THE Underground Syndicate.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 136, 8 June 1907, Page 11

THE Underground Syndicate.

CBAPXER 5331. \ D SA-ffi-BSD CONFESSIONS. j ' _ a _an-*e confession which JS'yS to the -M he had , £"?,1j hoped to marry that night, ■ H_ti_SS« death was near. her, and how. for her |pf __ meant. &™ _• « successful ■ te happy" he had said, [ *«, that when you think of mc it wont '■ T-tred. I should like your happi- '-* tW_h mc. as perhaps it g&ii I had lived, and could Sgffi you to care for mc after you to _fe If it weren't for tha. wish £$££ secret I have, of mine and '•"_?_£*& with mc, for I've been naif -W with ieal-nisv of Oxford ever since '^fiSmome-rtlsawandfellin.love _T, you. I came here to kill him tor life. and. afterwards, to keep you two m jwemM have been glad to do it tor -JSjf Bat I failed, and I've got the 'M fa m v tanas-that was meant for his - __*. Beknsel want you to torgive mc, _? because the one thing to ease tne Ht power to give you a ha PP y future £X? to tell you a thing you would never kM^if it weren't for mc." Then the whole story had come out, __olv for each word he uttered was ,£t .agger thrust in Trowbridge's _____ a* an American, he said, but _ Australian, who had lived in many Xce S and done many things. Neither ,«_s _ c tha millionaire he pretended to vg <« That was a pose/ he said, and the gy _i_ate is responsible for all my e„ "_B®-_S Underground Syndicate, as . SSiders call it **•, Pm not going to rive it awy. The others are just as sale _ ever, audit doesn't matter any more "for mv assistant here—Countess RaaeTOlskoi. as she called herself for this occasion, ani for a special purpose sacs d__ She lad to die, or she would have spoiled, voar life." Theconateswho was no countess, and who hai become a Radepohhoi merely _ac_=e Joint Kenrita had bought the ■Eaeiepolstoi' d&mond, had been sent by the Syndicate to get that diamond: also thepeaii-sln&Kffirithwas supposed to tarry -with him, and the jewels of Lady _Ti_fe. which -were famous. Her own jewels, so m§0O& in appearance, were almost all'false, and her fortune equally a nretence—money supplied by the Syndicate that she might seem a rich woman, above suspicion. Her maH was a humble member of the _ne organisation, a person of little initiative, lmfc skilled as an assistant. Trowbriiige did not know how I -the Countess had intended to prove Lady TTifary a thief, bat if -any jewels —one or two of the few real ones, perhaps, posj sessed by the Conntess—-were to he hidI ; ; den in Lady Hilarys room, or attached to I.' -' her dress, he had no donbt that the maid II iad been the person to dispose of them.

He had known for smne years the wo- : \ man who ca2ed herself the Countess of "'\ißadepelakok.-iShe Polish, half ■ '3"n?_a. Her real name, was Annette :_i_ He, Trowbricige. bad given her 1 reason to think that he cared for her, ! ■_1 would marry her some day; and they had often eases" together, ileragh at the Laehrain Castle Hydro "guy pretended to be newly actruamted. As for Mmself. he had come to Loch•jEm to play a much higher game than "/hmetters: nothing less than to get rid of a certain person for an important cliKstfc of the -Syndicate*. That person was Captain Oxford Trowbridge had learned aU he could about tbe young man be'&re attempting to fulfil this engage■jaeni Among other things he bad discovered that he was in love with Lady ffitey Vane, and intended to follow be_r 'aid ler mother to the Hydro where "fey were going. Trowbridge had tone him. no personal grudge until he Mmself had seen and fallen in love with .lady Hilary. Then he had determined ,to throw over Annette, whose game be :;bd been inteneiing to help on all he -"raid: marry Lady Hilary, and retire l fiom. the Syndicate, oft thg. considerable f J-hate fortune he had been able to I snass in his profession. I i It was be who had shot Captain OxI ford, after writing him an anonymous later appointing a place of meeting, j mi-saying that he had valuable infory.Sition to give concerning the young ssn's true parentage. Tbe dog, Prince Cbsriie, had destroyed his aim by on • him and biting his wrist, « ma.n!_g it that ho had been obliged . ta caH for aid from Annette. Be had. an appointment to keep in the tscret room, the same night witb the "Mi who had ordered Captain Oxford's feztb —that important client to whose -. _aaitag_ i_ was that Oxford should •Base to exist. I Hey were to meet there because it a convenient place for tbe client, Sao could' come and go by means of an - .tecfergro _d passage which led away to V,%Tan_ of a still .lder castle built by .: §|E Lcchiains. and dest_yed by fire be"W the newer -one was begun. _v-a3m__fce was summoned there, to "O-s and bind the werand: and in the pneess much blood had flowed before ** cg_l_ be staunched. Trowbridge bad ""* learned then that the room" below .**■* newFy occupied by the little type--1 .Sifter who had just arrived; but afterw *ards, when he found out that the was in use. he had arranged for : _?'? cc * ssaT " s * meetings to be held else- '_* e1 *' le rs * attempt on Captain -gaor-rs bfe had faded, another plan v_; concocted. As Orford went cut day in Mr. Kenrith's motor car, v#e: Aanffeur was bribed to feign illIgili?. one °f the wheels of themotor ■>"■?_*"-' tampered with. Tbat affair V_. had' ended abortively, the only ~-eWi thing accomplished being the an"w** 011 of Senritb's jewels while he I ■-*" '"-Ifsanwnile Jdims Grant, _r. McGowr* 3 ; secretary, had been suborned. As . : known to be in love with Elspeth i^"' a nd-Elspeth Dean was deep in . ; : _n. aM mc _ of Lady ArdeHffe and S£h Kenrith, it had been hoped that tST""* 1 Grant- she c * mld be osed as a "feu: lt " : <^lail t knew nothing of the ' i te_2__ He thought that Trow'Sl*^ 312 ma^l offerai hfr» a treaieEdously tempting—was alone . „^ s t e 4- ia brznsms off the desired -"""SB," -.. - - -- - . always,- {___- Underground Sm- ,**__ as fe___y guarded as well ***"vaL :*55 .■% good turn. Trowbridge said

