THE SILVER DAGGER

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 153, 4 August 1914, Page 2

THE SILVER DAGGER

EDI"°=I By R. A. J. WALLING l=o=i

Author of "Flaunting Moll," "A Sea Dog of Devon," &c, [copyright]

CHAPTEIi V.- ' IN WHICH HOSKINGS MAKES A „ • PROMISE. . The diligent and intelligent police sjfeonstable who guarded the peace in this and scattered parish found himyeelf posed by a mysterious case. He more diligence and. intelligence ; v -irom headquarters, but it also failed. - -Torfrey was more upset than he could --explain. It seemed to him that he dwelt - «nder a sense of impending woe without having any definite idea of what A&e feared. . , In the meantime Lucy wrote a letter - ~so- Diego. A good deal of it was of a ; private and confidential nature, very '-Important to Diego, no doubt, but of no consequence to the current of the "narrative. The essential part of it was this: — /'You know Spanish, Diego? I know few words. 'Senorita' is one; it - means 'Miss' or 'young lady.' 'Escon<di'da,' I find on means 'hidden.' I believe, is,, in plain English, - 'let us vamoose.' 'Playa'—does not , that mean seashore or beach ? But what is 'Sabequien es'? I am curious to "know. You shall teach me Spanish. "We are - all in a terrible state of excitement about the Mystery of the ; : /Hfoods, which I' have, already described /•ti>" you. At present I cannot see very yrouch.'further into it than the policeman. •What do you make of it? We are thrilled at every turn. 'Visions is .about,' as the poet says. We dream <jf- brigands and burglars and midnight marauders, and life is become a delirious •shilling: shoeker. Don ? t delay a day Idiiger than you must, but come and take a- hand in the game.'' Before she posted that letter, Lucy * to add apostcript:— f Yet another sensation. My Jetter will resemble a late edition of the evening paper. Last night, old Selwey's farmhouse—you know the lovel£ lane that leads to it, Diego—was burnt about liis' ears, and he just got his family out with their lives. It h&s been decided that this was the work of incendiaries, for when the fire was discovered) not only the house, but every rick ; and ©iltbuilding on the also was alight. There ?s not a stick left. . r i

"Here is more matter for our policeman and his attendant minions to inreak/their heads on. Nobody saw anything suspicious; there is no more fjjue than there was to the perpetrator ©f the wicked assault on Tom Gannett. Martin:is distracted and desperate, A' plague.has broken out among:his cattle; and you know how'proud he is of hist South Devons. ?•.•-.'..«■

"Bythe way, whoh a-Spaniard wantrf Jo swear, does he : say 'Por Dios'l" Imey; waited with-a' proper ainouht'

of eagerness for the answer to her letletter, and when she received it she went out for a long ride, and a very hard ride. Her brother enquired that evening when Diego might be expected. "He has been called back to Loudon, and has to put off this visit," she said, shortly. Tom Gannett had recovered consciousness three days after he was discovered in the woods, but he had been terribly ill, and Hoskings had forbidden him to be bothered with questions of any sort until a fortnight had passed. It was two days later than the fire at Selwey's farm Avhen he and Pudifin went to see Tom, and. found him waking from a sound sleep, feeling stronger, and developing curiosity about himself. "How long have I been here?" heasked.

'' Just a fortnight,'' sa id Hoskings. '' It was a case of touch-and-go, but you'll soon be as strong as a horse. You feel all right now, don't you?-' "Right as rain," said Tom, with a weak smile, and his visitors both laughed. "How did I come here, Mr Pudifin?" "You're not to worry yourself- about that now.''

"But I feel all right. What's wrong with me is I can't recollect what happened." t

. ; " Can you remember the night when you were talking to Polly at the gate on the edge* of the copse?" - "Ah! " said Tom. <<Now I've got it. Why, yes. I wanted to speak, to Mr Torfrey and he was uway at Haylands. I waited till nearly cloven, o'clock, and he hadn't come back. I wanted.to.tell him I was going to Westport next day to see my brother, of course. And Polly walked along with me to the gate. And we stoodthere talking for a brave tinrg—about one thiug and another.'' •■■•. ' 'Yes," Tom; till nearly midnight. Polly has jtold us.'' . •

"'"Then- Polly's all right—it wasn't her?" - <'What was notPoHv?" ' ''lt wasn 'ther they were-xnurderingf'' "Who were murderingf*' ."I 1 don't know.. Somebody. I" was a bit of the way up the hill when I heard a screech.. I listened for a,few seconds. •-TStenvl- heard another screech. Of .course, I:;hadn't got two thoughts in my mind .but what 'twas Polly; for I thought I recognised her voice. I turned and ran down the hilly and L heard-the screeching again. I jumped over the gate and into the woods and ran along the path. I ■fancied I saw a light just along there [by that leery place : where old Mr Torfrey f had himself burifed, and I was rushing on when I' heard; 1 ; st'"sort of a laugh. I turned' round sliarp[i and saw a; man. 'What the mischief 'are'you doing?' says I;; ''What monkey trick's this?" is

