"Oh!" she cried in terror, and turned her face away from him. - -He walked slowly over to the table by which she stood. - -"So you've come for the necklace, then? Why do you want it?" - -She looked at him in desperation. Only the truth would serve her now. - -"I am employed by the government. I was sent here to get it," she -answered. - -"What?" he cried. "The charming Miss Cartwright a secret service agent! -It's quite incredible." - -"But it's true," she said. - -"Who employed you?" he asked sharply. - -"I can't tell you that," she said slowly. - -"Then how can I believe you?" he asked her. - -"But it's the truth," she insisted. "For what other reason should I be -here?" - -"Women have collected jewels before now for themselves as well as their -governments," he reminded her. - -She flushed. "Do you wish to insult me?" - -"I don't think you quite realize your position," he said. "I find you -here trying to steal something of mine. If you tell me the name of the -man, or men, under whose orders you are acting, I may be able to -believe." - -"I can't tell you," she cried; "I can't tell you." - -"It's most likely to be Bangs," he said meditatively, and then turned to -her quickly. "It was John H. Bangs of the secret service who sent you." - -At all costs she knew she must keep the name of Daniel Taylor from him. -To admit that it was a fellow official would do no harm. - -"Yes," she said; "it was." - -Contempt looked from his face. "You lie, Miss Cartwright, you lie!" - -"Mr. Denby!" she cried. - -"I've no time for politeness now," he told her. "There is no Bangs in -the secret service." - -"But you, how can you know?" she said, fighting for time. - -"It's my business to know my opponents," he observed. "Can't you tell -the truth?" - -"I can't tell you who it was," she persisted, "but if you'll just give -me the necklace--" - -He laughed scornfully at her childish request. Her manner puzzled him -extremely. He had seen her fence and cross-examine, use her tongue with -the adroitness of an old hand at intrigue, and yet she was simple, -guileless enough to ask him to hand over the necklace. - -"And if I refuse you'll call the men in who seized Mr. Vaughan, thinking -it was I, and let them get the right man this time?" - -"I don't know," she said despairingly. "What else can I do? I can't -fail." - -"Nor can I," he snapped, "and don't intend to, either. Do you know what -happens to a man who smuggles in the sort of thing I did and resists the -officials as I shall do, and is finally caught? I've seen it, and I -know. It's prison, Miss Cartwright, and gray walls and iron bars. It -means being herded for a term of years with another order of men, the -men who are crooked at heart; it means the losing of all one's hopes in -prison gloom and coming out debased and suspected by every man set in -authority over you, for evermore. I've sometimes gone sick at seeing men -who have done as I am doing, but have not escaped. I'm not going to -prison, Miss Cartwright, remember that." - -"But I don't want you to," she cried eagerly, so eagerly, that he -groaned to think her magnificent acting should be devoted to such a -scene as this. "I don't want you to." - -"Then there's only one way out of it for both of us," he said, coming -nearer. - -"What?" she asked fervently. - -"Tell them you've failed, that you couldn't find it anywhere." - -"I couldn't," she said vehemently. - -There was a certain studied contempt in his manner which hurt her badly. -And to know that he would always regard her as an adventuress, -unprincipled and ready to sell herself for the rewards of espionage, and -never have even one pleasant and genuine memory of her, made her -desperate. - -"I didn't intend you to lose on the transaction," he said coldly. "I'll -give you ten thousand dollars." - -"Oh, no, no!" she cried, "you don't understand." - -"Twenty thousand, then," he said. "Only you and I would know. Your -principals could never hold it against you. Isn't it a good offer?" - -She made a gesture of despair. "It's no good." - -"Twenty thousand no good!" he jeered. "Think again, Miss Cartwright. It -will pay you better to stand in with me than give me up." - -"No, no!" she cried, half hysterically. - -"It's all I can afford," he said. Her manner seemed so strange, that for -the first time since he had found her in his room, he began to doubt -whether, after all, it was merely the splendid acting he had supposed. - -"I can't accept," she told him. "I've _got_ to get that necklace; it -means more than any money to me." - -He looked at her keenly, seeking to gauge the depth of her emotion. - -"Then they've got some hold on you," he asserted. - -"No," she assured him, "I must get the necklace." - -"So you're going to make me fight you then?" he questioned. - -"I've got to fight," she exclaimed. - -"Look here," he said, after a moment's pause, "let's get this thing -right. You won't accept any--shall we call it compromise?--and you won't -tell me for whom you are acting. And you won't admit that you are doing -this because someone has such a hold on you that you must obey. Is that -right, so far?" - -For a moment she had a wild idea of telling him, of putting an end to -the scene that was straining her almost to breaking-point. She knew he -could be chivalrous and tender, and she judged he could be ruthless and -hard if necessity compelled. But above all, and even stronger than her -fear of irrevocably breaking with him and being judged hereafter as one -unworthy, was the dread of Taylor and that warrant that could at his -will send Amy to prison and her mother possibly to her grave. She -hardened herself to go through with the ordeal. - -"So far you are right," she admitted. - -"Then it remains only for us two to fight. I hate fighting women. A few -hours ago I would have sworn that you and I never could fight, but a few -hours have shown me that I'm as liable to misread people as--as Monty, -for example. You say you've got to fight. Very well then; I accept the -challenge, and invite you to witness my first shot." - -He walked to the door through which she had come and opening it, took -the key from her side of it, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. - -"What do you mean?" she cried. - -"Merely that I'm going to keep you here," he retorted. "I was afraid we -might be interrupted." - -"Open that door!" she commanded quickly. - -"When I am ready no doubt I shall," he returned. - -"You wouldn't do that?" she cried, beginning to realize that she was to -have no easy victory if indeed victory were to be her reward. - -"I regret the necessity," he said. "These methods don't particularly -appeal to me, but we have declared war, and there's no choice." - -"But I don't understand," she said nervously. - -"Don't you?" he said, coming nearer and looking at her closely. "Don't -you understand that you are a beautiful woman and I am a man? Have you -forgotten that it's nearly three, and you are in my room, the room next -which you begged to be moved? They were a little puzzled at your wanting -that key so badly, and when you're found here _en negligee_--for you -will be found here--I think I know the world well enough to judge what -construction will be placed upon that discovery." - -For the moment she forgot about everything but the personal aspect of -the situation in which she found herself. That this man of all others -should be willing to compromise her reputation awakened the bitterest -contempt for him. - -"I thought at least _you_ were a _man_!" she cried. - -"I am," he returned without heat. "That's just it, Miss Cartwright, I'm -a man, and you are a woman." - -"And I thought you were my friend," she exclaimed indignantly. - -"Please don't bandy the name of friendship with me," he said with a -sneer. "You of all women that live, to dare to talk like that! You knew -I liked you--liked you very much, and because you were so sure of it, -you wheedled me into betraying myself. You smiled and lied and pledged -our friendship, and called to mind those days in Paris, which were the -happiest recollections of all my life. And yet it was all done so that -you might get enough out of me to lead me, with a prison sentence -awaiting me, to the man who gives you your orders." He took a few swift -paces up and down the room. "This indignation of yours is a false note. -We'll keep to the main facts. You are sworn to betray me, and I am sworn -to defeat you." - -"Don't think that," she said wretchedly; "I wasn't--" - -"And when I told you the truth," he went on inexorably, "you asked me to -go into the garden where they were waiting for me." - -"I couldn't help it," she said, as calmly as she was able. - -"And when you thought I was sending the necklace here you trumped up a -flimsy excuse so that you might be able to steal in here and get it. Is -that sort of thing in your code of friendship?" - -"I wasn't trying to trap you," she explained. "I thought you were -innocent, and I wanted to convince them of it, too." - -"No doubt," he said tauntingly, "and when you found out I was guilty, -you still tried to save me, I suppose, by asking me to walk into their -trap?" - -The girl made an effort to defend her course of action. She knew that -without the admission of the truth he must feel his point of view -unassailable, but she wanted him not to think too hardly of her. - -"After all," she declared, "you had broken the law. You are guilty. Why -should my behavior be so called into account?" - -"It isn't that at all," he returned impatiently. "You didn't play the -game fairly. You used a woman's last weapon--her sex. Well, I can play -your game, too, and I will. You shall stay here till morning." - -"You don't dare to keep me!" she cried. - -"Oh, yes, I do," he retorted easily. - -She assumed as well as she could an air of bravado, a false air of -courage that might convince him she was not so easily frightened as she -felt. - -"And you think the possible loss of my reputation is going to frighten -me into letting you go?" - -"I do," he said readily. - -"Well, you're wrong," she assured him, "I have only to tell them the -truth about the necklace and what I'm doing here--" - -"But the truth is so seldom believed," he reminded her, "especially when -you've no evidence to support it. A lie is a much more easily digested -morsel." - -"All the evidence I need," she asserted, "is in that locked drawer." - -"Quite so," he admitted. "I'd forgotten that, only it happens you're -wrong again." He drew the necklace from his pocket and showed it to her. -"It's a beauty, isn't it?" - -Moving over to the table he scribbled a few words on a sheet of paper. - -"What are you doing?" she asked. - -"Manufacturing evidence," he returned calmly. - -"Meanwhile," she said, gathering courage, "I propose to leave this -room." - -"An excellent idea from your way of thinking," he said, looking up. -"Naturally I'm interested to know how." - -"I'll show you," she responded, and moved quickly to the bell button -which she pushed violently. "Now, Mr. Denby," she cried triumphantly. -"This is my first shot! When the servants come, I shall take the -necklace with me." - -She was disappointed to see no trace of alarm on his face. Instead, he -answered her calmly enough. - -"What a pity you did that--you'll regret it so very soon." - -"Shall I?" she said satirically, and watched him go to the window. As he -did so, a low whistle was heard coming from the lawn beneath. Then he -took the necklace, wrapped it in the note he had written, and tossed it -through the opening. - -"I hardly think you'll take it with you," he observed suavely. - -"I shall get it," she returned. "I shall tell the Harringtons exactly -what you are, and that you threw it on the lawn." - -"Wrong again, Miss Cartwright," he said patiently. "If you'll stand -where I am, you will see the retreating figure of my friend Monty, who -has it with him. Monty managed rather well, I think. His whistle -announced the coast was clear." - -"But he can't get away with those men out there," she reminded him. - -"Monty waited until they were gone," he repeated. "For the moment, your -friends of the secret service have left us." - -"Then I'll tell Mr. Harrington about Monty, that he's your accomplice." - -He shook his head. "I hardly think they'd believe that even from you. -That Montague Vaughan, whose income is what he desires it to be, should -lower himself to help me, is one of the truthful things nobody could -possibly credit. If you could ring in some poor but honest young man it -would sound so much more probable, but Monty, no." - -She looked at him like a thing stricken. Her poor bravado fell from her. -She felt beaten, and dreaded to think what might be the price of her -failure. - -"And since you forced me," he added, "I've had to play my last card. The -note that I threw to Monty was a letter to you. He'll leave it where it -can easily be found." - -"A letter to me!" she repeated. - -"It contained a suggestion that you try to get the room next mine, -pleading nervousness, and come here to-night. It was the invitation--of -a lover." - -"You beast!" she cried, flaming out into rage. "You coward!" - -"You had your warning," he reminded her. "The note will be conclusive, -and no matter what you say, you will find yourself prejudged. It's the -world's way to prejudge. The servants don't seem to be coming, and -you'll be found here in the morning. What explanation will you have to -offer?" He waited for her to speak, but she made no answer. - -"I think the episode of the necklace remains as between just you and -me," he added slowly, watching her closely. - -"The servants will come," she cried. "I shan't have to stay here." - -"If they disappoint you," he remarked, "may I suggest that -burglar-alarm? It will wake everybody up, the Harringtons, Miss -Rutledge, and all, even if they're in bed and asleep soundly. Why don't -you ring it? Miss Cartwright, I _dare_ you to ring it!" - -Just then there came the sounds of footsteps in the corridor, then a -knock at the door. Denby waited calmly for some word from the girl. The -knock was repeated. - -"Well," he whispered at last, "why don't you answer?" - -She shrank back. "No, no, I can't." - -Denby moved to the door. "Who is it?" he asked. - -Lambart's respectful voice made answer: "You rang, sir?" - -"Yes," he returned, "I forgot to tell you that Miss Cartwright wished -to be called at seven. Call me at the same time, too. That's all, -Lambart; sorry to have had to disturb you. Good-night." - -He stood listening until the man's footsteps died away. Then he turned, -and came toward the girl. - -"So you didn't dare denounce me after all," he said mockingly. - -"Oh, I knew it was all a joke," she said, with an attempt to pass it -over lightly. "I knew you couldn't be so contemptible." - -"A joke!" he exclaimed grimly. "Why does it seem a joke?" - -"If you'd meant what you'd said, you'd have called Lambart in. That -would have answered your purpose very well. But I knew that you'd never -do that. I knew you couldn't." - -"I'm afraid I shall have less faith hereafter in woman's intuition," he -returned. "I can keep you here, and I will. No other course is open to -me." A clock outside struck. "It's just three," he observed. "In four -hours' time a maid will go to your room and find it empty. It's a long -time till then, so why not make yourself as comfortable as you can? -Please sit down." - -The girl sank into a chair more because she was suddenly conscious of -her physical weakness than for the reason he offered it her in mocking -courtesy. - -"I can't face it," she cried hysterically; "the disgrace and -humiliation! I can't face it!" - -"You've got to face it," he said sternly. - -"I can't," she repeated. "It's horrible, it's unfair--if you'll let me -go, I'll promise you I won't betray you." - -"You daren't keep silent about me," he answered. "How can I let you go?" - -"I'm telling you the truth," she said simply. - -"Then tell me who sent you here," he entreated her. "You know what it -means to me; you can guess what it means to you. If you tell me, it may -save us both." - -"I can't!" she cried. "I can't! Oh, please, please!" - -He took her in his arms, roughly, exasperated by her denial. - -"By God, I'll make you tell!" he said angrily. - -"Don't touch me," she said shuddering. - -"Who sent you here?" he demanded, not releasing her. - -"I'm afraid," she groaned. "Oh, I'm afraid. I hate you! I hate you! Let -me go! let me go!" - -"Who sent you here?" he repeated, still holding her. - -"I'll tell," she said brokenly. Then, when he let her go, she sank into -a chair. "I can't go through with it--you've beaten me--Oh, I tried so -hard, so hard, but you've won. It's too unfair when it's not my fault. -You can't understand, or you wouldn't spoil my whole life like this. -It's not only me, it's my mother, my sister--Amy." - -Denby, watching her hardly controllable agitation, was forced to -readjust his opinion concerning her. This was not any adventuress -trained in artifice and ruse, but the woman he had thought her to be in -the deepest sorrow. The bringing in of her mother and sister was not, he -felt sure, a device employed merely to gain his sympathy and induce -leniency in her captor. - -And when it seemed she must sob out a confession of those complex -motives which had led her to seek his betrayal, Denby saw her clench her -hands and pull herself together. - -"No," she said, rising to her feet, her weakness cast off, "I won't -quit--no matter what happens to me. I'll expose you, and tell them -everything. I'll let them decide between us--whether they'll believe you -or me. It's either you or my sister, and I'll save her." - -He was now more than ever certain he was stumbling upon something which -would bring him the blessed assurance that she had not sold herself for -reward. - -"Your sister?" he cried eagerly. - -"They shan't send her to prison," the girl said doggedly. - -"You're doing all this to save your sister from prison?" he asked her -gently. - -"She depends on me so," she answered dully. "They shan't take her." - -"Then you've been forced into this?" he asked. "You haven't done it of -your own free will?" - -"No, no," she returned, "but what else could I do? She was my little -sister; she came first." - -"And you weren't lying to me--trying to trick me for money?" - -"Can't you see," she said piteously, "that I wanted to save you, too, -and wanted you to get away? I said you were innocent, but they wouldn't -believe me and said I had to go on or else they'd send Amy to prison. -They have a warrant all ready for her in case I fail. That's why I'm -here. Oh, please, please, let me go." - -Steven Denby looked into her eyes and made his resolve. "You don't know -how much I want to believe in you," he exclaimed. "It may spoil -everything I've built on, but I'm going to take the chance." He unlocked -the door that led to her room. "You can go, Miss Cartwright!" - -"Oh, you are a man, after all," she cried, deep gratitude in her voice, -and a relief at her heart she could as yet scarcely comprehend. And as -she made to pass him she was startled by a shrill sharp whistle -outside. - -"The devil!" he cried anxiously, and ran to the window. - -"What is it?" she called, frightened. It was not the low whistle that -Monty had used, but a menacing, thrilling sound. - -"Your friends of the secret service have come back," he answered, "but -they mustn't see us together." Quickly he lowered the window-shade, and -stepped back to the centre of the room, coming to a sudden pause as he -saw the terror on the girl's face. - -"Oh, my God," she screamed, "what have you done? That was the signal to -bring Taylor here." - -"Ah, then, it's Taylor," he cried triumphantly. "It's Taylor!" - -"Oh, I didn't mean to tell," she said, startled at the admission. "I -didn't mean to let anyone know." - -"I wish you had told me before," he said with regret, "we could both -have been spared some unhappy moments. I know Taylor and his way of -fighting, and this thing is going to a finish." - -"Go, before he comes," she entreated. - -"And leave you alone to face him?" he said more tenderly. "Leave you to -a man who fights as he does?" He looked at her for a moment in silence -and then bowed his head over her white hand and kissed it. "I can't do -that. I love you." - -"Oh, please go while there's time," she pleaded; "he mustn't take you." -She looked up at him and without shame, revealed the love that she now -knew she must ever have for him. "Oh, I couldn't bear that," she said -tremulously, "I couldn't." - -He gazed down at her, not yet daring to believe that out of this black -moment the greatest happiness of his life had come. "Ethel!" he said, -amazed. - -"I love you," she whispered; "oh, my dear, I love you." - -He gathered her in his strong arms. "Then I can fight the whole world," -he cried, "and win!" - -"For my sake, go," she begged. "Let me see him first; let me try to get -you out of it." - -"I stay here, dearest," he said firmly. "When he comes, say that you've -caught me." - -"No, no," she implored; "I can't send you to prison either." - -"I'm not going to prison," he reassured her. "I'm not done for yet, but -we must save your sister and get that warrant. He must not think you've -failed him. Do you understand?" - -"But he'll take you away," she cried, and clung to him. - -"Do as I say," he besought her; "tell him the necklace is here -somewhere. Be brave, my dear, we're working to save your sister. He's -coming." - -"Hands up, Denby," Taylor shouted, clambering from the balcony to the -room and levelling a revolver at the smuggler. Without a word Denby's -hands went up as he was bid, and the deputy-surveyor smiled the victor's -smile. - -"Well, congratulations, Miss Cartwright," he cried; "you landed him as I -knew you could if you tried." - -"What's the meaning of this?" Denby cried indignantly. "Who are you?" - -"Oh, can that bunk!" Taylor said in disgust. - -"Where's the necklace, Miss Cartwright?" - -"I don't know," she answered nervously. - -"You don't know?" he returned incredulously. - -"I haven't been able to find it, but it's here somewhere." - -"He's probably got it on him," Taylor said. - -"All this is preposterous," Denby exclaimed angrily. - -"Hand it over," Taylor snapped. - -"I have no necklace," Denby told him. - -"Then I'll have to search you," he cried, coming to him and going -through his pockets with the practised hand of one who knows where to -look, covering him the while with the revolver. - -"I'll make you pay for this," Denby cried savagely, as Taylor -unceremoniously spun him around. - -"Will you give it to me," Taylor demanded when he had drawn blank, "or -shall I have to upset the place by searching for it?" - -"How can I get it for you with my hands up in the air?" Denby asked -after a pause. "Let me put my hands down and I'll help you." - -Taylor considered for a moment. Few men were better in a -rough-and-tumble fight than he, and he had little fear of this beaten -man before him. "You haven't got a gun," he said, "so take 'em down, but -don't you fool with me." - -Denby moved over to the writing-desk and picked up a heavy beaten copper -ash-tray with match-box attached. He balanced it in his hand for a -moment. "Not a bad idea is it?" he demanded smiling; and then, before -Taylor could reach for it had hurled it with the strong arm and -practised eye of an athlete straight at the patent burglar alarm a few -feet distant. - -There was a smashing of glass and then, an instant later, the turning -off of light and a plunge into blackness. And in the gloom, during which -Taylor thrashed about him wildly, there came from all parts of the house -the steady peal of the electrical alarms newly set in motion. - -And last of all there was the report of the revolver and a woman's -shriek and the falling of a heavy body on the floor, and then a -silence. - - - - -CHAPTER FOURTEEN - - -No sooner had Michael Harrington seated himself at the card-table with -his wife and Nora than he picked up a magazine and, as he always said, -"kept the light from his eyes." Some men--few there be--who boldly state -they desire to sleep, but Michael was of the tactful majority and merely -kept the light from his eyes and, incidentally, prevented any observers -from noting that his eyes were closed. - -He considered this a better way of waiting for Monty than to chatter as -the women were doing of the events of the night. - -"I wonder what's become of Monty?" Alice asked presently. - -"He's kept us twenty minutes," Nora returned crossly. "I saw him go out -in the garden. He said it was to relieve his headache, but I really -believe he wanted to capture the gang single-handed. Wouldn't it be -thrilling if he did?" - -"A little improbable," Alice laughed; "but still men do the oddest -things sometimes. I never thought Michael the fighting kind till he -knocked a man down once for kissing his hand to me." - -"It was fine of Michael," Nora said. "The man deserved it." - -"I know, dear," her hostess said, "but, as it happens, the man was -kissing his hand to his infant son six months old in an upper window. It -cost Michael fifty dollars, but I loved him all the more for it. Look at -the dear old thing slumbering peacefully and imagining I think he's -keeping this very gentle light from his eyes." - -"It's the two highballs he had in Mr. Denby's room," the sapient ingenue -explained. She harked back to Monty. "I wish he were as brave about -proposing. I've tried my grandmother's recipes for shy men, and all my -mother ever knew, I know. And yet he does get so flustered when he -tries, that he scares himself away." - -Alice nodded. "He's the kind you've got to lead to the altar. I had -trouble with Michael. He imagined himself too hopelessly old, and very -nearly married quite an elderly female. He'd have been dead now if he -had. Here's your prey coming in now." - -Monty entered the card-room from the garden, nervously stuffing into his -pocket the precious package which Denby had thrown to him. - -"I hope I haven't delayed the game," he apologized. - -"We didn't even miss you," Nora said acidly. - -"Were you supposed to be in on this game?" - -"Don't be cross, Nora," Alice advised; "you can see his headache has -been troubling him. Is it better, Monty?" - -"What headache?" he asked. "I haven't had a headache for months. Oh, -yes," he added, confused, "that neuralgic headache has gone, thanks. -Shall we play?" - -"Yes, let's," Nora said. "Michael dealt before he went to sleep." - -"Wake up, Michael," his wife said, tapping him with her fan, "you're not -at the opera; you're playing cards." - -"I haven't slept for a moment," he assured her, after a pause in which -he got his bearings. "The light was too strong--" - -"So you shaded your eyes," his wife went on. "Well, when they are -unshaded will you remember we're playing?" - -"Who opened it?" he demanded with a great effort. - -"Bridge, my dear," Alice reminded him, "not poker--bridge, auction -bridge." She paused a moment while the clock struck three. "And it's -three o'clock, and it's quite time you began." - -"One no trump," Nora said, after looking at her hand cheerfully. - -"It isn't your bid," Alice corrected her, "although I don't wonder you -forgot. It's Michael's; he dealt." - -Michael tried to concentrate his gaze on his hand. There seemed to be an -enormous number of cards, and he needed time to consider the phenomenon. - -"What'd the dealer draw?" he asked. - -"But we're not playing poker," Alice said. - -"It was Monty who confused me," he said in excuse, and looked -reproachfully at his vis-a-vis. "What's trumps?" - -"It's your bid," Nora cried. "You dealt." - -"I go one spade." - -"One no trump," Monty declared. - -"Two royals," Nora cried, not that she had them, but to take it away -from Monty. - -"Pass," said Alice glumly. She could have gone two royals, but dared not -risk three. - -"Give me three cards," Michael cried more cheerfully. The way was -becoming clearer. - -"Michael," his wife said reprovingly, "if you're really as tired as -that, you'd better go to bed." - -"I never broke up a poker game in my life," he cried. "It's only the -shank of the evening. What's happened, partner?" he yawned to Nora. - -"I went two royals," she said. - -Michael looked at his hand enthusiastically. "Three aces," he murmured. -"I'd like to open it for two dollars--as it is, I pass." - -"Two no trumps," said Monty. When the rest had passed, Nora led and -Monty played from the dummy. Michael, at last feeling he was rounding -into form, played a low card, so that dummy took the trick with a nine. - -"Anything wrong?" he asked anxiously as Nora shook her head. - -"If you don't want to win you're playing like a bridge article in a -Sunday paper," she returned. - -"This game makes me sick," he said in disgust. "Nothing but reproaches." - -"I wish Mr. Denby were playing instead of poor Michael," Nora remarked. - -"Steve's got the right idea," Monty commented. "He's in bed." - -"Great man, Denby," said Michael. "He knows you can't sit up all night -unless you drink." - -"We'll finish the rubber and then stop," his wife said comfortingly. "Do -remember it's not poker." - -"I wish it were," he exclaimed dolefully. "No partners--no -reproaches--no post-mortems in poker. If you make a fool of yourself you -lose your own money and everybody else is glad of it and gets cheerful." - -"After this then, one round of jacks to please Michael," said Alice. - -"And then quit," Monty suggested. "I'm tired, too." - -"I'm not tired," Michael asserted. "I'm only thirsty. It takes this form -with me. When I'm thirsty--" - -Michael stopped in consternation. Overhead, from all parts of the house, -came the mechanical announcement that burglars had broken in. The four -rose simultaneously from the table. - -"Burglars!" cried Michael, looking from one to the other. - -"Good Heavens!" Nora gasped. - -"What shall we do?" cried Alice. - -"It's gone off by accident," Monty asserted quivering, as there came -suddenly the sound of a shot. - -"Somebody's killed!" Alice exclaimed, with an air of certainty. - -Michael was the first to recover his poise. "Monty," he commanded -sternly, "go and find what's the matter. I'll look after the girls." - -Alice looked at him entreatingly. "You'd better go," she said; "I shall -feel safer if you see what it is. You're not afraid, Michael?" - -"Certainly not," he said with dignity. "Of course they're armed. Hello, -who's here?" - -It was Lambart entering, bearing in his hand a .45 revolver. - -"The burglar-alarm, sir," he said, with as little excitement as he might -have announced the readiness of dinner. "The indicator points to Mr. -Denby's room." - -"Good old Lambart," his employer said heartily. "You go ahead, and we'll -follow. No, you keep the beastly thing," he exclaimed, when the butler -handed him the weapon. "You're a better shot than I am, Lambart." - -"Mikey," Alice called to him, "if you're going to be killed, I want to -be killed, too." - -The Harringtons followed the admirable Lambart up the stairway, while -Nora gazed after them with a species of fascinated curiosity that was -not compounded wholly of fear. Intensely alive to the vivid interest of -these swiftly moving scenes through which she was passing, -Nora--although she could scream with the best of them--was not in -reality badly scared. - -"I don't want to be killed," she announced with decision. - -Monty moved to her side. He had an idea that if he must die or be -arrested, he would like Nora to live on, cherishing the memory that he -was a man. - -"Neither do I!" he cried. "I wish I'd never gone into this. I knew when -I dreamed about Sing Sing last night that it meant something." - -"Gone into what?" Nora demanded. - -"I'm liable to get shot any minute." - -"What!" she cried anxiously. - -"This may be my last five minutes on earth, Nora." - -"Oh, Monty," she returned, "what have you done?" She looked at him in -ecstatic admiration; never had he seemed so heroic and desirable. "Was -it murder?" - -"If I come out of it alive, will you marry me?" he asked desperately. - -"Oh, Monty!" she exclaimed, and flung herself into his arms. "Why did -you put it off so long?" - -"I didn't need your protection so much," he told her; "and anyway it -takes a crisis like this to make me say what I really feel." - -"I love you anyway, no matter what you've done," she said contentedly. - -He looked at her more brightly. "I'm the happiest man in the world," he -declared, "providing," he added cautiously, "I don't get shot." - -She raised her head from his shoulder and tapped the package in his -pocket. "What's that?" she asked. - -"That's my heart," he said sentimentally. - -"But why do you wear it on the right side?" she queried. - -"Oh, that," he said more gravely, "I'd forgotten all about it. It -belongs to Steve. That shows I love you," he added firmly; "I'd -forgotten all about it." - -As he spoke there was the shrill call of a police whistle outside. "The -police!" he gasped. - -"Don't let them get you," she whispered. "They are coming this way." - -"Quick," he said, grabbing her arm and leading her to a door. "We'll -hide here." Now that danger, as he apprehended it, was definitely at -hand, his spirits began to rise. He was of the kind which finds in -suspense the greatest horror. They had barely reached the shelter of a -door when Duncan and Gibbs ran in. - -"Come on, Harry," Duncan called to the slower man, "he's upstairs. Get -your gun ready." - -Nora clasped her lover's hand tighter. "There'll be some real shooting," -she whispered; "I hope Alice doesn't get hurt. Listen!" - -"The Chief's got him for sure," Gibbs panted, making his ascent at the -best speed he could gather. - -"They've gone," Nora said, peering out; then she ventured into the hall. -"Who's the chief?" she asked. - -"The chief of police I guess," he groaned. "This is awful, Nora. I can't -have you staying here with all this going on. Go back into the -card-room, and I'll let you know what's happened as soon as I can." - -"But what are you going to do?" she asked. - -"I'm going to wait for Steve; he's very likely to want me." - -"I'm not afraid," Nora said airily. - -"But I am," he retorted; "I'm afraid for you. Be a good girl and do as I -say, and I'll come as soon as the trouble's over." - -"I just hate to miss anything," she pouted. "Still if you really wish -it." She looked at him more tenderly than he had ever seen her look at -any human being before. "Don't get killed, Monty, dear." - -Monty took her in his arms and kissed her. "I don't want to," he said, -"especially now." - -When the door had shut behind her he took out the necklace with the idea -of secreting it in an unfindable place. He remembered a Poe story where -a letter was hidden in so obvious a spot that it defied Parisian -commissaries of police. But the letters were usual things and pearl -necklaces were not, and he took it down from the mantel where for a -second he had let it lie, and rammed it under a sofa-cushion on the -nearby couch. That, too, was not a brilliant idea and, while he was -wondering if the pearls would dissolve if he dropped them in a decanter -of whiskey on a table near him, there were loud voices heard at the head -of the stairway, and he fled from the spot. - - - - -CHAPTER FIFTEEN - - -When the Harringtons followed their butler into Denby's room, they were -appalled at what they could not see but heard without difficulty. A -strange voice, a harsh, coarse voice rapping out oaths and imprecations, -a man fighting with some opponent who remained silent. While they who -owned the house stood helpless, Lambart turned on the lights. - -The sudden glare showed them Denby was the silent fighter. The other -man, a heavily built fellow, seemed for the moment blinded by the -lights, and stopped for a second. And it was in this second that Denby -uppercut him so that he fell with a thud to the floor. - -Then they saw Denby pick up a revolver that was lying by the stranger's -side. - -"What's the matter?" cried Michael, while Lambart busied himself with -making the room tidy and replacing overturned chairs. - -"This man," said Denby, still panting from his efforts, "tried to break -in, and Miss Cartwright and I got him." - -"Good Lord!" Michael ejaculated. - -"How splendid of you!" Alice cried. "Ethel, you're a heroine, my dear." - -Taylor, who had not been put out by the blow, scrambled to his feet and -was pushed into a chair. Denby stood conveniently near with the revolver -a foot from his heart. - -"I never saw a more typical criminal," Michael said, severely looking at -the captive; "every earmark of it. I could pick him out of a thousand. -Now, Denby, we want to hear all about it." - -"He's crazy," Taylor shouted indignantly. "Don't you believe him. He's -the crook. I'm an agent of the United States Customs and I came here to -get Denby." - -"That's a pretty poor bluff," Denby scoffed. "This porch climber was one -of the two who held up Monty and Miss Rutledge in the grounds to-night." - -"I said they'd break in!" Alice cried, and believed her statement. "And -how fortunate Ethel moved her room. This man looks like the sort who -wouldn't stop short of murder, Michael." - -"The lowest human type!" Michael cried. "Look at his eyes and ears, and -nose!" - -"I tell you I came to arrest him!" Taylor cried, striving to keep his -already ruffled temper. - -"Arrest that charming man?" Mrs. Harrington cried with scorn. "Was -there ever anything so utterly absurd!" - -"Absurd!" he sneered. "You won't think so when you learn who I am. Ask -that girl there; she knows; she'll tell you whether I'm absurd." - -Instantly they all centred their gaze on Ethel. For a second she looked -at him blankly. "I never saw the man before," she told them. - -"You didn't, eh?" Taylor cried, after a pause of sheer astonishment, "I -guess you'll remember me when I serve a warrant for your sister's -arrest. It's in my pocket now with other papers that prove I'm working -for the United States Government." He made a motion as though to get -them but found Denby's gun close under his nose. - -"No you don't," Denby warned him. "You've probably got a neat little -automatic pistol there. I know your sort." - -But when he seemed about to relieve the deputy-collector of his papers -Taylor shouted a loud protest. - -"Very well," Denby cried. "If you had rather Mr. Harrington did, it's -all the same to me. Mr. Harrington," turning to his host, "will you -please remove whatever documents you find in his inner pocket, so that -we may find out if what he says is true." - -"Surely," Michael returned. "I like every man to have justice even if -the electric chair yearns for him." Carefully he removed a bundle of -papers neatly tied together. And one of them, as Ethel Cartwright saw, -was the warrant made out for her sister's arrest. She wondered why Denby -had invited inspection of them, but was not long to remain in doubt. - -"Now," said Michael judicially, "we'll do the thing properly." - -But before he had unfolded a single one of the papers, they were -snatched violently from his hand, and Denby, gun pointed at Taylor, was -backing to the door. "Keep out of range, Harrington," the retreating man -warned. He cast a swift look of triumph toward Ethel. "It's all right, -Miss Cartwright," he called cheerfully. "Don't worry, it's all right -now." - -As the door closed, Taylor sprang from the chair with a curse. "Grab -him, I tell you," he cried raging. "He's a crook. The Government wants -him, and they'll hold you people responsible if he gets away." He blew -his whistle loudly, and then rushed out of the door and down the hall -taking the steps four at a time. - -The French windows were open and out of them he ran, calling sharply for -his men. But Gibbs and Duncan were even now fiercely searching the other -wing and disturbing frightened servants above. It was not for some -minutes that they made their way to their chief, and searched the -grounds as he bade them. - -And even here they were frustrated. Lambart's tactical genius had -forbidden him to remove the clothes-lines he had laid to bring wandering -tramps low, and among them Duncan and Gibbs floundered with dreadful -profanity. - -There were two other men aiding them now, Ford and Hammett, who were -stationed outside the grounds to watch the only road by which Denby -could escape. When Taylor was satisfied they were doing what they could, -he came back into the big hall where the frightened group was awaiting -him. - -"We'll get your friend yet," he observed disagreeably to Mrs. -Harrington. "It's bright moonlight, and my men'll nab him." - -"But he's not my friend," she objected; "I had no idea he was that kind -of a person." - -"When I find a man like that a guest in a house like this," Taylor -retorted, "I think I'm justified in calling him your friend. You'll have -time to think what to say later when you're called as a witness." - -"I want to beg your pardon, Mr. Taylor," said Michael anxiously. The -idea of being cross-examined and made a fool of by a bullying counsel -horrified him. He'd be a jest forever more at Meadow Brook and Piping -Rock. The Harringtons casually to pick up a smuggler and make him free -of their exclusive home! Never had he needed a drink to steady his -nerves as he did now! - -"Well, I certainly think there is an apology due me," Taylor sneered. He -was not one to forget an affront and Harrington had alluded to his -criminal type in a way that rankled yet. - -"But how could we know?" asked Mrs. Harrington; "he seemed perfectly all -right, although I did say he might be a murderer." - -"That'll come out in court," Taylor reminded her disagreeably. "If it -hadn't been that my men were here to swear to me, I'd have spent the -night in one of your little one-horse jails, and he'd have got away. -When I do get him he'll remember Daniel Taylor till the day he dies." - -Monty, overhearing these direful threats from behind a door, and happy -because of his friend's escape, walked boldly in. - -"Did you get the burglar?" he demanded airily. - -"There wasn't any burglar," Alice told him. - -"It was your old friend Denby that caused all the trouble," Michael -informed him, "the old friend you introduced into my house. I tell you, -Monty--" - -"Don't explain," Taylor commanded. "Now," he snapped to Monty, "have -you seen Steven Denby in the last ten minutes?" - -Monty found with glee that so far from being nervous he was enjoying the -scene. He only regretted that his moustache was not long enough to -permit him to curl it to a fierce and martial angle. He was glad that -Nora had crept into the room and was watching him. - -"Isn't he in bed?" he demanded, yawning. - -"You know he isn't in bed," Taylor answered. "Maybe you're his pal--in -on this job with him. Come here." - -Monty wished to refuse, but Taylor had a compelling manner, so he -advanced with an insolent slowness. - -Alice Harrington flew to his defence. "That's too absurd!" she cried. -"We've known Mr. Vaughan since he was a child." - -"Who is this person?" Monty demanded superciliously. - -"Never mind who I am," Taylor said gruffly, and started to search him. - -"Don't hurt him," Nora cried, rushing to her fiance's side. - -"It's all right, Nora," Monty said; submitting quietly. "He thinks he's -doing his duty. When you're through with me," he said to Taylor, "I'll -take you to my room. You'd probably like to go through that, too." - -"Here, that'll be enough from you," Taylor said frowning. "You aren't -smart enough to be Denby's pal. Clear out--get back to the nursery." - -Nora cast a glance of vivid hatred at him, but Taylor turned his back on -her. - -"Do you want us any longer?" Michael asked. - -"No," he was told. "You can go and leave me with this girl," pointing to -Ethel, who had not said a word. "I want a little talk with her." - -"Please keep her out of it," Michael asked him. "I'm sure she's -absolutely innocent in the matter." - -Taylor looked at him, exasperated. "See here," he cried, "you've put -enough obstacles in my way to-night as it is! Do you want to put any -more?" - -"It's all right," Ethel Cartwright said quickly; "there's just some -misunderstanding. Please go!" - -"All right, then," her host answered. "Come, Alice, I need a drink -badly." - -"My dear," she said affectionately, "under the circumstances you may -have an all-night license." - -He had turned to go when Lambart approached him. "I beg your pardon, -sir, but can I have a word with you?" - -"What is it?" Michael demanded anxiously. The news evidently affected -him, and Taylor looked suspicious. "What's this mean?" the -deputy-surveyor asked. - -"A long distance from my partner," the agitated Harrington returned. "I -stand to lose nearly a million dollars if something isn't done. Excuse -me, Alice--I'll use the upstairs 'phone." He hurried upstairs. - -"Well," said Monty to Taylor--Nora was hanging on his arm and he felt he -would never again be afraid--"do you want me any longer?" - -"I thought I sent you back to play," Taylor snarled. - -Ostentatiously Monty turned his back and walked leisurely to a door. - -"You are perfectly splendid," Nora exclaimed with ecstasy in her voice. -"I'd no idea you were so brave." - -"Oh, you can never tell," Monty returned modestly. - -Alice joined them in retreat. "Michael's thirst is catching," she -asserted. "I'm for some champagne, children, are you?" - -"Sure," said Monty. "What's a quart amongst three?" - -Taylor watched them depart, sneeringly. He hated the idle rich with the -intensity of a man who has longed to be of them and knows he cannot. The -look he flung at Miss Cartwright was not pleasant. - -"What did you mean by telling them upstairs that you had never seen me -before?" he cried vindictively. - -"You said under no circumstances was I to mention your name." - -He looked a trifle disconcerted at this simple explanation. He was in a -mood for punishment, and rebuke. - -"Yes," he admitted, "but--" - -"You said it was imperative your identity should not be disclosed," the -girl reminded him. - -"I suppose that's true in a way," he conceded; "but when you saw me -wanting to prove who I was, why didn't you help?" - -"I was afraid to do anything but follow your instructions," she said -earnestly. "I remembered that you swore you'd put my sister in prison if -I even said I'd ever seen you before." - -"Well, then, we won't say any more about it," he returned ungraciously. -"How did you find Denby had the necklace?" - -"I got into his room and caught him," she explained. "He had it in his -hand." - -"Yes, yes!" he cried impatiently; "go on." - -"And when the lights went out and there was a shot, I screamed, and -naturally I couldn't see what happened in the dark. I thought you had -killed him and I was frightened." - -Taylor frowned. He did not like to remember that directly the flash of -his gun had disclosed his position Denby had sprung on him like an arrow -and knocked him down. Denby had scored two knock-downs in one night, and -none had ever done that before. There was a swelling on his jaw and -three teeth were loosened. Denby should pay for that, he swore. - -While he was thinking these vengeful thoughts, Duncan hurried in through -the French windows. - -"Say, Chief," he shouted, "Denby didn't leave the house. He's up in his -room now." - -"How do you know?" Taylor cried eagerly. - -"Gibbs climbed up on the roof of the pagoda; he can see the room from -there and Denby's in it now." - -"Now we've got him sure," his chief cried gleefully. - -"And Harrington's with him," Duncan added excitedly. - -"What!" Taylor ejaculated, stopping short on his way to the stairs. The -two men talking together spelled collusion to him, and opened up -complications to which he had hardly given a thought. - -"Gibbs said they were talking together," his subordinate continued. - -"I was right at first," Taylor exclaimed; "I thought that might be the -game, but he fooled me so that I would have sworn he was innocent. -Denby's smuggling the necklace through for Harrington. Jim, this is a -big job, get out there to make sure he don't escape by the balcony. Have -your gun handy," he warned; "I've got mine." He looked over to Ethel, -whose face betrayed the anguish which she was enduring. "And I'll get -the drop on him this time." - -"No, no," she cried, "you mustn't!" - -"You knew all the time he was back in his room and you've been trying to -fool me--you're stuck on him." - -"No, no, you're wrong," she said desperately. - -"Am I?" he retorted; "then I'll give you the chance to prove it. Send -for Denby and ask him what he did with the necklace, and where it is -now. Tell him I suspect you, and that he's got to tell you the truth, -but you won't turn him over to me. Talk as if you two were alone, but -I'll be there behind that screen listening." He took out his revolver -and pointed to it meaningly. "If you tip him off or give him the -slightest warning or signal, I'll arrest you both, anyway. Wrong, am I?" -he sneered. "We'll see; and if you try to fool me again, you and your -sister will have plenty of time to think it over in Auburn. Now send for -him." - -There was a big screen of tapestry in one corner of the hall near the -stairs. Behind this he had little difficulty in hiding himself. - -The girl watched him in terror. It seemed she must either offer the man -she loved bound and helpless to his enemies, or else by warning him and -aiding him in escape, see him shot before her eyes. There seemed here no -way out with Taylor watching her every look and movement from his -hiding-place. - -She stretched out her tremulous hand to grasp the table for support and -clutched instead the silver cigarette-box, the same she had offered -earlier to Denby. Her deep dejection was banished for she saw here a -chance to defeat her enemy by a ruse of which he could not know. -Watching her, Taylor saw her returning courage, and congratulated her. -She knew, he thought, that her only chance was to play the square game -with him now. - -"Well," he called from his concealment, "why don't you send for him?" - -"I'm going to!" she answered, walking to the bell and then coming back -to the table. "You'll see you've been all wrong about me." - -"I guess not," he snarled, adjusting the screen so as better to be able -to see her from between its folds. He noticed that Lambart passing close -to him as he answered the bell had no suspicion of his presence. - -"Mr. Denby's in his room," she told the man, "please say I'm alone here -and wish to speak to him at once." - -"Yes, madam," Lambart said, and a few seconds later could be heard -knocking at a distant door. - -"I can see you perfectly," Taylor warned her. "When Denby comes in, stay -right where you are and don't move, or else I'll--" He stopped short -when Lambart descended the staircase. - -"Mr. Denby will be with you immediately," the butler said, and left the -hall. - - - - -CHAPTER SIXTEEN - - -Denby came eagerly down the stairs, looking about him with no especial -care. He had learned that the special service men assumed him to have -made good his escape and were contenting themselves with surrounding the -gardens. - -"What's happened?" he asked, coming quickly toward her. "Is everything -all right now? Where is--" - -Ethel interrupted him. "Will you have a cigarette, Dick?" she asked, -pushing the silver box to him. - -He took it calmly enough but instantly realized her warning. His alert -gaze swept about the room and dwelt no longer on the screen than any -other of its furnishing, but he knew where his enemy was hidden. -"Thanks," he said simply, and lighted it with a hand that was steady. - -"Now we are alone," she said, "and those men imagine you are not here, -and I admit you've beaten me, please tell me the truth about that -necklace. What have you done with it?" - -"Are you still persisting in that strange delusion?" he asked calmly. "I -never had a necklace, Miss Cartwright." - -"But I know you did," she persisted, "I saw it." - -"Ah, you thought you did," he corrected. "We went all over that in my -room and I imagined I had persuaded you. Why do you want to know this?" - -"The agent of the secret service has been here," she told him, "and he -suspects that I am defending you and won't believe what I say. If you'll -tell me the truth, I'll get him to let you go." - -"Then the secret service agent is just as wrong as you," he remarked. "I -have no necklace. Because I knock down a man who breaks into my room at -night and escape rather than be shot, am I supposed on that account to -carry these fabulous necklaces about with me? I don't care even to -prolong this conversation, Miss Cartwright." - -At this point Lambart entered, and coming toward him, delivered a small -package. - -"Pardon me, sir," the butler began, "but Mr Vaughan asked me to take -this to your room." - -"What is it?" Denby asked, and a slight movement behind the screen -betokened the curiosity of the man hidden there. - -"Mr. Vaughan didn't say, sir," Lambart returned. "He only said it was -very important for you to get it immediately." Lambart bowed and -retired. - -"I wonder what on earth Monty can be sending me at this time of the -night," said Denby, balancing the thing as though to judge its contents -from the weight. "It must be important, so forgive me if I see what it -is." - -He tore the envelope open carelessly, and out of it dropped the -necklace. Quickly he stooped down and picked it up, putting it in his -left-hand coat-pocket. - -The girl could not refrain from giving a cry as he did so. "Oh," she -exclaimed, "we're done for now." - -There was a crash behind them as the screen clattered to the floor and -Daniel Taylor stepped over it, levelled gun in hand. - -"Hands up, Denby," he commanded, and then blew his police whistle. - -He looked sourly at the trembling girl by the table. "I don't know how -you tipped him off, but you two are damned smart, aren't you? But I've -got you both now, so it's just as well it happened as it did." - -Gibbs and Duncan burst in, their anxious faces breaking into smiles of -joy. The Chief's temper if his plans miscarried was a fixed quantity and -an unpleasant one. They had been consoling themselves outside, and -Duncan had been wishing he had Gibbs' outside job. Now everything would -be well and they would each be able to boast in his home circle of -to-night's exploit. - -"You're both under arrest," Taylor said, addressing his captives. -"Boys," he commanded his satellites cordially, "take her into one of -those side rooms and keep her there till I call. They can talk without -speaking, these two. I'll question 'em separately." - -For the second time within an hour he searched Denby. From the -right-hand pocket of his dinner jacket he took an automatic pistol. From -the left he drew out the string of pearls. - -"It's a pippin, all right," Taylor muttered, his eyes gloating over the -treasure. "How much did you pay the girl?" - -"Not a cent," his prisoner asserted. "Nothing. You're all wrong there." - -"Then why did she tip you off just now?" - -"She didn't tip me off," Denby told him. "She didn't say a word, as you -yourself must have heard." - -"Can it! can it!" Taylor retorted impatiently. "I saw the result all -right, but I couldn't get on to the cause. What did she do it for?" - -Denby shrugged his shoulders and smiled a little. It was the first time -he had come off his high horse. - -"Maybe," he hinted, "she didn't want to see me go to prison." - -"Oh, you pulled the soft stuff, eh?" Taylor said. "Well, she tried to -double-cross me and that don't pay, Denby. She'll find that out, all -right." - -Denby assumed a certain confidential air. "Look here, Taylor," he said, -"so long as she did the decent thing by me, I'd like to see her out of -this. You've got me, and you've got the pearls--Why not let her go?" - -Taylor shook his head. He did not signalize his triumphs by the freeing -of captives or the giving of rewards. "I guess not," he returned with -his sourest look. "You've both given me a lot of unnecessary trouble, -and I think a little trip down south ought to fix you two comfortably. -What do you say to five years in Atlanta? Fine winter climate they say." - -"Then I guess we are up against it;" Denby sighed. - -"You are, son," Taylor assured him; "right up against it." - -"Take it out on me," the other implored; "ease up on her. It isn't as if -she were a grafter, either. Why, I offered her twenty thousand dollars -to square it." - -"Tried to bribe a Government official, eh?" Taylor observed. "That don't -make it any better for you." - -"Oh, you can't prove it against me," Denby returned easily. - -"Twenty thousand dollars," Taylor muttered; "twenty thousand dollars! So -you _were_ trying to smuggle it in for the Harringtons, then?" - -"I hate bringing names in," said Denby, looking at him shrewdly. - -"Well, they'll have to come out in court anyway," the other reminded -him, and then reverted to the money. "Twenty thousand dollars!" he -repeated. "It seems to mean a whole lot to you--or somebody--to get this -through, eh?" - -"It does," Denby returned, "and it's a big lot of money; but I'd rather -pay that than sample your winter climate down south--see?" He looked at -him still with that air of confidence as though he expected Taylor to -comprehend his motives. - -"Say, what are you trying to do?" Taylor said sharply; "bribe me?" - -"What an imagination you have!" Denby said in astonishment. "Why, you -couldn't be bribed, Mr. Taylor!" - -"You bet your life I couldn't," the deputy-surveyor returned. - -Denby sighed. "What a pity I didn't meet a business man instead of -_you_." - -Taylor's sharp eyes looked at the speaker steadily. - -"You couldn't square it even with a business man for twenty thousand -dollars." - -Denby met his shrewd gaze without lowering his eyes. - -"If I'd met the right kind of business man," he declared, "I shouldn't -have offered twenty thousand dollars," he said meaningly; "I'd have -offered him all I've got--and that's thirty thousand dollars." - -A slow smile chased Taylor's intent expression away. "You would?" he -said. - -"I would," Denby answered steadily. - -"A business man," Taylor returned, "wouldn't believe you had that much -unless he saw it with his own eyes." - -"I should prove it," Denby answered. And with his first and second -finger he probed behind his collar and produced three new -ten-thousand-dollar bills. - -"Beauties, aren't they?" he asked of the staring Taylor. - -The official seemed hypnotized by them. "I didn't know they made 'em -that big," he said reverently. - -When Denby next spoke, his tone was brisker. "Look here, Taylor, I -haven't been in Paris for two years." - -There was understanding in Taylor's face now. "You haven't?" he -returned. - -"And in case of a come-back, I've witnesses to prove an alibi." - -"You have?" Taylor responded, his smile broadening. - -"How much does the Government pay you?" Denby questioned. - -Taylor's eyes were still on the bills. "Three thousand a year," he -answered. - -Denby inspected the crisp bills interestedly. "Ten years' salary!" he -commented. "You couldn't save all this honestly in your lifetime." - -Denby raised his eyes and the two men looked at one another and a -bargain was as certainly made as though documents had been drawn up -attesting it. - -Taylor's manner altered instantly. He removed his hat and became a -genial, not to say jocular, soul. - -"Too bad," he said sympathetically, "a mistake like that happening." - -"It is a bit inconvenient," Denby allowed. - -"I'm sorry to have bothered you," the deputy-surveyor assured him, "but -you're all right, Mr. Denby. I figured from the first that you might be -a business man, and that's why you slipped through so easily." - -"You're a pretty smart man, Mr. Taylor," Denby admitted, "and I think -these belong to you." He held out the money. - -"Yes, I think they do," Taylor said eagerly, reaching out for the bills. - -"Wait a minute!" Denby cried, holding the money back. "How do I know you -won't take it and then double-cross me?" - -"I'll give you my word for it," Taylor assured him fervently. - -"That security isn't good enough," Denby remarked slowly. "We haven't -done business together before, and those two men of yours--are they in -on it?" - -"Not on your life," Taylor laughed. "I haven't split with anybody for -five years. This is a one man job, Mr. Denby." - -"That may be," the other protested, "but they saw you pinch me!" - -"I'll tell them it was all a mistake and I've got to call it off. I know -the kind of help I want when I'm tackling a one man job." - -"Do you think you can get away with it?" Denby asked doubtfully. - -"I always have," Taylor said simply. "There's no need for you to get -scared." - -Denby still seemed perturbed. "I've been hearing a lot about this R. -J.," he told the official. "I don't like what I've heard either. Is he -suspicious about you by any chance?" - -"What do you know about R. J.?" Taylor asked quickly. - -"Some friends of mine--business men--in London, tipped me off about him. -They said he's been investigating the bribery rumors in the Customs." - -"Don't you worry about him, my boy," Taylor said with a reassuring air, -"I'm the guy on this job." - -"That's all well enough," Denby said, "but I don't want to give up -thirty thousand and then get pinched as well. I've got to think about -myself." - -Taylor leaned across eagerly. "Say, if that R. J. has scared you into -thinking he'll ball things up, I don't mind admitting--in strict -confidence--who he is." - -"So you know?" Denby retorted. "Who is he? I want to be on my guard." - -"Well, he isn't a thousand miles from here." - -"What!" Denby cried in astonishment. - -Taylor tapped himself upon the chest with an air of importance. "Get -me?" - -"Well, that's funny," Denby laughed. - -"What's funny?" Taylor retorted. - -"Why, R. J. is supposed to be death on grafters and you're one -yourself." - -"I'm a business man," Taylor said with a wink. "I'm not a grafter--I -should worry about the Government." - -"Well I guess I'll take a chance," Denby said, after a momentary pause. - -"That's the idea," Taylor cried cheerfully. - -"Provided," Denby added, "you let me have a few words with your men. -They've got to understand I'm innocent, and I want to see how they take -it. You see, I don't know them as well as you do. They've got to back -you up in squaring me with the Harringtons. You've put me in all wrong -here, remember." - -"Why sure," Taylor agreed generously, "talk your head off to 'em." - -"And you'll leave the girl out of it?" - -"I'll do more than that," Taylor told him with a grin; "I'll leave her -to you." - -Denby heaved a sigh of relief. "Now we understand one another," he said. -"Here's your money, Taylor." - -"Much obliged," Taylor responded. He handed the other the pearls. "I've -no evidence," he declared in high good humor, "that you ever had any -necklace. Have a cigar, Mr. Denby?" - -[Illustration: "NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER," HE SAID. "HERE'S YOUR -MONEY." _Page 288_.] - -"Thanks," the younger man returned; "I'll smoke it later it you don't -mind. Now call 'em in." - -"Certainly," Taylor said briskly. "And say, I'm glad to have met you, -Mr. Denby; and next time you're landing in New York and I can be of use, -let me know." He leered. "I might be of considerable use, understand?" - - - - -CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - - -Taylor walked briskly across the hall and threw open the door of the -room in which his subordinates were guarding their prisoner. "Duncan," -he called, "and Gibbs, come here." - -When they had come in with Ethel Cartwright, he turned to them -impressively. "Boys," he declared, "it was all a mistake." - -"What!" cried his men. - -"Thank God!" the girl cried softly. - -"Our dope was phoney. We were tipped off wrong by someone, out of -mischief or malice--I'll have to look into that--and we're all in wrong. -It was a case of mistaken identity, but Mr. Denby's been very nice about -it, very nice, indeed. Let the lady go, Jim." - -"I asked Mr. Taylor to send for you," Denby explained, "because I -thought it was due you, and I didn't want any come-back. I want you all -to understand the facts, if you don't mind waiting, Miss Cartwright." - -"Of course I'll wait," she said brightly. What had happened to change -things she could not guess, but she was confident the man she loved had -some magic to save them both. - -"Listen to him, boys," Taylor counselled. "You see, he's a bit anxious -to straighten things out, so tell him all you know. Fire ahead, Mr. -Denby." - -Denby addressed himself to James Duncan. "You got a tip from Harlow that -a Steven Denby had bought a necklace at Cartier's?" - -"Yes, sir," Duncan agreed. - -Denby now turned to Gibbs who assumed a character of importance. - -"Then you got a wireless that this Denby had sailed with Mrs. Michael -Harrington and Mr. Montague Vaughan, which threw suspicion on the lady -as a possible smuggler?" - -"That's right, too," Gibbs conceded, contentedly. - -"And yet," Denby remarked with inquiry in his tone, "you let Denby slip -through the Customs to-day, didn't you?" - -Taylor's satisfied expression had faded partially. "You see," he -explained, "we didn't have any absolute evidence to arrest him on." - -"Just what I was going to say," Gibbs remarked. - -"But after he got through," Denby went on, "you received an anonymous -telegram late this afternoon that Denby carried the necklace in a -tobacco-pouch, didn't you?" - -Taylor advanced a step frowning. "What's all this, anyway?" he demanded. -"How do you know about that telegram?" - -"I found it out to-night," Denby said pleasantly. - -"That's a private Government matter," Taylor blustered. - -Denby looked at him in surprise. "Surely," he said, "you don't object to -my making things clear? I was pretty nice to you, Mr. Taylor." - -Taylor's fingers nestled tenderly about the crackling notes in his -pocket. "All right," he assented, "go ahead." - -Denby turned on the expectant Gibbs. - -"You knew about that tip in the telegram?" - -"First I ever heard about it," Gibbs returned, open-eyed. - -"Then you didn't tell them?" Denby observed, looking toward their chief. - -"That was my own business," Taylor said impatiently. He wished this fool -cross-examination over, and himself out of Long Island. - -"Did it ever occur to you boys that it was rather peculiar that this -supposed smuggler wasn't searched--that he got through without the -slightest trouble?" - -"Why, the Chief didn't want to get in any mix-up with the Harringtons in -case he was wrong about Denby," Gibbs elucidated. - -"Oh, I see," Denby remarked, as though the whole thing were now -perfectly straightforward. "He told you that, did he?" - -"He sure did," Duncan agreed readily. - -"Don't you boys see," Denby said seriously, "that this whole job looks -very much as if the scheme was to let Denby slip through and then -blackmail him?" - -"I never thought of that," Duncan returned. - -"Me, neither," the ingenuous Gibbs added. - -"Wait a minute," Taylor said irritably. "What's all this got to do with -you? I admit we made a mistake--I'll take the blame for it--and we're -sorry. We can't remedy it by talking any more. Come on, boys." - -"Wait just a minute," Denby exclaimed. "Don't you know," he went on, -addressing himself to the two subordinate officials, "that it's rather a -dangerous thing to monkey with the United States Government? It's a -pretty big thing to fool with. You might have got into serious trouble -arresting the wrong man." - -"I haven't been monkeying with the Government," Gibbs said nervously. -All his official carelessness recurred to him vividly. "I wouldn't do a -thing like that." - -"Neither have I," Duncan made eager reply. - -Taylor took a hand in the conversation. "That's all settled," he said, -with an air of finality. "We all know Mr. Denby never had a necklace." - -"That's clearly understood, is it?" Denby returned. - -"What I say is right," Taylor retorted, and glared at his underlings. - -"What the Chief says is right," Gibbs admitted with eagerness. - -"What the Chief says is wrong," Denby cried in a different voice. "I did -smuggle a necklace in through the Customs to-day. Here it is." - -They looked at it in consternation. "What!" they ejaculated. - -Taylor had owed his safety ere this to rapid thinking. - -"Then you're under arrest!" he cried. - -"Oh, no I'm not," Denby rejoined, turning to the startled men. "Your -chief caught me with the goods and I paid him thirty thousand dollars to -square it." - -Taylor came at him with upraised fist. "Why, you--" he roared, "I'll--" - -Denby seized the clenched fist and thrust it aside. "You won't," he said -calmly; "you're only a bully after all, Taylor. You couldn't graft on -your own--you had to drag a girl into it, and you've made me do some -pretty rotten things to-night to land you. I've had to make that girl -suffer, but you'll pay for it. I've got you now, and you're under -arrest." - -"Aw, quit your bluffing," Taylor jeered; "you can't arrest me, Denby." - -"The man who'll arrest you is named Jones," Denby remarked. - -"Who the hell is he?" Taylor cried. - -"Ah, yes," Denby admitted. "I forgot that you hadn't met him officially -and that the boys don't know who he is either. Here's my commission." -Gibbs stared at the document ravenously. "And that's my photograph," -Denby added. "A pretty good likeness it's usually considered." - -Duncan was now at his comrade's side, poring over it. "It sure is," he -agreed. - -"This thing," said Gibbs the discoverer, "is made out in the name of -Richard Jones!" - -"Well, do you get the initials?" Denby queried. - -"R. J.," Gibbs read out as one might mystic things without meaning. - -"That's me," Denby smiled, "R. J. of the secret service. That's the name -I'm known by." - -Gibbs offered his hand. "If you're R. J.," he said admiringly, "I'd -like to shake hands with you. Are you, on the level, R. J.?" - -"I'm afraid I am," the other admitted. - -"It's a lie," Taylor shouted. - -Denby pointed to the paper. "You can't get away from that signature. -It's signed by the President of the United States." - -"I tell you it's a fake," the man cried angrily. - -"They don't seem to think so," Denby remarked equably. - -"This is on the level, all right," Duncan announced after prolonged -scrutiny. - -Denby turned to the deputy-surveyor. - -"Taylor," he said gravely, "for three years the Government has been -trying to land the big blackmailer in the Customs. They brought me into -it and I set a trap with a necklace as a bait. The whole thing was a -plant from Harlow's tip, the telegram I sent myself this afternoon, to -the accidental dropping of the pearls, so that you could see them -through the screen. You walked right into it, Taylor. Twice before you -came and looked into other traps and had some sort of intuition and kept -out of them. This time, Taylor, it worked." - -"You can't get away with that," Taylor said threateningly. "I'm not -going to listen to this." - -"Wait a minute," Denby advised him. "You've been in the service long -enough to know that the rough stuff won't go. You'd only get the worst -of it; so take things easily." - -He smiled pleasantly at the other men. "I'm glad to find you boys -weren't in on this. Take him along with you, and this, too." He tossed -the necklace on the table from which it slid to the floor at Gibbs' -feet. - -Gibbs made a quick step forward to recover it, but trod on part of the -string and crushed many of the stones. Poor Gibbs looked at the damage -he had done aghast. If the thing were worth two hundred thousand -dollars, a ponderous calculation forced the dreadful knowledge upon him -that he had destroyed possibly a quarter of them. Fifty thousand -dollars! Tears came to his eyes. "Honest to goodness," he groaned, -looking imploringly at the august R. J., "I couldn't help it." - -"Don't worry," Denby laughed. "They're fakes. Take what's left as -Exhibit A." - -Gibbs recovered his ease of manner quickly and took a few steps nearer -the fallen Chief. "And to think I've been working for a crook two years -and never knew it," he said, with a childlike air of wonder. - -Taylor looked at Denby with rage and despair. - -"Damn you," he exploded, "you've got me all right, but I'll send that -girl and her sister up the river. You're stuck on her and I'll get even -that way." - -Even in his fury he remarked that this threat did not disturb the man in -the least. He saw the girl blanch and hide her face, but this cursed -meddling R. J., as he called himself, only smiled. - -"I think not," Denby returned. "You forget that Mr. Harrington is -vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company and a friend of -the late Mr. Vernon Cartwright. I hardly think he will allow a little -matter like that to come into public notice. In fact, I've seen him -about it already." - -"Oh, get me out of this," Taylor cried in disgust. - -"Just a minute," Denby commanded. "I'll trouble you for that thirty -thousand dollars." - -"You think of everything, don't you?" Taylor snarled, handing it back. -"Is that a fake, too?" - -"Oh, no," he was told, "I borrowed that from Monty, who's been a great -help to me in this little scheme as an amateur partner." - -He put the bills in his pocket and took out the cigar Taylor had given -him. - -"Here's your cigar," he said. - -Taylor snatched it from him, and biting off the end, stuck it in his -mouth. He assumed a brazen air of bravado. "Well," he cried bragging, -"it took the biggest man in the secret service to land me, Mr. R. J., -but I've got some mighty good pals, in some mighty good places, and -they'll come across for me, and don't you forget it. After all, you're -not the jury, and all the smart lawyers aren't dead yet." - -"I don't think they'll help you this time," Denby said. "I believe -you'll still enjoy that winter climate." - -"Aw, come on, you dirty grafter," Gibbs cried contemptuously, and with -his partner led the broken man away. - -Ethel came to his side when they were alone. "Did you really mean it -about arranging with Mr. Harrington?" she cried. - -He looked down at her tenderly. "Yes," he said. "We've saved her." - -"And you are really R. J.?" she exclaimed wonderingly. - -"I really am," he returned. "Can't you guess how much I wanted to tell -you before? But I couldn't you know, at first, because I thought you -might be Taylor's accomplice. And later, I still dared not, because I -was under orders with my duty toward my Government. Can you forgive me -for making you suffer like that?" - -"Forgive you?" she whispered tenderly. "Haven't I said I love you?" - -He took her in his arms and kissed her. - -"And everything's all right now, isn't it?" she sighed happily. - -He looked at her whimsically. - -"Except that I'm hungry--are you hungry?" - -"Starved," she cried. - -"Let's ask for some food," he suggested. "Nothing would gratify Lambart -so much. But I don't think I've been so hungry since I was in Paris." - -"I wish it were Paris," she said. "Dear Paris, where I first found R. -J." - -"It shall be, whenever you say," he answered, "and I'll tell you all -about R. J. and the lonely life he led till he saw you." - -"And to think I could believe for a moment you were a criminal!" she -said, self-reproach in her voice, "and even try to trap you!" - -"But you've caught me," he said proudly. - -"Have I really got you, Steve?" she asked, softly, holding out her arms -to him. - -THE END - -[Illustration] - - * * * * * - -CORT THEATRE - -NEW YORK - -BEGINNING AUGUST 24th - -COHAN'S GRAND OPERA -HOUSE, CHICAGO - -BEGINNING AUGUST 31st - -SELWYN AND COMPANY - -PRESENT - -UNDER COVER - -_A melodrama of love, mystery -and thrills_ - -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -Ambassadeurs waiters corraled=> Ambassadeurs waiters corralled {pg 39} - -wrung his hand again and again=> wrung his hands again and again {pg -156} - -How women do gamble nowaday=> How women do gamble nowadays {pg 165} - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Cover, by -Roi Cooper Megrue and Wyndham Martyn - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - -***** This file should be named 40939.txt or 40939.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/3/40939/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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/license - - -Title: Under Cover - -Author: Roi Cooper Megrue - Wyndham Martyn - -Illustrator: William Kirkpatrick - -Release Date: October 5, 2012 [EBook #40939] -[Last updated: February 1, 2014] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -[The chapters in the original book pass from CHAPTER FIVE to CHAPTER -SEVEN; there is no chapter numbered SIX. A list of typographical errors -corrected follows the etext. (note of etext transcriber)] - - - - -UNDER COVER - -[Illustration: HE FOUND DENBY’S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE. - -Frontispiece. _See page 266_.] - - - - -UNDER COVER - -BY - -ROI COOPER MEGRUE - -NOVELIZED BY WYNDHAM MARTYN - -WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY -WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK - -[Illustration] - -BOSTON -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY -1914 - -_Copyright_, _1914_, -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE AND -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. - -_All rights reserved_ - -Published August, 1914 - -THE COLONIAL PRESS -C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - -HE FOUND DENBY’S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE _Frontispiece_ - -HE TURNED TO AMY. “YOUNG WOMAN, YOU’RE UNDER ARREST†PAGE 105 - -“DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON’T YOU--DICK?†186 - -“NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER,†HE SAID. “HERE’S YOUR MONEY†288 - - - - -UNDER COVER - - - - -CHAPTER ONE - - -Paris wears her greenest livery and puts on her most gracious airs in -early summer. When the National Fete commemorative of the Bastille’s -fall has gone, there are few Parisians of wealth or leisure who remain -in their city. Trouville, Deauville, Etretat and other pleasure cities -claim them and even the bourgeoisie hie them to their summer villas. - -The city is given up to those tourists from America and England whom -Paris still persists in calling _Les Cooks_ in memory of that -enterprising blazer of cheap trails for the masses. Your true Parisian -and the stranger who has stayed within the city’s gates to know her -well, find themselves wholly out of sympathy with the eager crowds who -follow beaten tracks and absorb topographical knowledge from -guide-books. - -Monty Vaughan was an American who knew his Paris in all months but those -two which are sacred to foreign travelers, and it irritated him one -blazing afternoon in late July to be persistently mistaken for a tourist -and offered silly useless toys and plans of the Louvre. The _camelots_, -those shrewd itinerant merchants of the Boulevards, pestered him -continually. These excellent judges of human nature saw in him one who -lacked the necessary harshness to drive them away and made capital of -his good nature. - -He was a slim, pleasant-looking man of five and twenty, to whom the good -things of this world had been vouchsafed, with no effort on his part to -obtain them; and in spite of this he preserved a certain frank and -boyish charm which had made him popular all his life. - -Presently on his somewhat aimless wanderings he came down the Avenue de -l’Opéra and took a seat under the awning and ordered an innocuous drink. -He was in a city where he had innumerable friends, but they had all left -for the seashore and this loneliness was unpleasant to his friendly -spirit. But even in the Café de Paris he was not to be left alone and he -was regarded as fair game by alert hawkers. One would steal up to his -table and deposit a little measure of olives and plead for two sous in -exchange. Another would place some nuts by his side and demand a like -amount. And when they had been driven forth and he had lighted a -cigarette, he observed watching him with professional eagerness a -_ramasseur de megot_, one of those men who make a livelihood of picking -up the butts of cigars and cigarettes and selling them. - -When Monty flung down the half-smoked cigarette in hope that the man -would go away he was annoyed to find that the fellow was congratulating -himself that here was a tourist worth following, who smoked not the -wispy attenuated cigarettes of the native but one worth harvesting. He -probed for it with his long stick under the table and stood waiting for -another. - -The heat, the absence of his friends and the knowledge that he must -presently dine alone had brought the usually placid Monty into a wholly -foreign frame of mind and he rose abruptly and stalked down the Avenue. - -A depressed-looking sandwich-man, bearing a device which read, “One can -laugh uproariously at the Champs Elysées every night during the summer -months,†blocked his way, and permitted a woman selling fans of the kind -known to the _camelots_ as _les petits vents du nord_ to thrust one upon -him. “Monsieur does not comprehend our heat in Paris,†she said. “Buy a -little north wind. Two sous for a little north wind.†- -Monty thrust a franc in her hand and turned quickly from her to carom -against a tall well-dressed man who was passing. As Monty began to utter -his apology the look of gloom dropped from his face and he seized the -stranger’s hand and shook it heartily. - -“Steve, old man!†he cried, “what luck to find you amid this mob! I’ve -been feeling like a poor shipwrecked orphan, and here you come to my -rescue again.†- -The man he addressed as Steve seemed just as pleased to behold Monty -Vaughan. The two were old comrades from the days at their preparatory -school and had met little during the past five years. Monty’s ecstatic -welcome was a pleasant reminder of happy days that were gone. - -“I might ask what you are doing here,†Steven Denby returned. “I -imagined you to be sunning yourself in Newport or Bar Harbor, not doing -Paris in July.†- -“I’ve been living here for two years,†Monty explained, when they were -sheltered from interruption at the café Monty had just left. - -“Doing what?†- -Monty looked at him with a diffident smile. “I suppose you’ll grin just -like everybody else. I’m here to learn foreign banking systems. My -father says it will do me good.†- -Denby laughed. “I’ll bet you know less about it than I do.†The idea of -Monty Vaughan, heir to the Vaughan millions, working like a clerk in the -Crédit Lyonnais was amusing. - -“Does your father make you work all summer?†he demanded. - -“I’m not working now,†Monty explained. “I never do unless I feel like -it. I’m waiting for a friend who is sailing with me on the Mauretania -next week and I’ve just had a wire to say she’ll be here to-morrow.†- -“She!†echoed Denby. “Have you married without my knowledge or consent? -Or is this a honey-moon trip you are taking?†- -A look of sadness came into the younger man’s face. - -“I shall never marry,†he returned. - -But Steven Denby knew him too well to take such expressions of gloom as -final. “Nonsense,†he cried. “You are just the sort they like. You’re -inclined to believe in people too much if you like them, and a husband -who believes in his wife as you will in yours is a treasure. They’ll -fight for you, Monty, when you get home again. For all you know the trap -is already baited.†- -“Trap!†Monty cried reproachfully. “I’ve been trying to make a girl -catch me for three years now and she won’t.†- -“Do you mean you’ve been finally turned down?†Steven Denby asked -curiously. It was difficult to suppose that a man of his friend’s wealth -and standing would experience much trouble in offering heart and -fortune. - -“I haven’t asked yet,†Monty admitted. “I’ve been on the verge of it -hundreds of times, but she always laughs as I’m coming around to it, and -someone comes in or something happens and I’ve never done it.†He sighed -with the deprecating manner of the devout lover. “If you’d only seen -her, Steve, you’d see what mighty little chance I stood. I feel it’s a -bit of impertinence to ask a girl like that to marry me.†- -Steven patted him on the arm. “You’re just the same,†he said, “exactly -the silly old Monty I used to know. Next time you see your charmer, risk -being impertinent and ask her to marry you. Women hate modesty nowadays. -It’s just a confession of failure and we’re all hitched up to success. I -don’t know the girl you are speaking of but when you get home again -instead of declaring your great unworthiness, tell her you’ve left Paris -and its pleasures simply to marry her. Say that the Bourse begged you to -remain and guide the nation through a financial panic, but you left -them weeping and flew back on a fast Cunarder.†- -“I believe you are right,†Monty said. “I’ll do it. I ought to have done -it years ago. Alice is frightfully disappointed with me.†- -“Who is Alice?†the other demanded. “The lady you’re crossing with on -the Mauretania?†- -“Yes,†said Monty. “A good pal of mine; one of those up-to-date women of -the world who know what to do and say at the right moment. She’s a sort -of elder sister to me. You’ll like her, Steve.†- -Denby doubted it but pursued the subject no further. He conceived Alice -to be one of those capable managing women who do so much good in the -world and give so little pleasure. - -“What are you doing in Paris now?†Monty presently demanded. It occurred -to him that it was odd that Denby, too, should be in the city now. - -“Writing a book on the Race Courses of the World,†he said, smiling. “I -am now in the midst of Longchamps.†- -Monty looked at him doubtfully. He had never known that his friend had -any literary aspirations, but he did remember him as one who, if he did -not choose to tell, would invent airy fairy fancies to deceive. - -“I don’t believe it,†he said. - -“You are quite right,†Denby admitted. “You’ve got the key to the -mystery. I’ll confess that I have been engaged to guard Mona Lisa. -Suspicious looking tourists such as you engage my special attention. -Don’t get offended, Monty,†he added, “I’m just wandering through the -city on my way to England and that’s the truth, simple as it may seem. I -was desolate and your pleasing countenance as you bought a franc’s worth -of north wind was good to see. I wondered if you’d remember me.†- -“Remember you!†Monty snorted. “Am I the kind to forget a man who saved -my life?†- -“Who did that?†Denby inquired. - -“Why, you did,†he returned, “You pulled me out of the Nashua river at -school!†- -The other man laughed. “Why, it wasn’t five feet deep there.†- -“I can drown anywhere,†Monty returned firmly. “You saved my life and -I’ve never had the opportunity to do anything in return.†- -“The time will come,†Denby said lightly. “You’ll get a mysterious -message sometime and it will be up to you to rescue me from dreadful -danger.†- -“I’d like to,†the other retorted, “but I’m not sure I’m cut out for -that rescue business.†- -“Have you ever been--†Denby hesitated. “Have you ever been in any sort -of danger?†- -“Yes,†Monty replied promptly, “but you pulled me out.†- -“Please don’t go about repeating it,†Denby entreated, “I have enemies -enough without being blamed for pulling you out of the Nashua river.†- -Monty looked at him in astonishment. Here was the most popular boy in -Groton School complaining of enemies. Monty felt a thrill that had -something of enjoyment in it. His own upbringing had been so free from -any danger and his parents had safeguarded him from so much trouble that -he had found life insipid at times. Yet here was a man talking of -enemies. It was fascinating. - -“Do you mean it?†he demanded. - -“Why not?†said Denby, rolling himself a cigarette. - -“You hadn’t any at school,†Monty insisted. - -“That was a dozen years ago nearly,†Denby insisted. “Since then--†He -paused. “My career wouldn’t interest you, my financial expert, but I am -safe in saying I have accumulated a number of persons who do not wish me -well.†- -“You must certainly meet Alice,†Monty asserted. “She’s like you. She -often says I’m the only really uninteresting person she’s fond of.†- -Denby assured himself that Alice would not interest him in the slightest -degree and made haste to change the subject, but Monty held on to his -chosen course. - -“We’ll all dine together to-morrow night,†he cried. - -“I’m afraid I’m too busy.†- -“Too busy to dine with Alice Harrington when you’ve the opportunity?†-Monty exclaimed. “Are you a woman-hater?†- -A more observant man might have noted the sudden change in expression -that the name Harrington produced in Steven Denby. He had previously -been bored at the idea of meeting a woman who he concluded would be -eager to impart her guide-book knowledge. Alice evidently had meant -nothing to him, but Alice Harrington roused a sudden interest. - -“Not by any chance Mrs. Michael Harrington?†he queried. - -Monty nodded. “The same. She and Michael are two of the best friends I -have. He’s a great old sport and she’s hurrying back because he has to -stay on and can’t get over this year.†Monty flushed becomingly. “I’m -going back with her because Nora is going to stay down in Long Island -with them.†- -“Introduce me to Nora,†Denby insisted. “She is a new motif in your -jocund song. Who is Nora, what is she, that Monty doth commend her?†- -“She’s the girl,†Monty explained. He sighed. “If you only knew how -pretty she was, you wouldn’t talk about a trap being baited. I don’t -think women are the good judges they pretend to be!†- -“Why not?†Denby demanded. - -“Because Alice says she’d accept me and I don’t believe I stand a ghost -of a chance.†- -“Women are the only judges,†Denby assured him seriously. “If I were you -I’d bank on your friend Alice every time.†- -“Then you’ll dine with me to-morrow?†Monty asked. - -“Of course. You don’t suppose I am going to lose sight of you, do you?†- -And Monty, grateful that this admired old school friend was so ready to -join him, forgot the previous excuse about inability to spare the time. - -“That’s fine,†he exclaimed. “But what are we going to do to-night?†- -“You are going to dine with me,†Denby told him. “I haven’t seen you, -let me see,†he reflected, “I haven’t seen you for about ten years and I -want to talk over the old days. What do you say to trying some of -Marguery’s _sole à la Normandie?_†- -During the course of the dinner Monty talked frankly and freely about -his past, present and future. Denby learned that in view of the great -wealth which would devolve upon him, his father had determined that he -should become grounded in finance. When he had finished, he reflected -that while he had opened his soul to his old friend, his old friend had -offered no explanation of what in truth brought him to Europe, or why he -had for almost a decade dropped out of his old set. - -“But what have you been doing?†Monty gathered courage to ask. “I’ve -told you all about me and mine, Steve.†- -“There isn’t much to tell,†Denby responded slowly. “I left Groton -because my father died. I’m afraid he wasn’t a shrewd man like your -father, Monty. He was one of the last relics of New York’s brown-stone -age and he tried to keep the pace when the marble age came in. He -couldn’t do it.†- -“You were going into the diplomatic service,†Monty reminded him. “You -used to specialize in modern languages, I remember. I suppose you had to -give that up.†- -“I had to try to earn my own living,†Denby explained, “and diplomacy -doesn’t pay much at first even if you have the luck to get an -appointment.†- -Monty looked at him shrewdly. He saw a tall, well set up man who had -every appearance of affluence. - -“You’ve done pretty well for yourself.†- -Denby smiled, “The age demands that a man put up a good appearance. A -financier like you ought not to be deceived.†- -Monty leaned over the table. “Steve, old man,†he said, a trifle -nervously, “I don’t want to butt in on your private affairs, but if you -ever want any money you’ll offend me if you don’t let me know. I’ve too -much and that’s a fact. Except for putting a bit on Michael’s horses -when they run and a bit of a flutter occasionally at Monte Carlo I don’t -get rid of much of it. I’ve got heaps. Do you want any?†- -“Monty,†the other man said quietly, “you haven’t altered. You are still -the same generous boy I remember and it’s good for a man like me to know -that. I don’t need any money, but if ever I do I’ll come to you.†- -Monty sighed with relief. His old idol was not hard up and he had not -been offended at the suggestion. It was a good world and he was happy. - -“Steve,†he asked presently, “what did you mean about having enemies and -being in danger? That was a joke, wasn’t it?†- -“We most of us have enemies,†Steven said lightly, “and we are all in -danger. For all you know ptomaines are gathering their forces inside you -even now.†- -“You didn’t mean that,†Monty said positively. “You were serious. What -enemies?†- -“Enemies I have made in the course of my work,†the other returned. - -“Well, what work is it?†Monty queried. It was odd, he thought, that -Denby would not let him into so harmless a secret as the nature of his -work. He felt an unusual spirit of persistence rising within him. “What -work?†he repeated. - -Denby shrugged his shoulders. “You might call it a little irregular,†he -said in a lowered voice. “You represent high finance. Your father is one -of the big men in American affairs. You probably have his set views on -things. I don’t want to shock you, Monty.†- -“Shock be damned!†cried Monty in an aggrieved voice. “I’m tired of -having to accommodate myself to other people’s views.†- -Denby looked at him with mock wonder. - -“Monty in revolt at the established order of things is a most remarkable -phenomenon. Have you a pirate in your family tree that you sigh for -sudden change and a life on the ocean wave?†- -Monty laughed. “I don’t want to do anything like that but I’m tired of -a life that is always the same. You’ve enemies. I don’t believe I’ve -one. I’d like to have an enemy, Steve. I’d like to feel I was in danger; -it would be a change after being wrapped in wool all my life. You’ve -probably seen the world in a way I never shall. I’ve been on a -personally conducted tour, which isn’t the same thing.†- -“Not by a long shot,†Steven Denby agreed. “But,†he added, “why should -you want to take the sort of risks that I have had to take, when there’s -no need? I have been in danger pretty often, Monty, and I shall again. -Why? Because I have my living to make and that way suits me best. You -notice I am sitting with my back to the wall so that none can come -behind me. I do that because two revengeful gentlemen have sworn -bloodthirsty oaths to relieve my soul of its body.†- -Monty tingled with a certain pleasurable apprehension which had never -before visited him. He was experiencing in real life what had only -revealed itself before in novels or on the stage. - -“What are they like?†he demanded in a low voice, looking around. - -“Disappointing, I’m afraid,†Steven answered. “You are looking for a -tall man with a livid scar running from temple to chin and a look before -which even a waiter would blanch. Both my men have mild expressions and -wouldn’t attract a second glance, but they’ll either get me or I’ll get -them.†- -“Steve!†Monty cried. “What did they do?†- -Denby made a careless gesture. “It was over a money matter,†he -explained. - -Monty thought for a moment in silence. Never had his conventional lot -seemed less attractive to him. He approached the subject again as do -timid men who fearfully hang on the outskirts of a street fight, -unwilling to miss what they have not the heart to enjoy. - -“I wish some excitement like that would come my way,†he sighed. - -“Excitement? Go to Monte and break the bank. Become the Jaggers of your -country.†- -“There’s no danger in that,†Monty answered almost peevishly. - -“Nor of it,†laughed his friend. - -“That’s just the way it always is,†Monty complained. “Other fellows -have all the fun and I just hear about it.†- -Denby looked at him shrewdly and then leaned across the table. - -“So you want some fun?†he queried. - -“I do,†the other said firmly. - -“Do you think you’ve got the nerve?†Steven demanded. - -Monty hesitated. “I don’t want to be killed,†he admitted. “What is it?†- -“I didn’t tell you how I made a living, but I hinted my ways were a bit -irregular. What I have to propose is also a trifle out of the usual. The -law and the equator are both imaginary lines, Monty, and I’m afraid my -little expedition may get off the line. I suppose you don’t want to hear -any more, do you?†- -Monty’s eyes were shining with excitement. “I’m going to hear everything -you’ve got to say,†he asserted. - -“It means I’ve got to put myself in your power in a way,†Denby said -hesitatingly, “but I’ll take a chance because you’re the kind of man who -can keep things secret.†- -“I am,†Monty said fervently. “Just you try me out, Steve!†- -“It has to do with a string of pearls,†Denby explained, “and I’m afraid -I shall disappoint you when I tell you I’m proposing to pay for them -just as any one else might do.†- -“Oh!†said Monty. “Is that all?†- -“When I buy these pearls, as you will see me do, with Bank of France -notes, they belong to me, don’t they?†- -“Sure they do,†Monty exclaimed. “They are yours to do as you like -with.†- -“That’s exactly how I feel about it,†Denby said. “It happens to be my -particular wish to take those pearls back to my native land.†- -“Then for heaven’s sake do it,†Monty advised. “What’s hindering you?†- -“A number of officious prying hirelings called customs officials. They -admit that the pearls aren’t improved by the voyage, yet they want me to -pay a duty of twenty per cent. if I take them home with me.†- -“So you’re going to smuggle ’em,†Monty cried. “That’s a cinch!†- -“Is it?†Denby returned slowly. “It might have been in the past, but -things aren’t what they were in the good old days. They’re sending even -society women to jail now as well as fining them. The whole service from -being a joke has become efficient. I tell you there’s risk in it, and -believe me, Monty, I know.†- -“Where would I come in?†the other asked. - -“You’d come in on the profits,†Denby explained, “and you’d be a help as -well.†- -“Profits?†Monty queried. “What profits?†- -Denby laughed. “You simple child of finance, do you think I’m buying a -million-franc necklace to wear about my own fair neck? I can sell it at -a fifty thousand dollar profit in the easiest sort of way. There are -avenues by which I can get in touch with the right sort of buyers -without any risk. My only difficulty is getting the thing through the -customs. It’s up to you to get your little excitement if you’re game.†- -Monty shut his eyes and felt as one does who is about to plunge for the -first swim of the season into icy water. It was one thing to talk about -danger in the abstract and another to have it suddenly offered him. - -Steven had talked calmly about men who wanted to part his soul from his -body as though such things were in no way out of the ordinary. Suppose -these desperate beings assumed Montague Vaughan to be leagued with -Steven Denby and as such worthy of summary execution! But he put aside -these fears and turned to his old friend. - -“I’m game,†he said, “but I’m not in this for the profits.†Now he was -once committed to it, his spirits began to rise. “What about the -danger?†he asked. - -“There may be none at all,†the other admitted. “If there is it may be -slight. If by any chance it is known to certain crooks that I have it -with me there may be an attempt to get it. Naturally they won’t ask me -pleasantly to hand it over, they’ll take it by force. That’s one danger. -Then I may be trailed by the customs people, who could be warned through -secret channels that I have it and am purposing to smuggle it in.†- -“But what can I do?†Monty asked. He was anxious to help but saw little -opportunity. - -“You can tell me if any people follow me persistently while we’re -together in Paris or whether the same man happens to sit next to me at -cafés or any shows we take in.†He paused a moment, “By Jove, Monty, -this means I shall have to book a passage on the Mauretania!†- -“That’s the best part of it,†Monty cried. - -“But Mrs. Harrington,†Denby said. “She might not like it.†- -“Alice can’t choose a passenger list,†Monty exclaimed; “and she’ll be -glad to have any old friend of mine.†- -“That’s a thing I want to warn you of,†the other man said. “I don’t -want you to give away too many particulars about me. Don’t persist in -that fable about my saving your life. Know me just enough to vouch to -her that I’m house-broken but don’t get to the point where we have to -discuss common friends. I have my reasons, Monty, which I’ll explain -later on. I don’t court publicity this trip and I don’t want any -reporter to jump aboard at Quarantine and get interested in me.†- -“I see,†cried the sapient Monty and felt he was plunging at last into -dark doings and mysterious depths. “But how am I to warn you if you’re -followed? I shall be with you and we ought not to let on that we know.†-He felt in that moment the hours he had spent with detective novels had -been time well spent. - -“We must devise something,†Denby agreed, “and something simple.†He -meditated for a moment. “Here’s an idea. If you should think I’m being -followed or you want me to understand that something unusual is up, just -say without any excitement, ‘Will you have a cigarette, Dick?’†- -“But why ‘Dick,’†Monty cried, “when you’re Steve!†- -“For that very reason,†Denby explained. “If you said Steve merely I -shouldn’t notice it, but if you say Dick I shall be on the _qui vive_ at -once.†- -“Great idea!†cried his fellow conspirator enthusiastically. “When do -you buy them?†- -“I’ve an appointment at Cartier’s at eleven. Want to come?†- -“You bet I do,†Monty asserted, “I’m going through with it from start to -finish.†- -He looked at his friend a little anxiously. “What is the worst sort of a -finish we might expect if the luck ran against us?†- -“As you won’t come in on the profits, you shan’t take any risks,†Denby -said. “If you agree to help me as we suggested that’s all I require of -you. In case I should not get by, you can explain me away as a passing -acquaintance merely. Don’t kick against the umpire’s decision,†he -commanded. “If they halved the sentence because two were in it I might -claim your help all the way, but they’d probably double it for -conspiracy, so you’d be a handicap. You’ll get a run for your money, -Monty, all right.†- -“I’m not so sure,†said Monty doubtfully. - -Denby fell into the bantering style the other knew so well. “There’s one -thing I’ll warn you about,†he said. “If a very beautiful young woman -makes your acquaintance on board, by accident of course, don’t tell her -what life seems to you as is your custom. She may be an agent of the -Russian secret police with an assignment to take you to Siberia. She may -force you to marry her at a pistol’s point and cost your worthy -progenitor a million. Be careful, Monty. You’re in a wicked world and -you’ve a sinful lot of money, and these big ships attract all that is -brightest and best in the criminal’s Who’s Who.†- -Monty shivered a bit. “I never thought of that,†he said innocently. - -“Then you’d better begin now,†his mentor suggested, “and have for once -a voyage where you won’t be bored.†- -He glanced at the clock. “It’s later than I thought and I have to be up -early. I’ll walk to your hotel.†- -During the short walk Monty glanced apprehensively over his shoulder a -score of times. Out of the shadows it seemed to him that mysterious men -stared evilly and banded themselves together until a procession followed -the two Americans. But Denby paid no sort of attention to these -problematic followers. - -“Wait till I’ve got the pearls on me,†he whispered mischievously. “Then -you’ll see some fun.†- - - - -CHAPTER TWO - - -Although the carriages and automobiles of the wealthy were no longer -three deep in the Rue de la Paix, as they had been earlier in the -season, this ravishing thoroughfare was crowded with foot-passengers as -Monty and his friend made their way under the red and white awnings of -the shops into Cartier’s. - -The transaction took very little time. The manager of the place seemed -to be expecting his client, to whom he accorded the respect that even a -Rue de la Paix jeweler may pay to a million-franc customer. Bank of -France notes of high denominations were passed to him and Steven Denby -received a small, flat package and walked out into the sunshine with it. - -“Now,†said the owner of the pearls, “guard me as you would your honor, -Monty; the sport begins, and I am now probably pursued by a half dozen -of the super-crooks of high class fiction.†- -“I wish you’d be serious,†Monty said plaintively. - -“I am,†Denby assured him. “But I rely on your protection, so feel more -light-hearted than I should otherwise.†- -“You are laughing at me,†Monty protested. - -“I want you to look a little less like a detected criminal,†Denby -returned. - -“If I happened to be a detective after a criminal I should arrest you on -sight. You keep looking furtively about as though you’d done murder and -bloodhounds were on your track.†- -“Well, they are on our track,†Monty said excitedly, and then whispered -thrillingly: “Have a cigarette, Dick.†There was trembling triumph in -his voice. He felt he had justified himself in his friend’s eyes. - -“What is it?†Denby asked with no show of excitement. - -“There was a man in Cartier’s who watched us all the time,†Monty -confided. “He is on our trail now. We’re being shadowed, Steve. It’s all -up!†- -“Nonsense!†his companion cried. “There’s nothing compromising in buying -a pearl necklace. I didn’t steal it.†- -Suddenly he turned around and looked at the man Monty indicated. His -face cleared. “That’s Harlow. He’s one of Cartier’s clerks, who looks -after American women’s wants. Don’t worry about him.†- -By this time the two had come to the Tuileries, that paradise for the -better class Parisian children. Denby pointed to a seat. “Sit down -there,†he commanded, “while I see what Harlow wants.†- -Obediently Monty took a seat and watched the man he had mistaken for a -detective from the corner of his eye. Denby chatted confidentially with -him for fully five minutes and then, it seemed to the watcher, passed a -small packet into his hand. The man nodded a friendly adieu and walked -rapidly out of sight. For a few seconds Denby stood watching and then -rejoined his friend. - -“Anything the matter?†the timorous one demanded eagerly. - -“Why should there be?†Denby returned. “Don’t worry, Monty, there’s -nothing to get nervous about yet.†- -Monty remembered the confidential conversation between the two. - -“He seemed to have a lot to tell you,†he insisted. - -Denby smiled. “He did; but he came as a friend. Harlow wanted to warn me -that while I was buying the necklace a stranger was mightily interested -and asked Harlow what he knew about me.†- -“There you are,†Monty gasped excitedly, “I told you it was all up. Did -Harlow know who the man was?†- -“He suspected him of being a customs spy. Our customs service takes the -civilized world as its hunting ground and Paris is specially beloved of -it.†- -“What are you going to do?†Monty asked when he had looked suspiciously -at an amiable old priest who went ambling by. “They’ll get you.†- -“They may,†Denby said, “but the interested gentleman at Cartier’s -won’t.†- -“But he knows all about you,†Monty persisted. “It will be dead easy.†- -“He doesn’t,†the other returned. “Harlow took the liberty of -transforming me into an Argentine ranch owner of unbounded wealth about -to purchase a mansion in the Parc Monceau.†- -“That was mighty good of him,†Monty cried in relief. “That fellow -Harlow is certainly all right.†- -Denby smiled a trifle oddly, Monty thought. “His kind ways have won him -a thousand dollars,†he returned. “Did you see me pass him something?†- -Monty nodded. - -“Well, that was five thousand francs. I passed it to him, not in the -least because I believe in the mythical stranger--†- -“What do you mean?†the amazed Monty exclaimed. It seemed to him he was -getting lost in a world of whose existence he had been unaware. - -“Simply this,†Denby told him, “that I disbelieve Harlow’s story and am -not as easily impressed by kind faces as you are. I think Harlow’s -inquisitive stranger was a fake.†- -Monty looked at him with a superior air. “And you mean to say,†he said -with the air of one who has studied financial systems, “that you handed -over a thousand dollars without verifying it? I call that being easy.†- -“It’s this way,†Denby explained patiently. “Harlow knows I have the -necklace and he’s in a position to know on what boat I sail. If I had -not remembered that I owed him five thousand francs just now he might -have informed the customs that I had bought a million-franc necklace and -I should have been marked down as one to whom a special search must be -made if I didn’t declare it.†- -“But if he’s a clerk in Cartier’s what has he to do with the customs?†-Monty asked. - -“Perhaps he is underpaid,†the other returned. “Perhaps he is -extravagant--I’ve seen him at the races and noticed that he patronized -the _pari mutuel_--perhaps he has a wife and twelve children. I’ll leave -it to you to decide, but I dare not take a risk.†- -Monty shivered. “It looks to me as if we were going to have a hell of a -time.†- -“A little excitement possibly,†Denby said airily, “but nothing to -justify language like that, though. You ought to have been with me last -year at Buenos Ayres, Monty, and I could have shown you some sport.†- -“I don’t think I’m built for a life like that,†Monty admitted, and then -reflected that this friend of his was an exceedingly mysterious being of -whose adult life and adventures he knew nothing. For an uneasy moment he -hoped his father would never discover this association, but there soon -prevailed the old boyish spirit of hero-worship. Steven Denby might not -conform to some people’s standards, but he felt certain he would do -nothing criminal. One had to live, Monty reflected, and his father -complained constantly of hard times. - -“What sort of sport was it?†he hazarded. - -“It had to do with the secret of a torpedo controlled by wireless,†-Denby said. “A number of governments were after it and there collected -in Buenos Ayres the choicest collection of high-grade adventurers that I -have ever seen. Some day when I’m through with this pearl trouble I’ll -tell you about it.†- -But what Denby had carelessly termed “pearl trouble†was quite -sufficient for the less experienced man. He had a vivid imagination, -more vivid now than at any period of his career. Paris was full of -Apaches, he knew, and not all spent their days lying in the sun outside -the barriers. Supposing one sprang from behind a tree and fell upon -Denby and seized the precious package whose outline was discernible -through the breast pocket of his coat. Monty suddenly took upon himself -the rôle of an adviser. - -“It’s no use taking unnecessary risks,†he said. “I saw you put those -pearls in your breast pocket, and there were at least six people who had -the same opportunity as I. It’s just putting temptation in the way of a -thief.†- -“I welcome this outbreak of caution on your part,†said Denby, laughing -at his expression of anxiety, “but you’ll need it on board ship most. -The greatest danger is that a couple of crooks may rob me and then pitch -me overboard. Monty, for the sake of our boyhood recollections, don’t -let them throw me overboard.†- -“Now you are laughing at me,†Monty said a trifle sulkily. - -“What do you want me to do?†Denby demanded. - -“Put those pearls in some other place,†he returned stubbornly. - -Denby made a pass or two in the air as conjurers do when they perform -their marvels. - -“It’s done,†he cried. “From what part of my anatomy or yours shall I -produce them?†- -“There you go,†Monty exclaimed helplessly, “you won’t be serious. I’m -getting all on the jump.†- -“A cigarette will soothe you,†Denby told him, taking a flat leathern -pouch from his pocket and offering it to the other. - -“I can’t roll ’em,†Monty protested. - -“Then a look at my tobacco has a soothing effect,†the elder man -insisted. “I grow it in my private vineyard in Ruritania.†- -Monty turned back the leather flap to look at his friend’s private brand -and saw nestling in a place where once tobacco might have reposed a -necklace of pearls for which a million of francs had been paid. - -“Good Lord!†Monty gasped. “How did you do it?†- -“A correspondence school course in legerdemain,†Steven explained. “It -comes in handy at times.†- -“But I didn’t see you do it and I was watching.†- -“An unconscious tribute to my art,†Denby replied. “Monty, I thank you.†- -Monty grew less anxious. If Steven had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve -there was no reason to suppose he must fail. - -“I don’t think you need my advice,†he admitted. “It doesn’t seem I can -help you.†- -“You may be able to help a great deal,†Denby said more seriously, “but -I don’t want you to act as if you were a criminal. Pass it off easily. -Of course,â€--he hesitated,--“I’ve had more experience in this sort of -thing than you, and am more used to being up against it, but it will -never do if you look as anxiously at everybody on the Mauretania as you -do at the passers-by here. You can help me particularly by observing if -I am the subject of special scrutiny.†- -“That will be a cinch,†Monty asserted. - -“Then start right away,†his mentor commanded. “We have been under -observation for the last five minutes by someone I’ve never laid eyes on -before.†- -“Good Lord!†Monty cried. “It was that old priest who stared at us. I -knew he was a fake. That was a wig he had on!†- -“Try again,†Denby suggested. “It happens to be a woman and a very -handsome one. As we went into Cartier’s she passed in a taxi. I only -thought then that she was a particularly charming American or English -woman out on a shopping expedition. When we came out she was in one of -those expensive _couturier’s_ opposite, standing at an upper window -which commands a view of Cartier’s door. They may have been -coincidences, but at the present moment, although we are sauntering -along the Champs Elysées, she is pursuing us in another taxi. She has -passed us once. When she went by she told the chauffeur to turn, but he -was going at such a pace that he couldn’t pull up in time. He has just -turned and is now bearing down on us. Take a look at the lady, Monty, so -you will know her again.†- -A sense of dreadful responsibility settled on Montague Vaughan. He was -now entering upon his rôle of Denby’s aid and must in a few seconds be -brought face to face with what was unquestionably an adventuress of the -highest class. He knew all about them from fiction. She would have the -faintest foreign accent, be wholly charming and free from vulgarity, and -yet like Keats’ creation be a _belle dame sans merci_. But, he wondered -uneasily, what would be his rôle if his friend fell victim to her -charms? - -He was startled out of his vain imaginings when Denby exclaimed: “By all -that’s wonderful, she seems to know one of us, and it’s not I! You’re -the fortunate man, Monty.†- -A pretty woman with good features and laughing eyes was certainly -looking out of a taxi and smiling right at him. And when he realized -this, Monty’s depression was lifted and he sprang forward to meet her. -“It’s Alice,†he cried. - -Denby, following more leisurely, was introduced to her. - -“I came last night,†she explained. “Michael’s horse won and there was -no more interest in Deauville or Trouville and as I must buy some things -I came on here as soon as I could. I thought I saw you in Cartier’s,†-she explained, “and tried to make you see me when you came out, but only -Mr. Denby looked my way so I dared not make any signs of welcome.†- -She seemed exceedingly happy to be in Paris again, and Denby, looking at -her with interest, knew he was in the company of one of the most notable -and best liked of the smart hostesses among the sporting set on Long -Island. The Harringtons were enormously rich and lived at a great estate -near Westbury, not far from the Meadow Brook Club. The Directory of -Directors showed the name of Michael Harrington in a number of -influential companies, but of recent years his interest in business had -slackened and he was more interested in the development of his estate -and the training of his thoroughbreds than in Wall Street activities. - -For her part she took him, although the name was totally unfamiliar, as -a friend of Monty’s, and was prepared to like him. Whereas an -Englishwoman of her class might have been insistent to discover whether -any of his immediate ancestors had been engaged in retail trade before -she accepted him as an equal, Alice Harrington was willing to take -people on their face value and retain them on their merits. - -She saw a tall, well-bred man with strong features and that air of -_savoir faire_ which is not easy of assumption. She felt instantly that -he was the sort of man Michael would like. He talked about racing as -though he knew, and that alone would please her husband. - -“I’ve spent so much money,†she said presently, “that I shall dismiss -this taxi-man and walk. One can walk in Paris with two men, whereas one -may be a little pestered alone.†- -“Fine,†Monty cried. “We’ll go and lunch somewhere. What place strikes -your fancy?†- -“Alas,†she said, “I’m booked already. I have an elderly relation in the -Boulevard Haussmann who stays here all summer this year on account of -alterations in the house which she superintends personally, and I’ve -promised.†- -“I hope she hasn’t sacrificed you at a dinner table, too,†Denby said, -“because if you are free to-night you’d confer a blessing on a fellow -countryman if you’d come with Monty and me to the Ambassadeurs. Polin -is funnier than ever.†- -“I’d love to,†she cried. “You have probably delivered me from my aunt’s -dismal dinner. I hadn’t an engagement but now I can swear to one -truthfully. Men are usually so vain that if you say you’re dreadfully -sorry but you’ve another engagement they really believe it. The dear -things think no other cause would make a woman refuse. But my aunt would -interrogate me till I faltered and contradicted myself.†- -They left her later at one of those great mansions in the Boulevard -Haussmann. The house was enlaced with scaffolding and workmen swarmed -over its roof. - -“It’s old Miss Woodwarde’s house,†Monty explained. “She’s worth -millions and will probably leave it to Alice, who doesn’t need any, -because she’s the only one of all her relatives who speaks the truth and -doesn’t fawn and flatter.†- -“It takes greater strength of mind than poor relations usually have, to -tell rich relatives the truth,†Steven reminded him. - -Monty had evidently recovered his good spirits. “I knew you’d like her,†-he said later, “and I knew she’d take to you. We’ll have a corking -dinner and a jolly good time.†- -“There’s one thing I want to ask of you,†Denby said gravely. “Don’t -give any particulars about me. If she’s the sort I think her she won’t -ask, but you’ve got a bad habit of wanting people to hear how I fished -you out of the river. I want to slip into New York without any -advertisement of the fact. I’m not the son of a plutocrat as you are. -I’m the hard-up son of a man who was once rich but is now dead and -forgotten.†- -“Do hard-up men hand a million francs across for a string of pearls to -put in their tobacco-pouches?†Monty demanded shrewdly. - -“You may regard that as an investment if you like,†Denby answered. “It -may be all my capital is tied up in it.†- -“You’re gambling for a big stake then,†Monty said seriously. “Is it -worth it, old man?†- -For a moment he had an idea of offering him a position in some of the -great corporations in which his father was interested, but refrained. -Steven Denby was not the kind of man to brook anything that smacked of -patronage and he feared his offer might do that although otherwise -meant. - -“It means a whole lot more to me than you can think,†Denby returned. “I -have made up my mind to do it and I think I can get away with it in just -the way I have mapped out.†Then, with a smile: “Monty, I’ve a proper -respect for your imaginative genius, but I’d bet you the necklace to the -tobacco-pouch that you don’t understand how much I want to get that -string of pearls through the customs.†- -“The pouch is yours,†Monty conceded generously. “How should I guess? -How do I know who’s a smuggler or who isn’t? Alice says she always gets -something through and for all I know may have a ruby taken from the eye -of a Hindoo god in her back hair!†- -He looked at his friend eagerly, a new thought striking him. He often -surprised himself in romantic ideas, ideas for which Nora was -responsible. - -“Perhaps you are taking it for someone, someone you’re fond of,†he -suggested. - -“Why not?†Denby returned. “If I were really fond of any woman I’d risk -more than that to please her.†- -Monty noticed that he banished the subject by speaking of Alice -Harrington’s _penchant_ for smuggling. - -“I hope Mrs. Harrington won’t run any risks,†he said. “In her case it -is absolutely senseless and unnecessary.†- -“Oh, they’d never get after her,†Monty declared. “She’s too big. They -get after the little fellows but they’d leave Mrs. Michael Harrington -alone.†- -“Don’t you believe it,†his friend answered. “They’re doing things -differently now. They’re getting a different class of men in the -Collector’s office.†- -“I suppose you’d like the old style better,†Monty observed. - -“Oh, I don’t know,†said the other. “It’s more risky now and so one has -to be cleverer. I’ve often heard it said the hounds have all the fun and -the fox none. - -“I’m not so sure of that, Monty; I think a fox that can fool thirty -couple of hounds and get back to his earth ought to be a gladsome -animal.†- -“I’ll find out when we’re in West Street, New York,†Monty said grimly. -“I’ll take particular notice of how this fox acts and where the hounds -are. If you harp on this any more I shall lose my appetite. What about -Voisin’s?†- -“Eat lightly,†Denby counseled him. “I’m going to treat you to a -remarkable meal to-night; I know the chef at the Ambassadeurs, and the -wine-steward feeds out of my hand.†- -“I don’t see why you shouldn’t buy necklaces like that if you have those -Ambassadeurs waiters corralled. They soaked me six francs for a single -peach once,†Monty said reminiscently. But he wondered, all the same, -how it was Steven should be able to fling money away as he chose. - -His friend looked at him shrewdly. “You’re thinking I ought to patronize -the excellent Duval,†he observed. “Well, sometimes I do. I think I’ve -patronized most places in Paris once.†- -“Steve, you’re a mystery,†Monty asserted. - -“I hope I am,†said the other; “I make my living out of being just -that.†- -They walked in silence to the Rue St. Honoré, Monty still a bit uneasy -at being in a crowded place with a friend in whose pocket was a million -francs’ worth of precious stones. Once or twice as the pocket gaped open -he caught a glimpse of the worn pigskin pouch. Steven was taking wholly -unnecessary risks, he thought. - -As they were leaving Voisin’s together after their luncheon it happened -that Monty walked behind his friend through the door. Deftly he inserted -his hand into the gaping pocket and removed the pouch to his own. He -chuckled to think of the object lesson he would presently dilate upon. - -When they were near one of those convenient seats which Paris provides -for her street-living populace Monty suggested a minute’s rest. - -With an elaborate gesture he took out the pouch and showed it to Denby. - -“Did you ever see this before?†he demanded. - -“I’ve got one just like it,†his friend returned without undue interest. -“Useful things, aren’t they, and last so much longer than the rubber -ones?†- -“My pouch,†said Monty, beginning to enjoy his own joke, “looks better -inside than outside. I keep in it tobacco I grow in my private orchid -house. Look!†- -He pulled back the flap and held it out to Denby. - -Denby gazed in it obediently with no change of countenance. - -“You’re not a heavy smoker, are you?†he returned. - -Instantly Monty gazed into it. It was empty except for a shred of -tobacco. - -“Good God!†he cried. “They’ve been stolen from me and they put the -pouch back!†- -“What has?†the other exclaimed. - -“The pearls,†Monty groaned. “I took them for a joke, and now they’re -gone!†- -He looked apprehensively at Steven, meditating meanwhile how quickly he -could turn certain scrip he held into ready money. - -Steven evinced no surprise. Instead he rose from his seat and placed a -foot upon it as though engaged in tying a lace. But he pointed to the -cuff on the bottom of the trouser leg that was on the seat by Monty’s -side. And Monty, gazing as he was bid, saw his friend’s slender fingers -pick therefrom a string of pearls. - -“I know no safer place,†Denby commented judicially. “Of course the -customs fellows are on to it, but no pickpocket who ever lived can get -anything away from you if you cache it there. On board ship I shall -carry it in my pocket, but this is the best place in Paris when one is -in strange company.†- -Monty said no word. His relief was too great and he felt weak and -helpless. - -“What’s the matter?†Denby demanded. - -“I want a drink,†Monty returned, “but it isn’t on you.†- - - - -CHAPTER THREE - - -THERE are still restaurants in Paris where a well chosen dinner delights -the chef who is called upon to cook it and the waiters who serve. And -although it is true that most of the diners of to-day know little of -that art which is now disappearing, it happened that Steven Denby was -one who delighted the heart of the Ambassadeurs’ chef. - -Monty was a happy soul who had never been compelled to consult his -pocketbook in a choice of restaurants, and Mrs. Michael Harrington was -married to a gourmand who well distinguished the difference between that -and the indefensible fault of gluttony. Thus both of Denby’s guests were -in a sense critical. They admitted that they had dined with one who -agreed with Dumas’ dictum that a dinner is a daily and capital action -that can only worthily be accomplished by _gens d’esprit_. - -There are few places in Paris where a dinner in summer can be more -pleasantly eaten than the balcony at the Ambassadeurs, among slim -pillars of palest green and banks of pink roses. In the distance--not -too near to be disturbed by the performers unless they chose--the three -Americans saw that idol of the place, the great Polin at his best. -French waiters do not bring courses on quickly with the idea of using -the table a second time during the dining-hour. The financial genius who -calculates _l’addition_ knows a trick worth two of that. - -Still a little anxious that Denby might not be able to stand the -expense, Monty fell to thinking of the charges that Parisian -restaurateurs can make. “They soaked me six francs for a peach here -once,†he said for the second time that day. - -“That’s nothing to what Bignon used to charge,†Alice Harrington -returned. “Once when Michael’s father was dining there he was charged -fifteen francs. When he said they must be very scarce in Paris, Bignon -said it wasn’t the peaches that were scarce, it was the Harringtons.†- -“Good old Michael,†said Monty, “I wish he were here. Why isn’t he?†- -“Something is being reorganized and the other people want his advice.†-She laughed. “I suppose he is really good at that sort of thing, but he -gets so hopelessly muddled over small accounts that I can’t believe it. -He was fearfully sorry not to have seen his colt run at Deauville. I -shall have to tell him all about it.†- -“I read the account,†said Denby. “St. Mervyn was the name, wasn’t it?†- -She nodded. “He won by a short head. Michael always likes to beat French -horses. I’m afraid he isn’t as fond of the country as I am. The only -thing he really likes here is the _heure de l’aperitif_. He declares it -lasts from four-thirty till seven.†She laughed. “He has carried the -habit home with him.†- -“Did you win anything?†Denby asked. - -“Enough to buy some presents at Cartier’s,†she returned. “I’ve bought -something very sweet for Nora Rutledge,†she said, turning to Monty. -“Aren’t you curious to know what? It’s a pearl la vallière.†- -“Then for Heaven’s sake, declare it!†Monty cried. - -“Oh, no,†she said, “I’ll pay if it’s found, but it’s a sporting risk to -take and you can’t make me believe smuggling’s wrong. Michael says it’s -a Democratic device to rob Republican women.†- -“Ask Mr. Denby,†Monty retorted. “He knows.†- -“And what do you know, Mr. Denby?†she demanded. - -“That the customs people and the state department see no humor in that -sort of a joke any longer. You read surely that society women even have -been imprisoned for taking sporting risks?†- -“Milliners who make a practice of getting things through on their annual -trip,†she said lightly. “Of course one wouldn’t make a business of it, -but I’ve always smuggled little things through and I always shall.†- -“Well, I wouldn’t if I were you,†said Monty. “Mr. Denby has frightened -me.†- -Alice Harrington looked at him curiously. - -“Have you been caught?†she asked with a smile. - -“I’ve seen others caught,†he returned, “and if any sister of mine had -to suffer as they did by the publicity and the investigation the customs -people are empowered and required to make, I should feel rather -uncomfortable.†- -“What a depressing person you are,†she laughed. “I had already decided -where to hide the things. I think I shall do it after all. It’s been all -right before, so why not now?†- -He shrugged his shoulders. “It may be the new brooms are sweeping clean -or it may be the state department has said smuggling shall no longer be -condoned. I only know that things are done very differently now.†- -Monty looked at him in amazement. His expression plainly meant that he -considered his friend the proprietor of an unusually large supply of -sheer gall. - -“I heard about that,†she said, “but one can’t believe it. There’s a -mythical being known only by his initials who is investigating for the -state department. Even Michael warned me, so he may have some inside -tip. Have you heard of him, Mr. Denby?†- -“I was thinking of him,†he answered. “I think they call him R. B. or R. -D. or some non-committal thing like that.†- -“And you believe in him?†she asked sceptically. - -“I’m afraid I do,†he returned. - -“The deuce you do!†Monty cried, aggrieved. He had been happy for the -last few hours in the belief that his friend was too well armed to get -detected, and here he was admitting, in a manner that plainly showed -apprehension, that this initialed power might be even on his track. - -“You never smuggle,†Alice Harrington said, smiling. “You haven’t the -nerve, Monty, so you need not take it to heart.†- -“But I do nevertheless,†he retorted. - -“Monty,†she cried, “I believe you’re planning to smuggle something -yourself! We’ll conspire together and defeat that abominable law.†- -“If you must,†Denby said, still gravely, “don’t advertise the fact. -Paris has many spies who reap the reward of overhearing just such -confidences.†- -“Spies!†She laughed. “How melodramatic, Mr. Denby.†- -“But I mean it,†he insisted. “Not highly paid government agents, but -perhaps such people as chambermaids in your hotel, or servants to whom -you pay no attention whatsoever. How do you and I know for example that -Monty isn’t high up in the secret service?†- -“Me?†cried Monty. “Well, I certainly admire your brand of nerve, -Steve!†- -“That’s no answer,†his friend returned. “You say you have been two -years here studying Continental banking systems. I’ll bet you didn’t -even know that the Banque de France issued a ten thousand franc note!†- -“Of course I did,†Monty cried, a little nettled. - -Denby turned to Mrs. Harrington with an air of triumph. - -“That settles it, Monty is a spy.†- -“I don’t see how that proves it,†she answered. - -“The Banque de France has no ten thousand franc note,†he returned; “its -highest value is five thousand francs. In two years Montague Vaughan has -not found that out. The ordinary tourist who passes a week here and -spends nothing to speak of might be excused, but not a serious student -like Monty.†- -“I will vouch for him,†Mrs. Harrington said. “I’ve known him for years -and I don’t think it’s a life suited to him at all, is it, Monty?†- -“Oh, I don’t know,†said he airily. “I may be leading a double life.†He -looked at her not without an expression of triumph. Little did she know -in what a conspiracy he was already enlisted. After an excellent repast -and a judicious indulgence in some rare wine Monty felt he was -extraordinarily well fitted for delicate intrigue, preferably of an -international character. He stroked his budding moustache with the air -of a gentleman adventurer. - -Alice Harrington smiled. She was a good judge of character and Monty was -too well known to her to lend color to any such notion. - -“It won’t do,†she averred, “but Mr. Denby has every earmark of it. -There’s that piercing look of his and the obsequious way waiters attend -on him.†- -Monty laughed heartily. He was in possession of a secret that made such -an idea wholly preposterous. Here was a man with a million-franc pearl -necklace in his pocket, a treasure he calmly proposed to smuggle in -against the laws of his country, being taken for a spy. - -“Alice,†he said still laughing, “I’ll go bail on Steve for any amount -you care to name. I am also willing to back him against all comers for -brazen nerve and sheer gall.†- -Denby interrupted him a little hastily. - -“As we two men are free from suspicion, only Mrs. Harrington remains -uncleared.†- -“This is all crazy talk,†Monty asserted. - -“I know one woman, well known in New York, who goes over each year and -more than once has made her expenses by tipping off the authorities to -things other women were trying to get through without declaration.†- -“You speak with feeling,†Mrs. Harrington said, and wondered if this -friend of Monty’s had not been betrayed by some such confidence. - -“Are you going to take warning?†Denby asked. - -She shook her head. “I don’t think so. You’ve been reading the American -papers and are deceived by the annual warnings to intending European -tourists. I’m a hardened and successful criminal.†She leaned forward to -look at a dancer on the stage below them and Denby knew that his -monitions had left her unmoved. - -“When were you last at home?†she demanded presently of Denby. - -“About six months ago,†he answered. “I shall be there a week from -to-morrow if I live.†- -The last three words vaguely disturbed Monty. Why, he wondered crossly, -was Denby always reminding him of danger? There was no doubt that what -his friend really should have said was: “If I am not murdered by -criminals for the two hundred thousand dollars’ worth of valuables they -probably know I carry with me.†- -“Have you booked your passage yet?†she asked. - -It occurred to her that it would be pleasant to have a second man on the -voyage. Like all women of her world, she was used to the attentions of -men and found life deplorably dull without them, although she was not a -flirt and was still in love with her husband. - -“Not yet,†he answered, “but La Provence goes from Havre to-morrow.†- -“Come with us,†she insisted. “The Mauretania sails a couple of days -later but gets you in on the same morning as the other.†She turned to -Monty. “Isn’t that a brilliant idea?†- -“It’s so brilliant I’m blinded by it,†he retorted, gazing at his friend -with a look of respect. Not many hours ago Steven had asserted that he -and Monty must sail together on the fastest of ships, and now he had -apparently decided to forsake the Compagnie Transatlantique only on -account of Alice Harrington’s invitation. - -“I shall be charmed,†was all he had said. - -Monty felt that he was a co-conspirator of one who was not likely to be -upset by trifles. He sighed. A day or so ago he had imagined himself -ill-used by Fate because no unusual excitement had come his way, and now -his prayers had been answered too abundantly. The phrase “If I live†-remained in his memory with unpleasant insistency. - -“We ought to cross the Channel by the afternoon boat to-morrow,†Alice -said. “There are one or two things I want to get for Michael in London.†- -“It will be a much nicer voyage for me than if I had gone alone on La -Provence,†Denby said gratefully, while Monty continued to meditate on -the duplicity of his sex. - -When they had taken Mrs. Harrington to her hotel Monty burst out with -what he had been compelled to keep secret all the evening. - -“What in thunder makes you so careful about people smuggling?†he -demanded. - -“About other people smuggling, you mean,†Denby corrected. - -“It’s the same thing,†Monty asserted. - -“Far from it,†his friend made answer. “If Mrs. Harrington is suspected -and undeclared stuff found on her, you and I as her companions will be -more or less under suspicion too. It is not unusual for women to ask -their men friends to put some little package in their pockets till the -customs have been passed. The inspectors may have an idea that she has -done this with us. Personally I don’t relish a very exhaustive search.†- -“You bet you don’t,†his friend returned. “I shall probably be the only -honest man aboard.†- -“Mrs. Harrington may ask you to hold some small parcel till she’s been -through the ordeal,†Denby reminded him. “If she does, Monty, you’ll be -caught for a certainty.†- -“Damn it all!†Monty cried petulantly, “why can’t you people do the -right thing and declare what you bring in, just as I do?†- -“What is your income?†Denby inquired. “Your father was always liberal -with you.†- -“You mean I have no temptation?†Monty answered. “I forgot that part of -it. I don’t know what I’d do if there wasn’t always a convenient paying -teller who passed me out all the currency I wanted.†- -He looked at his friend curiously, wondering just what this act of -smuggling meant to him. Perhaps Denby sensed this. - -“You probably wondered why I wrung that invitation out of Mrs. -Harrington instead of being honest and saying I, too, was going by the -Cunard line. I can’t tell you now, Monty, old man, but I hope some day -if I’m successful that I can. I tell you this much, though, that it -seems so much to me that no little conventionalities are going to stand -in my way.†- -Monty, pondering on this later when he was in his hotel room, called to -mind the rumor he had heard years ago that Steven’s father had died -deeply in debt. It was for this reason that the boy was suddenly -withdrawn from Groton. It might be that his struggles to make a living -had driven him into regarding the laws against smuggling as arbitrary -and inequitable just as Alice Harrington and dozens of other people he -knew did. Denby, he argued, had paid good money for the pearls and they -belonged to him absolutely; and if by his skill he could evade the -payment of duty upon them and sell them at a profit, why shouldn’t he? -Before slumber sealed his eyes, Montague Vaughan had decided that -smuggling was as legitimate a sport as fly-fishing. That these views -would shock his father he knew. But his father always prided himself -upon a traditional conservatism. - - - - -CHAPTER FOUR - - -Less than an hour before the Mauretania reached Quarantine, James -Duncan, whose rank was that of Customs Inspector and present assignment -the more important one of assistant to Daniel Taylor, a Deputy-Surveyor, -threw away the stub of cigar and reached for the telephone. - -When central had given him his number he called out: “Is that you, -Ford?†Apparently the central had not erred and his face took on a look -of intentness as he gave the man at the other end of the line his -instructions. “Say, Ford,†he called, “I’ve got something mighty -important for you. Directly the Mauretania gets into Quarantine, go -through the declarations and ’phone me right away whether a man named -Steven Denby declares a pearl necklace valued at two hundred thousand -dollars. No. No, not that name, Denby, D-E-N-B-Y. Steven Denby. That’s -right. A big case you say? I should bet it is a big case. Never you mind -who’s handling it, Ford. It may be R. J., or it may not. Don’t you worry -about a little thing like that. It’s your job to ’phone me as soon as -you get a peek at those declarations. Let Hammett work with you. -Bye-bye.†- -He hung up the receiver and leaned back in his chair, well satisfied -with himself. He was a spare, hatchet-faced man, who held down his -present position because he was used to those storm warnings he could -see on his chief’s face and knew enough to work in the dark and never -ask for explanations. - -He did not, for instance, lean back in his chair and smoke cigars with a -lordly air when Deputy-Surveyor Daniel Taylor was sitting in his big -desk in the window opposite. At such times Duncan worked with silent -fury and felt he had evened up matters when he found a Customs Inspector -whom he could impress with his own superiority. - -When a step in the outside passage warned him that his chief might -possibly be coming in, he settled down in an attitude of work. But there -entered only Harry Gibbs, dressed in the uniform of a Customs Inspector. -Gibbs was a fat, easy man, whose existence was all the more pleasant -because of his eager interest in gossip. None knew so well as Gibbs the -undercurrent of speculation which the lesser lights of the Customs term -office politics. If the Collector frowned, Gibbs instantly dismissed the -men upon whom his displeasure had fallen and conjured up erroneous -reasons concerning high official wrath. Since Duncan was near to a man -in power, Gibbs welcomed any opportunity to converse with him. He seldom -came away from such an interview empty-handed. He was a pleasant enough -creature and filled with mild wonder at the vagaries of Providence. - -Just now he seemed hot but that was not unusual, for he was rarely -comfortable during the summer months as he complained frequently. He -seemed worried, Duncan thought. - -“Hello, Jim,†he said when he entered. - -Duncan assumed the inquisitorial air his chief had in a marked degree. - -“Thought you were searching tourists on the Olympic this afternoon,†he -replied. - -Gibbs mopped his perspiring head, “I was,†he answered. “I had two -thousand crazy women, all of ’em swearing they hadn’t brought in a -thing. Gosh! Women is liars.†- -“What are you doing over here?†Duncan asked. - -“I brought along a dame they want your boss Taylor to look over. It -needs a smart guy like him to land her. Where is he?†- -“Down with Malone now; he’ll be back soon.†- -Gibbs sank into a chair with a sigh of relief. “He don’t have to hurry -on my account. I’ll be tickled to stay here all day. I’m sick of -searching trunks that’s got nothing in ’em but clothes. It ain’t like -the good old days, Jim. In them times if you treated a tourist right -he’d hand you his business card, and when you showed up in his office -next day, he’d come across without a squeal. I used to know the -down-town business section pretty well in them days.†- -“So did I. Why, when I was inspector, if you had any luck picking out -your passenger you’d find twenty dollars lying right on the top tray of -the first trunk he opened up for you.†- -Gibbs sighed again. It seemed the golden age was passing. - -“And believe me,†he said, “when that happened to me I never opened any -more of his trunks, I just labeled the whole bunch. But now--why, since -this new administration got in I’m so honest it’s pitiful.†- -Duncan nodded acquiescence. - -“It’s a hell of a thing when a government official has to live on his -salary,†he said regretfully. “They didn’t ought to expect it of us.†- -“What do they care?†Gibbs asserted bitterly, and then added with that -inquiring air which had frequently been mistaken for intelligence: -“Ain’t it funny that it’s always women who smuggle? They’ll look you -right in the eye and lie like the very devil, and if you do land ’em -they ain’t ashamed, only sore!†- -Duncan assumed his most superior air. - -“I guess men are honester than women, Jim, and that’s the whole secret.†- -“They certainly are about smuggling,†the other returned. “Why, we -grabbed one of these here rich society women this morning and pulled out -about forty yards of old lace--and say, where do you think she had it -stowed?†- -“Sewed it round her petticoat,†Duncan said with a grin. He had had -experience. - -Gibbs shook his head, “No. It was in a hot-water bottle. That was a new -one on me. Well, when we pinched her she just turned on me as cool as -you please: ‘You’ve got me now, but damn you, I’ve fooled you lots of -times before!’†- -Gibbs leaned back in enjoyment of his own imitation of the society -lady’s voice and watched Duncan looking over some declaration papers. -Duncan looked up with a smile. “Say, here’s another new one. Declaration -from a college professor who paid duty on spending seventy-five francs -to have his shoes half-soled in Paris.†- -But Gibbs was not to be outdone. - -“That’s nothing,†said he, “a gink this morning declared a gold tooth. -I didn’t know how to classify it so I just told him nobody’d know if -he’d keep his mouth shut. It was a back tooth. He did slip me a cigar, -but women who are smugglin’ seem to think it ain’t honest to give an -inspector any kind of tip.†Gibbs dived into an inner pocket and brought -out a bunch of aigrettes. “The most I can do now is these aigrettes. I -nipped ’em off of a lady coming down the gangplank of the Olympic. They -ain’t bad, Jim.†- -Duncan rose from his chair and came over to Gibbs’ side and took the -plume from his hand. - -“Can’t you guys ever get out of the habit of grafting?†he demanded. -“Queer,†he continued, looking at the delicate feathers closely, “how -some soft, timid little bit of a woman is willing to wear things like -that. Do you know where they come from?†- -“From some factory, I s’pose,†Gibbs answered with an air of candor. - -“No they don’t,†Duncan told him. “They take ’em from the mother bird -just when she’s had her young ones; they leave her half dead with the -little ones starving. Pretty tough, I call it, on dumb animals,†he -concluded, with so sentimental a tone as to leave poor Gibbs amazed. He -was still more amazed when his fellow inspector put them in his own -pocket and went back to his desk. - -“Say, Jim,†Gibbs expostulated, “what are you doing with them?†- -“Why, my wife was asking this morning if I couldn’t get her a bunch. -These’ll come in just right.†- -“You’re a funny guy to talk about grafting,†Gibbs grumbled, “I ain’t -showing you nothin’ more.†- -“Never you mind me,†Duncan commanded. “You keep your own eyes peeled. -Old man Taylor’s been raising the deuce around here about reports that -some of you fellows still take tips.†- -Gibbs had heard such rumors too often for them to affect him now. “Oh, -it’s just the usual August holler,†he declared. - -Duncan contradicted him, “No, it isn’t,†he observed. “It’s because the -Collector and the Secretary of the Treasury have started an -investigation about who’s getting the rake-off for allowing stuff to -slip through. I heard the Secretary was coming over here to-day. You -keep your eyes peeled, Harry.†- -“If times don’t change,†Gibbs said with an air of gloom, “I’m going -into the police department.†- -He turned about to see if the steps he heard at the door were those of -the man he had come to see. He breathed relief when he saw it was only -Peter, the doorkeeper. - -“Mr. Duncan,†said the man, “Miss Ethel Cartwright has just ’phoned -that she’s on her way and would be here in fifteen minutes.†- -Gibbs looked from one to the other with his accustomed mild interest. He -could see that the news of which he could make little had excited -Duncan. It was evidently something important. Directly the doorkeeper -had gone Duncan called his chief on the telephone and Gibbs sauntered -nearer the ’phone. To hear both sides of the conversation would make it -much easier. - -“Got a cigar, Jim?†he inquired casually of the other, who was holding -the wire. - -“Yes,†said Duncan, taking one from his pocket. - -Gibbs reached a fat hand over for it, “Thanks,†he returned simply. - -Duncan bit the end off and put it in his own mouth. “And I’m going to -smoke it myself,†he observed. - -Gibbs shook his head reprovingly at this want of generosity and took a -cigar from his own pocket. “All right then; I’ll have to smoke one of my -own.†- -Just then Duncan began to speak over the wire. “Hello. Hello, Chief. -Miss Ethel Cartwright just ’phoned she’d be here in fifteen minutes.... -Yes, sir.... I’ll have her wait.†- -When he had rung off, Gibbs could see his interest was increasing. -“What do you think of her falling for a bum stall like that?†- -“Who?†Gibbs demanded. “Which? What stall?†- -“Why, Miss Cartwright!†said Duncan. “Ain’t I talking about her?†- -“Well, who is she?†the aggrieved Gibbs cried. “Is she a smuggler?†- -“No. She’s a swell society girl,†said Duncan in a superior manner. - -“If she ain’t a smuggler, what’s she here for then?†Gibbs had a gentle -pertinacity in sticking to his point. - -“The Chief wants to use her in the Denby case, so he had me write her a -letter saying we’d received a package from Paris containing dutiable -goods, a diamond ring, and would she kindly call this afternoon and -straighten out the matter.†Duncan now assumed an air of triumph. “And -she fell for a fake like that!†- -“I get you,†said Gibbs. “But what does he want her for?†- -“I told you, the Denby case.†- -“What’s that?†Gibbs entreated. - -Duncan lowered his voice. “The biggest smuggling job Taylor ever -handled.†- -“You don’t say so,†Gibbs returned, duly impressed. “Why, nobody’s told -me anything about it.†- -“Can you keep your mouth shut?†Duncan inquired mysteriously. - -“Sure,†Gibbs declared. “I ain’t married.†- -“Then just take a peek out of the door, will you?†Duncan directed. - -The other did as he was bid. “It’s all right,†he declared, finding the -corridor empty. - -“I never know when he may stop out there and listen to what I’m saying. -You can hear pretty plain.†- -“He is the original pussy-foot, ain’t he,†Gibbs returned. He had known -of Taylor’s reputation for finding out what was going on in his office -by any method. “Now, what’s it all about?†- -Duncan grew very confidential. - -“Last week the Chief got a cable from Harlow, a salesman in Cartier’s.†- -“What’s Cartier’s?†Gibbs inquired. - -“The biggest jewelry shop in Paris. Harlow’s our secret agent there. His -cable said that an American named Steven Denby had bought a pearl -necklace there for a million francs. That’s two hundred thousand -dollars.†- -“Gee!†Gibbs cried, duly impressed by such a sum, “But who’s Steven -Denby? Some new millionaire? I never heard of him.†- -“Neither did I,†Duncan told him; “and we can’t find out anything about -him and that’s what makes us so suspicious. You ought to be able to get -some dope on a man who can fling two hundred thousand dollars away on a -string of pearls.†- -Gibbs’ professional interest was aroused. “Did he slip it by the -Customs, then?†- -“He hasn’t landed yet,†Duncan answered. “He’s on the Mauretania.†- -“Why, she’s about due,†Gibbs cried. - -“I know,†Duncan retorted, “I’ve just had Ford on the ’phone about it. -This fellow Denby is traveling with Montague Vaughan--son of the big -banker--and Mrs. Michael Harrington.†- -“You mean _the_ Mrs. Michael Harrington?†Gibbs demanded eagerly. - -“Sure,†Duncan exclaimed, “there’s only one.†- -Gibbs was plainly disappointed at this ending to the story. - -“If he’s a friend of Mrs. Harrington and young Vaughan, he ain’t no -smuggler. He’ll declare the necklace.†- -“The Chief has a hunch he won’t,†Duncan said. “He thinks this Denby is -some slick confidence guy who has wormed his way into the Harringtons’ -confidence so he won’t be suspected.†- -Gibbs considered the situation for a moment. - -“Maybe he ain’t traveling with the party at all but just picked ’em up -on the boat.†- -Duncan shook his head. “No, he’s a friend all right. She’s taking him -down to the Harrington place at Westbury direct from the dock. One of -the stewards on the Mauretania is our agent and he sent us a copy of her -wireless to old man Harrington.†- -“He sounds to me like a sort of smart-set Raffles,†Gibbs asserted. - -“You’ve got it right,†Duncan said approvingly. - -“What’s Taylor going to do?†Gibbs asked next. - -“He’s kind of up against it,†Duncan returned. “I don’t know what he’ll -do yet. If Denby’s on the level and we pinch him and search him and -don’t find anything, think of the roar that Michael Harrington--and he’s -worth about ninety billion--will put up at Washington because we frisked -one of his pals. Why, he’d go down there and kick to his swell friends -and we’d all be fired.†- -“I ain’t in on it,†Gibbs said firmly; “they’ve no cause to fire me. But -how does this Miss Cartwright come in on the job?†- -“I don’t know except that she is going down to the Harringtons’ this -afternoon and Taylor’s got some scheme on hand. I tell you he’s a pretty -smart boy.†- -“You bet he is,†Gibbs returned promptly, “and may be he’s smarter than -you know. Ever hear of R. J.?†- -“R. J.?†Duncan repeated. “You mean that secret service agent?†- -“Yes,†Gibbs told him with an air of one knowing secret things. “They -say he’s a pal of the President’s.†- -“Well, what’s that to do with this?†Duncan wanted to know. - -“Don’t you know who he is?†- -“No,†Duncan retorted, “and neither does anyone else. Nobody but the -President and the Secretary of the Treasury knows who he really is.†- -Gibbs rose from his chair and patted his chest proudly. “Well, I know, -too,†he declared. - -Duncan laughed contemptuously. “Yes, you do, just the same as I do--that -he’s the biggest man in the secret service, and that’s all you know.†- -Gibbs smiled complacently. “Ain’t it funny,†he observed, “that you -right here in the office don’t know?†- -“Don’t know what?†Duncan retorted sharply; he disliked Gibbs in a -patronizing rôle. - -“That your boss Taylor is R. J.†- -“Taylor!†Duncan cried. “You’re crazy! The heat’s got you, Harry.†- -“Oh, indeed!†Gibbs said sarcastically. “Do you remember the Stuyvesant -case?†- -Duncan nodded. - -“And do you remember that when Taylor took his vacation last year R. J. -did some great work in the Crosby case? Put two and two together, Jim, -and may be you’ll see daylight.†- -“By George!†Duncan exclaimed, now impressed by Gibbs’ news. “I believe -you’re right. Taylor never will speak about this R. J., now I come to -think of it.†He raised his head as the sound of voices was heard in the -passage. - -“There he is,†Duncan whispered busying himself with a sheaf of -declarations. - -Gibbs looked toward the opening door nervously. It was one thing to -criticize the deputy-surveyor in his absence and another to meet his -look and endure his satire. His collar seemed suddenly too small, and he -chewed his cigar violently. - - - - -CHAPTER FIVE - - -Daniel Taylor entered quickly without acknowledging the presence of his -inferiors and crossed to his desk by the window. He was a man above -medium height, broad of shoulder, thick through the chest and giving the -idea of one who was alert and aggressive mentally and physically. Those -in the service who had set themselves against him had been broken. His -path had been strewn with other men’s regrets; but Taylor climbed -steadily, never caring for what was below, but grasping eagerly for -power. - -Naturally a man of his type must have had other qualities than mere -aggressiveness to aid him in such vigorous competition. He had commended -himself to the powers above him for snap judgment and quick action. And -although men of his temperament must inevitably make mistakes, it was -notorious that Taylor made fewer than his rivals. - -Toward men like Duncan and Gibbs who were not destined to rise, men who -could be replaced without trouble, Taylor paid small heed. They did what -he told them and if they failed he never forgot. It was to the men -above him that Taylor showed what small social gifts nature had given -him. He had sworn to rise in the service and he cultivated only those -who might aid him. - -After glancing over the papers arranged on his desk he called to Duncan: -“Has Miss Cartwright been here yet?†- -“No, sir,†Duncan responded promptly. - -His superior pushed the buzzer on his desk and then looked across at the -uncomfortable Gibbs. “Want to see me?†he snapped. - -“Yes, sir,†Gibbs made answer as Peter the doorkeeper entered in answer -to Taylor’s summons. - -“Then wait outside,†Taylor said, “I’ll see you in five minutes.†- -“Yes, sir,†Gibbs said obediently and made his exit. - -The deputy-surveyor turned toward the attendant. “Peter, let me know the -instant Miss Cartwright arrives. Don’t forget; it’s important. That’s -all.†- -He dismissed Peter with a nod and then called to Duncan. - -“Did Bronson of the New York Burglar Insurance Company send over some -papers to me relating to the theft of Miss Cartwright’s jewels?†- -Duncan took a long envelope and laid it on his chief’s desk. “Here they -are, sir.†- -Taylor looked at the documents eagerly. “By George!†he cried, when he -had looked into them, “I knew I was right. I knew there was something -queer about the way her diamonds were stolen.†- -Duncan looked at him frowning. He prided himself upon his grasp of -detail and here was the Chief talking about a case he knew naught of. -“What diamonds?†he asked. “The case wasn’t in our office, was it?†- -“No,†said Taylor, “this is a little outside job my friend Bronson’s -mixed up in, but it may be a help to us.†He went on reading the papers -and presently exclaimed: “It’s a frame-up. She wasn’t robbed, although -she collected from the company on a false claim.†- -“But I can’t see--†the puzzled Duncan returned. - -“No,†said his chief, cutting him short. “If you could, you’d have my -job. Has the Mauretania got to Quarantine yet?†- -“Not yet, sir,†Duncan answered. - -“Telephone Brown to notify you the minute she does. Tell him we’ve got -to know as soon as possible whether Denby declares that necklace; -everything depends on that.†- -“But he may declare it,†Duncan observed sagely. - -“If he does we haven’t a case,†his superior said briefly, “but I’ve a -feeling there’s not going to be a declaration.†- -“I think so, too,†Duncan asserted, “and I’m holding Ford and Hammett to -search him.†- -Taylor frowned and drummed on the desk with his fingers. “I don’t know -that I want him searched. Let them do nothing without my instructions.†- -“But, Chief,†Duncan protested, “if he doesn’t declare the necklace and -you don’t have him searched he’ll smuggle it in.†- -“I know, I know,†Taylor said impatiently, “but I’ve got to be cautious -how I go about taking liberties with a friend of Michael Harrington’s. -He has more influence than you’ve any idea of. We’ve got to be sure we -have the goods on Denby.†- -Duncan looked at the other with grudging admiration. “Well, I guess it -won’t take R. J. very long to land him.†- -Taylor turned on the speaker with a scowl. “What’s he got to do with -this?†- -“I thought you might have interested him in it,†Duncan said meaningly. - -“I don’t know anything about him,†Taylor returned. - -It was like the Chief to refuse to take his underlings into his -confidence, Duncan thought, so he took his cue and changed the subject. - -“Well,†he said, reverting to the proposed search of Denby, “if we don’t -go through him at the dock, what are we going to do?†- -“Let him slide through easily and think he’s fooled us,†Taylor said. -“He may be pretty clever. Do you remember that man who stuck the -sapphire we were hunting for into a big rosy apple he gave to a woman in -the second cabin and then took it away from her before she had time to -eat it? We’ll see if he talks to anyone, but I think he’ll take the -pearls right down to Westbury. He’ll be off his guard when once he gets -down there.†- -“Have you got one of the Harrington servants to spy for us?†Duncan -cried. - -“I’ve got what will be better than that with a little luck,†Taylor said -with a smile. “Don’t you know that Miss Ethel Cartwright is going down -to Westbury this afternoon to spend the week-end with the Harringtons?†- -“You don’t mean you’re going to use her?†Duncan exclaimed, incredulity -in his tone. - -“It wouldn’t be a bad idea, would it, Jim?†- -“It would be a peach of an idea if you could do it, but can you?†- -Taylor chuckled. It was plain he had some scheme in his crafty brain -that pleased him more than a little. - -“I’m going to answer that as soon as I’ve had a little confidential chat -with Miss Cartwright.†- -He broke off to turn to the doorway through which Gibbs’ head protruded. - -“Can I see you now, Chief?†Gibbs asked. - -“What is it?†Taylor snapped. - -“There’s a deaf and dumb chicken out here,†Gibbs replied anxiously. - -“A what?†the other demanded. - -“A girl that can’t hear or speak or write. They say she’s smuggled a -bracelet in but they’ve searched her eight times and can’t get a trace -of it, so they sent her to you.†- -“They don’t expect me to make the ninth attempt, do they?†the Chief -queries. - -“Why, no,†Gibbs told him, “but they thought you might hand her the -third degree.†- -“Bring her in,†the autocrat commanded. When Gibbs had closed the door -Taylor turned to Duncan. “She’s probably bluffing. Put that chair here. -We’ll try the gun gag on her. There’s a revolver in my second drawer. -When I say ‘Go,’ you shoot. Got it?†- -“Yes, sir,†Duncan said, anticipating a theatrical scene in which his -chief would shine as usual. Duncan always enjoyed such episodes; he felt -he shone with reflected power. - -Gibbs dragged in a young girl and stood her in front of the chair to -which the Chief had beckoned. “Sit down,†Gibbs commanded. The afflicted -woman who was named, so Gibbs said, Sarah Peabody, remained standing. -“Hey, _squattez-vous,_†her captor commanded again in a louder voice. -Still Sarah was unmoved. Gibbs scratched his head and summoned his -linguistic attainments to his aid. - -“_Setzen sie_,†he shouted, but Miss Peabody remained erect. - -Gibbs turned away with a gesture of despairing dignity. “I’m done,†he -asserted; “that’s all the languages I know. I used to think it was a -terrible thing that women could talk, but I guess the Almighty knowed -more than I did.†- -Duncan essayed more active measures. He pushed her into the seat. “Hey -you,†cried he, “sit down there.†- -Gibbs watched a little apprehensively. If Sarah Peabody had been normal, -he would have pictured her as a slangy and fluent young woman with a -full-sized temper. He had dealt with such before and they invariably -defeated him in wordy combat. In duels of this sort Gibbs was slow to -get off the mark. - -Taylor came toward the afflicted one and looked shrewdly into her face. -“She’s not shamming,†said he. “She’s got that stupid look they all have -when they’re deaf and dumb.†He watched her closely as he said this. - -“She ain’t spoke all day,†Gibbs volunteered, “and no woman what could, -would keep from talking that long.†- -“Women will do a lot for diamonds,†his chief observed. - -“None of ’em ever do me for none,†Gibbs remarked placidly. - -Suddenly Taylor addressed the girl roughly. “If you’re acting,†he -cried, “you’d better give it up, because I’m certain to find out, and if -I do, I’ll send you to jail.†Still the girl paid no attention but only -stared ahead blankly. “So you won’t answer, eh?†said her inquisitor. -“Going to force my hand, are you?†He raised his hand to signal Duncan -and then added: “Go.†- -The loud report of the revolver, while it made Gibbs jump, had no effect -upon the young woman. Taylor shook his head wisely. “I guess she’s deaf -and dumb all right, poor girl. What’s it all about, Gibbs? What is it -you think she’s done?†- -“She’s got a bracelet chuck-full of diamonds, and we can’t find it.†- -“How do you know she’s got it?†the Chief asked. - -“She showed it to a woman who was in the same cabin,†Gibbs returned, -“and the woman came and tipped us off.†- -“Why, the dirty hussy!†cried the girl, who had previously been bereft -of hearing and speech, rising to her feet, her eyes flashing, and her -whole face denoting rage. - -Gibbs looked at her, his eyes bulging with startled surprise, and then -turned his ox-like gaze upon Taylor. - -“For the love of Mike!†said Gibbs at length, but Sarah Peabody cut -short any other exclamations. - -“Do you know why she told about me?†the girl demanded. “She wanted to -alibi herself and make you folks thinks she was an honest God-fearing -lady that would never smuggle--and she had four times as much as I did. -Why, it was her who put me up to smuggling and taught me to be deaf and -dumb.†Sarah ground her white teeth in anger. “I’d like to meet her -again some time.†- -“You shall,†Taylor cried. “When we arrest her we’ll need your evidence -to testify against her.†- -“You can bet I won’t be deaf and dumb then,†Miss Peabody cried -viciously. - -“Where’s the bracelet?†Taylor snapped. “Don’t waste time now.†- -But the smuggler was no fool and not intimidated by his tones. “Wait a -minute,†she said craftily. “What’s going to happen to me?†- -“Produce it, pay the duty, and we’ll let you go free for the tip.†- -“You’re on,†said Sarah joyously. “Just take a look at the ring handle -of my parasol. I’ve painted over the stones, that’s all.†- -Gibbs grabbed it from her and examined it closely. “Well, can you -approach that?†he said helplessly. “And I’ve been carrying it around -all day!†- -Taylor turned from his examination of the parasol as Peter the -doorkeeper entered. “Miss Cartwright here?†he asked quickly. - -“Yes, sir,†answered the man. “She’s just arrived.†- -“Bring her in as soon as these get out,†Taylor said dismissing him. - -“Take her away now, Gibbs,†he said, indicating the owner of the magic -parasol. “Turn her over to Shorey, he can handle her from now on.†- -“All right, sir,†Gibbs said, still undecided as to why he had been -fooled. - -Sarah looked at him with scorn. “I’ll be glad to have someone else on -the job. I’m sick o’ trottin’ around with a fat guy like him.†- -“Say, now,†Gibbs protested in an injured manner. - -But Taylor had a bigger scheme on hand and waved her away impatiently. -“Take her along, Gibbs.†- -She gave Taylor an impudent little nod of farewell. “Ta-ta old Sport. I -certainly fooled you, when you had that gun shot off.†- -Gibbs had grabbed her by the arm and was now pushing her toward the -door. “And I could have kept it up,†Miss Peabody asserted in a shrill -tone, “if it hadn’t made me sore, her putting over one on me like that. -And she was so blamed nice to me. But when one woman’s nice to another -she means mischief, you can bet your B. V. D.’s.†- -Even Taylor smiled as she went. He had nearly met defeat but his -habitual luck had made him victor in the end. He hoped it would aid him -in a far more difficult interview which was to come. - -Duncan took advantage of his good humor to ask a question. - -“Do you really think you can get Miss Cartwright to help us on the Denby -case?†- -He had so often seen her name in the society columns that he doubted if -his chief, clever as he was, could successfully influence her. - -Taylor looked at him curiously. There was in his eyes a look that spoke -of more than a faint hope of success. Few knew better than Duncan of his -ability to make men and women his tools. - -“Jim,†he said with an air of confidence, “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised -if she offered to help us.†- -The door opened and Peter entered. - -“Miss Ethel Cartwright,†he announced. - -Taylor rose to his feet as she entered and bowed with what grace he -could as he motioned her to a chair. - -Miss Cartwright was a tall, strikingly pretty woman of twenty-seven, who -looked at the deputy-surveyor with the perfect self-possession which -comes so easily to those whose families have long been of the cultured -and leisured classes. It was plain that this rather languid young lady -regarded him merely as some official whom she was bound to see regarding -a matter of business. - -“Sorry if I kept you waiting, Miss Cartwright,†Taylor said briskly. - -“It doesn’t matter in the least,†she returned graciously. “I’ve never -been at the Customs before. I found it quite interesting.†- -“My name is Taylor,†he said, “and I’m a deputy-surveyor.†- -“You wanted to see me about a ring, I think, didn’t you?†- -“Yes,†he answered. “The intention evidently was to smuggle it through -the Customs.†- -“Do you really think so?†she demanded, interested. “I haven’t the -faintest idea who could have sent it to me.†- -“Of course you haven’t,†he said in his blandest, most reassuring -manner. It was a manner that made the listening Duncan wonder what was -to follow. His chief was always most deadly when he purred. “It’s a -mistake,†he continued, “but the record will probably shed some light on -the matter. Duncan,†he called sharply, “go and get those papers -relating to Miss Cartwright.†- -His assistant looked at him blankly. - -“Papers?†he repeated. “What papers, sir?†- -“The papers relating to the package sent Miss Cartwright from Paris.†-There was a significance in his tone that was not lost on Duncan. Gibbs -would have argued it out, but Duncan though in the dark followed his -cue. - -“Oh, _those_ papers,†he answered. “I’ll get ’em, sir.†- -When he had gone the girl turned to Taylor. - -“Do you know,†she asserted, “I feel quite excited at being here and -sitting in a chair in which you probably often examine smugglers. One -reads about it constantly.†- -“It’s being done all the time,†he responded, “among all sorts of -people. Now, Miss Cartwright, since we are talking of smuggling, I’d -like to have a little business chat with you if I may.†- -The girl looked at him astonished. She could not conceive that a man -like the one looking at her could be serious in talking of a business -proposition. - -“With me?†she demanded, and Taylor could see that the idea was not -pleasing. He resolved to abandon his usual hectoring tactics and adopt -softer modes. - -“I mean it,†he asserted. “You said you’ve read about all this smuggling -and so on. Believe me, you’ve not read a thousandth part of what’s going -on all the time, despite all our efforts to check it. The difficult part -is that many of the women are so socially prominent that it isn’t easy -to detect them. They move in the sort of world you move in.†He leaned -forward and spoke impressively. “But it’s a world where neither I nor my -men could pass muster for a moment. Do you follow me?†- -“I hear what you say,†she said, “but--†- -He interrupted her, “Miss Cartwright, we are looking for someone who -belongs in society by right. Someone who is clever enough to provide us -with information and yet never be suspected. We want someone above -suspicion. We want someone, for instance, like you.†- -That his proposition was offensive to her he could see from the faint -flush that passed over her face and the rather haughty tone that she -adopted. - -“Really, Mr. Taylor,†she cried, “you probably mean well, but--†- -Again he cut her short. - -“Just listen a moment, Miss Cartwright,†he begged. “I have reason to -know that your family has been in financial difficulties since your -father died.†He looked at her shrewdly. “The position I hinted at could -be made very profitable. How would you like to enter the secret service -of the United States Customs?†He could see she was far from being -placated at his hint of financial reward. - -“This is quite too preposterous,†she said icily. “It may possibly be -your idea of a joke, Mr. Taylor, but it is not mine.†- -“I’m not joking,†he cried, “I’m in dead earnest.†- -“If that’s the case,†she returned, rising, “I must ask you to get the -papers regarding the ring.†- -“They’ll be here at any moment,†he answered. “I’m sorry you don’t care -to entertain my proposition, but it’s your business after all. By the -way,†he added, after a moment’s pause, “there’s another little matter -I’d like to take up with you while we’re waiting. Do you recall a George -Bronson, the claim agent of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, the -company which insured the jewels that were stolen from you?†- -“I think I do,†she returned slowly, “but--†- -“Well, that company has had a great deal of trouble with society women -who have got money by pawning their jewels and then putting in a claim -that they were stolen and so recovering from the company on the alleged -loss.†- -The girl looked at him, frowning. “Are you trying to insinuate that--†- -“Certainly not,†Taylor purred amiably. “Why, no. I’m merely explaining -that that’s what Bronson thought at first, but after investigating, he -found out how absurd the idea was.†- -“Naturally,†she said coldly. - -She had come into the deputy-surveyor’s office with an agreeable -curiosity regarding a present sent her from Paris. But the longer she -stayed, the less certain did she feel concerning this hard-faced man -opposite her, who had the strangest manner and made the most -extraordinary propositions. What business was it of his that her jewels -had been stolen? - -“But there were some things he could not understand,†Taylor went on. - -“May I ask,†she cried, “what Mr. Bronson’s inability to understand has -to do with you?†- -“Simply,†said Taylor with an appearance of great frankness, “that he -happens to be a very good friend of mine and often consults me about -things that puzzle him. The theft of those jewels of yours mystified him -greatly.†- -“Mystified him?†the girl retorted. “It was perfectly simple.†- -“Perhaps you won’t mind telling me the circumstances of the case.†- -“Really,†she returned sub-acidly, “I don’t quite understand how this -concerns the Customs.†- -“It doesn’t,†he agreed readily, “I am acting only as Bronson’s friend -and if you’ll answer my questions I may be able to recover the jewels -for you.†- -The girl’s face cleared. So far from acting inimically, Mr. Taylor was -actually going to help her. She smiled for the first time, and resumed -her seat. - -“That will be splendid,†she exclaimed. “I did not understand. Of course -I’ll tell you everything I know.†- -“The first feature that impressed Bronson,†said the deputy-surveyor, -“and me, I’m bound to add, was that the theft seemed to be an inside -job.†- -“What does that mean?†Miss Cartwright queried, interested. - -“That there was no evidence that a thief had broken into your home.†- -“But what other explanation could there be?†she inquired. “Our family -consists of just my mother, my sister and myself, and two old servants -who have lived with us for years, so of course it wasn’t any of us.†- -“Naturally not,†Taylor agreed as though this explanation had solved his -doubts. “But how did you come to discover the loss of the diamonds?†- -“I didn’t discover it myself,†she told him. “I was at Bar Harbor.†- -“Oh,†said Taylor with the confidential air of a family physician. “You -were away. I see! Who did find out?†- -“My sister. It was she who missed them.†- -“Oh, your sister missed them, did she?†he said. - -He pushed the buzzer and wrote something on a slip of paper. - -“So of course,†the girl continued, “it must have been some thief from -the outside.†- -Taylor looked thoughtful. “I suppose you’re right,†he admitted, and -then asked quickly: “I wonder if you’d mind telephoning your sister to -come down here now?†- -“Why, she came with me,†Miss Cartwright returned. “She’s outside.†- -“That’s fine,†he said brightly. “It makes it easier.†He pushed the -buzzer again. “Perhaps she’ll be able to help us.†- -“She’ll come if I wish,†said the elder sister, “but she knows even less -about it than I do.†- -“I understand that,†Taylor said smoothly, “but she may remember a few -seemingly unimportant details that will help me where they wouldn’t seem -significant to you.†- -He looked up as Peter came in. “Ask Miss Cartwright’s sister to come in -for a moment. Tell her Miss Ethel wants to talk to her.†- -“Amy will tell you all she can,†the girl asserted. - -“Just as you would yourself,†Taylor said confidentially. He had no -other air than of a man who is sworn to recover stolen diamonds. Ethel -Cartwright admitted she had misjudged him. - -“It must be wonderful to be a detective and piece together little -unimportant facts into an important whole.†- -“It is,†he answered a trifle drily; “quite wonderful.†- -Amy Cartwright was brought into the deputy-surveyor’s room by Peter. -Plainly she was of a less self-reliant type than her elder sister, for -the rather startled expression her face wore was lost when she saw -Ethel. She was a pretty girl not more than eighteen and like her sister -dressed charmingly. - -“You wanted me, Ethel?†she asked. - -“Yes, dear,†the elder returned. “Amy, this is Mr. Taylor, who thinks he -may be able to get back my diamonds for me.†- -Amy Cartwright shot a quick, almost furtive look at Taylor and then -gripped her sister’s arm. “Your diamonds!†she cried. - -Taylor had missed nothing of her anxious manner. “Yes,†he said. “Your -sister has been kind enough to give me some information in reference to -the theft, and I thought you might be able to add to the facts we -already have.†- -“I?†the younger girl exclaimed. - -“Yes,†her sister commanded. “You must answer all Mr. Taylor’s -questions.†- -“Of course,†Amy said with an effort to be cheerful. - -Taylor looked at her magisterially. “How did you discover your sister’s -jewels were stolen?†- -“Why,†she replied nervously, not meeting his eye, “I went to her -dressing-table one morning and they weren’t there.†- -“Oh!†he exclaimed meaningly. “So they weren’t there! Then what did you -do?†- -“Why, I telephoned to the company she insured them in.†- -“Without consulting your sister?†he asked. His manner, although quick -and alert, was friendly. Ethel Cartwright felt he was desirous of -helping her, and if Amy seemed nervous, it was her first experience with -a man of this type. She had so little experience in relying on herself -that this trifling ordeal was magnified into a judicial -cross-examination. She determined to help Amy out. - -“You must remember,†she said to Taylor, “that I was out of town.†- -“Of course!†Amy exclaimed with a show of relief. “How could I consult -her when she was in Maine?†- -“Were you certain she hadn’t taken her diamonds with her?†he asked. - -Amy hesitated for a moment. “I think she must have told me before she -left.†- -“Hm!†he ejaculated. “You _think_ she did?†- -Amy turned to her sister. “Didn’t you tell me, Ethel?†- -Miss Cartwright knit her brows in thought. “Perhaps I did,†she -admitted. - -“But you didn’t telegraph your sister to make sure?†Taylor queried. - -“Why, no,†the girl said hesitating and seemingly confused. “No, I -didn’t.†She was now staring at her interrogator with real fear in her -eyes. - -“Well, that doesn’t make any difference,†he said genially, “so long as -the jewels were stolen and not merely mislaid, does it?†- -“No,†she said with a sigh of relief. - -“There’s one other point,†he said, turning to the elder sister. “You -received the compensation money from the company, didn’t you?†- -“Naturally,†she said tranquilly. - -“Please don’t think me impertinent,†he said, “but you still have it -intact, I presume?†- -“Only part,†the girl returned. “I gave half of it to my sister.†- -“I rather thought you might have done that,†he purred as though his -especial hobby was discovering affection in other families, “That was a -very nice generous thing to do, Miss Cartwright. But you realize of -course that if I get your jewels back the money must be returned to the -Burglar Insurance people in full,â€--he looked significantly at the -shrinking younger girl,--“from both of you.†- -Amy Cartwright clasped her hands nervously. “Oh, I couldn’t do that,†-she exclaimed. - -Ethel turned to her in astonishment. - -“But Amy, why not?†- -“I haven’t got it all now.†- -“But, dear, what did you do with it?†Ethel persisted. - -Taylor seemed to take a keen interest in Amy Cartwright’s financial -affairs. - -“That’s quite an interesting question,†he observed judiciously. “What -did you do with your half?†- -“I--I paid a lot of bills,†the girl stammered. - -“Paid a lot of bills!†her sister exclaimed. “But Amy, you distinctly -told me--†- -“One minute,†Taylor interrupted. “Now, Miss Amy,†he said sharply, -“what sort of bills did you pay?†- -“Oh, dressmakers and hats and things,†she answered with a trace of -sullenness. - -“Of course they gave you receipts?†he suggested. - -“I don’t remember,†she answered. - -“Oh, you don’t remember,†he said, fixing her with his cold eye. “But -you remember whom you paid the money to?†- -“Of course she does,†Ethel cried, coming to her sister’s aid. She was -herself puzzled at this strange man’s attitude. “You do, don’t you, -Amy?†- -“Why, yes,†the other said weakly. - -“Give me the names!†Taylor demanded, and then looked angrily up to see -who had entered his office unbidden. It was James Duncan, apologetic, -but urged by powers higher than those of his chief. - -“The Collector and the Secretary want to see you right away, sir,†he -announced. - -“I can’t leave now,†Taylor cried angrily. And in that moment both girls -realized of what ruthless metal he was cast. Gone was the amiable -interest in family matters and the kindly wish to aid two girls in -getting back their trinkets, and there was left a strong remorseless man -who showed he had them very nearly in his power. - -But Duncan dared not go back with such a message. - -“I explained you were busy, Chief,†he said, “but they would have you -come down at once, as the Secretary has to go back to Washington. It’s -about that necklace. The one coming in on the Mauretania this -afternoon.†- -“Oh, very well,†his superior snapped. “I shall have to ask you ladies -to excuse me for five minutes.†- -“Certainly,†Ethel Cartwright returned. - -At the door Taylor beckoned to Duncan and spoke in a whisper. “Get -outside in the corridor and if they try to leave, stop ’em. And I shall -want to know what they’ve been talking about. Understand?†- -“Sure, Chief,†Duncan returned. - -When both men had gone from the room Amy clung half-hysterically to her -strong, calm sister. “Oh, Ethel, they know, they know!†- -“Know what?†Ethel asked, amazed at the change in the other. - -“That man suspects,†Amy whispered. “I know he does. Did you see how he -glared at me and the way he spoke?†- -“Suspects what?†Ethel asked. “Amy, what do you mean? What is there to -suspect?†- -“Don’t let them take me away!†the younger sister wailed. “Oh, don’t, -don’t!†- -Ethel drew back a step and looked into the trembling Amy’s tear-stained -face. - -“What is this you are saying?†she asked sharply. - -“Ethel, your jewels weren’t stolen.†There was a pause as if the girl -were trying to gather courage enough to confess. “I took them. I pawned -them.†- -“Amy!†cried the other. “You?†- -“I had to have money. I took them. A woman told me I could get it by -pretending to the company the things were stolen. She said they’d never -find it out and would pay. I tried it, and they paid.†- -Miss Cartwright looked down at her, amazed, indignant, horrified. - -“Do you mean to say you deliberately swindled the company?