THE TURN OF THE TIDE

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 125, 29 May 1922, Page 10

THE TURN OF THE TIDE

FRED M. WHITE.

: ( UAiM i>i; \v. r.KuiNn tih: nmii;. ; \ shadow emerged mil of the gloom aji.i crept iw ross the strip of no man's land alongside the ruined house at the (■Oilier of (ircpucorn Street. This was some eight and forty hours more or less before Ellis had been intrigued by certain facts which lie had picked up from the columns of his own paper, after he bail received the telegram from his friend and ally, Inspector Lock. ' It was a dalle night, with a thin rain Silling, and some snsrgeHtion of a fog mapping up from the river. The figure lirossing the open space worked along \lilh the greatest caution until he came it Yngth to the boarded up entrance to tjhe tireencorn Street, house, and looking round to assure himself t.hat he was absolutely alone he took a key from his pocket and inserted it in what appeared to Ih , a crack between the rough si-ant lings with which the door was barricaded. Then the whole boarded space Hid back noiselessly, disclosing nothing gut a black darkness beyond. Then, is if by magic, the door dropped back, gild the interior was flooded with light. Here was a passage leading to a goodsized room behind, which seemed to be Smpty. except for a large deal tal>le and fen or three c'.mirs. Doubtless, all the jvindov.s were closely shuttered, for the fntrr.dcr moved about quite boldly, as if absolutely assured of his groi.'nd. He jjook off his slouch hat and the overcoat in which lie was muffled to his eyebrows, and disclosed the features of Slark Gilmour. J He seemed to be waa'ting for somebody, for his air was alert, and his ears evidently were tuned to listening, until there came a sort of scraping from somewhere outside, then he turned out the light again and crept along the passage. JSonieone whypered outside, and the fjoor was opened to admit another man Jvho stood presently in the room at the t>aok confronting (..'ilmour. This was liis tool and slave. Joe"Airey, the man Svho had been -.villi him on the night *(vhen they had so narrowly escaped cap.ture at the hands of the Thames police. jAirey looked up into the face of his chief with a certain suggestion of sullen fear in his eyes. He had evidently been in *reat dread of the other, i "Well, here you are, Joe," (iilmour •*oid. "Now, have you got all those Jfaets I asked you about? Where were jvou last night;" •• "In bed," Airey muttered. "Touch of •the. old trouble, sir." * "That's a lie." Gilmour said coldly('You were down at Limehouse with come of your friends, and by ten o'clock you were so drunk that they had to itxke you home. [ have warned you about that -before. Yon can't do anything without my knowing nlxnit it, and .'the sooner you realise that the better. 3f this happen* again you will find yourself in the hands of the police, and you ■know what that means. Five years if a, day. and you will never know who Struck you. You infernal fool. -, ''. Airey shot a grance oT cold hate Tfinder his eye-brows at the speaker. He ■was Gihuoux'a thumb, and he knew it. The bread he ate, and >-the beer he drank, and even the liberty he enjoyed lay in the hollow of Gilmour's hands.. But at that moment the latter stood in peril, had he only known it. "What a coltl-'Wooded devil you are,' Airey muttered. "Some day I shall break out and do 3'ou a mischief." "Why not do it now?"' (iilmour asked coldly, "You will never have a better chance. We arc absolutely alone here, and there isn't a soul in the world 111-sides ourselves who knows the secret of 17, (ireencorn Street. You are a lietter man than T am physically, despite the amount of beer you drink, and it you left mc for dead here I might not be found for years. But you arc afraid, Joe, you are. afraid, and you know it." Airey made no reply. It was exactly as Oilmour had said—he was afraid, in deadly fear ci the cold-blooded man ■opposite who would have sent him to ■the gallows without the least compunction had it suited Kis purpose to do so. "Who brought you here?" Oilmour went on. ''Who dug you out of a Canadian paol? Who paid your passage ba/ik to F.ngland and set you on your legs again? "Sou needn't answer the questions unless you like, but so long as you are in my employ, you shall do exactly as I tell yv.u. If you get drunk again you will get no further more}- from mc. Sit down, you rascal.'' The big powerful man who feared nothing on earth except his tormentor eirbsided meekly into a chair. •'Ah. that is better," Gilmour went on. '"Help yourself to a cigarette. Now tell njr- all about it." ■'Well, it's like this, sir,"' Airey replied. "The Princess Charming is down the river a.t the present moment -with the stuff on board. The bales will 'IV tianeferred to the lighter Firefly some time to-morrow, and be brought up the river opposite the long wharf waiting the instructions of Eden and -To. I got nil that this morning. It isn't a biglot to handle, but it is worth more than its ■weight in gold. Canadian furs, it is." "\ow, that exactly tallies with my information." CHlmour smiled. "A fine lot. Joe. a very rhie lot indeed. And if you arc quite sure of your ground, we eh all have the lot before eight and forty ■hours are over our heads. Who is looking after the stuff?" '"There will be four men on the lighter, sir," Airey explained. "Four good men, too. They ain't taking no risks this time. I know them chaps. Tieal hot stuff, the whole gang of 'em. If it comes to a tight, we'll get the worst of it." "Yes. 1 suppose we should," Oilmour laughed. "But we don't fight with their weapons. Joe. and that's where we have 'em by the Tieck. When it comes to a. case of brains versus nniscle, brains has it every time. Vow, if you have found out exactly "where that lighter is going to tie up. the thing is as good as done." • ; Oh, F can ttt!;.- you right, to the spot v hen the lime conies," Airey said conli'l'iitiully. "What happens afterwards »i!l be lor you to decide, sir. but 1 can take win to the lighter, and 1 can show yon the hatch under which the stuff i« Mii«i-(I. But if it cornea to a scrap between 11-- - •There is going to Ijf no setup," Oilniiiiir said impatiently. ■•I have a much belter plan than Unit. There is no reason «-),y you and I shouldn't do the ■whole thing between us. Then- is a new '"•at. a. little better and taster than the old one. waiting for us i n the secret iln.'k under Crombies Wharf, and the nthr-r | 1:1 ,t ~f t |, p enntrap , r ),„,.„ JM herp. With thai. Oilmour ro=c and ero.«in a the room touched a. secret spring "con" «*als4 w4k. jfe jaggs* vßmx&L.