.j. Elspeth Dean had ever done for __i?i**-" eßa hle him to protect "Gady "*__ inaJiea of the woman ?™*«& trpe. bss a_esfed as- a tineL

- By 2EBS. C. N- *Kr_Xl__Solf. fji_wr of **Th« Princess Passes," "The lightning Conductor," etc) jj

ilf Elspeth had not come running to tell him what was about to happen, he ■would not have known in time to save the girl he loved. As it was, he had simply ordered Annette Britz to meet him in the secret room without delayShe had not dared to disregard the eommanei, and hastened to the rendezvous, l_ving her revenge to he accomplished later. ! Trowbridge had soon followed, and knowing that persuasion Or would be useless where Hilary was <xmcerned. had come softly upon the woman and stabbed her in the back. She had staggered forward dead without a cry, and he had laid the body gently on the fioor. lest someone should be in Elspeth Dean's room underneath. Trowbridge had been certain that the. dead woman might safely be left to lie throughout the whole day in the secret room, as nobody save himself and that client of the Syndicate for whom he acted, knew that the hidden room hsd not been destroyed by a fall of the tower's roof. As a fire was planned for that same night—a fire in which it seemed certain that Captain Oxford must perish—it would be easy to arrange that the flames . should spread a little further, and deI stroy the tower also, with all the secrets . hidden there. If he had not desired to spare Elspeth Dean, she would have been allowed to sleep as usual in the tower room. Then, she would have heard and suspected nothing; no alarm would have been •given, and the scheme would haves succeeded. AH these things were told by Trowbridge in q, few words, and it was not until the last that he dwelt upon that part of his story whie_ was of most importance for Hilary Vane's future. "Our Syndicate ferrets out the secrets of rich people," he said, "or people who would be rich or titled if someone else were ont of the way. Then, it offers its help in bringing about, a desired object: and as it never solicits a client who has not something already to conceal, the Syndicate does not risk exposure. It lias never been betrayed by a client, and has never betrayed a client. I am not betraying one now, because the man for whom I've acted, under orders from the Syndicate, is already betrayed. Kenritii saw his face, I know, and must have recognised it, as only a few hours ago the man had sent for him —sent for him to keep bim out of the way while the fire was started by mc. Not that this man or I cared nrach whether Kertrith lived or died; but he's known to sit up late reading in his room, and it was thought safer for our plans that he, shouldn't be there. ""Kenrith saw him. as he tried to shoot Oxford, and shot mc instead; and besides, he was pursued by a man younger than he. The one I speak of is Lord Lochrain.