†- -“I couldn’t help it, Ethel,†she declared piteously. “I didn’t think of -it in that way. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t, indeed.†- -“Why, why, why? Why in God’s name did you do it? Tell me quickly, why?†- -Amy could no longer meet her sister’s glance. She dropped her head. - -“I lost a lot of money gambling, playing auction bridge.†- -“Playing with whom?†Ethel demanded sharply. - -“People you don’t know,†the younger answered evasively. “It was while -you were away. It wouldn’t have happened if you’d been home. We all -dined together at the Claremont and afterwards they simply would play -auction. I said no at first but they made me. I got excited and began to -lose, and then they said if I kept on the luck would turn, but it -didn’t, and I lost a thousand dollars.†- -Ethel Cartwright needed no other explanation as a key to Taylor’s -manner. It was certain that he knew and would presently force her poor -frightened little sister into a confession. It was no time for blaming -the child or pointing out morals, but for protecting her. - -“Ssh,†she whispered, “Ssh!†- -“I didn’t mean to do it,†Amy reiterated. “Believe me, I didn’t.†- -“Tell me what happened then?†Ethel asked in a low tone. - -“I couldn’t pay, of course, and the other women said they’d have to ask -mother or you for the money and if you wouldn’t pay I should have to go -to jail. I didn’t know what to do. I nearly went out of my head, I -think. At last Philip Sloane offered to lend it me.†- -The elder recoiled from her. “That man!†she cried horrified. “Oh, Amy, -and how often I have warned you against him!†- -“There was nothing else to do,†her sister explained. “You were away and -I had no one to go and ask.†- -“Stop a minute,†Ethel said. “If you borrowed the money and paid the -debts, why did you need to take my diamonds?†- -Amy hung her head. “When he lent me the money he said I could pay it -back whenever I wanted to, in a hundred years if I liked.†- -“Well?†Ethel cried anxiously. “Well?†- -“But a day or so later he came to see me, mother was out, and his -manner was so different I was frightened. He--he said a girl who accepts -money from a man is never any good, and nobody will believe them no -matter what they say. I didn’t think men could be like that. He said -he’d forget about it if I went away with him. He said nobody would know -it--he could arrange all that--and he threatened all sorts of things. -Oh, everything you said about him was right.†- -“Go on,†her sister commanded, in a hard staccato tone. “What then?†- -“At first I thought of killing myself but I was afraid. And then I saw -your jewel-case and I pretended they were stolen. I got half the money -from the pawn-shop and the other half from you when the company settled. -It was wicked of me, Ethel, but what could I do?†- -Ethel put her arm about the poor sobbing girl very tenderly. - -“My poor little sister,†she whispered, “my little Amy, you did the -better thing after all. But you should have told me before, so that I -could have helped you.†- -“I was afraid to,†the girl said, looking into the face above her, “I -meant to have told you next month when that money is coming from -father’s estate. I thought we could pay the company then so that I -shouldn’t feel like a thief. I’m so glad I’ve told you; it has -frightened me so!†But the grave expression on Ethel’s face alarmed her. -“Why do you look like that?†she demanded. - -“It will be all right,†Ethel assured her. “But you know those dividends -have been delayed this month and neither mother nor I have any spare -money if the Burglar Insurance people want to be paid back. I daresay we -can arrange something, so don’t be frightened. And remember, this man -Taylor can’t know certainly. He only suspects, and we ought to be able -to beat him if we are very careful. I’m so glad you told me so that I -know what to do.†- -“But I’m afraid of him,†Amy cried. “I shall break down and they’ll put -me in prison. Ethel, I should die if they did that.†- -“I’ll save you, dear,†Ethel said comfortingly. “You know you have -always been able to believe in me, and I will save you if only you try -to control yourself.†- -“Then let me go home,†Amy cried, panic-stricken by the thought of -another interview with the resourceful Taylor. “I shall break down if I -stay here.†- -“That will be best,†Ethel agreed, and went quickly to the door, behind -which she found Duncan on guard. - -“Sorry, miss,†he said respectfully, “but you can’t go.†- -“I’m not leaving,†Ethel Cartwright explained, “I still have to talk -with Mr. Taylor, but my sister must go. She isn’t feeling very well. She -wants to go home.†- -Duncan shook his head. “Neither of you can go,†he returned, as he -closed the door. Amy looked about her nervously for other means of -escape. - -“You see,†she whispered, “they’re going to keep me here a prisoner! -What shall I do?†- -“Leave everything to me,†Ethel commanded. “Let me do the talking. I -shall be able to think of some way out.†- -“There isn’t, there isn’t!†Amy moaned. - -“Stop crying,†the elder insisted. “That won’t help us. I’ve thought of -a plan. I’ll invent a story to fool him. He won’t be able to find out -whether it’s true or not, so he’ll have to let us go, and when he does, -he won’t get us back here again in a hurry.†- -“Oh, Ethel, you’re wonderful!†Amy exclaimed, her face clearing. In all -her small troubles she had always gone to this beautiful, serene elder -sister, who had never yet failed her and never would, she was confident. - -When Taylor entered a minute later he found the two girls looking out -of the big window across the harbor. They seemed untroubled and unafraid -and were discussing the dimensions of a big liner making her way out. - -“Sorry to have had to leave you,†he said briskly, “especially as things -were getting a bit interesting.†- -Ethel Cartwright looked at him coldly. It was a glance which Taylor -rightly interpreted as a warning to remember that he occupied a wholly -different sphere from that of the daughters of the late Vernon -Cartwright. But it daunted him little. The Secretary of the Treasury had -just told him that his work was evoking great interest in Washington. -And the Collector somewhat cryptically had said that Daniel Taylor might -always be relied upon to do the unexpected. For Washington and -Collectors, Taylor had little respect. Unconsciously he often -paraphrased that royal boast, “_L’État c’est moi!_†by admitting to his -confidants that he, Daniel Taylor, was the United States Customs. - -“I quite fail to see,†Miss Cartwright observed chillingly, “what all -this rather impertinent cross-questioning of my sister has to do with--†- -“You will in a minute,†he interrupted. - -“Meanwhile,†she said, “I can’t wait any longer for those papers about -the ring.†- -“There isn’t any ring,†he said suavely. “That was just a pretext to get -you here. I was afraid the truth wouldn’t be sufficiently luring so I -had to employ a ruse.†- -She looked at him, her eyes flashing at his daring to venture on such a -deception. “You actually asked me to come here because you thought I had -swindled the company?†- -“Well,†he observed genially, “we all make our little mistakes.†- -“So you admit it was a mistake?†she said, hardly knowing what to make -of this changed manner. - -“I’m quite sure of it,†he asserted. “_You_ are innocent, Miss -Cartwright. How am I so sure of it? Because I happen to have the thief -already.†- -“You have the thief?†Amy cried, startled out of her determination to -say nothing. - -“Yes,†he told her nonchalantly, “I’ve arrested the man who robbed your -sister. Poor devil, he has a wife and children. He swears they’ll -starve, and very likely they will, but he’s guilty and to jail he goes.†- -“Are you sure he’s guilty?†Amy stammered. - -He leaned over his desk and looked at her surprised. “Why, yes,†he said -slowly. “Have you any reason to think different?†- -“No, no!†she cried, shrinking back. - -“But I have,†Ethel said calmly. “I have every reason to believe he is -innocent.†- -“_You_ have?†Taylor cried, himself perplexed at the turn things were -taking. - -Amy looked at her sister, wondering what was coming next. - -“I know who stole them,†Ethel went on. “It was my maid.†- -“Your maid!†the deputy-surveyor cried. “Why didn’t you tell the company -that? Bronson never told me about it.†- -“She didn’t disappear till after the claim was paid, you see,†Miss -Cartwright explained. “Then I got a note from her confessing, a note -written in Canada.†- -“Whereabouts in Canada?†he demanded. - -“I don’t recall it,†he was told. - -“You don’t? Well, what was your maid’s name then? I’d like to know that, -if you can remember it for me.†- -“Marie Garnier was her name.†- -He took up a scribbling pad and inscribed the name on it. “Marie -Garnier,†he muttered, and pushed the buzzer. “Why didn’t you tell me -this before?†- -“What was the good?†Miss Cartwright returned. “I was fond of Marie--she -was almost one of the family--and I didn’t want to brand her as a -thief. When I learned she had escaped to Canada where the law couldn’t -reach her--†- -She was interrupted by Duncan’s entrance. “Yes, sir?†said he to his -chief. - -Taylor handed him the leaf he had torn from the pad. “Attend to this at -once,†he ordered. - -“Now, Miss Cartwright,†he remarked, “I’d like to ask why it was you -made this admission about Marie Garnier.†- -“Because I do not want to see an innocent man go to prison,†she -returned promptly. - -“Oh, I see. And did your sister know it, too?†- -“No,†she answered quickly. - -“Why hadn’t you told her?†he demanded. - -“Really,†said the elder Miss Cartwright with an expression of -innocence, “I didn’t think it made any difference.†- -Taylor was obviously annoyed at such a view. “Your behavior is most -extraordinary,†he commented. - -“You see, I know so little about law, and insurance and things like -that,†she said apologetically. She did not desire to offend him. - -“You ought at least to have known that you owed it to the company to -give them all the information in your possession,†he grumbled. - -“I never thought of it in that way,†she said meditating. - -“There seems a whole lot you young ladies haven’t thought of,†he said -sourly. - -Miss Cartwright rose from her seat without haste. “Come, Amy,†she -commanded. “We can’t wait any longer and we are not needed.†- -As they turned toward the door the telephone bell rang and Taylor stayed -them with a gesture. “Just one moment, please, Miss Cartwright.†- -The girls watching him saw that the news was pleasant for he chuckled as -he hung up the receiver. Then he rose from his seat and came to where he -stood between them and the door. - -“Miss Cartwright,†he cried, “when you didn’t know what town in Canada -your maid was, I felt you were lying. Now I know you were. I just had my -assistant telephone to your mother.†He pointed an accusing finger at -them. “You never had a maid named Garnier, and the last one you -had--over a year ago--was called Susan. You put the blame on a woman who -doesn’t exist, and you did it to shield the real thief.†He touched the -crouching Amy on the shoulder. “This is the real thief!†- -“She isn’t, she isn’t!†Ethel cried. - -But Taylor paid no attention to her. He concentrated his gaze on the -younger girl. “You swindled the company,†he affirmed. - -“No, no,†she wailed, “I didn’t.†- -Ethel came to her rescue. “How dare you,†she cried to Taylor, “make -such an accusation when you have no proof, nor anyone else either?†- -“That’s all very well,†Taylor exclaimed, “but when we get the proof--†- -“You can’t, because there isn’t any,†she asserted. - -“Of course I see your game,†the man said; “you’re just trying to -protect your sister. That’s natural enough, but it will go easier with -both of you if you’ll tell the truth.†- -The two girls answered him never a word. Amy was too frightened and -Ethel, her tactics unavailing, found her best defense in silence. - -“So you won’t answer?†Taylor said after a pause. “Well, of course the -stuff is pawned some place. That’s what they all do. So far, Bronson has -only searched the pawn-shops in New York. He didn’t give you credit for -pawning them outside the city, but I do. Now we’ll see where your sister -did go.†He went to the telephone again. “Hello, Bill,†he said when he -had secured the number, “Go over to Bronson at the New York and get a -description of the jewels reported stolen from a Miss Ethel Cartwright. -Have all the pawn-shops searched in Trenton,â€--he fastened his harsh -look on Amy Cartwright as he called out the names,--“Boston, Washington, -Providence, Baltimore, Albany, Philadelphia--†- -[Illustration: HE TURNED TO AMY. “YOUNG WOMAN, YOU’RE UNDER ARREST.†-_Page 105_.] - -As he called out the last city the girl gave a gasp of terror, and -triumph instantly lighted up her inquisitor’s grim face. - -“So you pawned them in Philadelphia?†he cried. - -“No, no!†she moaned. - -“I did it,†Ethel Cartwright exclaimed. - -“No, you didn’t,†Taylor said sharply. “You’re only trying to save her. -You can’t deceive me.†He turned to Amy, “Young woman, you’re under -arrest.†- -“No, no,†the elder sister besought. “Take me. She’s only a child; don’t -spoil her life. I’ll do whatever you like; it doesn’t matter about me. -For God’s sake don’t do anything to my little sister.†- -“She’s guilty,†he reminded her, “and the law says--†- -“If somebody pays, what difference does it make to you or the law? Isn’t -there anything I can do?†she pleaded. - -Taylor paced up and down the room for a half minute before answering, -while the two watched him in agony. To them he was one who could deliver -them over to prison if it were his whim, or spare if he inclined to -mercy. - -“Surely there is some way out?†Ethel asked again. - -“Yes,†he said, “there is. You can accept my proposition to enter the -secret service of the United States Customs.†- -“Oh, yes, yes,†she cried, “anything!†- -Taylor rubbed his hands together with satisfaction and pride in his -inimitable craft. “Now you’re talking!†he exclaimed. “Then we won’t -send the little sister to prison.†- -Amy sobbed relief in her sister’s arms. - -“Then you won’t tell Bronson?†Ethel asked. - -“No,†he said, “I won’t tell Bronson.†- -Ethel sighed, and felt almost that she would faint. - -“Now I’m sorry for you two,†Taylor said more genially, “and as long as -you do what I tell you to, we’ll leave the little matter of the jewels -as between your sister and her conscience. I’ll let you know when I need -you. It may be to-night, it may be not for a month or a year, but when I -do want you--†- -“I shall be ready,†the girl declared. - -“Say, Chief,†Duncan said looking in at the door,-- - -“Get out, I’m busy,†Taylor shouted. - -“I thought you’d like to know the Mauretania was coming up the bay,†-his satellite returned, slightly aggrieved at this reception. - -“She is?†said the other. “Wait a minute then. Now, Miss Cartwright, -good afternoon. Remember what is at stake, your future, and your -sister’s happiness. And don’t forget that my silence depends on your not -failing me.†- -Only a man of Taylor’s coarse and cruel mould could have looked at her -without remorse or compunction. He did not see a beautiful refined woman -cheerfully bearing another’s cross. He saw only a society girl, who had -matched her immature wits against his and lost, was beaten and in the -dust. There was a pathetic break in her voice as she answered him. - -“I shall not fail you,†she said. - -Duncan closed the door after them. - -“Well?†Taylor demanded eagerly when they were alone. “Did Denby declare -the necklace?†- -“No, sir,†Duncan returned promptly. - -“Then I was right,†the other commented. “He’s trying to smuggle it in. -Jim, this is the biggest job we’ve ever handled.†- -“Ford and Hammett are at the dock all ready to search him when I give -the word.†- -Duncan was sharing in his chief’s triumph, but Taylor’s next command was -disappointing. - -“Don’t give the word,†he enjoined. “There’s to be no search.†- -“No search?†exclaimed the chagrined Duncan. - -“No,†Taylor told him. “Just let him slide through with the ordinary -examination. Trail Denby and his party to Westbury and be sure none of -them slip the necklace to anyone on the way out there, but no fuss and -no arrests, remember. Meanwhile, get up a fake warrant for the arrest of -Miss Amy Cartwright. It may come in handy.†- -“Yes, sir,†said Duncan obediently. - -“And when you’ve told Ford and Hammett what they are to do, change your -clothes and make Gibbs do the same, and meet me at the Pennsylvania -Station at six o’clock.†- -“Where are we going?†Duncan asked. He could see from his chief’s manner -that something important was in the wind. - -“To Long Island,†he was told. “We are going to call on Miss Ethel -Cartwright.†- -“Then you can use her to land Denby?†his subordinate cried excitedly. - -“Use her?†the deputy-surveyor said with a grim smile. “Say, Jim, she -doesn’t know it, but she’s going to get that necklace for me to-night.†- -He hurried out of the room, leaving Duncan shaking his head in -wonderment. His chief might have qualities that were not endearing, and -his manner might at times be rough, but where was there a man who rode -through obstacles with the same fine disregard as Daniel Taylor? - - - - -CHAPTER SEVEN - - -Mrs. Harrington admitted freely that she had been very far-seeing in -asking Denby to travel on the Mauretania with her and Monty. She was one -of those modern women who count days damaging to their looks if there -comes an hour of boredom in them, and her new acquaintance was always -amusing. - -One day when they were all three sitting on deck she asked him: “What -are you going to do when you get home?†- -“Nothing particular,†he replied, “except that I want to run down to -Washington some time during the month.†- -“You see,†Monty explained, “Steve is a great authority on the tariff. -The Secretary of the Treasury does nothing without consulting him. He -has to go down and help the cabinet out.†- -“That’s hardly true,†Denby said mildly, “but I have friends in -Washington nevertheless.†It was obvious Monty was not taken in by this. -He only regarded his friend as a superb actor who refused to be -frightened by the hourly alarms his faithful assistant took to him with -fast-beating heart. Young Vaughan told himself a dozen times a day that -this excitement, this suspicion of the motives of all strangers, was -undermining his health. He had complained of the dull evenness of his -existence before meeting Denby in Paris, but he felt such a lament could -never again be justified. He found himself unable to sit still for long. -He marvelled to see that Denby could sit for hours in a deck-chair -talking to Alice without seeming to care whether mysterious strangers -were eyeing him or not. - -“I asked you,†Mrs. Harrington went on, “because, if you’ve nothing -better to do, will you spend a week with us at Westbury? Michael will -like you, and if you don’t like Michael, there’s something seriously -wrong with you.†- -“I’d love to come,†he said eagerly. “Thank you very much.†- -“Hooray,†said Monty. “Alice, you’re a sweet soul to ask him. Of course -he’ll like Michael. Who doesn’t?†- -“Everybody ought to,†she said happily. “Do you know, Mr. Denby, I’m one -of the only three women in our set who still love their husbands. I -wouldn’t tell you that except for the reason you’ll find out. He’s the -most generous soul in the world and when I go to him with a bank-book -that won’t balance, he adds it up and says I’ve made a mistake and that -I’m on the right side. How many husbands would do that?†- -“I might,†Monty asserted, “because I can’t add up long columns, but -Michael’s a demon at statistics, or used to be.†- -“He’s such an old dear,†Mrs. Harrington went on. “His one peculiar -talent is the invention of new and strange drinks. I never come back -from any long absence but he shows me something violently colored which -is built in my honor. And Monty will tell you,†she added laughing, -“that I have never been seen to shudder while he was looking. Have I, -Monty?†- -“You’re a good sport,†said Monty, “and if ever I kill a man, it will be -Michael, and my motive will be jealousy.†- -“Well, you needn’t look so unhappy about it,†she cried, as a frown -passed over his face and he sank back in his chair, all his good-humor -gone. - -Monty had in that careless phrase, “If ever I kill a man,†reminded -himself vividly of the dangers that he felt beset him and his friend -Steven Denby. He had been trying to forget it and now it was with him to -stay. And another and a dreadful thought occurred. Would Denby take -those accursed pearls with him to the Harrington mansion on Long -Island? It was so disquieting that he rose abruptly and went into a -secluded corner of the upper smoking-room and called for a cigar and a -pony of brandy. - -His attention was presently attracted to a stout comfortable-looking man -who was staring at him as though to encourage a bow of recognition. He -had noticed the stout and affable gentleman before and always in the -same seat, but never before had he sought acquaintance in this manner. -There was no doubt in Monty’s mind that the man was one of those suave -gamblers who reap their richest harvests on the big fast liners. No -doubt he knew that Monty was a Vaughan and had occasionally fallen for -such professionals and inveigled into a quiet little game. But Monty -felt himself of a different sort now. - -There was no doubt that the affable gentleman had fully made up his mind -as to his plan of action. He rose from his comfortable chair and made -his way to the younger man with his hand held out in welcome. - -“I thought it was you,†he said, and wrung Monty’s reluctant hand, “but -you are not quite the same as when I saw you last.†- -“No doubt,†Monty said coldly; “I am older and _I_ am not the fool I -used to be.†- -“That’s good,†said the affable gentleman pressing the button that was -to summon a steward. “Your father will be glad to hear that.†- -“Have the kindness to leave my father alone,†the younger commanded. -Never in his life had Monty found himself able to be so unpleasant. -There was, he discovered, a certain joy in it. - -“Why, certainly,†said the other a trifle startled, “if you wish it. -Only as he and I were old friends, I saw no harm in it.†- -“Old friends?†sneered Monty. “Let me see, you were the same year at -Yale, weren’t you?†- -“Of course,†the affable stranger said, and turned to see the advancing -steward. “What will you have?†he asked. - -“I don’t drink with strangers,†Monty said rising. - -“Strangers!†cried the other with the rising intonation of indignation. -“Well, I like that!†- -“Then I shall leave you with a pleasant memory,†Monty said. “Good day.†- -“Stop a moment,†the stranger asked after a pause in which rage and -astonishment chased themselves across his well-nourished countenance. -“Who do you think I am, anyway?†- -“Your name and number don’t interest me,†Monty said loftily. He noted -that the steward was enjoying it after the quiet inexpressive manner of -the English servant. “But I’ve no doubt at some time or another I lost -money to you--your old college friend’s money of course--in some quiet -game with your confederates.†- -“Now, what do you think of that!†the red-faced man exclaimed as he -watched Monty’s retreating figure. But the steward was non-committal. He -was not paid to give up his inner thoughts but to bring drinks on a -tray. - -The stout and affable gentleman was a member of the Stock Exchanges of -London and New York and made frequent journeys between these cities. He -held the ocean record of having crossed more times and seen the waves -less than any stock-broker living. He had passed more hours in a -favorite chair in the Mauretania’s smoking-room than any man had done -since time began. He was raconteur of ability and had been a close -friend of the elder Vaughan’s years before at Yale. And he burned with -fierce indignation when he remembered that he had held the infant Monty -years ago and prophesied to a proud mother that he would be her joy and -pride. Joy and pride! He snorted and fell away from his true form so far -as to seek the deck and suck in fresh air. - -There he happened upon Mrs. Harrington talking to Denby. She knew -Godfrey Hazen. He had often been to Westbury, and Michael esteemed him -for his great knowledge of the proper beverage to take for every -emergency that may arise upon an ocean voyage. - -“What makes you look so angry?†she exclaimed. - -He calmed down when he saw her. “I’ve just been taken for a professional -gambler,†he cried. - -“I thought all stock-brokers were that,†she said smiling. - -“I mean a different sort,†he explained, “the kind that work the big -liners. I just asked him to have a drink when he said he didn’t drink -with strangers and hinted I had my picture in the rogues’ gallery.†- -“Who was it?†she inquired. - -“That ne’er-do-well, Monty Vaughan,†he answered. - -“Monty?†she said. “Impossible!†- -“Is it?†he said grimly. “We’ll see. Here comes the young gentleman.†- -Monty sauntered up without noticing him at first. When he did, he -stopped short and was in no whit abashed. “Trying a new game?†he -inquired. - -“Monty, don’t you remember Mr. Hazen?†Alice said reproachfully. - -“Have I made an ass of myself?†he asked miserably. - -“I wouldn’t label any four-footed beast by the name I’d call you,†said -Mr. Hazen firmly. - -“Why didn’t you tell me your name?†Monty asked. - -“You ought to have remembered me,†the implacable Hazen retorted. “Why, -I held you in my arms when you were only three months old.†- -“Then I wish you had dropped me and broken me,†Monty exclaimed, “and I -should have been spared a lot of worry.†Things were piling up to make -him more than ever nervous. He had overheard two passengers saying they -understood the Mauretania’s voyagers were to have a special examination -at the Customs on account of diamond smuggling. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hazen,†-he said more graciously, “but I’ve things on my mind and you must accept -that as the reason.†- -When he had gone Mr. Hazen was introduced to Denby and prevailed upon to -occupy Monty’s seat. - -“I don’t like the look of it,†Mr. Hazen said, shaking his head. “At his -age he oughtn’t to have any worries. I didn’t.†- -“If you can keep a secret,†Mrs. Harrington confided, “I think I can -tell you exactly what is the matter with Monty and I’m sure you’ll make -excuses for him, Mr. Hazen.†- -“Maybe,†he returned dubiously, “but you should have heard how he called -me down before a steward!†- -“Monty’s in love,†Mrs. Harrington declared, “and after almost two -years’ absence he is going to meet her again; and the dread of not -daring to propose is sapping his brain. You’re not the first. He’s been -out of sorts the whole time and I’ve had to smooth things over with -other people. Come, now,†she said coaxingly, “when you were young I’m -sure you had some episodes of that sort yourself, now didn’t you?†- -Mr. Hazen tried not to let her see the proud memories that came surging -back through a quarter of a century. “Well,†he admitted, “if you put it -that way, Mrs. Harrington, I’ve got to forgive the boy.†- -“I knew you would,†she said, and talked nicely to him for reward. - -Then the romance which he had resurrected faded; and the sight of so -much salt in the waves--the unaccustomed waves--induced a provoking -thirst and he rose and after a conventional lie retired to the -smoking-room. - -“All the same,†Mrs. Harrington remarked to Denby, “I am worried about -the boy.†- -“He’ll get over it,†said Steven. - -“I hope so,†she returned. “His nerves are all wrong. I thought he had -the absinthe habit at first, but he’s really quite temperate, and it’s -mental, I suspect. It may be Nora; I hope it is. She’s a dear girl and -Monty’s really a big catch.†- -“Didn’t you say you had bought her a present, some valuable piece of -jewelry?†- -“Which I have sworn to smuggle,†she returned brightly, “despite your -warning.†- -“For your sake I wish you wouldn’t,†he said, “but if your mind’s made -up, what will my words avail?†- -“I’m not stubborn,†she cried, “even Michael admits that. I am always -open to conviction.†- -“If you smuggle, you are,†he said meaningly. “Really, Mrs. Harrington, -you’ve no idea how strict these examinations are becoming, and this -vessel seems specially marked out for extra strict inspections. The -popular journals have harped on the fact that the rich, influential -women who use this and boats of this class, are exempt, while the woman -who saves up for a few weeks’ jaunt and brings little inexpensive -presents back, is caught.†- -“Are you sure of that?†she demanded. - -“Why, yes,†he returned. “It doesn’t seem quite fair, does it?†he -demanded, looking at her keenly. “It doesn’t seem playing the game for -the first cabin on the Mauretania to get in free while the second cabin -gets caught.†- -“Have you ever smuggled?†she asked. - -“Maybe,†he said, “but if I have, it has not been a habit with me as -with some rich people I know, who could so easily afford to pay.†- -“Suppose I do smuggle and get caught, I can pay without any further -trouble, can’t I?†she queried. - -“You’re just as likely to be detained,†he told her. “To all intents and -purposes, it’s like being under arrest.†- -“Oh, Lord!†she cried. “And I shouldn’t be able to get back to Michael?†- -“Probably not,†he said. “You see, Mrs. Harrington, you’d be a splendid -tribute to the impartiality of the service. The publicity the Customs -people would get from your case would be worth a lot to them. -Indirectly, you’d possibly promote hard-working inspectors.†- -“But I don’t want to be a case,†she exclaimed, “I’m not anxious to be -put in a cell and promote hard-working inspectors. And think of poor -Michael all ready with a crimson newly-devised drink pacing the floor -while I’m undergoing the third degree! Mr. Denby, I still think the laws -are absurd, but I shall declare everything I’ve got. I wonder if they -would let Michael hand me his crimson drink through the bars.†- -Just then Monty made for them and dropped into his deck-chair. - -“I’m going to be an honest woman,†she declared, “and smuggle no more. -Mr. Denby is the miracle-worker. I shall probably have to borrow money -to pay the duty, so be at hand, Monty.†- -He looked across at Denby and sighed. His friend’s serene countenance -and absence of nerves was always a source of wonderment to him. -Hereafter, he swore, a life in consonance with his country’s laws. And -if the first few days of the voyage had made him nervous, it was small -comfort to think that the really risky part had yet to be gone through. -In eliminating Alice Harrington as a fellow smuggler Monty saw -extraordinary cunning. “Well,†he thought, “if anyone can carry it -through it will be old Steve,†and rose obediently at Alice’s behest and -brought back a wireless form on which he indited a message to the absent -Michael. - -Monty Vaughan had crossed the ocean often, and each time had been -cheered to see in the distance the long flat coast-line of his native -land. There had always been a sense of pleasurable excitement in the -halt at Quarantine and the taking on board the harbor and other -officials. - -But this time they clambered aboard--the most vindictive set of mortals -he had ever laid eyes on--and each one of them seemed to look at Monty -as though he recognized a law breaker and a desperado. Incontinently he -fled to the smoking-room and ran into the arms of Godfrey Hazen. - -“Never mind, my boy,†said that genial broker, “you’ll soon be out of -your misery. Brace up and have a drink. I know how you feel. I’ve felt -like that myself.†- -“Did you get caught?†Monty gasped. - -“No,†he said, for he was a bachelor, “but I’ve had some mighty narrow -squeaks and once I thought I was gone.†- -He watched Monty gulp down his drink with unaccustomed rapidity. “That’s -right,†he said commendingly. “Have another?†- -“It would choke me,†the younger answered, and fled. - -Hazen shook his head pityingly. He had never been as afflicted as the -heir to his old friend Vaughan. Poets might understand love and its -symptoms but such manifestations were beyond him. - -When Steven Denby opened his trunks to a somewhat uninterested inspector -and answered his casual questions without hesitation, Monty stood at his -side. It cost him something to do so but underneath his apparent -timorous nature was a strength and loyalty which would not fail at need. - -And when the jaded Customs official made chalk hieroglyphics and stamped -the trunks as free from further examination Monty felt a relief such as -he had never known. As a poet has happily phrased it, “he chortled in -his joy.†- -“What’s the matter?†he demanded of Denby when he observed that his own -hilarity was not shared by his companion in danger. “Why not celebrate?†- -“We’re not off the dock yet,†Denby said in a low voice. “They’ve been -too easy for my liking.†- -“A lot we care,†Monty returned, “so long as they’re finished with us.†- -“That’s just it,†he was warned, “I don’t believe they have. It’s a bit -suspicious to me. Better attend to your own things now, old man.†- -Monty opened his trunks in a lordly manner. So elaborate was his gesture -that an inspector was distrustful and explored every crevice of his -baggage with pertinacity. He unearthed with glee a pair of military -hair-brushes with backs of sterling silver that Monty had bought in Bond -street for Michael Harrington as he passed through London and forgotten -in his alarm for bigger things. - -“It pays to be honest,†said Mrs. Harrington, who had declared her -dutiable importations and felt more than ordinarily virtuous. “Monty, -you bring suspicion on us all. I’m surprised at you. Just a pair of -brushes, too. If you had smuggled in a diamond necklace for Nora there -would be some excuse!†- -The word necklace made him tremble and he did not trust himself to say a -word. - -“He’s too ashamed for utterance,†Denby commented, helping him to repack -his trunk. - -There were two Harrington motors waiting, both big cars that would carry -a lot of baggage. When they were ready it was plain that only two -passengers could be carried in one and the third in the second car. - -“How shall we manage it?†Mrs. Harrington asked. - -“If you don’t mind I’ll let you two go on,†Denby suggested, “and when -I’ve sent off a telegram to my mother, I’ll follow.†- -“I see,†she laughed, “you want the stage set for your entrance. Very -well. Au revoir.†- -Monty surprised her by shaking his friend’s hand. “Good-by, old man,†-said Monty sorrowfully. He was not sure that he would ever see Steven -again. - - - - -CHAPTER EIGHT - - -Michael Harrington walked up and down the big hall of his Long Island -home looking at the clock and his own watch as if to detect them in the -act of refusing to register the correct time of day. Although it was -probable his wife, Monty and the guest of whose coming a wireless -message had apprised him, would not be home for another hour, he was -always anxious at such a moment. - -He was a man of fifty-eight, exceedingly good-tempered, and very much in -love with his wife. When Alice had married a man twenty-four years her -senior there had been prophecies that it would not last long. But the -two Harringtons had confounded such dismal predictions and lived--to -their own vast amusement--to be held up as exemplars of matrimonial -felicity in a set where such a state was not too frequent. - -His perambulations were interrupted by the entrance of Lambart, a butler -with a genius for his service, who bore on a silver tray a siphon of -seltzer water, a decanter of Scotch whiskey and a pint bottle of fine -champagne. - -Lambart had, previously to his importation, valeted the late lamented -Marquis of St. Mervyn, an eccentric peer who had broken his noble neck -in a steeplechase. Like most English house-servants he was profoundly -conservative; and after two positions which he had left because his -employers treated him almost as an equal, he had come to the Harringtons -and taken a warm but perfectly respectful liking to his millionaire -employer. Lambart was a remarkably useful person and it was his proud -boast that none had ever beheld him slumbering. Certain it was that a -bell summoned him at any hour of the day or night, and he had never -grumbled at such calls. - -Harrington looked at the refreshment inquiringly. “Did I order this?†he -demanded. - -“No, sir,†Lambart answered, “but my late employer Lord St. Mervyn -always said that when he was waiting like you are, sir, it steadied his -nerves to have a little refreshment.†- -“I should have liked the Marquis if I’d known him,†Michael Harrington -observed when his thirst was quenched. “I think I could have paid him no -prettier compliment than to have named a Rocksand colt after him, -Lambart. The colt won at Deauville last week, by the way.†- -“Yes, sir,†Lambart returned, “I took the liberty of putting a bit on -him; I won, too.†- -“Good,†said his employer, “I’m glad. He ought to have a good season in -France. I like France for two things--racing and what they call the -_heure de l’aperitif_. When I go to Rome I do as the Romans do, and I -have the pleasantest recollections of my afternoons in France.†- -He noticed that Lambart, bringing over to him a box of cigars, turned -his head as though to listen. “I believe, sir,†said the butler, “that -the car is coming up the drive.†- -He hurried to the open French window and looked out. “Yes, sir,†he -cried, “it is one of our cars and Mrs. Harrington is in it.†- -Michael Harrington rose hastily to his feet. “Great Scott, my wife! The -boat must have docked early.†He pointed to the whiskey and champagne. -“Get rid of these; and not a word, Lambart, not a word.†- -“Certainly not, sir,†Lambart answered; “I couldn’t make a mistake of -that sort after being with the Marquis of St. Mervyn for seven years.†- -He took up the tray quickly and carried it off as Nora Rutledge--the -girl for whose sake poor Monty had passed hours of alternate misery and -hope--came in to tell her host the news. - -“Alice is here,†she cried, “and Monty Vaughan with her.†- -Nora was a pretty, clever girl of two and twenty with the up-to-date -habit of slangy smartness fully developed and the customary lack of -reticence over her love-affairs or those of anyone else in whom she was -interested. But for all her pert sayings few girls were more generally -liked than she, for the reason that she was genuine and wholesome. - -“Fine,†Michael said heartily. “Where are they? How is she? Was it a -good voyage?†- -A moment later his wife had rushed into his arms. - -“You dear old thing,†she exclaimed affectionately. - -“By George! I’m glad to see you,†he said, “you’ve been away for ages.†- -“You seem to have survived it well enough,†she laughed. - -“Tell me everything you’ve done,†he insisted. - -While she tried to satisfy this comprehensive order, Monty was assuring -Nora how delighted he was to see her. - -“It’s bully to find you here,†he said, shaking her hand. “I nearly -hugged you.†- -“Well, why didn’t you?†she retorted. - -“I’ve half a mind to,†he said, stretching out his arms; but she drew -back. - -“No. Not now. It’s cold. Hugs must be spontaneous.†- -“Where’s Ethel?†Mrs. Harrington called to her. - -“Upstairs, changing. You see we didn’t think you could get in so early -and you weren’t expected for another half-hour. She ought to be down in -a minute or so.†- -“Why didn’t you come down and meet us, old man?†Monty asked of his -host. - -“Wife’s orders,†Harrington responded promptly. - -“It’s such a nuisance to have people meet one at the pier,†Alice -explained. “I’m sure Monty was glad you weren’t there to witness his -humiliation. He was held up for smuggling and narrowly escaped -deportation.†- -“Oh, Monty,†Nora cried, “how lovely! Was it something for me? Don’t -scowl when I ask a perfectly reasonable question.†- -“It wasn’t,†Monty said wretchedly. He had in his joy at meeting her -forgotten all about smuggling and now the whole thing loomed up again. -“I’ve got half Long Island in my eyes, and if you don’t mind, Alice, -I’ll go and wash up.†- -“And you won’t tell me anything about your crime?†Nora pouted. - -“Meet me in the Pagoda in five minutes,†he whispered, “and I will. It’s -mighty nice to see a pretty girl again who can talk American.†- -“As if men cared what girls say,†she observed sagely. “It’s the way -they look that counts.†- -When Monty was gone she strolled back to where Alice was sitting. - -“Did you have a good trip?†she demanded. - -“Bully,†Alice answered her. “Steven Denby’s most attractive and -mysterious.†- -“Denby!†Harrington repeated. “Why, I’d clean forgotten about Denby. -Where is he?†- -“The limousine was so full of Monty and me and my hand-baggage that we -sent him on in the other car. He had to send some telegrams, so he -didn’t overtake us till we were this side of Jamaica, where they -promptly had a blow-out. He won’t be long.†- -“What Mr. Denby is he?†Nora asked with interest. - -“Yes,†Michael asked, “do I know him? I don’t think I ever heard of -him.†- -“Nor did I,†his wife told him. “Perhaps that’s what makes him so -mysterious.†- -“Then why on earth have him down here?†her husband asked mildly. - -“Because Monty’s devoted to him. They were at school together. And also, -Michael dear, because I like him and you’ll like him. Even if I am -married, love has not made me blind to other charming men.†- -“But, shall I like him?†Nora wanted to know. - -“I did the minute I met him,†Alice confessed. “He has a sort of ’come -hither’ in his eyes and the kind of hair I always want to run my hand -through. You will, too, Nora.†- -“But you see I’m not a married woman,†Nora retorted, “so I mayn’t have -your privileges.†- -Alice laughed. “Don’t be absurd. I haven’t done it yet--but I may.†- -“I don’t doubt it in the least,†said Michael, contentedly caressing her -hand. - -“He has such an air,†Mrs. Harrington explained, “sort of secret and -wicked. He might be a murderer or something fascinating like that.†- -“Splendid fellow for a week-end,†her husband commented. - -She looked at her watch. “I’d no idea it was so late. I must dress.†- -“All right,†Nora agreed. “Let’s see what’s become of Ethel.†- -“Just a minute, Alice,†her husband called as she was mounting the broad -stairway that led from the hall. - -“Run along, Nora,†Alice said, “I’ll be up in a minute.†- -“I’ll go and wait for Monty,†the girl returned. “I think you’re going -to be lectured.†She sauntered out of the French windows toward the -Pagoda. - -“Well,†said Alice smiling, “what is it?†- -“I just wanted to tell you how mighty glad I was to see you,†he -confessed. - -“And, Mikey dear,†she said simply, “I’m mighty glad to see you.†- -“Are you really?†he demanded. “You’re not missing Paris?†- -“Paris be hanged,†she retorted; “I’m in love with a man and not with a -town.†- -“It’s still me?†Michael asked a little wistfully. - -“Always you,†she said softly. “One big reason I like to go abroad is -because it makes me so glad to get back to you.†She sat on the arm of -his chair and patted his head affectionately. - -“But look here,†said Michael with an affectation of reproof, “whenever -I want a little trot around the country and suggest leaving, you -begin--†- -She put her hand over his mouth and stopped him. - -“Oh, that’s very different. When we do separate I always want to be the -one to leave, not to be left.†- -“It _is_ much easier to go than to stay,†he agreed, “and I’ve been -pretty lonely these last six weeks.†- -“But you’ve had a lot of business to attend to,†she reminded him. - -“That’s finished two weeks ago.†- -“And then you’ve had the insidious Lambart and all the Scotch you -wanted.†- -“’Tisn’t nearly as much fun to drink when you’re away,†he insisted. “It -always takes the sport out of it not to be stopped.†- -“Oh, Fibber!†she said, shaking her head. - -“Well, most of the sport,†he corrected. He held her off at arm’s length -and regarded her with admiration. “Do you know, I sometimes wonder what -ever made you marry me.†- -“Sometimes I wonder, too,†she answered, “but not often! I really think -we’re the ideal married couple, sentimental when we’re alone, and -critical when we have guests.†- -“That’s true,†he admitted proudly, “and most people hate each other in -private and love each other in public.†Michael hugged her to emphasize -the correctness of their marital deportment. - -“You are a dear old thing,†she said affectionately. - -“Do you know I don’t feel a bit married,†he returned boyishly, “I just -feel in love.†- -“That’s the nicest thing you ever said to me,†she said, rising and -kissing him. “But I’ve got to go and find Ethel now.†- -“You’ve made me feel fairly dizzy,†he asserted, still holding her hand, -“I need a drink to sober up.†- -“Oh, Michael,†she cried reprovingly, and drew away from him “I believe -you’ve been trying to get around me just for that!†- -“Oh, no, you don’t,†he said smiling. “Now, do you?†- -“No, I don’t, Mikey,†she admitted. “But be careful, here’s Monty and -Nora.†- -“Heavens!†cried Nora, looking in, “still lecturing, you two?†- -“You do look rather henpecked,†Monty said, addressing his host. - -“Yes,†Michael sighed, “we’ve been having a dreadful row, but I’m of a -forgiving nature and I’m going to reward her. Monty, touch that button -there, I want Lambart.†- -Alice looked at him in wonderment. “What do you mean?†- -“Wait,†he said with a chuckle. “Lambart,†he commanded, as the butler -stood before him, “bring it in.†There was respect in his tone. “It -ought to be at its best now.†- -On a silver salver Lambart bore in and presented to his mistress a large -liqueur glass filled with a clear liquid of delicate mauve hue. - -Alice looked at it a little fearfully. “Oh, Mikey,†she said, “is this -another new invention?†- -“My best,†he said proudly. - -“Can’t I share it?†she pleaded. - -“No more than I can my heart,†he said firmly. “It is to be named after -you.†- -Heroically she gulped it down. - -“Oh, how sweet it is,†she exclaimed. - -“I know,†he admitted. “But as it isn’t sugar you needn’t mind. I use -saccharin which is about a thousand times as sweet. And the beauty of -saccharin,†he confided to the others, “is that it stays with you. When -I first discovered this Crême d’Alicia as I call it, I tasted it for -days.†- -“It’s a perfectly divine color,†Nora remarked enthusiastically. “I’ve -always dreamed of a dress exactly that shade. How did you do it?†- -“Experimenting with the coal tar dyes,†he said proudly. “I’m getting -rather an expert on coal tar compounds. That color was Perkins’ mauve.†- -“That was more than mauve,†Nora insisted. “I’ve plenty of mauve -things.†- -He raised his hand. “No you don’t, Nora! You don’t get the result of my -years of close study like that. I’ll make you each a present of a bottle -before you go. We’ll have it with coffee every night. Mauve was the -foundation upon which I built.†- -“It’s a little rich for me, Mikey dear,†his wife said anxiously. “I -think it will make a far better winter cordial. I’m going upstairs to -see Ethel now.†- -He watched her disappear and then turned to Nora and Monty with a -twinkle in his eye. “I think after my labors I need a little cocktail. -In France they call this the _heure de l’aperitif_, as Monty probably -knows, and I have a private bar of my own. Don’t give me away, -children.†- -Nora looked at her companion with a frown. She had been looking for his -coming, and now when he was here, he had nothing to say. - -“What’s the matter with you?†she demanded suddenly. - -“I’m wondering where Steven is,†he returned anxiously. “A blow-out -oughtn’t to keep him all this time.†- -“But what makes you jump so?†she insisted. “You never used to be like -this. Is it St. Vitus’s dance?†- -He turned to her with an assumption of freedom from care. - -“I am a bit nervous, Nora,†he admitted. “You see, Steven and I are in a -big deal together, and, er, the markets go up and down like the -temperature and it keeps me sorts of anxious.†- -“You don’t mean to say you’ve gone into business?†she said. - -“Not exactly,†he prevaricated, “and yet I have in a way. It’s something -secret.†- -“Well,†said Nora, with sound common sense, “if it frightens you so, why -go in for it?†- -“Well, everything was kind of tepid in Paris,†he explained. - -“Tepid in Paris?†she cried. - -“Why, yes,†he told her. “Paris can’t always live up to her reputation. -I’d been there studying French banking systems so long that I wanted -some excitement and joined Steve in his scheme.†- -“Oh, Monty,†she said interested, and sitting on the couch at his side, -“if it’s really exciting, tell me everything. Are you being pursued?†- -He looked at her aggrieved. “Now what do you suggest that for?†he -demanded. - -“But what is it?†she insisted. - -“I can’t tell you,†he said decidedly. “Steve is one of my oldest -friends and I promised him.†- -“Oh, yes, I’ve heard all about him,†she cried a little impatiently. -“You and he went to college together and sang, ‘A Stein on the Table,’ -and went on sprees together and made love to the same girls, and played -on the same teams. I know all that college stuff.†- -“But we didn’t go to college together,†he said. - -“Alice said you did,†she returned, “or to school or something together, -but don’t take that as an excuse to get reminiscent. I hate men’s -reminiscences; they make me so darned envious. I wish I’d been a man, -Monty.†- -“I don’t,†said he smiling. - -“Don’t try to flirt with me,†she exclaimed, as he edged a little -nearer. - -“Why not?†he demanded. - -“You don’t know how,†she said and smiled provokingly. - -For a moment Monty forgot pearls and Customs and all unpleasant things. - -“Teach me,†he entreated. - -“It can’t be taught,†she said. “It’s got to be born in you.†She cast -her eyes down and looked alluringly at him through curling lashes. -There was the opportunity for Monty to see whether he had any skill at -the ancient game, but a sudden numbing nervousness took hold of him. And -while he could have written a prize essay on what he should have done, -he had not the courage to make the attempt. - -“Well?†she said presently. “Go on.†- -“I wonder where Steve is?†he said desperately. - -“You’re hopeless,†she cried exasperated. “I don’t know where ‘Steve’ -is, and I don’t care. I hope he’s under the car with gasoline dripping -into his eyes.†- -Poor Monty groaned; for it was equally true that he at this particular -moment was anxious to forget everything but the pretty girl at his side. - -“Nora,†he said nervously, “for the last year there’s been something -trembling on my lips--†- -“Oh, Monty,†she cried ecstatically, “don’t shave it off, I love it!†- -He rose, discomfited, to meet his hostess coming toward him with Miss -Ethel Cartwright, a close friend of hers whom he had never before met. -He noticed Michael quietly working his unobtrusive way back to the -position where Alice had left him, wiping his moustache with -satisfaction. - -“Monty,†said Mrs. Harrington, “I don’t think you’ve ever met my very -best friend, Miss Cartwright.†- -“How do you do,†the girl said smiling. - -“Be kind to him, Ethel,†Michael remarked genially. “He’s a nice boy and -the idol of the Paris Bourse.†- -“And an awful flirt,†Nora chimed in. “If I had had a heart he would -have broken it long ago.†- -“Do you know,†Alice said, “it has never occurred to me to think of -Monty as a flirt. Are you a flirt, Monty?†- -“No,†he said indignantly. - -“You needn’t be so emphatic when I ask you,†she said reprovingly. She -sighed. “I suppose it’s one of the penalties of age. I’ve known him a -disgracefully long time, Ethel, before the Palisades were grown-up.†- -“I’m sorry I didn’t get down to meet you, Alice,†Miss Cartwright said, -“I did mean to, but business detained me.†- -“Business in August!†Nora commented. - -“I’m glad you didn’t,†her hostess observed. “We were disgraced by -having in our merry party a smuggler who was caught with the goods and -narrowly escaped Sing Sing.†- -“There you go again,†Monty grumbled. “I hate the very sound of the -word.†- -“I say, Ethel,†Michael observed, watching her closely, “you do look a -bit pale. Business in weather like this doesn’t suit you. No bad news, I -hope?†- -He knew that the division of the late Vernon Cartwright’s fortune was -very disappointing and might narrow the girls’ income considerably. - -“It turned out all right, thank you,†the girl answered nervously. - -“How’s Amy?†Mr. Harrington asked. He was fond of the Cartwrights and -had known them from childhood. “Why isn’t she here?†- -“It isn’t to be a big party, Michael,†his wife reminded him. “Men are -so scarce in August I didn’t ask Amy. She’s all right, I hope, Ethel?†- -“Yes, thanks,†Miss Cartwright answered. - -“I wonder where Steve is?†Monty said for the fifth time. “He ought to -have that tire fixed by now.†- -“I hope he hasn’t smashed up,†said Alice. - -“So do I,†Michael retorted. “It was a mighty good car--almost new--and -I left a silver pocket-flask in it, I remember.†- -“Is someone else coming?†Ethel Cartwright asked. - -“A perfectly charming man, a Steven Denby.†- -“Steven Denby?†Miss Cartwright cried, her face lighting up. “Really?†- -“Do you know him then?†Mrs. Harrington asked. - -“Indeed I do,†she answered. - -“What, you know Steve?†Monty asked in surprise. - -“Tell us about him,†Nora besought her. - -“Yes, who is he?†Michael wanted to know. “Alice has been trying to -rouse me to the depths of my jealous nature about him!†- -“Isn’t he fascinating?†Alice observed. - -“I can only tell you all,†Ethel Cartwright declared, “that I know him. -I met him in Paris a year ago.†- -“Didn’t you like him?†Alice inquired. - -“I did, very much,†the girl said frankly. - -Nora spoke in a disappointed manner. “Well, he’s evidently yours for -this week-end.†- -“I daresay he won’t even remember me,†the other girl returned. - -“Oh, I bet he will,†said Nora, who was able to give Ethel credit for -her charm and beauty. “I shall just have to stick around with Monty--a -wild tempestuous flirt like Monty!†- -“Oh, I don’t mind,†Monty said with an air of condescension, “not -particularly.†- -“It’s time to dress, good people,†Michael reminded them. - -“Come on, Nora,†Alice said rising. “Come, Monty. Ethel, you’ll have to -amuse yourself, as Michael isn’t to be depended on.†- -“You wrong me, my dear,†Michael retorted. “I’m going for my one -solitary cocktail and then I’ll be back.†- -“And only one, remember,†Alice warned him. - -“You know me, my dear,†he said, “when I say one.†- -“You sometimes mean only one at a time,†she laughed. “You are still the -same consistent old Michael. And by the way, if Mr. Denby does happen to -turn up, tell him we’ll be down soon.†- -“I’ll send him in to Ethel if he comes.†- -“Yes, please do,†the girl said brightly. - -When she was left alone in the big hall, the coolest apartment in the -big house during the afternoon, Ethel Cartwright went to the French -windows and looked out over the smooth lawns to the trees at the back of -them. A long drive wound its way to the highroad, up which she could see -speeding a big motor. The porte-cochère was at the other side of the -house and she retraced her steps to the hall she had left with the hope -of meeting the man she had liked so much a year ago in Paris. - -A minute later he was ushered in, but did not at first see her. Then, as -he looked about the big apartment, he caught sight of the girl, and -stood for a moment staring as though he could hardly venture to believe -it was she. - -“Miss Cartwright,†he cried enthusiastically, “is it really you?†- -She took his outstretched hands graciously. “How do you do, Mr. Denby,†-she said. - -“Mr. Harrington told me to expect a surprise,†he cried, “but I was -certainly not prepared for such a pleasant one as this. How are you?†- -“Splendid,†she answered. “And you?†- -“Very, very grateful to be here.†- -“I wondered if you’d remember me,†she said; “it’s a long time ago since -we were in Paris.†- -“It was only the day before yesterday,†he asserted. - -“And what are you doing here?†she asked. - -“Oh, I thought I’d run over and see if New York was finished yet.†- -“Are you still doing--nothing?†she demanded, a tinge of disappointment -in her voice. - -He looked at her with a smile. “Still--nothing,†he answered. - -“Ah,†she sighed, “I had such hopes of you, a year ago in Paris.†- -“And I of you,†he said, boldly looking into her eyes. - -Her manner was more distant now. “I’m afraid I don’t admire idlers very -much. Why don’t you do something? You’ve ability enough, Mr. Denby.†- -“It’s so difficult to get a thrill out of business,†he complained. - -“And you must have thrills?†she asked. - -“Yes,†he answered, “it’s such a dull old world nowadays.†- -“Then why,†she exclaimed jestingly, “why don’t you take to crime?†- -“I have thought of it,†he laughed, “but the stake’s too high--a thrill -against prison.†- -“So you want only little thrills then, Mr. Denby?†- -“No,†he told her, “I’d like big ones better. Life or even death--but -not prison. And what have you done since I saw you last? You are still -doing nothing, too?†- -“Nothing,†she said, smiling. - -“And you’re still Miss Cartwright?†- -“_Only_ Miss Cartwright,†she corrected. - -“Good,†he said, looking at her steadily. “By George, it doesn’t seem a -year since that week in Paris. What made you disappear just as we were -having such bully times?†- -“I had to come back to America suddenly. I had only an hour to catch the -boat. I explained all that in my note though. Didn’t you even take the -trouble to read it?†- -He looked at her amazed. “I never even received it.†There was a touch -of relief in his voice. “So you sent me a note! Do you know, I thought -you’d dropped me, and I tell you I hit with an awful crash.†- -“I sent it by a porter and even gave him a franc,†she smiled. “I ought -to have given him five.†- -“I’d willingly have given him fifty,†Denby said earnestly. “It wasn’t -nice to think that I’d been dropped like that.†- -“And I thought you’d dropped me,†she said. - -“I should say not,†he exclaimed. “I was over here six months ago and I -did try to see you, but you were at Palm Beach. I can’t tell you how -often I’ve sent you telepathic messages,†he added whimsically. “Ever -get any of ’em?†- -“Some of them, I think,†she said smiling. “And now to think we’ve met -here on Long Island. It’s a far cry to Paris.†- -“For me it’s people who make places--the places themselves don’t -matter--you and I are here,†he said gently. - -The girl sighed a little. “Still, Paris is Paris,†she insisted. - -“Rather!†he answered, sighing too. “Do you remember that afternoon in -front of the Café de la Paix? We had _vin gris_ and watched the -Frenchman with the funny dog, and the boys calling _La Presse_, and the -woman who made you buy some ‘North Wind’ for me, and the people crowding -around the newspaper kiosks.†- -In the adjoining room Nora was strumming the piano, and was now playing -“_Un Peu d’Amour_.†She had looked in the hall and finding the stranger -so wholly absorbed in Ethel Cartwright, had retired to solitude. - -“And do you remember the hole in the table-cloth?†Ethel demanded. - -“And wasn’t it a dirty table-cloth?†he reminded her. “And afterwards we -had tea in the Bois at the Cascade and the Hungarian Band played ‘_Un -Peu d’Amour_.’†He looked at the girl smiling. “How did you arrange to -have that played just at the right moment?†- -They listened in silence for a moment to the dainty melody, and then she -hummed a few bars of it. Her thoughts were evidently far away from Long -Island. - -“And don’t you remember that poor skinny horse in our fiacre?†she asked -him. “He was so tired he fell down, and we walked home in pity.†- -“Ah, you were tender-hearted,†he sighed. - -“And we had dinner at Vian’s afterwards,†she reminded him, and then, -after a pause: “Wasn’t the soup awful?†- -“Ah, but the string-beans were an event,†he asserted. “And that -evening, I remember, there was a moon over the Bois, and we sat under -the trees. Have you forgotten that?†- -“I don’t think that would be very easy,†she said softly. - -“And we went through the Louvre the next day,†he said eagerly, “the -whole Louvre in an hour, and the loveliest picture I saw there -was--_you_.†- -Denby glanced up with a frown as Lambart’s gentle footfall was heard, -and rose to his feet a trifle embarrassed by this intrusion. Lambart -came to a respectful pause at Miss Cartwright’s side. - -“Pardon me,†he said, “but there is a gentleman to see you.†She took a -card that was on the tray he held before her. - -“To see me?†she cried, startled, gazing at the card. Denby, watching -her closely, saw her grow, as he thought, pale. “Ask him to come in. Mr. -Denby,†she said, “will you forgive me?†- -“Surely,†he assented, walking toward the great stairway. “I have to -dress, anyway.†- -“Your room is at the head of the stairs,†Lambart reminded him. “All -your luggage is taken in, sir.†- -Denby looked down at her. “Till dinner?†he asked. - -“Till dinner,†she said, and watched him pass out of sight. She was a -girl whose poise of manner prevented the betrayal of vivid emotion in -any but a certain subdued fashion. But it was plain she was laboring now -under an agitation that amounted almost to deadly fear. - -A few seconds later Daniel Taylor strode in with firm assured tread and -looked at the luxurious surroundings with approval. - -“Good evening, Miss Cartwright,†he exclaimed genially. “Good evening.†- -“My sister,†she returned, trembling, “nothing’s happened to her? She’s -all right?†- -“Sure, sure,†he returned reassuringly, “I haven’t bothered her; the -little lady’s all right, don’t you worry.†- -“Then what do you want here?†she cried alarmed. No matter what his -manner this man had menace in every look and gesture. She had never been -brought into contact with one who gave in so marked a degree the -impression of ruthless strength. - -“I thought I’d drop in with reference to our little chat this -afternoon,†he remarked easily. “Nice place they’ve got here.†- -“But I don’t understand why you have come,†she persisted. - -“You haven’t forgotten our little conversation, I hope?†- -“Of course not,†she said. - -“Well,†he continued, “you said when I needed you, you’d be ready.†He -looked about him cautiously as though fearing interruption. “I said it -might be a year, or it might be a month, or it might be to-night. Well, -it’s to-night, Miss Cartwright. I need you right now.†- -“Now?†she said puzzled. “Still, I don’t understand.†- -He lowered his voice. “A man has smuggled a two hundred thousand dollar -necklace through the Customs to-day. For various reasons which you -wouldn’t understand, we allowed him to slip through, thinking he’d -fooled us. Now that he believes himself safe, it ought to be easy to get -that necklace. We’ve got to get it; and we’re going to get it, through -one of our agents.†He pointed a forefinger at her. “We’re going to get -it through you.†- -“But I shouldn’t know how to act,†she protested, “or what to do.†- -Taylor smiled. “You’re too modest, Miss Cartwright. I’ve seen some of -your work in my own office, and I think you’ll be successful.†- -“But don’t you see I’m staying here over Sunday?†she explained. “I -can’t very well make an excuse and leave now.†- -“You don’t have to leave,†he told her. - -“What do you mean, then?†she demanded. - -“That the man who smuggled the necklace is staying here, too. His name -is Steven Denby.†- -“Steven Denby!†the girl cried, shrinking away from him. “Oh, no, you -must be mad--he isn’t a smuggler.†- -“Why isn’t he?†Taylor snapped. - -“I know him,†she explained. - -“You do?†he cried. “Where did you meet him?†- -“In Paris,†she replied. - -“How long have you known him?†- -“Just about a year,†she answered. - -“What do you know about him?†Taylor asked quickly. It was evident that -her news seemed very important to him. “What’s his business? How does he -make his living? Do you know his people?†- -“I don’t think he does anything,†she said hesitatingly. - -“Nothing, eh?†Taylor laughed disagreeably. “I suppose you think that’s -clear proof he couldn’t be a smuggler?†- -“I’m sure you are wrong,†she said with spirit; “he’s my friend.†- -“Your friend!†Taylor returned. His manner from that of the bluff -cross-examiner changed to one that had something confidential and -friendly in it. “Why, that ought to make it easier.†- -“Easier?†she repeated. “What do you mean by that?†- -“Well, you can get into his confidence. See?†- -“But you’re wrong,†she said indignantly. “I’m sure he is absolutely -innocent.†- -“Then you’ll be glad of a chance to prove we’re wrong and you’re right.†- -“But I couldn’t spy on a friend,†she declared. - -“If your friend is innocent it won’t do him any harm,†Taylor observed, -“and he’d never know. But if he’s guilty he deserves punishment, and -you’ve no right to try and protect him. Any person would only be doing -right in helping to detect a criminal; but you,â€--he paused -significantly,--“it’s just as much your duty as it is mine.†He showed -her his gold badge of authority for a brief moment, and although it -terrified her there was too much loyalty in her nature to betray a -friend or even to spy upon one. - -“No, no! I can’t do it,†she said. - -“So you’re going back on your agreement,†he sneered. “Two can play that -game. Suppose I go back on mine, too?†- -“You wouldn’t do that,†she cried horrified at his threat. - -“Why not?†he returned. “It’s give and take in this world.†- -“But I couldn’t be so contemptible.†- -Taylor shrugged his shoulders. “If I were you I’d think it over,†he -recommended. - -“But supposing you’re wrong,†she said earnestly. “Suppose he has no -necklace?†- -“Don’t let that disturb you,†he retorted. “Our information is positive. -We got a telegram late this afternoon from a pal of his who squealed, -giving us a tip about it. Now what do you say?†- -“I can’t,†she said, “I can’t.†- -He came closer, and said in a low harsh voice: “Remember, it’s Steven -Denby or your sister. There’s no other way out. Which are you going to -choose?†- -He watched her pale face eagerly. “Well,†he cried, “which is it to be?†- -“I have no choice,†she answered dully. “What do you want me to do?†- -“Good,†Taylor cried approvingly. “That’s the way to talk! Denby has -that necklace concealed in a brown leather tobacco-pouch which he always -carries in his pocket. You must get me that pouch.†- -“How can I?†she asked despairingly. - -“I’ll leave that to you,†he answered. - -“But couldn’t you do it?†she pleaded. “Or one of your men? Why ask me?†- -“It may be a bluff, some clever scheme to throw me off the track and I’m -not going to risk a mix-up with the Harringtons or tip my hand till I’m -absolutely sure. It don’t pay me to make big mistakes. You say Denby’s -your friend, well, then, it’ll be easy to find out. If you discover that -the necklace is in the tobacco-pouch, get him to go for a walk in the -garden; say you want to look at the moon, say anything, so long as you -get him into the garden where we’ll be on the lookout and grab him.†- -“But he might go out there alone,†she suggested. - -“If he does,†Taylor assured her, “we won’t touch him, but if he comes -out there with you, we’ll _know_.†- -“But if I can’t get him into the garden?†she urged. “Something may -happen to prevent me!†- -“If you’re sure he has it on him,†Taylor instructed her, “or if you -make out where it is concealed, pull down one of these window-shades. My -men and I can see these from the garden. When we get your signal we’ll -come in and arrest him. Sure you understand?†- -“I’m to pull down the window-shade,†she repeated. - -“That’s it, but be careful, mind. Don’t bring him out in the garden, -and don’t signal unless you are absolutely certain.†- -“Yes, yes,†she said. - -“And under no circumstances,†he commanded, “must you mention my name.†- -“But,†she argued, “suppose--†- -“There’s no ‘buts’ and no ‘supposes’ in it,†he said sharply. “It’s most -important to the United States Government and to me, that my identity is -in no way disclosed.†- -“It may be necessary,†she persisted. - -“It _cannot_ be necessary,†he said with an air of finality. “If it -comes to a show-down and you tell Denby I’m after him, I’ll not only -swear I never saw you, but I’ll put your sister in prison. Now, good -night, Miss Cartwright, and remember you’ve got something at stake, too, -so don’t forget--Denby to-night.†- -He went silently through the French windows and disappeared, leaving her -to face for the second time in a day an outlook that seemed hopeless. - -But she was not the only one in the great Harrington mansion to feel -that little zest was left in life. Monty was obsessed with the idea that -his friend’s long delay was due to his having been held up. The -automobile lends itself admirably to highway robbery, and it would be -easy enough for armed robbers to overpower Denby and the chauffeur. - -Directly he heard Denby’s voice talking to Lambart as he was shown into -his room, Monty burst in and wrung his hands again and again. - -“Why, Monty,†his friend said, “you overpower me.†- -“I thought you’d been held up and robbed,†the younger man cried. - -“Neither one nor the other,†Denby said cheerfully, “I was merely the -victim of two blow-outs. But,†he added, looking keenly at his -confederate, “if I had been held up the pearls wouldn’t have been taken. -I didn’t happen to have them with me.†- -“Thank God!†Monty cried fervently. “I wondered if that telegraphing to -people was just a ruse or not. Hooray, I feel I can eat and drink and be -merrier than I’ve been for a month. I never want to hear about them -again.†- -“I’m sorry, old man,†Denby said smiling, “but I shall have to ask you -for them.†- -“Me?†Monty stammered. “Don’t joke, Steve.†- -“But you very kindly brought them over for me,†Denby returned mildly. -“They’re in the right-hand shoe of a pair of buckskin tennis shoes. I -put them there when I helped you to repack your trunk. Do you mind -bringing them before I’ve finished dressing?†- -Monty looked at him reproachfully. “Sometimes I think I ought to have -gone into the ministry. I’m getting a perfect horror of crime.†- -“You’re not a criminal,†Denby said. “You helped me out on the voyage, -but here you are free to do as you like.†- -Monty set his jaw firmly. “I’m in it with you, Steve, till you’ve got -the damned things where you want ’em, and you can’t prevent me, either.†- -When he brought the precious necklace back Denby calmly placed the pouch -in his pocket. “Thanks, old man,†he said casually. “Now the fun -begins.†- -“Fun!†Monty snorted. “Do you remember the classic remark of the frog -who was pelted by small mischievous boys? ‘This may be the hell of a -joke to you,’ said the frog, ‘but it’s death to me.’†- -“I’ve always been sorry for that frog,†Denby commented. - -“But, man alive, you are the frog,†Monty cried. - -“Oh, no,†Denby returned, making a tie that had no likeness to a vast -butterfly. - -“Your frog hadn’t a ghost of a chance, and he knew it, while with me -it’s an even chance. One oughtn’t to ask any more than that in these -hard times.†- -He sauntered down the stairs cool and debonair to find Ethel Cartwright -still looking listlessly across the green lawns. - -“Those gentle chimes,†he said, as the dinner-gong pealed out, “call the -faithful to dinner. I wish it were in Paris, don’t you?†- -She pulled herself together and tried to smile as she had done before -Taylor had dashed all her joy to the ground. - -“Aren’t you hungering for string-beans?†he asked, “and the hole in the -table-cloth, and the gay old moon? But after all, what do they matter -now? You’re here, and I’m hungry.†He offered her his arm. “Aren’t you -hungry, too?†- - - - -CHAPTER NINE - - -Very much to Denby’s disappointment he found that he was not to take -Ethel Cartwright in to dinner. Nora Rutledge fell to his lot, and -although she was witty and sparkling, she shared none of those happy -Parisian memories as did the girl his host had taken in. - -Plainly Nora was piqued. “I thought from what Monty told me you were -really interesting,†she said. - -“One must never believe anything Monty says,†he observed. “It’s only -his air of innocence that makes people think him honest. His flirtations -on board ship were nothing short of scandalous and yet look at him now.†- -And poor Monty, although to him had fallen the honor of taking in his -hostess, was paying no sort of attention to her sallies. - -Nora glanced at him and then looked up at Denby. “I’m really awfully -fond of Monty, and I’m worried--if you’ll believe it--because he seems -upset. Monty,†she called, “what’s the matter with you, and what are you -thinking about?†- -“Frogs,†he said promptly. - -“We’ll have some to-morrow,†Michael observed amiably. “They induce in -me a most remarkable thirst, so I keep off them on that account.†- -“He’s thinking,†Denby reminded her, “of the old song, ‘A frog he would -a-wooing go!’ I’ve heard of you often enough, Miss Rutledge, from -Monty.†- -“Well, I wish you’d started being confidential with the _hors -d’œuvres_,†she said, “instead of waiting until dessert. If you had, -by this time you’d probably have been really amusing.†- -She rose at Mrs. Harrington’s signal and followed her from the room. - -“What I can’t see,†observed she, “is why we didn’t stay and have our -cigarettes with the men.†- -“I always leave them together,†Alice Harrington said with a laugh, -“because that’s the way to get the newest naughty stories. Michael -always tells ’em to me later.†- -“Alice!†cried Nora with mock reproof. - -“Oh, I like ’em,†Alice declared, “when they’re really funny, and so -does everybody else. Besides, nowadays it’s improper to be proper. -Cigarette, Ethel?†- -Miss Cartwright shook her head. “You know I don’t smoke,†she returned. - -Nora lighted a cigarette unskilfully. “That’s so old-fashioned,†she -said, in her most sophisticated manner, “and I’d rather die than be -that.†She coughed as she drew in a fragrant breath of Egyptian tobacco. -“I do wish, though, that I really enjoyed smoking.†- -“What do you think of our new friend, Mr. Denby?†Alice asked of her. - -“I like him in spite of the fact that he hardly noticed me. He couldn’t -take his eyes off Ethel.†- -“I saw that myself,†Mrs. Harrington returned. “You know, Ethel, I meant -him to take you in to dinner, but Nora insisted that she sit next to -him. She’s such a man-hunter!†- -“You bet I am,†the wise Nora admitted--“that’s the only way you can get -’em.†- -Mrs. Harrington turned to Ethel Cartwright. “Didn’t you and Mr. Denby -have a tiny row? You hardly spoke to him through dinner.†- -“Didn’t I?†the girl answered. “I’ve a bit of a headache.†- -“I’ll bet they had a lovers’ quarrel before dinner,†Nora hazarded. - -Alice Harrington arched her eyebrows in surprise. “A lovers’ quarrel!†- -“Certainly,†Nora insisted. “I’m sure Ethel is in love with him.†- -“How perfectly ridiculous,†Ethel said, with a trace of embarrassment in -her manner. “Don’t be so silly, Nora. I met him for a week in Paris, -that’s all, and I found him interesting. He had big talk as well as -small, but as for love--please don’t be idiotic!†- -“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,†laughed her hostess. - -“I don’t blame you, Ethel,†Nora admitted frankly. “If he’d give me a -chance I’d fall for him in a minute, but attractive young men never -bother about me. The best I can draw is--Monty! I’m beginning to dislike -the whole sex.†- -“Theoretically you are quite right, my dear,†said the maturer Alice; -“men are awful things--God bless ’em--but practically, well, some day -you’ll explode like a bottle of champagne and bubble all over some man.†- -“Speaking of champagne,†Nora said after a disbelieving gesture at the -prophecy, “I wish I had another of Michael’s purple drinks. He’s a -genius.†- -“Do tell him that,†the fond wife urged. “The very surest way to -Michael’s heart is through his buffet. I knew he’d taken to mixing -cocktails in a graduated chemist’s glass, but this excursion into the -chemistry of drinks is rather alarming. He would have been a most -conscientious bartender.†- -“Does he really drink much?†Nora demanded. - -“Not when I’m at home,†Alice declared. “Nothing after one. If he goes -to bed then he’s all right; if he doesn’t, he sits up till five going -the pace that fills. I wouldn’t mind if it made him amusing, but it -makes him merely sleepy. But he doesn’t drink nearly as much as most of -the men he knows. What makes you think he does, is that he makes such a -ceremony out of drinking. I don’t think he enjoys drinking alone. Nora,†-she added, “do sit down; you make me dizzy.†- -“I can’t,†Nora told her. “I always stand up for twenty minutes after -each meal. It keeps you thin.†- -“Does it?†Mrs. Harrington asked eagerly, rising from her comfortable -chair. “Does it really? Still, I lost nine pounds abroad!†- -“Goodness!†Nora cried enviously. “How?†- -“Buttermilk!†Alice cried triumphantly. - -“And I walked four miles this morning in a rubber suit and three -sweaters, _and_ gained half a pound,†Nora declared disconsolately. - -“I do wish hips would come in again,†Alice Harrington sighed. “Ah, here -come the men,†she said more brightly, as the three entered. - -Michael was still bearing, with what modesty he could, the encomiums on -a purple punch he had brewed after exhaustive laboratory experiments. - -“It’s delicious,†Denby declared. - -Michael sighed. “I used to think so until my wife stopped my drinking.†- -Even Monty seemed cheered by it. “Fine stuff,†he asserted. “I can feel -it warming up all the little nooks and crannies.†- -“Purple but pleasing,†Denby said, with the air of an epigrammatist. - -“Did they tell you any purple stories?†Michael’s wife demanded. - -“We don’t know any new stories,†Denby told her; “we’ve been in -England.†- -“Do sit down, all of you,†Alice commanded. “We’ve all been standing up -to get thin.†- -“If they’re going to discuss getting thin and dietetics,†Michael said, -“let’s get out.†- -“Woman’s favorite topic,†Monty remarked profoundly. - -“But you mustn’t sit down, Alice,†Nora warned, as her hostess seemed -about to sink into her chair. “It isn’t twenty minutes!†- -“Well, I think it is twenty minutes,†she returned smiling, “and if it -isn’t I don’t care a continental.†- -“Women are so self-denying,†Michael Harrington observed with gentle -satire. - -“And sometimes it pays,†his wife said. “Do you know, Nora, there was a -girl on the boat who lost twelve pounds.†- -“Twelve pounds,†Michael exclaimed, and then by a rapid-fire bit of -mental arithmetic added: “Why, that’s sixty dollars. How women do gamble -nowadays!†- -“Pounds of flesh, Michael, pounds of flesh. She was on a diet. She -didn’t eat for three days.†- -“That’s not a bad idea,†Nora said approvingly. “Sometime when I’m not -hungry I’ll try it.†- -Ethel Cartwright had refrained from joining in the conversation for the -reason she had no part just now in their lighter moods. Their talk of -weight losing had been well enough, but Michael’s misinterpretation of -the twelve pounds brought back to her the cause of Amy’s misfortune and -plunged her deeper into misery. - -She walked toward the window and looked over the grass to the deep gloom -of the cedar trees opposite. And it seemed to her that there were moving -shadows that might be Taylor and his men ready to pounce upon a man to -whom a year ago she had been deeply drawn. There was a charm about Denby -when he set himself to please a woman to which she, although no blushing -ingénue, was keenly sensible. - -“Seeing ghosts?†said a voice at her elbow, and she turned, startled, -to see his smiling face looking down at her. - -She assumed a lighter air. “No,†she told him brightly. “Ghosts belong -to the past. I was seeing spirits of the future.†- -“Can’t we see them together?†he suggested. “I shall never tire of -Parisian ghosts if you are there to keep me from being too scared. Let’s -go out and see if the moon looks good-tempered. The others are talking -about smuggling and light and airy nothings like that. Shall we?†- -“No, no!†she said, with a tremor in her voice that did not escape him. -“Not yet; later, perhaps.†- -She could, in fact, hardly compose her face. Here he was suggesting that -she take him into a trap to be prepared later by her treachery. But she -had what seemed to her a duty to perform, and no sentiment must stand in -the way of her sister’s salvation. And there was always the hope that he -was innocent. At any other time than this she would have wagered he was -without blame; but this was a day on which misfortunes were visiting -her, and she was filled with dread as to its outcome. - -She moved over to Mrs. Harrington’s side, gracefully and slowly, free so -far as the ordinary observer could see from any care. - -“So you are talking of smuggling,†she said. “Alice, did you really -bring in anything without paying duty on it?†- -“Not a thing,†Alice returned promptly. “I declared every solitary -stitch.†- -“I’d like to believe you,†her husband remarked, “but knowing you as I -do--†- -“I paid seven hundred dollars’ duty,†his spouse declared. - -“Disgusting!†Nora exclaimed. “Think of what you could have bought for -that!†- -“Please tell me,†Michael inquired anxiously, “what mental revolution -converted you from the idea that smuggling was a legitimate and noble -sport?†- -“I still don’t think it’s wrong,†Alice declared honestly. “Some of you -men seem to, but I’d swindle the government any day.†- -“Then, for Heaven’s sake,†Nora wanted to know, “why waste all that good -money?†- -Alice waved a jewelled white hand toward Steven Denby. - -“Behold my reformer!†- -Ethel Cartwright looked at him quickly. Her distrust of motives was the -result of her conversation with Daniel Taylor, who believed in no man’s -good faith. - -“Mr. Denby?†she asked, almost suspiciously. - -“What has Mr. Denby to do with it?†Nora cried, equally surprised that -it was his influence which had stayed the wilful Alice. - -“He frightened me,†Alice averred. - -“I want to have a good look at the man who can do that,†Michael cried. - -“I’m afraid Mrs. Harrington is exaggerating,†Denby explained patiently; -“I merely pointed out that things had come to a pass when it might be -very awkward to fool with the Customs.†- -“They didn’t give us the least bit of trouble at the dock,†she -answered. “I wish I’d brought in a trunk full of dutiable things. They -hardly looked at my belongings.†- -“That sometimes means,†Denby explained, “that there will be the -greatest possible trouble afterwards.†- -“I don’t see that,†Nora asserted. “How can it be?†- -“Well,†he returned, “according to some articles in McClure’s a few -months ago by Burns, very often a dishonest official will let a -prominent woman like Mrs. Harrington slip through the lines without the -least difficulty--even if she is smuggling--so that afterwards he can -come to her home and threaten exposure and a heavy fine. Usually the -woman or her husband will pay any amount to hush things up. I was -thinking of that when I advised Mrs. Harrington to declare everything -she had.†- -“But you said a whole lot more than that,†Mrs. Harrington reminded him. -“When our baggage was being examined at Dover, you spoke about that man -of mystery who is known as R. J. It was cumulative, Mr. Denby, and on -the whole you did it rather well. My bank-book is a living witness to -your eloquence.†- -Ethel asked rather eagerly, “But this R. J., Mr. Denby, what is he?†- -“I’ve heard of him,†Michael answered. “Some man at the club told me -about him, but I very soon sized that matter up. If you want to know my -opinion, Ethel, R. J. is the bogey man of the Customs. If they suspect -an inspector he receives a postal signed R. J., and telling him to watch -out. It’s a great scheme, which I recommend to the heads of big business -corporations. I don’t believe in R. J.†- -Ethel looked up at Denby brightly. “But you really believe in him, don’t -you?†- -“I only know,†he told her, “that R. J. has many enemies because he has -made many discoveries. Unquestionably he does exist for all Mr. -Harrington’s unbelief. He’s supposed to be one of these impossible -secret service agents, travelling incognito all over the globe. He is -known only by his initials. Some people call him the storm-petrol, -always in the wake of trouble. Where there is intrigue among nations, -diplomatic tangles, if the Japs steal a fortification plan, or a German -cross-country aeroplane is sent to drop a bomb on the Singer Building, -R.J. is supposed to be there to catch it.†- -“What an awfully unpleasant position,†Nora shuddered. - -“Think of a man deliberately choosing a job like that!†Monty commented. - -“So,†Denby continued, “when a friend of mine in Paris told me that R.J. -had been requested by the government to investigate Customs frauds, I -knew there would be more danger in the smuggling game than ever. I -warned Mrs. Harrington because I did not want to see her humiliated by -exposure.†- -“That’s mighty good of you, Denby,†Michael said appreciatively; “but -all the same I don’t see how--supposing she had slipped in without any -fuss some stuff she had bought in Paris or London and ought to have -declared--I don’t see how if they didn’t know it, they could blackmail -her.†- -“That’s the simplest part of it,†Denby assured him. “The clerk in the -kind of store your wife would patronize is most often a government spy, -unofficially, and directly after he has assured the purchaser that it -is so simple to smuggle, and one can hide things so easily, he has -cabled the United States Customs what you bought and how much it cost.†- -“They do that?†said Michael indignantly. “I never did trust Frenchmen, -the sneaks. I’ve no doubt that the _heure de l’aperitif_ was introduced -by an American.†- -Miss Cartwright had been watching Denby closely. There was forced upon -her the unhappy conviction that this explanation of the difficulties of -smuggling was in a sense his way of boasting of a difficulty he had -overcome. And she alone of all who were listening had the key to this. -It was imperative--for the dread of Taylor and his threats had eaten -into her soul--to gain more explicit information. Her manner was almost -coquettish as she asked him: - -“Tell me truly, Mr. Denby, didn’t you smuggle something, just one tiny -little scarf-pin, for example?†- -“Nothing,†he returned. “What makes you think I did?†- -“It seemed to me,†she said boldly, “that your fear that Mrs. Harrington -might be caught was due to the fear suspicion might fall on you.†- -Denby looked at her curiously. He had never seen Ethel Cartwright in -this mood. He wondered at what she was driving. - -“It does sound plausible,†he admitted. - -“Then ’fess up,†Michael urged. “Come on, Denby, what did you bring in?†- -“Myself and Monty,†Denby returned, “and he isn’t dutiable. All the -smuggling that our party did was performed by Monty out of regard for -you.†- -“I still remain unconvinced,†Ethel Cartwright declared obstinately. “I -think it was two thoughts for yourself and one for Alice.†- -“Now, Denby,†Michael cried jocularly, “you’re among friends. Where have -you hidden the swag?†- -“Do tell us,†Nora entreated. “It’d be so nice if you were a criminal -and had your picture in the rogues’ gallery. The only criminals I know -are those who just run over people in their motors, and that gets so -commonplace. Do tell us how you started on a life of crime.†- -“Nora!†Monty cried reprovingly. Things were increasing his nervousness -to a horrible extent. Why wouldn’t they leave smuggling alone? - -“I’m not interested in your endeavors,†Nora said superciliously. -“You’re only a sort of petty larceny smuggler with your silver -hair-brushes. Mr. Denby does things on a bigger scale. You’re safe with -us, Mr. Denby,†she reminded him. - -“I know,†he answered, “so safe that if I had any dark secrets to reveal -I’d proclaim them with a loud voice.†- -“That’s always the way,†Nora complained. “Every time I meet a man who -seems exciting he turns out to be just a nice man--I hate nice men.†She -crossed over to the agitated Monty. - -“Mr. Denby is a great disappointment to me, too,†Ethel Cartwright -confessed. “Couldn’t you invent a new way to smuggle?†- -“It wasn’t for lack of inventive powers,†he assured her, “it was just -respect for the law.†- -“I didn’t know we had any left in America,†Michael observed, and then -added, “but then you’ve lived a lot abroad, Denby.†- -“Mr. Denby must be rewarded with a cigarette,†Ethel declared, bringing -the silver box from the mantel and offering him one. “A cigarette, Mr. -Denby?†- -“Thanks, no,†he answered, “I prefer to roll my own if you don’t mind.†- -It seemed that the operation of rolling a cigarette was amazingly -interesting to the girl. Her eager eyes fastened themselves intently on -a worn pigskin pouch he carried. - -“Can’t you do it with one hand?†she asked disappointedly; “just like -cowboys do in plays?†- -“It seems I’m doomed to disappoint you,†he smiled. “I find two hands -barely sufficient.†- -“Sometime you must roll me one,†she said. “Will you?†- -“With pleasure,†he returned, lighting his own. - -“But you don’t smoke,†Alice objected. - -“Ah, but I’ve been tempted,†she confessed archly. - -“The only thing that makes my life worth living is yielding to -temptation,†Nora observed. - -“That’s not a bad idea,†Michael said rising. “I’m tempted to take a -small drink. Who’ll yield with me and split a pint of Brut Imperial?†- -“That’s your last drink to-night,†his wife warned him. - -“I’m not likely to forget it,†he said ruefully. “My wife,†he told the -company, “thinks I’m a restaurant, and closes me up at one sharp.†- -“Let’s have some bridge,†Mrs. Harrington suggested. “Ethel, what do you -say?†- -“I’ve given it up,†she answered. - -“Why, you used to love it,†Nora asserted, surprised. - -“I’ve come to think all playing for money is horrible,†Ethel returned, -thinking to what trouble Amy’s gambling had brought her. - -“Me too,†Michael chimed in. “Unless stocks go up, or the Democratic -party goes down, I’ll be broke soon. How about a game of pool?†- -“I’d love to,†Nora said. “I’ve been dying to learn.†- -“That’ll make it a nice interesting game,†Monty commented. He knew he -could never make a decent shot until the confounded necklace was miles -away. - -“Then there’s nothing else to do but dance,†Alice decreed. “Come, -Nora.†- -“No,†Michael cried, “I’ll play pool or auction or poker, I’ll sit or -talk or sing, but I’m hanged if I hesitate and get lost, or maxixe!†- -Alice shook her head mournfully. “Ah, Michael,†she said, “if you were -only as light-footed as you are light-headed, what a partner you’d make. -We are going to dance anyway.†- -Ethel hesitated at the doorway. “Aren’t you dancing or playing pool, Mr. -Denby?†- -“In just a moment,†he said. “First I have a word to say to Monty.†- -“I understand,†she returned. “Man’s god--business! Men use that excuse -over the very littlest things sometimes.†- -“But this is a big thing,†he asserted; “a two hundred thousand dollar -proposition, so we’re naturally a bit anxious.†- -Monty shook his head gravely. “Mighty anxious, believe me.†- -Whatever hope she might have cherished that Taylor was wrong, and this -man she liked so much was innocent, faded when she heard the figure two -hundred thousand dollars. That was the amount of the necklace’s value, -exactly. And she had wondered at Monty’s strained, nervous manner. Now -it became very clear that he was Denby’s accomplice, dreading, and -perhaps knowing as well as she, that the house was surrounded. - -She told herself that the law was just, and those who disobeyed were -guilty and should be punished; and that she was an instrument, -impersonal, and as such, without blame. But uppermost in her mind was -the thought of black treachery, of mean intriguing ways, and the -certainty that this night would see the end of her friendship with the -man she had sworn to deliver to the ruthless, cruel, insatiable Taylor. -It was, as Taylor told her, a question of deciding between two people. -She could help, indirectly, to convict a clever smuggler, or she could -send her weak, dependent, innocent eighteen-year-old sister to jail. And -she had said to Taylor: “I have no choice.†- -Denby looked at her a little puzzled. In Paris, a year ago, she had -seemed a sweet, natural girl, armed with a certain dignity that would -not permit men to become too friendly on short acquaintance. And here it -seemed that she was almost trying to flirt with him in a wholly -different way. He was not sure that her other manner was not more in -keeping with the ideal he had held of her since that first meeting. - -“I should be anxious, too,†she said, “if I had all that money at stake. -But all the same, don’t be too long. I think I may ask you for that -cigarette presently.†- - - - -CHAPTER TEN - - -Denby stood looking after her. “Bully, bully girl,†he muttered. - -“Anything wrong, Steve?†Monty inquired, not catching what he said. - -Denby turned to the speaker slowly; his thoughts had been more -pleasantly engaged. - -“I don’t understand why they haven’t done anything,†he answered. “I’m -certain we were followed at the dock. When I went to send those -telegrams I saw a man who seemed very much disinterested, but kept near -me. I saw him again when we had our second blow-out near Jamaica. It -might have been a coincidence, but I’m inclined to think they’ve marked -us down.†- -“I don’t believe it,†Monty cried. “If they had the least idea about the -necklace, they’d have pinched you at the pier, or got you on the road -when it was only you and the chauffeur against their men.†- -Still Denby seemed dubious. “They let me in too dashed easily,†he -complained, “and I can’t help being suspicious.†- -“They seemed to suspect me,†Monty reminded him. - -“The fellow thought you were laughing at him, that’s all. They’ve no -sense of humor,†Denby returned. “What I said to-night was no fiction, -Monty. Cartier’s may have tipped the Customs after all.†- -“But you paid Harlow a thousand dollars,†Monty declared. - -“He wasn’t the only one to know I had bought the pearls, though,†Denby -observed thoughtfully. “It looks fishy to me. They may have some new -wrinkles in the Customs.†- -“That damned R. J.,†Monty said viciously, “I’d like to strangle him.†- -“It would make things easier,†Denby allowed. - -“All the same,†Monty remarked, “I think we’ve both been too fidgety.†- -“Dear old Monty,†his friend said, smiling, “if you knew the game as I -do, and had hunted men and been hunted by them as I have, you’d not -blame me for being a little uneasy now.†- -With apprehension Monty watched him advance swiftly toward the switch on -the centre wall by the window. “Get over by that window,†he commanded, -and Monty hurriedly obeyed him. Then he turned off the lights, leaving -the room only faintly illuminated by the moonlight coming through the -French windows. - -“What the devil’s up?†Monty asked excitedly. - -“Is there anyone there on the lawn?†- -Monty peered anxiously through the glass. “No,†he whispered, and then -added: “Yes, there’s a man over there by the big oak. By Jove, there -is!†- -“What’s he doing?†the other demanded. - -“Just standing and looking over this way.†- -“He’s detailed to watch the house. Anybody else with him?†- -“Not that I can see.†- -“Come away, Monty,†Denby called softly, and when his friend was away -from observation, he switched on the light again. “Now,†he asked, “do -you believe that we were followed?†- -“The chills are running down my spine,†Monty confessed. “Gee, Steve, I -hope it won’t come to a gun fight.†- -“They won’t touch you,†Denby said comfortingly; “they want me.†- -“I don’t know,†Monty said doubtfully. “They’ll shoot first, and then -ask which is you.†- -Denby was unperturbed. “I think we’ve both been too fidgety,†he -quoted. - -“But why don’t they come in?†Monty asked apprehensively. - -“They’re staying out there to keep us prisoners,†he was told. - -“Then I hope they’ll stop there,†Monty exclaimed fervently. - -“I can’t help thinking,†Denby said, knitting his brows, “that they’ve -got someone in here on the inside, working under cover to try to get the -necklace. What do you know about the butler, Lambart? Is he a new man?†- -“Lord, no,†Monty assured him. “He has been with Michael five years, and -worships him. You’d distress Lambart immeasurably if you even hinted -he’d ever handed a plate to a smuggler.†- -“We’ve got to find out who it is,†Denby said decidedly, “and then, -Monty, we’ll have some sport.†- -“Then we’ll have some shooting,†Monty returned in disgust. “Where is -that confounded necklace anyway? Is Michael carrying it around without -knowing it?†- -“Still in my pouch,†Denby returned. - -As he said this, Miss Cartwright very gently opened a door toward which -his back was turned. Terrified at the thought of Taylor’s possible -intrusion, she had been spurred to some sort of action, and had -sauntered back to the big hall with the hope of overhearing something -that would aid her. - -“I know they mean business,†she heard Denby say, “and this is going to -be a fight, Monty, and a fight to a finish.†- -The thought that there might presently be scenes of violence enacted in -the hospitable Harrington home, scenes in which she had a definite rôle -to play, which might lead even to the death of Denby as it certainly -must lead to his disgrace, drove her nearly to hysteria. Taylor had -inspired her with a great horror, and at the same time a great respect -for his power and courage. She did not see how a man like Steven Denby -could win in a contest between himself and the brutal deputy-surveyor. -“Oh,†she sighed, “if they were differently placed! If Steven stood for -the law and Taylor for crime!†- -Everything favored Taylor, it seemed to her. Denby was alone except for -Monty’s faltering aid, while the other had his men at hand and, above -all, the protection of the law. It was impossible to regard Taylor as -anything other than a victor making war on men or women and moved by -nothing to pity. What other man than he would have tortured her poor -little sister, she wondered. - -To a woman used through the exigencies of circumstances to making her -living in a business world where competition brought with it rivalries, -trickeries and jealousies, the ordeal to be faced would have been almost -overwhelming. - -But the Cartwrights had lived a sheltered life, the typical happy family -life where there is wealth, and none until to-day had ever dared to -speak to Ethel as Taylor had done. She was almost frantic with the -knowledge that she must play the spy, the eavesdropper, perhaps the -Delilah among people who trusted her. - -As she was debating what next to do, she heard Monty’s voice as it -seemed to her fraught with excitement and eager and quick. - -“Will you have a cigarette, Dick?†she heard him call. Instantly Steven -Denby wheeled about and faced the door through which she appeared to -saunter languidly. Something told her that Monty had discovered her. - -“Still talking business?†she said, attempting to appear wholly at ease. -“I’ve left my fan somewhere.†- -“Girls are always doing that, aren’t they?†Denby said pleasantly. There -was no indication from his tone that he suspected she had been -listening. “We’ll have to find it, Monty.†- -“Sure, Steve, sure,†Monty returned. He was not able to cloak his -uneasiness. - -“Steve?†the girl queried brightly. “As I came in, I thought I heard you -call him ‘Dick.’†- -“That was our private signal,†Denby returned promptly, relieving poor -Monty of an answer. - -“That sounds rather mysterious,†she commented. - -“But it’s only commonplace,†Denby assured her. “My favorite parlor -trick is making breaks--it always has been since Monty first knew -me--and invented a signal to warn me when I’m on thin ice or dangerous -ground. ‘Will you have a cigarette, Dick’ is the one he most often -uses.†- -“But why ‘Dick?’†she asked. - -“That’s the signal,†Denby explained. “If he said ‘Steve,’ I shouldn’t -notice it, so he always says ‘Dick,’ don’t you, Monty?†- -“Always, Steve,†Monty answered quickly. - -“Then you were about to make a break when I came in?†she hinted. - -“I’m afraid I was,†Denby admitted. - -“What was it? Won’t you tell me?†- -“If I did,†he said, “it would indeed be a break.†- -“Discreet man,†she laughed; “I believe you were talking about me.†- -He did not answer for a moment but looked at her keenly. It hurt him to -think that this girl, of all others, might be fencing with him to gain -some knowledge of his secret. But he had lived a life in which danger -was a constant element, and women ere this had sought to baffle him and -betray. - -He was cautious in his answer. - -“You are imaginative,†he said, “even about your fan. There doesn’t seem -to be a trace of it, and I don’t think I remember your having one.†- -“Perhaps I didn’t bring it down,†she admitted, “and it may be in my -room after all. May I have that promised cigarette to cheer me on my -way?†- -“Surely,†he replied. Very eagerly she watched him take the pouch from -his pocket and roll a cigarette. - -Her action seemed to set Monty on edge. Suppose Denby by any chance -dropped the pouch and the jewels fell out. It seemed to him that she was -drawing nearer. Suppose she was the one who had been chosen to “work -inside†and snatched it from him? - -“Miss Cartwright,†he said, and noted that she seemed startled at his -voice, “can’t I get your fan for you?†- -“No, thanks,†she returned, “you’d have to rummage, and that’s a -privilege I reserve only for myself.†- -“Here you are,†Denby broke in, handing her the slim white cigarette. - -She took it from him with a smile and moistened the edge of the paper as -she had seen men do often enough. “You are an expert,†she said -admiringly. - -He said no word but lighted a match and held it for her. She drew a -breath of tobacco and half concealed a cough. It was plain to see that -she was making a struggle to enjoy it, and plainer for the men to note -that she failed. - -“What deliciously mild tobacco you smoke,†she cried. Suddenly she -stretched out her hand for the pouch. “Do let me see.†- -But Denby did not pass it to her. He looked her straight in the eyes. - -“I don’t think a look at it would help you much,†he said slowly. “The -name is, in case you ever want to get any, ‘without fire.’†- -“What an odd name,†she cried. “Without fire?†- -“Yes,†he answered. “You see, no smoke without fire.†Without any -appearance of haste he put the pouch back in his pocket. - -“You don’t believe in that old phrase?†- -“Not a bit,†he told her. “Do you?†- -She turned to ascend the stairs to her room. - -“No. Do make another break sometime, won’t you--Dick?†- -[Illustration: “DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON’T YOU--DICK?†_Page -186_.] - -“I most probably shall,†he retorted, “unless Monty warns me--or you.†- -She turned back--she was now on the first turn of the staircase. “I’ll -never do that. I’d rather like to see you put your foot in it--you seem -so very sure of yourself--Steve.†She laughed lightly as she -disappeared. - -Monty gripped his friend’s arm tightly. “Who is that girl?†- -“Why, Ethel Cartwright,†he rejoined, “a close friend of our hostess. -Why ask me?†- -“Yes, yes,†Monty said impatiently, “but what do you know about her?†- -“Nothing except that she’s a corker.†- -“You met her in Paris, didn’t you?†Monty was persistent. - -“Yes,†his friend admitted. - -“What was she doing there?†- -Denby frowned. “What on earth are you driving at?†- -“She was behind that door listening to us or trying to.†- -“So you thought that, too?†Denby cried quickly. - -“Then you do suspect her of being the one they’ve got to work on the -inside?†Monty retorted triumphantly. - -“It can’t be possible,†Denby exclaimed, fighting to retain his faith in -her. “You’re dead wrong, old man. I won’t believe it for a moment.†- -“Say, Steve,†Monty cried, a light breaking in on him, “you’re sweet on -her.†- -“It isn’t possible, it isn’t even probable,†said Denby, taking no -notice of his suggestion. - -“But the same idea occurred to you as did to me,†Monty persisted. - -“I know,†Denby admitted reluctantly. “I began to be suspicious when she -wanted to get hold of the pouch. You saw how mighty interested she was -in it?†- -“That’s what startled me so,†Monty told him. “But how could she know?†- -“They’ve had a tip,†Denby said, with an air of certainty, “and if she’s -one of ’em, she knows where the necklace was. Wouldn’t it be just my -rotten luck to have that girl, of all girls I’ve ever known, mixed up in -this?†- -“Old man,†Monty said solemnly, “you are in love with her.†- -Denby looked toward the stairway by which he had seen her go. - -“I know I am,†he groaned. - -“Oughtn’t we to find out whether she’s the one who’s after you or not?†-Monty suggested with sound good sense. - -“No, we oughtn’t,†Denby returned. “I won’t insult her by trying to trap -her.†- -“Flub-dub,†Monty scoffed. “I suspect her, and it’s only fair to her to -clear her of that suspicion. If she’s all right, I shall be darn glad of -it. If she isn’t, wouldn’t you rather know?†- -For the first time since he had met his old school friend in Paris, -Monty saw him depressed and anxious. “I don’t want to have to fight -her,†he explained. - -“I understand that,†Monty went on relentlessly, “but you can’t quit -now--you’ve got to go through with it, not only for your own sake, but -in fairness to the Harringtons. It would be a pretty raw deal to give -them to have an exposé like that here just because of your refusal to -have her tested.†- -“I suppose you’re right,†Denby sighed. - -“Of course I am,†Monty exclaimed. - -“Very well,†his friend said, “understand I’m only doing this to prove -how absolutely wrong you are.†- -He would not admit even yet that she was plotting to betray him. Those -memories of Paris were dearer to him than he had allowed himself to -believe. Monty looked at him commiseratingly. He had never before seen -Steven in trouble, and he judged his wound to be deeper than it seemed. - -“Sure,†he said. “Sure, I know, and I’ll be as glad as you to find after -all it’s Lambart or one of the other servants. What shall we do?†- -Denby pointed to the door from which Miss Cartwright had come. “Go in -there,†he commanded, “and keep the rest of the people from coming back -here.†- -Monty’s face fell. “How can I do that?†he asked anxiously. - -“Oh, recite, make faces, imitate Irving in ‘The Bells,’ do anything but -threaten to sing, but keep ’em there as you love me.†- -Obediently Monty made for the door but stopped for a moment before -passing through it. - -“And say, old man,†he said a little hurriedly, nervous as most men are -when they deal with sentiment, “don’t take it too hard. Just remember -what happened to Samson and Antony and Adam.†- - - - -CHAPTER ELEVEN - - -When Monty had gone, Denby took out the pouch and placed it -conspicuously on the floor so that anyone descending the stairs must -inevitably catch sight of it. Then, as though thinking better of it, he -picked it up and placed it on one of the small tables on which was an -electric shaded lamp. After looking about him for a hiding-place from -which he could command a view of it and yet remain undiscovered, he -decided upon a door at the left of the hall. - -He had waited there only a few seconds when Ethel Cartwright’s steps -were heard descending. - -“Oh, Mr. Denby,†she called, “you were right, the fan was in my room -after all.†Then, as she became conscious that the room was empty, she -paused and looked about her closely. Presently her eyes fell on the -precious pouch so carelessly left. For a moment the excitement bereft -her of ability to move. Here, only a few yards from her, was what would -earn her sister’s safety and her release from Taylor’s power. - -But she was no fool and collecting her thoughts wondered how it was -possible so precious a thing could be left open to view. Perhaps it was -a trap. Perhaps in the big hall behind one of its many doors or -portières she was even now being watched. Denby had looked at her in a -stern, odd manner, wholly different from his former way and Mr. Vaughan, -of whom she had heard often enough as a pleasant, amiable fellow, had -stared at her searchingly and harshly. An instinct of danger came to her -aid and she glanced over to the door behind her which was slightly ajar. -She remembered certainly that it was closed when she had gone upstairs -for her supposititious fan. - -As calmly as she could she walked to the wall and touched the bell that -would summon a servant. In a few seconds Lambart entered. - -“Please find Mr. Denby,†she said, “and say that I am here.†- -Before he could turn to go, she affected to discover the leathern pouch. - -“Oh, Lambart,†she exclaimed, “here’s Mr. Denby’s tobacco; he must have -forgotten it.†- -The man took up the pouch, assuming from her manner that she desired him -to carry it to the owner. “No, I’ll take it,†she said, and reached for -it. Lambart only saw what was to him an inexcusably clumsy gesture which -dislodged it from his hand and sent it to the floor, in such a manner -that it opened and the tobacco tumbled out. But the girl’s gesture was -cleverer than he knew for in that brief moment she had satisfied herself -it was empty. - -“Oh, Lambart,†she said reprovingly, “how careless of you! Have you -spilt it all?†- -Lambart examined its interior with a butler’s gravity. - -“I’m afraid I have, miss,†he admitted. - -“I think Mr. Denby went into the library,†she said, knowing that the -door behind which someone--probably he--was hiding, led to that room. - -Hearing her, Denby knew he must not be discovered and retreated through -the empty library into a small smoking-room into which Lambart did not -penetrate. The man returned to Miss Cartwright, his errand -unaccomplished. “Mr. Denby is not there,†he said. - -“Then I will give him the pouch when I see him,†she said, “and, -Lambart, you need not tell him I am here.†- -As soon as he was gone, she ran to the window, her face no longer -strained but almost joyous, and when she was assured that none watched -her, lowered the curtain as a signal. - -Taylor must have been close at hand, so promptly did he respond to her -summons. - -“Well, have you got him?†he cried sharply as he entered. “Where is -he--where’s the necklace?†- -“You were wrong,†she said triumphantly, “there is no necklace. I knew I -was right.†- -“You’re crazy,†he retorted brutally. - -“You said it was in the tobacco-pouch,†she reminded him, “and I’ve -searched and it isn’t there at all.†- -“You’re trying to protect him,†Taylor snarled. “You’re stuck on him, -but you can’t lie to me and get away with it.†- -“No, no, no,†she protested. “Look, here’s the very pouch, and there’s -no necklace in it.†- -“How did you get hold of it?†he snapped. - -It was a moment of bitter failure for the deputy-surveyor. The sign for -which he had waited patiently, and eagerly, too, despite his impassive -face, was, after all, nothing but a token of disappointment. He had -hoped, now that events had given him a hold over Miss Cartwright, to -find her well-fitted for a sort of work that would have been peculiarly -useful to his service. But her ready credulity in another man’s honesty -proved one of two things. Either that she lacked the intuitive knowledge -to be a useful tool or else that she was deliberately trying to deceive -him. But none had seen Daniel Taylor show that he realized himself in -danger of being beaten. - -“He left it lying on the table,†she assured him eagerly. - -Taylor’s sneer was not pleasant to see. - -“Oh, he left it on the table, did he?†he scoffed. “Well, of course -there’s no necklace in it then. Don’t you see you’ve let him suspect -you, and he’s just trying to bluff you.†- -“It isn’t that,†she asserted. “He hasn’t got it, I tell you.†- -“I know he has,†the implacable Taylor retorted, “and you’ve got to find -out this very night where it is. You’ll probably have to search his -room.†- -She shrank back at the very thought of it. “I couldn’t,†she cried. “Oh, -I couldn’t!†- -“Yes you could, and you will,†he said, in his truculent tone. “And if -you land him, use the same signal, pull down the shade in his room. -We’ll be watching, and I’ve found a way to get there from the balcony.†- -“I can’t,†the girl cried in desperation. “I’ve done what you asked. I -won’t try to trap an innocent man.†- -He looked at her threateningly. “Oh, you won’t, eh? Well, you will. I’ve -been pretty nice to you, but I’m sick of it. You’ll go through for me, -and you’ll go through right. I’ve had your sister followed--see here, -look at this--†He showed her the fake warrant Duncan had prepared at -his bidding. “This is a warrant for her arrest, and unless you land that -necklace to-night, she’ll be in the Tombs in the morning.†- -“Not that, not that?†she begged, covering her face with her hands. - -“It’s up to you,†he retorted, a smile of satisfaction lighting up his -face. He could see that he would be able to hold Amy’s warrant over her -head whenever he chose. She was beaten. - -“But what can I do?†she said piteously. “What can I do?†- -“I’ll tell you,†he said less harshly, “you’re a good-looking girl; -well, make use of your good looks--get around him, jolly him, get him -stuck on you. Make him take you into his confidence. He’ll fall for it. -The wisest guys are easy when you know the way.†- -“Very well,†she said, brightening. It seemed to her that no better way -could be devised than to convince Taylor he was wrong. “I will get -around him; I will get his confidence. I’ll prove it to you, and I’ll -save him.†- -“But you don’t have to give him your confidence, remember,†Taylor -warned her. “Don’t give him the least tip-off, understand. If you can -get him out in the garden, I’ll take a chance he has the necklace on -him. We’ll nail him there. And don’t forget,†he added significantly, -“that I’ve got a little document here with your sister’s name on it. -There’s somebody coming,†he whispered, and silently let himself out -into the garden. - -It was Denby who came in. “Hello,†he said, “not dancing, then?†- -“Hello,†she said, in answer to his greeting. “I don’t like dancing in -August.†- -“I’m fortunate to find you alone,†he said. “You can’t imagine how -delightful it is to see you again.†- -Her manner was particularly charming, he thought, and it gave him a pang -when a suspicion of its cause passed over his mind. There had been other -women who had sought to wheedle from him secrets that other men desired -to know, but they were other women--and this was Ethel Cartwright. - -“You don’t look as though it is,†she said provocatively. - -He made an effort to appear as light-hearted as she. - -“But I am,†he assured her. “It is delightful to see you again.†- -“It’s no more delightful than for me to see you,†she returned. - -“Really?†he returned. “Isn’t it curious that when you like people you -may not see them for a year, but when you do, you begin just where you -left off.†- -“Where did we leave off?†she demanded with a smile. - -“Why--in Paris,†he said with a trace of embarrassment. “You don’t want -to forget our Paris, I hope?†- -“Never,†she cried, enthusiastically. “It was there we found that we -really were congenial. We are, aren’t we?†- -“Congenial?†he repeated. “We’re more than that--we’re--†- -She interrupted him. “And yet, somehow, you’ve changed a lot since -Paris.†- -“For better or for worse?†he asked. - -She shook her head. “For worse.†- -He looked at her reproachfully. “Oh, come now, Miss Cartwright, be -fair!†- -“In Paris you used to trust me,†she said. - -“And you think I don’t now?†he returned. - -“I’m quite sure you don’t,†she told him. - -“Why do you say that?†Denby inquired. - -“There are lots of things,†she answered. “One is that when I asked you -why you were here in America, you put me off with some playful excuse -about being just an idler.†She looked at him with a vivacious air. - -“Now didn’t you really come over on an important mission?†- -Poor Denby, who had been telling himself that Monty’s suspicions were -without justification, and that this girl’s good faith could not be -doubted even if several circumstances were beyond his power to explain, -groaned inwardly. Here she was, trying, he felt certain, to gain his -confidence to satisfy the men who were even now investing the house. - -But he was far from giving in yet. How could she, one of Vernon -Cartwright’s daughters, reared in an atmosphere wholly different from -this sordid business, be engaged in trying to betray him? - -“Well,†he said, “suppose I did come over on something more than -pleasure, what do you want to know concerning it? And why do you want to -know?†- -“Shall we say feminine curiosity?†she returned. - -He shook his head. “I think not. There must be something more vital than -a mere whim.†- -“Perhaps there is,†she conceded, leaning forward, “I want us to be -friends, really good friends; I regard it as a test of friendship. Why -won’t you tell me?†- -He shrugged his shoulders. “Shall we say man’s intuition? Oh, I know -it’s not supposed to be as good as a woman’s, but sometimes it’s much -more accurate.†- -“So you can’t trust me?†she said, steadily trying to read his thoughts. - -“Can I?†he asked, gazing back at her just as steadily. - -“Don’t you think you can?†she fenced adroitly. - -“If you do,†he said meaningly. - -“But aren’t we friends,†she asked him, “pledged that night under the -moon in the Bois? You see I, too, have memories of Paris.†- -“Then you put it,†he said quietly, “to a test of friendship.†- -“Yes,†she answered readily. - -He thought for a moment. Well, here was the opportunity to find out -whether Monty was right or whether the woman he cared for was merely a -spy set upon him, a woman whose kindnesses and smiles were part of her -training. - -“Very well,†he said, “then so do I. You are right. I did not come to -America idly--I came to smuggle a necklace of pearls through the -Customs. I did it to-day.†- -The girl rose from her seat by the little table where she had sat facing -him and looked at him, all the brightness gone from her face. - -“You didn’t, you didn’t!†- -“I did,†he assured her. - -She turned her face away from him. “Oh, I’m sorry,†she wailed. “I’m -sorry.†- -Denby looked at her keenly. He was puzzled at the manner in which she -took it. - -“But I fooled ’em,†he boasted. - -She looked about her nervously as though she feared Taylor might have -listened to his frank admission and be ready to spring upon them. - -“You can’t tell that,†she said in a lower-keyed voice. “How can you be -sure they didn’t suspect?†- -“Because I’m comfortably settled here, and there are no detectives after -me. And if there were,†he confided in her triumphantly, “they’d never -suspect I carry the necklace in my tobacco-pouch.†- -“But your pouch was empty,†she cried. - -“How do you know that?†he demanded quickly. - -“I was here when Lambart spilt it,†she explained hastily. “There it is -on the mantel, I meant to have given it to you.†- -“I don’t need it,†he said, taking one similar in shape and color from -his pocket. - -“Two pouches!†she cried aghast. “Two?†- -“An unnecessary precaution,†he said carelessly, “one would have done; -as it is they haven’t suspected me a bit.†- -“You can’t be certain of that,†she insisted. “If they found out they’d -put you in prison.†- -“And would you care?†he demanded. - -“Why, of course I would,†she responded. “Aren’t we friends?†- -He had that same steady look in his eyes as he asked: “Are we?†- -It was a gaze she could not bring herself to meet. Assuredly, she -groaned, she was not of the stuff from which the successful adventuress -was made. - -“Of course,†she murmured in reply. “But what are you going to do?†- -“I’ve made my plans,†he told her. “I’ve been very careful. I’ve given -my confidence to two people only, both of whom I trust absolutely--Monty -Vaughan andâ€--he looked keenly at her,--“and you. I shan’t be caught. I -won’t give in, and I’ll stop at nothing, no matter what it costs, or -whom it hurts. I’ve got to win.†- -It seemed to him she made an ejaculation of distress. “What is it?†he -cried. - -“Nothing much,†she said nervously, “it’s the heat, I suppose. That’s -why I wouldn’t dance, you know. Won’t you take me into the garden and -we’ll look at the moon--it’s the same moon,†she said, with a desperate -air of trying to conceal from him her agitation, “that shines in Paris. -It’s gorgeous,†she added, looking across the room where no moon was. - -“Surely,†he said. “It is rather stuffy indoors on a night like this.†-He moved leisurely over to the French windows. But she called him back. -She was not yet keyed up to this supreme act of treachery. - -“No, no,†she called again, “don’t let’s go, after all.†- -“Why not?†he demanded, bewildered at her fitful mood. - -“I don’t know,†she said helplessly. “But let’s stay here. I’m nervous, -I think.†- -“Nonsense,†he said cheerily, trying to brace her up. “The moon is a -great soother of nerves, and a friendly old chap, too. What is it?†he -asked curiously. “You’re miles away from here, but I don’t think you’re -in Paris, either. It’s your turn to tell me something. Where are you?†- -He could not guess that her thoughts were in her home, where her poor, -gentle, semi-invalid mother was probably now worrying over the sudden -mood of depression which had fallen upon her younger girl. And it would -be impossible for him to understand the threat of prison and disgrace -which was even now hanging over Amy Cartwright’s head. - -“I was thinking of my sister,†she told him slowly. “Come, let’s go.†- -Before he could unfasten the French windows there was a sound of running -feet outside, and Monty’s nervous face was seen looking in. Nora, -breathless, was hanging on to his arm. - -Quickly Denby opened the doors and let the two in, and then shut the -doors again. “What is it?†he demanded quickly. - -“Don’t go out there, Steve,†Monty cried, when he could get breath -enough to speak. - -“Why, what is it?†Ethel Cartwright asked nervously. - -“Nora and I went for a walk in the garden, and suddenly two men jumped -out on us from behind the pagoda. They had almost grabbed us when one -man shouted to the other fellow, ‘We’re wrong,’ and Nora screamed and -ran like the very devil, and I had to run after her of course.†- -“It was dreadful,†said Nora gasping. - -“What’s dreadful?†Alice Harrington demanded, coming on the scene -followed by her husband. They had been disturbed by Nora’s screams. - -“Won’t someone please explain?†Michael asked anxiously. - -“It was frightful,†Nora cried. - -“Let me tell it,†Monty protested. - -“You’ll get it all wrong,†his companion asserted. “I wasn’t half as -scared as you.†- -“I was talking to Nora,†Monty explained, “and suddenly from the -shrubbery--†- -“Somebody stepped right out,†Nora added. - -“One at a time,†Michael admonished them, “one at a time, please.†- -“Why, you see, Monty and I went for a walk in the garden,†Nora began-- - -“And two men jumped out and started for us,†Monty broke in. - -“Great Scott,†Michael cried, indignant that the privacy of his own -estate should be invaded, “and here, too!†- -“What did you do?†Alice asked eagerly. - -“I just screamed and they ran away,†Nora told her a little proudly. -“Wasn’t it exciting?†she added, drawing a deep breath. “Just like a -book!†- -“Michael,†his wife said, shocked, “they might have been killed.†- -“What they need is a drink,†he said impressively; “I’ll ring for some -brandy.†- -“I’d be all right,†Monty stated emphatically, “if I could get one long -breath.†- -“You do look a bit shaken, old man,†Denby said sympathetically. “What -you need is a comforting smoke. You left a pipe on the table in my room. -Take my tobacco and light up.†- -Monty looked at the pigskin pouch as his friend handed it to him. “Gee!†-he said, regarding it as one might a poisonous reptile, “I don’t want -that.†- -“That’s all right,†Denby said. “I can spare it. And when you’re through -with it, drop it in the drawer of the writing-table, will you? I always -like to make myself one for coffee in the morning. I’ve smoked enough -to-night.†- -By this time Monty understood what was required of him. He took the -pouch respectfully and crossed toward the stairs. “I’ll leave it in the -drawer,†he called out as he ascended the stairs. - -Michael had been looking through the glass doors with a pair of -binoculars. “I see nothing,†he declared. - -“But suppose they come back later, and break in here at night?†Alice -cried. - -“I shall organize the household servants and place Lambart at their -head,†he said gravely. “He is an excellent shot. Then there are three -able-bodied men here, so that we are prepared.†- -“I’m sure you needn’t take any such elaborate precautions,†Denby told -him. “No men, after once warning us, would break in here with so many -servants. I imagine they were a couple of tramps who were attracted by -Miss Rutledge’s rings and thought they could make a quick getaway.†- -“This is a lesson to me to provide myself with a couple of Airedales,†-Michael asserted. “Things are coming to a pretty pass when one invites -one’s friends to come down to a week-end party and get robbed. It’s -worse than a hotel on the Riviera.†- -“Well, they didn’t get anything,†Nora cried. “You should have seen me -run. I believe I flew, and I do believe I’ve lost weight!†- -“But oughtn’t I to go out and see?†Michael asked a little weakly. - -“Certainly not,†Alice commanded him firmly. “I can imagine nothing more -useless than a dead husband.†- -He took her hand affectionately. “How right you are,†he murmured -gratefully. “I think, though, I ought to ask the police to keep a sharp -watch.†- -“That’s sensible,†his wife agreed. “Go and telephone.†- -“Goodness,†Nora cried suddenly, “I haven’t any rings on. I must have -left them on my dressing-table.†- -Alice looked alarmed. “And I left all sorts of things on mine. Let’s go -up together. And you, Ethel, have you left anything valuable about?†- -“There’s nothing worth taking,†the girl answered. - -“You look frightened to death, child,†Mrs. Harrington exclaimed, as she -was passing her. - -Ethel sat down on the fender seat with a smile of assurance. “Oh, not a -bit,†she said. “There are three strong men to protect us, remember.†- -“Yes--two men and Michael,†her hostess laughed, passing up the stairway -out of view. - -“The moon is still there, Miss Cartwright,†Denby observed quietly. -“Surely you are not tired of moons yet?†- -“But those men out there,†she protested. - -“I’m sure they weren’t after me,†he returned. “They wouldn’t wait in -the garden, and even if they are detectives, they wouldn’t get the -necklace, it’s safe--now.†- -Ethel Cartwright shook her head. “I’m afraid I’ve got nerves like every -other woman,†she confessed, “and the evening has been quite eventful -enough as it is. I think I prefer to stay here.†- -She glanced up to see Monty descending the stairs. All this talk of -robbery and actual participation in a scene of violence had induced in -Monty the desire for the company of his kind. - -“I thought I’d rather be down here,†he stated naively. - -“All right, old man,†Denby said smiling. “Glad to have you. Did you put -the pouch where I said?†- -“Yes,†Monty answered, handing him a key, “and I locked it up,†he -explained. - -“Good!†his friend exclaimed, putting the key in his pocket. - -Miss Cartwright yawned daintily. “Excitement seems to make me sleepy,†-she said. “I think I shall go.†- -“You’re not going to leave us yet?†Denby said reproachfully. - -“I was up very early,†she told him. - -“I guess everything is safe now,†Monty assured her. - -“Let’s hope so,†Denby said. “Still, the night isn’t half over yet. -Pleasant dreams, Miss Cartwright.†- -She paused on the half landing and looked down at the two men. - -“I’m afraid they won’t be quite--that.†- -Monty crept to the foot of the stairway and made certain she was passed -out of hearing. “Steve,†he said earnestly, “she’s gone now to get into -your room.†- -“No, she hasn’t,†Denby protested, knowing he was lying. - -Monty looked at his friend in wonderment. Usually Denby was quick of -observation, but now he seemed uncommonly dull. - -“Why, she never made a move to leave until she knew I’d put the pouch in -the drawer. Then she said she was tired and wanted to go to bed. You -must have noticed how she took in everything you said. She’s even taken -to watching me, too. What makes you so blind, Steve?†- -“I’m not blind,†Denby said, a trifle irritably. “It happens you are -magnifying things, till everything you see is wrong.†- -“Nonsense,†Monty returned bluntly. “If she gets that necklace it’s all -up with us, and you needn’t pretend otherwise.†- -“Make your mind easy,†Denby exclaimed, “she won’t get it.†- -“May I ask what’s going to stop her?†Monty inquired, goaded into -sarcasm. “Do you think she needs to know the combination of an ordinary -lock like that top drawer?†- -“The necklace isn’t there,†Denby said. - -Monty looked at him piteously. “For Heaven’s sake don’t tell me I’ve got -it somewhere on me!†- -Denby drew it out of a false pocket under the right lapel of his coat -and held the precious string up to the other’s view. “That’s why,†he -observed. - -“Then everything’s all right,†Monty cried with unrestrained joy. - -“Everything’s all wrong,†Denby corrected. - -“But, Steve,†Monty said reproachfully, “the necklace--†- -“Oh, damn the necklace!†Denby interrupted viciously. - -Monty shook his head mournfully. His friend’s aberrations were -astounding. - -“Steve,†he said slowly, “you’re a fool!†- -“I guess I am,†the other admitted. “But,†he added, snapping his teeth -together, “I’m not such a fool as to get caught, Monty, so pull yourself -together, something’s bound to happen before long.†- -“That’s what I’m afraid of,†sighed Monty. - - - - -CHAPTER TWELVE - - -On the way to her room Ethel Cartwright met Michael Harrington, a box of -cigars in his hand, coming toward the head of the stairway. - -“Whither away?†he demanded. - -“To bed,†she returned. “The excitement’s been too much for me.†- -“This box,†he said, lovingly caressing it, “contains what I think are -the best that can be smoked.†He opened and showed what seemed to her -cigars of a very large size. “I’m going to give the boys one apiece as a -reward for bravery.†He laughed with glee. “And as Lambart is going to -be one of the search party, I’m going to give him one, too. He’ll either -leave at my temerity in offering him the same kind of weed his employer -smokes, or else he’ll have it framed.†- -“A search party?†she said. “What do you mean?†- -“We’re going to beat the bushes for tramps,†he said. “I am directing -operations from the balcony outside my room. The general in command,†he -explained, “never gets on the firing-line in modern warfare.†- -“Is Mr. Denby going?†she asked. - -“No, no,†he said. “I can’t expect my guests to expose themselves to the -risk of being shot. Don’t you be alarmed,†he said solicitously, “I -shall be at hand in case of trouble.†- -When she reached her room she sat motionless for a few moments on the -edge of the bed. Then suddenly, she rose and walked along a corridor and -knocked at the door of the room she knew was Alice Harrington’s. - -“Alice,†she said nervously, and there was no doubt in the elder woman’s -mind that the girl was thoroughly upset, “I’m nervous of sleeping in the -room you’ve given me. Can’t I sleep somewhere near people? Let me have -that room I had the last time I was here.†- -“Why, my dear girl, of course, if you want it,†Alice said -sympathetically. “But it isn’t as pretty, and I especially had this -bigger room for you. Don’t be a silly little girl; you’ll be asleep in -five minutes. Better still, I’ll come and read till you’re drowsy.†- -“Please humor me,†the other pleaded. “I’d rather be where, if I scream, -someone can hear, and the men are sleeping down there, and one after all -does depend on them in emergencies.†- -“All right,†Alice said good-humoredly, “I’ll ring for the servants to -take your things in.†- -“We can do it,†Ethel said eagerly. “I’ve only one cabin trunk, and it -weighs nothing. Why disturb them?†- -When they had moved the baggage down the halls to the smaller room, -there was no key to lock the door which led to a connecting room. - -“Whose is that?†Ethel demanded. - -“Mr. Denby’s,†she was told. “I always give men big rooms, because -they’re so untidy. Michael will know where the key is. He has every one -of the hundred keys with a neat label on it. He’s so methodical in some -things. By the time you’re ready for bed I’ll have it.†- -A few minutes later the intervening door was safely locked and Mrs. -Harrington had left the girl, feeling that perhaps she, too, would be -nervous if she had not her Michael close at hand. - -Directly the girl was alone she sprang out of bed and hurriedly put on a -white silk negligée. So far her plans had prospered admirably. The -bedroom from which she had moved was so situated that if she were to -undertake the search of Denby’s room, she must pass the rooms of her -host and hostess and also that of Nora Rutledge. And this search was -imperative. Out in the darkness Taylor and his men were waiting -impatiently. Presently a band of men, armed in all probability, would -sally forth from the house and might just as likely capture the Customs -officers. Supposing Taylor took this as treachery on her part and -denounced her before the Harringtons? Nothing would save Amy then. - -If only she could discover the necklace and give the signal in time so -that the deputy-surveyor could come legitimately into the house! She -told herself that she must control this growing nervousness; that her -movements must be swift and sure, and that she must banish all thought -of the man she had met in Paris, or the punishment that would be his. - -Fortunately his guests could not escape Michael and his big cigars; and -cigars, as she knew from her father’s use of them, are not consumed as a -cigarette may be and thrown quickly away. - -The key turned in the lock stiffly and it seemed to her, waiting -breathless, that the sound must be audible everywhere. But as quiet -still ruled outside in the corridors, she pushed the door half-open and -peered into the room. It was dark save for the moonlight, but she could -see to make her way to a writing-table, on which was an electric lamp. - -She turned it on and then looked about her nervously. It was a large, -well-furnished room, and to the right of her a big alcove with a bed in -it. There was a large French window leading to the balcony which Taylor -had noted and proposed to use if she were successful in her search. - -She did not dare to look out, for fear the search party might see her, -so she centered her attention upon the locked drawer in which the -necklace was awaiting her. There was a brass paper-knife lying on the -table, heavy enough she judged, to pry open any ordinary lock. Very -cautiously she set about her work. It called for more strength than she -had supposed, but the lock seemed to be yielding gradually when there -fell upon her anxious ear sounds of footsteps coming down the corridor. - -She sprang to her feet and listened intently, and was satisfied herself -that she was in imminent danger. Putting out the light she turned to run -to her room, and in doing so knocked the paper-knife to the floor. To -her excited fancy it clattered hideously as it fell, but she reached her -room safely and locked the door. - -She was hardly in shelter before Denby came into his room and switched -on the light. He was still smoking the first third of his host’s famous -cigar. He sauntered to the window and looked over the lawn and wondered -what luck the searchers would have. He had permitted himself to be urged -by Harrington to a course of inactivity. It was not his wish to be -brought face to face with his enemy while he had the jewels in a place -they would instantly detect. He took the pearls from their hiding-place -and threw them carelessly on the table. Then seeing the paper-knife on -the floor he stooped to pick it up. But lying near it were little -splinters of white wood that instantly arrested his attention. He knelt -down, lit a match, and examined them without disturbing them in any way. -And then his eyes travelled upward, until the scratches by the lock were -plain. - -Experience told him plainly that the drawer had been attempted and that -recently, in fact, within a half-hour since Monty had placed his pouch -there with the pearls as he supposed in it. - -While he was standing there motionless, sounds in the hall outside -disturbed him. Presently a knock sounded on the door. Before answering -he picked up the pearls and placed them in his pocket. Then he called -out: “Who is it?†- -“It’s me,†came Monty’s voice in answer. - -“Come in,†he called. - -Monty entered nervously. “Everything all right?†he demanded. - -“Yes,†his friend said, and then looked at him. Monty’s appearance was -slightly dishevelled. “What’s happened?†he asked. - -Monty ignored the question. “I was afraid everything might be all -wrong,†he cried. “This is the first time I’ve been able to swallow -comfortably for an hour. I thought my heart was permanently dislocated.†- -“What’s been happening downstairs?†Denby inquired. - -“Nothing,†Monty told him, “and it’s the limit to have nothing happen.†- -“I thought Harrington was organizing a search party.†- -“Oh, we searched,†Monty admitted. “I was nominally in charge, but -Lambart was the directing genius. He was an officer’s orderly in his -youth and is some tactician, believe me.†Monty pointed to his muddied -knees. “He stretched clothes-lines over the paths to catch the tramps, -and I was the first victim. We looked everywhere, all of us, Lambart, -the under-butler, two chauffeurs and I, and we didn’t even flush a cat.†- -“That’s odd,†his listener commented. “They’ll be back. They’re not -frightened away by you fellows with lanterns. They’ll be back.†- -“I bet they will,†Monty grumbled, “and with the militia.†- -“Don’t lose your nerve now, old man,†Denby counselled. - -“I wish I could,†Monty cried. “This certainly is getting on it. It’s a -lesson not to get discontented with my lot. I’ve got that creepy feeling -all the time that they’re coming closer to us.†- -“But that’s the real sport of it,†Denby pointed out. - -“Sport be damned,†he said crossly. “Your ideas about foxes and mine -don’t coincide. I don’t think he likes being hunted. And at that he’s -got something on us; he knows who’s chasing him.†- -“So shall we soon,†he was reminded. - -“Yes,†Monty grumbled, “when we’re shot full of holes.†- -“Don’t be afraid of getting shot at,†Denby said smiling. “You amateurs -have no idea how few shots hit the mark even at short range. I’ve been -shot at three times and I’ve not a scar to show.†- -“Job must be your favorite author,†Monty commented sourly. “I hate the -noise. I’m scared to death; I thought I wanted excitement, but life on a -farm for me hereafter.†- -“But, my dear boy,†Denby said more seriously, “you are not in this. -They’re after me and this.†He held up the necklace. “You’re a spectator -merely.†- -“Rot!†Monty cried. “I’m what they call an accessory and if you think -I’m going to clear out now, all I can say is you ought to know me better -than that. I want to be doing something; it’s the talking that gets on -my nerves. They’ll be here soon, you may bet on that. They’re going to -search this room.†- -“Somebody’s done that already,†he was told. - -“Who?†Monty cried anxiously. “That girl?†- -“I think not. Her room is in the other wing, as I found out indirectly. -To come here she’d have to run an awful risk. If she comes it will be -later, when everyone is asleep.†- -“Then who could it have been?†Monty demanded. He turned suddenly on his -heel. - -There was someone even now listening at the door. Then there was a -faint, discreet knock. He dropped into the nearest chair and looked at -the other man with a blanched face. - -“Pinched!†he cried. - -“Hsh!†the other commanded softly, and then louder: “Come in.†- -The smiling face of Michael Harrington beamed upon them. In his hands he -carried a tray whereon two generous highballs reposed. - -“Hello, boys,†he cried genially, “I’ve brought up those two nightcaps I -promised you. Nothing like ’em after excitement such as we’ve had.†- -“You never looked so good to me, Michael,†Monty cried affectionately. - -“Now, Denby,†Michael said, handing him the glass in Lambart’s best -manner. - -“Thanks, all the same,†his guest returned, “but I don’t think I -will--not yet at any rate.†- -“Good!†Michael cried. “Luck’s with me.†He drained the glass with the -deepest satisfaction. “Ah, that was needed. Now, Monty, after your -exertions you won’t disappoint me?†- -“Not for me, either,†Monty exclaimed. - -“Splendid,†said the gratified Michael. “At your age I would have -refused it absolutely.†He looked at the glass affectionately. “I’ll -take the encore in a few minutes. Alice does cut me down so dreadfully. -Just one light one before dinner--mostly Vermouth--and one drink -afterward. I welcome any extra excitement like this.†- -“Aren’t you master in your own house?†Denby asked smiling. He had -fathomed the secret of the happy relations of his host and hostess, and -was not deceived by Harrington when he represented himself the sport of -circumstances. - -“You bet I’m not,†said Michael, without resentment. “By the way,†he -added, “if you want your nightcaps later, ring for Lambart. He’s used to -being summoned at any hour.†- -“I won’t forget,†Denby returned. - -“I hope you won’t,†his host assured him. “I’d hate to think of Lambart -having a really good night’s rest.†He pointed to an alarm on the wall -by the door. “But don’t get up half asleep and push that red thing over -there.†- -“What on earth is it?†Monty asked. “It looks like a hotel -fire-alarm--‘Break the glass in case of fire.’†- -“It’s a burglar-alarm that wakes the whole house.†- -“What?†Denby cried, suddenly interested. “You don’t really expect -burglars?†- -“I know it’s funny,†Michael said, “and a bit old maidish, but I happen -to be vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, and I’ve -got to have their beastly patents in the house to show my faith in ’em.†- -“I’ll keep away from it,†Denby assured him, looking at it curiously. - -“The last man who had this room sent it off by mistake. Said a mosquito -worried him so much that he threw a shoe at it. He missed the -mosquito--between you and me,†Michael said confidentially, “we haven’t -any out here at Westbury--but he hit the alarm. I’m afraid Hazen had -been putting too many nightcaps on his head and couldn’t see straight. -Mrs. Harrington made me search the whole house. Of course there wasn’t -anyone there and Alice seemed sorry that I’d had my hunt in vain. The -beauty of these things,†the vice-president commented, “is that they -warn the burglars to get out and so you don’t get shot as you might if -you hadn’t told ’em you were coming.†- -Michael took up the second glass and had barely taken a sip when quick, -light footfalls approached. - -“Good Lord,†said he, “my wife! Here, Monty, quick,†placing the -half-emptied glass in Denby’s hand and the one from which he had first -drunk in Monty’s, “I count on you, boys,†he whispered, and then strode -to the door and flung it open. - -“Are we intruders?†his wife asked. - -“You are delightfully welcome,†Denby cried. “Please come in.†- -“We thought you’d still be up,†Nora explained. “Michael said he was -bringing you up some highballs.†- -“Great stuff,†Monty said, taking his cue, “best whiskey I ever tasted. -Nothing like really old Bourbon after all.†- -Michael shot a glance of agonized reproach at the man who could make -such a stupid mistake. “Monty,†he explained to his wife, who had caught -this ingenuous remark and had looked at him inquiringly, “is still so -filled with excitement that he doesn’t know old Scotch when he tastes -it.†- -“Your husband is a noble abstainer,†Denby said quickly, to help them -out, “we place temptation right before him and he resists.†- -“That’s my wife’s training,†said Harrington, smiling complacently. - -“I’m not so sure,†she returned. “Putting temptation before Michael, Mr. -Denby, shows him just like old Adam--only Michael’s weakness is for -grapes, not apples.†- -“We’ve come,†Nora reminded them, “to get a fourth at auction. We’re all -too much excited to sleep. Mr. Denby, I’m sure you’re a wonderful -player. Surely you must shine at something.†- -“Among my other deficiencies,†he confessed, “I don’t play bridge.†- -Nora sighed. “There remains only Monty. Monty,†she commanded, “you must -play.†- -“Glad to!†he cried. “I like company, and I’m not tired either.†- -Suddenly he caught sight of Denby’s face. His look plainly said, -“Refuse.†- -“In just a few minutes,†Monty stammered. “I was just figuring out -something when you came in. How long will it take, Steve?†- -“Hardly five minutes,†Denby said. - -“It’s a gold-mine you see,†Monty explained laboriously, “and first it -goes up, and then it goes down.†- -“I always strike an average,†Michael told him. “It’s the easiest way.†- -“Is it a good investment?†Alice demanded. She had a liking for taking -small flutters with gold-mines. - -“You wouldn’t know one if you saw it,†her husband said, laughing. - -“I learnt what I know from you,†she reminded him. - -“I’d rather dance than bridge it,†Nora said impatiently, doing some -rather elaborate maxixe steps very gracefully and humming a popular tune -meanwhile. - -“Be quiet,†Alice warned her; “you’ll disturb Ethel.†- -“Has Miss Cartwright gone to bed?†Denby asked her. - -“She felt very tired,†Alice explained. - -“It’s wrong to go to bed so early,†Nora exclaimed. “It can’t be much -after two.†- -She sang a few bars of another song much in vogue, but Alice stopped her -again. - -“Hush, Nora, don’t you understand Ethel’s in the next room asleep, or -trying to?†- -“I thought it was empty,†Nora said, in excuse for her burst of song. - -“Ethel insisted on changing. She was very nervous and she wanted to be -down near the men in case of trouble.†- -“And I had to go through forty-seven bunches of keys to get one to fit -that door,†her husband complained. Denby shot a swift glance toward -Monty, who was wearing an “I told you so†expression. “She seemed -positively afraid of you, Denby, from what my wife said,†Harrington -concluded. - -“You’re not drinking your highball, Mr. Denby,†Alice observed. - -“I’m saving it,†he smiled. - -“That’s a very obvious hint,†Nora cried. “Let’s leave them, Alice.†She -sauntered to the door. - -“Very well,†her hostess said, “and we’ll expect you in a few minutes, -Monty. You’re coming, Michael?†- -“In just a moment,†he returned. “I’ve got one more old wheeze I want to -spring on Denby. He’s a capital audience for the elderly ones.†- -“When Mr. Denby has recovered,†she commanded, “come down and play.†- -“Certainly, my dear,†he said obediently. - -“And, Michael,†she said smiling, “don’t think you’ve fooled me.†- -“Fooled you,†he exclaimed innocently, “why, I’d never even dream of -trying to!†- -His wife moved toward Denby and took the half-finished highball from his -hand. - -“Michael,†she said, handing it to him, “here’s the rest of your drink.†- -She went from the room still smiling at the deep knowledge she had of -her Michael’s little ways. - -Michael imbibed it gratefully. - -“My wife’s a damned clever woman,†he exclaimed enthusiastically, as he -trotted out obediently in her wake. - -Directly he had gone Denby went quickly to the door and made sure it was -closed tightly. “It was that girl, after all, Monty!†he said in a low, -tense voice. “She tried to pry open the drawer with that paper-knife. -You can see the marks. I found the knife on the floor, where she’d -dropped it on hearing me at the door.†- -Monty looked at him with sympathy in his eyes. “That’s pretty tough, old -man,†he said softly. - -“It’s hard to believe that she is the kind of woman to take advantage of -our friendship to turn me over to the police,†he admitted. Then his -face took on a harder, sterner look. “But it’s no use beating about the -bush; that’s exactly what she did.†- -“I’m sorry, mighty sorry,†Monty said, realizing as he had never done -what this perfidy meant to his old friend. - -“I don’t want to have to fight her,†Denby said. “The very idea seems -unspeakable.†- -“What can we do if you don’t?†Monty asked doubtfully. - -“If she’ll only tell me who it is that sent her here--the man who’s -after me--I’ll fight him, and leave her out of it.†- -“But if she won’t do that?†Monty questioned. - -“Then I’ll play her own game,†Denby answered, “only this time she -follows my rules for it.†As he said this both of the men fancied they -could hear a creaking in the next room. - -“What’s that?†Monty demanded. - -Denby motioned to him to remain silent, and then tiptoed his way to the -door connecting the rooms. - -“Is she there?†Monty felt himself compelled to whisper. - -Denby nodded acquiescence and quietly withdrew to the centre of the -room. - -“Has she heard us?†asked his friend. - -“I don’t think so. I heard her close the window and then come over to -the door.†- -He crossed to the desk and began to write very fast. - -“What are you doing?†Monty inquired softly. - -Denby, scribbling on, did not immediately answer him. Presently he -handed the written page to Monty. “Here’s my plan,†he said, “read it.†- -While Monty was studying the paper Denby moved over to the light switch, -and the room, except for the rose-shaded electric lamp, was in darkness. - -“Jumping Jupiter!†Monty exclaimed, looking up from the paper with knit -brows. - -“Do you understand?†Denby asked. - -“Yes,†Monty answered agitatedly; “I understand, but suppose I get -rattled and make a mistake when the time comes?†- -“You won’t,†Denby replied, still in low tone. “I’m depending on you, -Monty, and I know you won’t disappoint me.†When he next spoke it was in -a louder voice, louder in fact than he needed for conversational use. - -“It’s a pity Miss Cartwright has gone to bed,†he exclaimed. “I might -have risked trying to learn bridge, if she’d been willing to teach me. -She’s a bully girl.†- -“Don’t talk so loud,†Monty advised him, grinning. - -“In these dictagraph days the walls have ears. Let’s go outside. We -can’t tell who might hear us in this room. We’ll be safe enough on the -lawn.†- -“A good idea,†Denby agreed, moving away from the connecting door which -they guessed had a listener concealed behind it, and turning out the -lights. And Ethel Cartwright, straining her ears, heard the door opened -and banged noisily, and footsteps hurrying past toward the stairway. It -was at last the opportunity. - - - - -CHAPTER THIRTEEN - - -SHE turned the key, less noisily this time, and stepped into Denby’s -room. Making her way to the drawer she gave it a gentle pull. But it was -still fastened, and she grasped the heavy brass knife when of a sudden -the room was full of light, and Denby stepped from the shadow of the -door where he had been concealed. - -“Oh!†she cried in terror, and turned her face away from him. - -He walked slowly over to the table by which she stood. - -“So you’ve come for the necklace, then? Why do you want it?†- -She looked at him in desperation. Only the truth would serve her now. - -“I am employed by the government. I was sent here to get it,†she -answered. - -“What?†he cried. “The charming Miss Cartwright a secret service agent! -It’s quite incredible.†- -“But it’s true,†she said. - -“Who employed you?†he asked sharply. - -“I can’t tell you that,†she said slowly. - -“Then how can I believe you?†he asked her. - -“But it’s the truth,†she insisted. “For what other reason should I be -here?†- -“Women have collected jewels before now for themselves as well as their -governments,†he reminded her. - -She flushed. “Do you wish to insult me?†- -“I don’t think you quite realize your position,†he said. “I find you -here trying to steal something of mine. If you tell me the name of the -man, or men, under whose orders you are acting, I may be able to -believe.†- -“I can’t tell you,†she cried; “I can’t tell you.†- -“It’s most likely to be Bangs,†he said meditatively, and then turned to -her quickly. “It was John H. Bangs of the secret service who sent you.†- -At all costs she knew she must keep the name of Daniel Taylor from him. -To admit that it was a fellow official would do no harm. - -“Yes,†she said; “it was.†- -Contempt looked from his face. “You lie, Miss Cartwright, you lie!†- -“Mr. Denby!†she cried. - -“I’ve no time for politeness now,†he told her. “There is no Bangs in -the secret service.†- -“But you, how can you know?†she said, fighting for time. - -“It’s my business to know my opponents,†he observed. “Can’t you tell -the truth?†- -“I can’t tell you who it was,†she persisted, “but if you’ll just give -me the necklace--†- -He laughed scornfully at her childish request. Her manner puzzled him -extremely. He had seen her fence and cross-examine, use her tongue with -the adroitness of an old hand at intrigue, and yet she was simple, -guileless enough to ask him to hand over the necklace. - -“And if I refuse you’ll call the men in who seized Mr. Vaughan, thinking -it was I, and let them get the right man this time?†- -“I don’t know,†she said despairingly. “What else can I do? I can’t -fail.†- -“Nor can I,†he snapped, “and don’t intend to, either. Do you know what -happens to a man who smuggles in the sort of thing I did and resists the -officials as I shall do, and is finally caught? I’ve seen it, and I -know. It’s prison, Miss Cartwright, and gray walls and iron bars. It -means being herded for a term of years with another order of men, the -men who are crooked at heart; it means the losing of all one’s hopes in -prison gloom and coming out debased and suspected by every man set in -authority over you, for evermore. I’ve sometimes gone sick at seeing men -who have done as I am doing, but have not escaped. I’m not going to -prison, Miss Cartwright, remember that.†- -“But I don’t want you to,†she cried eagerly, so eagerly, that he -groaned to think her magnificent acting should be devoted to such a -scene as this. “I don’t want you to.†- -“Then there’s only one way out of it for both of us,†he said, coming -nearer. - -“What?†she asked fervently. - -“Tell them you’ve failed, that you couldn’t find it anywhere.†- -“I couldn’t,†she said vehemently. - -There was a certain studied contempt in his manner which hurt her badly. -And to know that he would always regard her as an adventuress, -unprincipled and ready to sell herself for the rewards of espionage, and -never have even one pleasant and genuine memory of her, made her -desperate. - -“I didn’t intend you to lose on the transaction,†he said coldly. “I’ll -give you ten thousand dollars.†- -“Oh, no, no!†she cried, “you don’t understand.†- -“Twenty thousand, then,†he said. “Only you and I would know. Your -principals could never hold it against you. Isn’t it a good offer?†- -She made a gesture of despair. “It’s no good.†- -“Twenty thousand no good!†he jeered. “Think again, Miss Cartwright. It -will pay you better to stand in with me than give me up.†- -“No, no!†she cried, half hysterically. - -“It’s all I can afford,†he said. Her manner seemed so strange, that for -the first time since he had found her in his room, he began to doubt -whether, after all, it was merely the splendid acting he had supposed. - -“I can’t accept,†she told him. “I’ve _got_ to get that necklace; it -means more than any money to me.†- -He looked at her keenly, seeking to gauge the depth of her emotion. - -“Then they’ve got some hold on you,†he asserted. - -“No,†she assured him, “I must get the necklace.†- -“So you’re going to make me fight you then?†he questioned. - -“I’ve got to fight,†she exclaimed. - -“Look here,†he said, after a moment’s pause, “let’s get this thing -right. You won’t accept any--shall we call it compromise?--and you won’t -tell me for whom you are acting. And you won’t admit that you are doing -this because someone has such a hold on you that you must obey. Is that -right, so far?†- -For a moment she had a wild idea of telling him, of putting an end to -the scene that was straining her almost to breaking-point. She knew he -could be chivalrous and tender, and she judged he could be ruthless and -hard if necessity compelled. But above all, and even stronger than her -fear of irrevocably breaking with him and being judged hereafter as one -unworthy, was the dread of Taylor and that warrant that could at his -will send Amy to prison and her mother possibly to her grave. She -hardened herself to go through with the ordeal. - -“So far you are right,†she admitted. - -“Then it remains only for us two to fight. I hate fighting women. A few -hours ago I would have sworn that you and I never could fight, but a few -hours have shown me that I’m as liable to misread people as--as Monty, -for example. You say you’ve got to fight. Very well then; I accept the -challenge, and invite you to witness my first shot.†- -He walked to the door through which she had come and opening it, took -the key from her side of it, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. - -“What do you mean?†she cried. - -“Merely that I’m going to keep you here,†he retorted. “I was afraid we -might be interrupted.†- -“Open that door!†she commanded quickly. - -“When I am ready no doubt I shall,†he returned. - -“You wouldn’t do that?†she cried, beginning to realize that she was to -have no easy victory if indeed victory were to be her reward. - -“I regret the necessity,†he said. “These methods don’t particularly -appeal to me, but we have declared war, and there’s no choice.†- -“But I don’t understand,†she said nervously. - -“Don’t you?†he said, coming nearer and looking at her closely. “Don’t -you understand that you are a beautiful woman and I am a man? Have you -forgotten that it’s nearly three, and you are in my room, the room next -which you begged to be moved? They were a little puzzled at your wanting -that key so badly, and when you’re found here _en negligée_--for you -will be found here--I think I know the world well enough to judge what -construction will be placed upon that discovery.†- -For the moment she forgot about everything but the personal aspect of -the situation in which she found herself. That this man of all others -should be willing to compromise her reputation awakened the bitterest -contempt for him. - -“I thought at least _you_ were a _man_!†she cried. - -“I am,†he returned without heat. “That’s just it, Miss Cartwright, I’m -a man, and you are a woman.†- -“And I thought you were my friend,†she exclaimed indignantly. - -“Please don’t bandy the name of friendship with me,†he said with a -sneer. “You of all women that live, to dare to talk like that! You knew -I liked you--liked you very much, and because you were so sure of it, -you wheedled me into betraying myself. You smiled and lied and pledged -our friendship, and called to mind those days in Paris, which were the -happiest recollections of all my life. And yet it was all done so that -you might get enough out of me to lead me, with a prison sentence -awaiting me, to the man who gives you your orders.†He took a few swift -paces up and down the room. “This indignation of yours is a false note. -We’ll keep to the main facts. You are sworn to betray me, and I am sworn -to defeat you.†- -“Don’t think that,†she said wretchedly; “I wasn’t--†- -“And when I told you the truth,†he went on inexorably, “you asked me to -go into the garden where they were waiting for me.†- -“I couldn’t help it,†she said, as calmly as she was able. - -“And when you thought I was sending the necklace here you trumped up a -flimsy excuse so that you might be able to steal in here and get it. Is -that sort of thing in your code of friendship?†- -“I wasn’t trying to trap you,†she explained. “I thought you were -innocent, and I wanted to convince them of it, too.†- -“No doubt,†he said tauntingly, “and when you found out I was guilty, -you still tried to save me, I suppose, by asking me to walk into their -trap?†- -The girl made an effort to defend her course of action. She knew that -without the admission of the truth he must feel his point of view -unassailable, but she wanted him not to think too hardly of her. - -“After all,†she declared, “you had broken the law. You are guilty. Why -should my behavior be so called into account?†- -“It isn’t that at all,†he returned impatiently. “You didn’t play the -game fairly. You used a woman’s last weapon--her sex. Well, I can play -your game, too, and I will. You shall stay here till morning.†- -“You don’t dare to keep me!†she cried. - -“Oh, yes, I do,†he retorted easily. - -She assumed as well as she could an air of bravado, a false air of -courage that might convince him she was not so easily frightened as she -felt. - -“And you think the possible loss of my reputation is going to frighten -me into letting you go?†- -“I do,†he said readily. - -“Well, you’re wrong,†she assured him, “I have only to tell them the -truth about the necklace and what I’m doing here--†- -“But the truth is so seldom believed,†he reminded her, “especially when -you’ve no evidence to support it. A lie is a much more easily digested -morsel.†- -“All the evidence I need,†she asserted, “is in that locked drawer.†- -“Quite so,†he admitted. “I’d forgotten that, only it happens you’re -wrong again.†He drew the necklace from his pocket and showed it to her. -“It’s a beauty, isn’t it?†- -Moving over to the table he scribbled a few words on a sheet of paper. - -“What are you doing?†she asked. - -“Manufacturing evidence,†he returned calmly. - -“Meanwhile,†she said, gathering courage, “I propose to leave this -room.†- -“An excellent idea from your way of thinking,†he said, looking up. -“Naturally I’m interested to know how.†- -“I’ll show you,†she responded, and moved quickly to the bell button -which she pushed violently. “Now, Mr. Denby,†she cried triumphantly. -“This is my first shot! When the servants come, I shall take the -necklace with me.†- -She was disappointed to see no trace of alarm on his face. Instead, he -answered her calmly enough. - -“What a pity you did that--you’ll regret it so very soon.†- -“Shall I?†she said satirically, and watched him go to the window. As he -did so, a low whistle was heard coming from the lawn beneath. Then he -took the necklace, wrapped it in the note he had written, and tossed it -through the opening. - -“I hardly think you’ll take it with you,†he observed suavely. - -“I shall get it,†she returned. “I shall tell the Harringtons exactly -what you are, and that you threw it on the lawn.†- -“Wrong again, Miss Cartwright,†he said patiently. “If you’ll stand -where I am, you will see the retreating figure of my friend Monty, who -has it with him. Monty managed rather well, I think. His whistle -announced the coast was clear.†- -“But he can’t get away with those men out there,†she reminded him. - -“Monty waited until they were gone,†he repeated. “For the moment, your -friends of the secret service have left us.†- -“Then I’ll tell Mr. Harrington about Monty, that he’s your accomplice.†- -He shook his head. “I hardly think they’d believe that even from you. -That Montague Vaughan, whose income is what he desires it to be, should -lower himself to help me, is one of the truthful things nobody could -possibly credit. If you could ring in some poor but honest young man it -would sound so much more probable, but Monty, no.†- -She looked at him like a thing stricken. Her poor bravado fell from her. -She felt beaten, and dreaded to think what might be the price of her -failure. - -“And since you forced me,†he added, “I’ve had to play my last card. The -note that I threw to Monty was a letter to you. He’ll leave it where it -can easily be found.†- -“A letter to me!†she repeated. - -“It contained a suggestion that you try to get the room next mine, -pleading nervousness, and come here to-night. It was the invitation--of -a lover.†- -“You beast!†she cried, flaming out into rage. “You coward!†- -“You had your warning,†he reminded her. “The note will be conclusive, -and no matter what you say, you will find yourself prejudged. It’s the -world’s way to prejudge. The servants don’t seem to be coming, and -you’ll be found here in the morning. What explanation will you have to -offer?†He waited for her to speak, but she made no answer. - -“I think the episode of the necklace remains as between just you and -me,†he added slowly, watching her closely. - -“The servants will come,†she cried. “I shan’t have to stay here.†- -“If they disappoint you,†he remarked, “may I suggest that -burglar-alarm? It will wake everybody up, the Harringtons, Miss -Rutledge, and all, even if they’re in bed and asleep soundly. Why don’t -you ring it? Miss Cartwright, I _dare_ you to ring it!†- -Just then there came the sounds of footsteps in the corridor, then a -knock at the door. Denby waited calmly for some word from the girl. The -knock was repeated. - -“Well,†he whispered at last, “why don’t you answer?†- -She shrank back. “No, no, I can’t.†- -Denby moved to the door. “Who is it?†he asked. - -Lambart’s respectful voice made answer: “You rang, sir?†- -“Yes,†he returned, “I forgot to tell you that Miss Cartwright wished -to be called at seven. Call me at the same time, too. That’s all, -Lambart; sorry to have had to disturb you. Good-night.†- -He stood listening until the man’s footsteps died away. Then he turned, -and came toward the girl. - -“So you didn’t dare denounce me after all,†he said mockingly. - -“Oh, I knew it was all a joke,†she said, with an attempt to pass it -over lightly. “I knew you couldn’t be so contemptible.†- -“A joke!†he exclaimed grimly. “Why does it seem a joke?†- -“If you’d meant what you’d said, you’d have called Lambart in. That -would have answered your purpose very well. But I knew that you’d never -do that. I knew you couldn’t.†- -“I’m afraid I shall have less faith hereafter in woman’s intuition,†he -returned. “I can keep you here, and I will. No other course is open to -me.†A clock outside struck. “It’s just three,†he observed. “In four -hours’ time a maid will go to your room and find it empty. It’s a long -time till then, so why not make yourself as comfortable as you can? -Please sit down.†- -The girl sank into a chair more because she was suddenly conscious of -her physical weakness than for the reason he offered it her in mocking -courtesy. - -“I can’t face it,†she cried hysterically; “the disgrace and -humiliation! I can’t face it!†- -“You’ve got to face it,†he said sternly. - -“I can’t,†she repeated. “It’s horrible, it’s unfair--if you’ll let me -go, I’ll promise you I won’t betray you.†- -“You daren’t keep silent about me,†he answered. “How can I let you go?†- -“I’m telling you the truth,†she said simply. - -“Then tell me who sent you here,†he entreated her. “You know what it -means to me; you can guess what it means to you. If you tell me, it may -save us both.†- -“I can’t!†she cried. “I can’t! Oh, please, please!†- -He took her in his arms, roughly, exasperated by her denial. - -“By God, I’ll make you tell!†he said angrily. - -“Don’t touch me,†she said shuddering. - -“Who sent you here?†he demanded, not releasing her. - -“I’m afraid,†she groaned. “Oh, I’m afraid. I hate you! I hate you! Let -me go! let me go!†- -“Who sent you here?†he repeated, still holding her. - -“I’ll tell,†she said brokenly. Then, when he let her go, she sank into -a chair. “I can’t go through with it--you’ve beaten me--Oh, I tried so -hard, so hard, but you’ve won. It’s too unfair when it’s not my fault. -You can’t understand, or you wouldn’t spoil my whole life like this. -It’s not only me, it’s my mother, my sister--Amy.†- -Denby, watching her hardly controllable agitation, was forced to -readjust his opinion concerning her. This was not any adventuress -trained in artifice and ruse, but the woman he had thought her to be in -the deepest sorrow. The bringing in of her mother and sister was not, he -felt sure, a device employed merely to gain his sympathy and induce -leniency in her captor. - -And when it seemed she must sob out a confession of those complex -motives which had led her to seek his betrayal, Denby saw her clench her -hands and pull herself together. - -“No,†she said, rising to her feet, her weakness cast off, “I won’t -quit--no matter what happens to me. I’ll expose you, and tell them -everything. I’ll let them decide between us--whether they’ll believe you -or me. It’s either you or my sister, and I’ll save her.†- -He was now more than ever certain he was stumbling upon something which -would bring him the blessed assurance that she had not sold herself for -reward. - -“Your sister?†he cried eagerly. - -“They shan’t send her to prison,†the girl said doggedly. - -“You’re doing all this to save your sister from prison?†he asked her -gently. - -“She depends on me so,†she answered dully. “They shan’t take her.†- -“Then you’ve been forced into this?†he asked. “You haven’t done it of -your own free will?†- -“No, no,†she returned, “but what else could I do? She was my little -sister; she came first.†- -“And you weren’t lying to me--trying to trick me for money?†- -“Can’t you see,†she said piteously, “that I wanted to save you, too, -and wanted you to get away? I said you were innocent, but they wouldn’t -believe me and said I had to go on or else they’d send Amy to prison. -They have a warrant all ready for her in case I fail. That’s why I’m -here. Oh, please, please, let me go.†- -Steven Denby looked into her eyes and made his resolve. “You don’t know -how much I want to believe in you,†he exclaimed. “It may spoil -everything I’ve built on, but I’m going to take the chance.†He unlocked -the door that led to her room. “You can go, Miss Cartwright!†- -“Oh, you are a man, after all,†she cried, deep gratitude in her voice, -and a relief at her heart she could as yet scarcely comprehend. And as -she made to pass him she was startled by a shrill sharp whistle -outside. - -“The devil!†he cried anxiously, and ran to the window. - -“What is it?†she called, frightened. It was not the low whistle that -Monty had used, but a menacing, thrilling sound. - -“Your friends of the secret service have come back,†he answered, “but -they mustn’t see us together.†Quickly he lowered the window-shade, and -stepped back to the centre of the room, coming to a sudden pause as he -saw the terror on the girl’s face. - -“Oh, my God,†she screamed, “what have you done? That was the signal to -bring Taylor here.†- -“Ah, then, it’s Taylor,†he cried triumphantly. “It’s Taylor!†- -“Oh, I didn’t mean to tell,†she said, startled at the admission. “I -didn’t mean to let anyone know.†- -“I wish you had told me before,†he said with regret, “we could both -have been spared some unhappy moments. I know Taylor and his way of -fighting, and this thing is going to a finish.†- -“Go, before he comes,†she entreated. - -“And leave you alone to face him?†he said more tenderly. “Leave you to -a man who fights as he does?†He looked at her for a moment in silence -and then bowed his head over her white hand and kissed it. “I can’t do -that. I love you.†- -“Oh, please go while there’s time,†she pleaded; “he mustn’t take you.†-She looked up at him and without shame, revealed the love that she now -knew she must ever have for him. “Oh, I couldn’t bear that,†she said -tremulously, “I couldn’t.†- -He gazed down at her, not yet daring to believe that out of this black -moment the greatest happiness of his life had come. “Ethel!†he said, -amazed. - -“I love you,†she whispered; “oh, my dear, I love you.†- -He gathered her in his strong arms. “Then I can fight the whole world,†-he cried, “and win!†- -“For my sake, go,†she begged. “Let me see him first; let me try to get -you out of it.†- -“I stay here, dearest,†he said firmly. “When he comes, say that you’ve -caught me.†- -“No, no,†she implored; “I can’t send you to prison either.†- -“I’m not going to prison,†he reassured her. “I’m not done for yet, but -we must save your sister and get that warrant. He must not think you’ve -failed him. Do you understand?†- -“But he’ll take you away,†she cried, and clung to him. - -“Do as I say,†he besought her; “tell him the necklace is here -somewhere. Be brave, my dear, we’re working to save your sister. He’s -coming.†- -“Hands up, Denby,†Taylor shouted, clambering from the balcony to the -room and levelling a revolver at the smuggler. Without a word Denby’s -hands went up as he was bid, and the deputy-surveyor smiled the victor’s -smile. - -“Well, congratulations, Miss Cartwright,†he cried; “you landed him as I -knew you could if you tried.†- -“What’s the meaning of this?†Denby cried indignantly. “Who are you?†- -“Oh, can that bunk!†Taylor said in disgust. - -“Where’s the necklace, Miss Cartwright?†- -“I don’t know,†she answered nervously. - -“You don’t know?†he returned incredulously. - -“I haven’t been able to find it, but it’s here somewhere.†- -“He’s probably got it on him,†Taylor said. - -“All this is preposterous,†Denby exclaimed angrily. - -“Hand it over,†Taylor snapped. - -“I have no necklace,†Denby told him. - -“Then I’ll have to search you,†he cried, coming to him and going -through his pockets with the practised hand of one who knows where to -look, covering him the while with the revolver. - -“I’ll make you pay for this,†Denby cried savagely, as Taylor -unceremoniously spun him around. - -“Will you give it to me,†Taylor demanded when he had drawn blank, “or -shall I have to upset the place by searching for it?†- -“How can I get it for you with my hands up in the air?†Denby asked -after a pause. “Let me put my hands down and I’ll help you.†- -Taylor considered for a moment. Few men were better in a -rough-and-tumble fight than he, and he had little fear of this beaten -man before him. “You haven’t got a gun,†he said, “so take ’em down, but -don’t you fool with me.†- -Denby moved over to the writing-desk and picked up a heavy beaten copper -ash-tray with match-box attached. He balanced it in his hand for a -moment. “Not a bad idea is it?†he demanded smiling; and then, before -Taylor could reach for it had hurled it with the strong arm and -practised eye of an athlete straight at the patent burglar alarm a few -feet distant. - -There was a smashing of glass and then, an instant later, the turning -off of light and a plunge into blackness. And in the gloom, during which -Taylor thrashed about him wildly, there came from all parts of the house -the steady peal of the electrical alarms newly set in motion. - -And last of all there was the report of the revolver and a woman’s -shriek and the falling of a heavy body on the floor, and then a -silence. - - - - -CHAPTER FOURTEEN - - -No sooner had Michael Harrington seated himself at the card-table with -his wife and Nora than he picked up a magazine and, as he always said, -“kept the light from his eyes.†Some men--few there be--who boldly state -they desire to sleep, but Michael was of the tactful majority and merely -kept the light from his eyes and, incidentally, prevented any observers -from noting that his eyes were closed. - -He considered this a better way of waiting for Monty than to chatter as -the women were doing of the events of the night. - -“I wonder what’s become of Monty?†Alice asked presently. - -“He’s kept us twenty minutes,†Nora returned crossly. “I saw him go out -in the garden. He said it was to relieve his headache, but I really -believe he wanted to capture the gang single-handed. Wouldn’t it be -thrilling if he did?†- -“A little improbable,†Alice laughed; “but still men do the oddest -things sometimes. I never thought Michael the fighting kind till he -knocked a man down once for kissing his hand to me.†- -“It was fine of Michael,†Nora said. “The man deserved it.†- -“I know, dear,†her hostess said, “but, as it happens, the man was -kissing his hand to his infant son six months old in an upper window. It -cost Michael fifty dollars, but I loved him all the more for it. Look at -the dear old thing slumbering peacefully and imagining I think he’s -keeping this very gentle light from his eyes.†- -“It’s the two highballs he had in Mr. Denby’s room,†the sapient ingénue -explained. She harked back to Monty. “I wish he were as brave about -proposing. I’ve tried my grandmother’s recipes for shy men, and all my -mother ever knew, I know. And yet he does get so flustered when he -tries, that he scares himself away.†- -Alice nodded. “He’s the kind you’ve got to lead to the altar. I had -trouble with Michael. He imagined himself too hopelessly old, and very -nearly married quite an elderly female. He’d have been dead now if he -had. Here’s your prey coming in now.†- -Monty entered the card-room from the garden, nervously stuffing into his -pocket the precious package which Denby had thrown to him. - -“I hope I haven’t delayed the game,†he apologized. - -“We didn’t even miss you,†Nora said acidly. - -“Were you supposed to be in on this game?†- -“Don’t be cross, Nora,†Alice advised; “you can see his headache has -been troubling him. Is it better, Monty?†- -“What headache?†he asked. “I haven’t had a headache for months. Oh, -yes,†he added, confused, “that neuralgic headache has gone, thanks. -Shall we play?†- -“Yes, let’s,†Nora said. “Michael dealt before he went to sleep.†- -“Wake up, Michael,†his wife said, tapping him with her fan, “you’re not -at the opera; you’re playing cards.†- -“I haven’t slept for a moment,†he assured her, after a pause in which -he got his bearings. “The light was too strong--†- -“So you shaded your eyes,†his wife went on. “Well, when they are -unshaded will you remember we’re playing?†- -“Who opened it?†he demanded with a great effort. - -“Bridge, my dear,†Alice reminded him, “not poker--bridge, auction -bridge.†She paused a moment while the clock struck three. “And it’s -three o’clock, and it’s quite time you began.†- -“One no trump,†Nora said, after looking at her hand cheerfully. - -“It isn’t your bid,†Alice corrected her, “although I don’t wonder you -forgot. It’s Michael’s; he dealt.†- -Michael tried to concentrate his gaze on his hand. There seemed to be an -enormous number of cards, and he needed time to consider the phenomenon. - -“What’d the dealer draw?†he asked. - -“But we’re not playing poker,†Alice said. - -“It was Monty who confused me,†he said in excuse, and looked -reproachfully at his vis-à -vis. “What’s trumps?†- -“It’s your bid,†Nora cried. “You dealt.†- -“I go one spade.†- -“One no trump,†Monty declared. - -“Two royals,†Nora cried, not that she had them, but to take it away -from Monty. - -“Pass,†said Alice glumly. She could have gone two royals, but dared not -risk three. - -“Give me three cards,†Michael cried more cheerfully. The way was -becoming clearer. - -“Michael,†his wife said reprovingly, “if you’re really as tired as -that, you’d better go to bed.†- -“I never broke up a poker game in my life,†he cried. “It’s only the -shank of the evening. What’s happened, partner?†he yawned to Nora. - -“I went two royals,†she said. - -Michael looked at his hand enthusiastically. “Three aces,†he murmured. -“I’d like to open it for two dollars--as it is, I pass.†- -“Two no trumps,†said Monty. When the rest had passed, Nora led and -Monty played from the dummy. Michael, at last feeling he was rounding -into form, played a low card, so that dummy took the trick with a nine. - -“Anything wrong?†he asked anxiously as Nora shook her head. - -“If you don’t want to win you’re playing like a bridge article in a -Sunday paper,†she returned. - -“This game makes me sick,†he said in disgust. “Nothing but reproaches.†- -“I wish Mr. Denby were playing instead of poor Michael,†Nora remarked. - -“Steve’s got the right idea,†Monty commented. “He’s in bed.†- -“Great man, Denby,†said Michael. “He knows you can’t sit up all night -unless you drink.†- -“We’ll finish the rubber and then stop,†his wife said comfortingly. “Do -remember it’s not poker.†- -“I wish it were,†he exclaimed dolefully. “No partners--no -reproaches--no post-mortems in poker. If you make a fool of yourself you -lose your own money and everybody else is glad of it and gets cheerful.†- -“After this then, one round of jacks to please Michael,†said Alice. - -“And then quit,†Monty suggested. “I’m tired, too.†- -“I’m not tired,†Michael asserted. “I’m only thirsty. It takes this form -with me. When I’m thirsty--†- -Michael stopped in consternation. Overhead, from all parts of the house, -came the mechanical announcement that burglars had broken in. The four -rose simultaneously from the table. - -“Burglars!†cried Michael, looking from one to the other. - -“Good Heavens!†Nora gasped. - -“What shall we do?†cried Alice. - -“It’s gone off by accident,†Monty asserted quivering, as there came -suddenly the sound of a shot. - -“Somebody’s killed!†Alice exclaimed, with an air of certainty. - -Michael was the first to recover his poise. “Monty,†he commanded -sternly, “go and find what’s the matter. I’ll look after the girls.†- -Alice looked at him entreatingly. “You’d better go,†she said; “I shall -feel safer if you see what it is. You’re not afraid, Michael?†- -“Certainly not,†he said with dignity. “Of course they’re armed. Hello, -who’s here?†- -It was Lambart entering, bearing in his hand a .45 revolver. - -“The burglar-alarm, sir,†he said, with as little excitement as he might -have announced the readiness of dinner. “The indicator points to Mr. -Denby’s room.†- -“Good old Lambart,†his employer said heartily. “You go ahead, and we’ll -follow. No, you keep the beastly thing,†he exclaimed, when the butler -handed him the weapon. “You’re a better shot than I am, Lambart.†- -“Mikey,†Alice called to him, “if you’re going to be killed, I want to -be killed, too.†- -The Harringtons followed the admirable Lambart up the stairway, while -Nora gazed after them with a species of fascinated curiosity that was -not compounded wholly of fear. Intensely alive to the vivid interest of -these swiftly moving scenes through which she was passing, -Nora--although she could scream with the best of them--was not in -reality badly scared. - -“I don’t want to be killed,†she announced with decision. - -Monty moved to her side. He had an idea that if he must die or be -arrested, he would like Nora to live on, cherishing the memory that he -was a man. - -“Neither do I!†he cried. “I wish I’d never gone into this. I knew when -I dreamed about Sing Sing last night that it meant something.†- -“Gone into what?†Nora demanded. - -“I’m liable to get shot any minute.†- -“What!†she cried anxiously. - -“This may be my last five minutes on earth, Nora.†- -“Oh, Monty,†she returned, “what have you done?†She looked at him in -ecstatic admiration; never had he seemed so heroic and desirable. “Was -it murder?†- -“If I come out of it alive, will you marry me?†he asked desperately. - -“Oh, Monty!†she exclaimed, and flung herself into his arms. “Why did -you put it off so long?†- -“I didn’t need your protection so much,†he told her; “and anyway it -takes a crisis like this to make me say what I really feel.†- -“I love you anyway, no matter what you’ve done,†she said contentedly. - -He looked at her more brightly. “I’m the happiest man in the world,†he -declared, “providing,†he added cautiously, “I don’t get shot.†- -She raised her head from his shoulder and tapped the package in his -pocket. “What’s that?†she asked. - -“That’s my heart,†he said sentimentally. - -“But why do you wear it on the right side?†she queried. - -“Oh, that,†he said more gravely, “I’d forgotten all about it. It -belongs to Steve. That shows I love you,†he added firmly; “I’d -forgotten all about it.†- -As he spoke there was the shrill call of a police whistle outside. “The -police!†he gasped. - -“Don’t let them get you,†she whispered. “They are coming this way.†- -“Quick,†he said, grabbing her arm and leading her to a door. “We’ll -hide here.