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diff --git a/49694.txt b/49694.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4482dfe..0000000 --- a/49694.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7860 +0,0 @@ - THE DUKE IN THE SUBURBS - - - - -This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 -http://www.gutenberg.org/license. If you are not located in the United -States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are -located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: The Duke in the Suburbs -Author: Edgar Wallace -Release Date: August 12, 2015 [EBook #49694] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUKE IN THE SUBURBS *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - - -[Illustration: "'It is useless arguing with you,' she said coldly." -(Page 34)] - - - - - *THE DUKE IN THE SUBURBS* - - - By - - EDGAR WALLACE - - _Author of "Four Just Men," "The Council of Justice," etc_ - - - - LONDON - WARD LOCK & CO LIMITED - 1909 - - - - - Dedication - TO - MARION CALDECOTT - WITH THE AUTHOR'S - HOMAGE - - - - - *Author's Apology* - - -The author, who is merely an inventor of stories, may at little cost -impress his readers with the scope of his general knowledge. For he may -place the scene of his story in Milan at the Court of the Visconti and -throw back the action half a thousand years, drawing across his stage -splendid figures slimly silked or sombrely satined, and fill their -mouths with such awsome oaths as "By Bacchus!" or "Sapristi!" and the -like. He may also, does the fine fancy seize him, take for his villain -no less a personage than Monseigneur, for hero a Florentine Count, as -bright lady of the piece, a swooning flower of the Renaissance, all pink -and white, with a bodice of plum velvet cut square at the breast, and -showing the milk-white purity of her strong young throat. - -It is indeed a more difficult matter when one is less of an inventor, -than a painstaking recorder of facts. - -When our characters are conventionally attired in trousers of the latest -fashion, and ransacking mythology the oath-makers can accept no god -worthier of witness than High Jove. - -Greatest of all disabilities consider this fact: that the scene must be -laid in Brockley, S.E., a respectable suburb of London, and you realize -the apparent hopelessness of the self-imposed task of the writer who -would weave romance from such unpromising material. - -It would indeed seem well-nigh hopeless to extract the exact proportions -of tragedy and farce from Kymott Crescent that go to make your true -comedy, were it not for the intervention of the Duke, of Hank, his -friend, of Mr. Roderick Nape, of Big Bill Slewer of Four Ways, Texas, -and last, but by no means least, Miss Alicia Terrill of "The Ferns," 66, -Kymott Crescent. - - - - - *Contents* - - - _PART I_ - -THE DUKE ARRIVES - - _PART II_ - -THE DUKE DEPARTS - - _PART III_ - -THE DUKE RETURNS - - _PART IV_ - -THE DUKE REMAINS - - _PART V_ - -THE DUKE ADVENTURES - - - - - *Part I* - - - *THE DUKE ARRIVES* - - *I* - - -The local directory is a useful institution to the stranger, but the -intimate directory of suburbia, the libellous "Who's Who," has never and -will never be printed. Set in parallel columns, it must be clear to the -meanest intelligence that, given a free hand, the directory editor could -produce a volume which for sparkle and interest, would surpass the -finest work that author has produced, or free library put into -circulation. Thus:-- - - AUTHORIZED STATEMENT. PRIVATE AMENDMENT. - KYMOTT CRESCENT. - - 44. Mr. A. B. Wilkes. Wilkes drinks: comes home - Merchant. in cabs which he can ill - afford. Young George - Wilkes is a most insufferable - little beast, uses scent - in large quantities. Mrs. - W. has not had a new dress - for years. - - 56. Mr. T. B. Coyter. Coyter has three stories which - Accountant. he *will* insist upon repeating. - Mrs. C. smokes and is - considered a little fast. - No children: two cats, - which Mrs. C. calls "her - darlings." C. lost a lot of - money in a ginger beer - enterprise. - - 66. Mrs. Terrill. Very close, not sociable, in - fact, "stuck up." Daughter - rather pretty, but - stand-offish--believed to have - lived in great style before - Mr. T. died, but now - scraping along on L200 a - year. Never give parties - and seldom go out. - - 74. Mr. Nape Retired civil servant. Son - Roderick supposed to be - very clever; never cuts his - hair: a great brooder, - reads too many trashy - detective stories. - -And so on _ad infinitum_, or rather until the portentous and grave -pronouncement "Here is Kymott Terrace" shuts off the Crescent, its -constitution and history. There are hundreds of Kymott Crescents in -London Suburbia, populated by immaculate youths of a certain set and -rigid pattern, of girls who affect open-worked blouses and short -sleeves, of deliberate old gentlemen who water their gardens and set -crude traps for the devastating caterpillar. And the young men play -cricket in snowy flannels, and the girls get hot and messy at tennis, -and the old gentlemen foregather in the evening at the nearest open -space to play bowls with some labour and no little dignity. So it was -with the Crescent. - -In this pretty thoroughfare with its L100 p.a. houses (detached), its -tiny carriage drives, its white muslin curtains hanging stiffly from -glittering brass bands, its window boxes of clustering geraniums and its -neat lawns, it was a tradition that no one house knew anything about its -next-door neighbour--_or wanted to know_. You might imagine, did you -find yourself deficient in charity, that such a praiseworthy attitude -was in the nature of a polite fiction, but you may judge for yourself. - -The news that No. 64, for so long standing empty, and bearing on its -blank windows the legend "To Let--apply caretaker," had at length found -a tenant was general property on September 6. The information that the -new people would move in on the 17th was not so widespread until two -days before that date. - -Master Willie Outram (of 65, "Fairlawn ") announced his intention of -"seeing what they'd got," and was very promptly and properly reproved by -his mother. - -"You will be good enough to remember that only rude people stare at -other people's furniture when it is being carried into the house," she -admonished icily; "be good enough to keep away, and if I see you near 64 -when the van comes I shall be very cross." - -Which gives the lie to the detractors of Kymott Crescent. - -Her next words were not so happily chosen. - -"You might tell me what She's like," she added thoughtfully. - -To the disgust of Willie, the van did not arrive at 64 until dusk. He -had kept the vigil the whole day to no purpose. It was a small van, -damnably small, and I do not use the adverb as an expletive, but to -indicate how this little pantechnicon, might easily have ineffaceably -stamped the penury of the new tenants. - -And there was no She. - -Two men came after the van had arrived. - -They were both tall, both dressed in grey, but one was older than the -other. - -The younger man was clean-shaven, with a keen brown face and steady grey -eyes that had a trick of laughing of themselves. The other might have -been ten years older. He too was clean-shaven, and his skin was the hue -of mahogany. - -A close observer would not have failed to notice, that the hands of both -were big, as the hands of men used to manual labour. - -They stood on either side of the tiled path that led through the strip -of front garden to the door, and watched in silence, the rapid unloading -of their modest property. - -Willie Outram, frankly a reporter, mentally noted the absence of piano, -whatnot, mirror and all the paraphernalia peculiar to the Kymott -Crescent drawing-room. He saw bundles of skins, bundles of spears, -tomahawks (imagine his ecstasy!) war drums, guns, shields and trophies -of the chase. Bedroom furniture that would disgrace a servant's attic, -camp bedsteads, big lounge chairs and divans. Most notable absentee -from the furnishings was She--a fact which might have served as food for -discussion for weeks, but for the more important discovery he made -later. - -A man-servant busied himself directing the removers, and the elder of -the two tenants, at last said-- - -"That's finished, Duke." - -He spoke with a drawling, lazy, American accent. - -The young man nodded, and called the servant. - -"We shall be back before ten," he said in a pleasant voice. - -"Very good, m'lord," replied the man with the slightest of bows. - -The man looked round and saw Willie. - -"Hank," he said, "there's the information bureau--find out things." - -The elder jerked his head invitingly, and Willie sidled into the garden. - -"Bub," said Hank, with a hint of gloom in his voice, "Where's the -nearest saloon?" - -He did not quite comprehend. - -Willie gasped. - -"Saloon, sir!" - -"Pub," explained the young man, in a soft voice. - -"Public-house, sir?" Willie faltered correctly. - -Hank nodded, and the young man chuckled softly. - -"There is," said the outraged youth, "a good-pull-up-for-carmen, at the -far end of Kymott Road, the _far_ end," he emphasized carefully. - -"At the far end, eh?" Hank looked round at his companion, "Duke, shall -we walk or shall we take the pantechnicon?" - -"Walk," said his grace promptly. - -Willie saw the two walking away. His young brain was in a whirl. Here -was an epoch-making happening, a tremendous revolutionary and -unprecedented circumstance--nay, it was almost monstrous, that there -should come into the ordered life of Kymott Crescent so disturbing a -factor. - -The agitated youth watched them disappearing, and as the consciousness -of his own responsibility came to him, he sprinted after them. - -"I say!" - -They turned round. - -"You--here I say!--you're not a duke, are you--not a real duke?" he -floundered. - -Hank surveyed him kindly. - -"Sonny," he said impressively, "this is the realest duke you've ever -seen: canned in the Dukeries an' bearin' the government analyst's -certificate." - -"But--but," said the bewildered boy, "no larks--I say, are you truly a -duke?" - -He looked appealingly at the younger man whose eyes were dancing. - -He nodded his head and became instantly grave. - -"I'm a truly duke," he said sadly, "keep it dark." - -He put his hand in his pocket, and produced with elaborate deliberation -a small card case. From this he extracted a piece of paste-board, and -handed to Willie who read-- - - "THE DUC DE MONTVILLIER," - -and in a corner "San Pio Ranch, Tex." - -"I'm not," continued the young man modestly, "I'm not an English duke: -if anything I'm rather superior to the average English duke: I've got -royal blood in my veins, and I shall be very pleased to see you at No. -64." - -"From 10 till 4," interposed the grave Hank. - -"From 10 till 4," accepted the other, "which are my office hours." - -"For duking," explained Hank. - -"Exactly--for duking," said his grace. - -Willie looked from one to the other. - -"I say!" he blurted, "you're pulling my leg, aren't you? I say! you're -rotting me." - -"I told you so," murmured the Duke resentfully, "Hank, he thinks I'm -rotting--he's certain I'm pulling his leg, Hank." - -Hank said nothing. - -Only he shook his head despairingly, and taking the other's arm, they -continued their walk, their bowed shoulders eloquent of their dejection. - -Willie watched them for a moment, then turned and sped homeward with the -news. - - - - II - - -The Earl of Windermere wrote to the Rev. Arthur Stayne, M.A., vicar of -St. Magnus, Brockley-- - - -"I have just heard that your unfortunate parish is to be inflicted with -young de Montvillier. What process of reasoning led him to fix upon -Brockley I cannot, dare not, fathom. You may be sure that this freak of -his has some devilishly subtle cause--don't let him worry your good -parishioners. He was at Eton with my boy Jim. I met him cow punching -in Texas a few years ago when I was visiting the States, and he was of -some service to me. He belongs to one of the oldest families in France, -but his people were chucked out at the time of the Revolution. He is as -good as gold, as plucky as they make 'em, and, thanks to his father (the -only one of the family to settle anywhere for long), thoroughly -Anglicized in sympathies and in language. He is quite 'the compleat -philosopher,' flippant, audacious and casual. His pal Hank, who is with -him, is George Hankey, the man who discovered silver in Los Madeges. -Both of them have made and lost fortunes, but I believe they have come -back to England with something like a competence. Call on them. They -will probably be very casual with you, but they are both worth -cultivating." - - -The Rev. Arthur Stayne called and was admitted into the barely-furnished -hall by the deferential man-servant. - -"His grace will see you in the common-room," he said, and ushered the -clergyman into the back parlour. - -The Duke rose with a smile, and came toward him with outstretched hand. - -Hank got up from his lounge chair, and waved away the cloud of smoke -that hovered about his head. - -"Glad to see you, sir," said the Duke, with a note of respect in his -voice, "this is Mr. Hankey." - -The vicar, on his guard against a possibility of brusqueness, returned -Hank's friendly grin with relief. - -"I've had a letter from Windermere," he explained. The Duke looked -puzzled for a moment and he turned to his companion. - -"That's the guy that fell off the bronco," Hank said with a calm -politeness, totally at variance with his disrespectful language. - -The vicar looked at him sharply. - -"Oh yes!" said the Duke eagerly, "of course. I picked him up." - -There came to the vicar's mind a recollection that this young man had -been "of some service to me." He smiled. - -This broke the ice, and soon there was a three-cornered conversation in -progress, which embraced subjects, as far apart as cattle ranching, and -gardening. - -"Now look here, you people," said the vicar, growing serious after a -while, "I've got something to say to you--why have you come to -Brockley?" - -The two men exchanged glances. - -"Well," said the Duke slowly, "there were several considerations that -helped us to decide--first of all the death-rate is very low." - -"And the gravel soil," murmured Hank encouragingly. - -"_And_ the gravel soil," the Duke went on, nodding his head wisely, "and -the rates, you know----" - -The vicar raised his hand laughingly. - -"Three hundred feet above sea level," he smiled, "yes, I know all about -the advertised glories of Brockley--but really?" - -Again they looked at each other. - -"Shall I?" asked the Duke. - -"Ye-es," hesitated Hank; "you'd better." - -The young man sighed. - -"Have you ever been a duke on a ranch," he asked innocently, "a cattle -punching duke, rounding in, branding, roping and earmarking cattle--no? -I thought not. Have you ever been a duke prospecting silver or -searching for diamonds in the bad lands of Brazil?" - -"That's got him," said Hank in a stage whisper. - -The vicar waited. - -"Have you ever been a duke under conditions and in circumstances where -you were addressed by your title in much the same way as you call your -gardener 'Jim'?" - -The vicar shook his head. - -"I knew he hadn't," said Hank triumphantly. - -"If you had," said the young man with severity, "if your ears had ached -with, 'Here, Duke, get up and light the fire,' or 'Where's that fool -Duke,' or 'Say, Dukey, lend me a chaw of tobacco'--if you had had any of -these experiences, would you not"--he tapped the chest of the vicar with -solemn emphasis--"would you not pine for a life, and a land where dukes -were treated as dukes ought to be treated, where any man saying 'Jukey' -can be tried for High Treason, and brought to the rack?" - -"By Magna Charta," murmured Hank. - -"And the Declaration of Rights," added the Duke indignantly. - -The vicar rose, his lips twitching. - -"You will not complain of a lack of worship here," he said. - -He was a little relieved by the conversation, for he saw behind the -extravagance a glimmer of truth, "only please don't shock my people too -much," he smiled, as he stood at the door. - -"I hope," said the Duke with dignity, "that we shall not shock your -people at all. After all, we are gentlefolk." - -"We buy our beer by the keg," murmured Hank proudly. - - * * * * * - -There were other callers. - -There is, I believe, a game called "Snip, Snap, Snorum," where if you -call "Snap" too soon you are penalised, and if you call "Snap" too late -you pay forfeit. Calling on the duke was a sort of game of social snap, -for Kymott Crescent vacillated in an agony of apprehension between the -bad form of calling too soon, and the terrible disadvantage that might -accrue through calling too late and finding some hated social rival -installed as confidential adviser and _Fides Achates_. - -The Coyters were the first to call, thus endorsing the Crescent's -opinion of Mrs. C. - -Coyter fired off his three stories:-- - -(1) What the parrot said to the policeman. - -(2) What the County Court judge said to the obdurate creditor who wanted -time to pay (can you guess the story?). - -(3) What the parson said to the couple who wanted to be married without -banns. - -Duke and Co. laughed politely. - -Mrs. C., who had a reputation for archness to sustain, told them that -they mustn't believe all the dreadful stories they heard about her, and -even if she _did_ smoke, well what of it? - -"Ah," murmured the Duke with sympathetic resentment of the world's -censure, "what of it?" - -"There was a lady in Montana," said Hank courteously, "a charming lady -she was too, who smoked morning, noon and night, and nobody thought any -worse of her." - -The lady basked in the approval. Of course, she only smoked very -occasionally, a teeny weeny cigarette. - -"That woman," said Hank solemnly, "was never without a pipe or a -see-gar. Smoked Old Union plug--do you remember her, Duke?" - -"Let me see," pondered the Duke, "the lady with the one eye or----" - -"Oh, no," corrected Hank, "she died in delirium tremens--no, don't you -remember the woman that ran away with Bill Suggley to Denver, she got -tried for poisonin' him in '99." - -"Oh, yes!" The Duke's face lit up, but Mrs. C. coughed dubiously. - -Mr. Roderick Nape called. He was mysterious and shot quick glances -round the room and permitted himself to smile quietly. - -They had the conventional opening. The Duke was very glad to see him, -and he was delighted to make the acquaintance of the Duke. What -extraordinary weather they had been having! - -Indeed, agreed the Duke, it was extraordinary. - -"You've been to America," said Mr. Roderick Nape suddenly and abruptly. - -The Duke looked surprised. - -"Yes," he admitted. - -"West, of course," said the young Mr. Nape carelessly. - -"However did you know?" said the astonished nobleman. - -Young Mr. Nape shrugged his shoulders. - -"One has the gift of observation and deduction--born with it," he said -disparagingly. He indicated with a wave of his hand two Mexican saddles -that hung on the wall. - -"Where did _they_ come from?" he asked, with an indulgent smile. - -"I bought 'em at a curiosity shop in Bond Street," said the Duke -innocently, "but you're right, we have lived in America." - -"I thought so," said the young Mr. Nape, and pushed back his long black -hair. - -"Of course," he went on, "one models one's system on certain lines, I -have already had two or three little cases not without interest. There -was the Episode of the Housemaid's brooch, and the Adventure of the -Black Dog----" - -"What was that?" asked the Duke eagerly. - -"A mere trifle," said the amateur detective with an airy wave of his -hand. "I'd noticed the dog hanging about our kitchen; as we have no -dogs I knew it was a stranger, as it stuck to the kitchen, knew it must -be hungry. Looked on its collar, discovered it belonged to a Colonel -B----, took it back and restored it to its owner, and told him within a -day or so, how long it was, since he had lost it." - -Hank shook his head in speechless admiration. - -"Any time you happen to be passing," said young Mr. Nape rising to go, -"call in and see my little laboratory; I've fixed it up in the -greenhouse; if you ever want a blood stain analysed I shall be there." - -"Sitting in your dressing gown, I suppose," said the Duke with awe, -"playing your violin and smoking shag?" - -Young Mr. Nape frowned. - -"Somebody has been talking about me," he said severely. - - - - III - - -"63 has to call, 51 is out of town, and 35 has measles in the house," -reported the Duke one morning at breakfast. - -Hank helped himself to a fried egg with the flat of his knife. - -"What about next door!" he asked. - -"Next door won't call," said the Duke sadly. "Next door used to live in -Portland Place, where dukes are so thick that you have to fix wire -netting to prevent them coming in at the window--no, mark off 66 as a -non-starter." - -Hank ate his egg in silence. - -"She's very pretty," he said at length. - -"66?" - -Hank nodded. - -"I saw her yesterday, straight and slim, with a complexion like -snow----" - -"Cut it out!" said the Duke brutally. - -"And eyes as blue as a winter sky in Texas." - -"Haw!" murmured his disgusted grace. - -"And a walk----" apostrophized the other dreamily. - -The Duke raised his hands. - -"I surrender, colonel," he pleaded; "you've been patronizing the free -library. I recognize the bit about the sky over little old Texas." - -"What happened----?" Hank jerked his head in the direction of No. 66. - -The Duke was serious when he replied. - -"Africans, Siberians, Old Nevada Silver and all the rotten stock that a -decent, easy-going white man could be lured into buying," he said -quietly; "that was the father. When the smash came he obligingly died." - -Hank pursed his lips thoughtfully. - -"It's fairly tragic," he said, "poor girl." - -The Duke was deep in thought again. - -"I must meet her," he said briskly. - -Hank looked at the ceiling. - -"In a way," he said slowly, "fate has brought you together, and before -the day is over, I've no doubt you will have much to discuss in common." - -The Duke looked at him with suspicion. - -"Have you been taking a few private lessons from young Sherlock Nape?" -he asked. - -Hank shook his head. - -"There was a certain tabby cat that patronized our back garden," he said -mysteriously. - -"True, O seer!" - -"She ate our flowers." - -"She did," said the Duke complacently. "I caught her at it this very -morning." - -"And plugged her with an air-gun?" - -"_Your_ air-gun," expostulated the Duke hastily. - -"Your plug," said Hank calmly, "well, that cat----" - -"Don't tell me," said the Duke, rising in his agitation--"don't tell me -that this poor unoffending feline, which your gun----" - -"Your shot," murmured Hank. - -"Which your wretched air-gun so ruthlessly destroyed," continued the -Duke sternly, "don't tell me it is the faithful dumb friend of 66?" - -"It _was_," corrected Hank. - -"The devil it was!" said his grace, subsiding into gloom. - - - - IV - - -The situation was a tragic one. Alicia Terrill trembling with -indignation, a faint flush on her pretty face, and her forehead wrinkled -in an angry frown, kept her voice steady with an effort, and looked down -from the step ladder on which she stood, at the urbane young man on the -other side of the wall. - -He stood with his hands respectfully clasped behind his back, balancing -himself on the edge of his tiny lawn, and regarded her without emotion. -The grim evidence of the tragedy was hidden from his view, but he -accepted her estimate of his action with disconcerting calmness. - -Hank, discreetly hidden in the conservatory, was an interested -eavesdropper. - -The girl had time to notice that the Duke had a pleasant face, burnt and -tanned by sun and wind, that he was clean-shaven, with a square, -determined jaw and clear grey eyes that were steadfastly fixed on hers. -In a way he was good looking, though she was too angry to observe the -fact, and the loose flannel suit he wore did not hide the athletic -construction of the man beneath. - -"It is monstrous of you!" she said hotly, "you, a stranger here----" - -"I know your cat," he said calmly. - -"And very likely it wasn't poor Tibs at all that ate your wretched -flowers." - -"Then poor Tibs isn't hurt," said the Duke with a sigh of relief, "for -the cat I shot at was making a hearty meal of my young chrysanthemums -and----" - -"How dare you say that!" she demanded wrathfully, "when the poor thing -is flying round the house with a--with a wounded tail?" - -The young man grinned. - -"If I've only shot a bit off her tail," he said cheerfully, "I am -relieved. I thought she was down and out." - -She was too indignant to make any reply. - -"After all," mused the Duke with admirable philosophy, "a tail isn't one -thing or another with a cat--now a horse or a cow needs a tail to keep -the flies away, a dog needs a tail to wag when he's happy, but a cat's -tail----" - -She stopped him with a majestic gesture. She was still atop of the -ladder, and was too pretty to be ridiculous. - -"It is useless arguing with you," she said coldly; "my mother will take -steps to secure us freedom from a repetition of this annoyance." - -"Send me a lawyer's letter," he suggested, "that is the thing one does -in the suburbs, isn't it?" - -He did not see her when she answered, for she had made a dignified -descent from her shaky perch. - -"Our acquaintance with suburban etiquette," said her voice coldly, "is -probably more limited than your own." - -"Indeed?" with polite incredulity. - -"Even in Brockley," said the angry voice, "one expects to meet -people----" - -She broke off abruptly. - -"Yes," he suggested with an air of interest. "People----?" - -He waited a little for her reply. He heard a smothered exclamation of -annoyance and beckoned Hank. That splendid lieutenant produce a step -ladder and steadied it as the Duke made a rapid ascent. - -"You were saying?" he said politely. - -She was holding the hem of her dress and examining ruefully the havoc -wrought on a flounce by a projecting nail. - -"You were about to say----?" - -She looked up at him with an angry frown. - -"Even in Brockley it is considered an outrageous piece of bad manners to -thrust oneself upon people who do not wish to know one!" - -"Keep to the subject, please," he said severely; "we were discussing the -cat." - -She favoured him with the faintest shrug. - -"I'm afraid I cannot discuss any matter with you," she said coldly, "you -have taken a most unwarrantable liberty." She turned to walk into the -house. - -"You forget," he said gently, "I am a duke. I have certain feudal -privileges, conferred by a grateful dynasty, one of which, I believe, is -to shoot cats." - -"I can only regret," she fired back at him, from the door of the little -conservatory that led into the house, "that I cannot accept your -generous estimate of yourself. The ridiculous court that is being paid -to you by the wretched people in this road must have turned your head. -I should prefer the evidence of De Gotha before I even accepted your -miserable title." - -Slam! - -She had banged the door behind her. - -"Here I say!" called the alarmed Duke, "please come back! Aren't I in -De Gotha?" - -He looked down on Hank. - -"Hank," he said soberly, "did you hear that tremendous charge? She -don't believe there is no Mrs. Harris!" - - - - V - - -Two days later he ascended the step ladder again. - -With leather gloves, a gardening apron, and with the aid of a stick she -was coaxing some drooping Chinese daisies into the upright life. - -"Good morning," he said pleasantly, "what extraordinary weather we are -having." - -She made the most distant acknowledgment and continued in her attentions -to the flowers. - -"And how is the cat?" he asked with all the bland benevolence of an -Episcopalian bench. She made no reply. - -"Poor Tibby," he said with gentle melancholy-- - - "Poor quiet soul, poor modest lass, - Thine is a tale that shall not pass." - - -The girl made no response. - -"On the subject of De Gotha," he went on with an apologetic hesitation, -"I----" - -The girl straightened her back and turned a flushed face towards him. A -strand of hair had loosened and hung limply over her forehead, and this -she brushed back quickly. - -"As you insist upon humiliating me," she said, "let me add to my self -abasement by apologizing for the injustice I did you. My copy of the -Almanac De Gotha is an old one and the page on which your name occurs -has been torn out evidently by one of my maids----" - -"For curling paper, I'll be bound," he wagged his head wisely. - - "Immortal Caesar, dead and turned to clay, - Might stop a hole to keep the wind away; - The Duke's ancestral records well may share - The curly splendours of the housemaid's hair." - - -As he improvised she turned impatiently to the flower bed. - -"Miss Terrill!" he called, and when she looked up with a resigned air, -he said-- - -"Cannot we be friends?" - -Her glance was withering. - -"Don't sniff," he entreated earnestly, "don't despise me because I'm a -duke. Whatever I am, I am a gentleman." - -"You're a most pertinacious and impertinent person," said the -exasperated girl. - -"Alliteration's artful aid," quoth the Duke admiringly. "Listen----" - -He was standing on the top step of the ladder balancing himself rather -cleverly, for Hank was away shopping. - -"Miss Terrill," he began. There was no mistaking the earnestness of his -voice, and the girl listened in spite of herself. - -"Miss Terrill, will you marry me?" - -The shock of the proposal took away her breath. - -"I am young and of good family; fairly good looking and sound in limb. -I have a steady income of L1,200 a year and a silver property in Nevada -that may very easily bring in ten thousand a year more. Also," he -added, "I love you." - -No woman can receive a proposal of marriage, even from an eccentric -young man perched on the top of a step ladder, without the tremor of -agitation peculiar to the occasion. - -Alicia Terrill went hot and cold, flushed and paled with the intensity -of her various emotions, but made no reply. - -"Very well then!" said the triumphant Duke, "we will take it as settled. -I will call----" - -"Stop!" She had found her voice. Sifting her emotions indignation had -bulked overwhelmingly and she faced him with flaming cheek and the -lightning of scorn in her eyes. - -"Did you dare think that your impudent proposal had met with any other -success than the success it deserved?" she blazed. "Did you imagine -because you are so lost to decency, and persecute a girl into listening -to your odious offer, that you could bully her into acceptance?" - -"Yes," he confessed without shame. - -"If you were the last man in the world," she stormed, "I would not -accept you. If you were a prince of the blood royal instead of being a -wretched little continental duke with a purchased title"--she permitted -herself the inaccuracy--"if you were a millionaire twenty times over, I -would not marry you!" - -"Thank you," said the Duke politely. - -"You come here with your egotism and your braggadocio to play triton to -our minnows, but I for one do not intend to be bullied into grovelling -to your dukeship." - -"Thank you," said the Duke again. - -"But for the fact that I think you have been led away by your conceit -into making this proposal, and that you did not intend it to be the -insult that it is, I would make you pay dearly for your impertinence." - -The Duke straightened himself. - -"Do I understand that you will not marry me?" he demanded. - -"You may most emphatically understand that," she almost snapped. - -"Then," said the Duke bitterly, "perhaps if you cannot love me you can -be neighbourly enough to recommend me a good laundry." - -This was too much for the girl. She collapsed on to the lawn, and, -sitting with her face in her hands, she rocked in a paroxysm of -uncontrollable laughter. - -The Duke, after a glance at her, descended the steps in his stateliest -manner. - - - - VI - - -It was the desire of the Tanneur house, that "Hydeholm" should keep -alive the traditions of its Georgian squiredom. Sir Harry Tanneur spoke -vaguely of "feudal customs" and was wont to stand dejectedly before a -suit of fifteen century armour that stood in the great hall, shaking his -head with some despondence at a pernicious modernity which allowed no -scope for steel-clad robbery with violence. The quarterings that glowed -in the great windows of the hall were eloquent of departed glories. -There was a charge, _on a field vert, goutte de sang, parted per fusil_, -with I know not what lions rampant and lions sejant, boars heads, -cinquefoils and water budgets, all of which, as Sir Harry would tell -you, formed a blazing memento of the deeds of Sir Folk de Tanneur -(1142-1197). Putting aside the family portraits, the historical -documents, and other misleading data, I speak the truth when I say that -the founder of the Tanneur family was Isaac Tanner, a Canterbury curer -of hides, who acquired a great fortune at the time of the Crimean war, -and having purchased a beautiful estate in Kent, christened the historic -mansion where he had taken up his residence "Hyde House," at once a -challenge to the fastidious county, and an honest tribute to the source -of his wealth. It is a fact that no Tanner--or Tanneur as they style -the name--has reached nearer the patents of nobility than Sir Harry -himself acquired, when he was knighted in 1897 in connexion with the -erection of the Jubilee Alms-Houses. - -Sir Harry's son and heir was a heavily built young man, with a big -vacant face and a small black moustache. He was military in the militia -sense of the word, holding the rank of captain in the 9th battalion of -the Royal West Kent Regiment. - -"Hal has a devil of a lot more in him than people give him credit for," -was his father's favourite appreciation, and indeed it was popularly -supposed that in Mr. Harry Tanneur's big frame was revived the ancient -courage of Sir Folk, the wisdom of Sir Peter (a contemporary of Falstaff -and one of the Judges who sent Prince Henry to prison), the subtlety of -Sir George (ambassador at the Court of Louis of France), and the -eminently practical cent. per cent. acumen of his father. - -They were seated at breakfast at "Hydeholm," Sir Harry, his son and the -faded lady of the house. Sir Harry read a letter and tossed it to his -wife. - -"Laura's in trouble again," he said testily, "really, my dear, your -sister is a trial! First of all her husband loses his money and blames -me for putting him into the Siberian Gold Recovery Syndicate, then he -dies, and now his wife expects me to interest myself in a petty suburban -squabble." - -The meek lady read the letter carefully. - -"The man seems to have annoyed Alicia," she commented mildly, "and even -though he is a duke--and it seems strange for a duke to be living in -Brockley----" - -"Duke?" frowned Sir Harry, "I didn't see anything about dukes. Let me -see the letter again, my love." - -"Duke," muttered Sir Harry, "I can't see any word that looks like -'duke'--ah, here it is, I suppose, I thought it was 'dude'; really Laura -writes an abominable hand. H'm," he said, "I see she suggests that Hal -should spend a week or so with them--how does that strike you, my boy?" - -It struck Hal as an unusually brilliant idea. He had views about Alicia, -inclinations that were held in check by his father's frequent -pronouncements on the subject of mesalliances. - -So it came about that Hal went on a visit to his aunt and cousin. - -"He's probably one of