""We—the Syndicate;—bad found out that there was a secret in Lord Loch- ' raT_t*s -family. -.The son of. the old -Lord, ' this one's predecessor, had disappeared. ' i' and was supposed to be deati. If he had not died, the present Lord Lochrain would not have inherited. But that was not the secret. The secret was this: "Old Lord Loe_rain's son used to have tbe tower room, where Miss Dean ha 3 been sleeping. He was in love with a girl beneath him in station: his father discovered the affair, and forbade the boy to see the girl. Not long after a quarrel the father and son had in consequence, there was an attempt on the old man's life. Someone stole into his room at night, and tried to murder Mm. but the old man shrieked for help, and help came. The murderer had eseapsd. leavmg only a knife, known to belong to Lord Loehrain's only son. After that night, the young man was never seen again, and, his father lived on, believing him guilty. The boy had escaped, apparently, by tbe secret way, from his own room in the tower, and next morning the mark of blood-stained fingers was found on his pillow. "'After this tbe present Lord Lochrain, who —mark this—was visiting in the Castle at the time of the attempted murder, was practically adopted by his uncle. Later, when proofs of the son's death in Canada were obtained, be became heir to the title and the estates, which would not have amounted to much had not coal lately been discovered on | the land. !"We of the Syndicate got on the track of this secret. We discovered that the young man had married the girl he loved, but that she had been made to i bebeve berr marriage illegal, ajid bad left ker husband. Afterwzrds, a boy I was. "born to lier -while she -was in __> \ treme poverty, and soon after bis birth j she hs.d died. ""There are no better detectives than \ we have ia the Syndicate. We followed np every trace, and learned after many j difficulties that the child bad been ta-l ken from a provincial asylum for foundlings, and adopted fay a charitable old lady, who knew nothing of bis antecedents. That child is now a man, and is known as Captain Oxford. "If we bad no sure proofs that the present Lord Lochrain himself was guilty of attempting to kill his uncle, and persuading his cousin to go oft and join his sweetheart the same night, without i knowing what was planned to happen,) we were_ able to frighten him by making him believe that we had them. Also, we were sure it was he who had secretly ! persuaded the girl that her marriage was illegal, and induced her to run away, from her young lmsbaneL Such bints I were dropped by one cf our agents tbat Lord Lochrain felt himself completely in our power, and offered the sum of a hundred thousand pounds to the Syndicate, to rid him of Captain Oxford, the real heir, who ceroid claim everything, if he but knew. _ord Lochrain bad never seen Oxford, and wished to do so. He was staying with a friend at some miles distance from the Castle, in order to meet mc, and talk over the progress of affairs from time to time. But with the idea of seeing his eausin. he decided to come to the Hydro as an. ordinary guest. "-"His first sight of Oxford gacve him a fright, howevw, for the far-1% likeness between t_m is marked. Ec did not it w«s3_l be wise, after all, to appear in -public, and ianre the resemblance. cc_nien_d on by strangers, just at- the 1 time tbat Oxford was to be pat out of j tbe way. Therefore, he kept to his room, and intended to leave to_orrcnk So

far as I know, no one stopping in the faciei had 3. glimpse of him, except Kenrith, and perhaps Elspeth Dean one mght ____ ia came Oxoaep. _q secxt *x*

into her tower room- not knowing thai anyone slept there. "It was he who had the secret- of that strange old bed in that room. He met mc, just as I had made the girl -prisoner, after she gave the alarm of fire, and helped mc carry her to the room where she had slept. She was uuecnscicnis, and it was easiest to leave her there then, as we bad other work to do quickiy. But he said the head of the bedstead was one with the wall which divided the room from the secret passage, and without moving her, the whole bed could be slid along, the mattress tipped up, and. the girl thrown on the floor of the passage. Then the bed could be slid back again and everything in the tower room would look as it bad looked "before. "Our big mistake was in letting ber live till we should be able to come back, and tarry out a plan I had for putting it out of her power to injure us. "Once again I tried to serve myself and the Syndicate by taking Oxford's life; but then, as -always, fate has seemed to be against mc. Time after time he has been saved in one -way or another — twice by his dog; at last, by mc, since I am dying in his place."

Lord Lochrain was never brought to trial for crimes committed and crimes planned, for in attempting ,to escape from the pursuing .detective, he slipped on the stairs which led from the secret way to an underground passage, and falling to the bottom, broke bis neck. But a short confession signed just before death by Trowbridge, and Kenritli'3 'recognition of the face in the tower would have been enough to doom him, had he lived.