†Now that danger, as he apprehended it, was definitely at -hand, his spirits began to rise. He was of the kind which finds in -suspense the greatest horror. They had barely reached the shelter of a -door when Duncan and Gibbs ran in. - -“Come on, Harry,†Duncan called to the slower man, “he’s upstairs. Get -your gun ready.†- -Nora clasped her lover’s hand tighter. “There’ll be some real shooting,†-she whispered; “I hope Alice doesn’t get hurt. Listen!†- -“The Chief’s got him for sure,†Gibbs panted, making his ascent at the -best speed he could gather. - -“They’ve gone,†Nora said, peering out; then she ventured into the hall. -“Who’s the chief?†she asked. - -“The chief of police I guess,†he groaned. “This is awful, Nora. I can’t -have you staying here with all this going on. Go back into the -card-room, and I’ll let you know what’s happened as soon as I can.†- -“But what are you going to do?†she asked. - -“I’m going to wait for Steve; he’s very likely to want me.†- -“I’m not afraid,†Nora said airily. - -“But I am,†he retorted; “I’m afraid for you. Be a good girl and do as I -say, and I’ll come as soon as the trouble’s over.†- -“I just hate to miss anything,†she pouted. “Still if you really wish -it.†She looked at him more tenderly than he had ever seen her look at -any human being before. “Don’t get killed, Monty, dear.†- -Monty took her in his arms and kissed her. “I don’t want to,†he said, -“especially now.†- -When the door had shut behind her he took out the necklace with the idea -of secreting it in an unfindable place. He remembered a Poe story where -a letter was hidden in so obvious a spot that it defied Parisian -commissaries of police. But the letters were usual things and pearl -necklaces were not, and he took it down from the mantel where for a -second he had let it lie, and rammed it under a sofa-cushion on the -nearby couch. That, too, was not a brilliant idea and, while he was -wondering if the pearls would dissolve if he dropped them in a decanter -of whiskey on a table near him, there were loud voices heard at the head -of the stairway, and he fled from the spot. - - - - -CHAPTER FIFTEEN - - -When the Harringtons followed their butler into Denby’s room, they were -appalled at what they could not see but heard without difficulty. A -strange voice, a harsh, coarse voice rapping out oaths and imprecations, -a man fighting with some opponent who remained silent. While they who -owned the house stood helpless, Lambart turned on the lights. - -The sudden glare showed them Denby was the silent fighter. The other -man, a heavily built fellow, seemed for the moment blinded by the -lights, and stopped for a second. And it was in this second that Denby -uppercut him so that he fell with a thud to the floor. - -Then they saw Denby pick up a revolver that was lying by the stranger’s -side. - -“What’s the matter?†cried Michael, while Lambart busied himself with -making the room tidy and replacing overturned chairs. - -“This man,†said Denby, still panting from his efforts, “tried to break -in, and Miss Cartwright and I got him.†- -“Good Lord!†Michael ejaculated. - -“How splendid of you!†Alice cried. “Ethel, you’re a heroine, my dear.†- -Taylor, who had not been put out by the blow, scrambled to his feet and -was pushed into a chair. Denby stood conveniently near with the revolver -a foot from his heart. - -“I never saw a more typical criminal,†Michael said, severely looking at -the captive; “every earmark of it. I could pick him out of a thousand. -Now, Denby, we want to hear all about it.†- -“He’s crazy,†Taylor shouted indignantly. “Don’t you believe him. He’s -the crook. I’m an agent of the United States Customs and I came here to -get Denby.†- -“That’s a pretty poor bluff,†Denby scoffed. “This porch climber was one -of the two who held up Monty and Miss Rutledge in the grounds to-night.†- -“I said they’d break in!†Alice cried, and believed her statement. “And -how fortunate Ethel moved her room. This man looks like the sort who -wouldn’t stop short of murder, Michael.†- -“The lowest human type!†Michael cried. “Look at his eyes and ears, and -nose!†- -“I tell you I came to arrest him!†Taylor cried, striving to keep his -already ruffled temper. - -“Arrest that charming man?†Mrs. Harrington cried with scorn. “Was -there ever anything so utterly absurd!†- -“Absurd!†he sneered. “You won’t think so when you learn who I am. Ask -that girl there; she knows; she’ll tell you whether I’m absurd.†- -Instantly they all centred their gaze on Ethel. For a second she looked -at him blankly. “I never saw the man before,†she told them. - -“You didn’t, eh?†Taylor cried, after a pause of sheer astonishment, “I -guess you’ll remember me when I serve a warrant for your sister’s -arrest. It’s in my pocket now with other papers that prove I’m working -for the United States Government.†He made a motion as though to get -them but found Denby’s gun close under his nose. - -“No you don’t,†Denby warned him. “You’ve probably got a neat little -automatic pistol there. I know your sort.†- -But when he seemed about to relieve the deputy-collector of his papers -Taylor shouted a loud protest. - -“Very well,†Denby cried. “If you had rather Mr. Harrington did, it’s -all the same to me. Mr. Harrington,†turning to his host, “will you -please remove whatever documents you find in his inner pocket, so that -we may find out if what he says is true.†- -“Surely,†Michael returned. “I like every man to have justice even if -the electric chair yearns for him.†Carefully he removed a bundle of -papers neatly tied together. And one of them, as Ethel Cartwright saw, -was the warrant made out for her sister’s arrest. She wondered why Denby -had invited inspection of them, but was not long to remain in doubt. - -“Now,†said Michael judicially, “we’ll do the thing properly.†- -But before he had unfolded a single one of the papers, they were -snatched violently from his hand, and Denby, gun pointed at Taylor, was -backing to the door. “Keep out of range, Harrington,†the retreating man -warned. He cast a swift look of triumph toward Ethel. “It’s all right, -Miss Cartwright,†he called cheerfully. “Don’t worry, it’s all right -now.†- -As the door closed, Taylor sprang from the chair with a curse. “Grab -him, I tell you,†he cried raging. “He’s a crook. The Government wants -him, and they’ll hold you people responsible if he gets away.†He blew -his whistle loudly, and then rushed out of the door and down the hall -taking the steps four at a time. - -The French windows were open and out of them he ran, calling sharply for -his men. But Gibbs and Duncan were even now fiercely searching the other -wing and disturbing frightened servants above. It was not for some -minutes that they made their way to their chief, and searched the -grounds as he bade them. - -And even here they were frustrated. Lambart’s tactical genius had -forbidden him to remove the clothes-lines he had laid to bring wandering -tramps low, and among them Duncan and Gibbs floundered with dreadful -profanity. - -There were two other men aiding them now, Ford and Hammett, who were -stationed outside the grounds to watch the only road by which Denby -could escape. When Taylor was satisfied they were doing what they could, -he came back into the big hall where the frightened group was awaiting -him. - -“We’ll get your friend yet,†he observed disagreeably to Mrs. -Harrington. “It’s bright moonlight, and my men’ll nab him.†- -“But he’s not my friend,†she objected; “I had no idea he was that kind -of a person.†- -“When I find a man like that a guest in a house like this,†Taylor -retorted, “I think I’m justified in calling him your friend. You’ll have -time to think what to say later when you’re called as a witness.†- -“I want to beg your pardon, Mr. Taylor,†said Michael anxiously. The -idea of being cross-examined and made a fool of by a bullying counsel -horrified him. He’d be a jest forever more at Meadow Brook and Piping -Rock. The Harringtons casually to pick up a smuggler and make him free -of their exclusive home! Never had he needed a drink to steady his -nerves as he did now! - -“Well, I certainly think there is an apology due me,†Taylor sneered. He -was not one to forget an affront and Harrington had alluded to his -criminal type in a way that rankled yet. - -“But how could we know?†asked Mrs. Harrington; “he seemed perfectly all -right, although I did say he might be a murderer.†- -“That’ll come out in court,†Taylor reminded her disagreeably. “If it -hadn’t been that my men were here to swear to me, I’d have spent the -night in one of your little one-horse jails, and he’d have got away. -When I do get him he’ll remember Daniel Taylor till the day he dies.†- -Monty, overhearing these direful threats from behind a door, and happy -because of his friend’s escape, walked boldly in. - -“Did you get the burglar?†he demanded airily. - -“There wasn’t any burglar,†Alice told him. - -“It was your old friend Denby that caused all the trouble,†Michael -informed him, “the old friend you introduced into my house. I tell you, -Monty--†- -“Don’t explain,†Taylor commanded. “Now,†he snapped to Monty, “have -you seen Steven Denby in the last ten minutes?†- -Monty found with glee that so far from being nervous he was enjoying the -scene. He only regretted that his moustache was not long enough to -permit him to curl it to a fierce and martial angle. He was glad that -Nora had crept into the room and was watching him. - -“Isn’t he in bed?†he demanded, yawning. - -“You know he isn’t in bed,†Taylor answered. “Maybe you’re his pal--in -on this job with him. Come here.†- -Monty wished to refuse, but Taylor had a compelling manner, so he -advanced with an insolent slowness. - -Alice Harrington flew to his defence. “That’s too absurd!†she cried. -“We’ve known Mr. Vaughan since he was a child.†- -“Who is this person?†Monty demanded superciliously. - -“Never mind who I am,†Taylor said gruffly, and started to search him. - -“Don’t hurt him,†Nora cried, rushing to her fiancé’s side. - -“It’s all right, Nora,†Monty said; submitting quietly. “He thinks he’s -doing his duty. When you’re through with me,†he said to Taylor, “I’ll -take you to my room. You’d probably like to go through that, too.†- -“Here, that’ll be enough from you,†Taylor said frowning. “You aren’t -smart enough to be Denby’s pal. Clear out--get back to the nursery.†- -Nora cast a glance of vivid hatred at him, but Taylor turned his back on -her. - -“Do you want us any longer?†Michael asked. - -“No,†he was told. “You can go and leave me with this girl,†pointing to -Ethel, who had not said a word. “I want a little talk with her.†- -“Please keep her out of it,†Michael asked him. “I’m sure she’s -absolutely innocent in the matter.†- -Taylor looked at him, exasperated. “See here,†he cried, “you’ve put -enough obstacles in my way to-night as it is! Do you want to put any -more?†- -“It’s all right,†Ethel Cartwright said quickly; “there’s just some -misunderstanding. Please go!†- -“All right, then,†her host answered. “Come, Alice, I need a drink -badly.†- -“My dear,†she said affectionately, “under the circumstances you may -have an all-night license.†- -He had turned to go when Lambart approached him. “I beg your pardon, -sir, but can I have a word with you?†- -“What is it?†Michael demanded anxiously. The news evidently affected -him, and Taylor looked suspicious. “What’s this mean?†the -deputy-surveyor asked. - -“A long distance from my partner,†the agitated Harrington returned. “I -stand to lose nearly a million dollars if something isn’t done. Excuse -me, Alice--I’ll use the upstairs ’phone.†He hurried upstairs. - -“Well,†said Monty to Taylor--Nora was hanging on his arm and he felt he -would never again be afraid--“do you want me any longer?†- -“I thought I sent you back to play,†Taylor snarled. - -Ostentatiously Monty turned his back and walked leisurely to a door. - -“You are perfectly splendid,†Nora exclaimed with ecstasy in her voice. -“I’d no idea you were so brave.†- -“Oh, you can never tell,†Monty returned modestly. - -Alice joined them in retreat. “Michael’s thirst is catching,†she -asserted. “I’m for some champagne, children, are you?†- -“Sure,†said Monty. “What’s a quart amongst three?†- -Taylor watched them depart, sneeringly. He hated the idle rich with the -intensity of a man who has longed to be of them and knows he cannot. The -look he flung at Miss Cartwright was not pleasant. - -“What did you mean by telling them upstairs that you had never seen me -before?†he cried vindictively. - -“You said under no circumstances was I to mention your name.†- -He looked a trifle disconcerted at this simple explanation. He was in a -mood for punishment, and rebuke. - -“Yes,†he admitted, “but--†- -“You said it was imperative your identity should not be disclosed,†the -girl reminded him. - -“I suppose that’s true in a way,†he conceded; “but when you saw me -wanting to prove who I was, why didn’t you help?†- -“I was afraid to do anything but follow your instructions,†she said -earnestly. “I remembered that you swore you’d put my sister in prison if -I even said I’d ever seen you before.†- -“Well, then, we won’t say any more about it,†he returned ungraciously. -“How did you find Denby had the necklace?†- -“I got into his room and caught him,†she explained. “He had it in his -hand.†- -“Yes, yes!†he cried impatiently; “go on.†- -“And when the lights went out and there was a shot, I screamed, and -naturally I couldn’t see what happened in the dark. I thought you had -killed him and I was frightened.†- -Taylor frowned. He did not like to remember that directly the flash of -his gun had disclosed his position Denby had sprung on him like an arrow -and knocked him down. Denby had scored two knock-downs in one night, and -none had ever done that before. There was a swelling on his jaw and -three teeth were loosened. Denby should pay for that, he swore. - -While he was thinking these vengeful thoughts, Duncan hurried in through -the French windows. - -“Say, Chief,†he shouted, “Denby didn’t leave the house. He’s up in his -room now.†- -“How do you know?†Taylor cried eagerly. - -“Gibbs climbed up on the roof of the pagoda; he can see the room from -there and Denby’s in it now.†- -“Now we’ve got him sure,†his chief cried gleefully. - -“And Harrington’s with him,†Duncan added excitedly. - -“What!†Taylor ejaculated, stopping short on his way to the stairs. The -two men talking together spelled collusion to him, and opened up -complications to which he had hardly given a thought. - -“Gibbs said they were talking together,†his subordinate continued. - -“I was right at first,†Taylor exclaimed; “I thought that might be the -game, but he fooled me so that I would have sworn he was innocent. -Denby’s smuggling the necklace through for Harrington. Jim, this is a -big job, get out there to make sure he don’t escape by the balcony. Have -your gun handy,†he warned; “I’ve got mine.†He looked over to Ethel, -whose face betrayed the anguish which she was enduring. “And I’ll get -the drop on him this time.†- -“No, no,†she cried, “you mustn’t!†- -“You knew all the time he was back in his room and you’ve been trying to -fool me--you’re stuck on him.†- -“No, no, you’re wrong,†she said desperately. - -“Am I?†he retorted; “then I’ll give you the chance to prove it. Send -for Denby and ask him what he did with the necklace, and where it is -now. Tell him I suspect you, and that he’s got to tell you the truth, -but you won’t turn him over to me. Talk as if you two were alone, but -I’ll be there behind that screen listening.†He took out his revolver -and pointed to it meaningly. “If you tip him off or give him the -slightest warning or signal, I’ll arrest you both, anyway. Wrong, am I?†-he sneered. “We’ll see; and if you try to fool me again, you and your -sister will have plenty of time to think it over in Auburn. Now send for -him.†- -There was a big screen of tapestry in one corner of the hall near the -stairs. Behind this he had little difficulty in hiding himself. - -The girl watched him in terror. It seemed she must either offer the man -she loved bound and helpless to his enemies, or else by warning him and -aiding him in escape, see him shot before her eyes. There seemed here no -way out with Taylor watching her every look and movement from his -hiding-place. - -She stretched out her tremulous hand to grasp the table for support and -clutched instead the silver cigarette-box, the same she had offered -earlier to Denby. Her deep dejection was banished for she saw here a -chance to defeat her enemy by a ruse of which he could not know. -Watching her, Taylor saw her returning courage, and congratulated her. -She knew, he thought, that her only chance was to play the square game -with him now. - -“Well,†he called from his concealment, “why don’t you send for him?†- -“I’m going to!†she answered, walking to the bell and then coming back -to the table. “You’ll see you’ve been all wrong about me.†- -“I guess not,†he snarled, adjusting the screen so as better to be able -to see her from between its folds. He noticed that Lambart passing close -to him as he answered the bell had no suspicion of his presence. - -“Mr. Denby’s in his room,†she told the man, “please say I’m alone here -and wish to speak to him at once.†- -“Yes, madam,†Lambart said, and a few seconds later could be heard -knocking at a distant door. - -“I can see you perfectly,†Taylor warned her. “When Denby comes in, stay -right where you are and don’t move, or else I’ll--†He stopped short -when Lambart descended the staircase. - -“Mr. Denby will be with you immediately,†the butler said, and left the -hall. - - - - -CHAPTER SIXTEEN - - -Denby came eagerly down the stairs, looking about him with no especial -care. He had learned that the special service men assumed him to have -made good his escape and were contenting themselves with surrounding the -gardens. - -“What’s happened?†he asked, coming quickly toward her. “Is everything -all right now? Where is--†- -Ethel interrupted him. “Will you have a cigarette, Dick?†she asked, -pushing the silver box to him. - -He took it calmly enough but instantly realized her warning. His alert -gaze swept about the room and dwelt no longer on the screen than any -other of its furnishing, but he knew where his enemy was hidden. -“Thanks,†he said simply, and lighted it with a hand that was steady. - -“Now we are alone,†she said, “and those men imagine you are not here, -and I admit you’ve beaten me, please tell me the truth about that -necklace. What have you done with it?†- -“Are you still persisting in that strange delusion?†he asked calmly. “I -never had a necklace, Miss Cartwright.†- -“But I know you did,†she persisted, “I saw it.†- -“Ah, you thought you did,†he corrected. “We went all over that in my -room and I imagined I had persuaded you. Why do you want to know this?†- -“The agent of the secret service has been here,†she told him, “and he -suspects that I am defending you and won’t believe what I say. If you’ll -tell me the truth, I’ll get him to let you go.†- -“Then the secret service agent is just as wrong as you,†he remarked. “I -have no necklace. Because I knock down a man who breaks into my room at -night and escape rather than be shot, am I supposed on that account to -carry these fabulous necklaces about with me? I don’t care even to -prolong this conversation, Miss Cartwright.†- -At this point Lambart entered, and coming toward him, delivered a small -package. - -“Pardon me, sir,†the butler began, “but Mr Vaughan asked me to take -this to your room.†- -“What is it?†Denby asked, and a slight movement behind the screen -betokened the curiosity of the man hidden there. - -“Mr. Vaughan didn’t say, sir,†Lambart returned. “He only said it was -very important for you to get it immediately.†Lambart bowed and -retired. - -“I wonder what on earth Monty can be sending me at this time of the -night,†said Denby, balancing the thing as though to judge its contents -from the weight. “It must be important, so forgive me if I see what it -is.†- -He tore the envelope open carelessly, and out of it dropped the -necklace. Quickly he stooped down and picked it up, putting it in his -left-hand coat-pocket. - -The girl could not refrain from giving a cry as he did so. “Oh,†she -exclaimed, “we’re done for now.†- -There was a crash behind them as the screen clattered to the floor and -Daniel Taylor stepped over it, levelled gun in hand. - -“Hands up, Denby,†he commanded, and then blew his police whistle. - -He looked sourly at the trembling girl by the table. “I don’t know how -you tipped him off, but you two are damned smart, aren’t you? But I’ve -got you both now, so it’s just as well it happened as it did.†- -Gibbs and Duncan burst in, their anxious faces breaking into smiles of -joy. The Chief’s temper if his plans miscarried was a fixed quantity and -an unpleasant one. They had been consoling themselves outside, and -Duncan had been wishing he had Gibbs’ outside job. Now everything would -be well and they would each be able to boast in his home circle of -to-night’s exploit. - -“You’re both under arrest,†Taylor said, addressing his captives. -“Boys,†he commanded his satellites cordially, “take her into one of -those side rooms and keep her there till I call. They can talk without -speaking, these two. I’ll question ’em separately.†- -For the second time within an hour he searched Denby. From the -right-hand pocket of his dinner jacket he took an automatic pistol. From -the left he drew out the string of pearls. - -“It’s a pippin, all right,†Taylor muttered, his eyes gloating over the -treasure. “How much did you pay the girl?†- -“Not a cent,†his prisoner asserted. “Nothing. You’re all wrong there.†- -“Then why did she tip you off just now?†- -“She didn’t tip me off,†Denby told him. “She didn’t say a word, as you -yourself must have heard.†- -“Can it! can it!†Taylor retorted impatiently. “I saw the result all -right, but I couldn’t get on to the cause. What did she do it for?†- -Denby shrugged his shoulders and smiled a little. It was the first time -he had come off his high horse. - -“Maybe,†he hinted, “she didn’t want to see me go to prison.†- -“Oh, you pulled the soft stuff, eh?†Taylor said. “Well, she tried to -double-cross me and that don’t pay, Denby. She’ll find that out, all -right.†- -Denby assumed a certain confidential air. “Look here, Taylor,†he said, -“so long as she did the decent thing by me, I’d like to see her out of -this. You’ve got me, and you’ve got the pearls--Why not let her go?†- -Taylor shook his head. He did not signalize his triumphs by the freeing -of captives or the giving of rewards. “I guess not,†he returned with -his sourest look. “You’ve both given me a lot of unnecessary trouble, -and I think a little trip down south ought to fix you two comfortably. -What do you say to five years in Atlanta? Fine winter climate they say.†- -“Then I guess we are up against it;†Denby sighed. - -“You are, son,†Taylor assured him; “right up against it.†- -“Take it out on me,†the other implored; “ease up on her. It isn’t as if -she were a grafter, either. Why, I offered her twenty thousand dollars -to square it.†- -“Tried to bribe a Government official, eh?†Taylor observed. “That don’t -make it any better for you.†- -“Oh, you can’t prove it against me,†Denby returned easily. - -“Twenty thousand dollars,†Taylor muttered; “twenty thousand dollars! So -you _were_ trying to smuggle it in for the Harringtons, then?†- -“I hate bringing names in,†said Denby, looking at him shrewdly. - -“Well, they’ll have to come out in court anyway,†the other reminded -him, and then reverted to the money. “Twenty thousand dollars!†he -repeated. “It seems to mean a whole lot to you--or somebody--to get this -through, eh?†- -“It does,†Denby returned, “and it’s a big lot of money; but I’d rather -pay that than sample your winter climate down south--see?†He looked at -him still with that air of confidence as though he expected Taylor to -comprehend his motives. - -“Say, what are you trying to do?†Taylor said sharply; “bribe me?†- -“What an imagination you have!†Denby said in astonishment. “Why, you -couldn’t be bribed, Mr. Taylor!†- -“You bet your life I couldn’t,†the deputy-surveyor returned. - -Denby sighed. “What a pity I didn’t meet a business man instead of -_you_.†- -Taylor’s sharp eyes looked at the speaker steadily. - -“You couldn’t square it even with a business man for twenty thousand -dollars.†- -Denby met his shrewd gaze without lowering his eyes. - -“If I’d met the right kind of business man,†he declared, “I shouldn’t -have offered twenty thousand dollars,†he said meaningly; “I’d have -offered him all I’ve got--and that’s thirty thousand dollars.†- -A slow smile chased Taylor’s intent expression away. “You would?†he -said. - -“I would,†Denby answered steadily. - -“A business man,†Taylor returned, “wouldn’t believe you had that much -unless he saw it with his own eyes.†- -“I should prove it,†Denby answered. And with his first and second -finger he probed behind his collar and produced three new -ten-thousand-dollar bills. - -“Beauties, aren’t they?†he asked of the staring Taylor. - -The official seemed hypnotized by them. “I didn’t know they made ’em -that big,†he said reverently. - -When Denby next spoke, his tone was brisker. “Look here, Taylor, I -haven’t been in Paris for two years.†- -There was understanding in Taylor’s face now. “You haven’t?†he -returned. - -“And in case of a come-back, I’ve witnesses to prove an alibi.†- -“You have?†Taylor responded, his smile broadening. - -“How much does the Government pay you?†Denby questioned. - -Taylor’s eyes were still on the bills. “Three thousand a year,†he -answered. - -Denby inspected the crisp bills interestedly. “Ten years’ salary!†he -commented. “You couldn’t save all this honestly in your lifetime.†- -Denby raised his eyes and the two men looked at one another and a -bargain was as certainly made as though documents had been drawn up -attesting it. - -Taylor’s manner altered instantly. He removed his hat and became a -genial, not to say jocular, soul. - -“Too bad,†he said sympathetically, “a mistake like that happening.†- -“It is a bit inconvenient,†Denby allowed. - -“I’m sorry to have bothered you,†the deputy-surveyor assured him, “but -you’re all right, Mr. Denby. I figured from the first that you might be -a business man, and that’s why you slipped through so easily.†- -“You’re a pretty smart man, Mr. Taylor,†Denby admitted, “and I think -these belong to you.†He held out the money. - -“Yes, I think they do,†Taylor said eagerly, reaching out for the bills. - -“Wait a minute!†Denby cried, holding the money back. “How do I know you -won’t take it and then double-cross me?†- -“I’ll give you my word for it,†Taylor assured him fervently. - -“That security isn’t good enough,†Denby remarked slowly. “We haven’t -done business together before, and those two men of yours--are they in -on it?†- -“Not on your life,†Taylor laughed. “I haven’t split with anybody for -five years. This is a one man job, Mr. Denby.†- -“That may be,†the other protested, “but they saw you pinch me!†- -“I’ll tell them it was all a mistake and I’ve got to call it off. I know -the kind of help I want when I’m tackling a one man job.†- -“Do you think you can get away with it?†Denby asked doubtfully. - -“I always have,†Taylor said simply. “There’s no need for you to get -scared.†- -Denby still seemed perturbed. “I’ve been hearing a lot about this R. -J.,†he told the official. “I don’t like what I’ve heard either. Is he -suspicious about you by any chance?†- -“What do you know about R. J.?†Taylor asked quickly. - -“Some friends of mine--business men--in London, tipped me off about him. -They said he’s been investigating the bribery rumors in the Customs.†- -“Don’t you worry about him, my boy,†Taylor said with a reassuring air, -“I’m the guy on this job.†- -“That’s all well enough,†Denby said, “but I don’t want to give up -thirty thousand and then get pinched as well. I’ve got to think about -myself.†- -Taylor leaned across eagerly. “Say, if that R. J. has scared you into -thinking he’ll ball things up, I don’t mind admitting--in strict -confidence--who he is.†- -“So you know?†Denby retorted. “Who is he? I want to be on my guard.†- -“Well, he isn’t a thousand miles from here.†- -“What!†Denby cried in astonishment. - -Taylor tapped himself upon the chest with an air of importance. “Get -me?†- -“Well, that’s funny,†Denby laughed. - -“What’s funny?†Taylor retorted. - -“Why, R. J. is supposed to be death on grafters and you’re one -yourself.†- -“I’m a business man,†Taylor said with a wink. “I’m not a grafter--I -should worry about the Government.†- -“Well I guess I’ll take a chance,†Denby said, after a momentary pause. - -“That’s the idea,†Taylor cried cheerfully. - -“Provided,†Denby added, “you let me have a few words with your men. -They’ve got to understand I’m innocent, and I want to see how they take -it. You see, I don’t know them as well as you do. They’ve got to back -you up in squaring me with the Harringtons. You’ve put me in all wrong -here, remember.†- -“Why sure,†Taylor agreed generously, “talk your head off to ’em.†- -“And you’ll leave the girl out of it?†- -“I’ll do more than that,†Taylor told him with a grin; “I’ll leave her -to you.†- -Denby heaved a sigh of relief. “Now we understand one another,†he said. -“Here’s your money, Taylor.†- -“Much obliged,†Taylor responded. He handed the other the pearls. “I’ve -no evidence,†he declared in high good humor, “that you ever had any -necklace. Have a cigar, Mr. Denby?†- -[Illustration: “NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER,†HE SAID. “HERE’S YOUR -MONEY.†_Page 288_.] - -“Thanks,†the younger man returned; “I’ll smoke it later it you don’t -mind. Now call ’em in.†- -“Certainly,†Taylor said briskly. “And say, I’m glad to have met you, -Mr. Denby; and next time you’re landing in New York and I can be of use, -let me know.†He leered. “I might be of considerable use, understand?†- - - - -CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - - -Taylor walked briskly across the hall and threw open the door of the -room in which his subordinates were guarding their prisoner. “Duncan,†-he called, “and Gibbs, come here.†- -When they had come in with Ethel Cartwright, he turned to them -impressively. “Boys,†he declared, “it was all a mistake.†- -“What!†cried his men. - -“Thank God!†the girl cried softly. - -“Our dope was phoney. We were tipped off wrong by someone, out of -mischief or malice--I’ll have to look into that--and we’re all in wrong. -It was a case of mistaken identity, but Mr. Denby’s been very nice about -it, very nice, indeed. Let the lady go, Jim.†- -“I asked Mr. Taylor to send for you,†Denby explained, “because I -thought it was due you, and I didn’t want any come-back. I want you all -to understand the facts, if you don’t mind waiting, Miss Cartwright.†- -“Of course I’ll wait,†she said brightly. What had happened to change -things she could not guess, but she was confident the man she loved had -some magic to save them both. - -“Listen to him, boys,†Taylor counselled. “You see, he’s a bit anxious -to straighten things out, so tell him all you know. Fire ahead, Mr. -Denby.†- -Denby addressed himself to James Duncan. “You got a tip from Harlow that -a Steven Denby had bought a necklace at Cartier’s?†- -“Yes, sir,†Duncan agreed. - -Denby now turned to Gibbs who assumed a character of importance. - -“Then you got a wireless that this Denby had sailed with Mrs. Michael -Harrington and Mr. Montague Vaughan, which threw suspicion on the lady -as a possible smuggler?†- -“That’s right, too,†Gibbs conceded, contentedly. - -“And yet,†Denby remarked with inquiry in his tone, “you let Denby slip -through the Customs to-day, didn’t you?†- -Taylor’s satisfied expression had faded partially. “You see,†he -explained, “we didn’t have any absolute evidence to arrest him on.†- -“Just what I was going to say,†Gibbs remarked. - -“But after he got through,†Denby went on, “you received an anonymous -telegram late this afternoon that Denby carried the necklace in a -tobacco-pouch, didn’t you?†- -Taylor advanced a step frowning. “What’s all this, anyway?†he demanded. -“How do you know about that telegram?†- -“I found it out to-night,†Denby said pleasantly. - -“That’s a private Government matter,†Taylor blustered. - -Denby looked at him in surprise. “Surely,†he said, “you don’t object to -my making things clear? I was pretty nice to you, Mr. Taylor.†- -Taylor’s fingers nestled tenderly about the crackling notes in his -pocket. “All right,†he assented, “go ahead.†- -Denby turned on the expectant Gibbs. - -“You knew about that tip in the telegram?†- -“First I ever heard about it,†Gibbs returned, open-eyed. - -“Then you didn’t tell them?†Denby observed, looking toward their chief. - -“That was my own business,†Taylor said impatiently. He wished this fool -cross-examination over, and himself out of Long Island. - -“Did it ever occur to you boys that it was rather peculiar that this -supposed smuggler wasn’t searched--that he got through without the -slightest trouble?†- -“Why, the Chief didn’t want to get in any mix-up with the Harringtons in -case he was wrong about Denby,†Gibbs elucidated. - -“Oh, I see,†Denby remarked, as though the whole thing were now -perfectly straightforward. “He told you that, did he?†- -“He sure did,†Duncan agreed readily. - -“Don’t you boys see,†Denby said seriously, “that this whole job looks -very much as if the scheme was to let Denby slip through and then -blackmail him?†- -“I never thought of that,†Duncan returned. - -“Me, neither,†the ingenuous Gibbs added. - -“Wait a minute,†Taylor said irritably. “What’s all this got to do with -you? I admit we made a mistake--I’ll take the blame for it--and we’re -sorry. We can’t remedy it by talking any more. Come on, boys.†- -“Wait just a minute,†Denby exclaimed. “Don’t you know,†he went on, -addressing himself to the two subordinate officials, “that it’s rather a -dangerous thing to monkey with the United States Government? It’s a -pretty big thing to fool with. You might have got into serious trouble -arresting the wrong man.†- -“I haven’t been monkeying with the Government,†Gibbs said nervously. -All his official carelessness recurred to him vividly. “I wouldn’t do a -thing like that.†- -“Neither have I,†Duncan made eager reply. - -Taylor took a hand in the conversation. “That’s all settled,†he said, -with an air of finality. “We all know Mr. Denby never had a necklace.†- -“That’s clearly understood, is it?†Denby returned. - -“What I say is right,†Taylor retorted, and glared at his underlings. - -“What the Chief says is right,†Gibbs admitted with eagerness. - -“What the Chief says is wrong,†Denby cried in a different voice. “I did -smuggle a necklace in through the Customs to-day. Here it is.†- -They looked at it in consternation. “What!†they ejaculated. - -Taylor had owed his safety ere this to rapid thinking. - -“Then you’re under arrest!†he cried. - -“Oh, no I’m not,†Denby rejoined, turning to the startled men. “Your -chief caught me with the goods and I paid him thirty thousand dollars to -square it.†- -Taylor came at him with upraised fist. “Why, you--†he roared, “I’ll--†- -Denby seized the clenched fist and thrust it aside. “You won’t,†he said -calmly; “you’re only a bully after all, Taylor. You couldn’t graft on -your own--you had to drag a girl into it, and you’ve made me do some -pretty rotten things to-night to land you. I’ve had to make that girl -suffer, but you’ll pay for it. I’ve got you now, and you’re under -arrest.†- -“Aw, quit your bluffing,†Taylor jeered; “you can’t arrest me, Denby.†- -“The man who’ll arrest you is named Jones,†Denby remarked. - -“Who the hell is he?†Taylor cried. - -“Ah, yes,†Denby admitted. “I forgot that you hadn’t met him officially -and that the boys don’t know who he is either. Here’s my commission.†-Gibbs stared at the document ravenously. “And that’s my photograph,†-Denby added. “A pretty good likeness it’s usually considered.†- -Duncan was now at his comrade’s side, poring over it. “It sure is,†he -agreed. - -“This thing,†said Gibbs the discoverer, “is made out in the name of -Richard Jones!†- -“Well, do you get the initials?†Denby queried. - -“R. J.,†Gibbs read out as one might mystic things without meaning. - -“That’s me,†Denby smiled, “R. J. of the secret service. That’s the name -I’m known by.†- -Gibbs offered his hand. “If you’re R. J.,†he said admiringly, “I’d -like to shake hands with you. Are you, on the level, R. J.?†- -“I’m afraid I am,†the other admitted. - -“It’s a lie,†Taylor shouted. - -Denby pointed to the paper. “You can’t get away from that signature. -It’s signed by the President of the United States.†- -“I tell you it’s a fake,†the man cried angrily. - -“They don’t seem to think so,†Denby remarked equably. - -“This is on the level, all right,†Duncan announced after prolonged -scrutiny. - -Denby turned to the deputy-surveyor. - -“Taylor,†he said gravely, “for three years the Government has been -trying to land the big blackmailer in the Customs. They brought me into -it and I set a trap with a necklace as a bait. The whole thing was a -plant from Harlow’s tip, the telegram I sent myself this afternoon, to -the accidental dropping of the pearls, so that you could see them -through the screen. You walked right into it, Taylor. Twice before you -came and looked into other traps and had some sort of intuition and kept -out of them. This time, Taylor, it worked.†- -“You can’t get away with that,†Taylor said threateningly. “I’m not -going to listen to this.†- -“Wait a minute,†Denby advised him. “You’ve been in the service long -enough to know that the rough stuff won’t go. You’d only get the worst -of it; so take things easily.†- -He smiled pleasantly at the other men. “I’m glad to find you boys -weren’t in on this. Take him along with you, and this, too.†He tossed -the necklace on the table from which it slid to the floor at Gibbs’ -feet. - -Gibbs made a quick step forward to recover it, but trod on part of the -string and crushed many of the stones. Poor Gibbs looked at the damage -he had done aghast. If the thing were worth two hundred thousand -dollars, a ponderous calculation forced the dreadful knowledge upon him -that he had destroyed possibly a quarter of them. Fifty thousand -dollars! Tears came to his eyes. “Honest to goodness,†he groaned, -looking imploringly at the august R. J., “I couldn’t help it.†- -“Don’t worry,†Denby laughed. “They’re fakes. Take what’s left as -Exhibit A.†- -Gibbs recovered his ease of manner quickly and took a few steps nearer -the fallen Chief. “And to think I’ve been working for a crook two years -and never knew it,†he said, with a childlike air of wonder. - -Taylor looked at Denby with rage and despair. - -“Damn you,†he exploded, “you’ve got me all right, but I’ll send that -girl and her sister up the river. You’re stuck on her and I’ll get even -that way.†- -Even in his fury he remarked that this threat did not disturb the man in -the least. He saw the girl blanch and hide her face, but this cursed -meddling R. J., as he called himself, only smiled. - -“I think not,†Denby returned. “You forget that Mr. Harrington is -vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company and a friend of -the late Mr. Vernon Cartwright. I hardly think he will allow a little -matter like that to come into public notice. In fact, I’ve seen him -about it already.†- -“Oh, get me out of this,†Taylor cried in disgust. - -“Just a minute,†Denby commanded. “I’ll trouble you for that thirty -thousand dollars.†- -“You think of everything, don’t you?†Taylor snarled, handing it back. -“Is that a fake, too?†- -“Oh, no,†he was told, “I borrowed that from Monty, who’s been a great -help to me in this little scheme as an amateur partner.†- -He put the bills in his pocket and took out the cigar Taylor had given -him. - -“Here’s your cigar,†he said. - -Taylor snatched it from him, and biting off the end, stuck it in his -mouth. He assumed a brazen air of bravado. “Well,†he cried bragging, -“it took the biggest man in the secret service to land me, Mr. R. J., -but I’ve got some mighty good pals, in some mighty good places, and -they’ll come across for me, and don’t you forget it. After all, you’re -not the jury, and all the smart lawyers aren’t dead yet.†- -“I don’t think they’ll help you this time,†Denby said. “I believe -you’ll still enjoy that winter climate.†- -“Aw, come on, you dirty grafter,†Gibbs cried contemptuously, and with -his partner led the broken man away. - -Ethel came to his side when they were alone. “Did you really mean it -about arranging with Mr. Harrington?†she cried. - -He looked down at her tenderly. “Yes,†he said. “We’ve saved her.†- -“And you are really R. J.?†she exclaimed wonderingly. - -“I really am,†he returned. “Can’t you guess how much I wanted to tell -you before? But I couldn’t you know, at first, because I thought you -might be Taylor’s accomplice. And later, I still dared not, because I -was under orders with my duty toward my Government. Can you forgive me -for making you suffer like that?†- -“Forgive you?†she whispered tenderly. “Haven’t I said I love you?†- -He took her in his arms and kissed her. - -“And everything’s all right now, isn’t it?†she sighed happily. - -He looked at her whimsically. - -“Except that I’m hungry--are you hungry?†- -“Starved,†she cried. - -“Let’s ask for some food,†he suggested. “Nothing would gratify Lambart -so much. But I don’t think I’ve been so hungry since I was in Paris.†- -“I wish it were Paris,†she said. “Dear Paris, where I first found R. -J.†- -“It shall be, whenever you say,†he answered, “and I’ll tell you all -about R. J. and the lonely life he led till he saw you.†- -“And to think I could believe for a moment you were a criminal!†she -said, self-reproach in her voice, “and even try to trap you!†- -“But you’ve caught me,†he said proudly. - -“Have I really got you, Steve?†she asked, softly, holding out her arms -to him. - -THE END - -[Illustration] - - -CORT THEATRE - -NEW YORK - -BEGINNING AUGUST 24th - -COHAN’S GRAND OPERA -HOUSE, CHICAGO - -BEGINNING AUGUST 31st - -SELWYN AND COMPANY - -PRESENT - -UNDER COVER - -_A melodrama of love, mystery -and thrills_ - -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE - - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -Ambassadeurs waiters corraled=> Ambassadeurs waiters corralled {pg 39} - -wrung his hand again and again=> wrung his hands again and again {pg -156} - -How women do gamble nowaday=> How women do gamble nowadays {pg 165} - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Cover, by -Roi Cooper Megrue and Wyndham Martyn - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - -***** This file should be named 40939-0.txt or 40939-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/3/40939/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/40939-0.zip b/old/40939-0.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 83f2704..0000000 --- a/old/40939-0.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/40939-8.txt b/old/40939-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b77ee4a..0000000 --- a/old/40939-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8691 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Under Cover, by Roi Cooper Megrue and Wyndham Martyn - -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/license - - -Title: Under Cover - -Author: Roi Cooper Megrue - Wyndham Martyn - -Illustrator: William Kirkpatrick - -Release Date: October 5, 2012 [EBook #40939] -[Last updated: February 1, 2014] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -[The chapters in the original book pass from CHAPTER FIVE to CHAPTER -SEVEN; there is no chapter numbered SIX. A list of typographical errors -corrected follows the etext. (note of etext transcriber)] - - - - -UNDER COVER - -[Illustration: HE FOUND DENBY'S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE. - -Frontispiece. _See page 266_.] - - - - -UNDER COVER - -BY - -ROI COOPER MEGRUE - -NOVELIZED BY WYNDHAM MARTYN - -WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY -WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK - -[Illustration] - -BOSTON -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY -1914 - -_Copyright_, _1914_, -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE AND -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. - -_All rights reserved_ - -Published August, 1914 - -THE COLONIAL PRESS -C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - -HE FOUND DENBY'S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE _Frontispiece_ - -HE TURNED TO AMY. "YOUNG WOMAN, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST" PAGE 105 - -"DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON'T YOU--DICK?" 186 - -"NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER," HE SAID. "HERE'S YOUR MONEY" 288 - - - - -UNDER COVER - - - - -CHAPTER ONE - - -Paris wears her greenest livery and puts on her most gracious airs in -early summer. When the National Fete commemorative of the Bastille's -fall has gone, there are few Parisians of wealth or leisure who remain -in their city. Trouville, Deauville, Etretat and other pleasure cities -claim them and even the bourgeoisie hie them to their summer villas. - -The city is given up to those tourists from America and England whom -Paris still persists in calling _Les Cooks_ in memory of that -enterprising blazer of cheap trails for the masses. Your true Parisian -and the stranger who has stayed within the city's gates to know her -well, find themselves wholly out of sympathy with the eager crowds who -follow beaten tracks and absorb topographical knowledge from -guide-books. - -Monty Vaughan was an American who knew his Paris in all months but those -two which are sacred to foreign travelers, and it irritated him one -blazing afternoon in late July to be persistently mistaken for a tourist -and offered silly useless toys and plans of the Louvre. The _camelots_, -those shrewd itinerant merchants of the Boulevards, pestered him -continually. These excellent judges of human nature saw in him one who -lacked the necessary harshness to drive them away and made capital of -his good nature. - -He was a slim, pleasant-looking man of five and twenty, to whom the good -things of this world had been vouchsafed, with no effort on his part to -obtain them; and in spite of this he preserved a certain frank and -boyish charm which had made him popular all his life. - -Presently on his somewhat aimless wanderings he came down the Avenue de -l'Opéra and took a seat under the awning and ordered an innocuous drink. -He was in a city where he had innumerable friends, but they had all left -for the seashore and this loneliness was unpleasant to his friendly -spirit. But even in the Café de Paris he was not to be left alone and he -was regarded as fair game by alert hawkers. One would steal up to his -table and deposit a little measure of olives and plead for two sous in -exchange. Another would place some nuts by his side and demand a like -amount. And when they had been driven forth and he had lighted a -cigarette, he observed watching him with professional eagerness a -_ramasseur de megot_, one of those men who make a livelihood of picking -up the butts of cigars and cigarettes and selling them. - -When Monty flung down the half-smoked cigarette in hope that the man -would go away he was annoyed to find that the fellow was congratulating -himself that here was a tourist worth following, who smoked not the -wispy attenuated cigarettes of the native but one worth harvesting. He -probed for it with his long stick under the table and stood waiting for -another. - -The heat, the absence of his friends and the knowledge that he must -presently dine alone had brought the usually placid Monty into a wholly -foreign frame of mind and he rose abruptly and stalked down the Avenue. - -A depressed-looking sandwich-man, bearing a device which read, "One can -laugh uproariously at the Champs Elysées every night during the summer -months," blocked his way, and permitted a woman selling fans of the kind -known to the _camelots_ as _les petits vents du nord_ to thrust one upon -him. "Monsieur does not comprehend our heat in Paris," she said. "Buy a -little north wind. Two sous for a little north wind." - -Monty thrust a franc in her hand and turned quickly from her to carom -against a tall well-dressed man who was passing. As Monty began to utter -his apology the look of gloom dropped from his face and he seized the -stranger's hand and shook it heartily. - -"Steve, old man!" he cried, "what luck to find you amid this mob! I've -been feeling like a poor shipwrecked orphan, and here you come to my -rescue again." - -The man he addressed as Steve seemed just as pleased to behold Monty -Vaughan. The two were old comrades from the days at their preparatory -school and had met little during the past five years. Monty's ecstatic -welcome was a pleasant reminder of happy days that were gone. - -"I might ask what you are doing here," Steven Denby returned. "I -imagined you to be sunning yourself in Newport or Bar Harbor, not doing -Paris in July." - -"I've been living here for two years," Monty explained, when they were -sheltered from interruption at the café Monty had just left. - -"Doing what?" - -Monty looked at him with a diffident smile. "I suppose you'll grin just -like everybody else. I'm here to learn foreign banking systems. My -father says it will do me good." - -Denby laughed. "I'll bet you know less about it than I do." The idea of -Monty Vaughan, heir to the Vaughan millions, working like a clerk in the -Crédit Lyonnais was amusing. - -"Does your father make you work all summer?" he demanded. - -"I'm not working now," Monty explained. "I never do unless I feel like -it. I'm waiting for a friend who is sailing with me on the Mauretania -next week and I've just had a wire to say she'll be here to-morrow." - -"She!" echoed Denby. "Have you married without my knowledge or consent? -Or is this a honey-moon trip you are taking?" - -A look of sadness came into the younger man's face. - -"I shall never marry," he returned. - -But Steven Denby knew him too well to take such expressions of gloom as -final. "Nonsense," he cried. "You are just the sort they like. You're -inclined to believe in people too much if you like them, and a husband -who believes in his wife as you will in yours is a treasure. They'll -fight for you, Monty, when you get home again. For all you know the trap -is already baited." - -"Trap!" Monty cried reproachfully. "I've been trying to make a girl -catch me for three years now and she won't." - -"Do you mean you've been finally turned down?" Steven Denby asked -curiously. It was difficult to suppose that a man of his friend's wealth -and standing would experience much trouble in offering heart and -fortune. - -"I haven't asked yet," Monty admitted. "I've been on the verge of it -hundreds of times, but she always laughs as I'm coming around to it, and -someone comes in or something happens and I've never done it." He sighed -with the deprecating manner of the devout lover. "If you'd only seen -her, Steve, you'd see what mighty little chance I stood. I feel it's a -bit of impertinence to ask a girl like that to marry me." - -Steven patted him on the arm. "You're just the same," he said, "exactly -the silly old Monty I used to know. Next time you see your charmer, risk -being impertinent and ask her to marry you. Women hate modesty nowadays. -It's just a confession of failure and we're all hitched up to success. I -don't know the girl you are speaking of but when you get home again -instead of declaring your great unworthiness, tell her you've left Paris -and its pleasures simply to marry her. Say that the Bourse begged you to -remain and guide the nation through a financial panic, but you left -them weeping and flew back on a fast Cunarder." - -"I believe you are right," Monty said. "I'll do it. I ought to have done -it years ago. Alice is frightfully disappointed with me." - -"Who is Alice?" the other demanded. "The lady you're crossing with on -the Mauretania?" - -"Yes," said Monty. "A good pal of mine; one of those up-to-date women of -the world who know what to do and say at the right moment. She's a sort -of elder sister to me. You'll like her, Steve." - -Denby doubted it but pursued the subject no further. He conceived Alice -to be one of those capable managing women who do so much good in the -world and give so little pleasure. - -"What are you doing in Paris now?" Monty presently demanded. It occurred -to him that it was odd that Denby, too, should be in the city now. - -"Writing a book on the Race Courses of the World," he said, smiling. "I -am now in the midst of Longchamps." - -Monty looked at him doubtfully. He had never known that his friend had -any literary aspirations, but he did remember him as one who, if he did -not choose to tell, would invent airy fairy fancies to deceive. - -"I don't believe it," he said. - -"You are quite right," Denby admitted. "You've got the key to the -mystery. I'll confess that I have been engaged to guard Mona Lisa. -Suspicious looking tourists such as you engage my special attention. -Don't get offended, Monty," he added, "I'm just wandering through the -city on my way to England and that's the truth, simple as it may seem. I -was desolate and your pleasing countenance as you bought a franc's worth -of north wind was good to see. I wondered if you'd remember me." - -"Remember you!" Monty snorted. "Am I the kind to forget a man who saved -my life?" - -"Who did that?" Denby inquired. - -"Why, you did," he returned, "You pulled me out of the Nashua river at -school!" - -The other man laughed. "Why, it wasn't five feet deep there." - -"I can drown anywhere," Monty returned firmly. "You saved my life and -I've never had the opportunity to do anything in return." - -"The time will come," Denby said lightly. "You'll get a mysterious -message sometime and it will be up to you to rescue me from dreadful -danger." - -"I'd like to," the other retorted, "but I'm not sure I'm cut out for -that rescue business." - -"Have you ever been--" Denby hesitated. "Have you ever been in any sort -of danger?" - -"Yes," Monty replied promptly, "but you pulled me out." - -"Please don't go about repeating it," Denby entreated, "I have enemies -enough without being blamed for pulling you out of the Nashua river." - -Monty looked at him in astonishment. Here was the most popular boy in -Groton School complaining of enemies. Monty felt a thrill that had -something of enjoyment in it. His own upbringing had been so free from -any danger and his parents had safeguarded him from so much trouble that -he had found life insipid at times. Yet here was a man talking of -enemies. It was fascinating. - -"Do you mean it?" he demanded. - -"Why not?" said Denby, rolling himself a cigarette. - -"You hadn't any at school," Monty insisted. - -"That was a dozen years ago nearly," Denby insisted. "Since then--" He -paused. "My career wouldn't interest you, my financial expert, but I am -safe in saying I have accumulated a number of persons who do not wish me -well." - -"You must certainly meet Alice," Monty asserted. "She's like you. She -often says I'm the only really uninteresting person she's fond of." - -Denby assured himself that Alice would not interest him in the slightest -degree and made haste to change the subject, but Monty held on to his -chosen course. - -"We'll all dine together to-morrow night," he cried. - -"I'm afraid I'm too busy." - -"Too busy to dine with Alice Harrington when you've the opportunity?" -Monty exclaimed. "Are you a woman-hater?" - -A more observant man might have noted the sudden change in expression -that the name Harrington produced in Steven Denby. He had previously -been bored at the idea of meeting a woman who he concluded would be -eager to impart her guide-book knowledge. Alice evidently had meant -nothing to him, but Alice Harrington roused a sudden interest. - -"Not by any chance Mrs. Michael Harrington?" he queried. - -Monty nodded. "The same. She and Michael are two of the best friends I -have. He's a great old sport and she's hurrying back because he has to -stay on and can't get over this year." Monty flushed becomingly. "I'm -going back with her because Nora is going to stay down in Long Island -with them." - -"Introduce me to Nora," Denby insisted. "She is a new motif in your -jocund song. Who is Nora, what is she, that Monty doth commend her?" - -"She's the girl," Monty explained. He sighed. "If you only knew how -pretty she was, you wouldn't talk about a trap being baited. I don't -think women are the good judges they pretend to be!" - -"Why not?" Denby demanded. - -"Because Alice says she'd accept me and I don't believe I stand a ghost -of a chance." - -"Women are the only judges," Denby assured him seriously. "If I were you -I'd bank on your friend Alice every time." - -"Then you'll dine with me to-morrow?" Monty asked. - -"Of course. You don't suppose I am going to lose sight of you, do you?" - -And Monty, grateful that this admired old school friend was so ready to -join him, forgot the previous excuse about inability to spare the time. - -"That's fine," he exclaimed. "But what are we going to do to-night?" - -"You are going to dine with me," Denby told him. "I haven't seen you, -let me see," he reflected, "I haven't seen you for about ten years and I -want to talk over the old days. What do you say to trying some of -Marguery's _sole à la Normandie?_" - -During the course of the dinner Monty talked frankly and freely about -his past, present and future. Denby learned that in view of the great -wealth which would devolve upon him, his father had determined that he -should become grounded in finance. When he had finished, he reflected -that while he had opened his soul to his old friend, his old friend had -offered no explanation of what in truth brought him to Europe, or why he -had for almost a decade dropped out of his old set. - -"But what have you been doing?" Monty gathered courage to ask. "I've -told you all about me and mine, Steve." - -"There isn't much to tell," Denby responded slowly. "I left Groton -because my father died. I'm afraid he wasn't a shrewd man like your -father, Monty. He was one of the last relics of New York's brown-stone -age and he tried to keep the pace when the marble age came in. He -couldn't do it." - -"You were going into the diplomatic service," Monty reminded him. "You -used to specialize in modern languages, I remember. I suppose you had to -give that up." - -"I had to try to earn my own living," Denby explained, "and diplomacy -doesn't pay much at first even if you have the luck to get an -appointment." - -Monty looked at him shrewdly. He saw a tall, well set up man who had -every appearance of affluence. - -"You've done pretty well for yourself." - -Denby smiled, "The age demands that a man put up a good appearance. A -financier like you ought not to be deceived." - -Monty leaned over the table. "Steve, old man," he said, a trifle -nervously, "I don't want to butt in on your private affairs, but if you -ever want any money you'll offend me if you don't let me know. I've too -much and that's a fact. Except for putting a bit on Michael's horses -when they run and a bit of a flutter occasionally at Monte Carlo I don't -get rid of much of it. I've got heaps. Do you want any?" - -"Monty," the other man said quietly, "you haven't altered. You are still -the same generous boy I remember and it's good for a man like me to know -that. I don't need any money, but if ever I do I'll come to you." - -Monty sighed with relief. His old idol was not hard up and he had not -been offended at the suggestion. It was a good world and he was happy. - -"Steve," he asked presently, "what did you mean about having enemies and -being in danger? That was a joke, wasn't it?" - -"We most of us have enemies," Steven said lightly, "and we are all in -danger. For all you know ptomaines are gathering their forces inside you -even now." - -"You didn't mean that," Monty said positively. "You were serious. What -enemies?" - -"Enemies I have made in the course of my work," the other returned. - -"Well, what work is it?" Monty queried. It was odd, he thought, that -Denby would not let him into so harmless a secret as the nature of his -work. He felt an unusual spirit of persistence rising within him. "What -work?" he repeated. - -Denby shrugged his shoulders. "You might call it a little irregular," he -said in a lowered voice. "You represent high finance. Your father is one -of the big men in American affairs. You probably have his set views on -things. I don't want to shock you, Monty." - -"Shock be damned!" cried Monty in an aggrieved voice. "I'm tired of -having to accommodate myself to other people's views." - -Denby looked at him with mock wonder. - -"Monty in revolt at the established order of things is a most remarkable -phenomenon. Have you a pirate in your family tree that you sigh for -sudden change and a life on the ocean wave?" - -Monty laughed. "I don't want to do anything like that but I'm tired of -a life that is always the same. You've enemies. I don't believe I've -one. I'd like to have an enemy, Steve. I'd like to feel I was in danger; -it would be a change after being wrapped in wool all my life. You've -probably seen the world in a way I never shall. I've been on a -personally conducted tour, which isn't the same thing." - -"Not by a long shot," Steven Denby agreed. "But," he added, "why should -you want to take the sort of risks that I have had to take, when there's -no need? I have been in danger pretty often, Monty, and I shall again. -Why? Because I have my living to make and that way suits me best. You -notice I am sitting with my back to the wall so that none can come -behind me. I do that because two revengeful gentlemen have sworn -bloodthirsty oaths to relieve my soul of its body." - -Monty tingled with a certain pleasurable apprehension which had never -before visited him. He was experiencing in real life what had only -revealed itself before in novels or on the stage. - -"What are they like?" he demanded in a low voice, looking around. - -"Disappointing, I'm afraid," Steven answered. "You are looking for a -tall man with a livid scar running from temple to chin and a look before -which even a waiter would blanch. Both my men have mild expressions and -wouldn't attract a second glance, but they'll either get me or I'll get -them." - -"Steve!" Monty cried. "What did they do?" - -Denby made a careless gesture. "It was over a money matter," he -explained. - -Monty thought for a moment in silence. Never had his conventional lot -seemed less attractive to him. He approached the subject again as do -timid men who fearfully hang on the outskirts of a street fight, -unwilling to miss what they have not the heart to enjoy. - -"I wish some excitement like that would come my way," he sighed. - -"Excitement? Go to Monte and break the bank. Become the Jaggers of your -country." - -"There's no danger in that," Monty answered almost peevishly. - -"Nor of it," laughed his friend. - -"That's just the way it always is," Monty complained. "Other fellows -have all the fun and I just hear about it." - -Denby looked at him shrewdly and then leaned across the table. - -"So you want some fun?" he queried. - -"I do," the other said firmly. - -"Do you think you've got the nerve?" Steven demanded. - -Monty hesitated. "I don't want to be killed," he admitted. "What is it?" - -"I didn't tell you how I made a living, but I hinted my ways were a bit -irregular. What I have to propose is also a trifle out of the usual. The -law and the equator are both imaginary lines, Monty, and I'm afraid my -little expedition may get off the line. I suppose you don't want to hear -any more, do you?" - -Monty's eyes were shining with excitement. "I'm going to hear everything -you've got to say," he asserted. - -"It means I've got to put myself in your power in a way," Denby said -hesitatingly, "but I'll take a chance because you're the kind of man who -can keep things secret." - -"I am," Monty said fervently. "Just you try me out, Steve!" - -"It has to do with a string of pearls," Denby explained, "and I'm afraid -I shall disappoint you when I tell you I'm proposing to pay for them -just as any one else might do." - -"Oh!" said Monty. "Is that all?" - -"When I buy these pearls, as you will see me do, with Bank of France -notes, they belong to me, don't they?" - -"Sure they do," Monty exclaimed. "They are yours to do as you like -with." - -"That's exactly how I feel about it," Denby said. "It happens to be my -particular wish to take those pearls back to my native land." - -"Then for heaven's sake do it," Monty advised. "What's hindering you?" - -"A number of officious prying hirelings called customs officials. They -admit that the pearls aren't improved by the voyage, yet they want me to -pay a duty of twenty per cent. if I take them home with me." - -"So you're going to smuggle 'em," Monty cried. "That's a cinch!" - -"Is it?" Denby returned slowly. "It might have been in the past, but -things aren't what they were in the good old days. They're sending even -society women to jail now as well as fining them. The whole service from -being a joke has become efficient. I tell you there's risk in it, and -believe me, Monty, I know." - -"Where would I come in?" the other asked. - -"You'd come in on the profits," Denby explained, "and you'd be a help as -well." - -"Profits?" Monty queried. "What profits?" - -Denby laughed. "You simple child of finance, do you think I'm buying a -million-franc necklace to wear about my own fair neck? I can sell it at -a fifty thousand dollar profit in the easiest sort of way. There are -avenues by which I can get in touch with the right sort of buyers -without any risk. My only difficulty is getting the thing through the -customs. It's up to you to get your little excitement if you're game." - -Monty shut his eyes and felt as one does who is about to plunge for the -first swim of the season into icy water. It was one thing to talk about -danger in the abstract and another to have it suddenly offered him. - -Steven had talked calmly about men who wanted to part his soul from his -body as though such things were in no way out of the ordinary. Suppose -these desperate beings assumed Montague Vaughan to be leagued with -Steven Denby and as such worthy of summary execution! But he put aside -these fears and turned to his old friend. - -"I'm game," he said, "but I'm not in this for the profits." Now he was -once committed to it, his spirits began to rise. "What about the -danger?" he asked. - -"There may be none at all," the other admitted. "If there is it may be -slight. If by any chance it is known to certain crooks that I have it -with me there may be an attempt to get it. Naturally they won't ask me -pleasantly to hand it over, they'll take it by force. That's one danger. -Then I may be trailed by the customs people, who could be warned through -secret channels that I have it and am purposing to smuggle it in." - -"But what can I do?" Monty asked. He was anxious to help but saw little -opportunity. - -"You can tell me if any people follow me persistently while we're -together in Paris or whether the same man happens to sit next to me at -cafés or any shows we take in." He paused a moment, "By Jove, Monty, -this means I shall have to book a passage on the Mauretania!" - -"That's the best part of it," Monty cried. - -"But Mrs. Harrington," Denby said. "She might not like it." - -"Alice can't choose a passenger list," Monty exclaimed; "and she'll be -glad to have any old friend of mine." - -"That's a thing I want to warn you of," the other man said. "I don't -want you to give away too many particulars about me. Don't persist in -that fable about my saving your life. Know me just enough to vouch to -her that I'm house-broken but don't get to the point where we have to -discuss common friends. I have my reasons, Monty, which I'll explain -later on. I don't court publicity this trip and I don't want any -reporter to jump aboard at Quarantine and get interested in me." - -"I see," cried the sapient Monty and felt he was plunging at last into -dark doings and mysterious depths. "But how am I to warn you if you're -followed? I shall be with you and we ought not to let on that we know." -He felt in that moment the hours he had spent with detective novels had -been time well spent. - -"We must devise something," Denby agreed, "and something simple." He -meditated for a moment. "Here's an idea. If you should think I'm being -followed or you want me to understand that something unusual is up, just -say without any excitement, 'Will you have a cigarette, Dick?'" - -"But why 'Dick,'" Monty cried, "when you're Steve!" - -"For that very reason," Denby explained. "If you said Steve merely I -shouldn't notice it, but if you say Dick I shall be on the _qui vive_ at -once." - -"Great idea!" cried his fellow conspirator enthusiastically. "When do -you buy them?" - -"I've an appointment at Cartier's at eleven. Want to come?" - -"You bet I do," Monty asserted, "I'm going through with it from start to -finish." - -He looked at his friend a little anxiously. "What is the worst sort of a -finish we might expect if the luck ran against us?" - -"As you won't come in on the profits, you shan't take any risks," Denby -said. "If you agree to help me as we suggested that's all I require of -you. In case I should not get by, you can explain me away as a passing -acquaintance merely. Don't kick against the umpire's decision," he -commanded. "If they halved the sentence because two were in it I might -claim your help all the way, but they'd probably double it for -conspiracy, so you'd be a handicap. You'll get a run for your money, -Monty, all right." - -"I'm not so sure," said Monty doubtfully. - -Denby fell into the bantering style the other knew so well. "There's one -thing I'll warn you about," he said. "If a very beautiful young woman -makes your acquaintance on board, by accident of course, don't tell her -what life seems to you as is your custom. She may be an agent of the -Russian secret police with an assignment to take you to Siberia. She may -force you to marry her at a pistol's point and cost your worthy -progenitor a million. Be careful, Monty. You're in a wicked world and -you've a sinful lot of money, and these big ships attract all that is -brightest and best in the criminal's Who's Who." - -Monty shivered a bit. "I never thought of that," he said innocently. - -"Then you'd better begin now," his mentor suggested, "and have for once -a voyage where you won't be bored." - -He glanced at the clock. "It's later than I thought and I have to be up -early. I'll walk to your hotel." - -During the short walk Monty glanced apprehensively over his shoulder a -score of times. Out of the shadows it seemed to him that mysterious men -stared evilly and banded themselves together until a procession followed -the two Americans. But Denby paid no sort of attention to these -problematic followers. - -"Wait till I've got the pearls on me," he whispered mischievously. "Then -you'll see some fun." - - - - -CHAPTER TWO - - -Although the carriages and automobiles of the wealthy were no longer -three deep in the Rue de la Paix, as they had been earlier in the -season, this ravishing thoroughfare was crowded with foot-passengers as -Monty and his friend made their way under the red and white awnings of -the shops into Cartier's. - -The transaction took very little time. The manager of the place seemed -to be expecting his client, to whom he accorded the respect that even a -Rue de la Paix jeweler may pay to a million-franc customer. Bank of -France notes of high denominations were passed to him and Steven Denby -received a small, flat package and walked out into the sunshine with it. - -"Now," said the owner of the pearls, "guard me as you would your honor, -Monty; the sport begins, and I am now probably pursued by a half dozen -of the super-crooks of high class fiction." - -"I wish you'd be serious," Monty said plaintively. - -"I am," Denby assured him. "But I rely on your protection, so feel more -light-hearted than I should otherwise." - -"You are laughing at me," Monty protested. - -"I want you to look a little less like a detected criminal," Denby -returned. - -"If I happened to be a detective after a criminal I should arrest you on -sight. You keep looking furtively about as though you'd done murder and -bloodhounds were on your track." - -"Well, they are on our track," Monty said excitedly, and then whispered -thrillingly: "Have a cigarette, Dick." There was trembling triumph in -his voice. He felt he had justified himself in his friend's eyes. - -"What is it?" Denby asked with no show of excitement. - -"There was a man in Cartier's who watched us all the time," Monty -confided. "He is on our trail now. We're being shadowed, Steve. It's all -up!" - -"Nonsense!" his companion cried. "There's nothing compromising in buying -a pearl necklace. I didn't steal it." - -Suddenly he turned around and looked at the man Monty indicated. His -face cleared. "That's Harlow. He's one of Cartier's clerks, who looks -after American women's wants. Don't worry about him." - -By this time the two had come to the Tuileries, that paradise for the -better class Parisian children. Denby pointed to a seat. "Sit down -there," he commanded, "while I see what Harlow wants." - -Obediently Monty took a seat and watched the man he had mistaken for a -detective from the corner of his eye. Denby chatted confidentially with -him for fully five minutes and then, it seemed to the watcher, passed a -small packet into his hand. The man nodded a friendly adieu and walked -rapidly out of sight. For a few seconds Denby stood watching and then -rejoined his friend. - -"Anything the matter?" the timorous one demanded eagerly. - -"Why should there be?" Denby returned. "Don't worry, Monty, there's -nothing to get nervous about yet." - -Monty remembered the confidential conversation between the two. - -"He seemed to have a lot to tell you," he insisted. - -Denby smiled. "He did; but he came as a friend. Harlow wanted to warn me -that while I was buying the necklace a stranger was mightily interested -and asked Harlow what he knew about me." - -"There you are," Monty gasped excitedly, "I told you it was all up. Did -Harlow know who the man was?" - -"He suspected him of being a customs spy. Our customs service takes the -civilized world as its hunting ground and Paris is specially beloved of -it." - -"What are you going to do?" Monty asked when he had looked suspiciously -at an amiable old priest who went ambling by. "They'll get you." - -"They may," Denby said, "but the interested gentleman at Cartier's -won't." - -"But he knows all about you," Monty persisted. "It will be dead easy." - -"He doesn't," the other returned. "Harlow took the liberty of -transforming me into an Argentine ranch owner of unbounded wealth about -to purchase a mansion in the Parc Monceau." - -"That was mighty good of him," Monty cried in relief. "That fellow -Harlow is certainly all right." - -Denby smiled a trifle oddly, Monty thought. "His kind ways have won him -a thousand dollars," he returned. "Did you see me pass him something?" - -Monty nodded. - -"Well, that was five thousand francs. I passed it to him, not in the -least because I believe in the mythical stranger--" - -"What do you mean?" the amazed Monty exclaimed. It seemed to him he was -getting lost in a world of whose existence he had been unaware. - -"Simply this," Denby told him, "that I disbelieve Harlow's story and am -not as easily impressed by kind faces as you are. I think Harlow's -inquisitive stranger was a fake." - -Monty looked at him with a superior air. "And you mean to say," he said -with the air of one who has studied financial systems, "that you handed -over a thousand dollars without verifying it? I call that being easy." - -"It's this way," Denby explained patiently. "Harlow knows I have the -necklace and he's in a position to know on what boat I sail. If I had -not remembered that I owed him five thousand francs just now he might -have informed the customs that I had bought a million-franc necklace and -I should have been marked down as one to whom a special search must be -made if I didn't declare it." - -"But if he's a clerk in Cartier's what has he to do with the customs?" -Monty asked. - -"Perhaps he is underpaid," the other returned. "Perhaps he is -extravagant--I've seen him at the races and noticed that he patronized -the _pari mutuel_--perhaps he has a wife and twelve children. I'll leave -it to you to decide, but I dare not take a risk." - -Monty shivered. "It looks to me as if we were going to have a hell of a -time." - -"A little excitement possibly," Denby said airily, "but nothing to -justify language like that, though. You ought to have been with me last -year at Buenos Ayres, Monty, and I could have shown you some sport." - -"I don't think I'm built for a life like that," Monty admitted, and then -reflected that this friend of his was an exceedingly mysterious being of -whose adult life and adventures he knew nothing. For an uneasy moment he -hoped his father would never discover this association, but there soon -prevailed the old boyish spirit of hero-worship. Steven Denby might not -conform to some people's standards, but he felt certain he would do -nothing criminal. One had to live, Monty reflected, and his father -complained constantly of hard times. - -"What sort of sport was it?" he hazarded. - -"It had to do with the secret of a torpedo controlled by wireless," -Denby said. "A number of governments were after it and there collected -in Buenos Ayres the choicest collection of high-grade adventurers that I -have ever seen. Some day when I'm through with this pearl trouble I'll -tell you about it." - -But what Denby had carelessly termed "pearl trouble" was quite -sufficient for the less experienced man. He had a vivid imagination, -more vivid now than at any period of his career. Paris was full of -Apaches, he knew, and not all spent their days lying in the sun outside -the barriers. Supposing one sprang from behind a tree and fell upon -Denby and seized the precious package whose outline was discernible -through the breast pocket of his coat. Monty suddenly took upon himself -the rôle of an adviser. - -"It's no use taking unnecessary risks," he said. "I saw you put those -pearls in your breast pocket, and there were at least six people who had -the same opportunity as I. It's just putting temptation in the way of a -thief." - -"I welcome this outbreak of caution on your part," said Denby, laughing -at his expression of anxiety, "but you'll need it on board ship most. -The greatest danger is that a couple of crooks may rob me and then pitch -me overboard. Monty, for the sake of our boyhood recollections, don't -let them throw me overboard." - -"Now you are laughing at me," Monty said a trifle sulkily. - -"What do you want me to do?" Denby demanded. - -"Put those pearls in some other place," he returned stubbornly. - -Denby made a pass or two in the air as conjurers do when they perform -their marvels. - -"It's done," he cried. "From what part of my anatomy or yours shall I -produce them?" - -"There you go," Monty exclaimed helplessly, "you won't be serious. I'm -getting all on the jump." - -"A cigarette will soothe you," Denby told him, taking a flat leathern -pouch from his pocket and offering it to the other. - -"I can't roll 'em," Monty protested. - -"Then a look at my tobacco has a soothing effect," the elder man -insisted. "I grow it in my private vineyard in Ruritania." - -Monty turned back the leather flap to look at his friend's private brand -and saw nestling in a place where once tobacco might have reposed a -necklace of pearls for which a million of francs had been paid. - -"Good Lord!" Monty gasped. "How did you do it?" - -"A correspondence school course in legerdemain," Steven explained. "It -comes in handy at times." - -"But I didn't see you do it and I was watching." - -"An unconscious tribute to my art," Denby replied. "Monty, I thank you." - -Monty grew less anxious. If Steven had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve -there was no reason to suppose he must fail. - -"I don't think you need my advice," he admitted. "It doesn't seem I can -help you." - -"You may be able to help a great deal," Denby said more seriously, "but -I don't want you to act as if you were a criminal. Pass it off easily. -Of course,"--he hesitated,--"I've had more experience in this sort of -thing than you, and am more used to being up against it, but it will -never do if you look as anxiously at everybody on the Mauretania as you -do at the passers-by here. You can help me particularly by observing if -I am the subject of special scrutiny." - -"That will be a cinch," Monty asserted. - -"Then start right away," his mentor commanded. "We have been under -observation for the last five minutes by someone I've never laid eyes on -before." - -"Good Lord!" Monty cried. "It was that old priest who stared at us. I -knew he was a fake. That was a wig he had on!" - -"Try again," Denby suggested. "It happens to be a woman and a very -handsome one. As we went into Cartier's she passed in a taxi. I only -thought then that she was a particularly charming American or English -woman out on a shopping expedition. When we came out she was in one of -those expensive _couturier's_ opposite, standing at an upper window -which commands a view of Cartier's door. They may have been -coincidences, but at the present moment, although we are sauntering -along the Champs Elysées, she is pursuing us in another taxi. She has -passed us once. When she went by she told the chauffeur to turn, but he -was going at such a pace that he couldn't pull up in time. He has just -turned and is now bearing down on us. Take a look at the lady, Monty, so -you will know her again." - -A sense of dreadful responsibility settled on Montague Vaughan. He was -now entering upon his rôle of Denby's aid and must in a few seconds be -brought face to face with what was unquestionably an adventuress of the -highest class. He knew all about them from fiction. She would have the -faintest foreign accent, be wholly charming and free from vulgarity, and -yet like Keats' creation be a _belle dame sans merci_. But, he wondered -uneasily, what would be his rôle if his friend fell victim to her -charms? - -He was startled out of his vain imaginings when Denby exclaimed: "By all -that's wonderful, she seems to know one of us, and it's not I! You're -the fortunate man, Monty." - -A pretty woman with good features and laughing eyes was certainly -looking out of a taxi and smiling right at him. And when he realized -this, Monty's depression was lifted and he sprang forward to meet her. -"It's Alice," he cried. - -Denby, following more leisurely, was introduced to her. - -"I came last night," she explained. "Michael's horse won and there was -no more interest in Deauville or Trouville and as I must buy some things -I came on here as soon as I could. I thought I saw you in Cartier's," -she explained, "and tried to make you see me when you came out, but only -Mr. Denby looked my way so I dared not make any signs of welcome." - -She seemed exceedingly happy to be in Paris again, and Denby, looking at -her with interest, knew he was in the company of one of the most notable -and best liked of the smart hostesses among the sporting set on Long -Island. The Harringtons were enormously rich and lived at a great estate -near Westbury, not far from the Meadow Brook Club. The Directory of -Directors showed the name of Michael Harrington in a number of -influential companies, but of recent years his interest in business had -slackened and he was more interested in the development of his estate -and the training of his thoroughbreds than in Wall Street activities. - -For her part she took him, although the name was totally unfamiliar, as -a friend of Monty's, and was prepared to like him. Whereas an -Englishwoman of her class might have been insistent to discover whether -any of his immediate ancestors had been engaged in retail trade before -she accepted him as an equal, Alice Harrington was willing to take -people on their face value and retain them on their merits. - -She saw a tall, well-bred man with strong features and that air of -_savoir faire_ which is not easy of assumption. She felt instantly that -he was the sort of man Michael would like. He talked about racing as -though he knew, and that alone would please her husband. - -"I've spent so much money," she said presently, "that I shall dismiss -this taxi-man and walk. One can walk in Paris with two men, whereas one -may be a little pestered alone." - -"Fine," Monty cried. "We'll go and lunch somewhere. What place strikes -your fancy?" - -"Alas," she said, "I'm booked already. I have an elderly relation in the -Boulevard Haussmann who stays here all summer this year on account of -alterations in the house which she superintends personally, and I've -promised." - -"I hope she hasn't sacrificed you at a dinner table, too," Denby said, -"because if you are free to-night you'd confer a blessing on a fellow -countryman if you'd come with Monty and me to the Ambassadeurs. Polin -is funnier than ever." - -"I'd love to," she cried. "You have probably delivered me from my aunt's -dismal dinner. I hadn't an engagement but now I can swear to one -truthfully. Men are usually so vain that if you say you're dreadfully -sorry but you've another engagement they really believe it. The dear -things think no other cause would make a woman refuse. But my aunt would -interrogate me till I faltered and contradicted myself." - -They left her later at one of those great mansions in the Boulevard -Haussmann. The house was enlaced with scaffolding and workmen swarmed -over its roof. - -"It's old Miss Woodwarde's house," Monty explained. "She's worth -millions and will probably leave it to Alice, who doesn't need any, -because she's the only one of all her relatives who speaks the truth and -doesn't fawn and flatter." - -"It takes greater strength of mind than poor relations usually have, to -tell rich relatives the truth," Steven reminded him. - -Monty had evidently recovered his good spirits. "I knew you'd like her," -he said later, "and I knew she'd take to you. We'll have a corking -dinner and a jolly good time." - -"There's one thing I want to ask of you," Denby said gravely. "Don't -give any particulars about me. If she's the sort I think her she won't -ask, but you've got a bad habit of wanting people to hear how I fished -you out of the river. I want to slip into New York without any -advertisement of the fact. I'm not the son of a plutocrat as you are. -I'm the hard-up son of a man who was once rich but is now dead and -forgotten." - -"Do hard-up men hand a million francs across for a string of pearls to -put in their tobacco-pouches?" Monty demanded shrewdly. - -"You may regard that as an investment if you like," Denby answered. "It -may be all my capital is tied up in it." - -"You're gambling for a big stake then," Monty said seriously. "Is it -worth it, old man?" - -For a moment he had an idea of offering him a position in some of the -great corporations in which his father was interested, but refrained. -Steven Denby was not the kind of man to brook anything that smacked of -patronage and he feared his offer might do that although otherwise -meant. - -"It means a whole lot more to me than you can think," Denby returned. "I -have made up my mind to do it and I think I can get away with it in just -the way I have mapped out." Then, with a smile: "Monty, I've a proper -respect for your imaginative genius, but I'd bet you the necklace to the -tobacco-pouch that you don't understand how much I want to get that -string of pearls through the customs." - -"The pouch is yours," Monty conceded generously. "How should I guess? -How do I know who's a smuggler or who isn't? Alice says she always gets -something through and for all I know may have a ruby taken from the eye -of a Hindoo god in her back hair!" - -He looked at his friend eagerly, a new thought striking him. He often -surprised himself in romantic ideas, ideas for which Nora was -responsible. - -"Perhaps you are taking it for someone, someone you're fond of," he -suggested. - -"Why not?" Denby returned. "If I were really fond of any woman I'd risk -more than that to please her." - -Monty noticed that he banished the subject by speaking of Alice -Harrington's _penchant_ for smuggling. - -"I hope Mrs. Harrington won't run any risks," he said. "In her case it -is absolutely senseless and unnecessary." - -"Oh, they'd never get after her," Monty declared. "She's too big. They -get after the little fellows but they'd leave Mrs. Michael Harrington -alone." - -"Don't you believe it," his friend answered. "They're doing things -differently now. They're getting a different class of men in the -Collector's office." - -"I suppose you'd like the old style better," Monty observed. - -"Oh, I don't know," said the other. "It's more risky now and so one has -to be cleverer. I've often heard it said the hounds have all the fun and -the fox none. - -"I'm not so sure of that, Monty; I think a fox that can fool thirty -couple of hounds and get back to his earth ought to be a gladsome -animal." - -"I'll find out when we're in West Street, New York," Monty said grimly. -"I'll take particular notice of how this fox acts and where the hounds -are. If you harp on this any more I shall lose my appetite. What about -Voisin's?" - -"Eat lightly," Denby counseled him. "I'm going to treat you to a -remarkable meal to-night; I know the chef at the Ambassadeurs, and the -wine-steward feeds out of my hand." - -"I don't see why you shouldn't buy necklaces like that if you have those -Ambassadeurs waiters corralled. They soaked me six francs for a single -peach once," Monty said reminiscently. But he wondered, all the same, -how it was Steven should be able to fling money away as he chose. - -His friend looked at him shrewdly. "You're thinking I ought to patronize -the excellent Duval," he observed. "Well, sometimes I do. I think I've -patronized most places in Paris once." - -"Steve, you're a mystery," Monty asserted. - -"I hope I am," said the other; "I make my living out of being just -that." - -They walked in silence to the Rue St. Honoré, Monty still a bit uneasy -at being in a crowded place with a friend in whose pocket was a million -francs' worth of precious stones. Once or twice as the pocket gaped open -he caught a glimpse of the worn pigskin pouch. Steven was taking wholly -unnecessary risks, he thought. - -As they were leaving Voisin's together after their luncheon it happened -that Monty walked behind his friend through the door. Deftly he inserted -his hand into the gaping pocket and removed the pouch to his own. He -chuckled to think of the object lesson he would presently dilate upon. - -When they were near one of those convenient seats which Paris provides -for her street-living populace Monty suggested a minute's rest. - -With an elaborate gesture he took out the pouch and showed it to Denby. - -"Did you ever see this before?" he demanded. - -"I've got one just like it," his friend returned without undue interest. -"Useful things, aren't they, and last so much longer than the rubber -ones?" - -"My pouch," said Monty, beginning to enjoy his own joke, "looks better -inside than outside. I keep in it tobacco I grow in my private orchid -house. Look!" - -He pulled back the flap and held it out to Denby. - -Denby gazed in it obediently with no change of countenance. - -"You're not a heavy smoker, are you?" he returned. - -Instantly Monty gazed into it. It was empty except for a shred of -tobacco. - -"Good God!" he cried. "They've been stolen from me and they put the -pouch back!" - -"What has?" the other exclaimed. - -"The pearls," Monty groaned. "I took them for a joke, and now they're -gone!" - -He looked apprehensively at Steven, meditating meanwhile how quickly he -could turn certain scrip he held into ready money. - -Steven evinced no surprise. Instead he rose from his seat and placed a -foot upon it as though engaged in tying a lace. But he pointed to the -cuff on the bottom of the trouser leg that was on the seat by Monty's -side. And Monty, gazing as he was bid, saw his friend's slender fingers -pick therefrom a string of pearls. - -"I know no safer place," Denby commented judicially. "Of course the -customs fellows are on to it, but no pickpocket who ever lived can get -anything away from you if you cache it there. On board ship I shall -carry it in my pocket, but this is the best place in Paris when one is -in strange company." - -Monty said no word. His relief was too great and he felt weak and -helpless. - -"What's the matter?" Denby demanded. - -"I want a drink," Monty returned, "but it isn't on you." - - - - -CHAPTER THREE - - -THERE are still restaurants in Paris where a well chosen dinner delights -the chef who is called upon to cook it and the waiters who serve. And -although it is true that most of the diners of to-day know little of -that art which is now disappearing, it happened that Steven Denby was -one who delighted the heart of the Ambassadeurs' chef. - -Monty was a happy soul who had never been compelled to consult his -pocketbook in a choice of restaurants, and Mrs. Michael Harrington was -married to a gourmand who well distinguished the difference between that -and the indefensible fault of gluttony. Thus both of Denby's guests were -in a sense critical. They admitted that they had dined with one who -agreed with Dumas' dictum that a dinner is a daily and capital action -that can only worthily be accomplished by _gens d'esprit_. - -There are few places in Paris where a dinner in summer can be more -pleasantly eaten than the balcony at the Ambassadeurs, among slim -pillars of palest green and banks of pink roses. In the distance--not -too near to be disturbed by the performers unless they chose--the three -Americans saw that idol of the place, the great Polin at his best. -French waiters do not bring courses on quickly with the idea of using -the table a second time during the dining-hour. The financial genius who -calculates _l'addition_ knows a trick worth two of that. - -Still a little anxious that Denby might not be able to stand the -expense, Monty fell to thinking of the charges that Parisian -restaurateurs can make. "They soaked me six francs for a peach here -once," he said for the second time that day. - -"That's nothing to what Bignon used to charge," Alice Harrington -returned. "Once when Michael's father was dining there he was charged -fifteen francs. When he said they must be very scarce in Paris, Bignon -said it wasn't the peaches that were scarce, it was the Harringtons." - -"Good old Michael," said Monty, "I wish he were here. Why isn't he?" - -"Something is being reorganized and the other people want his advice." -She laughed. "I suppose he is really good at that sort of thing, but he -gets so hopelessly muddled over small accounts that I can't believe it. -He was fearfully sorry not to have seen his colt run at Deauville. I -shall have to tell him all about it." - -"I read the account," said Denby. "St. Mervyn was the name, wasn't it?" - -She nodded. "He won by a short head. Michael always likes to beat French -horses. I'm afraid he isn't as fond of the country as I am. The only -thing he really likes here is the _heure de l'aperitif_. He declares it -lasts from four-thirty till seven." She laughed. "He has carried the -habit home with him." - -"Did you win anything?" Denby asked. - -"Enough to buy some presents at Cartier's," she returned. "I've bought -something very sweet for Nora Rutledge," she said, turning to Monty. -"Aren't you curious to know what? It's a pearl la vallière." - -"Then for Heaven's sake, declare it!" Monty cried. - -"Oh, no," she said, "I'll pay if it's found, but it's a sporting risk to -take and you can't make me believe smuggling's wrong. Michael says it's -a Democratic device to rob Republican women." - -"Ask Mr. Denby," Monty retorted. "He knows." - -"And what do you know, Mr. Denby?" she demanded. - -"That the customs people and the state department see no humor in that -sort of a joke any longer. You read surely that society women even have -been imprisoned for taking sporting risks?" - -"Milliners who make a practice of getting things through on their annual -trip," she said lightly. "Of course one wouldn't make a business of it, -but I've always smuggled little things through and I always shall." - -"Well, I wouldn't if I were you," said Monty. "Mr. Denby has frightened -me." - -Alice Harrington looked at him curiously. - -"Have you been caught?" she asked with a smile. - -"I've seen others caught," he returned, "and if any sister of mine had -to suffer as they did by the publicity and the investigation the customs -people are empowered and required to make, I should feel rather -uncomfortable." - -"What a depressing person you are," she laughed. "I had already decided -where to hide the things. I think I shall do it after all. It's been all -right before, so why not now?" - -He shrugged his shoulders. "It may be the new brooms are sweeping clean -or it may be the state department has said smuggling shall no longer be -condoned. I only know that things are done very differently now." - -Monty looked at him in amazement. His expression plainly meant that he -considered his friend the proprietor of an unusually large supply of -sheer gall. - -"I heard about that," she said, "but one can't believe it. There's a -mythical being known only by his initials who is investigating for the -state department. Even Michael warned me, so he may have some inside -tip. Have you heard of him, Mr. Denby?" - -"I was thinking of him," he answered. "I think they call him R. B. or R. -D. or some non-committal thing like that." - -"And you believe in him?" she asked sceptically. - -"I'm afraid I do," he returned. - -"The deuce you do!" Monty cried, aggrieved. He had been happy for the -last few hours in the belief that his friend was too well armed to get -detected, and here he was admitting, in a manner that plainly showed -apprehension, that this initialed power might be even on his track. - -"You never smuggle," Alice Harrington said, smiling. "You haven't the -nerve, Monty, so you need not take it to heart." - -"But I do nevertheless," he retorted. - -"Monty," she cried, "I believe you're planning to smuggle something -yourself! We'll conspire together and defeat that abominable law." - -"If you must," Denby said, still gravely, "don't advertise the fact. -Paris has many spies who reap the reward of overhearing just such -confidences." - -"Spies!" She laughed. "How melodramatic, Mr. Denby." - -"But I mean it," he insisted. "Not highly paid government agents, but -perhaps such people as chambermaids in your hotel, or servants to whom -you pay no attention whatsoever. How do you and I know for example that -Monty isn't high up in the secret service?" - -"Me?" cried Monty. "Well, I certainly admire your brand of nerve, -Steve!" - -"That's no answer," his friend returned. "You say you have been two -years here studying Continental banking systems. I'll bet you didn't -even know that the Banque de France issued a ten thousand franc note!" - -"Of course I did," Monty cried, a little nettled. - -Denby turned to Mrs. Harrington with an air of triumph. - -"That settles it, Monty is a spy." - -"I don't see how that proves it," she answered. - -"The Banque de France has no ten thousand franc note," he returned; "its -highest value is five thousand francs. In two years Montague Vaughan has -not found that out. The ordinary tourist who passes a week here and -spends nothing to speak of might be excused, but not a serious student -like Monty." - -"I will vouch for him," Mrs. Harrington said. "I've known him for years -and I don't think it's a life suited to him at all, is it, Monty?" - -"Oh, I don't know," said he airily. "I may be leading a double life." He -looked at her not without an expression of triumph. Little did she know -in what a conspiracy he was already enlisted. After an excellent repast -and a judicious indulgence in some rare wine Monty felt he was -extraordinarily well fitted for delicate intrigue, preferably of an -international character. He stroked his budding moustache with the air -of a gentleman adventurer. - -Alice Harrington smiled. She was a good judge of character and Monty was -too well known to her to lend color to any such notion. - -"It won't do," she averred, "but Mr. Denby has every earmark of it. -There's that piercing look of his and the obsequious way waiters attend -on him." - -Monty laughed heartily. He was in possession of a secret that made such -an idea wholly preposterous. Here was a man with a million-franc pearl -necklace in his pocket, a treasure he calmly proposed to smuggle in -against the laws of his country, being taken for a spy. - -"Alice," he said still laughing, "I'll go bail on Steve for any amount -you care to name. I am also willing to back him against all comers for -brazen nerve and sheer gall." - -Denby interrupted him a little hastily. - -"As we two men are free from suspicion, only Mrs. Harrington remains -uncleared." - -"This is all crazy talk," Monty asserted. - -"I know one woman, well known in New York, who goes over each year and -more than once has made her expenses by tipping off the authorities to -things other women were trying to get through without declaration." - -"You speak with feeling," Mrs. Harrington said, and wondered if this -friend of Monty's had not been betrayed by some such confidence. - -"Are you going to take warning?" Denby asked. - -She shook her head. "I don't think so. You've been reading the American -papers and are deceived by the annual warnings to intending European -tourists. I'm a hardened and successful criminal." She leaned forward to -look at a dancer on the stage below them and Denby knew that his -monitions had left her unmoved. - -"When were you last at home?" she demanded presently of Denby. - -"About six months ago," he answered. "I shall be there a week from -to-morrow if I live." - -The last three words vaguely disturbed Monty. Why, he wondered crossly, -was Denby always reminding him of danger? There was no doubt that what -his friend really should have said was: "If I am not murdered by -criminals for the two hundred thousand dollars' worth of valuables they -probably know I carry with me." - -"Have you booked your passage yet?" she asked. - -It occurred to her that it would be pleasant to have a second man on the -voyage. Like all women of her world, she was used to the attentions of -men and found life deplorably dull without them, although she was not a -flirt and was still in love with her husband. - -"Not yet," he answered, "but La Provence goes from Havre to-morrow." - -"Come with us," she insisted. "The Mauretania sails a couple of days -later but gets you in on the same morning as the other." She turned to -Monty. "Isn't that a brilliant idea?" - -"It's so brilliant I'm blinded by it," he retorted, gazing at his friend -with a look of respect. Not many hours ago Steven had asserted that he -and Monty must sail together on the fastest of ships, and now he had -apparently decided to forsake the Compagnie Transatlantique only on -account of Alice Harrington's invitation. - -"I shall be charmed," was all he had said. - -Monty felt that he was a co-conspirator of one who was not likely to be -upset by trifles. He sighed. A day or so ago he had imagined himself -ill-used by Fate because no unusual excitement had come his way, and now -his prayers had been answered too abundantly. The phrase "If I live" -remained in his memory with unpleasant insistency. - -"We ought to cross the Channel by the afternoon boat to-morrow," Alice -said. "There are one or two things I want to get for Michael in London." - -"It will be a much nicer voyage for me than if I had gone alone on La -Provence," Denby said gratefully, while Monty continued to meditate on -the duplicity of his sex. - -When they had taken Mrs. Harrington to her hotel Monty burst out with -what he had been compelled to keep secret all the evening. - -"What in thunder makes you so careful about people smuggling?" he -demanded. - -"About other people smuggling, you mean," Denby corrected. - -"It's the same thing," Monty asserted. - -"Far from it," his friend made answer. "If Mrs. Harrington is suspected -and undeclared stuff found on her, you and I as her companions will be -more or less under suspicion too. It is not unusual for women to ask -their men friends to put some little package in their pockets till the -customs have been passed. The inspectors may have an idea that she has -done this with us. Personally I don't relish a very exhaustive search." - -"You bet you don't," his friend returned. "I shall probably be the only -honest man aboard." - -"Mrs. Harrington may ask you to hold some small parcel till she's been -through the ordeal," Denby reminded him. "If she does, Monty, you'll be -caught for a certainty." - -"Damn it all!" Monty cried petulantly, "why can't you people do the -right thing and declare what you bring in, just as I do?" - -"What is your income?" Denby inquired. "Your father was always liberal -with you." - -"You mean I have no temptation?" Monty answered. "I forgot that part of -it. I don't know what I'd do if there wasn't always a convenient paying -teller who passed me out all the currency I wanted." - -He looked at his friend curiously, wondering just what this act of -smuggling meant to him. Perhaps Denby sensed this. - -"You probably wondered why I wrung that invitation out of Mrs. -Harrington instead of being honest and saying I, too, was going by the -Cunard line. I can't tell you now, Monty, old man, but I hope some day -if I'm successful that I can. I tell you this much, though, that it -seems so much to me that no little conventionalities are going to stand -in my way." - -Monty, pondering on this later when he was in his hotel room, called to -mind the rumor he had heard years ago that Steven's father had died -deeply in debt. It was for this reason that the boy was suddenly -withdrawn from Groton. It might be that his struggles to make a living -had driven him into regarding the laws against smuggling as arbitrary -and inequitable just as Alice Harrington and dozens of other people he -knew did. Denby, he argued, had paid good money for the pearls and they -belonged to him absolutely; and if by his skill he could evade the -payment of duty upon them and sell them at a profit, why shouldn't he? -Before slumber sealed his eyes, Montague Vaughan had decided that -smuggling was as legitimate a sport as fly-fishing. That these views -would shock his father he knew. But his father always prided himself -upon a traditional conservatism. - - - - -CHAPTER FOUR - - -Less than an hour before the Mauretania reached Quarantine, James -Duncan, whose rank was that of Customs Inspector and present assignment -the more important one of assistant to Daniel Taylor, a Deputy-Surveyor, -threw away the stub of cigar and reached for the telephone. - -When central had given him his number he called out: "Is that you, -Ford?" Apparently the central had not erred and his face took on a look -of intentness as he gave the man at the other end of the line his -instructions. "Say, Ford," he called, "I've got something mighty -important for you. Directly the Mauretania gets into Quarantine, go -through the declarations and 'phone me right away whether a man named -Steven Denby declares a pearl necklace valued at two hundred thousand -dollars. No. No, not that name, Denby, D-E-N-B-Y. Steven Denby. That's -right. A big case you say? I should bet it is a big case. Never you mind -who's handling it, Ford. It may be R. J., or it may not. Don't you worry -about a little thing like that. It's your job to 'phone me as soon as -you get a peek at those declarations. Let Hammett work with you. -Bye-bye." - -He hung up the receiver and leaned back in his chair, well satisfied -with himself. He was a spare, hatchet-faced man, who held down his -present position because he was used to those storm warnings he could -see on his chief's face and knew enough to work in the dark and never -ask for explanations. - -He did not, for instance, lean back in his chair and smoke cigars with a -lordly air when Deputy-Surveyor Daniel Taylor was sitting in his big -desk in the window opposite. At such times Duncan worked with silent -fury and felt he had evened up matters when he found a Customs Inspector -whom he could impress with his own superiority. - -When a step in the outside passage warned him that his chief might -possibly be coming in, he settled down in an attitude of work. But there -entered only Harry Gibbs, dressed in the uniform of a Customs Inspector. -Gibbs was a fat, easy man, whose existence was all the more pleasant -because of his eager interest in gossip. None knew so well as Gibbs the -undercurrent of speculation which the lesser lights of the Customs term -office politics. If the Collector frowned, Gibbs instantly dismissed the -men upon whom his displeasure had fallen and conjured up erroneous -reasons concerning high official wrath. Since Duncan was near to a man -in power, Gibbs welcomed any opportunity to converse with him. He seldom -came away from such an interview empty-handed. He was a pleasant enough -creature and filled with mild wonder at the vagaries of Providence. - -Just now he seemed hot but that was not unusual, for he was rarely -comfortable during the summer months as he complained frequently. He -seemed worried, Duncan thought. - -"Hello, Jim," he said when he entered. - -Duncan assumed the inquisitorial air his chief had in a marked degree. - -"Thought you were searching tourists on the Olympic this afternoon," he -replied. - -Gibbs mopped his perspiring head, "I was," he answered. "I had two -thousand crazy women, all of 'em swearing they hadn't brought in a -thing. Gosh! Women is liars." - -"What are you doing over here?" Duncan asked. - -"I brought along a dame they want your boss Taylor to look over. It -needs a smart guy like him to land her. Where is he?" - -"Down with Malone now; he'll be back soon." - -Gibbs sank into a chair with a sigh of relief. "He don't have to hurry -on my account. I'll be tickled to stay here all day. I'm sick of -searching trunks that's got nothing in 'em but clothes. It ain't like -the good old days, Jim. In them times if you treated a tourist right -he'd hand you his business card, and when you showed up in his office -next day, he'd come across without a squeal. I used to know the -down-town business section pretty well in them days." - -"So did I. Why, when I was inspector, if you had any luck picking out -your passenger you'd find twenty dollars lying right on the top tray of -the first trunk he opened up for you." - -Gibbs sighed again. It seemed the golden age was passing. - -"And believe me," he said, "when that happened to me I never opened any -more of his trunks, I just labeled the whole bunch. But now--why, since -this new administration got in I'm so honest it's pitiful." - -Duncan nodded acquiescence. - -"It's a hell of a thing when a government official has to live on his -salary," he said regretfully. "They didn't ought to expect it of us." - -"What do they care?" Gibbs asserted bitterly, and then added with that -inquiring air which had frequently been mistaken for intelligence: -"Ain't it funny that it's always women who smuggle? They'll look you -right in the eye and lie like the very devil, and if you do land 'em -they ain't ashamed, only sore!" - -Duncan assumed his most superior air. - -"I guess men are honester than women, Jim, and that's the whole secret." - -"They certainly are about smuggling," the other returned. "Why, we -grabbed one of these here rich society women this morning and pulled out -about forty yards of old lace--and say, where do you think she had it -stowed?" - -"Sewed it round her petticoat," Duncan said with a grin. He had had -experience. - -Gibbs shook his head, "No. It was in a hot-water bottle. That was a new -one on me. Well, when we pinched her she just turned on me as cool as -you please: 'You've got me now, but damn you, I've fooled you lots of -times before!'" - -Gibbs leaned back in enjoyment of his own imitation of the society -lady's voice and watched Duncan looking over some declaration papers. -Duncan looked up with a smile. "Say, here's another new one. Declaration -from a college professor who paid duty on spending seventy-five francs -to have his shoes half-soled in Paris." - -But Gibbs was not to be outdone. - -"That's nothing," said he, "a gink this morning declared a gold tooth. -I didn't know how to classify it so I just told him nobody'd know if -he'd keep his mouth shut. It was a back tooth. He did slip me a cigar, -but women who are smugglin' seem to think it ain't honest to give an -inspector any kind of tip." Gibbs dived into an inner pocket and brought -out a bunch of aigrettes. "The most I can do now is these aigrettes. I -nipped 'em off of a lady coming down the gangplank of the Olympic. They -ain't bad, Jim." - -Duncan rose from his chair and came over to Gibbs' side and took the -plume from his hand. - -"Can't you guys ever get out of the habit of grafting?" he demanded. -"Queer," he continued, looking at the delicate feathers closely, "how -some soft, timid little bit of a woman is willing to wear things like -that. Do you know where they come from?" - -"From some factory, I s'pose," Gibbs answered with an air of candor. - -"No they don't," Duncan told him. "They take 'em from the mother bird -just when she's had her young ones; they leave her half dead with the -little ones starving. Pretty tough, I call it, on dumb animals," he -concluded, with so sentimental a tone as to leave poor Gibbs amazed. He -was still more amazed when his fellow inspector put them in his own -pocket and went back to his desk. - -"Say, Jim," Gibbs expostulated, "what are you doing with them?" - -"Why, my wife was asking this morning if I couldn't get her a bunch. -These'll come in just right." - -"You're a funny guy to talk about grafting," Gibbs grumbled, "I ain't -showing you nothin' more." - -"Never you mind me," Duncan commanded. "You keep your own eyes peeled. -Old man Taylor's been raising the deuce around here about reports that -some of you fellows still take tips." - -Gibbs had heard such rumors too often for them to affect him now. "Oh, -it's just the usual August holler," he declared. - -Duncan contradicted him, "No, it isn't," he observed. "It's because the -Collector and the Secretary of the Treasury have started an -investigation about who's getting the rake-off for allowing stuff to -slip through. I heard the Secretary was coming over here to-day. You -keep your eyes peeled, Harry." - -"If times don't change," Gibbs said with an air of gloom, "I'm going -into the police department." - -He turned about to see if the steps he heard at the door were those of -the man he had come to see. He breathed relief when he saw it was only -Peter, the doorkeeper. - -"Mr. Duncan," said the man, "Miss Ethel Cartwright has just 'phoned -that she's on her way and would be here in fifteen minutes." - -Gibbs looked from one to the other with his accustomed mild interest. He -could see that the news of which he could make little had excited -Duncan. It was evidently something important. Directly the doorkeeper -had gone Duncan called his chief on the telephone and Gibbs sauntered -nearer the 'phone. To hear both sides of the conversation would make it -much easier. - -"Got a cigar, Jim?" he inquired casually of the other, who was holding -the wire. - -"Yes," said Duncan, taking one from his pocket. - -Gibbs reached a fat hand over for it, "Thanks," he returned simply. - -Duncan bit the end off and put it in his own mouth. "And I'm going to -smoke it myself," he observed. - -Gibbs shook his head reprovingly at this want of generosity and took a -cigar from his own pocket. "All right then; I'll have to smoke one of my -own." - -Just then Duncan began to speak over the wire. "Hello. Hello, Chief. -Miss Ethel Cartwright just 'phoned she'd be here in fifteen minutes.... -Yes, sir.... I'll have her wait." - -When he had rung off, Gibbs could see his interest was increasing. -"What do you think of her falling for a bum stall like that?" - -"Who?" Gibbs demanded. "Which? What stall?" - -"Why, Miss Cartwright!" said Duncan. "Ain't I talking about her?" - -"Well, who is she?" the aggrieved Gibbs cried. "Is she a smuggler?" - -"No. She's a swell society girl," said Duncan in a superior manner. - -"If she ain't a smuggler, what's she here for then?" Gibbs had a gentle -pertinacity in sticking to his point. - -"The Chief wants to use her in the Denby case, so he had me write her a -letter saying we'd received a package from Paris containing dutiable -goods, a diamond ring, and would she kindly call this afternoon and -straighten out the matter." Duncan now assumed an air of triumph. "And -she fell for a fake like that!" - -"I get you," said Gibbs. "But what does he want her for?" - -"I told you, the Denby case." - -"What's that?" Gibbs entreated. - -Duncan lowered his voice. "The biggest smuggling job Taylor ever -handled." - -"You don't say so," Gibbs returned, duly impressed. "Why, nobody's told -me anything about it." - -"Can you keep your mouth shut?" Duncan inquired mysteriously. - -"Sure," Gibbs declared. "I ain't married." - -"Then just take a peek out of the door, will you?" Duncan directed. - -The other did as he was bid. "It's all right," he declared, finding the -corridor empty. - -"I never know when he may stop out there and listen to what I'm saying. -You can hear pretty plain." - -"He is the original pussy-foot, ain't he," Gibbs returned. He had known -of Taylor's reputation for finding out what was going on in his office -by any method. "Now, what's it all about?" - -Duncan grew very confidential. - -"Last week the Chief got a cable from Harlow, a salesman in Cartier's." - -"What's Cartier's?" Gibbs inquired. - -"The biggest jewelry shop in Paris. Harlow's our secret agent there. His -cable said that an American named Steven Denby had bought a pearl -necklace there for a million francs. That's two hundred thousand -dollars." - -"Gee!" Gibbs cried, duly impressed by such a sum, "But who's Steven -Denby? Some new millionaire? I never heard of him." - -"Neither did I," Duncan told him; "and we can't find out anything about -him and that's what makes us so suspicious. You ought to be able to get -some dope on a man who can fling two hundred thousand dollars away on a -string of pearls." - -Gibbs' professional interest was aroused. "Did he slip it by the -Customs, then?" - -"He hasn't landed yet," Duncan answered. "He's on the Mauretania." - -"Why, she's about due," Gibbs cried. - -"I know," Duncan retorted, "I've just had Ford on the 'phone about it. -This fellow Denby is traveling with Montague Vaughan--son of the big -banker--and Mrs. Michael Harrington." - -"You mean _the_ Mrs. Michael Harrington?" Gibbs demanded eagerly. - -"Sure," Duncan exclaimed, "there's only one." - -Gibbs was plainly disappointed at this ending to the story. - -"If he's a friend of Mrs. Harrington and young Vaughan, he ain't no -smuggler. He'll declare the necklace." - -"The Chief has a hunch he won't," Duncan said. "He thinks this Denby is -some slick confidence guy who has wormed his way into the Harringtons' -confidence so he won't be suspected." - -Gibbs considered the situation for a moment. - -"Maybe he ain't traveling with the party at all but just picked 'em up -on the boat." - -Duncan shook his head. "No, he's a friend all right. She's taking him -down to the Harrington place at Westbury direct from the dock. One of -the stewards on the Mauretania is our agent and he sent us a copy of her -wireless to old man Harrington." - -"He sounds to me like a sort of smart-set Raffles," Gibbs asserted. - -"You've got it right," Duncan said approvingly. - -"What's Taylor going to do?" Gibbs asked next. - -"He's kind of up against it," Duncan returned. "I don't know what he'll -do yet. If Denby's on the level and we pinch him and search him and -don't find anything, think of the roar that Michael Harrington--and he's -worth about ninety billion--will put up at Washington because we frisked -one of his pals. Why, he'd go down there and kick to his swell friends -and we'd all be fired." - -"I ain't in on it," Gibbs said firmly; "they've no cause to fire me. But -how does this Miss Cartwright come in on the job?" - -"I don't know except that she is going down to the Harringtons' this -afternoon and Taylor's got some scheme on hand. I tell you he's a pretty -smart boy." - -"You bet he is," Gibbs returned promptly, "and may be he's smarter than -you know. Ever hear of R. J.?" - -"R. J.?" Duncan repeated. "You mean that secret service agent?" - -"Yes," Gibbs told him with an air of one knowing secret things. "They -say he's a pal of the President's." - -"Well, what's that to do with this?" Duncan wanted to know. - -"Don't you know who he is?" - -"No," Duncan retorted, "and neither does anyone else. Nobody but the -President and the Secretary of the Treasury knows who he really is." - -Gibbs rose from his chair and patted his chest proudly. "Well, I know, -too," he declared. - -Duncan laughed contemptuously. "Yes, you do, just the same as I do--that -he's the biggest man in the secret service, and that's all you know." - -Gibbs smiled complacently. "Ain't it funny," he observed, "that you -right here in the office don't know?" - -"Don't know what?" Duncan retorted sharply; he disliked Gibbs in a -patronizing rôle. - -"That your boss Taylor is R. J." - -"Taylor!" Duncan cried. "You're crazy! The heat's got you, Harry." - -"Oh, indeed!" Gibbs said sarcastically. "Do you remember the Stuyvesant -case?" - -Duncan nodded. - -"And do you remember that when Taylor took his vacation last year R. J. -did some great work in the Crosby case? Put two and two together, Jim, -and may be you'll see daylight." - -"By George!" Duncan exclaimed, now impressed by Gibbs' news. "I believe -you're right. Taylor never will speak about this R. J., now I come to -think of it." He raised his head as the sound of voices was heard in the -passage. - -"There he is," Duncan whispered busying himself with a sheaf of -declarations. - -Gibbs looked toward the opening door nervously. It was one thing to -criticize the deputy-surveyor in his absence and another to meet his -look and endure his satire. His collar seemed suddenly too small, and he -chewed his cigar violently. - - - - -CHAPTER FIVE - - -Daniel Taylor entered quickly without acknowledging the presence of his -inferiors and crossed to his desk by the window. He was a man above -medium height, broad of shoulder, thick through the chest and giving the -idea of one who was alert and aggressive mentally and physically. Those -in the service who had set themselves against him had been broken. His -path had been strewn with other men's regrets; but Taylor climbed -steadily, never caring for what was below, but grasping eagerly for -power. - -Naturally a man of his type must have had other qualities than mere -aggressiveness to aid him in such vigorous competition. He had commended -himself to the powers above him for snap judgment and quick action. And -although men of his temperament must inevitably make mistakes, it was -notorious that Taylor made fewer than his rivals. - -Toward men like Duncan and Gibbs who were not destined to rise, men who -could be replaced without trouble, Taylor paid small heed. They did what -he told them and if they failed he never forgot. It was to the men -above him that Taylor showed what small social gifts nature had given -him. He had sworn to rise in the service and he cultivated only those -who might aid him. - -After glancing over the papers arranged on his desk he called to Duncan: -"Has Miss Cartwright been here yet?" - -"No, sir," Duncan responded promptly. - -His superior pushed the buzzer on his desk and then looked across at the -uncomfortable Gibbs. "Want to see me?" he snapped. - -"Yes, sir," Gibbs made answer as Peter the doorkeeper entered in answer -to Taylor's summons. - -"Then wait outside," Taylor said, "I'll see you in five minutes." - -"Yes, sir," Gibbs said obediently and made his exit. - -The deputy-surveyor turned toward the attendant. "Peter, let me know the -instant Miss Cartwright arrives. Don't forget; it's important. That's -all." - -He dismissed Peter with a nod and then called to Duncan. - -"Did Bronson of the New York Burglar Insurance Company send over some -papers to me relating to the theft of Miss Cartwright's jewels?" - -Duncan took a long envelope and laid it on his chief's desk. "Here they -are, sir." - -Taylor looked at the documents eagerly. "By George!" he cried, when he -had looked into them, "I knew I was right. I knew there was something -queer about the way her diamonds were stolen." - -Duncan looked at him frowning. He prided himself upon his grasp of -detail and here was the Chief talking about a case he knew naught of. -"What diamonds?" he asked. "The case wasn't in our office, was it?" - -"No," said Taylor, "this is a little outside job my friend Bronson's -mixed up in, but it may be a help to us." He went on reading the papers -and presently exclaimed: "It's a frame-up. She wasn't robbed, although -she collected from the company on a false claim." - -"But I can't see--" the puzzled Duncan returned. - -"No," said his chief, cutting him short. "If you could, you'd have my -job. Has the Mauretania got to Quarantine yet?" - -"Not yet, sir," Duncan answered. - -"Telephone Brown to notify you the minute she does. Tell him we've got -to know as soon as possible whether Denby declares that necklace; -everything depends on that." - -"But he may declare it," Duncan observed sagely. - -"If he does we haven't a case," his superior said briefly, "but I've a -feeling there's not going to be a declaration." - -"I think so, too," Duncan asserted, "and I'm holding Ford and Hammett to -search him." - -Taylor frowned and drummed on the desk with his fingers. "I don't know -that I want him searched. Let them do nothing without my instructions." - -"But, Chief," Duncan protested, "if he doesn't declare the necklace and -you don't have him searched he'll smuggle it in." - -"I know, I know," Taylor said impatiently, "but I've got to be cautious -how I go about taking liberties with a friend of Michael Harrington's. -He has more influence than you've any idea of. We've got to be sure we -have the goods on Denby." - -Duncan looked at the other with grudging admiration. "Well, I guess it -won't take R. J. very long to land him." - -Taylor turned on the speaker with a scowl. "What's he got to do with -this?" - -"I thought you might have interested him in it," Duncan said meaningly. - -"I don't know anything about him," Taylor returned. - -It was like the Chief to refuse to take his underlings into his -confidence, Duncan thought, so he took his cue and changed the subject. - -"Well," he said, reverting to the proposed search of Denby, "if we don't -go through him at the dock, what are we going to do?" - -"Let him slide through easily and think he's fooled us," Taylor said. -"He may be pretty clever. Do you remember that man who stuck the -sapphire we were hunting for into a big rosy apple he gave to a woman in -the second cabin and then took it away from her before she had time to -eat it? We'll see if he talks to anyone, but I think he'll take the -pearls right down to Westbury. He'll be off his guard when once he gets -down there." - -"Have you got one of the Harrington servants to spy for us?" Duncan -cried. - -"I've got what will be better than that with a little luck," Taylor said -with a smile. "Don't you know that Miss Ethel Cartwright is going down -to Westbury this afternoon to spend the week-end with the Harringtons?" - -"You don't mean you're going to use her?" Duncan exclaimed, incredulity -in his tone. - -"It wouldn't be a bad idea, would it, Jim?" - -"It would be a peach of an idea if you could do it, but can you?" - -Taylor chuckled. It was plain he had some scheme in his crafty brain -that pleased him more than a little. - -"I'm going to answer that as soon as I've had a little confidential chat -with Miss Cartwright." - -He broke off to turn to the doorway through which Gibbs' head protruded. - -"Can I see you now, Chief?" Gibbs asked. - -"What is it?" Taylor snapped. - -"There's a deaf and dumb chicken out here," Gibbs replied anxiously. - -"A what?" the other demanded. - -"A girl that can't hear or speak or write. They say she's smuggled a -bracelet in but they've searched her eight times and can't get a trace -of it, so they sent her to you." - -"They don't expect me to make the ninth attempt, do they?" the Chief -queries. - -"Why, no," Gibbs told him, "but they thought you might hand her the -third degree." - -"Bring her in," the autocrat commanded. When Gibbs had closed the door -Taylor turned to Duncan. "She's probably bluffing. Put that chair here. -We'll try the gun gag on her. There's a revolver in my second drawer. -When I say 'Go,' you shoot. Got it?" - -"Yes, sir," Duncan said, anticipating a theatrical scene in which his -chief would shine as usual. Duncan always enjoyed such episodes; he felt -he shone with reflected power. - -Gibbs dragged in a young girl and stood her in front of the chair to -which the Chief had beckoned. "Sit down," Gibbs commanded. The afflicted -woman who was named, so Gibbs said, Sarah Peabody, remained standing. -"Hey, _squattez-vous,_" her captor commanded again in a louder voice. -Still Sarah was unmoved. Gibbs scratched his head and summoned his -linguistic attainments to his aid. - -"_Setzen sie_," he shouted, but Miss Peabody remained erect. - -Gibbs turned away with a gesture of despairing dignity. "I'm done," he -asserted; "that's all the languages I know. I used to think it was a -terrible thing that women could talk, but I guess the Almighty knowed -more than I did." - -Duncan essayed more active measures. He pushed her into the seat. "Hey -you," cried he, "sit down there." - -Gibbs watched a little apprehensively. If Sarah Peabody had been normal, -he would have pictured her as a slangy and fluent young woman with a -full-sized temper. He had dealt with such before and they invariably -defeated him in wordy combat. In duels of this sort Gibbs was slow to -get off the mark. - -Taylor came toward the afflicted one and looked shrewdly into her face. -"She's not shamming," said he. "She's got that stupid look they all have -when they're deaf and dumb." He watched her closely as he said this. - -"She ain't spoke all day," Gibbs volunteered, "and no woman what could, -would keep from talking that long." - -"Women will do a lot for diamonds," his chief observed. - -"None of 'em ever do me for none," Gibbs remarked placidly. - -Suddenly Taylor addressed the girl roughly. "If you're acting," he -cried, "you'd better give it up, because I'm certain to find out, and if -I do, I'll send you to jail." Still the girl paid no attention but only -stared ahead blankly. "So you won't answer, eh?" said her inquisitor. -"Going to force my hand, are you?" He raised his hand to signal Duncan -and then added: "Go." - -The loud report of the revolver, while it made Gibbs jump, had no effect -upon the young woman. Taylor shook his head wisely. "I guess she's deaf -and dumb all right, poor girl. What's it all about, Gibbs? What is it -you think she's done?" - -"She's got a bracelet chuck-full of diamonds, and we can't find it." - -"How do you know she's got it?" the Chief asked. - -"She showed it to a woman who was in the same cabin," Gibbs returned, -"and the woman came and tipped us off." - -"Why, the dirty hussy!" cried the girl, who had previously been bereft -of hearing and speech, rising to her feet, her eyes flashing, and her -whole face denoting rage. - -Gibbs looked at her, his eyes bulging with startled surprise, and then -turned his ox-like gaze upon Taylor. - -"For the love of Mike!" said Gibbs at length, but Sarah Peabody cut -short any other exclamations. - -"Do you know why she told about me?" the girl demanded. "She wanted to -alibi herself and make you folks thinks she was an honest God-fearing -lady that would never smuggle--and she had four times as much as I did. -Why, it was her who put me up to smuggling and taught me to be deaf and -dumb." Sarah ground her white teeth in anger. "I'd like to meet her -again some time." - -"You shall," Taylor cried. "When we arrest her we'll need your evidence -to testify against her." - -"You can bet I won't be deaf and dumb then," Miss Peabody cried -viciously. - -"Where's the bracelet?" Taylor snapped. "Don't waste time now." - -But the smuggler was no fool and not intimidated by his tones. "Wait a -minute," she said craftily. "What's going to happen to me?" - -"Produce it, pay the duty, and we'll let you go free for the tip." - -"You're on," said Sarah joyously. "Just take a look at the ring handle -of my parasol. I've painted over the stones, that's all." - -Gibbs grabbed it from her and examined it closely. "Well, can you -approach that?" he said helplessly. "And I've been carrying it around -all day!" - -Taylor turned from his examination of the parasol as Peter the -doorkeeper entered. "Miss Cartwright here?" he asked quickly. - -"Yes, sir," answered the man. "She's just arrived." - -"Bring her in as soon as these get out," Taylor said dismissing him. - -"Take her away now, Gibbs," he said, indicating the owner of the magic -parasol. "Turn her over to Shorey, he can handle her from now on." - -"All right, sir," Gibbs said, still undecided as to why he had been -fooled. - -Sarah looked at him with scorn. "I'll be glad to have someone else on -the job. I'm sick o' trottin' around with a fat guy like him." - -"Say, now," Gibbs protested in an injured manner. - -But Taylor had a bigger scheme on hand and waved her away impatiently. -"Take her along, Gibbs." - -She gave Taylor an impudent little nod of farewell. "Ta-ta old Sport. I -certainly fooled you, when you had that gun shot off." - -Gibbs had grabbed her by the arm and was now pushing her toward the -door. "And I could have kept it up," Miss Peabody asserted in a shrill -tone, "if it hadn't made me sore, her putting over one on me like that. -And she was so blamed nice to me. But when one woman's nice to another -she means mischief, you can bet your B. V. D.'s." - -Even Taylor smiled as she went. He had nearly met defeat but his -habitual luck had made him victor in the end. He hoped it would aid him -in a far more difficult interview which was to come. - -Duncan took advantage of his good humor to ask a question. - -"Do you really think you can get Miss Cartwright to help us on the Denby -case?" - -He had so often seen her name in the society columns that he doubted if -his chief, clever as he was, could successfully influence her. - -Taylor looked at him curiously. There was in his eyes a look that spoke -of more than a faint hope of success. Few knew better than Duncan of his -ability to make men and women his tools. - -"Jim," he said with an air of confidence, "I wouldn't be a bit surprised -if she offered to help us." - -The door opened and Peter entered. - -"Miss Ethel Cartwright," he announced. - -Taylor rose to his feet as she entered and bowed with what grace he -could as he motioned her to a chair. - -Miss Cartwright was a tall, strikingly pretty woman of twenty-seven, who -looked at the deputy-surveyor with the perfect self-possession which -comes so easily to those whose families have long been of the cultured -and leisured classes. It was plain that this rather languid young lady -regarded him merely as some official whom she was bound to see regarding -a matter of business. - -"Sorry if I kept you waiting, Miss Cartwright," Taylor said briskly. - -"It doesn't matter in the least," she returned graciously. "I've never -been at the Customs before. I found it quite interesting." - -"My name is Taylor," he said, "and I'm a deputy-surveyor." - -"You wanted to see me about a ring, I think, didn't you?" - -"Yes," he answered. "The intention evidently was to smuggle it through -the Customs." - -"Do you really think so?" she demanded, interested. "I haven't the -faintest idea who could have sent it to me." - -"Of course you haven't," he said in his blandest, most reassuring -manner. It was a manner that made the listening Duncan wonder what was -to follow. His chief was always most deadly when he purred. "It's a -mistake," he continued, "but the record will probably shed some light on -the matter. Duncan," he called sharply, "go and get those papers -relating to Miss Cartwright." - -His assistant looked at him blankly. - -"Papers?" he repeated. "What papers, sir?" - -"The papers relating to the package sent Miss Cartwright from Paris." -There was a significance in his tone that was not lost on Duncan. Gibbs -would have argued it out, but Duncan though in the dark followed his -cue. - -"Oh, _those_ papers," he answered. "I'll get 'em, sir." - -When he had gone the girl turned to Taylor. - -"Do you know," she asserted, "I feel quite excited at being here and -sitting in a chair in which you probably often examine smugglers. One -reads about it constantly." - -"It's being done all the time," he responded, "among all sorts of -people. Now, Miss Cartwright, since we are talking of smuggling, I'd -like to have a little business chat with you if I may." - -The girl looked at him astonished. She could not conceive that a man -like the one looking at her could be serious in talking of a business -proposition. - -"With me?" she demanded, and Taylor could see that the idea was not -pleasing. He resolved to abandon his usual hectoring tactics and adopt -softer modes. - -"I mean it," he asserted. "You said you've read about all this smuggling -and so on. Believe me, you've not read a thousandth part of what's going -on all the time, despite all our efforts to check it. The difficult part -is that many of the women are so socially prominent that it isn't easy -to detect them. They move in the sort of world you move in." He leaned -forward and spoke impressively. "But it's a world where neither I nor my -men could pass muster for a moment. Do you follow me?" - -"I hear what you say," she said, "but--" - -He interrupted her, "Miss Cartwright, we are looking for someone who -belongs in society by right. Someone who is clever enough to provide us -with information and yet never be suspected. We want someone above -suspicion. We want someone, for instance, like you." - -That his proposition was offensive to her he could see from the faint -flush that passed over her face and the rather haughty tone that she -adopted. - -"Really, Mr. Taylor," she cried, "you probably mean well, but--" - -Again he cut her short. - -"Just listen a moment, Miss Cartwright," he begged. "I have reason to -know that your family has been in financial difficulties since your -father died." He looked at her shrewdly. "The position I hinted at could -be made very profitable. How would you like to enter the secret service -of the United States Customs?" He could see she was far from being -placated at his hint of financial reward. - -"This is quite too preposterous," she said icily. "It may possibly be -your idea of a joke, Mr. Taylor, but it is not mine." - -"I'm not joking," he cried, "I'm in dead earnest." - -"If that's the case," she returned, rising, "I must ask you to get the -papers regarding the ring." - -"They'll be here at any moment," he answered. "I'm sorry you don't care -to entertain my proposition, but it's your business after all. By the -way," he added, after a moment's pause, "there's another little matter -I'd like to take up with you while we're waiting. Do you recall a George -Bronson, the claim agent of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, the -company which insured the jewels that were stolen from you?" - -"I think I do," she returned slowly, "but--" - -"Well, that company has had a great deal of trouble with society women -who have got money by pawning their jewels and then putting in a claim -that they were stolen and so recovering from the company on the alleged -loss." - -The girl looked at him, frowning. "Are you trying to insinuate that--" - -"Certainly not," Taylor purred amiably. "Why, no. I'm merely explaining -that that's what Bronson thought at first, but after investigating, he -found out how absurd the idea was." - -"Naturally," she said coldly. - -She had come into the deputy-surveyor's office with an agreeable -curiosity regarding a present sent her from Paris. But the longer she -stayed, the less certain did she feel concerning this hard-faced man -opposite her, who had the strangest manner and made the most -extraordinary propositions. What business was it of his that her jewels -had been stolen? - -"But there were some things he could not understand," Taylor went on. - -"May I ask," she cried, "what Mr. Bronson's inability to understand has -to do with you?" - -"Simply," said Taylor with an appearance of great frankness, "that he -happens to be a very good friend of mine and often consults me about -things that puzzle him. The theft of those jewels of yours mystified him -greatly." - -"Mystified him?" the girl retorted. "It was perfectly simple." - -"Perhaps you won't mind telling me the circumstances of the case." - -"Really," she returned sub-acidly, "I don't quite understand how this -concerns the Customs." - -"It doesn't," he agreed readily, "I am acting only as Bronson's friend -and if you'll answer my questions I may be able to recover the jewels -for you." - -The girl's face cleared. So far from acting inimically, Mr. Taylor was -actually going to help her. She smiled for the first time, and resumed -her seat. - -"That will be splendid," she exclaimed. "I did not understand. Of course -I'll tell you everything I know." - -"The first feature that impressed Bronson," said the deputy-surveyor, -"and me, I'm bound to add, was that the theft seemed to be an inside -job." - -"What does that mean?" Miss Cartwright queried, interested. - -"That there was no evidence that a thief had broken into your home." - -"But what other explanation could there be?" she inquired. "Our family -consists of just my mother, my sister and myself, and two old servants -who have lived with us for years, so of course it wasn't any of us." - -"Naturally not," Taylor agreed as though this explanation had solved his -doubts. "But how did you come to discover the loss of the diamonds?" - -"I didn't discover it myself," she told him. "I was at Bar Harbor." - -"Oh," said Taylor with the confidential air of a family physician. "You -were away. I see! Who did find out?" - -"My sister. It was she who missed them." - -"Oh, your sister missed them, did she?" he said. - -He pushed the buzzer and wrote something on a slip of paper. - -"So of course," the girl continued, "it must have been some thief from -the outside." - -Taylor looked thoughtful. "I suppose you're right," he admitted, and -then asked quickly: "I wonder if you'd mind telephoning your sister to -come down here now?" - -"Why, she came with me," Miss Cartwright returned. "She's outside." - -"That's fine," he said brightly. "It makes it easier." He pushed the -buzzer again. "Perhaps she'll be able to help us." - -"She'll come if I wish," said the elder sister, "but she knows even less -about it than I do." - -"I understand that," Taylor said smoothly, "but she may remember a few -seemingly unimportant details that will help me where they wouldn't seem -significant to you." - -He looked up as Peter came in. "Ask Miss Cartwright's sister to come in -for a moment. Tell her Miss Ethel wants to talk to her." - -"Amy will tell you all she can," the girl asserted. - -"Just as you would yourself," Taylor said confidentially. He had no -other air than of a man who is sworn to recover stolen diamonds. Ethel -Cartwright admitted she had misjudged him. - -"It must be wonderful to be a detective and piece together little -unimportant facts into an important whole." - -"It is," he answered a trifle drily; "quite wonderful." - -Amy Cartwright was brought into the deputy-surveyor's room by Peter. -Plainly she was of a less self-reliant type than her elder sister, for -the rather startled expression her face wore was lost when she saw -Ethel. She was a pretty girl not more than eighteen and like her sister -dressed charmingly. - -"You wanted me, Ethel?" she asked. - -"Yes, dear," the elder returned. "Amy, this is Mr. Taylor, who thinks he -may be able to get back my diamonds for me." - -Amy Cartwright shot a quick, almost furtive look at Taylor and then -gripped her sister's arm. "Your diamonds!" she cried. - -Taylor had missed nothing of her anxious manner. "Yes," he said. "Your -sister has been kind enough to give me some information in reference to -the theft, and I thought you might be able to add to the facts we -already have." - -"I?" the younger girl exclaimed. - -"Yes," her sister commanded. "You must answer all Mr. Taylor's -questions." - -"Of course," Amy said with an effort to be cheerful. - -Taylor looked at her magisterially. "How did you discover your sister's -jewels were stolen?" - -"Why," she replied nervously, not meeting his eye, "I went to her -dressing-table one morning and they weren't there." - -"Oh!" he exclaimed meaningly. "So they weren't there! Then what did you -do?" - -"Why, I telephoned to the company she insured them in." - -"Without consulting your sister?" he asked. His manner, although quick -and alert, was friendly. Ethel Cartwright felt he was desirous of -helping her, and if Amy seemed nervous, it was her first experience with -a man of this type. She had so little experience in relying on herself -that this trifling ordeal was magnified into a judicial -cross-examination. She determined to help Amy out. - -"You must remember," she said to Taylor, "that I was out of town." - -"Of course!" Amy exclaimed with a show of relief. "How could I consult -her when she was in Maine?" - -"Were you certain she hadn't taken her diamonds with her?" he asked. - -Amy hesitated for a moment. "I think she must have told me before she -left." - -"Hm!" he ejaculated. "You _think_ she did?" - -Amy turned to her sister. "Didn't you tell me, Ethel?" - -Miss Cartwright knit her brows in thought. "Perhaps I did," she -admitted. - -"But you didn't telegraph your sister to make sure?" Taylor queried. - -"Why, no," the girl said hesitating and seemingly confused. "No, I -didn't." She was now staring at her interrogator with real fear in her -eyes. - -"Well, that doesn't make any difference," he said genially, "so long as -the jewels were stolen and not merely mislaid, does it?" - -"No," she said with a sigh of relief. - -"There's one other point," he said, turning to the elder sister. "You -received the compensation money from the company, didn't you?" - -"Naturally," she said tranquilly. - -"Please don't think me impertinent," he said, "but you still have it -intact, I presume?" - -"Only part," the girl returned. "I gave half of it to my sister." - -"I rather thought you might have done that," he purred as though his -especial hobby was discovering affection in other families, "That was a -very nice generous thing to do, Miss Cartwright. But you realize of -course that if I get your jewels back the money must be returned to the -Burglar Insurance people in full,"--he looked significantly at the -shrinking younger girl,--"from both of you." - -Amy Cartwright clasped her hands nervously. "Oh, I couldn't do that," -she exclaimed. - -Ethel turned to her in astonishment. - -"But Amy, why not?" - -"I haven't got it all now." - -"But, dear, what did you do with it?" Ethel persisted. - -Taylor seemed to take a keen interest in Amy Cartwright's financial -affairs. - -"That's quite an interesting question," he observed judiciously. "What -did you do with your half?" - -"I--I paid a lot of bills," the girl stammered. - -"Paid a lot of bills!" her sister exclaimed. "But Amy, you distinctly -told me--" - -"One minute," Taylor interrupted. "Now, Miss Amy," he said sharply, -"what sort of bills did you pay?" - -"Oh, dressmakers and hats and things," she answered with a trace of -sullenness. - -"Of course they gave you receipts?" he suggested. - -"I don't remember," she answered. - -"Oh, you don't remember," he said, fixing her with his cold eye. "But -you remember whom you paid the money to?" - -"Of course she does," Ethel cried, coming to her sister's aid. She was -herself puzzled at this strange man's attitude. "You do, don't you, -Amy?" - -"Why, yes," the other said weakly. - -"Give me the names!" Taylor demanded, and then looked angrily up to see -who had entered his office unbidden. It was James Duncan, apologetic, -but urged by powers higher than those of his chief. - -"The Collector and the Secretary want to see you right away, sir," he -announced. - -"I can't leave now," Taylor cried angrily. And in that moment both girls -realized of what ruthless metal he was cast. Gone was the amiable -interest in family matters and the kindly wish to aid two girls in -getting back their trinkets, and there was left a strong remorseless man -who showed he had them very nearly in his power. - -But Duncan dared not go back with such a message. - -"I explained you were busy, Chief," he said, "but they would have you -come down at once, as the Secretary has to go back to Washington. It's -about that necklace. The one coming in on the Mauretania this -afternoon." - -"Oh, very well," his superior snapped. "I shall have to ask you ladies -to excuse me for five minutes." - -"Certainly," Ethel Cartwright returned. - -At the door Taylor beckoned to Duncan and spoke in a whisper. "Get -outside in the corridor and if they try to leave, stop 'em. And I shall -want to know what they've been talking about. Understand?" - -"Sure, Chief," Duncan returned. - -When both men had gone from the room Amy clung half-hysterically to her -strong, calm sister. "Oh, Ethel, they know, they know!" - -"Know what?" Ethel asked, amazed at the change in the other. - -"That man suspects," Amy whispered. "I know he does. Did you see how he -glared at me and the way he spoke?" - -"Suspects what?" Ethel asked. "Amy, what do you mean? What is there to -suspect?" - -"Don't let them take me away!" the younger sister wailed. "Oh, don't, -don't!" - -Ethel drew back a step and looked into the trembling Amy's tear-stained -face. - -"What is this you are saying?" she asked sharply. - -"Ethel, your jewels weren't stolen." There was a pause as if the girl -were trying to gather courage enough to confess. "I took them. I pawned -them." - -"Amy!" cried the other. "You?" - -"I had to have money. I took them. A woman told me I could get it by -pretending to the company the things were stolen. She said they'd never -find it out and would pay. I tried it, and they paid." - -Miss Cartwright looked down at her, amazed, indignant, horrified. - -"Do you mean to say you deliberately swindled the company?" - -"I couldn't help it, Ethel," she declared piteously. "I didn't think of -it in that way. I didn't mean to. I didn't, indeed." - -"Why, why, why? Why in God's name did you do it? Tell me quickly, why?" - -Amy could no longer meet her sister's glance. She dropped her head. - -"I lost a lot of money gambling, playing auction bridge." - -"Playing with whom?" Ethel demanded sharply. - -"People you don't know," the younger answered evasively. "It was while -you were away. It wouldn't have happened if you'd been home. We all -dined together at the Claremont and afterwards they simply would play -auction. I said no at first but they made me. I got excited and began to -lose, and then they said if I kept on the luck would turn, but it -didn't, and I lost a thousand dollars." - -Ethel Cartwright needed no other explanation as a key to Taylor's -manner. It was certain that he knew and would presently force her poor -frightened little sister into a confession. It was no time for blaming -the child or pointing out morals, but for protecting her. - -"Ssh," she whispered, "Ssh!" - -"I didn't mean to do it," Amy reiterated. "Believe me, I didn't." - -"Tell me what happened then?" Ethel asked in a low tone. - -"I couldn't pay, of course, and the other women said they'd have to ask -mother or you for the money and if you wouldn't pay I should have to go -to jail. I didn't know what to do. I nearly went out of my head, I -think. At last Philip Sloane offered to lend it me." - -The elder recoiled from her. "That man!" she cried horrified. "Oh, Amy, -and how often I have warned you against him!" - -"There was nothing else to do," her sister explained. "You were away and -I had no one to go and ask." - -"Stop a minute," Ethel said. "If you borrowed the money and paid the -debts, why did you need to take my diamonds?" - -Amy hung her head. "When he lent me the money he said I could pay it -back whenever I wanted to, in a hundred years if I liked." - -"Well?" Ethel cried anxiously. "Well?" - -"But a day or so later he came to see me, mother was out, and his -manner was so different I was frightened. He--he said a girl who accepts -money from a man is never any good, and nobody will believe them no -matter what they say. I didn't think men could be like that. He said -he'd forget about it if I went away with him. He said nobody would know -it--he could arrange all that--and he threatened all sorts of things. -Oh, everything you said about him was right." - -"Go on," her sister commanded, in a hard staccato tone. "What then?" - -"At first I thought of killing myself but I was afraid. And then I saw -your jewel-case and I pretended they were stolen. I got half the money -from the pawn-shop and the other half from you when the company settled. -It was wicked of me, Ethel, but what could I do?" - -Ethel put her arm about the poor sobbing girl very tenderly. - -"My poor little sister," she whispered, "my little Amy, you did the -better thing after all. But you should have told me before, so that I -could have helped you." - -"I was afraid to," the girl said, looking into the face above her, "I -meant to have told you next month when that money is coming from -father's estate. I thought we could pay the company then so that I -shouldn't feel like a thief. I'm so glad I've told you; it has -frightened me so!" But the grave expression on Ethel's face alarmed her. -"Why do you look like that?" she demanded. - -"It will be all right," Ethel assured her. "But you know those dividends -have been delayed this month and neither mother nor I have any spare -money if the Burglar Insurance people want to be paid back. I daresay we -can arrange something, so don't be frightened. And remember, this man -Taylor can't know certainly. He only suspects, and we ought to be able -to beat him if we are very careful. I'm so glad you told me so that I -know what to do." - -"But I'm afraid of him," Amy cried. "I shall break down and they'll put -me in prison. Ethel, I should die if they did that." - -"I'll save you, dear," Ethel said comfortingly. "You know you have -always been able to believe in me, and I will save you if only you try -to control yourself." - -"Then let me go home," Amy cried, panic-stricken by the thought of -another interview with the resourceful Taylor. "I shall break down if I -stay here." - -"That will be best," Ethel agreed, and went quickly to the door, behind -which she found Duncan on guard. - -"Sorry, miss," he said respectfully, "but you can't go." - -"I'm not leaving," Ethel Cartwright explained, "I still have to talk -with Mr. Taylor, but my sister must go. She isn't feeling very well. She -wants to go home." - -Duncan shook his head. "Neither of you can go," he returned, as he -closed the door. Amy looked about her nervously for other means of -escape. - -"You see," she whispered, "they're going to keep me here a prisoner! -What shall I do?" - -"Leave everything to me," Ethel commanded. "Let me do the talking. I -shall be able to think of some way out." - -"There isn't, there isn't!" Amy moaned. - -"Stop crying," the elder insisted. "That won't help us. I've thought of -a plan. I'll invent a story to fool him. He won't be able to find out -whether it's true or not, so he'll have to let us go, and when he does, -he won't get us back here again in a hurry." - -"Oh, Ethel, you're wonderful!" Amy exclaimed, her face clearing. In all -her small troubles she had always gone to this beautiful, serene elder -sister, who had never yet failed her and never would, she was confident. - -When Taylor entered a minute later he found the two girls looking out -of the big window across the harbor. They seemed untroubled and unafraid -and were discussing the dimensions of a big liner making her way out. - -"Sorry to have had to leave you," he said briskly, "especially as things -were getting a bit interesting." - -Ethel Cartwright looked at him coldly. It was a glance which Taylor -rightly interpreted as a warning to remember that he occupied a wholly -different sphere from that of the daughters of the late Vernon -Cartwright. But it daunted him little. The Secretary of the Treasury had -just told him that his work was evoking great interest in Washington. -And the Collector somewhat cryptically had said that Daniel Taylor might -always be relied upon to do the unexpected. For Washington and -Collectors, Taylor had little respect. Unconsciously he often -paraphrased that royal boast, "_L'État c'est moi!_" by admitting to his -confidants that he, Daniel Taylor, was the United States Customs. - -"I quite fail to see," Miss Cartwright observed chillingly, "what all -this rather impertinent cross-questioning of my sister has to do with--" - -"You will in a minute," he interrupted. - -"Meanwhile," she said, "I can't wait any longer for those papers about -the ring." - -"There isn't any ring," he said suavely. "That was just a pretext to get -you here. I was afraid the truth wouldn't be sufficiently luring so I -had to employ a ruse." - -She looked at him, her eyes flashing at his daring to venture on such a -deception. "You actually asked me to come here because you thought I had -swindled the company?" - -"Well," he observed genially, "we all make our little mistakes." - -"So you admit it was a mistake?" she said, hardly knowing what to make -of this changed manner. - -"I'm quite sure of it," he asserted. "_You_ are innocent, Miss -Cartwright. How am I so sure of it? Because I happen to have the thief -already." - -"You have the thief?" Amy cried, startled out of her determination to -say nothing. - -"Yes," he told her nonchalantly, "I've arrested the man who robbed your -sister. Poor devil, he has a wife and children. He swears they'll -starve, and very likely they will, but he's guilty and to jail he goes." - -"Are you sure he's guilty?" Amy stammered. - -He leaned over his desk and looked at her surprised. "Why, yes," he said -slowly. "Have you any reason to think different?" - -"No, no!" she cried, shrinking back. - -"But I have," Ethel said calmly. "I have every reason to believe he is -innocent." - -"_You_ have?" Taylor cried, himself perplexed at the turn things were -taking. - -Amy looked at her sister, wondering what was coming next. - -"I know who stole them," Ethel went on. "It was my maid." - -"Your maid!" the deputy-surveyor cried. "Why didn't you tell the company -that? Bronson never told me about it." - -"She didn't disappear till after the claim was paid, you see," Miss -Cartwright explained. "Then I got a note from her confessing, a note -written in Canada." - -"Whereabouts in Canada?" he demanded. - -"I don't recall it," he was told. - -"You don't? Well, what was your maid's name then? I'd like to know that, -if you can remember it for me." - -"Marie Garnier was her name." - -He took up a scribbling pad and inscribed the name on it. "Marie -Garnier," he muttered, and pushed the buzzer. "Why didn't you tell me -this before?" - -"What was the good?" Miss Cartwright returned. "I was fond of Marie--she -was almost one of the family--and I didn't want to brand her as a -thief. When I learned she had escaped to Canada where the law couldn't -reach her--" - -She was interrupted by Duncan's entrance. "Yes, sir?" said he to his -chief. - -Taylor handed him the leaf he had torn from the pad. "Attend to this at -once," he ordered. - -"Now, Miss Cartwright," he remarked, "I'd like to ask why it was you -made this admission about Marie Garnier." - -"Because I do not want to see an innocent man go to prison," she -returned promptly. - -"Oh, I see. And did your sister know it, too?" - -"No," she answered quickly. - -"Why hadn't you told her?" he demanded. - -"Really," said the elder Miss Cartwright with an expression of -innocence, "I didn't think it made any difference." - -Taylor was obviously annoyed at such a view. "Your behavior is most -extraordinary," he commented. - -"You see, I know so little about law, and insurance and things like -that," she said apologetically. She did not desire to offend him. - -"You ought at least to have known that you owed it to the company to -give them all the information in your possession," he grumbled. - -"I never thought of it in that way," she said meditating. - -"There seems a whole lot you young ladies haven't thought of," he said -sourly. - -Miss Cartwright rose from her seat without haste. "Come, Amy," she -commanded. "We can't wait any longer and we are not needed." - -As they turned toward the door the telephone bell rang and Taylor stayed -them with a gesture. "Just one moment, please, Miss Cartwright." - -The girls watching him saw that the news was pleasant for he chuckled as -he hung up the receiver. Then he rose from his seat and came to where he -stood between them and the door. - -"Miss Cartwright," he cried, "when you didn't know what town in Canada -your maid was, I felt you were lying. Now I know you were. I just had my -assistant telephone to your mother." He pointed an accusing finger at -them. "You never had a maid named Garnier, and the last one you -had--over a year ago--was called Susan. You put the blame on a woman who -doesn't exist, and you did it to shield the real thief." He touched the -crouching Amy on the shoulder. "This is the real thief!" - -"She isn't, she isn't!" Ethel cried. - -But Taylor paid no attention to her. He concentrated his gaze on the -younger girl. "You swindled the company," he affirmed. - -"No, no," she wailed, "I didn't." - -Ethel came to her rescue. "How dare you," she cried to Taylor, "make -such an accusation when you have no proof, nor anyone else either?" - -"That's all very well," Taylor exclaimed, "but when we get the proof--" - -"You can't, because there isn't any," she asserted. - -"Of course I see your game," the man said; "you're just trying to -protect your sister. That's natural enough, but it will go easier with -both of you if you'll tell the truth." - -The two girls answered him never a word. Amy was too frightened and -Ethel, her tactics unavailing, found her best defense in silence. - -"So you won't answer?" Taylor said after a pause. "Well, of course the -stuff is pawned some place. That's what they all do. So far, Bronson has -only searched the pawn-shops in New York. He didn't give you credit for -pawning them outside the city, but I do. Now we'll see where your sister -did go." He went to the telephone again. "Hello, Bill," he said when he -had secured the number, "Go over to Bronson at the New York and get a -description of the jewels reported stolen from a Miss Ethel Cartwright. -Have all the pawn-shops searched in Trenton,"--he fastened his harsh -look on Amy Cartwright as he called out the names,--"Boston, Washington, -Providence, Baltimore, Albany, Philadelphia--" - -[Illustration: HE TURNED TO AMY. "YOUNG WOMAN, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST." -_Page 105_.] - -As he called out the last city the girl gave a gasp of terror, and -triumph instantly lighted up her inquisitor's grim face. - -"So you pawned them in Philadelphia?" he cried. - -"No, no!" she moaned. - -"I did it," Ethel Cartwright exclaimed. - -"No, you didn't," Taylor said sharply. "You're only trying to save her. -You can't deceive me." He turned to Amy, "Young woman, you're under -arrest." - -"No, no," the elder sister besought. "Take me. She's only a child; don't -spoil her life. I'll do whatever you like; it doesn't matter about me. -For God's sake don't do anything to my little sister." - -"She's guilty," he reminded her, "and the law says--" - -"If somebody pays, what difference does it make to you or the law? Isn't -there anything I can do?" she pleaded. - -Taylor paced up and down the room for a half minute before answering, -while the two watched him in agony. To them he was one who could deliver -them over to prison if it were his whim, or spare if he inclined to -mercy. - -"Surely there is some way out?" Ethel asked again. - -"Yes," he said, "there is. You can accept my proposition to enter the -secret service of the United States Customs." - -"Oh, yes, yes," she cried, "anything!" - -Taylor rubbed his hands together with satisfaction and pride in his -inimitable craft. "Now you're talking!" he exclaimed. "Then we won't -send the little sister to prison." - -Amy sobbed relief in her sister's arms. - -"Then you won't tell Bronson?" Ethel asked. - -"No," he said, "I won't tell Bronson." - -Ethel sighed, and felt almost that she would faint. - -"Now I'm sorry for you two," Taylor said more genially, "and as long as -you do what I tell you to, we'll leave the little matter of the jewels -as between your sister and her conscience. I'll let you know when I need -you. It may be to-night, it may be not for a month or a year, but when I -do want you--" - -"I shall be ready," the girl declared. - -"Say, Chief," Duncan said looking in at the door,-- - -"Get out, I'm busy," Taylor shouted. - -"I thought you'd like to know the Mauretania was coming up the bay," -his satellite returned, slightly aggrieved at this reception. - -"She is?" said the other. "Wait a minute then. Now, Miss Cartwright, -good afternoon. Remember what is at stake, your future, and your -sister's happiness. And don't forget that my silence depends on your not -failing me." - -Only a man of Taylor's coarse and cruel mould could have looked at her -without remorse or compunction. He did not see a beautiful refined woman -cheerfully bearing another's cross. He saw only a society girl, who had -matched her immature wits against his and lost, was beaten and in the -dust. There was a pathetic break in her voice as she answered him. - -"I shall not fail you," she said. - -Duncan closed the door after them. - -"Well?" Taylor demanded eagerly when they were alone. "Did Denby declare -the necklace?" - -"No, sir," Duncan returned promptly. - -"Then I was right," the other commented. "He's trying to smuggle it in. -Jim, this is the biggest job we've ever handled." - -"Ford and Hammett are at the dock all ready to search him when I give -the word." - -Duncan was sharing in his chief's triumph, but Taylor's next command was -disappointing. - -"Don't give the word," he enjoined. "There's to be no search." - -"No search?" exclaimed the chagrined Duncan. - -"No," Taylor told him. "Just let him slide through with the ordinary -examination. Trail Denby and his party to Westbury and be sure none of -them slip the necklace to anyone on the way out there, but no fuss and -no arrests, remember. Meanwhile, get up a fake warrant for the arrest of -Miss Amy Cartwright. It may come in handy." - -"Yes, sir," said Duncan obediently. - -"And when you've told Ford and Hammett what they are to do, change your -clothes and make Gibbs do the same, and meet me at the Pennsylvania -Station at six o'clock." - -"Where are we going?" Duncan asked. He could see from his chief's manner -that something important was in the wind. - -"To Long Island," he was told. "We are going to call on Miss Ethel -Cartwright." - -"Then you can use her to land Denby?" his subordinate cried excitedly. - -"Use her?" the deputy-surveyor said with a grim smile. "Say, Jim, she -doesn't know it, but she's going to get that necklace for me to-night." - -He hurried out of the room, leaving Duncan shaking his head in -wonderment. His chief might have qualities that were not endearing, and -his manner might at times be rough, but where was there a man who rode -through obstacles with the same fine disregard as Daniel Taylor? - - - - -CHAPTER SEVEN - - -Mrs. Harrington admitted freely that she had been very far-seeing in -asking Denby to travel on the Mauretania with her and Monty. She was one -of those modern women who count days damaging to their looks if there -comes an hour of boredom in them, and her new acquaintance was always -amusing. - -One day when they were all three sitting on deck she asked him: "What -are you going to do when you get home?" - -"Nothing particular," he replied, "except that I want to run down to -Washington some time during the month." - -"You see," Monty explained, "Steve is a great authority on the tariff. -The Secretary of the Treasury does nothing without consulting him. He -has to go down and help the cabinet out." - -"That's hardly true," Denby said mildly, "but I have friends in -Washington nevertheless." It was obvious Monty was not taken in by this. -He only regarded his friend as a superb actor who refused to be -frightened by the hourly alarms his faithful assistant took to him with -fast-beating heart. Young Vaughan told himself a dozen times a day that -this excitement, this suspicion of the motives of all strangers, was -undermining his health. He had complained of the dull evenness of his -existence before meeting Denby in Paris, but he felt such a lament could -never again be justified. He found himself unable to sit still for long. -He marvelled to see that Denby could sit for hours in a deck-chair -talking to Alice without seeming to care whether mysterious strangers -were eyeing him or not. - -"I asked you," Mrs. Harrington went on, "because, if you've nothing -better to do, will you spend a week with us at Westbury? Michael will -like you, and if you don't like Michael, there's something seriously -wrong with you." - -"I'd love to come," he said eagerly. "Thank you very much." - -"Hooray," said Monty. "Alice, you're a sweet soul to ask him. Of course -he'll like Michael. Who doesn't?" - -"Everybody ought to," she said happily. "Do you know, Mr. Denby, I'm one -of the only three women in our set who still love their husbands. I -wouldn't tell you that except for the reason you'll find out. He's the -most generous soul in the world and when I go to him with a bank-book -that won't balance, he adds it up and says I've made a mistake and that -I'm on the right side. How many husbands would do that?" - -"I might," Monty asserted, "because I can't add up long columns, but -Michael's a demon at statistics, or used to be." - -"He's such an old dear," Mrs. Harrington went on. "His one peculiar -talent is the invention of new and strange drinks. I never come back -from any long absence but he shows me something violently colored which -is built in my honor. And Monty will tell you," she added laughing, -"that I have never been seen to shudder while he was looking. Have I, -Monty?" - -"You're a good sport," said Monty, "and if ever I kill a man, it will be -Michael, and my motive will be jealousy." - -"Well, you needn't look so unhappy about it," she cried, as a frown -passed over his face and he sank back in his chair, all his good-humor -gone. - -Monty had in that careless phrase, "If ever I kill a man," reminded -himself vividly of the dangers that he felt beset him and his friend -Steven Denby. He had been trying to forget it and now it was with him to -stay. And another and a dreadful thought occurred. Would Denby take -those accursed pearls with him to the Harrington mansion on Long -Island? It was so disquieting that he rose abruptly and went into a -secluded corner of the upper smoking-room and called for a cigar and a -pony of brandy. - -His attention was presently attracted to a stout comfortable-looking man -who was staring at him as though to encourage a bow of recognition. He -had noticed the stout and affable gentleman before and always in the -same seat, but never before had he sought acquaintance in this manner. -There was no doubt in Monty's mind that the man was one of those suave -gamblers who reap their richest harvests on the big fast liners. No -doubt he knew that Monty was a Vaughan and had occasionally fallen for -such professionals and inveigled into a quiet little game. But Monty -felt himself of a different sort now. - -There was no doubt that the affable gentleman had fully made up his mind -as to his plan of action. He rose from his comfortable chair and made -his way to the younger man with his hand held out in welcome. - -"I thought it was you," he said, and wrung Monty's reluctant hand, "but -you are not quite the same as when I saw you last." - -"No doubt," Monty said coldly; "I am older and _I_ am not the fool I -used to be." - -"That's good," said the affable gentleman pressing the button that was -to summon a steward. "Your father will be glad to hear that." - -"Have the kindness to leave my father alone," the younger commanded. -Never in his life had Monty found himself able to be so unpleasant. -There was, he discovered, a certain joy in it. - -"Why, certainly," said the other a trifle startled, "if you wish it. -Only as he and I were old friends, I saw no harm in it." - -"Old friends?" sneered Monty. "Let me see, you were the same year at -Yale, weren't you?" - -"Of course," the affable stranger said, and turned to see the advancing -steward. "What will you have?" he asked. - -"I don't drink with strangers," Monty said rising. - -"Strangers!" cried the other with the rising intonation of indignation. -"Well, I like that!" - -"Then I shall leave you with a pleasant memory," Monty said. "Good day." - -"Stop a moment," the stranger asked after a pause in which rage and -astonishment chased themselves across his well-nourished countenance. -"Who do you think I am, anyway?" - -"Your name and number don't interest me," Monty said loftily. He noted -that the steward was enjoying it after the quiet inexpressive manner of -the English servant. "But I've no doubt at some time or another I lost -money to you--your old college friend's money of course--in some quiet -game with your confederates." - -"Now, what do you think of that!" the red-faced man exclaimed as he -watched Monty's retreating figure. But the steward was non-committal. He -was not paid to give up his inner thoughts but to bring drinks on a -tray. - -The stout and affable gentleman was a member of the Stock Exchanges of -London and New York and made frequent journeys between these cities. He -held the ocean record of having crossed more times and seen the waves -less than any stock-broker living. He had passed more hours in a -favorite chair in the Mauretania's smoking-room than any man had done -since time began. He was raconteur of ability and had been a close -friend of the elder Vaughan's years before at Yale. And he burned with -fierce indignation when he remembered that he had held the infant Monty -years ago and prophesied to a proud mother that he would be her joy and -pride. Joy and pride! He snorted and fell away from his true form so far -as to seek the deck and suck in fresh air. - -There he happened upon Mrs. Harrington talking to Denby. She knew -Godfrey Hazen. He had often been to Westbury, and Michael esteemed him -for his great knowledge of the proper beverage to take for every -emergency that may arise upon an ocean voyage. - -"What makes you look so angry?" she exclaimed. - -He calmed down when he saw her. "I've just been taken for a professional -gambler," he cried. - -"I thought all stock-brokers were that," she said smiling. - -"I mean a different sort," he explained, "the kind that work the big -liners. I just asked him to have a drink when he said he didn't drink -with strangers and hinted I had my picture in the rogues' gallery." - -"Who was it?" she inquired. - -"That ne'er-do-well, Monty Vaughan," he answered. - -"Monty?" she said. "Impossible!" - -"Is it?" he said grimly. "We'll see. Here comes the young gentleman." - -Monty sauntered up without noticing him at first. When he did, he -stopped short and was in no whit abashed. "Trying a new game?" he -inquired. - -"Monty, don't you remember Mr. Hazen?" Alice said reproachfully. - -"Have I made an ass of myself?" he asked miserably. - -"I wouldn't label any four-footed beast by the name I'd call you," said -Mr. Hazen firmly. - -"Why didn't you tell me your name?" Monty asked. - -"You ought to have remembered me," the implacable Hazen retorted. "Why, -I held you in my arms when you were only three months old." - -"Then I wish you had dropped me and broken me," Monty exclaimed, "and I -should have been spared a lot of worry." Things were piling up to make -him more than ever nervous. He had overheard two passengers saying they -understood the Mauretania's voyagers were to have a special examination -at the Customs on account of diamond smuggling. