THE LADY BLACK MASK.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 32, 14 March 1914, Page 2

THE LADY BLACK MASK.

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CHIE* characters in the story. % "..'-;.; •■' RUTH TRINGHAM, lady's maid to Damia • .Marsh, is seen at the Diana Theatre with her Qlemcnt Singleton. During the progress of an-Indian 1 play that cpntainsi'a tragedy, she is attracted by a tall dark man in a box who is following the murder scene with unusual intensity. Euth is persuaded by Damia Marsh to personate her at a masked ball at Lady Wood-" : .mason's, house, where she meets the man she Bawat.thetheatre. He mistakes her for Damia:-; -*"■ •spi^»,' , . he whispers. On her return home she {jnds Damia in bed and DANIEL VEEINDEE, her guardian, in *th.e library, "stabbed in the neck," just like . ' the man in'the play.'V —— . /-■• .-<*• W--' CHAPTEE V. ' ? THE OTHER MAN. ' In Pomeroy Buildings, Holborn, lived Mr Clement fcingJetoh—at the-very top of it. No one would call 1 'Pomeroy Buildings aristocratic by any means; there is rather a Bohemian air about it, and the various rooms " : are occupied for the most part by young and ~ ©ecasionally a beginner at black-and-white work/ : They are..really, tiny flats of just two fair-^exl-room for living in, and a tiny one as a bed-chambjar; the society of a friend living on the other side pt the x - Jandiug, and it was quite an ordinary matter for Clement iJiegleton to stroll across into the apartments of his friend Benjamin Padwick, for a chat or a smoke; or; on the; other hand, for. Benjamin Padwick to reverse the .process by stepping across to :see Clement Singleton. -'. On that day which saw Euth piss out of the house ■in Umber and make her" escape from those who walched her, Clement stood moodily looking out of the window of his sitting-room, down into the hurly-burly «f traffic in Holborn—thinking, of course,, of one person, ! ajpd one-person only. He believed that Ruth had wildly ! exaggerated the peril in which she stood; doubtless her i*ass had made her dp that. -It was only natural, .*s« she was living in the house in which the murder Jiad taken place, that she should be strongly under the t influence of the mystery. Clement wished with all his s«sart ' and soul that' dream of his might come and that lie might start life with her in that tiny ' ! T?lie doorwas suddenly burst open, and in rushed benjamin Padwick.' Padwick was a little round excit-;./'.i^^;-man,'with...very, wild reddish hair and humorous '*iyes; he carried a newspaper in his hand, which he !! waved'wildly at- r his friend. ■ ••■■ S:; ;;*'''Beett tiii s?,> *& cried.; "It's ail 'brer 1 the place'; . .tteyAye got a ciue to that murder. Just my luck not to get pf ! it and make a special of it." ' It mky be mentioned that Padwick was'a journalist, who; made a scanty living out of any odd. item of news he cwild contrive to discover, for the newspapers. - .', Glem|nt took the paper quickly from him> and read; paragraph pointed outi

"The Umber Square Murder. —The police are reti 1 cent, but there 1 is : no doubt that they have lighted on a clue which must ultimately lead them to the discovery of the murderer.' There is a ' strong suspicion that the murder was committed by a woman." "Then she "was right!" said Clement to himself. "Do you know what this means?" he demanded, pointing to th<? paragraph. "It means that the woman they suspect is the ghTtd whom I'm engaged to be married. I saw her yesterday, and she told me all about it. There was a poliee-constable in plain clothes following her." Padwick gave a low whistle. "By Jove!" he cried—"that's interesting. Can H you tell me something about it; if I can get inside * information on a matter like this my fortune VniadeU What did she tell you? How muchdo you''know s ''about it?" '' Steady, old man,'' s'aioV Clement, a little sternly. "Do you suppose I should tell yOu anything, even if [knew? She's as' inhocfent as : a baby; she's simply been dragged into ; this-. : It's some big plot—a, conspiracy; just becatise they believe that she was the only person besides- the servants in the house at the time the murder was ;confmitted, the dunderheads have fixed upon her.'. "You say they believe that she was in the house!" said the other eagerly. "Wasn't she?" "She wasyjjt^t,,'Vanswered Clement shortly. '" Then, she'% Q v iily "got to prove ah alibi;" the as simple as possible." "That ; sh-just what she can't do," "answered [Clement. "Now I'm not going to tell you anything more, so don't ask me. I *ve got to stop here, eating my heart out, and absolutely unable to hlep her, while she's being badgered and followed and suspected. It isn't nice, I can assure you." Padwick rubbed up his hair, and whistled softly, and stared at the carpet. . &iiev a long silence, he. tossed the paper on to a table and moved towards the door. > <% e ll—l think I shall be off," he said. "I'm going to look into this thing a bit, and if I meet any of our fellows I nray be : able to find out something about what is happening. Keep'your pecker up, old chap; if she's innocent she'll "be all right, and they're bound to find the right party. Murderers don't get off scot-free in this country; you take my word for that.". . 1 Still whistling softly he went off to his own rooms. Clement had a-, holiday, that day by reason of the fact that his duties withy Mr Mor/is Loader were not to begin until the f '- ; He determined' that, he would kill by-going for a walk. He might .even, get as as UmtJer-Square if only to have .the tion of looking'iatsthe house that held Ruth, and held) his heart at the same time.- •■■■^ As he his door Benjamin Padwick came rati' ing up the literally hurled t himself into.tM room. He was, brgatltfeks and excited; his hat stuck on the back of his head, and he was waving another pajper in his hand.