'paper, ami immediately :i section of tin' : rixiiM sli:l away, leaving a cavity sonic j eight feet square disdoeed to the view, j Ihhil-p thi* there «eemcd to ho something i sliinins dully, and as fjilmonr turned on a switch. Die regular [rtirr of Miachinevy eomineneed to hum. It moved smoothly and noisete«»ly, nnd made little more noise llran a bee makes when it in poisod above a bed of flower?. Airev moved torwar.l and stretched out hi* hand as if to touch the JiiUffli. "Mere, drop that." (iilmour crieil. ■•The wires are not insulated. There are two thousand vok.s altemntinft current there, drawn from the main cable tlrat runs alonjr the street. I managed to tap that with (lie help of a man who owed mc a j.' oo *! turn, and the K'.ednr I-ighting Company little know that I have been drawing on their power. If you touch that parallel wire you are v | dead man in the fraction of a seeon<i. I am {joins',to show you something. Joe. something you never dreamt of." From somewhere in the recesses of the hiding-place fi.il moiir produced a section of steel cable, such as is used for the mooring of ships. He laid this on the deal table in the full light of the lamp, and then by its side placed aj small instrument in v neat little ease noi larger than a i-ignr-box. When this was | opened, it disclosed a small steel disc with sharp edges, something like a miniature circular saw. Two tiny wires were attached to the dynamo, and the saw begun to revolve so rapidly that tin , human eve was not capable of following the revolutions. "Xow, look here." fiilmour said. "I just touch the end of this -aw to the cable, and it is sev< red." It wns just as he said, the inch cable lay in two pieces on the table, and all that without the slightest pound. "Xow, T can store the little battery i" the Ikix. with enough power to cut three or four cables like that, and you can see for yourself that there is not the slightest noise. I can carry the whole thing in my pocket, srn when the time comes nr.l we make o:ir raid on the Firellv we shall be able to cut her out. despite her hawsers, and warp her over to our wharf without the men on board being any the wiser. That is a neat little invention ot my own. .Toe, and one I worked out when 1 was an engineer-lieutenant in the Navy. What do you think of it?" ''It's a fair knock out." Joe said admiringly. "But you don't think, sir. n= those chaps on hoard the Firefly will ■be sitting down in the cabin all night, do you? They are pretty sure to have one on deck, anyway." "Very likely.' Xot that it makes the least diflVrenVe. They will probably have one on sentry duty, and the others in the cabin, and they "ill be armed, of course, which will make them all the more confident and careless. But you can take it from mc. Joe, that not one of the chaps below deck will ever know what stung them until it is hours too late, because that little idea is only one of my stunts. There is another, and a far better one than that. We'll come to it in good time." "Yes, wasn't. tJhiere something you wanted mc to smuggle on board the Firefly?" Joe asked. "Yes. that's right. Rut are you sure you can manage it?" "Lord bless your soul, sir, it will lie as easy as falling off a house. T shall! be helping to unload the Princess Charm-J ing, and consequently no one will take much notice of mc. And even if I can't manage it, there's two chaps flown yonder ready to do most anything for ■ quid apiece, not as T means to trust 'em unless something happens as is unlove fcen. But what do you want mc to do. sir?' . By way of" reply. Oilmonr produced from the darkness of the euplioard a black cylinder some two inches in dinmeter and about a foot l""g- Till* hud a sort of tap at one end. and was obviously some 'orm of gas apparatus. "Lift it up," (iilmour said. "It is not dangerous, at least not at present. 1 suppose you could carry—that without the slightest trouble, couldn't you?"' Airey smiled at the question. In his powerful hands the cylinder was not much more than a featherweight. "Thnt will ho all richt, sir." he said.| "I could carry that in my waistcoat pocket almost. If yon was to wrap it up in a bit of canvas it -would' pass quite easy for a seaman's kit."' "Yes, that's just what T thought." Gil mour said. <f N"ow. I want you to take that when I have quite linished with it and place it in some inconspicuous plaice in the cabin of the Firefly. You can drop it down behind one of the hulk-j heads, or shove it in the hack of n. locker. Anywhere where it is not likely j to be noticed. And when you have done that, you can go about yo'lr business as if nothing had hanr.eiied. and you need not worry yourself any more till you join mc at Crombie's wharf when the riorht time comes. Hut there is something to be done first. Sit down and smoke your cigarette, Joe, and don't speak to mc till I speak to you." From a drawer ill the taWe Oilmour produced some pages of loose paper i covered with what appeared to be mathematical calculations. There were thin spidery-looking diagrams too, and hero and there a scrap of white lines on azure which were evidently part of what engineers would cp.ll a blue print. For the best part of an hour Oilmour bent over these with knotted brows, and his whole mind concentrated upon the figures before him. He went over the.se again and again, until he was absolutely satisfied that he had got everything correct to the minutest detail. "Yes, I think that must be all right,'" ! he muttered, half to himself. "About thirty hours to the minute I should say. Joe. this is going to be a big thing." Airey grinned. The bigger thing it was. the better it would lx> for himself. His share of the plunder was an infinitesimal one., but he fully appreciated the value of working upon v percentage basis, and ut such times as there was no prospective raid in view lie was permitted to do pretty well as he liked, nnd scatter his ill-gotten o;uius with a lavishness that genemllv aci-oinuunu-s tlie possession of money acquired dishonestly. "So far. so good, Joe." Cihiu.ur said' with unusual good humour. "And now j we will proceed to make the thing complete." ' Diving once more into the hollow in which the dynamo lay concealed. Gil- | mour produced a small metal flask, something; like a Thermos, only with ' the centre of it cut out. forming a hollow core, and this he slipped over the shoulder of the cylinder and cla-pen it firmly in if< place with a number nf metal wedges. Evidently the flask had been constructed on purpose, and .though Aureg k«5 www»flf ths I