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hazen," -he said more graciously, "but I've things on my mind and you must accept -that as the reason." - -When he had gone Mr. Hazen was introduced to Denby and prevailed upon to -occupy Monty's seat. - -"I don't like the look of it," Mr. Hazen said, shaking his head. "At his -age he oughtn't to have any worries. I didn't." - -"If you can keep a secret," Mrs. Harrington confided, "I think I can -tell you exactly what is the matter with Monty and I'm sure you'll make -excuses for him, Mr. Hazen." - -"Maybe," he returned dubiously, "but you should have heard how he called -me down before a steward!" - -"Monty's in love," Mrs. Harrington declared, "and after almost two -years' absence he is going to meet her again; and the dread of not -daring to propose is sapping his brain. You're not the first. He's been -out of sorts the whole time and I've had to smooth things over with -other people. Come, now," she said coaxingly, "when you were young I'm -sure you had some episodes of that sort yourself, now didn't you?" - -Mr. Hazen tried not to let her see the proud memories that came surging -back through a quarter of a century. "Well," he admitted, "if you put it -that way, Mrs. Harrington, I've got to forgive the boy." - -"I knew you would," she said, and talked nicely to him for reward. - -Then the romance which he had resurrected faded; and the sight of so -much salt in the waves--the unaccustomed waves--induced a provoking -thirst and he rose and after a conventional lie retired to the -smoking-room. - -"All the same," Mrs. Harrington remarked to Denby, "I am worried about -the boy." - -"He'll get over it," said Steven. - -"I hope so," she returned. "His nerves are all wrong. I thought he had -the absinthe habit at first, but he's really quite temperate, and it's -mental, I suspect. It may be Nora; I hope it is. She's a dear girl and -Monty's really a big catch." - -"Didn't you say you had bought her a present, some valuable piece of -jewelry?" - -"Which I have sworn to smuggle," she returned brightly, "despite your -warning." - -"For your sake I wish you wouldn't," he said, "but if your mind's made -up, what will my words avail?" - -"I'm not stubborn," she cried, "even Michael admits that. I am always -open to conviction." - -"If you smuggle, you are," he said meaningly. "Really, Mrs. Harrington, -you've no idea how strict these examinations are becoming, and this -vessel seems specially marked out for extra strict inspections. The -popular journals have harped on the fact that the rich, influential -women who use this and boats of this class, are exempt, while the woman -who saves up for a few weeks' jaunt and brings little inexpensive -presents back, is caught." - -"Are you sure of that?" she demanded. - -"Why, yes," he returned. "It doesn't seem quite fair, does it?" he -demanded, looking at her keenly. "It doesn't seem playing the game for -the first cabin on the Mauretania to get in free while the second cabin -gets caught." - -"Have you ever smuggled?" she asked. - -"Maybe," he said, "but if I have, it has not been a habit with me as -with some rich people I know, who could so easily afford to pay." - -"Suppose I do smuggle and get caught, I can pay without any further -trouble, can't I?" she queried. - -"You're just as likely to be detained," he told her. "To all intents and -purposes, it's like being under arrest." - -"Oh, Lord!" she cried. "And I shouldn't be able to get back to Michael?" - -"Probably not," he said. "You see, Mrs. Harrington, you'd be a splendid -tribute to the impartiality of the service. The publicity the Customs -people would get from your case would be worth a lot to them. -Indirectly, you'd possibly promote hard-working inspectors." - -"But I don't want to be a case," she exclaimed, "I'm not anxious to be -put in a cell and promote hard-working inspectors. And think of poor -Michael all ready with a crimson newly-devised drink pacing the floor -while I'm undergoing the third degree! Mr. Denby, I still think the laws -are absurd, but I shall declare everything I've got. I wonder if they -would let Michael hand me his crimson drink through the bars." - -Just then Monty made for them and dropped into his deck-chair. - -"I'm going to be an honest woman," she declared, "and smuggle no more. -Mr. Denby is the miracle-worker. I shall probably have to borrow money -to pay the duty, so be at hand, Monty." - -He looked across at Denby and sighed. His friend's serene countenance -and absence of nerves was always a source of wonderment to him. -Hereafter, he swore, a life in consonance with his country's laws. And -if the first few days of the voyage had made him nervous, it was small -comfort to think that the really risky part had yet to be gone through. -In eliminating Alice Harrington as a fellow smuggler Monty saw -extraordinary cunning. "Well," he thought, "if anyone can carry it -through it will be old Steve," and rose obediently at Alice's behest and -brought back a wireless form on which he indited a message to the absent -Michael. - -Monty Vaughan had crossed the ocean often, and each time had been -cheered to see in the distance the long flat coast-line of his native -land. There had always been a sense of pleasurable excitement in the -halt at Quarantine and the taking on board the harbor and other -officials. - -But this time they clambered aboard--the most vindictive set of mortals -he had ever laid eyes on--and each one of them seemed to look at Monty -as though he recognized a law breaker and a desperado. Incontinently he -fled to the smoking-room and ran into the arms of Godfrey Hazen. - -"Never mind, my boy," said that genial broker, "you'll soon be out of -your misery. Brace up and have a drink. I know how you feel. I've felt -like that myself." - -"Did you get caught?" Monty gasped. - -"No," he said, for he was a bachelor, "but I've had some mighty narrow -squeaks and once I thought I was gone." - -He watched Monty gulp down his drink with unaccustomed rapidity. "That's -right," he said commendingly. "Have another?" - -"It would choke me," the younger answered, and fled. - -Hazen shook his head pityingly. He had never been as afflicted as the -heir to his old friend Vaughan. Poets might understand love and its -symptoms but such manifestations were beyond him. - -When Steven Denby opened his trunks to a somewhat uninterested inspector -and answered his casual questions without hesitation, Monty stood at his -side. It cost him something to do so but underneath his apparent -timorous nature was a strength and loyalty which would not fail at need. - -And when the jaded Customs official made chalk hieroglyphics and stamped -the trunks as free from further examination Monty felt a relief such as -he had never known. As a poet has happily phrased it, "he chortled in -his joy." - -"What's the matter?" he demanded of Denby when he observed that his own -hilarity was not shared by his companion in danger. "Why not celebrate?" - -"We're not off the dock yet," Denby said in a low voice. "They've been -too easy for my liking." - -"A lot we care," Monty returned, "so long as they're finished with us." - -"That's just it," he was warned, "I don't believe they have. It's a bit -suspicious to me. Better attend to your own things now, old man." - -Monty opened his trunks in a lordly manner. So elaborate was his gesture -that an inspector was distrustful and explored every crevice of his -baggage with pertinacity. He unearthed with glee a pair of military -hair-brushes with backs of sterling silver that Monty had bought in Bond -street for Michael Harrington as he passed through London and forgotten -in his alarm for bigger things. - -"It pays to be honest," said Mrs. Harrington, who had declared her -dutiable importations and felt more than ordinarily virtuous. "Monty, -you bring suspicion on us all. I'm surprised at you. Just a pair of -brushes, too. If you had smuggled in a diamond necklace for Nora there -would be some excuse!" - -The word necklace made him tremble and he did not trust himself to say a -word. - -"He's too ashamed for utterance," Denby commented, helping him to repack -his trunk. - -There were two Harrington motors waiting, both big cars that would carry -a lot of baggage. When they were ready it was plain that only two -passengers could be carried in one and the third in the second car. - -"How shall we manage it?" Mrs. Harrington asked. - -"If you don't mind I'll let you two go on," Denby suggested, "and when -I've sent off a telegram to my mother, I'll follow." - -"I see," she laughed, "you want the stage set for your entrance. Very -well. Au revoir." - -Monty surprised her by shaking his friend's hand. "Good-by, old man," -said Monty sorrowfully. He was not sure that he would ever see Steven -again. - - - - -CHAPTER EIGHT - - -Michael Harrington walked up and down the big hall of his Long Island -home looking at the clock and his own watch as if to detect them in the -act of refusing to register the correct time of day. Although it was -probable his wife, Monty and the guest of whose coming a wireless -message had apprised him, would not be home for another hour, he was -always anxious at such a moment. - -He was a man of fifty-eight, exceedingly good-tempered, and very much in -love with his wife. When Alice had married a man twenty-four years her -senior there had been prophecies that it would not last long. But the -two Harringtons had confounded such dismal predictions and lived--to -their own vast amusement--to be held up as exemplars of matrimonial -felicity in a set where such a state was not too frequent. - -His perambulations were interrupted by the entrance of Lambart, a butler -with a genius for his service, who bore on a silver tray a siphon of -seltzer water, a decanter of Scotch whiskey and a pint bottle of fine -champagne. - -Lambart had, previously to his importation, valeted the late lamented -Marquis of St. Mervyn, an eccentric peer who had broken his noble neck -in a steeplechase. Like most English house-servants he was profoundly -conservative; and after two positions which he had left because his -employers treated him almost as an equal, he had come to the Harringtons -and taken a warm but perfectly respectful liking to his millionaire -employer. Lambart was a remarkably useful person and it was his proud -boast that none had ever beheld him slumbering. Certain it was that a -bell summoned him at any hour of the day or night, and he had never -grumbled at such calls. - -Harrington looked at the refreshment inquiringly. "Did I order this?" he -demanded. - -"No, sir," Lambart answered, "but my late employer Lord St. Mervyn -always said that when he was waiting like you are, sir, it steadied his -nerves to have a little refreshment." - -"I should have liked the Marquis if I'd known him," Michael Harrington -observed when his thirst was quenched. "I think I could have paid him no -prettier compliment than to have named a Rocksand colt after him, -Lambart. The colt won at Deauville last week, by the way." - -"Yes, sir," Lambart returned, "I took the liberty of putting a bit on -him; I won, too." - -"Good," said his employer, "I'm glad. He ought to have a good season in -France. I like France for two things--racing and what they call the -_heure de l'aperitif_. When I go to Rome I do as the Romans do, and I -have the pleasantest recollections of my afternoons in France." - -He noticed that Lambart, bringing over to him a box of cigars, turned -his head as though to listen. "I believe, sir," said the butler, "that -the car is coming up the drive." - -He hurried to the open French window and looked out. "Yes, sir," he -cried, "it is one of our cars and Mrs. Harrington is in it." - -Michael Harrington rose hastily to his feet. "Great Scott, my wife! The -boat must have docked early." He pointed to the whiskey and champagne. -"Get rid of these; and not a word, Lambart, not a word." - -"Certainly not, sir," Lambart answered; "I couldn't make a mistake of -that sort after being with the Marquis of St. Mervyn for seven years." - -He took up the tray quickly and carried it off as Nora Rutledge--the -girl for whose sake poor Monty had passed hours of alternate misery and -hope--came in to tell her host the news. - -"Alice is here," she cried, "and Monty Vaughan with her." - -Nora was a pretty, clever girl of two and twenty with the up-to-date -habit of slangy smartness fully developed and the customary lack of -reticence over her love-affairs or those of anyone else in whom she was -interested. But for all her pert sayings few girls were more generally -liked than she, for the reason that she was genuine and wholesome. - -"Fine," Michael said heartily. "Where are they? How is she? Was it a -good voyage?" - -A moment later his wife had rushed into his arms. - -"You dear old thing," she exclaimed affectionately. - -"By George! I'm glad to see you," he said, "you've been away for ages." - -"You seem to have survived it well enough," she laughed. - -"Tell me everything you've done," he insisted. - -While she tried to satisfy this comprehensive order, Monty was assuring -Nora how delighted he was to see her. - -"It's bully to find you here," he said, shaking her hand. "I nearly -hugged you." - -"Well, why didn't you?" she retorted. - -"I've half a mind to," he said, stretching out his arms; but she drew -back. - -"No. Not now. It's cold. Hugs must be spontaneous." - -"Where's Ethel?" Mrs. Harrington called to her. - -"Upstairs, changing. You see we didn't think you could get in so early -and you weren't expected for another half-hour. She ought to be down in -a minute or so." - -"Why didn't you come down and meet us, old man?" Monty asked of his -host. - -"Wife's orders," Harrington responded promptly. - -"It's such a nuisance to have people meet one at the pier," Alice -explained. "I'm sure Monty was glad you weren't there to witness his -humiliation. He was held up for smuggling and narrowly escaped -deportation." - -"Oh, Monty," Nora cried, "how lovely! Was it something for me? Don't -scowl when I ask a perfectly reasonable question." - -"It wasn't," Monty said wretchedly. He had in his joy at meeting her -forgotten all about smuggling and now the whole thing loomed up again. -"I've got half Long Island in my eyes, and if you don't mind, Alice, -I'll go and wash up." - -"And you won't tell me anything about your crime?" Nora pouted. - -"Meet me in the Pagoda in five minutes," he whispered, "and I will. It's -mighty nice to see a pretty girl again who can talk American." - -"As if men cared what girls say," she observed sagely. "It's the way -they look that counts." - -When Monty was gone she strolled back to where Alice was sitting. - -"Did you have a good trip?" she demanded. - -"Bully," Alice answered her. "Steven Denby's most attractive and -mysterious." - -"Denby!" Harrington repeated. "Why, I'd clean forgotten about Denby. -Where is he?" - -"The limousine was so full of Monty and me and my hand-baggage that we -sent him on in the other car. He had to send some telegrams, so he -didn't overtake us till we were this side of Jamaica, where they -promptly had a blow-out. He won't be long." - -"What Mr. Denby is he?" Nora asked with interest. - -"Yes," Michael asked, "do I know him? I don't think I ever heard of -him." - -"Nor did I," his wife told him. "Perhaps that's what makes him so -mysterious." - -"Then why on earth have him down here?" her husband asked mildly. - -"Because Monty's devoted to him. They were at school together. And also, -Michael dear, because I like him and you'll like him. Even if I am -married, love has not made me blind to other charming men." - -"But, shall I like him?" Nora wanted to know. - -"I did the minute I met him," Alice confessed. "He has a sort of 'come -hither' in his eyes and the kind of hair I always want to run my hand -through. You will, too, Nora." - -"But you see I'm not a married woman," Nora retorted, "so I mayn't have -your privileges." - -Alice laughed. "Don't be absurd. I haven't done it yet--but I may." - -"I don't doubt it in the least," said Michael, contentedly caressing her -hand. - -"He has such an air," Mrs. Harrington explained, "sort of secret and -wicked. He might be a murderer or something fascinating like that." - -"Splendid fellow for a week-end," her husband commented. - -She looked at her watch. "I'd no idea it was so late. I must dress." - -"All right," Nora agreed. "Let's see what's become of Ethel." - -"Just a minute, Alice," her husband called as she was mounting the broad -stairway that led from the hall. - -"Run along, Nora," Alice said, "I'll be up in a minute." - -"I'll go and wait for Monty," the girl returned. "I think you're going -to be lectured." She sauntered out of the French windows toward the -Pagoda. - -"Well," said Alice smiling, "what is it?" - -"I just wanted to tell you how mighty glad I was to see you," he -confessed. - -"And, Mikey dear," she said simply, "I'm mighty glad to see you." - -"Are you really?" he demanded. "You're not missing Paris?" - -"Paris be hanged," she retorted; "I'm in love with a man and not with a -town." - -"It's still me?" Michael asked a little wistfully. - -"Always you," she said softly. "One big reason I like to go abroad is -because it makes me so glad to get back to you." She sat on the arm of -his chair and patted his head affectionately. - -"But look here," said Michael with an affectation of reproof, "whenever -I want a little trot around the country and suggest leaving, you -begin--" - -She put her hand over his mouth and stopped him. - -"Oh, that's very different. When we do separate I always want to be the -one to leave, not to be left." - -"It _is_ much easier to go than to stay," he agreed, "and I've been -pretty lonely these last six weeks." - -"But you've had a lot of business to attend to," she reminded him. - -"That's finished two weeks ago." - -"And then you've had the insidious Lambart and all the Scotch you -wanted." - -"'Tisn't nearly as much fun to drink when you're away," he insisted. "It -always takes the sport out of it not to be stopped." - -"Oh, Fibber!" she said, shaking her head. - -"Well, most of the sport," he corrected. He held her off at arm's length -and regarded her with admiration. "Do you know, I sometimes wonder what -ever made you marry me." - -"Sometimes I wonder, too," she answered, "but not often! I really think -we're the ideal married couple, sentimental when we're alone, and -critical when we have guests." - -"That's true," he admitted proudly, "and most people hate each other in -private and love each other in public." Michael hugged her to emphasize -the correctness of their marital deportment. - -"You are a dear old thing," she said affectionately. - -"Do you know I don't feel a bit married," he returned boyishly, "I just -feel in love." - -"That's the nicest thing you ever said to me," she said, rising and -kissing him. "But I've got to go and find Ethel now." - -"You've made me feel fairly dizzy," he asserted, still holding her hand, -"I need a drink to sober up." - -"Oh, Michael," she cried reprovingly, and drew away from him "I believe -you've been trying to get around me just for that!" - -"Oh, no, you don't," he said smiling. "Now, do you?" - -"No, I don't, Mikey," she admitted. "But be careful, here's Monty and -Nora." - -"Heavens!" cried Nora, looking in, "still lecturing, you two?" - -"You do look rather henpecked," Monty said, addressing his host. - -"Yes," Michael sighed, "we've been having a dreadful row, but I'm of a -forgiving nature and I'm going to reward her. Monty, touch that button -there, I want Lambart." - -Alice looked at him in wonderment. "What do you mean?" - -"Wait," he said with a chuckle. "Lambart," he commanded, as the butler -stood before him, "bring it in." There was respect in his tone. "It -ought to be at its best now." - -On a silver salver Lambart bore in and presented to his mistress a large -liqueur glass filled with a clear liquid of delicate mauve hue. - -Alice looked at it a little fearfully. "Oh, Mikey," she said, "is this -another new invention?" - -"My best," he said proudly. - -"Can't I share it?" she pleaded. - -"No more than I can my heart," he said firmly. "It is to be named after -you." - -Heroically she gulped it down. - -"Oh, how sweet it is," she exclaimed. - -"I know," he admitted. "But as it isn't sugar you needn't mind. I use -saccharin which is about a thousand times as sweet. And the beauty of -saccharin," he confided to the others, "is that it stays with you. When -I first discovered this Crême d'Alicia as I call it, I tasted it for -days." - -"It's a perfectly divine color," Nora remarked enthusiastically. "I've -always dreamed of a dress exactly that shade. How did you do it?" - -"Experimenting with the coal tar dyes," he said proudly. "I'm getting -rather an expert on coal tar compounds. That color was Perkins' mauve." - -"That was more than mauve," Nora insisted. "I've plenty of mauve -things." - -He raised his hand. "No you don't, Nora! You don't get the result of my -years of close study like that. I'll make you each a present of a bottle -before you go. We'll have it with coffee every night. Mauve was the -foundation upon which I built." - -"It's a little rich for me, Mikey dear," his wife said anxiously. "I -think it will make a far better winter cordial. I'm going upstairs to -see Ethel now." - -He watched her disappear and then turned to Nora and Monty with a -twinkle in his eye. "I think after my labors I need a little cocktail. -In France they call this the _heure de l'aperitif_, as Monty probably -knows, and I have a private bar of my own. Don't give me away, -children." - -Nora looked at her companion with a frown. She had been looking for his -coming, and now when he was here, he had nothing to say. - -"What's the matter with you?" she demanded suddenly. - -"I'm wondering where Steven is," he returned anxiously. "A blow-out -oughtn't to keep him all this time." - -"But what makes you jump so?" she insisted. "You never used to be like -this. Is it St. Vitus's dance?" - -He turned to her with an assumption of freedom from care. - -"I am a bit nervous, Nora," he admitted. "You see, Steven and I are in a -big deal together, and, er, the markets go up and down like the -temperature and it keeps me sorts of anxious." - -"You don't mean to say you've gone into business?" she said. - -"Not exactly," he prevaricated, "and yet I have in a way. It's something -secret." - -"Well," said Nora, with sound common sense, "if it frightens you so, why -go in for it?" - -"Well, everything was kind of tepid in Paris," he explained. - -"Tepid in Paris?" she cried. - -"Why, yes," he told her. "Paris can't always live up to her reputation. -I'd been there studying French banking systems so long that I wanted -some excitement and joined Steve in his scheme." - -"Oh, Monty," she said interested, and sitting on the couch at his side, -"if it's really exciting, tell me everything. Are you being pursued?" - -He looked at her aggrieved. "Now what do you suggest that for?" he -demanded. - -"But what is it?" she insisted. - -"I can't tell you," he said decidedly. "Steve is one of my oldest -friends and I promised him." - -"Oh, yes, I've heard all about him," she cried a little impatiently. -"You and he went to college together and sang, 'A Stein on the Table,' -and went on sprees together and made love to the same girls, and played -on the same teams. I know all that college stuff." - -"But we didn't go to college together," he said. - -"Alice said you did," she returned, "or to school or something together, -but don't take that as an excuse to get reminiscent. I hate men's -reminiscences; they make me so darned envious. I wish I'd been a man, -Monty." - -"I don't," said he smiling. - -"Don't try to flirt with me," she exclaimed, as he edged a little -nearer. - -"Why not?" he demanded. - -"You don't know how," she said and smiled provokingly. - -For a moment Monty forgot pearls and Customs and all unpleasant things. - -"Teach me," he entreated. - -"It can't be taught," she said. "It's got to be born in you." She cast -her eyes down and looked alluringly at him through curling lashes. -There was the opportunity for Monty to see whether he had any skill at -the ancient game, but a sudden numbing nervousness took hold of him. And -while he could have written a prize essay on what he should have done, -he had not the courage to make the attempt. - -"Well?" she said presently. "Go on." - -"I wonder where Steve is?" he said desperately. - -"You're hopeless," she cried exasperated. "I don't know where 'Steve' -is, and I don't care. I hope he's under the car with gasoline dripping -into his eyes." - -Poor Monty groaned; for it was equally true that he at this particular -moment was anxious to forget everything but the pretty girl at his side. - -"Nora," he said nervously, "for the last year there's been something -trembling on my lips--" - -"Oh, Monty," she cried ecstatically, "don't shave it off, I love it!" - -He rose, discomfited, to meet his hostess coming toward him with Miss -Ethel Cartwright, a close friend of hers whom he had never before met. -He noticed Michael quietly working his unobtrusive way back to the -position where Alice had left him, wiping his moustache with -satisfaction. - -"Monty," said Mrs. Harrington, "I don't think you've ever met my very -best friend, Miss Cartwright." - -"How do you do," the girl said smiling. - -"Be kind to him, Ethel," Michael remarked genially. "He's a nice boy and -the idol of the Paris Bourse." - -"And an awful flirt," Nora chimed in. "If I had had a heart he would -have broken it long ago." - -"Do you know," Alice said, "it has never occurred to me to think of -Monty as a flirt. Are you a flirt, Monty?" - -"No," he said indignantly. - -"You needn't be so emphatic when I ask you," she said reprovingly. She -sighed. "I suppose it's one of the penalties of age. I've known him a -disgracefully long time, Ethel, before the Palisades were grown-up." - -"I'm sorry I didn't get down to meet you, Alice," Miss Cartwright said, -"I did mean to, but business detained me." - -"Business in August!" Nora commented. - -"I'm glad you didn't," her hostess observed. "We were disgraced by -having in our merry party a smuggler who was caught with the goods and -narrowly escaped Sing Sing." - -"There you go again," Monty grumbled. "I hate the very sound of the -word." - -"I say, Ethel," Michael observed, watching her closely, "you do look a -bit pale. Business in weather like this doesn't suit you. No bad news, I -hope?" - -He knew that the division of the late Vernon Cartwright's fortune was -very disappointing and might narrow the girls' income considerably. - -"It turned out all right, thank you," the girl answered nervously. - -"How's Amy?" Mr. Harrington asked. He was fond of the Cartwrights and -had known them from childhood. "Why isn't she here?" - -"It isn't to be a big party, Michael," his wife reminded him. "Men are -so scarce in August I didn't ask Amy. She's all right, I hope, Ethel?" - -"Yes, thanks," Miss Cartwright answered. - -"I wonder where Steve is?" Monty said for the fifth time. "He ought to -have that tire fixed by now." - -"I hope he hasn't smashed up," said Alice. - -"So do I," Michael retorted. "It was a mighty good car--almost new--and -I left a silver pocket-flask in it, I remember." - -"Is someone else coming?" Ethel Cartwright asked. - -"A perfectly charming man, a Steven Denby." - -"Steven Denby?" Miss Cartwright cried, her face lighting up. "Really?" - -"Do you know him then?" Mrs. Harrington asked. - -"Indeed I do," she answered. - -"What, you know Steve?" Monty asked in surprise. - -"Tell us about him," Nora besought her. - -"Yes, who is he?" Michael wanted to know. "Alice has been trying to -rouse me to the depths of my jealous nature about him!" - -"Isn't he fascinating?" Alice observed. - -"I can only tell you all," Ethel Cartwright declared, "that I know him. -I met him in Paris a year ago." - -"Didn't you like him?" Alice inquired. - -"I did, very much," the girl said frankly. - -Nora spoke in a disappointed manner. "Well, he's evidently yours for -this week-end." - -"I daresay he won't even remember me," the other girl returned. - -"Oh, I bet he will," said Nora, who was able to give Ethel credit for -her charm and beauty. "I shall just have to stick around with Monty--a -wild tempestuous flirt like Monty!" - -"Oh, I don't mind," Monty said with an air of condescension, "not -particularly." - -"It's time to dress, good people," Michael reminded them. - -"Come on, Nora," Alice said rising. "Come, Monty. Ethel, you'll have to -amuse yourself, as Michael isn't to be depended on." - -"You wrong me, my dear," Michael retorted. "I'm going for my one -solitary cocktail and then I'll be back." - -"And only one, remember," Alice warned him. - -"You know me, my dear," he said, "when I say one." - -"You sometimes mean only one at a time," she laughed. "You are still the -same consistent old Michael. And by the way, if Mr. Denby does happen to -turn up, tell him we'll be down soon." - -"I'll send him in to Ethel if he comes." - -"Yes, please do," the girl said brightly. - -When she was left alone in the big hall, the coolest apartment in the -big house during the afternoon, Ethel Cartwright went to the French -windows and looked out over the smooth lawns to the trees at the back of -them. A long drive wound its way to the highroad, up which she could see -speeding a big motor. The porte-cochère was at the other side of the -house and she retraced her steps to the hall she had left with the hope -of meeting the man she had liked so much a year ago in Paris. - -A minute later he was ushered in, but did not at first see her. Then, as -he looked about the big apartment, he caught sight of the girl, and -stood for a moment staring as though he could hardly venture to believe -it was she. - -"Miss Cartwright," he cried enthusiastically, "is it really you?" - -She took his outstretched hands graciously. "How do you do, Mr. Denby," -she said. - -"Mr. Harrington told me to expect a surprise," he cried, "but I was -certainly not prepared for such a pleasant one as this. How are you?" - -"Splendid," she answered. "And you?" - -"Very, very grateful to be here." - -"I wondered if you'd remember me," she said; "it's a long time ago since -we were in Paris." - -"It was only the day before yesterday," he asserted. - -"And what are you doing here?" she asked. - -"Oh, I thought I'd run over and see if New York was finished yet." - -"Are you still doing--nothing?" she demanded, a tinge of disappointment -in her voice. - -He looked at her with a smile. "Still--nothing," he answered. - -"Ah," she sighed, "I had such hopes of you, a year ago in Paris." - -"And I of you," he said, boldly looking into her eyes. - -Her manner was more distant now. "I'm afraid I don't admire idlers very -much. Why don't you do something? You've ability enough, Mr. Denby." - -"It's so difficult to get a thrill out of business," he complained. - -"And you must have thrills?" she asked. - -"Yes," he answered, "it's such a dull old world nowadays." - -"Then why," she exclaimed jestingly, "why don't you take to crime?" - -"I have thought of it," he laughed, "but the stake's too high--a thrill -against prison." - -"So you want only little thrills then, Mr. Denby?" - -"No," he told her, "I'd like big ones better. Life or even death--but -not prison. And what have you done since I saw you last? You are still -doing nothing, too?" - -"Nothing," she said, smiling. - -"And you're still Miss Cartwright?" - -"_Only_ Miss Cartwright," she corrected. - -"Good," he said, looking at her steadily. "By George, it doesn't seem a -year since that week in Paris. What made you disappear just as we were -having such bully times?" - -"I had to come back to America suddenly. I had only an hour to catch the -boat. I explained all that in my note though. Didn't you even take the -trouble to read it?" - -He looked at her amazed. "I never even received it." There was a touch -of relief in his voice. "So you sent me a note! Do you know, I thought -you'd dropped me, and I tell you I hit with an awful crash." - -"I sent it by a porter and even gave him a franc," she smiled. "I ought -to have given him five." - -"I'd willingly have given him fifty," Denby said earnestly. "It wasn't -nice to think that I'd been dropped like that." - -"And I thought you'd dropped me," she said. - -"I should say not," he exclaimed. "I was over here six months ago and I -did try to see you, but you were at Palm Beach. I can't tell you how -often I've sent you telepathic messages," he added whimsically. "Ever -get any of 'em?" - -"Some of them, I think," she said smiling. "And now to think we've met -here on Long Island. It's a far cry to Paris." - -"For me it's people who make places--the places themselves don't -matter--you and I are here," he said gently. - -The girl sighed a little. "Still, Paris is Paris," she insisted. - -"Rather!" he answered, sighing too. "Do you remember that afternoon in -front of the Café de la Paix? We had _vin gris_ and watched the -Frenchman with the funny dog, and the boys calling _La Presse_, and the -woman who made you buy some 'North Wind' for me, and the people crowding -around the newspaper kiosks." - -In the adjoining room Nora was strumming the piano, and was now playing -"_Un Peu d'Amour_." She had looked in the hall and finding the stranger -so wholly absorbed in Ethel Cartwright, had retired to solitude. - -"And do you remember the hole in the table-cloth?" Ethel demanded. - -"And wasn't it a dirty table-cloth?" he reminded her. "And afterwards we -had tea in the Bois at the Cascade and the Hungarian Band played '_Un -Peu d'Amour_.'" He looked at the girl smiling. "How did you arrange to -have that played just at the right moment?" - -They listened in silence for a moment to the dainty melody, and then she -hummed a few bars of it. Her thoughts were evidently far away from Long -Island. - -"And don't you remember that poor skinny horse in our fiacre?" she asked -him. "He was so tired he fell down, and we walked home in pity." - -"Ah, you were tender-hearted," he sighed. - -"And we had dinner at Vian's afterwards," she reminded him, and then, -after a pause: "Wasn't the soup awful?" - -"Ah, but the string-beans were an event," he asserted. "And that -evening, I remember, there was a moon over the Bois, and we sat under -the trees. Have you forgotten that?" - -"I don't think that would be very easy," she said softly. - -"And we went through the Louvre the next day," he said eagerly, "the -whole Louvre in an hour, and the loveliest picture I saw there -was--_you_." - -Denby glanced up with a frown as Lambart's gentle footfall was heard, -and rose to his feet a trifle embarrassed by this intrusion. Lambart -came to a respectful pause at Miss Cartwright's side. - -"Pardon me," he said, "but there is a gentleman to see you." She took a -card that was on the tray he held before her. - -"To see me?" she cried, startled, gazing at the card. Denby, watching -her closely, saw her grow, as he thought, pale. "Ask him to come in. Mr. -Denby," she said, "will you forgive me?" - -"Surely," he assented, walking toward the great stairway. "I have to -dress, anyway." - -"Your room is at the head of the stairs," Lambart reminded him. "All -your luggage is taken in, sir." - -Denby looked down at her. "Till dinner?" he asked. - -"Till dinner," she said, and watched him pass out of sight. She was a -girl whose poise of manner prevented the betrayal of vivid emotion in -any but a certain subdued fashion. But it was plain she was laboring now -under an agitation that amounted almost to deadly fear. - -A few seconds later Daniel Taylor strode in with firm assured tread and -looked at the luxurious surroundings with approval. - -"Good evening, Miss Cartwright," he exclaimed genially. "Good evening." - -"My sister," she returned, trembling, "nothing's happened to her? She's -all right?" - -"Sure, sure," he returned reassuringly, "I haven't bothered her; the -little lady's all right, don't you worry." - -"Then what do you want here?" she cried alarmed. No matter what his -manner this man had menace in every look and gesture. She had never been -brought into contact with one who gave in so marked a degree the -impression of ruthless strength. - -"I thought I'd drop in with reference to our little chat this -afternoon," he remarked easily. "Nice place they've got here." - -"But I don't understand why you have come," she persisted. - -"You haven't forgotten our little conversation, I hope?" - -"Of course not," she said. - -"Well," he continued, "you said when I needed you, you'd be ready." He -looked about him cautiously as though fearing interruption. "I said it -might be a year, or it might be a month, or it might be to-night. Well, -it's to-night, Miss Cartwright. I need you right now." - -"Now?" she said puzzled. "Still, I don't understand." - -He lowered his voice. "A man has smuggled a two hundred thousand dollar -necklace through the Customs to-day. For various reasons which you -wouldn't understand, we allowed him to slip through, thinking he'd -fooled us. Now that he believes himself safe, it ought to be easy to get -that necklace. We've got to get it; and we're going to get it, through -one of our agents." He pointed a forefinger at her. "We're going to get -it through you." - -"But I shouldn't know how to act," she protested, "or what to do." - -Taylor smiled. "You're too modest, Miss Cartwright. I've seen some of -your work in my own office, and I think you'll be successful." - -"But don't you see I'm staying here over Sunday?" she explained. "I -can't very well make an excuse and leave now." - -"You don't have to leave," he told her. - -"What do you mean, then?" she demanded. - -"That the man who smuggled the necklace is staying here, too. His name -is Steven Denby." - -"Steven Denby!" the girl cried, shrinking away from him. "Oh, no, you -must be mad--he isn't a smuggler." - -"Why isn't he?" Taylor snapped. - -"I know him," she explained. - -"You do?" he cried. "Where did you meet him?" - -"In Paris," she replied. - -"How long have you known him?" - -"Just about a year," she answered. - -"What do you know about him?" Taylor asked quickly. It was evident that -her news seemed very important to him. "What's his business? How does he -make his living? Do you know his people?" - -"I don't think he does anything," she said hesitatingly. - -"Nothing, eh?" Taylor laughed disagreeably. "I suppose you think that's -clear proof he couldn't be a smuggler?" - -"I'm sure you are wrong," she said with spirit; "he's my friend." - -"Your friend!" Taylor returned. His manner from that of the bluff -cross-examiner changed to one that had something confidential and -friendly in it. "Why, that ought to make it easier." - -"Easier?" she repeated. "What do you mean by that?" - -"Well, you can get into his confidence. See?" - -"But you're wrong," she said indignantly. "I'm sure he is absolutely -innocent." - -"Then you'll be glad of a chance to prove we're wrong and you're right." - -"But I couldn't spy on a friend," she declared. - -"If your friend is innocent it won't do him any harm," Taylor observed, -"and he'd never know. But if he's guilty he deserves punishment, and -you've no right to try and protect him. Any person would only be doing -right in helping to detect a criminal; but you,"--he paused -significantly,--"it's just as much your duty as it is mine." He showed -her his gold badge of authority for a brief moment, and although it -terrified her there was too much loyalty in her nature to betray a -friend or even to spy upon one. - -"No, no! I can't do it," she said. - -"So you're going back on your agreement," he sneered. "Two can play that -game. Suppose I go back on mine, too?" - -"You wouldn't do that," she cried horrified at his threat. - -"Why not?" he returned. "It's give and take in this world." - -"But I couldn't be so contemptible." - -Taylor shrugged his shoulders. "If I were you I'd think it over," he -recommended. - -"But supposing you're wrong," she said earnestly. "Suppose he has no -necklace?" - -"Don't let that disturb you," he retorted. "Our information is positive. -We got a telegram late this afternoon from a pal of his who squealed, -giving us a tip about it. Now what do you say?" - -"I can't," she said, "I can't." - -He came closer, and said in a low harsh voice: "Remember, it's Steven -Denby or your sister. There's no other way out. Which are you going to -choose?" - -He watched her pale face eagerly. "Well," he cried, "which is it to be?" - -"I have no choice," she answered dully. "What do you want me to do?" - -"Good," Taylor cried approvingly. "That's the way to talk! Denby has -that necklace concealed in a brown leather tobacco-pouch which he always -carries in his pocket. You must get me that pouch." - -"How can I?" she asked despairingly. - -"I'll leave that to you," he answered. - -"But couldn't you do it?" she pleaded. "Or one of your men? Why ask me?" - -"It may be a bluff, some clever scheme to throw me off the track and I'm -not going to risk a mix-up with the Harringtons or tip my hand till I'm -absolutely sure. It don't pay me to make big mistakes. You say Denby's -your friend, well, then, it'll be easy to find out. If you discover that -the necklace is in the tobacco-pouch, get him to go for a walk in the -garden; say you want to look at the moon, say anything, so long as you -get him into the garden where we'll be on the lookout and grab him." - -"But he might go out there alone," she suggested. - -"If he does," Taylor assured her, "we won't touch him, but if he comes -out there with you, we'll _know_." - -"But if I can't get him into the garden?" she urged. "Something may -happen to prevent me!" - -"If you're sure he has it on him," Taylor instructed her, "or if you -make out where it is concealed, pull down one of these window-shades. My -men and I can see these from the garden. When we get your signal we'll -come in and arrest him. Sure you understand?" - -"I'm to pull down the window-shade," she repeated. - -"That's it, but be careful, mind. Don't bring him out in the garden, -and don't signal unless you are absolutely certain." - -"Yes, yes," she said. - -"And under no circumstances," he commanded, "must you mention my name." - -"But," she argued, "suppose--" - -"There's no 'buts' and no 'supposes' in it," he said sharply. "It's most -important to the United States Government and to me, that my identity is -in no way disclosed." - -"It may be necessary," she persisted. - -"It _cannot_ be necessary," he said with an air of finality. "If it -comes to a show-down and you tell Denby I'm after him, I'll not only -swear I never saw you, but I'll put your sister in prison. Now, good -night, Miss Cartwright, and remember you've got something at stake, too, -so don't forget--Denby to-night." - -He went silently through the French windows and disappeared, leaving her -to face for the second time in a day an outlook that seemed hopeless. - -But she was not the only one in the great Harrington mansion to feel -that little zest was left in life. Monty was obsessed with the idea that -his friend's long delay was due to his having been held up. The -automobile lends itself admirably to highway robbery, and it would be -easy enough for armed robbers to overpower Denby and the chauffeur. - -Directly he heard Denby's voice talking to Lambart as he was shown into -his room, Monty burst in and wrung his hands again and again. - -"Why, Monty," his friend said, "you overpower me." - -"I thought you'd been held up and robbed," the younger man cried. - -"Neither one nor the other," Denby said cheerfully, "I was merely the -victim of two blow-outs. But," he added, looking keenly at his -confederate, "if I had been held up the pearls wouldn't have been taken. -I didn't happen to have them with me." - -"Thank God!" Monty cried fervently. "I wondered if that telegraphing to -people was just a ruse or not. Hooray, I feel I can eat and drink and be -merrier than I've been for a month. I never want to hear about them -again." - -"I'm sorry, old man," Denby said smiling, "but I shall have to ask you -for them." - -"Me?" Monty stammered. "Don't joke, Steve." - -"But you very kindly brought them over for me," Denby returned mildly. -"They're in the right-hand shoe of a pair of buckskin tennis shoes. I -put them there when I helped you to repack your trunk. Do you mind -bringing them before I've finished dressing?" - -Monty looked at him reproachfully. "Sometimes I think I ought to have -gone into the ministry. I'm getting a perfect horror of crime." - -"You're not a criminal," Denby said. "You helped me out on the voyage, -but here you are free to do as you like." - -Monty set his jaw firmly. "I'm in it with you, Steve, till you've got -the damned things where you want 'em, and you can't prevent me, either." - -When he brought the precious necklace back Denby calmly placed the pouch -in his pocket. "Thanks, old man," he said casually. "Now the fun -begins." - -"Fun!" Monty snorted. "Do you remember the classic remark of the frog -who was pelted by small mischievous boys? 'This may be the hell of a -joke to you,' said the frog, 'but it's death to me.'" - -"I've always been sorry for that frog," Denby commented. - -"But, man alive, you are the frog," Monty cried. - -"Oh, no," Denby returned, making a tie that had no likeness to a vast -butterfly. - -"Your frog hadn't a ghost of a chance, and he knew it, while with me -it's an even chance. One oughtn't to ask any more than that in these -hard times." - -He sauntered down the stairs cool and debonair to find Ethel Cartwright -still looking listlessly across the green lawns. - -"Those gentle chimes," he said, as the dinner-gong pealed out, "call the -faithful to dinner. I wish it were in Paris, don't you?" - -She pulled herself together and tried to smile as she had done before -Taylor had dashed all her joy to the ground. - -"Aren't you hungering for string-beans?" he asked, "and the hole in the -table-cloth, and the gay old moon? But after all, what do they matter -now? You're here, and I'm hungry." He offered her his arm. "Aren't you -hungry, too?" - - - - -CHAPTER NINE - - -Very much to Denby's disappointment he found that he was not to take -Ethel Cartwright in to dinner. Nora Rutledge fell to his lot, and -although she was witty and sparkling, she shared none of those happy -Parisian memories as did the girl his host had taken in. - -Plainly Nora was piqued. "I thought from what Monty told me you were -really interesting," she said. - -"One must never believe anything Monty says," he observed. "It's only -his air of innocence that makes people think him honest. His flirtations -on board ship were nothing short of scandalous and yet look at him now." - -And poor Monty, although to him had fallen the honor of taking in his -hostess, was paying no sort of attention to her sallies. - -Nora glanced at him and then looked up at Denby. "I'm really awfully -fond of Monty, and I'm worried--if you'll believe it--because he seems -upset. Monty," she called, "what's the matter with you, and what are you -thinking about?" - -"Frogs," he said promptly. - -"We'll have some to-morrow," Michael observed amiably. "They induce in -me a most remarkable thirst, so I keep off them on that account." - -"He's thinking," Denby reminded her, "of the old song, 'A frog he would -a-wooing go!' I've heard of you often enough, Miss Rutledge, from -Monty." - -"Well, I wish you'd started being confidential with the _hors -d'oeuvres_," she said, "instead of waiting until dessert. If you had, -by this time you'd probably have been really amusing." - -She rose at Mrs. Harrington's signal and followed her from the room. - -"What I can't see," observed she, "is why we didn't stay and have our -cigarettes with the men." - -"I always leave them together," Alice Harrington said with a laugh, -"because that's the way to get the newest naughty stories. Michael -always tells 'em to me later." - -"Alice!" cried Nora with mock reproof. - -"Oh, I like 'em," Alice declared, "when they're really funny, and so -does everybody else. Besides, nowadays it's improper to be proper. -Cigarette, Ethel?" - -Miss Cartwright shook her head. "You know I don't smoke," she returned. - -Nora lighted a cigarette unskilfully. "That's so old-fashioned," she -said, in her most sophisticated manner, "and I'd rather die than be -that." She coughed as she drew in a fragrant breath of Egyptian tobacco. -"I do wish, though, that I really enjoyed smoking." - -"What do you think of our new friend, Mr. Denby?" Alice asked of her. - -"I like him in spite of the fact that he hardly noticed me. He couldn't -take his eyes off Ethel." - -"I saw that myself," Mrs. Harrington returned. "You know, Ethel, I meant -him to take you in to dinner, but Nora insisted that she sit next to -him. She's such a man-hunter!" - -"You bet I am," the wise Nora admitted--"that's the only way you can get -'em." - -Mrs. Harrington turned to Ethel Cartwright. "Didn't you and Mr. Denby -have a tiny row? You hardly spoke to him through dinner." - -"Didn't I?" the girl answered. "I've a bit of a headache." - -"I'll bet they had a lovers' quarrel before dinner," Nora hazarded. - -Alice Harrington arched her eyebrows in surprise. "A lovers' quarrel!" - -"Certainly," Nora insisted. "I'm sure Ethel is in love with him." - -"How perfectly ridiculous," Ethel said, with a trace of embarrassment in -her manner. "Don't be so silly, Nora. I met him for a week in Paris, -that's all, and I found him interesting. He had big talk as well as -small, but as for love--please don't be idiotic!" - -"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," laughed her hostess. - -"I don't blame you, Ethel," Nora admitted frankly. "If he'd give me a -chance I'd fall for him in a minute, but attractive young men never -bother about me. The best I can draw is--Monty! I'm beginning to dislike -the whole sex." - -"Theoretically you are quite right, my dear," said the maturer Alice; -"men are awful things--God bless 'em--but practically, well, some day -you'll explode like a bottle of champagne and bubble all over some man." - -"Speaking of champagne," Nora said after a disbelieving gesture at the -prophecy, "I wish I had another of Michael's purple drinks. He's a -genius." - -"Do tell him that," the fond wife urged. "The very surest way to -Michael's heart is through his buffet. I knew he'd taken to mixing -cocktails in a graduated chemist's glass, but this excursion into the -chemistry of drinks is rather alarming. He would have been a most -conscientious bartender." - -"Does he really drink much?" Nora demanded. - -"Not when I'm at home," Alice declared. "Nothing after one. If he goes -to bed then he's all right; if he doesn't, he sits up till five going -the pace that fills. I wouldn't mind if it made him amusing, but it -makes him merely sleepy. But he doesn't drink nearly as much as most of -the men he knows. What makes you think he does, is that he makes such a -ceremony out of drinking. I don't think he enjoys drinking alone. Nora," -she added, "do sit down; you make me dizzy." - -"I can't," Nora told her. "I always stand up for twenty minutes after -each meal. It keeps you thin." - -"Does it?" Mrs. Harrington asked eagerly, rising from her comfortable -chair. "Does it really? Still, I lost nine pounds abroad!" - -"Goodness!" Nora cried enviously. "How?" - -"Buttermilk!" Alice cried triumphantly. - -"And I walked four miles this morning in a rubber suit and three -sweaters, _and_ gained half a pound," Nora declared disconsolately. - -"I do wish hips would come in again," Alice Harrington sighed. "Ah, here -come the men," she said more brightly, as the three entered. - -Michael was still bearing, with what modesty he could, the encomiums on -a purple punch he had brewed after exhaustive laboratory experiments. - -"It's delicious," Denby declared. - -Michael sighed. "I used to think so until my wife stopped my drinking." - -Even Monty seemed cheered by it. "Fine stuff," he asserted. "I can feel -it warming up all the little nooks and crannies." - -"Purple but pleasing," Denby said, with the air of an epigrammatist. - -"Did they tell you any purple stories?" Michael's wife demanded. - -"We don't know any new stories," Denby told her; "we've been in -England." - -"Do sit down, all of you," Alice commanded. "We've all been standing up -to get thin." - -"If they're going to discuss getting thin and dietetics," Michael said, -"let's get out." - -"Woman's favorite topic," Monty remarked profoundly. - -"But you mustn't sit down, Alice," Nora warned, as her hostess seemed -about to sink into her chair. "It isn't twenty minutes!" - -"Well, I think it is twenty minutes," she returned smiling, "and if it -isn't I don't care a continental." - -"Women are so self-denying," Michael Harrington observed with gentle -satire. - -"And sometimes it pays," his wife said. "Do you know, Nora, there was a -girl on the boat who lost twelve pounds." - -"Twelve pounds," Michael exclaimed, and then by a rapid-fire bit of -mental arithmetic added: "Why, that's sixty dollars. How women do gamble -nowadays!" - -"Pounds of flesh, Michael, pounds of flesh. She was on a diet. She -didn't eat for three days." - -"That's not a bad idea," Nora said approvingly. "Sometime when I'm not -hungry I'll try it." - -Ethel Cartwright had refrained from joining in the conversation for the -reason she had no part just now in their lighter moods. Their talk of -weight losing had been well enough, but Michael's misinterpretation of -the twelve pounds brought back to her the cause of Amy's misfortune and -plunged her deeper into misery. - -She walked toward the window and looked over the grass to the deep gloom -of the cedar trees opposite. And it seemed to her that there were moving -shadows that might be Taylor and his men ready to pounce upon a man to -whom a year ago she had been deeply drawn. There was a charm about Denby -when he set himself to please a woman to which she, although no blushing -ingénue, was keenly sensible. - -"Seeing ghosts?" said a voice at her elbow, and she turned, startled, -to see his smiling face looking down at her. - -She assumed a lighter air. "No," she told him brightly. "Ghosts belong -to the past. I was seeing spirits of the future." - -"Can't we see them together?" he suggested. "I shall never tire of -Parisian ghosts if you are there to keep me from being too scared. Let's -go out and see if the moon looks good-tempered. The others are talking -about smuggling and light and airy nothings like that. Shall we?" - -"No, no!" she said, with a tremor in her voice that did not escape him. -"Not yet; later, perhaps." - -She could, in fact, hardly compose her face. Here he was suggesting that -she take him into a trap to be prepared later by her treachery. But she -had what seemed to her a duty to perform, and no sentiment must stand in -the way of her sister's salvation. And there was always the hope that he -was innocent. At any other time than this she would have wagered he was -without blame; but this was a day on which misfortunes were visiting -her, and she was filled with dread as to its outcome. - -She moved over to Mrs. Harrington's side, gracefully and slowly, free so -far as the ordinary observer could see from any care. - -"So you are talking of smuggling," she said. "Alice, did you really -bring in anything without paying duty on it?" - -"Not a thing," Alice returned promptly. "I declared every solitary -stitch." - -"I'd like to believe you," her husband remarked, "but knowing you as I -do--" - -"I paid seven hundred dollars' duty," his spouse declared. - -"Disgusting!" Nora exclaimed. "Think of what you could have bought for -that!" - -"Please tell me," Michael inquired anxiously, "what mental revolution -converted you from the idea that smuggling was a legitimate and noble -sport?" - -"I still don't think it's wrong," Alice declared honestly. "Some of you -men seem to, but I'd swindle the government any day." - -"Then, for Heaven's sake," Nora wanted to know, "why waste all that good -money?" - -Alice waved a jewelled white hand toward Steven Denby. - -"Behold my reformer!" - -Ethel Cartwright looked at him quickly. Her distrust of motives was the -result of her conversation with Daniel Taylor, who believed in no man's -good faith. - -"Mr. Denby?" she asked, almost suspiciously. - -"What has Mr. Denby to do with it?" Nora cried, equally surprised that -it was his influence which had stayed the wilful Alice. - -"He frightened me," Alice averred. - -"I want to have a good look at the man who can do that," Michael cried. - -"I'm afraid Mrs. Harrington is exaggerating," Denby explained patiently; -"I merely pointed out that things had come to a pass when it might be -very awkward to fool with the Customs." - -"They didn't give us the least bit of trouble at the dock," she -answered. "I wish I'd brought in a trunk full of dutiable things. They -hardly looked at my belongings." - -"That sometimes means," Denby explained, "that there will be the -greatest possible trouble afterwards." - -"I don't see that," Nora asserted. "How can it be?" - -"Well," he returned, "according to some articles in McClure's a few -months ago by Burns, very often a dishonest official will let a -prominent woman like Mrs. Harrington slip through the lines without the -least difficulty--even if she is smuggling--so that afterwards he can -come to her home and threaten exposure and a heavy fine. Usually the -woman or her husband will pay any amount to hush things up. I was -thinking of that when I advised Mrs. Harrington to declare everything -she had." - -"But you said a whole lot more than that," Mrs. Harrington reminded him. -"When our baggage was being examined at Dover, you spoke about that man -of mystery who is known as R. J. It was cumulative, Mr. Denby, and on -the whole you did it rather well. My bank-book is a living witness to -your eloquence." - -Ethel asked rather eagerly, "But this R. J., Mr. Denby, what is he?" - -"I've heard of him," Michael answered. "Some man at the club told me -about him, but I very soon sized that matter up. If you want to know my -opinion, Ethel, R. J. is the bogey man of the Customs. If they suspect -an inspector he receives a postal signed R. J., and telling him to watch -out. It's a great scheme, which I recommend to the heads of big business -corporations. I don't believe in R. J." - -Ethel looked up at Denby brightly. "But you really believe in him, don't -you?" - -"I only know," he told her, "that R. J. has many enemies because he has -made many discoveries. Unquestionably he does exist for all Mr. -Harrington's unbelief. He's supposed to be one of these impossible -secret service agents, travelling incognito all over the globe. He is -known only by his initials. Some people call him the storm-petrol, -always in the wake of trouble. Where there is intrigue among nations, -diplomatic tangles, if the Japs steal a fortification plan, or a German -cross-country aeroplane is sent to drop a bomb on the Singer Building, -R.J. is supposed to be there to catch it." - -"What an awfully unpleasant position," Nora shuddered. - -"Think of a man deliberately choosing a job like that!" Monty commented. - -"So," Denby continued, "when a friend of mine in Paris told me that R.J. -had been requested by the government to investigate Customs frauds, I -knew there would be more danger in the smuggling game than ever. I -warned Mrs. Harrington because I did not want to see her humiliated by -exposure." - -"That's mighty good of you, Denby," Michael said appreciatively; "but -all the same I don't see how--supposing she had slipped in without any -fuss some stuff she had bought in Paris or London and ought to have -declared--I don't see how if they didn't know it, they could blackmail -her." - -"That's the simplest part of it," Denby assured him. "The clerk in the -kind of store your wife would patronize is most often a government spy, -unofficially, and directly after he has assured the purchaser that it -is so simple to smuggle, and one can hide things so easily, he has -cabled the United States Customs what you bought and how much it cost." - -"They do that?" said Michael indignantly. "I never did trust Frenchmen, -the sneaks. I've no doubt that the _heure de l'aperitif_ was introduced -by an American." - -Miss Cartwright had been watching Denby closely. There was forced upon -her the unhappy conviction that this explanation of the difficulties of -smuggling was in a sense his way of boasting of a difficulty he had -overcome. And she alone of all who were listening had the key to this. -It was imperative--for the dread of Taylor and his threats had eaten -into her soul--to gain more explicit information. Her manner was almost -coquettish as she asked him: - -"Tell me truly, Mr. Denby, didn't you smuggle something, just one tiny -little scarf-pin, for example?" - -"Nothing," he returned. "What makes you think I did?" - -"It seemed to me," she said boldly, "that your fear that Mrs. Harrington -might be caught was due to the fear suspicion might fall on you." - -Denby looked at her curiously. He had never seen Ethel Cartwright in -this mood. He wondered at what she was driving. - -"It does sound plausible," he admitted. - -"Then 'fess up," Michael urged. "Come on, Denby, what did you bring in?" - -"Myself and Monty," Denby returned, "and he isn't dutiable. All the -smuggling that our party did was performed by Monty out of regard for -you." - -"I still remain unconvinced," Ethel Cartwright declared obstinately. "I -think it was two thoughts for yourself and one for Alice." - -"Now, Denby," Michael cried jocularly, "you're among friends. Where have -you hidden the swag?" - -"Do tell us," Nora entreated. "It'd be so nice if you were a criminal -and had your picture in the rogues' gallery. The only criminals I know -are those who just run over people in their motors, and that gets so -commonplace. Do tell us how you started on a life of crime." - -"Nora!" Monty cried reprovingly. Things were increasing his nervousness -to a horrible extent. Why wouldn't they leave smuggling alone? - -"I'm not interested in your endeavors," Nora said superciliously. -"You're only a sort of petty larceny smuggler with your silver -hair-brushes. Mr. Denby does things on a bigger scale. You're safe with -us, Mr. Denby," she reminded him. - -"I know," he answered, "so safe that if I had any dark secrets to reveal -I'd proclaim them with a loud voice." - -"That's always the way," Nora complained. "Every time I meet a man who -seems exciting he turns out to be just a nice man--I hate nice men." She -crossed over to the agitated Monty. - -"Mr. Denby is a great disappointment to me, too," Ethel Cartwright -confessed. "Couldn't you invent a new way to smuggle?" - -"It wasn't for lack of inventive powers," he assured her, "it was just -respect for the law." - -"I didn't know we had any left in America," Michael observed, and then -added, "but then you've lived a lot abroad, Denby." - -"Mr. Denby must be rewarded with a cigarette," Ethel declared, bringing -the silver box from the mantel and offering him one. "A cigarette, Mr. -Denby?" - -"Thanks, no," he answered, "I prefer to roll my own if you don't mind." - -It seemed that the operation of rolling a cigarette was amazingly -interesting to the girl. Her eager eyes fastened themselves intently on -a worn pigskin pouch he carried. - -"Can't you do it with one hand?" she asked disappointedly; "just like -cowboys do in plays?" - -"It seems I'm doomed to disappoint you," he smiled. "I find two hands -barely sufficient." - -"Sometime you must roll me one," she said. "Will you?" - -"With pleasure," he returned, lighting his own. - -"But you don't smoke," Alice objected. - -"Ah, but I've been tempted," she confessed archly. - -"The only thing that makes my life worth living is yielding to -temptation," Nora observed. - -"That's not a bad idea," Michael said rising. "I'm tempted to take a -small drink. Who'll yield with me and split a pint of Brut Imperial?" - -"That's your last drink to-night," his wife warned him. - -"I'm not likely to forget it," he said ruefully. "My wife," he told the -company, "thinks I'm a restaurant, and closes me up at one sharp." - -"Let's have some bridge," Mrs. Harrington suggested. "Ethel, what do you -say?" - -"I've given it up," she answered. - -"Why, you used to love it," Nora asserted, surprised. - -"I've come to think all playing for money is horrible," Ethel returned, -thinking to what trouble Amy's gambling had brought her. - -"Me too," Michael chimed in. "Unless stocks go up, or the Democratic -party goes down, I'll be broke soon. How about a game of pool?" - -"I'd love to," Nora said. "I've been dying to learn." - -"That'll make it a nice interesting game," Monty commented. He knew he -could never make a decent shot until the confounded necklace was miles -away. - -"Then there's nothing else to do but dance," Alice decreed. "Come, -Nora." - -"No," Michael cried, "I'll play pool or auction or poker, I'll sit or -talk or sing, but I'm hanged if I hesitate and get lost, or maxixe!" - -Alice shook her head mournfully. "Ah, Michael," she said, "if you were -only as light-footed as you are light-headed, what a partner you'd make. -We are going to dance anyway." - -Ethel hesitated at the doorway. "Aren't you dancing or playing pool, Mr. -Denby?" - -"In just a moment," he said. "First I have a word to say to Monty." - -"I understand," she returned. "Man's god--business! Men use that excuse -over the very littlest things sometimes." - -"But this is a big thing," he asserted; "a two hundred thousand dollar -proposition, so we're naturally a bit anxious." - -Monty shook his head gravely. "Mighty anxious, believe me." - -Whatever hope she might have cherished that Taylor was wrong, and this -man she liked so much was innocent, faded when she heard the figure two -hundred thousand dollars. That was the amount of the necklace's value, -exactly. And she had wondered at Monty's strained, nervous manner. Now -it became very clear that he was Denby's accomplice, dreading, and -perhaps knowing as well as she, that the house was surrounded. - -She told herself that the law was just, and those who disobeyed were -guilty and should be punished; and that she was an instrument, -impersonal, and as such, without blame. But uppermost in her mind was -the thought of black treachery, of mean intriguing ways, and the -certainty that this night would see the end of her friendship with the -man she had sworn to deliver to the ruthless, cruel, insatiable Taylor. -It was, as Taylor told her, a question of deciding between two people. -She could help, indirectly, to convict a clever smuggler, or she could -send her weak, dependent, innocent eighteen-year-old sister to jail. And -she had said to Taylor: "I have no choice." - -Denby looked at her a little puzzled. In Paris, a year ago, she had -seemed a sweet, natural girl, armed with a certain dignity that would -not permit men to become too friendly on short acquaintance. And here it -seemed that she was almost trying to flirt with him in a wholly -different way. He was not sure that her other manner was not more in -keeping with the ideal he had held of her since that first meeting. - -"I should be anxious, too," she said, "if I had all that money at stake. -But all the same, don't be too long. I think I may ask you for that -cigarette presently." - - - - -CHAPTER TEN - - -Denby stood looking after her. "Bully, bully girl," he muttered. - -"Anything wrong, Steve?" Monty inquired, not catching what he said. - -Denby turned to the speaker slowly; his thoughts had been more -pleasantly engaged. - -"I don't understand why they haven't done anything," he answered. "I'm -certain we were followed at the dock. When I went to send those -telegrams I saw a man who seemed very much disinterested, but kept near -me. I saw him again when we had our second blow-out near Jamaica. It -might have been a coincidence, but I'm inclined to think they've marked -us down." - -"I don't believe it," Monty cried. "If they had the least idea about the -necklace, they'd have pinched you at the pier, or got you on the road -when it was only you and the chauffeur against their men." - -Still Denby seemed dubious. "They let me in too dashed easily," he -complained, "and I can't help being suspicious." - -"They seemed to suspect me," Monty reminded him. - -"The fellow thought you were laughing at him, that's all. They've no -sense of humor," Denby returned. "What I said to-night was no fiction, -Monty. Cartier's may have tipped the Customs after all." - -"But you paid Harlow a thousand dollars," Monty declared. - -"He wasn't the only one to know I had bought the pearls, though," Denby -observed thoughtfully. "It looks fishy to me. They may have some new -wrinkles in the Customs." - -"That damned R. J.," Monty said viciously, "I'd like to strangle him." - -"It would make things easier," Denby allowed. - -"All the same," Monty remarked, "I think we've both been too fidgety." - -"Dear old Monty," his friend said, smiling, "if you knew the game as I -do, and had hunted men and been hunted by them as I have, you'd not -blame me for being a little uneasy now." - -With apprehension Monty watched him advance swiftly toward the switch on -the centre wall by the window. "Get over by that window," he commanded, -and Monty hurriedly obeyed him. Then he turned off the lights, leaving -the room only faintly illuminated by the moonlight coming through the -French windows. - -"What the devil's up?" Monty asked excitedly. - -"Is there anyone there on the lawn?" - -Monty peered anxiously through the glass. "No," he whispered, and then -added: "Yes, there's a man over there by the big oak. By Jove, there -is!" - -"What's he doing?" the other demanded. - -"Just standing and looking over this way." - -"He's detailed to watch the house. Anybody else with him?" - -"Not that I can see." - -"Come away, Monty," Denby called softly, and when his friend was away -from observation, he switched on the light again. "Now," he asked, "do -you believe that we were followed?" - -"The chills are running down my spine," Monty confessed. "Gee, Steve, I -hope it won't come to a gun fight." - -"They won't touch you," Denby said comfortingly; "they want me." - -"I don't know," Monty said doubtfully. "They'll shoot first, and then -ask which is you." - -Denby was unperturbed. "I think we've both been too fidgety," he -quoted. - -"But why don't they come in?" Monty asked apprehensively. - -"They're staying out there to keep us prisoners," he was told. - -"Then I hope they'll stop there," Monty exclaimed fervently. - -"I can't help thinking," Denby said, knitting his brows, "that they've -got someone in here on the inside, working under cover to try to get the -necklace. What do you know about the butler, Lambart? Is he a new man?" - -"Lord, no," Monty assured him. "He has been with Michael five years, and -worships him. You'd distress Lambart immeasurably if you even hinted -he'd ever handed a plate to a smuggler." - -"We've got to find out who it is," Denby said decidedly, "and then, -Monty, we'll have some sport." - -"Then we'll have some shooting," Monty returned in disgust. "Where is -that confounded necklace anyway? Is Michael carrying it around without -knowing it?" - -"Still in my pouch," Denby returned. - -As he said this, Miss Cartwright very gently opened a door toward which -his back was turned. Terrified at the thought of Taylor's possible -intrusion, she had been spurred to some sort of action, and had -sauntered back to the big hall with the hope of overhearing something -that would aid her. - -"I know they mean business," she heard Denby say, "and this is going to -be a fight, Monty, and a fight to a finish." - -The thought that there might presently be scenes of violence enacted in -the hospitable Harrington home, scenes in which she had a definite rôle -to play, which might lead even to the death of Denby as it certainly -must lead to his disgrace, drove her nearly to hysteria. Taylor had -inspired her with a great horror, and at the same time a great respect -for his power and courage. She did not see how a man like Steven Denby -could win in a contest between himself and the brutal deputy-surveyor. -"Oh," she sighed, "if they were differently placed! If Steven stood for -the law and Taylor for crime!" - -Everything favored Taylor, it seemed to her. Denby was alone except for -Monty's faltering aid, while the other had his men at hand and, above -all, the protection of the law. It was impossible to regard Taylor as -anything other than a victor making war on men or women and moved by -nothing to pity. What other man than he would have tortured her poor -little sister, she wondered. - -To a woman used through the exigencies of circumstances to making her -living in a business world where competition brought with it rivalries, -trickeries and jealousies, the ordeal to be faced would have been almost -overwhelming. - -But the Cartwrights had lived a sheltered life, the typical happy family -life where there is wealth, and none until to-day had ever dared to -speak to Ethel as Taylor had done. She was almost frantic with the -knowledge that she must play the spy, the eavesdropper, perhaps the -Delilah among people who trusted her. - -As she was debating what next to do, she heard Monty's voice as it -seemed to her fraught with excitement and eager and quick. - -"Will you have a cigarette, Dick?" she heard him call. Instantly Steven -Denby wheeled about and faced the door through which she appeared to -saunter languidly. Something told her that Monty had discovered her. - -"Still talking business?" she said, attempting to appear wholly at ease. -"I've left my fan somewhere." - -"Girls are always doing that, aren't they?" Denby said pleasantly. There -was no indication from his tone that he suspected she had been -listening. "We'll have to find it, Monty." - -"Sure, Steve, sure," Monty returned. He was not able to cloak his -uneasiness. - -"Steve?" the girl queried brightly. "As I came in, I thought I heard you -call him 'Dick.'" - -"That was our private signal," Denby returned promptly, relieving poor -Monty of an answer. - -"That sounds rather mysterious," she commented. - -"But it's only commonplace," Denby assured her. "My favorite parlor -trick is making breaks--it always has been since Monty first knew -me--and invented a signal to warn me when I'm on thin ice or dangerous -ground. 'Will you have a cigarette, Dick' is the one he most often -uses." - -"But why 'Dick?'" she asked. - -"That's the signal," Denby explained. "If he said 'Steve,' I shouldn't -notice it, so he always says 'Dick,' don't you, Monty?" - -"Always, Steve," Monty answered quickly. - -"Then you were about to make a break when I came in?" she hinted. - -"I'm afraid I was," Denby admitted. - -"What was it? Won't you tell me?" - -"If I did," he said, "it would indeed be a break." - -"Discreet man," she laughed; "I believe you were talking about me." - -He did not answer for a moment but looked at her keenly. It hurt him to -think that this girl, of all others, might be fencing with him to gain -some knowledge of his secret. But he had lived a life in which danger -was a constant element, and women ere this had sought to baffle him and -betray. - -He was cautious in his answer. - -"You are imaginative," he said, "even about your fan. There doesn't seem -to be a trace of it, and I don't think I remember your having one." - -"Perhaps I didn't bring it down," she admitted, "and it may be in my -room after all. May I have that promised cigarette to cheer me on my -way?" - -"Surely," he replied. Very eagerly she watched him take the pouch from -his pocket and roll a cigarette. - -Her action seemed to set Monty on edge. Suppose Denby by any chance -dropped the pouch and the jewels fell out. It seemed to him that she was -drawing nearer. Suppose she was the one who had been chosen to "work -inside" and snatched it from him? - -"Miss Cartwright," he said, and noted that she seemed startled at his -voice, "can't I get your fan for you?" - -"No, thanks," she returned, "you'd have to rummage, and that's a -privilege I reserve only for myself." - -"Here you are," Denby broke in, handing her the slim white cigarette. - -She took it from him with a smile and moistened the edge of the paper as -she had seen men do often enough. "You are an expert," she said -admiringly. - -He said no word but lighted a match and held it for her. She drew a -breath of tobacco and half concealed a cough. It was plain to see that -she was making a struggle to enjoy it, and plainer for the men to note -that she failed. - -"What deliciously mild tobacco you smoke," she cried. Suddenly she -stretched out her hand for the pouch. "Do let me see." - -But Denby did not pass it to her. He looked her straight in the eyes. - -"I don't think a look at it would help you much," he said slowly. "The -name is, in case you ever want to get any, 'without fire.'" - -"What an odd name," she cried. "Without fire?" - -"Yes," he answered. "You see, no smoke without fire." Without any -appearance of haste he put the pouch back in his pocket. - -"You don't believe in that old phrase?" - -"Not a bit," he told her. "Do you?" - -She turned to ascend the stairs to her room. - -"No. Do make another break sometime, won't you--Dick?" - -[Illustration: "DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON'T YOU--DICK?" _Page -186_.] - -"I most probably shall," he retorted, "unless Monty warns me--or you." - -She turned back--she was now on the first turn of the staircase. "I'll -never do that. I'd rather like to see you put your foot in it--you seem -so very sure of yourself--Steve." She laughed lightly as she -disappeared. - -Monty gripped his friend's arm tightly. "Who is that girl?" - -"Why, Ethel Cartwright," he rejoined, "a close friend of our hostess. -Why ask me?" - -"Yes, yes," Monty said impatiently, "but what do you know about her?" - -"Nothing except that she's a corker." - -"You met her in Paris, didn't you?" Monty was persistent. - -"Yes," his friend admitted. - -"What was she doing there?" - -Denby frowned. "What on earth are you driving at?" - -"She was behind that door listening to us or trying to." - -"So you thought that, too?" Denby cried quickly. - -"Then you do suspect her of being the one they've got to work on the -inside?" Monty retorted triumphantly. - -"It can't be possible," Denby exclaimed, fighting to retain his faith in -her. "You're dead wrong, old man. I won't believe it for a moment." - -"Say, Steve," Monty cried, a light breaking in on him, "you're sweet on -her." - -"It isn't possible, it isn't even probable," said Denby, taking no -notice of his suggestion. - -"But the same idea occurred to you as did to me," Monty persisted. - -"I know," Denby admitted reluctantly. "I began to be suspicious when she -wanted to get hold of the pouch. You saw how mighty interested she was -in it?" - -"That's what startled me so," Monty told him. "But how could she know?" - -"They've had a tip," Denby said, with an air of certainty, "and if she's -one of 'em, she knows where the necklace was. Wouldn't it be just my -rotten luck to have that girl, of all girls I've ever known, mixed up in -this?" - -"Old man," Monty said solemnly, "you are in love with her." - -Denby looked toward the stairway by which he had seen her go. - -"I know I am," he groaned. - -"Oughtn't we to find out whether she's the one who's after you or not?" -Monty suggested with sound good sense. - -"No, we oughtn't," Denby returned. "I won't insult her by trying to trap -her." - -"Flub-dub," Monty scoffed. "I suspect her, and it's only fair to her to -clear her of that suspicion. If she's all right, I shall be darn glad of -it. If she isn't, wouldn't you rather know?" - -For the first time since he had met his old school friend in Paris, -Monty saw him depressed and anxious. "I don't want to have to fight -her," he explained. - -"I understand that," Monty went on relentlessly, "but you can't quit -now--you've got to go through with it, not only for your own sake, but -in fairness to the Harringtons. It would be a pretty raw deal to give -them to have an exposé like that here just because of your refusal to -have her tested." - -"I suppose you're right," Denby sighed. - -"Of course I am," Monty exclaimed. - -"Very well," his friend said, "understand I'm only doing this to prove -how absolutely wrong you are." - -He would not admit even yet that she was plotting to betray him. Those -memories of Paris were dearer to him than he had allowed himself to -believe. Monty looked at him commiseratingly. He had never before seen -Steven in trouble, and he judged his wound to be deeper than it seemed. - -"Sure," he said. "Sure, I know, and I'll be as glad as you to find after -all it's Lambart or one of the other servants. What shall we do?" - -Denby pointed to the door from which Miss Cartwright had come. "Go in -there," he commanded, "and keep the rest of the people from coming back -here." - -Monty's face fell. "How can I do that?" he asked anxiously. - -"Oh, recite, make faces, imitate Irving in 'The Bells,' do anything but -threaten to sing, but keep 'em there as you love me." - -Obediently Monty made for the door but stopped for a moment before -passing through it. - -"And say, old man," he said a little hurriedly, nervous as most men are -when they deal with sentiment, "don't take it too hard. Just remember -what happened to Samson and Antony and Adam." - - - - -CHAPTER ELEVEN - - -When Monty had gone, Denby took out the pouch and placed it -conspicuously on the floor so that anyone descending the stairs must -inevitably catch sight of it. Then, as though thinking better of it, he -picked it up and placed it on one of the small tables on which was an -electric shaded lamp. After looking about him for a hiding-place from -which he could command a view of it and yet remain undiscovered, he -decided upon a door at the left of the hall. - -He had waited there only a few seconds when Ethel Cartwright's steps -were heard descending. - -"Oh, Mr. Denby," she called, "you were right, the fan was in my room -after all." Then, as she became conscious that the room was empty, she -paused and looked about her closely. Presently her eyes fell on the -precious pouch so carelessly left. For a moment the excitement bereft -her of ability to move. Here, only a few yards from her, was what would -earn her sister's safety and her release from Taylor's power. - -But she was no fool and collecting her thoughts wondered how it was -possible so precious a thing could be left open to view. Perhaps it was -a trap. Perhaps in the big hall behind one of its many doors or -portières she was even now being watched. Denby had looked at her in a -stern, odd manner, wholly different from his former way and Mr. Vaughan, -of whom she had heard often enough as a pleasant, amiable fellow, had -stared at her searchingly and harshly. An instinct of danger came to her -aid and she glanced over to the door behind her which was slightly ajar. -She remembered certainly that it was closed when she had gone upstairs -for her supposititious fan. - -As calmly as she could she walked to the wall and touched the bell that -would summon a servant. In a few seconds Lambart entered. - -"Please find Mr. Denby," she said, "and say that I am here." - -Before he could turn to go, she affected to discover the leathern pouch. - -"Oh, Lambart," she exclaimed, "here's Mr. Denby's tobacco; he must have -forgotten it." - -The man took up the pouch, assuming from her manner that she desired him -to carry it to the owner. "No, I'll take it," she said, and reached for -it. Lambart only saw what was to him an inexcusably clumsy gesture which -dislodged it from his hand and sent it to the floor, in such a manner -that it opened and the tobacco tumbled out. But the girl's gesture was -cleverer than he knew for in that brief moment she had satisfied herself -it was empty. - -"Oh, Lambart," she said reprovingly, "how careless of you! Have you -spilt it all?" - -Lambart examined its interior with a butler's gravity. - -"I'm afraid I have, miss," he admitted. - -"I think Mr. Denby went into the library," she said, knowing that the -door behind which someone--probably he--was hiding, led to that room. - -Hearing her, Denby knew he must not be discovered and retreated through -the empty library into a small smoking-room into which Lambart did not -penetrate. The man returned to Miss Cartwright, his errand -unaccomplished. "Mr. Denby is not there," he said. - -"Then I will give him the pouch when I see him," she said, "and, -Lambart, you need not tell him I am here." - -As soon as he was gone, she ran to the window, her face no longer -strained but almost joyous, and when she was assured that none watched -her, lowered the curtain as a signal. - -Taylor must have been close at hand, so promptly did he respond to her -summons. - -"Well, have you got him?" he cried sharply as he entered. "Where is -he--where's the necklace?" - -"You were wrong," she said triumphantly, "there is no necklace. I knew I -was right." - -"You're crazy," he retorted brutally. - -"You said it was in the tobacco-pouch," she reminded him, "and I've -searched and it isn't there at all." - -"You're trying to protect him," Taylor snarled. "You're stuck on him, -but you can't lie to me and get away with it." - -"No, no, no," she protested. "Look, here's the very pouch, and there's -no necklace in it." - -"How did you get hold of it?" he snapped. - -It was a moment of bitter failure for the deputy-surveyor. The sign for -which he had waited patiently, and eagerly, too, despite his impassive -face, was, after all, nothing but a token of disappointment. He had -hoped, now that events had given him a hold over Miss Cartwright, to -find her well-fitted for a sort of work that would have been peculiarly -useful to his service. But her ready credulity in another man's honesty -proved one of two things. Either that she lacked the intuitive knowledge -to be a useful tool or else that she was deliberately trying to deceive -him. But none had seen Daniel Taylor show that he realized himself in -danger of being beaten. - -"He left it lying on the table," she assured him eagerly. - -Taylor's sneer was not pleasant to see. - -"Oh, he left it on the table, did he?" he scoffed. "Well, of course -there's no necklace in it then. Don't you see you've let him suspect -you, and he's just trying to bluff you." - -"It isn't that," she asserted. "He hasn't got it, I tell you." - -"I know he has," the implacable Taylor retorted, "and you've got to find -out this very night where it is. You'll probably have to search his -room." - -She shrank back at the very thought of it. "I couldn't," she cried. "Oh, -I couldn't!" - -"Yes you could, and you will," he said, in his truculent tone. "And if -you land him, use the same signal, pull down the shade in his room. -We'll be watching, and I've found a way to get there from the balcony." - -"I can't," the girl cried in desperation. "I've done what you asked. I -won't try to trap an innocent man." - -He looked at her threateningly. "Oh, you won't, eh? Well, you will. I've -been pretty nice to you, but I'm sick of it. You'll go through for me, -and you'll go through right. I've had your sister followed--see here, -look at this--" He showed her the fake warrant Duncan had prepared at -his bidding. "This is a warrant for her arrest, and unless you land that -necklace to-night, she'll be in the Tombs in the morning." - -"Not that, not that?" she begged, covering her face with her hands. - -"It's up to you," he retorted, a smile of satisfaction lighting up his -face. He could see that he would be able to hold Amy's warrant over her -head whenever he chose. She was beaten. - -"But what can I do?" she said piteously. "What can I do?" - -"I'll tell you," he said less harshly, "you're a good-looking girl; -well, make use of your good looks--get around him, jolly him, get him -stuck on you. Make him take you into his confidence. He'll fall for it. -The wisest guys are easy when you know the way." - -"Very well," she said, brightening. It seemed to her that no better way -could be devised than to convince Taylor he was wrong. "I will get -around him; I will get his confidence. I'll prove it to you, and I'll -save him." - -"But you don't have to give him your confidence, remember," Taylor -warned her. "Don't give him the least tip-off, understand. If you can -get him out in the garden, I'll take a chance he has the necklace on -him. We'll nail him there. And don't forget," he added significantly, -"that I've got a little document here with your sister's name on it. -There's somebody coming," he whispered, and silently let himself out -into the garden. - -It was Denby who came in. "Hello," he said, "not dancing, then?" - -"Hello," she said, in answer to his greeting. "I don't like dancing in -August." - -"I'm fortunate to find you alone," he said. "You can't imagine how -delightful it is to see you again." - -Her manner was particularly charming, he thought, and it gave him a pang -when a suspicion of its cause passed over his mind. There had been other -women who had sought to wheedle from him secrets that other men desired -to know, but they were other women--and this was Ethel Cartwright. - -"You don't look as though it is," she said provocatively. - -He made an effort to appear as light-hearted as she. - -"But I am," he assured her. "It is delightful to see you again." - -"It's no more delightful than for me to see you," she returned. - -"Really?" he returned. "Isn't it curious that when you like people you -may not see them for a year, but when you do, you begin just where you -left off." - -"Where did we leave off?" she demanded with a smile. - -"Why--in Paris," he said with a trace of embarrassment. "You don't want -to forget our Paris, I hope?" - -"Never," she cried, enthusiastically. "It was there we found that we -really were congenial. We are, aren't we?" - -"Congenial?" he repeated. "We're more than that--we're--" - -She interrupted him. "And yet, somehow, you've changed a lot since -Paris." - -"For better or for worse?" he asked. - -She shook her head. "For worse." - -He looked at her reproachfully. "Oh, come now, Miss Cartwright, be -fair!" - -"In Paris you used to trust me," she said. - -"And you think I don't now?" he returned. - -"I'm quite sure you don't," she told him. - -"Why do you say that?" Denby inquired. - -"There are lots of things," she answered. "One is that when I asked you -why you were here in America, you put me off with some playful excuse -about being just an idler." She looked at him with a vivacious air. - -"Now didn't you really come over on an important mission?" - -Poor Denby, who had been telling himself that Monty's suspicions were -without justification, and that this girl's good faith could not be -doubted even if several circumstances were beyond his power to explain, -groaned inwardly. Here she was, trying, he felt certain, to gain his -confidence to satisfy the men who were even now investing the house. - -But he was far from giving in yet. How could she, one of Vernon -Cartwright's daughters, reared in an atmosphere wholly different from -this sordid business, be engaged in trying to betray him? - -"Well," he said, "suppose I did come over on something more than -pleasure, what do you want to know concerning it? And why do you want to -know?" - -"Shall we say feminine curiosity?" she returned. - -He shook his head. "I think not. There must be something more vital than -a mere whim." - -"Perhaps there is," she conceded, leaning forward, "I want us to be -friends, really good friends; I regard it as a test of friendship. Why -won't you tell me?" - -He shrugged his shoulders. "Shall we say man's intuition? Oh, I know -it's not supposed to be as good as a woman's, but sometimes it's much -more accurate." - -"So you can't trust me?" she said, steadily trying to read his thoughts. - -"Can I?" he asked, gazing back at her just as steadily. - -"Don't you think you can?" she fenced adroitly. - -"If you do," he said meaningly. - -"But aren't we friends," she asked him, "pledged that night under the -moon in the Bois? You see I, too, have memories of Paris." - -"Then you put it," he said quietly, "to a test of friendship." - -"Yes," she answered readily. - -He thought for a moment. Well, here was the opportunity to find out -whether Monty was right or whether the woman he cared for was merely a -spy set upon him, a woman whose kindnesses and smiles were part of her -training. - -"Very well," he said, "then so do I. You are right. I did not come to -America idly--I came to smuggle a necklace of pearls through the -Customs. I did it to-day." - -The girl rose from her seat by the little table where she had sat facing -him and looked at him, all the brightness gone from her face. - -"You didn't, you didn't!" - -"I did," he assured her. - -She turned her face away from him. "Oh, I'm sorry," she wailed. "I'm -sorry." - -Denby looked at her keenly. He was puzzled at the manner in which she -took it. - -"But I fooled 'em," he boasted. - -She looked about her nervously as though she feared Taylor might have -listened to his frank admission and be ready to spring upon them. - -"You can't tell that," she said in a lower-keyed voice. "How can you be -sure they didn't suspect?" - -"Because I'm comfortably settled here, and there are no detectives after -me. And if there were," he confided in her triumphantly, "they'd never -suspect I carry the necklace in my tobacco-pouch." - -"But your pouch was empty," she cried. - -"How do you know that?" he demanded quickly. - -"I was here when Lambart spilt it," she explained hastily. "There it is -on the mantel, I meant to have given it to you." - -"I don't need it," he said, taking one similar in shape and color from -his pocket. - -"Two pouches!" she cried aghast. "Two?" - -"An unnecessary precaution," he said carelessly, "one would have done; -as it is they haven't suspected me a bit." - -"You can't be certain of that," she insisted. "If they found out they'd -put you in prison." - -"And would you care?" he demanded. - -"Why, of course I would," she responded. "Aren't we friends?" - -He had that same steady look in his eyes as he asked: "Are we?" - -It was a gaze she could not bring herself to meet. Assuredly, she -groaned, she was not of the stuff from which the successful adventuress -was made. - -"Of course," she murmured in reply. "But what are you going to do?" - -"I've made my plans," he told her. "I've been very careful. I've given -my confidence to two people only, both of whom I trust absolutely--Monty -Vaughan and"--he looked keenly at her,--"and you. I shan't be caught. I -won't give in, and I'll stop at nothing, no matter what it costs, or -whom it hurts. I've got to win." - -It seemed to him she made an ejaculation of distress. "What is it?" he -cried. - -"Nothing much," she said nervously, "it's the heat, I suppose. That's -why I wouldn't dance, you know. Won't you take me into the garden and -we'll look at the moon--it's the same moon," she said, with a desperate -air of trying to conceal from him her agitation, "that shines in Paris. -It's gorgeous," she added, looking across the room where no moon was. - -"Surely," he said. "It is rather stuffy indoors on a night like this." -He moved leisurely over to the French windows. But she called him back. -She was not yet keyed up to this supreme act of treachery. - -"No, no," she called again, "don't let's go, after all." - -"Why not?" he demanded, bewildered at her fitful mood. - -"I don't know," she said helplessly. "But let's stay here. I'm nervous, -I think." - -"Nonsense," he said cheerily, trying to brace her up. "The moon is a -great soother of nerves, and a friendly old chap, too. What is it?" he -asked curiously. "You're miles away from here, but I don't think you're -in Paris, either. It's your turn to tell me something. Where are you?" - -He could not guess that her thoughts were in her home, where her poor, -gentle, semi-invalid mother was probably now worrying over the sudden -mood of depression which had fallen upon her younger girl. And it would -be impossible for him to understand the threat of prison and disgrace -which was even now hanging over Amy Cartwright's head. - -"I was thinking of my sister," she told him slowly. "Come, let's go." - -Before he could unfasten the French windows there was a sound of running -feet outside, and Monty's nervous face was seen looking in. Nora, -breathless, was hanging on to his arm. - -Quickly Denby opened the doors and let the two in, and then shut the -doors again. "What is it?" he demanded quickly. - -"Don't go out there, Steve," Monty cried, when he could get breath -enough to speak. - -"Why, what is it?" Ethel Cartwright asked nervously. - -"Nora and I went for a walk in the garden, and suddenly two men jumped -out on us from behind the pagoda. They had almost grabbed us when one -man shouted to the other fellow, 'We're wrong,' and Nora screamed and -ran like the very devil, and I had to run after her of course." - -"It was dreadful," said Nora gasping. - -"What's dreadful?" Alice Harrington demanded, coming on the scene -followed by her husband. They had been disturbed by Nora's screams. - -"Won't someone please explain?" Michael asked anxiously. - -"It was frightful," Nora cried. - -"Let me tell it," Monty protested. - -"You'll get it all wrong," his companion asserted. "I wasn't half as -scared as you." - -"I was talking to Nora," Monty explained, "and suddenly from the -shrubbery--" - -"Somebody stepped right out," Nora added. - -"One at a time," Michael admonished them, "one at a time, please." - -"Why, you see, Monty and I went for a walk in the garden," Nora began-- - -"And two men jumped out and started for us," Monty broke in. - -"Great Scott," Michael cried, indignant that the privacy of his own -estate should be invaded, "and here, too!" - -"What did you do?" Alice asked eagerly. - -"I just screamed and they ran away," Nora told her a little proudly. -"Wasn't it exciting?" she added, drawing a deep breath. "Just like a -book!" - -"Michael," his wife said, shocked, "they might have been killed." - -"What they need is a drink," he said impressively; "I'll ring for some -brandy." - -"I'd be all right," Monty stated emphatically, "if I could get one long -breath." - -"You do look a bit shaken, old man," Denby said sympathetically. "What -you need is a comforting smoke. You left a pipe on the table in my room. -Take my tobacco and light up." - -Monty looked at the pigskin pouch as his friend handed it to him. "Gee!" -he said, regarding it as one might a poisonous reptile, "I don't want -that." - -"That's all right," Denby said. "I can spare it. And when you're through -with it, drop it in the drawer of the writing-table, will you? I always -like to make myself one for coffee in the morning. I've smoked enough -to-night." - -By this time Monty understood what was required of him. He took the -pouch respectfully and crossed toward the stairs. "I'll leave it in the -drawer," he called out as he ascended the stairs. - -Michael had been looking through the glass doors with a pair of -binoculars. "I see nothing," he declared. - -"But suppose they come back later, and break in here at night?" Alice -cried. - -"I shall organize the household servants and place Lambart at their -head," he said gravely. "He is an excellent shot. Then there are three -able-bodied men here, so that we are prepared." - -"I'm sure you needn't take any such elaborate precautions," Denby told -him. "No men, after once warning us, would break in here with so many -servants. I imagine they were a couple of tramps who were attracted by -Miss Rutledge's rings and thought they could make a quick getaway." - -"This is a lesson to me to provide myself with a couple of Airedales," -Michael asserted. "Things are coming to a pretty pass when one invites -one's friends to come down to a week-end party and get robbed. It's -worse than a hotel on the Riviera." - -"Well, they didn't get anything," Nora cried. "You should have seen me -run. I believe I flew, and I do believe I've lost weight!" - -"But oughtn't I to go out and see?" Michael asked a little weakly. - -"Certainly not," Alice commanded him firmly. "I can imagine nothing more -useless than a dead husband." - -He took her hand affectionately. "How right you are," he murmured -gratefully. "I think, though, I ought to ask the police to keep a sharp -watch." - -"That's sensible," his wife agreed. "Go and telephone." - -"Goodness," Nora cried suddenly, "I haven't any rings on. I must have -left them on my dressing-table." - -Alice looked alarmed. "And I left all sorts of things on mine. Let's go -up together. And you, Ethel, have you left anything valuable about?" - -"There's nothing worth taking," the girl answered. - -"You look frightened to death, child," Mrs. Harrington exclaimed, as she -was passing her. - -Ethel sat down on the fender seat with a smile of assurance. "Oh, not a -bit," she said. "There are three strong men to protect us, remember." - -"Yes--two men and Michael," her hostess laughed, passing up the stairway -out of view. - -"The moon is still there, Miss Cartwright," Denby observed quietly. -"Surely you are not tired of moons yet?" - -"But those men out there," she protested. - -"I'm sure they weren't after me," he returned. "They wouldn't wait in -the garden, and even if they are detectives, they wouldn't get the -necklace, it's safe--now." - -Ethel Cartwright shook her head. "I'm afraid I've got nerves like every -other woman," she confessed, "and the evening has been quite eventful -enough as it is. I think I prefer to stay here." - -She glanced up to see Monty descending the stairs. All this talk of -robbery and actual participation in a scene of violence had induced in -Monty the desire for the company of his kind. - -"I thought I'd rather be down here," he stated naively. - -"All right, old man," Denby said smiling. "Glad to have you. Did you put -the pouch where I said?" - -"Yes," Monty answered, handing him a key, "and I locked it up," he -explained. - -"Good!" his friend exclaimed, putting the key in his pocket. - -Miss Cartwright yawned daintily. "Excitement seems to make me sleepy," -she said. "I think I shall go." - -"You're not going to leave us yet?" Denby said reproachfully. - -"I was up very early," she told him. - -"I guess everything is safe now," Monty assured her. - -"Let's hope so," Denby said. "Still, the night isn't half over yet. -Pleasant dreams, Miss Cartwright." - -She paused on the half landing and looked down at the two men. - -"I'm afraid they won't be quite--that." - -Monty crept to the foot of the stairway and made certain she was passed -out of hearing. "Steve," he said earnestly, "she's gone now to get into -your room." - -"No, she hasn't," Denby protested, knowing he was lying. - -Monty looked at his friend in wonderment. Usually Denby was quick of -observation, but now he seemed uncommonly dull. - -"Why, she never made a move to leave until she knew I'd put the pouch in -the drawer. Then she said she was tired and wanted to go to bed. You -must have noticed how she took in everything you said. She's even taken -to watching me, too. What makes you so blind, Steve?" - -"I'm not blind," Denby said, a trifle irritably. "It happens you are -magnifying things, till everything you see is wrong." - -"Nonsense," Monty returned bluntly. "If she gets that necklace it's all -up with us, and you needn't pretend otherwise." - -"Make your mind easy," Denby exclaimed, "she won't get it." - -"May I ask what's going to stop her?" Monty inquired, goaded into -sarcasm. "Do you think she needs to know the combination of an ordinary -lock like that top drawer?" - -"The necklace isn't there," Denby said. - -Monty looked at him piteously. "For Heaven's sake don't tell me I've got -it somewhere on me!" - -Denby drew it out of a false pocket under the right lapel of his coat -and held the precious string up to the other's view. "That's why," he -observed. - -"Then everything's all right," Monty cried with unrestrained joy. - -"Everything's all wrong," Denby corrected. - -"But, Steve," Monty said reproachfully, "the necklace--" - -"Oh, damn the necklace!" Denby interrupted viciously. - -Monty shook his head mournfully. His friend's aberrations were -astounding. - -"Steve," he said slowly, "you're a fool!" - -"I guess I am," the other admitted. "But," he added, snapping his teeth -together, "I'm not such a fool as to get caught, Monty, so pull yourself -together, something's bound to happen before long." - -"That's what I'm afraid of," sighed Monty. - - - - -CHAPTER TWELVE - - -On the way to her room Ethel Cartwright met Michael Harrington, a box of -cigars in his hand, coming toward the head of the stairway. - -"Whither away?" he demanded. - -"To bed," she returned. "The excitement's been too much for me." - -"This box," he said, lovingly caressing it, "contains what I think are -the best that can be smoked." He opened and showed what seemed to her -cigars of a very large size. "I'm going to give the boys one apiece as a -reward for bravery." He laughed with glee. "And as Lambart is going to -be one of the search party, I'm going to give him one, too. He'll either -leave at my temerity in offering him the same kind of weed his employer -smokes, or else he'll have it framed." - -"A search party?" she said. "What do you mean?" - -"We're going to beat the bushes for tramps," he said. "I am directing -operations from the balcony outside my room. The general in command," he -explained, "never gets on the firing-line in modern warfare." - -"Is Mr. Denby going?" she asked. - -"No, no," he said. "I can't expect my guests to expose themselves to the -risk of being shot. Don't you be alarmed," he said solicitously, "I -shall be at hand in case of trouble." - -When she reached her room she sat motionless for a few moments on the -edge of the bed. Then suddenly, she rose and walked along a corridor and -knocked at the door of the room she knew was Alice Harrington's. - -"Alice," she said nervously, and there was no doubt in the elder woman's -mind that the girl was thoroughly upset, "I'm nervous of sleeping in the -room you've given me. Can't I sleep somewhere near people? Let me have -that room I had the last time I was here." - -"Why, my dear girl, of course, if you want it," Alice said -sympathetically. "But it isn't as pretty, and I especially had this -bigger room for you. Don't be a silly little girl; you'll be asleep in -five minutes. Better still, I'll come and read till you're drowsy." - -"Please humor me," the other pleaded. "I'd rather be where, if I scream, -someone can hear, and the men are sleeping down there, and one after all -does depend on them in emergencies." - -"All right," Alice said good-humoredly, "I'll ring for the servants to -take your things in." - -"We can do it," Ethel said eagerly. "I've only one cabin trunk, and it -weighs nothing. Why disturb them?" - -When they had moved the baggage down the halls to the smaller room, -there was no key to lock the door which led to a connecting room. - -"Whose is that?" Ethel demanded. - -"Mr. Denby's," she was told. "I always give men big rooms, because -they're so untidy. Michael will know where the key is. He has every one -of the hundred keys with a neat label on it. He's so methodical in some -things. By the time you're ready for bed I'll have it." - -A few minutes later the intervening door was safely locked and Mrs. -Harrington had left the girl, feeling that perhaps she, too, would be -nervous if she had not her Michael close at hand. - -Directly the girl was alone she sprang out of bed and hurriedly put on a -white silk negligée. So far her plans had prospered admirably. The -bedroom from which she had moved was so situated that if she were to -undertake the search of Denby's room, she must pass the rooms of her -host and hostess and also that of Nora Rutledge. And this search was -imperative. Out in the darkness Taylor and his men were waiting -impatiently. Presently a band of men, armed in all probability, would -sally forth from the house and might just as likely capture the Customs -officers. Supposing Taylor took this as treachery on her part and -denounced her before the Harringtons? Nothing would save Amy then. - -If only she could discover the necklace and give the signal in time so -that the deputy-surveyor could come legitimately into the house! She -told herself that she must control this growing nervousness; that her -movements must be swift and sure, and that she must banish all thought -of the man she had met in Paris, or the punishment that would be his. - -Fortunately his guests could not escape Michael and his big cigars; and -cigars, as she knew from her father's use of them, are not consumed as a -cigarette may be and thrown quickly away. - -The key turned in the lock stiffly and it seemed to her, waiting -breathless, that the sound must be audible everywhere. But as quiet -still ruled outside in the corridors, she pushed the door half-open and -peered into the room. It was dark save for the moonlight, but she could -see to make her way to a writing-table, on which was an electric lamp. - -She turned it on and then looked about her nervously. It was a large, -well-furnished room, and to the right of her a big alcove with a bed in -it. There was a large French window leading to the balcony which Taylor -had noted and proposed to use if she were successful in her search. - -She did not dare to look out, for fear the search party might see her, -so she centered her attention upon the locked drawer in which the -necklace was awaiting her. There was a brass paper-knife lying on the -table, heavy enough she judged, to pry open any ordinary lock. Very -cautiously she set about her work. It called for more strength than she -had supposed, but the lock seemed to be yielding gradually when there -fell upon her anxious ear sounds of footsteps coming down the corridor. - -She sprang to her feet and listened intently, and was satisfied herself -that she was in imminent danger. Putting out the light she turned to run -to her room, and in doing so knocked the paper-knife to the floor. To -her excited fancy it clattered hideously as it fell, but she reached her -room safely and locked the door. - -She was hardly in shelter before Denby came into his room and switched -on the light. He was still smoking the first third of his host's famous -cigar. He sauntered to the window and looked over the lawn and wondered -what luck the searchers would have. He had permitted himself to be urged -by Harrington to a course of inactivity. It was not his wish to be -brought face to face with his enemy while he had the jewels in a place -they would instantly detect. He took the pearls from their hiding-place -and threw them carelessly on the table. Then seeing the paper-knife on -the floor he stooped to pick it up. But lying near it were little -splinters of white wood that instantly arrested his attention. He knelt -down, lit a match, and examined them without disturbing them in any way. -And then his eyes travelled upward, until the scratches by the lock were -plain. - -Experience told him plainly that the drawer had been attempted and that -recently, in fact, within a half-hour since Monty had placed his pouch -there with the pearls as he supposed in it. - -While he was standing there motionless, sounds in the hall outside -disturbed him. Presently a knock sounded on the door. Before answering -he picked up the pearls and placed them in his pocket. Then he called -out: "Who is it?" - -"It's me," came Monty's voice in answer. - -"Come in," he called. - -Monty entered nervously. "Everything all right?" he demanded. - -"Yes," his friend said, and then looked at him. Monty's appearance was -slightly dishevelled. "What's happened?" he asked. - -Monty ignored the question. "I was afraid everything might be all -wrong," he cried. "This is the first time I've been able to swallow -comfortably for an hour. I thought my heart was permanently dislocated." - -"What's been happening downstairs?" Denby inquired. - -"Nothing," Monty told him, "and it's the limit to have nothing happen." - -"I thought Harrington was organizing a search party." - -"Oh, we searched," Monty admitted. "I was nominally in charge, but -Lambart was the directing genius. He was an officer's orderly in his -youth and is some tactician, believe me." Monty pointed to his muddied -knees. "He stretched clothes-lines over the paths to catch the tramps, -and I was the first victim. We looked everywhere, all of us, Lambart, -the under-butler, two chauffeurs and I, and we didn't even flush a cat." - -"That's odd," his listener commented. "They'll be back. They're not -frightened away by you fellows with lanterns. They'll be back." - -"I bet they will," Monty grumbled, "and with the militia." - -"Don't lose your nerve now, old man," Denby counselled. - -"I wish I could," Monty cried. "This certainly is getting on it. It's a -lesson not to get discontented with my lot. I've got that creepy feeling -all the time that they're coming closer to us." - -"But that's the real sport of it," Denby pointed out. - -"Sport be damned," he said crossly. "Your ideas about foxes and mine -don't coincide. I don't think he likes being hunted. And at that he's -got something on us; he knows who's chasing him." - -"So shall we soon," he was reminded. - -"Yes," Monty grumbled, "when we're shot full of holes." - -"Don't be afraid of getting shot at," Denby said smiling. "You amateurs -have no idea how few shots hit the mark even at short range. I've been -shot at three times and I've not a scar to show." - -"Job must be your favorite author," Monty commented sourly. "I hate the -noise. I'm scared to death; I thought I wanted excitement, but life on a -farm for me hereafter." - -"But, my dear boy," Denby said more seriously, "you are not in this. -They're after me and this." He held up the necklace. "You're a spectator -merely." - -"Rot!" Monty cried. "I'm what they call an accessory and if you think -I'm going to clear out now, all I can say is you ought to know me better -than that. I want to be doing something; it's the talking that gets on -my nerves. They'll be here soon, you may bet on that. They're going to -search this room." - -"Somebody's done that already," he was told. - -"Who?" Monty cried anxiously. "That girl?" - -"I think not. Her room is in the other wing, as I found out indirectly. -To come here she'd have to run an awful risk. If she comes it will be -later, when everyone is asleep." - -"Then who could it have been?" Monty demanded. He turned suddenly on his -heel. - -There was someone even now listening at the door. Then there was a -faint, discreet knock. He dropped into the nearest chair and looked at -the other man with a blanched face. - -"Pinched!" he cried. - -"Hsh!" the other commanded softly, and then louder: "Come in." - -The smiling face of Michael Harrington beamed upon them. In his hands he -carried a tray whereon two generous highballs reposed. - -"Hello, boys," he cried genially, "I've brought up those two nightcaps I -promised you. Nothing like 'em after excitement such as we've had." - -"You never looked so good to me, Michael," Monty cried affectionately. - -"Now, Denby," Michael said, handing him the glass in Lambart's best -manner. - -"Thanks, all the same," his guest returned, "but I don't think I -will--not yet at any rate." - -"Good!" Michael cried. "Luck's with me." He drained the glass with the -deepest satisfaction. "Ah, that was needed. Now, Monty, after your -exertions you won't disappoint me?" - -"Not for me, either," Monty exclaimed. - -"Splendid," said the gratified Michael. "At your age I would have -refused it absolutely." He looked at the glass affectionately. "I'll -take the encore in a few minutes. Alice does cut me down so dreadfully. -Just one light one before dinner--mostly Vermouth--and one drink -afterward. I welcome any extra excitement like this." - -"Aren't you master in your own house?" Denby asked smiling. He had -fathomed the secret of the happy relations of his host and hostess, and -was not deceived by Harrington when he represented himself the sport of -circumstances. - -"You bet I'm not," said Michael, without resentment. "By the way," he -added, "if you want your nightcaps later, ring for Lambart. He's used to -being summoned at any hour." - -"I won't forget," Denby returned. - -"I hope you won't," his host assured him. "I'd hate to think of Lambart -having a really good night's rest." He pointed to an alarm on the wall -by the door. "But don't get up half asleep and push that red thing over -there." - -"What on earth is it?" Monty asked. "It looks like a hotel -fire-alarm--'Break the glass in case of fire.'" - -"It's a burglar-alarm that wakes the whole house." - -"What?" Denby cried, suddenly interested. "You don't really expect -burglars?" - -"I know it's funny," Michael said, "and a bit old maidish, but I happen -to be vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, and I've -got to have their beastly patents in the house to show my faith in 'em." - -"I'll keep away from it," Denby assured him, looking at it curiously. - -"The last man who had this room sent it off by mistake. Said a mosquito -worried him so much that he threw a shoe at it. He missed the -mosquito--between you and me," Michael said confidentially, "we haven't -any out here at Westbury--but he hit the alarm. I'm afraid Hazen had -been putting too many nightcaps on his head and couldn't see straight. -Mrs. Harrington made me search the whole house. Of course there wasn't -anyone there and Alice seemed sorry that I'd had my hunt in vain. The -beauty of these things," the vice-president commented, "is that they -warn the burglars to get out and so you don't get shot as you might if -you hadn't told 'em you were coming." - -Michael took up the second glass and had barely taken a sip when quick, -light footfalls approached. - -"Good Lord," said he, "my wife! Here, Monty, quick," placing the -half-emptied glass in Denby's hand and the one from which he had first -drunk in Monty's, "I count on you, boys," he whispered, and then strode -to the door and flung it open. - -"Are we intruders?" his wife asked. - -"You are delightfully welcome," Denby cried. "Please come in." - -"We thought you'd still be up," Nora explained. "Michael said he was -bringing you up some highballs." - -"Great stuff," Monty said, taking his cue, "best whiskey I ever tasted. -Nothing like really old Bourbon after all." - -Michael shot a glance of agonized reproach at the man who could make -such a stupid mistake. "Monty," he explained to his wife, who had caught -this ingenuous remark and had looked at him inquiringly, "is still so -filled with excitement that he doesn't know old Scotch when he tastes -it." - -"Your husband is a noble abstainer," Denby said quickly, to help them -out, "we place temptation right before him and he resists." - -"That's my wife's training," said Harrington, smiling complacently. - -"I'm not so sure," she returned. "Putting temptation before Michael, Mr. -Denby, shows him just like old Adam--only Michael's weakness is for -grapes, not apples." - -"We've come," Nora reminded them, "to get a fourth at auction. We're all -too much excited to sleep. Mr. Denby, I'm sure you're a wonderful -player. Surely you must shine at something." - -"Among my other deficiencies," he confessed, "I don't play bridge." - -Nora sighed. "There remains only Monty. Monty," she commanded, "you must -play." - -"Glad to!" he cried. "I like company, and I'm not tired either." - -Suddenly he caught sight of Denby's face. His look plainly said, -"Refuse." - -"In just a few minutes," Monty stammered. "I was just figuring out -something when you came in. How long will it take, Steve?" - -"Hardly five minutes," Denby said. - -"It's a gold-mine you see," Monty explained laboriously, "and first it -goes up, and then it goes down." - -"I always strike an average," Michael told him. "It's the easiest way." - -"Is it a good investment?" Alice demanded. She had a liking for taking -small flutters with gold-mines. - -"You wouldn't know one if you saw it," her husband said, laughing. - -"I learnt what I know from you," she reminded him. - -"I'd rather dance than bridge it," Nora said impatiently, doing some -rather elaborate maxixe steps very gracefully and humming a popular tune -meanwhile. - -"Be quiet," Alice warned her; "you'll disturb Ethel." - -"Has Miss Cartwright gone to bed?" Denby asked her. - -"She felt very tired," Alice explained. - -"It's wrong to go to bed so early," Nora exclaimed. "It can't be much -after two." - -She sang a few bars of another song much in vogue, but Alice stopped her -again. - -"Hush, Nora, don't you understand Ethel's in the next room asleep, or -trying to?" - -"I thought it was empty," Nora said, in excuse for her burst of song. - -"Ethel insisted on changing. She was very nervous and she wanted to be -down near the men in case of trouble." - -"And I had to go through forty-seven bunches of keys to get one to fit -that door," her husband complained. Denby shot a swift glance toward -Monty, who was wearing an "I told you so" expression. "She seemed -positively afraid of you, Denby, from what my wife said," Harrington -concluded. - -"You're not drinking your highball, Mr. Denby," Alice observed. - -"I'm saving it," he smiled. - -"That's a very obvious hint," Nora cried. "Let's leave them, Alice." She -sauntered to the door. - -"Very well," her hostess said, "and we'll expect you in a few minutes, -Monty. You're coming, Michael?" - -"In just a moment," he returned. "I've got one more old wheeze I want to -spring on Denby. He's a capital audience for the elderly ones." - -"When Mr. Denby has recovered," she commanded, "come down and play." - -"Certainly, my dear," he said obediently. - -"And, Michael," she said smiling, "don't think you've fooled me." - -"Fooled you," he exclaimed innocently, "why, I'd never even dream of -trying to!" - -His wife moved toward Denby and took the half-finished highball from his -hand. - -"Michael," she said, handing it to him, "here's the rest of your drink." - -She went from the room still smiling at the deep knowledge she had of -her Michael's little ways. - -Michael imbibed it gratefully. - -"My wife's a damned clever woman," he exclaimed enthusiastically, as he -trotted out obediently in her wake. - -Directly he had gone Denby went quickly to the door and made sure it was -closed tightly. "It was that girl, after all, Monty!" he said in a low, -tense voice. "She tried to pry open the drawer with that paper-knife. -You can see the marks. I found the knife on the floor, where she'd -dropped it on hearing me at the door." - -Monty looked at him with sympathy in his eyes. "That's pretty tough, old -man," he said softly. - -"It's hard to believe that she is the kind of woman to take advantage of -our friendship to turn me over to the police," he admitted. Then his -face took on a harder, sterner look. "But it's no use beating about the -bush; that's exactly what she did." - -"I'm sorry, mighty sorry," Monty said, realizing as he had never done -what this perfidy meant to his old friend. - -"I don't want to have to fight her," Denby said. "The very idea seems -unspeakable." - -"What can we do if you don't?" Monty asked doubtfully. - -"If she'll only tell me who it is that sent her here--the man who's -after me--I'll fight him, and leave her out of it." - -"But if she won't do that?" Monty questioned. - -"Then I'll play her own game," Denby answered, "only this time she -follows my rules for it." As he said this both of the men fancied they -could hear a creaking in the next room. - -"What's that?" Monty demanded. - -Denby motioned to him to remain silent, and then tiptoed his way to the -door connecting the rooms. - -"Is she there?" Monty felt himself compelled to whisper. - -Denby nodded acquiescence and quietly withdrew to the centre of the -room. - -"Has she heard us?" asked his friend. - -"I don't think so. I heard her close the window and then come over to -the door." - -He crossed to the desk and began to write very fast. - -"What are you doing?" Monty inquired softly. - -Denby, scribbling on, did not immediately answer him. Presently he -handed the written page to Monty. "Here's my plan," he said, "read it." - -While Monty was studying the paper Denby moved over to the light switch, -and the room, except for the rose-shaded electric lamp, was in darkness. - -"Jumping Jupiter!" Monty exclaimed, looking up from the paper with knit -brows. - -"Do you understand?" Denby asked. - -"Yes," Monty answered agitatedly; "I understand, but suppose I get -rattled and make a mistake when the time comes?" - -"You won't," Denby replied, still in low tone. "I'm depending on you, -Monty, and I know you won't disappoint me." When he next spoke it was in -a louder voice, louder in fact than he needed for conversational use. - -"It's a pity Miss Cartwright has gone to bed," he exclaimed. "I might -have risked trying to learn bridge, if she'd been willing to teach me. -She's a bully girl." - -"Don't talk so loud," Monty advised him, grinning. - -"In these dictagraph days the walls have ears. Let's go outside. We -can't tell who might hear us in this room. We'll be safe enough on the -lawn." - -"A good idea," Denby agreed, moving away from the connecting door which -they guessed had a listener concealed behind it, and turning out the -lights. And Ethel Cartwright, straining her ears, heard the door opened -and banged noisily, and footsteps hurrying past toward the stairway. It -was at last the opportunity. - - - - -CHAPTER THIRTEEN - - -SHE turned the key, less noisily this time, and stepped into Denby's -room. Making her way to the drawer she gave it a gentle pull. But it was -still fastened, and she grasped the heavy brass knife when of a sudden -the room was full of light, and Denby stepped from the shadow of the -door where he had been concealed. - -"Oh!" she cried in terror, and turned her face away from him. - -He walked slowly over to the table by which she stood. - -"So you've come for the necklace, then? Why do you want it?" - -She looked at him in desperation. Only the truth would serve her now. - -"I am employed by the government. I was sent here to get it," she -answered. - -"What?" he cried. "The charming Miss Cartwright a secret service agent! -It's quite incredible." - -"But it's true," she said. - -"Who employed you?" he asked sharply. - -"I can't tell you that," she said slowly. - -"Then how can I believe you?" he asked her. - -"But it's the truth," she insisted. "For what other reason should I be -here?" - -"Women have collected jewels before now for themselves as well as their -governments," he reminded her. - -She flushed. "Do you wish to insult me?" - -"I don't think you quite realize your position," he said. "I find you -here trying to steal something of mine. If you tell me the name of the -man, or men, under whose orders you are acting, I may be able to -believe." - -"I can't tell you," she cried; "I can't tell you." - -"It's most likely to be Bangs," he said meditatively, and then turned to -her quickly. "It was John H. Bangs of the secret service who sent you." - -At all costs she knew she must keep the name of Daniel Taylor from him. -To admit that it was a fellow official would do no harm. - -"Yes," she said; "it was." - -Contempt looked from his face. "You lie, Miss Cartwright, you lie!" - -"Mr. Denby!" she cried. - -"I've no time for politeness now," he told her. "There is no Bangs in -the secret service." - -"But you, how can you know?" she said, fighting for time. - -"It's my business to know my opponents," he observed. "Can't you tell -the truth?" - -"I can't tell you who it was," she persisted, "but if you'll just give -me the necklace--" - -He laughed scornfully at her childish request. Her manner puzzled him -extremely. He had seen her fence and cross-examine, use her tongue with -the adroitness of an old hand at intrigue, and yet she was simple, -guileless enough to ask him to hand over the necklace. - -"And if I refuse you'll call the men in who seized Mr. Vaughan, thinking -it was I, and let them get the right man this time?" - -"I don't know," she said despairingly. "What else can I do? I can't -fail." - -"Nor can I," he snapped, "and don't intend to, either. Do you know what -happens to a man who smuggles in the sort of thing I did and resists the -officials as I shall do, and is finally caught? I've seen it, and I -know. It's prison, Miss Cartwright, and gray walls and iron bars. It -means being herded for a term of years with another order of men, the -men who are crooked at heart; it means the losing of all one's hopes in -prison gloom and coming out debased and suspected by every man set in -authority over you, for evermore. I've sometimes gone sick at seeing men -who have done as I am doing, but have not escaped. I'm not going to -prison, Miss Cartwright, remember that." - -"But I don't want you to," she cried eagerly, so eagerly, that he -groaned to think her magnificent acting should be devoted to such a -scene as this. "I don't want you to." - -"Then there's only one way out of it for both of us," he said, coming -nearer. - -"What?" she asked fervently. - -"Tell them you've failed, that you couldn't find it anywhere." - -"I couldn't," she said vehemently. - -There was a certain studied contempt in his manner which hurt her badly. -And to know that he would always regard her as an adventuress, -unprincipled and ready to sell herself for the rewards of espionage, and -never have even one pleasant and genuine memory of her, made her -desperate. - -"I didn't intend you to lose on the transaction," he said coldly. "I'll -give you ten thousand dollars." - -"Oh, no, no!" she cried, "you don't understand." - -"Twenty thousand, then," he said. "Only you and I would know. Your -principals could never hold it against you. Isn't it a good offer?" - -She made a gesture of despair. "It's no good." - -"Twenty thousand no good!" he jeered. "Think again, Miss Cartwright. It -will pay you better to stand in with me than give me up." - -"No, no!" she cried, half hysterically. - -"It's all I can afford," he said. Her manner seemed so strange, that for -the first time since he had found her in his room, he began to doubt -whether, after all, it was merely the splendid acting he had supposed. - -"I can't accept," she told him. "I've _got_ to get that necklace; it -means more than any money to me." - -He looked at her keenly, seeking to gauge the depth of her emotion. - -"Then they've got some hold on you," he asserted. - -"No," she assured him, "I must get the necklace." - -"So you're going to make me fight you then?" he questioned. - -"I've got to fight," she exclaimed. - -"Look here," he said, after a moment's pause, "let's get this thing -right. You won't accept any--shall we call it compromise?--and you won't -tell me for whom you are acting. And you won't admit that you are doing -this because someone has such a hold on you that you must obey. Is that -right, so far?" - -For a moment she had a wild idea of telling him, of putting an end to -the scene that was straining her almost to breaking-point. She knew he -could be chivalrous and tender, and she judged he could be ruthless and -hard if necessity compelled. But above all, and even stronger than her -fear of irrevocably breaking with him and being judged hereafter as one -unworthy, was the dread of Taylor and that warrant that could at his -will send Amy to prison and her mother possibly to her grave. She -hardened herself to go through with the ordeal. - -"So far you are right," she admitted. - -"Then it remains only for us two to fight. I hate fighting women. A few -hours ago I would have sworn that you and I never could fight, but a few -hours have shown me that I'm as liable to misread people as--as Monty, -for example. You say you've got to fight. Very well then; I accept the -challenge, and invite you to witness my first shot." - -He walked to the door through which she had come and opening it, took -the key from her side of it, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. - -"What do you mean?" she cried. - -"Merely that I'm going to keep you here," he retorted. "I was afraid we -might be interrupted." - -"Open that door!" she commanded quickly. - -"When I am ready no doubt I shall," he returned. - -"You wouldn't do that?" she cried, beginning to realize that she was to -have no easy victory if indeed victory were to be her reward. - -"I regret the necessity," he said. "These methods don't particularly -appeal to me, but we have declared war, and there's no choice." - -"But I don't understand," she said nervously. - -"Don't you?" he said, coming nearer and looking at her closely. "Don't -you understand that you are a beautiful woman and I am a man? Have you -forgotten that it's nearly three, and you are in my room, the room next -which you begged to be moved? They were a little puzzled at your wanting -that key so badly, and when you're found here _en negligée_--for you -will be found here--I think I know the world well enough to judge what -construction will be placed upon that discovery." - -For the moment she forgot about everything but the personal aspect of -the situation in which she found herself. That this man of all others -should be willing to compromise her reputation awakened the bitterest -contempt for him. - -"I thought at least _you_ were a _man_!" she cried. - -"I am," he returned without heat. "That's just it, Miss Cartwright, I'm -a man, and you are a woman." - -"And I thought you were my friend," she exclaimed indignantly. - -"Please don't bandy the name of friendship with me," he said with a -sneer. "You of all women that live, to dare to talk like that! You knew -I liked you--liked you very much, and because you were so sure of it, -you wheedled me into betraying myself. You smiled and lied and pledged -our friendship, and called to mind those days in Paris, which were the -happiest recollections of all my life. And yet it was all done so that -you might get enough out of me to lead me, with a prison sentence -awaiting me, to the man who gives you your orders." He took a few swift -paces up and down the room. "This indignation of yours is a false note. -We'll keep to the main facts. You are sworn to betray me, and I am sworn -to defeat you." - -"Don't think that," she said wretchedly; "I wasn't--" - -"And when I told you the truth," he went on inexorably, "you asked me to -go into the garden where they were waiting for me." - -"I couldn't help it," she said, as calmly as she was able. - -"And when you thought I was sending the necklace here you trumped up a -flimsy excuse so that you might be able to steal in here and get it. Is -that sort of thing in your code of friendship?" - -"I wasn't trying to trap you," she explained. "I thought you were -innocent, and I wanted to convince them of it, too." - -"No doubt," he said tauntingly, "and when you found out I was guilty, -you still tried to save me, I suppose, by asking me to walk into their -trap?" - -The girl made an effort to defend her course of action. She knew that -without the admission of the truth he must feel his point of view -unassailable, but she wanted him not to think too hardly of her. - -"After all," she declared, "you had broken the law. You are guilty. Why -should my behavior be so called into account?" - -"It isn't that at all," he returned impatiently. "You didn't play the -game fairly. You used a woman's last weapon--her sex. Well, I can play -your game, too, and I will. You shall stay here till morning." - -"You don't dare to keep me!" she cried. - -"Oh, yes, I do," he retorted easily. - -She assumed as well as she could an air of bravado, a false air of -courage that might convince him she was not so easily frightened as she -felt. - -"And you think the possible loss of my reputation is going to frighten -me into letting you go?" - -"I do," he said readily. - -"Well, you're wrong," she assured him, "I have only to tell them the -truth about the necklace and what I'm doing here--" - -"But the truth is so seldom believed," he reminded her, "especially when -you've no evidence to support it. A lie is a much more easily digested -morsel." - -"All the evidence I need," she asserted, "is in that locked drawer." - -"Quite so," he admitted. "I'd forgotten that, only it happens you're -wrong again." He drew the necklace from his pocket and showed it to her. -"It's a beauty, isn't it?" - -Moving over to the table he scribbled a few words on a sheet of paper. - -"What are you doing?" she asked. - -"Manufacturing evidence," he returned calmly. - -"Meanwhile," she said, gathering courage, "I propose to leave this -room." - -"An excellent idea from your way of thinking," he said, looking up. -"Naturally I'm interested to know how." - -"I'll show you," she responded, and moved quickly to the bell button -which she pushed violently. "Now, Mr. Denby," she cried triumphantly. -"This is my first shot! When the servants come, I shall take the -necklace with me." - -She was disappointed to see no trace of alarm on his face. Instead, he -answered her calmly enough. - -"What a pity you did that--you'll regret it so very soon." - -"Shall I?" she said satirically, and watched him go to the window. As he -did so, a low whistle was heard coming from the lawn beneath. Then he -took the necklace, wrapped it in the note he had written, and tossed it -through the opening. - -"I hardly think you'll take it with you," he observed suavely. - -"I shall get it," she returned. "I shall tell the Harringtons exactly -what you are, and that you threw it on the lawn." - -"Wrong again, Miss Cartwright," he said patiently. "If you'll stand -where I am, you will see the retreating figure of my friend Monty, who -has it with him. Monty managed rather well, I think. His whistle -announced the coast was clear." - -"But he can't get away with those men out there," she reminded him. - -"Monty waited until they were gone," he repeated. "For the moment, your -friends of the secret service have left us." - -"Then I'll tell Mr. Harrington about Monty, that he's your accomplice." - -He shook his head. "I hardly think they'd believe that even from you. -That Montague Vaughan, whose income is what he desires it to be, should -lower himself to help me, is one of the truthful things nobody could -possibly credit. If you could ring in some poor but honest young man it -would sound so much more probable, but Monty, no." - -She looked at him like a thing stricken. Her poor bravado fell from her. -She felt beaten, and dreaded to think what might be the price of her -failure. - -"And since you forced me," he added, "I've had to play my last card. The -note that I threw to Monty was a letter to you. He'll leave it where it -can easily be found." - -"A letter to me!" she repeated. - -"It contained a suggestion that you try to get the room next mine, -pleading nervousness, and come here to-night. It was the invitation--of -a lover." - -"You beast!" she cried, flaming out into rage. "You coward!" - -"You had your warning," he reminded her. "The note will be conclusive, -and no matter what you say, you will find yourself prejudged. It's the -world's way to prejudge. The servants don't seem to be coming, and -you'll be found here in the morning. What explanation will you have to -offer?" He waited for her to speak, but she made no answer. - -"I think the episode of the necklace remains as between just you and -me," he added slowly, watching her closely. - -"The servants will come," she cried. "I shan't have to stay here." - -"If they disappoint you," he remarked, "may I suggest that -burglar-alarm? It will wake everybody up, the Harringtons, Miss -Rutledge, and all, even if they're in bed and asleep soundly. Why don't -you ring it? Miss Cartwright, I _dare_ you to ring it!" - -Just then there came the sounds of footsteps in the corridor, then a -knock at the door. Denby waited calmly for some word from the girl. The -knock was repeated. - -"Well," he whispered at last, "why don't you answer?" - -She shrank back. "No, no, I can't." - -Denby moved to the door. "Who is it?" he asked. - -Lambart's respectful voice made answer: "You rang, sir?" - -"Yes," he returned, "I forgot to tell you that Miss Cartwright wished -to be called at seven. Call me at the same time, too. That's all, -Lambart; sorry to have had to disturb you. Good-night." - -He stood listening until the man's footsteps died away. Then he turned, -and came toward the girl. - -"So you didn't dare denounce me after all," he said mockingly. - -"Oh, I knew it was all a joke," she said, with an attempt to pass it -over lightly. "I knew you couldn't be so contemptible." - -"A joke!" he exclaimed grimly. "Why does it seem a joke?" - -"If you'd meant what you'd said, you'd have called Lambart in. That -would have answered your purpose very well. But I knew that you'd never -do that. I knew you couldn't." - -"I'm afraid I shall have less faith hereafter in woman's intuition," he -returned. "I can keep you here, and I will. No other course is open to -me." A clock outside struck. "It's just three," he observed. "In four -hours' time a maid will go to your room and find it empty. It's a long -time till then, so why not make yourself as comfortable as you can? -Please sit down." - -The girl sank into a chair more because she was suddenly conscious of -her physical weakness than for the reason he offered it her in mocking -courtesy. - -"I can't face it," she cried hysterically; "the disgrace and -humiliation! I can't face it!" - -"You've got to face it," he said sternly. - -"I can't," she repeated. "It's horrible, it's unfair--if you'll let me -go, I'll promise you I won't betray you." - -"You daren't keep silent about me," he answered. "How can I let you go?" - -"I'm telling you the truth," she said simply. - -"Then tell me who sent you here," he entreated her. "You know what it -means to me; you can guess what it means to you. If you tell me, it may -save us both." - -"I can't!" she cried. "I can't! Oh, please, please!" - -He took her in his arms, roughly, exasperated by her denial. - -"By God, I'll make you tell!" he said angrily. - -"Don't touch me," she said shuddering. - -"Who sent you here?" he demanded, not releasing her. - -"I'm afraid," she groaned. "Oh, I'm afraid. I hate you! I hate you! Let -me go! let me go!" - -"Who sent you here?" he repeated, still holding her. - -"I'll tell," she said brokenly. Then, when he let her go, she sank into -a chair. "I can't go through with it--you've beaten me--Oh, I tried so -hard, so hard, but you've won. It's too unfair when it's not my fault. -You can't understand, or you wouldn't spoil my whole life like this. -It's not only me, it's my mother, my sister--Amy." - -Denby, watching her hardly controllable agitation, was forced to -readjust his opinion concerning her. This was not any adventuress -trained in artifice and ruse, but the woman he had thought her to be in -the deepest sorrow. The bringing in of her mother and sister was not, he -felt sure, a device employed merely to gain his sympathy and induce -leniency in her captor. - -And when it seemed she must sob out a confession of those complex -motives which had led her to seek his betrayal, Denby saw her clench her -hands and pull herself together. - -"No," she said, rising to her feet, her weakness cast off, "I won't -quit--no matter what happens to me. I'll expose you, and tell them -everything. I'll let them decide between us--whether they'll believe you -or me. It's either you or my sister, and I'll save her." - -He was now more than ever certain he was stumbling upon something which -would bring him the blessed assurance that she had not sold herself for -reward. - -"Your sister?" he cried eagerly. - -"They shan't send her to prison," the girl said doggedly. - -"You're doing all this to save your sister from prison?" he asked her -gently. - -"She depends on me so," she answered dully. "They shan't take her." - -"Then you've been forced into this?" he asked. "You haven't done it of -your own free will?" - -"No, no," she returned, "but what else could I do? She was my little -sister; she came first." - -"And you weren't lying to me--trying to trick me for money?" - -"Can't you see," she said piteously, "that I wanted to save you, too, -and wanted you to get away? I said you were innocent, but they wouldn't -believe me and said I had to go on or else they'd send Amy to prison. -They have a warrant all ready for her in case I fail. That's why I'm -here. Oh, please, please, let me go." - -Steven Denby looked into her eyes and made his resolve. "You don't know -how much I want to believe in you," he exclaimed. "It may spoil -everything I've built on, but I'm going to take the chance." He unlocked -the door that led to her room. "You can go, Miss Cartwright!" - -"Oh, you are a man, after all," she cried, deep gratitude in her voice, -and a relief at her heart she could as yet scarcely comprehend. And as -she made to pass him she was startled by a shrill sharp whistle -outside. - -"The devil!" he cried anxiously, and ran to the window. - -"What is it?" she called, frightened. It was not the low whistle that -Monty had used, but a menacing, thrilling sound. - -"Your friends of the secret service have come back," he answered, "but -they mustn't see us together." Quickly he lowered the window-shade, and -stepped back to the centre of the room, coming to a sudden pause as he -saw the terror on the girl's face. - -"Oh, my God," she screamed, "what have you done? That was the signal to -bring Taylor here." - -"Ah, then, it's Taylor," he cried triumphantly. "It's Taylor!" - -"Oh, I didn't mean to tell," she said, startled at the admission. "I -didn't mean to let anyone know." - -"I wish you had told me before," he said with regret, "we could both -have been spared some unhappy moments. I know Taylor and his way of -fighting, and this thing is going to a finish." - -"Go, before he comes," she entreated. - -"And leave you alone to face him?" he said more tenderly. "Leave you to -a man who fights as he does?" He looked at her for a moment in silence -and then bowed his head over her white hand and kissed it. "I can't do -that. I love you." - -"Oh, please go while there's time," she pleaded; "he mustn't take you." -She looked up at him and without shame, revealed the love that she now -knew she must ever have for him. "Oh, I couldn't bear that," she said -tremulously, "I couldn't." - -He gazed down at her, not yet daring to believe that out of this black -moment the greatest happiness of his life had come. "Ethel!" he said, -amazed. - -"I love you," she whispered; "oh, my dear, I love you." - -He gathered her in his strong arms. "Then I can fight the whole world," -he cried, "and win!" - -"For my sake, go," she begged. "Let me see him first; let me try to get -you out of it." - -"I stay here, dearest," he said firmly. "When he comes, say that you've -caught me." - -"No, no," she implored; "I can't send you to prison either." - -"I'm not going to prison," he reassured her. "I'm not done for yet, but -we must save your sister and get that warrant. He must not think you've -failed him. Do you understand?" - -"But he'll take you away," she cried, and clung to him. - -"Do as I say," he besought her; "tell him the necklace is here -somewhere. Be brave, my dear, we're working to save your sister. He's -coming." - -"Hands up, Denby," Taylor shouted, clambering from the balcony to the -room and levelling a revolver at the smuggler. Without a word Denby's -hands went up as he was bid, and the deputy-surveyor smiled the victor's -smile. - -"Well, congratulations, Miss Cartwright," he cried; "you landed him as I -knew you could if you tried." - -"What's the meaning of this?" Denby cried indignantly. "Who are you?" - -"Oh, can that bunk!" Taylor said in disgust. - -"Where's the necklace, Miss Cartwright?" - -"I don't know," she answered nervously. - -"You don't know?" he returned incredulously. - -"I haven't been able to find it, but it's here somewhere." - -"He's probably got it on him," Taylor said. - -"All this is preposterous," Denby exclaimed angrily. - -"Hand it over," Taylor snapped. - -"I have no necklace," Denby told him. - -"Then I'll have to search you," he cried, coming to him and going -through his pockets with the practised hand of one who knows where to -look, covering him the while with the revolver. - -"I'll make you pay for this," Denby cried savagely, as Taylor -unceremoniously spun him around. - -"Will you give it to me," Taylor demanded when he had drawn blank, "or -shall I have to upset the place by searching for it?" - -"How can I get it for you with my hands up in the air?" Denby asked -after a pause. "Let me put my hands down and I'll help you." - -Taylor considered for a moment. Few men were better in a -rough-and-tumble fight than he, and he had little fear of this beaten -man before him. "You haven't got a gun," he said, "so take 'em down, but -don't you fool with me." - -Denby moved over to the writing-desk and picked up a heavy beaten copper -ash-tray with match-box attached. He balanced it in his hand for a -moment. "Not a bad idea is it?" he demanded smiling; and then, before -Taylor could reach for it had hurled it with the strong arm and -practised eye of an athlete straight at the patent burglar alarm a few -feet distant. - -There was a smashing of glass and then, an instant later, the turning -off of light and a plunge into blackness. And in the gloom, during which -Taylor thrashed about him wildly, there came from all parts of the house -the steady peal of the electrical alarms newly set in motion. - -And last of all there was the report of the revolver and a woman's -shriek and the falling of a heavy body on the floor, and then a -silence. - - - - -CHAPTER FOURTEEN - - -No sooner had Michael Harrington seated himself at the card-table with -his wife and Nora than he picked up a magazine and, as he always said, -"kept the light from his eyes." Some men--few there be--who boldly state -they desire to sleep, but Michael was of the tactful majority and merely -kept the light from his eyes and, incidentally, prevented any observers -from noting that his eyes were closed. - -He considered this a better way of waiting for Monty than to chatter as -the women were doing of the events of the night. - -"I wonder what's become of Monty?" Alice asked presently. - -"He's kept us twenty minutes," Nora returned crossly. "I saw him go out -in the garden. He said it was to relieve his headache, but I really -believe he wanted to capture the gang single-handed. Wouldn't it be -thrilling if he did?" - -"A little improbable," Alice laughed; "but still men do the oddest -things sometimes. I never thought Michael the fighting kind till he -knocked a man down once for kissing his hand to me." - -"It was fine of Michael," Nora said. "The man deserved it." - -"I know, dear," her hostess said, "but, as it happens, the man was -kissing his hand to his infant son six months old in an upper window. It -cost Michael fifty dollars, but I loved him all the more for it. Look at -the dear old thing slumbering peacefully and imagining I think he's -keeping this very gentle light from his eyes." - -"It's the two highballs he had in Mr. Denby's room," the sapient ingénue -explained. She harked back to Monty. "I wish he were as brave about -proposing. I've tried my grandmother's recipes for shy men, and all my -mother ever knew, I know. And yet he does get so flustered when he -tries, that he scares himself away." - -Alice nodded. "He's the kind you've got to lead to the altar. I had -trouble with Michael. He imagined himself too hopelessly old, and very -nearly married quite an elderly female. He'd have been dead now if he -had. Here's your prey coming in now." - -Monty entered the card-room from the garden, nervously stuffing into his -pocket the precious package which Denby had thrown to him. - -"I hope I haven't delayed the game," he apologized. - -"We didn't even miss you," Nora said acidly. - -"Were you supposed to be in on this game?" - -"Don't be cross, Nora," Alice advised; "you can see his headache has -been troubling him. Is it better, Monty?" - -"What headache?" he asked. "I haven't had a headache for months. Oh, -yes," he added, confused, "that neuralgic headache has gone, thanks. -Shall we play?" - -"Yes, let's," Nora said. "Michael dealt before he went to sleep." - -"Wake up, Michael," his wife said, tapping him with her fan, "you're not -at the opera; you're playing cards." - -"I haven't slept for a moment," he assured her, after a pause in which -he got his bearings. "The light was too strong--" - -"So you shaded your eyes," his wife went on. "Well, when they are -unshaded will you remember we're playing?" - -"Who opened it?" he demanded with a great effort. - -"Bridge, my dear," Alice reminded him, "not poker--bridge, auction -bridge." She paused a moment while the clock struck three. "And it's -three o'clock, and it's quite time you began." - -"One no trump," Nora said, after looking at her hand cheerfully. - -"It isn't your bid," Alice corrected her, "although I don't wonder you -forgot. It's Michael's; he dealt." - -Michael tried to concentrate his gaze on his hand. There seemed to be an -enormous number of cards, and he needed time to consider the phenomenon. - -"What'd the dealer draw?" he asked. - -"But we're not playing poker," Alice said. - -"It was Monty who confused me," he said in excuse, and looked -reproachfully at his vis-à-vis. "What's trumps?" - -"It's your bid," Nora cried. "You dealt." - -"I go one spade." - -"One no trump," Monty declared. - -"Two royals," Nora cried, not that she had them, but to take it away -from Monty. - -"Pass," said Alice glumly. She could have gone two royals, but dared not -risk three. - -"Give me three cards," Michael cried more cheerfully. The way was -becoming clearer. - -"Michael," his wife said reprovingly, "if you're really as tired as -that, you'd better go to bed." - -"I never broke up a poker game in my life," he cried. "It's only the -shank of the evening. What's happened, partner?" he yawned to Nora. - -"I went two royals," she said. - -Michael looked at his hand enthusiastically. "Three aces," he murmured. -"I'd like to open it for two dollars--as it is, I pass." - -"Two no trumps," said Monty. When the rest had passed, Nora led and -Monty played from the dummy. Michael, at last feeling he was rounding -into form, played a low card, so that dummy took the trick with a nine. - -"Anything wrong?" he asked anxiously as Nora shook her head. - -"If you don't want to win you're playing like a bridge article in a -Sunday paper," she returned. - -"This game makes me sick," he said in disgust. "Nothing but reproaches." - -"I wish Mr. Denby were playing instead of poor Michael," Nora remarked. - -"Steve's got the right idea," Monty commented. "He's in bed." - -"Great man, Denby," said Michael. "He knows you can't sit up all night -unless you drink." - -"We'll finish the rubber and then stop," his wife said comfortingly. "Do -remember it's not poker." - -"I wish it were," he exclaimed dolefully. "No partners--no -reproaches--no post-mortems in poker. If you make a fool of yourself you -lose your own money and everybody else is glad of it and gets cheerful." - -"After this then, one round of jacks to please Michael," said Alice. - -"And then quit," Monty suggested. "I'm tired, too." - -"I'm not tired," Michael asserted. "I'm only thirsty. It takes this form -with me. When I'm thirsty--" - -Michael stopped in consternation. Overhead, from all parts of the house, -came the mechanical announcement that burglars had broken in. The four -rose simultaneously from the table. - -"Burglars!" cried Michael, looking from one to the other. - -"Good Heavens!" Nora gasped. - -"What shall we do?" cried Alice. - -"It's gone off by accident," Monty asserted quivering, as there came -suddenly the sound of a shot. - -"Somebody's killed!" Alice exclaimed, with an air of certainty. - -Michael was the first to recover his poise. "Monty," he commanded -sternly, "go and find what's the matter. I'll look after the girls." - -Alice looked at him entreatingly. "You'd better go," she said; "I shall -feel safer if you see what it is. You're not afraid, Michael?" - -"Certainly not," he said with dignity. "Of course they're armed. Hello, -who's here?" - -It was Lambart entering, bearing in his hand a .45 revolver. - -"The burglar-alarm, sir," he said, with as little excitement as he might -have announced the readiness of dinner. "The indicator points to Mr. -Denby's room." - -"Good old Lambart," his employer said heartily. "You go ahead, and we'll -follow. No, you keep the beastly thing," he exclaimed, when the butler -handed him the weapon. "You're a better shot than I am, Lambart." - -"Mikey," Alice called to him, "if you're going to be killed, I want to -be killed, too." - -The Harringtons followed the admirable Lambart up the stairway, while -Nora gazed after them with a species of fascinated curiosity that was -not compounded wholly of fear. Intensely alive to the vivid interest of -these swiftly moving scenes through which she was passing, -Nora--although she could scream with the best of them--was not in -reality badly scared. - -"I don't want to be killed," she announced with decision. - -Monty moved to her side. He had an idea that if he must die or be -arrested, he would like Nora to live on, cherishing the memory that he -was a man. - -"Neither do I!" he cried. "I wish I'd never gone into this. I knew when -I dreamed about Sing Sing last night that it meant something." - -"Gone into what?" Nora demanded. - -"I'm liable to get shot any minute." - -"What!" she cried anxiously. - -"This may be my last five minutes on earth, Nora." - -"Oh, Monty," she returned, "what have you done?" She looked at him in -ecstatic admiration; never had he seemed so heroic and desirable. "Was -it murder?" - -"If I come out of it alive, will you marry me?" he asked desperately. - -"Oh, Monty!" she exclaimed, and flung herself into his arms. "Why did -you put it off so long?" - -"I didn't need your protection so much," he told her; "and anyway it -takes a crisis like this to make me say what I really feel." - -"I love you anyway, no matter what you've done," she said contentedly. - -He looked at her more brightly. "I'm the happiest man in the world," he -declared, "providing," he added cautiously, "I don't get shot." - -She raised her head from his shoulder and tapped the package in his -pocket. "What's that?" she asked. - -"That's my heart," he said sentimentally. - -"But why do you wear it on the right side?" she queried. - -"Oh, that," he said more gravely, "I'd forgotten all about it. It -belongs to Steve. That shows I love you," he added firmly; "I'd -forgotten all about it." - -As he spoke there was the shrill call of a police whistle outside. "The -police!" he gasped. - -"Don't let them get you," she whispered. "They are coming this way." - -"Quick," he said, grabbing her arm and leading her to a door. "We'll -hide here." Now that danger, as he apprehended it, was definitely at -hand, his spirits began to rise. He was of the kind which finds in -suspense the greatest horror. They had barely reached the shelter of a -door when Duncan and Gibbs ran in. - -"Come on, Harry," Duncan called to the slower man, "he's upstairs. Get -your gun ready." - -Nora clasped her lover's hand tighter. "There'll be some real shooting," -she whispered; "I hope Alice doesn't get hurt. Listen!" - -"The Chief's got him for sure," Gibbs panted, making his ascent at the -best speed he could gather. - -"They've gone," Nora said, peering out; then she ventured into the hall. -"Who's the chief?" she asked. - -"The chief of police I guess," he groaned. "This is awful, Nora. I can't -have you staying here with all this going on. Go back into the -card-room, and I'll let you know what's happened as soon as I can." - -"But what are you going to do?" she asked. - -"I'm going to wait for Steve; he's very likely to want me." - -"I'm not afraid," Nora said airily. - -"But I am," he retorted; "I'm afraid for you. Be a good girl and do as I -say, and I'll come as soon as the trouble's over." - -"I just hate to miss anything," she pouted. "Still if you really wish -it." She looked at him more tenderly than he had ever seen her look at -any human being before. "Don't get killed, Monty, dear." - -Monty took her in his arms and kissed her. "I don't want to," he said, -"especially now." - -When the door had shut behind her he took out the necklace with the idea -of secreting it in an unfindable place. He remembered a Poe story where -a letter was hidden in so obvious a spot that it defied Parisian -commissaries of police. But the letters were usual things and pearl -necklaces were not, and he took it down from the mantel where for a -second he had let it lie, and rammed it under a sofa-cushion on the -nearby couch. That, too, was not a brilliant idea and, while he was -wondering if the pearls would dissolve if he dropped them in a decanter -of whiskey on a table near him, there were loud voices heard at the head -of the stairway, and he fled from the spot. - - - - -CHAPTER FIFTEEN - - -When the Harringtons followed their butler into Denby's room, they were -appalled at what they could not see but heard without difficulty. A -strange voice, a harsh, coarse voice rapping out oaths and imprecations, -a man fighting with some opponent who remained silent. While they who -owned the house stood helpless, Lambart turned on the lights. - -The sudden glare showed them Denby was the silent fighter. The other -man, a heavily built fellow, seemed for the moment blinded by the -lights, and stopped for a second. And it was in this second that Denby -uppercut him so that he fell with a thud to the floor. - -Then they saw Denby pick up a revolver that was lying by the stranger's -side. - -"What's the matter?" cried Michael, while Lambart busied himself with -making the room tidy and replacing overturned chairs. - -"This man," said Denby, still panting from his efforts, "tried to break -in, and Miss Cartwright and I got him." - -"Good Lord!" Michael ejaculated. - -"How splendid of you!" Alice cried. "Ethel, you're a heroine, my dear." - -Taylor, who had not been put out by the blow, scrambled to his feet and -was pushed into a chair. Denby stood conveniently near with the revolver -a foot from his heart. - -"I never saw a more typical criminal," Michael said, severely looking at -the captive; "every earmark of it. I could pick him out of a thousand. -Now, Denby, we want to hear all about it." - -"He's crazy," Taylor shouted indignantly. "Don't you believe him. He's -the crook. I'm an agent of the United States Customs and I came here to -get Denby." - -"That's a pretty poor bluff," Denby scoffed. "This porch climber was one -of the two who held up Monty and Miss Rutledge in the grounds to-night." - -"I said they'd break in!" Alice cried, and believed her statement. "And -how fortunate Ethel moved her room. This man looks like the sort who -wouldn't stop short of murder, Michael." - -"The lowest human type!" Michael cried. "Look at his eyes and ears, and -nose!" - -"I tell you I came to arrest him!" Taylor cried, striving to keep his -already ruffled temper. - -"Arrest that charming man?" Mrs. Harrington cried with scorn. "Was -there ever anything so utterly absurd!" - -"Absurd!" he sneered. "You won't think so when you learn who I am. Ask -that girl there; she knows; she'll tell you whether I'm absurd." - -Instantly they all centred their gaze on Ethel. For a second she looked -at him blankly. "I never saw the man before," she told them. - -"You didn't, eh?" Taylor cried, after a pause of sheer astonishment, "I -guess you'll remember me when I serve a warrant for your sister's -arrest. It's in my pocket now with other papers that prove I'm working -for the United States Government." He made a motion as though to get -them but found Denby's gun close under his nose. - -"No you don't," Denby warned him. "You've probably got a neat little -automatic pistol there. I know your sort." - -But when he seemed about to relieve the deputy-collector of his papers -Taylor shouted a loud protest. - -"Very well," Denby cried. "If you had rather Mr. Harrington did, it's -all the same to me. Mr. Harrington," turning to his host, "will you -please remove whatever documents you find in his inner pocket, so that -we may find out if what he says is true." - -"Surely," Michael returned. "I like every man to have justice even if -the electric chair yearns for him." Carefully he removed a bundle of -papers neatly tied together. And one of them, as Ethel Cartwright saw, -was the warrant made out for her sister's arrest. She wondered why Denby -had invited inspection of them, but was not long to remain in doubt. - -"Now," said Michael judicially, "we'll do the thing properly." - -But before he had unfolded a single one of the papers, they were -snatched violently from his hand, and Denby, gun pointed at Taylor, was -backing to the door. "Keep out of range, Harrington," the retreating man -warned. He cast a swift look of triumph toward Ethel. "It's all right, -Miss Cartwright," he called cheerfully. "Don't worry, it's all right -now." - -As the door closed, Taylor sprang from the chair with a curse. "Grab -him, I tell you," he cried raging. "He's a crook. The Government wants -him, and they'll hold you people responsible if he gets away." He blew -his whistle loudly, and then rushed out of the door and down the hall -taking the steps four at a time. - -The French windows were open and out of them he ran, calling sharply for -his men. But Gibbs and Duncan were even now fiercely searching the other -wing and disturbing frightened servants above. It was not for some -minutes that they made their way to their chief, and searched the -grounds as he bade them. - -And even here they were frustrated. Lambart's tactical genius had -forbidden him to remove the clothes-lines he had laid to bring wandering -tramps low, and among them Duncan and Gibbs floundered with dreadful -profanity. - -There were two other men aiding them now, Ford and Hammett, who were -stationed outside the grounds to watch the only road by which Denby -could escape. When Taylor was satisfied they were doing what they could, -he came back into the big hall where the frightened group was awaiting -him. - -"We'll get your friend yet," he observed disagreeably to Mrs. -Harrington. "It's bright moonlight, and my men'll nab him." - -"But he's not my friend," she objected; "I had no idea he was that kind -of a person." - -"When I find a man like that a guest in a house like this," Taylor -retorted, "I think I'm justified in calling him your friend. You'll have -time to think what to say later when you're called as a witness." - -"I want to beg your pardon, Mr. Taylor," said Michael anxiously. The -idea of being cross-examined and made a fool of by a bullying counsel -horrified him. He'd be a jest forever more at Meadow Brook and Piping -Rock. The Harringtons casually to pick up a smuggler and make him free -of their exclusive home! Never had he needed a drink to steady his -nerves as he did now! - -"Well, I certainly think there is an apology due me," Taylor sneered. He -was not one to forget an affront and Harrington had alluded to his -criminal type in a way that rankled yet. - -"But how could we know?" asked Mrs. Harrington; "he seemed perfectly all -right, although I did say he might be a murderer." - -"That'll come out in court," Taylor reminded her disagreeably. "If it -hadn't been that my men were here to swear to me, I'd have spent the -night in one of your little one-horse jails, and he'd have got away. -When I do get him he'll remember Daniel Taylor till the day he dies." - -Monty, overhearing these direful threats from behind a door, and happy -because of his friend's escape, walked boldly in. - -"Did you get the burglar?" he demanded airily. - -"There wasn't any burglar," Alice told him. - -"It was your old friend Denby that caused all the trouble," Michael -informed him, "the old friend you introduced into my house. I tell you, -Monty--" - -"Don't explain," Taylor commanded. "Now," he snapped to Monty, "have -you seen Steven Denby in the last ten minutes?" - -Monty found with glee that so far from being nervous he was enjoying the -scene. He only regretted that his moustache was not long enough to -permit him to curl it to a fierce and martial angle. He was glad that -Nora had crept into the room and was watching him. - -"Isn't he in bed?" he demanded, yawning. - -"You know he isn't in bed," Taylor answered. "Maybe you're his pal--in -on this job with him. Come here." - -Monty wished to refuse, but Taylor had a compelling manner, so he -advanced with an insolent slowness. - -Alice Harrington flew to his defence. "That's too absurd!" she cried. -"We've known Mr. Vaughan since he was a child." - -"Who is this person?" Monty demanded superciliously. - -"Never mind who I am," Taylor said gruffly, and started to search him. - -"Don't hurt him," Nora cried, rushing to her fiancé's side. - -"It's all right, Nora," Monty said; submitting quietly. "He thinks he's -doing his duty. When you're through with me," he said to Taylor, "I'll -take you to my room. You'd probably like to go through that, too." - -"Here, that'll be enough from you," Taylor said frowning. "You aren't -smart enough to be Denby's pal. Clear out--get back to the nursery." - -Nora cast a glance of vivid hatred at him, but Taylor turned his back on -her. - -"Do you want us any longer?" Michael asked. - -"No," he was told. "You can go and leave me with this girl," pointing to -Ethel, who had not said a word. "I want a little talk with her." - -"Please keep her out of it," Michael asked him. "I'm sure she's -absolutely innocent in the matter." - -Taylor looked at him, exasperated. "See here," he cried, "you've put -enough obstacles in my way to-night as it is! Do you want to put any -more?" - -"It's all right," Ethel Cartwright said quickly; "there's just some -misunderstanding. Please go!" - -"All right, then," her host answered. "Come, Alice, I need a drink -badly." - -"My dear," she said affectionately, "under the circumstances you may -have an all-night license." - -He had turned to go when Lambart approached him. "I beg your pardon, -sir, but can I have a word with you?" - -"What is it?" Michael demanded anxiously. The news evidently affected -him, and Taylor looked suspicious. "What's this mean?" the -deputy-surveyor asked. - -"A long distance from my partner," the agitated Harrington returned. "I -stand to lose nearly a million dollars if something isn't done. Excuse -me, Alice--I'll use the upstairs 'phone." He hurried upstairs. - -"Well," said Monty to Taylor--Nora was hanging on his arm and he felt he -would never again be afraid--"do you want me any longer?" - -"I thought I sent you back to play," Taylor snarled. - -Ostentatiously Monty turned his back and walked leisurely to a door. - -"You are perfectly splendid," Nora exclaimed with ecstasy in her voice. -"I'd no idea you were so brave." - -"Oh, you can never tell," Monty returned modestly. - -Alice joined them in retreat. "Michael's thirst is catching," she -asserted. "I'm for some champagne, children, are you?" - -"Sure," said Monty. "What's a quart amongst three?" - -Taylor watched them depart, sneeringly. He hated the idle rich with the -intensity of a man who has longed to be of them and knows he cannot. The -look he flung at Miss Cartwright was not pleasant. - -"What did you mean by telling them upstairs that you had never seen me -before?" he cried vindictively. - -"You said under no circumstances was I to mention your name." - -He looked a trifle disconcerted at this simple explanation. He was in a -mood for punishment, and rebuke. - -"Yes," he admitted, "but--" - -"You said it was imperative your identity should not be disclosed," the -girl reminded him. - -"I suppose that's true in a way," he conceded; "but when you saw me -wanting to prove who I was, why didn't you help?" - -"I was afraid to do anything but follow your instructions," she said -earnestly. "I remembered that you swore you'd put my sister in prison if -I even said I'd ever seen you before." - -"Well, then, we won't say any more about it," he returned ungraciously. -"How did you find Denby had the necklace?" - -"I got into his room and caught him," she explained. "He had it in his -hand." - -"Yes, yes!" he cried impatiently; "go on." - -"And when the lights went out and there was a shot, I screamed, and -naturally I couldn't see what happened in the dark. I thought you had -killed him and I was frightened." - -Taylor frowned. He did not like to remember that directly the flash of -his gun had disclosed his position Denby had sprung on him like an arrow -and knocked him down. Denby had scored two knock-downs in one night, and -none had ever done that before. There was a swelling on his jaw and -three teeth were loosened. Denby should pay for that, he swore. - -While he was thinking these vengeful thoughts, Duncan hurried in through -the French windows. - -"Say, Chief," he shouted, "Denby didn't leave the house. He's up in his -room now." - -"How do you know?" Taylor cried eagerly. - -"Gibbs climbed up on the roof of the pagoda; he can see the room from -there and Denby's in it now." - -"Now we've got him sure," his chief cried gleefully. - -"And Harrington's with him," Duncan added excitedly. - -"What!" Taylor ejaculated, stopping short on his way to the stairs. The -two men talking together spelled collusion to him, and opened up -complications to which he had hardly given a thought. - -"Gibbs said they were talking together," his subordinate continued. - -"I was right at first," Taylor exclaimed; "I thought that might be the -game, but he fooled me so that I would have sworn he was innocent. -Denby's smuggling the necklace through for Harrington. Jim, this is a -big job, get out there to make sure he don't escape by the balcony. Have -your gun handy," he warned; "I've got mine." He looked over to Ethel, -whose face betrayed the anguish which she was enduring. "And I'll get -the drop on him this time." - -"No, no," she cried, "you mustn't!" - -"You knew all the time he was back in his room and you've been trying to -fool me--you're stuck on him." - -"No, no, you're wrong," she said desperately. - -"Am I?" he retorted; "then I'll give you the chance to prove it. Send -for Denby and ask him what he did with the necklace, and where it is -now. Tell him I suspect you, and that he's got to tell you the truth, -but you won't turn him over to me. Talk as if you two were alone, but -I'll be there behind that screen listening." He took out his revolver -and pointed to it meaningly. "If you tip him off or give him the -slightest warning or signal, I'll arrest you both, anyway. Wrong, am I?" -he sneered. "We'll see; and if you try to fool me again, you and your -sister will have plenty of time to think it over in Auburn. Now send for -him." - -There was a big screen of tapestry in one corner of the hall near the -stairs. Behind this he had little difficulty in hiding himself. - -The girl watched him in terror. It seemed she must either offer the man -she loved bound and helpless to his enemies, or else by warning him and -aiding him in escape, see him shot before her eyes. There seemed here no -way out with Taylor watching her every look and movement from his -hiding-place. - -She stretched out her tremulous hand to grasp the table for support and -clutched instead the silver cigarette-box, the same she had offered -earlier to Denby. Her deep dejection was banished for she saw here a -chance to defeat her enemy by a ruse of which he could not know. -Watching her, Taylor saw her returning courage, and congratulated her. -She knew, he thought, that her only chance was to play the square game -with him now. - -"Well," he called from his concealment, "why don't you send for him?" - -"I'm going to!" she answered, walking to the bell and then coming back -to the table. "You'll see you've been all wrong about me." - -"I guess not," he snarled, adjusting the screen so as better to be able -to see her from between its folds. He noticed that Lambart passing close -to him as he answered the bell had no suspicion of his presence. - -"Mr. Denby's in his room," she told the man, "please say I'm alone here -and wish to speak to him at once." - -"Yes, madam," Lambart said, and a few seconds later could be heard -knocking at a distant door. - -"I can see you perfectly," Taylor warned her. "When Denby comes in, stay -right where you are and don't move, or else I'll--" He stopped short -when Lambart descended the staircase. - -"Mr. Denby will be with you immediately," the butler said, and left the -hall. - - - - -CHAPTER SIXTEEN - - -Denby came eagerly down the stairs, looking about him with no especial -care. He had learned that the special service men assumed him to have -made good his escape and were contenting themselves with surrounding the -gardens. - -"What's happened?" he asked, coming quickly toward her. "Is everything -all right now? Where is--" - -Ethel interrupted him. "Will you have a cigarette, Dick?" she asked, -pushing the silver box to him. - -He took it calmly enough but instantly realized her warning. His alert -gaze swept about the room and dwelt no longer on the screen than any -other of its furnishing, but he knew where his enemy was hidden. -"Thanks," he said simply, and lighted it with a hand that was steady. - -"Now we are alone," she said, "and those men imagine you are not here, -and I admit you've beaten me, please tell me the truth about that -necklace. What have you done with it?" - -"Are you still persisting in that strange delusion?" he asked calmly. "I -never had a necklace, Miss Cartwright." - -"But I know you did," she persisted, "I saw it." - -"Ah, you thought you did," he corrected. "We went all over that in my -room and I imagined I had persuaded you. Why do you want to know this?" - -"The agent of the secret service has been here," she told him, "and he -suspects that I am defending you and won't believe what I say. If you'll -tell me the truth, I'll get him to let you go." - -"Then the secret service agent is just as wrong as you," he remarked. "I -have no necklace. Because I knock down a man who breaks into my room at -night and escape rather than be shot, am I supposed on that account to -carry these fabulous necklaces about with me? I don't care even to -prolong this conversation, Miss Cartwright." - -At this point Lambart entered, and coming toward him, delivered a small -package. - -"Pardon me, sir," the butler began, "but Mr Vaughan asked me to take -this to your room." - -"What is it?" Denby asked, and a slight movement behind the screen -betokened the curiosity of the man hidden there. - -"Mr. Vaughan didn't say, sir," Lambart returned. "He only said it was -very important for you to get it immediately." Lambart bowed and -retired. - -"I wonder what on earth Monty can be sending me at this time of the -night," said Denby, balancing the thing as though to judge its contents -from the weight. "It must be important, so forgive me if I see what it -is." - -He tore the envelope open carelessly, and out of it dropped the -necklace. Quickly he stooped down and picked it up, putting it in his -left-hand coat-pocket. - -The girl could not refrain from giving a cry as he did so. "Oh," she -exclaimed, "we're done for now." - -There was a crash behind them as the screen clattered to the floor and -Daniel Taylor stepped over it, levelled gun in hand. - -"Hands up, Denby," he commanded, and then blew his police whistle. - -He looked sourly at the trembling girl by the table. "I don't know how -you tipped him off, but you two are damned smart, aren't you? But I've -got you both now, so it's just as well it happened as it did." - -Gibbs and Duncan burst in, their anxious faces breaking into smiles of -joy. The Chief's temper if his plans miscarried was a fixed quantity and -an unpleasant one. They had been consoling themselves outside, and -Duncan had been wishing he had Gibbs' outside job. Now everything would -be well and they would each be able to boast in his home circle of -to-night's exploit. - -"You're both under arrest," Taylor said, addressing his captives. -"Boys," he commanded his satellites cordially, "take her into one of -those side rooms and keep her there till I call. They can talk without -speaking, these two. I'll question 'em separately." - -For the second time within an hour he searched Denby. From the -right-hand pocket of his dinner jacket he took an automatic pistol. From -the left he drew out the string of pearls. - -"It's a pippin, all right," Taylor muttered, his eyes gloating over the -treasure. "How much did you pay the girl?" - -"Not a cent," his prisoner asserted. "Nothing. You're all wrong there." - -"Then why did she tip you off just now?" - -"She didn't tip me off," Denby told him. "She didn't say a word, as you -yourself must have heard." - -"Can it! can it!" Taylor retorted impatiently. "I saw the result all -right, but I couldn't get on to the cause. What did she do it for?" - -Denby shrugged his shoulders and smiled a little. It was the first time -he had come off his high horse. - -"Maybe," he hinted, "she didn't want to see me go to prison." - -"Oh, you pulled the soft stuff, eh?" Taylor said. "Well, she tried to -double-cross me and that don't pay, Denby. She'll find that out, all -right." - -Denby assumed a certain confidential air. "Look here, Taylor," he said, -"so long as she did the decent thing by me, I'd like to see her out of -this. You've got me, and you've got the pearls--Why not let her go?" - -Taylor shook his head. He did not signalize his triumphs by the freeing -of captives or the giving of rewards. "I guess not," he returned with -his sourest look. "You've both given me a lot of unnecessary trouble, -and I think a little trip down south ought to fix you two comfortably. -What do you say to five years in Atlanta? Fine winter climate they say." - -"Then I guess we are up against it;" Denby sighed. - -"You are, son," Taylor assured him; "right up against it." - -"Take it out on me," the other implored; "ease up on her. It isn't as if -she were a grafter, either. Why, I offered her twenty thousand dollars -to square it." - -"Tried to bribe a Government official, eh?" Taylor observed. "That don't -make it any better for you." - -"Oh, you can't prove it against me," Denby returned easily. - -"Twenty thousand dollars," Taylor muttered; "twenty thousand dollars! So -you _were_ trying to smuggle it in for the Harringtons, then?" - -"I hate bringing names in," said Denby, looking at him shrewdly. - -"Well, they'll have to come out in court anyway," the other reminded -him, and then reverted to the money. "Twenty thousand dollars!" he -repeated. "It seems to mean a whole lot to you--or somebody--to get this -through, eh?" - -"It does," Denby returned, "and it's a big lot of money; but I'd rather -pay that than sample your winter climate down south--see?" He looked at -him still with that air of confidence as though he expected Taylor to -comprehend his motives. - -"Say, what are you trying to do?" Taylor said sharply; "bribe me?" - -"What an imagination you have!" Denby said in astonishment. "Why, you -couldn't be bribed, Mr. Taylor!" - -"You bet your life I couldn't," the deputy-surveyor returned. - -Denby sighed. "What a pity I didn't meet a business man instead of -_you_." - -Taylor's sharp eyes looked at the speaker steadily. - -"You couldn't square it even with a business man for twenty thousand -dollars." - -Denby met his shrewd gaze without lowering his eyes. - -"If I'd met the right kind of business man," he declared, "I shouldn't -have offered twenty thousand dollars," he said meaningly; "I'd have -offered him all I've got--and that's thirty thousand dollars." - -A slow smile chased Taylor's intent expression away. "You would?" he -said. - -"I would," Denby answered steadily. - -"A business man," Taylor returned, "wouldn't believe you had that much -unless he saw it with his own eyes." - -"I should prove it," Denby answered. And with his first and second -finger he probed behind his collar and produced three new -ten-thousand-dollar bills. - -"Beauties, aren't they?" he asked of the staring Taylor. - -The official seemed hypnotized by them. "I didn't know they made 'em -that big," he said reverently. - -When Denby next spoke, his tone was brisker. "Look here, Taylor, I -haven't been in Paris for two years." - -There was understanding in Taylor's face now. "You haven't?" he -returned. - -"And in case of a come-back, I've witnesses to prove an alibi." - -"You have?" Taylor responded, his smile broadening. - -"How much does the Government pay you?" Denby questioned. - -Taylor's eyes were still on the bills. "Three thousand a year," he -answered. - -Denby inspected the crisp bills interestedly. "Ten years' salary!" he -commented. "You couldn't save all this honestly in your lifetime." - -Denby raised his eyes and the two men looked at one another and a -bargain was as certainly made as though documents had been drawn up -attesting it. - -Taylor's manner altered instantly. He removed his hat and became a -genial, not to say jocular, soul. - -"Too bad," he said sympathetically, "a mistake like that happening." - -"It is a bit inconvenient," Denby allowed. - -"I'm sorry to have bothered you," the deputy-surveyor assured him, "but -you're all right, Mr. Denby. I figured from the first that you might be -a business man, and that's why you slipped through so easily." - -"You're a pretty smart man, Mr. Taylor," Denby admitted, "and I think -these belong to you." He held out the money. - -"Yes, I think they do," Taylor said eagerly, reaching out for the bills. - -"Wait a minute!" Denby cried, holding the money back. "How do I know you -won't take it and then double-cross me?" - -"I'll give you my word for it," Taylor assured him fervently. - -"That security isn't good enough," Denby remarked slowly. "We haven't -done business together before, and those two men of yours--are they in -on it?" - -"Not on your life," Taylor laughed. "I haven't split with anybody for -five years. This is a one man job, Mr. Denby." - -"That may be," the other protested, "but they saw you pinch me!" - -"I'll tell them it was all a mistake and I've got to call it off. I know -the kind of help I want when I'm tackling a one man job." - -"Do you think you can get away with it?" Denby asked doubtfully. - -"I always have," Taylor said simply. "There's no need for you to get -scared." - -Denby still seemed perturbed. "I've been hearing a lot about this R. -J.," he told the official. "I don't like what I've heard either. Is he -suspicious about you by any chance?" - -"What do you know about R. J.?" Taylor asked quickly. - -"Some friends of mine--business men--in London, tipped me off about him. -They said he's been investigating the bribery rumors in the Customs." - -"Don't you worry about him, my boy," Taylor said with a reassuring air, -"I'm the guy on this job." - -"That's all well enough," Denby said, "but I don't want to give up -thirty thousand and then get pinched as well. I've got to think about -myself." - -Taylor leaned across eagerly. "Say, if that R. J. has scared you into -thinking he'll ball things up, I don't mind admitting--in strict -confidence--who he is." - -"So you know?" Denby retorted. "Who is he? I want to be on my guard." - -"Well, he isn't a thousand miles from here." - -"What!" Denby cried in astonishment. - -Taylor tapped himself upon the chest with an air of importance. "Get -me?" - -"Well, that's funny," Denby laughed. - -"What's funny?" Taylor retorted. - -"Why, R. J. is supposed to be death on grafters and you're one -yourself." - -"I'm a business man," Taylor said with a wink. "I'm not a grafter--I -should worry about the Government." - -"Well I guess I'll take a chance," Denby said, after a momentary pause. - -"That's the idea," Taylor cried cheerfully. - -"Provided," Denby added, "you let me have a few words with your men. -They've got to understand I'm innocent, and I want to see how they take -it. You see, I don't know them as well as you do. They've got to back -you up in squaring me with the Harringtons. You've put me in all wrong -here, remember." - -"Why sure," Taylor agreed generously, "talk your head off to 'em." - -"And you'll leave the girl out of it?" - -"I'll do more than that," Taylor told him with a grin; "I'll leave her -to you." - -Denby heaved a sigh of relief. "Now we understand one another," he said. -"Here's your money, Taylor." - -"Much obliged," Taylor responded. He handed the other the pearls. "I've -no evidence," he declared in high good humor, "that you ever had any -necklace. Have a cigar, Mr. Denby?" - -[Illustration: "NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER," HE SAID. "HERE'S YOUR -MONEY." _Page 288_.] - -"Thanks," the younger man returned; "I'll smoke it later it you don't -mind. Now call 'em in." - -"Certainly," Taylor said briskly. "And say, I'm glad to have met you, -Mr. Denby; and next time you're landing in New York and I can be of use, -let me know." He leered. "I might be of considerable use, understand?" - - - - -CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - - -Taylor walked briskly across the hall and threw open the door of the -room in which his subordinates were guarding their prisoner. "Duncan," -he called, "and Gibbs, come here." - -When they had come in with Ethel Cartwright, he turned to them -impressively. "Boys," he declared, "it was all a mistake." - -"What!" cried his men. - -"Thank God!" the girl cried softly. - -"Our dope was phoney. We were tipped off wrong by someone, out of -mischief or malice--I'll have to look into that--and we're all in wrong. -It was a case of mistaken identity, but Mr. Denby's been very nice about -it, very nice, indeed. Let the lady go, Jim." - -"I asked Mr. Taylor to send for you," Denby explained, "because I -thought it was due you, and I didn't want any come-back. I want you all -to understand the facts, if you don't mind waiting, Miss Cartwright." - -"Of course I'll wait," she said brightly. What had happened to change -things she could not guess, but she was confident the man she loved had -some magic to save them both. - -"Listen to him, boys," Taylor counselled. "You see, he's a bit anxious -to straighten things out, so tell him all you know. Fire ahead, Mr. -Denby." - -Denby addressed himself to James Duncan. "You got a tip from Harlow that -a Steven Denby had bought a necklace at Cartier's?" - -"Yes, sir," Duncan agreed. - -Denby now turned to Gibbs who assumed a character of importance. - -"Then you got a wireless that this Denby had sailed with Mrs. Michael -Harrington and Mr. Montague Vaughan, which threw suspicion on the lady -as a possible smuggler?" - -"That's right, too," Gibbs conceded, contentedly. - -"And yet," Denby remarked with inquiry in his tone, "you let Denby slip -through the Customs to-day, didn't you?" - -Taylor's satisfied expression had faded partially. "You see," he -explained, "we didn't have any absolute evidence to arrest him on." - -"Just what I was going to say," Gibbs remarked. - -"But after he got through," Denby went on, "you received an anonymous -telegram late this afternoon that Denby carried the necklace in a -tobacco-pouch, didn't you?" - -Taylor advanced a step frowning. "What's all this, anyway?" he demanded. -"How do you know about that telegram?" - -"I found it out to-night," Denby said pleasantly. - -"That's a private Government matter," Taylor blustered. - -Denby looked at him in surprise. "Surely," he said, "you don't object to -my making things clear? I was pretty nice to you, Mr. Taylor." - -Taylor's fingers nestled tenderly about the crackling notes in his -pocket. "All right," he assented, "go ahead." - -Denby turned on the expectant Gibbs. - -"You knew about that tip in the telegram?" - -"First I ever heard about it," Gibbs returned, open-eyed. - -"Then you didn't tell them?" Denby observed, looking toward their chief. - -"That was my own business," Taylor said impatiently. He wished this fool -cross-examination over, and himself out of Long Island. - -"Did it ever occur to you boys that it was rather peculiar that this -supposed smuggler wasn't searched--that he got through without the -slightest trouble?" - -"Why, the Chief didn't want to get in any mix-up with the Harringtons in -case he was wrong about Denby," Gibbs elucidated. - -"Oh, I see," Denby remarked, as though the whole thing were now -perfectly straightforward. "He told you that, did he?" - -"He sure did," Duncan agreed readily. - -"Don't you boys see," Denby said seriously, "that this whole job looks -very much as if the scheme was to let Denby slip through and then -blackmail him?" - -"I never thought of that," Duncan returned. - -"Me, neither," the ingenuous Gibbs added. - -"Wait a minute," Taylor said irritably. "What's all this got to do with -you? I admit we made a mistake--I'll take the blame for it--and we're -sorry. We can't remedy it by talking any more. Come on, boys." - -"Wait just a minute," Denby exclaimed. "Don't you know," he went on, -addressing himself to the two subordinate officials, "that it's rather a -dangerous thing to monkey with the United States Government? It's a -pretty big thing to fool with. You might have got into serious trouble -arresting the wrong man." - -"I haven't been monkeying with the Government," Gibbs said nervously. -All his official carelessness recurred to him vividly. "I wouldn't do a -thing like that." - -"Neither have I," Duncan made eager reply. - -Taylor took a hand in the conversation. "That's all settled," he said, -with an air of finality. "We all know Mr. Denby never had a necklace." - -"That's clearly understood, is it?" Denby returned. - -"What I say is right," Taylor retorted, and glared at his underlings. - -"What the Chief says is right," Gibbs admitted with eagerness. - -"What the Chief says is wrong," Denby cried in a different voice. "I did -smuggle a necklace in through the Customs to-day. Here it is." - -They looked at it in consternation. "What!" they ejaculated. - -Taylor had owed his safety ere this to rapid thinking. - -"Then you're under arrest!" he cried. - -"Oh, no I'm not," Denby rejoined, turning to the startled men. "Your -chief caught me with the goods and I paid him thirty thousand dollars to -square it." - -Taylor came at him with upraised fist. "Why, you--" he roared, "I'll--" - -Denby seized the clenched fist and thrust it aside. "You won't," he said -calmly; "you're only a bully after all, Taylor. You couldn't graft on -your own--you had to drag a girl into it, and you've made me do some -pretty rotten things to-night to land you. I've had to make that girl -suffer, but you'll pay for it. I've got you now, and you're under -arrest." - -"Aw, quit your bluffing," Taylor jeered; "you can't arrest me, Denby." - -"The man who'll arrest you is named Jones," Denby remarked. - -"Who the hell is he?" Taylor cried. - -"Ah, yes," Denby admitted. "I forgot that you hadn't met him officially -and that the boys don't know who he is either. Here's my commission." -Gibbs stared at the document ravenously. "And that's my photograph," -Denby added. "A pretty good likeness it's usually considered." - -Duncan was now at his comrade's side, poring over it. "It sure is," he -agreed. - -"This thing," said Gibbs the discoverer, "is made out in the name of -Richard Jones!" - -"Well, do you get the initials?" Denby queried. - -"R. J.," Gibbs read out as one might mystic things without meaning. - -"That's me," Denby smiled, "R. J. of the secret service. That's the name -I'm known by." - -Gibbs offered his hand. "If you're R. J.," he said admiringly, "I'd -like to shake hands with you. Are you, on the level, R. J.?" - -"I'm afraid I am," the other admitted. - -"It's a lie," Taylor shouted. - -Denby pointed to the paper. "You can't get away from that signature. -It's signed by the President of the United States." - -"I tell you it's a fake," the man cried angrily. - -"They don't seem to think so," Denby remarked equably. - -"This is on the level, all right," Duncan announced after prolonged -scrutiny. - -Denby turned to the deputy-surveyor. - -"Taylor," he said gravely, "for three years the Government has been -trying to land the big blackmailer in the Customs. They brought me into -it and I set a trap with a necklace as a bait. The whole thing was a -plant from Harlow's tip, the telegram I sent myself this afternoon, to -the accidental dropping of the pearls, so that you could see them -through the screen. You walked right into it, Taylor. Twice before you -came and looked into other traps and had some sort of intuition and kept -out of them. This time, Taylor, it worked." - -"You can't get away with that," Taylor said threateningly. "I'm not -going to listen to this." - -"Wait a minute," Denby advised him. "You've been in the service long -enough to know that the rough stuff won't go. You'd only get the worst -of it; so take things easily." - -He smiled pleasantly at the other men. "I'm glad to find you boys -weren't in on this. Take him along with you, and this, too." He tossed -the necklace on the table from which it slid to the floor at Gibbs' -feet. - -Gibbs made a quick step forward to recover it, but trod on part of the -string and crushed many of the stones. Poor Gibbs looked at the damage -he had done aghast. If the thing were worth two hundred thousand -dollars, a ponderous calculation forced the dreadful knowledge upon him -that he had destroyed possibly a quarter of them. Fifty thousand -dollars! Tears came to his eyes. "Honest to goodness," he groaned, -looking imploringly at the august R. J., "I couldn't help it." - -"Don't worry," Denby laughed. "They're fakes. Take what's left as -Exhibit A." - -Gibbs recovered his ease of manner quickly and took a few steps nearer -the fallen Chief. "And to think I've been working for a crook two years -and never knew it," he said, with a childlike air of wonder. - -Taylor looked at Denby with rage and despair. - -"Damn you," he exploded, "you've got me all right, but I'll send that -girl and her sister up the river. You're stuck on her and I'll get even -that way." - -Even in his fury he remarked that this threat did not disturb the man in -the least. He saw the girl blanch and hide her face, but this cursed -meddling R. J., as he called himself, only smiled. - -"I think not," Denby returned. "You forget that Mr. Harrington is -vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company and a friend of -the late Mr. Vernon Cartwright. I hardly think he will allow a little -matter like that to come into public notice. In fact, I've seen him -about it already." - -"Oh, get me out of this," Taylor cried in disgust. - -"Just a minute," Denby commanded. "I'll trouble you for that thirty -thousand dollars." - -"You think of everything, don't you?" Taylor snarled, handing it back. -"Is that a fake, too?" - -"Oh, no," he was told, "I borrowed that from Monty, who's been a great -help to me in this little scheme as an amateur partner." - -He put the bills in his pocket and took out the cigar Taylor had given -him. - -"Here's your cigar," he said. - -Taylor snatched it from him, and biting off the end, stuck it in his -mouth. He assumed a brazen air of bravado. "Well," he cried bragging, -"it took the biggest man in the secret service to land me, Mr. R. J., -but I've got some mighty good pals, in some mighty good places, and -they'll come across for me, and don't you forget it. After all, you're -not the jury, and all the smart lawyers aren't dead yet." - -"I don't think they'll help you this time," Denby said. "I believe -you'll still enjoy that winter climate." - -"Aw, come on, you dirty grafter," Gibbs cried contemptuously, and with -his partner led the broken man away. - -Ethel came to his side when they were alone. "Did you really mean it -about arranging with Mr. Harrington?" she cried. - -He looked down at her tenderly. "Yes," he said. "We've saved her." - -"And you are really R. J.?" she exclaimed wonderingly. - -"I really am," he returned. "Can't you guess how much I wanted to tell -you before? But I couldn't you know, at first, because I thought you -might be Taylor's accomplice. And later, I still dared not, because I -was under orders with my duty toward my Government. Can you forgive me -for making you suffer like that?" - -"Forgive you?" she whispered tenderly. "Haven't I said I love you?" - -He took her in his arms and kissed her. - -"And everything's all right now, isn't it?" she sighed happily. - -He looked at her whimsically. - -"Except that I'm hungry--are you hungry?" - -"Starved," she cried. - -"Let's ask for some food," he suggested. "Nothing would gratify Lambart -so much. But I don't think I've been so hungry since I was in Paris." - -"I wish it were Paris," she said. "Dear Paris, where I first found R. -J." - -"It shall be, whenever you say," he answered, "and I'll tell you all -about R. J. and the lonely life he led till he saw you." - -"And to think I could believe for a moment you were a criminal!" she -said, self-reproach in her voice, "and even try to trap you!" - -"But you've caught me," he said proudly. - -"Have I really got you, Steve?" she asked, softly, holding out her arms -to him. - -THE END - -[Illustration] - - * * * * * - -CORT THEATRE - -NEW YORK - -BEGINNING AUGUST 24th - -COHAN'S GRAND OPERA -HOUSE, CHICAGO - -BEGINNING AUGUST 31st - -SELWYN AND COMPANY - -PRESENT - -UNDER COVER - -_A melodrama of love, mystery -and thrills_ - -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -Ambassadeurs waiters corraled=> Ambassadeurs waiters corralled {pg 39} - -wrung his hand again and again=> wrung his hands again and again {pg -156} - -How women do gamble nowaday=> How women do gamble nowadays {pg 165} - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Cover, by -Roi Cooper Megrue and Wyndham Martyn - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - -***** This file should be named 40939-8.txt or 40939-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/3/40939/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/40939-8.zip b/old/40939-8.