THE RED GRIP.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 128, 2 June 1927, Page 16

THE RED GRIP.

By COLONEL HENRY CURTIES.

Author of "The Carnation Club," "Love and the Law," "Sybil's Tryst," etc. SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS. MARIS STALIiARD nn orphan, has been a typist at the Foreign Office, but is now out of work. Through a friend—Horace Treadgold—she obtains employment as a typist at a club, where she is forced to take an oath of secrecy, and to pass as the wife of DR. VERN'ER. the secretary. Strange things happen at the club. There do not appear to be any regular members. A DR. DB VASSEUR arrives, and It is given out that he is a great French scientist, but Maris believes him to be either a Russian or a German. One night Maris is awakened by a loud scream. Rushing along one of the passages she comes to an iron door, and is horrified to find a freshly severed hand lying near it. Another time she is aroused by a peculiar bumming sound, and traces it to the iron door which this time is open. She enters and finds a room in which several men are at work at electrical machlnerv. She recognises Dr. De Vasseur and. Horace Treadgold. The men are forging banknotes. Marls is at once seized and forced to join them or suffer the severance of her right hand. This she is told is the punishment of a traitor. She now becomes a regular forger of banknotes, under compulsion. She learns among other things, that the club is merely a cover for a Bolshevist Societv. and "the notes are carried abroad and turned into money for Bolshevist purposes. Dr. Venter is taken ill and is removed- to a nursing home. Maris thus loses the protection of the one man she trusts. Maris and Madame Le Brun. a member of the society, are sent abroad to circulate the notes. Maris is compelled to travel as "Her Excellency the Trineess de Calvario," and Brun as her maid. On the journey Maris is disturbed at meeting LORD BARSTONE. the Secretary of State who remembers her when she worked at the Foreign Office. He is verv friendly and evidently does not suspect them Maris and Rrun journey from place to place, cleverly evading the police. CHAPTER XXV. * Marist looked at the Chief of Police in amazement. She had moved freely about the ship during the vovage from Cherbourg to Queenstown, but she had never once encountered him. Madame Brun's ashen face was sufficient evidence that she feared the worst. The Chief repeated his question. "Forgive me, Your Excellency," he said, "but where are you going?" Maris felt some sort of resentment at his question; she, at any rate, had not crossed his path before, and he could have nothing against her, as she had done nothing. She replied very coldly and with some hauteur: "I am going to see Ireland for the first time." The Chief bowed his grey head. "I could wish, Madame," he said, "that the country was in a more peaceful state. But will you take the advice from an old man who knows the world well ?" "Certainly I will," was the answer. "Then," he whispered coming quite close to her, "do not land at all." Maris stood looking at him and wondering why he gave her this warning. "And why must I not land here?" she asked. "Because," came his ready answer, "I think it very dangerous for you." But Maris was equally prompt with her next question. "But you are landing there yourself?" Then came the answer which at once relieved Maris's mind and brought the colour back to the face of Madame Brun, standing by. The little Chief of Police shook his head. "No, Your Excellency," he said, "I am not going to land here; I am going on to New York to fetch back to Paris one of our naughty boys who has been committing a forgery." Maris voluntary drew a sigh of relief. Brun's manner was once more brisk and active; she seized a porter and ordered him to take up the small baggage. She knew now that Monsieur Dumont was not on tljeir track; therefore the passing of the false note* could go> forward. CHAPTER XXVI. Maris was not much struck with the display of Irish luxury on her first landing. Everything seemed to be in an unfinished and neglected st;ite. except the churches, and some of iho.-e were magnificent. "We will not stay here long," Madame Brun remarked with a sniff when they were alone; "we will go to the more civilized hotels round the Lake of Killarney. I have been there before; they are quite up-to-date, and the managers are tres gentil. I think I shall do some good business with them with our hundred pound works of art." Though Maris had no actual hand in the passing of these notes, Brun's conversation on the subject, in which 6he was invariably included—at any rate, by reference —jarred upon her and made her wish to be back again in the state she was, an out of work typist seeking a living, on the day she met Treadgold in the Regent Street Cabaret. But she knew that any resistance was impossible and might bring her instant death, even at the hands of this woman with whom she was travelling. She had learned enough of Brun to know that if her life—even her liberty—were at stake she would not hesititate to use that automatic pistol, the butt of which she had seen protruding from the pocket of her blouse the first day she had seen her in the printing shop of forged notes at the mock London club. . And this view of the matter was borne home to her by the state of Ireland, where such occurrences were common and not thought much of If she were shot, Maris wondered who would take the trouble to make any enquirir* •■''• i>t it. The few people who knew her in England would not recognise her under the name of the "Princess de Calvario." So, when Brun packed the trunks again and busied herself with the trains to Killarney, Marist simply fell in with her plans and took her seat in the railway carriage bound for the Lakes. After the bustle and' speed of the Continental trains the journey seemed interminable, but Killarney was reached at last, and Madanu Brun sighed with pleasure as she was shown into a comfortable room adjoining that of "The Princess" in that really wonderful hotel on the banks of the Lakes. The hotel had an air about it that gladdened Brun. "I have seen the manager, Madame," she reported to Maris. "He is most amiable. He is what you call a 'Mug' in England. Business with him will be easy." Brun's prophecy seemed to be correct, for she insisted that they should stay a week at this hotel on the borders of the beautiful lake. She came to Maris on the last morning and announced her success. " He has given me small notes for two five-hundred English," she said. "It is now time that we moved on. Wo will go to Newport in the West, where I know of another beautiful hotel in the wilds where young honeymoon couples go. There we will lose ourselves. The manager introduced me to the bank here," she added, " and I buy* openad an