It ■ was clear that some occult iuinfJuenee was at work upon Torfrey—[whether from within or without—unmanning him and preying upon his mind. Radford, returning from a brief yachting trip, told the curate that he [noticed the same symptoms, and begged [him to induce -Torfrey- to take A voyage, [abroad if he-could not bo awakened in ■any other, way. But Torfrey■'• Would [not hear of it. He denied that 'there-' [was auythingitfhe matter- with hi my- and ; ;sai(h that now: Radford >wa® home again; and he had a congenial neighbour, he ;

it?' And then I felt a crack on the back of the head and saw all the lightnings of the sky—and that was all.'' Pudifin and Hoskings looked at one another. The story corroborated what was already known, but it gave them no new light.

'' Did you not see or hear anything or anybody before vou heard the kind of laugh ? " "No," said Tom, "only the sound of my own feet hoofing it along the ground.'' "Anything peculiar about the laugh?" "No; a low sort of laugh; but any sound is strange in the woods at night, and I remember that I jumped when I heard it. I had no time to think. But what about Polly—it wasn't her that was screeching?" "Yes, it was," said Pudifin.' "She thought she heard someone moving, and saw someone in the bushes, and she was frightened, and screamed." '' She saw and heard somebody ? But they didn't touch her. That was lucky, but it was curious. I wonder —"

'' Did they ever discover anything more about that affair,'' said Hoskings. "Not a single thing," replied Pudifin, hastening to unbosom himself. "It was the strangest tiling I ever heard of, and I can date from it a lot of sorrow. I don't think we 've seen the last of it yet." "Why, how's that, Charlie? What on earth's the matter. You look as melancholy as a Malahide cbd about it." 1 ' Of course, Dick, it must be difficult for you to see; but I assure you it's true. There's Miss Torfrey—you're rather interested in her I' '

"But I forbid you to wonder or to talk about it any more now, Tom," said the doctor. "You're not strong enough. You can puzzle it out when you get quite well. Polly will be glad to hear you are so much better, and we 'll send her along to see yon tomorrow. "

Tom Gannett had to undergo the same ordeal as i'olly and everybody else at the hands of the police, but that was as far as they got. The affair remained mysterious, but its interest waned as time passed on. The Rev. Charles Pudifin, who had wished his friend Hoskings good-bye soon after Tom's recovery, and received the promise of another 1 visit when Christmas had passed, was an observant person, and there were a good'\many things happening that he could not understand in that corner of his parish where lay the Villa Zamora.

"Well —I gathered that you were; but it's the same thing. Y"es; what of her?"

'' She's not the same girl, Dick, since that time. She's thoroughly unhappy. Her fine lover has not been near her for months. She's oppressed in that dreadful place by the melancholia that's seized upon Torfrey. I can't tell what she sees or fears; I do not ask'her, naturally, but I believe it is what I see and fear—that some influence is working upon Torfrey which will ruin him, nund and body, if it is not crushed. "And all this," said Hoskings, '' dates from an assault upon a servant ? My dear Charlie, it's preposterous." "Yes—the whole thing's as preposterous as you please—but there are the facts. You find me an explanation and you'll do me a great service." "You. must have some theory—the facts have unfolded themselves before your eyes." ':, " I have a theory: it y s so far-fetch-ed that I canont ;declare it even to you. But I will say this much: all the trouble Torfrey's has come upon him since his friend Radford arrived in the neighbourhood."

Although Luey had chosen a lover elsewhere, Pudifin's affection—rarified by the knowledge that he could never, possess her—was none the less constant, and there was nothing that he would not have done to secure her happiness. And he noticed with pain that Lucy was not happy; she was restless, and more than usually flighty. ther, Diego Holmes's business in London still prevented him from coming West,./ : .;.\ ;■■■.■; ' [ S ■ ■' : 7 ! ' Another feature of the life in that corner of his parish was the condition of his friend Torfrey. Why the incident of' Tom Gannett aud the slight misfortunes which- had occurred on his estate should worry a man, like Torfrey as they-, did'was hard for Pudifin to conceive; why he should allow himself to settle dowh ; 'in a sort of melancholy gloom-front which no interest seemed strong enough to stir him, was equally difficult to comprehend. : ■

• "I remember what you said of Radford the last time.l was here- But an antipathy of that sort may often be the most unreasonable thing in-the-world." "Miss: Torfrey has the distinctive antipathy as well as. my self, As I said just now, I cannot say what she knows or sees or- fears; but she dislikes Radford, she hates him, she sees with alarm the influence he has over her brother—and she is q*uite alone and helpless."