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index c1aa17c..0000000 --- a/old/40939-8.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/40939-h.zip b/old/40939-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 2d691a4..0000000 --- a/old/40939-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/40939-h/40939-h.htm b/old/40939-h/40939-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 5418fa9..0000000 --- a/old/40939-h/40939-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8753 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" -"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> - <head> <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> -<title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of Under Cover, by Roi Cooper Megrue. -</title> -<style type="text/css"> - p {margin-top:.2em;text-align:justify;margin-bottom:.2em;text-indent:4%;} - -.c {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} - -.cb {text-align:center;text-indent:0%;font-weight:bold;} - -.errata {color:red;text-decoration:underline;} - -.letra {font-size:250%;float:left;margin-top:-.75%;} - -.nind {text-indent:0%;} - -small {font-size: 70%;} - - h1 {margin-top:5%;text-align:center;clear:both;} - - h2 {margin-top:5%;margin-bottom:2%;text-align:center;clear:both; - font-size:120%;} - - hr.full {width: 50%;margin:5% auto 5% auto;border:4px double gray;} - - table {margin-top:5%;margin-bottom:5%;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;border:none;text-align:left;} - - body{margin-left:2%;margin-right:2%;background:#fdfdfd;color:black;font-family:"Times New Roman", serif;font-size:medium;} - -.un {text-decoration:underline;} - -a:link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} - - link {background-color:#ffffff;color:blue;text-decoration:none;} - -a:visited {background-color:#ffffff;color:purple;text-decoration:none;} - -a:hover {background-color:#ffffff;color:#FF0000;text-decoration:underline;} - -.smcap {font-variant:small-caps;font-size:95%;} - - img {border:none;} - -.caption {font-weight:bold;font-size:.8em;} - -.figcenter {margin-top:3%;margin-bottom:3%; -margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;text-align:center;text-indent:0%;} -</style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -Project Gutenberg's Under Cover, by Roi Cooper Megrue and Wyndham Martyn - -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/license - - -Title: Under Cover - -Author: Roi Cooper Megrue - Wyndham Martyn - -Illustrator: William Kirkpatrick - -Release Date: October 5, 2012 [EBook #40939] -[Last updated: February 1, 2014] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<table summary="note" border="4" cellpadding="10" style="background-color: #ffffff;"> - <tr> - <td valign="top">The chapters in the original book pass from CHAPTER FIVE to CHAPTER SEVEN; -there is no chapter numbered SIX.<br /> -A <a href="#trans">list of typographical errors</a> corrected follows the etext. -(note of etext transcriber)</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="374" height="550" alt="image of the book's cover" title="" /> -</p> - -<p class="cb">UNDER COVER</p> - -<p class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="365" height="550" alt="HE FOUND DENBY’S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE. - -Frontispiece. See page 266." title="" /> -<br /> -<span class="caption">HE FOUND DENBY’S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE.<br /> -Frontispiece. See page <a href="#page_266">266</a>.</span> -</p> - -<h1>UNDER COVER</h1> - -<p class="cb">BY<br /> -ROI COOPER MEGRUE<br /> -<br /> -NOVELIZED BY WYNDHAM MARTYN<br /> -<br /> -<small>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY</small><br /> -WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK<br /> -<br /> -<img src="images/colophon_1.jpg" width="75" -height="104" alt="colophon" title="colophon" /> -<br /> -<br /> -BOSTON<br /> -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY<br /> -1914<br /> -<br /><br /><br /> -<small><i>Copyright</i>, <i>1914</i>,<br /> -<span class="smcap">By Roi Cooper Megrue and<br /> -Little, Brown, and Company.</span><br /> -<br /> -<i>All rights reserved</i><br /> -<br /> -Published August, 1914<br /> -<br /> -THE COLONIAL PRESS<br /> -C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A.<br /></small> -</p> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> -<p class="c"> -<a href="#CHAPTER_ONE"><b>CHAPTER: ONE, </b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_TWO"><b>TWO ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_THREE"><b>THREE ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_FOUR"><b>FOUR ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_FIVE"><b>FIVE ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_SEVEN"><b>SEVEN ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_EIGHT"><b>EIGHT ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_NINE"><b>NINE ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_TEN"><b>TEN ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_ELEVEN"><b>ELEVEN ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_TWELVE"><b>TWELVE ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_THIRTEEN"><b>THIRTEEN ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_FOURTEEN"><b>FOURTEEN ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_FIFTEEN"><b>FIFTEEN ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_SIXTEEN"><b>SIXTEEN ,</b></a> -<a href="#CHAPTER_SEVENTEEN"><b>SEVENTEEN.</b></a> -</p> - -<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> -<tr><td><span class="smcap">He found Denby’s gun under his nose</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><i>Frontispiece</i></td></tr> -<tr><td><span class="smcap">He turned to Amy. “Young woman, you’re under arrestâ€</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><small>PAGE</small> <a href="#page_105">105</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><span class="smcap">“Do make another break sometime, won’t you—Dick?â€</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_186">186</a></td></tr> -<tr><td><span class="smcap">“Now we understand one another,†he said.<a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a> “Here’s your moneyâ€</span></td><td align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="#page_288">288</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<h1>UNDER COVER</h1> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_ONE" id="CHAPTER_ONE"></a>CHAPTER ONE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">P</span>ARIS wears her greenest livery and puts on her most gracious airs in -early summer. When the National Fete commemorative of the Bastille’s -fall has gone, there are few Parisians of wealth or leisure who remain -in their city. Trouville, Deauville, Etretat and other pleasure cities -claim them and even the bourgeoisie hie them to their summer villas.</p> - -<p>The city is given up to those tourists from America and England whom -Paris still persists in calling <i>Les Cooks</i> in memory of that -enterprising blazer of cheap trails for the masses. Your true Parisian -and the stranger who has stayed within the city’s gates to know her -well, find themselves wholly out of sympathy with the eager crowds who -follow beaten tracks and absorb topographical knowledge from -guide-books.</p> - -<p>Monty Vaughan was an American who knew his Paris in all months but those -two which are sacred<a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a> to foreign travelers, and it irritated him one -blazing afternoon in late July to be persistently mistaken for a tourist -and offered silly useless toys and plans of the Louvre. The <i>camelots</i>, -those shrewd itinerant merchants of the Boulevards, pestered him -continually. These excellent judges of human nature saw in him one who -lacked the necessary harshness to drive them away and made capital of -his good nature.</p> - -<p>He was a slim, pleasant-looking man of five and twenty, to whom the good -things of this world had been vouchsafed, with no effort on his part to -obtain them; and in spite of this he preserved a certain frank and -boyish charm which had made him popular all his life.</p> - -<p>Presently on his somewhat aimless wanderings he came down the Avenue de -l’Opéra and took a seat under the awning and ordered an innocuous drink. -He was in a city where he had innumerable friends, but they had all left -for the seashore and this loneliness was unpleasant to his friendly -spirit. But even in the Café de Paris he was not to be left alone and he -was regarded as fair game by alert hawkers. One would steal up to his -table and deposit a little measure of olives and plead for two sous in -exchange. Another would place some nuts by his side and demand a like -amount. And when they had been driven forth and<a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a> he had lighted a -cigarette, he observed watching him with professional eagerness a -<i>ramasseur de megot</i>, one of those men who make a livelihood of picking -up the butts of cigars and cigarettes and selling them.</p> - -<p>When Monty flung down the half-smoked cigarette in hope that the man -would go away he was annoyed to find that the fellow was congratulating -himself that here was a tourist worth following, who smoked not the -wispy attenuated cigarettes of the native but one worth harvesting. He -probed for it with his long stick under the table and stood waiting for -another.</p> - -<p>The heat, the absence of his friends and the knowledge that he must -presently dine alone had brought the usually placid Monty into a wholly -foreign frame of mind and he rose abruptly and stalked down the Avenue.</p> - -<p>A depressed-looking sandwich-man, bearing a device which read, “One can -laugh uproariously at the Champs Elysées every night during the summer -months,†blocked his way, and permitted a woman selling fans of the kind -known to the <i>camelots</i> as <i>les petits vents du nord</i> to thrust one upon -him. “Monsieur does not comprehend our heat in Paris,†she said. “Buy a -little north wind. Two sous for a little north wind.â€</p> - -<p>Monty thrust a franc in her hand and turned quickly<a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a> from her to carom -against a tall well-dressed man who was passing. As Monty began to utter -his apology the look of gloom dropped from his face and he seized the -stranger’s hand and shook it heartily.</p> - -<p>“Steve, old man!†he cried, “what luck to find you amid this mob! I’ve -been feeling like a poor shipwrecked orphan, and here you come to my -rescue again.â€</p> - -<p>The man he addressed as Steve seemed just as pleased to behold Monty -Vaughan. The two were old comrades from the days at their preparatory -school and had met little during the past five years. Monty’s ecstatic -welcome was a pleasant reminder of happy days that were gone.</p> - -<p>“I might ask what you are doing here,†Steven Denby returned. “I -imagined you to be sunning yourself in Newport or Bar Harbor, not doing -Paris in July.â€</p> - -<p>“I’ve been living here for two years,†Monty explained, when they were -sheltered from interruption at the café Monty had just left.</p> - -<p>“Doing what?â€</p> - -<p>Monty looked at him with a diffident smile. “I suppose you’ll grin just -like everybody else. I’m here to learn foreign banking systems. My -father says it will do me good.<a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Denby laughed. “I’ll bet you know less about it than I do.†The idea of -Monty Vaughan, heir to the Vaughan millions, working like a clerk in the -Crédit Lyonnais was amusing.</p> - -<p>“Does your father make you work all summer?†he demanded.</p> - -<p>“I’m not working now,†Monty explained. “I never do unless I feel like -it. I’m waiting for a friend who is sailing with me on the Mauretania -next week and I’ve just had a wire to say she’ll be here to-morrow.â€</p> - -<p>“She!†echoed Denby. “Have you married without my knowledge or consent? -Or is this a honey-moon trip you are taking?â€</p> - -<p>A look of sadness came into the younger man’s face.</p> - -<p>“I shall never marry,†he returned.</p> - -<p>But Steven Denby knew him too well to take such expressions of gloom as -final. “Nonsense,†he cried. “You are just the sort they like. You’re -inclined to believe in people too much if you like them, and a husband -who believes in his wife as you will in yours is a treasure. They’ll -fight for you, Monty, when you get home again. For all you know the trap -is already baited.â€</p> - -<p>“Trap!†Monty cried reproachfully. “I’ve been<a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a> trying to make a girl -catch me for three years now and she won’t.â€</p> - -<p>“Do you mean you’ve been finally turned down?†Steven Denby asked -curiously. It was difficult to suppose that a man of his friend’s wealth -and standing would experience much trouble in offering heart and -fortune.</p> - -<p>“I haven’t asked yet,†Monty admitted. “I’ve been on the verge of it -hundreds of times, but she always laughs as I’m coming around to it, and -someone comes in or something happens and I’ve never done it.†He sighed -with the deprecating manner of the devout lover. “If you’d only seen -her, Steve, you’d see what mighty little chance I stood. I feel it’s a -bit of impertinence to ask a girl like that to marry me.â€</p> - -<p>Steven patted him on the arm. “You’re just the same,†he said, “exactly -the silly old Monty I used to know. Next time you see your charmer, risk -being impertinent and ask her to marry you. Women hate modesty nowadays. -It’s just a confession of failure and we’re all hitched up to success. I -don’t know the girl you are speaking of but when you get home again -instead of declaring your great unworthiness, tell her you’ve left Paris -and its pleasures simply to marry her. Say that the Bourse begged you to -remain and<a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a> guide the nation through a financial panic, but you left -them weeping and flew back on a fast Cunarder.â€</p> - -<p>“I believe you are right,†Monty said. “I’ll do it. I ought to have done -it years ago. Alice is frightfully disappointed with me.â€</p> - -<p>“Who is Alice?†the other demanded. “The lady you’re crossing with on -the Mauretania?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes,†said Monty. “A good pal of mine; one of those up-to-date women of -the world who know what to do and say at the right moment. She’s a sort -of elder sister to me. You’ll like her, Steve.â€</p> - -<p>Denby doubted it but pursued the subject no further. He conceived Alice -to be one of those capable managing women who do so much good in the -world and give so little pleasure.</p> - -<p>“What are you doing in Paris now?†Monty presently demanded. It occurred -to him that it was odd that Denby, too, should be in the city now.</p> - -<p>“Writing a book on the Race Courses of the World,†he said, smiling. “I -am now in the midst of Longchamps.â€</p> - -<p>Monty looked at him doubtfully. He had never known that his friend had -any literary aspirations, but he did remember him as one who, if he did -not choose to tell, would invent airy fairy fancies to deceive.<a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a></p> - -<p>“I don’t believe it,†he said.</p> - -<p>“You are quite right,†Denby admitted. “You’ve got the key to the -mystery. I’ll confess that I have been engaged to guard Mona Lisa. -Suspicious looking tourists such as you engage my special attention. -Don’t get offended, Monty,†he added, “I’m just wandering through the -city on my way to England and that’s the truth, simple as it may seem. I -was desolate and your pleasing countenance as you bought a franc’s worth -of north wind was good to see. I wondered if you’d remember me.â€</p> - -<p>“Remember you!†Monty snorted. “Am I the kind to forget a man who saved -my life?â€</p> - -<p>“Who did that?†Denby inquired.</p> - -<p>“Why, you did,†he returned, “You pulled me out of the Nashua river at -school!â€</p> - -<p>The other man laughed. “Why, it wasn’t five feet deep there.â€</p> - -<p>“I can drown anywhere,†Monty returned firmly. “You saved my life and -I’ve never had the opportunity to do anything in return.â€</p> - -<p>“The time will come,†Denby said lightly. “You’ll get a mysterious -message sometime and it will be up to you to rescue me from dreadful -danger.â€</p> - -<p>“I’d like to,†the other retorted, “but I’m not sure I’m cut out for -that rescue business.<a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Have you ever been—†Denby hesitated. “Have you ever been in any sort -of danger?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes,†Monty replied promptly, “but you pulled me out.â€</p> - -<p>“Please don’t go about repeating it,†Denby entreated, “I have enemies -enough without being blamed for pulling you out of the Nashua river.â€</p> - -<p>Monty looked at him in astonishment. Here was the most popular boy in -Groton School complaining of enemies. Monty felt a thrill that had -something of enjoyment in it. His own upbringing had been so free from -any danger and his parents had safeguarded him from so much trouble that -he had found life insipid at times. Yet here was a man talking of -enemies. It was fascinating.</p> - -<p>“Do you mean it?†he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Why not?†said Denby, rolling himself a cigarette.</p> - -<p>“You hadn’t any at school,†Monty insisted.</p> - -<p>“That was a dozen years ago nearly,†Denby insisted. “Since then—†He -paused. “My career wouldn’t interest you, my financial expert, but I am -safe in saying I have accumulated a number of persons who do not wish me -well.â€</p> - -<p>“You must certainly meet Alice,†Monty asserted. “She’s like you. She -often says I’m the only really uninteresting person she’s fond of.<a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Denby assured himself that Alice would not interest him in the slightest -degree and made haste to change the subject, but Monty held on to his -chosen course.</p> - -<p>“We’ll all dine together to-morrow night,†he cried.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I’m too busy.â€</p> - -<p>“Too busy to dine with Alice Harrington when you’ve the opportunity?†-Monty exclaimed. “Are you a woman-hater?â€</p> - -<p>A more observant man might have noted the sudden change in expression -that the name Harrington produced in Steven Denby. He had previously -been bored at the idea of meeting a woman who he concluded would be -eager to impart her guide-book knowledge. Alice evidently had meant -nothing to him, but Alice Harrington roused a sudden interest.</p> - -<p>“Not by any chance Mrs. Michael Harrington?†he queried.</p> - -<p>Monty nodded. “The same. She and Michael are two of the best friends I -have. He’s a great old sport and she’s hurrying back because he has to -stay on and can’t get over this year.†Monty flushed becomingly. “I’m -going back with her because Nora is going to stay down in Long Island -with them.â€</p> - -<p>“Introduce me to Nora,†Denby insisted. “She<a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a> is a new motif in your -jocund song. Who is Nora, what is she, that Monty doth commend her?â€</p> - -<p>“She’s the girl,†Monty explained. He sighed. “If you only knew how -pretty she was, you wouldn’t talk about a trap being baited. I don’t -think women are the good judges they pretend to be!â€</p> - -<p>“Why not?†Denby demanded.</p> - -<p>“Because Alice says she’d accept me and I don’t believe I stand a ghost -of a chance.â€</p> - -<p>“Women are the only judges,†Denby assured him seriously. “If I were you -I’d bank on your friend Alice every time.â€</p> - -<p>“Then you’ll dine with me to-morrow?†Monty asked.</p> - -<p>“Of course. You don’t suppose I am going to lose sight of you, do you?â€</p> - -<p>And Monty, grateful that this admired old school friend was so ready to -join him, forgot the previous excuse about inability to spare the time.</p> - -<p>“That’s fine,†he exclaimed. “But what are we going to do to-night?â€</p> - -<p>“You are going to dine with me,†Denby told him. “I haven’t seen you, -let me see,†he reflected, “I haven’t seen you for about ten years and I -want to talk over the old days. What do you say to trying some of -Marguery’s <i>sole à la Normandie?</i><a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a>â€</p> - -<p>During the course of the dinner Monty talked frankly and freely about -his past, present and future. Denby learned that in view of the great -wealth which would devolve upon him, his father had determined that he -should become grounded in finance. When he had finished, he reflected -that while he had opened his soul to his old friend, his old friend had -offered no explanation of what in truth brought him to Europe, or why he -had for almost a decade dropped out of his old set.</p> - -<p>“But what have you been doing?†Monty gathered courage to ask. “I’ve -told you all about me and mine, Steve.â€</p> - -<p>“There isn’t much to tell,†Denby responded slowly. “I left Groton -because my father died. I’m afraid he wasn’t a shrewd man like your -father, Monty. He was one of the last relics of New York’s brown-stone -age and he tried to keep the pace when the marble age came in. He -couldn’t do it.â€</p> - -<p>“You were going into the diplomatic service,†Monty reminded him. “You -used to specialize in modern languages, I remember. I suppose you had to -give that up.â€</p> - -<p>“I had to try to earn my own living,†Denby explained, “and diplomacy -doesn’t pay much at first even if you have the luck to get an -appointment.<a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Monty looked at him shrewdly. He saw a tall, well set up man who had -every appearance of affluence.</p> - -<p>“You’ve done pretty well for yourself.â€</p> - -<p>Denby smiled, “The age demands that a man put up a good appearance. A -financier like you ought not to be deceived.â€</p> - -<p>Monty leaned over the table. “Steve, old man,†he said, a trifle -nervously, “I don’t want to butt in on your private affairs, but if you -ever want any money you’ll offend me if you don’t let me know. I’ve too -much and that’s a fact. Except for putting a bit on Michael’s horses -when they run and a bit of a flutter occasionally at Monte Carlo I don’t -get rid of much of it. I’ve got heaps. Do you want any?â€</p> - -<p>“Monty,†the other man said quietly, “you haven’t altered. You are still -the same generous boy I remember and it’s good for a man like me to know -that. I don’t need any money, but if ever I do I’ll come to you.â€</p> - -<p>Monty sighed with relief. His old idol was not hard up and he had not -been offended at the suggestion. It was a good world and he was happy.</p> - -<p>“Steve,†he asked presently, “what did you mean about having enemies and -being in danger? That was a joke, wasn’t it?â€</p> - -<p>“We most of us have enemies,†Steven said lightly,<a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a> “and we are all in -danger. For all you know ptomaines are gathering their forces inside you -even now.â€</p> - -<p>“You didn’t mean that,†Monty said positively. “You were serious. What -enemies?â€</p> - -<p>“Enemies I have made in the course of my work,†the other returned.</p> - -<p>“Well, what work is it?†Monty queried. It was odd, he thought, that -Denby would not let him into so harmless a secret as the nature of his -work. He felt an unusual spirit of persistence rising within him. “What -work?†he repeated.</p> - -<p>Denby shrugged his shoulders. “You might call it a little irregular,†he -said in a lowered voice. “You represent high finance. Your father is one -of the big men in American affairs. You probably have his set views on -things. I don’t want to shock you, Monty.â€</p> - -<p>“Shock be damned!†cried Monty in an aggrieved voice. “I’m tired of -having to accommodate myself to other people’s views.â€</p> - -<p>Denby looked at him with mock wonder.</p> - -<p>“Monty in revolt at the established order of things is a most remarkable -phenomenon. Have you a pirate in your family tree that you sigh for -sudden change and a life on the ocean wave?â€</p> - -<p>Monty laughed. “I don’t want to do anything<a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a> like that but I’m tired of -a life that is always the same. You’ve enemies. I don’t believe I’ve -one. I’d like to have an enemy, Steve. I’d like to feel I was in danger; -it would be a change after being wrapped in wool all my life. You’ve -probably seen the world in a way I never shall. I’ve been on a -personally conducted tour, which isn’t the same thing.â€</p> - -<p>“Not by a long shot,†Steven Denby agreed. “But,†he added, “why should -you want to take the sort of risks that I have had to take, when there’s -no need? I have been in danger pretty often, Monty, and I shall again. -Why? Because I have my living to make and that way suits me best. You -notice I am sitting with my back to the wall so that none can come -behind me. I do that because two revengeful gentlemen have sworn -bloodthirsty oaths to relieve my soul of its body.â€</p> - -<p>Monty tingled with a certain pleasurable apprehension which had never -before visited him. He was experiencing in real life what had only -revealed itself before in novels or on the stage.</p> - -<p>“What are they like?†he demanded in a low voice, looking around.</p> - -<p>“Disappointing, I’m afraid,†Steven answered. “You are looking for a -tall man with a livid scar running from temple to chin and a look before -which even<a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a> a waiter would blanch. Both my men have mild expressions and -wouldn’t attract a second glance, but they’ll either get me or I’ll get -them.â€</p> - -<p>“Steve!†Monty cried. “What did they do?â€</p> - -<p>Denby made a careless gesture. “It was over a money matter,†he -explained.</p> - -<p>Monty thought for a moment in silence. Never had his conventional lot -seemed less attractive to him. He approached the subject again as do -timid men who fearfully hang on the outskirts of a street fight, -unwilling to miss what they have not the heart to enjoy.</p> - -<p>“I wish some excitement like that would come my way,†he sighed.</p> - -<p>“Excitement? Go to Monte and break the bank. Become the Jaggers of your -country.â€</p> - -<p>“There’s no danger in that,†Monty answered almost peevishly.</p> - -<p>“Nor of it,†laughed his friend.</p> - -<p>“That’s just the way it always is,†Monty complained. “Other fellows -have all the fun and I just hear about it.â€</p> - -<p>Denby looked at him shrewdly and then leaned across the table.</p> - -<p>“So you want some fun?†he queried.</p> - -<p>“I do,†the other said firmly.<a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a></p> - -<p>“Do you think you’ve got the nerve?†Steven demanded.</p> - -<p>Monty hesitated. “I don’t want to be killed,†he admitted. “What is it?â€</p> - -<p>“I didn’t tell you how I made a living, but I hinted my ways were a bit -irregular. What I have to propose is also a trifle out of the usual. The -law and the equator are both imaginary lines, Monty, and I’m afraid my -little expedition may get off the line. I suppose you don’t want to hear -any more, do you?â€</p> - -<p>Monty’s eyes were shining with excitement. “I’m going to hear everything -you’ve got to say,†he asserted.</p> - -<p>“It means I’ve got to put myself in your power in a way,†Denby said -hesitatingly, “but I’ll take a chance because you’re the kind of man who -can keep things secret.â€</p> - -<p>“I am,†Monty said fervently. “Just you try me out, Steve!â€</p> - -<p>“It has to do with a string of pearls,†Denby explained, “and I’m afraid -I shall disappoint you when I tell you I’m proposing to pay for them -just as any one else might do.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh!†said Monty. “Is that all?â€</p> - -<p>“When I buy these pearls, as you will see me do,<a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a> with Bank of France -notes, they belong to me, don’t they?â€</p> - -<p>“Sure they do,†Monty exclaimed. “They are yours to do as you like -with.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s exactly how I feel about it,†Denby said. “It happens to be my -particular wish to take those pearls back to my native land.â€</p> - -<p>“Then for heaven’s sake do it,†Monty advised. “What’s hindering you?â€</p> - -<p>“A number of officious prying hirelings called customs officials. They -admit that the pearls aren’t improved by the voyage, yet they want me to -pay a duty of twenty per cent. if I take them home with me.â€</p> - -<p>“So you’re going to smuggle ’em,†Monty cried. “That’s a cinch!â€</p> - -<p>“Is it?†Denby returned slowly. “It might have been in the past, but -things aren’t what they were in the good old days. They’re sending even -society women to jail now as well as fining them. The whole service from -being a joke has become efficient. I tell you there’s risk in it, and -believe me, Monty, I know.â€</p> - -<p>“Where would I come in?†the other asked.</p> - -<p>“You’d come in on the profits,†Denby explained, “and you’d be a help as -well.â€</p> - -<p>“Profits?†Monty queried. “What profits?â€</p> - -<p>Denby laughed. “You simple child of finance, do<a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a> you think I’m buying a -million-franc necklace to wear about my own fair neck? I can sell it at -a fifty thousand dollar profit in the easiest sort of way. There are -avenues by which I can get in touch with the right sort of buyers -without any risk. My only difficulty is getting the thing through the -customs. It’s up to you to get your little excitement if you’re game.â€</p> - -<p>Monty shut his eyes and felt as one does who is about to plunge for the -first swim of the season into icy water. It was one thing to talk about -danger in the abstract and another to have it suddenly offered him.</p> - -<p>Steven had talked calmly about men who wanted to part his soul from his -body as though such things were in no way out of the ordinary. Suppose -these desperate beings assumed Montague Vaughan to be leagued with -Steven Denby and as such worthy of summary execution! But he put aside -these fears and turned to his old friend.</p> - -<p>“I’m game,†he said, “but I’m not in this for the profits.†Now he was -once committed to it, his spirits began to rise. “What about the -danger?†he asked.</p> - -<p>“There may be none at all,†the other admitted. “If there is it may be -slight. If by any chance it is known to certain crooks that I have it -with me there may be an attempt to get it. Naturally they <a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a>won’t ask me -pleasantly to hand it over, they’ll take it by force. That’s one danger. -Then I may be trailed by the customs people, who could be warned through -secret channels that I have it and am purposing to smuggle it in.â€</p> - -<p>“But what can I do?†Monty asked. He was anxious to help but saw little -opportunity.</p> - -<p>“You can tell me if any people follow me persistently while we’re -together in Paris or whether the same man happens to sit next to me at -cafés or any shows we take in.†He paused a moment, “By Jove, Monty, -this means I shall have to book a passage on the Mauretania!â€</p> - -<p>“That’s the best part of it,†Monty cried.</p> - -<p>“But Mrs. Harrington,†Denby said. “She might not like it.â€</p> - -<p>“Alice can’t choose a passenger list,†Monty exclaimed; “and she’ll be -glad to have any old friend of mine.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s a thing I want to warn you of,†the other man said. “I don’t -want you to give away too many particulars about me. Don’t persist in -that fable about my saving your life. Know me just enough to vouch to -her that I’m house-broken but don’t get to the point where we have to -discuss common friends. I have my reasons, Monty, which I’ll explain -later on.<a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a> I don’t court publicity this trip and I don’t want any -reporter to jump aboard at Quarantine and get interested in me.â€</p> - -<p>“I see,†cried the sapient Monty and felt he was plunging at last into -dark doings and mysterious depths. “But how am I to warn you if you’re -followed? I shall be with you and we ought not to let on that we know.†-He felt in that moment the hours he had spent with detective novels had -been time well spent.</p> - -<p>“We must devise something,†Denby agreed, “and something simple.†He -meditated for a moment. “Here’s an idea. If you should think I’m being -followed or you want me to understand that something unusual is up, just -say without any excitement, ‘Will you have a cigarette, Dick?’â€</p> - -<p>“But why ‘Dick,’†Monty cried, “when you’re Steve!â€</p> - -<p>“For that very reason,†Denby explained. “If you said Steve merely I -shouldn’t notice it, but if you say Dick I shall be on the <i>qui vive</i> at -once.â€</p> - -<p>“Great idea!†cried his fellow conspirator enthusiastically. “When do -you buy them?â€</p> - -<p>“I’ve an appointment at Cartier’s at eleven. Want to come?â€</p> - -<p>“You bet I do,†Monty asserted, “I’m going through with it from start to -finish.<a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a>â€</p> - -<p>He looked at his friend a little anxiously. “What is the worst sort of a -finish we might expect if the luck ran against us?â€</p> - -<p>“As you won’t come in on the profits, you shan’t take any risks,†Denby -said. “If you agree to help me as we suggested that’s all I require of -you. In case I should not get by, you can explain me away as a passing -acquaintance merely. Don’t kick against the umpire’s decision,†he -commanded. “If they halved the sentence because two were in it I might -claim your help all the way, but they’d probably double it for -conspiracy, so you’d be a handicap. You’ll get a run for your money, -Monty, all right.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m not so sure,†said Monty doubtfully.</p> - -<p>Denby fell into the bantering style the other knew so well. “There’s one -thing I’ll warn you about,†he said. “If a very beautiful young woman -makes your acquaintance on board, by accident of course, don’t tell her -what life seems to you as is your custom. She may be an agent of the -Russian secret police with an assignment to take you to Siberia. She may -force you to marry her at a pistol’s point and cost your worthy -progenitor a million. Be careful, Monty. You’re in a wicked world and -you’ve a sinful lot of money, and these big ships attract all that is -brightest and best in the criminal’s Who’s Who.<a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Monty shivered a bit. “I never thought of that,†he said innocently.</p> - -<p>“Then you’d better begin now,†his mentor suggested, “and have for once -a voyage where you won’t be bored.â€</p> - -<p>He glanced at the clock. “It’s later than I thought and I have to be up -early. I’ll walk to your hotel.â€</p> - -<p>During the short walk Monty glanced apprehensively over his shoulder a -score of times. Out of the shadows it seemed to him that mysterious men -stared evilly and banded themselves together until a procession followed -the two Americans. But Denby paid no sort of attention to these -problematic followers.</p> - -<p>“Wait till I’ve got the pearls on me,†he whispered mischievously. “Then -you’ll see some fun.<a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWO" id="CHAPTER_TWO"></a>CHAPTER TWO</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">A</span>LTHOUGH the carriages and automobiles of the wealthy were no longer -three deep in the Rue de la Paix, as they had been earlier in the -season, this ravishing thoroughfare was crowded with foot-passengers as -Monty and his friend made their way under the red and white awnings of -the shops into Cartier’s.</p> - -<p>The transaction took very little time. The manager of the place seemed -to be expecting his client, to whom he accorded the respect that even a -Rue de la Paix jeweler may pay to a million-franc customer. Bank of -France notes of high denominations were passed to him and Steven Denby -received a small, flat package and walked out into the sunshine with it.</p> - -<p>“Now,†said the owner of the pearls, “guard me as you would your honor, -Monty; the sport begins, and I am now probably pursued by a half dozen -of the super-crooks of high class fiction.â€</p> - -<p>“I wish you’d be serious,†Monty said plaintively.</p> - -<p>“I am,†Denby assured him. “But I rely on your<a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a> protection, so feel more -light-hearted than I should otherwise.â€</p> - -<p>“You are laughing at me,†Monty protested.</p> - -<p>“I want you to look a little less like a detected criminal,†Denby -returned.</p> - -<p>“If I happened to be a detective after a criminal I should arrest you on -sight. You keep looking furtively about as though you’d done murder and -bloodhounds were on your track.â€</p> - -<p>“Well, they are on our track,†Monty said excitedly, and then whispered -thrillingly: “Have a cigarette, Dick.†There was trembling triumph in -his voice. He felt he had justified himself in his friend’s eyes.</p> - -<p>“What is it?†Denby asked with no show of excitement.</p> - -<p>“There was a man in Cartier’s who watched us all the time,†Monty -confided. “He is on our trail now. We’re being shadowed, Steve. It’s all -up!â€</p> - -<p>“Nonsense!†his companion cried. “There’s nothing compromising in buying -a pearl necklace. I didn’t steal it.â€</p> - -<p>Suddenly he turned around and looked at the man Monty indicated. His -face cleared. “That’s Harlow. He’s one of Cartier’s clerks, who looks -after American women’s wants. Don’t worry about him.â€</p> - -<p>By this time the two had come to the Tuileries,<a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a> that paradise for the -better class Parisian children. Denby pointed to a seat. “Sit down -there,†he commanded, “while I see what Harlow wants.â€</p> - -<p>Obediently Monty took a seat and watched the man he had mistaken for a -detective from the corner of his eye. Denby chatted confidentially with -him for fully five minutes and then, it seemed to the watcher, passed a -small packet into his hand. The man nodded a friendly adieu and walked -rapidly out of sight. For a few seconds Denby stood watching and then -rejoined his friend.</p> - -<p>“Anything the matter?†the timorous one demanded eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Why should there be?†Denby returned. “Don’t worry, Monty, there’s -nothing to get nervous about yet.â€</p> - -<p>Monty remembered the confidential conversation between the two.</p> - -<p>“He seemed to have a lot to tell you,†he insisted.</p> - -<p>Denby smiled. “He did; but he came as a friend. Harlow wanted to warn me -that while I was buying the necklace a stranger was mightily interested -and asked Harlow what he knew about me.â€</p> - -<p>“There you are,†Monty gasped excitedly, “I told you it was all up. Did -Harlow know who the man was?<a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“He suspected him of being a customs spy. Our customs service takes the -civilized world as its hunting ground and Paris is specially beloved of -it.â€</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do?†Monty asked when he had looked suspiciously -at an amiable old priest who went ambling by. “They’ll get you.â€</p> - -<p>“They may,†Denby said, “but the interested gentleman at Cartier’s -won’t.â€</p> - -<p>“But he knows all about you,†Monty persisted. “It will be dead easy.â€</p> - -<p>“He doesn’t,†the other returned. “Harlow took the liberty of -transforming me into an Argentine ranch owner of unbounded wealth about -to purchase a mansion in the Parc Monceau.â€</p> - -<p>“That was mighty good of him,†Monty cried in relief. “That fellow -Harlow is certainly all right.â€</p> - -<p>Denby smiled a trifle oddly, Monty thought. “His kind ways have won him -a thousand dollars,†he returned. “Did you see me pass him something?â€</p> - -<p>Monty nodded.</p> - -<p>“Well, that was five thousand francs. I passed it to him, not in the -least because I believe in the mythical stranger—â€</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?†the amazed Monty exclaimed. It seemed to him he was -getting lost in a world of whose existence he had been unaware.<a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a></p> - -<p>“Simply this,†Denby told him, “that I disbelieve Harlow’s story and am -not as easily impressed by kind faces as you are. I think Harlow’s -inquisitive stranger was a fake.â€</p> - -<p>Monty looked at him with a superior air. “And you mean to say,†he said -with the air of one who has studied financial systems, “that you handed -over a thousand dollars without verifying it? I call that being easy.â€</p> - -<p>“It’s this way,†Denby explained patiently. “Harlow knows I have the -necklace and he’s in a position to know on what boat I sail. If I had -not remembered that I owed him five thousand francs just now he might -have informed the customs that I had bought a million-franc necklace and -I should have been marked down as one to whom a special search must be -made if I didn’t declare it.â€</p> - -<p>“But if he’s a clerk in Cartier’s what has he to do with the customs?†-Monty asked.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps he is underpaid,†the other returned. “Perhaps he is -extravagant—I’ve seen him at the races and noticed that he patronized -the <i>pari mutuel</i>—perhaps he has a wife and twelve children. I’ll leave -it to you to decide, but I dare not take a risk.â€</p> - -<p>Monty shivered. “It looks to me as if we were going to have a hell of a -time.<a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“A little excitement possibly,†Denby said airily, “but nothing to -justify language like that, though. You ought to have been with me last -year at Buenos Ayres, Monty, and I could have shown you some sport.â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t think I’m built for a life like that,†Monty admitted, and then -reflected that this friend of his was an exceedingly mysterious being of -whose adult life and adventures he knew nothing. For an uneasy moment he -hoped his father would never discover this association, but there soon -prevailed the old boyish spirit of hero-worship. Steven Denby might not -conform to some people’s standards, but he felt certain he would do -nothing criminal. One had to live, Monty reflected, and his father -complained constantly of hard times.</p> - -<p>“What sort of sport was it?†he hazarded.</p> - -<p>“It had to do with the secret of a torpedo controlled by wireless,†-Denby said. “A number of governments were after it and there collected -in Buenos Ayres the choicest collection of high-grade adventurers that I -have ever seen. Some day when I’m through with this pearl trouble I’ll -tell you about it.â€</p> - -<p>But what Denby had carelessly termed “pearl trouble†was quite -sufficient for the less experienced man. He had a vivid imagination, -more vivid now<a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a> than at any period of his career. Paris was full of -Apaches, he knew, and not all spent their days lying in the sun outside -the barriers. Supposing one sprang from behind a tree and fell upon -Denby and seized the precious package whose outline was discernible -through the breast pocket of his coat. Monty suddenly took upon himself -the rôle of an adviser.</p> - -<p>“It’s no use taking unnecessary risks,†he said. “I saw you put those -pearls in your breast pocket, and there were at least six people who had -the same opportunity as I. It’s just putting temptation in the way of a -thief.â€</p> - -<p>“I welcome this outbreak of caution on your part,†said Denby, laughing -at his expression of anxiety, “but you’ll need it on board ship most. -The greatest danger is that a couple of crooks may rob me and then pitch -me overboard. Monty, for the sake of our boyhood recollections, don’t -let them throw me overboard.â€</p> - -<p>“Now you are laughing at me,†Monty said a trifle sulkily.</p> - -<p>“What do you want me to do?†Denby demanded.</p> - -<p>“Put those pearls in some other place,†he returned stubbornly.</p> - -<p>Denby made a pass or two in the air as conjurers do when they perform -their marvels.<a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a></p> - -<p>“It’s done,†he cried. “From what part of my anatomy or yours shall I -produce them?â€</p> - -<p>“There you go,†Monty exclaimed helplessly, “you won’t be serious. I’m -getting all on the jump.â€</p> - -<p>“A cigarette will soothe you,†Denby told him, taking a flat leathern -pouch from his pocket and offering it to the other.</p> - -<p>“I can’t roll ’em,†Monty protested.</p> - -<p>“Then a look at my tobacco has a soothing effect,†the elder man -insisted. “I grow it in my private vineyard in Ruritania.â€</p> - -<p>Monty turned back the leather flap to look at his friend’s private brand -and saw nestling in a place where once tobacco might have reposed a -necklace of pearls for which a million of francs had been paid.</p> - -<p>“Good Lord!†Monty gasped. “How did you do it?â€</p> - -<p>“A correspondence school course in legerdemain,†Steven explained. “It -comes in handy at times.â€</p> - -<p>“But I didn’t see you do it and I was watching.â€</p> - -<p>“An unconscious tribute to my art,†Denby replied. “Monty, I thank you.â€</p> - -<p>Monty grew less anxious. If Steven had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve -there was no reason to suppose he must fail.<a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a></p> - -<p>“I don’t think you need my advice,†he admitted. “It doesn’t seem I can -help you.â€</p> - -<p>“You may be able to help a great deal,†Denby said more seriously, “but -I don’t want you to act as if you were a criminal. Pass it off easily. -Of course,‗he hesitated,—“I’ve had more experience in this sort of -thing than you, and am more used to being up against it, but it will -never do if you look as anxiously at everybody on the Mauretania as you -do at the passers-by here. You can help me particularly by observing if -I am the subject of special scrutiny.â€</p> - -<p>“That will be a cinch,†Monty asserted.</p> - -<p>“Then start right away,†his mentor commanded. “We have been under -observation for the last five minutes by someone I’ve never laid eyes on -before.â€</p> - -<p>“Good Lord!†Monty cried. “It was that old priest who stared at us. I -knew he was a fake. That was a wig he had on!â€</p> - -<p>“Try again,†Denby suggested. “It happens to be a woman and a very -handsome one. As we went into Cartier’s she passed in a taxi. I only -thought then that she was a particularly charming American or English -woman out on a shopping expedition. When we came out she was in one of -those expensive <i>couturier’s</i> opposite, standing at an upper window -which<a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a> commands a view of Cartier’s door. They may have been -coincidences, but at the present moment, although we are sauntering -along the Champs Elysées, she is pursuing us in another taxi. She has -passed us once. When she went by she told the chauffeur to turn, but he -was going at such a pace that he couldn’t pull up in time. He has just -turned and is now bearing down on us. Take a look at the lady, Monty, so -you will know her again.â€</p> - -<p>A sense of dreadful responsibility settled on Montague Vaughan. He was -now entering upon his rôle of Denby’s aid and must in a few seconds be -brought face to face with what was unquestionably an adventuress of the -highest class. He knew all about them from fiction. She would have the -faintest foreign accent, be wholly charming and free from vulgarity, and -yet like Keats’ creation be a <i>belle dame sans merci</i>. But, he wondered -uneasily, what would be his rôle if his friend fell victim to her -charms?</p> - -<p>He was startled out of his vain imaginings when Denby exclaimed: “By all -that’s wonderful, she seems to know one of us, and it’s not I! You’re -the fortunate man, Monty.â€</p> - -<p>A pretty woman with good features and laughing eyes was certainly -looking out of a taxi and smiling right at him. And when he realized -this, Monty’s<a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a> depression was lifted and he sprang forward to meet her. -“It’s Alice,†he cried.</p> - -<p>Denby, following more leisurely, was introduced to her.</p> - -<p>“I came last night,†she explained. “Michael’s horse won and there was -no more interest in Deauville or Trouville and as I must buy some things -I came on here as soon as I could. I thought I saw you in Cartier’s,†-she explained, “and tried to make you see me when you came out, but only -Mr. Denby looked my way so I dared not make any signs of welcome.â€</p> - -<p>She seemed exceedingly happy to be in Paris again, and Denby, looking at -her with interest, knew he was in the company of one of the most notable -and best liked of the smart hostesses among the sporting set on Long -Island. The Harringtons were enormously rich and lived at a great estate -near Westbury, not far from the Meadow Brook Club. The Directory of -Directors showed the name of Michael Harrington in a number of -influential companies, but of recent years his interest in business had -slackened and he was more interested in the development of his estate -and the training of his thoroughbreds than in Wall Street activities.</p> - -<p>For her part she took him, although the name was totally unfamiliar, as -a friend of Monty’s, and was<a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a> prepared to like him. Whereas an -Englishwoman of her class might have been insistent to discover whether -any of his immediate ancestors had been engaged in retail trade before -she accepted him as an equal, Alice Harrington was willing to take -people on their face value and retain them on their merits.</p> - -<p>She saw a tall, well-bred man with strong features and that air of -<i>savoir faire</i> which is not easy of assumption. She felt instantly that -he was the sort of man Michael would like. He talked about racing as -though he knew, and that alone would please her husband.</p> - -<p>“I’ve spent so much money,†she said presently, “that I shall dismiss -this taxi-man and walk. One can walk in Paris with two men, whereas one -may be a little pestered alone.â€</p> - -<p>“Fine,†Monty cried. “We’ll go and lunch somewhere. What place strikes -your fancy?â€</p> - -<p>“Alas,†she said, “I’m booked already. I have an elderly relation in the -Boulevard Haussmann who stays here all summer this year on account of -alterations in the house which she superintends personally, and I’ve -promised.â€</p> - -<p>“I hope she hasn’t sacrificed you at a dinner table, too,†Denby said, -“because if you are free to-night you’d confer a blessing on a fellow -countryman if you’d<a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a> come with Monty and me to the Ambassadeurs. Polin -is funnier than ever.â€</p> - -<p>“I’d love to,†she cried. “You have probably delivered me from my aunt’s -dismal dinner. I hadn’t an engagement but now I can swear to one -truthfully. Men are usually so vain that if you say you’re dreadfully -sorry but you’ve another engagement they really believe it. The dear -things think no other cause would make a woman refuse. But my aunt would -interrogate me till I faltered and contradicted myself.â€</p> - -<p>They left her later at one of those great mansions in the Boulevard -Haussmann. The house was enlaced with scaffolding and workmen swarmed -over its roof.</p> - -<p>“It’s old Miss Woodwarde’s house,†Monty explained. “She’s worth -millions and will probably leave it to Alice, who doesn’t need any, -because she’s the only one of all her relatives who speaks the truth and -doesn’t fawn and flatter.â€</p> - -<p>“It takes greater strength of mind than poor relations usually have, to -tell rich relatives the truth,†Steven reminded him.</p> - -<p>Monty had evidently recovered his good spirits. “I knew you’d like her,†-he said later, “and I knew she’d take to you. We’ll have a corking -dinner and a jolly good time.â€</p> - -<p>“There’s one thing I want to ask of you,†Denby<a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a> said gravely. “Don’t -give any particulars about me. If she’s the sort I think her she won’t -ask, but you’ve got a bad habit of wanting people to hear how I fished -you out of the river. I want to slip into New York without any -advertisement of the fact. I’m not the son of a plutocrat as you are. -I’m the hard-up son of a man who was once rich but is now dead and -forgotten.â€</p> - -<p>“Do hard-up men hand a million francs across for a string of pearls to -put in their tobacco-pouches?†Monty demanded shrewdly.</p> - -<p>“You may regard that as an investment if you like,†Denby answered. “It -may be all my capital is tied up in it.â€</p> - -<p>“You’re gambling for a big stake then,†Monty said seriously. “Is it -worth it, old man?â€</p> - -<p>For a moment he had an idea of offering him a position in some of the -great corporations in which his father was interested, but refrained. -Steven Denby was not the kind of man to brook anything that smacked of -patronage and he feared his offer might do that although otherwise -meant.</p> - -<p>“It means a whole lot more to me than you can think,†Denby returned. “I -have made up my mind to do it and I think I can get away with it in just -the way I have mapped out.†Then, with a smile:<a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a> “Monty, I’ve a proper -respect for your imaginative genius, but I’d bet you the necklace to the -tobacco-pouch that you don’t understand how much I want to get that -string of pearls through the customs.â€</p> - -<p>“The pouch is yours,†Monty conceded generously. “How should I guess? -How do I know who’s a smuggler or who isn’t? Alice says she always gets -something through and for all I know may have a ruby taken from the eye -of a Hindoo god in her back hair!â€</p> - -<p>He looked at his friend eagerly, a new thought striking him. He often -surprised himself in romantic ideas, ideas for which Nora was -responsible.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you are taking it for someone, someone you’re fond of,†he -suggested.</p> - -<p>“Why not?†Denby returned. “If I were really fond of any woman I’d risk -more than that to please her.â€</p> - -<p>Monty noticed that he banished the subject by speaking of Alice -Harrington’s <i>penchant</i> for smuggling.</p> - -<p>“I hope Mrs. Harrington won’t run any risks,†he said. “In her case it -is absolutely senseless and unnecessary.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, they’d never get after her,†Monty declared. “She’s too big. They -get after the little fellows but they’d leave Mrs. Michael Harrington -alone.â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t you believe it,†his friend answered.<a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a> “They’re doing things -differently now. They’re getting a different class of men in the -Collector’s office.â€</p> - -<p>“I suppose you’d like the old style better,†Monty observed.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t know,†said the other. “It’s more risky now and so one has -to be cleverer. I’ve often heard it said the hounds have all the fun and -the fox none.</p> - -<p>“I’m not so sure of that, Monty; I think a fox that can fool thirty -couple of hounds and get back to his earth ought to be a gladsome -animal.â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll find out when we’re in West Street, New York,†Monty said grimly. -“I’ll take particular notice of how this fox acts and where the hounds -are. If you harp on this any more I shall lose my appetite. What about -Voisin’s?â€</p> - -<p>“Eat lightly,†Denby counseled him. “I’m going to treat you to a -remarkable meal to-night; I know the chef at the Ambassadeurs, and the -wine-steward feeds out of my hand.â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t see why you shouldn’t buy necklaces like that if you have those -Ambassadeurs waiters corralled. They soaked me six francs for a single -peach once,†Monty said reminiscently. But he wondered, all the same, -how it was Steven should be able to fling money away as he chose.<a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a></p> - -<p>His friend looked at him shrewdly. “You’re thinking I ought to patronize -the excellent Duval,†he observed. “Well, sometimes I do. I think I’ve -patronized most places in Paris once.â€</p> - -<p>“Steve, you’re a mystery,†Monty asserted.</p> - -<p>“I hope I am,†said the other; “I make my living out of being just -that.â€</p> - -<p>They walked in silence to the Rue St. Honoré, Monty still a bit uneasy -at being in a crowded place with a friend in whose pocket was a million -francs’ worth of precious stones. Once or twice as the pocket gaped open -he caught a glimpse of the worn pigskin pouch. Steven was taking wholly -unnecessary risks, he thought.</p> - -<p>As they were leaving Voisin’s together after their luncheon it happened -that Monty walked behind his friend through the door. Deftly he inserted -his hand into the gaping pocket and removed the pouch to his own. He -chuckled to think of the object lesson he would presently dilate upon.</p> - -<p>When they were near one of those convenient seats which Paris provides -for her street-living populace Monty suggested a minute’s rest.</p> - -<p>With an elaborate gesture he took out the pouch and showed it to Denby.</p> - -<p>“Did you ever see this before?†he demanded.<a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a></p> - -<p>“I’ve got one just like it,†his friend returned without undue interest. -“Useful things, aren’t they, and last so much longer than the rubber -ones?â€</p> - -<p>“My pouch,†said Monty, beginning to enjoy his own joke, “looks better -inside than outside. I keep in it tobacco I grow in my private orchid -house. Look!â€</p> - -<p>He pulled back the flap and held it out to Denby.</p> - -<p>Denby gazed in it obediently with no change of countenance.</p> - -<p>“You’re not a heavy smoker, are you?†he returned.</p> - -<p>Instantly Monty gazed into it. It was empty except for a shred of -tobacco.</p> - -<p>“Good God!†he cried. “They’ve been stolen from me and they put the -pouch back!â€</p> - -<p>“What has?†the other exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“The pearls,†Monty groaned. “I took them for a joke, and now they’re -gone!â€</p> - -<p>He looked apprehensively at Steven, meditating meanwhile how quickly he -could turn certain scrip he held into ready money.</p> - -<p>Steven evinced no surprise. Instead he rose from his seat and placed a -foot upon it as though engaged in tying a lace. But he pointed to the -cuff on the bottom of the trouser leg that was on the seat by Monty’s -side. And Monty, gazing as he was bid, saw<a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a> his friend’s slender fingers -pick therefrom a string of pearls.</p> - -<p>“I know no safer place,†Denby commented judicially. “Of course the -customs fellows are on to it, but no pickpocket who ever lived can get -anything away from you if you cache it there. On board ship I shall -carry it in my pocket, but this is the best place in Paris when one is -in strange company.â€</p> - -<p>Monty said no word. His relief was too great and he felt weak and -helpless.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?†Denby demanded.</p> - -<p>“I want a drink,†Monty returned, “but it isn’t on you.<a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THREE" id="CHAPTER_THREE"></a>CHAPTER THREE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>HERE are still restaurants in Paris where a well chosen dinner delights -the chef who is called upon to cook it and the waiters who serve. And -although it is true that most of the diners of to-day know little of -that art which is now disappearing, it happened that Steven Denby was -one who delighted the heart of the Ambassadeurs’ chef.</p> - -<p>Monty was a happy soul who had never been compelled to consult his -pocketbook in a choice of restaurants, and Mrs. Michael Harrington was -married to a gourmand who well distinguished the difference between that -and the indefensible fault of gluttony. Thus both of Denby’s guests were -in a sense critical. They admitted that they had dined with one who -agreed with Dumas’ dictum that a dinner is a daily and capital action -that can only worthily be accomplished by <i>gens d’esprit</i>.</p> - -<p>There are few places in Paris where a dinner in summer can be more -pleasantly eaten than the balcony at the Ambassadeurs, among slim -pillars of palest<a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a> green and banks of pink roses. In the distance—not -too near to be disturbed by the performers unless they chose—the three -Americans saw that idol of the place, the great Polin at his best. -French waiters do not bring courses on quickly with the idea of using -the table a second time during the dining-hour. The financial genius who -calculates <i>l’addition</i> knows a trick worth two of that.</p> - -<p>Still a little anxious that Denby might not be able to stand the -expense, Monty fell to thinking of the charges that Parisian -restaurateurs can make. “They soaked me six francs for a peach here -once,†he said for the second time that day.</p> - -<p>“That’s nothing to what Bignon used to charge,†Alice Harrington -returned. “Once when Michael’s father was dining there he was charged -fifteen francs. When he said they must be very scarce in Paris, Bignon -said it wasn’t the peaches that were scarce, it was the Harringtons.â€</p> - -<p>“Good old Michael,†said Monty, “I wish he were here. Why isn’t he?â€</p> - -<p>“Something is being reorganized and the other people want his advice.†-She laughed. “I suppose he is really good at that sort of thing, but he -gets so hopelessly muddled over small accounts that I can’t believe it. -He was fearfully sorry not to have seen<a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a> his colt run at Deauville. I -shall have to tell him all about it.â€</p> - -<p>“I read the account,†said Denby. “St. Mervyn was the name, wasn’t it?â€</p> - -<p>She nodded. “He won by a short head. Michael always likes to beat French -horses. I’m afraid he isn’t as fond of the country as I am. The only -thing he really likes here is the <i>heure de l’aperitif</i>. He declares it -lasts from four-thirty till seven.†She laughed. “He has carried the -habit home with him.â€</p> - -<p>“Did you win anything?†Denby asked.</p> - -<p>“Enough to buy some presents at Cartier’s,†she returned. “I’ve bought -something very sweet for Nora Rutledge,†she said, turning to Monty. -“Aren’t you curious to know what? It’s a pearl la vallière.â€</p> - -<p>“Then for Heaven’s sake, declare it!†Monty cried.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,†she said, “I’ll pay if it’s found, but it’s a sporting risk to -take and you can’t make me believe smuggling’s wrong. Michael says it’s -a Democratic device to rob Republican women.â€</p> - -<p>“Ask Mr. Denby,†Monty retorted. “He knows.â€</p> - -<p>“And what do you know, Mr. Denby?†she demanded.</p> - -<p>“That the customs people and the state department see no humor in that -sort of a joke any longer. You<a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a> read surely that society women even have -been imprisoned for taking sporting risks?â€</p> - -<p>“Milliners who make a practice of getting things through on their annual -trip,†she said lightly. “Of course one wouldn’t make a business of it, -but I’ve always smuggled little things through and I always shall.â€</p> - -<p>“Well, I wouldn’t if I were you,†said Monty. “Mr. Denby has frightened -me.â€</p> - -<p>Alice Harrington looked at him curiously.</p> - -<p>“Have you been caught?†she asked with a smile.</p> - -<p>“I’ve seen others caught,†he returned, “and if any sister of mine had -to suffer as they did by the publicity and the investigation the customs -people are empowered and required to make, I should feel rather -uncomfortable.â€</p> - -<p>“What a depressing person you are,†she laughed. “I had already decided -where to hide the things. I think I shall do it after all. It’s been all -right before, so why not now?â€</p> - -<p>He shrugged his shoulders. “It may be the new brooms are sweeping clean -or it may be the state department has said smuggling shall no longer be -condoned. I only know that things are done very differently now.â€</p> - -<p>Monty looked at him in amazement. His expression<a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a> plainly meant that he -considered his friend the proprietor of an unusually large supply of -sheer gall.</p> - -<p>“I heard about that,†she said, “but one can’t believe it. There’s a -mythical being known only by his initials who is investigating for the -state department. Even Michael warned me, so he may have some inside -tip. Have you heard of him, Mr. Denby?â€</p> - -<p>“I was thinking of him,†he answered. “I think they call him R. B. or R. -D. or some non-committal thing like that.â€</p> - -<p>“And you believe in him?†she asked sceptically.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I do,†he returned.</p> - -<p>“The deuce you do!†Monty cried, aggrieved. He had been happy for the -last few hours in the belief that his friend was too well armed to get -detected, and here he was admitting, in a manner that plainly showed -apprehension, that this initialed power might be even on his track.</p> - -<p>“You never smuggle,†Alice Harrington said, smiling. “You haven’t the -nerve, Monty, so you need not take it to heart.â€</p> - -<p>“But I do nevertheless,†he retorted.</p> - -<p>“Monty,†she cried, “I believe you’re planning to smuggle something -yourself! We’ll conspire together and defeat that abominable law.â€</p> - -<p>“If you must,†Denby said, still gravely, “don’t<a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a> advertise the fact. -Paris has many spies who reap the reward of overhearing just such -confidences.â€</p> - -<p>“Spies!†She laughed. “How melodramatic, Mr. Denby.â€</p> - -<p>“But I mean it,†he insisted. “Not highly paid government agents, but -perhaps such people as chambermaids in your hotel, or servants to whom -you pay no attention whatsoever. How do you and I know for example that -Monty isn’t high up in the secret service?â€</p> - -<p>“Me?†cried Monty. “Well, I certainly admire your brand of nerve, -Steve!â€</p> - -<p>“That’s no answer,†his friend returned. “You say you have been two -years here studying Continental banking systems. I’ll bet you didn’t -even know that the Banque de France issued a ten thousand franc note!â€</p> - -<p>“Of course I did,†Monty cried, a little nettled.</p> - -<p>Denby turned to Mrs. Harrington with an air of triumph.</p> - -<p>“That settles it, Monty is a spy.â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t see how that proves it,†she answered.</p> - -<p>“The Banque de France has no ten thousand franc note,†he returned; “its -highest value is five thousand francs. In two years Montague Vaughan has -not found that out. The ordinary tourist who passes a<a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a> week here and -spends nothing to speak of might be excused, but not a serious student -like Monty.â€</p> - -<p>“I will vouch for him,†Mrs. Harrington said. “I’ve known him for years -and I don’t think it’s a life suited to him at all, is it, Monty?â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t know,†said he airily. “I may be leading a double life.†He -looked at her not without an expression of triumph. Little did she know -in what a conspiracy he was already enlisted. After an excellent repast -and a judicious indulgence in some rare wine Monty felt he was -extraordinarily well fitted for delicate intrigue, preferably of an -international character. He stroked his budding moustache with the air -of a gentleman adventurer.</p> - -<p>Alice Harrington smiled. She was a good judge of character and Monty was -too well known to her to lend color to any such notion.</p> - -<p>“It won’t do,†she averred, “but Mr. Denby has every earmark of it. -There’s that piercing look of his and the obsequious way waiters attend -on him.â€</p> - -<p>Monty laughed heartily. He was in possession of a secret that made such -an idea wholly preposterous. Here was a man with a million-franc pearl -necklace in his pocket, a treasure he calmly proposed to smuggle in -against the laws of his country, being taken for a spy.<a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a></p> - -<p>“Alice,†he said still laughing, “I’ll go bail on Steve for any amount -you care to name. I am also willing to back him against all comers for -brazen nerve and sheer gall.â€</p> - -<p>Denby interrupted him a little hastily.</p> - -<p>“As we two men are free from suspicion, only Mrs. Harrington remains -uncleared.â€</p> - -<p>“This is all crazy talk,†Monty asserted.</p> - -<p>“I know one woman, well known in New York, who goes over each year and -more than once has made her expenses by tipping off the authorities to -things other women were trying to get through without declaration.â€</p> - -<p>“You speak with feeling,†Mrs. Harrington said, and wondered if this -friend of Monty’s had not been betrayed by some such confidence.</p> - -<p>“Are you going to take warning?†Denby asked.</p> - -<p>She shook her head. “I don’t think so. You’ve been reading the American -papers and are deceived by the annual warnings to intending European -tourists. I’m a hardened and successful criminal.†She leaned forward to -look at a dancer on the stage below them and Denby knew that his -monitions had left her unmoved.</p> - -<p>“When were you last at home?†she demanded presently of Denby.<a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a></p> - -<p>“About six months ago,†he answered. “I shall be there a week from -to-morrow if I live.â€</p> - -<p>The last three words vaguely disturbed Monty. Why, he wondered crossly, -was Denby always reminding him of danger? There was no doubt that what -his friend really should have said was: “If I am not murdered by -criminals for the two hundred thousand dollars’ worth of valuables they -probably know I carry with me.â€</p> - -<p>“Have you booked your passage yet?†she asked.</p> - -<p>It occurred to her that it would be pleasant to have a second man on the -voyage. Like all women of her world, she was used to the attentions of -men and found life deplorably dull without them, although she was not a -flirt and was still in love with her husband.</p> - -<p>“Not yet,†he answered, “but La Provence goes from Havre to-morrow.â€</p> - -<p>“Come with us,†she insisted. “The Mauretania sails a couple of days -later but gets you in on the same morning as the other.†She turned to -Monty. “Isn’t that a brilliant idea?â€</p> - -<p>“It’s so brilliant I’m blinded by it,†he retorted, gazing at his friend -with a look of respect. Not many hours ago Steven had asserted that he -and Monty must sail together on the fastest of ships, and now he had -apparently decided to forsake the Compagnie<a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a> Transatlantique only on -account of Alice Harrington’s invitation.</p> - -<p>“I shall be charmed,†was all he had said.</p> - -<p>Monty felt that he was a co-conspirator of one who was not likely to be -upset by trifles. He sighed. A day or so ago he had imagined himself -ill-used by Fate because no unusual excitement had come his way, and now -his prayers had been answered too abundantly. The phrase “If I live†-remained in his memory with unpleasant insistency.</p> - -<p>“We ought to cross the Channel by the afternoon boat to-morrow,†Alice -said. “There are one or two things I want to get for Michael in London.â€</p> - -<p>“It will be a much nicer voyage for me than if I had gone alone on La -Provence,†Denby said gratefully, while Monty continued to meditate on -the duplicity of his sex.</p> - -<p>When they had taken Mrs. Harrington to her hotel Monty burst out with -what he had been compelled to keep secret all the evening.</p> - -<p>“What in thunder makes you so careful about people smuggling?†he -demanded.</p> - -<p>“About other people smuggling, you mean,†Denby corrected.</p> - -<p>“It’s the same thing,†Monty asserted.</p> - -<p>“Far from it,†his friend made answer. “If Mrs.<a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a> Harrington is suspected -and undeclared stuff found on her, you and I as her companions will be -more or less under suspicion too. It is not unusual for women to ask -their men friends to put some little package in their pockets till the -customs have been passed. The inspectors may have an idea that she has -done this with us. Personally I don’t relish a very exhaustive search.â€</p> - -<p>“You bet you don’t,†his friend returned. “I shall probably be the only -honest man aboard.â€</p> - -<p>“Mrs. Harrington may ask you to hold some small parcel till she’s been -through the ordeal,†Denby reminded him. “If she does, Monty, you’ll be -caught for a certainty.â€</p> - -<p>“Damn it all!†Monty cried petulantly, “why can’t you people do the -right thing and declare what you bring in, just as I do?â€</p> - -<p>“What is your income?†Denby inquired. “Your father was always liberal -with you.â€</p> - -<p>“You mean I have no temptation?†Monty answered. “I forgot that part of -it. I don’t know what I’d do if there wasn’t always a convenient paying -teller who passed me out all the currency I wanted.â€</p> - -<p>He looked at his friend curiously, wondering just what this act of -smuggling meant to him. Perhaps Denby sensed this.<a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a></p> - -<p>“You probably wondered why I wrung that invitation out of Mrs. -Harrington instead of being honest and saying I, too, was going by the -Cunard line. I can’t tell you now, Monty, old man, but I hope some day -if I’m successful that I can. I tell you this much, though, that it -seems so much to me that no little conventionalities are going to stand -in my way.â€</p> - -<p>Monty, pondering on this later when he was in his hotel room, called to -mind the rumor he had heard years ago that Steven’s father had died -deeply in debt. It was for this reason that the boy was suddenly -withdrawn from Groton. It might be that his struggles to make a living -had driven him into regarding the laws against smuggling as arbitrary -and inequitable just as Alice Harrington and dozens of other people he -knew did. Denby, he argued, had paid good money for the pearls and they -belonged to him absolutely; and if by his skill he could evade the -payment of duty upon them and sell them at a profit, why shouldn’t he? -Before slumber sealed his eyes, Montague Vaughan had decided that -smuggling was as legitimate a sport as fly-fishing. That these views -would shock his father he knew. But his father always prided himself -upon a traditional conservatism.<a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FOUR" id="CHAPTER_FOUR"></a>CHAPTER FOUR</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">L</span>ESS than an hour before the Mauretania reached Quarantine, James -Duncan, whose rank was that of Customs Inspector and present assignment -the more important one of assistant to Daniel Taylor, a Deputy-Surveyor, -threw away the stub of cigar and reached for the telephone.</p> - -<p>When central had given him his number he called out: “Is that you, -Ford?†Apparently the central had not erred and his face took on a look -of intentness as he gave the man at the other end of the line his -instructions. “Say, Ford,†he called, “I’ve got something mighty -important for you. Directly the Mauretania gets into Quarantine, go -through the declarations and ’phone me right away whether a man named -Steven Denby declares a pearl necklace valued at two hundred thousand -dollars. No. No, not that name, Denby, D-E-N-B-Y. Steven Denby. That’s -right. A big case you say? I should bet it is a big case. Never you mind -who’s handling it, Ford. It may be R. J., or it may not. Don’t you worry -about a little thing like that. It’s your job to ’phone me as<a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a> soon as -you get a peek at those declarations. Let Hammett work with you. -Bye-bye.â€</p> - -<p>He hung up the receiver and leaned back in his chair, well satisfied -with himself. He was a spare, hatchet-faced man, who held down his -present position because he was used to those storm warnings he could -see on his chief’s face and knew enough to work in the dark and never -ask for explanations.</p> - -<p>He did not, for instance, lean back in his chair and smoke cigars with a -lordly air when Deputy-Surveyor Daniel Taylor was sitting in his big -desk in the window opposite. At such times Duncan worked with silent -fury and felt he had evened up matters when he found a Customs Inspector -whom he could impress with his own superiority.</p> - -<p>When a step in the outside passage warned him that his chief might -possibly be coming in, he settled down in an attitude of work. But there -entered only Harry Gibbs, dressed in the uniform of a Customs Inspector. -Gibbs was a fat, easy man, whose existence was all the more pleasant -because of his eager interest in gossip. None knew so well as Gibbs the -undercurrent of speculation which the lesser lights of the Customs term -office politics. If the Collector frowned, Gibbs instantly dismissed the -men upon whom his displeasure had fallen and conjured up erroneous -reasons<a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a> concerning high official wrath. Since Duncan was near to a man -in power, Gibbs welcomed any opportunity to converse with him. He seldom -came away from such an interview empty-handed. He was a pleasant enough -creature and filled with mild wonder at the vagaries of Providence.</p> - -<p>Just now he seemed hot but that was not unusual, for he was rarely -comfortable during the summer months as he complained frequently. He -seemed worried, Duncan thought.</p> - -<p>“Hello, Jim,†he said when he entered.</p> - -<p>Duncan assumed the inquisitorial air his chief had in a marked degree.</p> - -<p>“Thought you were searching tourists on the Olympic this afternoon,†he -replied.</p> - -<p>Gibbs mopped his perspiring head, “I was,†he answered. “I had two -thousand crazy women, all of ’em swearing they hadn’t brought in a -thing. Gosh! Women is liars.â€</p> - -<p>“What are you doing over here?†Duncan asked.</p> - -<p>“I brought along a dame they want your boss Taylor to look over. It -needs a smart guy like him to land her. Where is he?â€</p> - -<p>“Down with Malone now; he’ll be back soon.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs sank into a chair with a sigh of relief. “He don’t have to hurry -on my account. I’ll be tickled to<a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a> stay here all day. I’m sick of -searching trunks that’s got nothing in ’em but clothes. It ain’t like -the good old days, Jim. In them times if you treated a tourist right -he’d hand you his business card, and when you showed up in his office -next day, he’d come across without a squeal. I used to know the -down-town business section pretty well in them days.â€</p> - -<p>“So did I. Why, when I was inspector, if you had any luck picking out -your passenger you’d find twenty dollars lying right on the top tray of -the first trunk he opened up for you.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs sighed again. It seemed the golden age was passing.</p> - -<p>“And believe me,†he said, “when that happened to me I never opened any -more of his trunks, I just labeled the whole bunch. But now—why, since -this new administration got in I’m so honest it’s pitiful.â€</p> - -<p>Duncan nodded acquiescence.</p> - -<p>“It’s a hell of a thing when a government official has to live on his -salary,†he said regretfully. “They didn’t ought to expect it of us.â€</p> - -<p>“What do they care?†Gibbs asserted bitterly, and then added with that -inquiring air which had frequently been mistaken for intelligence: -“Ain’t it funny that it’s always women who smuggle? They’ll look you<a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a> -right in the eye and lie like the very devil, and if you do land ’em -they ain’t ashamed, only sore!â€</p> - -<p>Duncan assumed his most superior air.</p> - -<p>“I guess men are honester than women, Jim, and that’s the whole secret.â€</p> - -<p>“They certainly are about smuggling,†the other returned. “Why, we -grabbed one of these here rich society women this morning and pulled out -about forty yards of old lace—and say, where do you think she had it -stowed?â€</p> - -<p>“Sewed it round her petticoat,†Duncan said with a grin. He had had -experience.</p> - -<p>Gibbs shook his head, “No. It was in a hot-water bottle. That was a new -one on me. Well, when we pinched her she just turned on me as cool as -you please: ‘You’ve got me now, but damn you, I’ve fooled you lots of -times before!’â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs leaned back in enjoyment of his own imitation of the society -lady’s voice and watched Duncan looking over some declaration papers. -Duncan looked up with a smile. “Say, here’s another new one. Declaration -from a college professor who paid duty on spending seventy-five francs -to have his shoes half-soled in Paris.â€</p> - -<p>But Gibbs was not to be outdone.</p> - -<p>“That’s nothing,†said he, “a gink this morning<a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a> declared a gold tooth. -I didn’t know how to classify it so I just told him nobody’d know if -he’d keep his mouth shut. It was a back tooth. He did slip me a cigar, -but women who are smugglin’ seem to think it ain’t honest to give an -inspector any kind of tip.†Gibbs dived into an inner pocket and brought -out a bunch of aigrettes. “The most I can do now is these aigrettes. I -nipped ’em off of a lady coming down the gangplank of the Olympic. They -ain’t bad, Jim.â€</p> - -<p>Duncan rose from his chair and came over to Gibbs’ side and took the -plume from his hand.</p> - -<p>“Can’t you guys ever get out of the habit of grafting?†he demanded. -“Queer,†he continued, looking at the delicate feathers closely, “how -some soft, timid little bit of a woman is willing to wear things like -that. Do you know where they come from?â€</p> - -<p>“From some factory, I s’pose,†Gibbs answered with an air of candor.</p> - -<p>“No they don’t,†Duncan told him. “They take ’em from the mother bird -just when she’s had her young ones; they leave her half dead with the -little ones starving. Pretty tough, I call it, on dumb animals,†he -concluded, with so sentimental a tone as to leave poor Gibbs amazed. He -was still more amazed when his fellow inspector put them in his own -pocket and went back to his desk.<a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a></p> - -<p>“Say, Jim,†Gibbs expostulated, “what are you doing with them?â€</p> - -<p>“Why, my wife was asking this morning if I couldn’t get her a bunch. -These’ll come in just right.â€</p> - -<p>“You’re a funny guy to talk about grafting,†Gibbs grumbled, “I ain’t -showing you nothin’ more.â€</p> - -<p>“Never you mind me,†Duncan commanded. “You keep your own eyes peeled. -Old man Taylor’s been raising the deuce around here about reports that -some of you fellows still take tips.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs had heard such rumors too often for them to affect him now. “Oh, -it’s just the usual August holler,†he declared.</p> - -<p>Duncan contradicted him, “No, it isn’t,†he observed. “It’s because the -Collector and the Secretary of the Treasury have started an -investigation about who’s getting the rake-off for allowing stuff to -slip through. I heard the Secretary was coming over here to-day. You -keep your eyes peeled, Harry.â€</p> - -<p>“If times don’t change,†Gibbs said with an air of gloom, “I’m going -into the police department.â€</p> - -<p>He turned about to see if the steps he heard at the door were those of -the man he had come to see. He breathed relief when he saw it was only -Peter, the doorkeeper.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Duncan,†said the man, “Miss Ethel Cartwright<a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a> has just ’phoned -that she’s on her way and would be here in fifteen minutes.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs looked from one to the other with his accustomed mild interest. He -could see that the news of which he could make little had excited -Duncan. It was evidently something important. Directly the doorkeeper -had gone Duncan called his chief on the telephone and Gibbs sauntered -nearer the ’phone. To hear both sides of the conversation would make it -much easier.</p> - -<p>“Got a cigar, Jim?†he inquired casually of the other, who was holding -the wire.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†said Duncan, taking one from his pocket.</p> - -<p>Gibbs reached a fat hand over for it, “Thanks,†he returned simply.</p> - -<p>Duncan bit the end off and put it in his own mouth. “And I’m going to -smoke it myself,†he observed.</p> - -<p>Gibbs shook his head reprovingly at this want of generosity and took a -cigar from his own pocket. “All right then; I’ll have to smoke one of my -own.â€</p> - -<p>Just then Duncan began to speak over the wire. “Hello. Hello, Chief. -Miss Ethel Cartwright just ’phoned she’d be here in fifteen minutes.... -Yes, sir.... I’ll have her wait.â€</p> - -<p>When he had rung off, Gibbs could see his interest<a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a> was increasing. -“What do you think of her falling for a bum stall like that?â€</p> - -<p>“Who?†Gibbs demanded. “Which? What stall?â€</p> - -<p>“Why, Miss Cartwright!†said Duncan. “Ain’t I talking about her?â€</p> - -<p>“Well, who is she?†the aggrieved Gibbs cried. “Is she a smuggler?â€</p> - -<p>“No. She’s a swell society girl,†said Duncan in a superior manner.</p> - -<p>“If she ain’t a smuggler, what’s she here for then?†Gibbs had a gentle -pertinacity in sticking to his point.</p> - -<p>“The Chief wants to use her in the Denby case, so he had me write her a -letter saying we’d received a package from Paris containing dutiable -goods, a diamond ring, and would she kindly call this afternoon and -straighten out the matter.†Duncan now assumed an air of triumph. “And -she fell for a fake like that!â€</p> - -<p>“I get you,†said Gibbs. “But what does he want her for?â€</p> - -<p>“I told you, the Denby case.â€</p> - -<p>“What’s that?†Gibbs entreated.</p> - -<p>Duncan lowered his voice. “The biggest smuggling job Taylor ever -handled.â€</p> - -<p>“You don’t say so,†Gibbs returned, duly impressed. “Why, nobody’s told -me anything about it.<a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Can you keep your mouth shut?†Duncan inquired mysteriously.</p> - -<p>“Sure,†Gibbs declared. “I ain’t married.â€</p> - -<p>“Then just take a peek out of the door, will you?†Duncan directed.</p> - -<p>The other did as he was bid. “It’s all right,†he declared, finding the -corridor empty.</p> - -<p>“I never know when he may stop out there and listen to what I’m saying. -You can hear pretty plain.â€</p> - -<p>“He is the original pussy-foot, ain’t he,†Gibbs returned. He had known -of Taylor’s reputation for finding out what was going on in his office -by any method. “Now, what’s it all about?â€</p> - -<p>Duncan grew very confidential.</p> - -<p>“Last week the Chief got a cable from Harlow, a salesman in Cartier’s.â€</p> - -<p>“What’s Cartier’s?†Gibbs inquired.</p> - -<p>“The biggest jewelry shop in Paris. Harlow’s our secret agent there. His -cable said that an American named Steven Denby had bought a pearl -necklace there for a million francs. That’s two hundred thousand -dollars.â€</p> - -<p>“Gee!†Gibbs cried, duly impressed by such a sum, “But who’s Steven -Denby? Some new millionaire? I never heard of him.â€</p> - -<p>“Neither did I,†Duncan told him; “and we <a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a>can’t find out anything about -him and that’s what makes us so suspicious. You ought to be able to get -some dope on a man who can fling two hundred thousand dollars away on a -string of pearls.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs’ professional interest was aroused. “Did he slip it by the -Customs, then?â€</p> - -<p>“He hasn’t landed yet,†Duncan answered. “He’s on the Mauretania.â€</p> - -<p>“Why, she’s about due,†Gibbs cried.</p> - -<p>“I know,†Duncan retorted, “I’ve just had Ford on the ’phone about it. -This fellow Denby is traveling with Montague Vaughan—son of the big -banker—and Mrs. Michael Harrington.â€</p> - -<p>“You mean <i>the</i> Mrs. Michael Harrington?†Gibbs demanded eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Sure,†Duncan exclaimed, “there’s only one.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs was plainly disappointed at this ending to the story.</p> - -<p>“If he’s a friend of Mrs. Harrington and young Vaughan, he ain’t no -smuggler. He’ll declare the necklace.â€</p> - -<p>“The Chief has a hunch he won’t,†Duncan said. “He thinks this Denby is -some slick confidence guy who has wormed his way into the Harringtons’ -confidence so he won’t be suspected.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs considered the situation for a moment.<a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a></p> - -<p>“Maybe he ain’t traveling with the party at all but just picked ’em up -on the boat.â€</p> - -<p>Duncan shook his head. “No, he’s a friend all right. She’s taking him -down to the Harrington place at Westbury direct from the dock. One of -the stewards on the Mauretania is our agent and he sent us a copy of her -wireless to old man Harrington.â€</p> - -<p>“He sounds to me like a sort of smart-set Raffles,†Gibbs asserted.</p> - -<p>“You’ve got it right,†Duncan said approvingly.</p> - -<p>“What’s Taylor going to do?†Gibbs asked next.</p> - -<p>“He’s kind of up against it,†Duncan returned. “I don’t know what he’ll -do yet. If Denby’s on the level and we pinch him and search him and -don’t find anything, think of the roar that Michael Harrington—and he’s -worth about ninety billion—will put up at Washington because we frisked -one of his pals. Why, he’d go down there and kick to his swell friends -and we’d all be fired.â€</p> - -<p>“I ain’t in on it,†Gibbs said firmly; “they’ve no cause to fire me. But -how does this Miss Cartwright come in on the job?â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t know except that she is going down to the Harringtons’ this -afternoon and Taylor’s got some scheme on hand. I tell you he’s a pretty -smart boy.â€</p> - -<p>“You bet he is,†Gibbs returned promptly, “and<a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a> may be he’s smarter than -you know. Ever hear of R. J.?â€</p> - -<p>“R. J.?†Duncan repeated. “You mean that secret service agent?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes,†Gibbs told him with an air of one knowing secret things. “They -say he’s a pal of the President’s.â€</p> - -<p>“Well, what’s that to do with this?†Duncan wanted to know.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you know who he is?â€</p> - -<p>“No,†Duncan retorted, “and neither does anyone else. Nobody but the -President and the Secretary of the Treasury knows who he really is.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs rose from his chair and patted his chest proudly. “Well, I know, -too,†he declared.</p> - -<p>Duncan laughed contemptuously. “Yes, you do, just the same as I do—that -he’s the biggest man in the secret service, and that’s all you know.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs smiled complacently. “Ain’t it funny,†he observed, “that you -right here in the office don’t know?â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t know what?†Duncan retorted sharply; he disliked Gibbs in a -patronizing rôle.</p> - -<p>“That your boss Taylor is R. J.â€</p> - -<p>“Taylor!†Duncan cried. “You’re crazy! The heat’s got you, Harry.<a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, indeed!†Gibbs said sarcastically. “Do you remember the Stuyvesant -case?â€</p> - -<p>Duncan nodded.</p> - -<p>“And do you remember that when Taylor took his vacation last year R. J. -did some great work in the Crosby case? Put two and two together, Jim, -and may be you’ll see daylight.â€</p> - -<p>“By George!†Duncan exclaimed, now impressed by Gibbs’ news. “I believe -you’re right. Taylor never will speak about this R. J., now I come to -think of it.†He raised his head as the sound of voices was heard in the -passage.</p> - -<p>“There he is,†Duncan whispered busying himself with a sheaf of -declarations.</p> - -<p>Gibbs looked toward the opening door nervously. It was one thing to -criticize the deputy-surveyor in his absence and another to meet his -look and endure his satire. His collar seemed suddenly too small, and he -chewed his cigar violently.<a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FIVE" id="CHAPTER_FIVE"></a>CHAPTER FIVE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">D</span>ANIEL TAYLOR entered quickly without acknowledging the presence of his -inferiors and crossed to his desk by the window. He was a man above -medium height, broad of shoulder, thick through the chest and giving the -idea of one who was alert and aggressive mentally and physically. Those -in the service who had set themselves against him had been broken. His -path had been strewn with other men’s regrets; but Taylor climbed -steadily, never caring for what was below, but grasping eagerly for -power.</p> - -<p>Naturally a man of his type must have had other qualities than mere -aggressiveness to aid him in such vigorous competition. He had commended -himself to the powers above him for snap judgment and quick action. And -although men of his temperament must inevitably make mistakes, it was -notorious that Taylor made fewer than his rivals.</p> - -<p>Toward men like Duncan and Gibbs who were not destined to rise, men who -could be replaced without trouble, Taylor paid small heed. They did what -he told them and if they failed he never forgot. It was to<a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a> the men -above him that Taylor showed what small social gifts nature had given -him. He had sworn to rise in the service and he cultivated only those -who might aid him.</p> - -<p>After glancing over the papers arranged on his desk he called to Duncan: -“Has Miss Cartwright been here yet?â€</p> - -<p>“No, sir,†Duncan responded promptly.</p> - -<p>His superior pushed the buzzer on his desk and then looked across at the -uncomfortable Gibbs. “Want to see me?†he snapped.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,†Gibbs made answer as Peter the doorkeeper entered in answer -to Taylor’s summons.</p> - -<p>“Then wait outside,†Taylor said, “I’ll see you in five minutes.â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,†Gibbs said obediently and made his exit.</p> - -<p>The deputy-surveyor turned toward the attendant. “Peter, let me know the -instant Miss Cartwright arrives. Don’t forget; it’s important. That’s -all.â€</p> - -<p>He dismissed Peter with a nod and then called to Duncan.</p> - -<p>“Did Bronson of the New York Burglar Insurance Company send over some -papers to me relating to the theft of Miss Cartwright’s jewels?<a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Duncan took a long envelope and laid it on his chief’s desk. “Here they -are, sir.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor looked at the documents eagerly. “By George!†he cried, when he -had looked into them, “I knew I was right. I knew there was something -queer about the way her diamonds were stolen.â€</p> - -<p>Duncan looked at him frowning. He prided himself upon his grasp of -detail and here was the Chief talking about a case he knew naught of. -“What diamonds?†he asked. “The case wasn’t in our office, was it?â€</p> - -<p>“No,†said Taylor, “this is a little outside job my friend Bronson’s -mixed up in, but it may be a help to us.†He went on reading the papers -and presently exclaimed: “It’s a frame-up. She wasn’t robbed, although -she collected from the company on a false claim.â€</p> - -<p>“But I can’t see—†the puzzled Duncan returned.</p> - -<p>“No,†said his chief, cutting him short. “If you could, you’d have my -job. Has the Mauretania got to Quarantine yet?â€</p> - -<p>“Not yet, sir,†Duncan answered.</p> - -<p>“Telephone Brown to notify you the minute she does. Tell him we’ve got -to know as soon as possible whether Denby declares that necklace; -everything depends on that.â€</p> - -<p>“But he may declare it,†Duncan observed sagely.<a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a></p> - -<p>“If he does we haven’t a case,†his superior said briefly, “but I’ve a -feeling there’s not going to be a declaration.â€</p> - -<p>“I think so, too,†Duncan asserted, “and I’m holding Ford and Hammett to -search him.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor frowned and drummed on the desk with his fingers. “I don’t know -that I want him searched. Let them do nothing without my instructions.â€</p> - -<p>“But, Chief,†Duncan protested, “if he doesn’t declare the necklace and -you don’t have him searched he’ll smuggle it in.â€</p> - -<p>“I know, I know,†Taylor said impatiently, “but I’ve got to be cautious -how I go about taking liberties with a friend of Michael Harrington’s. -He has more influence than you’ve any idea of. We’ve got to be sure we -have the goods on Denby.â€</p> - -<p>Duncan looked at the other with grudging admiration. “Well, I guess it -won’t take R. J. very long to land him.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor turned on the speaker with a scowl. “What’s he got to do with -this?â€</p> - -<p>“I thought you might have interested him in it,†Duncan said meaningly.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know anything about him,†Taylor returned.</p> - -<p>It was like the Chief to refuse to take his underlings<a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a> into his -confidence, Duncan thought, so he took his cue and changed the subject.</p> - -<p>“Well,†he said, reverting to the proposed search of Denby, “if we don’t -go through him at the dock, what are we going to do?â€</p> - -<p>“Let him slide through easily and think he’s fooled us,†Taylor said. -“He may be pretty clever. Do you remember that man who stuck the -sapphire we were hunting for into a big rosy apple he gave to a woman in -the second cabin and then took it away from her before she had time to -eat it? We’ll see if he talks to anyone, but I think he’ll take the -pearls right down to Westbury. He’ll be off his guard when once he gets -down there.â€</p> - -<p>“Have you got one of the Harrington servants to spy for us?†Duncan -cried.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got what will be better than that with a little luck,†Taylor said -with a smile. “Don’t you know that Miss Ethel Cartwright is going down -to Westbury this afternoon to spend the week-end with the Harringtons?â€</p> - -<p>“You don’t mean you’re going to use her?†Duncan exclaimed, incredulity -in his tone.</p> - -<p>“It wouldn’t be a bad idea, would it, Jim?â€</p> - -<p>“It would be a peach of an idea if you could do it, but can you?<a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Taylor chuckled. It was plain he had some scheme in his crafty brain -that pleased him more than a little.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to answer that as soon as I’ve had a little confidential chat -with Miss Cartwright.â€</p> - -<p>He broke off to turn to the doorway through which Gibbs’ head protruded.</p> - -<p>“Can I see you now, Chief?†Gibbs asked.</p> - -<p>“What is it?†Taylor snapped.</p> - -<p>“There’s a deaf and dumb chicken out here,†Gibbs replied anxiously.</p> - -<p>“A what?†the other demanded.</p> - -<p>“A girl that can’t hear or speak or write. They say she’s smuggled a -bracelet in but they’ve searched her eight times and can’t get a trace -of it, so they sent her to you.â€</p> - -<p>“They don’t expect me to make the ninth attempt, do they?†the Chief -queries.</p> - -<p>“Why, no,†Gibbs told him, “but they thought you might hand her the -third degree.â€</p> - -<p>“Bring her in,†the autocrat commanded. When Gibbs had closed the door -Taylor turned to Duncan. “She’s probably bluffing. Put that chair here. -We’ll try the gun gag on her. There’s a revolver in my second drawer. -When I say ‘Go,’ you shoot. Got it?<a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,†Duncan said, anticipating a theatrical scene in which his -chief would shine as usual. Duncan always enjoyed such episodes; he felt -he shone with reflected power.</p> - -<p>Gibbs dragged in a young girl and stood her in front of the chair to -which the Chief had beckoned. “Sit down,†Gibbs commanded. The afflicted -woman who was named, so Gibbs said, Sarah Peabody, remained standing. -“Hey, <i>squattez-vous,</i>†her captor commanded again in a louder voice. -Still Sarah was unmoved. Gibbs scratched his head and summoned his -linguistic attainments to his aid.</p> - -<p>“<i>Setzen sie</i>,†he shouted, but Miss Peabody remained erect.</p> - -<p>Gibbs turned away with a gesture of despairing dignity. “I’m done,†he -asserted; “that’s all the languages I know. I used to think it was a -terrible thing that women could talk, but I guess the Almighty knowed -more than I did.â€</p> - -<p>Duncan essayed more active measures. He pushed her into the seat. “Hey -you,†cried he, “sit down there.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs watched a little apprehensively. If Sarah Peabody had been normal, -he would have pictured her as a slangy and fluent young woman with a -full-sized temper. He had dealt with such before<a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a> and they invariably -defeated him in wordy combat. In duels of this sort Gibbs was slow to -get off the mark.</p> - -<p>Taylor came toward the afflicted one and looked shrewdly into her face. -“She’s not shamming,†said he. “She’s got that stupid look they all have -when they’re deaf and dumb.†He watched her closely as he said this.</p> - -<p>“She ain’t spoke all day,†Gibbs volunteered, “and no woman what could, -would keep from talking that long.â€</p> - -<p>“Women will do a lot for diamonds,†his chief observed.</p> - -<p>“None of ’em ever do me for none,†Gibbs remarked placidly.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Taylor addressed the girl roughly. “If you’re acting,†he -cried, “you’d better give it up, because I’m certain to find out, and if -I do, I’ll send you to jail.†Still the girl paid no attention but only -stared ahead blankly. “So you won’t answer, eh?†said her inquisitor. -“Going to force my hand, are you?†He raised his hand to signal Duncan -and then added: “Go.â€</p> - -<p>The loud report of the revolver, while it made Gibbs jump, had no effect -upon the young woman. Taylor shook his head wisely. “I guess she’s deaf -and dumb<a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a> all right, poor girl. What’s it all about, Gibbs? What is it -you think she’s done?â€</p> - -<p>“She’s got a bracelet chuck-full of diamonds, and we can’t find it.â€</p> - -<p>“How do you know she’s got it?†the Chief asked.</p> - -<p>“She showed it to a woman who was in the same cabin,†Gibbs returned, -“and the woman came and tipped us off.â€</p> - -<p>“Why, the dirty hussy!†cried the girl, who had previously been bereft -of hearing and speech, rising to her feet, her eyes flashing, and her -whole face denoting rage.</p> - -<p>Gibbs looked at her, his eyes bulging with startled surprise, and then -turned his ox-like gaze upon Taylor.</p> - -<p>“For the love of Mike!†said Gibbs at length, but Sarah Peabody cut -short any other exclamations.</p> - -<p>“Do you know why she told about me?†the girl demanded. “She wanted to -alibi herself and make you folks thinks she was an honest God-fearing -lady that would never smuggle—and she had four times as much as I did. -Why, it was her who put me up to smuggling and taught me to be deaf and -dumb.†Sarah ground her white teeth in anger. “I’d like to meet her -again some time.â€</p> - -<p>“You shall,†Taylor cried. “When we arrest her we’ll need your evidence -to testify against her.<a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“You can bet I won’t be deaf and dumb then,†Miss Peabody cried -viciously.</p> - -<p>“Where’s the bracelet?†Taylor snapped. “Don’t waste time now.â€</p> - -<p>But the smuggler was no fool and not intimidated by his tones. “Wait a -minute,†she said craftily. “What’s going to happen to me?â€</p> - -<p>“Produce it, pay the duty, and we’ll let you go free for the tip.â€</p> - -<p>“You’re on,†said Sarah joyously. “Just take a look at the ring handle -of my parasol. I’ve painted over the stones, that’s all.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs grabbed it from her and examined it closely. “Well, can you -approach that?†he said helplessly. “And I’ve been carrying it around -all day!â€</p> - -<p>Taylor turned from his examination of the parasol as Peter the -doorkeeper entered. “Miss Cartwright here?†he asked quickly.</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,†answered the man. “She’s just arrived.â€</p> - -<p>“Bring her in as soon as these get out,†Taylor said dismissing him.</p> - -<p>“Take her away now, Gibbs,†he said, indicating the owner of the magic -parasol. “Turn her over to Shorey, he can handle her from now on.â€</p> - -<p>“All right, sir,†Gibbs said, still undecided as to why he had been -fooled.<a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a></p> - -<p>Sarah looked at him with scorn. “I’ll be glad to have someone else on -the job. I’m sick o’ trottin’ around with a fat guy like him.â€</p> - -<p>“Say, now,†Gibbs protested in an injured manner.</p> - -<p>But Taylor had a bigger scheme on hand and waved her away impatiently. -“Take her along, Gibbs.â€</p> - -<p>She gave Taylor an impudent little nod of farewell. “Ta-ta old Sport. I -certainly fooled you, when you had that gun shot off.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs had grabbed her by the arm and was now pushing her toward the -door. “And I could have kept it up,†Miss Peabody asserted in a shrill -tone, “if it hadn’t made me sore, her putting over one on me like that. -And she was so blamed nice to me. But when one woman’s nice to another -she means mischief, you can bet your B. V. D.’s.â€</p> - -<p>Even Taylor smiled as she went. He had nearly met defeat but his -habitual luck had made him victor in the end. He hoped it would aid him -in a far more difficult interview which was to come.</p> - -<p>Duncan took advantage of his good humor to ask a question.</p> - -<p>“Do you really think you can get Miss Cartwright to help us on the Denby -case?â€</p> - -<p>He had so often seen her name in the society columns<a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a> that he doubted if -his chief, clever as he was, could successfully influence her.</p> - -<p>Taylor looked at him curiously. There was in his eyes a look that spoke -of more than a faint hope of success. Few knew better than Duncan of his -ability to make men and women his tools.</p> - -<p>“Jim,†he said with an air of confidence, “I wouldn’t be a bit surprised -if she offered to help us.â€</p> - -<p>The door opened and Peter entered.</p> - -<p>“Miss Ethel Cartwright,†he announced.</p> - -<p>Taylor rose to his feet as she entered and bowed with what grace he -could as he motioned her to a chair.</p> - -<p>Miss Cartwright was a tall, strikingly pretty woman of twenty-seven, who -looked at the deputy-surveyor with the perfect self-possession which -comes so easily to those whose families have long been of the cultured -and leisured classes. It was plain that this rather languid young lady -regarded him merely as some official whom she was bound to see regarding -a matter of business.</p> - -<p>“Sorry if I kept you waiting, Miss Cartwright,†Taylor said briskly.</p> - -<p>“It doesn’t matter in the least,†she returned graciously. “I’ve never -been at the Customs before. I found it quite interesting.<a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“My name is Taylor,†he said, “and I’m a deputy-surveyor.â€</p> - -<p>“You wanted to see me about a ring, I think, didn’t you?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes,†he answered. “The intention evidently was to smuggle it through -the Customs.â€</p> - -<p>“Do you really think so?†she demanded, interested. “I haven’t the -faintest idea who could have sent it to me.â€</p> - -<p>“Of course you haven’t,†he said in his blandest, most reassuring -manner. It was a manner that made the listening Duncan wonder what was -to follow. His chief was always most deadly when he purred. “It’s a -mistake,†he continued, “but the record will probably shed some light on -the matter. Duncan,†he called sharply, “go and get those papers -relating to Miss Cartwright.â€</p> - -<p>His assistant looked at him blankly.</p> - -<p>“Papers?†he repeated. “What papers, sir?â€</p> - -<p>“The papers relating to the package sent Miss Cartwright from Paris.†-There was a significance in his tone that was not lost on Duncan. Gibbs -would have argued it out, but Duncan though in the dark followed his -cue.</p> - -<p>“Oh, <i>those</i> papers,†he answered. “I’ll get ’em, sir.<a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a>â€</p> - -<p>When he had gone the girl turned to Taylor.</p> - -<p>“Do you know,†she asserted, “I feel quite excited at being here and -sitting in a chair in which you probably often examine smugglers. One -reads about it constantly.â€</p> - -<p>“It’s being done all the time,†he responded, “among all sorts of -people. Now, Miss Cartwright, since we are talking of smuggling, I’d -like to have a little business chat with you if I may.â€</p> - -<p>The girl looked at him astonished. She could not conceive that a man -like the one looking at her could be serious in talking of a business -proposition.</p> - -<p>“With me?†she demanded, and Taylor could see that the idea was not -pleasing. He resolved to abandon his usual hectoring tactics and adopt -softer modes.</p> - -<p>“I mean it,†he asserted. “You said you’ve read about all this smuggling -and so on. Believe me, you’ve not read a thousandth part of what’s going -on all the time, despite all our efforts to check it. The difficult part -is that many of the women are so socially prominent that it isn’t easy -to detect them. They move in the sort of world you move in.†He leaned -forward and spoke impressively. “But it’s a world where neither I nor my -men could pass muster for a moment. Do you follow me?â€</p> - -<p>“I hear what you say,†she said, “but—<a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a>â€</p> - -<p>He interrupted her, “Miss Cartwright, we are looking for someone who -belongs in society by right. Someone who is clever enough to provide us -with information and yet never be suspected. We want someone above -suspicion. We want someone, for instance, like you.â€</p> - -<p>That his proposition was offensive to her he could see from the faint -flush that passed over her face and the rather haughty tone that she -adopted.</p> - -<p>“Really, Mr. Taylor,†she cried, “you probably mean well, but—â€</p> - -<p>Again he cut her short.</p> - -<p>“Just listen a moment, Miss Cartwright,†he begged. “I have reason to -know that your family has been in financial difficulties since your -father died.†He looked at her shrewdly. “The position I hinted at could -be made very profitable. How would you like to enter the secret service -of the United States Customs?†He could see she was far from being -placated at his hint of financial reward.</p> - -<p>“This is quite too preposterous,†she said icily. “It may possibly be -your idea of a joke, Mr. Taylor, but it is not mine.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m not joking,†he cried, “I’m in dead earnest.â€</p> - -<p>“If that’s the case,†she returned, rising, “I must ask you to get the -papers regarding the ring.<a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“They’ll be here at any moment,†he answered. “I’m sorry you don’t care -to entertain my proposition, but it’s your business after all. By the -way,†he added, after a moment’s pause, “there’s another little matter -I’d like to take up with you while we’re waiting. Do you recall a George -Bronson, the claim agent of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, the -company which insured the jewels that were stolen from you?â€</p> - -<p>“I think I do,†she returned slowly, “but—â€</p> - -<p>“Well, that company has had a great deal of trouble with society women -who have got money by pawning their jewels and then putting in a claim -that they were stolen and so recovering from the company on the alleged -loss.â€</p> - -<p>The girl looked at him, frowning. “Are you trying to insinuate that—â€</p> - -<p>“Certainly not,†Taylor purred amiably. “Why, no. I’m merely explaining -that that’s what Bronson thought at first, but after investigating, he -found out how absurd the idea was.â€</p> - -<p>“Naturally,†she said coldly.</p> - -<p>She had come into the deputy-surveyor’s office with an agreeable -curiosity regarding a present sent her from Paris. But the longer she -stayed, the less certain did she feel concerning this hard-faced man -opposite her, who had the strangest manner and made the most<a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a> -extraordinary propositions. What business was it of his that her jewels -had been stolen?</p> - -<p>“But there were some things he could not understand,†Taylor went on.</p> - -<p>“May I ask,†she cried, “what Mr. Bronson’s inability to understand has -to do with you?â€</p> - -<p>“Simply,†said Taylor with an appearance of great frankness, “that he -happens to be a very good friend of mine and often consults me about -things that puzzle him. The theft of those jewels of yours mystified him -greatly.â€</p> - -<p>“Mystified him?†the girl retorted. “It was perfectly simple.â€</p> - -<p>“Perhaps you won’t mind telling me the circumstances of the case.â€</p> - -<p>“Really,†she returned sub-acidly, “I don’t quite understand how this -concerns the Customs.â€</p> - -<p>“It doesn’t,†he agreed readily, “I am acting only as Bronson’s friend -and if you’ll answer my questions I may be able to recover the jewels -for you.â€</p> - -<p>The girl’s face cleared. So far from acting inimically, Mr. Taylor was -actually going to help her. She smiled for the first time, and resumed -her seat.</p> - -<p>“That will be splendid,†she exclaimed. “I did not understand. Of course -I’ll tell you everything I know.<a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“The first feature that impressed Bronson,†said the deputy-surveyor, -“and me, I’m bound to add, was that the theft seemed to be an inside -job.â€</p> - -<p>“What does that mean?†Miss Cartwright queried, interested.</p> - -<p>“That there was no evidence that a thief had broken into your home.â€</p> - -<p>“But what other explanation could there be?†she inquired. “Our family -consists of just my mother, my sister and myself, and two old servants -who have lived with us for years, so of course it wasn’t any of us.â€</p> - -<p>“Naturally not,†Taylor agreed as though this explanation had solved his -doubts. “But how did you come to discover the loss of the diamonds?â€</p> - -<p>“I didn’t discover it myself,†she told him. “I was at Bar Harbor.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh,†said Taylor with the confidential air of a family physician. “You -were away. I see! Who did find out?â€</p> - -<p>“My sister. It was she who missed them.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, your sister missed them, did she?†he said.</p> - -<p>He pushed the buzzer and wrote something on a slip of paper.</p> - -<p>“So of course,†the girl continued, “it must have been some thief from -the outside.<a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Taylor looked thoughtful. “I suppose you’re right,†he admitted, and -then asked quickly: “I wonder if you’d mind telephoning your sister to -come down here now?â€</p> - -<p>“Why, she came with me,†Miss Cartwright returned. “She’s outside.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s fine,†he said brightly. “It makes it easier.†He pushed the -buzzer again. “Perhaps she’ll be able to help us.â€</p> - -<p>“She’ll come if I wish,†said the elder sister, “but she knows even less -about it than I do.â€</p> - -<p>“I understand that,†Taylor said smoothly, “but she may remember a few -seemingly unimportant details that will help me where they wouldn’t seem -significant to you.â€</p> - -<p>He looked up as Peter came in. “Ask Miss Cartwright’s sister to come in -for a moment. Tell her Miss Ethel wants to talk to her.â€</p> - -<p>“Amy will tell you all she can,†the girl asserted.</p> - -<p>“Just as you would yourself,†Taylor said confidentially. He had no -other air than of a man who is sworn to recover stolen diamonds. Ethel -Cartwright admitted she had misjudged him.</p> - -<p>“It must be wonderful to be a detective and piece together little -unimportant facts into an important whole.<a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“It is,†he answered a trifle drily; “quite wonderful.â€</p> - -<p>Amy Cartwright was brought into the deputy-surveyor’s room by Peter. -Plainly she was of a less self-reliant type than her elder sister, for -the rather startled expression her face wore was lost when she saw -Ethel. She was a pretty girl not more than eighteen and like her sister -dressed charmingly.</p> - -<p>“You wanted me, Ethel?†she asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes, dear,†the elder returned. “Amy, this is Mr. Taylor, who thinks he -may be able to get back my diamonds for me.â€</p> - -<p>Amy Cartwright shot a quick, almost furtive look at Taylor and then -gripped her sister’s arm. “Your diamonds!†she cried.</p> - -<p>Taylor had missed nothing of her anxious manner. “Yes,†he said. “Your -sister has been kind enough to give me some information in reference to -the theft, and I thought you might be able to add to the facts we -already have.â€</p> - -<p>“I?†the younger girl exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†her sister commanded. “You must answer all Mr. Taylor’s -questions.â€</p> - -<p>“Of course,†Amy said with an effort to be cheerful.</p> - -<p>Taylor looked at her magisterially. “How did you discover your sister’s -jewels were stolen?<a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Why,†she replied nervously, not meeting his eye, “I went to her -dressing-table one morning and they weren’t there.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh!†he exclaimed meaningly. “So they weren’t there! Then what did you -do?â€</p> - -<p>“Why, I telephoned to the company she insured them in.â€</p> - -<p>“Without consulting your sister?†he asked. His manner, although quick -and alert, was friendly. Ethel Cartwright felt he was desirous of -helping her, and if Amy seemed nervous, it was her first experience with -a man of this type. She had so little experience in relying on herself -that this trifling ordeal was magnified into a judicial -cross-examination. She determined to help Amy out.</p> - -<p>“You must remember,†she said to Taylor, “that I was out of town.â€</p> - -<p>“Of course!†Amy exclaimed with a show of relief. “How could I consult -her when she was in Maine?â€</p> - -<p>“Were you certain she hadn’t taken her diamonds with her?†he asked.</p> - -<p>Amy hesitated for a moment. “I think she must have told me before she -left.â€</p> - -<p>“Hm!†he ejaculated. “You <i>think</i> she did?â€</p> - -<p>Amy turned to her sister. “Didn’t you tell me, Ethel?<a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Miss Cartwright knit her brows in thought. “Perhaps I did,†she -admitted.</p> - -<p>“But you didn’t telegraph your sister to make sure?†Taylor queried.</p> - -<p>“Why, no,†the girl said hesitating and seemingly confused. “No, I -didn’t.†She was now staring at her interrogator with real fear in her -eyes.</p> - -<p>“Well, that doesn’t make any difference,†he said genially, “so long as -the jewels were stolen and not merely mislaid, does it?â€</p> - -<p>“No,†she said with a sigh of relief.</p> - -<p>“There’s one other point,†he said, turning to the elder sister. “You -received the compensation money from the company, didn’t you?â€</p> - -<p>“Naturally,†she said tranquilly.</p> - -<p>“Please don’t think me impertinent,†he said, “but you still have it -intact, I presume?â€</p> - -<p>“Only part,†the girl returned. “I gave half of it to my sister.â€</p> - -<p>“I rather thought you might have done that,†he purred as though his -especial hobby was discovering affection in other families, “That was a -very nice generous thing to do, Miss Cartwright. But you realize of -course that if I get your jewels back the money must be returned to the -Burglar Insurance<a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a> people in full,‗he looked significantly at the -shrinking younger girl,—“from both of you.â€</p> - -<p>Amy Cartwright clasped her hands nervously. “Oh, I couldn’t do that,†-she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>Ethel turned to her in astonishment.</p> - -<p>“But Amy, why not?â€</p> - -<p>“I haven’t got it all now.â€</p> - -<p>“But, dear, what did you do with it?†Ethel persisted.</p> - -<p>Taylor seemed to take a keen interest in Amy Cartwright’s financial -affairs.</p> - -<p>“That’s quite an interesting question,†he observed judiciously. “What -did you do with your half?â€</p> - -<p>“I—I paid a lot of bills,†the girl stammered.</p> - -<p>“Paid a lot of bills!†her sister exclaimed. “But Amy, you distinctly -told me—â€</p> - -<p>“One minute,†Taylor interrupted. “Now, Miss Amy,†he said sharply, -“what sort of bills did you pay?â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, dressmakers and hats and things,†she answered with a trace of -sullenness.</p> - -<p>“Of course they gave you receipts?†he suggested.</p> - -<p>“I don’t remember,†she answered.</p> - -<p>“Oh, you don’t remember,†he said, fixing her with his cold eye. “But -you remember whom you paid the money to?<a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Of course she does,†Ethel cried, coming to her sister’s aid. She was -herself puzzled at this strange man’s attitude. “You do, don’t you, -Amy?â€</p> - -<p>“Why, yes,†the other said weakly.</p> - -<p>“Give me the names!†Taylor demanded, and then looked angrily up to see -who had entered his office unbidden. It was James Duncan, apologetic, -but urged by powers higher than those of his chief.</p> - -<p>“The Collector and the Secretary want to see you right away, sir,†he -announced.</p> - -<p>“I can’t leave now,†Taylor cried angrily. And in that moment both girls -realized of what ruthless metal he was cast. Gone was the amiable -interest in family matters and the kindly wish to aid two girls in -getting back their trinkets, and there was left a strong remorseless man -who showed he had them very nearly in his power.</p> - -<p>But Duncan dared not go back with such a message.</p> - -<p>“I explained you were busy, Chief,†he said, “but they would have you -come down at once, as the Secretary has to go back to Washington. It’s -about that necklace. The one coming in on the Mauretania this -afternoon.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, very well,†his superior snapped. “I shall have to ask you ladies -to excuse me for five minutes.â€</p> - -<p>“Certainly,†Ethel Cartwright returned.<a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a></p> - -<p>At the door Taylor beckoned to Duncan and spoke in a whisper. “Get -outside in the corridor and if they try to leave, stop ’em. And I shall -want to know what they’ve been talking about. Understand?â€</p> - -<p>“Sure, Chief,†Duncan returned.</p> - -<p>When both men had gone from the room Amy clung half-hysterically to her -strong, calm sister. “Oh, Ethel, they know, they know!â€</p> - -<p>“Know what?†Ethel asked, amazed at the change in the other.</p> - -<p>“That man suspects,†Amy whispered. “I know he does. Did you see how he -glared at me and the way he spoke?â€</p> - -<p>“Suspects what?†Ethel asked. “Amy, what do you mean? What is there to -suspect?â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t let them take me away!†the younger sister wailed. “Oh, don’t, -don’t!â€</p> - -<p>Ethel drew back a step and looked into the trembling Amy’s tear-stained -face.</p> - -<p>“What is this you are saying?†she asked sharply.</p> - -<p>“Ethel, your jewels weren’t stolen.†There was a pause as if the girl -were trying to gather courage enough to confess. “I took them. I pawned -them.â€</p> - -<p>“Amy!†cried the other. “You?â€</p> - -<p>“I had to have money. I took them. A woman told me I could get it by -pretending to the company the<a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a> things were stolen. She said they’d never -find it out and would pay. I tried it, and they paid.â€</p> - -<p>Miss Cartwright looked down at her, amazed, indignant, horrified.</p> - -<p>“Do you mean to say you deliberately swindled the company?â€</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t help it, Ethel,†she declared piteously. “I didn’t think of -it in that way. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t, indeed.â€</p> - -<p>“Why, why, why? Why in God’s name did you do it? Tell me quickly, why?â€</p> - -<p>Amy could no longer meet her sister’s glance. She dropped her head.</p> - -<p>“I lost a lot of money gambling, playing auction bridge.â€</p> - -<p>“Playing with whom?†Ethel demanded sharply.</p> - -<p>“People you don’t know,†the younger answered evasively. “It was while -you were away. It wouldn’t have happened if you’d been home. We all -dined together at the Claremont and afterwards they simply would play -auction. I said no at first but they made me. I got excited and began to -lose, and then they said if I kept on the luck would turn, but it -didn’t, and I lost a thousand dollars.â€</p> - -<p>Ethel Cartwright needed no other explanation as a key to Taylor’s -manner. It was certain that he knew<a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a> and would presently force her poor -frightened little sister into a confession. It was no time for blaming -the child or pointing out morals, but for protecting her.</p> - -<p>“Ssh,†she whispered, “Ssh!â€</p> - -<p>“I didn’t mean to do it,†Amy reiterated. “Believe me, I didn’t.â€</p> - -<p>“Tell me what happened then?†Ethel asked in a low tone.</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t pay, of course, and the other women said they’d have to ask -mother or you for the money and if you wouldn’t pay I should have to go -to jail. I didn’t know what to do. I nearly went out of my head, I -think. At last Philip Sloane offered to lend it me.â€</p> - -<p>The elder recoiled from her. “That man!†she cried horrified. “Oh, Amy, -and how often I have warned you against him!â€</p> - -<p>“There was nothing else to do,†her sister explained. “You were away and -I had no one to go and ask.â€</p> - -<p>“Stop a minute,†Ethel said. “If you borrowed the money and paid the -debts, why did you need to take my diamonds?â€</p> - -<p>Amy hung her head. “When he lent me the money he said I could pay it -back whenever I wanted to, in a hundred years if I liked.â€</p> - -<p>“Well?†Ethel cried anxiously. “Well?â€</p> - -<p>“But a day or so later he came to see me, mother<a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a> was out, and his -manner was so different I was frightened. He—he said a girl who accepts -money from a man is never any good, and nobody will believe them no -matter what they say. I didn’t think men could be like that. He said -he’d forget about it if I went away with him. He said nobody would know -it—he could arrange all that—and he threatened all sorts of things. -Oh, everything you said about him was right.â€</p> - -<p>“Go on,†her sister commanded, in a hard staccato tone. “What then?â€</p> - -<p>“At first I thought of killing myself but I was afraid. And then I saw -your jewel-case and I pretended they were stolen. I got half the money -from the pawn-shop and the other half from you when the company settled. -It was wicked of me, Ethel, but what could I do?â€</p> - -<p>Ethel put her arm about the poor sobbing girl very tenderly.</p> - -<p>“My poor little sister,†she whispered, “my little Amy, you did the -better thing after all. But you should have told me before, so that I -could have helped you.â€</p> - -<p>“I was afraid to,†the girl said, looking into the face above her, “I -meant to have told you next month when that money is coming from -father’s estate. I thought we could pay the company then so that I<a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a> -shouldn’t feel like a thief. I’m so glad I’ve told you; it has -frightened me so!†But the grave expression on Ethel’s face alarmed her. -“Why do you look like that?†she demanded.</p> - -<p>“It will be all right,†Ethel assured her. “But you know those dividends -have been delayed this month and neither mother nor I have any spare -money if the Burglar Insurance people want to be paid back. I daresay we -can arrange something, so don’t be frightened. And remember, this man -Taylor can’t know certainly. He only suspects, and we ought to be able -to beat him if we are very careful. I’m so glad you told me so that I -know what to do.â€</p> - -<p>“But I’m afraid of him,†Amy cried. “I shall break down and they’ll put -me in prison. Ethel, I should die if they did that.â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll save you, dear,†Ethel said comfortingly. “You know you have -always been able to believe in me, and I will save you if only you try -to control yourself.â€</p> - -<p>“Then let me go home,†Amy cried, panic-stricken by the thought of -another interview with the resourceful Taylor. “I shall break down if I -stay here.â€</p> - -<p>“That will be best,†Ethel agreed, and went quickly to the door, behind -which she found Duncan on guard.<a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a></p> - -<p>“Sorry, miss,†he said respectfully, “but you can’t go.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m not leaving,†Ethel Cartwright explained, “I still have to talk -with Mr. Taylor, but my sister must go. She isn’t feeling very well. She -wants to go home.â€</p> - -<p>Duncan shook his head. “Neither of you can go,†he returned, as he -closed the door. Amy looked about her nervously for other means of -escape.</p> - -<p>“You see,†she whispered, “they’re going to keep me here a prisoner! -What shall I do?â€</p> - -<p>“Leave everything to me,†Ethel commanded. “Let me do the talking. I -shall be able to think of some way out.â€</p> - -<p>“There isn’t, there isn’t!†Amy moaned.</p> - -<p>“Stop crying,†the elder insisted. “That won’t help us. I’ve thought of -a plan. I’ll invent a story to fool him. He won’t be able to find out -whether it’s true or not, so he’ll have to let us go, and when he does, -he won’t get us back here again in a hurry.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, Ethel, you’re wonderful!†Amy exclaimed, her face clearing. In all -her small troubles she had always gone to this beautiful, serene elder -sister, who had never yet failed her and never would, she was confident.</p> - -<p>When Taylor entered a minute later he found the<a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a> two girls looking out -of the big window across the harbor. They seemed untroubled and unafraid -and were discussing the dimensions of a big liner making her way out.</p> - -<p>“Sorry to have had to leave you,†he said briskly, “especially as things -were getting a bit interesting.â€</p> - -<p>Ethel Cartwright looked at him coldly. It was a glance which Taylor -rightly interpreted as a warning to remember that he occupied a wholly -different sphere from that of the daughters of the late Vernon -Cartwright. But it daunted him little. The Secretary of the Treasury had -just told him that his work was evoking great interest in Washington. -And the Collector somewhat cryptically had said that Daniel Taylor might -always be relied upon to do the unexpected. For Washington and -Collectors, Taylor had little respect. Unconsciously he often -paraphrased that royal boast, “<i>L’État c’est moi!</i>†by admitting to his -confidants that he, Daniel Taylor, was the United States Customs.</p> - -<p>“I quite fail to see,†Miss Cartwright observed chillingly, “what all -this rather impertinent cross-questioning of my sister has to do with—â€</p> - -<p>“You will in a minute,†he interrupted.</p> - -<p>“Meanwhile,†she said, “I can’t wait any longer for those papers about -the ring.<a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“There isn’t any ring,†he said suavely. “That was just a pretext to get -you here. I was afraid the truth wouldn’t be sufficiently luring so I -had to employ a ruse.â€</p> - -<p>She looked at him, her eyes flashing at his daring to venture on such a -deception. “You actually asked me to come here because you thought I had -swindled the company?â€</p> - -<p>“Well,†he observed genially, “we all make our little mistakes.â€</p> - -<p>“So you admit it was a mistake?†she said, hardly knowing what to make -of this changed manner.</p> - -<p>“I’m quite sure of it,†he asserted. “<i>You</i> are innocent, Miss -Cartwright. How am I so sure of it? Because I happen to have the thief -already.â€</p> - -<p>“You have the thief?†Amy cried, startled out of her determination to -say nothing.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†he told her nonchalantly, “I’ve arrested the man who robbed your -sister. Poor devil, he has a wife and children. He swears they’ll -starve, and very likely they will, but he’s guilty and to jail he goes.â€</p> - -<p>“Are you sure he’s guilty?†Amy stammered.</p> - -<p>He leaned over his desk and looked at her surprised. “Why, yes,†he said -slowly. “Have you any reason to think different?â€</p> - -<p>“No, no!†she cried, shrinking back.<a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a></p> - -<p>“But I have,†Ethel said calmly. “I have every reason to believe he is -innocent.â€</p> - -<p>“<i>You</i> have?†Taylor cried, himself perplexed at the turn things were -taking.</p> - -<p>Amy looked at her sister, wondering what was coming next.</p> - -<p>“I know who stole them,†Ethel went on. “It was my maid.â€</p> - -<p>“Your maid!†the deputy-surveyor cried. “Why didn’t you tell the company -that? Bronson never told me about it.â€</p> - -<p>“She didn’t disappear till after the claim was paid, you see,†Miss -Cartwright explained. “Then I got a note from her confessing, a note -written in Canada.â€</p> - -<p>“Whereabouts in Canada?†he demanded.</p> - -<p>“I don’t recall it,†he was told.</p> - -<p>“You don’t? Well, what was your maid’s name then? I’d like to know that, -if you can remember it for me.â€</p> - -<p>“Marie Garnier was her name.â€</p> - -<p>He took up a scribbling pad and inscribed the name on it. “Marie -Garnier,†he muttered, and pushed the buzzer. “Why didn’t you tell me -this before?â€</p> - -<p>“What was the good?†Miss Cartwright returned. “I was fond of Marie—she -was almost one of the family—and I didn’t want to brand her as a -thief.<a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a> When I learned she had escaped to Canada where the law couldn’t -reach her—â€</p> - -<p>She was interrupted by Duncan’s entrance. “Yes, sir?†said he to his -chief.</p> - -<p>Taylor handed him the leaf he had torn from the pad. “Attend to this at -once,†he ordered.</p> - -<p>“Now, Miss Cartwright,†he remarked, “I’d like to ask why it was you -made this admission about Marie Garnier.â€</p> - -<p>“Because I do not want to see an innocent man go to prison,†she -returned promptly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see. And did your sister know it, too?â€</p> - -<p>“No,†she answered quickly.</p> - -<p>“Why hadn’t you told her?†he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Really,†said the elder Miss Cartwright with an expression of -innocence, “I didn’t think it made any difference.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor was obviously annoyed at such a view. “Your behavior is most -extraordinary,†he commented.</p> - -<p>“You see, I know so little about law, and insurance and things like -that,†she said apologetically. She did not desire to offend him.</p> - -<p>“You ought at least to have known that you owed it to the company to -give them all the information in your possession,†he grumbled.<a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a></p> - -<p>“I never thought of it in that way,†she said meditating.</p> - -<p>“There seems a whole lot you young ladies haven’t thought of,†he said -sourly.</p> - -<p>Miss Cartwright rose from her seat without haste. “Come, Amy,†she -commanded. “We can’t wait any longer and we are not needed.â€</p> - -<p>As they turned toward the door the telephone bell rang and Taylor stayed -them with a gesture. “Just one moment, please, Miss Cartwright.â€</p> - -<p>The girls watching him saw that the news was pleasant for he chuckled as -he hung up the receiver. Then he rose from his seat and came to where he -stood between them and the door.</p> - -<p>“Miss Cartwright,†he cried, “when you didn’t know what town in Canada -your maid was, I felt you were lying. Now I know you were. I just had my -assistant telephone to your mother.†He pointed an accusing finger at -them. “You never had a maid named Garnier, and the last one you -had—over a year ago—was called Susan. You put the blame on a woman who -doesn’t exist, and you did it to shield the real thief.†He touched the -crouching Amy on the shoulder. “This is the real thief!â€</p> - -<p>“She isn’t, she isn’t!†Ethel cried.</p> - -<p>But Taylor paid no attention to her. He concentrated<a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a> his gaze on the -younger girl. “You swindled the company,†he affirmed.</p> - -<p>“No, no,†she wailed, “I didn’t.â€</p> - -<p>Ethel came to her rescue. “How dare you,†she cried to Taylor, “make -such an accusation when you have no proof, nor anyone else either?â€</p> - -<p>“That’s all very well,†Taylor exclaimed, “but when we get the proof—â€</p> - -<p>“You can’t, because there isn’t any,†she asserted.</p> - -<p>“Of course I see your game,†the man said; “you’re just trying to -protect your sister. That’s natural enough, but it will go easier with -both of you if you’ll tell the truth.â€</p> - -<p>The two girls answered him never a word. Amy was too frightened and -Ethel, her tactics unavailing, found her best defense in silence.</p> - -<p>“So you won’t answer?†Taylor said after a pause. “Well, of course the -stuff is pawned some place. That’s what they all do. So far, Bronson has -only searched the pawn-shops in New York. He didn’t give you credit for -pawning them outside the city, but I do. Now we’ll see where your sister -did go.†He went to the telephone again. “Hello, Bill,†he said when he -had secured the number, “Go over to Bronson at the New York and get a -description of the jewels reported stolen from a Miss Ethel Cartwright. -Have all the<a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a> pawn-shops searched in Trenton,‗he fastened his harsh -look on Amy Cartwright as he called out the names,—“Boston, Washington, -Providence, Baltimore, Albany, Philadelphia—â€</p> - -<p class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illpg_105.jpg" width="361" height="550" alt="HE TURNED TO AMY. “YOUNG WOMAN, YOU’RE UNDER ARREST.†-Page 105." title="" /> -<br /> -<span class="caption">HE TURNED TO AMY. “YOUNG WOMAN, YOU’RE UNDER ARREST.â€<br /> -Page <a href="#page_105">105</a>.</span> -</p> - -<p>As he called out the last city the girl gave a gasp of terror, and -triumph instantly lighted up her inquisitor’s grim face.</p> - -<p>“So you pawned them in Philadelphia?†he cried.</p> - -<p>“No, no!†she moaned.</p> - -<p>“I did it,†Ethel Cartwright exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“No, you didn’t,†Taylor said sharply. “You’re only trying to save her. -You can’t deceive me.†He turned to Amy, “Young woman, you’re under -arrest.â€</p> - -<p>“No, no,†the elder sister besought. “Take me. She’s only a child; don’t -spoil her life. I’ll do whatever you like; it doesn’t matter about me. -For God’s sake don’t do anything to my little sister.â€</p> - -<p>“She’s guilty,†he reminded her, “and the law says—â€</p> - -<p>“If somebody pays, what difference does it make to you or the law? Isn’t -there anything I can do?†she pleaded.</p> - -<p>Taylor paced up and down the room for a half minute before answering, -while the two watched him in agony. To them he was one who could deliver -them<a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a> over to prison if it were his whim, or spare if he inclined to -mercy.</p> - -<p>“Surely there is some way out?†Ethel asked again.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†he said, “there is. You can accept my proposition to enter the -secret service of the United States Customs.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, yes,†she cried, “anything!â€</p> - -<p>Taylor rubbed his hands together with satisfaction and pride in his -inimitable craft. “Now you’re talking!†he exclaimed. “Then we won’t -send the little sister to prison.â€</p> - -<p>Amy sobbed relief in her sister’s arms.</p> - -<p>“Then you won’t tell Bronson?†Ethel asked.</p> - -<p>“No,†he said, “I won’t tell Bronson.â€</p> - -<p>Ethel sighed, and felt almost that she would faint.</p> - -<p>“Now I’m sorry for you two,†Taylor said more genially, “and as long as -you do what I tell you to, we’ll leave the little matter of the jewels -as between your sister and her conscience. I’ll let you know when I need -you. It may be to-night, it may be not for a month or a year, but when I -do want you—â€</p> - -<p>“I shall be ready,†the girl declared.</p> - -<p>“Say, Chief,†Duncan said looking in at the door,—</p> - -<p>“Get out, I’m busy,†Taylor shouted.</p> - -<p>“I thought you’d like to know the Mauretania was<a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a> coming up the bay,†-his satellite returned, slightly aggrieved at this reception.</p> - -<p>“She is?†said the other. “Wait a minute then. Now, Miss Cartwright, -good afternoon. Remember what is at stake, your future, and your -sister’s happiness. And don’t forget that my silence depends on your not -failing me.â€</p> - -<p>Only a man of Taylor’s coarse and cruel mould could have looked at her -without remorse or compunction. He did not see a beautiful refined woman -cheerfully bearing another’s cross. He saw only a society girl, who had -matched her immature wits against his and lost, was beaten and in the -dust. There was a pathetic break in her voice as she answered him.</p> - -<p>“I shall not fail you,†she said.</p> - -<p>Duncan closed the door after them.</p> - -<p>“Well?†Taylor demanded eagerly when they were alone. “Did Denby declare -the necklace?â€</p> - -<p>“No, sir,†Duncan returned promptly.</p> - -<p>“Then I was right,†the other commented. “He’s trying to smuggle it in. -Jim, this is the biggest job we’ve ever handled.â€</p> - -<p>“Ford and Hammett are at the dock all ready to search him when I give -the word.â€</p> - -<p>Duncan was sharing in his chief’s triumph, but Taylor’s next command was -disappointing.<a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a></p> - -<p>“Don’t give the word,†he enjoined. “There’s to be no search.â€</p> - -<p>“No search?†exclaimed the chagrined Duncan.</p> - -<p>“No,†Taylor told him. “Just let him slide through with the ordinary -examination. Trail Denby and his party to Westbury and be sure none of -them slip the necklace to anyone on the way out there, but no fuss and -no arrests, remember. Meanwhile, get up a fake warrant for the arrest of -Miss Amy Cartwright. It may come in handy.â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,†said Duncan obediently.</p> - -<p>“And when you’ve told Ford and Hammett what they are to do, change your -clothes and make Gibbs do the same, and meet me at the Pennsylvania -Station at six o’clock.â€</p> - -<p>“Where are we going?†Duncan asked. He could see from his chief’s manner -that something important was in the wind.</p> - -<p>“To Long Island,†he was told. “We are going to call on Miss Ethel -Cartwright.â€</p> - -<p>“Then you can use her to land Denby?†his subordinate cried excitedly.</p> - -<p>“Use her?†the deputy-surveyor said with a grim smile. “Say, Jim, she -doesn’t know it, but she’s going to get that necklace for me to-night.â€</p> - -<p>He hurried out of the room, leaving Duncan shaking<a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a> his head in -wonderment. His chief might have qualities that were not endearing, and -his manner might at times be rough, but where was there a man who rode -through obstacles with the same fine disregard as Daniel Taylor?<a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SEVEN" id="CHAPTER_SEVEN"></a>CHAPTER SEVEN</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">M</span>RS. HARRINGTON admitted freely that she had been very far-seeing in -asking Denby to travel on the Mauretania with her and Monty. She was one -of those modern women who count days damaging to their looks if there -comes an hour of boredom in them, and her new acquaintance was always -amusing.</p> - -<p>One day when they were all three sitting on deck she asked him: “What -are you going to do when you get home?â€</p> - -<p>“Nothing particular,†he replied, “except that I want to run down to -Washington some time during the month.â€</p> - -<p>“You see,†Monty explained, “Steve is a great authority on the tariff. -The Secretary of the Treasury does nothing without consulting him. He -has to go down and help the cabinet out.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s hardly true,†Denby said mildly, “but I have friends in -Washington nevertheless.†It was obvious Monty was not taken in by this. -He only regarded his friend as a superb actor who refused to be<a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a> -frightened by the hourly alarms his faithful assistant took to him with -fast-beating heart. Young Vaughan told himself a dozen times a day that -this excitement, this suspicion of the motives of all strangers, was -undermining his health. He had complained of the dull evenness of his -existence before meeting Denby in Paris, but he felt such a lament could -never again be justified. He found himself unable to sit still for long. -He marvelled to see that Denby could sit for hours in a deck-chair -talking to Alice without seeming to care whether mysterious strangers -were eyeing him or not.</p> - -<p>“I asked you,†Mrs. Harrington went on, “because, if you’ve nothing -better to do, will you spend a week with us at Westbury? Michael will -like you, and if you don’t like Michael, there’s something seriously -wrong with you.â€</p> - -<p>“I’d love to come,†he said eagerly. “Thank you very much.â€</p> - -<p>“Hooray,†said Monty. “Alice, you’re a sweet soul to ask him. Of course -he’ll like Michael. Who doesn’t?â€</p> - -<p>“Everybody ought to,†she said happily. “Do you know, Mr. Denby, I’m one -of the only three women in our set who still love their husbands. I -wouldn’t tell you that except for the reason you’ll find out. He’s the -most generous soul in the world and when I go to<a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a> him with a bank-book -that won’t balance, he adds it up and says I’ve made a mistake and that -I’m on the right side. How many husbands would do that?â€</p> - -<p>“I might,†Monty asserted, “because I can’t add up long columns, but -Michael’s a demon at statistics, or used to be.â€</p> - -<p>“He’s such an old dear,†Mrs. Harrington went on. “His one peculiar -talent is the invention of new and strange drinks. I never come back -from any long absence but he shows me something violently colored which -is built in my honor. And Monty will tell you,†she added laughing, -“that I have never been seen to shudder while he was looking. Have I, -Monty?â€</p> - -<p>“You’re a good sport,†said Monty, “and if ever I kill a man, it will be -Michael, and my motive will be jealousy.â€</p> - -<p>“Well, you needn’t look so unhappy about it,†she cried, as a frown -passed over his face and he sank back in his chair, all his good-humor -gone.</p> - -<p>Monty had in that careless phrase, “If ever I kill a man,†reminded -himself vividly of the dangers that he felt beset him and his friend -Steven Denby. He had been trying to forget it and now it was with him to -stay. And another and a dreadful thought occurred. Would Denby take -those accursed pearls with him to<a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a> the Harrington mansion on Long -Island? It was so disquieting that he rose abruptly and went into a -secluded corner of the upper smoking-room and called for a cigar and a -pony of brandy.</p> - -<p>His attention was presently attracted to a stout comfortable-looking man -who was staring at him as though to encourage a bow of recognition. He -had noticed the stout and affable gentleman before and always in the -same seat, but never before had he sought acquaintance in this manner. -There was no doubt in Monty’s mind that the man was one of those suave -gamblers who reap their richest harvests on the big fast liners. No -doubt he knew that Monty was a Vaughan and had occasionally fallen for -such professionals and inveigled into a quiet little game. But Monty -felt himself of a different sort now.</p> - -<p>There was no doubt that the affable gentleman had fully made up his mind -as to his plan of action. He rose from his comfortable chair and made -his way to the younger man with his hand held out in welcome.</p> - -<p>“I thought it was you,†he said, and wrung Monty’s reluctant hand, “but -you are not quite the same as when I saw you last.â€</p> - -<p>“No doubt,†Monty said coldly; “I am older and <i>I</i> am not the fool I -used to be.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s good,†said the affable gentleman pressing<a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a> the button that was -to summon a steward. “Your father will be glad to hear that.â€</p> - -<p>“Have the kindness to leave my father alone,†the younger commanded. -Never in his life had Monty found himself able to be so unpleasant. -There was, he discovered, a certain joy in it.</p> - -<p>“Why, certainly,†said the other a trifle startled, “if you wish it. -Only as he and I were old friends, I saw no harm in it.â€</p> - -<p>“Old friends?†sneered Monty. “Let me see, you were the same year at -Yale, weren’t you?â€</p> - -<p>“Of course,†the affable stranger said, and turned to see the advancing -steward. “What will you have?†he asked.</p> - -<p>“I don’t drink with strangers,†Monty said rising.</p> - -<p>“Strangers!†cried the other with the rising intonation of indignation. -“Well, I like that!â€</p> - -<p>“Then I shall leave you with a pleasant memory,†Monty said. “Good day.â€</p> - -<p>“Stop a moment,†the stranger asked after a pause in which rage and -astonishment chased themselves across his well-nourished countenance. -“Who do you think I am, anyway?â€</p> - -<p>“Your name and number don’t interest me,†Monty said loftily. He noted -that the steward was enjoying it after the quiet inexpressive manner of -the English<a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a> servant. “But I’ve no doubt at some time or another I lost -money to you—your old college friend’s money of course—in some quiet -game with your confederates.â€</p> - -<p>“Now, what do you think of that!†the red-faced man exclaimed as he -watched Monty’s retreating figure. But the steward was non-committal. He -was not paid to give up his inner thoughts but to bring drinks on a -tray.</p> - -<p>The stout and affable gentleman was a member of the Stock Exchanges of -London and New York and made frequent journeys between these cities. He -held the ocean record of having crossed more times and seen the waves -less than any stock-broker living. He had passed more hours in a -favorite chair in the Mauretania’s smoking-room than any man had done -since time began. He was raconteur of ability and had been a close -friend of the elder Vaughan’s years before at Yale. And he burned with -fierce indignation when he remembered that he had held the infant Monty -years ago and prophesied to a proud mother that he would be her joy and -pride. Joy and pride! He snorted and fell away from his true form so far -as to seek the deck and suck in fresh air.</p> - -<p>There he happened upon Mrs. Harrington talking to Denby. She knew -Godfrey Hazen. He had often<a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a> been to Westbury, and Michael esteemed him -for his great knowledge of the proper beverage to take for every -emergency that may arise upon an ocean voyage.</p> - -<p>“What makes you look so angry?†she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>He calmed down when he saw her. “I’ve just been taken for a professional -gambler,†he cried.</p> - -<p>“I thought all stock-brokers were that,†she said smiling.</p> - -<p>“I mean a different sort,†he explained, “the kind that work the big -liners. I just asked him to have a drink when he said he didn’t drink -with strangers and hinted I had my picture in the rogues’ gallery.â€</p> - -<p>“Who was it?†she inquired.</p> - -<p>“That ne’er-do-well, Monty Vaughan,†he answered.</p> - -<p>“Monty?†she said. “Impossible!â€</p> - -<p>“Is it?†he said grimly. “We’ll see. Here comes the young gentleman.â€</p> - -<p>Monty sauntered up without noticing him at first. When he did, he -stopped short and was in no whit abashed. “Trying a new game?†he -inquired.</p> - -<p>“Monty, don’t you remember Mr. Hazen?†Alice said reproachfully.</p> - -<p>“Have I made an ass of myself?†he asked miserably.</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t label any four-footed beast by the name I’d call you,†said -Mr. Hazen firmly.<a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a></p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you tell me your name?†Monty asked.</p> - -<p>“You ought to have remembered me,†the implacable Hazen retorted. “Why, -I held you in my arms when you were only three months old.â€</p> - -<p>“Then I wish you had dropped me and broken me,†Monty exclaimed, “and I -should have been spared a lot of worry.†Things were piling up to make -him more than ever nervous. He had overheard two passengers saying they -understood the Mauretania’s voyagers were to have a special examination -at the Customs on account of diamond smuggling. “I’m sorry, Mr. Hazen,†-he said more graciously, “but I’ve things on my mind and you must accept -that as the reason.â€</p> - -<p>When he had gone Mr. Hazen was introduced to Denby and prevailed upon to -occupy Monty’s seat.</p> - -<p>“I don’t like the look of it,†Mr. Hazen said, shaking his head. “At his -age he oughtn’t to have any worries. I didn’t.â€</p> - -<p>“If you can keep a secret,†Mrs. Harrington confided, “I think I can -tell you exactly what is the matter with Monty and I’m sure you’ll make -excuses for him, Mr. Hazen.â€</p> - -<p>“Maybe,†he returned dubiously, “but you should have heard how he called -me down before a steward!<a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Monty’s in love,†Mrs. Harrington declared, “and after almost two -years’ absence he is going to meet her again; and the dread of not -daring to propose is sapping his brain. You’re not the first. He’s been -out of sorts the whole time and I’ve had to smooth things over with -other people. Come, now,†she said coaxingly, “when you were young I’m -sure you had some episodes of that sort yourself, now didn’t you?â€</p> - -<p>Mr. Hazen tried not to let her see the proud memories that came surging -back through a quarter of a century. “Well,†he admitted, “if you put it -that way, Mrs. Harrington, I’ve got to forgive the boy.â€</p> - -<p>“I knew you would,†she said, and talked nicely to him for reward.</p> - -<p>Then the romance which he had resurrected faded; and the sight of so -much salt in the waves—the unaccustomed waves—induced a provoking -thirst and he rose and after a conventional lie retired to the -smoking-room.</p> - -<p>“All the same,†Mrs. Harrington remarked to Denby, “I am worried about -the boy.â€</p> - -<p>“He’ll get over it,†said Steven.</p> - -<p>“I hope so,†she returned. “His nerves are all wrong. I thought he had -the absinthe habit at first, but he’s really quite temperate, and it’s -mental, I suspect.<a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a> It may be Nora; I hope it is. She’s a dear girl and -Monty’s really a big catch.â€</p> - -<p>“Didn’t you say you had bought her a present, some valuable piece of -jewelry?â€</p> - -<p>“Which I have sworn to smuggle,†she returned brightly, “despite your -warning.â€</p> - -<p>“For your sake I wish you wouldn’t,†he said, “but if your mind’s made -up, what will my words avail?â€</p> - -<p>“I’m not stubborn,†she cried, “even Michael admits that. I am always -open to conviction.â€</p> - -<p>“If you smuggle, you are,†he said meaningly. “Really, Mrs. Harrington, -you’ve no idea how strict these examinations are becoming, and this -vessel seems specially marked out for extra strict inspections. The -popular journals have harped on the fact that the rich, influential -women who use this and boats of this class, are exempt, while the woman -who saves up for a few weeks’ jaunt and brings little inexpensive -presents back, is caught.â€</p> - -<p>“Are you sure of that?†she demanded.</p> - -<p>“Why, yes,†he returned. “It doesn’t seem quite fair, does it?†he -demanded, looking at her keenly. “It doesn’t seem playing the game for -the first cabin on the Mauretania to get in free while the second cabin -gets caught.<a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Have you ever smuggled?†she asked.</p> - -<p>“Maybe,†he said, “but if I have, it has not been a habit with me as -with some rich people I know, who could so easily afford to pay.â€</p> - -<p>“Suppose I do smuggle and get caught, I can pay without any further -trouble, can’t I?†she queried.</p> - -<p>“You’re just as likely to be detained,†he told her. “To all intents and -purposes, it’s like being under arrest.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, Lord!†she cried. “And I shouldn’t be able to get back to Michael?â€</p> - -<p>“Probably not,†he said. “You see, Mrs. Harrington, you’d be a splendid -tribute to the impartiality of the service. The publicity the Customs -people would get from your case would be worth a lot to them. -Indirectly, you’d possibly promote hard-working inspectors.â€</p> - -<p>“But I don’t want to be a case,†she exclaimed, “I’m not anxious to be -put in a cell and promote hard-working inspectors. And think of poor -Michael all ready with a crimson newly-devised drink pacing the floor -while I’m undergoing the third degree! Mr. Denby, I still think the laws -are absurd, but I shall declare everything I’ve got. I wonder if they -would let Michael hand me his crimson drink through the bars.<a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Just then Monty made for them and dropped into his deck-chair.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to be an honest woman,†she declared, “and smuggle no more. -Mr. Denby is the miracle-worker. I shall probably have to borrow money -to pay the duty, so be at hand, Monty.â€</p> - -<p>He looked across at Denby and sighed. His friend’s serene countenance -and absence of nerves was always a source of wonderment to him. -Hereafter, he swore, a life in consonance with his country’s laws. And -if the first few days of the voyage had made him nervous, it was small -comfort to think that the really risky part had yet to be gone through. -In eliminating Alice Harrington as a fellow smuggler Monty saw -extraordinary cunning. “Well,†he thought, “if anyone can carry it -through it will be old Steve,†and rose obediently at Alice’s behest and -brought back a wireless form on which he indited a message to the absent -Michael.</p> - -<p>Monty Vaughan had crossed the ocean often, and each time had been -cheered to see in the distance the long flat coast-line of his native -land. There had always been a sense of pleasurable excitement in the -halt at Quarantine and the taking on board the harbor and other -officials.</p> - -<p>But this time they clambered aboard—the most<a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a> vindictive set of mortals -he had ever laid eyes on—and each one of them seemed to look at Monty -as though he recognized a law breaker and a desperado. Incontinently he -fled to the smoking-room and ran into the arms of Godfrey Hazen.</p> - -<p>“Never mind, my boy,†said that genial broker, “you’ll soon be out of -your misery. Brace up and have a drink. I know how you feel. I’ve felt -like that myself.â€</p> - -<p>“Did you get caught?†Monty gasped.</p> - -<p>“No,†he said, for he was a bachelor, “but I’ve had some mighty narrow -squeaks and once I thought I was gone.â€</p> - -<p>He watched Monty gulp down his drink with unaccustomed rapidity. “That’s -right,†he said commendingly. “Have another?â€</p> - -<p>“It would choke me,†the younger answered, and fled.</p> - -<p>Hazen shook his head pityingly. He had never been as afflicted as the -heir to his old friend Vaughan. Poets might understand love and its -symptoms but such manifestations were beyond him.</p> - -<p>When Steven Denby opened his trunks to a somewhat uninterested inspector -and answered his casual questions without hesitation, Monty stood at his -side. It cost him something to do so but underneath his<a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a> apparent -timorous nature was a strength and loyalty which would not fail at need.</p> - -<p>And when the jaded Customs official made chalk hieroglyphics and stamped -the trunks as free from further examination Monty felt a relief such as -he had never known. As a poet has happily phrased it, “he chortled in -his joy.â€</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?†he demanded of Denby when he observed that his own -hilarity was not shared by his companion in danger. “Why not celebrate?â€</p> - -<p>“We’re not off the dock yet,†Denby said in a low voice. “They’ve been -too easy for my liking.â€</p> - -<p>“A lot we care,†Monty returned, “so long as they’re finished with us.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s just it,†he was warned, “I don’t believe they have. It’s a bit -suspicious to me. Better attend to your own things now, old man.â€</p> - -<p>Monty opened his trunks in a lordly manner. So elaborate was his gesture -that an inspector was distrustful and explored every crevice of his -baggage with pertinacity. He unearthed with glee a pair of military -hair-brushes with backs of sterling silver that Monty had bought in Bond -street for Michael Harrington as he passed through London and forgotten -in his alarm for bigger things.</p> - -<p>“It pays to be honest,†said Mrs. Harrington, who<a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a> had declared her -dutiable importations and felt more than ordinarily virtuous. “Monty, -you bring suspicion on us all. I’m surprised at you. Just a pair of -brushes, too. If you had smuggled in a diamond necklace for Nora there -would be some excuse!â€</p> - -<p>The word necklace made him tremble and he did not trust himself to say a -word.</p> - -<p>“He’s too ashamed for utterance,†Denby commented, helping him to repack -his trunk.</p> - -<p>There were two Harrington motors waiting, both big cars that would carry -a lot of baggage. When they were ready it was plain that only two -passengers could be carried in one and the third in the second car.</p> - -<p>“How shall we manage it?†Mrs. Harrington asked.</p> - -<p>“If you don’t mind I’ll let you two go on,†Denby suggested, “and when -I’ve sent off a telegram to my mother, I’ll follow.â€</p> - -<p>“I see,†she laughed, “you want the stage set for your entrance. Very -well. Au revoir.â€</p> - -<p>Monty surprised her by shaking his friend’s hand. “Good-by, old man,†-said Monty sorrowfully. He was not sure that he would ever see Steven -again.<a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_EIGHT" id="CHAPTER_EIGHT"></a>CHAPTER EIGHT</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">M</span>ICHAEL HARRINGTON walked up and down the big hall of his Long Island -home looking at the clock and his own watch as if to detect them in the -act of refusing to register the correct time of day. Although it was -probable his wife, Monty and the guest of whose coming a wireless -message had apprised him, would not be home for another hour, he was -always anxious at such a moment.</p> - -<p>He was a man of fifty-eight, exceedingly good-tempered, and very much in -love with his wife. When Alice had married a man twenty-four years her -senior there had been prophecies that it would not last long. But the -two Harringtons had confounded such dismal predictions and lived—to -their own vast amusement—to be held up as exemplars of matrimonial -felicity in a set where such a state was not too frequent.</p> - -<p>His perambulations were interrupted by the entrance of Lambart, a butler -with a genius for his service,<a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a> who bore on a silver tray a siphon of -seltzer water, a decanter of Scotch whiskey and a pint bottle of fine -champagne.</p> - -<p>Lambart had, previously to his importation, valeted the late lamented -Marquis of St. Mervyn, an eccentric peer who had broken his noble neck -in a steeplechase. Like most English house-servants he was profoundly -conservative; and after two positions which he had left because his -employers treated him almost as an equal, he had come to the Harringtons -and taken a warm but perfectly respectful liking to his millionaire -employer. Lambart was a remarkably useful person and it was his proud -boast that none had ever beheld him slumbering. Certain it was that a -bell summoned him at any hour of the day or night, and he had never -grumbled at such calls.</p> - -<p>Harrington looked at the refreshment inquiringly. “Did I order this?†he -demanded.</p> - -<p>“No, sir,†Lambart answered, “but my late employer Lord St. Mervyn -always said that when he was waiting like you are, sir, it steadied his -nerves to have a little refreshment.â€</p> - -<p>“I should have liked the Marquis if I’d known him,†Michael Harrington -observed when his thirst was quenched. “I think I could have paid him no -prettier compliment than to have named a Rocksand<a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a> colt after him, -Lambart. The colt won at Deauville last week, by the way.â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,†Lambart returned, “I took the liberty of putting a bit on -him; I won, too.â€</p> - -<p>“Good,†said his employer, “I’m glad. He ought to have a good season in -France. I like France for two things—racing and what they call the -<i>heure de l’aperitif</i>. When I go to Rome I do as the Romans do, and I -have the pleasantest recollections of my afternoons in France.â€</p> - -<p>He noticed that Lambart, bringing over to him a box of cigars, turned -his head as though to listen. “I believe, sir,†said the butler, “that -the car is coming up the drive.â€</p> - -<p>He hurried to the open French window and looked out. “Yes, sir,†he -cried, “it is one of our cars and Mrs. Harrington is in it.â€</p> - -<p>Michael Harrington rose hastily to his feet. “Great Scott, my wife! The -boat must have docked early.†He pointed to the whiskey and champagne. -“Get rid of these; and not a word, Lambart, not a word.â€</p> - -<p>“Certainly not, sir,†Lambart answered; “I couldn’t make a mistake of -that sort after being with the Marquis of St. Mervyn for seven years.â€</p> - -<p>He took up the tray quickly and carried it off as Nora Rutledge—the -girl for whose sake poor Monty<a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a> had passed hours of alternate misery and -hope—came in to tell her host the news.</p> - -<p>“Alice is here,†she cried, “and Monty Vaughan with her.â€</p> - -<p>Nora was a pretty, clever girl of two and twenty with the up-to-date -habit of slangy smartness fully developed and the customary lack of -reticence over her love-affairs or those of anyone else in whom she was -interested. But for all her pert sayings few girls were more generally -liked than she, for the reason that she was genuine and wholesome.</p> - -<p>“Fine,†Michael said heartily. “Where are they? How is she? Was it a -good voyage?â€</p> - -<p>A moment later his wife had rushed into his arms.</p> - -<p>“You dear old thing,†she exclaimed affectionately.</p> - -<p>“By George! I’m glad to see you,†he said, “you’ve been away for ages.â€</p> - -<p>“You seem to have survived it well enough,†she laughed.</p> - -<p>“Tell me everything you’ve done,†he insisted.</p> - -<p>While she tried to satisfy this comprehensive order, Monty was assuring -Nora how delighted he was to see her.</p> - -<p>“It’s bully to find you here,†he said, shaking her hand. “I nearly -hugged you.<a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Well, why didn’t you?†she retorted.</p> - -<p>“I’ve half a mind to,†he said, stretching out his arms; but she drew -back.</p> - -<p>“No. Not now. It’s cold. Hugs must be spontaneous.â€</p> - -<p>“Where’s Ethel?†Mrs. Harrington called to her.</p> - -<p>“Upstairs, changing. You see we didn’t think you could get in so early -and you weren’t expected for another half-hour. She ought to be down in -a minute or so.â€</p> - -<p>“Why didn’t you come down and meet us, old man?†Monty asked of his -host.</p> - -<p>“Wife’s orders,†Harrington responded promptly.</p> - -<p>“It’s such a nuisance to have people meet one at the pier,†Alice -explained. “I’m sure Monty was glad you weren’t there to witness his -humiliation. He was held up for smuggling and narrowly escaped -deportation.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, Monty,†Nora cried, “how lovely! Was it something for me? Don’t -scowl when I ask a perfectly reasonable question.â€</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t,†Monty said wretchedly. He had in his joy at meeting her -forgotten all about smuggling and now the whole thing loomed up again. -“I’ve got half Long Island in my eyes, and if you don’t mind, Alice, -I’ll go and wash up.<a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“And you won’t tell me anything about your crime?