The Mystery Road

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 267, 10 November 1928, Page 12 (Supplement)

The Mystery Road

By E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM .

CHAPTER XXXH, Plans.

Gerald, after a weary climb out of the town, stood at last, at the appointed hour on the following morning, before the rusty iron gates of the fortress. Untidy and neglected though the whole place seemed, there was still something sinister about the various crude precautions against the escape of a prisoner. For a quarter of a mile, on the outside of- the walls, not in themselves formidable, everything in the shape of trees, shrubs, or dwellings had been razed to the ground, and every fifty paces around the walls, on the top of a buttress, was mounted a machine gun, from which an iron lad'der led to the ..ground. The walls themselves were abut eight feet high, of stone covered with white plaster. The fortress was built of a kind of grey-coloured brick, a> square, solid building, with a curiously unexpected .pointed top. The barred windows were no more than slits. The space of open ground by which the main building .was surrounded was inches deep in dust. A. porter, in stained and ill-fitting uniform, admitted Gerald to the building,, escorted him across the yard, and passed him on to a duplicate of himself, to whom he once more presented the card which had obtained him admittance. He was led down a stone passage, which had apparently neither been cleaned nor swept for months, into a lofty but bare apartment at the farther end. Krossneys, who was sitting before a wooden table, apparently expecting him, dismissed the attendant and motioned Gerald to sit down. He looked at his visitor in unfriendly fashion. "Why did you not come to me direct instead of going to Elsa Francks" he demanded. Gerald was not unprepared for the question. "I knew your reputatio7i as a soldier and a man of honour," ho replied. "I feared that.unless this matter was put to you in the proper light, tactfully, as a woman can put it, you would have nothing to say to me." The Governor grunted. "It was a mistake," he declared sourly. "The woman is greedy. She will demand her full share of the money. It is scarcely justice." "I am sorry," Gerald said. "I acted as I was advised." ; "Suppose I accede," Krossneys'went on, after a short pause, "how do you propose to get number 29 out of the country?" .'..'. "I was hoping," admitted, "that you might have been able to help with some suggestion." The Governor stroked his beard. ' "Suggestions,"' he muttered, "are worth money." Gerald assented. "I have not command of much more than the amount I spoke of," he said, ''but if you ■ can show me how "to get our friend safely out of the country 1 will "add a thousand pounds to your "Which sum," the Governor insisted quickly, "will not be mentioned to Elsa Francks and will belong to me alone." "Agreed," Gerald acquiesced. . "Show me your papers," the Governer demanded. ' ,' ; Gerald, produced them without hesitation —his passport, an urgent letter of recommendation by one of the -tatesmen who was in good odour in'both coun : tries, banker's drafts, which needed only his signature to produce a never-ending flow of cash. The governors eyes glittered as he turned them I over in his hand. It was horrible that a share of these treasures must go to the woman! She was well »nough'under, his thumb, the slave' of his command, but with money dn her pocket—they were neither of them in their first youth, but, so far as looks went, in-his eyes she had still charm—if she were independent of him, all sorts of things might happen. _ He threw down the documents with a little oath: The passport, however, he kept in his hand. His manner, as ho looked at Gerald, changed. He became almost servile. • „ "You, too, are an aristocrat, tnen, he remarked.' r ■ ■ "I am'of the English aristocracy, Gerald admitted. "I have another passport in my, pocket which proclaims me an American citizen." The governor nodded. Ho pushed a box of black cigars across to his visitor. The latter contented himself, however, with .accepting a cigarette. Then he •touched a bell. The attendant brought in beer, which was poured into two "•lasses. As soon as they were, alone, Krossneys motioned Gerald to draw his chair close to the desk. , , "Now, here is my scheme, he sari. "Number 29 is of your height and build. You shall seo him for yourself and judge. Number 101, also a young man died yesterday afternoon of malarial fever. His death has not yet been officially reported. Very good! I take you to the cell of number 29. You exchange clothes with him. You give him your American passport. You go in with me to his cell. He comes out with me. You remain."^ "The devil I do!" Gerald muttered. "Do not be a fool!" tho governor exclaimed, impatiently. "I beg your par : don, Excellency," he added a moment later, as he remembered his visitors identity. "Your stay here will not be lon*. I shall explain in a moment. I drive 29 to a small station on the'line, eleven miles off. I take leave of him there. He is an. American who has bought my oil concessions. The station is in-the middle of tho district. My presence with him will remove all suspicions and prevent their examining the passport too closely. He will travel through to Petrograd. There, I take it, you have made' arrangements." "I'have a ship waiting," Gerald replied. ■ ■ ' .-... "That is my-scheme,-then. "So far I approve,of it," Gerald declared, "but what about me?" "You will bore yourself for 24 hours," tho governor ; replied. ■ "I will see, though, that you have beer and newspapers. If you will, Elsa can come and see you." "For heaven's safe, no!" Gerald begged. "I mean," he added, hastily, "I shall need no society. I am very tired. I-shall sleep." .■■'•■•' ; ' ' "As you will," the governor acquiesced. "In the morning, 10i—I should say his remains—will be carried secretly down to your. cell. You will be moved up to IOFs. I shall at once report the death of number 29. He will be "buried in the

cemetery here before intervention is possible. Now the question comes how to dispose of you." "I was getting interested in that myself," Gerald admitted. "Number 101's time was up," the governor explained. "He could have "■one homo last. week if he had been strong enough. I haro his papers of release here, signed by myself. Tomorrow morning early I shall provide you with suitable clothing, and I shall drive you to the railway station. I myself have leave of absence in my pocket, granted to mo a fortnight ago, but, to be honest with you, I have not used it because I have had no money svith which to enjoy myself. I shall, travel with you myself to Petrograd. You will have acted as niy clerk in the prison, and I take some interest in you. In my company you are absolutely secure. No one will venture even a question! Arrived at Petrograd, I will drive you to the docks, you shall take mo on board your ship and we will drink a bottle of champagne together. What do you think of my plan 1" "Capital!" Gerald replied. "I will conduct you now," the governor announced, "to number 29. We will lock ourselves in his' cell. You shall explain the, scheme to: him and change clothes. I will bring pen and ink with me,'also the deeds which will put Harmon P. Cross in possession of my oil ■properties. You shall pay over the drafts. After that you must be patient." "I am ready," Gerald declared, rising to his feet. Krossneys unlocked a drawer and took out a bunch of keys which shone like silver —the only clean thing, it seemed to Gerald, that he had seen in the prison. They tramped up two flights of stone steps. "I am a humane man," the governor said, "and it does not please me to turn my prisoners, into vermin. I have cells underground, without light or air, which were used by my predecessors. I have had them locked up. You will find it not so terrible here." They had reached a long, whitewashed passage with arched roof. The* governor dismissed the attendant who had followed them, inserted the key into the lock of the door over Which "29" was painted in black letters, and entered himself, motioning Gerald to follow him. (To be continued daily.)