these insignificant continental noblemen," said -his father at parting, "you must put a stop to his nonsense. I have a -young man in my eye who would suit Alicia, a rising young jobber who -does business for me. If the duke or whatever he is persists in his -attentions, a word from you will bring him to his senses. - -"I shall punch the beggar's head," promised Hal, and Sir Harry smiled -indulgently. - -"If, on the other hand," he said thoughtfully, "you find he is the -genuine article the thing might be arranged amicably--you might make -friends with him and bring him along to Hydeholm. He is either no good -at all or too good for Alicia--it's about time Winnie was off my hands." - -Miss Winnie Tanneur was aged about twenty-eight and looked every year of -it. - - - - VII - - -"66 has a visitor," reported Hank. - -The Duke took his feet from the mantel-shelf and reached for his -tobacco. - -A spell of silence had fallen upon him that morning, that had been -broken only by a brief encounter with the butcher on the quality of a -leg of mutton, supplied on the day previous. - -"Has she?" he said absently. - -"I said '66,' which is of neither sex," said Hank. "This fellow----" - -"Oh, it's a man, is it?" said the Duke--brightening up; "what sort of a -man, who is he?" - -Hank touched a bell and the grave man servant appeared. - -"Who is the visitor next door?" demanded the Duke. - -"A Captain Tanneur, m'lord; militia; and the son of Sir Harry Tanneur -who is related to No. 66." - -"You've been gossiping with the servants," accused the Duke. - -"Yes, m'lord," said the man without hesitation. - -"Quite right," said the duke approvingly. When the servant was gone he -asked-- - -"Do you ever pine for the wilds, Hank, the limitless spread of the -prairies, and the twinkling stars at night?" - -"Come off, Pegasus," begged Hank. - -"The fierce floods of white sunlight and the quivering skyline ahead," -mused the Duke dreamily, "the innocent days and the dreamless nights." - -"No fierce floods in mine," said Hank decisively; "me for the flesh pots -of Egypt, the sinful life." - -"Do you ever----" - -"Take a walk--_you_," said Hank rudely. "Say your love-sick piece to the -shop windows. What are you going to do about Captain Tanneur--the bold -militia man?" - -"I suppose," said his grace, "he's been sent for to protect the innocent -girl from the unwelcome addresses of the wicked duke. I'll have a talk -with him." - -He strolled into the garden, dragging the step ladder with him. He -planted it against the wall this time, and mounting slowly surveyed the -next garden. - -His luck was in, for the object of his search sat in a big basket chair -reading the _Sporting Life_. - -"Hullo," said the Duke. - -Hal looked up and scowled. So this was the persecutor. - -"Hullo," said the Duke again. - -"What the devil do you want?" demanded Hal with studied ferocity. - -"What have you got?" asked the Duke obligingly. - -"Look here, my friend," said Hal, rising and fixing his eye-glass with a -terrible calm, "I'm not in the habit of receiving visitors over the -garden wall----" - -"Talking about the militia," said the Duke easily, "how is this -Territorial scheme going to affect you?" - -"My friend----" began Hal. - -"He calls me his friend," the young man on the wall meditated aloud, "he -is ominously polite: he rises from his chair: he is going to -begin--help!" - -He raised his voice and kept his eye on the conservatory door of 66. - -"What's wrong?" inquired Hank's voice from the house. - -"Come quickly!" called the Duke extravagantly nervous, "here's a young -gentleman, a stout young gentleman in the military line of business, who -is taking off his coat to me." - -"Don't talk such utter damn nonsense," said the angry Hal, "I've done -nothing yet." - -"Help!" cried the lounging figure at the top of the wall. "He's done -nothing _yet_--but----!" - -"Will you be quiet, sir," roared Hal desperately red in the face; -"you'll alarm the neighbourhood and make yourself a laughing stock----" - -The Duke had seen the flutter of a white dress coming through the little -glass house, and as the girl with an alarmed face ran into the garden he -made his appeal to her. - -"Miss Terrill," he said brokenly, "as one human being to another, I beg -you to save me from this savage and I fear reckless young man. Call him -off! Chain him up! Let him turn from me the basilisk fires of his -vengeful eyes." - -"I thought--I thought," faltered the girl. - -"Not yet," said the Duke cheerfully, "you have arrived in the nick of -time to save one who is your ever grateful servant, from a terrible and, -I cannot help thinking, untimely end." - -She turned with an angry stamp of her foot to her cousin. - -"Will you please take me into the house, Hal," she said ignoring the -young man on the wall, and his exaggerated expression of relief. - - - - VIII - - -"On behalf of the organ fund," read Hank and regarded the pink tickets -that accompanied the vicar's letter with suspicion. - -"It's a curious fact," said the Duke, "that of all people and things in -this wide world, there is no class so consistently insolvent as the -organ class. There isn't a single organ in England that can pay its -way. It's broke to the world from its infancy; its youth is a -hand-to-mouth struggle, and it reaches its maturity up to the eyes in -debt. It has benefit sermons and Sunday-school matinees, garden -parties, bazaars and soirees, but nothing seems to put the poor old dear -on his legs; he just goes wheezing on, and ends his miserable existence -in the hands of the official receiver. What is this by the way?" - -"A soiree," said Hank moodily, "and will we help." - -The Duke sprang up. - -"Rather!" he said jubilantly "will we help? Why, this is the very -opportunity I've been waiting for! I'll sing a sentimental song, and -you can say a little piece about a poor child dying in the snow." - -"Snow nothing," said Hank, "you can sing if you want, and I'll go -outside so that folk's shan't see I'm ashamed of you." - -He took a turn or two up and down the apartment, then came to an abrupt -stop before the Duke. - -"Say," he said quickly, "Bill Slewer's out." - -The Duke raised his eyebrows. - -"The amiable William?" he asked with mild astonishment, "not Bad Man -Bill?" - -Hank nodded gravely. - -"I got a letter from Judge Morris. Bill had a pull in the state and the -remainder of his sentence has been remitted by the new governor." - -"Well?" asked the Duke with a yawn. Hank was searching his pocket for a -letter. He opened one and read-- - -"... hope you are having a good time ... m--m your Nevada properties are -booming ... (oh, here we are). By the way Big Bill Slewer's loose, the -man the Duke ran out of Tycer country and jailed for shooting Ed. Carter -the foreman. - -"Bill says he is going gunning for Jukey--" - -"Ugh!" shuddered the Duke. - -"--and reckons to leave for Europe soon. Japhet in search of his pa will -be a quaker picnic compared with Bill on the sleuth. Tell Jukey----" - -The Duke groaned. - -"Tell Jukey to watch out for his loving little friend Bill. Bill is -going to have a big send off and a bad citizens' committee has presented -the hero with a silver plate Colt's revolver and has passed a special -resolution deprecating the artificial social barriers of an effete and -degenerate aristocracy." - -The Duke smiled. - -"If Bill turns up in Brockley I'll run the military gentleman loose on -him," he announced calmly; "in the meantime let us address ourselves to -the soiree." - -It was announced from the pulpit on the next Sunday that amongst the -kind friends who has promised to help was "our neighbour the Duc de -Montvillier" and the next morning Miss Alicia Terrill sought out the -vicar and asked to be relieved of a certain promise she had made. - -"But, my dear Miss Terrill, it's quite impossible," protested the amazed -cleric; "you were so very keen on the soiree, and your name has been -sent to the printer with the rest of the good people who are singing. -Here's the proof." He fussed at his desk and produced a sheet of paper. - -"Here we are," he said, and she read:-- - -"No. 5 (song), 'Tell me, where is fancy bred'--Miss A. Terrill. - -"No. 6 (song), 'In my quiet garden'--The Duc de Montvillier." - -"And here again in Part II," said the vicar. She took the papers with -an unsteady hand. - -"No. 11 (song), 'I heard a voice'--Miss A. Terrill. - -"No. 12 (song), 'Alice, where art thou'--The Duc de Montvillier." - -She looked at the vicar helplessly. - -"Why--why does the Duke follow me?" she asked weakly. - -"It was his special wish," explained the other. "He said his voice -would serve to emphasize the sweetness of your singing and coming, as it -would, immediately after your song--these are his own words--_his_ -feeble efforts would bring the audience to a----" - -"Oh yes," she interrupted impatiently, "I can well imagine all that he -said, and I'm _thoroughly_ decided that the programme _must_ be -rearranged." - -In the end she had her way. - -For some reason she omitted to convey to her mother the gist of the -conversation. If the truth must be told, she had already regretted -having spoken of the matter at all to her family, for her mother's -letter to the Tanneurs had brought to her a greater infliction than her -impetuous suitor. Whatever opinion might be held of the genius of Hal -Tanneur at Hydeholm, in the expressive language of the 9th's mess, he -was "no flier." The girl had learnt of his coming with dismay, and the -gleam of hope that perhaps after all, he _might_ be able to effectively -snub the young man of the step ladder, was quickly extinguished as the -result of the brief skirmish she had witnessed. And Hal was attentive -in his heavy way, and had tricks of elephantine gallantry that caused -her more annoyance than alarm. - -On the evening of the day she had seen the vicar, Mr. Hal Tanneur -decided upon making a diplomatic offer, so set about with reservations -and contingencies, that it was somewhat in the nature of a familiar -stock exchange transaction. In other words he set himself the task of -securing an option on her hand, with the understanding that in the event -of his father's refusal to endorse the contract, the option was to be -secretly renewed for an indefinite period. He did not put the matter in -so few words as I, because he was not such a clever juggler of words as -I am, but after he had been talking, with innumerable "d'ye see what I -mean Alic's" and "of course you understand's," she got a dim idea of -what he was driving at. She let him go on. "Of course the governor's -got pots of money, and I don't want to get in his bad books. Just now -he's a bit worried over some Nevada property he's trying to do a chap -out of--in quite a business-like way of course. The other chap--the -chap who has the property now has got a big flaw in his title and he -doesn't know it. See? Well, unless he renews his claim and gets some -kind of an order from the court, or something of that sort, the governor -and the governor's friends can throw him out, d'ye see what I mean?" - -"I really don't see what this is to do with me," said Alicia frankly -bored, "you said you wanted to tell me something of the greatest -importance, and I really ought to be seeing about mother's supper." - -"Wait a bit," he pleaded, "this is where the whole thing comes in: if -the governor pulls this deal off, he'll be as pleased as Punch, and I -can say out plump and plain how I feel about you." - -It was on the tip of her tongue to inform him that "plump and plain" was -ludicrously descriptive of himself, but she forbore. Instead she plunged -him into a state of embarrassed incoherence by demanding coolly-- - -"Do I understand, Hal, that you have been proposing to me?" - -She cut short his explanations with a smile. - -"Please don't wound my vanity by telling me this is only a tentative -offer--anyway I'll put your mind at rest. Under no circumstances could -I marry you: there are thousands of reasons for that decision, but the -main one is, that I do not love you, and I cannot imagine anything short -of a miracle that would make me love you." - -She left him speechless. - -The greater part of the next day he sulked in the garden, but towards -the evening he grew cheerful. After all, a woman's No was not -necessarily final. - -He got most of his ideas from the comic papers. - -Only for an instant had he entertained the suspicion that there might be -Another Man, but this he dismissed as ridiculous. Alicia's refusal was -very natural. She had been piqued by the fact that he had not been able -to make her a definite offer. He resolved to bide his time, and come to -his father on the crest of that prosperous wave which was to hand the -Denver Silver Streak Mine into the lap of his astute progenitor. Then -he would speak out boldly, trusting to the generosity of his father. -Constructing these pleasant dreams, he found himself discussing the -coming concert with Alicia, and the girl pleasantly relieved that her -refusal had had so little effect upon his spirits, was a little sorry -she had been so severe. - -They were talking over the songs Alicia was to sing, when there was the -sound of a carriage stopping outside the door, followed by an important -rat-tat. - -"Whoever can it be?" wondered Alicia. - -She had not to wait in suspense for very long. In a few seconds the -servant announced-- - -"Sir Harry Tanneur and Mr. Slewer." - - - - - *Part II* - - *THE DUKE DEPARTS* - - *I* - - -Years ago I discovered that truth was indeed stranger than fiction--that -curious and amazing things happened daily that caused one to say, "If I -had read this in a book I should have said that it was impossible." -Following upon this discovery, I have observed that all the best -chroniclers, exercise unusual caution in dealing with unexpected -situations, carefully and laboriously laying solid foundations on which -to build their literary coincidences. Fortunately Sir Harry saves me -the trouble, for his first words explained his presence. - -"Ah, Alicia," he pecked at her, "let me introduce our good friend -Slewer--just arrived from the United States of America with a letter of -introduction from the gentleman in charge of my affairs in Denver." - -Alicia regarded the new arrival with polite interest. - -Mr. Bill Slewer, in a ready-made suit of clothing that fitted him badly, -in a soft grey shirt and a ready-made tie, shuffled uneasily under the -scrutiny. - -He was a tall man, with shoulders a trifle bowed and long arms that hung -awkwardly. But it was his face that fascinated the girl. Scarred and -seamed and furrowed till it seemed askew, what held her, were his eyes. -They were pale blue and large, and in the setting of his mahogany skin -he looked for all the world like one sightless. Two white discs that -shifted here and there when she spoke, but which never once looked -toward her. - -"Mr. Slewer," Sir Harry went on, with an air of quiet triumph, "can -serve you, Alicia." - -"Me?" The girl's eyes opened in astonishment. - -Sir Harry nodded and chuckled. - -"I don't think you are likely to be annoyed with your neighbour after -to-day," he said, "eh, Mr. Slewer?" - -Mr. Slewer, seated on the edge of a settee, twisting his hat awkwardly -by the brim and staring at a gilt clock on the mantelpiece, shifted -something he had in his mouth from one cheek to the other, and said -huskily and laconically-- - -"Naw." - -"This gentleman"--Sir Harry waved his hand like a showman indicating his -prize exhibit--"has been most disgracefully treated by--er--the Duke." - -Alicia regarded Mr. Slewer with renewed interest and an unaccountable -feeling of irritation. - -"The Duke in fact," the magnate went on impressively, "fled from America -to avoid the--er--just retribution that awaited him. Fled in a most -cowardly fashion, eh, Mr. Slewer?" - -"Yep," said the other, fingering his long yellow moustache. - -"Mr. Slewer came to Denver knowing this--er--duke has property or," -corrected Sir Harry carefully, "thinks he has property there, and found -him gone. As I have large interests in the mining industry in that -city, it was only natural that Mr. Slewer should be directed to me as -being likely to know the whereabouts of--this chartered libertine." - -There was a grain of truth in this story, for the astute lawyer, who was -Sir Harry's agent in Denver city, had most excellent reason for wishing -to know the Duke's present address. The coming of Big Bill Slewer, ripe -for murder and with the hatred he had accumulated during his five years' -imprisonment, played splendidly into his hands. - -The girl had risen at Sir Harry's last words, and stood with a perplexed -frown facing her uncle. - -"Chartered libertine?" She was used to Sir Harry's hackneyed figures of -speech and usually attached no importance to them. - -"What has he done to this man?" - -Sir Harry glanced at Mr. Slewer and that worthy gentleman shifted -awkwardly. He did not immediately reply, then-- - -"This Jukey," he said, "went an' run away wid me wife." - -She took a step backward. - -"Ran away with your wife?" she repeated. - -"Sure," said Mr. Slewer. - -"You see?" said Sir Harry enjoying the sensation. - -The girl nodded slowly. - -"I see," she replied simply. - -"I'm going to fix up Mr. Slewer for the night," said Sir Harry, "and -to-morrow I will confront him with his victim." - -Young Mr. Tanneur, an interested and silent listener, had an -inspiration, "I say, governor," he blurted, "I've got a ripping idea!" - -His father smiled. - -"Trust you, Hal," he said admiringly. - -"There's a soiree or concert to-morrow night," said the ingenious Hal, -"this fellow is going to sing, why not wait till then? I can get you a -couple of seats in the first row--it would be awful fun to see his face -when he spots Mr. Slewer." - -"Oh no!" protested the girl. - -"Why not?" demanded Sir Harry? "I think it is an excellent idea." - -"But----" - -"Please don't interfere, Alicia," said the knight testily, "we are doing -all this for your sake: there will be no fuss. As soon as the man sees -this poor fellow he will skip and there will be no bother or -disturbance--isn't that so, Mr. Slewer?" - -"Yep," said the untruthful Bill, who had followed the conversation with -interest. Such a finale was in harmony with his tastes. He wanted an -audience for the act he contemplated. His ideas about the English law -were of the haziest, but he did not doubt his ability to escape the -consequence of his vengeance. - -One question the girl put to him before his departure. - -She found a surprising difficulty in putting it into words. - -"Where--where is the wom--your wife now, Mr. Slewer?" she asked in a low -voice. - -This well-nigh proved the undoing of Mr. Slewer, whose inventive faculty -was not the strongest part of his intellectual equipment. He was -standing on the doorstep when she put the question, and she saw him -wriggle a little in his embarrassment. - -"She," he hesitated, "oh, I guess he's got her with him all right, all -right." Then he remembered that this could not be so without her -knowledge, and he hastened to add, "or else he's put her down and out." - -"Killed her?" comprehended the girl with a gasp. - -"Yep," said Mr. Slewer nodding his head. "Jukey's a mighty bad man--yes, -sir." - -Sir Harry was at the gate directing the cabman and young Mr. Tanneur was -with him. Bill looked round and then edged closer to the girl. - -"Say," he whispered, "dat Jukey feller--do youse wanter do him dirt?" - -"I--I don't understand," she faltered. - -He nodded his head sagely did this product of Cherry Hill, who had gone -West in '93. - -"To-morrer," he said, "I'm goin' to put it outer him--proper!" - -He left her as a novelist would say, a prey to conflicting emotions. - - - - II - - -I do not profess to understand anything about the legal procedure of the -United States Courts, or for the matter of that of English Courts -either. Occasionally there comes to me a document beginning "Edward, by -the Grace of God, King of Great Britain." I have noticed idly enough -that it used to be subscribed "Halsbury"; and that lately it has borne -the name of "Loreburn," so I gather there have been changes made, and -that the other man has lost his job. - -When Sir Harry's business-like agent in Denver decided to contest the -title of the Silver Mine, he acted in a perfectly straightforward manner -and issued a writ or its equivalent, calling upon the holder of the -title to immediately surrender the same. There was a difficulty in -serving this notice on the defendant, and there was also a great danger. -For the appearance of the defendant in court would have established -beyond any doubt whatever that Sir Harry's friends were no more entitled -to the property than the mythical man in the moon. Therefore the clever -lawyer in Denver made no attempt to serve it, indeed he was anxious to -preserve as a secret the fact that such a writ was contemplated. - -It was therefore strange that he decided to take the course he did; -which was to advertise, in other words, affect substituted service, in -three daily newspapers. - -The advertisement came to the _Minnehaha Magnet_ in the ordinary way of -business, accompanied by a treasury note for fifty dollars. An hour -previous to the paper being issued, an alert young man interviewed the -editor and proprietor. - -He wished to purchase the whole issue of the paper, a simple -proposition, but an awkward one for the proprietor of a mining camp -newspaper, for there were subscribers to be considered. The young man -persisted and offered a price. No one ever saw a copy of that day's -issue except the young man who carried away a few copies after -superintending the distribution of the whole of the type. - -The next day the editor announced that owing to a break down after 2,000 -copies of the journal had been printed, many of his subscribers had been -disappointed etc. etc. The normal circulation of the _Minnehaha Magnet_ -is 1,200, but the editorial bluff may be allowed to pass. - -There is little doubt that a similar explanation may be offered for the -non-appearance, for one day only, of the _Silver Syren_, and the _Paddly -Post Herald_. This much is certain: the proprietor of the Silver Streak -Mine had, in the eyes of the law, been as successfully "writted" as -though a process server had placed the document in his hands. And there -was the advantage that he knew nothing about it. - -Sir Harry was informed of the progress made by the capable gentleman of -Denver on the morning of the day of the concert. - -He had found his letters waiting for him at No. 66 when he called that -morning--he always stayed at an hotel in town--it had been forwarded -from Hydeholm. - -It may be doubted that he knew the means adopted by his representative; -it may safely be assumed that he made no inquiries. He took the -newspaper cuttings from the suppressed editions and read them carefully. -Then he whistled. - -"Oho!" he said, for until now the Silver Streak had had the inanimate -existence of a corporation; of the names of its controllers he had been -ignorant. He whistled again and folded the cutting. - -He was so thoughtful during his short stay, and moreover so -absent-minded that Alicia, who had made up her mind to dissuade her -uncle from including Mr. Slewer in his party, could get no opportunity -of speaking to him. When he had left with Hal, she went into the garden -to think. - - - - III - - -"Good morning," said a cheerful voice. - -She looked up to meet the smiling eyes of the Duke. - -A recollection of this man's despicable crime gave her a feeling akin to -sickness but she kept her eyes fixed on him. - -"Getting ready for the concert?" he asked, but she made up her mind -quickly and cut his pleasantly short. - -"I would advise you to forget about to-night's concert," she said. - -He looked a little surprised. - -"It's a strange thing you should say that," he replied, "for the fact is -I've been trying to forget about it--I'm in an awful funk." - -Should she warn him? - -"Is that unusual experience for you?" she questioned drily. She -marvelled to find herself engaged in a conversation with him. - -"Unusual? Rather! I am as brave as a lion," he said frankly. "Hank -says I am about three ounces short of a hero." - -He met her scornful gaze unwillingly. - -"And a gallant also, I hear!" she retorted with a curl of her lip. He -made no reply to this charge, and she misread his silence. - -"You do not deny _that_, M'sieur le Duc," she went on, "and why should -you? You must be aware that the reputation of as great a man as -yourself is more or less public property. The greatness that excuses -his eccentricities and turns his impertinences into amusing foibles may -perhaps leniently gloss over his sordid _affaires_, and give them the -value of romance." - -All the time she spoke the lines between his eyes were deepening into a -frown, but he made no attempt at replying until she had finished. - -"May I respectfully demand which of my _affaires_ you are referring to -at the moment?" he asked. - -"Are they so many," she flamed. - -"Hundreds," he said sadly, "was it the _affaire_ with the Princess de -Gallisitru, or the _affaire_ of the premiere denseuse, or the _affaire_ -of--who else does one have _affaires_ with?" - -"You cannot laugh this away," she said, and then before she could stop -herself she demanded with an emphasis that was almost brutal-- - -"What have you done with Mrs. Slewer?" - -If she expected her question to create a sensation, she must have been -satisfied, for at the name he started back so that he almost lost his -balance. Then he recovered himself and for a moment only was silent. - -"Mrs. Slewer," he repeated softly, "what have I done with Mrs. -Slewer--Mrs. Bill Slewer, of course?" he asked. - -She did not speak. - -"Of Four Ways, Texas?" - -Still she made no response. - -"A big bent chap with white eyes"--his voice had recovered its -flippancy--"and hands that hang like a 'rang-a-tang?" - -She recognized the description. - -"So I ran away--do you mind if I consult a friend? You'll admit that -this is a crisis in my affairs?" - -She affected not to hear him and strolled to the other side of the -garden. - -"Hank!" She heard his voice and another responding from the house. -"Hank," said the muffled voice of the duke. "I ran away with Mrs. -Slewer--Big Bill's wife." - -"Eh?" - -"I ran away with Mrs. Bill, and Bill is naturally annoyed, so Bill is -looking me up--in fact Bill----" - -She could not catch the rest; she thought she heard Hank make a -reference to "hell," but she hoped she was mistaken. - -By and by the Duke's head appeared above the wall. - -"I suppose," he said, "now that you know the worst, you will tell me -this--when is Mr. Slewer going to call?" - -She spoke over her shoulder, a convenient chrysanthemum with a pathetic -droop claiming her attention. - -"I know nothing of Mr. Slewer's plans," said she distantly. - -It was such a long time before he spoke again that she thought he must -have gone away, and she ventured a swift glance at the wall. - -But he was still there with his mocking eyes fixed on hers. - -"Perhaps we shall see him at the concert?" he suggested, "sitting in the -front row with his tragic and accusing eyes reproaching me?" - -"How can you jest?"--she turned on him in a fury--"how can you turn this -terrible wrong into a subject for amusement? Surely you are not -completely lost to shame." - -He rested his elbow on the top of the wall and dropped his chin between -his hands. When he spoke, it was less to her than to himself. - -"Ran away with his wife, eh? Come, that's not so bad, but Bill couldn't -have thought of that himself. He's got a scar along the side of his -head--did you notice that Miss Terrill? No? Well, I did that," he said -complacently. "Yet Bill didn't mention it, that's his forgiving nature. -Did he tell you I jailed him for promiscuous shooting? Well, I did, and -when the governor revised the sentence of death passed upon him, I -organized a lynching party to settle with Bill for keeps. - -"They smuggled him out of the gaol before my procession arrived. Bill -never told you about that episode. H'm! that's his modesty. I suppose -he's forgotten all these little acts of unfriendliness on my part. The -only thing that worries him now is--_put up your hands--quick_!" - -She saw the Duke's face suddenly harden, his eyes narrow, and heard his -lazy drawl change in an instant to a sharp metallic command. Most -important of all his right hand held a wicked looking revolver. She was -standing before the conservatory door as the duke was speaking and -apparently the revolver was pointed at her. A voice behind her -reassured her. - -"Say, Jukey," it drawled, "put down your gun--there's nothin' doin'." - -She turned to face Mr. Slewer with his hands raised protestingly above -his head, injured innocence in every line of his face, and hanging -forward from the inside pocket of his jacket the butt of a Colt's -revolver, half drawn. - - - - IV - - -"Come further into the garden," invited the Duke with his most winning -smile, "that's right, Bill. Now just take that gun out of your pocket -and drop it into the grass. If the muzzle comes this way poor Mrs. -Slewer will be a widow. Thank you. You heard what I said about Mrs. -Slewer?" he asked. - -Bill, unabashed, made no reply, but looked up at the smiling face of the -man he hated, with passionless calm. - -The girl, fascinated by the deadly play, watched. - -"How long have you been married?" asked the Duke. "Can these things be -arranged in State's prison?" - -"Say," said the unperturbed Mr. Slewer, "you're fresh ain't ye,--what's -the use of gay talk anyways--I'm layin' for you, Jukey." - -"And I ran away, did I?" said the other, ignoring Mr. Slewer's speech, -and dropping his voice, "scared of Bill Slewer of Four Ways?" - -"Seems like it," said the man coolly. - -"Are you the only cattle thief I ever jailed?" asked the Duke; then of a -sudden he let go the mask of languor and the words came like the -passionless click of machinery. - -"Get out of England, you Bill!" he breathed, "because I'm going to kill -you else! What! you threaten me? Why, man, I'd have given a thousand -dollars to know you were shoot-at-able! Do you think we've forgotten -Ed. Carter----" - -He stopped short looking at the girl. Her eyes had not left his face. -Astonishment, interest and fear were written plainly, and these checked -the bitter stream of words that sprang to his lips. For her part she -marvelled at the intensity of this insolent young man, who could so -suddenly drop the pretence of badinage, into whose face had come the -pallor of wrath and whose laughing eyes had grown of a sudden so stern -and remorseless. He recovered himself quickly and laughed. - -"Hey, Bill," he said, "it is no use your coming to Brockley, S.E. with -any fool bad-man tricks. You're out of the picture here. Just wait -till we're both back again in the land of Freedom and Firearms. Is it a -bet?" - -"Sure," said Bill and stooped leisurely to pick up his revolver. - -He stood for a moment toying with it, looking at the Duke with sidelong -glances. The Duke's pistol had disappeared into his pocket. - -"Jukey," drawled Bill, polishing the slim barrel of his weapon on the -sleeve of his coat, "you'se has lost your dash." - -"Think so?" - -"Yes, sir," said the confident Bill, "because why? It stands for sense -I didn't come all the way from God's country to do cross talk--don't -it?" - -The Duke nodded and ostentatiously examined his empty hands. - -"Say," said Bill, "them's nice pretty hands of your'n, Jukey, you just -keep 'em right there where we--all can admire 'em--see? I've gotten a -few words to say to you'se, an' there's plenty of time to say 'em." - -Alicia saw the snaky glitter in the man's cruel eyes, and took an -involuntary step forward. Slewer did not look at her, but his left hand -shot out and arrested her progress. - -"You'se ain't in this, Cissy," he said gruffly, "it's me and Jukey." He -pushed her backward with such force that she nearly fell. When she -looked at the Duke again his face was grey and old-looking, but he made -no comment. - -"I guess I've not been thinkin' of this particular occasion for some -years, no, _sir_!" said Bill carefully, "not been sitting in me stripes, -thinkin' out what I'd say to Mr. Jukey when me an' him hit the same -lot." - -The man on the wall chuckled, but his face was still pale. Bill -observed this fact. - -"You'se can be the laughin' coon all right," he sneered, "but I guess -two inches o' looking glass'd put you wise to yourself." - -"Am I pale?" drawled the man on the wall; "it's this fear of you Bill, -the fear of you that made me sick. Oh, please don't wag your gun. You -don't suppose I'd have trusted you with it, unless I was absolutely sure -of you." - -Bill scowled suspiciously and thumbed back the hammer of the revolver. - -"Sure?" he grated. "By God, Jukey----" - -The Duke turned his head never so slightly. Bill followed the direction -of his eyes, then he dropped his pistol like a hot coal and threw up his -hands. At an upper window of the Duke's house stood the watchful Hank. -In the corner of the American's mouth was a cigar, in his hands was a -Winchester rifle and its business-like muzzle covered Bill unwaveringly, -as it had for the past ten minutes. - - - - V - - -All this happened in Brockley, S.E. on one bright autumn morning whilst -Kymott Crescent (exclusive of numbers 64 and 66) pursued its placid -course. Whilst milkmen yelled in the streets and neat butcher's carts -stood waiting at servants' entrances, whilst Mrs. Coyter practised most -assiduously the pianoforte solo that was against her name in the -programme of the evening, and Mr. Roderick Nape paced the concrete floor -of his study delivering to an imaginary audience a monologue (specially -written by a friend not unconnected with _The Lewisham Borough News_) -entitled "The Murder of Fairleigh Grange." - -That rehearsal will ever be remembered by Mr. Roderick Nape, because it -was whilst he was in the middle of it that there came to him his First -Case. - -In this monologue, the character, a detective of supernatural -perception, is engaged in hounding down a clever and ruthless criminal. -Mr. Roderick Nape had got to the part where an "agony" in the _Morning -Post_ had aroused the suspicion of the detective genius. Perhaps it -would be best to give the extract. - - "Can it be Hubert Wallingford? No, perish the thought! - Yet--come let me read the paper again (_takes newspaper cutting - from his pocket and reads_)-- - - 'To whom it may concern: information regarding P.L. is anxiously - awaited by H.W.' - - Can it be Hubert! (_sombrely_)--It would seem a voice from the - grave that says----" - - "The gent from 66 wants to see you, sir." - -Mr. Nape stopped short and faced the diminutive maid of all work. - -"Is it a case? he asked severely. - -"I shouldn't wonder, sir," replied the cheerful little girl. - -It was the invariable question and answer, as invariable as Philip of -Spain's morning inquiry in relation to Gibraltar--"Is it taken?" - -"Show him in." - -The greenhouse which an indulgent parent had converted into a study for -the scientific investigations of crime, admitted of no extravagant -furnishing. A big basket chair in which the detective might meditate, a -genuine Persian rug where he might squat and smoke shag (it was -birds-eye, really), a short bench littered with test tubes and Bunsen -burners, these were the main features of Mr. Nape's laboratory. - -Mr. Hal Tanneur was visibly impressed by the