†Nora pouted.</p> - -<p>“Meet me in the Pagoda in five minutes,†he whispered, “and I will. It’s -mighty nice to see a pretty girl again who can talk American.â€</p> - -<p>“As if men cared what girls say,†she observed sagely. “It’s the way -they look that counts.â€</p> - -<p>When Monty was gone she strolled back to where Alice was sitting.</p> - -<p>“Did you have a good trip?†she demanded.</p> - -<p>“Bully,†Alice answered her. “Steven Denby’s most attractive and -mysterious.â€</p> - -<p>“Denby!†Harrington repeated. “Why, I’d clean forgotten about Denby. -Where is he?â€</p> - -<p>“The limousine was so full of Monty and me and my hand-baggage that we -sent him on in the other car. He had to send some telegrams, so he -didn’t overtake us till we were this side of Jamaica, where they -promptly had a blow-out. He won’t be long.â€</p> - -<p>“What Mr. Denby is he?†Nora asked with interest.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†Michael asked, “do I know him? I don’t think I ever heard of -him.â€</p> - -<p>“Nor did I,†his wife told him. “Perhaps that’s what makes him so -mysterious.<a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Then why on earth have him down here?†her husband asked mildly.</p> - -<p>“Because Monty’s devoted to him. They were at school together. And also, -Michael dear, because I like him and you’ll like him. Even if I am -married, love has not made me blind to other charming men.â€</p> - -<p>“But, shall I like him?†Nora wanted to know.</p> - -<p>“I did the minute I met him,†Alice confessed. “He has a sort of ’come -hither’ in his eyes and the kind of hair I always want to run my hand -through. You will, too, Nora.â€</p> - -<p>“But you see I’m not a married woman,†Nora retorted, “so I mayn’t have -your privileges.â€</p> - -<p>Alice laughed. “Don’t be absurd. I haven’t done it yet—but I may.â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t doubt it in the least,†said Michael, contentedly caressing her -hand.</p> - -<p>“He has such an air,†Mrs. Harrington explained, “sort of secret and -wicked. He might be a murderer or something fascinating like that.â€</p> - -<p>“Splendid fellow for a week-end,†her husband commented.</p> - -<p>She looked at her watch. “I’d no idea it was so late. I must dress.â€</p> - -<p>“All right,†Nora agreed. “Let’s see what’s become of Ethel.<a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Just a minute, Alice,†her husband called as she was mounting the broad -stairway that led from the hall.</p> - -<p>“Run along, Nora,†Alice said, “I’ll be up in a minute.â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll go and wait for Monty,†the girl returned. “I think you’re going -to be lectured.†She sauntered out of the French windows toward the -Pagoda.</p> - -<p>“Well,†said Alice smiling, “what is it?â€</p> - -<p>“I just wanted to tell you how mighty glad I was to see you,†he -confessed.</p> - -<p>“And, Mikey dear,†she said simply, “I’m mighty glad to see you.â€</p> - -<p>“Are you really?†he demanded. “You’re not missing Paris?â€</p> - -<p>“Paris be hanged,†she retorted; “I’m in love with a man and not with a -town.â€</p> - -<p>“It’s still me?†Michael asked a little wistfully.</p> - -<p>“Always you,†she said softly. “One big reason I like to go abroad is -because it makes me so glad to get back to you.†She sat on the arm of -his chair and patted his head affectionately.</p> - -<p>“But look here,†said Michael with an affectation of reproof, “whenever -I want a little trot around the country and suggest leaving, you -begin—â€</p> - -<p>She put her hand over his mouth and stopped him.<a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a></p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s very different. When we do separate I always want to be the -one to leave, not to be left.â€</p> - -<p>“It <i>is</i> much easier to go than to stay,†he agreed, “and I’ve been -pretty lonely these last six weeks.â€</p> - -<p>“But you’ve had a lot of business to attend to,†she reminded him.</p> - -<p>“That’s finished two weeks ago.â€</p> - -<p>“And then you’ve had the insidious Lambart and all the Scotch you -wanted.â€</p> - -<p>“’Tisn’t nearly as much fun to drink when you’re away,†he insisted. “It -always takes the sport out of it not to be stopped.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, Fibber!†she said, shaking her head.</p> - -<p>“Well, most of the sport,†he corrected. He held her off at arm’s length -and regarded her with admiration. “Do you know, I sometimes wonder what -ever made you marry me.â€</p> - -<p>“Sometimes I wonder, too,†she answered, “but not often! I really think -we’re the ideal married couple, sentimental when we’re alone, and -critical when we have guests.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s true,†he admitted proudly, “and most people hate each other in -private and love each other in public.†Michael hugged her to emphasize -the correctness of their marital deportment.<a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a></p> - -<p>“You are a dear old thing,†she said affectionately.</p> - -<p>“Do you know I don’t feel a bit married,†he returned boyishly, “I just -feel in love.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s the nicest thing you ever said to me,†she said, rising and -kissing him. “But I’ve got to go and find Ethel now.â€</p> - -<p>“You’ve made me feel fairly dizzy,†he asserted, still holding her hand, -“I need a drink to sober up.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, Michael,†she cried reprovingly, and drew away from him “I believe -you’ve been trying to get around me just for that!â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, you don’t,†he said smiling. “Now, do you?â€</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t, Mikey,†she admitted. “But be careful, here’s Monty and -Nora.â€</p> - -<p>“Heavens!†cried Nora, looking in, “still lecturing, you two?â€</p> - -<p>“You do look rather henpecked,†Monty said, addressing his host.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†Michael sighed, “we’ve been having a dreadful row, but I’m of a -forgiving nature and I’m going to reward her. Monty, touch that button -there, I want Lambart.â€</p> - -<p>Alice looked at him in wonderment. “What do you mean?â€</p> - -<p>“Wait,†he said with a chuckle. “Lambart,†he<a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a> commanded, as the butler -stood before him, “bring it in.†There was respect in his tone. “It -ought to be at its best now.â€</p> - -<p>On a silver salver Lambart bore in and presented to his mistress a large -liqueur glass filled with a clear liquid of delicate mauve hue.</p> - -<p>Alice looked at it a little fearfully. “Oh, Mikey,†she said, “is this -another new invention?â€</p> - -<p>“My best,†he said proudly.</p> - -<p>“Can’t I share it?†she pleaded.</p> - -<p>“No more than I can my heart,†he said firmly. “It is to be named after -you.â€</p> - -<p>Heroically she gulped it down.</p> - -<p>“Oh, how sweet it is,†she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“I know,†he admitted. “But as it isn’t sugar you needn’t mind. I use -saccharin which is about a thousand times as sweet. And the beauty of -saccharin,†he confided to the others, “is that it stays with you. When -I first discovered this Crême d’Alicia as I call it, I tasted it for -days.â€</p> - -<p>“It’s a perfectly divine color,†Nora remarked enthusiastically. “I’ve -always dreamed of a dress exactly that shade. How did you do it?â€</p> - -<p>“Experimenting with the coal tar dyes,†he said proudly. “I’m getting -rather an expert on coal tar compounds. That color was Perkins’ mauve.<a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“That was more than mauve,†Nora insisted. “I’ve plenty of mauve -things.â€</p> - -<p>He raised his hand. “No you don’t, Nora! You don’t get the result of my -years of close study like that. I’ll make you each a present of a bottle -before you go. We’ll have it with coffee every night. Mauve was the -foundation upon which I built.â€</p> - -<p>“It’s a little rich for me, Mikey dear,†his wife said anxiously. “I -think it will make a far better winter cordial. I’m going upstairs to -see Ethel now.â€</p> - -<p>He watched her disappear and then turned to Nora and Monty with a -twinkle in his eye. “I think after my labors I need a little cocktail. -In France they call this the <i>heure de l’aperitif</i>, as Monty probably -knows, and I have a private bar of my own. Don’t give me away, -children.â€</p> - -<p>Nora looked at her companion with a frown. She had been looking for his -coming, and now when he was here, he had nothing to say.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with you?†she demanded suddenly.</p> - -<p>“I’m wondering where Steven is,†he returned anxiously. “A blow-out -oughtn’t to keep him all this time.â€</p> - -<p>“But what makes you jump so?†she insisted.<a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a> “You never used to be like -this. Is it St. Vitus’s dance?â€</p> - -<p>He turned to her with an assumption of freedom from care.</p> - -<p>“I am a bit nervous, Nora,†he admitted. “You see, Steven and I are in a -big deal together, and, er, the markets go up and down like the -temperature and it keeps me sorts of anxious.â€</p> - -<p>“You don’t mean to say you’ve gone into business?†she said.</p> - -<p>“Not exactly,†he prevaricated, “and yet I have in a way. It’s something -secret.â€</p> - -<p>“Well,†said Nora, with sound common sense, “if it frightens you so, why -go in for it?â€</p> - -<p>“Well, everything was kind of tepid in Paris,†he explained.</p> - -<p>“Tepid in Paris?†she cried.</p> - -<p>“Why, yes,†he told her. “Paris can’t always live up to her reputation. -I’d been there studying French banking systems so long that I wanted -some excitement and joined Steve in his scheme.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, Monty,†she said interested, and sitting on the couch at his side, -“if it’s really exciting, tell me everything. Are you being pursued?â€</p> - -<p>He looked at her aggrieved. “Now what do you suggest that for?†he -demanded.<a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a></p> - -<p>“But what is it?†she insisted.</p> - -<p>“I can’t tell you,†he said decidedly. “Steve is one of my oldest -friends and I promised him.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I’ve heard all about him,†she cried a little impatiently. -“You and he went to college together and sang, ‘A Stein on the Table,’ -and went on sprees together and made love to the same girls, and played -on the same teams. I know all that college stuff.â€</p> - -<p>“But we didn’t go to college together,†he said.</p> - -<p>“Alice said you did,†she returned, “or to school or something together, -but don’t take that as an excuse to get reminiscent. I hate men’s -reminiscences; they make me so darned envious. I wish I’d been a man, -Monty.â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t,†said he smiling.</p> - -<p>“Don’t try to flirt with me,†she exclaimed, as he edged a little -nearer.</p> - -<p>“Why not?†he demanded.</p> - -<p>“You don’t know how,†she said and smiled provokingly.</p> - -<p>For a moment Monty forgot pearls and Customs and all unpleasant things.</p> - -<p>“Teach me,†he entreated.</p> - -<p>“It can’t be taught,†she said. “It’s got to be born in you.†She cast -her eyes down and looked alluringly<a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a> at him through curling lashes. -There was the opportunity for Monty to see whether he had any skill at -the ancient game, but a sudden numbing nervousness took hold of him. And -while he could have written a prize essay on what he should have done, -he had not the courage to make the attempt.</p> - -<p>“Well?†she said presently. “Go on.â€</p> - -<p>“I wonder where Steve is?†he said desperately.</p> - -<p>“You’re hopeless,†she cried exasperated. “I don’t know where ‘Steve’ -is, and I don’t care. I hope he’s under the car with gasoline dripping -into his eyes.â€</p> - -<p>Poor Monty groaned; for it was equally true that he at this particular -moment was anxious to forget everything but the pretty girl at his side.</p> - -<p>“Nora,†he said nervously, “for the last year there’s been something -trembling on my lips—â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, Monty,†she cried ecstatically, “don’t shave it off, I love it!â€</p> - -<p>He rose, discomfited, to meet his hostess coming toward him with Miss -Ethel Cartwright, a close friend of hers whom he had never before met. -He noticed Michael quietly working his unobtrusive way back to the -position where Alice had left him, wiping his moustache with -satisfaction.</p> - -<p>“Monty,†said Mrs. Harrington, “I don’t think<a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a> you’ve ever met my very -best friend, Miss Cartwright.â€</p> - -<p>“How do you do,†the girl said smiling.</p> - -<p>“Be kind to him, Ethel,†Michael remarked genially. “He’s a nice boy and -the idol of the Paris Bourse.â€</p> - -<p>“And an awful flirt,†Nora chimed in. “If I had had a heart he would -have broken it long ago.â€</p> - -<p>“Do you know,†Alice said, “it has never occurred to me to think of -Monty as a flirt. Are you a flirt, Monty?â€</p> - -<p>“No,†he said indignantly.</p> - -<p>“You needn’t be so emphatic when I ask you,†she said reprovingly. She -sighed. “I suppose it’s one of the penalties of age. I’ve known him a -disgracefully long time, Ethel, before the Palisades were grown-up.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry I didn’t get down to meet you, Alice,†Miss Cartwright said, -“I did mean to, but business detained me.â€</p> - -<p>“Business in August!†Nora commented.</p> - -<p>“I’m glad you didn’t,†her hostess observed. “We were disgraced by -having in our merry party a smuggler who was caught with the goods and -narrowly escaped Sing Sing.â€</p> - -<p>“There you go again,†Monty grumbled. “I hate the very sound of the -word.â€</p> - -<p>“I say, Ethel,†Michael observed, watching her<a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a> closely, “you do look a -bit pale. Business in weather like this doesn’t suit you. No bad news, I -hope?â€</p> - -<p>He knew that the division of the late Vernon Cartwright’s fortune was -very disappointing and might narrow the girls’ income considerably.</p> - -<p>“It turned out all right, thank you,†the girl answered nervously.</p> - -<p>“How’s Amy?†Mr. Harrington asked. He was fond of the Cartwrights and -had known them from childhood. “Why isn’t she here?â€</p> - -<p>“It isn’t to be a big party, Michael,†his wife reminded him. “Men are -so scarce in August I didn’t ask Amy. She’s all right, I hope, Ethel?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, thanks,†Miss Cartwright answered.</p> - -<p>“I wonder where Steve is?†Monty said for the fifth time. “He ought to -have that tire fixed by now.â€</p> - -<p>“I hope he hasn’t smashed up,†said Alice.</p> - -<p>“So do I,†Michael retorted. “It was a mighty good car—almost new—and -I left a silver pocket-flask in it, I remember.â€</p> - -<p>“Is someone else coming?†Ethel Cartwright asked.</p> - -<p>“A perfectly charming man, a Steven Denby.â€</p> - -<p>“Steven Denby?†Miss Cartwright cried, her face lighting up. “Really?â€</p> - -<p>“Do you know him then?†Mrs. Harrington asked.</p> - -<p>“Indeed I do,†she answered.<a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a></p> - -<p>“What, you know Steve?†Monty asked in surprise.</p> - -<p>“Tell us about him,†Nora besought her.</p> - -<p>“Yes, who is he?†Michael wanted to know. “Alice has been trying to -rouse me to the depths of my jealous nature about him!â€</p> - -<p>“Isn’t he fascinating?†Alice observed.</p> - -<p>“I can only tell you all,†Ethel Cartwright declared, “that I know him. -I met him in Paris a year ago.â€</p> - -<p>“Didn’t you like him?†Alice inquired.</p> - -<p>“I did, very much,†the girl said frankly.</p> - -<p>Nora spoke in a disappointed manner. “Well, he’s evidently yours for -this week-end.â€</p> - -<p>“I daresay he won’t even remember me,†the other girl returned.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I bet he will,†said Nora, who was able to give Ethel credit for -her charm and beauty. “I shall just have to stick around with Monty—a -wild tempestuous flirt like Monty!â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, I don’t mind,†Monty said with an air of condescension, “not -particularly.â€</p> - -<p>“It’s time to dress, good people,†Michael reminded them.</p> - -<p>“Come on, Nora,†Alice said rising. “Come, Monty. Ethel, you’ll have to -amuse yourself, as Michael isn’t to be depended on.â€</p> - -<p>“You wrong me, my dear,†Michael retorted.<a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a> “I’m going for my one -solitary cocktail and then I’ll be back.â€</p> - -<p>“And only one, remember,†Alice warned him.</p> - -<p>“You know me, my dear,†he said, “when I say one.â€</p> - -<p>“You sometimes mean only one at a time,†she laughed. “You are still the -same consistent old Michael. And by the way, if Mr. Denby does happen to -turn up, tell him we’ll be down soon.â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll send him in to Ethel if he comes.â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, please do,†the girl said brightly.</p> - -<p>When she was left alone in the big hall, the coolest apartment in the -big house during the afternoon, Ethel Cartwright went to the French -windows and looked out over the smooth lawns to the trees at the back of -them. A long drive wound its way to the highroad, up which she could see -speeding a big motor. The porte-cochère was at the other side of the -house and she retraced her steps to the hall she had left with the hope -of meeting the man she had liked so much a year ago in Paris.</p> - -<p>A minute later he was ushered in, but did not at first see her. Then, as -he looked about the big apartment, he caught sight of the girl, and -stood for a moment staring as though he could hardly venture to believe -it was she.<a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a></p> - -<p>“Miss Cartwright,†he cried enthusiastically, “is it really you?â€</p> - -<p>She took his outstretched hands graciously. “How do you do, Mr. Denby,†-she said.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Harrington told me to expect a surprise,†he cried, “but I was -certainly not prepared for such a pleasant one as this. How are you?â€</p> - -<p>“Splendid,†she answered. “And you?â€</p> - -<p>“Very, very grateful to be here.â€</p> - -<p>“I wondered if you’d remember me,†she said; “it’s a long time ago since -we were in Paris.â€</p> - -<p>“It was only the day before yesterday,†he asserted.</p> - -<p>“And what are you doing here?†she asked.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I thought I’d run over and see if New York was finished yet.â€</p> - -<p>“Are you still doing—nothing?†she demanded, a tinge of disappointment -in her voice.</p> - -<p>He looked at her with a smile. “Still—nothing,†he answered.</p> - -<p>“Ah,†she sighed, “I had such hopes of you, a year ago in Paris.â€</p> - -<p>“And I of you,†he said, boldly looking into her eyes.</p> - -<p>Her manner was more distant now. “I’m afraid I don’t admire idlers very -much. Why don’t you do something? You’ve ability enough, Mr. Denby.<a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“It’s so difficult to get a thrill out of business,†he complained.</p> - -<p>“And you must have thrills?†she asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†he answered, “it’s such a dull old world nowadays.â€</p> - -<p>“Then why,†she exclaimed jestingly, “why don’t you take to crime?â€</p> - -<p>“I have thought of it,†he laughed, “but the stake’s too high—a thrill -against prison.â€</p> - -<p>“So you want only little thrills then, Mr. Denby?â€</p> - -<p>“No,†he told her, “I’d like big ones better. Life or even death—but -not prison. And what have you done since I saw you last? You are still -doing nothing, too?â€</p> - -<p>“Nothing,†she said, smiling.</p> - -<p>“And you’re still Miss Cartwright?â€</p> - -<p>“<i>Only</i> Miss Cartwright,†she corrected.</p> - -<p>“Good,†he said, looking at her steadily. “By George, it doesn’t seem a -year since that week in Paris. What made you disappear just as we were -having such bully times?â€</p> - -<p>“I had to come back to America suddenly. I had only an hour to catch the -boat. I explained all that in my note though. Didn’t you even take the -trouble to read it?â€</p> - -<p>He looked at her amazed. “I never even received<a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a> it.†There was a touch -of relief in his voice. “So you sent me a note! Do you know, I thought -you’d dropped me, and I tell you I hit with an awful crash.â€</p> - -<p>“I sent it by a porter and even gave him a franc,†she smiled. “I ought -to have given him five.â€</p> - -<p>“I’d willingly have given him fifty,†Denby said earnestly. “It wasn’t -nice to think that I’d been dropped like that.â€</p> - -<p>“And I thought you’d dropped me,†she said.</p> - -<p>“I should say not,†he exclaimed. “I was over here six months ago and I -did try to see you, but you were at Palm Beach. I can’t tell you how -often I’ve sent you telepathic messages,†he added whimsically. “Ever -get any of ’em?â€</p> - -<p>“Some of them, I think,†she said smiling. “And now to think we’ve met -here on Long Island. It’s a far cry to Paris.â€</p> - -<p>“For me it’s people who make places—the places themselves don’t -matter—you and I are here,†he said gently.</p> - -<p>The girl sighed a little. “Still, Paris is Paris,†she insisted.</p> - -<p>“Rather!†he answered, sighing too. “Do you remember that afternoon in -front of the Café de la Paix? We had <i>vin gris</i> and watched the -Frenchman with the funny dog, and the boys calling <i>La Presse</i>, and the<a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a> -woman who made you buy some ‘North Wind’ for me, and the people crowding -around the newspaper kiosks.â€</p> - -<p>In the adjoining room Nora was strumming the piano, and was now playing -“<i>Un Peu d’Amour</i>.†She had looked in the hall and finding the stranger -so wholly absorbed in Ethel Cartwright, had retired to solitude.</p> - -<p>“And do you remember the hole in the table-cloth?†Ethel demanded.</p> - -<p>“And wasn’t it a dirty table-cloth?†he reminded her. “And afterwards we -had tea in the Bois at the Cascade and the Hungarian Band played ‘<i>Un -Peu d’Amour</i>.’†He looked at the girl smiling. “How did you arrange to -have that played just at the right moment?â€</p> - -<p>They listened in silence for a moment to the dainty melody, and then she -hummed a few bars of it. Her thoughts were evidently far away from Long -Island.</p> - -<p>“And don’t you remember that poor skinny horse in our fiacre?†she asked -him. “He was so tired he fell down, and we walked home in pity.â€</p> - -<p>“Ah, you were tender-hearted,†he sighed.</p> - -<p>“And we had dinner at Vian’s afterwards,†she reminded him, and then, -after a pause: “Wasn’t the soup awful?<a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Ah, but the string-beans were an event,†he asserted. “And that -evening, I remember, there was a moon over the Bois, and we sat under -the trees. Have you forgotten that?â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t think that would be very easy,†she said softly.</p> - -<p>“And we went through the Louvre the next day,†he said eagerly, “the -whole Louvre in an hour, and the loveliest picture I saw there -was—<i>you</i>.â€</p> - -<p>Denby glanced up with a frown as Lambart’s gentle footfall was heard, -and rose to his feet a trifle embarrassed by this intrusion. Lambart -came to a respectful pause at Miss Cartwright’s side.</p> - -<p>“Pardon me,†he said, “but there is a gentleman to see you.†She took a -card that was on the tray he held before her.</p> - -<p>“To see me?†she cried, startled, gazing at the card. Denby, watching -her closely, saw her grow, as he thought, pale. “Ask him to come in. Mr. -Denby,†she said, “will you forgive me?â€</p> - -<p>“Surely,†he assented, walking toward the great stairway. “I have to -dress, anyway.â€</p> - -<p>“Your room is at the head of the stairs,†Lambart reminded him. “All -your luggage is taken in, sir.â€</p> - -<p>Denby looked down at her. “Till dinner?†he asked.<a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a></p> - -<p>“Till dinner,†she said, and watched him pass out of sight. She was a -girl whose poise of manner prevented the betrayal of vivid emotion in -any but a certain subdued fashion. But it was plain she was laboring now -under an agitation that amounted almost to deadly fear.</p> - -<p>A few seconds later Daniel Taylor strode in with firm assured tread and -looked at the luxurious surroundings with approval.</p> - -<p>“Good evening, Miss Cartwright,†he exclaimed genially. “Good evening.â€</p> - -<p>“My sister,†she returned, trembling, “nothing’s happened to her? She’s -all right?â€</p> - -<p>“Sure, sure,†he returned reassuringly, “I haven’t bothered her; the -little lady’s all right, don’t you worry.â€</p> - -<p>“Then what do you want here?†she cried alarmed. No matter what his -manner this man had menace in every look and gesture. She had never been -brought into contact with one who gave in so marked a degree the -impression of ruthless strength.</p> - -<p>“I thought I’d drop in with reference to our little chat this -afternoon,†he remarked easily. “Nice place they’ve got here.â€</p> - -<p>“But I don’t understand why you have come,†she persisted.<a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a></p> - -<p>“You haven’t forgotten our little conversation, I hope?â€</p> - -<p>“Of course not,†she said.</p> - -<p>“Well,†he continued, “you said when I needed you, you’d be ready.†He -looked about him cautiously as though fearing interruption. “I said it -might be a year, or it might be a month, or it might be to-night. Well, -it’s to-night, Miss Cartwright. I need you right now.â€</p> - -<p>“Now?†she said puzzled. “Still, I don’t understand.â€</p> - -<p>He lowered his voice. “A man has smuggled a two hundred thousand dollar -necklace through the Customs to-day. For various reasons which you -wouldn’t understand, we allowed him to slip through, thinking he’d -fooled us. Now that he believes himself safe, it ought to be easy to get -that necklace. We’ve got to get it; and we’re going to get it, through -one of our agents.†He pointed a forefinger at her. “We’re going to get -it through you.â€</p> - -<p>“But I shouldn’t know how to act,†she protested, “or what to do.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor smiled. “You’re too modest, Miss Cartwright. I’ve seen some of -your work in my own office, and I think you’ll be successful.â€</p> - -<p>“But don’t you see I’m staying here over Sunday?<a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a>†she explained. “I -can’t very well make an excuse and leave now.â€</p> - -<p>“You don’t have to leave,†he told her.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean, then?†she demanded.</p> - -<p>“That the man who smuggled the necklace is staying here, too. His name -is Steven Denby.â€</p> - -<p>“Steven Denby!†the girl cried, shrinking away from him. “Oh, no, you -must be mad—he isn’t a smuggler.â€</p> - -<p>“Why isn’t he?†Taylor snapped.</p> - -<p>“I know him,†she explained.</p> - -<p>“You do?†he cried. “Where did you meet him?â€</p> - -<p>“In Paris,†she replied.</p> - -<p>“How long have you known him?â€</p> - -<p>“Just about a year,†she answered.</p> - -<p>“What do you know about him?†Taylor asked quickly. It was evident that -her news seemed very important to him. “What’s his business? How does he -make his living? Do you know his people?â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t think he does anything,†she said hesitatingly.</p> - -<p>“Nothing, eh?†Taylor laughed disagreeably. “I suppose you think that’s -clear proof he couldn’t be a smuggler?â€</p> - -<p>“I’m sure you are wrong,†she said with spirit; “he’s my friend.<a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Your friend!†Taylor returned. His manner from that of the bluff -cross-examiner changed to one that had something confidential and -friendly in it. “Why, that ought to make it easier.â€</p> - -<p>“Easier?†she repeated. “What do you mean by that?â€</p> - -<p>“Well, you can get into his confidence. See?â€</p> - -<p>“But you’re wrong,†she said indignantly. “I’m sure he is absolutely -innocent.â€</p> - -<p>“Then you’ll be glad of a chance to prove we’re wrong and you’re right.â€</p> - -<p>“But I couldn’t spy on a friend,†she declared.</p> - -<p>“If your friend is innocent it won’t do him any harm,†Taylor observed, -“and he’d never know. But if he’s guilty he deserves punishment, and -you’ve no right to try and protect him. Any person would only be doing -right in helping to detect a criminal; but you,‗he paused -significantly,—“it’s just as much your duty as it is mine.†He showed -her his gold badge of authority for a brief moment, and although it -terrified her there was too much loyalty in her nature to betray a -friend or even to spy upon one.</p> - -<p>“No, no! I can’t do it,†she said.</p> - -<p>“So you’re going back on your agreement,†he sneered. “Two can play that -game. Suppose I go back on mine, too?<a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“You wouldn’t do that,†she cried horrified at his threat.</p> - -<p>“Why not?†he returned. “It’s give and take in this world.â€</p> - -<p>“But I couldn’t be so contemptible.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor shrugged his shoulders. “If I were you I’d think it over,†he -recommended.</p> - -<p>“But supposing you’re wrong,†she said earnestly. “Suppose he has no -necklace?â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t let that disturb you,†he retorted. “Our information is positive. -We got a telegram late this afternoon from a pal of his who squealed, -giving us a tip about it. Now what do you say?â€</p> - -<p>“I can’t,†she said, “I can’t.â€</p> - -<p>He came closer, and said in a low harsh voice: “Remember, it’s Steven -Denby or your sister. There’s no other way out. Which are you going to -choose?â€</p> - -<p>He watched her pale face eagerly. “Well,†he cried, “which is it to be?â€</p> - -<p>“I have no choice,†she answered dully. “What do you want me to do?â€</p> - -<p>“Good,†Taylor cried approvingly. “That’s the way to talk! Denby has -that necklace concealed in a brown leather tobacco-pouch which he always -carries in his pocket. You must get me that pouch.â€</p> - -<p>“How can I?†she asked despairingly.<a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a></p> - -<p>“I’ll leave that to you,†he answered.</p> - -<p>“But couldn’t you do it?†she pleaded. “Or one of your men? Why ask me?â€</p> - -<p>“It may be a bluff, some clever scheme to throw me off the track and I’m -not going to risk a mix-up with the Harringtons or tip my hand till I’m -absolutely sure. It don’t pay me to make big mistakes. You say Denby’s -your friend, well, then, it’ll be easy to find out. If you discover that -the necklace is in the tobacco-pouch, get him to go for a walk in the -garden; say you want to look at the moon, say anything, so long as you -get him into the garden where we’ll be on the lookout and grab him.â€</p> - -<p>“But he might go out there alone,†she suggested.</p> - -<p>“If he does,†Taylor assured her, “we won’t touch him, but if he comes -out there with you, we’ll <i>know</i>.â€</p> - -<p>“But if I can’t get him into the garden?†she urged. “Something may -happen to prevent me!â€</p> - -<p>“If you’re sure he has it on him,†Taylor instructed her, “or if you -make out where it is concealed, pull down one of these window-shades. My -men and I can see these from the garden. When we get your signal we’ll -come in and arrest him. Sure you understand?â€</p> - -<p>“I’m to pull down the window-shade,†she repeated.</p> - -<p>“That’s it, but be careful, mind. Don’t bring him<a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a> out in the garden, -and don’t signal unless you are absolutely certain.â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes,†she said.</p> - -<p>“And under no circumstances,†he commanded, “must you mention my name.â€</p> - -<p>“But,†she argued, “suppose—â€</p> - -<p>“There’s no ‘buts’ and no ‘supposes’ in it,†he said sharply. “It’s most -important to the United States Government and to me, that my identity is -in no way disclosed.â€</p> - -<p>“It may be necessary,†she persisted.</p> - -<p>“It <i>cannot</i> be necessary,†he said with an air of finality. “If it -comes to a show-down and you tell Denby I’m after him, I’ll not only -swear I never saw you, but I’ll put your sister in prison. Now, good -night, Miss Cartwright, and remember you’ve got something at stake, too, -so don’t forget—Denby to-night.â€</p> - -<p>He went silently through the French windows and disappeared, leaving her -to face for the second time in a day an outlook that seemed hopeless.</p> - -<p>But she was not the only one in the great Harrington mansion to feel -that little zest was left in life. Monty was obsessed with the idea that -his friend’s long delay was due to his having been held up. The -automobile lends itself admirably to highway robbery, and it<a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a> would be -easy enough for armed robbers to overpower Denby and the chauffeur.</p> - -<p>Directly he heard Denby’s voice talking to Lambart as he was shown into -his room, Monty burst in and wrung his hands again and again.</p> - -<p>“Why, Monty,†his friend said, “you overpower me.â€</p> - -<p>“I thought you’d been held up and robbed,†the younger man cried.</p> - -<p>“Neither one nor the other,†Denby said cheerfully, “I was merely the -victim of two blow-outs. But,†he added, looking keenly at his -confederate, “if I had been held up the pearls wouldn’t have been taken. -I didn’t happen to have them with me.â€</p> - -<p>“Thank God!†Monty cried fervently. “I wondered if that telegraphing to -people was just a ruse or not. Hooray, I feel I can eat and drink and be -merrier than I’ve been for a month. I never want to hear about them -again.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry, old man,†Denby said smiling, “but I shall have to ask you -for them.â€</p> - -<p>“Me?†Monty stammered. “Don’t joke, Steve.â€</p> - -<p>“But you very kindly brought them over for me,†Denby returned mildly. -“They’re in the right-hand shoe of a pair of buckskin tennis shoes. I -put them there when I helped you to repack your trunk.<a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a> Do you mind -bringing them before I’ve finished dressing?â€</p> - -<p>Monty looked at him reproachfully. “Sometimes I think I ought to have -gone into the ministry. I’m getting a perfect horror of crime.â€</p> - -<p>“You’re not a criminal,†Denby said. “You helped me out on the voyage, -but here you are free to do as you like.â€</p> - -<p>Monty set his jaw firmly. “I’m in it with you, Steve, till you’ve got -the damned things where you want ’em, and you can’t prevent me, either.â€</p> - -<p>When he brought the precious necklace back Denby calmly placed the pouch -in his pocket. “Thanks, old man,†he said casually. “Now the fun -begins.â€</p> - -<p>“Fun!†Monty snorted. “Do you remember the classic remark of the frog -who was pelted by small mischievous boys? ‘This may be the hell of a -joke to you,’ said the frog, ‘but it’s death to me.’â€</p> - -<p>“I’ve always been sorry for that frog,†Denby commented.</p> - -<p>“But, man alive, you are the frog,†Monty cried.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,†Denby returned, making a tie that had no likeness to a vast -butterfly.</p> - -<p>“Your frog hadn’t a ghost of a chance, and he knew it, while with me -it’s an even chance. One oughtn’t to ask any more than that in these -hard times.<a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a>â€</p> - -<p>He sauntered down the stairs cool and debonair to find Ethel Cartwright -still looking listlessly across the green lawns.</p> - -<p>“Those gentle chimes,†he said, as the dinner-gong pealed out, “call the -faithful to dinner. I wish it were in Paris, don’t you?â€</p> - -<p>She pulled herself together and tried to smile as she had done before -Taylor had dashed all her joy to the ground.</p> - -<p>“Aren’t you hungering for string-beans?†he asked, “and the hole in the -table-cloth, and the gay old moon? But after all, what do they matter -now? You’re here, and I’m hungry.†He offered her his arm. “Aren’t you -hungry, too?<a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_NINE" id="CHAPTER_NINE"></a>CHAPTER NINE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">V</span>ERY much to Denby’s disappointment he found that he was not to take -Ethel Cartwright in to dinner. Nora Rutledge fell to his lot, and -although she was witty and sparkling, she shared none of those happy -Parisian memories as did the girl his host had taken in.</p> - -<p>Plainly Nora was piqued. “I thought from what Monty told me you were -really interesting,†she said.</p> - -<p>“One must never believe anything Monty says,†he observed. “It’s only -his air of innocence that makes people think him honest. His flirtations -on board ship were nothing short of scandalous and yet look at him now.â€</p> - -<p>And poor Monty, although to him had fallen the honor of taking in his -hostess, was paying no sort of attention to her sallies.</p> - -<p>Nora glanced at him and then looked up at Denby. “I’m really awfully -fond of Monty, and I’m worried—if you’ll believe it—because he seems -upset. Monty,†she called, “what’s the matter with you, and what are you -thinking about?â€</p> - -<p>“Frogs,†he said promptly.<a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a></p> - -<p>“We’ll have some to-morrow,†Michael observed amiably. “They induce in -me a most remarkable thirst, so I keep off them on that account.â€</p> - -<p>“He’s thinking,†Denby reminded her, “of the old song, ‘A frog he would -a-wooing go!’ I’ve heard of you often enough, Miss Rutledge, from -Monty.â€</p> - -<p>“Well, I wish you’d started being confidential with the <i>hors -d’œuvres</i>,†she said, “instead of waiting until dessert. If you had, -by this time you’d probably have been really amusing.â€</p> - -<p>She rose at Mrs. Harrington’s signal and followed her from the room.</p> - -<p>“What I can’t see,†observed she, “is why we didn’t stay and have our -cigarettes with the men.â€</p> - -<p>“I always leave them together,†Alice Harrington said with a laugh, -“because that’s the way to get the newest naughty stories. Michael -always tells ’em to me later.â€</p> - -<p>“Alice!†cried Nora with mock reproof.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I like ’em,†Alice declared, “when they’re really funny, and so -does everybody else. Besides, nowadays it’s improper to be proper. -Cigarette, Ethel?â€</p> - -<p>Miss Cartwright shook her head. “You know I don’t smoke,†she returned.</p> - -<p>Nora lighted a cigarette unskilfully. “That’s so<a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a> old-fashioned,†she -said, in her most sophisticated manner, “and I’d rather die than be -that.†She coughed as she drew in a fragrant breath of Egyptian tobacco. -“I do wish, though, that I really enjoyed smoking.â€</p> - -<p>“What do you think of our new friend, Mr. Denby?†Alice asked of her.</p> - -<p>“I like him in spite of the fact that he hardly noticed me. He couldn’t -take his eyes off Ethel.â€</p> - -<p>“I saw that myself,†Mrs. Harrington returned. “You know, Ethel, I meant -him to take you in to dinner, but Nora insisted that she sit next to -him. She’s such a man-hunter!â€</p> - -<p>“You bet I am,†the wise Nora admitted—“that’s the only way you can get -’em.â€</p> - -<p>Mrs. Harrington turned to Ethel Cartwright. “Didn’t you and Mr. Denby -have a tiny row? You hardly spoke to him through dinner.â€</p> - -<p>“Didn’t I?†the girl answered. “I’ve a bit of a headache.â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll bet they had a lovers’ quarrel before dinner,†Nora hazarded.</p> - -<p>Alice Harrington arched her eyebrows in surprise. “A lovers’ quarrel!â€</p> - -<p>“Certainly,†Nora insisted. “I’m sure Ethel is in love with him.<a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“How perfectly ridiculous,†Ethel said, with a trace of embarrassment in -her manner. “Don’t be so silly, Nora. I met him for a week in Paris, -that’s all, and I found him interesting. He had big talk as well as -small, but as for love—please don’t be idiotic!â€</p> - -<p>“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,†laughed her hostess.</p> - -<p>“I don’t blame you, Ethel,†Nora admitted frankly. “If he’d give me a -chance I’d fall for him in a minute, but attractive young men never -bother about me. The best I can draw is—Monty! I’m beginning to dislike -the whole sex.â€</p> - -<p>“Theoretically you are quite right, my dear,†said the maturer Alice; -“men are awful things—God bless ’em—but practically, well, some day -you’ll explode like a bottle of champagne and bubble all over some man.â€</p> - -<p>“Speaking of champagne,†Nora said after a disbelieving gesture at the -prophecy, “I wish I had another of Michael’s purple drinks. He’s a -genius.â€</p> - -<p>“Do tell him that,†the fond wife urged. “The very surest way to -Michael’s heart is through his buffet. I knew he’d taken to mixing -cocktails in a graduated chemist’s glass, but this excursion into the -chemistry of drinks is rather alarming. He would have been a most -conscientious bartender.<a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Does he really drink much?†Nora demanded.</p> - -<p>“Not when I’m at home,†Alice declared. “Nothing after one. If he goes -to bed then he’s all right; if he doesn’t, he sits up till five going -the pace that fills. I wouldn’t mind if it made him amusing, but it -makes him merely sleepy. But he doesn’t drink nearly as much as most of -the men he knows. What makes you think he does, is that he makes such a -ceremony out of drinking. I don’t think he enjoys drinking alone. Nora,†-she added, “do sit down; you make me dizzy.â€</p> - -<p>“I can’t,†Nora told her. “I always stand up for twenty minutes after -each meal. It keeps you thin.â€</p> - -<p>“Does it?†Mrs. Harrington asked eagerly, rising from her comfortable -chair. “Does it really? Still, I lost nine pounds abroad!â€</p> - -<p>“Goodness!†Nora cried enviously. “How?â€</p> - -<p>“Buttermilk!†Alice cried triumphantly.</p> - -<p>“And I walked four miles this morning in a rubber suit and three -sweaters, <i>and</i> gained half a pound,†Nora declared disconsolately.</p> - -<p>“I do wish hips would come in again,†Alice Harrington sighed. “Ah, here -come the men,†she said more brightly, as the three entered.</p> - -<p>Michael was still bearing, with what modesty he could, the encomiums on -a purple punch he had brewed after exhaustive laboratory experiments.<a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a></p> - -<p>“It’s delicious,†Denby declared.</p> - -<p>Michael sighed. “I used to think so until my wife stopped my drinking.â€</p> - -<p>Even Monty seemed cheered by it. “Fine stuff,†he asserted. “I can feel -it warming up all the little nooks and crannies.â€</p> - -<p>“Purple but pleasing,†Denby said, with the air of an epigrammatist.</p> - -<p>“Did they tell you any purple stories?†Michael’s wife demanded.</p> - -<p>“We don’t know any new stories,†Denby told her; “we’ve been in -England.â€</p> - -<p>“Do sit down, all of you,†Alice commanded. “We’ve all been standing up -to get thin.â€</p> - -<p>“If they’re going to discuss getting thin and dietetics,†Michael said, -“let’s get out.â€</p> - -<p>“Woman’s favorite topic,†Monty remarked profoundly.</p> - -<p>“But you mustn’t sit down, Alice,†Nora warned, as her hostess seemed -about to sink into her chair. “It isn’t twenty minutes!â€</p> - -<p>“Well, I think it is twenty minutes,†she returned smiling, “and if it -isn’t I don’t care a continental.â€</p> - -<p>“Women are so self-denying,†Michael Harrington observed with gentle -satire.</p> - -<p>“And sometimes it pays,†his wife said. “Do you<a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a> know, Nora, there was a -girl on the boat who lost twelve pounds.â€</p> - -<p>“Twelve pounds,†Michael exclaimed, and then by a rapid-fire bit of -mental arithmetic added: “Why, that’s sixty dollars. How women do gamble -nowadays!â€</p> - -<p>“Pounds of flesh, Michael, pounds of flesh. She was on a diet. She -didn’t eat for three days.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s not a bad idea,†Nora said approvingly. “Sometime when I’m not -hungry I’ll try it.â€</p> - -<p>Ethel Cartwright had refrained from joining in the conversation for the -reason she had no part just now in their lighter moods. Their talk of -weight losing had been well enough, but Michael’s misinterpretation of -the twelve pounds brought back to her the cause of Amy’s misfortune and -plunged her deeper into misery.</p> - -<p>She walked toward the window and looked over the grass to the deep gloom -of the cedar trees opposite. And it seemed to her that there were moving -shadows that might be Taylor and his men ready to pounce upon a man to -whom a year ago she had been deeply drawn. There was a charm about Denby -when he set himself to please a woman to which she, although no blushing -ingénue, was keenly sensible.</p> - -<p>“Seeing ghosts?†said a voice at her elbow, and she<a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a> turned, startled, -to see his smiling face looking down at her.</p> - -<p>She assumed a lighter air. “No,†she told him brightly. “Ghosts belong -to the past. I was seeing spirits of the future.â€</p> - -<p>“Can’t we see them together?†he suggested. “I shall never tire of -Parisian ghosts if you are there to keep me from being too scared. Let’s -go out and see if the moon looks good-tempered. The others are talking -about smuggling and light and airy nothings like that. Shall we?â€</p> - -<p>“No, no!†she said, with a tremor in her voice that did not escape him. -“Not yet; later, perhaps.â€</p> - -<p>She could, in fact, hardly compose her face. Here he was suggesting that -she take him into a trap to be prepared later by her treachery. But she -had what seemed to her a duty to perform, and no sentiment must stand in -the way of her sister’s salvation. And there was always the hope that he -was innocent. At any other time than this she would have wagered he was -without blame; but this was a day on which misfortunes were visiting -her, and she was filled with dread as to its outcome.</p> - -<p>She moved over to Mrs. Harrington’s side, gracefully and slowly, free so -far as the ordinary observer could see from any care.<a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a></p> - -<p>“So you are talking of smuggling,†she said. “Alice, did you really -bring in anything without paying duty on it?â€</p> - -<p>“Not a thing,†Alice returned promptly. “I declared every solitary -stitch.â€</p> - -<p>“I’d like to believe you,†her husband remarked, “but knowing you as I -do—â€</p> - -<p>“I paid seven hundred dollars’ duty,†his spouse declared.</p> - -<p>“Disgusting!†Nora exclaimed. “Think of what you could have bought for -that!â€</p> - -<p>“Please tell me,†Michael inquired anxiously, “what mental revolution -converted you from the idea that smuggling was a legitimate and noble -sport?â€</p> - -<p>“I still don’t think it’s wrong,†Alice declared honestly. “Some of you -men seem to, but I’d swindle the government any day.â€</p> - -<p>“Then, for Heaven’s sake,†Nora wanted to know, “why waste all that good -money?â€</p> - -<p>Alice waved a jewelled white hand toward Steven Denby.</p> - -<p>“Behold my reformer!â€</p> - -<p>Ethel Cartwright looked at him quickly. Her distrust of motives was the -result of her conversation with Daniel Taylor, who believed in no man’s -good faith.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Denby?†she asked, almost suspiciously.<a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a></p> - -<p>“What has Mr. Denby to do with it?†Nora cried, equally surprised that -it was his influence which had stayed the wilful Alice.</p> - -<p>“He frightened me,†Alice averred.</p> - -<p>“I want to have a good look at the man who can do that,†Michael cried.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid Mrs. Harrington is exaggerating,†Denby explained patiently; -“I merely pointed out that things had come to a pass when it might be -very awkward to fool with the Customs.â€</p> - -<p>“They didn’t give us the least bit of trouble at the dock,†she -answered. “I wish I’d brought in a trunk full of dutiable things. They -hardly looked at my belongings.â€</p> - -<p>“That sometimes means,†Denby explained, “that there will be the -greatest possible trouble afterwards.â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t see that,†Nora asserted. “How can it be?â€</p> - -<p>“Well,†he returned, “according to some articles in McClure’s a few -months ago by Burns, very often a dishonest official will let a -prominent woman like Mrs. Harrington slip through the lines without the -least difficulty—even if she is smuggling—so that afterwards he can -come to her home and threaten exposure and a heavy fine. Usually the -woman or her husband will pay any amount to hush things up. I was -thinking<a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a> of that when I advised Mrs. Harrington to declare everything -she had.â€</p> - -<p>“But you said a whole lot more than that,†Mrs. Harrington reminded him. -“When our baggage was being examined at Dover, you spoke about that man -of mystery who is known as R. J. It was cumulative, Mr. Denby, and on -the whole you did it rather well. My bank-book is a living witness to -your eloquence.â€</p> - -<p>Ethel asked rather eagerly, “But this R. J., Mr. Denby, what is he?â€</p> - -<p>“I’ve heard of him,†Michael answered. “Some man at the club told me -about him, but I very soon sized that matter up. If you want to know my -opinion, Ethel, R. J. is the bogey man of the Customs. If they suspect -an inspector he receives a postal signed R. J., and telling him to watch -out. It’s a great scheme, which I recommend to the heads of big business -corporations. I don’t believe in R. J.â€</p> - -<p>Ethel looked up at Denby brightly. “But you really believe in him, don’t -you?â€</p> - -<p>“I only know,†he told her, “that R. J. has many enemies because he has -made many discoveries. Unquestionably he does exist for all Mr. -Harrington’s unbelief. He’s supposed to be one of these impossible -secret service agents, travelling incognito all over the globe. He is -known only by his initials. Some people<a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a> call him the storm-petrol, -always in the wake of trouble. Where there is intrigue among nations, -diplomatic tangles, if the Japs steal a fortification plan, or a German -cross-country aeroplane is sent to drop a bomb on the Singer Building, -R.J. is supposed to be there to catch it.â€</p> - -<p>“What an awfully unpleasant position,†Nora shuddered.</p> - -<p>“Think of a man deliberately choosing a job like that!†Monty commented.</p> - -<p>“So,†Denby continued, “when a friend of mine in Paris told me that R.J. -had been requested by the government to investigate Customs frauds, I -knew there would be more danger in the smuggling game than ever. I -warned Mrs. Harrington because I did not want to see her humiliated by -exposure.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s mighty good of you, Denby,†Michael said appreciatively; “but -all the same I don’t see how—supposing she had slipped in without any -fuss some stuff she had bought in Paris or London and ought to have -declared—I don’t see how if they didn’t know it, they could blackmail -her.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s the simplest part of it,†Denby assured him. “The clerk in the -kind of store your wife would patronize is most often a government spy, -unofficially, and directly after he has assured the purchaser that it<a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a> -is so simple to smuggle, and one can hide things so easily, he has -cabled the United States Customs what you bought and how much it cost.â€</p> - -<p>“They do that?†said Michael indignantly. “I never did trust Frenchmen, -the sneaks. I’ve no doubt that the <i>heure de l’aperitif</i> was introduced -by an American.â€</p> - -<p>Miss Cartwright had been watching Denby closely. There was forced upon -her the unhappy conviction that this explanation of the difficulties of -smuggling was in a sense his way of boasting of a difficulty he had -overcome. And she alone of all who were listening had the key to this. -It was imperative—for the dread of Taylor and his threats had eaten -into her soul—to gain more explicit information. Her manner was almost -coquettish as she asked him:</p> - -<p>“Tell me truly, Mr. Denby, didn’t you smuggle something, just one tiny -little scarf-pin, for example?â€</p> - -<p>“Nothing,†he returned. “What makes you think I did?â€</p> - -<p>“It seemed to me,†she said boldly, “that your fear that Mrs. Harrington -might be caught was due to the fear suspicion might fall on you.â€</p> - -<p>Denby looked at her curiously. He had never seen Ethel Cartwright in -this mood. He wondered at what she was driving.<a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a></p> - -<p>“It does sound plausible,†he admitted.</p> - -<p>“Then ’fess up,†Michael urged. “Come on, Denby, what did you bring in?â€</p> - -<p>“Myself and Monty,†Denby returned, “and he isn’t dutiable. All the -smuggling that our party did was performed by Monty out of regard for -you.â€</p> - -<p>“I still remain unconvinced,†Ethel Cartwright declared obstinately. “I -think it was two thoughts for yourself and one for Alice.â€</p> - -<p>“Now, Denby,†Michael cried jocularly, “you’re among friends. Where have -you hidden the swag?â€</p> - -<p>“Do tell us,†Nora entreated. “It’d be so nice if you were a criminal -and had your picture in the rogues’ gallery. The only criminals I know -are those who just run over people in their motors, and that gets so -commonplace. Do tell us how you started on a life of crime.â€</p> - -<p>“Nora!†Monty cried reprovingly. Things were increasing his nervousness -to a horrible extent. Why wouldn’t they leave smuggling alone?</p> - -<p>“I’m not interested in your endeavors,†Nora said superciliously. -“You’re only a sort of petty larceny smuggler with your silver -hair-brushes. Mr. Denby does things on a bigger scale. You’re safe with -us, Mr. Denby,†she reminded him.<a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a></p> - -<p>“I know,†he answered, “so safe that if I had any dark secrets to reveal -I’d proclaim them with a loud voice.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s always the way,†Nora complained. “Every time I meet a man who -seems exciting he turns out to be just a nice man—I hate nice men.†She -crossed over to the agitated Monty.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Denby is a great disappointment to me, too,†Ethel Cartwright -confessed. “Couldn’t you invent a new way to smuggle?â€</p> - -<p>“It wasn’t for lack of inventive powers,†he assured her, “it was just -respect for the law.â€</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know we had any left in America,†Michael observed, and then -added, “but then you’ve lived a lot abroad, Denby.â€</p> - -<p>“Mr. Denby must be rewarded with a cigarette,†Ethel declared, bringing -the silver box from the mantel and offering him one. “A cigarette, Mr. -Denby?â€</p> - -<p>“Thanks, no,†he answered, “I prefer to roll my own if you don’t mind.â€</p> - -<p>It seemed that the operation of rolling a cigarette was amazingly -interesting to the girl. Her eager eyes fastened themselves intently on -a worn pigskin pouch he carried.</p> - -<p>“Can’t you do it with one hand?†she asked disappointedly; “just like -cowboys do in plays?<a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“It seems I’m doomed to disappoint you,†he smiled. “I find two hands -barely sufficient.â€</p> - -<p>“Sometime you must roll me one,†she said. “Will you?â€</p> - -<p>“With pleasure,†he returned, lighting his own.</p> - -<p>“But you don’t smoke,†Alice objected.</p> - -<p>“Ah, but I’ve been tempted,†she confessed archly.</p> - -<p>“The only thing that makes my life worth living is yielding to -temptation,†Nora observed.</p> - -<p>“That’s not a bad idea,†Michael said rising. “I’m tempted to take a -small drink. Who’ll yield with me and split a pint of Brut Imperial?â€</p> - -<p>“That’s your last drink to-night,†his wife warned him.</p> - -<p>“I’m not likely to forget it,†he said ruefully. “My wife,†he told the -company, “thinks I’m a restaurant, and closes me up at one sharp.â€</p> - -<p>“Let’s have some bridge,†Mrs. Harrington suggested. “Ethel, what do you -say?â€</p> - -<p>“I’ve given it up,†she answered.</p> - -<p>“Why, you used to love it,†Nora asserted, surprised.</p> - -<p>“I’ve come to think all playing for money is horrible,†Ethel returned, -thinking to what trouble Amy’s gambling had brought her.</p> - -<p>“Me too,†Michael chimed in. “Unless stocks go<a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a> up, or the Democratic -party goes down, I’ll be broke soon. How about a game of pool?â€</p> - -<p>“I’d love to,†Nora said. “I’ve been dying to learn.â€</p> - -<p>“That’ll make it a nice interesting game,†Monty commented. He knew he -could never make a decent shot until the confounded necklace was miles -away.</p> - -<p>“Then there’s nothing else to do but dance,†Alice decreed. “Come, -Nora.â€</p> - -<p>“No,†Michael cried, “I’ll play pool or auction or poker, I’ll sit or -talk or sing, but I’m hanged if I hesitate and get lost, or maxixe!â€</p> - -<p>Alice shook her head mournfully. “Ah, Michael,†she said, “if you were -only as light-footed as you are light-headed, what a partner you’d make. -We are going to dance anyway.â€</p> - -<p>Ethel hesitated at the doorway. “Aren’t you dancing or playing pool, Mr. -Denby?â€</p> - -<p>“In just a moment,†he said. “First I have a word to say to Monty.â€</p> - -<p>“I understand,†she returned. “Man’s god—business! Men use that excuse -over the very littlest things sometimes.â€</p> - -<p>“But this is a big thing,†he asserted; “a two hundred thousand dollar -proposition, so we’re naturally a bit anxious.<a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Monty shook his head gravely. “Mighty anxious, believe me.â€</p> - -<p>Whatever hope she might have cherished that Taylor was wrong, and this -man she liked so much was innocent, faded when she heard the figure two -hundred thousand dollars. That was the amount of the necklace’s value, -exactly. And she had wondered at Monty’s strained, nervous manner. Now -it became very clear that he was Denby’s accomplice, dreading, and -perhaps knowing as well as she, that the house was surrounded.</p> - -<p>She told herself that the law was just, and those who disobeyed were -guilty and should be punished; and that she was an instrument, -impersonal, and as such, without blame. But uppermost in her mind was -the thought of black treachery, of mean intriguing ways, and the -certainty that this night would see the end of her friendship with the -man she had sworn to deliver to the ruthless, cruel, insatiable Taylor. -It was, as Taylor told her, a question of deciding between two people. -She could help, indirectly, to convict a clever smuggler, or she could -send her weak, dependent, innocent eighteen-year-old sister to jail. And -she had said to Taylor: “I have no choice.â€</p> - -<p>Denby looked at her a little puzzled. In Paris, a year ago, she had -seemed a sweet, natural girl, armed<a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a> with a certain dignity that would -not permit men to become too friendly on short acquaintance. And here it -seemed that she was almost trying to flirt with him in a wholly -different way. He was not sure that her other manner was not more in -keeping with the ideal he had held of her since that first meeting.</p> - -<p>“I should be anxious, too,†she said, “if I had all that money at stake. -But all the same, don’t be too long. I think I may ask you for that -cigarette presently.<a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TEN" id="CHAPTER_TEN"></a>CHAPTER TEN</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">D</span>ENBY stood looking after her. “Bully, bully girl,†he muttered.</p> - -<p>“Anything wrong, Steve?†Monty inquired, not catching what he said.</p> - -<p>Denby turned to the speaker slowly; his thoughts had been more -pleasantly engaged.</p> - -<p>“I don’t understand why they haven’t done anything,†he answered. “I’m -certain we were followed at the dock. When I went to send those -telegrams I saw a man who seemed very much disinterested, but kept near -me. I saw him again when we had our second blow-out near Jamaica. It -might have been a coincidence, but I’m inclined to think they’ve marked -us down.â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe it,†Monty cried. “If they had the least idea about the -necklace, they’d have pinched you at the pier, or got you on the road -when it was only you and the chauffeur against their men.â€</p> - -<p>Still Denby seemed dubious. “They let me in too dashed easily,†he -complained, “and I can’t help being suspicious.<a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“They seemed to suspect me,†Monty reminded him.</p> - -<p>“The fellow thought you were laughing at him, that’s all. They’ve no -sense of humor,†Denby returned. “What I said to-night was no fiction, -Monty. Cartier’s may have tipped the Customs after all.â€</p> - -<p>“But you paid Harlow a thousand dollars,†Monty declared.</p> - -<p>“He wasn’t the only one to know I had bought the pearls, though,†Denby -observed thoughtfully. “It looks fishy to me. They may have some new -wrinkles in the Customs.â€</p> - -<p>“That damned R. J.,†Monty said viciously, “I’d like to strangle him.â€</p> - -<p>“It would make things easier,†Denby allowed.</p> - -<p>“All the same,†Monty remarked, “I think we’ve both been too fidgety.â€</p> - -<p>“Dear old Monty,†his friend said, smiling, “if you knew the game as I -do, and had hunted men and been hunted by them as I have, you’d not -blame me for being a little uneasy now.â€</p> - -<p>With apprehension Monty watched him advance swiftly toward the switch on -the centre wall by the window. “Get over by that window,†he commanded, -and Monty hurriedly obeyed him. Then he turned off<a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a> the lights, leaving -the room only faintly illuminated by the moonlight coming through the -French windows.</p> - -<p>“What the devil’s up?†Monty asked excitedly.</p> - -<p>“Is there anyone there on the lawn?â€</p> - -<p>Monty peered anxiously through the glass. “No,†he whispered, and then -added: “Yes, there’s a man over there by the big oak. By Jove, there -is!â€</p> - -<p>“What’s he doing?†the other demanded.</p> - -<p>“Just standing and looking over this way.â€</p> - -<p>“He’s detailed to watch the house. Anybody else with him?â€</p> - -<p>“Not that I can see.â€</p> - -<p>“Come away, Monty,†Denby called softly, and when his friend was away -from observation, he switched on the light again. “Now,†he asked, “do -you believe that we were followed?â€</p> - -<p>“The chills are running down my spine,†Monty confessed. “Gee, Steve, I -hope it won’t come to a gun fight.â€</p> - -<p>“They won’t touch you,†Denby said comfortingly; “they want me.â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,†Monty said doubtfully. “They’ll shoot first, and then -ask which is you.â€</p> - -<p>Denby was unperturbed. “I think we’ve both been too fidgety,†he -quoted.<a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a></p> - -<p>“But why don’t they come in?†Monty asked apprehensively.</p> - -<p>“They’re staying out there to keep us prisoners,†he was told.</p> - -<p>“Then I hope they’ll stop there,†Monty exclaimed fervently.</p> - -<p>“I can’t help thinking,†Denby said, knitting his brows, “that they’ve -got someone in here on the inside, working under cover to try to get the -necklace. What do you know about the butler, Lambart? Is he a new man?â€</p> - -<p>“Lord, no,†Monty assured him. “He has been with Michael five years, and -worships him. You’d distress Lambart immeasurably if you even hinted -he’d ever handed a plate to a smuggler.â€</p> - -<p>“We’ve got to find out who it is,†Denby said decidedly, “and then, -Monty, we’ll have some sport.â€</p> - -<p>“Then we’ll have some shooting,†Monty returned in disgust. “Where is -that confounded necklace anyway? Is Michael carrying it around without -knowing it?â€</p> - -<p>“Still in my pouch,†Denby returned.</p> - -<p>As he said this, Miss Cartwright very gently opened a door toward which -his back was turned. Terrified at the thought of Taylor’s possible -intrusion, she had been spurred to some sort of action, and had -sauntered<a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a> back to the big hall with the hope of overhearing something -that would aid her.</p> - -<p>“I know they mean business,†she heard Denby say, “and this is going to -be a fight, Monty, and a fight to a finish.â€</p> - -<p>The thought that there might presently be scenes of violence enacted in -the hospitable Harrington home, scenes in which she had a definite rôle -to play, which might lead even to the death of Denby as it certainly -must lead to his disgrace, drove her nearly to hysteria. Taylor had -inspired her with a great horror, and at the same time a great respect -for his power and courage. She did not see how a man like Steven Denby -could win in a contest between himself and the brutal deputy-surveyor. -“Oh,†she sighed, “if they were differently placed! If Steven stood for -the law and Taylor for crime!â€</p> - -<p>Everything favored Taylor, it seemed to her. Denby was alone except for -Monty’s faltering aid, while the other had his men at hand and, above -all, the protection of the law. It was impossible to regard Taylor as -anything other than a victor making war on men or women and moved by -nothing to pity. What other man than he would have tortured her poor -little sister, she wondered.</p> - -<p>To a woman used through the exigencies of circumstances<a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a> to making her -living in a business world where competition brought with it rivalries, -trickeries and jealousies, the ordeal to be faced would have been almost -overwhelming.</p> - -<p>But the Cartwrights had lived a sheltered life, the typical happy family -life where there is wealth, and none until to-day had ever dared to -speak to Ethel as Taylor had done. She was almost frantic with the -knowledge that she must play the spy, the eavesdropper, perhaps the -Delilah among people who trusted her.</p> - -<p>As she was debating what next to do, she heard Monty’s voice as it -seemed to her fraught with excitement and eager and quick.</p> - -<p>“Will you have a cigarette, Dick?†she heard him call. Instantly Steven -Denby wheeled about and faced the door through which she appeared to -saunter languidly. Something told her that Monty had discovered her.</p> - -<p>“Still talking business?†she said, attempting to appear wholly at ease. -“I’ve left my fan somewhere.â€</p> - -<p>“Girls are always doing that, aren’t they?†Denby said pleasantly. There -was no indication from his tone that he suspected she had been -listening. “We’ll have to find it, Monty.<a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Sure, Steve, sure,†Monty returned. He was not able to cloak his -uneasiness.</p> - -<p>“Steve?†the girl queried brightly. “As I came in, I thought I heard you -call him ‘Dick.’â€</p> - -<p>“That was our private signal,†Denby returned promptly, relieving poor -Monty of an answer.</p> - -<p>“That sounds rather mysterious,†she commented.</p> - -<p>“But it’s only commonplace,†Denby assured her. “My favorite parlor -trick is making breaks—it always has been since Monty first knew -me—and invented a signal to warn me when I’m on thin ice or dangerous -ground. ‘Will you have a cigarette, Dick’ is the one he most often -uses.â€</p> - -<p>“But why ‘Dick?’†she asked.</p> - -<p>“That’s the signal,†Denby explained. “If he said ‘Steve,’ I shouldn’t -notice it, so he always says ‘Dick,’ don’t you, Monty?â€</p> - -<p>“Always, Steve,†Monty answered quickly.</p> - -<p>“Then you were about to make a break when I came in?†she hinted.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I was,†Denby admitted.</p> - -<p>“What was it? Won’t you tell me?â€</p> - -<p>“If I did,†he said, “it would indeed be a break.â€</p> - -<p>“Discreet man,†she laughed; “I believe you were talking about me.â€</p> - -<p>He did not answer for a moment but looked at her<a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a> keenly. It hurt him to -think that this girl, of all others, might be fencing with him to gain -some knowledge of his secret. But he had lived a life in which danger -was a constant element, and women ere this had sought to baffle him and -betray.</p> - -<p>He was cautious in his answer.</p> - -<p>“You are imaginative,†he said, “even about your fan. There doesn’t seem -to be a trace of it, and I don’t think I remember your having one.â€</p> - -<p>“Perhaps I didn’t bring it down,†she admitted, “and it may be in my -room after all. May I have that promised cigarette to cheer me on my -way?â€</p> - -<p>“Surely,†he replied. Very eagerly she watched him take the pouch from -his pocket and roll a cigarette.</p> - -<p>Her action seemed to set Monty on edge. Suppose Denby by any chance -dropped the pouch and the jewels fell out. It seemed to him that she was -drawing nearer. Suppose she was the one who had been chosen to “work -inside†and snatched it from him?</p> - -<p>“Miss Cartwright,†he said, and noted that she seemed startled at his -voice, “can’t I get your fan for you?â€</p> - -<p>“No, thanks,†she returned, “you’d have to rummage, and that’s a -privilege I reserve only for myself.â€</p> - -<p>“Here you are,†Denby broke in, handing her the slim white cigarette.<a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a></p> - -<p>She took it from him with a smile and moistened the edge of the paper as -she had seen men do often enough. “You are an expert,†she said -admiringly.</p> - -<p>He said no word but lighted a match and held it for her. She drew a -breath of tobacco and half concealed a cough. It was plain to see that -she was making a struggle to enjoy it, and plainer for the men to note -that she failed.</p> - -<p>“What deliciously mild tobacco you smoke,†she cried. Suddenly she -stretched out her hand for the pouch. “Do let me see.â€</p> - -<p>But Denby did not pass it to her. He looked her straight in the eyes.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think a look at it would help you much,†he said slowly. “The -name is, in case you ever want to get any, ‘without fire.’â€</p> - -<p>“What an odd name,†she cried. “Without fire?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes,†he answered. “You see, no smoke without fire.†Without any -appearance of haste he put the pouch back in his pocket.</p> - -<p>“You don’t believe in that old phrase?â€</p> - -<p>“Not a bit,†he told her. “Do you?â€</p> - -<p>She turned to ascend the stairs to her room.</p> - -<p>“No. Do make another break sometime, won’t you—Dick?<a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a>â€</p> - -<p class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illpg_186.jpg" width="433" height="550" alt="“DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON’T YOU—DICK?†Page -186." title="" /> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON’T YOU—DICK?†Page -<a href="#page_186">186</a>.</span> -</p> - -<p>“I most probably shall,†he retorted, “unless Monty warns me—or you.â€</p> - -<p>She turned back—she was now on the first turn of the staircase. “I’ll -never do that. I’d rather like to see you put your foot in it—you seem -so very sure of yourself—Steve.†She laughed lightly as she -disappeared.</p> - -<p>Monty gripped his friend’s arm tightly. “Who is that girl?â€</p> - -<p>“Why, Ethel Cartwright,†he rejoined, “a close friend of our hostess. -Why ask me?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes,†Monty said impatiently, “but what do you know about her?â€</p> - -<p>“Nothing except that she’s a corker.â€</p> - -<p>“You met her in Paris, didn’t you?†Monty was persistent.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†his friend admitted.</p> - -<p>“What was she doing there?â€</p> - -<p>Denby frowned. “What on earth are you driving at?â€</p> - -<p>“She was behind that door listening to us or trying to.â€</p> - -<p>“So you thought that, too?†Denby cried quickly.</p> - -<p>“Then you do suspect her of being the one they’ve got to work on the -inside?†Monty retorted triumphantly.<a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a></p> - -<p>“It can’t be possible,†Denby exclaimed, fighting to retain his faith in -her. “You’re dead wrong, old man. I won’t believe it for a moment.â€</p> - -<p>“Say, Steve,†Monty cried, a light breaking in on him, “you’re sweet on -her.â€</p> - -<p>“It isn’t possible, it isn’t even probable,†said Denby, taking no -notice of his suggestion.</p> - -<p>“But the same idea occurred to you as did to me,†Monty persisted.</p> - -<p>“I know,†Denby admitted reluctantly. “I began to be suspicious when she -wanted to get hold of the pouch. You saw how mighty interested she was -in it?â€</p> - -<p>“That’s what startled me so,†Monty told him. “But how could she know?â€</p> - -<p>“They’ve had a tip,†Denby said, with an air of certainty, “and if she’s -one of ’em, she knows where the necklace was. Wouldn’t it be just my -rotten luck to have that girl, of all girls I’ve ever known, mixed up in -this?â€</p> - -<p>“Old man,†Monty said solemnly, “you are in love with her.â€</p> - -<p>Denby looked toward the stairway by which he had seen her go.</p> - -<p>“I know I am,†he groaned.</p> - -<p>“Oughtn’t we to find out whether she’s the one<a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a> who’s after you or not?†-Monty suggested with sound good sense.</p> - -<p>“No, we oughtn’t,†Denby returned. “I won’t insult her by trying to trap -her.â€</p> - -<p>“Flub-dub,†Monty scoffed. “I suspect her, and it’s only fair to her to -clear her of that suspicion. If she’s all right, I shall be darn glad of -it. If she isn’t, wouldn’t you rather know?â€</p> - -<p>For the first time since he had met his old school friend in Paris, -Monty saw him depressed and anxious. “I don’t want to have to fight -her,†he explained.</p> - -<p>“I understand that,†Monty went on relentlessly, “but you can’t quit -now—you’ve got to go through with it, not only for your own sake, but -in fairness to the Harringtons. It would be a pretty raw deal to give -them to have an exposé like that here just because of your refusal to -have her tested.â€</p> - -<p>“I suppose you’re right,†Denby sighed.</p> - -<p>“Of course I am,†Monty exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“Very well,†his friend said, “understand I’m only doing this to prove -how absolutely wrong you are.â€</p> - -<p>He would not admit even yet that she was plotting to betray him. Those -memories of Paris were dearer to him than he had allowed himself to -believe. Monty looked at him commiseratingly. He had never before<a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a> seen -Steven in trouble, and he judged his wound to be deeper than it seemed.</p> - -<p>“Sure,†he said. “Sure, I know, and I’ll be as glad as you to find after -all it’s Lambart or one of the other servants. What shall we do?â€</p> - -<p>Denby pointed to the door from which Miss Cartwright had come. “Go in -there,†he commanded, “and keep the rest of the people from coming back -here.â€</p> - -<p>Monty’s face fell. “How can I do that?†he asked anxiously.</p> - -<p>“Oh, recite, make faces, imitate Irving in ‘The Bells,’ do anything but -threaten to sing, but keep ’em there as you love me.â€</p> - -<p>Obediently Monty made for the door but stopped for a moment before -passing through it.</p> - -<p>“And say, old man,†he said a little hurriedly, nervous as most men are -when they deal with sentiment, “don’t take it too hard. Just remember -what happened to Samson and Antony and Adam.<a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_ELEVEN" id="CHAPTER_ELEVEN"></a>CHAPTER ELEVEN</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">W</span>HEN Monty had gone, Denby took out the pouch and placed it -conspicuously on the floor so that anyone descending the stairs must -inevitably catch sight of it. Then, as though thinking better of it, he -picked it up and placed it on one of the small tables on which was an -electric shaded lamp. After looking about him for a hiding-place from -which he could command a view of it and yet remain undiscovered, he -decided upon a door at the left of the hall.</p> - -<p>He had waited there only a few seconds when Ethel Cartwright’s steps -were heard descending.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mr. Denby,†she called, “you were right, the fan was in my room -after all.†Then, as she became conscious that the room was empty, she -paused and looked about her closely. Presently her eyes fell on the -precious pouch so carelessly left. For a moment the excitement bereft -her of ability to move. Here, only a few yards from her, was what would -earn her sister’s safety and her release from Taylor’s power.</p> - -<p>But she was no fool and collecting her thoughts<a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a> wondered how it was -possible so precious a thing could be left open to view. Perhaps it was -a trap. Perhaps in the big hall behind one of its many doors or -portières she was even now being watched. Denby had looked at her in a -stern, odd manner, wholly different from his former way and Mr. Vaughan, -of whom she had heard often enough as a pleasant, amiable fellow, had -stared at her searchingly and harshly. An instinct of danger came to her -aid and she glanced over to the door behind her which was slightly ajar. -She remembered certainly that it was closed when she had gone upstairs -for her supposititious fan.</p> - -<p>As calmly as she could she walked to the wall and touched the bell that -would summon a servant. In a few seconds Lambart entered.</p> - -<p>“Please find Mr. Denby,†she said, “and say that I am here.â€</p> - -<p>Before he could turn to go, she affected to discover the leathern pouch.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Lambart,†she exclaimed, “here’s Mr. Denby’s tobacco; he must have -forgotten it.â€</p> - -<p>The man took up the pouch, assuming from her manner that she desired him -to carry it to the owner. “No, I’ll take it,†she said, and reached for -it. Lambart only saw what was to him an inexcusably clumsy gesture which -dislodged it from his hand and sent it<a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a> to the floor, in such a manner -that it opened and the tobacco tumbled out. But the girl’s gesture was -cleverer than he knew for in that brief moment she had satisfied herself -it was empty.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Lambart,†she said reprovingly, “how careless of you! Have you -spilt it all?â€</p> - -<p>Lambart examined its interior with a butler’s gravity.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I have, miss,†he admitted.</p> - -<p>“I think Mr. Denby went into the library,†she said, knowing that the -door behind which someone—probably he—was hiding, led to that room.</p> - -<p>Hearing her, Denby knew he must not be discovered and retreated through -the empty library into a small smoking-room into which Lambart did not -penetrate. The man returned to Miss Cartwright, his errand -unaccomplished. “Mr. Denby is not there,†he said.</p> - -<p>“Then I will give him the pouch when I see him,†she said, “and, -Lambart, you need not tell him I am here.â€</p> - -<p>As soon as he was gone, she ran to the window, her face no longer -strained but almost joyous, and when she was assured that none watched -her, lowered the curtain as a signal.</p> - -<p>Taylor must have been close at hand, so promptly did he respond to her -summons.<a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a></p> - -<p>“Well, have you got him?†he cried sharply as he entered. “Where is -he—where’s the necklace?â€</p> - -<p>“You were wrong,†she said triumphantly, “there is no necklace. I knew I -was right.â€</p> - -<p>“You’re crazy,†he retorted brutally.</p> - -<p>“You said it was in the tobacco-pouch,†she reminded him, “and I’ve -searched and it isn’t there at all.â€</p> - -<p>“You’re trying to protect him,†Taylor snarled. “You’re stuck on him, -but you can’t lie to me and get away with it.â€</p> - -<p>“No, no, no,†she protested. “Look, here’s the very pouch, and there’s -no necklace in it.â€</p> - -<p>“How did you get hold of it?†he snapped.</p> - -<p>It was a moment of bitter failure for the deputy-surveyor. The sign for -which he had waited patiently, and eagerly, too, despite his impassive -face, was, after all, nothing but a token of disappointment. He had -hoped, now that events had given him a hold over Miss Cartwright, to -find her well-fitted for a sort of work that would have been peculiarly -useful to his service. But her ready credulity in another man’s honesty -proved one of two things. Either that she lacked the intuitive knowledge -to be a useful tool or else that she was deliberately trying to deceive -him. But none had<a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a> seen Daniel Taylor show that he realized himself in -danger of being beaten.</p> - -<p>“He left it lying on the table,†she assured him eagerly.</p> - -<p>Taylor’s sneer was not pleasant to see.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he left it on the table, did he?†he scoffed. “Well, of course -there’s no necklace in it then. Don’t you see you’ve let him suspect -you, and he’s just trying to bluff you.â€</p> - -<p>“It isn’t that,†she asserted. “He hasn’t got it, I tell you.â€</p> - -<p>“I know he has,†the implacable Taylor retorted, “and you’ve got to find -out this very night where it is. You’ll probably have to search his -room.â€</p> - -<p>She shrank back at the very thought of it. “I couldn’t,†she cried. “Oh, -I couldn’t!â€</p> - -<p>“Yes you could, and you will,†he said, in his truculent tone. “And if -you land him, use the same signal, pull down the shade in his room. -We’ll be watching, and I’ve found a way to get there from the balcony.â€</p> - -<p>“I can’t,†the girl cried in desperation. “I’ve done what you asked. I -won’t try to trap an innocent man.â€</p> - -<p>He looked at her threateningly. “Oh, you won’t, eh? Well, you will. I’ve -been pretty nice to you, but I’m sick of it. You’ll go through for me, -and you’ll go through right. I’ve had your sister followed—see<a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a> here, -look at this—†He showed her the fake warrant Duncan had prepared at -his bidding. “This is a warrant for her arrest, and unless you land that -necklace to-night, she’ll be in the Tombs in the morning.â€</p> - -<p>“Not that, not that?†she begged, covering her face with her hands.</p> - -<p>“It’s up to you,†he retorted, a smile of satisfaction lighting up his -face. He could see that he would be able to hold Amy’s warrant over her -head whenever he chose. She was beaten.</p> - -<p>“But what can I do?†she said piteously. “What can I do?â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you,†he said less harshly, “you’re a good-looking girl; -well, make use of your good looks—get around him, jolly him, get him -stuck on you. Make him take you into his confidence. He’ll fall for it. -The wisest guys are easy when you know the way.â€</p> - -<p>“Very well,†she said, brightening. It seemed to her that no better way -could be devised than to convince Taylor he was wrong. “I will get -around him; I will get his confidence. I’ll prove it to you, and I’ll -save him.â€</p> - -<p>“But you don’t have to give him your confidence, remember,†Taylor -warned her. “Don’t give him the least tip-off, understand. If you can -get him out in the garden, I’ll take a chance he has the necklace on<a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a> -him. We’ll nail him there. And don’t forget,†he added significantly, -“that I’ve got a little document here with your sister’s name on it. -There’s somebody coming,†he whispered, and silently let himself out -into the garden.</p> - -<p>It was Denby who came in. “Hello,†he said, “not dancing, then?â€</p> - -<p>“Hello,†she said, in answer to his greeting. “I don’t like dancing in -August.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m fortunate to find you alone,†he said. “You can’t imagine how -delightful it is to see you again.â€</p> - -<p>Her manner was particularly charming, he thought, and it gave him a pang -when a suspicion of its cause passed over his mind. There had been other -women who had sought to wheedle from him secrets that other men desired -to know, but they were other women—and this was Ethel Cartwright.</p> - -<p>“You don’t look as though it is,†she said provocatively.</p> - -<p>He made an effort to appear as light-hearted as she.</p> - -<p>“But I am,†he assured her. “It is delightful to see you again.â€</p> - -<p>“It’s no more delightful than for me to see you,†she returned.</p> - -<p>“Really?†he returned. “Isn’t it curious that when you like people you -may not see them for a<a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a> year, but when you do, you begin just where you -left off.â€</p> - -<p>“Where did we leave off?†she demanded with a smile.</p> - -<p>“Why—in Paris,†he said with a trace of embarrassment. “You don’t want -to forget our Paris, I hope?â€</p> - -<p>“Never,†she cried, enthusiastically. “It was there we found that we -really were congenial. We are, aren’t we?â€</p> - -<p>“Congenial?†he repeated. “We’re more than that—we’re—â€</p> - -<p>She interrupted him. “And yet, somehow, you’ve changed a lot since -Paris.â€</p> - -<p>“For better or for worse?†he asked.</p> - -<p>She shook her head. “For worse.â€</p> - -<p>He looked at her reproachfully. “Oh, come now, Miss Cartwright, be -fair!â€</p> - -<p>“In Paris you used to trust me,†she said.</p> - -<p>“And you think I don’t now?†he returned.</p> - -<p>“I’m quite sure you don’t,†she told him.</p> - -<p>“Why do you say that?†Denby inquired.</p> - -<p>“There are lots of things,†she answered. “One is that when I asked you -why you were here in America, you put me off with some playful excuse -about being just an idler.†She looked at him with a vivacious air.<a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a></p> - -<p>“Now didn’t you really come over on an important mission?â€</p> - -<p>Poor Denby, who had been telling himself that Monty’s suspicions were -without justification, and that this girl’s good faith could not be -doubted even if several circumstances were beyond his power to explain, -groaned inwardly. Here she was, trying, he felt certain, to gain his -confidence to satisfy the men who were even now investing the house.</p> - -<p>But he was far from giving in yet. How could she, one of Vernon -Cartwright’s daughters, reared in an atmosphere wholly different from -this sordid business, be engaged in trying to betray him?</p> - -<p>“Well,†he said, “suppose I did come over on something more than -pleasure, what do you want to know concerning it? And why do you want to -know?â€</p> - -<p>“Shall we say feminine curiosity?†she returned.</p> - -<p>He shook his head. “I think not. There must be something more vital than -a mere whim.â€</p> - -<p>“Perhaps there is,†she conceded, leaning forward, “I want us to be -friends, really good friends; I regard it as a test of friendship. Why -won’t you tell me?â€</p> - -<p>He shrugged his shoulders. “Shall we say man’s intuition? Oh, I know -it’s not supposed to be as good as a woman’s, but sometimes it’s much -more accurate.<a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“So you can’t trust me?†she said, steadily trying to read his thoughts.</p> - -<p>“Can I?†he asked, gazing back at her just as steadily.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think you can?†she fenced adroitly.</p> - -<p>“If you do,†he said meaningly.</p> - -<p>“But aren’t we friends,†she asked him, “pledged that night under the -moon in the Bois? You see I, too, have memories of Paris.â€</p> - -<p>“Then you put it,†he said quietly, “to a test of friendship.â€</p> - -<p>“Yes,†she answered readily.</p> - -<p>He thought for a moment. Well, here was the opportunity to find out -whether Monty was right or whether the woman he cared for was merely a -spy set upon him, a woman whose kindnesses and smiles were part of her -training.</p> - -<p>“Very well,†he said, “then so do I. You are right. I did not come to -America idly—I came to smuggle a necklace of pearls through the -Customs. I did it to-day.â€</p> - -<p>The girl rose from her seat by the little table where she had sat facing -him and looked at him, all the brightness gone from her face.</p> - -<p>“You didn’t, you didn’t!â€</p> - -<p>“I did,†he assured her.<a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a></p> - -<p>She turned her face away from him. “Oh, I’m sorry,†she wailed. “I’m -sorry.â€</p> - -<p>Denby looked at her keenly. He was puzzled at the manner in which she -took it.</p> - -<p>“But I fooled ’em,†he boasted.</p> - -<p>She looked about her nervously as though she feared Taylor might have -listened to his frank admission and be ready to spring upon them.</p> - -<p>“You can’t tell that,†she said in a lower-keyed voice. “How can you be -sure they didn’t suspect?â€</p> - -<p>“Because I’m comfortably settled here, and there are no detectives after -me. And if there were,†he confided in her triumphantly, “they’d never -suspect I carry the necklace in my tobacco-pouch.â€</p> - -<p>“But your pouch was empty,†she cried.</p> - -<p>“How do you know that?†he demanded quickly.</p> - -<p>“I was here when Lambart spilt it,†she explained hastily. “There it is -on the mantel, I meant to have given it to you.â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t need it,†he said, taking one similar in shape and color from -his pocket.</p> - -<p>“Two pouches!†she cried aghast. “Two?â€</p> - -<p>“An unnecessary precaution,†he said carelessly, “one would have done; -as it is they haven’t suspected me a bit.<a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“You can’t be certain of that,†she insisted. “If they found out they’d -put you in prison.â€</p> - -<p>“And would you care?†he demanded.</p> - -<p>“Why, of course I would,†she responded. “Aren’t we friends?â€</p> - -<p>He had that same steady look in his eyes as he asked: “Are we?â€</p> - -<p>It was a gaze she could not bring herself to meet. Assuredly, she -groaned, she was not of the stuff from which the successful adventuress -was made.</p> - -<p>“Of course,†she murmured in reply. “But what are you going to do?â€</p> - -<p>“I’ve made my plans,†he told her. “I’ve been very careful. I’ve given -my confidence to two people only, both of whom I trust absolutely—Monty -Vaughan and‗he looked keenly at her,—“and you. I shan’t be caught. I -won’t give in, and I’ll stop at nothing, no matter what it costs, or -whom it hurts. I’ve got to win.â€</p> - -<p>It seemed to him she made an ejaculation of distress. “What is it?†he -cried.</p> - -<p>“Nothing much,†she said nervously, “it’s the heat, I suppose. That’s -why I wouldn’t dance, you know. Won’t you take me into the garden and -we’ll look at the moon—it’s the same moon,†she said, with a desperate -air of trying to conceal from him her<a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a> agitation, “that shines in Paris. -It’s gorgeous,†she added, looking across the room where no moon was.</p> - -<p>“Surely,†he said. “It is rather stuffy indoors on a night like this.†-He moved leisurely over to the French windows. But she called him back. -She was not yet keyed up to this supreme act of treachery.</p> - -<p>“No, no,†she called again, “don’t let’s go, after all.â€</p> - -<p>“Why not?†he demanded, bewildered at her fitful mood.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,†she said helplessly. “But let’s stay here. I’m nervous, -I think.â€</p> - -<p>“Nonsense,†he said cheerily, trying to brace her up. “The moon is a -great soother of nerves, and a friendly old chap, too. What is it?†he -asked curiously. “You’re miles away from here, but I don’t think you’re -in Paris, either. It’s your turn to tell me something. Where are you?â€</p> - -<p>He could not guess that her thoughts were in her home, where her poor, -gentle, semi-invalid mother was probably now worrying over the sudden -mood of depression which had fallen upon her younger girl. And it would -be impossible for him to understand the threat of prison and disgrace -which was even now hanging over Amy Cartwright’s head.<a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a></p> - -<p>“I was thinking of my sister,†she told him slowly. “Come, let’s go.â€</p> - -<p>Before he could unfasten the French windows there was a sound of running -feet outside, and Monty’s nervous face was seen looking in. Nora, -breathless, was hanging on to his arm.</p> - -<p>Quickly Denby opened the doors and let the two in, and then shut the -doors again. “What is it?†he demanded quickly.</p> - -<p>“Don’t go out there, Steve,†Monty cried, when he could get breath -enough to speak.</p> - -<p>“Why, what is it?†Ethel Cartwright asked nervously.</p> - -<p>“Nora and I went for a walk in the garden, and suddenly two men jumped -out on us from behind the pagoda. They had almost grabbed us when one -man shouted to the other fellow, ‘We’re wrong,’ and Nora screamed and -ran like the very devil, and I had to run after her of course.â€</p> - -<p>“It was dreadful,†said Nora gasping.</p> - -<p>“What’s dreadful?†Alice Harrington demanded, coming on the scene -followed by her husband. They had been disturbed by Nora’s screams.</p> - -<p>“Won’t someone please explain?†Michael asked anxiously.</p> - -<p>“It was frightful,†Nora cried.<a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a></p> - -<p>“Let me tell it,†Monty protested.</p> - -<p>“You’ll get it all wrong,†his companion asserted. “I wasn’t half as -scared as you.â€</p> - -<p>“I was talking to Nora,†Monty explained, “and suddenly from the -shrubbery—â€</p> - -<p>“Somebody stepped right out,†Nora added.</p> - -<p>“One at a time,†Michael admonished them, “one at a time, please.â€</p> - -<p>“Why, you see, Monty and I went for a walk in the garden,†Nora began—</p> - -<p>“And two men jumped out and started for us,†Monty broke in.</p> - -<p>“Great Scott,†Michael cried, indignant that the privacy of his own -estate should be invaded, “and here, too!â€</p> - -<p>“What did you do?†Alice asked eagerly.</p> - -<p>“I just screamed and they ran away,†Nora told her a little proudly. -“Wasn’t it exciting?†she added, drawing a deep breath. “Just like a -book!â€</p> - -<p>“Michael,†his wife said, shocked, “they might have been killed.â€</p> - -<p>“What they need is a drink,†he said impressively; “I’ll ring for some -brandy.â€</p> - -<p>“I’d be all right,†Monty stated emphatically, “if I could get one long -breath.â€</p> - -<p>“You do look a bit shaken, old man,†Denby said<a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a> sympathetically. “What -you need is a comforting smoke. You left a pipe on the table in my room. -Take my tobacco and light up.â€</p> - -<p>Monty looked at the pigskin pouch as his friend handed it to him. “Gee!†-he said, regarding it as one might a poisonous reptile, “I don’t want -that.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s all right,†Denby said. “I can spare it. And when you’re through -with it, drop it in the drawer of the writing-table, will you? I always -like to make myself one for coffee in the morning. I’ve smoked enough -to-night.â€</p> - -<p>By this time Monty understood what was required of him. He took the -pouch respectfully and crossed toward the stairs. “I’ll leave it in the -drawer,†he called out as he ascended the stairs.</p> - -<p>Michael had been looking through the glass doors with a pair of -binoculars. “I see nothing,†he declared.</p> - -<p>“But suppose they come back later, and break in here at night?†Alice -cried.</p> - -<p>“I shall organize the household servants and place Lambart at their -head,†he said gravely. “He is an excellent shot. Then there are three -able-bodied men here, so that we are prepared.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m sure you needn’t take any such elaborate precautions,†Denby told -him. “No men, after once<a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a> warning us, would break in here with so many -servants. I imagine they were a couple of tramps who were attracted by -Miss Rutledge’s rings and thought they could make a quick getaway.â€</p> - -<p>“This is a lesson to me to provide myself with a couple of Airedales,†-Michael asserted. “Things are coming to a pretty pass when one invites -one’s friends to come down to a week-end party and get robbed. It’s -worse than a hotel on the Riviera.â€</p> - -<p>“Well, they didn’t get anything,†Nora cried. “You should have seen me -run. I believe I flew, and I do believe I’ve lost weight!â€</p> - -<p>“But oughtn’t I to go out and see?†Michael asked a little weakly.</p> - -<p>“Certainly not,†Alice commanded him firmly. “I can imagine nothing more -useless than a dead husband.â€</p> - -<p>He took her hand affectionately. “How right you are,†he murmured -gratefully. “I think, though, I ought to ask the police to keep a sharp -watch.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s sensible,†his wife agreed. “Go and telephone.â€</p> - -<p>“Goodness,†Nora cried suddenly, “I haven’t any rings on. I must have -left them on my dressing-table.â€</p> - -<p>Alice looked alarmed. “And I left all sorts of things<a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a> on mine. Let’s go -up together. And you, Ethel, have you left anything valuable about?â€</p> - -<p>“There’s nothing worth taking,†the girl answered.</p> - -<p>“You look frightened to death, child,†Mrs. Harrington exclaimed, as she -was passing her.</p> - -<p>Ethel sat down on the fender seat with a smile of assurance. “Oh, not a -bit,†she said. “There are three strong men to protect us, remember.â€</p> - -<p>“Yes—two men and Michael,†her hostess laughed, passing up the stairway -out of view.</p> - -<p>“The moon is still there, Miss Cartwright,†Denby observed quietly. -“Surely you are not tired of moons yet?â€</p> - -<p>“But those men out there,†she protested.</p> - -<p>“I’m sure they weren’t after me,†he returned. “They wouldn’t wait in -the garden, and even if they are detectives, they wouldn’t get the -necklace, it’s safe—now.â€</p> - -<p>Ethel Cartwright shook her head. “I’m afraid I’ve got nerves like every -other woman,†she confessed, “and the evening has been quite eventful -enough as it is. I think I prefer to stay here.â€</p> - -<p>She glanced up to see Monty descending the stairs. All this talk of -robbery and actual participation in a scene of violence had induced in -Monty the desire for the company of his kind.<a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a></p> - -<p>“I thought I’d rather be down here,†he stated naively.</p> - -<p>“All right, old man,†Denby said smiling. “Glad to have you. Did you put -the pouch where I said?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes,†Monty answered, handing him a key, “and I locked it up,†he -explained.</p> - -<p>“Good!†his friend exclaimed, putting the key in his pocket.</p> - -<p>Miss Cartwright yawned daintily. “Excitement seems to make me sleepy,†-she said. “I think I shall go.â€</p> - -<p>“You’re not going to leave us yet?†Denby said reproachfully.</p> - -<p>“I was up very early,†she told him.</p> - -<p>“I guess everything is safe now,†Monty assured her.</p> - -<p>“Let’s hope so,†Denby said. “Still, the night isn’t half over yet. -Pleasant dreams, Miss Cartwright.â€</p> - -<p>She paused on the half landing and looked down at the two men.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid they won’t be quite—that.â€</p> - -<p>Monty crept to the foot of the stairway and made certain she was passed -out of hearing. “Steve,†he said earnestly, “she’s gone now to get into -your room.<a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“No, she hasn’t,†Denby protested, knowing he was lying.</p> - -<p>Monty looked at his friend in wonderment. Usually Denby was quick of -observation, but now he seemed uncommonly dull.</p> - -<p>“Why, she never made a move to leave until she knew I’d put the pouch in -the drawer. Then she said she was tired and wanted to go to bed. You -must have noticed how she took in everything you said. She’s even taken -to watching me, too. What makes you so blind, Steve?â€</p> - -<p>“I’m not blind,†Denby said, a trifle irritably. “It happens you are -magnifying things, till everything you see is wrong.â€</p> - -<p>“Nonsense,†Monty returned bluntly. “If she gets that necklace it’s all -up with us, and you needn’t pretend otherwise.â€</p> - -<p>“Make your mind easy,†Denby exclaimed, “she won’t get it.â€</p> - -<p>“May I ask what’s going to stop her?†Monty inquired, goaded into -sarcasm. “Do you think she needs to know the combination of an ordinary -lock like that top drawer?â€</p> - -<p>“The necklace isn’t there,†Denby said.</p> - -<p>Monty looked at him piteously. “For Heaven’s sake don’t tell me I’ve got -it somewhere on me!<a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Denby drew it out of a false pocket under the right lapel of his coat -and held the precious string up to the other’s view. “That’s why,†he -observed.</p> - -<p>“Then everything’s all right,†Monty cried with unrestrained joy.</p> - -<p>“Everything’s all wrong,†Denby corrected.</p> - -<p>“But, Steve,†Monty said reproachfully, “the necklace—â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, damn the necklace!†Denby interrupted viciously.</p> - -<p>Monty shook his head mournfully. His friend’s aberrations were -astounding.</p> - -<p>“Steve,†he said slowly, “you’re a fool!â€</p> - -<p>“I guess I am,†the other admitted. “But,†he added, snapping his teeth -together, “I’m not such a fool as to get caught, Monty, so pull yourself -together, something’s bound to happen before long.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s what I’m afraid of,†sighed Monty.<a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_TWELVE" id="CHAPTER_TWELVE"></a>CHAPTER TWELVE</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">O</span>N the way to her room Ethel Cartwright met Michael Harrington, a box of -cigars in his hand, coming toward the head of the stairway.</p> - -<p>“Whither away?†he demanded.</p> - -<p>“To bed,†she returned. “The excitement’s been too much for me.â€</p> - -<p>“This box,†he said, lovingly caressing it, “contains what I think are -the best that can be smoked.†He opened and showed what seemed to her -cigars of a very large size. “I’m going to give the boys one apiece as a -reward for bravery.†He laughed with glee. “And as Lambart is going to -be one of the search party, I’m going to give him one, too. He’ll either -leave at my temerity in offering him the same kind of weed his employer -smokes, or else he’ll have it framed.â€</p> - -<p>“A search party?†she said. “What do you mean?â€</p> - -<p>“We’re going to beat the bushes for tramps,†he said. “I am directing -operations from the balcony outside my room. The general in command,†he -explained,<a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a> “never gets on the firing-line in modern warfare.â€</p> - -<p>“Is Mr. Denby going?†she asked.</p> - -<p>“No, no,†he said. “I can’t expect my guests to expose themselves to the -risk of being shot. Don’t you be alarmed,†he said solicitously, “I -shall be at hand in case of trouble.â€</p> - -<p>When she reached her room she sat motionless for a few moments on the -edge of the bed. Then suddenly, she rose and walked along a corridor and -knocked at the door of the room she knew was Alice Harrington’s.</p> - -<p>“Alice,†she said nervously, and there was no doubt in the elder woman’s -mind that the girl was thoroughly upset, “I’m nervous of sleeping in the -room you’ve given me. Can’t I sleep somewhere near people? Let me have -that room I had the last time I was here.â€</p> - -<p>“Why, my dear girl, of course, if you want it,†Alice said -sympathetically. “But it isn’t as pretty, and I especially had this -bigger room for you. Don’t be a silly little girl; you’ll be asleep in -five minutes. Better still, I’ll come and read till you’re drowsy.â€</p> - -<p>“Please humor me,†the other pleaded. “I’d rather be where, if I scream, -someone can hear, and the men are sleeping down there, and one after all -does depend on them in emergencies.<a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“All right,†Alice said good-humoredly, “I’ll ring for the servants to -take your things in.â€</p> - -<p>“We can do it,†Ethel said eagerly. “I’ve only one cabin trunk, and it -weighs nothing. Why disturb them?â€</p> - -<p>When they had moved the baggage down the halls to the smaller room, -there was no key to lock the door which led to a connecting room.</p> - -<p>“Whose is that?†Ethel demanded.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Denby’s,†she was told. “I always give men big rooms, because -they’re so untidy. Michael will know where the key is. He has every one -of the hundred keys with a neat label on it. He’s so methodical in some -things. By the time you’re ready for bed I’ll have it.â€</p> - -<p>A few minutes later the intervening door was safely locked and Mrs. -Harrington had left the girl, feeling that perhaps she, too, would be -nervous if she had not her Michael close at hand.</p> - -<p>Directly the girl was alone she sprang out of bed and hurriedly put on a -white silk negligée. So far her plans had prospered admirably. The -bedroom from which she had moved was so situated that if she were to -undertake the search of Denby’s room, she must pass the rooms of her -host and hostess and also that of Nora Rutledge. And this search was -imperative.<a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a> Out in the darkness Taylor and his men were waiting -impatiently. Presently a band of men, armed in all probability, would -sally forth from the house and might just as likely capture the Customs -officers. Supposing Taylor took this as treachery on her part and -denounced her before the Harringtons? Nothing would save Amy then.</p> - -<p>If only she could discover the necklace and give the signal in time so -that the deputy-surveyor could come legitimately into the house! She -told herself that she must control this growing nervousness; that her -movements must be swift and sure, and that she must banish all thought -of the man she had met in Paris, or the punishment that would be his.</p> - -<p>Fortunately his guests could not escape Michael and his big cigars; and -cigars, as she knew from her father’s use of them, are not consumed as a -cigarette may be and thrown quickly away.</p> - -<p>The key turned in the lock stiffly and it seemed to her, waiting -breathless, that the sound must be audible everywhere. But as quiet -still ruled outside in the corridors, she pushed the door half-open and -peered into the room. It was dark save for the moonlight, but she could -see to make her way to a writing-table, on which was an electric lamp.</p> - -<p>She turned it on and then looked about her nervously.<a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a> It was a large, -well-furnished room, and to the right of her a big alcove with a bed in -it. There was a large French window leading to the balcony which Taylor -had noted and proposed to use if she were successful in her search.</p> - -<p>She did not dare to look out, for fear the search party might see her, -so she centered her attention upon the locked drawer in which the -necklace was awaiting her. There was a brass paper-knife lying on the -table, heavy enough she judged, to pry open any ordinary lock. Very -cautiously she set about her work. It called for more strength than she -had supposed, but the lock seemed to be yielding gradually when there -fell upon her anxious ear sounds of footsteps coming down the corridor.</p> - -<p>She sprang to her feet and listened intently, and was satisfied herself -that she was in imminent danger. Putting out the light she turned to run -to her room, and in doing so knocked the paper-knife to the floor. To -her excited fancy it clattered hideously as it fell, but she reached her -room safely and locked the door.</p> - -<p>She was hardly in shelter before Denby came into his room and switched -on the light. He was still smoking the first third of his host’s famous -cigar. He sauntered to the window and looked over the lawn and<a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a> wondered -what luck the searchers would have. He had permitted himself to be urged -by Harrington to a course of inactivity. It was not his wish to be -brought face to face with his enemy while he had the jewels in a place -they would instantly detect. He took the pearls from their hiding-place -and threw them carelessly on the table. Then seeing the paper-knife on -the floor he stooped to pick it up. But lying near it were little -splinters of white wood that instantly arrested his attention. He knelt -down, lit a match, and examined them without disturbing them in any way. -And then his eyes travelled upward, until the scratches by the lock were -plain.</p> - -<p>Experience told him plainly that the drawer had been attempted and that -recently, in fact, within a half-hour since Monty had placed his pouch -there with the pearls as he supposed in it.</p> - -<p>While he was standing there motionless, sounds in the hall outside -disturbed him. Presently a knock sounded on the door. Before answering -he picked up the pearls and placed them in his pocket. Then he called -out: “Who is it?â€</p> - -<p>“It’s me,†came Monty’s voice in answer.</p> - -<p>“Come in,†he called.</p> - -<p>Monty entered nervously. “Everything all right?†he demanded.<a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a></p> - -<p>“Yes,†his friend said, and then looked at him. Monty’s appearance was -slightly dishevelled. “What’s happened?†he asked.</p> - -<p>Monty ignored the question. “I was afraid everything might be all -wrong,†he cried. “This is the first time I’ve been able to swallow -comfortably for an hour. I thought my heart was permanently dislocated.â€</p> - -<p>“What’s been happening downstairs?†Denby inquired.</p> - -<p>“Nothing,†Monty told him, “and it’s the limit to have nothing happen.â€</p> - -<p>“I thought Harrington was organizing a search party.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, we searched,†Monty admitted. “I was nominally in charge, but -Lambart was the directing genius. He was an officer’s orderly in his -youth and is some tactician, believe me.†Monty pointed to his muddied -knees. “He stretched clothes-lines over the paths to catch the tramps, -and I was the first victim. We looked everywhere, all of us, Lambart, -the under-butler, two chauffeurs and I, and we didn’t even flush a cat.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s odd,†his listener commented. “They’ll be back. They’re not -frightened away by you fellows with lanterns. They’ll be back.<a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“I bet they will,†Monty grumbled, “and with the militia.â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t lose your nerve now, old man,†Denby counselled.</p> - -<p>“I wish I could,†Monty cried. “This certainly is getting on it. It’s a -lesson not to get discontented with my lot. I’ve got that creepy feeling -all the time that they’re coming closer to us.â€</p> - -<p>“But that’s the real sport of it,†Denby pointed out.</p> - -<p>“Sport be damned,†he said crossly. “Your ideas about foxes and mine -don’t coincide. I don’t think he likes being hunted. And at that he’s -got something on us; he knows who’s chasing him.â€</p> - -<p>“So shall we soon,†he was reminded.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†Monty grumbled, “when we’re shot full of holes.â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t be afraid of getting shot at,†Denby said smiling. “You amateurs -have no idea how few shots hit the mark even at short range. I’ve been -shot at three times and I’ve not a scar to show.â€</p> - -<p>“Job must be your favorite author,†Monty commented sourly. “I hate the -noise. I’m scared to death; I thought I wanted excitement, but life on a -farm for me hereafter.â€</p> - -<p>“But, my dear boy,†Denby said more seriously,<a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a> “you are not in this. -They’re after me and this.†He held up the necklace. “You’re a spectator -merely.â€</p> - -<p>“Rot!†Monty cried. “I’m what they call an accessory and if you think -I’m going to clear out now, all I can say is you ought to know me better -than that. I want to be doing something; it’s the talking that gets on -my nerves. They’ll be here soon, you may bet on that. They’re going to -search this room.â€</p> - -<p>“Somebody’s done that already,†he was told.</p> - -<p>“Who?†Monty cried anxiously. “That girl?â€</p> - -<p>“I think not. Her room is in the other wing, as I found out indirectly. -To come here she’d have to run an awful risk. If she comes it will be -later, when everyone is asleep.â€</p> - -<p>“Then who could it have been?†Monty demanded. He turned suddenly on his -heel.</p> - -<p>There was someone even now listening at the door. Then there was a -faint, discreet knock. He dropped into the nearest chair and looked at -the other man with a blanched face.</p> - -<p>“Pinched!†he cried.</p> - -<p>“Hsh!†the other commanded softly, and then louder: “Come in.â€</p> - -<p>The smiling face of Michael Harrington beamed upon them. In his hands he -carried a tray whereon two generous highballs reposed.<a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a></p> - -<p>“Hello, boys,†he cried genially, “I’ve brought up those two nightcaps I -promised you. Nothing like ’em after excitement such as we’ve had.â€</p> - -<p>“You never looked so good to me, Michael,†Monty cried affectionately.</p> - -<p>“Now, Denby,†Michael said, handing him the glass in Lambart’s best -manner.</p> - -<p>“Thanks, all the same,†his guest returned, “but I don’t think I -will—not yet at any rate.â€</p> - -<p>“Good!†Michael cried. “Luck’s with me.†He drained the glass with the -deepest satisfaction. “Ah, that was needed. Now, Monty, after your -exertions you won’t disappoint me?â€</p> - -<p>“Not for me, either,†Monty exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“Splendid,†said the gratified Michael. “At your age I would have -refused it absolutely.†He looked at the glass affectionately. “I’ll -take the encore in a few minutes. Alice does cut me down so dreadfully. -Just one light one before dinner—mostly Vermouth—and one drink -afterward. I welcome any extra excitement like this.â€</p> - -<p>“Aren’t you master in your own house?†Denby asked smiling. He had -fathomed the secret of the happy relations of his host and hostess, and -was not deceived by Harrington when he represented himself the sport of -circumstances.<a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a></p> - -<p>“You bet I’m not,†said Michael, without resentment. “By the way,†he -added, “if you want your nightcaps later, ring for Lambart. He’s used to -being summoned at any hour.â€</p> - -<p>“I won’t forget,†Denby returned.</p> - -<p>“I hope you won’t,†his host assured him. “I’d hate to think of Lambart -having a really good night’s rest.†He pointed to an alarm on the wall -by the door. “But don’t get up half asleep and push that red thing over -there.â€</p> - -<p>“What on earth is it?†Monty asked. “It looks like a hotel -fire-alarm—‘Break the glass in case of fire.’â€</p> - -<p>“It’s a burglar-alarm that wakes the whole house.â€</p> - -<p>“What?†Denby cried, suddenly interested. “You don’t really expect -burglars?â€</p> - -<p>“I know it’s funny,†Michael said, “and a bit old maidish, but I happen -to be vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, and I’ve -got to have their beastly patents in the house to show my faith in ’em.â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll keep away from it,†Denby assured him, looking at it curiously.</p> - -<p>“The last man who had this room sent it off by mistake. Said a mosquito -worried him so much that he threw a shoe at it. He missed the -mosquito—between<a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a> you and me,†Michael said confidentially, “we haven’t -any out here at Westbury—but he hit the alarm. I’m afraid Hazen had -been putting too many nightcaps on his head and couldn’t see straight. -Mrs. Harrington made me search the whole house. Of course there wasn’t -anyone there and Alice seemed sorry that I’d had my hunt in vain. The -beauty of these things,†the vice-president commented, “is that they -warn the burglars to get out and so you don’t get shot as you might if -you hadn’t told ’em you were coming.â€</p> - -<p>Michael took up the second glass and had barely taken a sip when quick, -light footfalls approached.</p> - -<p>“Good Lord,†said he, “my wife! Here, Monty, quick,†placing the -half-emptied glass in Denby’s hand and the one from which he had first -drunk in Monty’s, “I count on you, boys,†he whispered, and then strode -to the door and flung it open.</p> - -<p>“Are we intruders?†his wife asked.</p> - -<p>“You are delightfully welcome,†Denby cried. “Please come in.â€</p> - -<p>“We thought you’d still be up,†Nora explained. “Michael said he was -bringing you up some highballs.â€</p> - -<p>“Great stuff,†Monty said, taking his cue, “best whiskey I ever tasted. -Nothing like really old Bourbon after all.â€</p> - -<p>Michael shot a glance of agonized reproach at the<a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a> man who could make -such a stupid mistake. “Monty,†he explained to his wife, who had caught -this ingenuous remark and had looked at him inquiringly, “is still so -filled with excitement that he doesn’t know old Scotch when he tastes -it.â€</p> - -<p>“Your husband is a noble abstainer,†Denby said quickly, to help them -out, “we place temptation right before him and he resists.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s my wife’s training,†said Harrington, smiling complacently.</p> - -<p>“I’m not so sure,†she returned. “Putting temptation before Michael, Mr. -Denby, shows him just like old Adam—only Michael’s weakness is for -grapes, not apples.â€</p> - -<p>“We’ve come,†Nora reminded them, “to get a fourth at auction. We’re all -too much excited to sleep. Mr. Denby, I’m sure you’re a wonderful -player. Surely you must shine at something.â€</p> - -<p>“Among my other deficiencies,†he confessed, “I don’t play bridge.â€</p> - -<p>Nora sighed. “There remains only Monty. Monty,†she commanded, “you must -play.â€</p> - -<p>“Glad to!†he cried. “I like company, and I’m not tired either.â€</p> - -<p>Suddenly he caught sight of Denby’s face. His look plainly said, -“Refuse.<a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“In just a few minutes,†Monty stammered. “I was just figuring out -something when you came in. How long will it take, Steve?â€</p> - -<p>“Hardly five minutes,†Denby said.</p> - -<p>“It’s a gold-mine you see,†Monty explained laboriously, “and first it -goes up, and then it goes down.â€</p> - -<p>“I always strike an average,†Michael told him. “It’s the easiest way.â€</p> - -<p>“Is it a good investment?†Alice demanded. She had a liking for taking -small flutters with gold-mines.</p> - -<p>“You wouldn’t know one if you saw it,†her husband said, laughing.</p> - -<p>“I learnt what I know from you,†she reminded him.</p> - -<p>“I’d rather dance than bridge it,†Nora said impatiently, doing some -rather elaborate maxixe steps very gracefully and humming a popular tune -meanwhile.</p> - -<p>“Be quiet,†Alice warned her; “you’ll disturb Ethel.â€</p> - -<p>“Has Miss Cartwright gone to bed?†Denby asked her.</p> - -<p>“She felt very tired,†Alice explained.</p> - -<p>“It’s wrong to go to bed so early,†Nora exclaimed. “It can’t be much -after two.â€</p> - -<p>She sang a few bars of another song much in vogue, but Alice stopped her -again.<a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a></p> - -<p>“Hush, Nora, don’t you understand Ethel’s in the next room asleep, or -trying to?â€</p> - -<p>“I thought it was empty,†Nora said, in excuse for her burst of song.</p> - -<p>“Ethel insisted on changing. She was very nervous and she wanted to be -down near the men in case of trouble.â€</p> - -<p>“And I had to go through forty-seven bunches of keys to get one to fit -that door,†her husband complained. Denby shot a swift glance toward -Monty, who was wearing an “I told you so†expression. “She seemed -positively afraid of you, Denby, from what my wife said,†Harrington -concluded.</p> - -<p>“You’re not drinking your highball, Mr. Denby,†Alice observed.</p> - -<p>“I’m saving it,†he smiled.</p> - -<p>“That’s a very obvious hint,†Nora cried. “Let’s leave them, Alice.†She -sauntered to the door.</p> - -<p>“Very well,†her hostess said, “and we’ll expect you in a few minutes, -Monty. You’re coming, Michael?â€</p> - -<p>“In just a moment,†he returned. “I’ve got one more old wheeze I want to -spring on Denby. He’s a capital audience for the elderly ones.â€</p> - -<p>“When Mr. Denby has recovered,†she commanded, “come down and play.<a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Certainly, my dear,†he said obediently.</p> - -<p>“And, Michael,†she said smiling, “don’t think you’ve fooled me.â€</p> - -<p>“Fooled you,†he exclaimed innocently, “why, I’d never even dream of -trying to!â€</p> - -<p>His wife moved toward Denby and took the half-finished highball from his -hand.</p> - -<p>“Michael,†she said, handing it to him, “here’s the rest of your drink.â€</p> - -<p>She went from the room still smiling at the deep knowledge she had of -her Michael’s little ways.</p> - -<p>Michael imbibed it gratefully.</p> - -<p>“My wife’s a damned clever woman,†he exclaimed enthusiastically, as he -trotted out obediently in her wake.</p> - -<p>Directly he had gone Denby went quickly to the door and made sure it was -closed tightly. “It was that girl, after all, Monty!†he said in a low, -tense voice. “She tried to pry open the drawer with that paper-knife. -You can see the marks. I found the knife on the floor, where she’d -dropped it on hearing me at the door.â€</p> - -<p>Monty looked at him with sympathy in his eyes. “That’s pretty tough, old -man,†he said softly.</p> - -<p>“It’s hard to believe that she is the kind of woman to take advantage of -our friendship to turn me over to<a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a> the police,†he admitted. Then his -face took on a harder, sterner look. “But it’s no use beating about the -bush; that’s exactly what she did.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry, mighty sorry,†Monty said, realizing as he had never done -what this perfidy meant to his old friend.</p> - -<p>“I don’t want to have to fight her,†Denby said. “The very idea seems -unspeakable.â€</p> - -<p>“What can we do if you don’t?†Monty asked doubtfully.</p> - -<p>“If she’ll only tell me who it is that sent her here—the man who’s -after me—I’ll fight him, and leave her out of it.â€</p> - -<p>“But if she won’t do that?†Monty questioned.</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll play her own game,†Denby answered, “only this time she -follows my rules for it.†As he said this both of the men fancied they -could hear a creaking in the next room.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?†Monty demanded.</p> - -<p>Denby motioned to him to remain silent, and then tiptoed his way to the -door connecting the rooms.</p> - -<p>“Is she there?†Monty felt himself compelled to whisper.</p> - -<p>Denby nodded acquiescence and quietly withdrew to the centre of the -room.</p> - -<p>“Has she heard us?†asked his friend.<a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a></p> - -<p>“I don’t think so. I heard her close the window and then come over to -the door.â€</p> - -<p>He crossed to the desk and began to write very fast.</p> - -<p>“What are you doing?†Monty inquired softly.</p> - -<p>Denby, scribbling on, did not immediately answer him. Presently he -handed the written page to Monty. “Here’s my plan,†he said, “read it.â€</p> - -<p>While Monty was studying the paper Denby moved over to the light switch, -and the room, except for the rose-shaded electric lamp, was in darkness.</p> - -<p>“Jumping Jupiter!†Monty exclaimed, looking up from the paper with knit -brows.</p> - -<p>“Do you understand?†Denby asked.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†Monty answered agitatedly; “I understand, but suppose I get -rattled and make a mistake when the time comes?â€</p> - -<p>“You won’t,†Denby replied, still in low tone. “I’m depending on you, -Monty, and I know you won’t disappoint me.†When he next spoke it was in -a louder voice, louder in fact than he needed for conversational use.</p> - -<p>“It’s a pity Miss Cartwright has gone to bed,†he exclaimed. “I might -have risked trying to learn bridge, if she’d been willing to teach me. -She’s a bully girl.â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t talk so loud,†Monty advised him, grinning.<a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a></p> - -<p>“In these dictagraph days the walls have ears. Let’s go outside. We -can’t tell who might hear us in this room. We’ll be safe enough on the -lawn.â€</p> - -<p>“A good idea,†Denby agreed, moving away from the connecting door which -they guessed had a listener concealed behind it, and turning out the -lights. And Ethel Cartwright, straining her ears, heard the door opened -and banged noisily, and footsteps hurrying past toward the stairway. It -was at last the opportunity.<a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_THIRTEEN" id="CHAPTER_THIRTEEN"></a>CHAPTER THIRTEEN</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">S</span>HE turned the key, less noisily this time, and stepped into Denby’s -room. Making her way to the drawer she gave it a gentle pull. But it was -still fastened, and she grasped the heavy brass knife when of a sudden -the room was full of light, and Denby stepped from the shadow of the -door where he had been concealed.</p> - -<p>“Oh!†she cried in terror, and turned her face away from him.</p> - -<p>He walked slowly over to the table by which she stood.</p> - -<p>“So you’ve come for the necklace, then? Why do you want it?â€</p> - -<p>She looked at him in desperation. Only the truth would serve her now.</p> - -<p>“I am employed by the government. I was sent here to get it,†she -answered.</p> - -<p>“What?†he cried. “The charming Miss Cartwright a secret service agent! -It’s quite incredible.â€</p> - -<p>“But it’s true,†she said.</p> - -<p>“Who employed you?†he asked sharply.<a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a></p> - -<p>“I can’t tell you that,†she said slowly.</p> - -<p>“Then how can I believe you?†he asked her.</p> - -<p>“But it’s the truth,†she insisted. “For what other reason should I be -here?â€</p> - -<p>“Women have collected jewels before now for themselves as well as their -governments,†he reminded her.</p> - -<p>She flushed. “Do you wish to insult me?â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t think you quite realize your position,†he said. “I find you -here trying to steal something of mine. If you tell me the name of the -man, or men, under whose orders you are acting, I may be able to -believe.â€</p> - -<p>“I can’t tell you,†she cried; “I can’t tell you.â€</p> - -<p>“It’s most likely to be Bangs,†he said meditatively, and then turned to -her quickly. “It was John H. Bangs of the secret service who sent you.â€</p> - -<p>At all costs she knew she must keep the name of Daniel Taylor from him. -To admit that it was a fellow official would do no harm.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†she said; “it was.â€</p> - -<p>Contempt looked from his face. “You lie, Miss Cartwright, you lie!â€</p> - -<p>“Mr. Denby!†she cried.</p> - -<p>“I’ve no time for politeness now,†he told her. “There is no Bangs in -the secret service.<a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“But you, how can you know?†she said, fighting for time.</p> - -<p>“It’s my business to know my opponents,†he observed. “Can’t you tell -the truth?â€</p> - -<p>“I can’t tell you who it was,†she persisted, “but if you’ll just give -me the necklace—â€</p> - -<p>He laughed scornfully at her childish request. Her manner puzzled him -extremely. He had seen her fence and cross-examine, use her tongue with -the adroitness of an old hand at intrigue, and yet she was simple, -guileless enough to ask him to hand over the necklace.</p> - -<p>“And if I refuse you’ll call the men in who seized Mr. Vaughan, thinking -it was I, and let them get the right man this time?â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,†she said despairingly. “What else can I do? I can’t -fail.â€</p> - -<p>“Nor can I,†he snapped, “and don’t intend to, either. Do you know what -happens to a man who smuggles in the sort of thing I did and resists the -officials as I shall do, and is finally caught? I’ve seen it, and I -know. It’s prison, Miss Cartwright, and gray walls and iron bars. It -means being herded for a term of years with another order of men, the -men who are crooked at heart; it means the losing of all one’s hopes in -prison gloom and coming out debased<a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a> and suspected by every man set in -authority over you, for evermore. I’ve sometimes gone sick at seeing men -who have done as I am doing, but have not escaped. I’m not going to -prison, Miss Cartwright, remember that.â€</p> - -<p>“But I don’t want you to,†she cried eagerly, so eagerly, that he -groaned to think her magnificent acting should be devoted to such a -scene as this. “I don’t want you to.â€</p> - -<p>“Then there’s only one way out of it for both of us,†he said, coming -nearer.</p> - -<p>“What?†she asked fervently.</p> - -<p>“Tell them you’ve failed, that you couldn’t find it anywhere.â€</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t,†she said vehemently.</p> - -<p>There was a certain studied contempt in his manner which hurt her badly. -And to know that he would always regard her as an adventuress, -unprincipled and ready to sell herself for the rewards of espionage, and -never have even one pleasant and genuine memory of her, made her -desperate.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t intend you to lose on the transaction,†he said coldly. “I’ll -give you ten thousand dollars.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, no, no!†she cried, “you don’t understand.â€</p> - -<p>“Twenty thousand, then,†he said. “Only you and<a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a> I would know. Your -principals could never hold it against you. Isn’t it a good offer?â€</p> - -<p>She made a gesture of despair. “It’s no good.â€</p> - -<p>“Twenty thousand no good!†he jeered. “Think again, Miss Cartwright. It -will pay you better to stand in with me than give me up.â€</p> - -<p>“No, no!†she cried, half hysterically.</p> - -<p>“It’s all I can afford,†he said. Her manner seemed so strange, that for -the first time since he had found her in his room, he began to doubt -whether, after all, it was merely the splendid acting he had supposed.</p> - -<p>“I can’t accept,†she told him. “I’ve <i>got</i> to get that necklace; it -means more than any money to me.â€</p> - -<p>He looked at her keenly, seeking to gauge the depth of her emotion.</p> - -<p>“Then they’ve got some hold on you,†he asserted.</p> - -<p>“No,†she assured him, “I must get the necklace.â€</p> - -<p>“So you’re going to make me fight you then?†he questioned.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got to fight,†she exclaimed.</p> - -<p>“Look here,†he said, after a moment’s pause, “let’s get this thing -right. You won’t accept any—shall we call it compromise?—and you won’t -tell me for whom you are acting. And you won’t admit that you are doing -this because someone has such a hold on you that you must obey. Is that -right, so far?<a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a>â€</p> - -<p>For a moment she had a wild idea of telling him, of putting an end to -the scene that was straining her almost to breaking-point. She knew he -could be chivalrous and tender, and she judged he could be ruthless and -hard if necessity compelled. But above all, and even stronger than her -fear of irrevocably breaking with him and being judged hereafter as one -unworthy, was the dread of Taylor and that warrant that could at his -will send Amy to prison and her mother possibly to her grave. She -hardened herself to go through with the ordeal.</p> - -<p>“So far you are right,†she admitted.</p> - -<p>“Then it remains only for us two to fight. I hate fighting women. A few -hours ago I would have sworn that you and I never could fight, but a few -hours have shown me that I’m as liable to misread people as—as Monty, -for example. You say you’ve got to fight. Very well then; I accept the -challenge, and invite you to witness my first shot.â€</p> - -<p>He walked to the door through which she had come and opening it, took -the key from her side of it, locked it, and put the key in his pocket.</p> - -<p>“What do you mean?†she cried.</p> - -<p>“Merely that I’m going to keep you here,†he retorted. “I was afraid we -might be interrupted.â€</p> - -<p>“Open that door!†she commanded quickly.<a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a></p> - -<p>“When I am ready no doubt I shall,†he returned.</p> - -<p>“You wouldn’t do that?†she cried, beginning to realize that she was to -have no easy victory if indeed victory were to be her reward.</p> - -<p>“I regret the necessity,†he said. “These methods don’t particularly -appeal to me, but we have declared war, and there’s no choice.â€</p> - -<p>“But I don’t understand,†she said nervously.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you?†he said, coming nearer and looking at her closely. “Don’t -you understand that you are a beautiful woman and I am a man? Have you -forgotten that it’s nearly three, and you are in my room, the room next -which you begged to be moved? They were a little puzzled at your wanting -that key so badly, and when you’re found here <i>en negligée</i>—for you -will be found here—I think I know the world well enough to judge what -construction will be placed upon that discovery.â€</p> - -<p>For the moment she forgot about everything but the personal aspect of -the situation in which she found herself. That this man of all others -should be willing to compromise her reputation awakened the bitterest -contempt for him.</p> - -<p>“I thought at least <i>you</i> were a <i>man</i>!†she cried.</p> - -<p>“I am,†he returned without heat. “That’s just it, Miss Cartwright, I’m -a man, and you are a woman.<a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“And I thought you were my friend,†she exclaimed indignantly.</p> - -<p>“Please don’t bandy the name of friendship with me,†he said with a -sneer. “You of all women that live, to dare to talk like that! You knew -I liked you—liked you very much, and because you were so sure of it, -you wheedled me into betraying myself. You smiled and lied and pledged -our friendship, and called to mind those days in Paris, which were the -happiest recollections of all my life. And yet it was all done so that -you might get enough out of me to lead me, with a prison sentence -awaiting me, to the man who gives you your orders.†He took a few swift -paces up and down the room. “This indignation of yours is a false note. -We’ll keep to the main facts. You are sworn to betray me, and I am sworn -to defeat you.â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t think that,†she said wretchedly; “I wasn’t—â€</p> - -<p>“And when I told you the truth,†he went on inexorably, “you asked me to -go into the garden where they were waiting for me.â€</p> - -<p>“I couldn’t help it,†she said, as calmly as she was able.</p> - -<p>“And when you thought I was sending the necklace here you trumped up a -flimsy excuse so that you might<a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a> be able to steal in here and get it. Is -that sort of thing in your code of friendship?â€</p> - -<p>“I wasn’t trying to trap you,†she explained. “I thought you were -innocent, and I wanted to convince them of it, too.â€</p> - -<p>“No doubt,†he said tauntingly, “and when you found out I was guilty, -you still tried to save me, I suppose, by asking me to walk into their -trap?â€</p> - -<p>The girl made an effort to defend her course of action. She knew that -without the admission of the truth he must feel his point of view -unassailable, but she wanted him not to think too hardly of her.</p> - -<p>“After all,†she declared, “you had broken the law. You are guilty. Why -should my behavior be so called into account?â€</p> - -<p>“It isn’t that at all,†he returned impatiently. “You didn’t play the -game fairly. You used a woman’s last weapon—her sex. Well, I can play -your game, too, and I will. You shall stay here till morning.â€</p> - -<p>“You don’t dare to keep me!†she cried.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I do,†he retorted easily.</p> - -<p>She assumed as well as she could an air of bravado, a false air of -courage that might convince him she was not so easily frightened as she -felt.<a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a></p> - -<p>“And you think the possible loss of my reputation is going to frighten -me into letting you go?â€</p> - -<p>“I do,†he said readily.</p> - -<p>“Well, you’re wrong,†she assured him, “I have only to tell them the -truth about the necklace and what I’m doing here—â€</p> - -<p>“But the truth is so seldom believed,†he reminded her, “especially when -you’ve no evidence to support it. A lie is a much more easily digested -morsel.â€</p> - -<p>“All the evidence I need,†she asserted, “is in that locked drawer.â€</p> - -<p>“Quite so,†he admitted. “I’d forgotten that, only it happens you’re -wrong again.†He drew the necklace from his pocket and showed it to her. -“It’s a beauty, isn’t it?â€</p> - -<p>Moving over to the table he scribbled a few words on a sheet of paper.</p> - -<p>“What are you doing?†she asked.</p> - -<p>“Manufacturing evidence,†he returned calmly.</p> - -<p>“Meanwhile,†she said, gathering courage, “I propose to leave this -room.â€</p> - -<p>“An excellent idea from your way of thinking,†he said, looking up. -“Naturally I’m interested to know how.â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll show you,†she responded, and moved quickly to the bell button -which she pushed violently. “Now,<a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a> Mr. Denby,†she cried triumphantly. -“This is my first shot! When the servants come, I shall take the -necklace with me.â€</p> - -<p>She was disappointed to see no trace of alarm on his face. Instead, he -answered her calmly enough.</p> - -<p>“What a pity you did that—you’ll regret it so very soon.â€</p> - -<p>“Shall I?†she said satirically, and watched him go to the window. As he -did so, a low whistle was heard coming from the lawn beneath. Then he -took the necklace, wrapped it in the note he had written, and tossed it -through the opening.</p> - -<p>“I hardly think you’ll take it with you,†he observed suavely.</p> - -<p>“I shall get it,†she returned. “I shall tell the Harringtons exactly -what you are, and that you threw it on the lawn.â€</p> - -<p>“Wrong again, Miss Cartwright,†he said patiently. “If you’ll stand -where I am, you will see the retreating figure of my friend Monty, who -has it with him. Monty managed rather well, I think. His whistle -announced the coast was clear.â€</p> - -<p>“But he can’t get away with those men out there,†she reminded him.</p> - -<p>“Monty waited until they were gone,†he repeated.<a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a> “For the moment, your -friends of the secret service have left us.â€</p> - -<p>“Then I’ll tell Mr. Harrington about Monty, that he’s your accomplice.â€</p> - -<p>He shook his head. “I hardly think they’d believe that even from you. -That Montague Vaughan, whose income is what he desires it to be, should -lower himself to help me, is one of the truthful things nobody could -possibly credit. If you could ring in some poor but honest young man it -would sound so much more probable, but Monty, no.â€</p> - -<p>She looked at him like a thing stricken. Her poor bravado fell from her. -She felt beaten, and dreaded to think what might be the price of her -failure.</p> - -<p>“And since you forced me,†he added, “I’ve had to play my last card. The -note that I threw to Monty was a letter to you. He’ll leave it where it -can easily be found.â€</p> - -<p>“A letter to me!†she repeated.</p> - -<p>“It contained a suggestion that you try to get the room next mine, -pleading nervousness, and come here to-night. It was the invitation—of -a lover.â€</p> - -<p>“You beast!†she cried, flaming out into rage. “You coward!â€</p> - -<p>“You had your warning,†he reminded her. “The note will be conclusive, -and no matter what you say,<a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a> you will find yourself prejudged. It’s the -world’s way to prejudge. The servants don’t seem to be coming, and -you’ll be found here in the morning. What explanation will you have to -offer?†He waited for her to speak, but she made no answer.</p> - -<p>“I think the episode of the necklace remains as between just you and -me,†he added slowly, watching her closely.</p> - -<p>“The servants will come,†she cried. “I shan’t have to stay here.â€</p> - -<p>“If they disappoint you,†he remarked, “may I suggest that -burglar-alarm? It will wake everybody up, the Harringtons, Miss -Rutledge, and all, even if they’re in bed and asleep soundly. Why don’t -you ring it? Miss Cartwright, I <i>dare</i> you to ring it!â€</p> - -<p>Just then there came the sounds of footsteps in the corridor, then a -knock at the door. Denby waited calmly for some word from the girl. The -knock was repeated.</p> - -<p>“Well,†he whispered at last, “why don’t you answer?â€</p> - -<p>She shrank back. “No, no, I can’t.â€</p> - -<p>Denby moved to the door. “Who is it?†he asked.</p> - -<p>Lambart’s respectful voice made answer: “You rang, sir?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes,†he returned, “I forgot to tell you that Miss<a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a> Cartwright wished -to be called at seven. Call me at the same time, too. That’s all, -Lambart; sorry to have had to disturb you. Good-night.â€</p> - -<p>He stood listening until the man’s footsteps died away. Then he turned, -and came toward the girl.</p> - -<p>“So you didn’t dare denounce me after all,†he said mockingly.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I knew it was all a joke,†she said, with an attempt to pass it -over lightly. “I knew you couldn’t be so contemptible.â€</p> - -<p>“A joke!†he exclaimed grimly. “Why does it seem a joke?â€</p> - -<p>“If you’d meant what you’d said, you’d have called Lambart in. That -would have answered your purpose very well. But I knew that you’d never -do that. I knew you couldn’t.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I shall have less faith hereafter in woman’s intuition,†he -returned. “I can keep you here, and I will. No other course is open to -me.†A clock outside struck. “It’s just three,†he observed. “In four -hours’ time a maid will go to your room and find it empty. It’s a long -time till then, so why not make yourself as comfortable as you can? -Please sit down.â€</p> - -<p>The girl sank into a chair more because she was suddenly conscious of -her physical weakness than for the reason he offered it her in mocking -courtesy.<a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a></p> - -<p>“I can’t face it,†she cried hysterically; “the disgrace and -humiliation! I can’t face it!â€</p> - -<p>“You’ve got to face it,†he said sternly.</p> - -<p>“I can’t,†she repeated. “It’s horrible, it’s unfair—if you’ll let me -go, I’ll promise you I won’t betray you.â€</p> - -<p>“You daren’t keep silent about me,†he answered. “How can I let you go?â€</p> - -<p>“I’m telling you the truth,†she said simply.</p> - -<p>“Then tell me who sent you here,†he entreated her. “You know what it -means to me; you can guess what it means to you. If you tell me, it may -save us both.â€</p> - -<p>“I can’t!†she cried. “I can’t! Oh, please, please!â€</p> - -<p>He took her in his arms, roughly, exasperated by her denial.</p> - -<p>“By God, I’ll make you tell!†he said angrily.</p> - -<p>“Don’t touch me,†she said shuddering.</p> - -<p>“Who sent you here?†he demanded, not releasing her.</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid,†she groaned. “Oh, I’m afraid. I hate you! I hate you! Let -me go! let me go!â€</p> - -<p>“Who sent you here?†he repeated, still holding her.</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell,†she said brokenly. Then, when he let her go, she sank into -a chair. “I can’t go through with it—you’ve beaten me—Oh, I tried so -hard, so hard,<a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a> but you’ve won. It’s too unfair when it’s not my fault. -You can’t understand, or you wouldn’t spoil my whole life like this. -It’s not only me, it’s my mother, my sister—Amy.â€</p> - -<p>Denby, watching her hardly controllable agitation, was forced to -readjust his opinion concerning her. This was not any adventuress -trained in artifice and ruse, but the woman he had thought her to be in -the deepest sorrow. The bringing in of her mother and sister was not, he -felt sure, a device employed merely to gain his sympathy and induce -leniency in her captor.</p> - -<p>And when it seemed she must sob out a confession of those complex -motives which had led her to seek his betrayal, Denby saw her clench her -hands and pull herself together.</p> - -<p>“No,†she said, rising to her feet, her weakness cast off, “I won’t -quit—no matter what happens to me. I’ll expose you, and tell them -everything. I’ll let them decide between us—whether they’ll believe you -or me. It’s either you or my sister, and I’ll save her.â€</p> - -<p>He was now more than ever certain he was stumbling upon something which -would bring him the blessed assurance that she had not sold herself for -reward.</p> - -<p>“Your sister?†he cried eagerly.</p> - -<p>“They shan’t send her to prison,†the girl said doggedly.<a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a></p> - -<p>“You’re doing all this to save your sister from prison?†he asked her -gently.</p> - -<p>“She depends on me so,†she answered dully. “They shan’t take her.â€</p> - -<p>“Then you’ve been forced into this?†he asked. “You haven’t done it of -your own free will?â€</p> - -<p>“No, no,†she returned, “but what else could I do? She was my little -sister; she came first.â€</p> - -<p>“And you weren’t lying to me—trying to trick me for money?â€</p> - -<p>“Can’t you see,†she said piteously, “that I wanted to save you, too, -and wanted you to get away? I said you were innocent, but they wouldn’t -believe me and said I had to go on or else they’d send Amy to prison. -They have a warrant all ready for her in case I fail. That’s why I’m -here. Oh, please, please, let me go.â€</p> - -<p>Steven Denby looked into her eyes and made his resolve. “You don’t know -how much I want to believe in you,†he exclaimed. “It may spoil -everything I’ve built on, but I’m going to take the chance.†He unlocked -the door that led to her room. “You can go, Miss Cartwright!â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, you are a man, after all,†she cried, deep gratitude in her voice, -and a relief at her heart she could as yet scarcely comprehend. And as -she made to pass him she was startled by a shrill sharp whistle -outside.<a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a></p> - -<p>“The devil!†he cried anxiously, and ran to the window.</p> - -<p>“What is it?†she called, frightened. It was not the low whistle that -Monty had used, but a menacing, thrilling sound.</p> - -<p>“Your friends of the secret service have come back,†he answered, “but -they mustn’t see us together.†Quickly he lowered the window-shade, and -stepped back to the centre of the room, coming to a sudden pause as he -saw the terror on the girl’s face.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my God,†she screamed, “what have you done? That was the signal to -bring Taylor here.â€</p> - -<p>“Ah, then, it’s Taylor,†he cried triumphantly. “It’s Taylor!â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, I didn’t mean to tell,†she said, startled at the admission. “I -didn’t mean to let anyone know.â€</p> - -<p>“I wish you had told me before,†he said with regret, “we could both -have been spared some unhappy moments. I know Taylor and his way of -fighting, and this thing is going to a finish.â€</p> - -<p>“Go, before he comes,†she entreated.</p> - -<p>“And leave you alone to face him?†he said more tenderly. “Leave you to -a man who fights as he<a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a> does?†He looked at her for a moment in silence -and then bowed his head over her white hand and kissed it. “I can’t do -that. I love you.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, please go while there’s time,†she pleaded; “he mustn’t take you.†-She looked up at him and without shame, revealed the love that she now -knew she must ever have for him. “Oh, I couldn’t bear that,†she said -tremulously, “I couldn’t.â€</p> - -<p>He gazed down at her, not yet daring to believe that out of this black -moment the greatest happiness of his life had come. “Ethel!†he said, -amazed.</p> - -<p>“I love you,†she whispered; “oh, my dear, I love you.â€</p> - -<p>He gathered her in his strong arms. “Then I can fight the whole world,†-he cried, “and win!â€</p> - -<p>“For my sake, go,†she begged. “Let me see him first; let me try to get -you out of it.â€</p> - -<p>“I stay here, dearest,†he said firmly. “When he comes, say that you’ve -caught me.â€</p> - -<p>“No, no,†she implored; “I can’t send you to prison either.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m not going to prison,†he reassured her. “I’m not done for yet, but -we must save your sister and get that warrant. He must not think you’ve -failed him. Do you understand?<a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“But he’ll take you away,†she cried, and clung to him.</p> - -<p>“Do as I say,†he besought her; “tell him the necklace is here -somewhere. Be brave, my dear, we’re working to save your sister. He’s -coming.â€</p> - -<p>“Hands up, Denby,†Taylor shouted, clambering from the balcony to the -room and levelling a revolver at the smuggler. Without a word Denby’s -hands went up as he was bid, and the deputy-surveyor smiled the victor’s -smile.</p> - -<p>“Well, congratulations, Miss Cartwright,†he cried; “you landed him as I -knew you could if you tried.â€</p> - -<p>“What’s the meaning of this?†Denby cried indignantly. “Who are you?â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, can that bunk!†Taylor said in disgust.</p> - -<p>“Where’s the necklace, Miss Cartwright?â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,†she answered nervously.</p> - -<p>“You don’t know?†he returned incredulously.</p> - -<p>“I haven’t been able to find it, but it’s here somewhere.â€</p> - -<p>“He’s probably got it on him,†Taylor said.</p> - -<p>“All this is preposterous,†Denby exclaimed angrily.</p> - -<p>“Hand it over,†Taylor snapped.</p> - -<p>“I have no necklace,†Denby told him.<a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a></p> - -<p>“Then I’ll have to search you,†he cried, coming to him and going -through his pockets with the practised hand of one who knows where to -look, covering him the while with the revolver.</p> - -<p>“I’ll make you pay for this,†Denby cried savagely, as Taylor -unceremoniously spun him around.</p> - -<p>“Will you give it to me,†Taylor demanded when he had drawn blank, “or -shall I have to upset the place by searching for it?â€</p> - -<p>“How can I get it for you with my hands up in the air?†Denby asked -after a pause. “Let me put my hands down and I’ll help you.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor considered for a moment. Few men were better in a -rough-and-tumble fight than he, and he had little fear of this beaten -man before him. “You haven’t got a gun,†he said, “so take ’em down, but -don’t you fool with me.â€</p> - -<p>Denby moved over to the writing-desk and picked up a heavy beaten copper -ash-tray with match-box attached. He balanced it in his hand for a -moment. “Not a bad idea is it?†he demanded smiling; and then, before -Taylor could reach for it had hurled it with the strong arm and -practised eye of an athlete straight at the patent burglar alarm a few -feet distant.</p> - -<p>There was a smashing of glass and then, an instant<a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a> later, the turning -off of light and a plunge into blackness. And in the gloom, during which -Taylor thrashed about him wildly, there came from all parts of the house -the steady peal of the electrical alarms newly set in motion.</p> - -<p>And last of all there was the report of the revolver and a woman’s -shriek and the falling of a heavy body on the floor, and then a -silence.<a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FOURTEEN" id="CHAPTER_FOURTEEN"></a>CHAPTER FOURTEEN</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">N</span>O sooner had Michael Harrington seated himself at the card-table with -his wife and Nora than he picked up a magazine and, as he always said, -“kept the light from his eyes.†Some men—few there be—who boldly state -they desire to sleep, but Michael was of the tactful majority and merely -kept the light from his eyes and, incidentally, prevented any observers -from noting that his eyes were closed.</p> - -<p>He considered this a better way of waiting for Monty than to chatter as -the women were doing of the events of the night.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what’s become of Monty?†Alice asked presently.</p> - -<p>“He’s kept us twenty minutes,†Nora returned crossly. “I saw him go out -in the garden. He said it was to relieve his headache, but I really -believe he wanted to capture the gang single-handed. Wouldn’t it be -thrilling if he did?â€</p> - -<p>“A little improbable,†Alice laughed; “but still men do the oddest -things sometimes. I never thought<a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a> Michael the fighting kind till he -knocked a man down once for kissing his hand to me.â€</p> - -<p>“It was fine of Michael,†Nora said. “The man deserved it.â€</p> - -<p>“I know, dear,†her hostess said, “but, as it happens, the man was -kissing his hand to his infant son six months old in an upper window. It -cost Michael fifty dollars, but I loved him all the more for it. Look at -the dear old thing slumbering peacefully and imagining I think he’s -keeping this very gentle light from his eyes.â€</p> - -<p>“It’s the two highballs he had in Mr. Denby’s room,†the sapient ingénue -explained. She harked back to Monty. “I wish he were as brave about -proposing. I’ve tried my grandmother’s recipes for shy men, and all my -mother ever knew, I know. And yet he does get so flustered when he -tries, that he scares himself away.â€</p> - -<p>Alice nodded. “He’s the kind you’ve got to lead to the altar. I had -trouble with Michael. He imagined himself too hopelessly old, and very -nearly married quite an elderly female. He’d have been dead now if he -had. Here’s your prey coming in now.â€</p> - -<p>Monty entered the card-room from the garden, nervously stuffing into his -pocket the precious package which Denby had thrown to him.<a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a></p> - -<p>“I hope I haven’t delayed the game,†he apologized.</p> - -<p>“We didn’t even miss you,†Nora said acidly.</p> - -<p>“Were you supposed to be in on this game?â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t be cross, Nora,†Alice advised; “you can see his headache has -been troubling him. Is it better, Monty?â€</p> - -<p>“What headache?†he asked. “I haven’t had a headache for months. Oh, -yes,†he added, confused, “that neuralgic headache has gone, thanks. -Shall we play?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, let’s,†Nora said. “Michael dealt before he went to sleep.â€</p> - -<p>“Wake up, Michael,†his wife said, tapping him with her fan, “you’re not -at the opera; you’re playing cards.â€</p> - -<p>“I haven’t slept for a moment,†he assured her, after a pause in which -he got his bearings. “The light was too strong—â€</p> - -<p>“So you shaded your eyes,†his wife went on. “Well, when they are -unshaded will you remember we’re playing?â€</p> - -<p>“Who opened it?†he demanded with a great effort.</p> - -<p>“Bridge, my dear,†Alice reminded him, “not poker—bridge, auction -bridge.†She paused a moment<a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a> while the clock struck three. “And it’s -three o’clock, and it’s quite time you began.â€</p> - -<p>“One no trump,†Nora said, after looking at her hand cheerfully.</p> - -<p>“It isn’t your bid,†Alice corrected her, “although I don’t wonder you -forgot. It’s Michael’s; he dealt.â€</p> - -<p>Michael tried to concentrate his gaze on his hand. There seemed to be an -enormous number of cards, and he needed time to consider the phenomenon.</p> - -<p>“What’d the dealer draw?†he asked.</p> - -<p>“But we’re not playing poker,†Alice said.</p> - -<p>“It was Monty who confused me,†he said in excuse, and looked -reproachfully at his vis-à -vis. “What’s trumps?â€</p> - -<p>“It’s your bid,†Nora cried. “You dealt.â€</p> - -<p>“I go one spade.â€</p> - -<p>“One no trump,†Monty declared.</p> - -<p>“Two royals,†Nora cried, not that she had them, but to take it away -from Monty.</p> - -<p>“Pass,†said Alice glumly. She could have gone two royals, but dared not -risk three.</p> - -<p>“Give me three cards,†Michael cried more cheerfully. The way was -becoming clearer.</p> - -<p>“Michael,†his wife said reprovingly, “if you’re really as tired as -that, you’d better go to bed.â€</p> - -<p>“I never broke up a poker game in my life,†he<a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a> cried. “It’s only the -shank of the evening. What’s happened, partner?†he yawned to Nora.</p> - -<p>“I went two royals,†she said.</p> - -<p>Michael looked at his hand enthusiastically. “Three aces,†he murmured. -“I’d like to open it for two dollars—as it is, I pass.â€</p> - -<p>“Two no trumps,†said Monty. When the rest had passed, Nora led and -Monty played from the dummy. Michael, at last feeling he was rounding -into form, played a low card, so that dummy took the trick with a nine.</p> - -<p>“Anything wrong?†he asked anxiously as Nora shook her head.</p> - -<p>“If you don’t want to win you’re playing like a bridge article in a -Sunday paper,†she returned.</p> - -<p>“This game makes me sick,†he said in disgust. “Nothing but reproaches.â€</p> - -<p>“I wish Mr. Denby were playing instead of poor Michael,†Nora remarked.</p> - -<p>“Steve’s got the right idea,†Monty commented. “He’s in bed.â€</p> - -<p>“Great man, Denby,†said Michael. “He knows you can’t sit up all night -unless you drink.â€</p> - -<p>“We’ll finish the rubber and then stop,†his wife said comfortingly. “Do -remember it’s not poker.â€</p> - -<p>“I wish it were,†he exclaimed dolefully. “No<a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a> partners—no -reproaches—no post-mortems in poker. If you make a fool of yourself you -lose your own money and everybody else is glad of it and gets cheerful.â€</p> - -<p>“After this then, one round of jacks to please Michael,†said Alice.</p> - -<p>“And then quit,†Monty suggested. “I’m tired, too.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m not tired,†Michael asserted. “I’m only thirsty. It takes this form -with me. When I’m thirsty—â€</p> - -<p>Michael stopped in consternation. Overhead, from all parts of the house, -came the mechanical announcement that burglars had broken in. The four -rose simultaneously from the table.</p> - -<p>“Burglars!†cried Michael, looking from one to the other.</p> - -<p>“Good Heavens!†Nora gasped.</p> - -<p>“What shall we do?†cried Alice.</p> - -<p>“It’s gone off by accident,†Monty asserted quivering, as there came -suddenly the sound of a shot.</p> - -<p>“Somebody’s killed!†Alice exclaimed, with an air of certainty.</p> - -<p>Michael was the first to recover his poise. “Monty,†he commanded -sternly, “go and find what’s the matter. I’ll look after the girls.<a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Alice looked at him entreatingly. “You’d better go,†she said; “I shall -feel safer if you see what it is. You’re not afraid, Michael?â€</p> - -<p>“Certainly not,†he said with dignity. “Of course they’re armed. Hello, -who’s here?â€</p> - -<p>It was Lambart entering, bearing in his hand a .45 revolver.</p> - -<p>“The burglar-alarm, sir,†he said, with as little excitement as he might -have announced the readiness of dinner. “The indicator points to Mr. -Denby’s room.â€</p> - -<p>“Good old Lambart,†his employer said heartily. “You go ahead, and we’ll -follow. No, you keep the beastly thing,†he exclaimed, when the butler -handed him the weapon. “You’re a better shot than I am, Lambart.â€</p> - -<p>“Mikey,†Alice called to him, “if you’re going to be killed, I want to -be killed, too.â€</p> - -<p>The Harringtons followed the admirable Lambart up the stairway, while -Nora gazed after them with a species of fascinated curiosity that was -not compounded wholly of fear. Intensely alive to the vivid interest of -these swiftly moving scenes through which she was passing, -Nora—although she could scream with the best of them—was not in -reality badly scared.<a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a></p> - -<p>“I don’t want to be killed,†she announced with decision.</p> - -<p>Monty moved to her side. He had an idea that if he must die or be -arrested, he would like Nora to live on, cherishing the memory that he -was a man.</p> - -<p>“Neither do I!†he cried. “I wish I’d never gone into this. I knew when -I dreamed about Sing Sing last night that it meant something.â€</p> - -<p>“Gone into what?†Nora demanded.</p> - -<p>“I’m liable to get shot any minute.â€</p> - -<p>“What!†she cried anxiously.</p> - -<p>“This may be my last five minutes on earth, Nora.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, Monty,†she returned, “what have you done?†She looked at him in -ecstatic admiration; never had he seemed so heroic and desirable. “Was -it murder?â€</p> - -<p>“If I come out of it alive, will you marry me?†he asked desperately.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Monty!†she exclaimed, and flung herself into his arms. “Why did -you put it off so long?â€</p> - -<p>“I didn’t need your protection so much,†he told her; “and anyway it -takes a crisis like this to make me say what I really feel.â€</p> - -<p>“I love you anyway, no matter what you’ve done,†she said contentedly.</p> - -<p>He looked at her more brightly. “I’m the happiest<a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a> man in the world,†he -declared, “providing,†he added cautiously, “I don’t get shot.â€</p> - -<p>She raised her head from his shoulder and tapped the package in his -pocket. “What’s that?†she asked.</p> - -<p>“That’s my heart,†he said sentimentally.</p> - -<p>“But why do you wear it on the right side?†she queried.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that,†he said more gravely, “I’d forgotten all about it. It -belongs to Steve. That shows I love you,†he added firmly; “I’d -forgotten all about it.â€</p> - -<p>As he spoke there was the shrill call of a police whistle outside. “The -police!†he gasped.</p> - -<p>“Don’t let them get you,†she whispered. “They are coming this way.â€</p> - -<p>“Quick,†he said, grabbing her arm and leading her to a door. “We’ll -hide here.†Now that danger, as he apprehended it, was definitely at -hand, his spirits began to rise. He was of the kind which finds in -suspense the greatest horror. They had barely reached the shelter of a -door when Duncan and Gibbs ran in.</p> - -<p>“Come on, Harry,†Duncan called to the slower man, “he’s upstairs. Get -your gun ready.â€</p> - -<p>Nora clasped her lover’s hand tighter. “There’ll be some real shooting,†-she whispered; “I hope Alice doesn’t get hurt. Listen!<a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“The Chief’s got him for sure,†Gibbs panted, making his ascent at the -best speed he could gather.</p> - -<p>“They’ve gone,†Nora said, peering out; then she ventured into the hall. -“Who’s the chief?†she asked.</p> - -<p>“The chief of police I guess,†he groaned. “This is awful, Nora. I can’t -have you staying here with all this going on. Go back into the -card-room, and I’ll let you know what’s happened as soon as I can.â€</p> - -<p>“But what are you going to do?†she asked.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to wait for Steve; he’s very likely to want me.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m not afraid,†Nora said airily.</p> - -<p>“But I am,†he retorted; “I’m afraid for you. Be a good girl and do as I -say, and I’ll come as soon as the trouble’s over.â€</p> - -<p>“I just hate to miss anything,†she pouted. “Still if you really wish -it.†She looked at him more tenderly than he had ever seen her look at -any human being before. “Don’t get killed, Monty, dear.â€</p> - -<p>Monty took her in his arms and kissed her. “I don’t want to,†he said, -“especially now.â€</p> - -<p>When the door had shut behind her he took out the necklace with the idea -of secreting it in an unfindable place. He remembered a Poe story where -a letter was hidden in so obvious a spot that it defied Parisian -commissaries of police. But the letters were usual things<a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a> and pearl -necklaces were not, and he took it down from the mantel where for a -second he had let it lie, and rammed it under a sofa-cushion on the -nearby couch. That, too, was not a brilliant idea and, while he was -wondering if the pearls would dissolve if he dropped them in a decanter -of whiskey on a table near him, there were loud voices heard at the head -of the stairway, and he fled from the spot.<a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_FIFTEEN" id="CHAPTER_FIFTEEN"></a>CHAPTER FIFTEEN</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">W</span>HEN the Harringtons followed their butler into Denby’s room, they were -appalled at what they could not see but heard without difficulty. A -strange voice, a harsh, coarse voice rapping out oaths and imprecations, -a man fighting with some opponent who remained silent. While they who -owned the house stood helpless, Lambart turned on the lights.</p> - -<p>The sudden glare showed them Denby was the silent fighter. The other -man, a heavily built fellow, seemed for the moment blinded by the -lights, and stopped for a second. And it was in this second that Denby -uppercut him so that he fell with a thud to the floor.</p> - -<p>Then they saw Denby pick up a revolver that was lying by the stranger’s -side.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?†cried Michael, while Lambart busied himself with -making the room tidy and replacing overturned chairs.</p> - -<p>“This man,†said Denby, still panting from his efforts, “tried to break -in, and Miss Cartwright and I got him.<a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Good Lord!†Michael ejaculated.</p> - -<p>“How splendid of you!†Alice cried. “Ethel, you’re a heroine, my dear.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor, who had not been put out by the blow, scrambled to his feet and -was pushed into a chair. Denby stood conveniently near with the revolver -a foot from his heart.</p> - -<p>“I never saw a more typical criminal,†Michael said, severely looking at -the captive; “every earmark of it. I could pick him out of a thousand. -Now, Denby, we want to hear all about it.â€</p> - -<p>“He’s crazy,†Taylor shouted indignantly. “Don’t you believe him. He’s -the crook. I’m an agent of the United States Customs and I came here to -get Denby.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s a pretty poor bluff,†Denby scoffed. “This porch climber was one -of the two who held up Monty and Miss Rutledge in the grounds to-night.â€</p> - -<p>“I said they’d break in!†Alice cried, and believed her statement. “And -how fortunate Ethel moved her room. This man looks like the sort who -wouldn’t stop short of murder, Michael.â€</p> - -<p>“The lowest human type!†Michael cried. “Look at his eyes and ears, and -nose!â€</p> - -<p>“I tell you I came to arrest him!†Taylor cried, striving to keep his -already ruffled temper.</p> - -<p>“Arrest that charming man?†Mrs. Harrington<a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a> cried with scorn. “Was -there ever anything so utterly absurd!â€</p> - -<p>“Absurd!†he sneered. “You won’t think so when you learn who I am. Ask -that girl there; she knows; she’ll tell you whether I’m absurd.â€</p> - -<p>Instantly they all centred their gaze on Ethel. For a second she looked -at him blankly. “I never saw the man before,†she told them.</p> - -<p>“You didn’t, eh?†Taylor cried, after a pause of sheer astonishment, “I -guess you’ll remember me when I serve a warrant for your sister’s -arrest. It’s in my pocket now with other papers that prove I’m working -for the United States Government.†He made a motion as though to get -them but found Denby’s gun close under his nose.</p> - -<p>“No you don’t,†Denby warned him. “You’ve probably got a neat little -automatic pistol there. I know your sort.â€</p> - -<p>But when he seemed about to relieve the deputy-collector of his papers -Taylor shouted a loud protest.</p> - -<p>“Very well,†Denby cried. “If you had rather Mr. Harrington did, it’s -all the same to me. Mr. Harrington,†turning to his host, “will you -please remove whatever documents you find in his inner pocket, so that -we may find out if what he says is true.â€</p> - -<p>“Surely,†Michael returned. “I like every man to<a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a> have justice even if -the electric chair yearns for him.†Carefully he removed a bundle of -papers neatly tied together. And one of them, as Ethel Cartwright saw, -was the warrant made out for her sister’s arrest. She wondered why Denby -had invited inspection of them, but was not long to remain in doubt.</p> - -<p>“Now,†said Michael judicially, “we’ll do the thing properly.â€</p> - -<p>But before he had unfolded a single one of the papers, they were -snatched violently from his hand, and Denby, gun pointed at Taylor, was -backing to the door. “Keep out of range, Harrington,†the retreating man -warned. He cast a swift look of triumph toward Ethel. “It’s all right, -Miss Cartwright,†he called cheerfully. “Don’t worry, it’s all right -now.â€</p> - -<p>As the door closed, Taylor sprang from the chair with a curse. “Grab -him, I tell you,†he cried raging. “He’s a crook. The Government wants -him, and they’ll hold you people responsible if he gets away.†He blew -his whistle loudly, and then rushed out of the door and down the hall -taking the steps four at a time.</p> - -<p>The French windows were open and out of them he ran, calling sharply for -his men. But Gibbs and Duncan were even now fiercely searching the other -wing and disturbing frightened servants above. It<a name="page_268" id="page_268"></a> was not for some -minutes that they made their way to their chief, and searched the -grounds as he bade them.</p> - -<p>And even here they were frustrated. Lambart’s tactical genius had -forbidden him to remove the clothes-lines he had laid to bring wandering -tramps low, and among them Duncan and Gibbs floundered with dreadful -profanity.</p> - -<p>There were two other men aiding them now, Ford and Hammett, who were -stationed outside the grounds to watch the only road by which Denby -could escape. When Taylor was satisfied they were doing what they could, -he came back into the big hall where the frightened group was awaiting -him.</p> - -<p>“We’ll get your friend yet,†he observed disagreeably to Mrs. -Harrington. “It’s bright moonlight, and my men’ll nab him.â€</p> - -<p>“But he’s not my friend,†she objected; “I had no idea he was that kind -of a person.â€</p> - -<p>“When I find a man like that a guest in a house like this,†Taylor -retorted, “I think I’m justified in calling him your friend. You’ll have -time to think what to say later when you’re called as a witness.â€</p> - -<p>“I want to beg your pardon, Mr. Taylor,†said Michael anxiously. The -idea of being cross-examined and made a fool of by a bullying counsel -horrified him. He’d be a jest forever more at Meadow Brook and<a name="page_269" id="page_269"></a> Piping -Rock. The Harringtons casually to pick up a smuggler and make him free -of their exclusive home! Never had he needed a drink to steady his -nerves as he did now!</p> - -<p>“Well, I certainly think there is an apology due me,†Taylor sneered. He -was not one to forget an affront and Harrington had alluded to his -criminal type in a way that rankled yet.</p> - -<p>“But how could we know?†asked Mrs. Harrington; “he seemed perfectly all -right, although I did say he might be a murderer.â€</p> - -<p>“That’ll come out in court,†Taylor reminded her disagreeably. “If it -hadn’t been that my men were here to swear to me, I’d have spent the -night in one of your little one-horse jails, and he’d have got away. -When I do get him he’ll remember Daniel Taylor till the day he dies.â€</p> - -<p>Monty, overhearing these direful threats from behind a door, and happy -because of his friend’s escape, walked boldly in.</p> - -<p>“Did you get the burglar?†he demanded airily.</p> - -<p>“There wasn’t any burglar,†Alice told him.</p> - -<p>“It was your old friend Denby that caused all the trouble,†Michael -informed him, “the old friend you introduced into my house. I tell you, -Monty—†-<a name="page_270" id="page_270"></a> -“Don’t explain,†Taylor commanded. “Now,†he snapped to Monty, “have -you seen Steven Denby in the last ten minutes?â€</p> - -<p>Monty found with glee that so far from being nervous he was enjoying the -scene. He only regretted that his moustache was not long enough to -permit him to curl it to a fierce and martial angle. He was glad that -Nora had crept into the room and was watching him.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t he in bed?†he demanded, yawning.</p> - -<p>“You know he isn’t in bed,†Taylor answered. “Maybe you’re his pal—in -on this job with him. Come here.â€</p> - -<p>Monty wished to refuse, but Taylor had a compelling manner, so he -advanced with an insolent slowness.</p> - -<p>Alice Harrington flew to his defence. “That’s too absurd!†she cried. -“We’ve known Mr. Vaughan since he was a child.â€</p> - -<p>“Who is this person?†Monty demanded superciliously.</p> - -<p>“Never mind who I am,†Taylor said gruffly, and started to search him.</p> - -<p>“Don’t hurt him,†Nora cried, rushing to her fiancé’s side.</p> - -<p>“It’s all right, Nora,†Monty said; submitting quietly. “He thinks he’s -doing his duty. When you’re through with me,†he said to Taylor, “I’ll -take<a name="page_271" id="page_271"></a> you to my room. You’d probably like to go through that, too.â€</p> - -<p>“Here, that’ll be enough from you,†Taylor said frowning. “You aren’t -smart enough to be Denby’s pal. Clear out—get back to the nursery.â€</p> - -<p>Nora cast a glance of vivid hatred at him, but Taylor turned his back on -her.</p> - -<p>“Do you want us any longer?†Michael asked.</p> - -<p>“No,†he was told. “You can go and leave me with this girl,†pointing to -Ethel, who had not said a word. “I want a little talk with her.â€</p> - -<p>“Please keep her out of it,†Michael asked him. “I’m sure she’s -absolutely innocent in the matter.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor looked at him, exasperated. “See here,†he cried, “you’ve put -enough obstacles in my way to-night as it is! Do you want to put any -more?â€</p> - -<p>“It’s all right,†Ethel Cartwright said quickly; “there’s just some -misunderstanding. Please go!â€</p> - -<p>“All right, then,†her host answered. “Come, Alice, I need a drink -badly.â€</p> - -<p>“My dear,†she said affectionately, “under the circumstances you may -have an all-night license.â€</p> - -<p>He had turned to go when Lambart approached him. “I beg your pardon, -sir, but can I have a word with you?†-<a name="page_272" id="page_272"></a> -“What is it?†Michael demanded anxiously. The news evidently affected -him, and Taylor looked suspicious. “What’s this mean?†the -deputy-surveyor asked.</p> - -<p>“A long distance from my partner,†the agitated Harrington returned. “I -stand to lose nearly a million dollars if something isn’t done. Excuse -me, Alice—I’ll use the upstairs ’phone.†He hurried upstairs.</p> - -<p>“Well,†said Monty to Taylor—Nora was hanging on his arm and he felt he -would never again be afraid—“do you want me any longer?â€</p> - -<p>“I thought I sent you back to play,†Taylor snarled.</p> - -<p>Ostentatiously Monty turned his back and walked leisurely to a door.</p> - -<p>“You are perfectly splendid,†Nora exclaimed with ecstasy in her voice. -“I’d no idea you were so brave.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, you can never tell,†Monty returned modestly.</p> - -<p>Alice joined them in retreat. “Michael’s thirst is catching,†she -asserted. “I’m for some champagne, children, are you?â€</p> - -<p>“Sure,†said Monty. “What’s a quart amongst three?â€</p> - -<p>Taylor watched them depart, sneeringly. He hated the idle rich with the -intensity of a man who has longed to be of them and knows he cannot. The -look he flung at Miss Cartwright was not pleasant.<a name="page_273" id="page_273"></a></p> - -<p>“What did you mean by telling them upstairs that you had never seen me -before?†he cried vindictively.</p> - -<p>“You said under no circumstances was I to mention your name.â€</p> - -<p>He looked a trifle disconcerted at this simple explanation. He was in a -mood for punishment, and rebuke.</p> - -<p>“Yes,†he admitted, “but—â€</p> - -<p>“You said it was imperative your identity should not be disclosed,†the -girl reminded him.</p> - -<p>“I suppose that’s true in a way,†he conceded; “but when you saw me -wanting to prove who I was, why didn’t you help?â€</p> - -<p>“I was afraid to do anything but follow your instructions,†she said -earnestly. “I remembered that you swore you’d put my sister in prison if -I even said I’d ever seen you before.â€</p> - -<p>“Well, then, we won’t say any more about it,†he returned ungraciously. -“How did you find Denby had the necklace?â€</p> - -<p>“I got into his room and caught him,†she explained. “He had it in his -hand.â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, yes!†he cried impatiently; “go on.â€</p> - -<p>“And when the lights went out and there was a shot, I screamed, and -naturally I couldn’t see what happened in the dark. I thought you had -killed him and I was frightened.<a name="page_274" id="page_274"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Taylor frowned. He did not like to remember that directly the flash of -his gun had disclosed his position Denby had sprung on him like an arrow -and knocked him down. Denby had scored two knock-downs in one night, and -none had ever done that before. There was a swelling on his jaw and -three teeth were loosened. Denby should pay for that, he swore.</p> - -<p>While he was thinking these vengeful thoughts, Duncan hurried in through -the French windows.</p> - -<p>“Say, Chief,†he shouted, “Denby didn’t leave the house. He’s up in his -room now.â€</p> - -<p>“How do you know?†Taylor cried eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Gibbs climbed up on the roof of the pagoda; he can see the room from -there and Denby’s in it now.â€</p> - -<p>“Now we’ve got him sure,†his chief cried gleefully.</p> - -<p>“And Harrington’s with him,†Duncan added excitedly.</p> - -<p>“What!†Taylor ejaculated, stopping short on his way to the stairs. The -two men talking together spelled collusion to him, and opened up -complications to which he had hardly given a thought.</p> - -<p>“Gibbs said they were talking together,†his subordinate continued.</p> - -<p>“I was right at first,†Taylor exclaimed; “I thought that might be the -game, but he fooled me so that I<a name="page_275" id="page_275"></a> would have sworn he was innocent. -Denby’s smuggling the necklace through for Harrington. Jim, this is a -big job, get out there to make sure he don’t escape by the balcony. Have -your gun handy,†he warned; “I’ve got mine.†He looked over to Ethel, -whose face betrayed the anguish which she was enduring. “And I’ll get -the drop on him this time.â€</p> - -<p>“No, no,†she cried, “you mustn’t!â€</p> - -<p>“You knew all the time he was back in his room and you’ve been trying to -fool me—you’re stuck on him.â€</p> - -<p>“No, no, you’re wrong,†she said desperately.</p> - -<p>“Am I?†he retorted; “then I’ll give you the chance to prove it. Send -for Denby and ask him what he did with the necklace, and where it is -now. Tell him I suspect you, and that he’s got to tell you the truth, -but you won’t turn him over to me. Talk as if you two were alone, but -I’ll be there behind that screen listening.†He took out his revolver -and pointed to it meaningly. “If you tip him off or give him the -slightest warning or signal, I’ll arrest you both, anyway. Wrong, am I?†-he sneered. “We’ll see; and if you try to fool me again, you and your -sister will have plenty of time to think it over in Auburn. Now send for -him.â€</p> - -<p>There was a big screen of tapestry in one corner of<a name="page_276" id="page_276"></a> the hall near the -stairs. Behind this he had little difficulty in hiding himself.</p> - -<p>The girl watched him in terror. It seemed she must either offer the man -she loved bound and helpless to his enemies, or else by warning him and -aiding him in escape, see him shot before her eyes. There seemed here no -way out with Taylor watching her every look and movement from his -hiding-place.</p> - -<p>She stretched out her tremulous hand to grasp the table for support and -clutched instead the silver cigarette-box, the same she had offered -earlier to Denby. Her deep dejection was banished for she saw here a -chance to defeat her enemy by a ruse of which he could not know. -Watching her, Taylor saw her returning courage, and congratulated her. -She knew, he thought, that her only chance was to play the square game -with him now.</p> - -<p>“Well,†he called from his concealment, “why don’t you send for him?â€</p> - -<p>“I’m going to!†she answered, walking to the bell and then coming back -to the table. “You’ll see you’ve been all wrong about me.â€</p> - -<p>“I guess not,†he snarled, adjusting the screen so as better to be able -to see her from between its folds. He noticed that Lambart passing close -to him as he answered the bell had no suspicion of his presence.<a name="page_277" id="page_277"></a></p> - -<p>“Mr. Denby’s in his room,†she told the man, “please say I’m alone here -and wish to speak to him at once.