account with both English and French notes. One thousand pounds of this I draw out before we go. Oh! this manager is an easy young man to work with." Maria stood, on the last morning, looking at the beautiful lake and wishing she had come there to see its loveliness apart from all the trouble she was living amidst. There was something in all the natural beauty of the spot-which seemed to forbid all such crimes as she was living among. They went off by a slowly moving train, and by the look of satisfaction, if not triumph, which had settled on Madam Brim's face, Maris came to the conclusion that she had gained hei object, and that the thousand pounds had been drawn from the bank, and reposed in Brim's handbag. By devious loop lines they came at last to Castlebar, where they'staved the night, and thence to Newport," where the railway ended, as far as they were ! concerned, and the rest of the journey had to be accomplished by car. " I hope this manager will be ns easy as the last," Brnn confided as they sat in the station room alone waiting for the car; "if so, I have no fear of <>ur journey being unprofitable." Maris wondered whether Madam Brun was really covering her tracks, or was she deceiving herself? She could not help thinking the chance meeting with Monsieur Dupont, the Paris chef—if chance meeting it was — was| very unfortunate for their safety. A man of such acuteness would not bo likely to forgot the meeting if once the great fraud were discovered. She asked Madam Brun the question: "Do you really think you are ballling pursuit by this journey to Ireland? , ' she said. Brun, as usual, shrugged her shoulders. " I think it is the best and only way," she answered. " There are no passports wanted here. They do everything to encourage tourists, and are very unlikely to make any police notes. Nothing like this has been attempted before, as far as I know, so they are not likely to have suspicions. They are an easygoing people, these Irish," Madame added, "and as long as things go smoothly, they don't trouble." But many times a day Maris tried to work out how long it would take for the forged notes, which Madam Brun had disposed of at Killarney to reach the Bank of England, where their uselessness would be exposed and telegraphed to Ireland as Maris calculated. Then she thought very little time would be lost in arresting them. They reached that well-known hotel at Callaghclougli, right, down on the West Coast, and nothing happened. Yet Maris thought sin , could discern symptoms of anxiety in her companion. " 1 have engaged the most expensive suite of rooms they have," she reported when they were alone. " Your full title is entered in the visitor's book, and the whole hotel is full of excitement at the visit of a princess. " I have seen the manager, and he is all smiles and bows at present; but I don't trust him as I did the young man at Killarney. "He has agreed, however, to take me to the bank to-morrow and introduce me to the manager." Maris now concluded that they were running a race with time with all the odds against them. But nothing happened during the three days of their stay; all occurred as Brun had predicted. The few visitors were delighted with the beautiful princess, and talked nothing else. On the third morning Brnn came to Maris's sitting room just before lunch. " I have landed the bank with a heap of English and foreign notes," she said. " and I have drawn out fifteen hundred pounds, and it is here in my bag. '" But," proceeded Madame Brun. " it is time to move, and to move quickly. There is a train from Newport at five o'clock. I have secured a car to take us there in good, time. We will break our journey at Castlebar. and there I shall have something to tell you straight from the .professor."