test tubes, and accepted -the one chair the apartment boasted with the comforting thought that Mr. -Nape might not be the silly young fool that people thought him. Happily -Mr. Nape was no thought-reader. - - - - VI - - -"You wish to consult me," suggested the amateur detective wearily. You -might have thought Mr. Nape was so weighed with the secret -investigations and the detection of crime that he regarded any new case -with resentment. - -"Ye-es," confessed Hal: he was not overburdened with tact. "You see I -wanted a chap to do something for me, and I didn't want to go to one of -those rotten detective agencies--their charges are so devilishly high." - -Mr. Nape dismissed the assumption of his cheapness with a mystical -smile. - -"Alicia--that's my cousin ye know--was talking about you the other -night, and it struck me you were the very chap for me." - -Half the art of detection lies in preserving a discreet silence at the -right moment and allow the other man to talk: this much Mr. Nape had -learnt. - -"Now what I want to know is this: can you find out something about this -Duke fellow--the man at 64? I'm pretty sure he's a rotter, and I'm -absolutely certain that he has documents in his house that would prove, -beyond any doubt, what an out and out rotter he is." - -It was a task after the detective's heart: internally he was -ecstatically jubilant; outwardly he was seemingly unaffected. He walked -to his little desk, and with a great display of keys opened a drawer, -taking therefrom a locked book. Again the flourish of keys and the -volume was opened. - -A fluttering of leaves and---- - -"Ha! here it is," said the detective gravely, "I have already noted him: -George Francisco Louis Duc de Montvillier, Marquis Poissant Lens, Baron -(of the Roman Empire) de Piento----" - -"Oh, I know all that," interrupted the practical Hal, "you've copied it -out of the Almanac de Gotha." - -Mr. Nape was disconcerted, but dignified. He tried to think of some -crushing rejoinder, but, failing, he contented himself with a slight -bow. - -"It isn't the question of who he was or who his father was," said Hal -testily, "any fool could find that out." - -Mr. Nape bowed again. - -"What we--I, do want information about is"--Hal hesitated--"well, as a -matter of fact, this is how the matter stands. We want to know what he -is _going_ to do--that's it!" - -Mr. Nape looked thoughtful as this tribute to his prescience was paid. - -"For a week or two at any rate we would like him watched, and if he -shows any attempt at leaving the country I wish to be immediately -informed." - -Mr. Nape was relieved that the services required did not verge upon the -practice of black magic, for Mr. Nape was a strict churchman. - -"We thought," continued Hal, "of employing an ordinary detective but, as -I say, their charges are so high, and this duke person would be pretty -sure to notice a strange man hanging about, so we have decided to ask -you to take on the job. He would never suspect you." - -Mr. Roderick Nape was on the point of indignantly refuting this -suggestion of his obscurity: it was at the tip of his tongue to inform -Mr. Hal Tanneur that his fame was widespread through Brockley, Lewisham, -Eltham, Lee, to the utmost limits of Catford, and it was next to -impossible for him to walk along the Lewisham High Road without somebody -nudging somebody else, and saying audibly, if ungrammatically, "That's -him!" But he forbore. - -"Here's my address." Hal pulled a handful of letters from his pocket in -his search for a card case. "If you see this chap getting ready to -bolt, send me a wire, and you had better have some money for expenses." - -Mr. Nape closed his eyes pleasantly, and waited for the conventional bag -of gold to fall heavily upon the desk, or to hear the thud of a thick -roll of notes. - -"Here's ten shillings," said Hal generously; "you won't want all that, -but I don't want you to stint yourself. Take a cab if you want to, but -motor buses go almost everywhere nowadays." - -Mr. Nape had had visions of special trains, but no matter. - -He picked up the ten shillings with a contemptuous smile, and flicked it -carelessly into the air, catching it again with no mean skill. - -"You'll remember," said Hal at parting, "I want him watched so that he -cannot get out of the country without my knowing." - -"It shall be done," said Mr. Nape coldly and professionally. He said -"good-bye," to his visitor on the doorstep and walked back to his -"laboratory" slowly and importantly. - -He found the scattered manuscript of his monologue and mechanically -tidied it together. He missed the dummy newspaper "agony" and looked -round for it. He saw a cutting on the floor, picked it up and put it -away with the manuscript. Then he sat down to plan out his campaign. - -He had a number of disguises in his room upstairs.... - -Two hours later a grimy workman with a heavy moustache and a bag of -tools called, at 64 "to examine the gas fittings." - - - - VII - - -The Duke looked at the workman tinkering awkwardly with a pendant. The -"workman" in his inmost soul was fervently praying that this would be -the last job. For an hour and a half he had sweated and toiled. The -Duke had received him on his arrival, figuratively speaking, with open -arms. - -"You are just the man we want," he said enthusiastically, and had put -him through a short catechism. Did he know anything about plumbing? -Yes, said the workman doubtfully; and glazing and fixing water pipes, -and gardening? added Hank. - -The workman who was not quite sure whether all these accomplishments -were comprehended in the profession of gas-fitter, thought however that -it would be wisest to be on the safe side, and had answered "Yes." - -So the Duke had led him to the little cellar, where he laboured hotly at -a refractory electric battery, and Hank had pushed him up through a trap -door out of the roof, where he, trembling, fixed a misplaced slate, and -the Duke had insisted upon the ground being opened in the garden so that -a defective drain-pipe might be repaired. After digging industriously, -if unskilfully, for half an hour, it was discovered that the drain-pipe -was in another part of the garden altogether. - -Then he was taken into the common-room to fix the gas. Between the fear -that his excessive exertions and their attendant perspiration, would -melt the wax that affixed his noble moustache and the desire for -information, Mr. Nape was more than ordinarily embarrassed. For there -is little one may learn in a four-foot excavation, and the news -whispered abroad on suburban housetops is scarcely worth remembering. -Therefore he welcomed the adjournment to the common-room. Whilst he -tinkered, the men talked, and at their first words Roderick pricked up -his ears. - -"Duke," said Hank, "I want to ask you something." - -"Wait till the man is out of the room," said the Duke warningly. - -Hank shrugged his broad shoulders. - -"He's too interested in his work," he said, "and besides----" - -He shrugged again. - -"Well, what is it you want?" - -"Isn't it time," asked Hank with sinister emphasis, "that you and I -shared out the swag?" - -The Duke rose and agitatedly paced up and down. - -"Let us go into the next room," he said. - -The front drawing-room, from the back was divided by a pair of light -folding doors. Mr. Nape descended from the chair, and crept noiselessly -towards the partition. - -"Duke," said Hank's voice, "or 'Jim Duke,' to give you your right -name----" - -"Hush," said the Duke's voice appealingly. - -"Jim Duke," continued the other callously, "as you are known in -Pentonville and Sing Sing, it's time for a share out." - -"How much do you want," sullenly. - -"I don't know," said Hank's voice, "it ought to be considerable. -There's the Countess of B----'s diamond necklace, the Princess of -Saxony's tiara, and the proceeds of the Hoxton Bank robbery." - -Mr. Nape could scarcely contain himself. - -He heard the Duke's footfall as he strode up and down the room, then he -heard him speak, - -"I will give you twenty thousand pounds," he said shortly. - -Mr. Nape heard a sharp laugh. - -"Twenty thousand! why I'll get that for turning King's evidence--about -the Lylham Hall affair!" - -There was a pause. - -"If I killed him, you were an accessory," said the Duke. - -"I helped to bury him, if that's what you mean," said Hank coolly, "and -that was against my wishes; you will remember that I suggested that he -should be chucked into the river." - -"True," said the Duke moodily, "it has always been my cursed failing, -this burying business--you forget I was intended for the Church." - -"You didn't bury the Earl," said Hank significantly, and they both -laughed boisterously. - -As for Mr. Nape, his blood froze and his teeth started chattering. - -He was left in doubt as to the dreadful end of the unfortunate nobleman, -for the Duke changed the subject. - -"Look here, Hank, will you be content if I hand over the necklace, and -the tiara, and a cheque for L5,000?" - -"A crossed cheque?" asked the cautious Hank. - -"A crossed cheque," said the Duke firmly, "on the London and South -Western Bank." - -There was another pause whilst Hank considered the proposition. - -"Yes," he agreed, "on condition you give me a paper exonerating me from -any knowledge of the scuttling of the _Prideaux Castle_." - -"Oh, that," said the Duke carelessly, "that was a private matter -entirely between the captain and myself, and I shall be very pleased to -give you the paper." - -"Very good," said Hank's voice, "when that paper is in my possession -duly signed and witnessed and stamped at Somerset House, the partnership -is dissolved." - -Mr. Nape, almost fainting in his excitement, had time to get back to his -chair, when the two men returned. - -The Duke glanced at the pendant. - -"Finished?" he asked politely. - -"Yes, sir," muttered Mr. Nape unsteadily. - -"Well, I don't think there is anything else we want done--do we?" - -Hank shook his head. - -Mr. Nape stole a glance at him and saw the gloomy frown. "It was the -face" (I quote Mr. Nape's secret diary) "of a man haunted with the -memory of his black past." - -With great solemnity the Duke tipped the workman half a crown and led -him to the door. When he returned he found Hank doubled up on the -divan. - -"Ill?" he asked anxiously, "poisoned, by any chance?" - -But Hank continued to laugh till he subsided into helpless chuckles. - -Curiously enough the Duke, whose sense of humour was of the keenest, did -not share in his friend's amusement. He smiled once or twice as he -paced the room. Then-- - -"Hank," he said seriously, "do you think young Sherlock Raffles came -here entirely out of curiosity?" - -"Sure," said the exhausted Hank. - -The Duke shook his head doubtingly. - -"There's some little game on that I do not quite fathom. Do you know -that the concert has been postponed?" - -"No." - -"Well, it has--and who do you think is responsible? Sir Harry Tanneur." - -Hank jerked his head inquiringly in the direction of 66. - -"Yes," said the Duke seriously, "for some unaccountable reason he has -prevailed upon the vicar to change the date. I've just had a note from -the vicar to tell me this. Tanneur is paying all the expenses incidental -to the change, the printing and the advertisements, and that is not like -Sir Harry, from what I know of him." - -"To-day is Tuesday," meditated, Hank, "and to-morrow is Wednesday." - -"You're a devil of a chap for finding things out," said the Duke with -amused irritation. "You'd put Jacko out of business in a week." - -In their less serious moments, the tenants of 64 invariably referred to -Roderick as "Jacko Napes." - -"I can see no connexion between Jacko and the concert," said Hank, "can -you?" - -The Duke shook his head. - -"It is an instinct," he said seriously, "a premonition of some sort of -danger--the sort of thing that turns you creepy just before cattle -stampede." - -"Run away and play," said the unimaginative Hank, "go into the garden -and lasso worms--you're losing your nerve." - -The Duke stood undecided. - -"I want something and yet I don't know exactly what I want. I need a -moral tonic." - -"You'll find the step ladder in the greenhouse," suggested Hank. - - - - VIII - - -A few moments later the Duke from his accustomed elevation was -conducting his erratic courtship. - -It was not perhaps so much of a coincidence, that he seldom failed to -discover Alicia in the mornings. She was an enthusiastic gardener. It -was a hobby she had only recently taken up. It is said by the people of -70--their back windows overlooked the garden and they were notoriously -uncharitable--that the gardening craze, which rightly should come with -the spring, did not show in her until after the Duke's arrival; that -until then her visits to the garden had been few and far between, and -her interest of a perfunctory character. - -This morning she was not as self-possessed as usual. Indeed she -appeared to be a little nervous, but she made no pretence of avoiding -him. - -"How is the cat?" he asked. - -It was his gambit. - -"Poor Tibs is as serviceable as the weather," she smiled. - -She saw his eyes shift to the conservatory. - -"Don't be afraid," she bantered, "Mr. Slewer is not there; he came in -the other day without my knowledge," she hastened to add, "the servant -showed him into the drawing-room and he took the unpardonable liberty of -walking through into the garden." - -"Bill has no drawing-room manners," he said regretfully, "he heard my -voice and it lured him: you'd never suspect me of being syrenish, would -you?" - -She raised her grave eyes to his. - -"You frightened me dreadfully," she said. "Were you men in earnest?" - -"Not a bit," he lied cheerfully, "we were just rehearsing a little -play." - -"But you were," she persisted, "you looked dreadful and that wretched -man's face was devilish." - -"S-sh!" he reproved, "the poor chap was a bit upset, and very naturally. -One cannot lose one's wife without----" - -"Please don't be horrid," she begged, flushing. "I thought that you -were not looking as happy as you are usually," she added with a touch of -malice. - -"I was in the bluest of funks," he confessed, "especially when he pushed -you back. You see Hank was covering him and Hank is a terribly -short-tempered man. I was wondering how we could explain away Bill's -dead body without creating a scandal." - -In spite of his matter-of-fact tone, she knew he was offering a true -explanation for his pallor--only she substituted his name for Hank's, -and felt she was nearer the truth. - -"You're a strange man"--her pretty forehead was wrinkled with -perplexity--"suppose all this that happened here yesterday had occurred -in--Texas." - -"It could not have occurred in Texas," he said instantly. "You would -have missed the light flow of talk and the interplay of pleasant -compliments. There would be only one thing to do. Down in Texas they -recognize that fact. Don't you know the story of the sheriff who tried -to arrest Black Ike of Montana? The sheriff pulled a gun on Ike, but -Ike got first shot. The sheriff was mightily popular, and the folks -were grieved but philosophical. They lynched Black Ike and put a -splendid monument over the sheriff. In one line they apostrophized his -life, ambition and splendid failure--and the inevitability of it all. -It ran-- - - "He did his damndest, angels could do no more." - - -She was shocked but she laughed-- - -"So in Texas----" - -"I should have killed him," he said with confidence. - -"Or else----?" she shivered. - -"Or else--exactly," he said cheerfully. - -"It's very dreadful," she said with a troubled face. "Thank goodness, -that that sort of thing cannot happen here." - -"Thank goodness," he repeated without heartiness. - -"Do you think it can?" She shot a suspicious glance at him. - -"Good heavens, no!" he denied, his vigour a little overdone. - -"You do!" she cried, "you believe he will try, please, please tell me." - -The eyes of the man were very tender, there was a curious sadness in -them when he looked at her; she dropped hers before them. - -"You must not think of such things," he said gently, so unlike his usual -self that she, for some unfathomable reason, was near to tears, "why, I -scarcely deserve your thought. I who have vexed you so, and hurt you so, -though God knows I only acted as I did in an impetuosity that was born -of a great and an abiding love." - -Her heart went racing, like the screw of a liner, and she felt choking. -There were other sensations which she had no time to analyse. Her eyes -sought the ground and her hands plucked idly at the flowers within her -reach. - -"Please remember that, Alicia." With an odd thrill she recognized the -masterful touch in this calm appropriation of her name. "What may have -seemed impertinence, was really sincerity. The world would say that I -have not known you long enough, that the hideous formalities and -conventional preliminaries were essential, and that to ask a girl to -marry you for no other reason than because you had seen her and loved -her, without balancing this virtue against that failing, was an -outrageous and unprecedented thing." - -She raised her eyes up shyly but did not speak. - -The old look was coming back into his face. The old mocking was in his -voice when he went on. - -"Alicia, I was prepared to take you without a character--and do not -forget that I am a suburban householder--without even so much as a line -from your last place--did you ever have a last place?" he added -suspiciously. She shook her head. - -"You--you," she faltered, "are the only master I have ever had!" - -Then she fled into the house, and Hank, looking through the back -drawing-room window, saw the duke turning somersaults on the lawn--and -drew his own conclusions. - - - - IX - - -The postponement of a concert is a very serious matter. There are -pretty certain to be amongst the audience, those who could come on -Tuesday but find Wednesday impossible, or Wednesday agreeable and -Thursday obnoxious. Similarly with artistes, some of whom cannot fix in -the altered date, and some, the more amateurish, who have screwed their -courage up for Tuesday's ordeal and find it a physical and mental -impossibility to sustain the tension for another twenty-four hours. In -this latter case we find Mr. Roderick Nape, who, with the added mental -burden of his tremendous discovery, found no pleasure in the fictitious -trials of the hero of "The Murder at Fairleigh Grange." - -It was written in the book of fate that he should be relieved of one -half of his care. On the day eventually fixed for the concert the duke -was "at home." - -I pass over the propriety of a bachelor being "at home." There was no -precedent for the function, but then there was no precedent for a duke -living in Kymott Crescent. What the response would have been in -ordinary circumstances, need not be discussed. As it happened, the -grave man-servant was kept busy the whole of the afternoon announcing -new arrivals, and the two waiters, hired for the day from Whiteley's, -distributed tea, thin bread and butter, and ladylike sandwiches from 4 -till 6.30. - -The neighbourhood accepted the invitation because it gave the -neighbourhood an opportunity of meeting and abusing the vicar for -postponing the soiree--and then of course there was the Duke. - -"Come?" said Hank answering that gentleman's doubts, "of course they'll -come: you're a two headed donkey, an ancient ruin, a _cause celebre_ and -the scene of a tragedy." - -"I take you, sir," said the Duke gratefully; "in other words----" - -"They will come out of morbid curiosity," said Hank. "They'll come to -the concert to-night, but that's different. You'll be removed from most -of 'em. Here they can get near you, prod you and guess what your weight -is, look at your teeth an' tell your age; they'll come all right!" - -Amongst those present, as the junior reporter hath it, was Mr. Roderick -Nape in his private clothes, in other words without disguise. Yet in a -sense he was there on business. He wanted to see how these men behaved -in public. - -He pushed his way through the crowded little room, little knowing that -he stalked to his professional doom. - -"How do you do?" asked the Duke in his most engaging manner, then he -gave a dramatic start and stepped back. - -He looked at Hank, then again at Mr. Nape. - -"Why, Mr. Nape," stammered the Duke, "you quite startled me." - -All eyes were riveted on Mr. Nape, and he enjoyed it. - -"What have you been doing to your face!" asked the Duke. It was a rude -question, but Mr. Nape saw nothing more significant in the query than a -hint of smut, and searched for his handkerchief. - -"What have you done with your moustache," asked the Duke reprovingly. - -Mr. Nape looked his astonishment. - -"I have never had a moustache," he said haughtily, for he had heard a -little titter. - -"Strange," mused the Duke, "and yet I could have sworn that the last -time we met--forgive me, I must have been mistaken." - -"By the way, Mr. Nape," drawled the tired voice of Hank, "that electric -battery you repaired don't work worth a cent." - -The great and appalling truth came to Mr. Nape slowly. In a dazed way -he managed to reached the outskirts of the throng about his host and -sank into a chair. - -His moustache! the electric battery! he groaned in spirit. - -"Say, Mr. Nape,"--Hank was by his side--"you'll keep the matter -dark--you know. What you heard this morning--we'll split the tiara or -I'll toss you for the diamond necklace." - -Roderick rose with dignity. - -"Mr. Hankey, you are an American and you cannot understand my feelings, -but I consider I have been treated most----" - -"Mrs. and Miss Terrill," announced the grave man-servant, and Hank lost -all interest in Mr. Roderick Nape. - -He gave a quick glance at the Duke and grinned, for the scarlet-faced -young man for the first and last time in his life lost his head and grew -incoherent. - -"Oh, yes, America is a lovely country--close to New York you know, -beautiful sunsets every night at 10. I mean fireworks in Madison Square -Gardens. Yes, I knew President Lincoln intimately. How do you do, Miss -Terrill? this is very pluc--kind of you." - -Mrs. Terrill has been treated with scant courtesy in these pages, but -the part she played in this story is analogous to the part she played in -life. She was one of those women who live in the everlasting -background--none the worse for that, but no better. The Duke had looked -forward to the meeting with a vague dread. When he saw her he -experienced a great relief, when she spoke he was grateful. He found an -opportunity to speak with her alone. - -"My daughter has told me," she said simply. "I'm afraid I ought to be -more prejudiced against you than I am, and I'm sure you were not looking -forward with any eagerness to meet me." - -His smiling denial she waved aside. She was a pretty woman of fifty. -She looked no less, yet she was pretty. For beauty is not of any age, -any more than it is of any colour. The Duke with his quick sympathies -saw behind the laughter in her eyes the shadow of suffering. He had -lived too near to sorrow to mistake its evidence. Secretly, he wondered -why this woman with her ready wit and her unquestionable charm had -played no greater part in life--for unerringly and instinctively he had -estimated her place in the world. - -She had an embarrassing way of reading one's thoughts. - -"You are wondering why I am the Shadowy Lady," she asked with a glint of -amusement in her eyes, "yet you must remember a time--did I not overhear -you claiming acquaintance with Lincoln?--when it was woman's prerogative -to retire: when her virtues were concomitant with her obscurity. Some -women rebelled and reached fame by way of the law courts, some women -rebelled and died, some acquiesced, waiting for the fashion to change. I -was one of those, and when the fashion changed I was satisfied with the -old order and remained behind the curtain, peaceably." - -He looked at her and nodded. - -"I understand," he said, for there was sufficient of the woman in his -heart to understand sacrifice. She walked away and sent him Alicia. - -They were exchanging banalities for the benefit of the surrounding -audience when Hank came looking preternaturally solemn. "That custard, -Duke." - -His friend stared. - -"What about it?" - -"She's gone." - -The Duke waited. - -"That custard," said Hank impressively, "we made her, boiled her, stuck -eggs all over her, and put her outside on the window-ledge to cool off." - -The Duke said nothing, but his lips quivered. - -"That custard was surely great," Hank went on, growing melancholy, "we -copied her out of an evenin' paper, and whisked her and frisked her till -she sizzled--and she's gone." - -There was a solemn pause; the spectators held their breath, out of -respect for Hank's grief. - -"Whilst there was a sound of revelry downstairs, there came a thief," -said Hank oracularly, "she clomb up the rare-old-ivy-green and started -in to sample that custard." - -The Duke leant forward. - -"Not Tibs?" he asked breathlessly. - -"Oh, not Tibs?" pleaded the girl. - -"Tibs, it was surely," said Hank bitterly, "I saw that kinky tail of -hers goin' over the wall." - - - - X - - -The Duke had secured a few minutes alone with the girl. The remainder -of the guests had departed, and Hank was keeping Mrs. Terrill mildly -amused with an exposition of his philosophy. - -It was a memorable day in the Duke's life, for amongst other unique -experiences, he felt a diffidence amounting to shyness. - -Remarkably enough it was the girl who was cool and self-possessed. He -tried to carry off the matter with a high hand, but, as Hank so -expressively put it, "he wilted some." - -"Alicia," he began huskily--his throat-clearing cough was a confession -of weakness. - -"Did you like mother?" she asked. He could see she had no fear of the -verdict. As he spoke of her he gained courage and took her hand, -inanely enough, and she laughed a low, happy, amused laugh. - -He laughed too, but sheepishly. - -"Courage, mon enfant," she said boldly. - -"Alicia," he said earnestly, "don't you wonder at me--and aren't you -sorry for me struck dumb by your nearness? There was a man in Texas -City once, who told me my bumps; and he said my two principal -characteristics were modesty and courage, and said that I suffered from -having too poor an opinion of myself. I have tried to get over that -latter fault," he said bravely. "People pointed out the difficulty of -reducing the modesty bump owing to the mystery of its location. Hank -said, he guessed it was like one of those disappearing islands, that bob -up and down in the Western Pacific, and every time I hit Modesty Hill, -he made a careful survey and found I'd struck into Mount Nerve or Vanity -Point. In the end he guessed the phrenologist was pulling my leg, and -that one of the fellows had put him up to it. But I rather thought he -was genuine, and the modesty bump he had located, was one I got through -being thrown from a bronco when showing off before some girls in Texas. -Now my respect for the phrenologist has gone up points. I feel--I feel -like a little tame cat." - -She let him find his way out, as best he could. - -"This is the first time you and I have been alone," he said desperately, -"and--and----" - -"Go on," she said calmly. - -It was a terrible experience for the Duke. He felt his grasp upon the -situation slipping: he summoned his courage. They were in the deserted -conservatory, which was twelve feet by eight feet and open to the gaze -of the world on three sides. - -"Have you seen my Japanese ferns?" he asked recklessly. - -Now here is a curious problem that I present to the reader, whose -greater knowledge of worldly affairs may help him to a solution. As the -Duke spoke he indicated the screened side of the conservatory, which was -as innocent of Japanese ferns as indeed of any forms of growth vegetable -or horticultural as the dome of St. Paul's. Unless she imagined that -the ferns might be discoverable in a microscopic crack in the wall it is -difficult to understand why she replied, "I should like to see them," -and walked innocently towards the screened corner. Then suddenly the -Duke's arms were about her and his lips laid on hers. - -She freed herself gently and raised her shining eyes to his. - -"I didn't know you were going to do that," she said, but she made no -inquiries about the Japanese ferns. - - - - XI - - -The room was crowded, there was a hum of talk, a scraping of chairs, a -high nervous laugh or so, and in some adjoining room the clatter of -coffee cups. The Rev. Arthur had arranged the hall on a new plan, he -said, and everybody agreed that it was an excellent plan. At one end of -the room was a draped platform; on the floor, in place of the phalanx of -benches, were scattered little tables with seats for four. It was a -unique arrangement, some went so far as to defy the grammarian and say -it was "most unique," but as a matter of fact neither the enthusiast nor -the vulgarian were correct, for the Rev. Arthur--a most excellent -Christian, overflowing with worldly wisdom--had modelled his -arrangements after those obtaining at the wicked _Cafe Chantant_. Tea -and coffee were to be served between the items, and a pleasurable -evening seemed assured. - -Without in any way desiring to anticipate the events of the night, I -will go so far as to say, that the soiree might have been an unqualified -success had "No 4" on the programme been "No. 15"--which would have been -the last. "No. 4," by the new arrangement, was: - - Dramatic Monologue: - Mr. Roderick Nape - "The Murder at Fairleigh Grange" (Anon.). - -When the Duke and Hank arrived every seat had been taken, and the heated -organizers of the entertainment were pressing into service the -schoolroom forms. - -Somebody had reserved two seats at one of the tables. Sir Harry Tanneur -and his amiable son had taken for granted that the seats had been -reserved for them. Alicia tactfully pointed out that Sir Harry's proper -place was at the vicar's table, since he had borne no small part of the -cost of the postponed concert. Sir Harry and his son agreed, the latter -grudgingly. When, a few minutes later, the Duke person and his friend -arrived and calmly appropriated the reserved seats Hal started to his -feet with an exclamation of annoyance; when Alicia welcomed them with a -sweet smile he collapsed into his chair; and when, in shaking hands, the -Duke held the girl's in his for an unjustifiable space of time, Mr. Hal -Tanneur said something to himself which was quite out of harmony with -the tone of the proceedings. - -"Did you see that, governor?" he said beneath his breath, "did you see -that wretched bounder--by Jove, I've half a mind to go over and break -the fellow's head." - -Sir Harry had seen "the bounder;" he had breathed a sigh of relief on -seeing him. The Duke was the first man he had looked for when he entered -the hall. Sir Harry's anxiety was mainly a matter of dates. For -instance to-day was the 20th. Twenty plus eight=28. And the _Ironic_ -did not call at Queenstown. Sir Harry was happy in the thought that on -this auspicious day the "Redhelm Line" and the "Nord Deutscher Line," -had begun their famous record-breaking race across the Atlantic. The -_Ironic_ had the advantage of twelve hours' start. She left Liverpool -at four o'clock that afternoon (she does not call at Queenstown, -repeated Sir Harry mentally), the _Kron Prinz Olaf_, was due to leave -Hamburg at 7 p.m. but she had distance to make up. - -With these reflections to occupy his mind he paid little heed to his -son's expressions of indignation. Instead he asked abruptly--"You have -that cutting, Hal?" - -"Which cutting?" demanded Hal aggressively. - -"The order of the court--you can call upon our friend to-morrow and show -it to him," he chuckled. - -Strangely enough, the subject of the Atlantic race was under discussion -at another table. It came a propos of the postponed concert. - -"It would have been jolly inconvenient if this concert had occurred next -week," said the Duke. - -"Why?" she looked at him over her tiny fan. - -"Because next week--next Wednesday as ever is, I must leave you," he -said tragically. - -She made no disguise of her disappointment. - -"Bear up," he encouraged her, "I shall be away a fortnight." - -"To America?" - -A shadow of alarm fell on her face. - -"Thinking of Bill Slewer?" he bantered, "Big Bad Bill?" - -"Yes," she confessed. - -"Oh, it isn't vendetta that takes me away," he said lightly, "something -less romantic. When a man's single," he said sententiously, "he can -afford to let money go hang, but when he has a wife--did you speak?" - -"No," she said, and looked at her programme. - -"When a man has a wife who is pretty certain to be extravagant--you're -sure you didn't speak?" - -She shook her head. - -"Well, in that case, one has to look around one's silver mines, and -floating investments and besides----" - -Something in his tone made her look up; she saw a look half puzzled, -half amused. - -"Well--I've got feelings, Hank laughs at 'em, says it's all your fault." - -"What kind of feeling?" - -"A dread," he said slowly, "a sort of uneasiness about my property--a -sort of--I don't know." He ended weakly and she thought irritably. - -She looked at him steadily and silently, and Hank found an opening. - -"Suppose this concert had come along next week, Duke--you could have -still gone. Caught the midnight from Euston." - -There must have been telepathic communication between Sir Harry and the -Duke, for he replied-- - -"The _Ironic_ does not call at Queenstown." - -"S--sh!" - -There was tremendous applause for the vicar. His audience smiled at him -proprietorially and approvingly. - -He was very pleased, he said, to see so many there that evening. He was -afraid the postponement might have seriously jeopardized the success of -the soiree, but our friend Sir Harry Tanneur (applause), whose name he -should imagine was a household word throughout England (he ventured -daringly), had been so anxious to be present and so munificent withal, -that he had acceded to his wishes. - -As this seemed the proper place to applaud, the audience dutifully -applauded. - -They were there primarily to assist an excellent cause. It was an open -secret that the organ debt had seriously engaged the attention of those -excellent gentlemen who administered the church funds (hear, hear, from -the audience and "poor old organ" from the Duke), and it has been -suggested that this entertainment should be provided with a view to the -debt's reduction. Now as to the splendid fare that was to be set before -them to-night, they had their friend the noble Duc de Montvillier -(cheers), a gentleman who had always proved himself a ready and willing -helper in church matters. - -The girl looked at the Duke to see how he would take this gracious -fiction. With folded arms and grave self-appreciation on every line of -his face he accepted the undeserved tribute as his right. - -"What a humbug you are," she murmured. - -"Aren't I?" he said unabashed. - -The Duc was to sing: then they had a unique entertainment promised by an -American gentleman, who would give an exhibition of fancy pistol -shooting (loud applause from the young men). This Mr. Slewer was a -gentleman who had spent many years in the Wild West of America. And -there were other performances of song and speech that would be found of -equal fascination. The first item on the programme (he said, consulting -his paper, though he might have taken the fact for granted) was a -pianoforte