' . "Clem —she's got away!" he cried. "She must' be a little wonder." Clement snatched the paper from him, and read' the paragraph in the "Stop Press" column. "Suspected woman escaped from Jiouse in Umber 'Square' this afternoon, successfully eluding vigilance of police. No clue to whereaboutsl" Clement stared at the paragraph—reading it over and over again,' as though striving" tO get new light ftponit. Then,-in a bewildered way, he handed it back, to the other man. ''This is awful?'' he exclaimed. ''l wonder where hhe can be; I wonder where'slie's gone. Good heavens, Ben! den't you understand that verywell do something desperate; she was terribly upset about it yesterday. What in the world shall I do ? " The practical side of Mr uppermost. '(■ you'd better, just do nothing at all," he answered. "Suffice it that for the moment; she has got away, and if ; she only manages to keep in hiding some discovery may be made that will prove her innocence. Personally, I think it's a pity that she has made a bolt of it; \t will bring suspicion more sharply upon her. However, the thing done, and you c ah only keep still and await events." V - ■?■.'.■'. "But do you realise, Ben, that at the present moment she is probably, wandering jabout London, alone, and * and certainly with 1 very little money. -That's the lioriible part of ii" r ■>'*>. ",' '..' Well, you can't do anything; 5 you must take your consolation btft of that," answered the other. ' Meanwhile, we may go back to the fugitive. Ruth, walking away through the streets in her borrowed plumes, had always that dread of pursuit knocking at her heart;.everyone that glanced at her seemed to be someone that*" woujd, on the instant, turn his or her head, and accost her sharply by name. And when, ,as she went along, she passed a constable, she simply Shivered . with fright, and ; felt. her feet unconsciously beginning to hasten. Everywhere, too, as she walked, was the reminder of that from which she had for a time escaped/Those horrible newspaper placards were about everywhere —- outside shops and carried by hoarse-throated :Men andj boys* and on the sides of newspaper carts. one seemed to have something fresh, like the building .up of a ghastly story of which she; waisst|w centre. Yet, above all, Ruth was young, and her life was very sweet, and freedom sweete?." ' ,'AbOve, all, in the most amazing fashion, now that ths sheer; terror of the thing had been lifted from he/she was undeniably She realised that she had eatenr. nothing thatiday. i She looked about at first' for spine quiet place where she could get a then-remembered that; fhe danger of her being recognised in\ that dress was Exceedingly small. She went $o a ! restaurant in a 1 main thoroughfare—a place crowded %ith men land women, and.sat down to take her meal and to. look about her. Two men were seated at the table next to her own; one of them had a newspaper, and was reading extracts