had been manufactured in the deserted house by Gilmour himself, aided by tludynamo and a small lathe that lay compact in the secret recess. "You see this, Joe,' , Oilmour -.'.i'l. •■This is a gas cylinder fully vlmrjliM. When I file off the cock, which I shall ■In presently, because it. i- only in the way -"' "Kli. what.- that, sir?"' Airey said, a little uneasily. "You promised mc >Xt there should be no violence." "Oh, that's all right." Oilmour -aid impatiently. "Do you suppose 1 want to murder those chaps? , ' Airey looked up sullenly. Ho knew perfectly well that Oilmoi'ir would not .-tick at that even, if he could not mc his way to get what he wanted u:hcrwise. "That's all very well, guv'nov." he said. "But what about poor old Hill A very! 1 don't wjtnt to >i!e nu'ands "Drop it," (iilmour said sternly. "Do you mean to m\ that you accuse mc -'I having Anything to do with Avory's death?" •Well. I won't go so far as to say that, sir." Airey muttered, with .-ouic show of apology. "Hut Hill's dead and. from all account, he dies just at the right time for some people. Not as I had anything to do with it. thank the T.ord. But if you tell mc. sir, as it's all right. lam ready to go on. But I know something about gas. There.- a ■bloke working near mc in the docks a< caught it proper in France, and that's over three year ago. He'll never be the same man again." '"My good ass," Oilmonr slid with » certain patient tolerance, "there is gas and gas. There is what they give you when you have a tooth out, and there i- the sort that will put a man to sleep for two or three hours and leave him none the worse for it. And that's what is inside the cylinder." "But how ilo you loose it oft', sir? Mean to say as some one's got to go down in the cabin and turn on the cock'" "1 have a much better idea than that." Oilmour suid. "A sort of automatic arrangement. Timed to work almost to a nicety. There is nothing for you to worry about, Joe: all you have to do is to obey mc and leave the re«t to— er—Providence as the bishop said in the story." (To tie continued uaily.) HOW SCIENCE MAKES KOfl RETTER LIVINO CONDITIONS, _ Without the research wnrk nf scientists many presenr •lav "■necessities'' would liuve been unknown Stcorep uf labour saving devices for tb* , home, and also for lumlnms purposes, are not hnpliniard production!", they nre the result of iiiucli thought, time and experimenting. Ani"»niTs*t the most nnuoylng winter complaints can he plarpd colds mm chills, hut to cmnhnt them science conies to nnr aid with Boyle's Conpli Mint. Till* preparation cures l>v the "luiier Pkln Treatment." Tt soothes and fortifies Uie delicate Inner skin or raemlirnne, it drives out the microbes, and snves you from Ih? misprr of lind cold. Its results are «ure 2 0 hottle, at chemists and stores. —(Art.) Steer IF 'he I.lcht: thnt guides you rl;ht Amid tin , pertla of 'he nUiht. I Steer by the beacon's searrhlns beam. Steer by the compass ami the gleam: When mountain sens break o'er the rail And •'nil hands" hie to shorten sail, Reviving warmth ami comfort sure Iβ fouud In Woods' (ireat I'eppermint <;ure.