This communication did not inspire Maris with any feelings of pleasure. She. knew that some pveat change was impending which was not likely to l>e an agreeable one to her feelings. Speeding in the car through the matchless air of Western Ireland Maris could hnrdly believe that she was living in this stulo of unreality; posing as a princess, and being really one of a gang of swindlers. There had been quite a orowd of the visitors to see them off from the hotel an<l some waving handkerchiefs. She wondered what the poor bank manager would say when he realised the extent to which he had been swindled. The train seened an endless time getting to Castlebar, rid when it reached the out-of-the-way town it was dark. This no doubt suited Madame Bduu's plans admirably, as Maris nfterwards discovered. Eurly next morning Madame Brim was at Maris' bedside almost before she had awakened. '"I have a surprise for you, madame," were Brim's first words. '"Learn that you are no lonper a princess!" Maris rubbed her eyes, but when she fully realised what the German was saying, it did not greatly affect her. She, nodded sleepily and waited for a further communication. "We are now two business women travelling to Lyons to buy velvets for our winter trade. I threw your passport of princess into the river we passed last night, and I am assured by the professor that new ones await us in other names in a registered packet at the head post office in Dublin." Maris listened to all this dreamily. "If danger threatens us," Brun proceeded, "we are to separate and return home, each her own way." "Home!" repeated Maris. "Where is home T" . "Where else should it be, but in Grosvenor Place, London," was the reply. "What policeman would think of finding her Excellency, the Princess in the little typist of the club? And for me. am I not also n well-known dependent of that institution? Who would think of suspecting the assistant housekeeper of being the scatterer cf bad notes?" "Oh, madame," continued Brun, "there is a change in our condition. I can tell you. No longer do we travel in firstclass carriages and wagons lits. We travel second-cla.s ae becomes our station as business women." So far from being annoyed, Ma.ris was glad that they were reverting to something like their true walk in life. "Very well," she answered, "I will get up and dress and join you as soon as possible." "You have plenty of time," was the reply, "we do not go until after lunch." True to Madame Bran's programme, they took their seats in a second-class carriage. Their compartment had no other occupant, and Brun was communicative. "I shall carry out my original plan," she stated. "I shall go up north for just one day, but I shall go alone, and buy the linens. I will leave you at a respectable second-class hotel in Dublin. I go straight by the night mail to Belfast, spend to-morrow there, and return by the night mail to-morrow night to Dublin. Then |vq go by the day mail the