Pudifin got up and paced the room. "If I could only dare to ,offer my help to her——" he added. "Do you think she wants it?"

"Can I offer, it and yet appear to be disinterested; in fact, am I quite .disinterested f"

"My dear Charlie, examine yourself ir. this Jesuitical nianner. and you're

would not think ©f leaving the place. He did brighten for a few weeks, made a confidant of his congenial neighbour, and life resumed its normal course at the Villa Zainora for all but Lucy. Pudilin watched her quietly with a growing, apprehension and sorrow, as he saw some of the light die out of her eyes. Diego did not arrive for Christmas; Lucy was - out riding all day; and did not share the Torfrcy pew in church with her brother and Mr Radford, a fact which was observed and commented upon by the whole village.

The curate hailed with almost effusive joy the second visit of his friend Hoskings in the New Year to share his lodgings at St. Maurice for a fortnight. They sat late into the first night, smoking and talking. Pudifin waited almost anxiously for the talk to drift into the channel in which his own thoughts ran. It was soon there when Hoskings enquired after Tom Gannett. "Tom's all right now," said he.

well on the road to the lunatic asylum. Get rid of all these moonshiny notions, and tackle the subject fairly. I shall go down to the. Villa Zamora to-morrow 1) renew acquaintanceship all round, and you may depend on me. I shall offer Miss Torfrey any help she wants, whether she likes me or not for it."

In pursuance of this intention they went to the Villa Zamora the following day. They found Radford Miss Hay land came in with Lucy soon after they had joined Torfrey and his new friend in the library. Radford talked pleasantly and jovially, describing some of his adventures in the Mediterranean during his recent expedition, and urging upon Torfrey the hygienic advantages of the sea: breezes. The talk drifted this way and that till Radford said at last: —

"Why, Dr Hoskings, I-saw your patient this morning. He seems quite well now. By the way, I have not met you since that afternoon when we sat here listening to Torfrey's fascinating narrative of the foundation of his house. A strange and interesting story, that. I suppose none of your hereditary enemies have turned up yet, Miss Torfrey?" "If they have," said Lucy, looking up from the low chair where she sat looking out on to the lawn, "they have been well disguised.'' "A cryptic utterance, my dear young, lady," responded the old gentleman. "But don't make too sure: you remember what I said about the inconvenient knack of these Spanish families of rising out of their ashes? However, there's no clue.to the person who gave Master Tom such an ugly crack, I presume, Torfrey?" "None whatever—-yet," said Torfrey, and was then 'silent, evidently desiring not to dwell on the subject. He became morose, indeed, from the moment it was mentioned. "Ah-, then," said Mr RMford, M we must wait. Have you heard from London?" "Eh? answered Torfrey, as one disturbed in a dream. "Oh, you mean about the detective—yes, I heard this morning; the man is coming down tomorrow." "Detective!" said the curate, enquiricgly- - - > "Oh, you didn't know, Charlie, that I took Mr Radford's advice, and sent to London for a private detective to look into these things. My cattle are still suffering mysteriously. I believe they are being poisoned.'' Pudifin looked at Hoskings, and saw that he was regarding Torfrey intently. "Yes," said Mr Radford. "All these little things seemed to be worrying Torfrey so badly vthat I suggested the private detective. The police are all very well, but in a matter.of this sort —if there is anything in' it—you want real expert advice." " I'm very glad,'' said Pudifin. ',' It's the right thing to do, if only to set Torfrey at his ease." They ali seemed.to be looking at Torfrey as a sort of patient who required coddling; and he took the treatment without a "protest. Lucy, the doctor noticed, was absolutely silent in. the general and 'only; spoke ; ' to'-'.'Ajjteg Hayland noW ahd^hen.'; ; ! ;,' '•' .'1 ; "You're right, Pudinn," said 1 Mr i lrif t. I 'm only sorry that I sha : 'h't' 'be here to see the solving ntys|e%yi" ; "Are yoii going/dWa^f'-'-k^ed'-Pucii-

"Yes—l came to say an revoir this afternoon. I'm off to the Mediterranean this evening; the Castilian will sail at eight." The two friends remained till Radford had gone, and then wished Torfrey good-bye. As they left the room, Pudifin received a signal from Lucy which made his heart leap. It was the first sign she had given him. He could hardly contain his excitement when he was outside the house with Hoskings. "She wants to speak to us, Dick," said; he. "We must wait about."