Clues followed by the mysterious Underground Syndicate in search of prey, were traced again by men employed by Oxford, and his case was proved, one valuable bit of evidence being the sketch of his father—a speaking likeness of himself —preserved hj £lspeth Dean. "Not far from the dead body of Annette Driti. in the secret room, were found all the stolen jewels, those of Lady Ardcliffe, as well as Kenrith's famous diamond and pearl. But there were no papers compromising the Underground Syndicate, and that organisation still works with all its old secrecy and astounding success. Lady Hilary has now no need to prove her innoerenee to anyone, and Lady Ardcliffe was forced to apologise for all she said. As for Elspeth. she had never faltered in bar loyal belief in her beloved friend; and it was not through any curious questioning, but purely by accident. that she learned from Hilary's own lips the explanation of certain small mysteries which had puzzled her.

Hilary had not wanted her mother to know where Kenrith kept his jewels lest, in her foolish pride of seeming to know all his affairs, she might be tempted to speak of that which had better be kept secret.

When the girl had bent over Kenrith as he lay unconscious after the motor accident, she had thought nothing of the jewels, nothing of all her wild talk to Elspeth, but only of the man himseu. She had laid her hand upon his heart to see if it were still heating; and it was then that Trowbridge and the ''Countess** had appeared.

As for the shining thing which had been tied up in Hilary's handkerchief, it was a ring given her by Captain Oxford.. She had not dared to wear it openly, because of her mother-, and had kept it hidden inside her dress, meaning to give it back ii she shodld" fee compelled to'engajfcf herself to another-man.

Captain Oxford did not wish to hurry on his marriage now. Because he loved Hilary so much, and because he bad suffered so much pain and humiliation at the hands of the girl's mother, he wished to be in the possession of his title and estates before she came to him as his wife.

It was different, however, with Kenrith- The sooner Elspeth Dean could belong to him the better he would be pleased, and there was no reason for waiting.

After that strange and terrible night the little stenographer was the heroine of Lochrrrin Castle Hydro. But she- was no longer a stenographer.

Tbe girl considered herself still bound to work for Mr. McGowan until her fortnight was up; but Kenrith would not hear of this arrangement now that she was engaged to him. He insisted that Sir. McGowan should at once telegraph to London for somt_one to fill Elspeth's place, and that he should state to the manager of the agency, at the same time, his reason for superseding her. Therefore, instead of learning that her protegee had been unsatisfactory. Elspeth's old friend, I Miss Smith, was informed that Miss Dean was to marry John Kenrith, the millionaire from the "STortb, whose book, on social j questions she bad been typing when they first made acquaintance.

Tbe girl bad been liked by all tbe guests at the hotel who had come in contact with her, and the news of her engagement pleased everybody—everybody, with one esreeption.

That exception was Lady Lambart, to whom _speth "Dean's bappiness meant the most complete humiliation in her forty'years of life. She had had many hard "olows, "out t_ loss of John K.e_ith, and his love for the girl she had hated and tried to ruin, was the hardest of all. .Many days passed before sbe was able to console herself in the smallest degree by the reflection tbat, at least, her daughter would be marrying a rich man when sbe married the-new Lord Lochrain, and that probably he mother of Lady Lochrain j would _rye "_ debts paid and be decently provided for.

She had done all she could to separate the lovers, but they had come together in spite of her, and she knew Hilary well enough to be sure that she would want for nothing.

She even tried to atone for the past by being gracious to her future son-in-law, j but though scrupulously courteous he was icily cold, and Lady Lamhart guessed that her life would, in future, better be lived jabroad.

Of all places on enrth, Lochrain Castle Hydro was the last one where she wished |to remain, since it also sheltered Elspeth Dean, but a certain stubborn pride compelled her to consent to Hilary's wish that they should remain. Outwardly, she was on friendly terms with Kenrith, guessing that Elspeth had not told him of her cruelty, and, as Hilary was asked to be bridesmaid, she actually found herself compelled—unless she would betray her feelings —to be present at the wedding.

The happiest day of Elspeth's life was the most miserable one in Ida Lambarfs, but she wore a brave enough smile on her handsome face as die bore her punishment.

Six weeks later came 'Hilary-, marriage to the new Lord Lochrain. about whose great romance was talking. This might have been a triumph f <3r the bride's mother had she been, as esther mothsrs; bnt she realised w&sa it was too late that she had played her cards badly for her own hand after aU.

She was not disappointed in the- allowance she hoped, to receive, but even-gentle-hearted Hilary did sot speak ef any tutors fife toc_>«.. _rl _w jiu the-sat-

mer. Lad- Lambari:. painted and still j pretty, ia'seen at Ais-les-Bains or Horn- > burg." In. the -winter she is at Cairo or j Monte Carlo: and though she takes in several society papers she invariably j crumples them up or throws them aside i angrily if she comes upon a paragraph j concurring the social success cf young ( Mrs. John Kenrith, wife of the millionaire. ! (The End.) j