â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, madam,†Lambart said, and a few seconds later could be heard -knocking at a distant door.</p> - -<p>“I can see you perfectly,†Taylor warned her. “When Denby comes in, stay -right where you are and don’t move, or else I’ll—†He stopped short -when Lambart descended the staircase.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Denby will be with you immediately,†the butler said, and left the -hall.<a name="page_278" id="page_278"></a></p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SIXTEEN" id="CHAPTER_SIXTEEN"></a>CHAPTER SIXTEEN</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">D</span>ENBY came eagerly down the stairs, looking about him with no especial -care. He had learned that the special service men assumed him to have -made good his escape and were contenting themselves with surrounding the -gardens.</p> - -<p>“What’s happened?†he asked, coming quickly toward her. “Is everything -all right now? Where is—â€</p> - -<p>Ethel interrupted him. “Will you have a cigarette, Dick?†she asked, -pushing the silver box to him.</p> - -<p>He took it calmly enough but instantly realized her warning. His alert -gaze swept about the room and dwelt no longer on the screen than any -other of its furnishing, but he knew where his enemy was hidden. -“Thanks,†he said simply, and lighted it with a hand that was steady.</p> - -<p>“Now we are alone,†she said, “and those men imagine you are not here, -and I admit you’ve beaten me, please tell me the truth about that -necklace. What have you done with it?<a name="page_279" id="page_279"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Are you still persisting in that strange delusion?†he asked calmly. “I -never had a necklace, Miss Cartwright.â€</p> - -<p>“But I know you did,†she persisted, “I saw it.â€</p> - -<p>“Ah, you thought you did,†he corrected. “We went all over that in my -room and I imagined I had persuaded you. Why do you want to know this?â€</p> - -<p>“The agent of the secret service has been here,†she told him, “and he -suspects that I am defending you and won’t believe what I say. If you’ll -tell me the truth, I’ll get him to let you go.â€</p> - -<p>“Then the secret service agent is just as wrong as you,†he remarked. “I -have no necklace. Because I knock down a man who breaks into my room at -night and escape rather than be shot, am I supposed on that account to -carry these fabulous necklaces about with me? I don’t care even to -prolong this conversation, Miss Cartwright.â€</p> - -<p>At this point Lambart entered, and coming toward him, delivered a small -package.</p> - -<p>“Pardon me, sir,†the butler began, “but Mr Vaughan asked me to take -this to your room.â€</p> - -<p>“What is it?†Denby asked, and a slight movement behind the screen -betokened the curiosity of the man hidden there.</p> - -<p>“Mr. Vaughan didn’t say, sir,†Lambart returned.<a name="page_280" id="page_280"></a> “He only said it was -very important for you to get it immediately.†Lambart bowed and -retired.</p> - -<p>“I wonder what on earth Monty can be sending me at this time of the -night,†said Denby, balancing the thing as though to judge its contents -from the weight. “It must be important, so forgive me if I see what it -is.â€</p> - -<p>He tore the envelope open carelessly, and out of it dropped the -necklace. Quickly he stooped down and picked it up, putting it in his -left-hand coat-pocket.</p> - -<p>The girl could not refrain from giving a cry as he did so. “Oh,†she -exclaimed, “we’re done for now.â€</p> - -<p>There was a crash behind them as the screen clattered to the floor and -Daniel Taylor stepped over it, levelled gun in hand.</p> - -<p>“Hands up, Denby,†he commanded, and then blew his police whistle.</p> - -<p>He looked sourly at the trembling girl by the table. “I don’t know how -you tipped him off, but you two are damned smart, aren’t you? But I’ve -got you both now, so it’s just as well it happened as it did.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs and Duncan burst in, their anxious faces breaking into smiles of -joy. The Chief’s temper if his plans miscarried was a fixed quantity and -an unpleasant one. They had been consoling themselves<a name="page_281" id="page_281"></a> outside, and -Duncan had been wishing he had Gibbs’ outside job. Now everything would -be well and they would each be able to boast in his home circle of -to-night’s exploit.</p> - -<p>“You’re both under arrest,†Taylor said, addressing his captives. -“Boys,†he commanded his satellites cordially, “take her into one of -those side rooms and keep her there till I call. They can talk without -speaking, these two. I’ll question ’em separately.â€</p> - -<p>For the second time within an hour he searched Denby. From the -right-hand pocket of his dinner jacket he took an automatic pistol. From -the left he drew out the string of pearls.</p> - -<p>“It’s a pippin, all right,†Taylor muttered, his eyes gloating over the -treasure. “How much did you pay the girl?â€</p> - -<p>“Not a cent,†his prisoner asserted. “Nothing. You’re all wrong there.â€</p> - -<p>“Then why did she tip you off just now?â€</p> - -<p>“She didn’t tip me off,†Denby told him. “She didn’t say a word, as you -yourself must have heard.â€</p> - -<p>“Can it! can it!†Taylor retorted impatiently. “I saw the result all -right, but I couldn’t get on to the cause. What did she do it for?â€</p> - -<p>Denby shrugged his shoulders and smiled a little. It was the first time -he had come off his high horse.<a name="page_282" id="page_282"></a></p> - -<p>“Maybe,†he hinted, “she didn’t want to see me go to prison.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, you pulled the soft stuff, eh?†Taylor said. “Well, she tried to -double-cross me and that don’t pay, Denby. She’ll find that out, all -right.â€</p> - -<p>Denby assumed a certain confidential air. “Look here, Taylor,†he said, -“so long as she did the decent thing by me, I’d like to see her out of -this. You’ve got me, and you’ve got the pearls—Why not let her go?â€</p> - -<p>Taylor shook his head. He did not signalize his triumphs by the freeing -of captives or the giving of rewards. “I guess not,†he returned with -his sourest look. “You’ve both given me a lot of unnecessary trouble, -and I think a little trip down south ought to fix you two comfortably. -What do you say to five years in Atlanta? Fine winter climate they say.â€</p> - -<p>“Then I guess we are up against it;†Denby sighed.</p> - -<p>“You are, son,†Taylor assured him; “right up against it.â€</p> - -<p>“Take it out on me,†the other implored; “ease up on her. It isn’t as if -she were a grafter, either. Why, I offered her twenty thousand dollars -to square it.â€</p> - -<p>“Tried to bribe a Government official, eh?†Taylor observed. “That don’t -make it any better for you.<a name="page_283" id="page_283"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, you can’t prove it against me,†Denby returned easily.</p> - -<p>“Twenty thousand dollars,†Taylor muttered; “twenty thousand dollars! So -you <i>were</i> trying to smuggle it in for the Harringtons, then?â€</p> - -<p>“I hate bringing names in,†said Denby, looking at him shrewdly.</p> - -<p>“Well, they’ll have to come out in court anyway,†the other reminded -him, and then reverted to the money. “Twenty thousand dollars!†he -repeated. “It seems to mean a whole lot to you—or somebody—to get this -through, eh?â€</p> - -<p>“It does,†Denby returned, “and it’s a big lot of money; but I’d rather -pay that than sample your winter climate down south—see?†He looked at -him still with that air of confidence as though he expected Taylor to -comprehend his motives.</p> - -<p>“Say, what are you trying to do?†Taylor said sharply; “bribe me?â€</p> - -<p>“What an imagination you have!†Denby said in astonishment. “Why, you -couldn’t be bribed, Mr. Taylor!â€</p> - -<p>“You bet your life I couldn’t,†the deputy-surveyor returned.</p> - -<p>Denby sighed. “What a pity I didn’t meet a business man instead of -<i>you</i>.<a name="page_284" id="page_284"></a>â€</p> - -<p>Taylor’s sharp eyes looked at the speaker steadily.</p> - -<p>“You couldn’t square it even with a business man for twenty thousand -dollars.â€</p> - -<p>Denby met his shrewd gaze without lowering his eyes.</p> - -<p>“If I’d met the right kind of business man,†he declared, “I shouldn’t -have offered twenty thousand dollars,†he said meaningly; “I’d have -offered him all I’ve got—and that’s thirty thousand dollars.â€</p> - -<p>A slow smile chased Taylor’s intent expression away. “You would?†he -said.</p> - -<p>“I would,†Denby answered steadily.</p> - -<p>“A business man,†Taylor returned, “wouldn’t believe you had that much -unless he saw it with his own eyes.â€</p> - -<p>“I should prove it,†Denby answered. And with his first and second -finger he probed behind his collar and produced three new -ten-thousand-dollar bills.</p> - -<p>“Beauties, aren’t they?†he asked of the staring Taylor.</p> - -<p>The official seemed hypnotized by them. “I didn’t know they made ’em -that big,†he said reverently.</p> - -<p>When Denby next spoke, his tone was brisker. “Look here, Taylor, I -haven’t been in Paris for two years.<a name="page_285" id="page_285"></a>â€</p> - -<p>There was understanding in Taylor’s face now. “You haven’t?†he -returned.</p> - -<p>“And in case of a come-back, I’ve witnesses to prove an alibi.â€</p> - -<p>“You have?†Taylor responded, his smile broadening.</p> - -<p>“How much does the Government pay you?†Denby questioned.</p> - -<p>Taylor’s eyes were still on the bills. “Three thousand a year,†he -answered.</p> - -<p>Denby inspected the crisp bills interestedly. “Ten years’ salary!†he -commented. “You couldn’t save all this honestly in your lifetime.â€</p> - -<p>Denby raised his eyes and the two men looked at one another and a -bargain was as certainly made as though documents had been drawn up -attesting it.</p> - -<p>Taylor’s manner altered instantly. He removed his hat and became a -genial, not to say jocular, soul.</p> - -<p>“Too bad,†he said sympathetically, “a mistake like that happening.â€</p> - -<p>“It is a bit inconvenient,†Denby allowed.</p> - -<p>“I’m sorry to have bothered you,†the deputy-surveyor assured him, “but -you’re all right, Mr. Denby. I figured from the first that you might be -a business man, and that’s why you slipped through so easily.â€</p> - -<p>“You’re a pretty smart man, Mr. Taylor,†Denby<a name="page_286" id="page_286"></a> admitted, “and I think -these belong to you.†He held out the money.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think they do,†Taylor said eagerly, reaching out for the bills.</p> - -<p>“Wait a minute!†Denby cried, holding the money back. “How do I know you -won’t take it and then double-cross me?â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll give you my word for it,†Taylor assured him fervently.</p> - -<p>“That security isn’t good enough,†Denby remarked slowly. “We haven’t -done business together before, and those two men of yours—are they in -on it?â€</p> - -<p>“Not on your life,†Taylor laughed. “I haven’t split with anybody for -five years. This is a one man job, Mr. Denby.â€</p> - -<p>“That may be,†the other protested, “but they saw you pinch me!â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell them it was all a mistake and I’ve got to call it off. I know -the kind of help I want when I’m tackling a one man job.â€</p> - -<p>“Do you think you can get away with it?†Denby asked doubtfully.</p> - -<p>“I always have,†Taylor said simply. “There’s no need for you to get -scared.â€</p> - -<p>Denby still seemed perturbed. “I’ve been hearing<a name="page_287" id="page_287"></a> a lot about this R. -J.,†he told the official. “I don’t like what I’ve heard either. Is he -suspicious about you by any chance?â€</p> - -<p>“What do you know about R. J.?†Taylor asked quickly.</p> - -<p>“Some friends of mine—business men—in London, tipped me off about him. -They said he’s been investigating the bribery rumors in the Customs.â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t you worry about him, my boy,†Taylor said with a reassuring air, -“I’m the guy on this job.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s all well enough,†Denby said, “but I don’t want to give up -thirty thousand and then get pinched as well. I’ve got to think about -myself.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor leaned across eagerly. “Say, if that R. J. has scared you into -thinking he’ll ball things up, I don’t mind admitting—in strict -confidence—who he is.â€</p> - -<p>“So you know?†Denby retorted. “Who is he? I want to be on my guard.â€</p> - -<p>“Well, he isn’t a thousand miles from here.â€</p> - -<p>“What!†Denby cried in astonishment.</p> - -<p>Taylor tapped himself upon the chest with an air of importance. “Get -me?â€</p> - -<p>“Well, that’s funny,†Denby laughed.</p> - -<p>“What’s funny?†Taylor retorted.<a name="page_288" id="page_288"></a></p> - -<p>“Why, R. J. is supposed to be death on grafters and you’re one -yourself.â€</p> - -<p>“I’m a business man,†Taylor said with a wink. “I’m not a grafter—I -should worry about the Government.â€</p> - -<p>“Well I guess I’ll take a chance,†Denby said, after a momentary pause.</p> - -<p>“That’s the idea,†Taylor cried cheerfully.</p> - -<p>“Provided,†Denby added, “you let me have a few words with your men. -They’ve got to understand I’m innocent, and I want to see how they take -it. You see, I don’t know them as well as you do. They’ve got to back -you up in squaring me with the Harringtons. You’ve put me in all wrong -here, remember.â€</p> - -<p>“Why sure,†Taylor agreed generously, “talk your head off to ’em.â€</p> - -<p>“And you’ll leave the girl out of it?â€</p> - -<p>“I’ll do more than that,†Taylor told him with a grin; “I’ll leave her -to you.â€</p> - -<p>Denby heaved a sigh of relief. “Now we understand one another,†he said. -“Here’s your money, Taylor.â€</p> - -<p>“Much obliged,†Taylor responded. He handed the other the pearls. “I’ve -no evidence,†he declared in high good humor, “that you ever had any -necklace. Have a cigar, Mr. Denby?â€</p> - -<p><a name="page_289" id="page_289"></a></p> - -<p class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/illpg_288.jpg" width="362" height="550" alt="“NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER,†HE SAID. “HERE’S YOUR -MONEY.†Page 288." title="" /> -<br /> -<span class="caption">“NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER,†HE SAID. “HERE’S YOUR -MONEY.†Page <a href="#page_288">288</a>.</span> -</p> - -<p>“Thanks,†the younger man returned; “I’ll smoke it later it you don’t -mind. Now call ’em in.â€</p> - -<p>“Certainly,†Taylor said briskly. “And say, I’m glad to have met you, -Mr. Denby; and next time you’re landing in New York and I can be of use, -let me know.†He leered. “I might be of considerable use, understand?<a name="page_290" id="page_290"></a>â€</p> - -<h2><a name="CHAPTER_SEVENTEEN" id="CHAPTER_SEVENTEEN"></a>CHAPTER SEVENTEEN</h2> - -<p class="nind"><span class="letra">T</span>AYLOR walked briskly across the hall and threw open the door of the -room in which his subordinates were guarding their prisoner. “Duncan,†-he called, “and Gibbs, come here.â€</p> - -<p>When they had come in with Ethel Cartwright, he turned to them -impressively. “Boys,†he declared, “it was all a mistake.â€</p> - -<p>“What!†cried his men.</p> - -<p>“Thank God!†the girl cried softly.</p> - -<p>“Our dope was phoney. We were tipped off wrong by someone, out of -mischief or malice—I’ll have to look into that—and we’re all in wrong. -It was a case of mistaken identity, but Mr. Denby’s been very nice about -it, very nice, indeed. Let the lady go, Jim.â€</p> - -<p>“I asked Mr. Taylor to send for you,†Denby explained, “because I -thought it was due you, and I didn’t want any come-back. I want you all -to understand the facts, if you don’t mind waiting, Miss Cartwright.â€</p> - -<p>“Of course I’ll wait,†she said brightly. What had<a name="page_291" id="page_291"></a> happened to change -things she could not guess, but she was confident the man she loved had -some magic to save them both.</p> - -<p>“Listen to him, boys,†Taylor counselled. “You see, he’s a bit anxious -to straighten things out, so tell him all you know. Fire ahead, Mr. -Denby.â€</p> - -<p>Denby addressed himself to James Duncan. “You got a tip from Harlow that -a Steven Denby had bought a necklace at Cartier’s?â€</p> - -<p>“Yes, sir,†Duncan agreed.</p> - -<p>Denby now turned to Gibbs who assumed a character of importance.</p> - -<p>“Then you got a wireless that this Denby had sailed with Mrs. Michael -Harrington and Mr. Montague Vaughan, which threw suspicion on the lady -as a possible smuggler?â€</p> - -<p>“That’s right, too,†Gibbs conceded, contentedly.</p> - -<p>“And yet,†Denby remarked with inquiry in his tone, “you let Denby slip -through the Customs to-day, didn’t you?â€</p> - -<p>Taylor’s satisfied expression had faded partially. “You see,†he -explained, “we didn’t have any absolute evidence to arrest him on.â€</p> - -<p>“Just what I was going to say,†Gibbs remarked.</p> - -<p>“But after he got through,†Denby went on, “you received an anonymous -telegram late this afternoon<a name="page_292" id="page_292"></a> that Denby carried the necklace in a -tobacco-pouch, didn’t you?â€</p> - -<p>Taylor advanced a step frowning. “What’s all this, anyway?†he demanded. -“How do you know about that telegram?â€</p> - -<p>“I found it out to-night,†Denby said pleasantly.</p> - -<p>“That’s a private Government matter,†Taylor blustered.</p> - -<p>Denby looked at him in surprise. “Surely,†he said, “you don’t object to -my making things clear? I was pretty nice to you, Mr. Taylor.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor’s fingers nestled tenderly about the crackling notes in his -pocket. “All right,†he assented, “go ahead.â€</p> - -<p>Denby turned on the expectant Gibbs.</p> - -<p>“You knew about that tip in the telegram?â€</p> - -<p>“First I ever heard about it,†Gibbs returned, open-eyed.</p> - -<p>“Then you didn’t tell them?†Denby observed, looking toward their chief.</p> - -<p>“That was my own business,†Taylor said impatiently. He wished this fool -cross-examination over, and himself out of Long Island.</p> - -<p>“Did it ever occur to you boys that it was rather peculiar that this -supposed smuggler wasn’t searched—that he got through without the -slightest trouble?<a name="page_293" id="page_293"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Why, the Chief didn’t want to get in any mix-up with the Harringtons in -case he was wrong about Denby,†Gibbs elucidated.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see,†Denby remarked, as though the whole thing were now -perfectly straightforward. “He told you that, did he?â€</p> - -<p>“He sure did,†Duncan agreed readily.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you boys see,†Denby said seriously, “that this whole job looks -very much as if the scheme was to let Denby slip through and then -blackmail him?â€</p> - -<p>“I never thought of that,†Duncan returned.</p> - -<p>“Me, neither,†the ingenuous Gibbs added.</p> - -<p>“Wait a minute,†Taylor said irritably. “What’s all this got to do with -you? I admit we made a mistake—I’ll take the blame for it—and we’re -sorry. We can’t remedy it by talking any more. Come on, boys.â€</p> - -<p>“Wait just a minute,†Denby exclaimed. “Don’t you know,†he went on, -addressing himself to the two subordinate officials, “that it’s rather a -dangerous thing to monkey with the United States Government? It’s a -pretty big thing to fool with. You might have got into serious trouble -arresting the wrong man.â€</p> - -<p>“I haven’t been monkeying with the Government,†Gibbs said nervously. -All his official carelessness recurred<a name="page_294" id="page_294"></a> to him vividly. “I wouldn’t do a -thing like that.â€</p> - -<p>“Neither have I,†Duncan made eager reply.</p> - -<p>Taylor took a hand in the conversation. “That’s all settled,†he said, -with an air of finality. “We all know Mr. Denby never had a necklace.â€</p> - -<p>“That’s clearly understood, is it?†Denby returned.</p> - -<p>“What I say is right,†Taylor retorted, and glared at his underlings.</p> - -<p>“What the Chief says is right,†Gibbs admitted with eagerness.</p> - -<p>“What the Chief says is wrong,†Denby cried in a different voice. “I did -smuggle a necklace in through the Customs to-day. Here it is.â€</p> - -<p>They looked at it in consternation. “What!†they ejaculated.</p> - -<p>Taylor had owed his safety ere this to rapid thinking.</p> - -<p>“Then you’re under arrest!†he cried.</p> - -<p>“Oh, no I’m not,†Denby rejoined, turning to the startled men. “Your -chief caught me with the goods and I paid him thirty thousand dollars to -square it.â€</p> - -<p>Taylor came at him with upraised fist. “Why, you—†he roared, “I’ll—â€</p> - -<p>Denby seized the clenched fist and thrust it aside. “You won’t,†he said -calmly; “you’re only a bully<a name="page_295" id="page_295"></a> after all, Taylor. You couldn’t graft on -your own—you had to drag a girl into it, and you’ve made me do some -pretty rotten things to-night to land you. I’ve had to make that girl -suffer, but you’ll pay for it. I’ve got you now, and you’re under -arrest.â€</p> - -<p>“Aw, quit your bluffing,†Taylor jeered; “you can’t arrest me, Denby.â€</p> - -<p>“The man who’ll arrest you is named Jones,†Denby remarked.</p> - -<p>“Who the hell is he?†Taylor cried.</p> - -<p>“Ah, yes,†Denby admitted. “I forgot that you hadn’t met him officially -and that the boys don’t know who he is either. Here’s my commission.†-Gibbs stared at the document ravenously. “And that’s my photograph,†-Denby added. “A pretty good likeness it’s usually considered.â€</p> - -<p>Duncan was now at his comrade’s side, poring over it. “It sure is,†he -agreed.</p> - -<p>“This thing,†said Gibbs the discoverer, “is made out in the name of -Richard Jones!â€</p> - -<p>“Well, do you get the initials?†Denby queried.</p> - -<p>“R. J.,†Gibbs read out as one might mystic things without meaning.</p> - -<p>“That’s me,†Denby smiled, “R. J. of the secret service. That’s the name -I’m known by.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs offered his hand. “If you’re R. J.,†he said<a name="page_296" id="page_296"></a> admiringly, “I’d -like to shake hands with you. Are you, on the level, R. J.?â€</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I am,†the other admitted.</p> - -<p>“It’s a lie,†Taylor shouted.</p> - -<p>Denby pointed to the paper. “You can’t get away from that signature. -It’s signed by the President of the United States.â€</p> - -<p>“I tell you it’s a fake,†the man cried angrily.</p> - -<p>“They don’t seem to think so,†Denby remarked equably.</p> - -<p>“This is on the level, all right,†Duncan announced after prolonged -scrutiny.</p> - -<p>Denby turned to the deputy-surveyor.</p> - -<p>“Taylor,†he said gravely, “for three years the Government has been -trying to land the big blackmailer in the Customs. They brought me into -it and I set a trap with a necklace as a bait. The whole thing was a -plant from Harlow’s tip, the telegram I sent myself this afternoon, to -the accidental dropping of the pearls, so that you could see them -through the screen. You walked right into it, Taylor. Twice before you -came and looked into other traps and had some sort of intuition and kept -out of them. This time, Taylor, it worked.â€</p> - -<p>“You can’t get away with that,†Taylor said threateningly. “I’m not -going to listen to this.<a name="page_297" id="page_297"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Wait a minute,†Denby advised him. “You’ve been in the service long -enough to know that the rough stuff won’t go. You’d only get the worst -of it; so take things easily.â€</p> - -<p>He smiled pleasantly at the other men. “I’m glad to find you boys -weren’t in on this. Take him along with you, and this, too.†He tossed -the necklace on the table from which it slid to the floor at Gibbs’ -feet.</p> - -<p>Gibbs made a quick step forward to recover it, but trod on part of the -string and crushed many of the stones. Poor Gibbs looked at the damage -he had done aghast. If the thing were worth two hundred thousand -dollars, a ponderous calculation forced the dreadful knowledge upon him -that he had destroyed possibly a quarter of them. Fifty thousand -dollars! Tears came to his eyes. “Honest to goodness,†he groaned, -looking imploringly at the august R. J., “I couldn’t help it.â€</p> - -<p>“Don’t worry,†Denby laughed. “They’re fakes. Take what’s left as -Exhibit A.â€</p> - -<p>Gibbs recovered his ease of manner quickly and took a few steps nearer -the fallen Chief. “And to think I’ve been working for a crook two years -and never knew it,†he said, with a childlike air of wonder.</p> - -<p>Taylor looked at Denby with rage and despair.</p> - -<p>“Damn you,†he exploded, “you’ve got me all<a name="page_298" id="page_298"></a> right, but I’ll send that -girl and her sister up the river. You’re stuck on her and I’ll get even -that way.â€</p> - -<p>Even in his fury he remarked that this threat did not disturb the man in -the least. He saw the girl blanch and hide her face, but this cursed -meddling R. J., as he called himself, only smiled.</p> - -<p>“I think not,†Denby returned. “You forget that Mr. Harrington is -vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company and a friend of -the late Mr. Vernon Cartwright. I hardly think he will allow a little -matter like that to come into public notice. In fact, I’ve seen him -about it already.â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, get me out of this,†Taylor cried in disgust.</p> - -<p>“Just a minute,†Denby commanded. “I’ll trouble you for that thirty -thousand dollars.â€</p> - -<p>“You think of everything, don’t you?†Taylor snarled, handing it back. -“Is that a fake, too?â€</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,†he was told, “I borrowed that from Monty, who’s been a great -help to me in this little scheme as an amateur partner.â€</p> - -<p>He put the bills in his pocket and took out the cigar Taylor had given -him.</p> - -<p>“Here’s your cigar,†he said.</p> - -<p>Taylor snatched it from him, and biting off the end, stuck it in his -mouth. He assumed a brazen air of<a name="page_299" id="page_299"></a> bravado. “Well,†he cried bragging, -“it took the biggest man in the secret service to land me, Mr. R. J., -but I’ve got some mighty good pals, in some mighty good places, and -they’ll come across for me, and don’t you forget it. After all, you’re -not the jury, and all the smart lawyers aren’t dead yet.â€</p> - -<p>“I don’t think they’ll help you this time,†Denby said. “I believe -you’ll still enjoy that winter climate.â€</p> - -<p>“Aw, come on, you dirty grafter,†Gibbs cried contemptuously, and with -his partner led the broken man away.</p> - -<p>Ethel came to his side when they were alone. “Did you really mean it -about arranging with Mr. Harrington?†she cried.</p> - -<p>He looked down at her tenderly. “Yes,†he said. “We’ve saved her.â€</p> - -<p>“And you are really R. J.?†she exclaimed wonderingly.</p> - -<p>“I really am,†he returned. “Can’t you guess how much I wanted to tell -you before? But I couldn’t you know, at first, because I thought you -might be Taylor’s accomplice. And later, I still dared not, because I -was under orders with my duty toward my Government. Can you forgive me -for making you suffer like that?<a name="page_300" id="page_300"></a>â€</p> - -<p>“Forgive you?†she whispered tenderly. “Haven’t I said I love you?â€</p> - -<p>He took her in his arms and kissed her.</p> - -<p>“And everything’s all right now, isn’t it?†she sighed happily.</p> - -<p>He looked at her whimsically.</p> - -<p>“Except that I’m hungry—are you hungry?â€</p> - -<p>“Starved,†she cried.</p> - -<p>“Let’s ask for some food,†he suggested. “Nothing would gratify Lambart -so much. But I don’t think I’ve been so hungry since I was in Paris.â€</p> - -<p>“I wish it were Paris,†she said. “Dear Paris, where I first found R. -J.â€</p> - -<p>“It shall be, whenever you say,†he answered, “and I’ll tell you all -about R. J. and the lonely life he led till he saw you.â€</p> - -<p>“And to think I could believe for a moment you were a criminal!†she -said, self-reproach in her voice, “and even try to trap you!â€</p> - -<p>“But you’ve caught me,†he said proudly.</p> - -<p>“Have I really got you, Steve?†she asked, softly, holding out her arms -to him.</p> - -<p> </p> - -<p class="c">THE END<a name="page_301" id="page_301"></a></p> - -<p> </p> - -<p class="figcenter"> -<img src="images/colophon_2.jpg" width="160" height="139" alt="" title="" /> -</p> - -<p><a name="page_302" id="page_302"></a></p> - -<p> <a name="page_303" id="page_303"></a></p> - -<p class="cb"> -<br /> -CORT THEATRE<br /> -<br /> -NEW YORK<br /> -<br /> -BEGINNING AUGUST 24th<br /> -———<br /> -COHAN’S GRAND OPERA<br /> -HOUSE, CHICAGO<br /> -<br /> -BEGINNING AUGUST 31st<br /> -———<br /> -SELWYN AND COMPANY<br /> -<br /> -PRESENT<br /> -<br /> -<span class="un"><big><big>UNDER COVER</big></big></span><br /> -<br /> -<i>A melodrama of love, mystery<br /> -and thrills</i><br /> -<br /> -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE</p> - -<p><a name="trans" id="trans"></a></p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" -style="padding:2%;border:2px dotted gray;"> -<tr><th align="center">Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:</th></tr> -<tr><td align="left">Ambassadeurs waiters <span class="errata">corraled</span>=> Ambassadeurs waiters corralled {pg 39}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">wrung his <span class="errata">hand</span> again and again=> wrung his hands again and again {pg 156}</td></tr> -<tr><td align="left">How women do gamble <span class="errata">nowaday</span>=> How women do gamble nowadays {pg 165}</td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="full" /> - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Cover, by -Roi Cooper Megrue and Wyndham Martyn - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - -***** This file should be named 40939-h.htm or 40939-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/3/40939/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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/license - - -Title: Under Cover - -Author: Roi Cooper Megrue - Wyndham Martyn - -Illustrator: William Kirkpatrick - -Release Date: October 5, 2012 [EBook #40939] -[Last updated: February 1, 2014] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - - - - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - -[The chapters in the original book pass from CHAPTER FIVE to CHAPTER -SEVEN; there is no chapter numbered SIX. A list of typographical errors -corrected follows the etext. (note of etext transcriber)] - - - - -UNDER COVER - -[Illustration: HE FOUND DENBY'S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE. - -Frontispiece. _See page 266_.] - - - - -UNDER COVER - -BY - -ROI COOPER MEGRUE - -NOVELIZED BY WYNDHAM MARTYN - -WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY -WILLIAM KIRKPATRICK - -[Illustration] - -BOSTON -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY -1914 - -_Copyright_, _1914_, -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE AND -LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. - -_All rights reserved_ - -Published August, 1914 - -THE COLONIAL PRESS -C. H. SIMONDS CO., BOSTON, U. S. A. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - -HE FOUND DENBY'S GUN UNDER HIS NOSE _Frontispiece_ - -HE TURNED TO AMY. "YOUNG WOMAN, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST" PAGE 105 - -"DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON'T YOU--DICK?" 186 - -"NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER," HE SAID. "HERE'S YOUR MONEY" 288 - - - - -UNDER COVER - - - - -CHAPTER ONE - - -Paris wears her greenest livery and puts on her most gracious airs in -early summer. When the National Fete commemorative of the Bastille's -fall has gone, there are few Parisians of wealth or leisure who remain -in their city. Trouville, Deauville, Etretat and other pleasure cities -claim them and even the bourgeoisie hie them to their summer villas. - -The city is given up to those tourists from America and England whom -Paris still persists in calling _Les Cooks_ in memory of that -enterprising blazer of cheap trails for the masses. Your true Parisian -and the stranger who has stayed within the city's gates to know her -well, find themselves wholly out of sympathy with the eager crowds who -follow beaten tracks and absorb topographical knowledge from -guide-books. - -Monty Vaughan was an American who knew his Paris in all months but those -two which are sacred to foreign travelers, and it irritated him one -blazing afternoon in late July to be persistently mistaken for a tourist -and offered silly useless toys and plans of the Louvre. The _camelots_, -those shrewd itinerant merchants of the Boulevards, pestered him -continually. These excellent judges of human nature saw in him one who -lacked the necessary harshness to drive them away and made capital of -his good nature. - -He was a slim, pleasant-looking man of five and twenty, to whom the good -things of this world had been vouchsafed, with no effort on his part to -obtain them; and in spite of this he preserved a certain frank and -boyish charm which had made him popular all his life. - -Presently on his somewhat aimless wanderings he came down the Avenue de -l'Opera and took a seat under the awning and ordered an innocuous drink. -He was in a city where he had innumerable friends, but they had all left -for the seashore and this loneliness was unpleasant to his friendly -spirit. But even in the Cafe de Paris he was not to be left alone and he -was regarded as fair game by alert hawkers. One would steal up to his -table and deposit a little measure of olives and plead for two sous in -exchange. Another would place some nuts by his side and demand a like -amount. And when they had been driven forth and he had lighted a -cigarette, he observed watching him with professional eagerness a -_ramasseur de megot_, one of those men who make a livelihood of picking -up the butts of cigars and cigarettes and selling them. - -When Monty flung down the half-smoked cigarette in hope that the man -would go away he was annoyed to find that the fellow was congratulating -himself that here was a tourist worth following, who smoked not the -wispy attenuated cigarettes of the native but one worth harvesting. He -probed for it with his long stick under the table and stood waiting for -another. - -The heat, the absence of his friends and the knowledge that he must -presently dine alone had brought the usually placid Monty into a wholly -foreign frame of mind and he rose abruptly and stalked down the Avenue. - -A depressed-looking sandwich-man, bearing a device which read, "One can -laugh uproariously at the Champs Elysees every night during the summer -months," blocked his way, and permitted a woman selling fans of the kind -known to the _camelots_ as _les petits vents du nord_ to thrust one upon -him. "Monsieur does not comprehend our heat in Paris," she said. "Buy a -little north wind. Two sous for a little north wind." - -Monty thrust a franc in her hand and turned quickly from her to carom -against a tall well-dressed man who was passing. As Monty began to utter -his apology the look of gloom dropped from his face and he seized the -stranger's hand and shook it heartily. - -"Steve, old man!" he cried, "what luck to find you amid this mob! I've -been feeling like a poor shipwrecked orphan, and here you come to my -rescue again." - -The man he addressed as Steve seemed just as pleased to behold Monty -Vaughan. The two were old comrades from the days at their preparatory -school and had met little during the past five years. Monty's ecstatic -welcome was a pleasant reminder of happy days that were gone. - -"I might ask what you are doing here," Steven Denby returned. "I -imagined you to be sunning yourself in Newport or Bar Harbor, not doing -Paris in July." - -"I've been living here for two years," Monty explained, when they were -sheltered from interruption at the cafe Monty had just left. - -"Doing what?" - -Monty looked at him with a diffident smile. "I suppose you'll grin just -like everybody else. I'm here to learn foreign banking systems. My -father says it will do me good." - -Denby laughed. "I'll bet you know less about it than I do." The idea of -Monty Vaughan, heir to the Vaughan millions, working like a clerk in the -Credit Lyonnais was amusing. - -"Does your father make you work all summer?" he demanded. - -"I'm not working now," Monty explained. "I never do unless I feel like -it. I'm waiting for a friend who is sailing with me on the Mauretania -next week and I've just had a wire to say she'll be here to-morrow." - -"She!" echoed Denby. "Have you married without my knowledge or consent? -Or is this a honey-moon trip you are taking?" - -A look of sadness came into the younger man's face. - -"I shall never marry," he returned. - -But Steven Denby knew him too well to take such expressions of gloom as -final. "Nonsense," he cried. "You are just the sort they like. You're -inclined to believe in people too much if you like them, and a husband -who believes in his wife as you will in yours is a treasure. They'll -fight for you, Monty, when you get home again. For all you know the trap -is already baited." - -"Trap!" Monty cried reproachfully. "I've been trying to make a girl -catch me for three years now and she won't." - -"Do you mean you've been finally turned down?" Steven Denby asked -curiously. It was difficult to suppose that a man of his friend's wealth -and standing would experience much trouble in offering heart and -fortune. - -"I haven't asked yet," Monty admitted. "I've been on the verge of it -hundreds of times, but she always laughs as I'm coming around to it, and -someone comes in or something happens and I've never done it." He sighed -with the deprecating manner of the devout lover. "If you'd only seen -her, Steve, you'd see what mighty little chance I stood. I feel it's a -bit of impertinence to ask a girl like that to marry me." - -Steven patted him on the arm. "You're just the same," he said, "exactly -the silly old Monty I used to know. Next time you see your charmer, risk -being impertinent and ask her to marry you. Women hate modesty nowadays. -It's just a confession of failure and we're all hitched up to success. I -don't know the girl you are speaking of but when you get home again -instead of declaring your great unworthiness, tell her you've left Paris -and its pleasures simply to marry her. Say that the Bourse begged you to -remain and guide the nation through a financial panic, but you left -them weeping and flew back on a fast Cunarder." - -"I believe you are right," Monty said. "I'll do it. I ought to have done -it years ago. Alice is frightfully disappointed with me." - -"Who is Alice?" the other demanded. "The lady you're crossing with on -the Mauretania?" - -"Yes," said Monty. "A good pal of mine; one of those up-to-date women of -the world who know what to do and say at the right moment. She's a sort -of elder sister to me. You'll like her, Steve." - -Denby doubted it but pursued the subject no further. He conceived Alice -to be one of those capable managing women who do so much good in the -world and give so little pleasure. - -"What are you doing in Paris now?" Monty presently demanded. It occurred -to him that it was odd that Denby, too, should be in the city now. - -"Writing a book on the Race Courses of the World," he said, smiling. "I -am now in the midst of Longchamps." - -Monty looked at him doubtfully. He had never known that his friend had -any literary aspirations, but he did remember him as one who, if he did -not choose to tell, would invent airy fairy fancies to deceive. - -"I don't believe it," he said. - -"You are quite right," Denby admitted. "You've got the key to the -mystery. I'll confess that I have been engaged to guard Mona Lisa. -Suspicious looking tourists such as you engage my special attention. -Don't get offended, Monty," he added, "I'm just wandering through the -city on my way to England and that's the truth, simple as it may seem. I -was desolate and your pleasing countenance as you bought a franc's worth -of north wind was good to see. I wondered if you'd remember me." - -"Remember you!" Monty snorted. "Am I the kind to forget a man who saved -my life?" - -"Who did that?" Denby inquired. - -"Why, you did," he returned, "You pulled me out of the Nashua river at -school!" - -The other man laughed. "Why, it wasn't five feet deep there." - -"I can drown anywhere," Monty returned firmly. "You saved my life and -I've never had the opportunity to do anything in return." - -"The time will come," Denby said lightly. "You'll get a mysterious -message sometime and it will be up to you to rescue me from dreadful -danger." - -"I'd like to," the other retorted, "but I'm not sure I'm cut out for -that rescue business." - -"Have you ever been--" Denby hesitated. "Have you ever been in any sort -of danger?" - -"Yes," Monty replied promptly, "but you pulled me out." - -"Please don't go about repeating it," Denby entreated, "I have enemies -enough without being blamed for pulling you out of the Nashua river." - -Monty looked at him in astonishment. Here was the most popular boy in -Groton School complaining of enemies. Monty felt a thrill that had -something of enjoyment in it. His own upbringing had been so free from -any danger and his parents had safeguarded him from so much trouble that -he had found life insipid at times. Yet here was a man talking of -enemies. It was fascinating. - -"Do you mean it?" he demanded. - -"Why not?" said Denby, rolling himself a cigarette. - -"You hadn't any at school," Monty insisted. - -"That was a dozen years ago nearly," Denby insisted. "Since then--" He -paused. "My career wouldn't interest you, my financial expert, but I am -safe in saying I have accumulated a number of persons who do not wish me -well." - -"You must certainly meet Alice," Monty asserted. "She's like you. She -often says I'm the only really uninteresting person she's fond of." - -Denby assured himself that Alice would not interest him in the slightest -degree and made haste to change the subject, but Monty held on to his -chosen course. - -"We'll all dine together to-morrow night," he cried. - -"I'm afraid I'm too busy." - -"Too busy to dine with Alice Harrington when you've the opportunity?" -Monty exclaimed. "Are you a woman-hater?" - -A more observant man might have noted the sudden change in expression -that the name Harrington produced in Steven Denby. He had previously -been bored at the idea of meeting a woman who he concluded would be -eager to impart her guide-book knowledge. Alice evidently had meant -nothing to him, but Alice Harrington roused a sudden interest. - -"Not by any chance Mrs. Michael Harrington?" he queried. - -Monty nodded. "The same. She and Michael are two of the best friends I -have. He's a great old sport and she's hurrying back because he has to -stay on and can't get over this year." Monty flushed becomingly. "I'm -going back with her because Nora is going to stay down in Long Island -with them." - -"Introduce me to Nora," Denby insisted. "She is a new motif in your -jocund song. Who is Nora, what is she, that Monty doth commend her?" - -"She's the girl," Monty explained. He sighed. "If you only knew how -pretty she was, you wouldn't talk about a trap being baited. I don't -think women are the good judges they pretend to be!" - -"Why not?" Denby demanded. - -"Because Alice says she'd accept me and I don't believe I stand a ghost -of a chance." - -"Women are the only judges," Denby assured him seriously. "If I were you -I'd bank on your friend Alice every time." - -"Then you'll dine with me to-morrow?" Monty asked. - -"Of course. You don't suppose I am going to lose sight of you, do you?" - -And Monty, grateful that this admired old school friend was so ready to -join him, forgot the previous excuse about inability to spare the time. - -"That's fine," he exclaimed. "But what are we going to do to-night?" - -"You are going to dine with me," Denby told him. "I haven't seen you, -let me see," he reflected, "I haven't seen you for about ten years and I -want to talk over the old days. What do you say to trying some of -Marguery's _sole a la Normandie?_" - -During the course of the dinner Monty talked frankly and freely about -his past, present and future. Denby learned that in view of the great -wealth which would devolve upon him, his father had determined that he -should become grounded in finance. When he had finished, he reflected -that while he had opened his soul to his old friend, his old friend had -offered no explanation of what in truth brought him to Europe, or why he -had for almost a decade dropped out of his old set. - -"But what have you been doing?" Monty gathered courage to ask. "I've -told you all about me and mine, Steve." - -"There isn't much to tell," Denby responded slowly. "I left Groton -because my father died. I'm afraid he wasn't a shrewd man like your -father, Monty. He was one of the last relics of New York's brown-stone -age and he tried to keep the pace when the marble age came in. He -couldn't do it." - -"You were going into the diplomatic service," Monty reminded him. "You -used to specialize in modern languages, I remember. I suppose you had to -give that up." - -"I had to try to earn my own living," Denby explained, "and diplomacy -doesn't pay much at first even if you have the luck to get an -appointment." - -Monty looked at him shrewdly. He saw a tall, well set up man who had -every appearance of affluence. - -"You've done pretty well for yourself." - -Denby smiled, "The age demands that a man put up a good appearance. A -financier like you ought not to be deceived." - -Monty leaned over the table. "Steve, old man," he said, a trifle -nervously, "I don't want to butt in on your private affairs, but if you -ever want any money you'll offend me if you don't let me know. I've too -much and that's a fact. Except for putting a bit on Michael's horses -when they run and a bit of a flutter occasionally at Monte Carlo I don't -get rid of much of it. I've got heaps. Do you want any?" - -"Monty," the other man said quietly, "you haven't altered. You are still -the same generous boy I remember and it's good for a man like me to know -that. I don't need any money, but if ever I do I'll come to you." - -Monty sighed with relief. His old idol was not hard up and he had not -been offended at the suggestion. It was a good world and he was happy. - -"Steve," he asked presently, "what did you mean about having enemies and -being in danger? That was a joke, wasn't it?" - -"We most of us have enemies," Steven said lightly, "and we are all in -danger. For all you know ptomaines are gathering their forces inside you -even now." - -"You didn't mean that," Monty said positively. "You were serious. What -enemies?" - -"Enemies I have made in the course of my work," the other returned. - -"Well, what work is it?" Monty queried. It was odd, he thought, that -Denby would not let him into so harmless a secret as the nature of his -work. He felt an unusual spirit of persistence rising within him. "What -work?" he repeated. - -Denby shrugged his shoulders. "You might call it a little irregular," he -said in a lowered voice. "You represent high finance. Your father is one -of the big men in American affairs. You probably have his set views on -things. I don't want to shock you, Monty." - -"Shock be damned!" cried Monty in an aggrieved voice. "I'm tired of -having to accommodate myself to other people's views." - -Denby looked at him with mock wonder. - -"Monty in revolt at the established order of things is a most remarkable -phenomenon. Have you a pirate in your family tree that you sigh for -sudden change and a life on the ocean wave?" - -Monty laughed. "I don't want to do anything like that but I'm tired of -a life that is always the same. You've enemies. I don't believe I've -one. I'd like to have an enemy, Steve. I'd like to feel I was in danger; -it would be a change after being wrapped in wool all my life. You've -probably seen the world in a way I never shall. I've been on a -personally conducted tour, which isn't the same thing." - -"Not by a long shot," Steven Denby agreed. "But," he added, "why should -you want to take the sort of risks that I have had to take, when there's -no need? I have been in danger pretty often, Monty, and I shall again. -Why? Because I have my living to make and that way suits me best. You -notice I am sitting with my back to the wall so that none can come -behind me. I do that because two revengeful gentlemen have sworn -bloodthirsty oaths to relieve my soul of its body." - -Monty tingled with a certain pleasurable apprehension which had never -before visited him. He was experiencing in real life what had only -revealed itself before in novels or on the stage. - -"What are they like?" he demanded in a low voice, looking around. - -"Disappointing, I'm afraid," Steven answered. "You are looking for a -tall man with a livid scar running from temple to chin and a look before -which even a waiter would blanch. Both my men have mild expressions and -wouldn't attract a second glance, but they'll either get me or I'll get -them." - -"Steve!" Monty cried. "What did they do?" - -Denby made a careless gesture. "It was over a money matter," he -explained. - -Monty thought for a moment in silence. Never had his conventional lot -seemed less attractive to him. He approached the subject again as do -timid men who fearfully hang on the outskirts of a street fight, -unwilling to miss what they have not the heart to enjoy. - -"I wish some excitement like that would come my way," he sighed. - -"Excitement? Go to Monte and break the bank. Become the Jaggers of your -country." - -"There's no danger in that," Monty answered almost peevishly. - -"Nor of it," laughed his friend. - -"That's just the way it always is," Monty complained. "Other fellows -have all the fun and I just hear about it." - -Denby looked at him shrewdly and then leaned across the table. - -"So you want some fun?" he queried. - -"I do," the other said firmly. - -"Do you think you've got the nerve?" Steven demanded. - -Monty hesitated. "I don't want to be killed," he admitted. "What is it?" - -"I didn't tell you how I made a living, but I hinted my ways were a bit -irregular. What I have to propose is also a trifle out of the usual. The -law and the equator are both imaginary lines, Monty, and I'm afraid my -little expedition may get off the line. I suppose you don't want to hear -any more, do you?" - -Monty's eyes were shining with excitement. "I'm going to hear everything -you've got to say," he asserted. - -"It means I've got to put myself in your power in a way," Denby said -hesitatingly, "but I'll take a chance because you're the kind of man who -can keep things secret." - -"I am," Monty said fervently. "Just you try me out, Steve!" - -"It has to do with a string of pearls," Denby explained, "and I'm afraid -I shall disappoint you when I tell you I'm proposing to pay for them -just as any one else might do." - -"Oh!" said Monty. "Is that all?" - -"When I buy these pearls, as you will see me do, with Bank of France -notes, they belong to me, don't they?" - -"Sure they do," Monty exclaimed. "They are yours to do as you like -with." - -"That's exactly how I feel about it," Denby said. "It happens to be my -particular wish to take those pearls back to my native land." - -"Then for heaven's sake do it," Monty advised. "What's hindering you?" - -"A number of officious prying hirelings called customs officials. They -admit that the pearls aren't improved by the voyage, yet they want me to -pay a duty of twenty per cent. if I take them home with me." - -"So you're going to smuggle 'em," Monty cried. "That's a cinch!" - -"Is it?" Denby returned slowly. "It might have been in the past, but -things aren't what they were in the good old days. They're sending even -society women to jail now as well as fining them. The whole service from -being a joke has become efficient. I tell you there's risk in it, and -believe me, Monty, I know." - -"Where would I come in?" the other asked. - -"You'd come in on the profits," Denby explained, "and you'd be a help as -well." - -"Profits?" Monty queried. "What profits?" - -Denby laughed. "You simple child of finance, do you think I'm buying a -million-franc necklace to wear about my own fair neck? I can sell it at -a fifty thousand dollar profit in the easiest sort of way. There are -avenues by which I can get in touch with the right sort of buyers -without any risk. My only difficulty is getting the thing through the -customs. It's up to you to get your little excitement if you're game." - -Monty shut his eyes and felt as one does who is about to plunge for the -first swim of the season into icy water. It was one thing to talk about -danger in the abstract and another to have it suddenly offered him. - -Steven had talked calmly about men who wanted to part his soul from his -body as though such things were in no way out of the ordinary. Suppose -these desperate beings assumed Montague Vaughan to be leagued with -Steven Denby and as such worthy of summary execution! But he put aside -these fears and turned to his old friend. - -"I'm game," he said, "but I'm not in this for the profits." Now he was -once committed to it, his spirits began to rise. "What about the -danger?" he asked. - -"There may be none at all," the other admitted. "If there is it may be -slight. If by any chance it is known to certain crooks that I have it -with me there may be an attempt to get it. Naturally they won't ask me -pleasantly to hand it over, they'll take it by force. That's one danger. -Then I may be trailed by the customs people, who could be warned through -secret channels that I have it and am purposing to smuggle it in." - -"But what can I do?" Monty asked. He was anxious to help but saw little -opportunity. - -"You can tell me if any people follow me persistently while we're -together in Paris or whether the same man happens to sit next to me at -cafes or any shows we take in." He paused a moment, "By Jove, Monty, -this means I shall have to book a passage on the Mauretania!" - -"That's the best part of it," Monty cried. - -"But Mrs. Harrington," Denby said. "She might not like it." - -"Alice can't choose a passenger list," Monty exclaimed; "and she'll be -glad to have any old friend of mine." - -"That's a thing I want to warn you of," the other man said. "I don't -want you to give away too many particulars about me. Don't persist in -that fable about my saving your life. Know me just enough to vouch to -her that I'm house-broken but don't get to the point where we have to -discuss common friends. I have my reasons, Monty, which I'll explain -later on. I don't court publicity this trip and I don't want any -reporter to jump aboard at Quarantine and get interested in me." - -"I see," cried the sapient Monty and felt he was plunging at last into -dark doings and mysterious depths. "But how am I to warn you if you're -followed? I shall be with you and we ought not to let on that we know." -He felt in that moment the hours he had spent with detective novels had -been time well spent. - -"We must devise something," Denby agreed, "and something simple." He -meditated for a moment. "Here's an idea. If you should think I'm being -followed or you want me to understand that something unusual is up, just -say without any excitement, 'Will you have a cigarette, Dick?'" - -"But why 'Dick,'" Monty cried, "when you're Steve!" - -"For that very reason," Denby explained. "If you said Steve merely I -shouldn't notice it, but if you say Dick I shall be on the _qui vive_ at -once." - -"Great idea!" cried his fellow conspirator enthusiastically. "When do -you buy them?" - -"I've an appointment at Cartier's at eleven. Want to come?" - -"You bet I do," Monty asserted, "I'm going through with it from start to -finish." - -He looked at his friend a little anxiously. "What is the worst sort of a -finish we might expect if the luck ran against us?" - -"As you won't come in on the profits, you shan't take any risks," Denby -said. "If you agree to help me as we suggested that's all I require of -you. In case I should not get by, you can explain me away as a passing -acquaintance merely. Don't kick against the umpire's decision," he -commanded. "If they halved the sentence because two were in it I might -claim your help all the way, but they'd probably double it for -conspiracy, so you'd be a handicap. You'll get a run for your money, -Monty, all right." - -"I'm not so sure," said Monty doubtfully. - -Denby fell into the bantering style the other knew so well. "There's one -thing I'll warn you about," he said. "If a very beautiful young woman -makes your acquaintance on board, by accident of course, don't tell her -what life seems to you as is your custom. She may be an agent of the -Russian secret police with an assignment to take you to Siberia. She may -force you to marry her at a pistol's point and cost your worthy -progenitor a million. Be careful, Monty. You're in a wicked world and -you've a sinful lot of money, and these big ships attract all that is -brightest and best in the criminal's Who's Who." - -Monty shivered a bit. "I never thought of that," he said innocently. - -"Then you'd better begin now," his mentor suggested, "and have for once -a voyage where you won't be bored." - -He glanced at the clock. "It's later than I thought and I have to be up -early. I'll walk to your hotel." - -During the short walk Monty glanced apprehensively over his shoulder a -score of times. Out of the shadows it seemed to him that mysterious men -stared evilly and banded themselves together until a procession followed -the two Americans. But Denby paid no sort of attention to these -problematic followers. - -"Wait till I've got the pearls on me," he whispered mischievously. "Then -you'll see some fun." - - - - -CHAPTER TWO - - -Although the carriages and automobiles of the wealthy were no longer -three deep in the Rue de la Paix, as they had been earlier in the -season, this ravishing thoroughfare was crowded with foot-passengers as -Monty and his friend made their way under the red and white awnings of -the shops into Cartier's. - -The transaction took very little time. The manager of the place seemed -to be expecting his client, to whom he accorded the respect that even a -Rue de la Paix jeweler may pay to a million-franc customer. Bank of -France notes of high denominations were passed to him and Steven Denby -received a small, flat package and walked out into the sunshine with it. - -"Now," said the owner of the pearls, "guard me as you would your honor, -Monty; the sport begins, and I am now probably pursued by a half dozen -of the super-crooks of high class fiction." - -"I wish you'd be serious," Monty said plaintively. - -"I am," Denby assured him. "But I rely on your protection, so feel more -light-hearted than I should otherwise." - -"You are laughing at me," Monty protested. - -"I want you to look a little less like a detected criminal," Denby -returned. - -"If I happened to be a detective after a criminal I should arrest you on -sight. You keep looking furtively about as though you'd done murder and -bloodhounds were on your track." - -"Well, they are on our track," Monty said excitedly, and then whispered -thrillingly: "Have a cigarette, Dick." There was trembling triumph in -his voice. He felt he had justified himself in his friend's eyes. - -"What is it?" Denby asked with no show of excitement. - -"There was a man in Cartier's who watched us all the time," Monty -confided. "He is on our trail now. We're being shadowed, Steve. It's all -up!" - -"Nonsense!" his companion cried. "There's nothing compromising in buying -a pearl necklace. I didn't steal it." - -Suddenly he turned around and looked at the man Monty indicated. His -face cleared. "That's Harlow. He's one of Cartier's clerks, who looks -after American women's wants. Don't worry about him." - -By this time the two had come to the Tuileries, that paradise for the -better class Parisian children. Denby pointed to a seat. "Sit down -there," he commanded, "while I see what Harlow wants." - -Obediently Monty took a seat and watched the man he had mistaken for a -detective from the corner of his eye. Denby chatted confidentially with -him for fully five minutes and then, it seemed to the watcher, passed a -small packet into his hand. The man nodded a friendly adieu and walked -rapidly out of sight. For a few seconds Denby stood watching and then -rejoined his friend. - -"Anything the matter?" the timorous one demanded eagerly. - -"Why should there be?" Denby returned. "Don't worry, Monty, there's -nothing to get nervous about yet." - -Monty remembered the confidential conversation between the two. - -"He seemed to have a lot to tell you," he insisted. - -Denby smiled. "He did; but he came as a friend. Harlow wanted to warn me -that while I was buying the necklace a stranger was mightily interested -and asked Harlow what he knew about me." - -"There you are," Monty gasped excitedly, "I told you it was all up. Did -Harlow know who the man was?" - -"He suspected him of being a customs spy. Our customs service takes the -civilized world as its hunting ground and Paris is specially beloved of -it." - -"What are you going to do?" Monty asked when he had looked suspiciously -at an amiable old priest who went ambling by. "They'll get you." - -"They may," Denby said, "but the interested gentleman at Cartier's -won't." - -"But he knows all about you," Monty persisted. "It will be dead easy." - -"He doesn't," the other returned. "Harlow took the liberty of -transforming me into an Argentine ranch owner of unbounded wealth about -to purchase a mansion in the Parc Monceau." - -"That was mighty good of him," Monty cried in relief. "That fellow -Harlow is certainly all right." - -Denby smiled a trifle oddly, Monty thought. "His kind ways have won him -a thousand dollars," he returned. "Did you see me pass him something?" - -Monty nodded. - -"Well, that was five thousand francs. I passed it to him, not in the -least because I believe in the mythical stranger--" - -"What do you mean?" the amazed Monty exclaimed. It seemed to him he was -getting lost in a world of whose existence he had been unaware. - -"Simply this," Denby told him, "that I disbelieve Harlow's story and am -not as easily impressed by kind faces as you are. I think Harlow's -inquisitive stranger was a fake." - -Monty looked at him with a superior air. "And you mean to say," he said -with the air of one who has studied financial systems, "that you handed -over a thousand dollars without verifying it? I call that being easy." - -"It's this way," Denby explained patiently. "Harlow knows I have the -necklace and he's in a position to know on what boat I sail. If I had -not remembered that I owed him five thousand francs just now he might -have informed the customs that I had bought a million-franc necklace and -I should have been marked down as one to whom a special search must be -made if I didn't declare it." - -"But if he's a clerk in Cartier's what has he to do with the customs?" -Monty asked. - -"Perhaps he is underpaid," the other returned. "Perhaps he is -extravagant--I've seen him at the races and noticed that he patronized -the _pari mutuel_--perhaps he has a wife and twelve children. I'll leave -it to you to decide, but I dare not take a risk." - -Monty shivered. "It looks to me as if we were going to have a hell of a -time." - -"A little excitement possibly," Denby said airily, "but nothing to -justify language like that, though. You ought to have been with me last -year at Buenos Ayres, Monty, and I could have shown you some sport." - -"I don't think I'm built for a life like that," Monty admitted, and then -reflected that this friend of his was an exceedingly mysterious being of -whose adult life and adventures he knew nothing. For an uneasy moment he -hoped his father would never discover this association, but there soon -prevailed the old boyish spirit of hero-worship. Steven Denby might not -conform to some people's standards, but he felt certain he would do -nothing criminal. One had to live, Monty reflected, and his father -complained constantly of hard times. - -"What sort of sport was it?" he hazarded. - -"It had to do with the secret of a torpedo controlled by wireless," -Denby said. "A number of governments were after it and there collected -in Buenos Ayres the choicest collection of high-grade adventurers that I -have ever seen. Some day when I'm through with this pearl trouble I'll -tell you about it." - -But what Denby had carelessly termed "pearl trouble" was quite -sufficient for the less experienced man. He had a vivid imagination, -more vivid now than at any period of his career. Paris was full of -Apaches, he knew, and not all spent their days lying in the sun outside -the barriers. Supposing one sprang from behind a tree and fell upon -Denby and seized the precious package whose outline was discernible -through the breast pocket of his coat. Monty suddenly took upon himself -the role of an adviser. - -"It's no use taking unnecessary risks," he said. "I saw you put those -pearls in your breast pocket, and there were at least six people who had -the same opportunity as I. It's just putting temptation in the way of a -thief." - -"I welcome this outbreak of caution on your part," said Denby, laughing -at his expression of anxiety, "but you'll need it on board ship most. -The greatest danger is that a couple of crooks may rob me and then pitch -me overboard. Monty, for the sake of our boyhood recollections, don't -let them throw me overboard." - -"Now you are laughing at me," Monty said a trifle sulkily. - -"What do you want me to do?" Denby demanded. - -"Put those pearls in some other place," he returned stubbornly. - -Denby made a pass or two in the air as conjurers do when they perform -their marvels. - -"It's done," he cried. "From what part of my anatomy or yours shall I -produce them?" - -"There you go," Monty exclaimed helplessly, "you won't be serious. I'm -getting all on the jump." - -"A cigarette will soothe you," Denby told him, taking a flat leathern -pouch from his pocket and offering it to the other. - -"I can't roll 'em," Monty protested. - -"Then a look at my tobacco has a soothing effect," the elder man -insisted. "I grow it in my private vineyard in Ruritania." - -Monty turned back the leather flap to look at his friend's private brand -and saw nestling in a place where once tobacco might have reposed a -necklace of pearls for which a million of francs had been paid. - -"Good Lord!" Monty gasped. "How did you do it?" - -"A correspondence school course in legerdemain," Steven explained. "It -comes in handy at times." - -"But I didn't see you do it and I was watching." - -"An unconscious tribute to my art," Denby replied. "Monty, I thank you." - -Monty grew less anxious. If Steven had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve -there was no reason to suppose he must fail. - -"I don't think you need my advice," he admitted. "It doesn't seem I can -help you." - -"You may be able to help a great deal," Denby said more seriously, "but -I don't want you to act as if you were a criminal. Pass it off easily. -Of course,"--he hesitated,--"I've had more experience in this sort of -thing than you, and am more used to being up against it, but it will -never do if you look as anxiously at everybody on the Mauretania as you -do at the passers-by here. You can help me particularly by observing if -I am the subject of special scrutiny." - -"That will be a cinch," Monty asserted. - -"Then start right away," his mentor commanded. "We have been under -observation for the last five minutes by someone I've never laid eyes on -before." - -"Good Lord!" Monty cried. "It was that old priest who stared at us. I -knew he was a fake. That was a wig he had on!" - -"Try again," Denby suggested. "It happens to be a woman and a very -handsome one. As we went into Cartier's she passed in a taxi. I only -thought then that she was a particularly charming American or English -woman out on a shopping expedition. When we came out she was in one of -those expensive _couturier's_ opposite, standing at an upper window -which commands a view of Cartier's door. They may have been -coincidences, but at the present moment, although we are sauntering -along the Champs Elysees, she is pursuing us in another taxi. She has -passed us once. When she went by she told the chauffeur to turn, but he -was going at such a pace that he couldn't pull up in time. He has just -turned and is now bearing down on us. Take a look at the lady, Monty, so -you will know her again." - -A sense of dreadful responsibility settled on Montague Vaughan. He was -now entering upon his role of Denby's aid and must in a few seconds be -brought face to face with what was unquestionably an adventuress of the -highest class. He knew all about them from fiction. She would have the -faintest foreign accent, be wholly charming and free from vulgarity, and -yet like Keats' creation be a _belle dame sans merci_. But, he wondered -uneasily, what would be his role if his friend fell victim to her -charms? - -He was startled out of his vain imaginings when Denby exclaimed: "By all -that's wonderful, she seems to know one of us, and it's not I! You're -the fortunate man, Monty." - -A pretty woman with good features and laughing eyes was certainly -looking out of a taxi and smiling right at him. And when he realized -this, Monty's depression was lifted and he sprang forward to meet her. -"It's Alice," he cried. - -Denby, following more leisurely, was introduced to her. - -"I came last night," she explained. "Michael's horse won and there was -no more interest in Deauville or Trouville and as I must buy some things -I came on here as soon as I could. I thought I saw you in Cartier's," -she explained, "and tried to make you see me when you came out, but only -Mr. Denby looked my way so I dared not make any signs of welcome." - -She seemed exceedingly happy to be in Paris again, and Denby, looking at -her with interest, knew he was in the company of one of the most notable -and best liked of the smart hostesses among the sporting set on Long -Island. The Harringtons were enormously rich and lived at a great estate -near Westbury, not far from the Meadow Brook Club. The Directory of -Directors showed the name of Michael Harrington in a number of -influential companies, but of recent years his interest in business had -slackened and he was more interested in the development of his estate -and the training of his thoroughbreds than in Wall Street activities. - -For her part she took him, although the name was totally unfamiliar, as -a friend of Monty's, and was prepared to like him. Whereas an -Englishwoman of her class might have been insistent to discover whether -any of his immediate ancestors had been engaged in retail trade before -she accepted him as an equal, Alice Harrington was willing to take -people on their face value and retain them on their merits. - -She saw a tall, well-bred man with strong features and that air of -_savoir faire_ which is not easy of assumption. She felt instantly that -he was the sort of man Michael would like. He talked about racing as -though he knew, and that alone would please her husband. - -"I've spent so much money," she said presently, "that I shall dismiss -this taxi-man and walk. One can walk in Paris with two men, whereas one -may be a little pestered alone." - -"Fine," Monty cried. "We'll go and lunch somewhere. What place strikes -your fancy?" - -"Alas," she said, "I'm booked already. I have an elderly relation in the -Boulevard Haussmann who stays here all summer this year on account of -alterations in the house which she superintends personally, and I've -promised." - -"I hope she hasn't sacrificed you at a dinner table, too," Denby said, -"because if you are free to-night you'd confer a blessing on a fellow -countryman if you'd come with Monty and me to the Ambassadeurs. Polin -is funnier than ever." - -"I'd love to," she cried. "You have probably delivered me from my aunt's -dismal dinner. I hadn't an engagement but now I can swear to one -truthfully. Men are usually so vain that if you say you're dreadfully -sorry but you've another engagement they really believe it. The dear -things think no other cause would make a woman refuse. But my aunt would -interrogate me till I faltered and contradicted myself." - -They left her later at one of those great mansions in the Boulevard -Haussmann. The house was enlaced with scaffolding and workmen swarmed -over its roof. - -"It's old Miss Woodwarde's house," Monty explained. "She's worth -millions and will probably leave it to Alice, who doesn't need any, -because she's the only one of all her relatives who speaks the truth and -doesn't fawn and flatter." - -"It takes greater strength of mind than poor relations usually have, to -tell rich relatives the truth," Steven reminded him. - -Monty had evidently recovered his good spirits. "I knew you'd like her," -he said later, "and I knew she'd take to you. We'll have a corking -dinner and a jolly good time." - -"There's one thing I want to ask of you," Denby said gravely. "Don't -give any particulars about me. If she's the sort I think her she won't -ask, but you've got a bad habit of wanting people to hear how I fished -you out of the river. I want to slip into New York without any -advertisement of the fact. I'm not the son of a plutocrat as you are. -I'm the hard-up son of a man who was once rich but is now dead and -forgotten." - -"Do hard-up men hand a million francs across for a string of pearls to -put in their tobacco-pouches?" Monty demanded shrewdly. - -"You may regard that as an investment if you like," Denby answered. "It -may be all my capital is tied up in it." - -"You're gambling for a big stake then," Monty said seriously. "Is it -worth it, old man?" - -For a moment he had an idea of offering him a position in some of the -great corporations in which his father was interested, but refrained. -Steven Denby was not the kind of man to brook anything that smacked of -patronage and he feared his offer might do that although otherwise -meant. - -"It means a whole lot more to me than you can think," Denby returned. "I -have made up my mind to do it and I think I can get away with it in just -the way I have mapped out." Then, with a smile: "Monty, I've a proper -respect for your imaginative genius, but I'd bet you the necklace to the -tobacco-pouch that you don't understand how much I want to get that -string of pearls through the customs." - -"The pouch is yours," Monty conceded generously. "How should I guess? -How do I know who's a smuggler or who isn't? Alice says she always gets -something through and for all I know may have a ruby taken from the eye -of a Hindoo god in her back hair!" - -He looked at his friend eagerly, a new thought striking him. He often -surprised himself in romantic ideas, ideas for which Nora was -responsible. - -"Perhaps you are taking it for someone, someone you're fond of," he -suggested. - -"Why not?" Denby returned. "If I were really fond of any woman I'd risk -more than that to please her." - -Monty noticed that he banished the subject by speaking of Alice -Harrington's _penchant_ for smuggling. - -"I hope Mrs. Harrington won't run any risks," he said. "In her case it -is absolutely senseless and unnecessary." - -"Oh, they'd never get after her," Monty declared. "She's too big. They -get after the little fellows but they'd leave Mrs. Michael Harrington -alone." - -"Don't you believe it," his friend answered. "They're doing things -differently now. They're getting a different class of men in the -Collector's office." - -"I suppose you'd like the old style better," Monty observed. - -"Oh, I don't know," said the other. "It's more risky now and so one has -to be cleverer. I've often heard it said the hounds have all the fun and -the fox none. - -"I'm not so sure of that, Monty; I think a fox that can fool thirty -couple of hounds and get back to his earth ought to be a gladsome -animal." - -"I'll find out when we're in West Street, New York," Monty said grimly. -"I'll take particular notice of how this fox acts and where the hounds -are. If you harp on this any more I shall lose my appetite. What about -Voisin's?" - -"Eat lightly," Denby counseled him. "I'm going to treat you to a -remarkable meal to-night; I know the chef at the Ambassadeurs, and the -wine-steward feeds out of my hand." - -"I don't see why you shouldn't buy necklaces like that if you have those -Ambassadeurs waiters corralled. They soaked me six francs for a single -peach once," Monty said reminiscently. But he wondered, all the same, -how it was Steven should be able to fling money away as he chose. - -His friend looked at him shrewdly. "You're thinking I ought to patronize -the excellent Duval," he observed. "Well, sometimes I do. I think I've -patronized most places in Paris once." - -"Steve, you're a mystery," Monty asserted. - -"I hope I am," said the other; "I make my living out of being just -that." - -They walked in silence to the Rue St. Honore, Monty still a bit uneasy -at being in a crowded place with a friend in whose pocket was a million -francs' worth of precious stones. Once or twice as the pocket gaped open -he caught a glimpse of the worn pigskin pouch. Steven was taking wholly -unnecessary risks, he thought. - -As they were leaving Voisin's together after their luncheon it happened -that Monty walked behind his friend through the door. Deftly he inserted -his hand into the gaping pocket and removed the pouch to his own. He -chuckled to think of the object lesson he would presently dilate upon. - -When they were near one of those convenient seats which Paris provides -for her street-living populace Monty suggested a minute's rest. - -With an elaborate gesture he took out the pouch and showed it to Denby. - -"Did you ever see this before?" he demanded. - -"I've got one just like it," his friend returned without undue interest. -"Useful things, aren't they, and last so much longer than the rubber -ones?" - -"My pouch," said Monty, beginning to enjoy his own joke, "looks better -inside than outside. I keep in it tobacco I grow in my private orchid -house. Look!" - -He pulled back the flap and held it out to Denby. - -Denby gazed in it obediently with no change of countenance. - -"You're not a heavy smoker, are you?" he returned. - -Instantly Monty gazed into it. It was empty except for a shred of -tobacco. - -"Good God!" he cried. "They've been stolen from me and they put the -pouch back!" - -"What has?" the other exclaimed. - -"The pearls," Monty groaned. "I took them for a joke, and now they're -gone!" - -He looked apprehensively at Steven, meditating meanwhile how quickly he -could turn certain scrip he held into ready money. - -Steven evinced no surprise. Instead he rose from his seat and placed a -foot upon it as though engaged in tying a lace. But he pointed to the -cuff on the bottom of the trouser leg that was on the seat by Monty's -side. And Monty, gazing as he was bid, saw his friend's slender fingers -pick therefrom a string of pearls. - -"I know no safer place," Denby commented judicially. "Of course the -customs fellows are on to it, but no pickpocket who ever lived can get -anything away from you if you cache it there. On board ship I shall -carry it in my pocket, but this is the best place in Paris when one is -in strange company." - -Monty said no word. His relief was too great and he felt weak and -helpless. - -"What's the matter?" Denby demanded. - -"I want a drink," Monty returned, "but it isn't on you." - - - - -CHAPTER THREE - - -THERE are still restaurants in Paris where a well chosen dinner delights -the chef who is called upon to cook it and the waiters who serve. And -although it is true that most of the diners of to-day know little of -that art which is now disappearing, it happened that Steven Denby was -one who delighted the heart of the Ambassadeurs' chef. - -Monty was a happy soul who had never been compelled to consult his -pocketbook in a choice of restaurants, and Mrs. Michael Harrington was -married to a gourmand who well distinguished the difference between that -and the indefensible fault of gluttony. Thus both of Denby's guests were -in a sense critical. They admitted that they had dined with one who -agreed with Dumas' dictum that a dinner is a daily and capital action -that can only worthily be accomplished by _gens d'esprit_. - -There are few places in Paris where a dinner in summer can be more -pleasantly eaten than the balcony at the Ambassadeurs, among slim -pillars of palest green and banks of pink roses. In the distance--not -too near to be disturbed by the performers unless they chose--the three -Americans saw that idol of the place, the great Polin at his best. -French waiters do not bring courses on quickly with the idea of using -the table a second time during the dining-hour. The financial genius who -calculates _l'addition_ knows a trick worth two of that. - -Still a little anxious that Denby might not be able to stand the -expense, Monty fell to thinking of the charges that Parisian -restaurateurs can make. "They soaked me six francs for a peach here -once," he said for the second time that day. - -"That's nothing to what Bignon used to charge," Alice Harrington -returned. "Once when Michael's father was dining there he was charged -fifteen francs. When he said they must be very scarce in Paris, Bignon -said it wasn't the peaches that were scarce, it was the Harringtons." - -"Good old Michael," said Monty, "I wish he were here. Why isn't he?" - -"Something is being reorganized and the other people want his advice." -She laughed. "I suppose he is really good at that sort of thing, but he -gets so hopelessly muddled over small accounts that I can't believe it. -He was fearfully sorry not to have seen his colt run at Deauville. I -shall have to tell him all about it." - -"I read the account," said Denby. "St. Mervyn was the name, wasn't it?" - -She nodded. "He won by a short head. Michael always likes to beat French -horses. I'm afraid he isn't as fond of the country as I am. The only -thing he really likes here is the _heure de l'aperitif_. He declares it -lasts from four-thirty till seven." She laughed. "He has carried the -habit home with him." - -"Did you win anything?" Denby asked. - -"Enough to buy some presents at Cartier's," she returned. "I've bought -something very sweet for Nora Rutledge," she said, turning to Monty. -"Aren't you curious to know what? It's a pearl la valliere." - -"Then for Heaven's sake, declare it!" Monty cried. - -"Oh, no," she said, "I'll pay if it's found, but it's a sporting risk to -take and you can't make me believe smuggling's wrong. Michael says it's -a Democratic device to rob Republican women." - -"Ask Mr. Denby," Monty retorted. "He knows." - -"And what do you know, Mr. Denby?" she demanded. - -"That the customs people and the state department see no humor in that -sort of a joke any longer. You read surely that society women even have -been imprisoned for taking sporting risks?" - -"Milliners who make a practice of getting things through on their annual -trip," she said lightly. "Of course one wouldn't make a business of it, -but I've always smuggled little things through and I always shall." - -"Well, I wouldn't if I were you," said Monty. "Mr. Denby has frightened -me." - -Alice Harrington looked at him curiously. - -"Have you been caught?" she asked with a smile. - -"I've seen others caught," he returned, "and if any sister of mine had -to suffer as they did by the publicity and the investigation the customs -people are empowered and required to make, I should feel rather -uncomfortable." - -"What a depressing person you are," she laughed. "I had already decided -where to hide the things. I think I shall do it after all. It's been all -right before, so why not now?" - -He shrugged his shoulders. "It may be the new brooms are sweeping clean -or it may be the state department has said smuggling shall no longer be -condoned. I only know that things are done very differently now." - -Monty looked at him in amazement. His expression plainly meant that he -considered his friend the proprietor of an unusually large supply of -sheer gall. - -"I heard about that," she said, "but one can't believe it. There's a -mythical being known only by his initials who is investigating for the -state department. Even Michael warned me, so he may have some inside -tip. Have you heard of him, Mr. Denby?" - -"I was thinking of him," he answered. "I think they call him R. B. or R. -D. or some non-committal thing like that." - -"And you believe in him?" she asked sceptically. - -"I'm afraid I do," he returned. - -"The deuce you do!" Monty cried, aggrieved. He had been happy for the -last few hours in the belief that his friend was too well armed to get -detected, and here he was admitting, in a manner that plainly showed -apprehension, that this initialed power might be even on his track. - -"You never smuggle," Alice Harrington said, smiling. "You haven't the -nerve, Monty, so you need not take it to heart." - -"But I do nevertheless," he retorted. - -"Monty," she cried, "I believe you're planning to smuggle something -yourself! We'll conspire together and defeat that abominable law." - -"If you must," Denby said, still gravely, "don't advertise the fact. -Paris has many spies who reap the reward of overhearing just such -confidences." - -"Spies!" She laughed. "How melodramatic, Mr. Denby." - -"But I mean it," he insisted. "Not highly paid government agents, but -perhaps such people as chambermaids in your hotel, or servants to whom -you pay no attention whatsoever. How do you and I know for example that -Monty isn't high up in the secret service?" - -"Me?" cried Monty. "Well, I certainly admire your brand of nerve, -Steve!" - -"That's no answer," his friend returned. "You say you have been two -years here studying Continental banking systems. I'll bet you didn't -even know that the Banque de France issued a ten thousand franc note!" - -"Of course I did," Monty cried, a little nettled. - -Denby turned to Mrs. Harrington with an air of triumph. - -"That settles it, Monty is a spy." - -"I don't see how that proves it," she answered. - -"The Banque de France has no ten thousand franc note," he returned; "its -highest value is five thousand francs. In two years Montague Vaughan has -not found that out. The ordinary tourist who passes a week here and -spends nothing to speak of might be excused, but not a serious student -like Monty." - -"I will vouch for him," Mrs. Harrington said. "I've known him for years -and I don't think it's a life suited to him at all, is it, Monty?" - -"Oh, I don't know," said he airily. "I may be leading a double life." He -looked at her not without an expression of triumph. Little did she know -in what a conspiracy he was already enlisted. After an excellent repast -and a judicious indulgence in some rare wine Monty felt he was -extraordinarily well fitted for delicate intrigue, preferably of an -international character. He stroked his budding moustache with the air -of a gentleman adventurer. - -Alice Harrington smiled. She was a good judge of character and Monty was -too well known to her to lend color to any such notion. - -"It won't do," she averred, "but Mr. Denby has every earmark of it. -There's that piercing look of his and the obsequious way waiters attend -on him." - -Monty laughed heartily. He was in possession of a secret that made such -an idea wholly preposterous. Here was a man with a million-franc pearl -necklace in his pocket, a treasure he calmly proposed to smuggle in -against the laws of his country, being taken for a spy. - -"Alice," he said still laughing, "I'll go bail on Steve for any amount -you care to name. I am also willing to back him against all comers for -brazen nerve and sheer gall." - -Denby interrupted him a little hastily. - -"As we two men are free from suspicion, only Mrs. Harrington remains -uncleared." - -"This is all crazy talk," Monty asserted. - -"I know one woman, well known in New York, who goes over each year and -more than once has made her expenses by tipping off the authorities to -things other women were trying to get through without declaration." - -"You speak with feeling," Mrs. Harrington said, and wondered if this -friend of Monty's had not been betrayed by some such confidence. - -"Are you going to take warning?" Denby asked. - -She shook her head. "I don't think so. You've been reading the American -papers and are deceived by the annual warnings to intending European -tourists. I'm a hardened and successful criminal." She leaned forward to -look at a dancer on the stage below them and Denby knew that his -monitions had left her unmoved. - -"When were you last at home?" she demanded presently of Denby. - -"About six months ago," he answered. "I shall be there a week from -to-morrow if I live." - -The last three words vaguely disturbed Monty. Why, he wondered crossly, -was Denby always reminding him of danger? There was no doubt that what -his friend really should have said was: "If I am not murdered by -criminals for the two hundred thousand dollars' worth of valuables they -probably know I carry with me." - -"Have you booked your passage yet?" she asked. - -It occurred to her that it would be pleasant to have a second man on the -voyage. Like all women of her world, she was used to the attentions of -men and found life deplorably dull without them, although she was not a -flirt and was still in love with her husband. - -"Not yet," he answered, "but La Provence goes from Havre to-morrow." - -"Come with us," she insisted. "The Mauretania sails a couple of days -later but gets you in on the same morning as the other." She turned to -Monty. "Isn't that a brilliant idea?" - -"It's so brilliant I'm blinded by it," he retorted, gazing at his friend -with a look of respect. Not many hours ago Steven had asserted that he -and Monty must sail together on the fastest of ships, and now he had -apparently decided to forsake the Compagnie Transatlantique only on -account of Alice Harrington's invitation. - -"I shall be charmed," was all he had said. - -Monty felt that he was a co-conspirator of one who was not likely to be -upset by trifles. He sighed. A day or so ago he had imagined himself -ill-used by Fate because no unusual excitement had come his way, and now -his prayers had been answered too abundantly. The phrase "If I live" -remained in his memory with unpleasant insistency. - -"We ought to cross the Channel by the afternoon boat to-morrow," Alice -said. "There are one or two things I want to get for Michael in London." - -"It will be a much nicer voyage for me than if I had gone alone on La -Provence," Denby said gratefully, while Monty continued to meditate on -the duplicity of his sex. - -When they had taken Mrs. Harrington to her hotel Monty burst out with -what he had been compelled to keep secret all the evening. - -"What in thunder makes you so careful about people smuggling?" he -demanded. - -"About other people smuggling, you mean," Denby corrected. - -"It's the same thing," Monty asserted. - -"Far from it," his friend made answer. "If Mrs. Harrington is suspected -and undeclared stuff found on her, you and I as her companions will be -more or less under suspicion too. It is not unusual for women to ask -their men friends to put some little package in their pockets till the -customs have been passed. The inspectors may have an idea that she has -done this with us. Personally I don't relish a very exhaustive search." - -"You bet you don't," his friend returned. "I shall probably be the only -honest man aboard." - -"Mrs. Harrington may ask you to hold some small parcel till she's been -through the ordeal," Denby reminded him. "If she does, Monty, you'll be -caught for a certainty." - -"Damn it all!" Monty cried petulantly, "why can't you people do the -right thing and declare what you bring in, just as I do?" - -"What is your income?" Denby inquired. "Your father was always liberal -with you." - -"You mean I have no temptation?" Monty answered. "I forgot that part of -it. I don't know what I'd do if there wasn't always a convenient paying -teller who passed me out all the currency I wanted." - -He looked at his friend curiously, wondering just what this act of -smuggling meant to him. Perhaps Denby sensed this. - -"You probably wondered why I wrung that invitation out of Mrs. -Harrington instead of being honest and saying I, too, was going by the -Cunard line. I can't tell you now, Monty, old man, but I hope some day -if I'm successful that I can. I tell you this much, though, that it -seems so much to me that no little conventionalities are going to stand -in my way." - -Monty, pondering on this later when he was in his hotel room, called to -mind the rumor he had heard years ago that Steven's father had died -deeply in debt. It was for this reason that the boy was suddenly -withdrawn from Groton. It might be that his struggles to make a living -had driven him into regarding the laws against smuggling as arbitrary -and inequitable just as Alice Harrington and dozens of other people he -knew did. Denby, he argued, had paid good money for the pearls and they -belonged to him absolutely; and if by his skill he could evade the -payment of duty upon them and sell them at a profit, why shouldn't he? -Before slumber sealed his eyes, Montague Vaughan had decided that -smuggling was as legitimate a sport as fly-fishing. That these views -would shock his father he knew. But his father always prided himself -upon a traditional conservatism. - - - - -CHAPTER FOUR - - -Less than an hour before the Mauretania reached Quarantine, James -Duncan, whose rank was that of Customs Inspector and present assignment -the more important one of assistant to Daniel Taylor, a Deputy-Surveyor, -threw away the stub of cigar and reached for the telephone. - -When central had given him his number he called out: "Is that you, -Ford?" Apparently the central had not erred and his face took on a look -of intentness as he gave the man at the other end of the line his -instructions. "Say, Ford," he called, "I've got something mighty -important for you. Directly the Mauretania gets into Quarantine, go -through the declarations and 'phone me right away whether a man named -Steven Denby declares a pearl necklace valued at two hundred thousand -dollars. No. No, not that name, Denby, D-E-N-B-Y. Steven Denby. That's -right. A big case you say? I should bet it is a big case. Never you mind -who's handling it, Ford. It may be R. J., or it may not. Don't you worry -about a little thing like that. It's your job to 'phone me as soon as -you get a peek at those declarations. Let Hammett work with you. -Bye-bye." - -He hung up the receiver and leaned back in his chair, well satisfied -with himself. He was a spare, hatchet-faced man, who held down his -present position because he was used to those storm warnings he could -see on his chief's face and knew enough to work in the dark and never -ask for explanations. - -He did not, for instance, lean back in his chair and smoke cigars with a -lordly air when Deputy-Surveyor Daniel Taylor was sitting in his big -desk in the window opposite. At such times Duncan worked with silent -fury and felt he had evened up matters when he found a Customs Inspector -whom he could impress with his own superiority. - -When a step in the outside passage warned him that his chief might -possibly be coming in, he settled down in an attitude of work. But there -entered only Harry Gibbs, dressed in the uniform of a Customs Inspector. -Gibbs was a fat, easy man, whose existence was all the more pleasant -because of his eager interest in gossip. None knew so well as Gibbs the -undercurrent of speculation which the lesser lights of the Customs term -office politics. If the Collector frowned, Gibbs instantly dismissed the -men upon whom his displeasure had fallen and conjured up erroneous -reasons concerning high official wrath. Since Duncan was near to a man -in power, Gibbs welcomed any opportunity to converse with him. He seldom -came away from such an interview empty-handed. He was a pleasant enough -creature and filled with mild wonder at the vagaries of Providence. - -Just now he seemed hot but that was not unusual, for he was rarely -comfortable during the summer months as he complained frequently. He -seemed worried, Duncan thought. - -"Hello, Jim," he said when he entered. - -Duncan assumed the inquisitorial air his chief had in a marked degree. - -"Thought you were searching tourists on the Olympic this afternoon," he -replied. - -Gibbs mopped his perspiring head, "I was," he answered. "I had two -thousand crazy women, all of 'em swearing they hadn't brought in a -thing. Gosh! Women is liars." - -"What are you doing over here?" Duncan asked. - -"I brought along a dame they want your boss Taylor to look over. It -needs a smart guy like him to land her. Where is he?" - -"Down with Malone now; he'll be back soon." - -Gibbs sank into a chair with a sigh of relief. "He don't have to hurry -on my account. I'll be tickled to stay here all day. I'm sick of -searching trunks that's got nothing in 'em but clothes. It ain't like -the good old days, Jim. In them times if you treated a tourist right -he'd hand you his business card, and when you showed up in his office -next day, he'd come across without a squeal. I used to know the -down-town business section pretty well in them days." - -"So did I. Why, when I was inspector, if you had any luck picking out -your passenger you'd find twenty dollars lying right on the top tray of -the first trunk he opened up for you." - -Gibbs sighed again. It seemed the golden age was passing. - -"And believe me," he said, "when that happened to me I never opened any -more of his trunks, I just labeled the whole bunch. But now--why, since -this new administration got in I'm so honest it's pitiful." - -Duncan nodded acquiescence. - -"It's a hell of a thing when a government official has to live on his -salary," he said regretfully. "They didn't ought to expect it of us." - -"What do they care?" Gibbs asserted bitterly, and then added with that -inquiring air which had frequently been mistaken for intelligence: -"Ain't it funny that it's always women who smuggle? They'll look you -right in the eye and lie like the very devil, and if you do land 'em -they ain't ashamed, only sore!" - -Duncan assumed his most superior air. - -"I guess men are honester than women, Jim, and that's the whole secret." - -"They certainly are about smuggling," the other returned. "Why, we -grabbed one of these here rich society women this morning and pulled out -about forty yards of old lace--and say, where do you think she had it -stowed?" - -"Sewed it round her petticoat," Duncan said with a grin. He had had -experience. - -Gibbs shook his head, "No. It was in a hot-water bottle. That was a new -one on me. Well, when we pinched her she just turned on me as cool as -you please: 'You've got me now, but damn you, I've fooled you lots of -times before!'" - -Gibbs leaned back in enjoyment of his own imitation of the society -lady's voice and watched Duncan looking over some declaration papers. -Duncan looked up with a smile. "Say, here's another new one. Declaration -from a college professor who paid duty on spending seventy-five francs -to have his shoes half-soled in Paris." - -But Gibbs was not to be outdone. - -"That's nothing," said he, "a gink this morning declared a gold tooth. -I didn't know how to classify it so I just told him nobody'd know if -he'd keep his mouth shut. It was a back tooth. He did slip me a cigar, -but women who are smugglin' seem to think it ain't honest to give an -inspector any kind of tip." Gibbs dived into an inner pocket and brought -out a bunch of aigrettes. "The most I can do now is these aigrettes. I -nipped 'em off of a lady coming down the gangplank of the Olympic. They -ain't bad, Jim." - -Duncan rose from his chair and came over to Gibbs' side and took the -plume from his hand. - -"Can't you guys ever get out of the habit of grafting?" he demanded. -"Queer," he continued, looking at the delicate feathers closely, "how -some soft, timid little bit of a woman is willing to wear things like -that. Do you know where they come from?" - -"From some factory, I s'pose," Gibbs answered with an air of candor. - -"No they don't," Duncan told him. "They take 'em from the mother bird -just when she's had her young ones; they leave her half dead with the -little ones starving. Pretty tough, I call it, on dumb animals," he -concluded, with so sentimental a tone as to leave poor Gibbs amazed. He -was still more amazed when his fellow inspector put them in his own -pocket and went back to his desk. - -"Say, Jim," Gibbs expostulated, "what are you doing with them?" - -"Why, my wife was asking this morning if I couldn't get her a bunch. -These'll come in just right." - -"You're a funny guy to talk about grafting," Gibbs grumbled, "I ain't -showing you nothin' more." - -"Never you mind me," Duncan commanded. "You keep your own eyes peeled. -Old man Taylor's been raising the deuce around here about reports that -some of you fellows still take tips." - -Gibbs had heard such rumors too often for them to affect him now. "Oh, -it's just the usual August holler," he declared. - -Duncan contradicted him, "No, it isn't," he observed. "It's because the -Collector and the Secretary of the Treasury have started an -investigation about who's getting the rake-off for allowing stuff to -slip through. I heard the Secretary was coming over here to-day. You -keep your eyes peeled, Harry." - -"If times don't change," Gibbs said with an air of gloom, "I'm going -into the police department." - -He turned about to see if the steps he heard at the door were those of -the man he had come to see. He breathed relief when he saw it was only -Peter, the doorkeeper. - -"Mr. Duncan," said the man, "Miss Ethel Cartwright has just 'phoned -that she's on her way and would be here in fifteen minutes." - -Gibbs looked from one to the other with his accustomed mild interest. He -could see that the news of which he could make little had excited -Duncan. It was evidently something important. Directly the doorkeeper -had gone Duncan called his chief on the telephone and Gibbs sauntered -nearer the 'phone. To hear both sides of the conversation would make it -much easier. - -"Got a cigar, Jim?" he inquired casually of the other, who was holding -the wire. - -"Yes," said Duncan, taking one from his pocket. - -Gibbs reached a fat hand over for it, "Thanks," he returned simply. - -Duncan bit the end off and put it in his own mouth. "And I'm going to -smoke it myself," he observed. - -Gibbs shook his head reprovingly at this want of generosity and took a -cigar from his own pocket. "All right then; I'll have to smoke one of my -own." - -Just then Duncan began to speak over the wire. "Hello. Hello, Chief. -Miss Ethel Cartwright just 'phoned she'd be here in fifteen minutes.... -Yes, sir.... I'll have her wait." - -When he had rung off, Gibbs could see his interest was increasing. -"What do you think of her falling for a bum stall like that?" - -"Who?" Gibbs demanded. "Which? What stall?" - -"Why, Miss Cartwright!" said Duncan. "Ain't I talking about her?" - -"Well, who is she?" the aggrieved Gibbs cried. "Is she a smuggler?" - -"No. She's a swell society girl," said Duncan in a superior manner. - -"If she ain't a smuggler, what's she here for then?" Gibbs had a gentle -pertinacity in sticking to his point. - -"The Chief wants to use her in the Denby case, so he had me write her a -letter saying we'd received a package from Paris containing dutiable -goods, a diamond ring, and would she kindly call this afternoon and -straighten out the matter." Duncan now assumed an air of triumph. "And -she fell for a fake like that!" - -"I get you," said Gibbs. "But what does he want her for?" - -"I told you, the Denby case." - -"What's that?" Gibbs entreated. - -Duncan lowered his voice. "The biggest smuggling job Taylor ever -handled." - -"You don't say so," Gibbs returned, duly impressed. "Why, nobody's told -me anything about it." - -"Can you keep your mouth shut?" Duncan inquired mysteriously. - -"Sure," Gibbs declared. "I ain't married." - -"Then just take a peek out of the door, will you?" Duncan directed. - -The other did as he was bid. "It's all right," he declared, finding the -corridor empty. - -"I never know when he may stop out there and listen to what I'm saying. -You can hear pretty plain." - -"He is the original pussy-foot, ain't he," Gibbs returned. He had known -of Taylor's reputation for finding out what was going on in his office -by any method. "Now, what's it all about?" - -Duncan grew very confidential. - -"Last week the Chief got a cable from Harlow, a salesman in Cartier's." - -"What's Cartier's?" Gibbs inquired. - -"The biggest jewelry shop in Paris. Harlow's our secret agent there. His -cable said that an American named Steven Denby had bought a pearl -necklace there for a million francs. That's two hundred thousand -dollars." - -"Gee!" Gibbs cried, duly impressed by such a sum, "But who's Steven -Denby? Some new millionaire? I never heard of him." - -"Neither did I," Duncan told him; "and we can't find out anything about -him and that's what makes us so suspicious. You ought to be able to get -some dope on a man who can fling two hundred thousand dollars away on a -string of pearls." - -Gibbs' professional interest was aroused. "Did he slip it by the -Customs, then?" - -"He hasn't landed yet," Duncan answered. "He's on the Mauretania." - -"Why, she's about due," Gibbs cried. - -"I know," Duncan retorted, "I've just had Ford on the 'phone about it. -This fellow Denby is traveling with Montague Vaughan--son of the big -banker--and Mrs. Michael Harrington." - -"You mean _the_ Mrs. Michael Harrington?" Gibbs demanded eagerly. - -"Sure," Duncan exclaimed, "there's only one." - -Gibbs was plainly disappointed at this ending to the story. - -"If he's a friend of Mrs. Harrington and young Vaughan, he ain't no -smuggler. He'll declare the necklace." - -"The Chief has a hunch he won't," Duncan said. "He thinks this Denby is -some slick confidence guy who has wormed his way into the Harringtons' -confidence so he won't be suspected." - -Gibbs considered the situation for a moment. - -"Maybe he ain't traveling with the party at all but just picked 'em up -on the boat." - -Duncan shook his head. "No, he's a friend all right. She's taking him -down to the Harrington place at Westbury direct from the dock. One of -the stewards on the Mauretania is our agent and he sent us a copy of her -wireless to old man Harrington." - -"He sounds to me like a sort of smart-set Raffles," Gibbs asserted. - -"You've got it right," Duncan said approvingly. - -"What's Taylor going to do?" Gibbs asked next. - -"He's kind of up against it," Duncan returned. "I don't know what he'll -do yet. If Denby's on the level and we pinch him and search him and -don't find anything, think of the roar that Michael Harrington--and he's -worth about ninety billion--will put up at Washington because we frisked -one of his pals. Why, he'd go down there and kick to his swell friends -and we'd all be fired." - -"I ain't in on it," Gibbs said firmly; "they've no cause to fire me. But -how does this Miss Cartwright come in on the job?" - -"I don't know except that she is going down to the Harringtons' this -afternoon and Taylor's got some scheme on hand. I tell you he's a pretty -smart boy." - -"You bet he is," Gibbs returned promptly, "and may be he's smarter than -you know. Ever hear of R. J.?" - -"R. J.?" Duncan repeated. "You mean that secret service agent?" - -"Yes," Gibbs told him with an air of one knowing secret things. "They -say he's a pal of the President's." - -"Well, what's that to do with this?" Duncan wanted to know. - -"Don't you know who he is?" - -"No," Duncan retorted, "and neither does anyone else. Nobody but the -President and the Secretary of the Treasury knows who he really is." - -Gibbs rose from his chair and patted his chest proudly. "Well, I know, -too," he declared. - -Duncan laughed contemptuously. "Yes, you do, just the same as I do--that -he's the biggest man in the secret service, and that's all you know." - -Gibbs smiled complacently. "Ain't it funny," he observed, "that you -right here in the office don't know?" - -"Don't know what?" Duncan retorted sharply; he disliked Gibbs in a -patronizing role. - -"That your boss Taylor is R. J." - -"Taylor!" Duncan cried. "You're crazy! The heat's got you, Harry." - -"Oh, indeed!" Gibbs said sarcastically. "Do you remember the Stuyvesant -case?" - -Duncan nodded. - -"And do you remember that when Taylor took his vacation last year R. J. -did some great work in the Crosby case? Put two and two together, Jim, -and may be you'll see daylight." - -"By George!" Duncan exclaimed, now impressed by Gibbs' news. "I believe -you're right. Taylor never will speak about this R. J., now I come to -think of it." He raised his head as the sound of voices was heard in the -passage. - -"There he is," Duncan whispered busying himself with a sheaf of -declarations. - -Gibbs looked toward the opening door nervously. It was one thing to -criticize the deputy-surveyor in his absence and another to meet his -look and endure his satire. His collar seemed suddenly too small, and he -chewed his cigar violently. - - - - -CHAPTER FIVE - - -Daniel Taylor entered quickly without acknowledging the presence of his -inferiors and crossed to his desk by the window. He was a man above -medium height, broad of shoulder, thick through the chest and giving the -idea of one who was alert and aggressive mentally and physically. Those -in the service who had set themselves against him had been broken. His -path had been strewn with other men's regrets; but Taylor climbed -steadily, never caring for what was below, but grasping eagerly for -power. - -Naturally a man of his type must have had other qualities than mere -aggressiveness to aid him in such vigorous competition. He had commended -himself to the powers above him for snap judgment and quick action. And -although men of his temperament must inevitably make mistakes, it was -notorious that Taylor made fewer than his rivals. - -Toward men like Duncan and Gibbs who were not destined to rise, men who -could be replaced without trouble, Taylor paid small heed. They did what -he told them and if they failed he never forgot. It was to the men -above him that Taylor showed what small social gifts nature had given -him. He had sworn to rise in the service and he cultivated only those -who might aid him. - -After glancing over the papers arranged on his desk he called to Duncan: -"Has Miss Cartwright been here yet?" - -"No, sir," Duncan responded promptly. - -His superior pushed the buzzer on his desk and then looked across at the -uncomfortable Gibbs. "Want to see me?" he snapped. - -"Yes, sir," Gibbs made answer as Peter the doorkeeper entered in answer -to Taylor's summons. - -"Then wait outside," Taylor said, "I'll see you in five minutes." - -"Yes, sir," Gibbs said obediently and made his exit. - -The deputy-surveyor turned toward the attendant. "Peter, let me know the -instant Miss Cartwright arrives. Don't forget; it's important. That's -all." - -He dismissed Peter with a nod and then called to Duncan. - -"Did Bronson of the New York Burglar Insurance Company send over some -papers to me relating to the theft of Miss Cartwright's jewels?" - -Duncan took a long envelope and laid it on his chief's desk. "Here they -are, sir." - -Taylor looked at the documents eagerly. "By George!" he cried, when he -had looked into them, "I knew I was right. I knew there was something -queer about the way her diamonds were stolen." - -Duncan looked at him frowning. He prided himself upon his grasp of -detail and here was the Chief talking about a case he knew naught of. -"What diamonds?" he asked. "The case wasn't in our office, was it?" - -"No," said Taylor, "this is a little outside job my friend Bronson's -mixed up in, but it may be a help to us." He went on reading the papers -and presently exclaimed: "It's a frame-up. She wasn't robbed, although -she collected from the company on a false claim." - -"But I can't see--" the puzzled Duncan returned. - -"No," said his chief, cutting him short. "If you could, you'd have my -job. Has the Mauretania got to Quarantine yet?" - -"Not yet, sir," Duncan answered. - -"Telephone Brown to notify you the minute she does. Tell him we've got -to know as soon as possible whether Denby declares that necklace; -everything depends on that." - -"But he may declare it," Duncan observed sagely. - -"If he does we haven't a case," his superior said briefly, "but I've a -feeling there's not going to be a declaration." - -"I think so, too," Duncan asserted, "and I'm holding Ford and Hammett to -search him." - -Taylor frowned and drummed on the desk with his fingers. "I don't know -that I want him searched. Let them do nothing without my instructions." - -"But, Chief," Duncan protested, "if he doesn't declare the necklace and -you don't have him searched he'll smuggle it in." - -"I know, I know," Taylor said impatiently, "but I've got to be cautious -how I go about taking liberties with a friend of Michael Harrington's. -He has more influence than you've any idea of. We've got to be sure we -have the goods on Denby." - -Duncan looked at the other with grudging admiration. "Well, I guess it -won't take R. J. very long to land him." - -Taylor turned on the speaker with a scowl. "What's he got to do with -this?" - -"I thought you might have interested him in it," Duncan said meaningly. - -"I don't know anything about him," Taylor returned. - -It was like the Chief to refuse to take his underlings into his -confidence, Duncan thought, so he took his cue and changed the subject. - -"Well," he said, reverting to the proposed search of Denby, "if we don't -go through him at the dock, what are we going to do?" - -"Let him slide through easily and think he's fooled us," Taylor said. -"He may be pretty clever. Do you remember that man who stuck the -sapphire we were hunting for into a big rosy apple he gave to a woman in -the second cabin and then took it away from her before she had time to -eat it? We'll see if he talks to anyone, but I think he'll take the -pearls right down to Westbury. He'll be off his guard when once he gets -down there." - -"Have you got one of the Harrington servants to spy for us?" Duncan -cried. - -"I've got what will be better than that with a little luck," Taylor said -with a smile. "Don't you know that Miss Ethel Cartwright is going down -to Westbury this afternoon to spend the week-end with the Harringtons?" - -"You don't mean you're going to use her?" Duncan exclaimed, incredulity -in his tone. - -"It wouldn't be a bad idea, would it, Jim?" - -"It would be a peach of an idea if you could do it, but can you?" - -Taylor chuckled. It was plain he had some scheme in his crafty brain -that pleased him more than a little. - -"I'm going to answer that as soon as I've had a little confidential chat -with Miss Cartwright." - -He broke off to turn to the doorway through which Gibbs' head protruded. - -"Can I see you now, Chief?" Gibbs asked. - -"What is it?" Taylor snapped. - -"There's a deaf and dumb chicken out here," Gibbs replied anxiously. - -"A what?" the other demanded. - -"A girl that can't hear or speak or write. They say she's smuggled a -bracelet in but they've searched her eight times and can't get a trace -of it, so they sent her to you." - -"They don't expect me to make the ninth attempt, do they?" the Chief -queries. - -"Why, no," Gibbs told him, "but they thought you might hand her the -third degree." - -"Bring her in," the autocrat commanded. When Gibbs had closed the door -Taylor turned to Duncan. "She's probably bluffing. Put that chair here. -We'll try the gun gag on her. There's a revolver in my second drawer. -When I say 'Go,' you shoot. Got it?" - -"Yes, sir," Duncan said, anticipating a theatrical scene in which his -chief would shine as usual. Duncan always enjoyed such episodes; he felt -he shone with reflected power. - -Gibbs dragged in a young girl and stood her in front of the chair to -which the Chief had beckoned. "Sit down," Gibbs commanded. The afflicted -woman who was named, so Gibbs said, Sarah Peabody, remained standing. -"Hey, _squattez-vous,_" her captor commanded again in a louder voice. -Still Sarah was unmoved. Gibbs scratched his head and summoned his -linguistic attainments to his aid. - -"_Setzen sie_," he shouted, but Miss Peabody remained erect. - -Gibbs turned away with a gesture of despairing dignity. "I'm done," he -asserted; "that's all the languages I know. I used to think it was a -terrible thing that women could talk, but I guess the Almighty knowed -more than I did." - -Duncan essayed more active measures. He pushed her into the seat. "Hey -you," cried he, "sit down there." - -Gibbs watched a little apprehensively. If Sarah Peabody had been normal, -he would have pictured her as a slangy and fluent young woman with a -full-sized temper. He had dealt with such before and they invariably -defeated him in wordy combat. In duels of this sort Gibbs was slow to -get off the mark. - -Taylor came toward the afflicted one and looked shrewdly into her face. -"She's not shamming," said he. "She's got that stupid look they all have -when they're deaf and dumb." He watched her closely as he said this. - -"She ain't spoke all day," Gibbs volunteered, "and no woman what could, -would keep from talking that long." - -"Women will do a lot for diamonds," his chief observed. - -"None of 'em ever do me for none," Gibbs remarked placidly. - -Suddenly Taylor addressed the girl roughly. "If you're acting," he -cried, "you'd better give it up, because I'm certain to find out, and if -I do, I'll send you to jail." Still the girl paid no attention but only -stared ahead blankly. "So you won't answer, eh?" said her inquisitor. -"Going to force my hand, are you?" He raised his hand to signal Duncan -and then added: "Go." - -The loud report of the revolver, while it made Gibbs jump, had no effect -upon the young woman. Taylor shook his head wisely. "I guess she's deaf -and dumb all right, poor girl. What's it all about, Gibbs? What is it -you think she's done?" - -"She's got a bracelet chuck-full of diamonds, and we can't find it." - -"How do you know she's got it?" the Chief asked. - -"She showed it to a woman who was in the same cabin," Gibbs returned, -"and the woman came and tipped us off." - -"Why, the dirty hussy!" cried the girl, who had previously been bereft -of hearing and speech, rising to her feet, her eyes flashing, and her -whole face denoting rage. - -Gibbs looked at her, his eyes bulging with startled surprise, and then -turned his ox-like gaze upon Taylor. - -"For the love of Mike!" said Gibbs at length, but Sarah Peabody cut -short any other exclamations. - -"Do you know why she told about me?" the girl demanded. "She wanted to -alibi herself and make you folks thinks she was an honest God-fearing -lady that would never smuggle--and she had four times as much as I did. -Why, it was her who put me up to smuggling and taught me to be deaf and -dumb." Sarah ground her white teeth in anger. "I'd like to meet her -again some time." - -"You shall," Taylor cried. "When we arrest her we'll need your evidence -to testify against her." - -"You can bet I won't be deaf and dumb then," Miss Peabody cried -viciously. - -"Where's the bracelet?" Taylor snapped. "Don't waste time now." - -But the smuggler was no fool and not intimidated by his tones. "Wait a -minute," she said craftily. "What's going to happen to me?" - -"Produce it, pay the duty, and we'll let you go free for the tip." - -"You're on," said Sarah joyously. "Just take a look at the ring handle -of my parasol. I've painted over the stones, that's all." - -Gibbs grabbed it from her and examined it closely. "Well, can you -approach that?" he said helplessly. "And I've been carrying it around -all day!" - -Taylor turned from his examination of the parasol as Peter the -doorkeeper entered. "Miss Cartwright here?" he asked quickly. - -"Yes, sir," answered the man. "She's just arrived." - -"Bring her in as soon as these get out," Taylor said dismissing him. - -"Take her away now, Gibbs," he said, indicating the owner of the magic -parasol. "Turn her over to Shorey, he can handle her from now on." - -"All right, sir," Gibbs said, still undecided as to why he had been -fooled. - -Sarah looked at him with scorn. "I'll be glad to have someone else on -the job. I'm sick o' trottin' around with a fat guy like him." - -"Say, now," Gibbs protested in an injured manner. - -But Taylor had a bigger scheme on hand and waved her away impatiently. -"Take her along, Gibbs." - -She gave Taylor an impudent little nod of farewell. "Ta-ta old Sport. I -certainly fooled you, when you had that gun shot off." - -Gibbs had grabbed her by the arm and was now pushing her toward the -door. "And I could have kept it up," Miss Peabody asserted in a shrill -tone, "if it hadn't made me sore, her putting over one on me like that. -And she was so blamed nice to me. But when one woman's nice to another -she means mischief, you can bet your B. V. D.'s." - -Even Taylor smiled as she went. He had nearly met defeat but his -habitual luck had made him victor in the end. He hoped it would aid him -in a far more difficult interview which was to come. - -Duncan took advantage of his good humor to ask a question. - -"Do you really think you can get Miss Cartwright to help us on the Denby -case?" - -He had so often seen her name in the society columns that he doubted if -his chief, clever as he was, could successfully influence her. - -Taylor looked at him curiously. There was in his eyes a look that spoke -of more than a faint hope of success. Few knew better than Duncan of his -ability to make men and women his tools. - -"Jim," he said with an air of confidence, "I wouldn't be a bit surprised -if she offered to help us." - -The door opened and Peter entered. - -"Miss Ethel Cartwright," he announced. - -Taylor rose to his feet as she entered and bowed with what grace he -could as he motioned her to a chair. - -Miss Cartwright was a tall, strikingly pretty woman of twenty-seven, who -looked at the deputy-surveyor with the perfect self-possession which -comes so easily to those whose families have long been of the cultured -and leisured classes. It was plain that this rather languid young lady -regarded him merely as some official whom she was bound to see regarding -a matter of business. - -"Sorry if I kept you waiting, Miss Cartwright," Taylor said briskly. - -"It doesn't matter in the least," she returned graciously. "I've never -been at the Customs before. I found it quite interesting." - -"My name is Taylor," he said, "and I'm a deputy-surveyor." - -"You wanted to see me about a ring, I think, didn't you?" - -"Yes," he answered. "The intention evidently was to smuggle it through -the Customs." - -"Do you really think so?" she demanded, interested. "I haven't the -faintest idea who could have sent it to me." - -"Of course you haven't," he said in his blandest, most reassuring -manner. It was a manner that made the listening Duncan wonder what was -to follow. His chief was always most deadly when he purred. "It's a -mistake," he continued, "but the record will probably shed some light on -the matter. Duncan," he called sharply, "go and get those papers -relating to Miss Cartwright." - -His assistant looked at him blankly. - -"Papers?" he repeated. "What papers, sir?" - -"The papers relating to the package sent Miss Cartwright from Paris." -There was a significance in his tone that was not lost on Duncan. Gibbs -would have argued it out, but Duncan though in the dark followed his -cue. - -"Oh, _those_ papers," he answered. "I'll get 'em, sir." - -When he had gone the girl turned to Taylor. - -"Do you know," she asserted, "I feel quite excited at being here and -sitting in a chair in which you probably often examine smugglers. One -reads about it constantly." - -"It's being done all the time," he responded, "among all sorts of -people. Now, Miss Cartwright, since we are talking of smuggling, I'd -like to have a little business chat with you if I may." - -The girl looked at him astonished. She could not conceive that a man -like the one looking at her could be serious in talking of a business -proposition. - -"With me?" she demanded, and Taylor could see that the idea was not -pleasing. He resolved to abandon his usual hectoring tactics and adopt -softer modes. - -"I mean it," he asserted. "You said you've read about all this smuggling -and so on. Believe me, you've not read a thousandth part of what's going -on all the time, despite all our efforts to check it. The difficult part -is that many of the women are so socially prominent that it isn't easy -to detect them. They move in the sort of world you move in." He leaned -forward and spoke impressively. "But it's a world where neither I nor my -men could pass muster for a moment. Do you follow me?" - -"I hear what you say," she said, "but--" - -He interrupted her, "Miss Cartwright, we are looking for someone who -belongs in society by right. Someone who is clever enough to provide us -with information and yet never be suspected. We want someone above -suspicion. We want someone, for instance, like you." - -That his proposition was offensive to her he could see from the faint -flush that passed over her face and the rather haughty tone that she -adopted. - -"Really, Mr. Taylor," she cried, "you probably mean well, but--" - -Again he cut her short. - -"Just listen a moment, Miss Cartwright," he begged. "I have reason to -know that your family has been in financial difficulties since your -father died." He looked at her shrewdly. "The position I hinted at could -be made very profitable. How would you like to enter the secret service -of the United States Customs?" He could see she was far from being -placated at his hint of financial reward. - -"This is quite too preposterous," she said icily. "It may possibly be -your idea of a joke, Mr. Taylor, but it is not mine." - -"I'm not joking," he cried, "I'm in dead earnest." - -"If that's the case," she returned, rising, "I must ask you to get the -papers regarding the ring." - -"They'll be here at any moment," he answered. "I'm sorry you don't care -to entertain my proposition, but it's your business after all. By the -way," he added, after a moment's pause, "there's another little matter -I'd like to take up with you while we're waiting. Do you recall a George -Bronson, the claim agent of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, the -company which insured the jewels that were stolen from you?" - -"I think I do," she returned slowly, "but--" - -"Well, that company has had a great deal of trouble with society women -who have got money by pawning their jewels and then putting in a claim -that they were stolen and so recovering from the company on the alleged -loss." - -The girl looked at him, frowning. "Are you trying to insinuate that--" - -"Certainly not," Taylor purred amiably. "Why, no. I'm merely explaining -that that's what Bronson thought at first, but after investigating, he -found out how absurd the idea was." - -"Naturally," she said coldly. - -She had come into the deputy-surveyor's office with an agreeable -curiosity regarding a present sent her from Paris. But the longer she -stayed, the less certain did she feel concerning this hard-faced man -opposite her, who had the strangest manner and made the most -extraordinary propositions. What business was it of his that her jewels -had been stolen? - -"But there were some things he could not understand," Taylor went on. - -"May I ask," she cried, "what Mr. Bronson's inability to understand has -to do with you?" - -"Simply," said Taylor with an appearance of great frankness, "that he -happens to be a very good friend of mine and often consults me about -things that puzzle him. The theft of those jewels of yours mystified him -greatly." - -"Mystified him?" the girl retorted. "It was perfectly simple." - -"Perhaps you won't mind telling me the circumstances of the case." - -"Really," she returned sub-acidly, "I don't quite understand how this -concerns the Customs." - -"It doesn't," he agreed readily, "I am acting only as Bronson's friend -and if you'll answer my questions I may be able to recover the jewels -for you." - -The girl's face cleared. So far from acting inimically, Mr. Taylor was -actually going to help her. She smiled for the first time, and resumed -her seat. - -"That will be splendid," she exclaimed. "I did not understand. Of course -I'll tell you everything I know." - -"The first feature that impressed Bronson," said the deputy-surveyor, -"and me, I'm bound to add, was that the theft seemed to be an inside -job." - -"What does that mean?" Miss Cartwright queried, interested. - -"That there was no evidence that a thief had broken into your home." - -"But what other explanation could there be?" she inquired. "Our family -consists of just my mother, my sister and myself, and two old servants -who have lived with us for years, so of course it wasn't any of us." - -"Naturally not," Taylor agreed as though this explanation had solved his -doubts. "But how did you come to discover the loss of the diamonds?" - -"I didn't discover it myself," she told him. "I was at Bar Harbor." - -"Oh," said Taylor with the confidential air of a family physician. "You -were away. I see! Who did find out?" - -"My sister. It was she who missed them." - -"Oh, your sister missed them, did she?" he said. - -He pushed the buzzer and wrote something on a slip of paper. - -"So of course," the girl continued, "it must have been some thief from -the outside." - -Taylor looked thoughtful. "I suppose you're right," he admitted, and -then asked quickly: "I wonder if you'd mind telephoning your sister to -come down here now?" - -"Why, she came with me," Miss Cartwright returned. "She's outside." - -"That's fine," he said brightly. "It makes it easier." He pushed the -buzzer again. "Perhaps she'll be able to help us." - -"She'll come if I wish," said the elder sister, "but she knows even less -about it than I do." - -"I understand that," Taylor said smoothly, "but she may remember a few -seemingly unimportant details that will help me where they wouldn't seem -significant to you." - -He looked up as Peter came in. "Ask Miss Cartwright's sister to come in -for a moment. Tell her Miss Ethel wants to talk to her." - -"Amy will tell you all she can," the girl asserted. - -"Just as you would yourself," Taylor said confidentially. He had no -other air than of a man who is sworn to recover stolen diamonds. Ethel -Cartwright admitted she had misjudged him. - -"It must be wonderful to be a detective and piece together little -unimportant facts into an important whole." - -"It is," he answered a trifle drily; "quite wonderful." - -Amy Cartwright was brought into the deputy-surveyor's room by Peter. -Plainly she was of a less self-reliant type than her elder sister, for -the rather startled expression her face wore was lost when she saw -Ethel. She was a pretty girl not more than eighteen and like her sister -dressed charmingly. - -"You wanted me, Ethel?" she asked. - -"Yes, dear," the elder returned. "Amy, this is Mr. Taylor, who thinks he -may be able to get back my diamonds for me." - -Amy Cartwright shot a quick, almost furtive look at Taylor and then -gripped her sister's arm. "Your diamonds!" she cried. - -Taylor had missed nothing of her anxious manner. "Yes," he said. "Your -sister has been kind enough to give me some information in reference to -the theft, and I thought you might be able to add to the facts we -already have." - -"I?" the younger girl exclaimed. - -"Yes," her sister commanded. "You must answer all Mr. Taylor's -questions." - -"Of course," Amy said with an effort to be cheerful. - -Taylor looked at her magisterially. "How did you discover your sister's -jewels were stolen?" - -"Why," she replied nervously, not meeting his eye, "I went to her -dressing-table one morning and they weren't there." - -"Oh!" he exclaimed meaningly. "So they weren't there! Then what did you -do?" - -"Why, I telephoned to the company she insured them in." - -"Without consulting your sister?" he asked. His manner, although quick -and alert, was friendly. Ethel Cartwright felt he was desirous of -helping her, and if Amy seemed nervous, it was her first experience with -a man of this type. She had so little experience in relying on herself -that this trifling ordeal was magnified into a judicial -cross-examination. She determined to help Amy out. - -"You must remember," she said to Taylor, "that I was out of town." - -"Of course!" Amy exclaimed with a show of relief. "How could I consult -her when she was in Maine?" - -"Were you certain she hadn't taken her diamonds with her?" he asked. - -Amy hesitated for a moment. "I think she must have told me before she -left." - -"Hm!" he ejaculated. "You _think_ she did?" - -Amy turned to her sister. "Didn't you tell me, Ethel?" - -Miss Cartwright knit her brows in thought. "Perhaps I did," she -admitted. - -"But you didn't telegraph your sister to make sure?" Taylor queried. - -"Why, no," the girl said hesitating and seemingly confused. "No, I -didn't." She was now staring at her interrogator with real fear in her -eyes. - -"Well, that doesn't make any difference," he said genially, "so long as -the jewels were stolen and not merely mislaid, does it?" - -"No," she said with a sigh of relief. - -"There's one other point," he said, turning to the elder sister. "You -received the compensation money from the company, didn't you?" - -"Naturally," she said tranquilly. - -"Please don't think me impertinent," he said, "but you still have it -intact, I presume?" - -"Only part," the girl returned. "I gave half of it to my sister." - -"I rather thought you might have done that," he purred as though his -especial hobby was discovering affection in other families, "That was a -very nice generous thing to do, Miss Cartwright. But you realize of -course that if I get your jewels back the money must be returned to the -Burglar Insurance people in full,"--he looked significantly at the -shrinking younger girl,--"from both of you." - -Amy Cartwright clasped her hands nervously. "Oh, I couldn't do that," -she exclaimed. - -Ethel turned to her in astonishment. - -"But Amy, why not?" - -"I haven't got it all now." - -"But, dear, what did you do with it?" Ethel persisted. - -Taylor seemed to take a keen interest in Amy Cartwright's financial -affairs. - -"That's quite an interesting question," he observed judiciously. "What -did you do with your half?" - -"I--I paid a lot of bills," the girl stammered. - -"Paid a lot of bills!" her sister exclaimed. "But Amy, you distinctly -told me--" - -"One minute," Taylor interrupted. "Now, Miss Amy," he said sharply, -"what sort of bills did you pay?" - -"Oh, dressmakers and hats and things," she answered with a trace of -sullenness. - -"Of course they gave you receipts?" he suggested. - -"I don't remember," she answered. - -"Oh, you don't remember," he said, fixing her with his cold eye. "But -you remember whom you paid the money to?" - -"Of course she does," Ethel cried, coming to her sister's aid. She was -herself puzzled at this strange man's attitude. "You do, don't you, -Amy?" - -"Why, yes," the other said weakly. - -"Give me the names!" Taylor demanded, and then looked angrily up to see -who had entered his office unbidden. It was James Duncan, apologetic, -but urged by powers higher than those of his chief. - -"The Collector and the Secretary want to see you right away, sir," he -announced. - -"I can't leave now," Taylor cried angrily. And in that moment both girls -realized of what ruthless metal he was cast. Gone was the amiable -interest in family matters and the kindly wish to aid two girls in -getting back their trinkets, and there was left a strong remorseless man -who showed he had them very nearly in his power. - -But Duncan dared not go back with such a message. - -"I explained you were busy, Chief," he said, "but they would have you -come down at once, as the Secretary has to go back to Washington. It's -about that necklace. The one coming in on the Mauretania this -afternoon." - -"Oh, very well," his superior snapped. "I shall have to ask you ladies -to excuse me for five minutes." - -"Certainly," Ethel Cartwright returned. - -At the door Taylor beckoned to Duncan and spoke in a whisper. "Get -outside in the corridor and if they try to leave, stop 'em. And I shall -want to know what they've been talking about. Understand?" - -"Sure, Chief," Duncan returned. - -When both men had gone from the room Amy clung half-hysterically to her -strong, calm sister. "Oh, Ethel, they know, they know!" - -"Know what?" Ethel asked, amazed at the change in the other. - -"That man suspects," Amy whispered. "I know he does. Did you see how he -glared at me and the way he spoke?" - -"Suspects what?" Ethel asked. "Amy, what do you mean? What is there to -suspect?" - -"Don't let them take me away!" the younger sister wailed. "Oh, don't, -don't!" - -Ethel drew back a step and looked into the trembling Amy's tear-stained -face. - -"What is this you are saying?" she asked sharply. - -"Ethel, your jewels weren't stolen." There was a pause as if the girl -were trying to gather courage enough to confess. "I took them. I pawned -them." - -"Amy!" cried the other. "You?" - -"I had to have money. I took them. A woman told me I could get it by -pretending to the company the things were stolen. She said they'd never -find it out and would pay. I tried it, and they paid." - -Miss Cartwright looked down at her, amazed, indignant, horrified. - -"Do you mean to say you deliberately swindled the company?" - -"I couldn't help it, Ethel," she declared piteously. "I didn't think of -it in that way. I didn't mean to. I didn't, indeed." - -"Why, why, why? Why in God's name did you do it? Tell me quickly, why?" - -Amy could no longer meet her sister's glance. She dropped her head. - -"I lost a lot of money gambling, playing auction bridge." - -"Playing with whom?" Ethel demanded sharply. - -"People you don't know," the younger answered evasively. "It was while -you were away. It wouldn't have happened if you'd been home. We all -dined together at the Claremont and afterwards they simply would play -auction. I said no at first but they made me. I got excited and began to -lose, and then they said if I kept on the luck would turn, but it -didn't, and I lost a thousand dollars." - -Ethel Cartwright needed no other explanation as a key to Taylor's -manner. It was certain that he knew and would presently force her poor -frightened little sister into a confession. It was no time for blaming -the child or pointing out morals, but for protecting her. - -"Ssh," she whispered, "Ssh!" - -"I didn't mean to do it," Amy reiterated. "Believe me, I didn't." - -"Tell me what happened then?" Ethel asked in a low tone. - -"I couldn't pay, of course, and the other women said they'd have to ask -mother or you for the money and if you wouldn't pay I should have to go -to jail. I didn't know what to do. I nearly went out of my head, I -think. At last Philip Sloane offered to lend it me." - -The elder recoiled from her. "That man!" she cried horrified. "Oh, Amy, -and how often I have warned you against him!" - -"There was nothing else to do," her sister explained. "You were away and -I had no one to go and ask." - -"Stop a minute," Ethel said. "If you borrowed the money and paid the -debts, why did you need to take my diamonds?" - -Amy hung her head. "When he lent me the money he said I could pay it -back whenever I wanted to, in a hundred years if I liked." - -"Well?" Ethel cried anxiously. "Well?" - -"But a day or so later he came to see me, mother was out, and his -manner was so different I was frightened. He--he said a girl who accepts -money from a man is never any good, and nobody will believe them no -matter what they say. I didn't think men could be like that. He said -he'd forget about it if I went away with him. He said nobody would know -it--he could arrange all that--and he threatened all sorts of things. -Oh, everything you said about him was right." - -"Go on," her sister commanded, in a hard staccato tone. "What then?" - -"At first I thought of killing myself but I was afraid. And then I saw -your jewel-case and I pretended they were stolen. I got half the money -from the pawn-shop and the other half from you when the company settled. -It was wicked of me, Ethel, but what could I do?" - -Ethel put her arm about the poor sobbing girl very tenderly. - -"My poor little sister," she whispered, "my little Amy, you did the -better thing after all. But you should have told me before, so that I -could have helped you." - -"I was afraid to," the girl said, looking into the face above her, "I -meant to have told you next month when that money is coming from -father's estate. I thought we could pay the company then so that I -shouldn't feel like a thief. I'm so glad I've told you; it has -frightened me so!" But the grave expression on Ethel's face alarmed her. -"Why do you look like that?" she demanded. - -"It will be all right," Ethel assured her. "But you know those dividends -have been delayed this month and neither mother nor I have any spare -money if the Burglar Insurance people want to be paid back. I daresay we -can arrange something, so don't be frightened. And remember, this man -Taylor can't know certainly. He only suspects, and we ought to be able -to beat him if we are very careful. I'm so glad you told me so that I -know what to do." - -"But I'm afraid of him," Amy cried. "I shall break down and they'll put -me in prison. Ethel, I should die if they did that." - -"I'll save you, dear," Ethel said comfortingly. "You know you have -always been able to believe in me, and I will save you if only you try -to control yourself." - -"Then let me go home," Amy cried, panic-stricken by the thought of -another interview with the resourceful Taylor. "I shall break down if I -stay here." - -"That will be best," Ethel agreed, and went quickly to the door, behind -which she found Duncan on guard. - -"Sorry, miss," he said respectfully, "but you can't go." - -"I'm not leaving," Ethel Cartwright explained, "I still have to talk -with Mr. Taylor, but my sister must go. She isn't feeling very well. She -wants to go home." - -Duncan shook his head. "Neither of you can go," he returned, as he -closed the door. Amy looked about her nervously for other means of -escape. - -"You see," she whispered, "they're going to keep me here a prisoner! -What shall I do?" - -"Leave everything to me," Ethel commanded. "Let me do the talking. I -shall be able to think of some way out." - -"There isn't, there isn't!" Amy moaned. - -"Stop crying," the elder insisted. "That won't help us. I've thought of -a plan. I'll invent a story to fool him. He won't be able to find out -whether it's true or not, so he'll have to let us go, and when he does, -he won't get us back here again in a hurry." - -"Oh, Ethel, you're wonderful!" Amy exclaimed, her face clearing. In all -her small troubles she had always gone to this beautiful, serene elder -sister, who had never yet failed her and never would, she was confident. - -When Taylor entered a minute later he found the two girls looking out -of the big window across the harbor. They seemed untroubled and unafraid -and were discussing the dimensions of a big liner making her way out. - -"Sorry to have had to leave you," he said briskly, "especially as things -were getting a bit interesting." - -Ethel Cartwright looked at him coldly. It was a glance which Taylor -rightly interpreted as a warning to remember that he occupied a wholly -different sphere from that of the daughters of the late Vernon -Cartwright. But it daunted him little. The Secretary of the Treasury had -just told him that his work was evoking great interest in Washington. -And the Collector somewhat cryptically had said that Daniel Taylor might -always be relied upon to do the unexpected. For Washington and -Collectors, Taylor had little respect. Unconsciously he often -paraphrased that royal boast, "_L'Etat c'est moi!_" by admitting to his -confidants that he, Daniel Taylor, was the United States Customs. - -"I quite fail to see," Miss Cartwright observed chillingly, "what all -this rather impertinent cross-questioning of my sister has to do with--" - -"You will in a minute," he interrupted. - -"Meanwhile," she said, "I can't wait any longer for those papers about -the ring." - -"There isn't any ring," he said suavely. "That was just a pretext to get -you here. I was afraid the truth wouldn't be sufficiently luring so I -had to employ a ruse." - -She looked at him, her eyes flashing at his daring to venture on such a -deception. "You actually asked me to come here because you thought I had -swindled the company?" - -"Well," he observed genially, "we all make our little mistakes." - -"So you admit it was a mistake?" she said, hardly knowing what to make -of this changed manner. - -"I'm quite sure of it," he asserted. "_You_ are innocent, Miss -Cartwright. How am I so sure of it? Because I happen to have the thief -already." - -"You have the thief?" Amy cried, startled out of her determination to -say nothing. - -"Yes," he told her nonchalantly, "I've arrested the man who robbed your -sister. Poor devil, he has a wife and children. He swears they'll -starve, and very likely they will, but he's guilty and to jail he goes." - -"Are you sure he's guilty?" Amy stammered. - -He leaned over his desk and looked at her surprised. "Why, yes," he said -slowly. "Have you any reason to think different?" - -"No, no!" she cried, shrinking back. - -"But I have," Ethel said calmly. "I have every reason to believe he is -innocent." - -"_You_ have?" Taylor cried, himself perplexed at the turn things were -taking. - -Amy looked at her sister, wondering what was coming next. - -"I know who stole them," Ethel went on. "It was my maid." - -"Your maid!" the deputy-surveyor cried. "Why didn't you tell the company -that? Bronson never told me about it." - -"She didn't disappear till after the claim was paid, you see," Miss -Cartwright explained. "Then I got a note from her confessing, a note -written in Canada." - -"Whereabouts in Canada?" he demanded. - -"I don't recall it," he was told. - -"You don't? Well, what was your maid's name then? I'd like to know that, -if you can remember it for me." - -"Marie Garnier was her name." - -He took up a scribbling pad and inscribed the name on it. "Marie -Garnier," he muttered, and pushed the buzzer. "Why didn't you tell me -this before?" - -"What was the good?" Miss Cartwright returned. "I was fond of Marie--she -was almost one of the family--and I didn't want to brand her as a -thief. When I learned she had escaped to Canada where the law couldn't -reach her--" - -She was interrupted by Duncan's entrance. "Yes, sir?" said he to his -chief. - -Taylor handed him the leaf he had torn from the pad. "Attend to this at -once," he ordered. - -"Now, Miss Cartwright," he remarked, "I'd like to ask why it was you -made this admission about Marie Garnier." - -"Because I do not want to see an innocent man go to prison," she -returned promptly. - -"Oh, I see. And did your sister know it, too?" - -"No," she answered quickly. - -"Why hadn't you told her?" he demanded. - -"Really," said the elder Miss Cartwright with an expression of -innocence, "I didn't think it made any difference." - -Taylor was obviously annoyed at such a view. "Your behavior is most -extraordinary," he commented. - -"You see, I know so little about law, and insurance and things like -that," she said apologetically. She did not desire to offend him. - -"You ought at least to have known that you owed it to the company to -give them all the information in your possession," he grumbled. - -"I never thought of it in that way," she said meditating. - -"There seems a whole lot you young ladies haven't thought of," he said -sourly. - -Miss Cartwright rose from her seat without haste. "Come, Amy," she -commanded. "We can't wait any longer and we are not needed." - -As they turned toward the door the telephone bell rang and Taylor stayed -them with a gesture. "Just one moment, please, Miss Cartwright." - -The girls watching him saw that the news was pleasant for he chuckled as -he hung up the receiver. Then he rose from his seat and came to where he -stood between them and the door. - -"Miss Cartwright," he cried, "when you didn't know what town in Canada -your maid was, I felt you were lying. Now I know you were. I just had my -assistant telephone to your mother." He pointed an accusing finger at -them. "You never had a maid named Garnier, and the last one you -had--over a year ago--was called Susan. You put the blame on a woman who -doesn't exist, and you did it to shield the real thief." He touched the -crouching Amy on the shoulder. "This is the real thief!" - -"She isn't, she isn't!" Ethel cried. - -But Taylor paid no attention to her. He concentrated his gaze on the -younger girl. "You swindled the company," he affirmed. - -"No, no," she wailed, "I didn't." - -Ethel came to her rescue. "How dare you," she cried to Taylor, "make -such an accusation when you have no proof, nor anyone else either?" - -"That's all very well," Taylor exclaimed, "but when we get the proof--" - -"You can't, because there isn't any," she asserted. - -"Of course I see your game," the man said; "you're just trying to -protect your sister. That's natural enough, but it will go easier with -both of you if you'll tell the truth." - -The two girls answered him never a word. Amy was too frightened and -Ethel, her tactics unavailing, found her best defense in silence. - -"So you won't answer?" Taylor said after a pause. "Well, of course the -stuff is pawned some place. That's what they all do. So far, Bronson has -only searched the pawn-shops in New York. He didn't give you credit for -pawning them outside the city, but I do. Now we'll see where your sister -did go." He went to the telephone again. "Hello, Bill," he said when he -had secured the number, "Go over to Bronson at the New York and get a -description of the jewels reported stolen from a Miss Ethel Cartwright. -Have all the pawn-shops searched in Trenton,"--he fastened his harsh -look on Amy Cartwright as he called out the names,--"Boston, Washington, -Providence, Baltimore, Albany, Philadelphia--" - -[Illustration: HE TURNED TO AMY. "YOUNG WOMAN, YOU'RE UNDER ARREST." -_Page 105_.] - -As he called out the last city the girl gave a gasp of terror, and -triumph instantly lighted up her inquisitor's grim face. - -"So you pawned them in Philadelphia?" he cried. - -"No, no!" she moaned. - -"I did it," Ethel Cartwright exclaimed. - -"No, you didn't," Taylor said sharply. "You're only trying to save her. -You can't deceive me." He turned to Amy, "Young woman, you're under -arrest." - -"No, no," the elder sister besought. "Take me. She's only a child; don't -spoil her life. I'll do whatever you like; it doesn't matter about me. -For God's sake don't do anything to my little sister." - -"She's guilty," he reminded her, "and the law says--" - -"If somebody pays, what difference does it make to you or the law? Isn't -there anything I can do?" she pleaded. - -Taylor paced up and down the room for a half minute before answering, -while the two watched him in agony. To them he was one who could deliver -them over to prison if it were his whim, or spare if he inclined to -mercy. - -"Surely there is some way out?" Ethel asked again. - -"Yes," he said, "there is. You can accept my proposition to enter the -secret service of the United States Customs." - -"Oh, yes, yes," she cried, "anything!" - -Taylor rubbed his hands together with satisfaction and pride in his -inimitable craft. "Now you're talking!" he exclaimed. "Then we won't -send the little sister to prison." - -Amy sobbed relief in her sister's arms. - -"Then you won't tell Bronson?" Ethel asked. - -"No," he said, "I won't tell Bronson." - -Ethel sighed, and felt almost that she would faint. - -"Now I'm sorry for you two," Taylor said more genially, "and as long as -you do what I tell you to, we'll leave the little matter of the jewels -as between your sister and her conscience. I'll let you know when I need -you. It may be to-night, it may be not for a month or a year, but when I -do want you--" - -"I shall be ready," the girl declared. - -"Say, Chief," Duncan said looking in at the door,-- - -"Get out, I'm busy," Taylor shouted. - -"I thought you'd like to know the Mauretania was coming up the bay," -his satellite returned, slightly aggrieved at this reception. - -"She is?" said the other. "Wait a minute then. Now, Miss Cartwright, -good afternoon. Remember what is at stake, your future, and your -sister's happiness. And don't forget that my silence depends on your not -failing me." - -Only a man of Taylor's coarse and cruel mould could have looked at her -without remorse or compunction. He did not see a beautiful refined woman -cheerfully bearing another's cross. He saw only a society girl, who had -matched her immature wits against his and lost, was beaten and in the -dust. There was a pathetic break in her voice as she answered him. - -"I shall not fail you," she said. - -Duncan closed the door after them. - -"Well?" Taylor demanded eagerly when they were alone. "Did Denby declare -the necklace?" - -"No, sir," Duncan returned promptly. - -"Then I was right," the other commented. "He's trying to smuggle it in. -Jim, this is the biggest job we've ever handled." - -"Ford and Hammett are at the dock all ready to search him when I give -the word." - -Duncan was sharing in his chief's triumph, but Taylor's next command was -disappointing. - -"Don't give the word," he enjoined. "There's to be no search." - -"No search?" exclaimed the chagrined Duncan. - -"No," Taylor told him. "Just let him slide through with the ordinary -examination. Trail Denby and his party to Westbury and be sure none of -them slip the necklace to anyone on the way out there, but no fuss and -no arrests, remember. Meanwhile, get up a fake warrant for the arrest of -Miss Amy Cartwright. It may come in handy." - -"Yes, sir," said Duncan obediently. - -"And when you've told Ford and Hammett what they are to do, change your -clothes and make Gibbs do the same, and meet me at the Pennsylvania -Station at six o'clock." - -"Where are we going?" Duncan asked. He could see from his chief's manner -that something important was in the wind. - -"To Long Island," he was told. "We are going to call on Miss Ethel -Cartwright." - -"Then you can use her to land Denby?" his subordinate cried excitedly. - -"Use her?" the deputy-surveyor said with a grim smile. "Say, Jim, she -doesn't know it, but she's going to get that necklace for me to-night." - -He hurried out of the room, leaving Duncan shaking his head in -wonderment. His chief might have qualities that were not endearing, and -his manner might at times be rough, but where was there a man who rode -through obstacles with the same fine disregard as Daniel Taylor? - - - - -CHAPTER SEVEN - - -Mrs. Harrington admitted freely that she had been very far-seeing in -asking Denby to travel on the Mauretania with her and Monty. She was one -of those modern women who count days damaging to their looks if there -comes an hour of boredom in them, and her new acquaintance was always -amusing. - -One day when they were all three sitting on deck she asked him: "What -are you going to do when you get home?" - -"Nothing particular," he replied, "except that I want to run down to -Washington some time during the month." - -"You see," Monty explained, "Steve is a great authority on the tariff. -The Secretary of the Treasury does nothing without consulting him. He -has to go down and help the cabinet out." - -"That's hardly true," Denby said mildly, "but I have friends in -Washington nevertheless." It was obvious Monty was not taken in by this. -He only regarded his friend as a superb actor who refused to be -frightened by the hourly alarms his faithful assistant took to him with -fast-beating heart. Young Vaughan told himself a dozen times a day that -this excitement, this suspicion of the motives of all strangers, was -undermining his health. He had complained of the dull evenness of his -existence before meeting Denby in Paris, but he felt such a lament could -never again be justified. He found himself unable to sit still for long. -He marvelled to see that Denby could sit for hours in a deck-chair -talking to Alice without seeming to care whether mysterious strangers -were eyeing him or not. - -"I asked you," Mrs. Harrington went on, "because, if you've nothing -better to do, will you spend a week with us at Westbury? Michael will -like you, and if you don't like Michael, there's something seriously -wrong with you." - -"I'd love to come," he said eagerly. "Thank you very much." - -"Hooray," said Monty. "Alice, you're a sweet soul to ask him. Of course -he'll like Michael. Who doesn't?" - -"Everybody ought to," she said happily. "Do you know, Mr. Denby, I'm one -of the only three women in our set who still love their husbands. I -wouldn't tell you that except for the reason you'll find out. He's the -most generous soul in the world and when I go to him with a bank-book -that won't balance, he adds it up and says I've made a mistake and that -I'm on the right side. How many husbands would do that?" - -"I might," Monty asserted, "because I can't add up long columns, but -Michael's a demon at statistics, or used to be." - -"He's such an old dear," Mrs. Harrington went on. "His one peculiar -talent is the invention of new and strange drinks. I never come back -from any long absence but he shows me something violently colored which -is built in my honor. And Monty will tell you," she added laughing, -"that I have never been seen to shudder while he was looking. Have I, -Monty?" - -"You're a good sport," said Monty, "and if ever I kill a man, it will be -Michael, and my motive will be jealousy." - -"Well, you needn't look so unhappy about it," she cried, as a frown -passed over his face and he sank back in his chair, all his good-humor -gone. - -Monty had in that careless phrase, "If ever I kill a man," reminded -himself vividly of the dangers that he felt beset him and his friend -Steven Denby. He had been trying to forget it and now it was with him to -stay. And another and a dreadful thought occurred. Would Denby take -those accursed pearls with him to the Harrington mansion on Long -Island? It was so disquieting that he rose abruptly and went into a -secluded corner of the upper smoking-room and called for a cigar and a -pony of brandy. - -His attention was presently attracted to a stout comfortable-looking man -who was staring at him as though to encourage a bow of recognition. He -had noticed the stout and affable gentleman before and always in the -same seat, but never before had he sought acquaintance in this manner. -There was no doubt in Monty's mind that the man was one of those suave -gamblers who reap their richest harvests on the big fast liners. No -doubt he knew that Monty was a Vaughan and had occasionally fallen for -such professionals and inveigled into a quiet little game. But Monty -felt himself of a different sort now. - -There was no doubt that the affable gentleman had fully made up his mind -as to his plan of action. He rose from his comfortable chair and made -his way to the younger man with his hand held out in welcome. - -"I thought it was you," he said, and wrung Monty's reluctant hand, "but -you are not quite the same as when I saw you last." - -"No doubt," Monty said coldly; "I am older and _I_ am not the fool I -used to be." - -"That's good," said the affable gentleman pressing the button that was -to summon a steward. "Your father will be glad to hear that." - -"Have the kindness to leave my father alone," the younger commanded. -Never in his life had Monty found himself able to be so unpleasant. -There was, he discovered, a certain joy in it. - -"Why, certainly," said the other a trifle startled, "if you wish it. -Only as he and I were old friends, I saw no harm in it." - -"Old friends?" sneered Monty. "Let me see, you were the same year at -Yale, weren't you?" - -"Of course," the affable stranger said, and turned to see the advancing -steward. "What will you have?" he asked. - -"I don't drink with strangers," Monty said rising. - -"Strangers!" cried the other with the rising intonation of indignation. -"Well, I like that!" - -"Then I shall leave you with a pleasant memory," Monty said. "Good day." - -"Stop a moment," the stranger asked after a pause in which rage and -astonishment chased themselves across his well-nourished countenance. -"Who do you think I am, anyway?" - -"Your name and number don't interest me," Monty said loftily. He noted -that the steward was enjoying it after the quiet inexpressive manner of -the English servant. "But I've no doubt at some time or another I lost -money to you--your old college friend's money of course--in some quiet -game with your confederates." - -"Now, what do you think of that!" the red-faced man exclaimed as he -watched Monty's retreating figure. But the steward was non-committal. He -was not paid to give up his inner thoughts but to bring drinks on a -tray. - -The stout and affable gentleman was a member of the Stock Exchanges of -London and New York and made frequent journeys between these cities. He -held the ocean record of having crossed more times and seen the waves -less than any stock-broker living. He had passed more hours in a -favorite chair in the Mauretania's smoking-room than any man had done -since time began. He was raconteur of ability and had been a close -friend of the elder Vaughan's years before at Yale. And he burned with -fierce indignation when he remembered that he had held the infant Monty -years ago and prophesied to a proud mother that he would be her joy and -pride. Joy and pride! He snorted and fell away from his true form so far -as to seek the deck and suck in fresh air. - -There he happened upon Mrs. Harrington talking to Denby. She knew -Godfrey Hazen. He had often been to Westbury, and Michael esteemed him -for his great knowledge of the proper beverage to take for every -emergency that may arise upon an ocean voyage. - -"What makes you look so angry?" she exclaimed. - -He calmed down when he saw her. "I've just been taken for a professional -gambler," he cried. - -"I thought all stock-brokers were that," she said smiling. - -"I mean a different sort," he explained, "the kind that work the big -liners. I just asked him to have a drink when he said he didn't drink -with strangers and hinted I had my picture in the rogues' gallery." - -"Who was it?" she inquired. - -"That ne'er-do-well, Monty Vaughan," he answered. - -"Monty?" she said. "Impossible!" - -"Is it?" he said grimly. "We'll see. Here comes the young gentleman." - -Monty sauntered up without noticing him at first. When he did, he -stopped short and was in no whit abashed. "Trying a new game?" he -inquired. - -"Monty, don't you remember Mr. Hazen?" Alice said reproachfully. - -"Have I made an ass of myself?" he asked miserably. - -"I wouldn't label any four-footed beast by the name I'd call you," said -Mr. Hazen firmly. - -"Why didn't you tell me your name?" Monty asked. - -"You ought to have remembered me," the implacable Hazen retorted. "Why, -I held you in my arms when you were only three months old." - -"Then I wish you had dropped me and broken me," Monty exclaimed, "and I -should have been spared a lot of worry." Things were piling up to make -him more than ever nervous. He had overheard two passengers saying they -understood the Mauretania's voyagers were to have a special examination -at the Customs on account of diamond smuggling. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hazen," -he said more graciously, "but I've things on my mind and you must accept -that as the reason." - -When he had gone Mr. Hazen was introduced to Denby and prevailed upon to -occupy Monty's seat. - -"I don't like the look of it," Mr. Hazen said, shaking his head. "At his -age he oughtn't to have any worries. I didn't." - -"If you can keep a secret," Mrs. Harrington confided, "I think I can -tell you exactly what is the matter with Monty and I'm sure you'll make -excuses for him, Mr. Hazen." - -"Maybe," he returned dubiously, "but you should have heard how he called -me down before a steward!" - -"Monty's in love," Mrs. Harrington declared, "and after almost two -years' absence he is going to meet her again; and the dread of not -daring to propose is sapping his brain. You're not the first. He's been -out of sorts the whole time and I've had to smooth things over with -other people. Come, now," she said coaxingly, "when you were young I'm -sure you had some episodes of that sort yourself, now didn't you?" - -Mr. Hazen tried not to let her see the proud memories that came surging -back through a quarter of a century. "Well," he admitted, "if you put it -that way, Mrs. Harrington, I've got to forgive the boy." - -"I knew you would," she said, and talked nicely to him for reward. - -Then the romance which he had resurrected faded; and the sight of so -much salt in the waves--the unaccustomed waves--induced a provoking -thirst and he rose and after a conventional lie retired to the -smoking-room. - -"All the same," Mrs. Harrington remarked to Denby, "I am worried about -the boy." - -"He'll get over it," said Steven. - -"I hope so," she returned. "His nerves are all wrong. I thought he had -the absinthe habit at first, but he's really quite temperate, and it's -mental, I suspect. It may be Nora; I hope it is. She's a dear girl and -Monty's really a big catch." - -"Didn't you say you had bought her a present, some valuable piece of -jewelry?" - -"Which I have sworn to smuggle," she returned brightly, "despite your -warning." - -"For your sake I wish you wouldn't," he said, "but if your mind's made -up, what will my words avail?" - -"I'm not stubborn," she cried, "even Michael admits that. I am always -open to conviction." - -"If you smuggle, you are," he said meaningly. "Really, Mrs. Harrington, -you've no idea how strict these examinations are becoming, and this -vessel seems specially marked out for extra strict inspections. The -popular journals have harped on the fact that the rich, influential -women who use this and boats of this class, are exempt, while the woman -who saves up for a few weeks' jaunt and brings little inexpensive -presents back, is caught." - -"Are you sure of that?" she demanded. - -"Why, yes," he returned. "It doesn't seem quite fair, does it?" he -demanded, looking at her keenly. "It doesn't seem playing the game for -the first cabin on the Mauretania to get in free while the second cabin -gets caught." - -"Have you ever smuggled?" she asked. - -"Maybe," he said, "but if I have, it has not been a habit with me as -with some rich people I know, who could so easily afford to pay." - -"Suppose I do smuggle and get caught, I can pay without any further -trouble, can't I?" she queried. - -"You're just as likely to be detained," he told her. "To all intents and -purposes, it's like being under arrest." - -"Oh, Lord!" she cried. "And I shouldn't be able to get back to Michael?" - -"Probably not," he said. "You see, Mrs. Harrington, you'd be a splendid -tribute to the impartiality of the service. The publicity the Customs -people would get from your case would be worth a lot to them. -Indirectly, you'd possibly promote hard-working inspectors." - -"But I don't want to be a case," she exclaimed, "I'm not anxious to be -put in a cell and promote hard-working inspectors. And think of poor -Michael all ready with a crimson newly-devised drink pacing the floor -while I'm undergoing the third degree! Mr. Denby, I still think the laws -are absurd, but I shall declare everything I've got. I wonder if they -would let Michael hand me his crimson drink through the bars." - -Just then Monty made for them and dropped into his deck-chair. - -"I'm going to be an honest woman," she declared, "and smuggle no more. -Mr. Denby is the miracle-worker. I shall probably have to borrow money -to pay the duty, so be at hand, Monty." - -He looked across at Denby and sighed. His friend's serene countenance -and absence of nerves was always a source of wonderment to him. -Hereafter, he swore, a life in consonance with his country's laws. And -if the first few days of the voyage had made him nervous, it was small -comfort to think that the really risky part had yet to be gone through. -In eliminating Alice Harrington as a fellow smuggler Monty saw -extraordinary cunning. "Well," he thought, "if anyone can carry it -through it will be old Steve," and rose obediently at Alice's behest and -brought back a wireless form on which he indited a message to the absent -Michael. - -Monty Vaughan had crossed the ocean often, and each time had been -cheered to see in the distance the long flat coast-line of his native -land. There had always been a sense of pleasurable excitement in the -halt at Quarantine and the taking on board the harbor and other -officials. - -But this time they clambered aboard--the most vindictive set of mortals -he had ever laid eyes on--and each one of them seemed to look at Monty -as though he recognized a law breaker and a desperado. Incontinently he -fled to the smoking-room and ran into the arms of Godfrey Hazen. - -"Never mind, my boy," said that genial broker, "you'll soon be out of -your misery. Brace up and have a drink. I know how you feel. I've felt -like that myself." - -"Did you get caught?" Monty gasped. - -"No," he said, for he was a bachelor, "but I've had some mighty narrow -squeaks and once I thought I was gone." - -He watched Monty gulp down his drink with unaccustomed rapidity. "That's -right," he said commendingly. "Have another?" - -"It would choke me," the younger answered, and fled. - -Hazen shook his head pityingly. He had never been as afflicted as the -heir to his old friend Vaughan. Poets might understand love and its -symptoms but such manifestations were beyond him. - -When Steven Denby opened his trunks to a somewhat uninterested inspector -and answered his casual questions without hesitation, Monty stood at his -side. It cost him something to do so but underneath his apparent -timorous nature was a strength and loyalty which would not fail at need. - -And when the jaded Customs official made chalk hieroglyphics and stamped -the trunks as free from further examination Monty felt a relief such as -he had never known. As a poet has happily phrased it, "he chortled in -his joy." - -"What's the matter?" he demanded of Denby when he observed that his own -hilarity was not shared by his companion in danger. "Why not celebrate?" - -"We're not off the dock yet," Denby said in a low voice. "They've been -too easy for my liking." - -"A lot we care," Monty returned, "so long as they're finished with us." - -"That's just it," he was warned, "I don't believe they have. It's a bit -suspicious to me. Better attend to your own things now, old man." - -Monty opened his trunks in a lordly manner. So elaborate was his gesture -that an inspector was distrustful and explored every crevice of his -baggage with pertinacity. He unearthed with glee a pair of military -hair-brushes with backs of sterling silver that Monty had bought in Bond -street for Michael Harrington as he passed through London and forgotten -in his alarm for bigger things. - -"It pays to be honest," said Mrs. Harrington, who had declared her -dutiable importations and felt more than ordinarily virtuous. "Monty, -you bring suspicion on us all. I'm surprised at you. Just a pair of -brushes, too. If you had smuggled in a diamond necklace for Nora there -would be some excuse!" - -The word necklace made him tremble and he did not trust himself to say a -word. - -"He's too ashamed for utterance," Denby commented, helping him to repack -his trunk. - -There were two Harrington motors waiting, both big cars that would carry -a lot of baggage. When they were ready it was plain that only two -passengers could be carried in one and the third in the second car. - -"How shall we manage it?" Mrs. Harrington asked. - -"If you don't mind I'll let you two go on," Denby suggested, "and when -I've sent off a telegram to my mother, I'll follow." - -"I see," she laughed, "you want the stage set for your entrance. Very -well. Au revoir." - -Monty surprised her by shaking his friend's hand. "Good-by, old man," -said Monty sorrowfully. He was not sure that he would ever see Steven -again. - - - - -CHAPTER EIGHT - - -Michael Harrington walked up and down the big hall of his Long Island -home looking at the clock and his own watch as if to detect them in the -act of refusing to register the correct time of day. Although it was -probable his wife, Monty and the guest of whose coming a wireless -message had apprised him, would not be home for another hour, he was -always anxious at such a moment. - -He was a man of fifty-eight, exceedingly good-tempered, and very much in -love with his wife. When Alice had married a man twenty-four years her -senior there had been prophecies that it would not last long. But the -two Harringtons had confounded such dismal predictions and lived--to -their own vast amusement--to be held up as exemplars of matrimonial -felicity in a set where such a state was not too frequent. - -His perambulations were interrupted by the entrance of Lambart, a butler -with a genius for his service, who bore on a silver tray a siphon of -seltzer water, a decanter of Scotch whiskey and a pint bottle of fine -champagne. - -Lambart had, previously to his importation, valeted the late lamented -Marquis of St. Mervyn, an eccentric peer who had broken his noble neck -in a steeplechase. Like most English house-servants he was profoundly -conservative; and after two positions which he had left because his -employers treated him almost as an equal, he had come to the Harringtons -and taken a warm but perfectly respectful liking to his millionaire -employer. Lambart was a remarkably useful person and it was his proud -boast that none had ever beheld him slumbering. Certain it was that a -bell summoned him at any hour of the day or night, and he had never -grumbled at such calls. - -Harrington looked at the refreshment inquiringly. "Did I order this?" he -demanded. - -"No, sir," Lambart answered, "but my late employer Lord St. Mervyn -always said that when he was waiting like you are, sir, it steadied his -nerves to have a little refreshment." - -"I should have liked the Marquis if I'd known him," Michael Harrington -observed when his thirst was quenched. "I think I could have paid him no -prettier compliment than to have named a Rocksand colt after him, -Lambart. The colt won at Deauville last week, by the way." - -"Yes, sir," Lambart returned, "I took the liberty of putting a bit on -him; I won, too." - -"Good," said his employer, "I'm glad. He ought to have a good season in -France. I like France for two things--racing and what they call the -_heure de l'aperitif_. When I go to Rome I do as the Romans do, and I -have the pleasantest recollections of my afternoons in France." - -He noticed that Lambart, bringing over to him a box of cigars, turned -his head as though to listen. "I believe, sir," said the butler, "that -the car is coming up the drive." - -He hurried to the open French window and looked out. "Yes, sir," he -cried, "it is one of our cars and Mrs. Harrington is in it." - -Michael Harrington rose hastily to his feet. "Great Scott, my wife! The -boat must have docked early." He pointed to the whiskey and champagne. -"Get rid of these; and not a word, Lambart, not a word." - -"Certainly not, sir," Lambart answered; "I couldn't make a mistake of -that sort after being with the Marquis of St. Mervyn for seven years." - -He took up the tray quickly and carried it off as Nora Rutledge--the -girl for whose sake poor Monty had passed hours of alternate misery and -hope--came in to tell her host the news. - -"Alice is here," she cried, "and Monty Vaughan with her." - -Nora was a pretty, clever girl of two and twenty with the up-to-date -habit of slangy smartness fully developed and the customary lack of -reticence over her love-affairs or those of anyone else in whom she was -interested. But for all her pert sayings few girls were more generally -liked than she, for the reason that she was genuine and wholesome. - -"Fine," Michael said heartily. "Where are they? How is she? Was it a -good voyage?" - -A moment later his wife had rushed into his arms. - -"You dear old thing," she exclaimed affectionately. - -"By George! I'm glad to see you," he said, "you've been away for ages." - -"You seem to have survived it well enough," she laughed. - -"Tell me everything you've done," he insisted. - -While she tried to satisfy this comprehensive order, Monty was assuring -Nora how delighted he was to see her. - -"It's bully to find you here," he said, shaking her hand. "I nearly -hugged you." - -"Well, why didn't you?" she retorted. - -"I've half a mind to," he said, stretching out his arms; but she drew -back. - -"No. Not now. It's cold. Hugs must be spontaneous." - -"Where's Ethel?" Mrs. Harrington called to her. - -"Upstairs, changing. You see we didn't think you could get in so early -and you weren't expected for another half-hour. She ought to be down in -a minute or so." - -"Why didn't you come down and meet us, old man?" Monty asked of his -host. - -"Wife's orders," Harrington responded promptly. - -"It's such a nuisance to have people meet one at the pier," Alice -explained. "I'm sure Monty was glad you weren't there to witness his -humiliation. He was held up for smuggling and narrowly escaped -deportation." - -"Oh, Monty," Nora cried, "how lovely! Was it something for me? Don't -scowl when I ask a perfectly reasonable question." - -"It wasn't," Monty said wretchedly. He had in his joy at meeting her -forgotten all about smuggling and now the whole thing loomed up again. -"I've got half Long Island in my eyes, and if you don't mind, Alice, -I'll go and wash up." - -"And you won't tell me anything about your crime?" Nora pouted. - -"Meet me in the Pagoda in five minutes," he whispered, "and I will. It's -mighty nice to see a pretty girl again who can talk American." - -"As if men cared what girls say," she observed sagely. "It's the way -they look that counts." - -When Monty was gone she strolled back to where Alice was sitting. - -"Did you have a good trip?" she demanded. - -"Bully," Alice answered her. "Steven Denby's most attractive and -mysterious." - -"Denby!" Harrington repeated. "Why, I'd clean forgotten about Denby. -Where is he?" - -"The limousine was so full of Monty and me and my hand-baggage that we -sent him on in the other car. He had to send some telegrams, so he -didn't overtake us till we were this side of Jamaica, where they -promptly had a blow-out. He won't be long." - -"What Mr. Denby is he?" Nora asked with interest. - -"Yes," Michael asked, "do I know him? I don't think I ever heard of -him." - -"Nor did I," his wife told him. "Perhaps that's what makes him so -mysterious." - -"Then why on earth have him down here?" her husband asked mildly. - -"Because Monty's devoted to him. They were at school together. And also, -Michael dear, because I like him and you'll like him. Even if I am -married, love has not made me blind to other charming men." - -"But, shall I like him?" Nora wanted to know. - -"I did the minute I met him," Alice confessed. "He has a sort of 'come -hither' in his eyes and the kind of hair I always want to run my hand -through. You will, too, Nora." - -"But you see I'm not a married woman," Nora retorted, "so I mayn't have -your privileges." - -Alice laughed. "Don't be absurd. I haven't done it yet--but I may." - -"I don't doubt it in the least," said Michael, contentedly caressing her -hand. - -"He has such an air," Mrs. Harrington explained, "sort of secret and -wicked. He might be a murderer or something fascinating like that." - -"Splendid fellow for a week-end," her husband commented. - -She looked at her watch. "I'd no idea it was so late. I must dress." - -"All right," Nora agreed. "Let's see what's become of Ethel." - -"Just a minute, Alice," her husband called as she was mounting the broad -stairway that led from the hall. - -"Run along, Nora," Alice said, "I'll be up in a minute." - -"I'll go and wait for Monty," the girl returned. "I think you're going -to be lectured." She sauntered out of the French windows toward the -Pagoda. - -"Well," said Alice smiling, "what is it?" - -"I just wanted to tell you how mighty glad I was to see you," he -confessed. - -"And, Mikey dear," she said simply, "I'm mighty glad to see you." - -"Are you really?" he demanded. "You're not missing Paris?" - -"Paris be hanged," she retorted; "I'm in love with a man and not with a -town." - -"It's still me?" Michael asked a little wistfully. - -"Always you," she said softly. "One big reason I like to go abroad is -because it makes me so glad to get back to you." She sat on the arm of -his chair and patted his head affectionately. - -"But look here," said Michael with an affectation of reproof, "whenever -I want a little trot around the country and suggest leaving, you -begin--" - -She put her hand over his mouth and stopped him. - -"Oh, that's very different. When we do separate I always want to be the -one to leave, not to be left." - -"It _is_ much easier to go than to stay," he agreed, "and I've been -pretty lonely these last six weeks." - -"But you've had a lot of business to attend to," she reminded him. - -"That's finished two weeks ago." - -"And then you've had the insidious Lambart and all the Scotch you -wanted." - -"'Tisn't nearly as much fun to drink when you're away," he insisted. "It -always takes the sport out of it not to be stopped." - -"Oh, Fibber!" she said, shaking her head. - -"Well, most of the sport," he corrected. He held her off at arm's length -and regarded her with admiration. "Do you know, I sometimes wonder what -ever made you marry me." - -"Sometimes I wonder, too," she answered, "but not often! I really think -we're the ideal married couple, sentimental when we're alone, and -critical when we have guests." - -"That's true," he admitted proudly, "and most people hate each other in -private and love each other in public." Michael hugged her to emphasize -the correctness of their marital deportment. - -"You are a dear old thing," she said affectionately. - -"Do you know I don't feel a bit married," he returned boyishly, "I just -feel in love." - -"That's the nicest thing you ever said to me," she said, rising and -kissing him. "But I've got to go and find Ethel now." - -"You've made me feel fairly dizzy," he asserted, still holding her hand, -"I need a drink to sober up." - -"Oh, Michael," she cried reprovingly, and drew away from him "I believe -you've been trying to get around me just for that!" - -"Oh, no, you don't," he said smiling. "Now, do you?" - -"No, I don't, Mikey," she admitted. "But be careful, here's Monty and -Nora." - -"Heavens!" cried Nora, looking in, "still lecturing, you two?" - -"You do look rather henpecked," Monty said, addressing his host. - -"Yes," Michael sighed, "we've been having a dreadful row, but I'm of a -forgiving nature and I'm going to reward her. Monty, touch that button -there, I want Lambart." - -Alice looked at him in wonderment. "What do you mean?" - -"Wait," he said with a chuckle. "Lambart," he commanded, as the butler -stood before him, "bring it in." There was respect in his tone. "It -ought to be at its best now." - -On a silver salver Lambart bore in and presented to his mistress a large -liqueur glass filled with a clear liquid of delicate mauve hue. - -Alice looked at it a little fearfully. "Oh, Mikey," she said, "is this -another new invention?" - -"My best," he said proudly. - -"Can't I share it?" she pleaded. - -"No more than I can my heart," he said firmly. "It is to be named after -you." - -Heroically she gulped it down. - -"Oh, how sweet it is," she exclaimed. - -"I know," he admitted. "But as it isn't sugar you needn't mind. I use -saccharin which is about a thousand times as sweet. And the beauty of -saccharin," he confided to the others, "is that it stays with you. When -I first discovered this Creme d'Alicia as I call it, I tasted it for -days." - -"It's a perfectly divine color," Nora remarked enthusiastically. "I've -always dreamed of a dress exactly that shade. How did you do it?" - -"Experimenting with the coal tar dyes," he said proudly. "I'm getting -rather an expert on coal tar compounds. That color was Perkins' mauve." - -"That was more than mauve," Nora insisted. "I've plenty of mauve -things." - -He raised his hand. "No you don't, Nora! You don't get the result of my -years of close study like that. I'll make you each a present of a bottle -before you go. We'll have it with coffee every night. Mauve was the -foundation upon which I built." - -"It's a little rich for me, Mikey dear," his wife said anxiously. "I -think it will make a far better winter cordial. I'm going upstairs to -see Ethel now." - -He watched her disappear and then turned to Nora and Monty with a -twinkle in his eye. "I think after my labors I need a little cocktail. -In France they call this the _heure de l'aperitif_, as Monty probably -knows, and I have a private bar of my own. Don't give me away, -children." - -Nora looked at her companion with a frown. She had been looking for his -coming, and now when he was here, he had nothing to say. - -"What's the matter with you?" she demanded suddenly. - -"I'm wondering where Steven is," he returned anxiously. "A blow-out -oughtn't to keep him all this time." - -"But what makes you jump so?" she insisted. "You never used to be like -this. Is it St. Vitus's dance?" - -He turned to her with an assumption of freedom from care. - -"I am a bit nervous, Nora," he admitted. "You see, Steven and I are in a -big deal together, and, er, the markets go up and down like the -temperature and it keeps me sorts of anxious." - -"You don't mean to say you've gone into business?" she said. - -"Not exactly," he prevaricated, "and yet I have in a way. It's something -secret." - -"Well," said Nora, with sound common sense, "if it frightens you so, why -go in for it?" - -"Well, everything was kind of tepid in Paris," he explained. - -"Tepid in Paris?" she cried. - -"Why, yes," he told her. "Paris can't always live up to her reputation. -I'd been there studying French banking systems so long that I wanted -some excitement and joined Steve in his scheme." - -"Oh, Monty," she said interested, and sitting on the couch at his side, -"if it's really exciting, tell me everything. Are you being pursued?" - -He looked at her aggrieved. "Now what do you suggest that for?" he -demanded. - -"But what is it?" she insisted. - -"I can't tell you," he said decidedly. "Steve is one of my oldest -friends and I promised him." - -"Oh, yes, I've heard all about him," she cried a little impatiently. -"You and he went to college together and sang, 'A Stein on the Table,' -and went on sprees together and made love to the same girls, and played -on the same teams. I know all that college stuff." - -"But we didn't go to college together," he said. - -"Alice said you did," she returned, "or to school or something together, -but don't take that as an excuse to get reminiscent. I hate men's -reminiscences; they make me so darned envious. I wish I'd been a man, -Monty." - -"I don't," said he smiling. - -"Don't try to flirt with me," she exclaimed, as he edged a little -nearer. - -"Why not?" he demanded. - -"You don't know how," she said and smiled provokingly. - -For a moment Monty forgot pearls and Customs and all unpleasant things. - -"Teach me," he entreated. - -"It can't be taught," she said. "It's got to be born in you." She cast -her eyes down and looked alluringly at him through curling lashes. -There was the opportunity for Monty to see whether he had any skill at -the ancient game, but a sudden numbing nervousness took hold of him. And -while he could have written a prize essay on what he should have done, -he had not the courage to make the attempt. - -"Well?" she said presently. "Go on." - -"I wonder where Steve is?" he said desperately. - -"You're hopeless," she cried exasperated. "I don't know where 'Steve' -is, and I don't care. I hope he's under the car with gasoline dripping -into his eyes." - -Poor Monty groaned; for it was equally true that he at this particular -moment was anxious to forget everything but the pretty girl at his side. - -"Nora," he said nervously, "for the last year there's been something -trembling on my lips--" - -"Oh, Monty," she cried ecstatically, "don't shave it off, I love it!" - -He rose, discomfited, to meet his hostess coming toward him with Miss -Ethel Cartwright, a close friend of hers whom he had never before met. -He noticed Michael quietly working his unobtrusive way back to the -position where Alice had left him, wiping his moustache with -satisfaction. - -"Monty," said Mrs. Harrington, "I don't think you've ever met my very -best friend, Miss Cartwright." - -"How do you do," the girl said smiling. - -"Be kind to him, Ethel," Michael remarked genially. "He's a nice boy and -the idol of the Paris Bourse." - -"And an awful flirt," Nora chimed in. "If I had had a heart he would -have broken it long ago." - -"Do you know," Alice said, "it has never occurred to me to think of -Monty as a flirt. Are you a flirt, Monty?" - -"No," he said indignantly. - -"You needn't be so emphatic when I ask you," she said reprovingly. She -sighed. "I suppose it's one of the penalties of age. I've known him a -disgracefully long time, Ethel, before the Palisades were grown-up." - -"I'm sorry I didn't get down to meet you, Alice," Miss Cartwright said, -"I did mean to, but business detained me." - -"Business in August!" Nora commented. - -"I'm glad you didn't," her hostess observed. "We were disgraced by -having in our merry party a smuggler who was caught with the goods and -narrowly escaped Sing Sing." - -"There you go again," Monty grumbled. "I hate the very sound of the -word." - -"I say, Ethel," Michael observed, watching her closely, "you do look a -bit pale. Business in weather like this doesn't suit you. No bad news, I -hope?" - -He knew that the division of the late Vernon Cartwright's fortune was -very disappointing and might narrow the girls' income considerably. - -"It turned out all right, thank you," the girl answered nervously. - -"How's Amy?" Mr. Harrington asked. He was fond of the Cartwrights and -had known them from childhood. "Why isn't she here?" - -"It isn't to be a big party, Michael," his wife reminded him. "Men are -so scarce in August I didn't ask Amy. She's all right, I hope, Ethel?" - -"Yes, thanks," Miss Cartwright answered. - -"I wonder where Steve is?" Monty said for the fifth time. "He ought to -have that tire fixed by now." - -"I hope he hasn't smashed up," said Alice. - -"So do I," Michael retorted. "It was a mighty good car--almost new--and -I left a silver pocket-flask in it, I remember." - -"Is someone else coming?" Ethel Cartwright asked. - -"A perfectly charming man, a Steven Denby." - -"Steven Denby?" Miss Cartwright cried, her face lighting up. "Really?" - -"Do you know him then?" Mrs. Harrington asked. - -"Indeed I do," she answered. - -"What, you know Steve?" Monty asked in surprise. - -"Tell us about him," Nora besought her. - -"Yes, who is he?" Michael wanted to know. "Alice has been trying to -rouse me to the depths of my jealous nature about him!" - -"Isn't he fascinating?" Alice observed. - -"I can only tell you all," Ethel Cartwright declared, "that I know him. -I met him in Paris a year ago." - -"Didn't you like him?" Alice inquired. - -"I did, very much," the girl said frankly. - -Nora spoke in a disappointed manner. "Well, he's evidently yours for -this week-end." - -"I daresay he won't even remember me," the other girl returned. - -"Oh, I bet he will," said Nora, who was able to give Ethel credit for -her charm and beauty. "I shall just have to stick around with Monty--a -wild tempestuous flirt like Monty!" - -"Oh, I don't mind," Monty said with an air of condescension, "not -particularly." - -"It's time to dress, good people," Michael reminded them. - -"Come on, Nora," Alice said rising. "Come, Monty. Ethel, you'll have to -amuse yourself, as Michael isn't to be depended on." - -"You wrong me, my dear," Michael retorted. "I'm going for my one -solitary cocktail and then I'll be back." - -"And only one, remember," Alice warned him. - -"You know me, my dear," he said, "when I say one." - -"You sometimes mean only one at a time," she laughed. "You are still the -same consistent old Michael. And by the way, if Mr. Denby does happen to -turn up, tell him we'll be down soon." - -"I'll send him in to Ethel if he comes." - -"Yes, please do," the girl said brightly. - -When she was left alone in the big hall, the coolest apartment in the -big house during the afternoon, Ethel Cartwright went to the French -windows and looked out over the smooth lawns to the trees at the back of -them. A long drive wound its way to the highroad, up which she could see -speeding a big motor. The porte-cochere was at the other side of the -house and she retraced her steps to the hall she had left with the hope -of meeting the man she had liked so much a year ago in Paris. - -A minute later he was ushered in, but did not at first see her. Then, as -he looked about the big apartment, he caught sight of the girl, and -stood for a moment staring as though he could hardly venture to believe -it was she. - -"Miss Cartwright," he cried enthusiastically, "is it really you?" - -She took his outstretched hands graciously. "How do you do, Mr. Denby," -she said. - -"Mr. Harrington told me to expect a surprise," he cried, "but I was -certainly not prepared for such a pleasant one as this. How are you?" - -"Splendid," she answered. "And you?" - -"Very, very grateful to be here." - -"I wondered if you'd remember me," she said; "it's a long time ago since -we were in Paris." - -"It was only the day before yesterday," he asserted. - -"And what are you doing here?" she asked. - -"Oh, I thought I'd run over and see if New York was finished yet." - -"Are you still doing--nothing?" she demanded, a tinge of disappointment -in her voice. - -He looked at her with a smile. "Still--nothing," he answered. - -"Ah," she sighed, "I had such hopes of you, a year ago in Paris." - -"And I of you," he said, boldly looking into her eyes. - -Her manner was more distant now. "I'm afraid I don't admire idlers very -much. Why don't you do something? You've ability enough, Mr. Denby." - -"It's so difficult to get a thrill out of business," he complained. - -"And you must have thrills?" she asked. - -"Yes," he answered, "it's such a dull old world nowadays." - -"Then why," she exclaimed jestingly, "why don't you take to crime?" - -"I have thought of it," he laughed, "but the stake's too high--a thrill -against prison." - -"So you want only little thrills then, Mr. Denby?" - -"No," he told her, "I'd like big ones better. Life or even death--but -not prison. And what have you done since I saw you last? You are still -doing nothing, too?" - -"Nothing," she said, smiling. - -"And you're still Miss Cartwright?" - -"_Only_ Miss Cartwright," she corrected. - -"Good," he said, looking at her steadily. "By George, it doesn't seem a -year since that week in Paris. What made you disappear just as we were -having such bully times?" - -"I had to come back to America suddenly. I had only an hour to catch the -boat. I explained all that in my note though. Didn't you even take the -trouble to read it?" - -He looked at her amazed. "I never even received it." There was a touch -of relief in his voice. "So you sent me a note! Do you know, I thought -you'd dropped me, and I tell you I hit with an awful crash." - -"I sent it by a porter and even gave him a franc," she smiled. "I ought -to have given him five." - -"I'd willingly have given him fifty," Denby said earnestly. "It wasn't -nice to think that I'd been dropped like that." - -"And I thought you'd dropped me," she said. - -"I should say not," he exclaimed. "I was over here six months ago and I -did try to see you, but you were at Palm Beach. I can't tell you how -often I've sent you telepathic messages," he added whimsically. "Ever -get any of 'em?" - -"Some of them, I think," she said smiling. "And now to think we've met -here on Long Island. It's a far cry to Paris." - -"For me it's people who make places--the places themselves don't -matter--you and I are here," he said gently. - -The girl sighed a little. "Still, Paris is Paris," she insisted. - -"Rather!" he answered, sighing too. "Do you remember that afternoon in -front of the Cafe de la Paix? We had _vin gris_ and watched the -Frenchman with the funny dog, and the boys calling _La Presse_, and the -woman who made you buy some 'North Wind' for me, and the people crowding -around the newspaper kiosks." - -In the adjoining room Nora was strumming the piano, and was now playing -"_Un Peu d'Amour_." She had looked in the hall and finding the stranger -so wholly absorbed in Ethel Cartwright, had retired to solitude. - -"And do you remember the hole in the table-cloth?" Ethel demanded. - -"And wasn't it a dirty table-cloth?" he reminded her. "And afterwards we -had tea in the Bois at the Cascade and the Hungarian Band played '_Un -Peu d'Amour_.'" He looked at the girl smiling. "How did you arrange to -have that played just at the right moment?" - -They listened in silence for a moment to the dainty melody, and then she -hummed a few bars of it. Her thoughts were evidently far away from Long -Island. - -"And don't you remember that poor skinny horse in our fiacre?" she asked -him. "He was so tired he fell down, and we walked home in pity." - -"Ah, you were tender-hearted," he sighed. - -"And we had dinner at Vian's afterwards," she reminded him, and then, -after a pause: "Wasn't the soup awful?" - -"Ah, but the string-beans were an event," he asserted. "And that -evening, I remember, there was a moon over the Bois, and we sat under -the trees. Have you forgotten that?" - -"I don't think that would be very easy," she said softly. - -"And we went through the Louvre the next day," he said eagerly, "the -whole Louvre in an hour, and the loveliest picture I saw there -was--_you_." - -Denby glanced up with a frown as Lambart's gentle footfall was heard, -and rose to his feet a trifle embarrassed by this intrusion. Lambart -came to a respectful pause at Miss Cartwright's side. - -"Pardon me," he said, "but there is a gentleman to see you." She took a -card that was on the tray he held before her. - -"To see me?" she cried, startled, gazing at the card. Denby, watching -her closely, saw her grow, as he thought, pale. "Ask him to come in. Mr. -Denby," she said, "will you forgive me?" - -"Surely," he assented, walking toward the great stairway. "I have to -dress, anyway." - -"Your room is at the head of the stairs," Lambart reminded him. "All -your luggage is taken in, sir." - -Denby looked down at her. "Till dinner?" he asked. - -"Till dinner," she said, and watched him pass out of sight. She was a -girl whose poise of manner prevented the betrayal of vivid emotion in -any but a certain subdued fashion. But it was plain she was laboring now -under an agitation that amounted almost to deadly fear. - -A few seconds later Daniel Taylor strode in with firm assured tread and -looked at the luxurious surroundings with approval. - -"Good evening, Miss Cartwright," he exclaimed genially. "Good evening." - -"My sister," she returned, trembling, "nothing's happened to her? She's -all right?" - -"Sure, sure," he returned reassuringly, "I haven't bothered her; the -little lady's all right, don't you worry." - -"Then what do you want here?" she cried alarmed. No matter what his -manner this man had menace in every look and gesture. She had never been -brought into contact with one who gave in so marked a degree the -impression of ruthless strength. - -"I thought I'd drop in with reference to our little chat this -afternoon," he remarked easily. "Nice place they've got here." - -"But I don't understand why you have come," she persisted. - -"You haven't forgotten our little conversation, I hope?" - -"Of course not," she said. - -"Well," he continued, "you said when I needed you, you'd be ready." He -looked about him cautiously as though fearing interruption. "I said it -might be a year, or it might be a month, or it might be to-night. Well, -it's to-night, Miss Cartwright. I need you right now." - -"Now?" she said puzzled. "Still, I don't understand." - -He lowered his voice. "A man has smuggled a two hundred thousand dollar -necklace through the Customs to-day. For various reasons which you -wouldn't understand, we allowed him to slip through, thinking he'd -fooled us. Now that he believes himself safe, it ought to be easy to get -that necklace. We've got to get it; and we're going to get it, through -one of our agents." He pointed a forefinger at her. "We're going to get -it through you." - -"But I shouldn't know how to act," she protested, "or what to do." - -Taylor smiled. "You're too modest, Miss Cartwright. I've seen some of -your work in my own office, and I think you'll be successful." - -"But don't you see I'm staying here over Sunday?" she explained. "I -can't very well make an excuse and leave now." - -"You don't have to leave," he told her. - -"What do you mean, then?" she demanded. - -"That the man who smuggled the necklace is staying here, too. His name -is Steven Denby." - -"Steven Denby!" the girl cried, shrinking away from him. "Oh, no, you -must be mad--he isn't a smuggler." - -"Why isn't he?" Taylor snapped. - -"I know him," she explained. - -"You do?" he cried. "Where did you meet him?" - -"In Paris," she replied. - -"How long have you known him?" - -"Just about a year," she answered. - -"What do you know about him?" Taylor asked quickly. It was evident that -her news seemed very important to him. "What's his business? How does he -make his living? Do you know his people?" - -"I don't think he does anything," she said hesitatingly. - -"Nothing, eh?" Taylor laughed disagreeably. "I suppose you think that's -clear proof he couldn't be a smuggler?" - -"I'm sure you are wrong," she said with spirit; "he's my friend." - -"Your friend!" Taylor returned. His manner from that of the bluff -cross-examiner changed to one that had something confidential and -friendly in it. "Why, that ought to make it easier." - -"Easier?" she repeated. "What do you mean by that?" - -"Well, you can get into his confidence. See?" - -"But you're wrong," she said indignantly. "I'm sure he is absolutely -innocent." - -"Then you'll be glad of a chance to prove we're wrong and you're right." - -"But I couldn't spy on a friend," she declared. - -"If your friend is innocent it won't do him any harm," Taylor observed, -"and he'd never know. But if he's guilty he deserves punishment, and -you've no right to try and protect him. Any person would only be doing -right in helping to detect a criminal; but you,"--he paused -significantly,--"it's just as much your duty as it is mine." He showed -her his gold badge of authority for a brief moment, and although it -terrified her there was too much loyalty in her nature to betray a -friend or even to spy upon one. - -"No, no! I can't do it," she said. - -"So you're going back on your agreement," he sneered. "Two can play that -game. Suppose I go back on mine, too?" - -"You wouldn't do that," she cried horrified at his threat. - -"Why not?" he returned. "It's give and take in this world." - -"But I couldn't be so contemptible." - -Taylor shrugged his shoulders. "If I were you I'd think it over," he -recommended. - -"But supposing you're wrong," she said earnestly. "Suppose he has no -necklace?" - -"Don't let that disturb you," he retorted. "Our information is positive. -We got a telegram late this afternoon from a pal of his who squealed, -giving us a tip about it. Now what do you say?" - -"I can't," she said, "I can't." - -He came closer, and said in a low harsh voice: "Remember, it's Steven -Denby or your sister. There's no other way out. Which are you going to -choose?" - -He watched her pale face eagerly. "Well," he cried, "which is it to be?" - -"I have no choice," she answered dully. "What do you want me to do?" - -"Good," Taylor cried approvingly. "That's the way to talk! Denby has -that necklace concealed in a brown leather tobacco-pouch which he always -carries in his pocket. You must get me that pouch." - -"How can I?" she asked despairingly. - -"I'll leave that to you," he answered. - -"But couldn't you do it?" she pleaded. "Or one of your men? Why ask me?" - -"It may be a bluff, some clever scheme to throw me off the track and I'm -not going to risk a mix-up with the Harringtons or tip my hand till I'm -absolutely sure. It don't pay me to make big mistakes. You say Denby's -your friend, well, then, it'll be easy to find out. If you discover that -the necklace is in the tobacco-pouch, get him to go for a walk in the -garden; say you want to look at the moon, say anything, so long as you -get him into the garden where we'll be on the lookout and grab him." - -"But he might go out there alone," she suggested. - -"If he does," Taylor assured her, "we won't touch him, but if he comes -out there with you, we'll _know_." - -"But if I can't get him into the garden?" she urged. "Something may -happen to prevent me!" - -"If you're sure he has it on him," Taylor instructed her, "or if you -make out where it is concealed, pull down one of these window-shades. My -men and I can see these from the garden. When we get your signal we'll -come in and arrest him. Sure you understand?" - -"I'm to pull down the window-shade," she repeated. - -"That's it, but be careful, mind. Don't bring him out in the garden, -and don't signal unless you are absolutely certain." - -"Yes, yes," she said. - -"And under no circumstances," he commanded, "must you mention my name." - -"But," she argued, "suppose--" - -"There's no 'buts' and no 'supposes' in it," he said sharply. "It's most -important to the United States Government and to me, that my identity is -in no way disclosed." - -"It may be necessary," she persisted. - -"It _cannot_ be necessary," he said with an air of finality. "If it -comes to a show-down and you tell Denby I'm after him, I'll not only -swear I never saw you, but I'll put your sister in prison. Now, good -night, Miss Cartwright, and remember you've got something at stake, too, -so don't forget--Denby to-night." - -He went silently through the French windows and disappeared, leaving her -to face for the second time in a day an outlook that seemed hopeless. - -But she was not the only one in the great Harrington mansion to feel -that little zest was left in life. Monty was obsessed with the idea that -his friend's long delay was due to his having been held up. The -automobile lends itself admirably to highway robbery, and it would be -easy enough for armed robbers to overpower Denby and the chauffeur. - -Directly he heard Denby's voice talking to Lambart as he was shown into -his room, Monty burst in and wrung his hands again and again. - -"Why, Monty," his friend said, "you overpower me." - -"I thought you'd been held up and robbed," the younger man cried. - -"Neither one nor the other," Denby said cheerfully, "I was merely the -victim of two blow-outs. But," he added, looking keenly at his -confederate, "if I had been held up the pearls wouldn't have been taken. -I didn't happen to have them with me." - -"Thank God!" Monty cried fervently. "I wondered if that telegraphing to -people was just a ruse or not. Hooray, I feel I can eat and drink and be -merrier than I've been for a month. I never want to hear about them -again." - -"I'm sorry, old man," Denby said smiling, "but I shall have to ask you -for them." - -"Me?" Monty stammered. "Don't joke, Steve." - -"But you very kindly brought them over for me," Denby returned mildly. -"They're in the right-hand shoe of a pair of buckskin tennis shoes. I -put them there when I helped you to repack your trunk. Do you mind -bringing them before I've finished dressing?" - -Monty looked at him reproachfully. "Sometimes I think I ought to have -gone into the ministry. I'm getting a perfect horror of crime." - -"You're not a criminal," Denby said. "You helped me out on the voyage, -but here you are free to do as you like." - -Monty set his jaw firmly. "I'm in it with you, Steve, till you've got -the damned things where you want 'em, and you can't prevent me, either." - -When he brought the precious necklace back Denby calmly placed the pouch -in his pocket. "Thanks, old man," he said casually. "Now the fun -begins." - -"Fun!" Monty snorted. "Do you remember the classic remark of the frog -who was pelted by small mischievous boys? 'This may be the hell of a -joke to you,' said the frog, 'but it's death to me.'" - -"I've always been sorry for that frog," Denby commented. - -"But, man alive, you are the frog," Monty cried. - -"Oh, no," Denby returned, making a tie that had no likeness to a vast -butterfly. - -"Your frog hadn't a ghost of a chance, and he knew it, while with me -it's an even chance. One oughtn't to ask any more than that in these -hard times." - -He sauntered down the stairs cool and debonair to find Ethel Cartwright -still looking listlessly across the green lawns. - -"Those gentle chimes," he said, as the dinner-gong pealed out, "call the -faithful to dinner. I wish it were in Paris, don't you?" - -She pulled herself together and tried to smile as she had done before -Taylor had dashed all her joy to the ground. - -"Aren't you hungering for string-beans?" he asked, "and the hole in the -table-cloth, and the gay old moon? But after all, what do they matter -now? You're here, and I'm hungry." He offered her his arm. "Aren't you -hungry, too?" - - - - -CHAPTER NINE - - -Very much to Denby's disappointment he found that he was not to take -Ethel Cartwright in to dinner. Nora Rutledge fell to his lot, and -although she was witty and sparkling, she shared none of those happy -Parisian memories as did the girl his host had taken in. - -Plainly Nora was piqued. "I thought from what Monty told me you were -really interesting," she said. - -"One must never believe anything Monty says," he observed. "It's only -his air of innocence that makes people think him honest. His flirtations -on board ship were nothing short of scandalous and yet look at him now." - -And poor Monty, although to him had fallen the honor of taking in his -hostess, was paying no sort of attention to her sallies. - -Nora glanced at him and then looked up at Denby. "I'm really awfully -fond of Monty, and I'm worried--if you'll believe it--because he seems -upset. Monty," she called, "what's the matter with you, and what are you -thinking about?" - -"Frogs," he said promptly. - -"We'll have some to-morrow," Michael observed amiably. "They induce in -me a most remarkable thirst, so I keep off them on that account." - -"He's thinking," Denby reminded her, "of the old song, 'A frog he would -a-wooing go!' I've heard of you often enough, Miss Rutledge, from -Monty." - -"Well, I wish you'd started being confidential with the _hors -d'oeuvres_," she said, "instead of waiting until dessert. If you had, -by this time you'd probably have been really amusing." - -She rose at Mrs. Harrington's signal and followed her from the room. - -"What I can't see," observed she, "is why we didn't stay and have our -cigarettes with the men." - -"I always leave them together," Alice Harrington said with a laugh, -"because that's the way to get the newest naughty stories. Michael -always tells 'em to me later." - -"Alice!" cried Nora with mock reproof. - -"Oh, I like 'em," Alice declared, "when they're really funny, and so -does everybody else. Besides, nowadays it's improper to be proper. -Cigarette, Ethel?" - -Miss Cartwright shook her head. "You know I don't smoke," she returned. - -Nora lighted a cigarette unskilfully. "That's so old-fashioned," she -said, in her most sophisticated manner, "and I'd rather die than be -that." She coughed as she drew in a fragrant breath of Egyptian tobacco. -"I do wish, though, that I really enjoyed smoking." - -"What do you think of our new friend, Mr. Denby?" Alice asked of her. - -"I like him in spite of the fact that he hardly noticed me. He couldn't -take his eyes off Ethel." - -"I saw that myself," Mrs. Harrington returned. "You know, Ethel, I meant -him to take you in to dinner, but Nora insisted that she sit next to -him. She's such a man-hunter!" - -"You bet I am," the wise Nora admitted--"that's the only way you can get -'em." - -Mrs. Harrington turned to Ethel Cartwright. "Didn't you and Mr. Denby -have a tiny row? You hardly spoke to him through dinner." - -"Didn't I?" the girl answered. "I've a bit of a headache." - -"I'll bet they had a lovers' quarrel before dinner," Nora hazarded. - -Alice Harrington arched her eyebrows in surprise. "A lovers' quarrel!" - -"Certainly," Nora insisted. "I'm sure Ethel is in love with him." - -"How perfectly ridiculous," Ethel said, with a trace of embarrassment in -her manner. "Don't be so silly, Nora. I met him for a week in Paris, -that's all, and I found him interesting. He had big talk as well as -small, but as for love--please don't be idiotic!" - -"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," laughed her hostess. - -"I don't blame you, Ethel," Nora admitted frankly. "If he'd give me a -chance I'd fall for him in a minute, but attractive young men never -bother about me. The best I can draw is--Monty! I'm beginning to dislike -the whole sex." - -"Theoretically you are quite right, my dear," said the maturer Alice; -"men are awful things--God bless 'em--but practically, well, some day -you'll explode like a bottle of champagne and bubble all over some man." - -"Speaking of champagne," Nora said after a disbelieving gesture at the -prophecy, "I wish I had another of Michael's purple drinks. He's a -genius." - -"Do tell him that," the fond wife urged. "The very surest way to -Michael's heart is through his buffet. I knew he'd taken to mixing -cocktails in a graduated chemist's glass, but this excursion into the -chemistry of drinks is rather alarming. He would have been a most -conscientious bartender." - -"Does he really drink much?" Nora demanded. - -"Not when I'm at home," Alice declared. "Nothing after one. If he goes -to bed then he's all right; if he doesn't, he sits up till five going -the pace that fills. I wouldn't mind if it made him amusing, but it -makes him merely sleepy. But he doesn't drink nearly as much as most of -the men he knows. What makes you think he does, is that he makes such a -ceremony out of drinking. I don't think he enjoys drinking alone. Nora," -she added, "do sit down; you make me dizzy." - -"I can't," Nora told her. "I always stand up for twenty minutes after -each meal. It keeps you thin." - -"Does it?" Mrs. Harrington asked eagerly, rising from her comfortable -chair. "Does it really? Still, I lost nine pounds abroad!" - -"Goodness!" Nora cried enviously. "How?" - -"Buttermilk!" Alice cried triumphantly. - -"And I walked four miles this morning in a rubber suit and three -sweaters, _and_ gained half a pound," Nora declared disconsolately. - -"I do wish hips would come in again," Alice Harrington sighed. "Ah, here -come the men," she said more brightly, as the three entered. - -Michael was still bearing, with what modesty he could, the encomiums on -a purple punch he had brewed after exhaustive laboratory experiments. - -"It's delicious," Denby declared. - -Michael sighed. "I used to think so until my wife stopped my drinking." - -Even Monty seemed cheered by it. "Fine stuff," he asserted. "I can feel -it warming up all the little nooks and crannies." - -"Purple but pleasing," Denby said, with the air of an epigrammatist. - -"Did they tell you any purple stories?" Michael's wife demanded. - -"We don't know any new stories," Denby told her; "we've been in -England." - -"Do sit down, all of you," Alice commanded. "We've all been standing up -to get thin." - -"If they're going to discuss getting thin and dietetics," Michael said, -"let's get out." - -"Woman's favorite topic," Monty remarked profoundly. - -"But you mustn't sit down, Alice," Nora warned, as her hostess seemed -about to sink into her chair. "It isn't twenty minutes!" - -"Well, I think it is twenty minutes," she returned smiling, "and if it -isn't I don't care a continental." - -"Women are so self-denying," Michael Harrington observed with gentle -satire. - -"And sometimes it pays," his wife said. "Do you know, Nora, there was a -girl on the boat who lost twelve pounds." - -"Twelve pounds," Michael exclaimed, and then by a rapid-fire bit of -mental arithmetic added: "Why, that's sixty dollars. How women do gamble -nowadays!" - -"Pounds of flesh, Michael, pounds of flesh. She was on a diet. She -didn't eat for three days." - -"That's not a bad idea," Nora said approvingly. "Sometime when I'm not -hungry I'll try it." - -Ethel Cartwright had refrained from joining in the conversation for the -reason she had no part just now in their lighter moods. Their talk of -weight losing had been well enough, but Michael's misinterpretation of -the twelve pounds brought back to her the cause of Amy's misfortune and -plunged her deeper into misery. - -She walked toward the window and looked over the grass to the deep gloom -of the cedar trees opposite. And it seemed to her that there were moving -shadows that might be Taylor and his men ready to pounce upon a man to -whom a year ago she had been deeply drawn. There was a charm about Denby -when he set himself to please a woman to which she, although no blushing -ingenue, was keenly sensible. - -"Seeing ghosts?" said a voice at her elbow, and she turned, startled, -to see his smiling face looking down at her. - -She assumed a lighter air. "No," she told him brightly. "Ghosts belong -to the past. I was seeing spirits of the future." - -"Can't we see them together?" he suggested. "I shall never tire of -Parisian ghosts if you are there to keep me from being too scared. Let's -go out and see if the moon looks good-tempered. The others are talking -about smuggling and light and airy nothings like that. Shall we?" - -"No, no!" she said, with a tremor in her voice that did not escape him. -"Not yet; later, perhaps." - -She could, in fact, hardly compose her face. Here he was suggesting that -she take him into a trap to be prepared later by her treachery. But she -had what seemed to her a duty to perform, and no sentiment must stand in -the way of her sister's salvation. And there was always the hope that he -was innocent. At any other time than this she would have wagered he was -without blame; but this was a day on which misfortunes were visiting -her, and she was filled with dread as to its outcome. - -She moved over to Mrs. Harrington's side, gracefully and slowly, free so -far as the ordinary observer could see from any care. - -"So you are talking of smuggling," she said. "Alice, did you really -bring in anything without paying duty on it?" - -"Not a thing," Alice returned promptly. "I declared every solitary -stitch." - -"I'd like to believe you," her husband remarked, "but knowing you as I -do--" - -"I paid seven hundred dollars' duty," his spouse declared. - -"Disgusting!" Nora exclaimed. "Think of what you could have bought for -that!" - -"Please tell me," Michael inquired anxiously, "what mental revolution -converted you from the idea that smuggling was a legitimate and noble -sport?" - -"I still don't think it's wrong," Alice declared honestly. "Some of you -men seem to, but I'd swindle the government any day." - -"Then, for Heaven's sake," Nora wanted to know, "why waste all that good -money?" - -Alice waved a jewelled white hand toward Steven Denby. - -"Behold my reformer!" - -Ethel Cartwright looked at him quickly. Her distrust of motives was the -result of her conversation with Daniel Taylor, who believed in no man's -good faith. - -"Mr. Denby?" she asked, almost suspiciously. - -"What has Mr. Denby to do with it?" Nora cried, equally surprised that -it was his influence which had stayed the wilful Alice. - -"He frightened me," Alice averred. - -"I want to have a good look at the man who can do that," Michael cried. - -"I'm afraid Mrs. Harrington is exaggerating," Denby explained patiently; -"I merely pointed out that things had come to a pass when it might be -very awkward to fool with the Customs." - -"They didn't give us the least bit of trouble at the dock," she -answered. "I wish I'd brought in a trunk full of dutiable things. They -hardly looked at my belongings." - -"That sometimes means," Denby explained, "that there will be the -greatest possible trouble afterwards." - -"I don't see that," Nora asserted. "How can it be?" - -"Well," he returned, "according to some articles in McClure's a few -months ago by Burns, very often a dishonest official will let a -prominent woman like Mrs. Harrington slip through the lines without the -least difficulty--even if she is smuggling--so that afterwards he can -come to her home and threaten exposure and a heavy fine. Usually the -woman or her husband will pay any amount to hush things up. I was -thinking of that when I advised Mrs. Harrington to declare everything -she had." - -"But you said a whole lot more than that," Mrs. Harrington reminded him. -"When our baggage was being examined at Dover, you spoke about that man -of mystery who is known as R. J. It was cumulative, Mr. Denby, and on -the whole you did it rather well. My bank-book is a living witness to -your eloquence." - -Ethel asked rather eagerly, "But this R. J., Mr. Denby, what is he?" - -"I've heard of him," Michael answered. "Some man at the club told me -about him, but I very soon sized that matter up. If you want to know my -opinion, Ethel, R. J. is the bogey man of the Customs. If they suspect -an inspector he receives a postal signed R. J., and telling him to watch -out. It's a great scheme, which I recommend to the heads of big business -corporations. I don't believe in R. J." - -Ethel looked up at Denby brightly. "But you really believe in him, don't -you?" - -"I only know," he told her, "that R. J. has many enemies because he has -made many discoveries. Unquestionably he does exist for all Mr. -Harrington's unbelief. He's supposed to be one of these impossible -secret service agents, travelling incognito all over the globe. He is -known only by his initials. Some people call him the storm-petrol, -always in the wake of trouble. Where there is intrigue among nations, -diplomatic tangles, if the Japs steal a fortification plan, or a German -cross-country aeroplane is sent to drop a bomb on the Singer Building, -R.J. is supposed to be there to catch it." - -"What an awfully unpleasant position," Nora shuddered. - -"Think of a man deliberately choosing a job like that!" Monty commented. - -"So," Denby continued, "when a friend of mine in Paris told me that R.J. -had been requested by the government to investigate Customs frauds, I -knew there would be more danger in the smuggling game than ever. I -warned Mrs. Harrington because I did not want to see her humiliated by -exposure." - -"That's mighty good of you, Denby," Michael said appreciatively; "but -all the same I don't see how--supposing she had slipped in without any -fuss some stuff she had bought in Paris or London and ought to have -declared--I don't see how if they didn't know it, they could blackmail -her." - -"That's the simplest part of it," Denby assured him. "The clerk in the -kind of store your wife would patronize is most often a government spy, -unofficially, and directly after he has assured the purchaser that it -is so simple to smuggle, and one can hide things so easily, he has -cabled the United States Customs what you bought and how much it cost." - -"They do that?" said Michael indignantly. "I never did trust Frenchmen, -the sneaks. I've no doubt that the _heure de l'aperitif_ was introduced -by an American." - -Miss Cartwright had been watching Denby closely. There was forced upon -her the unhappy conviction that this explanation of the difficulties of -smuggling was in a sense his way of boasting of a difficulty he had -overcome. And she alone of all who were listening had the key to this. -It was imperative--for the dread of Taylor and his threats had eaten -into her soul--to gain more explicit information. Her manner was almost -coquettish as she asked him: - -"Tell me truly, Mr. Denby, didn't you smuggle something, just one tiny -little scarf-pin, for example?" - -"Nothing," he returned. "What makes you think I did?" - -"It seemed to me," she said boldly, "that your fear that Mrs. Harrington -might be caught was due to the fear suspicion might fall on you." - -Denby looked at her curiously. He had never seen Ethel Cartwright in -this mood. He wondered at what she was driving. - -"It does sound plausible," he admitted. - -"Then 'fess up," Michael urged. "Come on, Denby, what did you bring in?" - -"Myself and Monty," Denby returned, "and he isn't dutiable. All the -smuggling that our party did was performed by Monty out of regard for -you." - -"I still remain unconvinced," Ethel Cartwright declared obstinately. "I -think it was two thoughts for yourself and one for Alice." - -"Now, Denby," Michael cried jocularly, "you're among friends. Where have -you hidden the swag?" - -"Do tell us," Nora entreated. "It'd be so nice if you were a criminal -and had your picture in the rogues' gallery. The only criminals I know -are those who just run over people in their motors, and that gets so -commonplace. Do tell us how you started on a life of crime." - -"Nora!" Monty cried reprovingly. Things were increasing his nervousness -to a horrible extent. Why wouldn't they leave smuggling alone? - -"I'm not interested in your endeavors," Nora said superciliously. -"You're only a sort of petty larceny smuggler with your silver -hair-brushes. Mr. Denby does things on a bigger scale. You're safe with -us, Mr. Denby," she reminded him. - -"I know," he answered, "so safe that if I had any dark secrets to reveal -I'd proclaim them with a loud voice." - -"That's always the way," Nora complained. "Every time I meet a man who -seems exciting he turns out to be just a nice man--I hate nice men." She -crossed over to the agitated Monty. - -"Mr. Denby is a great disappointment to me, too," Ethel Cartwright -confessed. "Couldn't you invent a new way to smuggle?" - -"It wasn't for lack of inventive powers," he assured her, "it was just -respect for the law." - -"I didn't know we had any left in America," Michael observed, and then -added, "but then you've lived a lot abroad, Denby." - -"Mr. Denby must be rewarded with a cigarette," Ethel declared, bringing -the silver box from the mantel and offering him one. "A cigarette, Mr. -Denby?" - -"Thanks, no," he answered, "I prefer to roll my own if you don't mind." - -It seemed that the operation of rolling a cigarette was amazingly -interesting to the girl. Her eager eyes fastened themselves intently on -a worn pigskin pouch he carried. - -"Can't you do it with one hand?" she asked disappointedly; "just like -cowboys do in plays?" - -"It seems I'm doomed to disappoint you," he smiled. "I find two hands -barely sufficient." - -"Sometime you must roll me one," she said. "Will you?" - -"With pleasure," he returned, lighting his own. - -"But you don't smoke," Alice objected. - -"Ah, but I've been tempted," she confessed archly. - -"The only thing that makes my life worth living is yielding to -temptation," Nora observed. - -"That's not a bad idea," Michael said rising. "I'm tempted to take a -small drink. Who'll yield with me and split a pint of Brut Imperial?" - -"That's your last drink to-night," his wife warned him. - -"I'm not likely to forget it," he said ruefully. "My wife," he told the -company, "thinks I'm a restaurant, and closes me up at one sharp." - -"Let's have some bridge," Mrs. Harrington suggested. "Ethel, what do you -say?" - -"I've given it up," she answered. - -"Why, you used to love it," Nora asserted, surprised. - -"I've come to think all playing for money is horrible," Ethel returned, -thinking to what trouble Amy's gambling had brought her. - -"Me too," Michael chimed in. "Unless stocks go up, or the Democratic -party goes down, I'll be broke soon. How about a game of pool?" - -"I'd love to," Nora said. "I've been dying to learn." - -"That'll make it a nice interesting game," Monty commented. He knew he -could never make a decent shot until the confounded necklace was miles -away. - -"Then there's nothing else to do but dance," Alice decreed. "Come, -Nora." - -"No," Michael cried, "I'll play pool or auction or poker, I'll sit or -talk or sing, but I'm hanged if I hesitate and get lost, or maxixe!" - -Alice shook her head mournfully. "Ah, Michael," she said, "if you were -only as light-footed as you are light-headed, what a partner you'd make. -We are going to dance anyway." - -Ethel hesitated at the doorway. "Aren't you dancing or playing pool, Mr. -Denby?" - -"In just a moment," he said. "First I have a word to say to Monty." - -"I understand," she returned. "Man's god--business! Men use that excuse -over the very littlest things sometimes." - -"But this is a big thing," he asserted; "a two hundred thousand dollar -proposition, so we're naturally a bit anxious." - -Monty shook his head gravely. "Mighty anxious, believe me." - -Whatever hope she might have cherished that Taylor was wrong, and this -man she liked so much was innocent, faded when she heard the figure two -hundred thousand dollars. That was the amount of the necklace's value, -exactly. And she had wondered at Monty's strained, nervous manner. Now -it became very clear that he was Denby's accomplice, dreading, and -perhaps knowing as well as she, that the house was surrounded. - -She told herself that the law was just, and those who disobeyed were -guilty and should be punished; and that she was an instrument, -impersonal, and as such, without blame. But uppermost in her mind was -the thought of black treachery, of mean intriguing ways, and the -certainty that this night would see the end of her friendship with the -man she had sworn to deliver to the ruthless, cruel, insatiable Taylor. -It was, as Taylor told her, a question of deciding between two people. -She could help, indirectly, to convict a clever smuggler, or she could -send her weak, dependent, innocent eighteen-year-old sister to jail. And -she had said to Taylor: "I have no choice." - -Denby looked at her a little puzzled. In Paris, a year ago, she had -seemed a sweet, natural girl, armed with a certain dignity that would -not permit men to become too friendly on short acquaintance. And here it -seemed that she was almost trying to flirt with him in a wholly -different way. He was not sure that her other manner was not more in -keeping with the ideal he had held of her since that first meeting. - -"I should be anxious, too," she said, "if I had all that money at stake. -But all the same, don't be too long. I think I may ask you for that -cigarette presently." - - - - -CHAPTER TEN - - -Denby stood looking after her. "Bully, bully girl," he muttered. - -"Anything wrong, Steve?" Monty inquired, not catching what he said. - -Denby turned to the speaker slowly; his thoughts had been more -pleasantly engaged. - -"I don't understand why they haven't done anything," he answered. "I'm -certain we were followed at the dock. When I went to send those -telegrams I saw a man who seemed very much disinterested, but kept near -me. I saw him again when we had our second blow-out near Jamaica. It -might have been a coincidence, but I'm inclined to think they've marked -us down." - -"I don't believe it," Monty cried. "If they had the least idea about the -necklace, they'd have pinched you at the pier, or got you on the road -when it was only you and the chauffeur against their men." - -Still Denby seemed dubious. "They let me in too dashed easily," he -complained, "and I can't help being suspicious." - -"They seemed to suspect me," Monty reminded him. - -"The fellow thought you were laughing at him, that's all. They've no -sense of humor," Denby returned. "What I said to-night was no fiction, -Monty. Cartier's may have tipped the Customs after all." - -"But you paid Harlow a thousand dollars," Monty declared. - -"He wasn't the only one to know I had bought the pearls, though," Denby -observed thoughtfully. "It looks fishy to me. They may have some new -wrinkles in the Customs." - -"That damned R. J.," Monty said viciously, "I'd like to strangle him." - -"It would make things easier," Denby allowed. - -"All the same," Monty remarked, "I think we've both been too fidgety." - -"Dear old Monty," his friend said, smiling, "if you knew the game as I -do, and had hunted men and been hunted by them as I have, you'd not -blame me for being a little uneasy now." - -With apprehension Monty watched him advance swiftly toward the switch on -the centre wall by the window. "Get over by that window," he commanded, -and Monty hurriedly obeyed him. Then he turned off the lights, leaving -the room only faintly illuminated by the moonlight coming through the -French windows. - -"What the devil's up?" Monty asked excitedly. - -"Is there anyone there on the lawn?" - -Monty peered anxiously through the glass. "No," he whispered, and then -added: "Yes, there's a man over there by the big oak. By Jove, there -is!" - -"What's he doing?" the other demanded. - -"Just standing and looking over this way." - -"He's detailed to watch the house. Anybody else with him?" - -"Not that I can see." - -"Come away, Monty," Denby called softly, and when his friend was away -from observation, he switched on the light again. "Now," he asked, "do -you believe that we were followed?" - -"The chills are running down my spine," Monty confessed. "Gee, Steve, I -hope it won't come to a gun fight." - -"They won't touch you," Denby said comfortingly; "they want me." - -"I don't know," Monty said doubtfully. "They'll shoot first, and then -ask which is you." - -Denby was unperturbed. "I think we've both been too fidgety," he -quoted. - -"But why don't they come in?" Monty asked apprehensively. - -"They're staying out there to keep us prisoners," he was told. - -"Then I hope they'll stop there," Monty exclaimed fervently. - -"I can't help thinking," Denby said, knitting his brows, "that they've -got someone in here on the inside, working under cover to try to get the -necklace. What do you know about the butler, Lambart? Is he a new man?" - -"Lord, no," Monty assured him. "He has been with Michael five years, and -worships him. You'd distress Lambart immeasurably if you even hinted -he'd ever handed a plate to a smuggler." - -"We've got to find out who it is," Denby said decidedly, "and then, -Monty, we'll have some sport." - -"Then we'll have some shooting," Monty returned in disgust. "Where is -that confounded necklace anyway? Is Michael carrying it around without -knowing it?" - -"Still in my pouch," Denby returned. - -As he said this, Miss Cartwright very gently opened a door toward which -his back was turned. Terrified at the thought of Taylor's possible -intrusion, she had been spurred to some sort of action, and had -sauntered back to the big hall with the hope of overhearing something -that would aid her. - -"I know they mean business," she heard Denby say, "and this is going to -be a fight, Monty, and a fight to a finish." - -The thought that there might presently be scenes of violence enacted in -the hospitable Harrington home, scenes in which she had a definite role -to play, which might lead even to the death of Denby as it certainly -must lead to his disgrace, drove her nearly to hysteria. Taylor had -inspired her with a great horror, and at the same time a great respect -for his power and courage. She did not see how a man like Steven Denby -could win in a contest between himself and the brutal deputy-surveyor. -"Oh," she sighed, "if they were differently placed! If Steven stood for -the law and Taylor for crime!" - -Everything favored Taylor, it seemed to her. Denby was alone except for -Monty's faltering aid, while the other had his men at hand and, above -all, the protection of the law. It was impossible to regard Taylor as -anything other than a victor making war on men or women and moved by -nothing to pity. What other man than he would have tortured her poor -little sister, she wondered. - -To a woman used through the exigencies of circumstances to making her -living in a business world where competition brought with it rivalries, -trickeries and jealousies, the ordeal to be faced would have been almost -overwhelming. - -But the Cartwrights had lived a sheltered life, the typical happy family -life where there is wealth, and none until to-day had ever dared to -speak to Ethel as Taylor had done. She was almost frantic with the -knowledge that she must play the spy, the eavesdropper, perhaps the -Delilah among people who trusted her. - -As she was debating what next to do, she heard Monty's voice as it -seemed to her fraught with excitement and eager and quick. - -"Will you have a cigarette, Dick?" she heard him call. Instantly Steven -Denby wheeled about and faced the door through which she appeared to -saunter languidly. Something told her that Monty had discovered her. - -"Still talking business?" she said, attempting to appear wholly at ease. -"I've left my fan somewhere." - -"Girls are always doing that, aren't they?" Denby said pleasantly. There -was no indication from his tone that he suspected she had been -listening. "We'll have to find it, Monty." - -"Sure, Steve, sure," Monty returned. He was not able to cloak his -uneasiness. - -"Steve?" the girl queried brightly. "As I came in, I thought I heard you -call him 'Dick.'" - -"That was our private signal," Denby returned promptly, relieving poor -Monty of an answer. - -"That sounds rather mysterious," she commented. - -"But it's only commonplace," Denby assured her. "My favorite parlor -trick is making breaks--it always has been since Monty first knew -me--and invented a signal to warn me when I'm on thin ice or dangerous -ground. 'Will you have a cigarette, Dick' is the one he most often -uses." - -"But why 'Dick?'" she asked. - -"That's the signal," Denby explained. "If he said 'Steve,' I shouldn't -notice it, so he always says 'Dick,' don't you, Monty?" - -"Always, Steve," Monty answered quickly. - -"Then you were about to make a break when I came in?" she hinted. - -"I'm afraid I was," Denby admitted. - -"What was it? Won't you tell me?" - -"If I did," he said, "it would indeed be a break." - -"Discreet man," she laughed; "I believe you were talking about me." - -He did not answer for a moment but looked at her keenly. It hurt him to -think that this girl, of all others, might be fencing with him to gain -some knowledge of his secret. But he had lived a life in which danger -was a constant element, and women ere this had sought to baffle him and -betray. - -He was cautious in his answer. - -"You are imaginative," he said, "even about your fan. There doesn't seem -to be a trace of it, and I don't think I remember your having one." - -"Perhaps I didn't bring it down," she admitted, "and it may be in my -room after all. May I have that promised cigarette to cheer me on my -way?" - -"Surely," he replied. Very eagerly she watched him take the pouch from -his pocket and roll a cigarette. - -Her action seemed to set Monty on edge. Suppose Denby by any chance -dropped the pouch and the jewels fell out. It seemed to him that she was -drawing nearer. Suppose she was the one who had been chosen to "work -inside" and snatched it from him? - -"Miss Cartwright," he said, and noted that she seemed startled at his -voice, "can't I get your fan for you?" - -"No, thanks," she returned, "you'd have to rummage, and that's a -privilege I reserve only for myself." - -"Here you are," Denby broke in, handing her the slim white cigarette. - -She took it from him with a smile and moistened the edge of the paper as -she had seen men do often enough. "You are an expert," she said -admiringly. - -He said no word but lighted a match and held it for her. She drew a -breath of tobacco and half concealed a cough. It was plain to see that -she was making a struggle to enjoy it, and plainer for the men to note -that she failed. - -"What deliciously mild tobacco you smoke," she cried. Suddenly she -stretched out her hand for the pouch. "Do let me see." - -But Denby did not pass it to her. He looked her straight in the eyes. - -"I don't think a look at it would help you much," he said slowly. "The -name is, in case you ever want to get any, 'without fire.'" - -"What an odd name," she cried. "Without fire?" - -"Yes," he answered. "You see, no smoke without fire." Without any -appearance of haste he put the pouch back in his pocket. - -"You don't believe in that old phrase?" - -"Not a bit," he told her. "Do you?" - -She turned to ascend the stairs to her room. - -"No. Do make another break sometime, won't you--Dick?" - -[Illustration: "DO MAKE ANOTHER BREAK SOMETIME, WON'T YOU--DICK?" _Page -186_.] - -"I most probably shall," he retorted, "unless Monty warns me--or you." - -She turned back--she was now on the first turn of the staircase. "I'll -never do that. I'd rather like to see you put your foot in it--you seem -so very sure of yourself--Steve." She laughed lightly as she -disappeared. - -Monty gripped his friend's arm tightly. "Who is that girl?" - -"Why, Ethel Cartwright," he rejoined, "a close friend of our hostess. -Why ask me?" - -"Yes, yes," Monty said impatiently, "but what do you know about her?" - -"Nothing except that she's a corker." - -"You met her in Paris, didn't you?" Monty was persistent. - -"Yes," his friend admitted. - -"What was she doing there?" - -Denby frowned. "What on earth are you driving at?" - -"She was behind that door listening to us or trying to." - -"So you thought that, too?" Denby cried quickly. - -"Then you do suspect her of being the one they've got to work on the -inside?" Monty retorted triumphantly. - -"It can't be possible," Denby exclaimed, fighting to retain his faith in -her. "You're dead wrong, old man. I won't believe it for a moment." - -"Say, Steve," Monty cried, a light breaking in on him, "you're sweet on -her." - -"It isn't possible, it isn't even probable," said Denby, taking no -notice of his suggestion. - -"But the same idea occurred to you as did to me," Monty persisted. - -"I know," Denby admitted reluctantly. "I began to be suspicious when she -wanted to get hold of the pouch. You saw how mighty interested she was -in it?" - -"That's what startled me so," Monty told him. "But how could she know?" - -"They've had a tip," Denby said, with an air of certainty, "and if she's -one of 'em, she knows where the necklace was. Wouldn't it be just my -rotten luck to have that girl, of all girls I've ever known, mixed up in -this?" - -"Old man," Monty said solemnly, "you are in love with her." - -Denby looked toward the stairway by which he had seen her go. - -"I know I am," he groaned. - -"Oughtn't we to find out whether she's the one who's after you or not?" -Monty suggested with sound good sense. - -"No, we oughtn't," Denby returned. "I won't insult her by trying to trap -her." - -"Flub-dub," Monty scoffed. "I suspect her, and it's only fair to her to -clear her of that suspicion. If she's all right, I shall be darn glad of -it. If she isn't, wouldn't you rather know?" - -For the first time since he had met his old school friend in Paris, -Monty saw him depressed and anxious. "I don't want to have to fight -her," he explained. - -"I understand that," Monty went on relentlessly, "but you can't quit -now--you've got to go through with it, not only for your own sake, but -in fairness to the Harringtons. It would be a pretty raw deal to give -them to have an expose like that here just because of your refusal to -have her tested." - -"I suppose you're right," Denby sighed. - -"Of course I am," Monty exclaimed. - -"Very well," his friend said, "understand I'm only doing this to prove -how absolutely wrong you are." - -He would not admit even yet that she was plotting to betray him. Those -memories of Paris were dearer to him than he had allowed himself to -believe. Monty looked at him commiseratingly. He had never before seen -Steven in trouble, and he judged his wound to be deeper than it seemed. - -"Sure," he said. "Sure, I know, and I'll be as glad as you to find after -all it's Lambart or one of the other servants. What shall we do?" - -Denby pointed to the door from which Miss Cartwright had come. "Go in -there," he commanded, "and keep the rest of the people from coming back -here." - -Monty's face fell. "How can I do that?" he asked anxiously. - -"Oh, recite, make faces, imitate Irving in 'The Bells,' do anything but -threaten to sing, but keep 'em there as you love me." - -Obediently Monty made for the door but stopped for a moment before -passing through it. - -"And say, old man," he said a little hurriedly, nervous as most men are -when they deal with sentiment, "don't take it too hard. Just remember -what happened to Samson and Antony and Adam." - - - - -CHAPTER ELEVEN - - -When Monty had gone, Denby took out the pouch and placed it -conspicuously on the floor so that anyone descending the stairs must -inevitably catch sight of it. Then, as though thinking better of it, he -picked it up and placed it on one of the small tables on which was an -electric shaded lamp. After looking about him for a hiding-place from -which he could command a view of it and yet remain undiscovered, he -decided upon a door at the left of the hall. - -He had waited there only a few seconds when Ethel Cartwright's steps -were heard descending. - -"Oh, Mr. Denby," she called, "you were right, the fan was in my room -after all." Then, as she became conscious that the room was empty, she -paused and looked about her closely. Presently her eyes fell on the -precious pouch so carelessly left. For a moment the excitement bereft -her of ability to move. Here, only a few yards from her, was what would -earn her sister's safety and her release from Taylor's power. - -But she was no fool and collecting her thoughts wondered how it was -possible so precious a thing could be left open to view. Perhaps it was -a trap. Perhaps in the big hall behind one of its many doors or -portieres she was even now being watched. Denby had looked at her in a -stern, odd manner, wholly different from his former way and Mr. Vaughan, -of whom she had heard often enough as a pleasant, amiable fellow, had -stared at her searchingly and harshly. An instinct of danger came to her -aid and she glanced over to the door behind her which was slightly ajar. -She remembered certainly that it was closed when she had gone upstairs -for her supposititious fan. - -As calmly as she could she walked to the wall and touched the bell that -would summon a servant. In a few seconds Lambart entered. - -"Please find Mr. Denby," she said, "and say that I am here." - -Before he could turn to go, she affected to discover the leathern pouch. - -"Oh, Lambart," she exclaimed, "here's Mr. Denby's tobacco; he must have -forgotten it." - -The man took up the pouch, assuming from her manner that she desired him -to carry it to the owner. "No, I'll take it," she said, and reached for -it. Lambart only saw what was to him an inexcusably clumsy gesture which -dislodged it from his hand and sent it to the floor, in such a manner -that it opened and the tobacco tumbled out. But the girl's gesture was -cleverer than he knew for in that brief moment she had satisfied herself -it was empty. - -"Oh, Lambart," she said reprovingly, "how careless of you! Have you -spilt it all?" - -Lambart examined its interior with a butler's gravity. - -"I'm afraid I have, miss," he admitted. - -"I think Mr. Denby went into the library," she said, knowing that the -door behind which someone--probably he--was hiding, led to that room. - -Hearing her, Denby knew he must not be discovered and retreated through -the empty library into a small smoking-room into which Lambart did not -penetrate. The man returned to Miss Cartwright, his errand -unaccomplished. "Mr. Denby is not there," he said. - -"Then I will give him the pouch when I see him," she said, "and, -Lambart, you need not tell him I am here." - -As soon as he was gone, she ran to the window, her face no longer -strained but almost joyous, and when she was assured that none watched -her, lowered the curtain as a signal. - -Taylor must have been close at hand, so promptly did he respond to her -summons. - -"Well, have you got him?" he cried sharply as he entered. "Where is -he--where's the necklace?" - -"You were wrong," she said triumphantly, "there is no necklace. I knew I -was right." - -"You're crazy," he retorted brutally. - -"You said it was in the tobacco-pouch," she reminded him, "and I've -searched and it isn't there at all." - -"You're trying to protect him," Taylor snarled. "You're stuck on him, -but you can't lie to me and get away with it." - -"No, no, no," she protested. "Look, here's the very pouch, and there's -no necklace in it." - -"How did you get hold of it?" he snapped. - -It was a moment of bitter failure for the deputy-surveyor. The sign for -which he had waited patiently, and eagerly, too, despite his impassive -face, was, after all, nothing but a token of disappointment. He had -hoped, now that events had given him a hold over Miss Cartwright, to -find her well-fitted for a sort of work that would have been peculiarly -useful to his service. But her ready credulity in another man's honesty -proved one of two things. Either that she lacked the intuitive knowledge -to be a useful tool or else that she was deliberately trying to deceive -him. But none had seen Daniel Taylor show that he realized himself in -danger of being beaten. - -"He left it lying on the table," she assured him eagerly. - -Taylor's sneer was not pleasant to see. - -"Oh, he left it on the table, did he?" he scoffed. "Well, of course -there's no necklace in it then. Don't you see you've let him suspect -you, and he's just trying to bluff you." - -"It isn't that," she asserted. "He hasn't got it, I tell you." - -"I know he has," the implacable Taylor retorted, "and you've got to find -out this very night where it is. You'll probably have to search his -room." - -She shrank back at the very thought of it. "I couldn't," she cried. "Oh, -I couldn't!" - -"Yes you could, and you will," he said, in his truculent tone. "And if -you land him, use the same signal, pull down the shade in his room. -We'll be watching, and I've found a way to get there from the balcony." - -"I can't," the girl cried in desperation. "I've done what you asked. I -won't try to trap an innocent man." - -He looked at her threateningly. "Oh, you won't, eh? Well, you will. I've -been pretty nice to you, but I'm sick of it. You'll go through for me, -and you'll go through right. I've had your sister followed--see here, -look at this--" He showed her the fake warrant Duncan had prepared at -his bidding. "This is a warrant for her arrest, and unless you land that -necklace to-night, she'll be in the Tombs in the morning." - -"Not that, not that?" she begged, covering her face with her hands. - -"It's up to you," he retorted, a smile of satisfaction lighting up his -face. He could see that he would be able to hold Amy's warrant over her -head whenever he chose. She was beaten. - -"But what can I do?" she said piteously. "What can I do?" - -"I'll tell you," he said less harshly, "you're a good-looking girl; -well, make use of your good looks--get around him, jolly him, get him -stuck on you. Make him take you into his confidence. He'll fall for it. -The wisest guys are easy when you know the way." - -"Very well," she said, brightening. It seemed to her that no better way -could be devised than to convince Taylor he was wrong. "I will get -around him; I will get his confidence. I'll prove it to you, and I'll -save him." - -"But you don't have to give him your confidence, remember," Taylor -warned her. "Don't give him the least tip-off, understand. If you can -get him out in the garden, I'll take a chance he has the necklace on -him. We'll nail him there. And don't forget," he added significantly, -"that I've got a little document here with your sister's name on it. -There's somebody coming," he whispered, and silently let himself out -into the garden. - -It was Denby who came in. "Hello," he said, "not dancing, then?" - -"Hello," she said, in answer to his greeting. "I don't like dancing in -August." - -"I'm fortunate to find you alone," he said. "You can't imagine how -delightful it is to see you again." - -Her manner was particularly charming, he thought, and it gave him a pang -when a suspicion of its cause passed over his mind. There had been other -women who had sought to wheedle from him secrets that other men desired -to know, but they were other women--and this was Ethel Cartwright. - -"You don't look as though it is," she said provocatively. - -He made an effort to appear as light-hearted as she. - -"But I am," he assured her. "It is delightful to see you again." - -"It's no more delightful than for me to see you," she returned. - -"Really?" he returned. "Isn't it curious that when you like people you -may not see them for a year, but when you do, you begin just where you -left off." - -"Where did we leave off?" she demanded with a smile. - -"Why--in Paris," he said with a trace of embarrassment. "You don't want -to forget our Paris, I hope?" - -"Never," she cried, enthusiastically. "It was there we found that we -really were congenial. We are, aren't we?" - -"Congenial?" he repeated. "We're more than that--we're--" - -She interrupted him. "And yet, somehow, you've changed a lot since -Paris." - -"For better or for worse?" he asked. - -She shook her head. "For worse." - -He looked at her reproachfully. "Oh, come now, Miss Cartwright, be -fair!" - -"In Paris you used to trust me," she said. - -"And you think I don't now?" he returned. - -"I'm quite sure you don't," she told him. - -"Why do you say that?" Denby inquired. - -"There are lots of things," she answered. "One is that when I asked you -why you were here in America, you put me off with some playful excuse -about being just an idler." She looked at him with a vivacious air. - -"Now didn't you really come over on an important mission?" - -Poor Denby, who had been telling himself that Monty's suspicions were -without justification, and that this girl's good faith could not be -doubted even if several circumstances were beyond his power to explain, -groaned inwardly. Here she was, trying, he felt certain, to gain his -confidence to satisfy the men who were even now investing the house. - -But he was far from giving in yet. How could she, one of Vernon -Cartwright's daughters, reared in an atmosphere wholly different from -this sordid business, be engaged in trying to betray him? - -"Well," he said, "suppose I did come over on something more than -pleasure, what do you want to know concerning it? And why do you want to -know?" - -"Shall we say feminine curiosity?" she returned. - -He shook his head. "I think not. There must be something more vital than -a mere whim." - -"Perhaps there is," she conceded, leaning forward, "I want us to be -friends, really good friends; I regard it as a test of friendship. Why -won't you tell me?" - -He shrugged his shoulders. "Shall we say man's intuition? Oh, I know -it's not supposed to be as good as a woman's, but sometimes it's much -more accurate." - -"So you can't trust me?" she said, steadily trying to read his thoughts. - -"Can I?" he asked, gazing back at her just as steadily. - -"Don't you think you can?" she fenced adroitly. - -"If you do," he said meaningly. - -"But aren't we friends," she asked him, "pledged that night under the -moon in the Bois? You see I, too, have memories of Paris." - -"Then you put it," he said quietly, "to a test of friendship." - -"Yes," she answered readily. - -He thought for a moment. Well, here was the opportunity to find out -whether Monty was right or whether the woman he cared for was merely a -spy set upon him, a woman whose kindnesses and smiles were part of her -training. - -"Very well," he said, "then so do I. You are right. I did not come to -America idly--I came to smuggle a necklace of pearls through the -Customs. I did it to-day." - -The girl rose from her seat by the little table where she had sat facing -him and looked at him, all the brightness gone from her face. - -"You didn't, you didn't!" - -"I did," he assured her. - -She turned her face away from him. "Oh, I'm sorry," she wailed. "I'm -sorry." - -Denby looked at her keenly. He was puzzled at the manner in which she -took it. - -"But I fooled 'em," he boasted. - -She looked about her nervously as though she feared Taylor might have -listened to his frank admission and be ready to spring upon them. - -"You can't tell that," she said in a lower-keyed voice. "How can you be -sure they didn't suspect?" - -"Because I'm comfortably settled here, and there are no detectives after -me. And if there were," he confided in her triumphantly, "they'd never -suspect I carry the necklace in my tobacco-pouch." - -"But your pouch was empty," she cried. - -"How do you know that?" he demanded quickly. - -"I was here when Lambart spilt it," she explained hastily. "There it is -on the mantel, I meant to have given it to you." - -"I don't need it," he said, taking one similar in shape and color from -his pocket. - -"Two pouches!" she cried aghast. "Two?" - -"An unnecessary precaution," he said carelessly, "one would have done; -as it is they haven't suspected me a bit." - -"You can't be certain of that," she insisted. "If they found out they'd -put you in prison." - -"And would you care?" he demanded. - -"Why, of course I would," she responded. "Aren't we friends?" - -He had that same steady look in his eyes as he asked: "Are we?" - -It was a gaze she could not bring herself to meet. Assuredly, she -groaned, she was not of the stuff from which the successful adventuress -was made. - -"Of course," she murmured in reply. "But what are you going to do?" - -"I've made my plans," he told her. "I've been very careful. I've given -my confidence to two people only, both of whom I trust absolutely--Monty -Vaughan and"--he looked keenly at her,--"and you. I shan't be caught. I -won't give in, and I'll stop at nothing, no matter what it costs, or -whom it hurts. I've got to win." - -It seemed to him she made an ejaculation of distress. "What is it?" he -cried. - -"Nothing much," she said nervously, "it's the heat, I suppose. That's -why I wouldn't dance, you know. Won't you take me into the garden and -we'll look at the moon--it's the same moon," she said, with a desperate -air of trying to conceal from him her agitation, "that shines in Paris. -It's gorgeous," she added, looking across the room where no moon was. - -"Surely," he said. "It is rather stuffy indoors on a night like this." -He moved leisurely over to the French windows. But she called him back. -She was not yet keyed up to this supreme act of treachery. - -"No, no," she called again, "don't let's go, after all." - -"Why not?" he demanded, bewildered at her fitful mood. - -"I don't know," she said helplessly. "But let's stay here. I'm nervous, -I think." - -"Nonsense," he said cheerily, trying to brace her up. "The moon is a -great soother of nerves, and a friendly old chap, too. What is it?" he -asked curiously. "You're miles away from here, but I don't think you're -in Paris, either. It's your turn to tell me something. Where are you?" - -He could not guess that her thoughts were in her home, where her poor, -gentle, semi-invalid mother was probably now worrying over the sudden -mood of depression which had fallen upon her younger girl. And it would -be impossible for him to understand the threat of prison and disgrace -which was even now hanging over Amy Cartwright's head. - -"I was thinking of my sister," she told him slowly. "Come, let's go." - -Before he could unfasten the French windows there was a sound of running -feet outside, and Monty's nervous face was seen looking in. Nora, -breathless, was hanging on to his arm. - -Quickly Denby opened the doors and let the two in, and then shut the -doors again. "What is it?" he demanded quickly. - -"Don't go out there, Steve," Monty cried, when he could get breath -enough to speak. - -"Why, what is it?" Ethel Cartwright asked nervously. - -"Nora and I went for a walk in the garden, and suddenly two men jumped -out on us from behind the pagoda. They had almost grabbed us when one -man shouted to the other fellow, 'We're wrong,' and Nora screamed and -ran like the very devil, and I had to run after her of course." - -"It was dreadful," said Nora gasping. - -"What's dreadful?" Alice Harrington demanded, coming on the scene -followed by her husband. They had been disturbed by Nora's screams. - -"Won't someone please explain?" Michael asked anxiously. - -"It was frightful," Nora cried. - -"Let me tell it," Monty protested. - -"You'll get it all wrong," his companion asserted. "I wasn't half as -scared as you." - -"I was talking to Nora," Monty explained, "and suddenly from the -shrubbery--" - -"Somebody stepped right out," Nora added. - -"One at a time," Michael admonished them, "one at a time, please." - -"Why, you see, Monty and I went for a walk in the garden," Nora began-- - -"And two men jumped out and started for us," Monty broke in. - -"Great Scott," Michael cried, indignant that the privacy of his own -estate should be invaded, "and here, too!" - -"What did you do?" Alice asked eagerly. - -"I just screamed and they ran away," Nora told her a little proudly. -"Wasn't it exciting?" she added, drawing a deep breath. "Just like a -book!" - -"Michael," his wife said, shocked, "they might have been killed." - -"What they need is a drink," he said impressively; "I'll ring for some -brandy." - -"I'd be all right," Monty stated emphatically, "if I could get one long -breath." - -"You do look a bit shaken, old man," Denby said sympathetically. "What -you need is a comforting smoke. You left a pipe on the table in my room. -Take my tobacco and light up." - -Monty looked at the pigskin pouch as his friend handed it to him. "Gee!" -he said, regarding it as one might a poisonous reptile, "I don't want -that." - -"That's all right," Denby said. "I can spare it. And when you're through -with it, drop it in the drawer of the writing-table, will you? I always -like to make myself one for coffee in the morning. I've smoked enough -to-night." - -By this time Monty understood what was required of him. He took the -pouch respectfully and crossed toward the stairs. "I'll leave it in the -drawer," he called out as he ascended the stairs. - -Michael had been looking through the glass doors with a pair of -binoculars. "I see nothing," he declared. - -"But suppose they come back later, and break in here at night?" Alice -cried. - -"I shall organize the household servants and place Lambart at their -head," he said gravely. "He is an excellent shot. Then there are three -able-bodied men here, so that we are prepared." - -"I'm sure you needn't take any such elaborate precautions," Denby told -him. "No men, after once warning us, would break in here with so many -servants. I imagine they were a couple of tramps who were attracted by -Miss Rutledge's rings and thought they could make a quick getaway." - -"This is a lesson to me to provide myself with a couple of Airedales," -Michael asserted. "Things are coming to a pretty pass when one invites -one's friends to come down to a week-end party and get robbed. It's -worse than a hotel on the Riviera." - -"Well, they didn't get anything," Nora cried. "You should have seen me -run. I believe I flew, and I do believe I've lost weight!" - -"But oughtn't I to go out and see?" Michael asked a little weakly. - -"Certainly not," Alice commanded him firmly. "I can imagine nothing more -useless than a dead husband." - -He took her hand affectionately. "How right you are," he murmured -gratefully. "I think, though, I ought to ask the police to keep a sharp -watch." - -"That's sensible," his wife agreed. "Go and telephone." - -"Goodness," Nora cried suddenly, "I haven't any rings on. I must have -left them on my dressing-table." - -Alice looked alarmed. "And I left all sorts of things on mine. Let's go -up together. And you, Ethel, have you left anything valuable about?" - -"There's nothing worth taking," the girl answered. - -"You look frightened to death, child," Mrs. Harrington exclaimed, as she -was passing her. - -Ethel sat down on the fender seat with a smile of assurance. "Oh, not a -bit," she said. "There are three strong men to protect us, remember." - -"Yes--two men and Michael," her hostess laughed, passing up the stairway -out of view. - -"The moon is still there, Miss Cartwright," Denby observed quietly. -"Surely you are not tired of moons yet?" - -"But those men out there," she protested. - -"I'm sure they weren't after me," he returned. "They wouldn't wait in -the garden, and even if they are detectives, they wouldn't get the -necklace, it's safe--now." - -Ethel Cartwright shook her head. "I'm afraid I've got nerves like every -other woman," she confessed, "and the evening has been quite eventful -enough as it is. I think I prefer to stay here." - -She glanced up to see Monty descending the stairs. All this talk of -robbery and actual participation in a scene of violence had induced in -Monty the desire for the company of his kind. - -"I thought I'd rather be down here," he stated naively. - -"All right, old man," Denby said smiling. "Glad to have you. Did you put -the pouch where I said?" - -"Yes," Monty answered, handing him a key, "and I locked it up," he -explained. - -"Good!" his friend exclaimed, putting the key in his pocket. - -Miss Cartwright yawned daintily. "Excitement seems to make me sleepy," -she said. "I think I shall go." - -"You're not going to leave us yet?" Denby said reproachfully. - -"I was up very early," she told him. - -"I guess everything is safe now," Monty assured her. - -"Let's hope so," Denby said. "Still, the night isn't half over yet. -Pleasant dreams, Miss Cartwright." - -She paused on the half landing and looked down at the two men. - -"I'm afraid they won't be quite--that." - -Monty crept to the foot of the stairway and made certain she was passed -out of hearing. "Steve," he said earnestly, "she's gone now to get into -your room." - -"No, she hasn't," Denby protested, knowing he was lying. - -Monty looked at his friend in wonderment. Usually Denby was quick of -observation, but now he seemed uncommonly dull. - -"Why, she never made a move to leave until she knew I'd put the pouch in -the drawer. Then she said she was tired and wanted to go to bed. You -must have noticed how she took in everything you said. She's even taken -to watching me, too. What makes you so blind, Steve?" - -"I'm not blind," Denby said, a trifle irritably. "It happens you are -magnifying things, till everything you see is wrong." - -"Nonsense," Monty returned bluntly. "If she gets that necklace it's all -up with us, and you needn't pretend otherwise." - -"Make your mind easy," Denby exclaimed, "she won't get it." - -"May I ask what's going to stop her?" Monty inquired, goaded into -sarcasm. "Do you think she needs to know the combination of an ordinary -lock like that top drawer?" - -"The necklace isn't there," Denby said. - -Monty looked at him piteously. "For Heaven's sake don't tell me I've got -it somewhere on me!" - -Denby drew it out of a false pocket under the right lapel of his coat -and held the precious string up to the other's view. "That's why," he -observed. - -"Then everything's all right," Monty cried with unrestrained joy. - -"Everything's all wrong," Denby corrected. - -"But, Steve," Monty said reproachfully, "the necklace--" - -"Oh, damn the necklace!" Denby interrupted viciously. - -Monty shook his head mournfully. His friend's aberrations were -astounding. - -"Steve," he said slowly, "you're a fool!" - -"I guess I am," the other admitted. "But," he added, snapping his teeth -together, "I'm not such a fool as to get caught, Monty, so pull yourself -together, something's bound to happen before long." - -"That's what I'm afraid of," sighed Monty. - - - - -CHAPTER TWELVE - - -On the way to her room Ethel Cartwright met Michael Harrington, a box of -cigars in his hand, coming toward the head of the stairway. - -"Whither away?" he demanded. - -"To bed," she returned. "The excitement's been too much for me." - -"This box," he said, lovingly caressing it, "contains what I think are -the best that can be smoked." He opened and showed what seemed to her -cigars of a very large size. "I'm going to give the boys one apiece as a -reward for bravery." He laughed with glee. "And as Lambart is going to -be one of the search party, I'm going to give him one, too. He'll either -leave at my temerity in offering him the same kind of weed his employer -smokes, or else he'll have it framed." - -"A search party?" she said. "What do you mean?" - -"We're going to beat the bushes for tramps," he said. "I am directing -operations from the balcony outside my room. The general in command," he -explained, "never gets on the firing-line in modern warfare." - -"Is Mr. Denby going?" she asked. - -"No, no," he said. "I can't expect my guests to expose themselves to the -risk of being shot. Don't you be alarmed," he said solicitously, "I -shall be at hand in case of trouble." - -When she reached her room she sat motionless for a few moments on the -edge of the bed. Then suddenly, she rose and walked along a corridor and -knocked at the door of the room she knew was Alice Harrington's. - -"Alice," she said nervously, and there was no doubt in the elder woman's -mind that the girl was thoroughly upset, "I'm nervous of sleeping in the -room you've given me. Can't I sleep somewhere near people? Let me have -that room I had the last time I was here." - -"Why, my dear girl, of course, if you want it," Alice said -sympathetically. "But it isn't as pretty, and I especially had this -bigger room for you. Don't be a silly little girl; you'll be asleep in -five minutes. Better still, I'll come and read till you're drowsy." - -"Please humor me," the other pleaded. "I'd rather be where, if I scream, -someone can hear, and the men are sleeping down there, and one after all -does depend on them in emergencies." - -"All right," Alice said good-humoredly, "I'll ring for the servants to -take your things in." - -"We can do it," Ethel said eagerly. "I've only one cabin trunk, and it -weighs nothing. Why disturb them?" - -When they had moved the baggage down the halls to the smaller room, -there was no key to lock the door which led to a connecting room. - -"Whose is that?" Ethel demanded. - -"Mr. Denby's," she was told. "I always give men big rooms, because -they're so untidy. Michael will know where the key is. He has every one -of the hundred keys with a neat label on it. He's so methodical in some -things. By the time you're ready for bed I'll have it." - -A few minutes later the intervening door was safely locked and Mrs. -Harrington had left the girl, feeling that perhaps she, too, would be -nervous if she had not her Michael close at hand. - -Directly the girl was alone she sprang out of bed and hurriedly put on a -white silk negligee. So far her plans had prospered admirably. The -bedroom from which she had moved was so situated that if she were to -undertake the search of Denby's room, she must pass the rooms of her -host and hostess and also that of Nora Rutledge. And this search was -imperative. Out in the darkness Taylor and his men were waiting -impatiently. Presently a band of men, armed in all probability, would -sally forth from the house and might just as likely capture the Customs -officers. Supposing Taylor took this as treachery on her part and -denounced her before the Harringtons? Nothing would save Amy then. - -If only she could discover the necklace and give the signal in time so -that the deputy-surveyor could come legitimately into the house! She -told herself that she must control this growing nervousness; that her -movements must be swift and sure, and that she must banish all thought -of the man she had met in Paris, or the punishment that would be his. - -Fortunately his guests could not escape Michael and his big cigars; and -cigars, as she knew from her father's use of them, are not consumed as a -cigarette may be and thrown quickly away. - -The key turned in the lock stiffly and it seemed to her, waiting -breathless, that the sound must be audible everywhere. But as quiet -still ruled outside in the corridors, she pushed the door half-open and -peered into the room. It was dark save for the moonlight, but she could -see to make her way to a writing-table, on which was an electric lamp. - -She turned it on and then looked about her nervously. It was a large, -well-furnished room, and to the right of her a big alcove with a bed in -it. There was a large French window leading to the balcony which Taylor -had noted and proposed to use if she were successful in her search. - -She did not dare to look out, for fear the search party might see her, -so she centered her attention upon the locked drawer in which the -necklace was awaiting her. There was a brass paper-knife lying on the -table, heavy enough she judged, to pry open any ordinary lock. Very -cautiously she set about her work. It called for more strength than she -had supposed, but the lock seemed to be yielding gradually when there -fell upon her anxious ear sounds of footsteps coming down the corridor. - -She sprang to her feet and listened intently, and was satisfied herself -that she was in imminent danger. Putting out the light she turned to run -to her room, and in doing so knocked the paper-knife to the floor. To -her excited fancy it clattered hideously as it fell, but she reached her -room safely and locked the door. - -She was hardly in shelter before Denby came into his room and switched -on the light. He was still smoking the first third of his host's famous -cigar. He sauntered to the window and looked over the lawn and wondered -what luck the searchers would have. He had permitted himself to be urged -by Harrington to a course of inactivity. It was not his wish to be -brought face to face with his enemy while he had the jewels in a place -they would instantly detect. He took the pearls from their hiding-place -and threw them carelessly on the table. Then seeing the paper-knife on -the floor he stooped to pick it up. But lying near it were little -splinters of white wood that instantly arrested his attention. He knelt -down, lit a match, and examined them without disturbing them in any way. -And then his eyes travelled upward, until the scratches by the lock were -plain. - -Experience told him plainly that the drawer had been attempted and that -recently, in fact, within a half-hour since Monty had placed his pouch -there with the pearls as he supposed in it. - -While he was standing there motionless, sounds in the hall outside -disturbed him. Presently a knock sounded on the door. Before answering -he picked up the pearls and placed them in his pocket. Then he called -out: "Who is it?" - -"It's me," came Monty's voice in answer. - -"Come in," he called. - -Monty entered nervously. "Everything all right?" he demanded. - -"Yes," his friend said, and then looked at him. Monty's appearance was -slightly dishevelled. "What's happened?" he asked. - -Monty ignored the question. "I was afraid everything might be all -wrong," he cried. "This is the first time I've been able to swallow -comfortably for an hour. I thought my heart was permanently dislocated." - -"What's been happening downstairs?" Denby inquired. - -"Nothing," Monty told him, "and it's the limit to have nothing happen." - -"I thought Harrington was organizing a search party." - -"Oh, we searched," Monty admitted. "I was nominally in charge, but -Lambart was the directing genius. He was an officer's orderly in his -youth and is some tactician, believe me." Monty pointed to his muddied -knees. "He stretched clothes-lines over the paths to catch the tramps, -and I was the first victim. We looked everywhere, all of us, Lambart, -the under-butler, two chauffeurs and I, and we didn't even flush a cat." - -"That's odd," his listener commented. "They'll be back. They're not -frightened away by you fellows with lanterns. They'll be back." - -"I bet they will," Monty grumbled, "and with the militia." - -"Don't lose your nerve now, old man," Denby counselled. - -"I wish I could," Monty cried. "This certainly is getting on it. It's a -lesson not to get discontented with my lot. I've got that creepy feeling -all the time that they're coming closer to us." - -"But that's the real sport of it," Denby pointed out. - -"Sport be damned," he said crossly. "Your ideas about foxes and mine -don't coincide. I don't think he likes being hunted. And at that he's -got something on us; he knows who's chasing him." - -"So shall we soon," he was reminded. - -"Yes," Monty grumbled, "when we're shot full of holes." - -"Don't be afraid of getting shot at," Denby said smiling. "You amateurs -have no idea how few shots hit the mark even at short range. I've been -shot at three times and I've not a scar to show." - -"Job must be your favorite author," Monty commented sourly. "I hate the -noise. I'm scared to death; I thought I wanted excitement, but life on a -farm for me hereafter." - -"But, my dear boy," Denby said more seriously, "you are not in this. -They're after me and this." He held up the necklace. "You're a spectator -merely." - -"Rot!" Monty cried. "I'm what they call an accessory and if you think -I'm going to clear out now, all I can say is you ought to know me better -than that. I want to be doing something; it's the talking that gets on -my nerves. They'll be here soon, you may bet on that. They're going to -search this room." - -"Somebody's done that already," he was told. - -"Who?" Monty cried anxiously. "That girl?" - -"I think not. Her room is in the other wing, as I found out indirectly. -To come here she'd have to run an awful risk. If she comes it will be -later, when everyone is asleep." - -"Then who could it have been?" Monty demanded. He turned suddenly on his -heel. - -There was someone even now listening at the door. Then there was a -faint, discreet knock. He dropped into the nearest chair and looked at -the other man with a blanched face. - -"Pinched!" he cried. - -"Hsh!" the other commanded softly, and then louder: "Come in." - -The smiling face of Michael Harrington beamed upon them. In his hands he -carried a tray whereon two generous highballs reposed. - -"Hello, boys," he cried genially, "I've brought up those two nightcaps I -promised you. Nothing like 'em after excitement such as we've had." - -"You never looked so good to me, Michael," Monty cried affectionately. - -"Now, Denby," Michael said, handing him the glass in Lambart's best -manner. - -"Thanks, all the same," his guest returned, "but I don't think I -will--not yet at any rate." - -"Good!" Michael cried. "Luck's with me." He drained the glass with the -deepest satisfaction. "Ah, that was needed. Now, Monty, after your -exertions you won't disappoint me?" - -"Not for me, either," Monty exclaimed. - -"Splendid," said the gratified Michael. "At your age I would have -refused it absolutely." He looked at the glass affectionately. "I'll -take the encore in a few minutes. Alice does cut me down so dreadfully. -Just one light one before dinner--mostly Vermouth--and one drink -afterward. I welcome any extra excitement like this." - -"Aren't you master in your own house?" Denby asked smiling. He had -fathomed the secret of the happy relations of his host and hostess, and -was not deceived by Harrington when he represented himself the sport of -circumstances. - -"You bet I'm not," said Michael, without resentment. "By the way," he -added, "if you want your nightcaps later, ring for Lambart. He's used to -being summoned at any hour." - -"I won't forget," Denby returned. - -"I hope you won't," his host assured him. "I'd hate to think of Lambart -having a really good night's rest." He pointed to an alarm on the wall -by the door. "But don't get up half asleep and push that red thing over -there." - -"What on earth is it?" Monty asked. "It looks like a hotel -fire-alarm--'Break the glass in case of fire.'" - -"It's a burglar-alarm that wakes the whole house." - -"What?" Denby cried, suddenly interested. "You don't really expect -burglars?" - -"I know it's funny," Michael said, "and a bit old maidish, but I happen -to be vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company, and I've -got to have their beastly patents in the house to show my faith in 'em." - -"I'll keep away from it," Denby assured him, looking at it curiously. - -"The last man who had this room sent it off by mistake. Said a mosquito -worried him so much that he threw a shoe at it. He missed the -mosquito--between you and me," Michael said confidentially, "we haven't -any out here at Westbury--but he hit the alarm. I'm afraid Hazen had -been putting too many nightcaps on his head and couldn't see straight. -Mrs. Harrington made me search the whole house. Of course there wasn't -anyone there and Alice seemed sorry that I'd had my hunt in vain. The -beauty of these things," the vice-president commented, "is that they -warn the burglars to get out and so you don't get shot as you might if -you hadn't told 'em you were coming." - -Michael took up the second glass and had barely taken a sip when quick, -light footfalls approached. - -"Good Lord," said he, "my wife! Here, Monty, quick," placing the -half-emptied glass in Denby's hand and the one from which he had first -drunk in Monty's, "I count on you, boys," he whispered, and then strode -to the door and flung it open. - -"Are we intruders?" his wife asked. - -"You are delightfully welcome," Denby cried. "Please come in." - -"We thought you'd still be up," Nora explained. "Michael said he was -bringing you up some highballs." - -"Great stuff," Monty said, taking his cue, "best whiskey I ever tasted. -Nothing like really old Bourbon after all." - -Michael shot a glance of agonized reproach at the man who could make -such a stupid mistake. "Monty," he explained to his wife, who had caught -this ingenuous remark and had looked at him inquiringly, "is still so -filled with excitement that he doesn't know old Scotch when he tastes -it." - -"Your husband is a noble abstainer," Denby said quickly, to help them -out, "we place temptation right before him and he resists." - -"That's my wife's training," said Harrington, smiling complacently. - -"I'm not so sure," she returned. "Putting temptation before Michael, Mr. -Denby, shows him just like old Adam--only Michael's weakness is for -grapes, not apples." - -"We've come," Nora reminded them, "to get a fourth at auction. We're all -too much excited to sleep. Mr. Denby, I'm sure you're a wonderful -player. Surely you must shine at something." - -"Among my other deficiencies," he confessed, "I don't play bridge." - -Nora sighed. "There remains only Monty. Monty," she commanded, "you must -play." - -"Glad to!" he cried. "I like company, and I'm not tired either." - -Suddenly he caught sight of Denby's face. His look plainly said, -"Refuse." - -"In just a few minutes," Monty stammered. "I was just figuring out -something when you came in. How long will it take, Steve?" - -"Hardly five minutes," Denby said. - -"It's a gold-mine you see," Monty explained laboriously, "and first it -goes up, and then it goes down." - -"I always strike an average," Michael told him. "It's the easiest way." - -"Is it a good investment?" Alice demanded. She had a liking for taking -small flutters with gold-mines. - -"You wouldn't know one if you saw it," her husband said, laughing. - -"I learnt what I know from you," she reminded him. - -"I'd rather dance than bridge it," Nora said impatiently, doing some -rather elaborate maxixe steps very gracefully and humming a popular tune -meanwhile. - -"Be quiet," Alice warned her; "you'll disturb Ethel." - -"Has Miss Cartwright gone to bed?" Denby asked her. - -"She felt very tired," Alice explained. - -"It's wrong to go to bed so early," Nora exclaimed. "It can't be much -after two." - -She sang a few bars of another song much in vogue, but Alice stopped her -again. - -"Hush, Nora, don't you understand Ethel's in the next room asleep, or -trying to?" - -"I thought it was empty," Nora said, in excuse for her burst of song. - -"Ethel insisted on changing. She was very nervous and she wanted to be -down near the men in case of trouble." - -"And I had to go through forty-seven bunches of keys to get one to fit -that door," her husband complained. Denby shot a swift glance toward -Monty, who was wearing an "I told you so" expression. "She seemed -positively afraid of you, Denby, from what my wife said," Harrington -concluded. - -"You're not drinking your highball, Mr. Denby," Alice observed. - -"I'm saving it," he smiled. - -"That's a very obvious hint," Nora cried. "Let's leave them, Alice." She -sauntered to the door. - -"Very well," her hostess said, "and we'll expect you in a few minutes, -Monty. You're coming, Michael?" - -"In just a moment," he returned. "I've got one more old wheeze I want to -spring on Denby. He's a capital audience for the elderly ones." - -"When Mr. Denby has recovered," she commanded, "come down and play." - -"Certainly, my dear," he said obediently. - -"And, Michael," she said smiling, "don't think you've fooled me." - -"Fooled you," he exclaimed innocently, "why, I'd never even dream of -trying to!" - -His wife moved toward Denby and took the half-finished highball from his -hand. - -"Michael," she said, handing it to him, "here's the rest of your drink." - -She went from the room still smiling at the deep knowledge she had of -her Michael's little ways. - -Michael imbibed it gratefully. - -"My wife's a damned clever woman," he exclaimed enthusiastically, as he -trotted out obediently in her wake. - -Directly he had gone Denby went quickly to the door and made sure it was -closed tightly. "It was that girl, after all, Monty!" he said in a low, -tense voice. "She tried to pry open the drawer with that paper-knife. -You can see the marks. I found the knife on the floor, where she'd -dropped it on hearing me at the door." - -Monty looked at him with sympathy in his eyes. "That's pretty tough, old -man," he said softly. - -"It's hard to believe that she is the kind of woman to take advantage of -our friendship to turn me over to the police," he admitted. Then his -face took on a harder, sterner look. "But it's no use beating about the -bush; that's exactly what she did." - -"I'm sorry, mighty sorry," Monty said, realizing as he had never done -what this perfidy meant to his old friend. - -"I don't want to have to fight her," Denby said. "The very idea seems -unspeakable." - -"What can we do if you don't?" Monty asked doubtfully. - -"If she'll only tell me who it is that sent her here--the man who's -after me--I'll fight him, and leave her out of it." - -"But if she won't do that?" Monty questioned. - -"Then I'll play her own game," Denby answered, "only this time she -follows my rules for it." As he said this both of the men fancied they -could hear a creaking in the next room. - -"What's that?" Monty demanded. - -Denby motioned to him to remain silent, and then tiptoed his way to the -door connecting the rooms. - -"Is she there?" Monty felt himself compelled to whisper. - -Denby nodded acquiescence and quietly withdrew to the centre of the -room. - -"Has she heard us?" asked his friend. - -"I don't think so. I heard her close the window and then come over to -the door." - -He crossed to the desk and began to write very fast. - -"What are you doing?" Monty inquired softly. - -Denby, scribbling on, did not immediately answer him. Presently he -handed the written page to Monty. "Here's my plan," he said, "read it." - -While Monty was studying the paper Denby moved over to the light switch, -and the room, except for the rose-shaded electric lamp, was in darkness. - -"Jumping Jupiter!" Monty exclaimed, looking up from the paper with knit -brows. - -"Do you understand?" Denby asked. - -"Yes," Monty answered agitatedly; "I understand, but suppose I get -rattled and make a mistake when the time comes?" - -"You won't," Denby replied, still in low tone. "I'm depending on you, -Monty, and I know you won't disappoint me." When he next spoke it was in -a louder voice, louder in fact than he needed for conversational use. - -"It's a pity Miss Cartwright has gone to bed," he exclaimed. "I might -have risked trying to learn bridge, if she'd been willing to teach me. -She's a bully girl." - -"Don't talk so loud," Monty advised him, grinning. - -"In these dictagraph days the walls have ears. Let's go outside. We -can't tell who might hear us in this room. We'll be safe enough on the -lawn." - -"A good idea," Denby agreed, moving away from the connecting door which -they guessed had a listener concealed behind it, and turning out the -lights. And Ethel Cartwright, straining her ears, heard the door opened -and banged noisily, and footsteps hurrying past toward the stairway. It -was at last the opportunity. - - - - -CHAPTER THIRTEEN - - -SHE turned the key, less noisily this time, and stepped into Denby's -room. Making her way to the drawer she gave it a gentle pull. But it was -still fastened, and she grasped the heavy brass knife when of a sudden -the room was full of light, and Denby stepped from the shadow of the -door where he had been concealed. - -"Oh!" she cried in terror, and turned her face away from him. - -He walked slowly over to the table by which she stood. - -"So you've come for the necklace, then? Why do you want it?" - -She looked at him in desperation. Only the truth would serve her now. - -"I am employed by the government. I was sent here to get it," she -answered. - -"What?" he cried. "The charming Miss Cartwright a secret service agent! -It's quite incredible." - -"But it's true," she said. - -"Who employed you?" he asked sharply. - -"I can't tell you that," she said slowly. - -"Then how can I believe you?" he asked her. - -"But it's the truth," she insisted. "For what other reason should I be -here?" - -"Women have collected jewels before now for themselves as well as their -governments," he reminded her. - -She flushed. "Do you wish to insult me?" - -"I don't think you quite realize your position," he said. "I find you -here trying to steal something of mine. If you tell me the name of the -man, or men, under whose orders you are acting, I may be able to -believe." - -"I can't tell you," she cried; "I can't tell you." - -"It's most likely to be Bangs," he said meditatively, and then turned to -her quickly. "It was John H. Bangs of the secret service who sent you." - -At all costs she knew she must keep the name of Daniel Taylor from him. -To admit that it was a fellow official would do no harm. - -"Yes," she said; "it was." - -Contempt looked from his face. "You lie, Miss Cartwright, you lie!" - -"Mr. Denby!" she cried. - -"I've no time for politeness now," he told her. "There is no Bangs in -the secret service." - -"But you, how can you know?" she said, fighting for time. - -"It's my business to know my opponents," he observed. "Can't you tell -the truth?" - -"I can't tell you who it was," she persisted, "but if you'll just give -me the necklace--" - -He laughed scornfully at her childish request. Her manner puzzled him -extremely. He had seen her fence and cross-examine, use her tongue with -the adroitness of an old hand at intrigue, and yet she was simple, -guileless enough to ask him to hand over the necklace. - -"And if I refuse you'll call the men in who seized Mr. Vaughan, thinking -it was I, and let them get the right man this time?" - -"I don't know," she said despairingly. "What else can I do? I can't -fail." - -"Nor can I," he snapped, "and don't intend to, either. Do you know what -happens to a man who smuggles in the sort of thing I did and resists the -officials as I shall do, and is finally caught? I've seen it, and I -know. It's prison, Miss Cartwright, and gray walls and iron bars. It -means being herded for a term of years with another order of men, the -men who are crooked at heart; it means the losing of all one's hopes in -prison gloom and coming out debased and suspected by every man set in -authority over you, for evermore. I've sometimes gone sick at seeing men -who have done as I am doing, but have not escaped. I'm not going to -prison, Miss Cartwright, remember that." - -"But I don't want you to," she cried eagerly, so eagerly, that he -groaned to think her magnificent acting should be devoted to such a -scene as this. "I don't want you to." - -"Then there's only one way out of it for both of us," he said, coming -nearer. - -"What?" she asked fervently. - -"Tell them you've failed, that you couldn't find it anywhere." - -"I couldn't," she said vehemently. - -There was a certain studied contempt in his manner which hurt her badly. -And to know that he would always regard her as an adventuress, -unprincipled and ready to sell herself for the rewards of espionage, and -never have even one pleasant and genuine memory of her, made her -desperate. - -"I didn't intend you to lose on the transaction," he said coldly. "I'll -give you ten thousand dollars." - -"Oh, no, no!" she cried, "you don't understand." - -"Twenty thousand, then," he said. "Only you and I would know. Your -principals could never hold it against you. Isn't it a good offer?" - -She made a gesture of despair. "It's no good." - -"Twenty thousand no good!" he jeered. "Think again, Miss Cartwright. It -will pay you better to stand in with me than give me up." - -"No, no!" she cried, half hysterically. - -"It's all I can afford," he said. Her manner seemed so strange, that for -the first time since he had found her in his room, he began to doubt -whether, after all, it was merely the splendid acting he had supposed. - -"I can't accept," she told him. "I've _got_ to get that necklace; it -means more than any money to me." - -He looked at her keenly, seeking to gauge the depth of her emotion. - -"Then they've got some hold on you," he asserted. - -"No," she assured him, "I must get the necklace." - -"So you're going to make me fight you then?" he questioned. - -"I've got to fight," she exclaimed. - -"Look here," he said, after a moment's pause, "let's get this thing -right. You won't accept any--shall we call it compromise?--and you won't -tell me for whom you are acting. And you won't admit that you are doing -this because someone has such a hold on you that you must obey. Is that -right, so far?" - -For a moment she had a wild idea of telling him, of putting an end to -the scene that was straining her almost to breaking-point. She knew he -could be chivalrous and tender, and she judged he could be ruthless and -hard if necessity compelled. But above all, and even stronger than her -fear of irrevocably breaking with him and being judged hereafter as one -unworthy, was the dread of Taylor and that warrant that could at his -will send Amy to prison and her mother possibly to her grave. She -hardened herself to go through with the ordeal. - -"So far you are right," she admitted. - -"Then it remains only for us two to fight. I hate fighting women. A few -hours ago I would have sworn that you and I never could fight, but a few -hours have shown me that I'm as liable to misread people as--as Monty, -for example. You say you've got to fight. Very well then; I accept the -challenge, and invite you to witness my first shot." - -He walked to the door through which she had come and opening it, took -the key from her side of it, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. - -"What do you mean?" she cried. - -"Merely that I'm going to keep you here," he retorted. "I was afraid we -might be interrupted." - -"Open that door!" she commanded quickly. - -"When I am ready no doubt I shall," he returned. - -"You wouldn't do that?" she cried, beginning to realize that she was to -have no easy victory if indeed victory were to be her reward. - -"I regret the necessity," he said. "These methods don't particularly -appeal to me, but we have declared war, and there's no choice." - -"But I don't understand," she said nervously. - -"Don't you?" he said, coming nearer and looking at her closely. "Don't -you understand that you are a beautiful woman and I am a man? Have you -forgotten that it's nearly three, and you are in my room, the room next -which you begged to be moved? They were a little puzzled at your wanting -that key so badly, and when you're found here _en negligee_--for you -will be found here--I think I know the world well enough to judge what -construction will be placed upon that discovery." - -For the moment she forgot about everything but the personal aspect of -the situation in which she found herself. That this man of all others -should be willing to compromise her reputation awakened the bitterest -contempt for him. - -"I thought at least _you_ were a _man_!" she cried. - -"I am," he returned without heat. "That's just it, Miss Cartwright, I'm -a man, and you are a woman." - -"And I thought you were my friend," she exclaimed indignantly. - -"Please don't bandy the name of friendship with me," he said with a -sneer. "You of all women that live, to dare to talk like that! You knew -I liked you--liked you very much, and because you were so sure of it, -you wheedled me into betraying myself. You smiled and lied and pledged -our friendship, and called to mind those days in Paris, which were the -happiest recollections of all my life. And yet it was all done so that -you might get enough out of me to lead me, with a prison sentence -awaiting me, to the man who gives you your orders." He took a few swift -paces up and down the room. "This indignation of yours is a false note. -We'll keep to the main facts. You are sworn to betray me, and I am sworn -to defeat you." - -"Don't think that," she said wretchedly; "I wasn't--" - -"And when I told you the truth," he went on inexorably, "you asked me to -go into the garden where they were waiting for me." - -"I couldn't help it," she said, as calmly as she was able. - -"And when you thought I was sending the necklace here you trumped up a -flimsy excuse so that you might be able to steal in here and get it. Is -that sort of thing in your code of friendship?" - -"I wasn't trying to trap you," she explained. "I thought you were -innocent, and I wanted to convince them of it, too." - -"No doubt," he said tauntingly, "and when you found out I was guilty, -you still tried to save me, I suppose, by asking me to walk into their -trap?" - -The girl made an effort to defend her course of action. She knew that -without the admission of the truth he must feel his point of view -unassailable, but she wanted him not to think too hardly of her. - -"After all," she declared, "you had broken the law. You are guilty. Why -should my behavior be so called into account?" - -"It isn't that at all," he returned impatiently. "You didn't play the -game fairly. You used a woman's last weapon--her sex. Well, I can play -your game, too, and I will. You shall stay here till morning." - -"You don't dare to keep me!" she cried. - -"Oh, yes, I do," he retorted easily. - -She assumed as well as she could an air of bravado, a false air of -courage that might convince him she was not so easily frightened as she -felt. - -"And you think the possible loss of my reputation is going to frighten -me into letting you go?" - -"I do," he said readily. - -"Well, you're wrong," she assured him, "I have only to tell them the -truth about the necklace and what I'm doing here--" - -"But the truth is so seldom believed," he reminded her, "especially when -you've no evidence to support it. A lie is a much more easily digested -morsel." - -"All the evidence I need," she asserted, "is in that locked drawer." - -"Quite so," he admitted. "I'd forgotten that, only it happens you're -wrong again." He drew the necklace from his pocket and showed it to her. -"It's a beauty, isn't it?" - -Moving over to the table he scribbled a few words on a sheet of paper. - -"What are you doing?" she asked. - -"Manufacturing evidence," he returned calmly. - -"Meanwhile," she said, gathering courage, "I propose to leave this -room." - -"An excellent idea from your way of thinking," he said, looking up. -"Naturally I'm interested to know how." - -"I'll show you," she responded, and moved quickly to the bell button -which she pushed violently. "Now, Mr. Denby," she cried triumphantly. -"This is my first shot! When the servants come, I shall take the -necklace with me." - -She was disappointed to see no trace of alarm on his face. Instead, he -answered her calmly enough. - -"What a pity you did that--you'll regret it so very soon." - -"Shall I?" she said satirically, and watched him go to the window. As he -did so, a low whistle was heard coming from the lawn beneath. Then he -took the necklace, wrapped it in the note he had written, and tossed it -through the opening. - -"I hardly think you'll take it with you," he observed suavely. - -"I shall get it," she returned. "I shall tell the Harringtons exactly -what you are, and that you threw it on the lawn." - -"Wrong again, Miss Cartwright," he said patiently. "If you'll stand -where I am, you will see the retreating figure of my friend Monty, who -has it with him. Monty managed rather well, I think. His whistle -announced the coast was clear." - -"But he can't get away with those men out there," she reminded him. - -"Monty waited until they were gone," he repeated. "For the moment, your -friends of the secret service have left us." - -"Then I'll tell Mr. Harrington about Monty, that he's your accomplice." - -He shook his head. "I hardly think they'd believe that even from you. -That Montague Vaughan, whose income is what he desires it to be, should -lower himself to help me, is one of the truthful things nobody could -possibly credit. If you could ring in some poor but honest young man it -would sound so much more probable, but Monty, no." - -She looked at him like a thing stricken. Her poor bravado fell from her. -She felt beaten, and dreaded to think what might be the price of her -failure. - -"And since you forced me," he added, "I've had to play my last card. The -note that I threw to Monty was a letter to you. He'll leave it where it -can easily be found." - -"A letter to me!" she repeated. - -"It contained a suggestion that you try to get the room next mine, -pleading nervousness, and come here to-night. It was the invitation--of -a lover." - -"You beast!" she cried, flaming out into rage. "You coward!" - -"You had your warning," he reminded her. "The note will be conclusive, -and no matter what you say, you will find yourself prejudged. It's the -world's way to prejudge. The servants don't seem to be coming, and -you'll be found here in the morning. What explanation will you have to -offer?" He waited for her to speak, but she made no answer. - -"I think the episode of the necklace remains as between just you and -me," he added slowly, watching her closely. - -"The servants will come," she cried. "I shan't have to stay here." - -"If they disappoint you," he remarked, "may I suggest that -burglar-alarm? It will wake everybody up, the Harringtons, Miss -Rutledge, and all, even if they're in bed and asleep soundly. Why don't -you ring it? Miss Cartwright, I _dare_ you to ring it!" - -Just then there came the sounds of footsteps in the corridor, then a -knock at the door. Denby waited calmly for some word from the girl. The -knock was repeated. - -"Well," he whispered at last, "why don't you answer?" - -She shrank back. "No, no, I can't." - -Denby moved to the door. "Who is it?" he asked. - -Lambart's respectful voice made answer: "You rang, sir?" - -"Yes," he returned, "I forgot to tell you that Miss Cartwright wished -to be called at seven. Call me at the same time, too. That's all, -Lambart; sorry to have had to disturb you. Good-night." - -He stood listening until the man's footsteps died away. Then he turned, -and came toward the girl. - -"So you didn't dare denounce me after all," he said mockingly. - -"Oh, I knew it was all a joke," she said, with an attempt to pass it -over lightly. "I knew you couldn't be so contemptible." - -"A joke!" he exclaimed grimly. "Why does it seem a joke?" - -"If you'd meant what you'd said, you'd have called Lambart in. That -would have answered your purpose very well. But I knew that you'd never -do that. I knew you couldn't." - -"I'm afraid I shall have less faith hereafter in woman's intuition," he -returned. "I can keep you here, and I will. No other course is open to -me." A clock outside struck. "It's just three," he observed. "In four -hours' time a maid will go to your room and find it empty. It's a long -time till then, so why not make yourself as comfortable as you can? -Please sit down." - -The girl sank into a chair more because she was suddenly conscious of -her physical weakness than for the reason he offered it her in mocking -courtesy. - -"I can't face it," she cried hysterically; "the disgrace and -humiliation! I can't face it!" - -"You've got to face it," he said sternly. - -"I can't," she repeated. "It's horrible, it's unfair--if you'll let me -go, I'll promise you I won't betray you." - -"You daren't keep silent about me," he answered. "How can I let you go?" - -"I'm telling you the truth," she said simply. - -"Then tell me who sent you here," he entreated her. "You know what it -means to me; you can guess what it means to you. If you tell me, it may -save us both." - -"I can't!" she cried. "I can't! Oh, please, please!" - -He took her in his arms, roughly, exasperated by her denial. - -"By God, I'll make you tell!" he said angrily. - -"Don't touch me," she said shuddering. - -"Who sent you here?" he demanded, not releasing her. - -"I'm afraid," she groaned. "Oh, I'm afraid. I hate you! I hate you! Let -me go! let me go!" - -"Who sent you here?" he repeated, still holding her. - -"I'll tell," she said brokenly. Then, when he let her go, she sank into -a chair. "I can't go through with it--you've beaten me--Oh, I tried so -hard, so hard, but you've won. It's too unfair when it's not my fault. -You can't understand, or you wouldn't spoil my whole life like this. -It's not only me, it's my mother, my sister--Amy." - -Denby, watching her hardly controllable agitation, was forced to -readjust his opinion concerning her. This was not any adventuress -trained in artifice and ruse, but the woman he had thought her to be in -the deepest sorrow. The bringing in of her mother and sister was not, he -felt sure, a device employed merely to gain his sympathy and induce -leniency in her captor. - -And when it seemed she must sob out a confession of those complex -motives which had led her to seek his betrayal, Denby saw her clench her -hands and pull herself together. - -"No," she said, rising to her feet, her weakness cast off, "I won't -quit--no matter what happens to me. I'll expose you, and tell them -everything. I'll let them decide between us--whether they'll believe you -or me. It's either you or my sister, and I'll save her." - -He was now more than ever certain he was stumbling upon something which -would bring him the blessed assurance that she had not sold herself for -reward. - -"Your sister?" he cried eagerly. - -"They shan't send her to prison," the girl said doggedly. - -"You're doing all this to save your sister from prison?" he asked her -gently. - -"She depends on me so," she answered dully. "They shan't take her." - -"Then you've been forced into this?" he asked. "You haven't done it of -your own free will?" - -"No, no," she returned, "but what else could I do? She was my little -sister; she came first." - -"And you weren't lying to me--trying to trick me for money?" - -"Can't you see," she said piteously, "that I wanted to save you, too, -and wanted you to get away? I said you were innocent, but they wouldn't -believe me and said I had to go on or else they'd send Amy to prison. -They have a warrant all ready for her in case I fail. That's why I'm -here. Oh, please, please, let me go." - -Steven Denby looked into her eyes and made his resolve. "You don't know -how much I want to believe in you," he exclaimed. "It may spoil -everything I've built on, but I'm going to take the chance." He unlocked -the door that led to her room. "You can go, Miss Cartwright!" - -"Oh, you are a man, after all," she cried, deep gratitude in her voice, -and a relief at her heart she could as yet scarcely comprehend. And as -she made to pass him she was startled by a shrill sharp whistle -outside. - -"The devil!" he cried anxiously, and ran to the window. - -"What is it?" she called, frightened. It was not the low whistle that -Monty had used, but a menacing, thrilling sound. - -"Your friends of the secret service have come back," he answered, "but -they mustn't see us together." Quickly he lowered the window-shade, and -stepped back to the centre of the room, coming to a sudden pause as he -saw the terror on the girl's face. - -"Oh, my God," she screamed, "what have you done? That was the signal to -bring Taylor here." - -"Ah, then, it's Taylor," he cried triumphantly. "It's Taylor!" - -"Oh, I didn't mean to tell," she said, startled at the admission. "I -didn't mean to let anyone know." - -"I wish you had told me before," he said with regret, "we could both -have been spared some unhappy moments. I know Taylor and his way of -fighting, and this thing is going to a finish." - -"Go, before he comes," she entreated. - -"And leave you alone to face him?" he said more tenderly. "Leave you to -a man who fights as he does?" He looked at her for a moment in silence -and then bowed his head over her white hand and kissed it. "I can't do -that. I love you." - -"Oh, please go while there's time," she pleaded; "he mustn't take you." -She looked up at him and without shame, revealed the love that she now -knew she must ever have for him. "Oh, I couldn't bear that," she said -tremulously, "I couldn't." - -He gazed down at her, not yet daring to believe that out of this black -moment the greatest happiness of his life had come. "Ethel!" he said, -amazed. - -"I love you," she whispered; "oh, my dear, I love you." - -He gathered her in his strong arms. "Then I can fight the whole world," -he cried, "and win!" - -"For my sake, go," she begged. "Let me see him first; let me try to get -you out of it." - -"I stay here, dearest," he said firmly. "When he comes, say that you've -caught me." - -"No, no," she implored; "I can't send you to prison either." - -"I'm not going to prison," he reassured her. "I'm not done for yet, but -we must save your sister and get that warrant. He must not think you've -failed him. Do you understand?" - -"But he'll take you away," she cried, and clung to him. - -"Do as I say," he besought her; "tell him the necklace is here -somewhere. Be brave, my dear, we're working to save your sister. He's -coming." - -"Hands up, Denby," Taylor shouted, clambering from the balcony to the -room and levelling a revolver at the smuggler. Without a word Denby's -hands went up as he was bid, and the deputy-surveyor smiled the victor's -smile. - -"Well, congratulations, Miss Cartwright," he cried; "you landed him as I -knew you could if you tried." - -"What's the meaning of this?" Denby cried indignantly. "Who are you?" - -"Oh, can that bunk!" Taylor said in disgust. - -"Where's the necklace, Miss Cartwright?" - -"I don't know," she answered nervously. - -"You don't know?" he returned incredulously. - -"I haven't been able to find it, but it's here somewhere." - -"He's probably got it on him," Taylor said. - -"All this is preposterous," Denby exclaimed angrily. - -"Hand it over," Taylor snapped. - -"I have no necklace," Denby told him. - -"Then I'll have to search you," he cried, coming to him and going -through his pockets with the practised hand of one who knows where to -look, covering him the while with the revolver. - -"I'll make you pay for this," Denby cried savagely, as Taylor -unceremoniously spun him around. - -"Will you give it to me," Taylor demanded when he had drawn blank, "or -shall I have to upset the place by searching for it?" - -"How can I get it for you with my hands up in the air?" Denby asked -after a pause. "Let me put my hands down and I'll help you." - -Taylor considered for a moment. Few men were better in a -rough-and-tumble fight than he, and he had little fear of this beaten -man before him. "You haven't got a gun," he said, "so take 'em down, but -don't you fool with me." - -Denby moved over to the writing-desk and picked up a heavy beaten copper -ash-tray with match-box attached. He balanced it in his hand for a -moment. "Not a bad idea is it?" he demanded smiling; and then, before -Taylor could reach for it had hurled it with the strong arm and -practised eye of an athlete straight at the patent burglar alarm a few -feet distant. - -There was a smashing of glass and then, an instant later, the turning -off of light and a plunge into blackness. And in the gloom, during which -Taylor thrashed about him wildly, there came from all parts of the house -the steady peal of the electrical alarms newly set in motion. - -And last of all there was the report of the revolver and a woman's -shriek and the falling of a heavy body on the floor, and then a -silence. - - - - -CHAPTER FOURTEEN - - -No sooner had Michael Harrington seated himself at the card-table with -his wife and Nora than he picked up a magazine and, as he always said, -"kept the light from his eyes." Some men--few there be--who boldly state -they desire to sleep, but Michael was of the tactful majority and merely -kept the light from his eyes and, incidentally, prevented any observers -from noting that his eyes were closed. - -He considered this a better way of waiting for Monty than to chatter as -the women were doing of the events of the night. - -"I wonder what's become of Monty?" Alice asked presently. - -"He's kept us twenty minutes," Nora returned crossly. "I saw him go out -in the garden. He said it was to relieve his headache, but I really -believe he wanted to capture the gang single-handed. Wouldn't it be -thrilling if he did?" - -"A little improbable," Alice laughed; "but still men do the oddest -things sometimes. I never thought Michael the fighting kind till he -knocked a man down once for kissing his hand to me." - -"It was fine of Michael," Nora said. "The man deserved it." - -"I know, dear," her hostess said, "but, as it happens, the man was -kissing his hand to his infant son six months old in an upper window. It -cost Michael fifty dollars, but I loved him all the more for it. Look at -the dear old thing slumbering peacefully and imagining I think he's -keeping this very gentle light from his eyes." - -"It's the two highballs he had in Mr. Denby's room," the sapient ingenue -explained. She harked back to Monty. "I wish he were as brave about -proposing. I've tried my grandmother's recipes for shy men, and all my -mother ever knew, I know. And yet he does get so flustered when he -tries, that he scares himself away." - -Alice nodded. "He's the kind you've got to lead to the altar. I had -trouble with Michael. He imagined himself too hopelessly old, and very -nearly married quite an elderly female. He'd have been dead now if he -had. Here's your prey coming in now." - -Monty entered the card-room from the garden, nervously stuffing into his -pocket the precious package which Denby had thrown to him. - -"I hope I haven't delayed the game," he apologized. - -"We didn't even miss you," Nora said acidly. - -"Were you supposed to be in on this game?" - -"Don't be cross, Nora," Alice advised; "you can see his headache has -been troubling him. Is it better, Monty?" - -"What headache?" he asked. "I haven't had a headache for months. Oh, -yes," he added, confused, "that neuralgic headache has gone, thanks. -Shall we play?" - -"Yes, let's," Nora said. "Michael dealt before he went to sleep." - -"Wake up, Michael," his wife said, tapping him with her fan, "you're not -at the opera; you're playing cards." - -"I haven't slept for a moment," he assured her, after a pause in which -he got his bearings. "The light was too strong--" - -"So you shaded your eyes," his wife went on. "Well, when they are -unshaded will you remember we're playing?" - -"Who opened it?" he demanded with a great effort. - -"Bridge, my dear," Alice reminded him, "not poker--bridge, auction -bridge." She paused a moment while the clock struck three. "And it's -three o'clock, and it's quite time you began." - -"One no trump," Nora said, after looking at her hand cheerfully. - -"It isn't your bid," Alice corrected her, "although I don't wonder you -forgot. It's Michael's; he dealt." - -Michael tried to concentrate his gaze on his hand. There seemed to be an -enormous number of cards, and he needed time to consider the phenomenon. - -"What'd the dealer draw?" he asked. - -"But we're not playing poker," Alice said. - -"It was Monty who confused me," he said in excuse, and looked -reproachfully at his vis-a-vis. "What's trumps?" - -"It's your bid," Nora cried. "You dealt." - -"I go one spade." - -"One no trump," Monty declared. - -"Two royals," Nora cried, not that she had them, but to take it away -from Monty. - -"Pass," said Alice glumly. She could have gone two royals, but dared not -risk three. - -"Give me three cards," Michael cried more cheerfully. The way was -becoming clearer. - -"Michael," his wife said reprovingly, "if you're really as tired as -that, you'd better go to bed." - -"I never broke up a poker game in my life," he cried. "It's only the -shank of the evening. What's happened, partner?" he yawned to Nora. - -"I went two royals," she said. - -Michael looked at his hand enthusiastically. "Three aces," he murmured. -"I'd like to open it for two dollars--as it is, I pass." - -"Two no trumps," said Monty. When the rest had passed, Nora led and -Monty played from the dummy. Michael, at last feeling he was rounding -into form, played a low card, so that dummy took the trick with a nine. - -"Anything wrong?" he asked anxiously as Nora shook her head. - -"If you don't want to win you're playing like a bridge article in a -Sunday paper," she returned. - -"This game makes me sick," he said in disgust. "Nothing but reproaches." - -"I wish Mr. Denby were playing instead of poor Michael," Nora remarked. - -"Steve's got the right idea," Monty commented. "He's in bed." - -"Great man, Denby," said Michael. "He knows you can't sit up all night -unless you drink." - -"We'll finish the rubber and then stop," his wife said comfortingly. "Do -remember it's not poker." - -"I wish it were," he exclaimed dolefully. "No partners--no -reproaches--no post-mortems in poker. If you make a fool of yourself you -lose your own money and everybody else is glad of it and gets cheerful." - -"After this then, one round of jacks to please Michael," said Alice. - -"And then quit," Monty suggested. "I'm tired, too." - -"I'm not tired," Michael asserted. "I'm only thirsty. It takes this form -with me. When I'm thirsty--" - -Michael stopped in consternation. Overhead, from all parts of the house, -came the mechanical announcement that burglars had broken in. The four -rose simultaneously from the table. - -"Burglars!" cried Michael, looking from one to the other. - -"Good Heavens!" Nora gasped. - -"What shall we do?" cried Alice. - -"It's gone off by accident," Monty asserted quivering, as there came -suddenly the sound of a shot. - -"Somebody's killed!" Alice exclaimed, with an air of certainty. - -Michael was the first to recover his poise. "Monty," he commanded -sternly, "go and find what's the matter. I'll look after the girls." - -Alice looked at him entreatingly. "You'd better go," she said; "I shall -feel safer if you see what it is. You're not afraid, Michael?" - -"Certainly not," he said with dignity. "Of course they're armed. Hello, -who's here?" - -It was Lambart entering, bearing in his hand a .45 revolver. - -"The burglar-alarm, sir," he said, with as little excitement as he might -have announced the readiness of dinner. "The indicator points to Mr. -Denby's room." - -"Good old Lambart," his employer said heartily. "You go ahead, and we'll -follow. No, you keep the beastly thing," he exclaimed, when the butler -handed him the weapon. "You're a better shot than I am, Lambart." - -"Mikey," Alice called to him, "if you're going to be killed, I want to -be killed, too." - -The Harringtons followed the admirable Lambart up the stairway, while -Nora gazed after them with a species of fascinated curiosity that was -not compounded wholly of fear. Intensely alive to the vivid interest of -these swiftly moving scenes through which she was passing, -Nora--although she could scream with the best of them--was not in -reality badly scared. - -"I don't want to be killed," she announced with decision. - -Monty moved to her side. He had an idea that if he must die or be -arrested, he would like Nora to live on, cherishing the memory that he -was a man. - -"Neither do I!" he cried. "I wish I'd never gone into this. I knew when -I dreamed about Sing Sing last night that it meant something." - -"Gone into what?" Nora demanded. - -"I'm liable to get shot any minute." - -"What!" she cried anxiously. - -"This may be my last five minutes on earth, Nora." - -"Oh, Monty," she returned, "what have you done?" She looked at him in -ecstatic admiration; never had he seemed so heroic and desirable. "Was -it murder?" - -"If I come out of it alive, will you marry me?" he asked desperately. - -"Oh, Monty!" she exclaimed, and flung herself into his arms. "Why did -you put it off so long?" - -"I didn't need your protection so much," he told her; "and anyway it -takes a crisis like this to make me say what I really feel." - -"I love you anyway, no matter what you've done," she said contentedly. - -He looked at her more brightly. "I'm the happiest man in the world," he -declared, "providing," he added cautiously, "I don't get shot." - -She raised her head from his shoulder and tapped the package in his -pocket. "What's that?" she asked. - -"That's my heart," he said sentimentally. - -"But why do you wear it on the right side?" she queried. - -"Oh, that," he said more gravely, "I'd forgotten all about it. It -belongs to Steve. That shows I love you," he added firmly; "I'd -forgotten all about it." - -As he spoke there was the shrill call of a police whistle outside. "The -police!" he gasped. - -"Don't let them get you," she whispered. "They are coming this way." - -"Quick," he said, grabbing her arm and leading her to a door. "We'll -hide here." Now that danger, as he apprehended it, was definitely at -hand, his spirits began to rise. He was of the kind which finds in -suspense the greatest horror. They had barely reached the shelter of a -door when Duncan and Gibbs ran in. - -"Come on, Harry," Duncan called to the slower man, "he's upstairs. Get -your gun ready." - -Nora clasped her lover's hand tighter. "There'll be some real shooting," -she whispered; "I hope Alice doesn't get hurt. Listen!" - -"The Chief's got him for sure," Gibbs panted, making his ascent at the -best speed he could gather. - -"They've gone," Nora said, peering out; then she ventured into the hall. -"Who's the chief?" she asked. - -"The chief of police I guess," he groaned. "This is awful, Nora. I can't -have you staying here with all this going on. Go back into the -card-room, and I'll let you know what's happened as soon as I can." - -"But what are you going to do?" she asked. - -"I'm going to wait for Steve; he's very likely to want me." - -"I'm not afraid," Nora said airily. - -"But I am," he retorted; "I'm afraid for you. Be a good girl and do as I -say, and I'll come as soon as the trouble's over." - -"I just hate to miss anything," she pouted. "Still if you really wish -it." She looked at him more tenderly than he had ever seen her look at -any human being before. "Don't get killed, Monty, dear." - -Monty took her in his arms and kissed her. "I don't want to," he said, -"especially now." - -When the door had shut behind her he took out the necklace with the idea -of secreting it in an unfindable place. He remembered a Poe story where -a letter was hidden in so obvious a spot that it defied Parisian -commissaries of police. But the letters were usual things and pearl -necklaces were not, and he took it down from the mantel where for a -second he had let it lie, and rammed it under a sofa-cushion on the -nearby couch. That, too, was not a brilliant idea and, while he was -wondering if the pearls would dissolve if he dropped them in a decanter -of whiskey on a table near him, there were loud voices heard at the head -of the stairway, and he fled from the spot. - - - - -CHAPTER FIFTEEN - - -When the Harringtons followed their butler into Denby's room, they were -appalled at what they could not see but heard without difficulty. A -strange voice, a harsh, coarse voice rapping out oaths and imprecations, -a man fighting with some opponent who remained silent. While they who -owned the house stood helpless, Lambart turned on the lights. - -The sudden glare showed them Denby was the silent fighter. The other -man, a heavily built fellow, seemed for the moment blinded by the -lights, and stopped for a second. And it was in this second that Denby -uppercut him so that he fell with a thud to the floor. - -Then they saw Denby pick up a revolver that was lying by the stranger's -side. - -"What's the matter?" cried Michael, while Lambart busied himself with -making the room tidy and replacing overturned chairs. - -"This man," said Denby, still panting from his efforts, "tried to break -in, and Miss Cartwright and I got him." - -"Good Lord!" Michael ejaculated. - -"How splendid of you!" Alice cried. "Ethel, you're a heroine, my dear." - -Taylor, who had not been put out by the blow, scrambled to his feet and -was pushed into a chair. Denby stood conveniently near with the revolver -a foot from his heart. - -"I never saw a more typical criminal," Michael said, severely looking at -the captive; "every earmark of it. I could pick him out of a thousand. -Now, Denby, we want to hear all about it." - -"He's crazy," Taylor shouted indignantly. "Don't you believe him. He's -the crook. I'm an agent of the United States Customs and I came here to -get Denby." - -"That's a pretty poor bluff," Denby scoffed. "This porch climber was one -of the two who held up Monty and Miss Rutledge in the grounds to-night." - -"I said they'd break in!" Alice cried, and believed her statement. "And -how fortunate Ethel moved her room. This man looks like the sort who -wouldn't stop short of murder, Michael." - -"The lowest human type!" Michael cried. "Look at his eyes and ears, and -nose!" - -"I tell you I came to arrest him!" Taylor cried, striving to keep his -already ruffled temper. - -"Arrest that charming man?" Mrs. Harrington cried with scorn. "Was -there ever anything so utterly absurd!" - -"Absurd!" he sneered. "You won't think so when you learn who I am. Ask -that girl there; she knows; she'll tell you whether I'm absurd." - -Instantly they all centred their gaze on Ethel. For a second she looked -at him blankly. "I never saw the man before," she told them. - -"You didn't, eh?" Taylor cried, after a pause of sheer astonishment, "I -guess you'll remember me when I serve a warrant for your sister's -arrest. It's in my pocket now with other papers that prove I'm working -for the United States Government." He made a motion as though to get -them but found Denby's gun close under his nose. - -"No you don't," Denby warned him. "You've probably got a neat little -automatic pistol there. I know your sort." - -But when he seemed about to relieve the deputy-collector of his papers -Taylor shouted a loud protest. - -"Very well," Denby cried. "If you had rather Mr. Harrington did, it's -all the same to me. Mr. Harrington," turning to his host, "will you -please remove whatever documents you find in his inner pocket, so that -we may find out if what he says is true." - -"Surely," Michael returned. "I like every man to have justice even if -the electric chair yearns for him." Carefully he removed a bundle of -papers neatly tied together. And one of them, as Ethel Cartwright saw, -was the warrant made out for her sister's arrest. She wondered why Denby -had invited inspection of them, but was not long to remain in doubt. - -"Now," said Michael judicially, "we'll do the thing properly." - -But before he had unfolded a single one of the papers, they were -snatched violently from his hand, and Denby, gun pointed at Taylor, was -backing to the door. "Keep out of range, Harrington," the retreating man -warned. He cast a swift look of triumph toward Ethel. "It's all right, -Miss Cartwright," he called cheerfully. "Don't worry, it's all right -now." - -As the door closed, Taylor sprang from the chair with a curse. "Grab -him, I tell you," he cried raging. "He's a crook. The Government wants -him, and they'll hold you people responsible if he gets away." He blew -his whistle loudly, and then rushed out of the door and down the hall -taking the steps four at a time. - -The French windows were open and out of them he ran, calling sharply for -his men. But Gibbs and Duncan were even now fiercely searching the other -wing and disturbing frightened servants above. It was not for some -minutes that they made their way to their chief, and searched the -grounds as he bade them. - -And even here they were frustrated. Lambart's tactical genius had -forbidden him to remove the clothes-lines he had laid to bring wandering -tramps low, and among them Duncan and Gibbs floundered with dreadful -profanity. - -There were two other men aiding them now, Ford and Hammett, who were -stationed outside the grounds to watch the only road by which Denby -could escape. When Taylor was satisfied they were doing what they could, -he came back into the big hall where the frightened group was awaiting -him. - -"We'll get your friend yet," he observed disagreeably to Mrs. -Harrington. "It's bright moonlight, and my men'll nab him." - -"But he's not my friend," she objected; "I had no idea he was that kind -of a person." - -"When I find a man like that a guest in a house like this," Taylor -retorted, "I think I'm justified in calling him your friend. You'll have -time to think what to say later when you're called as a witness." - -"I want to beg your pardon, Mr. Taylor," said Michael anxiously. The -idea of being cross-examined and made a fool of by a bullying counsel -horrified him. He'd be a jest forever more at Meadow Brook and Piping -Rock. The Harringtons casually to pick up a smuggler and make him free -of their exclusive home! Never had he needed a drink to steady his -nerves as he did now! - -"Well, I certainly think there is an apology due me," Taylor sneered. He -was not one to forget an affront and Harrington had alluded to his -criminal type in a way that rankled yet. - -"But how could we know?" asked Mrs. Harrington; "he seemed perfectly all -right, although I did say he might be a murderer." - -"That'll come out in court," Taylor reminded her disagreeably. "If it -hadn't been that my men were here to swear to me, I'd have spent the -night in one of your little one-horse jails, and he'd have got away. -When I do get him he'll remember Daniel Taylor till the day he dies." - -Monty, overhearing these direful threats from behind a door, and happy -because of his friend's escape, walked boldly in. - -"Did you get the burglar?" he demanded airily. - -"There wasn't any burglar," Alice told him. - -"It was your old friend Denby that caused all the trouble," Michael -informed him, "the old friend you introduced into my house. I tell you, -Monty--" - -"Don't explain," Taylor commanded. "Now," he snapped to Monty, "have -you seen Steven Denby in the last ten minutes?" - -Monty found with glee that so far from being nervous he was enjoying the -scene. He only regretted that his moustache was not long enough to -permit him to curl it to a fierce and martial angle. He was glad that -Nora had crept into the room and was watching him. - -"Isn't he in bed?" he demanded, yawning. - -"You know he isn't in bed," Taylor answered. "Maybe you're his pal--in -on this job with him. Come here." - -Monty wished to refuse, but Taylor had a compelling manner, so he -advanced with an insolent slowness. - -Alice Harrington flew to his defence. "That's too absurd!" she cried. -"We've known Mr. Vaughan since he was a child." - -"Who is this person?" Monty demanded superciliously. - -"Never mind who I am," Taylor said gruffly, and started to search him. - -"Don't hurt him," Nora cried, rushing to her fiance's side. - -"It's all right, Nora," Monty said; submitting quietly. "He thinks he's -doing his duty. When you're through with me," he said to Taylor, "I'll -take you to my room. You'd probably like to go through that, too." - -"Here, that'll be enough from you," Taylor said frowning. "You aren't -smart enough to be Denby's pal. Clear out--get back to the nursery." - -Nora cast a glance of vivid hatred at him, but Taylor turned his back on -her. - -"Do you want us any longer?" Michael asked. - -"No," he was told. "You can go and leave me with this girl," pointing to -Ethel, who had not said a word. "I want a little talk with her." - -"Please keep her out of it," Michael asked him. "I'm sure she's -absolutely innocent in the matter." - -Taylor looked at him, exasperated. "See here," he cried, "you've put -enough obstacles in my way to-night as it is! Do you want to put any -more?" - -"It's all right," Ethel Cartwright said quickly; "there's just some -misunderstanding. Please go!" - -"All right, then," her host answered. "Come, Alice, I need a drink -badly." - -"My dear," she said affectionately, "under the circumstances you may -have an all-night license." - -He had turned to go when Lambart approached him. "I beg your pardon, -sir, but can I have a word with you?" - -"What is it?" Michael demanded anxiously. The news evidently affected -him, and Taylor looked suspicious. "What's this mean?" the -deputy-surveyor asked. - -"A long distance from my partner," the agitated Harrington returned. "I -stand to lose nearly a million dollars if something isn't done. Excuse -me, Alice--I'll use the upstairs 'phone." He hurried upstairs. - -"Well," said Monty to Taylor--Nora was hanging on his arm and he felt he -would never again be afraid--"do you want me any longer?" - -"I thought I sent you back to play," Taylor snarled. - -Ostentatiously Monty turned his back and walked leisurely to a door. - -"You are perfectly splendid," Nora exclaimed with ecstasy in her voice. -"I'd no idea you were so brave." - -"Oh, you can never tell," Monty returned modestly. - -Alice joined them in retreat. "Michael's thirst is catching," she -asserted. "I'm for some champagne, children, are you?" - -"Sure," said Monty. "What's a quart amongst three?" - -Taylor watched them depart, sneeringly. He hated the idle rich with the -intensity of a man who has longed to be of them and knows he cannot. The -look he flung at Miss Cartwright was not pleasant. - -"What did you mean by telling them upstairs that you had never seen me -before?" he cried vindictively. - -"You said under no circumstances was I to mention your name." - -He looked a trifle disconcerted at this simple explanation. He was in a -mood for punishment, and rebuke. - -"Yes," he admitted, "but--" - -"You said it was imperative your identity should not be disclosed," the -girl reminded him. - -"I suppose that's true in a way," he conceded; "but when you saw me -wanting to prove who I was, why didn't you help?" - -"I was afraid to do anything but follow your instructions," she said -earnestly. "I remembered that you swore you'd put my sister in prison if -I even said I'd ever seen you before." - -"Well, then, we won't say any more about it," he returned ungraciously. -"How did you find Denby had the necklace?" - -"I got into his room and caught him," she explained. "He had it in his -hand." - -"Yes, yes!" he cried impatiently; "go on." - -"And when the lights went out and there was a shot, I screamed, and -naturally I couldn't see what happened in the dark. I thought you had -killed him and I was frightened." - -Taylor frowned. He did not like to remember that directly the flash of -his gun had disclosed his position Denby had sprung on him like an arrow -and knocked him down. Denby had scored two knock-downs in one night, and -none had ever done that before. There was a swelling on his jaw and -three teeth were loosened. Denby should pay for that, he swore. - -While he was thinking these vengeful thoughts, Duncan hurried in through -the French windows. - -"Say, Chief," he shouted, "Denby didn't leave the house. He's up in his -room now." - -"How do you know?" Taylor cried eagerly. - -"Gibbs climbed up on the roof of the pagoda; he can see the room from -there and Denby's in it now." - -"Now we've got him sure," his chief cried gleefully. - -"And Harrington's with him," Duncan added excitedly. - -"What!" Taylor ejaculated, stopping short on his way to the stairs. The -two men talking together spelled collusion to him, and opened up -complications to which he had hardly given a thought. - -"Gibbs said they were talking together," his subordinate continued. - -"I was right at first," Taylor exclaimed; "I thought that might be the -game, but he fooled me so that I would have sworn he was innocent. -Denby's smuggling the necklace through for Harrington. Jim, this is a -big job, get out there to make sure he don't escape by the balcony. Have -your gun handy," he warned; "I've got mine." He looked over to Ethel, -whose face betrayed the anguish which she was enduring. "And I'll get -the drop on him this time." - -"No, no," she cried, "you mustn't!" - -"You knew all the time he was back in his room and you've been trying to -fool me--you're stuck on him." - -"No, no, you're wrong," she said desperately. - -"Am I?" he retorted; "then I'll give you the chance to prove it. Send -for Denby and ask him what he did with the necklace, and where it is -now. Tell him I suspect you, and that he's got to tell you the truth, -but you won't turn him over to me. Talk as if you two were alone, but -I'll be there behind that screen listening." He took out his revolver -and pointed to it meaningly. "If you tip him off or give him the -slightest warning or signal, I'll arrest you both, anyway. Wrong, am I?" -he sneered. "We'll see; and if you try to fool me again, you and your -sister will have plenty of time to think it over in Auburn. Now send for -him." - -There was a big screen of tapestry in one corner of the hall near the -stairs. Behind this he had little difficulty in hiding himself. - -The girl watched him in terror. It seemed she must either offer the man -she loved bound and helpless to his enemies, or else by warning him and -aiding him in escape, see him shot before her eyes. There seemed here no -way out with Taylor watching her every look and movement from his -hiding-place. - -She stretched out her tremulous hand to grasp the table for support and -clutched instead the silver cigarette-box, the same she had offered -earlier to Denby. Her deep dejection was banished for she saw here a -chance to defeat her enemy by a ruse of which he could not know. -Watching her, Taylor saw her returning courage, and congratulated her. -She knew, he thought, that her only chance was to play the square game -with him now. - -"Well," he called from his concealment, "why don't you send for him?" - -"I'm going to!" she answered, walking to the bell and then coming back -to the table. "You'll see you've been all wrong about me." - -"I guess not," he snarled, adjusting the screen so as better to be able -to see her from between its folds. He noticed that Lambart passing close -to him as he answered the bell had no suspicion of his presence. - -"Mr. Denby's in his room," she told the man, "please say I'm alone here -and wish to speak to him at once." - -"Yes, madam," Lambart said, and a few seconds later could be heard -knocking at a distant door. - -"I can see you perfectly," Taylor warned her. "When Denby comes in, stay -right where you are and don't move, or else I'll--" He stopped short -when Lambart descended the staircase. - -"Mr. Denby will be with you immediately," the butler said, and left the -hall. - - - - -CHAPTER SIXTEEN - - -Denby came eagerly down the stairs, looking about him with no especial -care. He had learned that the special service men assumed him to have -made good his escape and were contenting themselves with surrounding the -gardens. - -"What's happened?" he asked, coming quickly toward her. "Is everything -all right now? Where is--" - -Ethel interrupted him. "Will you have a cigarette, Dick?" she asked, -pushing the silver box to him. - -He took it calmly enough but instantly realized her warning. His alert -gaze swept about the room and dwelt no longer on the screen than any -other of its furnishing, but he knew where his enemy was hidden. -"Thanks," he said simply, and lighted it with a hand that was steady. - -"Now we are alone," she said, "and those men imagine you are not here, -and I admit you've beaten me, please tell me the truth about that -necklace. What have you done with it?" - -"Are you still persisting in that strange delusion?" he asked calmly. "I -never had a necklace, Miss Cartwright." - -"But I know you did," she persisted, "I saw it." - -"Ah, you thought you did," he corrected. "We went all over that in my -room and I imagined I had persuaded you. Why do you want to know this?" - -"The agent of the secret service has been here," she told him, "and he -suspects that I am defending you and won't believe what I say. If you'll -tell me the truth, I'll get him to let you go." - -"Then the secret service agent is just as wrong as you," he remarked. "I -have no necklace. Because I knock down a man who breaks into my room at -night and escape rather than be shot, am I supposed on that account to -carry these fabulous necklaces about with me? I don't care even to -prolong this conversation, Miss Cartwright." - -At this point Lambart entered, and coming toward him, delivered a small -package. - -"Pardon me, sir," the butler began, "but Mr Vaughan asked me to take -this to your room." - -"What is it?" Denby asked, and a slight movement behind the screen -betokened the curiosity of the man hidden there. - -"Mr. Vaughan didn't say, sir," Lambart returned. "He only said it was -very important for you to get it immediately." Lambart bowed and -retired. - -"I wonder what on earth Monty can be sending me at this time of the -night," said Denby, balancing the thing as though to judge its contents -from the weight. "It must be important, so forgive me if I see what it -is." - -He tore the envelope open carelessly, and out of it dropped the -necklace. Quickly he stooped down and picked it up, putting it in his -left-hand coat-pocket. - -The girl could not refrain from giving a cry as he did so. "Oh," she -exclaimed, "we're done for now." - -There was a crash behind them as the screen clattered to the floor and -Daniel Taylor stepped over it, levelled gun in hand. - -"Hands up, Denby," he commanded, and then blew his police whistle. - -He looked sourly at the trembling girl by the table. "I don't know how -you tipped him off, but you two are damned smart, aren't you? But I've -got you both now, so it's just as well it happened as it did." - -Gibbs and Duncan burst in, their anxious faces breaking into smiles of -joy. The Chief's temper if his plans miscarried was a fixed quantity and -an unpleasant one. They had been consoling themselves outside, and -Duncan had been wishing he had Gibbs' outside job. Now everything would -be well and they would each be able to boast in his home circle of -to-night's exploit. - -"You're both under arrest," Taylor said, addressing his captives. -"Boys," he commanded his satellites cordially, "take her into one of -those side rooms and keep her there till I call. They can talk without -speaking, these two. I'll question 'em separately." - -For the second time within an hour he searched Denby. From the -right-hand pocket of his dinner jacket he took an automatic pistol. From -the left he drew out the string of pearls. - -"It's a pippin, all right," Taylor muttered, his eyes gloating over the -treasure. "How much did you pay the girl?" - -"Not a cent," his prisoner asserted. "Nothing. You're all wrong there." - -"Then why did she tip you off just now?" - -"She didn't tip me off," Denby told him. "She didn't say a word, as you -yourself must have heard." - -"Can it! can it!" Taylor retorted impatiently. "I saw the result all -right, but I couldn't get on to the cause. What did she do it for?" - -Denby shrugged his shoulders and smiled a little. It was the first time -he had come off his high horse. - -"Maybe," he hinted, "she didn't want to see me go to prison." - -"Oh, you pulled the soft stuff, eh?" Taylor said. "Well, she tried to -double-cross me and that don't pay, Denby. She'll find that out, all -right." - -Denby assumed a certain confidential air. "Look here, Taylor," he said, -"so long as she did the decent thing by me, I'd like to see her out of -this. You've got me, and you've got the pearls--Why not let her go?" - -Taylor shook his head. He did not signalize his triumphs by the freeing -of captives or the giving of rewards. "I guess not," he returned with -his sourest look. "You've both given me a lot of unnecessary trouble, -and I think a little trip down south ought to fix you two comfortably. -What do you say to five years in Atlanta? Fine winter climate they say." - -"Then I guess we are up against it;" Denby sighed. - -"You are, son," Taylor assured him; "right up against it." - -"Take it out on me," the other implored; "ease up on her. It isn't as if -she were a grafter, either. Why, I offered her twenty thousand dollars -to square it." - -"Tried to bribe a Government official, eh?" Taylor observed. "That don't -make it any better for you." - -"Oh, you can't prove it against me," Denby returned easily. - -"Twenty thousand dollars," Taylor muttered; "twenty thousand dollars! So -you _were_ trying to smuggle it in for the Harringtons, then?" - -"I hate bringing names in," said Denby, looking at him shrewdly. - -"Well, they'll have to come out in court anyway," the other reminded -him, and then reverted to the money. "Twenty thousand dollars!" he -repeated. "It seems to mean a whole lot to you--or somebody--to get this -through, eh?" - -"It does," Denby returned, "and it's a big lot of money; but I'd rather -pay that than sample your winter climate down south--see?" He looked at -him still with that air of confidence as though he expected Taylor to -comprehend his motives. - -"Say, what are you trying to do?" Taylor said sharply; "bribe me?" - -"What an imagination you have!" Denby said in astonishment. "Why, you -couldn't be bribed, Mr. Taylor!" - -"You bet your life I couldn't," the deputy-surveyor returned. - -Denby sighed. "What a pity I didn't meet a business man instead of -_you_." - -Taylor's sharp eyes looked at the speaker steadily. - -"You couldn't square it even with a business man for twenty thousand -dollars." - -Denby met his shrewd gaze without lowering his eyes. - -"If I'd met the right kind of business man," he declared, "I shouldn't -have offered twenty thousand dollars," he said meaningly; "I'd have -offered him all I've got--and that's thirty thousand dollars." - -A slow smile chased Taylor's intent expression away. "You would?" he -said. - -"I would," Denby answered steadily. - -"A business man," Taylor returned, "wouldn't believe you had that much -unless he saw it with his own eyes." - -"I should prove it," Denby answered. And with his first and second -finger he probed behind his collar and produced three new -ten-thousand-dollar bills. - -"Beauties, aren't they?" he asked of the staring Taylor. - -The official seemed hypnotized by them. "I didn't know they made 'em -that big," he said reverently. - -When Denby next spoke, his tone was brisker. "Look here, Taylor, I -haven't been in Paris for two years." - -There was understanding in Taylor's face now. "You haven't?" he -returned. - -"And in case of a come-back, I've witnesses to prove an alibi." - -"You have?" Taylor responded, his smile broadening. - -"How much does the Government pay you?" Denby questioned. - -Taylor's eyes were still on the bills. "Three thousand a year," he -answered. - -Denby inspected the crisp bills interestedly. "Ten years' salary!" he -commented. "You couldn't save all this honestly in your lifetime." - -Denby raised his eyes and the two men looked at one another and a -bargain was as certainly made as though documents had been drawn up -attesting it. - -Taylor's manner altered instantly. He removed his hat and became a -genial, not to say jocular, soul. - -"Too bad," he said sympathetically, "a mistake like that happening." - -"It is a bit inconvenient," Denby allowed. - -"I'm sorry to have bothered you," the deputy-surveyor assured him, "but -you're all right, Mr. Denby. I figured from the first that you might be -a business man, and that's why you slipped through so easily." - -"You're a pretty smart man, Mr. Taylor," Denby admitted, "and I think -these belong to you." He held out the money. - -"Yes, I think they do," Taylor said eagerly, reaching out for the bills. - -"Wait a minute!" Denby cried, holding the money back. "How do I know you -won't take it and then double-cross me?" - -"I'll give you my word for it," Taylor assured him fervently. - -"That security isn't good enough," Denby remarked slowly. "We haven't -done business together before, and those two men of yours--are they in -on it?" - -"Not on your life," Taylor laughed. "I haven't split with anybody for -five years. This is a one man job, Mr. Denby." - -"That may be," the other protested, "but they saw you pinch me!" - -"I'll tell them it was all a mistake and I've got to call it off. I know -the kind of help I want when I'm tackling a one man job." - -"Do you think you can get away with it?" Denby asked doubtfully. - -"I always have," Taylor said simply. "There's no need for you to get -scared." - -Denby still seemed perturbed. "I've been hearing a lot about this R. -J.," he told the official. "I don't like what I've heard either. Is he -suspicious about you by any chance?" - -"What do you know about R. J.?" Taylor asked quickly. - -"Some friends of mine--business men--in London, tipped me off about him. -They said he's been investigating the bribery rumors in the Customs." - -"Don't you worry about him, my boy," Taylor said with a reassuring air, -"I'm the guy on this job." - -"That's all well enough," Denby said, "but I don't want to give up -thirty thousand and then get pinched as well. I've got to think about -myself." - -Taylor leaned across eagerly. "Say, if that R. J. has scared you into -thinking he'll ball things up, I don't mind admitting--in strict -confidence--who he is." - -"So you know?" Denby retorted. "Who is he? I want to be on my guard." - -"Well, he isn't a thousand miles from here." - -"What!" Denby cried in astonishment. - -Taylor tapped himself upon the chest with an air of importance. "Get -me?" - -"Well, that's funny," Denby laughed. - -"What's funny?" Taylor retorted. - -"Why, R. J. is supposed to be death on grafters and you're one -yourself." - -"I'm a business man," Taylor said with a wink. "I'm not a grafter--I -should worry about the Government." - -"Well I guess I'll take a chance," Denby said, after a momentary pause. - -"That's the idea," Taylor cried cheerfully. - -"Provided," Denby added, "you let me have a few words with your men. -They've got to understand I'm innocent, and I want to see how they take -it. You see, I don't know them as well as you do. They've got to back -you up in squaring me with the Harringtons. You've put me in all wrong -here, remember." - -"Why sure," Taylor agreed generously, "talk your head off to 'em." - -"And you'll leave the girl out of it?" - -"I'll do more than that," Taylor told him with a grin; "I'll leave her -to you." - -Denby heaved a sigh of relief. "Now we understand one another," he said. -"Here's your money, Taylor." - -"Much obliged," Taylor responded. He handed the other the pearls. "I've -no evidence," he declared in high good humor, "that you ever had any -necklace. Have a cigar, Mr. Denby?" - -[Illustration: "NOW WE UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER," HE SAID. "HERE'S YOUR -MONEY." _Page 288_.] - -"Thanks," the younger man returned; "I'll smoke it later it you don't -mind. Now call 'em in." - -"Certainly," Taylor said briskly. "And say, I'm glad to have met you, -Mr. Denby; and next time you're landing in New York and I can be of use, -let me know." He leered. "I might be of considerable use, understand?" - - - - -CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - - -Taylor walked briskly across the hall and threw open the door of the -room in which his subordinates were guarding their prisoner. "Duncan," -he called, "and Gibbs, come here." - -When they had come in with Ethel Cartwright, he turned to them -impressively. "Boys," he declared, "it was all a mistake." - -"What!" cried his men. - -"Thank God!" the girl cried softly. - -"Our dope was phoney. We were tipped off wrong by someone, out of -mischief or malice--I'll have to look into that--and we're all in wrong. -It was a case of mistaken identity, but Mr. Denby's been very nice about -it, very nice, indeed. Let the lady go, Jim." - -"I asked Mr. Taylor to send for you," Denby explained, "because I -thought it was due you, and I didn't want any come-back. I want you all -to understand the facts, if you don't mind waiting, Miss Cartwright." - -"Of course I'll wait," she said brightly. What had happened to change -things she could not guess, but she was confident the man she loved had -some magic to save them both. - -"Listen to him, boys," Taylor counselled. "You see, he's a bit anxious -to straighten things out, so tell him all you know. Fire ahead, Mr. -Denby." - -Denby addressed himself to James Duncan. "You got a tip from Harlow that -a Steven Denby had bought a necklace at Cartier's?" - -"Yes, sir," Duncan agreed. - -Denby now turned to Gibbs who assumed a character of importance. - -"Then you got a wireless that this Denby had sailed with Mrs. Michael -Harrington and Mr. Montague Vaughan, which threw suspicion on the lady -as a possible smuggler?" - -"That's right, too," Gibbs conceded, contentedly. - -"And yet," Denby remarked with inquiry in his tone, "you let Denby slip -through the Customs to-day, didn't you?" - -Taylor's satisfied expression had faded partially. "You see," he -explained, "we didn't have any absolute evidence to arrest him on." - -"Just what I was going to say," Gibbs remarked. - -"But after he got through," Denby went on, "you received an anonymous -telegram late this afternoon that Denby carried the necklace in a -tobacco-pouch, didn't you?" - -Taylor advanced a step frowning. "What's all this, anyway?" he demanded. -"How do you know about that telegram?" - -"I found it out to-night," Denby said pleasantly. - -"That's a private Government matter," Taylor blustered. - -Denby looked at him in surprise. "Surely," he said, "you don't object to -my making things clear? I was pretty nice to you, Mr. Taylor." - -Taylor's fingers nestled tenderly about the crackling notes in his -pocket. "All right," he assented, "go ahead." - -Denby turned on the expectant Gibbs. - -"You knew about that tip in the telegram?" - -"First I ever heard about it," Gibbs returned, open-eyed. - -"Then you didn't tell them?" Denby observed, looking toward their chief. - -"That was my own business," Taylor said impatiently. He wished this fool -cross-examination over, and himself out of Long Island. - -"Did it ever occur to you boys that it was rather peculiar that this -supposed smuggler wasn't searched--that he got through without the -slightest trouble?" - -"Why, the Chief didn't want to get in any mix-up with the Harringtons in -case he was wrong about Denby," Gibbs elucidated. - -"Oh, I see," Denby remarked, as though the whole thing were now -perfectly straightforward. "He told you that, did he?" - -"He sure did," Duncan agreed readily. - -"Don't you boys see," Denby said seriously, "that this whole job looks -very much as if the scheme was to let Denby slip through and then -blackmail him?" - -"I never thought of that," Duncan returned. - -"Me, neither," the ingenuous Gibbs added. - -"Wait a minute," Taylor said irritably. "What's all this got to do with -you? I admit we made a mistake--I'll take the blame for it--and we're -sorry. We can't remedy it by talking any more. Come on, boys." - -"Wait just a minute," Denby exclaimed. "Don't you know," he went on, -addressing himself to the two subordinate officials, "that it's rather a -dangerous thing to monkey with the United States Government? It's a -pretty big thing to fool with. You might have got into serious trouble -arresting the wrong man." - -"I haven't been monkeying with the Government," Gibbs said nervously. -All his official carelessness recurred to him vividly. "I wouldn't do a -thing like that." - -"Neither have I," Duncan made eager reply. - -Taylor took a hand in the conversation. "That's all settled," he said, -with an air of finality. "We all know Mr. Denby never had a necklace." - -"That's clearly understood, is it?" Denby returned. - -"What I say is right," Taylor retorted, and glared at his underlings. - -"What the Chief says is right," Gibbs admitted with eagerness. - -"What the Chief says is wrong," Denby cried in a different voice. "I did -smuggle a necklace in through the Customs to-day. Here it is." - -They looked at it in consternation. "What!" they ejaculated. - -Taylor had owed his safety ere this to rapid thinking. - -"Then you're under arrest!" he cried. - -"Oh, no I'm not," Denby rejoined, turning to the startled men. "Your -chief caught me with the goods and I paid him thirty thousand dollars to -square it." - -Taylor came at him with upraised fist. "Why, you--" he roared, "I'll--" - -Denby seized the clenched fist and thrust it aside. "You won't," he said -calmly; "you're only a bully after all, Taylor. You couldn't graft on -your own--you had to drag a girl into it, and you've made me do some -pretty rotten things to-night to land you. I've had to make that girl -suffer, but you'll pay for it. I've got you now, and you're under -arrest." - -"Aw, quit your bluffing," Taylor jeered; "you can't arrest me, Denby." - -"The man who'll arrest you is named Jones," Denby remarked. - -"Who the hell is he?" Taylor cried. - -"Ah, yes," Denby admitted. "I forgot that you hadn't met him officially -and that the boys don't know who he is either. Here's my commission." -Gibbs stared at the document ravenously. "And that's my photograph," -Denby added. "A pretty good likeness it's usually considered." - -Duncan was now at his comrade's side, poring over it. "It sure is," he -agreed. - -"This thing," said Gibbs the discoverer, "is made out in the name of -Richard Jones!" - -"Well, do you get the initials?" Denby queried. - -"R. J.," Gibbs read out as one might mystic things without meaning. - -"That's me," Denby smiled, "R. J. of the secret service. That's the name -I'm known by." - -Gibbs offered his hand. "If you're R. J.," he said admiringly, "I'd -like to shake hands with you. Are you, on the level, R. J.?" - -"I'm afraid I am," the other admitted. - -"It's a lie," Taylor shouted. - -Denby pointed to the paper. "You can't get away from that signature. -It's signed by the President of the United States." - -"I tell you it's a fake," the man cried angrily. - -"They don't seem to think so," Denby remarked equably. - -"This is on the level, all right," Duncan announced after prolonged -scrutiny. - -Denby turned to the deputy-surveyor. - -"Taylor," he said gravely, "for three years the Government has been -trying to land the big blackmailer in the Customs. They brought me into -it and I set a trap with a necklace as a bait. The whole thing was a -plant from Harlow's tip, the telegram I sent myself this afternoon, to -the accidental dropping of the pearls, so that you could see them -through the screen. You walked right into it, Taylor. Twice before you -came and looked into other traps and had some sort of intuition and kept -out of them. This time, Taylor, it worked." - -"You can't get away with that," Taylor said threateningly. "I'm not -going to listen to this." - -"Wait a minute," Denby advised him. "You've been in the service long -enough to know that the rough stuff won't go. You'd only get the worst -of it; so take things easily." - -He smiled pleasantly at the other men. "I'm glad to find you boys -weren't in on this. Take him along with you, and this, too." He tossed -the necklace on the table from which it slid to the floor at Gibbs' -feet. - -Gibbs made a quick step forward to recover it, but trod on part of the -string and crushed many of the stones. Poor Gibbs looked at the damage -he had done aghast. If the thing were worth two hundred thousand -dollars, a ponderous calculation forced the dreadful knowledge upon him -that he had destroyed possibly a quarter of them. Fifty thousand -dollars! Tears came to his eyes. "Honest to goodness," he groaned, -looking imploringly at the august R. J., "I couldn't help it." - -"Don't worry," Denby laughed. "They're fakes. Take what's left as -Exhibit A." - -Gibbs recovered his ease of manner quickly and took a few steps nearer -the fallen Chief. "And to think I've been working for a crook two years -and never knew it," he said, with a childlike air of wonder. - -Taylor looked at Denby with rage and despair. - -"Damn you," he exploded, "you've got me all right, but I'll send that -girl and her sister up the river. You're stuck on her and I'll get even -that way." - -Even in his fury he remarked that this threat did not disturb the man in -the least. He saw the girl blanch and hide her face, but this cursed -meddling R. J., as he called himself, only smiled. - -"I think not," Denby returned. "You forget that Mr. Harrington is -vice-president of the New York Burglar Insurance Company and a friend of -the late Mr. Vernon Cartwright. I hardly think he will allow a little -matter like that to come into public notice. In fact, I've seen him -about it already." - -"Oh, get me out of this," Taylor cried in disgust. - -"Just a minute," Denby commanded. "I'll trouble you for that thirty -thousand dollars." - -"You think of everything, don't you?" Taylor snarled, handing it back. -"Is that a fake, too?" - -"Oh, no," he was told, "I borrowed that from Monty, who's been a great -help to me in this little scheme as an amateur partner." - -He put the bills in his pocket and took out the cigar Taylor had given -him. - -"Here's your cigar," he said. - -Taylor snatched it from him, and biting off the end, stuck it in his -mouth. He assumed a brazen air of bravado. "Well," he cried bragging, -"it took the biggest man in the secret service to land me, Mr. R. J., -but I've got some mighty good pals, in some mighty good places, and -they'll come across for me, and don't you forget it. After all, you're -not the jury, and all the smart lawyers aren't dead yet." - -"I don't think they'll help you this time," Denby said. "I believe -you'll still enjoy that winter climate." - -"Aw, come on, you dirty grafter," Gibbs cried contemptuously, and with -his partner led the broken man away. - -Ethel came to his side when they were alone. "Did you really mean it -about arranging with Mr. Harrington?" she cried. - -He looked down at her tenderly. "Yes," he said. "We've saved her." - -"And you are really R. J.?" she exclaimed wonderingly. - -"I really am," he returned. "Can't you guess how much I wanted to tell -you before? But I couldn't you know, at first, because I thought you -might be Taylor's accomplice. And later, I still dared not, because I -was under orders with my duty toward my Government. Can you forgive me -for making you suffer like that?" - -"Forgive you?" she whispered tenderly. "Haven't I said I love you?" - -He took her in his arms and kissed her. - -"And everything's all right now, isn't it?" she sighed happily. - -He looked at her whimsically. - -"Except that I'm hungry--are you hungry?" - -"Starved," she cried. - -"Let's ask for some food," he suggested. "Nothing would gratify Lambart -so much. But I don't think I've been so hungry since I was in Paris." - -"I wish it were Paris," she said. "Dear Paris, where I first found R. -J." - -"It shall be, whenever you say," he answered, "and I'll tell you all -about R. J. and the lonely life he led till he saw you." - -"And to think I could believe for a moment you were a criminal!" she -said, self-reproach in her voice, "and even try to trap you!" - -"But you've caught me," he said proudly. - -"Have I really got you, Steve?" she asked, softly, holding out her arms -to him. - -THE END - -[Illustration] - - * * * * * - -CORT THEATRE - -NEW YORK - -BEGINNING AUGUST 24th - -COHAN'S GRAND OPERA -HOUSE, CHICAGO - -BEGINNING AUGUST 31st - -SELWYN AND COMPANY - -PRESENT - -UNDER COVER - -_A melodrama of love, mystery -and thrills_ - -BY ROI COOPER MEGRUE - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -Ambassadeurs waiters corraled=> Ambassadeurs waiters corralled {pg 39} - -wrung his hand again and again=> wrung his hands again and again {pg -156} - -How women do gamble nowaday=> How women do gamble nowadays {pg 165} - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Cover, by -Roi Cooper Megrue and Wyndham Martyn - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER COVER *** - -***** This file should be named 40939.txt or 40939.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/0/9/3/40939/ - -Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images available at The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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