"By all means, old man. Let's take a turn or two along the edge of the garden." • - "What do you make of it, Hoskings'?"

"Radford? I don't know. I must see more. There's notMng apparent." "You are blind! I see a ray of light." "Where?"* "The detective is coming to-mor-row. '' "Yes." "Torfrey has been induced to; send for him by the advice of Mr Radford." "Yes." "That shows a disinterested friendship on the part of Mr Radford." "Yes; apparently so." "Mr Radford is leaving to-night—be-fore the detective arrives.'' "Yes—but surely " "He is going in his yacht, and taking his whole establishment with him." "Probably." "The detective will have no more ground to work upon than we have." "I don't quite see what that signifies. We are not detectives.'' "My dear Drek, the whole thing is a blind." Hoskings shrugged his shoulders sceptically, and they paced the grounds waiting for Miss Torfrey. It was Polly who came to them, and said Miss.Torfrey would be glad to see them in her sitting-room, and she took them by a devious way through the back of the house. The first moments of the meeting were awkward. Then Hoskings took the bull by the horns. He said: "You'll excuse me if I am bluff, Miss Torfrey, but it's no use to beat about the bush. There is something wrong. We're here—we came down today on. puJpose-H-to know: whether you will tell us "what it is, and to offer you our help in any practicable way." "I'm glad, you've spoken to the; point, Mr Hoskings, V said Lucy. "ItJ was .in order.'to try, to ; enlist your help; that I wanted to see you now. There is something wrong-r-very wrong indeed. The unhappy' fact is that I don't Jtnow what is wrong, except-jfchat I see my brother sunk,in..a condition which gives me frightful pain, and that there are | other things, which I cannot name to you, that have upset me dreadfully. However, the case of my brother is the principal thing. I am not a' logical person; I'm not very, deep anyway; but I can see. things, and what is .'plain to* my woman's eye is that all this vague misfortune and this depression in himis coincident 'with' Mr Radford's arrival here. ,1 mistrtist Mr Radford; I fear he is no friejid to us." .'. ; "What did,l.,tell. you,,.Dickf" said ! 'Pudifin. - . : " Miss Torfrey, "Hoskings answered,, "my friend Pudifii) has been rubbing it' into me that in some way Radford is a; .mysterious : bid mail pf the sea, whpser \ influence is wrecking tire- happiness .of ■ yourself and yoiir :-brdtheri- : Candidly, X ;

can see nothing in him but a very ordinary■, only a Tather interesting/ old gentleman. I adniitthat I may be quite wrong; I am open to conviction. Can you say anything substantial against him?"

"Frankly—no. Or very little. One or two things have happened-to amuse my suspicion. He has a gang of foreigners on his yacht; they watch, me about. Who he is and what, nobody knows, and he never says. But trust my instinct —he is dangerous, wicked. I can see it in his eyes; I can see it in. his extraordinary influence over my brother." .

"What can we do? Is there any way in which we can help you?" "There is, but it is such a strange and great thing that I do not care to ask it."

"Ask it, Miss Torfrey," cried Pudifin, with his face pale and drawn, Lucy smiled at him. t '' I would ask you, Mr Pudifin, if it were possible that you could do it. But I think it is not. On the other hand, if Dr. Hoskings is sufficiently ; interested "

"You may command me absolutely, Miss Torfrey," said Hoskings. '' That is a rash promise,'' said Lucy. "Take care what you say." ; "I don't think you can ask me any? thing that I wouldn't do—if only' to save Pudifin's sanity " lie added, laughing. " It is dangerous, but of course irien like danger. It will require a sacrifice of time."

'' I can promise you the time. My locum tenens is as good for a month as for a fortnight. What is it, Miss Torfrey? '' "Think well before you answer," said Lucy. "I want you to enterjthe lions' den. I want'somebody to be;;on board the Castilian to-night, either hidden, or in disguise, and to worm';out her secret and the secret of Radford's identity, his life, and his purpose-Mid gd the 1 voyage with him, and take ev,eisr rish for the sake of the information: with which I hope,toybe\ablei to erasji what I believe to be" a noxious reptile!" \ :)

She had risen from her chair and. stood facing them, flushing a little. ' 1 Hoskings and Pudifin stdod7staring-at her f or'some secorlds in gaping astonish' ment. The doctor was "first to recover speech. He raid: ' "You can't ask'me anything that I won't do, Miss Torfrey," and'held out his hand to her. She took it, r saying simply: '' Thank; you.- I trust" with all my heart you won't find. *that which -wreck* my life while it saves his." ,_,,-.;' (To be continued.) ..