solo by Mrs. Coyter (applause). - -Whilst "The Moonlight on the Danube" was bathing Brockley in noisy -effulgence, Hank moved his chair closer to the Duke. - -"Fancy shootin's another word for accidental death," he said -laconically, "you'll quit before then?" - -It was half a question and the Duke shook his head. - -"When Bill is doing his circus tricks I shall be sitting right here," he -said emphatically. - -"You won't," said Hank. - -The Duke's intentions were sound, but Hank's predictions were inspired. - -The Duke was not there when "fancy shooting" came on, neither for the -matter of that was Bill Slewer, and it all came about on account of Mr. -Roderick Nape and his thrilling monologue. That young gentleman was -facing his audience with no great assurance. Certain disturbing events -had taken his mind from the monologue. In the language of the turf he -was "short of a few gallops," and he sat a prey to gloomy forebodings, -cursing his folly, that he had not made himself word perfect and -regretting with some bitterness the lost opportunities for rehearsal. - -Too soon came the fatal announcement, "Mr. Roderick Nape will recite a -dramatic monologue, 'The Murder at Fairleigh Grange,'" and he stumbled -up on the platform clutching his manuscript tightly. He began huskily -the opening lines. - -"It is now many years since I became a detective, and care has whitened -my locks, yet it seems but yesterday," etc., etc. - -He slurred his lines horribly. He somehow missed the exact qualities of -tragedy as he unfolded his gory tale. - -The audience sat quiet and behaved decorously, but it refused to be -thrilled. Mr. Nape recognized his failure and boggled his lines -horribly, and the Duke was genuinely sorry for him. He came to the part -of the story where he sees the agony advertisement. He was looking -forward to this part, as the desert traveller anticipates the oasis. -For here he had excuse for a pause, and a pause might help him to -collect his scattered thoughts. So his utterance grew steadier as with -trembling fingers he drew from his waistcoat pocket the little clipping. - -"Come (he quavered), let me read the paper again;" he held it up and -read--yes, actually read, although he ought to have remembered that this -cutting had no reference whatever to the plot of his one-man melodrama. -But Mr. Nape was beyond the point of reasoning. - -"To whom it may concern," he read, then paused. - -The audience was curious and silent, and Mr. Nape went on:-- - -"In the district court of Nevada." - -Hank's arm gripped the Duke's. - -"Take notice George Francisco Louis Duc de Montvillier, that a writ has -been issued at the instance of Henry Sleaford of Colorado Springs, Henry -B. Sant of New York and Sir Harry Tanneur of Montleigh, England, calling -upon you to establish your title to the Silver Streak----" - -"Stop!" - -Sir Harry, his face purple, the veins of his temples swollen, was on his -feet. - -"Go on, Mr. Nape, please." - -It was the Duke's gentle voice. In a dream Mr. Nape obeyed. In his not -unnatural agitation he skipped a few lines. "... therefore I call upon -you, the aforesaid George Francisco Louis Duc de Montvillier to appear -before me at 10 o'clock in the forenoon of the 28th day of October, -1907." - -"The twenty-eighth!" gasped Hank, "to-day's the twentieth, the boat has -sailed----" - -He heard Tanneur's laugh, harsh and triumphant. - -"The _Ironic_ doesn't call at Queenstown," he said and laughed again. - -"No, but the German boat will be passing through the Straits of Dover in -two hours' time," said the Duke. - - - - XII - - -Outside in the vestibule the Duke looked at his watch. It was ten -minutes past nine. - -The girl by his side was quiet, but her eyes never left his face. - -"I'm going to do it," he said grimly. He looked at her and of a sudden -took her face between his hands and kissed her. - -"You're worth it," he said simply. - -St. John's station was ten minutes walk from the hall. - -The three (for Hank led the way) reached there in five. The station -inspector was on the platform, a courteous man with a cheerful eye and a -short grey beard. Hank was to the point. - -"I want you to flag the Continental," he said. - -"That's an Americanism, isn't it," smiled the inspector. "You want me -to put the signal against the Continental Mail." Hank nodded. - -"I won't say it cannot be done," said the inspector, "but there will -have to be a very urgent reason." - -"That," said the admiring Hank, "is the kind of talk I like to hear;" -and he told the official the whole story. The inspector nodded. "Next -platform," he said shortly and ran for the signal box. - -As they reached the platform the green light that gave "road clear" to -the Continental swung up to red. - -"Here's all the money I have," said Hank quickly: he emptied his pockets -into the Duke's hands. "I'll get the Dover 'phone busy, charter a -tug--you'll have to take your chance about the boat. She'll pull up if -you signal her. I'll send you some money by wireless--here she comes." - -She came--the noisy Continental reluctantly slowing down, steaming and -snorting and whistling at the indignity. - -The Duke bustled in, the starting signal fell.... - -"Look after the house!" shouted the Duke from the window. The train was -on the move, when a man came flying down the steps. - -"Stop _you_!" yelled Hank. - -"Bang! bang! bang!..." - -A group of porters surrounded the recumbent figure of Mr. Bill Slewer of -Four Ways, who lay with a bullet in his leg cursing in a strange -language. - -Bill's revolver had fallen on to the metals, but Hank's slim -Smith-Wesson hung in his hand still smoking. - -"You must do the 'phoning," he said to the white-faced girl. "I shall -have to stay and explain away William." - -In the meantime the tail-lights of the Continental had disappeared round -the curve. - - - - - *Part III* - - *THE DUKE RETURNS* - - *I* - - -Sir Harry Tanneur stood with his back to the library fire, in a -disconsolate mood. - -An industrious authority on heraldry had that morning rendered the -report of a great discovery which at any other time would have filled -the heart of the knight with joy, namely the connexion of the house of -Tanneur with the Kings of France through Louis de Tendour and the -Auvegian Capels. - -There was little consolation in the Lilies of France, and meagre -satisfaction to be derived from the "bloody hand en fesse on a field -fretty." Sir Harry's mind was occupied with the contents of a letter -which had arrived by the same post as the herald's report. It was brief -and to the point. - - -DEAR SIR,-- - -We have to inform you that the court has upheld the Duke of -Montvillier's title to the ownership of the Silver Streak Mine, and we -are instructed that an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States -would in the light of recent happenings be unadvisable. The Duke who -unexpectedly arrived at New York on board the _Kron Prinz Olaf_, is -returning to Europe immediately. - -Awaiting your favour, - We are, etc. - - -He read the letter again and was extremely vexed. - -In contrast to his own cloudy visage, the face of Mr. Hal Tanneur who -burst in upon him was radiant. - -"We've got it, governor," he chuckled and waved a paper. "Saw old -Middleton----" - -"What, what, what?" snapped his parent. - -"64--all that desirable property," quoted the young man. "Old Middleton -was a bit shy of parting. Said the Duke promised to be a useful tenant. -I offered L800, wouldn't take it, offered L900, wouldn't look at it, got -it for L1,050." - -"Good boy," commended his father, and grew more cheerful. "At any -rate," he said, "we can clear this bounder out of the neighbourhood: -what about Alicia?" - -Hal frowned terribly. - -"I've done my best to show her what a silly step she's taking. Had a -little talk with her----" - -"Tact--I hope you used tact. Tact is everything in business," warned -Sir Harry. - -"Rather!" said the other complacently, "I think I know a little about -handling women. I got her on her tenderest side. I pointed out people -would say she was marrying for a title, showed her how these mixed -marriages never turned out well. As I said, 'My dear Alicia, you know -nothing absolutely about this chap except what he tells you himself, the -chances are that he's married already.'" - -"That was right," approved his father. - -"I said, 'You don't even know that he's a Duke--his name's in De Gotha, -I grant you, but how do you know he's the man?'" - -"What did she say?" demanded Sir Harry. - -Hal shrugged his shoulders despairingly. - -"She talked--like a woman," he said, with the air of one given to the -coining of epigrams. "In so many words told me to mind my own -business--in fact, governor, told me to go to the devil." - -"Good heavens!" said the scandalized knight. - -"Well," modified his son, "she didn't exactly say so, but that was the -impression she gave me." - -Sir Harry clicked his lips impatiently. - -"This is gratitude!" he said bitterly. "After what I've done----" He -paused to recollect his acts of beneficence, failed to recall any -remarkable feat of generosity on his part, coughed, frowned, and -repeated with increased bitterness--"Gratitude, bah!" He relapsed into -gloomy silence, then reached out his hand for the document Hal had -flourished. - -"But this shall end," he said with splendid calmness; "we will bundle -out this dam--confounded American Duke and his cowboy friend, bag and -baggage. Smith shall serve him with a notice--has he paid his rent?" - -"No," shouted Hal gleefully, "it was due the day he left for America and -the Yankee person has overlooked it apparently." - -Sir Harry nodded. - -"Hal, my boy," he said lowering his voice, "how much money in solid cash -do you think this wretched man has cost me?" The importance in his -father's tone impressed the young man. - -"A million?" he hazarded. - -Sir Harry was annoyed, with the annoyance of a bargain hunter whose -purchase is undervalued by an appraising friend. - -"Don't be a fool!" he begged, "a million! Do you think I could sit down -and tamely submit to the loss of a million? No----" - -Hal made another guess. - -"A thousand?" - -"Sixty thousand," said his father impressively, "sixty thousand pounds -or three hundred thousand dollars!" - -Hal whistled. - -"Absolutely taken out of my pocket, just as though the scoundrel had -broken in to 'Hydeholme' and stolen it!" Sir Harry did not think it -necessary to explain that the sum in question was the Duke's lawful -property, and that his crime had consisted in establishing his legal -claim to it. - -"I need hardly say," Sir Harry went on "that if Alicia marries this -person, it will be without my approval. Indeed I must seriously -consider the question of altering the terms of my will." He said this -very gravely. - -"Were you leaving her much, governor?" - -Sir Harry coughed. - -"It is not so much a question of actual value as the thought behind the -legacy," he explained; "one should not measure love by the standard of -value received, but by the sentiment which inspires the gift--I have -often regretted," he added thoughtfully, "that the practise of -bequeathing mourning rings has gone out of fashion--they were -inexpensive but effective." - -Hal yawned. - -"What about this Duke feller?" he demanded. - -Sir Harry pursed his lips. - -"He is on his way back--arrives at Liverpool to-morrow. Out first -business is to clear him out of Brockley. To make the place too hot to -hold him. He has chosen to match his wits against mine, to range -himself with my--er--opponents. He shall discover that I am not to be -despised." - -There was something very complacent in Sir Harry's review of the -situation that aroused the admiration of his son. - -"He'll find you're a bit of a nut to crack, governor," he said. - -Sir Harry smiled not ill-pleased with the implied compliment. - -"If you will sit down, Hal, I will outline my plan of campaign." - -Hal sat down. - - - - II - - -_The Lewisham and Lee Mail with which is incorporated the Catford -Advertiser_--to give the newspaper its fullest title--is a journal well -worthy of perusal. You may think, you superior folk who are connected -with Fleet Street journalism, that outside of high politics, wars and -sensational divorce cases, nothing interests the general reader--but you -are mistaken. - -There is a column in the _Lewisham and Lee Mail_ sapiently headed "On -Dit" and wittily signed "I Noe" (which really is a subtle play on the -words "I know" and as such, distinctly clever). - -I give you a clipping and reproduce it as nearly as possible in -facsimile. - - - ON DIT. - -That Miss Cecilia Downs took the first prize at St. John's Chrysanthemum -Show. We heartily congratulate the young lady. - - * * * - -That there was a scene at the Borough Council Meeting when Councillor -Hogg demanded particulars about the paving contract. Why wash dirty -linen in public? - - * * * - -Go to Storey's for your boots: a grand new stock. - - * * * - -That our distinguished neighbour the Duc de Montvillier is returning -from America next week. What an acquisition he would be to the Borough -Council!! - - * * * - -When is the Council going to take up the question of the lighting of -Tabar Street? - -At present the road is a positive disgrace to civilization. - - * * * - -Compare Storey's prices with elsewhere! - -Boys' School Boots a speciality--never wear out! - - * * * - -Mr. Roderick Nape read a paper before the Broadway Literary Society on -Saturday entitled "Criminals I have Met." It was enthusiastically -received. - - * * * - -James Toms, described as a labourer, was charged at Greenwich with -stealing an overcoat, the property of Mr. J. B. Sands, of Tressillian -Crescent--three months. - - * * * - -Dancing shoes from 2s. 11d. Goloshes for the wet weather from 1s. 11d. -Storey's for fair prices and civility. - - -This is the briefest extract, the merest glimpse of the moving pageant -that fills the suburban stage. It leaves much to the imagination--the -elation of Mr. Nape, the enthusiasm of his audience, the tragedy of -James Toms, described as a labourer, and his downfall. - -If the truth be told, the minor happenings of life are of infinite -interest to the people who are responsible for the happenings. -Councillor A. Smith who makes a speech on the new drainage system, is -considerably more interested in his brief quarter of a column than would -be Mr. A. J. Balfour under similar circumstances. - -If I have a fault to find with local journalism, it is that it is far -too reticent regarding the personal side of its news. For instance "I -Noe" duly reported that Sir Henry Tanneur, "our respected prospective -member," had acquired large freehold interests in the neighbourhood, but -he failed most ignobly to record the fact that No. 64 Kymott Crescent -and all that messuage, had been bought by Sir Harry in the Duke's -absence, and that Sir Harry's agent had served Hank with a notice to -quit. - -Hank, occupying the garden step ladder in the unavoidable absence of the -Duke, found a sympathetic audience in the girl next door. - -"I think uncle has behaved disgracefully!" she said shortly, "I have -never heard of anything so paltry, so intensely and disagreeably mean, -it is petty----" - -Hank was very solemn and very cautious. - -"It's a mighty serious business ejecting a duke," he said. "I sent Cole -down to the free library to get a book on the feudal customs, and I've -just read that old book from startin' gate to judges' wire, and there's -nothin' doin' about firin' dukes--or duchesses," he added. - -Alicia changed the subject with incoherent rapidity. - -"What will you do?" she asked hastily. - -"Do?" Hank's eyebrows rose at the preposterous question. "Do? Why I -guess we'll just stay on." - -"But my uncle will serve you with a writ of ejectment," she persisted. - -Hank shook his head. - -"I don't know her," he confessed, "but she must be geared up to shift -the Duke. She must be well oiled an' run on ball bearin's, an' be triple -expansion 'fore an' aft to make him budge. And if she misses fire once, -it's down and out for hers. I don't know any writ of ejectment that was -ever cast, that could lift the Duke when he was once planted." - -Hank shook his head with an air of finality. - -"Our new landlord ought to be warned," he said. "Some one ought to tell -him. It ain't fair--he doesn't know Dukey." - -A bright thought struck him. - -"I'll warn him," he said and grew cheerful at the prospect. - - - - III - - -"D'ye see, Hal?" - -It was in the middle of the fourth conference between father and son, -and Sir Harry had triumphantly rounded off his plan when Hank was -announced. - -The two men exchanged glances. - -"Surrendered without firing a shot," murmured Sir Harry. "Show the -gentleman in, William." - -Hank came into the library and found two grave gentlemen bent over a -gorgeously illuminated coat of arms. - -Sir Harry looked up with a start when Hank was ushered in, and offered -him his hand with a smile of patient weariness. - -"Won't you sit down!" he said politely. "I'm afraid our task is an -unfamiliar one to you, an American. There is some dispute as to whether -the Tanneurs of the fourteenth century are related through a cadet -branch of the Howards--but heraldry would bore you?" - -Hank's face was impassive. - -"No, _sir_," he replied calmly. "I knew a feller down in Montana, a fat -little fellow named Sank, that made a pile out of sheer carefulness--he -never came in under a pair an' never bet under a straight flush--who got -_that_ bug in his sombrero. Paid a man down in New York 5,000 dollars -to worry out a choice assortment of ancestors. Got way back to William -the Conqueror an' might easily have fetched up at Noah, only one night -he knocked up against little Si Morris sittin' pat with four aces. Si -drew one an' Sank put him with two pairs--that's where Sanky went into -liquidation." - -Sir Harry bristled. - -"You wish to see me about something?" he said coldly. - -Hank nodded. - -"This notice to quit," he said; "what's the idea?" - -"That is a matter that I cannot discuss." Sir Harry had an admirable -manner for this sort of contest. It was an adaptation of his board-room -method, "Gentlemen, if you please we will proceed with the agenda;" an -icy interposition that had so often chilled the inquisitive shareholder. - -"Of course," Hank went on, "I don't exactly know what the Duke will -say--but I can guess." - -"What the Duke says," said Sir Harry loftily, "will not affect my -plans." - -"I should imagine, though," said Hank thoughtfully, "that he won't take -much notice of your notice." - -"What!" said Sir Harry, "take no notice--good heavens, sir, are you -aware that there's a law in this country?" - -"There is a rumour to that effect," said the American cautiously, "but I -reckon that a little thing like that won't worry him--you see he's a -Duke." - -The awe in his voice impressed even Sir Harry. - -"Duke? Duke! Rubbish! Bosh! Nonsense! Duke?" snapped Sir Harry. "We -don't share your worship of titles, sir. What is a title? A mere -handle, a useless appendage, a----" - -Then he recollected. - -"Of course," he qualified, "there are titles--er--to which respect is -due; titles--er--bestowed by a grateful country upon its--um--public -men, philanthropists, et cetera; upon citizens who have identified -themselves with--er--national movements----" - -"Such as Jubilee almshouses," said the approving Hank. - -Sir Harry turned very red. - -"Exactly," he agreed with some embarrassment, "I--er--myself have had -such a mark of the sovereign's favour. But as to the Duke--well the -Duke you know--in fact I'm no believer in hereditary titles. Our family -have never countenanced them, never desired them, claimed no -relation----" - -"The cadet branch of the Howards," murmured Hank. - -"That is a different matter," spluttered Sir Harry; "we have had no -ancestors of recent years--I mean we do not--in fact--" he blazed -wrathfully, "you've got to get out of No. 64, whether you like it or -not!" Hal had been an interested listener. Somewhat unwisely he now -took a hand. - -"The fact of it is, my friend----" he began, Hank turned on him with -extravagant dignity. - -"Say," he said in an injured tone, "there's no necessity for you to butt -in: I don't mind Sir Harry readin' the Riot Act, I do object to him -callin' out the militia." - -Hal's reply was arrested by the arrival of a servant bearing a telegram. - -Without any apology to his visitor Sir Harry opened and read it. He -read it twice like a man in a dream, and handed it to Hal who read it -aloud. - -"To TANNEUR, Hydeholme. - -"Just got your notice to quit: most interesting document: am framing -it.--DE MONTVILLIER." - -"The Duke's home," commented Hank, and his brows knit in a troubled -frown. "I wonder whether I ordered enough sausages?" - - - - IV - - -"I have asked you to come to see me, Mr. Nape," said the Duke, "because -I feel I owe you an apology." - -The criminologist nodded stiffly. - -He thought that under the circumstances the Duke might have very well -come to him, but he was not prepared to labour the point. - -"We all make mistakes," said the Duke generously, "I for instance have -been mistaken in you." - -Mr. Nape made another stern acknowledgment. - -"I thought your methods were unconventional; I mistrusted the new type -of detective; I have been trained in the old school where the man who -murders the banker is never the burglar who robs the safe, but the good -bishop who calls for the missionary subscription; where the villain who -steals the Crown jewels is not the impecunious soldier of fortune, but -the heir apparent." - -Mr. Nape stood rigidly at attention and waited. It pleased him to see -evidence of a great remorse upon the tanned young face before him, to -observe deep shadows under his eyes, and--he had not noticed them -before--a sprinkling of grey hairs at his temple. Mr. Nape drew his own -conclusions. - -"Now," said the Duke with a self-depreciating wave of his hand, "I know -that the old method is obsolete, that from the first the guilty party is -the obvious--" - -"Obvious to all who employ the process of elimination," corrected Mr. -Nape severely. - -"Exactly," agreed the Duke. "I now know, that if you catch a man with -his hand in your pocket, you eliminate everybody whose hands do not -happen to be in your pocket, and by this process arrive at the culprit." - -Mr. Nape looked a little dubious. - -"My confidence in your ability being established," the Duke went on, "I -wish you to accept a commission from me." - -Mr. Nape regarded him with cold suspicion. - -"It isn't by any chance connected with electric bells?" he asked -sarcastically. - -"Not at all." - -"Or digging holes in a garden?" - -The Duke shot a reproachful glance at him. - -"As to that unfortunate incident," he said, "you have yourself to blame. -But for the completeness of your disguise----" - -"Which you penetrated," said Roderick gloomily. - -"I confess," said the Duke, with pleasing frankness, "that I spotted the -false whiskers--or was it a moustache? I said to Hank, 'Who on earth -can it be?' and Hank couldn't think of anybody. 'It's a detective,' -said Hank, 'but what detective?' We thought of everybody till Hank--you -know what a penetrating devil he is--said 'By Jove! It must be Jacko--I -mean Nape!'" - -Mr. Nape looked important. - -"And the commission you wish me to accept?" he asked. - -"It will be necessary," said the Duke slowly, "to take you into my -confidence. I am in a deuce of a mess: I have incurred the enmity of a -great and powerful man, who has invoked the machinery of the law and -threatened me with its instrument--in fact," he said in an outburst of -candour, "brokers." Mr. Nape who had visions of something a trifle more -heroic, said "Oh." - -"Not only this," the Duke went on, "but he has unscrupulously, -pertinaciously and several other words which I cannot at the moment -recall, brought to his aid the most powerful factor of all--the Press." - -The Duke picked up a long newspaper cutting that lay at his side. - -"Read that," he said. - -Mr. Nape obeyed. - -It was headed "The Duke in the Suburbs," "meaning me," said the Duke -complacently, "read on." - -Mr. Nape skimmed the leading article--for such it was--rapidly: - - "Titles," says Voltaire, "are of no value to posterity, the name - of a man who has achieved great deeds imposes more respect than - any or all epithets." - -"He boned that out of a book of familiar quotations," explained the Duke -admiringly, "go on." - - "It would seem that the English character, ever sturdy and - self-reliant, is in imminent danger of deterioration...." - - "Title worship is unworthy of a great people.... Especially - foolish is the worship when the demi-god is an obscure - foreigner, whose chief asset is an overwhelming amount of self - confidence, and an absolute disregard for the amenities and - decencies of social intercourse." - -"I can't quite place that last bit," said the Duke, "it is probably -employed to round off the sentence--proceed, Mr. Nape." - - "With every desire to preserve intact the admirable - relationships that exist _at the present moment_ between - ourselves and our Gallic neighbours, we should be wanting in our - duty if we did not point out, and emphasize in the strongest - possible terms, the necessity for a strict observance on the - part of our foreign guests, of the laws of this land." - -"That's rather involved," commented the Duke, "but I gather the sense of -the stricture--pardon me." - -Mr. Nape continued. - - "The English laws are just and equitable; they are the - admiration and wonder of the world. The late Baron Pollock on - one famous occasion said----" - -"Skip that bit," interrupted the Duke. - - "The laws affecting property are no less admirably framed. In a - noted judgment the late Lord Justice Coleridge laid down the - dictum----" - -"And that bit too," said the Duke; "go on to the part that deals with -the lawless alien." - - "Most difficult of all," read Mr. Nape, "is the landlord's - position when he has to deal with the alien, who, ignorant of - the law, sets the law at defiance: who opposes his puny strength - to the mighty machinery of legislation, and its accredited - instruments." - -Hank, a silent and interested listener, moved uneasily in the depths of -his big chair. - -He removed his cigar to ask a question. - -"Is she the writ of ejection or the notice to quit?" he asked soberly. - -"I gather that she's the court bailiff," said the Duke reverently. - - "We would remind the person to whom these admonitions are - addressed,--in the friendliest spirit--that there is a power - behind the law. The majesty of our prestige is supported by the - might of armed force." - -"That's the militia," said the Duke, "Captain Hal Tanneur of the North -Kent Fencibles! Hank, we're up against the army. We're an international -problem: you heard the reference to the friendly relations? We're the -fly in the Entente Cordiale ointment." - -"And a possible _causus belli_," murmured Hank. - -"And a _causus belli_," repeated the Duke impressively. - -There was a silence as Mr. Nape carefully folded the cutting and placed -it on the table. A continued silence when he leant back in his chair, -with his finger-tips touching and his eyes absently fixed on the -ceiling. - -"Well?" said the Duke. - -Mr. Nape smiled. - -The solution of the problem was simple. - -"You want me to find the man who wrote that article?" he said languidly. -"It will not be particularly difficult. There are certain features -about this case which are, I admit, puzzling. The reference to Baron -Pollock and the Lord Chief Justice show me that the writer was a lawyer, -the----" - -"Oh, I know who wrote the article," said the Duke cheerfully, and Mr. -Nape was disconcerted and annoyed. - -Then an idea struck him and he brightened. - -"I see," he said, "you want me to discover the circumstances under which -they were written. You have a secret enemy who----" - -"On the contrary," said the Duke, "I know all the circumstances and I -know the name, address, age and hobbies of the enemy." - -Mr. Nape's exasperation was justified under the circumstances. - -"May I ask," he demanded coldly, "why I have been called in?" - -"That seems fair?" The Duke appealed to Hank, and Hank nodded. "It -seems a deucedly fair question." - -He turned to the young man-- - -"Mr. Nape," he said solemnly, "we want an editor for the _Brockley -Aristocrat_." - -Mr. Nape saw light. - -"I of course know the paper," he said--there was little that Mr. Nape -did _not_ know--"but I have only seen it once--or twice," he corrected -carefully. - -"It doesn't exist yet," said his serene grace, "it's a new paper that -Hank and I are going to run, and we need an editor." - -"I see," said Mr. Nape, industriously blowing his nose to hide his -confusion.... - -"We want an editor of fearless independent character, who will do as -he's told, and ask no questions." - -"Yes, yes," approved the detective. - -"A man of judgment, of keen discernment and possessed, moreover, of a -knowledge of men and things." - -Mr. Nape nodded thoughtfully. - -"Some one we can depend upon to carry out a policy without striking out -on some silly idea of his own--there's the job, will you take it?" - -"I have had some experience," began Mr. Nape, but the Duke interrupted-- - -"Pardon me," he said, "but it is not experience that's required. An -experienced editor would not do the things we shall expect our editor to -do. We shall expect him to--er--rush in where the _Times_ would fear to -tread." - -Mr. Nape had a dim idea that the turn the Duke gave to this requirement -was not as complimentary as it might have been. - -"I have a feeling," the Duke continued, "that in Nape we have discovered -a local Delane." - -He spoke ostensibly to Hank, as though oblivious of the new Editor's -presence. Mr. Nape rather enjoyed the experience than otherwise. - -"Or a Horace Greely," suggested the patriotic American. - -The Duke assented gravely. - -"There are certain conditions of service to be laid down," the Duke went -on, "a definite policy to be followed, a----" - -"I am a conservative." Mr. Nape paused to observe the effect of his -declaration. In the absence of an outburst of wild enthusiasm Mr. Nape -hedged his bet, "but" he went on carelessly, "I am open to conviction." - -The Duke nodded. - -"We shall expect you to uphold the best traditions of current -journalism," he said, "and I do not doubt but that you will succeed. -You must be prepared to jump with the cat--you follow me?" - -"Yes," said Mr. Nape, who had not the least idea what cat was referred -to. - -"You must be careful not to give offence to the friendly nations. I -will supply you with a revised list of them from week to week--and deal -lightly with the Borough Council. You may have a whack at the Czar now -and again, but whatever you do, be careful that you do not annoy the -advertisers. Keep an eye upon the Balkans, the shipbuilding programme of -Germany, and the London County Council." - -"And Sir Harry Tanneur," added Hank. - -"Sir Harry Tanneur!" - -Mr. Nape was surprised. - -"You know him?" - -The detective became instantly his mysterious self. - -"He was a client of mine," he said briefly. - -Having so brusquely dismissed the subject in a manner that arrested all -further investigation he regretted the fact. For he would have liked to -explain the reading of the cutting at the concert, would have been -delighted to accept recognition as the Duke's good fairy. - -But the Duke did not pursue the subject. - -He rose from his chair and held out his hand. - -"Can you see me to-morrow?" he asked, "I have to arrange an office and a -printer." - -Mr. Nape bowed. - -"In the meantime," said his grace, "you had better think out some -leaders. - -"I have already thought of one," said the resourceful editor. "It is -entitled _Noblesse Oblige_. - -"A most excellent title," said the Duke admiringly, "I'll write the -article myself." - -Mr. Nape went home deep in thought. - -The adoring little maid of all work, who met him at the door ventured to -report. - -"I've done up the laboratory, sir; them bloodstains have come from the -butcher's, and the plumber's fixed up the microscope all right." - -Mr. Nape stared at her vacantly. - -"Remove the rubbish," he said shortly. - -Emma gasped. - -"Beg pardon, sir?" she stammered. - -"The rubbish!" cried Roderick impatiently stamping his foot, "microscope -and bloodstains and human hair--take them away." - -A thought struck him. - -"Run down to the stationers and get that book _How to Correct Printers' -Proofs_--it's sixpence." - -The dazed girl accepted the coin. - -"Shall I bring it to your laboratory?" she asked feebly. - -Roderick turned a stern face upon her. - -"Sanctum," he thundered, "there is no more laboratory, _sanctum -sanctorum_--did they teach you Latin at school, Emma?" - -"No, sir," she confessed, "that's the thing you do with compasses, ain't -it?" - -Mr. Nape shrugged his shoulders and walked slowly to the greenhouse. - - - - V - - -As an unprejudiced observer of the fight that was destined to shake -Brockley to its very depths, to set the blameless citizens at each -other's throats, to divide families, and in one case (when the -engagement of a certain A.M. and B.Y. was broken off in consequence) to -alter the very destinies of the human race--an unprejudiced observer, I -repeat, of Sir Harry Tanneur's attempt to purge Brockley of the foreign -yoke--I quote the _Lewisham and Lee Mail_--I am free to confess that the -honours lay with the ducal party. - -This _L. & L. Mail_--Hank invariably and wickedly introduced aspirates -into the abbreviation--was remarkably outspoken. - -There will appear nothing extraordinary in this fact, when it is -realized that Sir Harry had, on the very day the Duke returned, -purchased the paper for a considerable sum in order to further his -candidature in the division--and for other purposes. - -For two weeks the advantage was all with the knight. His phillipics -thundered from his hireling press for two consecutive issues, his -content bills scarred the faces of nature. - -Then came the Duke's turn. - -One morning Sir Harry, passing through the main road of Lewisham, saw a -huge announcement that covered one hoarding: - - "THE BROCKLEY ARISTOCRAT." - - No. 1 ready on Saturday. One Penny. - - "CHANGE FOR A TANNER," - BY - THE DUC DE MONTVILLIER. - -Sir Harry grew apoplectic. - -"The ruffian!" he spluttered, "the vulgar punning ruffian!" - -In a fury he drove to Kymott Crescent. - -His car stopped at 64 and he sprang out shaking with rage. - -His noisy knock brought the sedate servant. - -"Where's the Duke," he demanded. - -The silent servant led the way. - -Sir Harry burst in upon a council of three. - -The Duke, Hank and Mr. Nape sat at a table strewn with papers, and his -grace saluted his visitor with a smile. - -"Look here, sir!" bellowed Sir Harry. "This damn foolishness has got to -stop--you clear out of my house as soon as ever you can: by heavens, -sir, I'll take you to the courts, I'll----" - -The Duke raised his hand. - -"Sir Harry," he said serenely, "as one aristocrat to another, let me beg -of you to remember the restrictions imposed by birth. It ill becomes -men of our ancient lineage----" - -"Confound you, sir! I will not have you pulling my leg! I'm dead -serious---- There's a law in this land----" - -"There is a law also in America," said the Duke calmly, "I believe there -is even a law in China. It is one of the disadvantages of the century -that no spot on earth is left where there is no law." - -"You