to the other, and commenting on the case which seemed the sole topic of conversation with everyone. Ruth caught snatches of their conversation. "Wonder how she managed it? Trust a woman to manager a thing like that; a man wouldn't have had the pluck. Oh, "of course they'll get her; there isn't a doubt about tnat. She's rather given the show away, to walk off in that fashion; if she wasn't guilty she'd have stuck to her guns. Wonder what made her kill ihim? It'll be rather an exciting trial when it does come off—won't it?" < " Perhaps there Is something fresh in one of the later 'editions," suggested the other man. "I'll- send out and get one.*'An obsequious waiter hurried out and hurried back again with a. newspaper, which he hantled-with a bow to the man., , The-Jatter adjusted a pair of pince-nez on his nose, and opened the paper, and glanced down column after column, finally stopped with exclamation. " By-Jove i these fellows are smart; they've got, her portrait.," i _ '-, Ruth'sv, heart seemed to stop beating; she felt the knife and fork-she held rattle against the plate. There was an instinctive feeling in her mind that in a moment she must* get ( up and run. And then she calmed, herself, and glanced b/s carelessly as she could towards the man, and listened to what-he was saying. ";;' '"-.'". "Just a alii. .'Pon.my word, these Hew«paper-fellows- : are everywhere. Quiet-looking little thing, lsn?t she? Evidently just happened to be looking .straight at; the camera.?' ' Ruth •remembered,the man who had ."snapped''her outside the house on the previous day. she saw that unlucky snapshot' appearing every where, so that presently all London, and all the world, for the matterjof that, wxmld know exactly what the fugitive looked like, ■ ■.,!■•■-' .-.■:?,, -'."•■■•■ The other .man had gone on speaking. '/Do you see what they've) got underneath? 'Have you seen this woman? If you have, Scotland Yard will be glad to see you.' Not much chance of anyone keeping out of. the way these days,'is there?" Ruth forced herself to go on with her meal; the very-fact that she could pass unnoticed, when people within a 1 couple of yards of ; her were discussing her, gave her courage* And while she ate she planned in her mind what she had better ilo, and where she had better hide. ■!••■»'• j She eould, of course; go and take a humble lodging; m some vafjsjquiet neighbourhood, where perhaps a bateyed landlady ; : might not trouble to notice her, or -'■ tb compare with those of the newspaper porItraity but heir-stock of money was small, and even with *.he grertesf economy could scarcely last more than"-a matter of daysi "Moreover she had no luggage, and only the clothes, she,stood up in; both sufficiently suspicious matters to cause coromentv . She must think of some other, r , plan—some device, that .should, server her ; better than any she had thought of ,yet> . .- , , HS - ■■■: . .'• '■<•■■■*■

f . by jm GALmpw o »„.

Clement! Why ha&H&ie,not thought of him before? The one friend she had in the world; the'one in whose honesty rhe could trustf jrth'e one who would be ready to lay down his life for her. In any case, just -now she needed advice and help, and Clement would to give ■.'■'■ She counted the chances, unselfishly enough, so far as he was concerned. She niust not get Clement into ■ trouble. She did not know the law on these matters, but she had; a'vague feeling that anyone harbouring such a fugitive as herself must necessarily suffer for tlieir mistaken kindness. On the other hand, her woman's heart told her that Clement, who must have seen the newspapers as quickly, or even more quickly, than other people, would be-in a frightful, state of anxiety she could at least "relieve, even if afterwards, she had to go away again and seek shelter somewhere else. -Yes, she would«go to Clement.•; •,.: ■ .' It is,, easy" for anyone; to pass unnoticed amid the crowds of London, because of course only those profes-> sionally engaged'in such a business, are making active search for one jjarticular perspn..>, Ordinaty people, .like the" men in the restaurant, read descriptions and see portraits in newspapers,. and then pass on rapidly ,to something else. So that Ruth, having spent-as Jong a time as she *ould over her meal, strolled out -into the streets again, and started on a tour-©i|-*inspection of. shojp windows, and no one stared after v than they did after any very and elegant-looking woman among the crowd. . _ She had determined that she. r would no,t. go to Clement's rooms until dusk had.fallen;..she did not want to cfraw attention to herself any more than was absolutely necessary. Therefore she killed time as be#t she-could, and counted the creeping hours; and with each creeping hour a new wonder grew on the newspaper placards, Avhieh now began, in r assort of t frenzy, to asjk excited questions "of the public. And all those questions concerned Ruth Tringham. It was demanded that London should give her up,. and apathetic landladies were called. , apon to look amongst tlieir lodgers and see if they had a woman anything lik6 this. Taxicab drivers were specially commanded to look out«fdr her; in fact, according' to> the newspapers,, every person in London was to turn hiiftself or herself immediately into a private and jiand Ruth Tringham over to the* authorities.- ,t Pomeroy Buijdings, Hdlborn, is a place'tSat' is* never quiet, save perhaps at dead ci There is always a roar and a rush of traffie about it, v and 1 innumerable feet patter upland down ttie stairs dll day long,'fro'iii* early morning till late" at night.' ' There r is much whistling;'#ftd' opening and shujjfjgjg'fof "doors; perhaps ItHi Only at' the very top pcaecri The tarious tenants' are striving iiar'd to tear a living out of a hard fight to do it; and they seem state of rushing out of their somewhere