day after to-morrow straight to London. anil from there straight to London, and from there straight to Lyons." '"But where will you sleep?" asked Mnris. Madame Brun waved her hands airily. "I sleep anywhere; in the train; on the boat; on the floor—anywhere. I have been a nurse; I am used to it," was Brim's reply. It was evening when they reached Dublin, but not too late for the night mail to Belfast, and after calling at the General Tost Office for a registered packet which Brun knew contained fresh forged passports, Maris saw her companion off to the north, baring prcviouslv seeured a room at an unpretentious hotel on Stephen's Green. Hero, Maris whiled away the intervening day, feeling more safe than she had done since they left Grosvenor Plsiee. In wandering about the old, neglectedlooking streets Maris felt soothed. There was an old-world air, about them which reminded her of Bath, where she had spent her girlhood. But the day soon passed and she went to l>ed, knowing that Brun would return early from the North and would expect her to lie ready. True enough, Bmn arrived soon after seven and kept a taxi waiting while she breakfasted. From her triumphant expression and the big breakfast she ate, Maris judged she had done well, and she was right. Brun communicated the details gloatingly in the car on the way to Kingstown. By engaging a car to Kingstown Brim had worked into her programme half an hour for breakfast at the Stephen's Green Hotel. 'I have done well," said Brun as the oar rattled over the uneven roads. "I have planted two thousand in English notes on the Belfast linen manufacturers and I have changed another thousand Irish bank notes. I even got one man to take me to his* bank and change fifty French mille notes. Ah! But they are hard men these Northern Irish," she commented. '-'So different to my dear little hotel manager at Killarney. These Belfast men are more like the Scotch, and very what-you-say canny. But I think they will ship all the linen off to Moscow before they find out that the notes are imitations. I told them that future orders depended upon their goods getting to Russia just before the German imitations." The glory of the trip was gone as regards costume and character; obedient lo Brim's instructions, Mnris had put on the plainest of her dresses and substituted a tweed coat for her two hundred guinea fur mantle. They took second-class tickets on the Holy head boat, and third in the train. Brun explained that she would not run the risk of recognition in the first-class saloon which was patronised by people who travelled all over Europe. * It was evening when they reached London, but not too late for the Newhaven apd Dieppe night boat. "By going this way." Brun explained when they were on their way to Newhaven, "we run no risks. What astute policeman would think of the Princess de Calvario returning to France by the cheapest night boat* It is in "these little touches of genius," Brun explained with some pride, "that the artist appears." "And yet," she continued after n pause, for Maris had only smiled at her remark, "you do not as>k where we are going after we have been to Lyons and carried out our little programme. "Madame, you are but a silent travelling companion; but perhaps after all, it is for the best." Maris aroused herself with an effort; the continuous travelling was telling on her.

"I had understood you to sny," she replied, "that we were to return to Grosvenor Place." "Only if we are in danger," was Brim's answer. "Then we separate, and each makes for home her own wav. Even if we meet on the way, it must be us strangers. Ko. madame, I will not keep you in suspense. 1 will break the good news to you at once. If our little visit to Lyons is successful— and why not—we go straight to Monte Carlo." This was certainly exciting news to Maris who had often heard of the place. "But remember you will not go there as a Princess," continued Brun. "So. that Mould be fatal. They would recognise us at once. Xo, we go there as simple business vrtimen on a holiday, and no one will suspect us." Brun stopped and burst into a chuckle. "I wonder if the jewellers in Paris have discovered that the notes are not regular, and my dear little hotel manager at Killarney. I hope he is not suffering too much.' , Maris was disgusted at her heartlessness, but she knew it was useless to argue with her. The woman was absolutely jivr:i over to revolutionary i Russia and considered any villainy quite justifiable in the interests of "liberty." which was no liberty at all, but a vile serfdom. The train was approaching Xewhavcn. Maris busied herself in getting their belongings together, for Brun had ceased to play the role of lady's maid.. As they passed through the queue fo have their passports stamped, Brun was stopped, and it appeared that an unusually long time was occupied in examining her passport. An obvious detective joined the official who was examining it. However, the pa«sport was handed back to her at last, and she went on board. "That was a narrow squeak," she said when they were alone together in the cabin which Brun had secured, "that man was looking for a photograph; he had one very much like mine on the passport I started with. I wonder where he got it from ?"

"It was a good tiling," added Brun, "that I altered the style of my hair." She had altered the style of her hair by appearing in a decidedly auburn wig. It might even have been called red; in fact, a street boy had ventured upon that term during the drive from Huston to Victoria, substituting for red the term "ginger." But Madame Brun was impervious to such taunts, and was in general occupied mostly in calculating the profits' of the exj>edition. Brun had engaged the cabin on the boat, as it was evident to her that Maris was becoming tired out with the incessant travelling. She argued that if Maris could only get some sleep on the long crossing they might on their arrival in Paris go straight to the Gare dc Lyon and seclude themselves in the waiting room until the train was ready to start. Madame Brun was very anxious to avoid any contact with Paris hotels, and, incidentally, with the Paris police. So she insisted on Maris going to bed. and promised to wake her long before they arrived at Diepj>e. Meanwhile, Brun busied herself in sketching out her plans for her attack on the Lyons velvet silk manufacturers. Maris slept. It was a clear night without wind, and a smooth crossing, and Brun decided that her calculations to catch the morning express at Lyons would be successful. When the boat ran into Dieppe Harbour Maris • was up and dressed and restored by sleep. They showed their false passports and landed once more in France. (To l>e continued daily.)