won't put me off with your blarney," blazed the knight. "I know -you, I've met men like you before." - -"Don't boast," begged the Duke. - -"I'll clear you out neck and crop----" - -"Neck perhaps," corrected the Duke, "but crop no; not being a fowl of -the air, and being to a great extent anatomically ordinary, your -illustration lacks point." - -"As to Alicia," said the knight with deadly earnestness. "I absolutely -forbid her to have anything further to do with you." - -The Duke was silent. He looked at the elder man a little curiously, and -Sir Harry, interpreting the silence in quite the wrong way, pursued his -mistaken advantage. "You must understand that she is in a sense my -ward----" - -"Mr. Nape!" - -The Duke addressed his editor. - -"Would you be kind enough to see me later in the day--what I have to say -to Sir Harry is no fit thing for a young editor to hear." - -He said this gravely, and Mr. Nape made a reluctant exit. - -"Now that that child has gone," said the Duke, "will you permit me to -say a few words? I am," he confessed, "rather fond of hearing myself -speak. Sir Harry, I would rather you left your niece out of the -conversation." - -"You would rather!" jeered the master of Hydeholme. - -"I would rather," said the Duke politely, "if you have no objection. -You see, Sir Harry, I know all about your relationship with the father -of my fiancee. I know how you lured him and his money into your rotten -financial quicksands, how you left him to ruin." - -"That's a lie, a horrible lie," gasped Sir Harry, pale with rage. - -In justice to him it may be said in passing, that he really thought that -it was. The Duke diplomatically passed the comment. - -"Coming nearer home," he went on, "I know that you conspired with -certain individuals to rob a most worthy young nobleman--to wit -myself--of his mineral wealth." - -"That's another lie: by Gad, sir? if you dare print this----!" - -"I _did_ think," said the Duke carefully, "I must confess that I _did_ -think of using the material for a humorous poem, but if you _would_ -rather I didn't----" - -Sir Harry Tanneur made an admirable effort to recover his temper and his -lost dignity. - -"If you cannot behave like a gentleman," he said, "it is useless for me -to prolong this interview. To-day," he turned at the doorway, "to-day I -shall take action." - -"From my knowledge of you," retorted the Duke, "I should imagine that -you would take anything that happened to be lying about." - -Sir Harry was attended to the door by the sedate servant. - -"A nice household!" he said meaningly. - -The sedate servant bowed. - - - - VI - - -"How to describe the meeting between Alicia and the Duke!" the -painstaking author would think. Should she rise with heightened colour, -her fingers convulsively clutching that portion of the anatomy under -which, as it is popularly believed, a fluttering heart thrills at the -familiar footstep? Should she run to him hysterically, falling upon his -neck and sobbing for very joy? It is a style which has exponents -amongst the very best authors. - -Happy am I, that I am not called upon to invent so difficult a scene. -It is the glorious privilege of the reporter that he need not invent. -Unless he draws a very high salary indeed, to record events, not as they -happened, but as they ought to have happened. - -In truth she rose with a heightened colour when the Duke was announced, -but she offered him her hand conventionally, and--when the door had -closed behind the reluctant servant--he took her in his arms and kissed -her again and again. - -I do not know how many times because I was not present, but I should say -quite six times. - -(Six of course is merely an estimate covering their first greeting.) - -"So you're back?" she smiled. - -He held her hands in his. - -(It would be absurd and presumptuous in me to pretend to give anything -that professed to be an exact account of this meeting. I repeat that I -was not present.) - -"I was so horribly afraid," she said earnestly, "I thought when that -dreadful man disappeared that possibly he might have followed you, -and...." - -Let us, as the mid-Victorian novelists said, when they found their -powers of description failed, draw a veil over that happy meeting, far -too sacred ... and too difficult... - - - - VII - - -Sir Harry called a Council of War. - -His Man of Affairs--Smith by name--attended, as also did the Editor of -the _Lewisham and Lee Mail_. - -Mr. R. B. Rake (Member of the Institute of Journalists, as his visiting -card testified) was and is, one of the most remarkable personages in -Catford. - -A literateur of no indifferent quality, an authority on postage stamps -(I find on referring to Webster's _Dictionary_ that such an expert is -called a philatelist), a vegetarian and a gentleman with pronounced -views. Mr. R. B. Rake can be described in one word--tremendous. - -He had a tremendous voice and a tremendous style, and he quoted the -ancient classics inaccurately. He had some Greek, thus he referred to -Sir Harry, as of the [Greek: demioergoi], and the Duke as a [Greek: -metoikoi]. I have my doubts as to the latter description, and I more -than suspect that Mr. Rake, in referring to his grace, thus misapplied -the phrase of "privileged alien." - -Mr. Smith, whose duty it was to supervise Sir Harry's "rents," was a -deferential little man, with a garbled knowledge of the law relating to -property. - -"Now, gentlemen," said Sir Harry briskly, "we've got to do something -about this Duke man." - -"Quite so," said Rake, "it is perhaps unparalleled in the constitutional -history----" - -"One moment, Rake," interrupted the knight testily, "let me talk. I -want to make it very clear to you why it is absolutely necessary for the -Duke to be cleared out--did you speak, Smith?" - -Mr. Smith did speak: he had an important statement to make and saw his -opportunity. Unfortunately his introduction was not happily framed. "I -said the lore--if a man acts cont'ry to the lore he's done himself," -said Mr. Smith solemnly, "you can't take liberties with the lore, duke -or no duke. If you catch hold of the lore by the collar it'll turn round -and bite you. Now it happens----" - -"Be good enough to withhold your comments until I have completed my -remarks," said Sir Harry with asperity, "I know all that it is necessary -to know concerning the legal situation: I did not," he added pointedly, -"ask you to meet me to discuss an aspect of the situation upon which I -have been already advised--by competent authorities." - -"Now that is very true," commented Mr. R. B. Rake in a tone of wondering -surprise, as though Sir Harry's remark had come in the light of a -revelation. - -"I know," said Sir Harry, "that I cannot eject this person without -complicated legal proceedings, and I had thought that by the aid of our -good friend Rake we might have shamed him out of the district--but he is -meeting us on our own grounds. He is starting a newspaper." - -"I give it a month," said Mr. Rake with conviction, "I've seen these -mushroom growths: there was the _Blackheath Eagle_--run by a man named -Titty--lasted two issues; there was the _Brockley Buzzard_--lasted one; -_Catford and Eltham Indicator_--never came out at all!" - -He smiled a tired smile. - -"You may be sure that this new paper will last just as long as the Duke -desires it to last," said Sir Harry, "but that is beside the question; -you know the exact position; you are men of affairs acquainted with the -complexities of suburban life, I desire to rid Brockley of this person. -How am I to do it?" - -Mr. R. B. Rake pinched his thick lips thoughtfully. - -"I think a leader on Democratic ideals, bringing in the Duke as an -oppressor of the people--" - -"You can't do that," said Sir Harry brusquely, "he subscribes to the -football club." - -"How about an imaginary interview. 'A talk with the D---- de -Mont----r?" suggested Rake. - -"Or a little parody on Julius Caesar, satirically reminding the people -of their ingratitude: like this: - - "You hard hearts, you cruel men of Lee, - Knew ye not Tanneur! Many a time and oft - Have you climbed up to walls and battlements, - To towers and windows, yea, to chimney pots - To see great Tanneur pass----" - - -"Stuff and nonsense!" said Sir Harry wrathfully. "Nobody has ever -climbed up a chimney to see me; nobody knows me in Lewisham." - -Mr. Rake protested. - -"Nobody knows me I tell you: I've addressed meetings there on Free Trade -and all that sort of thing, but I haven't a single acquaintance, except -my wretched sister-in-law and her annoying daughter--and what the dooce -does Shakespeare say about Tanneur?" - -"A pardonable interposition," murmured Mr. Rake noisily. "It is -'Pompey' in the text--you see how admirably it fits the Duke: - - "And do you now strew flowers In his (the Duke's) way? - Who comes in triumph over Pompey's (that's you) blood?" - - -"I--will--not--be--referred--to--as--Pompey," said Sir Harry -deliberately and slowly, and thumped the table at each word, "I am not -going to give that brute a nickname to hang round my neck." - -"And look here, Rake," broke in Hal impatiently, "what the devil's the -good of you thinking that any muck you write is likely to shift this -Duke fellow. I'll bet if it comes to writing he could write your head -off. An' there's nothing funny about the Duke fellow coming in triumph -over the governor's blood. Its a beastly tactless thing to say." - -Mr. Rake looked at him unfavourably. - -"Mr. Hal," he said, in his best editorial manner, "you must allow a -journalist and a gentleman----" - -"Journalist my grandmother," said Hal, without reverence, "this is a -council of war--don't let us raise any debatable question. We've got to -think out a way of making this Duke pack up his traps. It doesn't -matter what sort of way, so long as it's an effective way. The governor -doesn't want him there, and I don't want him--he's taken a low down -advantage of me an' probably messed up my whole life----" He tangented -abruptly (the accent on the penultimate.) - -"Now whilst you two chaps have been arguing," Hal went on, "I've thought -out a dozen schemes. We might cut off his water----" - -"The lore," said Mr. Smith becoming cheerful as the discussion took a -turn into his province, "the lore doesn't allow anybody but the -water-rates to turn----" - -"Or the gas," said Hal, silencing the law-abiding Smith with a gesture; -"we could cut the gas off--we can't get him on the rent question -because----" - -Mr. Smith's great opportunity came. - -"The rent question does him," he said wisely cutting out all preamble, -"because he ain't paid his rent, an' won't pay his rent, and what's -more, he'll see you (accordin' to the American gent who lives with him) -to the--I forget the name of the place--before he pays you." - -Sir Harry was dumb with astonishment. - -"Here's the letter," said Mr. Smith tremulous with importance, "from the -Duke himself." - -He read-- - - -"DEAR SIR,-- - -"On my return from America I found a notice to quit served on behalf of -your employer. My lease being well defined, I regard the service of -such a notice as constituting a breach of contract, and must -respectfully decline to pay any further rental for the premises I now -occupy, until my position in regard to this property is determined. - -"Yours truly, - "DE MONTVILLIER." - - -"Outrageous!" blazed the knight. - -"Monstrous!" echoed the faithful Rake. - -"What a rotten piece of cheek!" said Hal. - -Mr. Smith wagged a fat forefinger. - -"The lore is," he said, "that the question of lease is between Sir Harry -and the tenant. No tenant's got a right to take the lore into his own -hands. If there's a breach of contract the tenant may take action -through the lore: if he won't pay his rent----" - -"Smith," said Sir Harry impressively. "We will humiliate this fellow; we -will show these foolish people of Brockley, who have no conception of -true nobility, how this trickster may be treated." - -"Governor," said Hal suddenly and excitedly, "why not show 'em the -genuine article." - -"Eh?" - -"What about Tuppy? He's under an obligation to you? Why not bring him -here. You've got an empty house--62, by jove! Next to the Duke's; the -tenants left yesterday...." - -"An excellent idea--a most worthy idea," said Sir Harry. - - - - VIII - - -It is no extravagance to state that everybody knows Tuppy. The station -inspector at Vine Street knows him; Isaac Monstein (trading as Grahame & -Ferguson, Financiers) knows him, tradesmen of every degree know him, and -there is not a debt collecting agency from Stubbs to the Tradesmen's -Protection Association that is unacquainted with his name and style. - -The doorkeeper at the House of Lords knows him, and nods a greeting in -which reproof and deference are strangely intermingled. - -For Tuppy is George Calander Tupping, Ninth Baron Tupping of Clarilaw in -the county of Wigsmouth. - -He is a youngish man with fair hair and light blue eyes. He typifies in -his person the influence of hereditary vices, for he wears a monocle as -his father did before him. His attitude towards life is one of -perpetual surprise. It earned for him at Eton, a nickname, which he -carried to Oxford. He was "The Startled Fawn" to all and sundry, but it -was a little too cumbersome to stick, and it is as "Tuppy" that he is -best known.... - -The story of Tuppy is a volume in itself. He began life in the -illustrated newspapers, as "Young Heir to a Peerage: Baby Honourable in -his Perambulator." He progressed steadily to fame by way of Sandown -Park and Carey Street. - -At twenty-one he filed his petition; at twenty-two he was editing a -weekly newspaper; at twenty-four he appeared in "The Whirling Globe of -Time," a comedy in four acts written by himself and (after the first -night) acted by himself; at twenty-five he went to America in search of -a wealthy bride. - -One can only speculate upon the possible results of his guest, for on -the voyage over, he fell madly in love with Miss Cora Delean, that -famous strong woman and weight lifter. - -He married her in New York. - -Three days after the marriage the lady threw him over. This is -literally the truth, and I have too great a respect for Tuppy to -endeavour to make capital out of his misfortune. She threw him over the -balustrade of the hotel in which they were staying, and poor Tuppy was -taken to hospital. - -In justice to the lady it may be said that she called at the hospital -regularly every day and left violets for the sufferer. She penned a -tearful apology in which she begged Tuppy's forgiveness, appealing to -him as a man of the world to realize that a person in drink is not -responsible for her actions. Providentially, about this time, the -lady's first husband initiated proceedings for divorce on the grounds of -incompatability of temperament, and Tuppy, reading the account with his -one unbandaged eye, was fervently grateful that the case had not been -heard before his marriage. - -He returned to England a pronounced misogynist with a slight limp. - -Of his other ventures the Sea Gold Extraction Syndicate is the most -notorious; his attempt to break the bank at Monte Carlo; his adventures -as correspondent in the Balkans, these events are too recent to need -particularizing. - -Summing up his life, one might say that he had indeed a great future -behind him. - -As Tuppy himself would say, with a suspicion of tears in his eyes-- - -"My dear old bird! I never had a chance. I was saddled with rank an' -bridled by circumstance. I'm a rumbustious error of judgment, a livin' -mark of interrogation against the Wisdom of Providence!" - -Let no man think that Tuppy was a fool; he was a poet. His play was in -blank verse. Nor accuse him of improvidence: he was a philosopher who -scorned the conventional obligations of life. He never paid his bills -because he never had the money to pay. If he had possessed the means, he -would have discharged his liabilities, for he was an honest man. It has -been argued that in his circumstances it was wholly wrong to contract -such liabilities, but Tuppy had an answer to such a twiddling splitting -of hairs. - -"Dear old feller," he was wont to say, "you talk like a foolish one. -Must I forgo my last shreds of faith in human nature and the mysterious -workin's of providence? Must I, because of temp'ray misfortune, refuse -to recognize the illimitable possibilities of the future? I have three -cousins each with pots of money, and one at least coopered up with -asthma--it runs in the family--who might pop off at any minute." - -Thus Tuppy justified his optimism. - -If Tuppy had a failing it was his antipathy to his father's second wife. -To the dowager he ascribed all his misfortunes, in every piece of bad -luck he saw the dowager's hand. - -She, poor soul, was a mild colourless lady with a weakness for bridge, -who spent her life in a vain attempt to restrict her requirements to the -circumscribed limits of a small annuity payable quarterly. - -Tuppy rented a flat in Charles Street, W. He was at breakfast when Hal's -letter arrived, and the young man's interesting communication might well -have gone unread, for Tuppy's man was handling the morning post. - -"Bill from Roderer's, m'lord." - -"Chuck it in the fire." - -"Letter from the lawyers about Colgate's account." - -"Chuck it in the fire." - -"Letter E.C.--no name on the back." - -"Let me look at that, Bolt--um--typewritten--posted at 6.30 p.m. That's -the time all bills are posted; chuck it in the fire." - -"Better open it, m'lord--might be a director's fee." - -Tuppy shook his head sadly. - -"Not likely--still open it." - -So Hal's proposal came before his lordship. - -"Dear Tuppy," read the man. - -"Who the devil 'Tuppies' me on a typewriter?" demanded the peer. - -The servant turned to the signature. - -"Hal Tailor," he read. - -"Tanneur," corrected Tuppy, "he's the sort of cove who _would_ Tuppy me -on a typewriter--go on." - - -"DEAR TUPPY,-- - -"I've got a great scheme for you. The governor will let you have a -house rent free--" - - -"I'll bet there's something wrong with the house," said Tuppy -uncharitably. - -"--if you don't mind living in Suburbia." - -Tuppy sat bolt upright. - -"Where," he asked. - -"In Suburbia," repeated Bolt. - -Tuppy rose and pushed back his chair. - -"Bolt," he said solemnly, "it's a shade of odds on this being a scheme -of dowager's to get me out of the country. Bolt--I'll not go. I'll see -this Tanner man to the devil before I expatriate myself!" - -"Beg pardon m'lord----" - -But Tuppy stopped him with an uncompromising hand. - -"It's no bet, Bolt. Here we are and here we'll stay. Blessed -gracious!" he swore fiercely. "I would sooner pay my rent _here_!" - -"I was going to say, m'lord," said the patient Bolt, "that he means the -suburbs. Brixton an' Clapham an' Tootin' Bec an' that sort of thing." - -Tuppy looked at him suspiciously. - -"Where is Tooting Bec and that sort of thing?" he demanded. - -"Near Wandsworth Prison," began Bolt. - -"What! Then I won't go--I _won't_ go, Bolt." Tuppy was considerably -agitated. "It's a rotten idea; a house rent free, d'ye see, Bolt? it's -this demmed Tanneur person's gentle hint ... a paltry matter of three -hundred pounds"--he paced the room furiously--"that's the scheme--the -dowager is behind all this--oh woman, woman!" - -He apostrophized the ceiling. - -"Better finish the letter, m'lord." - -"Chuck it in the fire, Bolt; chuck it in!" - -Bolt quickly skimmed the letter and mastered its contents. - -"It's in Brockley, m'lord," he said quickly. - -"Chuck it in the fire--where's Brockley." - -"On the main road to Folkestone," said the diplomatic Bolt. - -"Main road to Folkestone is half-way to the Continent," said Tuppy -explosively, "chuck it in the fire!" - -"He said he'll allow you L500 for upkeep, m'lord." - -"Eh." - -Tuppy stopped in his stride. - -"Five hundred," he hesitated, "that's a lot of money--there'll be some -shootin'." - -"Certain to be, m'lord." - -"An' people?" - -"Yes, m'lord." - -Tuppy shook his head doubtingly. - -"I've never heard of anybody livin' at Brockley--I knew a chap who lived -at Harrogate, poor chap with one lung." - -Tuppy thought. - -"Five hundred _and_ shooting--any fishin'?" - -"The river's close by, m'lord--there's Greenwich----" Tuppy brightened -up. - -"Greenwich! of course, whitebait. Must be devilish amusin' fishin' for -whitebait: you eat 'em with brown bread, you know, like oysters----" - -He wrote to Hal that day, tentatively accepting the offer. Hal made an -appointment for his lordly tenant, and fumed for three hours in his city -office until Tuppy turned up. - -"I say!" said the aggrieved Hal ostentatiously displaying his watch; "I -say, Tuppy, old man, dash it! You said eleven and it's two! Hang it -all!" - -"Don't be peevish," begged the peer, "if I'd said two it would have been -five." - -"Time is money," complained Hal. - -"Wise old bird," said Tuppy earnestly, "your interestin' and perfectly -original apothegm merely elucidates my position. It's the habit of -years to overdraw my account." - -Hal who had no soul for subtle reasoning, plunged into the object of the -meeting. - -"The fact is, Tuppy," he said, leaning back in his padded chair, and -cocking one leg on to the desk before him, "the fact is," he repeated, -"there's a man, a Duke man, that the governor's anxious to run out of -Brockley." - -"Dear, dear!" commented Tuppy with polite interest. - -"He's not one of our dukes: he's a French Duke from America, and he's -been acting the goat and getting upsides with the governor and -blithering generally--do you understand." - -"Very pithily put," murmured Tuppy, "the whole situation is revealed in -one illuminatin' flash." - -"Very good," said Hal complacently. "Well, being in the suburbs--the -Duke--and the suburbs being----" - -"In the suburbs," suggested the helpful Tuppy as Hal paused for an -illustration. - -"Exactly .... It stands to reason that a lot of these bounders have gone -in for a sort of hero-worship. See?" Tuppy nodded slowly. - -"The fact being," explained Hal, "that these suburban people are such -absolute rotters and--and----" - -"Pifflers?" suggested Tuppy. - -"And pifflers and outsiders--that was the word I wanted--that they -really don't know the genuine article from the spurious." - -"Very natural," Tuppy agreed. - -"So the governor and I (it was really my idea but you know what sort of -chap the governor is for adopting other people's ideas as his own), we -thought a good idea would be, to plant one of the genuine article right -in their midst, so that they could see for themselves the sort of Johnny -the other chap was." - -"I see," said Tuppy thoughtfully, "sort of look on this -picture-an'-look-on-that, compare the genuine goods before patronizin' -rival establishments?" - -"Tuppy," said Hal with solemn admiration, "you've got the whole thing in -a nut-shell." - -Tuppy picked up his hat and examined it intently. - -"No bet," he said. - -"Eh?" - -Hal could hardly believe his ears. - -"No bet," said Tuppy with decision, "awfully obliged to you for the -offer and all that; but no bet." - -"Why not--you get a house rent free; the governor furnishes it from -Baring's, you get five hundred----" - -"The five hundred is badly wanted," admitted Tuppy sadly, "an' if -anything would tempt me, it would be five hundred of the brightest and -best, but, Tanny, old chick, it can't be done." - -"But why not?" protested Hal. - -Tuppy was still examining his hat. - -"Dignity, old friend," said Tuppy categorically. "House of Lords, family -traditions, pride of birth, ancient lineage--the whole damn thing's -wrong. Besides, it would get into the papers, 'Noble Lord caretaker in -the suburbs: Tuppy's latest!' ugh!" - -He shuddered. - -"An' again," he went on. "Where is Brockley, what is Brockley, who has -ever lived in Brockley: what part has Brockley played in the stirrin' -story of our national life? Is there a Lord Brockley, or a Bishop of -Brockley or a Lord of the Manor. Yes, there is a 'Lord of the Manor,'" -he amended bitterly. "It's the name of a public-house. It's no go, dear -old boy, it can't be done. I've looked it up, found it on a map, an' -read about it in the _A.B.C. Time Table_. It's all back-gardens an' -workman's trains, an' stipendiary magistrates, an' within walkin' -distance of the County Court." - -He shook his head so vigorously that his eyeglass fell out. - -He replaced it carefully and pulled on his gloves. - -"Now look here, Tuppy," said Hal impatiently, "for heaven's sake, don't -be a raving ass!" - -"Neatly put," commended Tuppy. - -"You get this house free; you get the money--cash down; you get what you -haven't got now--unlimited credit." - -"Pardon, pardon," corrected Tuppy carefully, "my credit is exceptionally -good, if the tradesmen only knew it; it's the rotten conservatism of -English business methods that is paralysin' my budget, an' the -socialistic tendencies of the tradin' classes that is interferin' with -my economic adjustments. Tanny, old sparrow, it's no go." - -He shook his head. - -"No shootin' except cats; no fishin' except with worms--I particularly -loath worms and spiders--no society." - -"There is the Duke." - -Tuppy had forgotten the Duke, and Hal's sarcasm was effective. "Duke?" -Tuppy frowned. "The Duke--of course." - -"Now what on earth is the Duke doin' there?" he burst forth in a tone of -extreme annoyance, "an' what duke is it?" - -"I've told you a dozen times," said the exasperated Hal, "he's an -obscure foreign duke--" - -"Name?" - -"De Montvillier--quite an unknown----" - -"Steady the Buffs," warned Tuppy, "de Montvillier? Best house in -France. Tanny, my impulsive soul, the Montvilliers are devils of chaps. -Obscure! Phew." - -He looked at Hal reproachfully. - -Then he shook his head for the fourteenth time. - -"Five hundred pounds an' a back garden," he considered, "an' the Duke. -He's pretty sure to play _picquet_. By the blessed shades of the -original Smith, I've a good mind----" - -He pondered sucking his index finger. - -"I dare say we'd get on well together----" - -"Look here, Tuppy!" - -Hal was pardonably indignant. - -"You don't think we want you to go down to Brockley to keep the Duke -amused, do you? We want you to cut him out, make him look like a tallow -candle by the side of a searchlight. - -"Oh, I'll cut him out all right," said Tuppy with confidence, "there are -few chaps who can beat me at piquet." - -Hal protesting, Tuppy serenely indifferent to the requirement of the -other contracting parties, but obligingly agreeing with all their -conditions, it was arranged that from September 16 No. 62. should be for -the nonce the London house of Baron Tupping of Clarilaw in the county of -Wigsmouth. - - - - IX - - -It would seem that up to this moment the feud that existed between the -ducal establishment and the knight bachelors entourage was of a private -character. That Brockley pursued an even and a passionless way -unconscious of the titanic storm that was brewing in its midst. -Outwardly there was no sign of the struggle. The milkmen came at dawn, -the grocer called for orders, and the laundrymen brought home other -people's collars, and shirts that looked like other people's shirts, but -which proved on close examination to be the shirts that were sent, but -slightly deckled about the edges. Brockley may have been mildly -interested in the announcement that a new paper was to make its -appearance, at least so much of Brockley as read the announcement. - -Not to make any mystery of Brockley's attitude, I must say that Brockley -really wasn't particularly interested in Itself. For one thing, It only -slept at Brockley and spent week-ends there. The greater part of Its -life was spent in the City and upon the admirable rolling stock of the -South Eastern Railway. Except when It went down to the Broadway to -change the library books, It seldom saw Itself. - -In a word It had no _esprit de corps_, no local patriotism. It was -neither proud of Itself, nor ashamed of Itself. Its politics were very -high indeed: Imperialism was freely discussed at the local debating -societies; there was a golf club and a constitutional club, and (very -properly in Deptford) a Liberal club. - -It had a church parade on the Hilly Fields, which ranked high as a -fashionable function, for Sunday found a strolling procession of top -hats, and dainty creations. And there were immaculate young men in -creased trousers and purple socks; and hatless young men belonging to -the no-hat brigade who strolled about in trios blissfully unconscious of -the notice they attracted. Yes. - -A careful, and I hope an impartial observer, I noted no extraordinary -disposition on the part of Brockley either to participate in, or comment -upon the Duke's quarrel until after the _Aristocrat_ had made its first -appearance. - -A summary of the contents of that remarkable new-comer to the ranks of -journalism might be instructive. I produce haphazard from the table of -contents on page 4. - -1. News of the Day. - -2. Leading Article: "Change for a Tanner." - -3. Dukes I have met: by Roderick B. Nape. - -4. "Driven from Home" (a short story). - -5. Landlordism and crime. - -There were other articles, bearing unmistakable evidence of their -authorship. Mr. Nape's translation from the sinister realms of crime to -the more healthy atmosphere of journalism had not entirely divorced him -from his first love. It changed his aspect certainly. From being a -participant he became a spectator. Thus, "Cigarette Ash as a Clue," an -article displaying considerable powers of observation and deduction, -rivalled in style and interest the famous monograph on "Cigar Ash," by -another criminal scientist. "Bloodhounds I have trained," by a famous -detective, although published anonymously, may, in all probability, be -traced to the same source. - -"Jacko is riotin' across these fair pages," commented Hank, with the -first number of the _Aristocrat_ in his hands, "like a colony of -Phylloxera across a vineyard." - -The Duke nodded. - -"We've got to have something to fill the space," said the Duke -philosophically, "if we can't get advertisements." - -Hank blew a cloud of smoke to the ceiling and pondered. - -"I anticipate trouble," he said. - -"From the stainless knight?" - -"From the stainless knight," said Hank. "Say, Duke, these effete -European institutions do surely impress me." - -He paused. - -"Here's a duke," mused Hank, "a real duke. Not a hand-me-down duke with -a saggin' collar, not a made-to-measure-in-ten-minutes duke, but a -proper bespoke duke, cut from patterns. Here's a knight with golden -spurs, rather stout but otherwise knightly, especially about the coat of -arms: here's a lord--Baron This and That of This-Shire, walked straight -from his baronial castle in Regent Street to harry the marshes of -Brockley----" - -The Duke sat up. - -"Now," he said with deliberate politeness, "now that you have thoroughly -mystified the audience, are you offering a prize for the solution or are -you holding it over till the next number? The Duke with his admirable -qualities, I instantly recognize; the knight is apparent, in spite of -his spurs. Who is the baron? Is he allegorical or illustrative or a -figure of speech?" - -"He's 62," said Hank. - -The Duke's face bore a look of patient resignation. - -"There _must_ be a prize offered," he reflected aloud. - -"In fact," elucidated Hank, "62's a real baron--a lord--His Nibs." - -"The deuce he is!" the Duke was alert. "Quit fooling, Hank. Our new -neighbour----" - -"Is Baron Tupping of Tupping," said Hank solemnly, "a perfect English -gentleman--I heard him cussin' in the back garden." - -"Tuppy!" - -The Duke whooped his delight. - -He grabbed Hank's arm and the pair raced through the conservatory into -the garden. - -Somebody next door was annoyed, and his voice rose plaintively. - -"Bring the Sacred Ladder," ordered the Duke. - -In the middle of the garden stood Tuppy, monocle in eye, hat tilted to -the back of his head, and a cigarette drooping feebly, his face -expressive of despair. - -The Duke hailed him. - -"Tuppy, you beggar." - -Tuppy looked up; his face lit joyfully. - -"Monty, by the High Heavens!" he exclaimed. Then he smacked his -forehead, "Monty--Montvillier--you ain't my Duke are you?" - -"I'm your Duke--your liege Duke of life and limb and earthly regard----" - -"Half a mo," said the vulgarly practical Tuppy, "I'm comin' over." - -He came over the wall, silk hat awry, joyously dusty. - -He all but fell upon the Duke's neck. - -"My dear old bird," he cried ecstatically, "of all the wonderful -coincidences that ever made a novelist's fortune, this is the -wonderfullest--this is the exalted top-notcher. If the dowager knew, -she'd go ravin' mad. I've a jolly good mind to write an' tell her." - -Arm in arm they passed into the house. - -That night: - -Tuppy wrote to Tummy Clare--his one confidant. - - -"Tummy, old friend," the letter ran, "the unfailing mystery of solar -phenomena, the unswerving accuracy of the comet's flight, the ordered -perambulations of the whole damn planetary system, all these pale to -insignificance beside the phenomena of human movement. In other words, -the trick some chaps have of turning up in unexpected places ... Monty! -You remember the beggar, in your house at Eton ... didn't know he was a -duke ... riotous and profitable night ... piquet ... I rubiconed him -twice, piqued, re-piqued, capotted and ... I held fourteen aces six -times in succession ... won about ten pounds...." - - -That night: - -"I think," said Sir Harry rubbing his hands cheerfully, "that we have -said, 'Check to the Duke person.'" - -"Tuppy's arrived?" asked Hal. - -"Yes; Smith put him into the house, and Rake is putting him into the -paper. I rather fancy that if Tuppy plays his cards well, he will score -heavily." - -As we have seen, Tuppy played his cards very well, and indeed _did_ -score heavily. - - - - X - - -"You will like Tuppy," said the Duke earnestly. - -To the scandal of the neighbourhood, he insisted upon conducting his -courtship in the manner it began, and he addressed Alicia from the top -platform of the Sacred Ladder. - -"Tuppy has faults," the Duke continued, "but so have we all, or nearly -all," he corrected modestly. "As poor old Tuppy says, life's song is -played by a pianolo. A thousand ancestors have helped to perforate the -roll and the tune is inevitable." - -"A philosopher," said Alicia drily. - -"Tuppy complains bitterly about the unreasonableness of a world that -expects cantatas from the roll in which generations of Tuppings have -been punching comic songs. You'll like Tuppy." - -"In spite of his mission?" she smiled. - -"To cut me out?" The Duke shook his head tolerantly. - -"Poor old chap, he recognizes the hopelessness of that. No; Tuppy is -not that kind. I say!" he said enthusiastically. "There's Tuppy in his -garden." - -"Monty!" said a voice. - -"That's him," said the Duke ungrammatically, but with an air of -proprietorship. - -"Monty!" said the voice again, "give me a leg up, dear boy--I'm comin' -over for a cocktail." - -Miss Alicia Terrill raised her eyebrows. - -"He means a cup of tea," said the Duke hastily. - -"I should like to meet Tuppy," said Alicia calmly, "whilst you are -giving him a l--whilst you are rendering him the necessary assistance I -will find the ladder." - -Tuppy scrambling over the wall met the scrutiny of a pair of grey eyes, -and balanced himself with difficulty. When I say he wore his oldest -suit, that he had pale green socks and a pair of old slippers, and that -owing to his exertions his trouser leg was rucked up to display his -sock-suspenders, you will realize that but for his noble breeding Tuppy -would have been embarrassed, and would have made a precipitate and -undignified retreat. - -But Tuppy was above all things self-possessed. - -He paused astride the wall. - -"Let me introduce Lord Tupping," said the Duke gravely. - -Tuppy held on to the wall with one hand and raised his cap with the -other. - -"Delighted," he said politely. - -Alicia averted her eyes from the pale green socks with the scarlet -suspenders and addressed him at a tangent. - -"Mother will be glad to see Lord Tupping," she said to the Duke. -Somehow she did not consider it quite maidenly to speak direct to the -suspenders. - -"Mother will be glad to see you," repeated the Duke primly. - -"And I," said Tuppy gracefully, "shall consider it an honour to wait -upon your lady mother: it would seem to me that no greater -obligation--and it is typical of the blightin' decadence of our language -that a word meanin' 'a sympathetic bindin'' should be degraded to the -sordid service of bills at three months--than the respect an' reverence -due to the maternal element in our midst. The spirit of chivalry----" - -At this point in the labour of his oratory Tupping lost his balance and -fell into the Duke's arms. - -He would have continued his speech but for the arrival of the Duke's -discreet servant. - -"Yes?" said the Duke inquiringly. - -"Two gentlemen to see you, m'lord." - -"Two--who are they." - -"I don't know, m'lord--they asked for your lordship----" - -"Yes?" - -"One I thought smelt of drink, and the other was a little furtive." - -Tuppy laid his hand upon the Duke's arm. - -"Monty, dear boy," he said solemnly, "I know 'em." - -"You." - -"Me," said Tuppy wagging his head wisely, "One smellin' of drink an' the -other sneakin' round the corner--brokers." - - - - - *Part IV* - - *THE DUKE REMAINS* - - *I* - - -If I have unwittingly conveyed an impression that Brockley is without -interest to the outside world I have done its credit and myself much -wrong, as the talented Omar might have said. I quote Omar instinctively -because of Brockley's association with the tent-maker of Ispahan. For -Brockley for many years has been the Mecca of Southern London. Never a -Sunday passed but little caravans of purposeful pilgrims have converged -upon the _Brockley Jack Arms_, and producing their railway tickets or -other evidence of their bona fides, have drunk beer during prohibited -hours. - -For years and years this pleasant and touching custom has made Brockley -historical. Lambeth awaking beerless, improvident Kennington greeting -the thirsty dawn, Bermondsey confronted with the dull sad hours between -breakfast time and 1 p.m.--all these in singleness of purpose and with a -unity of thought, said with one voice "Brockley." Suddenly a new -interest came to Brockley; call it a morbid interest if you will. It -was sufficient, at any rate, to divert the stream that flowed past the -cemetery to the hostel beyond. Sufficient to detach the stragglers at -any rate, and draw them, with perplexed faces and sceptical expressions, -to the neighbourhood of Kymott Crescent. - -There was a public spirited gentleman of Church Street, Deptford, whose -wife worked at a jam factory. He himself spent the greater part of his -life looking for work, but it never seemed to nestle in the dark -interior of a quart pot, in which his searching eyes were for the -greater part of the time concentrated. - -This person was, by name, Haggitt, but mostly he was called Olejoe--a -name suggesting a Scandinavian origin, but, as a matter of fact, quite -simply derived. Despite his chronic condition of unemployment, Olejoe -possessed a "guv'nor," of whom he spoke in terms of affectionate pride. -Sometimes, when Olejoe would be standing in the corner of the public -bar--he used the George on Tanner's Hill--within reach of the zinc -counter on the one hand and the pipe spills on the other, an unshaven -man would thrust his head in at the door and beckon Olejoe with a sharp -impatient jerk of the head. Then Olejoe would issue hastily, wiping his -mouth with the back of his hand. - -"Got a job of you," the guv'nor would say laconically, "602, Frien'ly -Street--two munse rent--come along." - -So Olejoe would find himself the guest of poverty--plaintive weeping -poverty, and Olejoe would keep jealous ward over two poundsworth of -distrained furniture. - -How he came to be chosen for the role of guest to the Duke seems obvious -enough. He was uncleanly. He had unpleasant habits. Hal chose him. - -When he arrived at 64, supported by the authority of a bailiff, Tuppy -took charge of the proceedings. Tuppy had a wonderful knowledge of -obscure procedure. First he demanded the bailiff's license and examined -it. Then he put the bailiff through an oral examination, then he -demanded copies of the distress warrant, and generally harassed and -badgered the unfortunate official until he was glad enough to make his -escape leaving Olejoe in possession. - -Then followed a solemn conference with Olejoe the uneasy subject. - - Resolved: That Olejoe be bathed. - (Protest lodged by Olejoe - overruled.) - - Resolved: That Olejoe's clothes be burnt. - (Protest overruled.) - - Resolved: That the cost of reclothing - Olejoe should be borne by - the Duke. - (Carried without protest.) - - Resolved: That the clothing should be - chosen by the Right Hon. - the Lord Tupping. - (Carried with enthusiasm.) - - -"Gents," pleaded Olejoe, "hopin' there's no offence, live and let live -is a motter we all admire. The pore 'elps the pore, so let us all live -in harmony, say I. I'm doin' me duty, an' I've got to earn me livin', -so therefore no larks." - -"No larks," agreed the Duke gravely. - -"Not a single sky-warbler," agreed Tuppy. - -"So therefore, gents," said the gratified Olejoe gaining courage, "let's -drop this silly idea about a bath. Give me a bit of soap an' lead me to -the kitchen sink an' I'll give meself a good sluice--what do you say?" - -"My dear old wreck," said Tuppy firmly, "with all the admirable -sentiments you have so feelingly enunciated, I am in complete agreement. -More particularly with 'live an' let live.' Heaven knows," he -protested, "I am no blatant reformer who to demonstrate his absurd -theories, would change the smooth course of my fellows lives. But a -bath, ole feller--a real water bath! None of your one leg in, an' one -leg out, but a proper all-in-run-or-not wash up." - -So Hank and Tuppy went off to prepare it, carefully laying thin parings -of soap at the bottom. - -In solemn state they escorted him to the bath-room door. - -They waited outside talking encouragingly, till a mighty splashing -silenced instructions. - -"You're splashin' with your hands," warned Tuppy, "get into it." - -They heard a groan and a gentle plash as Olejoe took the water gingerly. - -Then a wild yell as his foot slipped on the soapy bottom and a splash -louder than all. - -"Good," said Tuppy with satisfaction. - -It was nine o'clock that night before they fixed Olejoe in his new kit. - -The pink silk stockings pleased him; the red plush knickers he regarded -dubiously; the gold laced scarlet coat he did not like at all. The gold -aiguillettes he jibbed at. - -But Tuppy was very persuasive. - -"Don't be a silly old gentleman," he said wearily, "you'll be objectin' -to the sword next!" - -"I won't wear a sword!" roared Olejoe. - -Tuppy was shocked. - -"Here we are, takin' all this trouble to make you look presentable, -givin' you a chain of office an' all, an' you say 'won't,'--naughty, -naughty!" - -He shook his head reprovingly. - -Olejoe turned from one to the other in despair. "Gents----" he cried -passionately. - -But the Duke was looking very severe, and Hank's face spoke his -disapproval. - -"Such base ingratitude," said the Duke, with gentle melancholy, "saps -the very fount of benevolence. Here am I, giving a party in your -honour----" - -"Giving you a write up," murmured Hank. - -"Getting you a throne from Angels," continued the Duke, "making you a -King of Broker's men." - -"Olejoe the First," said Hank. - -"And you say won't!" said the three in indignant chorus. - -That night there were sounds of revelry from 64, sounds that penetrated -to 66 and caused Alicia some misgivings. - -They crowned Olejoe with a massy crown, a-sparkle with rubies and -diamonds and other glass ware. They sat him on a gilded throne, and -placed a sceptre in his right hand, and a large tankard of beer in his -left. - -They sang "Olejoe's body lies a mouldering in the grave," triumphantly, -and the resplendent figure in scarlet and gold thoroughly alarmed by the -sinister refrain, rubbed his stubby chin at intervals and demanded -earnestly that there should be no larks. - - - - II - - -"Isn't it time that Tuppy made a move?" asked Sir Harry at breakfast. -"He's been there four days now, and he ought to have made his presence -felt." - -"Tuppy's a bit of a slug," said Hal brutally, "he'll want a lot of -boosting." - -"I've been thinking," said his father, "of some plan whereby we could -bring the fact of his being in the neighbourhood into greater -prominence; now if it were summer time a garden party would be an -excellent idea. We can't very well give a public reception to him--what -about getting him to open a bazaar?" - -Hal shook his head. - -"You couldn't get Tuppy to do it. No, governor, you'll have to think of -some other plan." - -"We can't hold a function here," mused Sir Harry, "it wouldn't have the -same effect. The county are hardly likely to be impressed by Lord -Tupping." - -"And any way the county wouldn't come," said the practical Hal, "I -hardly know--by jove!" he exclaimed suddenly, "what about the Terrills?" - -"The Terrills." - -"Yes--hang it all, they're our relations. You know they owe us -something; splendid! If we can only persuade Aunt Agatha to do it, what -a smack in the eye for the Duke!" - -"I'm afraid," began Sir Harry dubiously. - -"Rot, governor! try 'em--butter the old lady--wantin' to show a little -hospitality to a friend--get mother to write--dash it all! it's a -magnificent idea. You'll get the Duke creature tearin' his hair----" - -Hal persuaded his father to write. - -It was when the letter carefully worded, and punctiliously punctuated -had been written, that Hal started in to gratify his private curiosity. - -"Governor," he opened, "d'ye know, I'm completely fogged over the Duke -business." - -"Yes?" Sir Harry looked up suspiciously. - -"Yes," Hal went on. "It seemed all right at first that you should want -him to clear out of Brockley. He'd annoyed you, by getting the better -of you, and he annoyed me most tremendously. Governor," he blurted, -"I'm most awfully gone on Alicia." - -"H'm." Sir Harry frowned at the revelation. - -"It's a fact and I don't care who knows it," said Hal recklessly, "I as -good as told her so." - -"To raise hopes that can never be realized is scarcely honourable, Hal," -said his parent severely, "to rouse the love of a young woman----" - -"Oh, don't worry about that," said the dismal Hal, "I didn't raise any -hopes, or rouse love, or do any rotten thing like that. We'll cut that -story short if you don't mind. It's a sore point with me. What I want -to know is, what is the real inside meaning of our rushin' the Duke." - -"It must be obvious," said Sir Harry slowly. - -"It ain't so obvious to me as you might think," interrupted Hal, "look -here, governor, I've seen you in business deals before. I've known you -to be beaten badly, but when you've seen yourself worsted you've always -gone to save the grand slam--see? Picked up the pieces of wreckage an' -sold 'em for what they would fetch. I've never known you to, what I -might call, pursue a disadvantage. Now we all know the Duke has worried -you and bested you, an' generally got the top-dog of you, but why do you -want to fire him out of Brockley? I'm not such a fool but what I can -see that he can still go on spoonin' Alicia wherever he is. He can -still go on opposing you an' worrying' me." - -"There are some matters," said Sir Harry deliberately, "into which it is -not advisable to go very deeply; with me it is a question of personal -pride that the Duke should go----" - -"Governor," said Hal earnestly, "what's the use of bluffin' a fellow -like me? I ask you, are you the sort to buy a tin-pot little paper, to -go in for house property and then evict your paying tenants? Governor, -you're spending money an' that's a very significant thing." - -Sir Harry looked at his watch. - -"I've five minutes to catch my train," he said pointedly, "is the -brougham at the door?" - -The brougham _was_ at the door. Its two champing pawing steeds champed -and pawed as per specification--as a business man Sir Harry insisted -upon written specifications dealing minutely with details of his -purchases, even of his carriage horses. - -"Another time," said Sir Harry drawing on his gloves, "I shall be happy -to discuss this matter. But not now." - -He reached his office in Austin Friars and found a note awaiting him. A -note daringly spelt and slovenly written. - -An hour later he hailed a cab and drove rapidly westward. - -In Guilford Street is an imposing house bearing on the fanlight over the -front door the astonishing legend, "Apartments," and at this house Sir -Harry descended. His knock brought a little Swiss boy in an ill-fitting -dress suit. - -"Mr. Smith?" inquired Sir Harry and the boy nodded and ushered him -upstairs. - -The atmosphere of the room into which Sir Harry was shown was, to put it -mildly, dense. - -Mr. William Slewer was an inveterate smoker of bad cigars. - -He lay full length on a sofa with a glowing butt between his teeth, and -rose slowly and painfully to his feet as the knight entered. - -"How is the leg?" asked Sir Harry pleasantly. - -Bill Slewer permitted himself to smile. "That's nothin'," he said -indifferently, "a little thing like that don't trouble me any. She -smarts some, but nothin' to boast about." - -He looked expectantly at Sir Harry and that gentleman read his unspoken -questions. - -"I have nothing to tell you further," he said, "we are doing our best to -make Brockley too hot for him." - -"He'd better get a wiggle on," said Mr. Slewer calmly, "I'm sure tired -of this foolish old country." - -"You must do nothing," said Sir Harry hastily, "you understand that I am -not interested in your private affairs, and you must do nothing in -Brockley--I will not be associated with the business. I had hoped to -have accomplished my purpose anonymously. I had hoped that through the -medium of the local press I might have been able to shame the man away, -without in any way identifying myself with the--er--movement." - -He wiped his forehead nervously. - -"I cannot tell you," he went on, with a show at firmness, "how much I -deprecate your shooting affray--it is unconstitutional, Mr. Slewer. -Very well in its way for America and similar lawless places, but -revolver shooting in the suburbs of London Mr. -Slewer,--it's--it's--hazardous." - -Bill rolled his cigar butt to the opposite corner of his mouth, and said -nothing. - -Anon he tossed the stump into the fireplace, and searched his pockets -vainly for another cigar. Sir Harry tendered his well-filled case. - -"I will go further," he said, as Bill struck a match, "I tell you that I -think you ought to abandon your object, which is, in my humble opinion, -unchristianlike and unlawful, but," he went on, "if you still have this -grievance----" - -"Oh, she's there all right, all right," Bill assured him. - -"Well, if that is so, wait, for heaven's sake wait, until he's out of -Brockley." - -He paced up and down the room. - -"Don't you see, my good man, how the whole thing compromises me? I'm -known to dislike the Duke--it wasn't known till the confounded fellow -produced a newspaper to proclaim the fact--you are known as having been -introduced by me--the thing is too horrible. Why, people would say that -I instigated the thing!" - -I do not attempt to work out the psychology of Sir Harry's attitude into -decimal places. I shrink from suggesting that he would derive any -satisfaction from the killing or wounding of the Duc de Montvillier. - -Such a suggestion would border upon the preposterous, for Sir Harry was -a Justice of the Peace of the County of Kent, and, as is very well -known, crime amongst the J.P.'s of Kent is singularly and gratifyingly -rare. They are a well-behaved and modest class of citizens, by nature -gentle and diffident, in appearance mild and affable, pursuing their -calm unbunkered way, the world forgetting, by the world forgot, as -somebody so beautifully put it. - -There are, of course, black sheep in every family, and it is conceivable -that angry and base passions may glow in secret breasts, but basing my -opinion upon published statistics, I confidently assert that the mere -suggestions that Sir Harry's motives were homicidal in intention, may be -dismissed as being too monstrous for serious consideration. - -Indeed his next words prove this contention. - -"My object in helping you is a purely disinterested one. I brought you -away from Brockley in my carriage because I wanted to avoid a scandal -and a scene. It was very indiscreet and most improper of you to -attempt--er--to stop that young man----" - -"Say," said Mr. Bill Slewer of Four Ways, "I'm wise." - -"I'm delighted to hear it," said Sir Harry, "and----" - -"I'm wise to this peace-on-earth talk," said Mr. Slewer approvingly, "I -know the dope. I seen it handed out. Mike Sheehan the alderman felly -in New York was fat with it. 'No violence,' says he, 'when I'm around,' -says he, 'and if you sock him good,' says he, 'do it when I'm sayin' -grace at Delmonico's.'" - -"I assure you, my good fellow----" - -"Switch off," suggested Mr. Slewer in the friendliest manner. "You're -in this Silver Streak deal." - -"That is settled," said Sir Harry quickly. - -"Settled nothing," said the calm Bill, "I'm next to that deal: Judge -Mogg an' me's the David-Jonathan turn. Knew Mogg when his father was -toting a five cent freak show round California in '76--I was one of dem -freaks." - -He chuckled noiselessly. - -"The hairy boy from Opkomstisalvacato for mine," he said reminiscently, -"young Al. Mogg took the money at the door--that's how _he_ made his -pile." - -Sir Harry Tanneur preserved a sulky silence. - -"Silver Streak," pursued Bill, "she's a whereas-an'-hereby proposition -to me, but Al. sorted out the situation--yes, sir. Silver Streak is a -life tenancy, an' the London and Denver have got second option. See? -This Duke felly got it in his own name, so when he goes to glory, in -steps the imperishable London an' Denver Corporation--that's youse." - -Bill's face was peculiarly expressionless, but his pale blue eyes -challenged contradiction. - -"There's a bit in that contract about the heirs of his body," he wagged -his head knowingly, "so it comes to this: Dukey ain't much use to you -alive----" - -"Stop, sir!" The knight drew himself up to his full height. "The -suggestion you make is infamous, and I must solemnly and emphatically -place on record my complete and absolute disapproval of your reasoning. -I do not know whether it is not my duty to inform the police of your -threat--for it is a threat--to create--er--a breach of the peace." - -He took up his hat and moved to the door. - -"I content myself by saying that I dissociate myself from any private -scheme of vengeance you may contemplate against the Duc de Montvillier." - -Bill's eyes closed wearily. - -"You make me tired," he said simply. - -Sir Harry left without remembering to recover his cigar case, and, -curiously enough, Bill forgot to remind him. - - - - III - - -Alicia Terrill did not view the _Brockley Aristocrat_ with unmixed joy. -Even the lines "To A.T. with the homage of R.N." did little to -reconstruct her sentiments in the matter. They ran-- - - Thou peerless daughter of the age, - So beautiful and fearless; - There soon shall come another stage, - When thou wilt not be Peerless. - - -She thought them rather impertinent, and it may be said that she did not -like Mr. Nape over much. - -Her objection to the _Aristocrat_ was its irritating appearance of -permanency. She was a girl with decided views. - -What elusive quality is it that makes for success in a newspaper? Is it -purely a literary one, or a typographical one? Is it the choice of -matter, or the arrangement of type? Perhaps a little of each. What it -was that made the _Brockley Aristocrat_ successful from its very -commencement may have been the individuality that lived in its pages. -The deft touch of genius, the gloss and the brilliance of superlative -merit. In its first number it claimed, modestly enough, to be of its -kind unique. - -"The _Brockley Aristocrat_," said the restrained notice, "will contain -all the news worth reading and all the views worth writing: it will be a -newspaper devoted to the best interests of the best people." - -Mr. Nape, its nominal editor, rose nobly to his responsibilities. Most -assiduously did he apply himself to the study of all that was most -noteworthy in current journalism. He studied the back-files of the -_Saturday Review_ and acquired the style caustic, he diligently -acquainted himself with the Imperialism of the _Spectator_ and the -_National Review_, and instantly secured the soundest of views on the -Navy. He read from cover to cover the words of Miss Corelli and learnt -all about editors: how bad editors are grossly fat and have pronounced -Hebraic features, and how good editors are pretty scarce. He took -lessons in journalism from a gentleman who guaranteed to turn a dustman -into a reviewer in twelve lessons, and he read the life of Delane. - -Little wonder that the _Aristocrat_ came to fame in a short space of -time with such determined strivings after perfection behind it. Little -wonder that people began to read it, and to look forward to Friday (when -it was published) and to take sides in the controversy that raged -between its proprietor and the owner of the _Lewisham and Lee Mail_. - -"It isn't that I want them to take sides," said the Duke, "but I want to -get them interested in me. It was the only method I could think of. -You see I'm naturally of a shy and shrinking disposition, and I find it -difficult to convey to comparative strangers a sense of my all-round -excellences." - -He was paying one of his rare visits to Alicia in her own home. - -The outward and visible result of his hurricane courtship glittered on -the third finger of her left hand. - -"But surely," she urged a little impatiently--she was a real girl and -this is a true story--"you have some plans for the future, you do not -intend to end your days in Brockley?" - -He nodded his head. - -"I can imagine nothing more satisfying," he said, "than to pass to the -dark beyond, to the bourne from which--in the midst of mine own people." - -"The calm way in which you have appropriated us all," she said, with a -smile which was half amusement and half vexation, "is too appalling. -But, dear, there is me." - -"There is you," he repeated, with a twinkle in his eyes, "I have thought -of that--you shall stay and share my glories." - -"In the suburbs?" - -She lifted her eyebrows. - -"In the suburbs," said the Duke, "we will take some nice house and call -it the Chateau de Montvillier with a nice garden----" - -"And a nice coachhouse and hot and cold water," she went on icily, "with -a month at Margate every summer and a round of local pantomimes every -winter--thank you." - -"As for myself," said the Duke dreamily, "I shall stand for the Board of -Guardians----" - -"What!" - -"Board of Guardians," said the Duke firmly, "it has been one of my -life's dreams: in far-away San Pio in my cow punching days, when I used -to lie out on the prairie, all alone, with the great stars glittering -and the unbroken solitude of the wilderness about me, that was the -thought that comforted me; the whispered hope that buoyed me up. To be a -guardian! The trees in their rustling murmured the word, the far-off -howl of the prairie dog was, to my fevered imagination, the voice of the -chairman calling the Board to order." - -"But seriously?" she pleaded, "please, please be serious." - -"I _am_ serious," said the indignant Duke, "Brockley is nature, and all -that pertains to Brockley is nature. Why even Tuppy sees that! When I -told him that the Mayor didn't wear robes and didn't have a mace bearer, -the poor chap nearly wept for joy, he's staying----" - -"I am not interested in what Tuppy thinks," she said coldly, "or what -Tuppy has planned. What interests me is the fact that I have no -intention whatever of spending my life in the suburbs, so there." - -I wonder if "so there" an expression that a lady, who had at one time -lived in Portland Place, would use? - -I wonder---- - -Alicia Terrill was angry, and not without cause. - -Women have no sense of men's humour, and I do not think the Duke was -tactful. - -He was a young man who took things for granted. - -Had Alicia been an heiress, she might have entered into the spirit of -the Duke's humour. She could have afforded the whim. But she was not -rich. Money is a horrid thing, and especially horrid to the poor girl -who marries the rich man, however sincere and whole hearted her love is -for him, and his for her. - -For there comes, and there must come, an unpleasant feeling of -dependence, a sensation such as must have been experienced by the -unfortunate negroes who lived in Uncle Tom's Cabin (and nowhere else), -when the whip of the overseer cracked, that is particularly irksome to a -girl of independent character. - -The Duke, as I say, took much for granted. Money was as nothing to him, -he did not count it as a serious factor in life. - -People with money seldom do. - -You may say, having in mind the incidence of the Duke's tempestuous -wooing, that there was little solid foundation for a true and abiding -companionship such as marriage implies; that the ground was already -prepared for misunderstandings. Perhaps your judgment is correct: in -offering my own opinion, in all modesty, I venture to differ, because I -know the Duke intimately. - -"If you really loved me," she went on, "you would realize that I was -your first interest--you would be ready to sacrifice these wretched -whims of yours. It isn't the money and it isn't that I am ashamed of -the suburbs--I would live in the Brixton Road--but I want to be the -first thing in your life----" She faltered and made an heroic attempt -to appear calm. - -The Duke was genuinely astonished at the outburst, at the defiance that -trembled in her tone, at the proximity of tears. - -Nay, he was scared and showed it. - -"My dear girl," he began. - -"I'm _not_ your dear girl," she flamed, "I will not accept your horrid -patronage. I will not allow you to treat quite serious matters--matters -that affect my life--as subjects for your amusement." - -"My dearest----" he began but she stopped him. - -She removed the half circle of diamonds from her finger with -deliberation. She said nothing because she was choking. - -She did not throw it at him, because she was a lady and had lived in -Portland Place. - -She laid it on the table and fled. - -The Duke stood speechless and open mouthed; he did not behave like a -hero. - -Did Alicia behave like a heroine? - -A study of contemporary fiction compels me to confess reluctantly that -she did not. - -But this is a true story, and this remarkable scene I have described -actually occurred. - - - - IV - - -Olejoe the First, crowned and confident, was on his throne, and Tuppy -was rehearsing him in view of an approaching function. - -"Draw near us," said Tuppy. - -"Draw near us," repeated Olejoe pompously. - -"What ho, varlets--a beaker of wine," coached Tuppy. - -"What ho, varmints----" - -"Varlets," corrected Tuppy. - -"What ho, var----" - -Just then the Duke entered, a tragic figure. - -Olejoe, proud of his accomplishments, spoke his lines. - -"Ho! noble dook," he bleated, "draw near----" - -"Come down out of that," said the Duke peevishly, "go into the kitchen." - -"If," said Olejoe taking off his crown politely, "I've said anything -that's given offence----" - -"Go to the devil," said the Duke. - -The king retired hurriedly. - -Not a word was spoken till he had departed, then: - -"I'm disengaged," said the Duke bitterly. - -"My dear old feller!" expostulated Tuppy. - -"I'm disengaged," repeated the Duke. He looked round for a seat. The -throne invited him and he mounted its wooden steps. - -"I'm finished," he said and sat down on Olejoe's abandoned crown. - -He sprung up with alacrity and flung the bauble away. - -"Steady with the crown jewels, old man," said Tuppy anxiously. "Hank, -the Koh-i-noor's knocked off, there it is under your chair. Monty, old -owl, why this introduction of R. E. Morse, Esq?" - -In a few gloomy words the Duke made clear the situation. - -Fortunately for all concerned Tuppy's knowledge of women and their ways -was encyclopaedic. - -As Tuppy himself confessed, what he didn't know was hardly worth -finding. He admitted he was a misogynist, he confessed that his -experience had been a bitter one, but he tried, as he said, to think -that all elderly ladies were not like the dowager, and few marriageable -girls had the physical strength to chuck a feller down three flights of -stairs. - -"Mind you, old bird," warned Tuppy, "the intention is there all right. -The will to do, bein' somewhat hampered by an undeveloped muscular -development, it follows that my own experience was a unique reply to the -Brownin' feller who asked-- - - What hand an' mind went ever paired? - What brain alike conceived an' dared? - What act proved all its thought had been? - What will but felt the fleshy screen? - - -"Dear old feller, as one who's felt the fleshy screen grip me by my neck -an' the left leg of my trousers--yes, positively and indelicately the -left leg of my trousers--I can answer the Brownin' feller. It was a -remarkable experience. I nearly wrote an account of it for the _Field_. -But Monty, poor soul, your experience is milder in fact though parallel -in principle. Metaphorically you've been scruffed an' bagged, an' -there's only one thing to do." - -He paused. - -"Sit it out, my boy; be aloof, noble, patient, stricken with grief; go -to church on Sunday in deep mourning; start a soup kitchen an' be good -to the poor--that fetches 'em." - -"Sure," said Hank. - -"There's another way," said Tuppy with enthusiasm, "be the riotous dog, -stay out late an' come home early, sing comic songs, wear soft fronted -dress shirts to emphasize your decadence, go to the devil -ostentatiously--that fetches 'em to." - -"Sure," agreed Hank. - -"That is easier," said the Duke thoughtfully. - -"It was all so very unexpected and sudden," he went on reverting to the -tragedy of the evening. - -"It always is," said the sympathetic Tuppy, "take my case: I hadn't time -to catch hold of the bannisters before----" - -I think the Duke was genuinely distressed. He sat with his head resting -on one hand, his brows wrinkled in a frown, his free hand plucking idly -at the velvet fringe that ornamented the throne. - -"I had looked forward to a joyous winter," he said disconsolately, "we'd -got the brokers in; we might have been evicted by the police; I most -certainly should have gone to Brixton Prison--I'd arranged to borrow -Windermere's state carriage and postillions for the occasion--and now -the whole scheme is nipped in the bud." - -They sat in the common-room which in the day time commanded a view of -the tiny garden, and toward the darkness which hid amongst other things -the Sacred Ladder, now alas! purposeless. The Duke shook his clenched -fist. - -"Woe is me----" he began. - -Out of the gloom of the garden leapt a thin spurt of white flame. - -There was a crash of glass and a splint of wood flew from the gilded -back of the throne. - -Instantly came a stinging report, and the light went out--Hank was in -reach of the switch, and Hank moved quickly in emergencies like these. - - - - V - - -Mr. Slewer's attack came unexpectedly and found the Duke unprepared. -Once before Mr. Slewer had come to Kymott Crescent, but his arrival had -been noted by the observant Hank, and there had been a raid upon a well -furnished armoury. - -The Duke ran for the conservatory, but Hank's arm caught him. - -"Not on your life," he murmured. "If that's Bill he's waitin'--get -upstairs an' find your gun. Mine's hangin' behind the door of my room." - -He heard the Duke mount the stairs with flying feet, and cautiously -opened the conservatory door that led to the garden. - -"Hullo, you Bill," he said softly, but there came no answer. -Disregarding the sage advice he had given to the Duke he stepped swiftly -into the darkness. He sank down flat on the wet grass and peered left -and right. There was no sign of any intruder, but he was too old a -campaigner to trust overmuch to first appearances. - -There was a light step behind him, and he was joined by the Duke. - -"See anything," whispered the Duke and pushed a Colt into his hands. - -"Nothing," said Hank, "he's gone." - -Noiselessly they wriggled the garden length. - -Hank made for the place where the ladder should have been, but his -sweeping arm could not find it. Later it was discovered against the -wall at the end of the garden. - -Kymott Crescent is an offshoot of Kymott Road. - -If you take the letter Y, the left fork to represent the Crescent, and -the straight line and right fork to represent Kymott Road, you may -realize the easier how the mysterious assassin escaped. For on the -other side of the wall at the end of the Duke's garden is a main -thoroughfare, deserted at this hour of the night, and it was as simple a -matter to gain access to the garden as it was to escape from it. - -They returned to Tuppy, a preternaturally solemn figure, sitting -entrenched behind a divan which he had thoughtfully upended. - -"He's gone," said the Duke cheerfully, but awoke no responsive gleam in -Tuppy's eye. - -"Oh, he's gone, has he?" said Tuppy absently. - -"Yes, nipped over a ladder--I say, Tuppy, you're not scared?" - -"Not a bit, oh dear no," replied Tuppy, without any great heartiness. - -"There wasn't any danger, you know." - -"Of course not," said Tuppy airily, "quite so." - -He glanced apprehensively at the shattered glass of the door. - -"Better put up the shutters, old feller," he said with a careless wave -of his hand, "there's a beastly draught." - -There were, as it happened, two folding shutters, artfully concealed at -the side of the door, which Hank closed. - -Tuppy sighed explosively. - -"Of course," he said, "a little thing like that wouldn't worry me. To a -feller who has seen the ups an' downs of life, especially the downs, an -incident of this description--put the bar over that shutter, Hank, old -friend, I still feel the draught--an incident of this description is -mere child's play--I think I'll toddle." - -The Duke protested. - -"So soon! oh rot, Tuppy, stay and make a night of it. I want your -invaluable advice, Tuppy; I'm at sixes and sevens." - -"Not to-night, old boy," said Tuppy earnestly, "got a shockin' -headache--too much port--liver out of order." - -They escorted him to his door. - -Safe inside the portals of his own mansion Tuppy recovered his spirits. - -"If the fishin' is as excitin' as the shootin'," he mused aloud, "I've -got hold of a fine sportin' estate." - - - - VI - - -Mr. Nape, the eminent editor, sat before his desk in the editorial -offices of the _Aristocrat_. His long black hair was rumpled, his -pen-holder bore marks of a severe biting. Before him were pigeon-holes -neatly labelled "Government--Attack on," "Imperialism and Crime," -"Comprenez Vous?" (this was the already famous rival column to "On Dit" -in a rival sheet), "New Ideas," "Notes for Leader" and similar -comprehensive titles. There was a pigeon-hole marked "Advertisements," -but this was empty. - -Mr. Nape was sore, for the _L. & L. Mail_ had discovered the identity of -the _Aristocrat's_ editor, and had referred to him as "a peddling -crimemonger" and a "contemptible plagiarist," to say nothing of calling -him "a pseudo Holmes." - -In consequence, he had for three days, devoted himself to a feverish -hunt into the antecedents of Mr. R. B. Rake. - -He learned that Mr. Rake had at one period of his career been engaged as -schoolmaster--a peg to hang "priggish pedagogue" upon--that he drew -inspiration for his leaders from Hydeholme ("gregarious gramophone"), -that he was a gentleman of loud voice and aggressive self-confident -manner--"pomp and circumstance" wrote Mr. Nape cleverly, and other more -or less important items, all of which went into the Leader. - -In truth Mr. Nape's reply to the slanderous innuendoes of the _L. & L. -Mail_ might be described as having been effective and complete. - -Now Mr. Nape was in a quandary, because he was engaged in a distasteful -task. - -This was none other than the booming of the Tuppy party and, worst of -all, the editing of a letter of apology. - -It would appear in the first case, that in honour of our distinguished -neighbour, Lord Tupping, Mrs. Stanley Terrill would give a reception at -her house; that amongst others the following eminent people would be -present. Sir Harry Tanneur, the Mayor of Brockley, the Vicar, Captain -Hal Tanneur (9th R.W. Kents) and others too numerous to mention. -Bewildered that the citadel of the Duke's fiancee should shelter the -arch enemy, Mr. Nape had commenced a long and scathing satire entitled -"The Pier Master" (a happy description of Sir Harry), when peremptory -orders came for its suppression and the substitution of laudatory -notices concerning the forthcoming function. - -It had required all the Duke's powers of persuasion to induce Tuppy to -accept the invitation. - -"It's a plant," said Tuppy furiously, "it's the old Tanner bird showin' -off the captive at his chariot's wheel: he's dazed that poor dear lady -into givin' a party--I'm not goin'. High Jupiter! Devastin' Ulysses!" -he swore, "did that dear old thing Guy Tuppin' go down on the stricken -field of Crecy, all mucked about with two handed sword an' maces an' -things, for this! Did----" - -"You cannot escape a tea-party by reference to your alleged ancestors," -said the Duke calmly, "in the stricken field time of business Tanner can -give you a stone and a beating. Tuppy, you've got to go." - -So Mr. Nape sat, though his soul revolted, engaged in writing pleasantly -and amiably and heartily, a fore-notice of the reception which was to -introduce Lord Tupping to his awe-stricken neighbours. - -His task was made all the more difficult by the knowledge that already -public interest had been aroused in the attempt to jockey the Duke from -the suburbs. That letters signed "Fair-play" and "Pro Bono Publico" had -begun to arrive, that a meeting of the Ratepayers' Association had been -projected, and that there were not wanting other signs of the Duke's -growing popularity in the neighbourhood. Mr. Nape had suddenly found -himself a political force; he had the satisfaction of knowing that he -was behind the scenes; crowning joy of all, he had been referred to as a -"wire puller" and had displayed the significant phrase, with an -affectation of nonchalance, to Hank. - -"He means a leg puller," said Hank. - -"We don't think you treat this matter seriously enough," said Mr. Nape -severely; "we have a certain duty to our party; a certain responsibility -to our public; the whole district is ripe for change; the job of -dismissing the water-cart man has roused considerable feeling; the -appointment of the workhouse master's son to the position of rate -collector is a scandal--people are asking how long, how long?" - -"How long?" demanded the Duke. - -"How long," repeated Mr. Nape. - -"I mean how long have they been asking that remarkable question?" - -Mr. Nape coughed modestly. - -"It coincided with the appearance of our little leaderette on -'Subconscious Corruption,'" he admitted. - -As to the letter of apology, the Duke silenced criticism with -extraordinary brusqueness. The change in the policy of the _Aristocrat_ -was revolutionary. It affected Mr. Nape dismally, it affected Mr. R. B. -Rake, editor of the _L. & L._ staggeringly--it had a paralysing effect -upon the household at Hydeholme. - -"Now what on earth is the meaning of this," demanded the knight. He -stabbed the newspaper with his short forefinger. The article it referred -to was headed "An Open Letter." - -It began-- - -"To one whom I have offended." - -"That's me, of course," said the knight and read on. - -As he read and re-read he grew more and more bewildered, for this was an -apology, an abject grovelling plea for forgiveness. - -"_It is forbidden that I should see you----_" - -"Quite right," said Sir Harry. "I told William that under no -circumstance he was to admit him." - -"_My letters are returned unopened_" (Sir Harry smiled grimly. He _had_ -received a letter in the Duke's handwriting and had promptly reposted -it), "_and with every day comes a surer knowledge of my error in -opposing your will...._ - -"_It is this realization that has decided me upon my future conduct. -You wish me to go away--I will go. You wish me to be more -considerate_"--("I've never said so in so many words," commented the -knight)--"_you desire that I should forego all local ambition and retire -to the oblivion from whence I sprang--so be it._" - -"Remarkable," was all that Sir Harry could say. - -"_If I have caused you pain by my presumption_"--("Pain!" said Sir -Harry, and thought of the sixty thousand pounds)--"_I am sorry. I -return to the wilds, to the illimitable breadth and length of the -wilderness. Here on some waterless plain, where vultures hover in the -clear blue sky...._" - -"D'ye know," said Sir Harry helplessly. "D'ye know, Hal. I really -cannot understand this business. I really can _not_. Last week he was -referring to me as 'the sort of person who had made England what she -was'--in quite an objectionable way--spoke insultingly about the leather -trade and referred meaningly to Hidebound Arrogance. Now----!" - -"It's Tuppy!" said Hal. "I knew it would happen; Tuppy is the chap who -is working the oracle. As soon as the idea occurred to me I said, 'By -Jove! that's a corker!'" - -Sir Harry fixed his pince-nez more firmly on his nose and continued to -read-- - -"_I have dared too much_" ("I should jolly well say so," interjected -Hal), "_I have moved too fast and I pay the penalty. Our contract is -broken_" ("That's an important admission if he goes into court about the -lease," commented Sir Harry over his glasses); _"at the appointed time I -will remove myself. Farewell._" - -Sir Harry folded up the paper. He looked at Hal, and Hal looked at him. -Then Sir Harry took off his glasses, folded them and placed them -ceremoniously in his waistcoat pocket. - -"May we say," he queried with majestic calm, "that we have triumphed?" - -Strangely enough this "Open Letter" inspired the same question in the -mind of Alicia Terrill. - - - - VII - - -Luckily Mrs. Terrill, by her simple device of opening the folding doors -that separated the drawing-room from the breakfast-room, was able to -offer one fair sized apartment for the accommodation of her guests. -Built almost identically on the same lines as that occupied by the Duke, -No. 66 had been transferred (as the _Lewisham and Lee Mail_ in a -breathless article described it) into "a veritable bower of roses -equalling in stateliness and expensiveness the most splendid habitations -of Belgravia and the West End." - -It was Hal's idea that the conservatory at the back, and which, as in -the Duke's house, was an _annexe_ to the breakfast room, should be -converted, by means of three flags and a red carpet ("a lavish display -of bunting," said the _Lewisham and Lee Mail_), into a sort of throne -room. Hither Tuppy was conducted. - -Tuppy was very irritable and very beautiful in his dress kit, and one by -one the guests were ushered into the presence. - -Hal was a self-appointed M.C. - -"Mr. Gosser and Miss Gosser," announced Hal. - -"Glad to see you--how do you do." - -"Mr. James Fenton, Mrs. James Fenton and Mr. Fenton, Junior." - -"Happy to meet you--how de do?" - -"Mr. Copley, Mr. Minting, Mr. Arthur Brown." - -"Oh damn it! How de do, how de do?" wearily. It must be understood -that much of Tuppy's greeting was _sotto voce_. - -"Miss Sprager, who's a very fine fiddle player." - -"How de do--beastly cold isn't it?" - -"Mr. Willie Sime--brought any songs, Sime?" - -"Got a shocking cold, old chap." - -"Thank heavens--glad to meet you, Mr. Sime." - -"Mrs. Outram." - -"Weird old bird--how are you, Mrs. Outram, glad to meet you." - -"Mr. R. B. Rake, B.A. The editor of the _Lewisham_----" - -"I am honoured to make your acquaintance, my lord," said the boisterous -journalist, "there is no more pleasing feature of our modern life than -the democratizing of the peerage." - -"Noisy devil! How de do--glad to meet you." - -"Mr. Pulser, Mrs. Pulser, Miss Pulser." - -"Oh Lord! how many more of em? Glad to meet you, how de do?" There was -scarcely room to move, the guests overflowed into the hall and on to the -stairs. - -Sir Harry, wedged in one corner, surveyed the scene with a glow of -pardonable pride. To him it represented the Duke's _coup de grace_. - -Mr. Rake wormed his way through the press of people to his side. - -"Well, sir?" demanded Mr. Rake. - -He said this in a tone that suggested that he had only omitted "what did -I tell you?" out of pure politeness. - -For Mr. Rake had an unpleasant knack of claiming personal credit for all -and sundry happenings, from weddings to earthquakes, no matter how -little he had to do with their instigation, that had earned for him -amongst his colleagues the title of "Prophet of the Afterwards." - -"This, I think," Mr. Rake went on, "effectively settles our friend." - -Sir Harry nodded. - -"The letter of course was the official suicide, this might aptly be -described as the wake." - -Arousing no enthusiasm he continued-- - -"What a remarkable man Lord Tupping is!" - -"Yes." - -"So popular!" - -"So it appears." - -"Everybody is simply charmed with him! It is 'Lord Tupping this' and -'Lord Tupping that' on every hand!" - -"Yes, yes," said Sir Harry indulgently, "Tuppy is a good fellow." The -good fellow at that moment was expostulating with Hal. - -"Now look here, Tanny, old friend," he said firmly. "I'm not goin' to -meet anybody else. I'm sick of this business an' I'm dashed if I'm -goin' to stick it any longer." - -"It will be soon over, old man," soothed Hal, "we've finished the Duke." - -"Oh!" said Tuppy absently. - -"Yes--didn't you see the letter he wrote to the governor in his rag." - -"No," said the innocent Tuppy. - -"What! not the bit about the vultures in the air, and the brazen sky!" - -"Blue sky," corrected Tuppy, and went on hastily, "I suppose you mean -blue, don't you?" - -"Blue or brazen," said Hal carelessly, "it was a lot of infernal rot." - -"My dear old feller," said Tuppy huffishly, "eminent strategist an' -military authority as you are, incisive analyst of character as you may -be; rampin' rhetorician an' high steppin' logician as in all probability -you imagine yourself to be, I cannot accept your dictum on literary -quality or diction. I thought that vulture touch was exceptionally -imaginative, and the introduction of the blue sky supremely delicate." - -"Anybody would think that you had written that bit yourself," chaffed -Hal. Tuppy was not to be appeased. - -"That's beside the question," he complained. - -Then Alicia interrupted them. - -She monopolized Tuppy, and Hal, after a vain attempt to join in the -conversation, withdrew a little sulkily. - -"Lord Tupping," she asked, "aren't you feeling a terrible hypocrite?" - -"Not unusually so, dear lady," said Tuppy. - -"Sir Harry thinks that you are not on speaking terms with the Duke." - -Tuppy coughed. - -"At the present moment I ain't," he confessed, "it is over a little -question as to whether potatoes should be boiled with salt. I say -without, but he's a most obstinate beggar lately--since his trouble." - -Alicia ignored the addition. - -"Who wrote that dreadful letter," she asked suddenly. - -"What letter?" Tuppy's face was a blank. - -"Oh, please don't pretend that you are ignorant--that wretched letter -full of nonsensical----" - -Tuppy drew himself up. - -"Dear lady," he said stiffly, "if you refer to the vultures----" - -With a woman's quick intuition she guessed at the authorship of that -piece of imagery. - -"No--I am not referring to that portion of the letter," she said -tactfully, "in fact I thought that little touch rather fine," she added, -inwardly praying for forgiveness, "but the letter in general--the whole -idea, it was the Duke's, of course?" - -"The less imaginative part was the Duke's," confessed Tuppy, "the crude -outlines, so to speak, the framework----" - -"Well," she broke in, speaking rapidly, "you are to tell the Duke that -he must not do such a thing again; I will not receive farewell messages -through the public press--indeed, you may tell him that nothing will -induce me to read the paper again." - -"I say," protested Tuppy, "don't say it! Next week's letter ain't half -bad----" - -"Next week!" Alicia's blood boiled. "Do you mean to tell me that he -dares to repeat----" - -"He's written twenty already," said the informer, "some of 'em good, -some of 'em so, so. There's a very fine one called 'The Profits of -Penitence' that'll appear in the Christmas number. That's a -tremendously touchin' thing--about Christmas bells an' children dyin' in -the snow." - -Alicia had no words by now. - -She gained self-possession with an effort. - -"You--must--tell--the--Duke," she began. - -"Why not tell him yourself," suggested Tuppy. - -Somebody at the far end of the room had just finished singing, and -people who had found seats were smiling sweetly at people who were -standing. And people who were standing were smiling back and saying -"selfish pig" under their breaths, when Sir Harry mounted a chair, and -instantly the hum of talk died down. - -"My friends," said Sir Harry, "I feel that we cannot separate to-night -without my saying a few words concerning the object of this gathering -(cheers). We have met together to do honour to our neighbour, Lord -Tupping (loud cheers). - -"Heaven and earth!" fretted Tuppy, "why doesn't he leave me alone?" - -"Lord Tupping," Sir Harry went on, "has shown us, by example, the -attitude of the typical English peer. Dignified, yet gracious; -reserved, yet approachable; he combines generosity with restraint and is -a striking contrast to the pseudo-nobleman, whose unedifying behaviour -has, I think I am right in saying, scandalized our beautiful suburb." - -"I say! I say!" said Tuppy indignantly, but nobody heard him. - -"As oil to water," said Sir Harry, "as the genuine is to fictitious, so -is the old nobility to the upstart--I should say, so is the English -nobility to the--er--foreign: they do not mix; they have nothing in -common; their ideals are separated by an immeasurable gulf." - -"We cannot but be sensible," the knight proceeded, when there was a -commotion at the doorway and a tall man pushed his way through. It was -the Duke, hatless, pale and a little breathless. - -"Tuppy!" he called, and to Sir Harry's amazement the object of his -panegyric came half-way to meet him. In the silence that fell upon the -assembly every word of the conversation was audible. - -"Tuppy, did you come over the garden wall to-night?" was his astounding -question. - -"No, old feller." - -"Sure?" - -"Sure, dear boy." - -The Duke stood thinking. - -"Then you didn't drop this," he said and held out his hand. - -It held a silver-mounted cigar case. - -Sir Harry recognized it with a smothered oath. It was the case he had -given to Bill Slewer. - -"It is inscribed 'Harry Tanneur,'" said the Duke, "and the gentleman who -dropped it in his hurry left me a further token of his regard." - -He held up his other hand, and Alicia gave a little cry, for the hand -was swathed in a pocket handkerchief, ominously scarlet. - - - - - *Part V* - - *THE DUKE ADVENTURES* - - *I* - - -It was nearing the period when "something would have to be done." These -were Olejoe's exact words. With an action pending in the High Court, -the presence of the brokers' man was suggestive rather than conclusive. -Olejoe was a splendid splash of colour, a picturesque accessory, but as -Tuppy pathetically complained, he had not as yet justified the trouble -and expense. - -It is true that with a silver salver in his hand he had replaced the -sedate servant. That he received visitors and showed them in; that clad -in his striking raiment he negotiated with the butcher and the milkman, -and that he was one of the Sights. More than this, he was admitted into -the family circle, and was invariably introduced to callers as "my -brokers' man" or "my possessionist," With Tuppy's coming the question of -Olejoe became a vital one. Tuppy, it may be said, was now an inmate of -64. A curt note from Sir Harry's solicitors had terminated his tenancy. -Supplementary to this was a letter from Sir Harry himself in which he -dealt freely in such phrases as "two-faced duplicity," "run with the -hare and hunt with the hounds," "betrayal of a sacred trust," and -similar happily coined phrases of opprobrium. - -"The perfectly horrible thing is," Tuppy said in bitterness of spirit, -"I've given up my flat in Charles Street, an' it's a thousand to thirty -the landlord won't take me back again, unless I pay something off the -old account." - -The Duke pressed him to stay, and Hank was extremely urgent in his -invitation. - -"The Duke should surely have somebody he can talk 'blighted hopes' to," -he said: in his capacity as An Authority on Women, Tuppy stayed. - -Thus Olejoe came to be a problem, for Tuppy brought the faithful Bolt, -and No. 64 was not built for the accommodation of a house party. - -Olejoe, therefore, became the pivot around which revolved a ceaseless -whirl of discussion. - -He was a Domestic Crisis. - -"Something must be done with Olejoe." - -This was the beginning and the end of the agenda under review. - -Olejoe was present at the most important of these. From time to time he -interjected expostulatory noises. - -"A Johnny man that I know," said Tuppy reminiscently--"I don't exactly -know him, but I owe his brother a hundred, which to all intents an' -purposes extends my acquaintance--because if _I_ don't know him, he is -pretty sure to have heard about _me_ from the brother fellow, who's a -deuce of a bleater about money affairs----" - -"I'll look him up in the Dictionary of National Biography," said the -Duke; "in the meantime, this man----?" - -"Well, this man used to go to the wooliest places--Africa an' Klondike -an' similar horrid spots outside the radius; used to go bug huntin', an' -lion fishin' an' bee-stalkin'. When he got something extra, in the way -of skins or wings or feathers he used to send it to Wards, have it -stuffed an' stuck up in his library. When I say 'library' I mean the -place he used to sleep in on Sunday afternoons. But if he got something -extra-extra, somethin' stupendously gape-ish, such as a pink lion or a -sky-blue rattlesnake--somethin' absolutely priceless, he used to give it -to some dashed museum. There was insanity in the family, mind you." - -The Duke cast a calculating glance at Olejoe. - -"We might leave him at the South Kensington," he mused. - -"Stuffed?" suggested Hank. - -"In a box," said Tuppy enthusiastically, "with a rippin' big label on -the top, 'A present to the Nation from a True friend' or some rot like -that." - -"Or in lieu of conscience money," said the Duke, "from two who have -robbed the inland revenue, asking finder to notify the same in the -_Times_ newspaper." - -"Gents," said Olejoe with a forced smile, "foreigners I've always been -obligin' to, without the word of a lie. Orgin grinders, ice-cream -blokes, an' ladies who tell your fortune with little dickey birds wot -pick a bit of paper out of the box to tell you whether your husband will -be dark or fair, an' how many children you're goin' to have. If you -treat others well, you can expect to be treated well yourself. Do unto -others as thyself would be done is a sayin' old an' true--so no larks, -if you please." - -"When you started that interestin' exposition on tolerance of the -alien," said Tuppy aggrieved, "I was under the impression you were goin' -to say somethin' particularly apposite." - -"No larks," confirmed Olejoe. - -"Say," said Hank suddenly, "what's the matter with sendin' him to the -Tanneur guy?" - -"Alive?" asked Tuppy in a matter of fact tone that made Olejoe shiver. - -"Why sure; send him along with a tag tied to his coat--it's gettin' -round about the festive season when you give away things you've no use -for." - -"I feel certain," said the Duke, "that Olejoe could be used for some -wise purpose. An age that has found employment for bye-products in -general, should not be at a loss for using up this variety. The -difficulty about the knight is that he's going abroad." - -"Abroad?" - -"Abroad--whether that means a season at the Riviera or an exploration of -the Sandwich Islands, I cannot say. But abroad he's going, or gone." - -"We couldn't send our dear old friend as a courier?" questioned Tuppy. -"A sort of unofficial dragoman?" - -But the Duke shook his head. - -"The situation is this," he said. "We take a house; the knight buys out -our landlord; we refuse to pay rent; the knight puts a broker's man in; -we're tired of the broker; we've no room for the broker; he has outlived -his usefulness; _Q._ What should A do with B? - -"We might, of course, bury him in the garden," the Duke went on, "thus -enriching the soil; we might wait for a foggy night, take him out and -lose him----" - -"Monty! I've got it!" - -The inspiration had come to Tuppy with extraordinary suddenness. - -"Pay him out." - -"What?" - -"Pay the rent," said Tuppy solemnly; "it's unusual in cases like this, -an' it's a bad precedent: but as a solution it's got points you could -hang your hat on." - - - - II - - -It is a fault of some authors, that they persistently refuse to -introduce characters into their stories, unless those characters in the -course of the narrative, perform an act or acts, of such transcendent -importance as to make the story impossible without their presence. -Accordingly we are familiar with the faithful servant who meanders -through 300 pages with little to say for himself save "Dinner is served, -your Grace," and "His lordship has not yet returned from 'unting, -m'lady;" who is deliciously obscure until the end of the book, when he -gives his life for the children, or produces the missing will. We know -of governesses, pretty and otherwise, who are the merest shadows for -twenty chapters, but enter into their kingdom in the twenty-first, when -they accuse the Earl of unblemished character of being the father of the -beggar boy. - -I could have wished that Olejoe might have passed from these pages -naturally, and without fuss, just as people pass from the real pages of -life, without ostentation, noiselessly ignoring the rules of the -theatre, which demand that no character shall leave the stage without an -effective "line" to take them "off," such as "We meet to-morrow!" or -"Look to it, Sir George--look to it!" or in the cases of more important -figures, a long and heroic peroration. - -The rules of the theatre do not insist upon heroics for a part like -Olejoe's. I think something like this would have fulfilled all -requirements-- - -Olejoe (_one foot on doorstep, bundle slung over shoulder_): - - Farewell, my lord. - Farewell, my noble Duke: the elms shall bud - To greeny leafness, and the summer sun - Shall gild the cupula of this great house. - I pass to winter, to an endless night, - Bereft of your bright presence: for this gold, - This token of your grace, my charged heart - Puts lock upon my tongue (_business with handkerchief_). - Farewell! - - -There were, as it happened, certain lines to be said by Olejoe in the -natural course of events, for the broker's man shares with the waiter, -the boots, the chambermaid, and the hotel porter the same characteristic -and absolute repugnance to effacement. - -The bailiff's receipt lay on the table, and Olejoe in a ducal coat, a -lordly pair of trousers and a cowboy hat, the united contributions of -the household, took the handsome tip the Duke had delicately slipped -into his hand, and with tearful eyes expressed his gratitude. - -"Gents all," said Olejoe, who had little knowledge of and regard for the -stateliness of blank verse, "as man to man I'm obliged to you. If I've -done anything that I oughtn't have done I ask your pardon. I've had me -dooty to do an' I've done the same to the best of my ability. I've -always found you to be gentlemen, an' if any one sez contrary, it'll be -like water on a duck's back--in at one ear an' out at the other. If I -can ever do you a turn as far as lays in me power, I'm ready an' -willin', an' with these few remarks I thank you one an' all," which was -a highly creditable speech. - -So passed Olejoe, and I would that no further necessity existed for -introducing him again, so that I might emphasize my protest against -convention in art. - -"The House will now go into committee," said the Duke, "on a purely -personal matter--Hank, I'm feeling most horribly worried." - -"If it's the eternal feminine woman," said Hank rising quickly, "as I've -got a hunch it is, you'll find me in the back lot plantin' snowdrops." - -"You're beastly unsympathetic," complained the indignant Duke, "here are -two loving hearts----" - -"Anatomy," said Hank at the doorway, "is a science I've no love for -since the day the Dago doctor of Opothocas Mex. amputated my little toe -under the mistaken impression that ptomaine poisonin' was somethin' to -do with the feet." - -"What we've got to do now," said Tuppy, when the unromantic Hank had -disappeared, "is to get somethin' particularly touchin', I'm afraid I've -spoilt the other letters, by unintelligently anticipatin' the contents." - -"What an ass you were, Tuppy," said the Duke testily, and Tuppy -cheerfully agreed. - -For two hours they sat composing the wonder working epistle. - -"To whom it may concern," it was addressed, and began "What is life? -says Emerson." - -"That's a fool start," said Tuppy. "Why drag in old man Emerson -anyway?" - -"Can you suggest a better?" asked the Duke tartly. - -"What's the matter with this," asked Tuppy, "you know the Tennyson -stuff." He knit his forehead in the effort of remembrance. Then he -recited, filling in the blanks as well as he could-- - - It's jolly true tum-tum befall, - I feel it tum-tum tum-tum most; - It's better to have loved a gal - Than never to have loved at all! - - -"Rotten," said the Duke. - -"I don't think I have quite got the lines right," Tuppy owned, "but any -feller can see the drift of the thing." - -"If ever I write poetry, Tuppy," said the Duke solemnly, "I should be -very grateful if you would refrain from quoting it." - -The Emerson opening was allowed to stand. Tuppy made another determined -effort to introduce a flower of poetry into the letter when it was -nearing completion. - -"Look here, Monty. Why not work in that bit about - - Love to a girl is a thing apart, - 'Tis a feller's whole existence?" - - -"Partly," said the Duke, "out of respect for the dead, whom you are -misquoting. It runs 'Love to a _man_ is a thing impart!'" - -"She wouldn't know the difference," said the sanguine lord. - -"That's beside the question: this is supposed to be an open letter -addressed to Sir Harry; I can't chuck words of poetry at his unfortunate -head--after all he's been punished enough." - -They broke off their composition to join Hank in the garden whilst the -sedate servant laid the table for lunch. - -So far from planting snowdrops Hank had established himself in the -little green-house at the end of the garden--a warm cosy little -greenhouse on a wintry day--and ensconced in a deck chair had fallen -asleep. They woke him by the simple expedient of opening the door wide -and letting in a rush of icy cold air. - -"Notice anything strange about next door?" yawned Hank, and the Duke -started. - -"No," he replied with a shade of anxiety in his voice. "What is it?" - -"Blinds down, shutters up--general air of desolation," enumerated Hank. - -The Duke looked quickly and raced into the house. The sedate servant -(his name was Cole) was folding a serviette. - -"Cole," said the Duke sternly, "where are the people next door?" - -"Gone, m'lord," said Cole. - -"Gone! when did they go! Where have they gone, and why on earth was I -not told." - -"They went last night, m'lord," said Cole, "they have gone to -Bournemouth if I am accurately informed--my source of information is the -butcher----" - -"The postman would have been better," said the Duke reprovingly. - -"The postman is an extremely reticent person and moreover is a radical -who does not approve of Us," said Cole. "The butcher, on the contrary, -stands for landed interest and the established church." - -"Excellent," said the Duke, "proceed." - -"They left last night," Cole went on dealing with the questions in -order, "which accounts for the fact that I did not inform your grace, -information having arrived with chops--ten minutes ago." - -Cole paused deferentially, then continued, "If your grace will remember, -I suggested a joint for to-day's lunch, a suggestion which was not -acceptable. Had it been a leg of mutton, your grace would have been -informed two hours ago--the joint requiring that extra time to cook, and -the butcher in consequence calling earlier." - -"You are vindicated, Cole," said the Duke sadly-- - -As they disposed of the dilatory chop at lunch the Duke was -exceptionally quiet. "I don't know why they've gone away," he said at -last, "but I'm not so sure that their departure isn't providential." - -"My mind was runnin' on the same set of rails," said Hank. He pushed -back his plate and produced a cigar. "Duke, it's about time we settled -Big Bill for good an' all." - -"Don't tell me," said Tuppy hastily, "that your shootin' friend is in -the neighbourhood?" - -Hank nodded slowly. - -"Here last night, wasn't he, Dukey?" - -"He was," said the Duke absently. - -"We traced his little footsteps in the garden bed," said Hank. - -"But, my dear foolish Transatlantic cousin," protested Tuppy, "the -police, old friend! The dashed custodians of public peace an' order! -What the dooce do you pay rates an' taxes an' water rates an' gas bills -for!" - -"The police?" Hank smiled. "Oh, the police are all right: but there's -nothing doin' with the police. This is a feud for private circulation -only." - -"But!" cried Tuppy violently and unpleasantly excited, "it's distinctly -unfair to our splendid constabulary; you oughtn't to be selfish, old -feller--suppose this horrid person with his unsportin' revolver killed -_me_! Oh, you can laugh, dear bird, but it'd be doosid unpleasant for -me!" - -"I'm not laughing, Tuppy," said the Duke seriously, "I can quite -understand your funk----" - -"My dear good misguided an' altogether uncharitable friend," said Tuppy, -greatly pained, "it isn't funk--I'm notoriously rash as a matter of -fact: why my discharge was suspended for bein' rash an' hazardous--they -were the Official Receiver's own words. No, it isn't funk, it's an -inherited respect for the law." - -He was considerably ruffled. - -"Well, let me say I can appreciate your law-abiding spirit," said the -Duke, "but as Hank said, this isn't a case for the police: it's a purely -personal matter between Mr. Slewer and myself. But because the beggar -is getting over bold, it is necessary to clip his wings--this is our -opportunity." - -It was at this point that Olejoe made his reappearance. Cole announced -him and the Duke, somewhat astonished, ordered him to be brought in. - -He entered smiling somewhat vacantly, and stood unsteadily by the door -holding his hat in his hand. - -"A friend's a friend," he said thickly, "an' a friend in need is a -friend in--deed." He smiled benevolently. "There's them," he said with -a sneer, "that don't believe all they hear an' only half what they see. -There's them that wouldn't believe people could be crowned an' sat on a -throne an' all." His smile became indulgent. "Me an' a friend of -mine," he went off at an angle, "not exactly a friend but a chap I know, -went up to the West end. His name was Harry." - -"Olejoe," said the Duke sternly, "go home." - -"'Arf a moment," said Olejoe, "I'm coming to the part that will knock -you out. D'ye know the _White Drover_ outside Victoria Station? It's a -house I seldom use. But Harry does, so we went in." - -"I gathered that much," said the Duke. - -"'What's yours,' sez Harry. 'No,' I sez, 'it's my turn, what's yours?' -'No,' sez Harry, 'I'll pay, what's yours?' 'No,' I sez--" - -"Cut it out," pleaded Hank, "forget it----" - -"... when I heard a chap speakin' in the next bar: a private bar with -red velvet seats. An American chap he was, like Hank." - -It is a proof of Olejoe's exhilaration that he said "Hank" calmly and -coolly and without a blush. - -"He sez--the American chap--'I'm layin' for Dukey,' an' the other feller -(I'll tell you his name in a minute, it'll come as a terrible surprise -to you) sez 'Do nothin' yet,' just like that 'do nothin' yet!' - -"'I've got an idea,' sez this chap--not the American chap--'that when -this Duke person finds my niece has gone with us to Merroccer----'" - -"To Morocco?" queried the Duke eagerly. - -"To Merroccer," repeated Olejoe, "the same place as the leather--'when -he finds I've persuaded my niece (I'll tell you who she is in a minute: -I'm keepin' that back to the last), when he finds I've took my niece for -a holiday to Merroccer the chances are,' sez the old boy, 'he'll come -after her. Now if the Duke goes to Merroccer,' sez the chap--you'll -never guess his name, not if you guess for a million years--'if the Duke -goes to Merroccer. I don't care a damn what you do--in Merroccer.'" - -"Tuppy," said the Duke quickly, "you can stay out of this business if -you like: if you come in there'll be no risk and a lot of amusement. -Will you come?" - -"Like a shot," said Tuppy. - -"No, you'd never guess..." Olejoe was saying. - -"We've time to pack and catch the two-twenty from Cannon Street. Just -take a few things--we can buy what we want in Paris." - -They made a rush from the room. - -"You'd never guess," Olejoe rambled on with closed eyes and swaying -slightly, "who the old feller was, and who the young lady was ... now," -with a heavy jocularity, "I'll give you three guesses...." - -He was still talking when the door slammed behind the adventurers. - - - - III - - -There are limitations even to the powers of dukes. - -For instance, even a Duke starting forth at 2.30 to catch the 2.20 from -Charing Cross is hardly likely to succeed, unless he performs one of -those miracles of which one hears in the course of destructive and -pessimistic parliamentary debate, to wit: put back the hands of time. - -There was time to shop and time to reflect. Time also to wire to the -sedate Cole and give instructions for the management of the house during -the Duke's absence. It gave Mr. Bill Slewer time also to discover the -Duke's plans--the Duke's instructions to Cole had included a counsel of -frankness as to his whereabouts. - -The party left London by the nine o'clock train--that same -"Continental," that Hank had "flagged"--and the crossing from Dover to -Calais was a pleasant one to Tuppy's infinite relief. They arrived in -Paris before daybreak, and idled away that day and the next. The -Tanneurs were in Paris, if report was true. The work of investigation -was to be divided. - -"You do the magazins, Tuppy," said the Duke, "if you hang round the -shopping centre you are pretty sure to spot 'em." - -The Duke haunted the Louvre, Hank systematically went through the hotel -lists. Tuppy, after spending ten minutes examining the contents of a -jeweller's shop window in the Rue de la Paix, came back to the hotel -thoroughly exhausted. - -By accident they learnt that the Tanneurs had gone on to Madrid, and -there was a wild rush to catch the Sud Express. They caught it by the -narrowest of margins. At Bordeaux, Tuppy got out to buy some French -papers: by the merest chance met a man he knew; exchanged greetings and -inquiries, spoke rudely of the dowager ... the Sud Express was half-way -to the border before Tuppy realized that he ought to have been on it.... - -Accordingly there was a day lost at Biarritz where the chafing Duke -waited for Tuppy to catch up. - -In Madrid, they had no difficulty in finding out that the Tanneurs had -arrested their progress at Avila. - -Back to the walled city dashed the adventurers. As their train came -clanging into the station, the south bound express drew out and the Duke -caught a glimpse of Alicia's slim figure standing at the window of a -saloon--and swore. They returned to Madrid the same night, by a train -that stopped at every station, and sometimes between stations. It -discharged them, weary, bedraggled and extremely cross, at the Medina in -the middle of the night. - -Hank alone of the trio was imperturbable. Nothing shook the nerves or -disturbed the serenity of the American. His inevitable cigar between -his teeth, he surveyed the chill desolation of the dreary terminus with -bland benevolence. - -It was Tuppy's fault that they missed the Sevilla Express. Tuppy, -acquiring a sudden and passionate love for art, strayed through the -Prado, lingered in the Valesquez Room, melted into a condition of -ecstatic incoherence, before the wonders of Titian, the glories of -Rubens, and the beauty of Paul Veronese, and finally contrived to get -himself locked in at closing time. - -He was discovered by a watchman, pounced upon as an international -burglar, arrested, and finally released, after considerable trouble, in -which the British ambassador, the Minister of Marine and the Duke were -involved. - -"It is no use your being angry, my dear old ferocious friend," said the -penitent Tuppy. "Unfortunate as my intrusion into the realms of art may -be, I merely illustrate the sayin' of that remarkable German feller who -wrote a play about the devil, that Art is long an' time's doocid short, -and dear old Titian an' cheery old Velasquez wait for no man." - -"My dear man, you had a time table." - -"Assure you, old feller, I hadn't." - -"But I gave you one; a little red book." - -"So you did," said Tuppy thoughtfully, "a little red book with egg -marks. Now d'ye know," he said in a burst of confidence, "I didn't know -that dashed thing was a time table." - -"What the dickens did you think it was?" asked the Duke in tones of -annoyance, "a set of sleeve links?" Thenceforward Tuppy behaved like a -perfect gentleman. The Duke went further and said that Tuppy behaved -like a perfect nuisance. - -For if a train was due to leave at seven, and breakfast was ordered at -six o'clock, you might be sure that somewhere in the neighbourhood of 4 -a.m. Tuppy would thrust his head into the Duke's apartment with an -anxious inquiry. - -"Time's a bouncin', old feller, what?" he would ask. "I hear people -movin' downstairs--are you quite sure about that train?" - -"For goodness' sake, Tuppy, go to sleep," said the Duke on one occasion, -and Tuppy withdrew--but not to slumber. Tuppy would begin packing. You -could hear Tuppy's boots falling on the bare floor of the Spanish -hotel--you could hear Tuppy's apologetic "damn!" Then he whistled -softly and with heart-breaking flatness the "Soldiers' Chorus"; then he -took a stealthy bath--blowing like a grampus and with a sibilant hissing -that suggested an ostler at his toilet. Then there came from his room a -squeaking and a grunting as Tuppy manipulated his physical developer. -Then a thunderous crash! as the dumbells fell to the floor--at this -point the Duke would rise and address feeling remarks to his friend. - -Such a programme as I have outlined is faithfully typical of what -happened in Cordova, in Seville, in Ronda, in Algeciras and in -Gibraltar. It was at Ronda that the Duke came up with his quarry. - -Alicia, breakfasting alone in the airy little "comidor" of the Station -Hotel saw a shadow fall across the doorway but did not look up from the -book she was reading. - -When she did, she met the smiling eyes of the Duke and half rose with -outstretched hands. Of course it was only an unconscious impulse, but -it was unnecessary to go half way with the Duke. He greeted her as -though they had parted but yesterday, the best of friends. - -He had the valuable gift of taking up, where he had left off--you never -saw the joint in the Duke's friendship. - -Alicia thought rapidly. - -After all one cannot offer one's hand and snatch it instantly back -again. It had been foolish of her, unmaidenly perhaps, indiscreet no -doubt, but here she was chatting gaily with the Duke. - -"We left mother in Paris, my aunt is with us, we've had most perfect -weather...." - -She noticed that she was "Miss Terrill" to him--there was a negative -satisfaction in that. So, apparently he had not picked up the threads, -as they had dropped. Also he made no reference to their parting -interview, offered no explanations, was neither tragic nor mournful, -displayed, in fact, none of those interesting symptoms which usually -distinguish the young man of blighted hopes. He was the most -unconventional man Alicia had ever met. - -The interview had its embarrassing side as Alicia suddenly remembered. - -"My uncle will be down very soon," she said suddenly, "I don't think -that you and he are quite----?" she left the Duke to finish the -sentence. - -He rose. - -"We aren't--quite," he said. - -"I shall probably see you again," she smiled. She was perfectly -self-controlled, serenely mistress of herself and the situation. "Sir -Harry has read your Open Letters--I think he was touched by your -abasement," she said maliciously, and, I cannot help thinking, -incautiously. - -"Naturally," said the Duke calmly, "even an uncle has his feelings: to -know that his niece has inspired----" - -"Good-bye," she said hurriedly, "perhaps it would be better if you -didn't see me again." She added inconsistently, "We are going on to -Tangier to-morrow." - -"By Algeciras or by Cadiz?" queried the Duke. - -"By Algeciras and Gibraltar," said Alicia. "Good-bye." - -She held out her hand nervously. - -The Duke took it, and kissed her. - -"Oh!" cried Alicia. - -The Duke looked surprised. - -"What is the matter?" he asked and stroked his cheek. "I'm shaven?" - -"How--how dare you?" she said hotly. - -"Dare?" The Duke was puzzled. "Why, aren't you engaged to me?" - -"You know I'm not! You know I've returned your hateful ring--you -know----" - -The Duke stopped her with an imperious gesture. "As to that matter," he -said graciously, "will you accept my assurance that I have entirely -overlooked it? Please never mention it again." - -He left her with a confused feeling that somehow and in some manner she -was under an obligation to him. - - - - IV - - -_El Mogreb Alaska_, that enterprising sheet, duly announced the arrival -of the Duke's party. "Unfortunately," said the journal, "one member of -the Duke's entourage, the Rt. Hon. the Lord Tupping, was left behind at -Gibraltar through some mistake as to the hour of the sailing of the -_Gibel Musa_." - -From which it may be gathered that Tuppy had fallen from grace. He came -on by the next boat--two days later, with a tentative grievance. That -is to say, it was a grievance that he was prepared, to withdraw in the -absence of any reproach on the part of the Duke. - -Tuppy had been spending a day with a friend who was Deputy-Adjutant -Something or other to the forces. - -"I didn't mistake the hour, Monty, old feller," he explained eagerly, "I -was down on the dashed pier, with all my traps, gazin' pensively at the -lappin' waves an' the sea-gulls circlin' on rigid pinions an' all that, -waitin' for you, when it occurred to me that you were a doosid long time -comin'. So I drove to your hotel an' found you'd left the day before." - -They sat in the big hall of the Continental Hotel. From the narrow -street without, came the sing-song intonation of young Islam at its -lessons, and the pattering of laden donkeys. Tuppy talked to the Duke -but was looking elsewhere. - -Hank had found some countrywomen of his, and surrounded by all that was -best and beautiful in Ohio, was solemnly narrating for their especial -benefit a purely fanciful description of a Moorish harem. One face in -that circle attracted Tuppy strangely. - -"Then there's the laundry wife who does the washin', an' the cook wife -who does the cooking, an' the washin'-up wife, an' the sock wife who -darns the socks----" - -"Oh, Mr. Hankey, you're jollying us?" - -"No, sir," said Hank firmly, "when I was American Minister at Fez in -'82...." - -Tuppy's explanations, having been satisfactorily exploited, the Duke -listened with amusement to the procession of unfounded statements Hank -was leading forth for the benefit of the fair Americans. - -"Do you know, Mr. Hankey," said one suddenly, "we really don't believe a -word you're saying. For one thing I'm sure you was never the favourite -of the Sultan or we should have read about it in the New York Sunday -papers. And I'm certain you never married the Sultan's daughter, -Fatima, because you'd just be ashamed to confess it to a lot of nice -American girls. You're just a new-comer like the American we met on the -Fez Road who asked our guide where the nearest Beer Hall was." - -A shriek of laughter greeted this innocent jest. Hank sat up, his lazy -voice became immediately incisive. - -"On the Fez Road--an American?" - -"He was a man with white eyes," said a voice. - -"Oh, Mamie, how unkind! still his eyes _did_ look white." - -Hank shot a swift glance at the Duke, and the latter nodded. - -"I suppose," drawled Hank, "it would be a mighty improper question to -ask where this freeborn citizen of God's country is stayin' in Tangier." - -But nobody knew. They had met the man by accident, they had seen him -once in the Great Sok, more than this they could not say. - -Hank had picked up a servant, none other than Rabbit. - -Rabbit is a well-known figure in Tangier society. A waif of the -streets, a bravo, an adventurer, a most amusing child of nature was this -Rabbit--so-called because of a certain facial resemblance to bunny. It -may be said of Rabbit that he disobeyed most commands of the Prophet. -He drank, gambled, and was on friendly terms with the _giaour_. None -the less he rose at inconvenient hours of the night, tucked a praying -carpet under his arm and hied him to his orisons. Rabbit had curious -likes and dislikes; he was not everybody's man. - -His world had two names. The world that treated him well, and to whom -he attached himself, was "Mr. Goodman"; the world repugnant had a name -which has no exact equivalent in the English language, but which in -German would be "Mr. Shameless-dog-burnt-in-pitch-and-consigned-to-the -underworld." Hank was the time being his "Mr. Goodman," and to Rabbit -Hank delegated the task of discovering Bill. - -Rabbit discharged his task in three minutes. His procedure was simple. - -He strolled into the market place and found a small boy in tattered -jelab and very industriously kicking another small boy. Having -impartially smacked the heads of both, he sent them on their errand of -discovery. Then he went off to sleep. In an hour's time Rabbit -presented himself before Hank in a picturesque condition of exhaustion -and reported that Mr. Bill Slewer was staying at a little hotel near the -_Kasbah_. It was not exactly an hotel, said Rabbit frankly, but a House -of Experience, where strangers threw a Main with Fate. - -"The difficulty with Bill will be his unexpectedness," said the Duke, -"there is no place in the world more suitably situated for the springing -of a surprise than Tangier." - -"Where's Tuppy?" he asked. - -"Tuppy has found an ideal," said Hank, "something worshipful. Did I -introduce you to that pretty little girl from Drayton, Ohio?" - -"You introduced me to several pretty little girls from Drayton, Ohio," -said the Duke. - -"I mean the one that talks." - -The Duke drew a long breath. - -"The description is inadequate," he said, "do you mean the one that -sometimes doesn't talk?" - -Hank ignored the slight to his kindred. - -"The curious thing about it is that she hasn't a dollar an' Tuppy knows -it. Her father is just a plain American gentleman with a contempt for -millionaires: I doubt if his capital value runs into six -figures--dollars I mean." - -"Have you been matchmaking?" asked the Duke severely, and Hank blushed. - -"I've no use for lords an' suchlike foolishness," he confessed, "but -Tuppy has possibilities." His declaration in Tuppy's favour coincided -with one made by that worthy on his own behalf. - -He had at little trouble secured an introduction to the laughing girl -who had acted as Hank's interlocutor. - -Now, on the back of a gaily caparisoned mule, he was returning from an -excursion to the suburbs, and the girl who rode the donkey at his side -was listening demurely whilst Tuppy spoke upon his favourite -subject--which was Tuppy. - -"You must understand, Miss Boardman," he said, "that mine is a blighted -life: I'm a piece of humanity's flotsam, a pathetic chunk of wreckage on -the sea of human existence." - -"Oh, no, Lord Tupping," murmured the girl. - -"It's true," said Tuppy gloomily, "saddled by rank an' bridled by -circumstance" (this was his pet figure), "I've been outdistanced an' -outfaced in the Marathon of Life. My whole nature, naturally pure an' -confidin', has been warped an' distorted by a variety of conditions, an' -even the early grave to which I would extend a fervent welcome--steady, -you beast." He jerked back the reins of his prancing mule, readjusted -his hat and eye-glass and proceeded--"The merciful dissolution for which -I yearned was denied me, an' doomed to tread the thorny path that leads -to oblivion--I'll knock your head off if you don't keep quiet--doomed to -stalk, if I may use the expression--a sad shadow amidst the laughin' -throng, I've become a wretched, embittered creature." - -"Oh, no, Lord Tupping!" dissented the girl. - -"Sometimes," Tuppy proceeded recklessly, "I'm in such a dashed horridly -low state that I don't care _what_ happens--when I would gladly change -places with fellers goin' out to war, an' all that sort of thing. I -_did_ volunteer for the Boer war, but my stupid man forgot to post the -letter." - -"How splendid!" said the girl with her eyes sparkling, "have you ever -been to war, Lord Tupping?" - -"Not exactly _to_ war," said Tuppy carefully, "_in_ the wars, yes; but -not _to_ war." - -Earlier in the afternoon he had gently broken to her the story of his -_mesalliance_. - -"I was a boy at the time an' she was a prima donna." He could not bring -himself to own up to a strong woman. "We parted practically at the -church door," he went on with melancholy relish, "information came to me -that she was already married. I dropped her--or rather I gave her the -opportunity of droppin' me." - -"How chivalrous! it must have been a painful experience." - -"It was," said Tuppy emphatically, "more painful for me than for her." - -They threaded a way through the crowd in the Great Sok. - -"Now, Miss Boardman," said Tuppy, "you know all that is to be known -about me. I've told you," he said moodily, "more than I've ever told any -feller." - -Tuppy believed, when he said this, he was speaking the truth. It was -the surest sign of his confidence and friendship, that he added to the -history of his life--a history filed in most newspaper offices, and -which appeared at regular intervals in the New York journals, indeed, -every time that the strong lady changed her husband--the assurance that -he had told his hearer "more than he had ever told anybody else." In -this Tuppy was not singular. - -But to the girl at his side, it was all very new, and all very, very -tragic, and there were tears in her eyes as her cavalier led the way -down the hill to the town. - -In spite of his confidence she was ill-prepared for the proposal that -followed. - -It was after dinner, when the cool breezes from the Atlantic made life -bearable; when the sea was bathed in moonlight and the shadowy Spanish -hills bulked mistily on the ocean's rim, that Tuppy declared himself. - -"Miss Boardman," he said suddenly--they were watching the sea from the -terrace of the Cecil--"d'ye know I'm nearly a beggar, broke to the wide, -unsympathetic world, up to my neck in debt." The attack was sudden and -the girl was alarmed. - -"Lord Tuppy--I'm--I'm sorry," she stammered. - -"That's all right," said Tuppy easily, "don't let that worry you. But I -wanted to tell you. An' there's another startlin' statement I want to -make, I've been talkin' with your father." - -"Have you?" faltered the girl. - -"I have," said Tuppy firmly, "I asked him straight out if he was one of -those millionaires that grow as thick as huckleberries in America." - -For a moment only the girl suspected his motive. - -"I was frank with him," said Tuppy, "so doosid frank that he nearly -chucked me out of the window, but wiser councils prevailed, as dear old -Milton says, an' he listened--Miss Boardman, you're not rich." - -She made no reply. - -"So that's why I'm goin' to ask you to come an' share a ninety pounds a -year baronial castle in the suburbs of London. I've got a little -income, enough to pay the rent an' buy a library subscription--will you -take me?" - -All this Tuppy said with an assumption of firmness that he was far from -feeling. - -"There's nothin' in me--I'm a reed an' a rotter." - -"Indeed you mustn't say that!" she pleaded. - -"I am," said Tuppy resolutely, "I'm a long worm that has no turnin', but -I offer you the homage of my declinin' years--is it a bet?" - -His voice shook. Tuppy was ever ready to be stirred by his own -emotions. - -"The title ain't much good to you, an' it ain't much good to me," he -said huskily, "it's a barren possession. An unpawnable asset that has -come unsullied through the ages--I offer it to you," his voice broke, -"for what it is worth." - -She accepted him, whereupon, I believe, Tuppy broke down and they wept -together. - - - - V - - -Sir Harry Tanneur had one admirable British quality. He had a supreme -contempt for the foreigner. If the foreigner happened to be, moreover, -of dusky hue, Sir Harry's scorn was rendered more poignant by a -seasoning of pity. He was totally fearless of all danger. He had never -been in danger except once, when he slipped up on a banana skin outside -the Mansion House and had all but fallen under an omnibus. Thereafter -Sir Harry was the avowed enemy of the banana industry and had carried -his prejudice to the extent of refusing to underwrite a Jamaica loan. -Danger with bullets in it, danger garnished with schrapnel; danger -indeed of the cut and thrust order; he knew nothing about, and was -accordingly genuinely amused when the British Vice-Consul advised him -not to venture too far from the city. - -"There's Valentini amongst the Riffi's, and El Ahmet playing round with -the Angera people, and a thousand and one cutthroats wandering about, -robbing each other," said the official, "altogether it is fairly unsafe -to move out of Tangier without an escort." - -Sir Harry smiled tolerantly. - -"Thanks," he said airily, "it's very proper of you, of course, to warn -me, you've got to protect your department, but I'm quite able to look -after myself, and if it comes to fighting," he chuckled, nodding at Hal, -"we've a fellow here who can teach these rascals a thing or two." - -Lieutenant Hal Tanneur of the 9th West Kent, remarked modestly that -there were one or two dodges, he could show them. - -So in spite of all warning, Sir Harry rode out on the Fez Road, with -Alicia on his left and the military gentleman on his right, and two -mules, bearing respectively a cold collation and Mahmud Ali, that -magnificent courier, guide, interpreter and bodyguard behind them. - -It was not as pleasant a ride as Alicia had anticipated. Sir Harry was -not in his very best mood, and Hal was sulky. That morning in the -market Sir Harry and his son had come face to face with the Duke. An -unexpected meeting for Sir Harry, who had not dreamt that the Duke would -so completely fulfil his prophecy. With some vague misgivings Sir Harry -remembered certain conversation with Bill Slewer. - -He had been vexed at the time, and had perhaps spoken hastily and -foolishly. He recalled dimly an historical parallel. A king had once -said in his anger "Will nobody rid me of the turbulent priest," and -straightway four rollicking spirits had driven over to Canonbury--or was -it Canterbury? and sliced off the head of a worthy bishop, Cardinal -Wolsey or somebody of the sort. These thoughts filled his mind as his -Arab barb trotted through the sand. - -In his annoyance he had accused Alicia of encouraging the Duke to follow -her, and she had indignantly denied it. Hal, rashly coming to the -support of his father, had been entirely and conclusively squashed. - -So three people rode forth on a picnic harbouring uncharitable thoughts -toward the Duc de Montvillier. - -Sir Harry's wrath was tinctured with fear because of Big Bill Slewer of -Four Ways, Texas. - -Hal's anger was inflamed by jealousy, for he was in love with his -cousin. - -Alicia's annoyance was directed against the Duke because he had been the -cause of her embarrassment. - -Was Bill Slewer in Tangier? Sir Harry had sent the imposing Mahmud Ali -to inquire, but Mahmud Ali had no familiars, as Rabbit had, and the -answer he brought to his employer was unsatisfactory. - -They rode in silence for an hour, with no sign of the enemy the -vice-consul had foreshadowed. Alicia was in ignorance of that -interview. Sir Harry had not deemed the conversation sufficiently -interesting to repeat. - -When they had reached the little hill whereon lunch was to be taken, he -unbent. Possibly a pint of excellent champagne was responsible for his -garrulity. - -"Danger?" said Alicia, looking nervously about. "Oh, uncle, what a -ridiculous thing to say." - -"So _I_ said, my dear," said Sir Harry; "with Gibraltar a stone's throw -away, and a British fleet to be had for the asking--it is all bosh to -talk about danger." - -"That is what _I_ said, governor," corrected Hal. "I pointed out that -Morocco is in too dicky a position to fool about with British -subjects--now who the devil is this?" - -His last words were addressed to nobody in particular and Alicia -followed the direction of his gaze. - -Over a sandy ridge two miles away, pranced two horsemen. "Pranced" is -the word, for that is the impression they conveyed. Hal, who was no fool -despite all contrary views that might be held, knew that they were -galloping pretty hard. - -"They are making straight for us," said Sir Harry, and his face was a -little pale. - -Hal jumped up and gave an order to the guide. "Pack these things up as -quick as you can," he ordered; "we can't be too careful." - -He raised his glasses and fixed them on the riders. Then he swore. - -"That damned Duke," he said and heard a long-drawn sigh behind him, -where Alicia stood. - -"Duke!" muttered Sir Harry, "confound the fellow! I thought it -was--er--well, never mind. Who's the other man?" - -"Who?" snorted Hal. "Who could it be, governor, but the Yankee person." - -"Hum," said Sir Harry. - -He was surprised to find that he did not resent the coming of his enemy -as much as he thought he should. He bowed stiffly as the two drew rein, -and was ready to be conventionally distant and polite. But he was -unprepared for the Duke's greeting. - -"What the dickens do you mean by coming out so far," demanded the Duke -angrily. "How dare you expose Alicia to this danger!" - -"Sir!" said the outraged knight. - -"Get up, get up on your horses," commanded the Duke unceremoniously and -like children they obeyed. Alicia stole a look at her lover. She -experienced a shock. - -His face was set and white, just as she had seen it twice before. There -were rigid lines about his mouth and face, and his underjaw was thrust -forward so that his whole face was transformed. - -"Trot!" he said shortly, and they began their journey homeward. - -Now and again Hank would turn in his saddle and look earnestly backward. - -"Have you any arms?" asked the Duke suddenly. - -"I have always made it a practice----" began Sir Harry. - -"Have you got arms?" the Duke cut him short. - -"No, I haven't!" - -The Duke's lips curled. - -"You wouldn't," he said and Sir Harry very rightly resented all that the -words implied. - -"Have you, Tanneur?" the Duke asked. - -"I've got a revolver," said Hal meekly. - -"Good; you, at least, have a glimmering of intelligence--do you see 'em, -Hank." - -The American shook his head. - -"There's a ridge running parallel with us," he said, pointing away to -the left. "I guess they are keeping up level, we'll see 'em soon." - -The girl looked at the deserted ridge and her heart beat faster. - -The Duke turned in his saddle and beckoned the guide. - -"Did you know where you were taking these people?" he asked. - -"By God and the prophet----!" the man protested. - -"You didn't know Valentini was holding these hills, eh?" - -The Duke's eyes glittered. - -"Keep close to us," he ordered, "if you try to bolt when the shooting -starts you're a dead man--sabe?" - -"Si, senor," stammered the guide. - -"Shooting! shooting!" spluttered Sir Harry, "is there any danger?" - -"Yes." - -"Danger to _us_?" - -He received no answer. - -For the next ten minutes they rode without speaking a word. Sir Harry -thought a great deal. - -"As you have taken so much trouble," he said at last, "I feel it is only -my duty as a Christian and a gentleman to tell you that I have every -reason to believe that an enemy of yours----" - -"Bill Slewer," interrupted the Duke brusquely. "Yes, I know all about -him. In fact I happen to know that he has prepared a little ambuscade -for my especial benefit. He is waiting for my return to-night." - -He said this in a matter-of-fact tone, as though referring to a dinner -engagement. Alicia looked at him in some concern, and he smiled. - -"I'm not worrying about Bill," he said; "it's----" He pointed to the -ridge. - - - - VI - - -"Crack!" - -The Duke's horse reared, but he pulled it down. - -"Half right--gallop!" - -He caught the bridle of the girl's horse, and cantered to where a little -hillock afforded a rough entrenchment. - -"Don't dismount, the hill covers you," he said, and plucked a carbine -from his saddle bucket. He handed the reins of his horse to Sir Harry -and swung to the ground. Hank followed him up the little hill, and -Alicia heard them talking. - -"Four hundred?" said Hank. - -"A little farther I should say," said the Duke; "this air is wonderfully -clear and deceptive." - -"We'll give 'em five hundred," concluded Hank. - -"That will be nearer the mark," agreed the Duke. - -Very deliberately they adjusted the sights of their carbines. "I -think," she heard the Duke say, "that the gentleman in the white -night-shirt is some sort of leader." - -Hank raised his weapon. For a moment his cheek cuddled the stock and -the slim barrel pointed at the invisible enemy. - -"Bang!" - -Her horse moved restlessly, and Sir Harry was all but unseated. - -"Bang!" - -The Duke fired. - -"Got him!" said Hank and waited. - -In a minute the two came running to their horses. "Gone to ground," -said the Duke briefly, and sprang into the saddle. - -There was no sign of the brigand's forces as they emerged from the -sheltering hill. On the sandy slope of the ridge there was a little -patch of white lying very still. The girl averted her eyes. - -The party now struck off to the right. - -"I had hoped," said the Duke, "to have entered Tangier by some other -route than that." He pointed ahead to where a little clump of trees -suggested a human habitation. - -"But isn't this the nearest way," asked Alicia wonderingly. They could -see the stretch of the Fez Road as it dipped and wound across the plain. - -"It is," said the Duke grimly. - -He did not tell her all--it seemed unnecessary. He had learnt something -of Mr. Slewer's movements, and Bill had discovered something of his. - -For example, Bill learnt of the Duke's pig-sticking expedition and had -carefully gone over the route the Duke would take. Neither the Duke nor -Hank had made any secret of their intention, and it was a simple matter -to convey their plans to Bill. - -"We might as well get it over," said the Duke, "let Bill know we are -going out, and see what he does." - -What Bill did was to ride out of Tangier and select a likely spot for a -"meeting." In an excess of diffidence he chose a place where he could -see without himself being seen; where he might shoot without running the -risk of being shot--a not unnatural selection. - -Unfortunately for Bill there was a rabbit-faced gamin mounted on a sorry -donkey, who ambled in his rear. When the man from Texas halted at the -little wood three miles outside the town and made a careful -reconnaissance, the rabbit-faced young man was an interested observer. -He duly reported to the Duke. - -Now, as the fugitives moved toward the Fez Road, the Duke felt that he -was between the devil and the deep sea. Had he and Hank been alone, -there would have been little or no cause for anxiety. Indeed the -adventure was one of his own seeking, and had been anticipated with some -satisfaction. He remembered this and reproached himself. - -Without Alicia there would be no cause for anxiety--it would have been -amusing to have seen Sir Harry under fire. Particularly Bill's fire! - -"Look out!" said Hank. - -They were nearing the wood, but that was not the cause of Hank's -warning. - -Their pursuers had thrown off all pretence of concealment and had come -into the open. The Duke calculated that they numbered thirty in all. - -There were three men on their right flank and four on their left, and -the remainder galloped behind. - -"They are trying to head us off," said Hank. - -"Crack! crack!" - -"Firin' from their horses--_that_ won't do much harm." - -Sir Harry ducked violently as the bullets began to whine overhead, and -Hal fingered his revolver irresolutely. - -The party on the right was now reinforced and were gaining ground. They -swerved still farther away from the little party. - -"What is the idea?" - -This new manoeuvre was disconcerting. - -"Makin' for the wood," said Hank calmly, "it's a hold up, sure." - -This evidently was the plan, for as the fugitives struck the uneven -surface of the Fez Road the right and left horns of the pursuing -crescent, converged as by signal upon the wood ahead. - -Hank unslung his Winchester. - -"There'll be somethin' doin'," he said with conviction. His prophecy -was fulfilled, for scarcely had the last fluttering white _jellab_ -disappeared into the plantation than there came a perfect fusilade of -firing. - -The Duke looked back. - -The Moors in the rear numbered a dozen. He chose his ground. - -There was a dry water-course to the right of the road and into this he -led his party. - -"Dismount!" - -They were off their horses in a trice. - -He found a shelter for Alicia. - -"Stay there and don't move," he ordered peremptorily. The Moors were -galloping in a circle about the little position. - -Firing was going on on all sides, but it was in the wood that it was -heaviest. - -Flat on the ground lay Sir Harry Tanneur, dazed, bewildered, horribly -afraid. After a while, "No bullets seem to be coming from the wood?" he -ventured. - -The Duke smiled. - -"The gentlemen in the wood, have, I should imagine, sufficient to keep -them engaged--Bill Slewer is a mighty handy man with a revolver." - -"Good Lord!" said Sir Harry, and the situation began to dawn on him. - -"If we can keep our gyrating friends at a distance----" the Duke -continued. - -"Dukey!" - -It was Hank's urgent summons that sent him to the American's side. - -"What are these?" - -Hank pointed to the road beyond the copse. - -A disordered mob of galloping men were coming toward them. - -The Duke looked long and carefully. - -"That or those," he said with a sigh, "is the army of His Shereefian -Majesty the Sultan of Morocco." - -He looked down into the white face of the girl. "In the words of the -transpontine heroine," he said flippantly, "we are saved!" - - - - VII - - -Somewhere in New York, in the Cherry Hill district, lives a lady who at -some remote period embarked upon a matrimonial undertaking, and became -officially and legally Mrs. Bill Slewer. Happily for her, a paternal -government deprived her, at stated intervals, of communion with her -lord. Bill in Sing-Sing was an infinitely better husband than Bill at -home. When Mr. Slewer finally disappeared, this poor woman hoped most -sincerely that she had heard the last of him. But this was not to be, -for that same paternal government of the United States of America sought -her out. - - -"DEAR MADAM" (ran the letter), "I regret to inform you, that your -husband, William Slewer, was killed by Moorish brigands in the vicinity -of Tangier, on December 24 last. It would appear that the Moors came -upon him unexpectedly, whilst he was awaiting the return of a friend in -a little wood near the city, and in spite of a most desperate -resistance, in which six of the brigands lost their lives, he was shot -down. As a result of the representations of this department, and on the -evidence of the Duc de Montvillier, the Moorish Government has offered -compensation, which, although inadequate in view of your terrible loss, -may replace the means of sustenance, of which you have been deprived. I -enclose a draft on the First National Bank for $20,000 (say twenty -thousand dollars). - -"Yours faithfully, - ----." - - - - VIII - - - From the _Lewisham and Brockley Directory_: - - KYMOTT CRESCENT. - - * * * * * - -62. The Lord and Lady Tupping. - -64. The Duc and Duchesse de Montvillier. - -66. Mr. S. Hankey. - - - - Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London. - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DUKE IN THE SUBURBS *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49694 - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. -Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this -license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) -electronic works to protect the Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and -trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be -used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific -permission. 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