THE Murder on the Downs

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 164, 14 July 1930, Page 18

THE Murder on the Downs

By ANTONY MARSDEN.

SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS

JACOB KNOTTMAX, a particularly heartless swindler, was sentenced to three years at Parldiurst for fraud. He obtained an early release, and early the next morning was found murdered on a lonely wayside in Hampshire. A few weeks before Kiiottman's release GEOFFEKSON WADE, a hard-bitten old rancher, discovers oil on his farm .in Texas. He rents the farm from Knottman, but hates his landlord like poison because the man had ruined his dearest friend. Wade tells the good news to his beautiful step-daughter, FAY MAYNAED, and his young English rancher, TOMMY BKAILE. Fay and Tommy are in love, but the young man fears to ask his chief's consent to their marriage because he, Tommy, is only a cow-puncher. Wade comes to England with Fay and Tommy with the intention of purchasing the farm, but he is frustrated by Knottman, Avho has obtained an early release from prison. They make their home with LOKD MELDRIkU, a gallant old follow introduced to them by Tommy. One day Tommy is alone at his hotel, when a cable comes from the head man at the farm warning him that JEB KENNEDY, Kiiottman's agent, has sailed for England. Tommy guesses that the man has learnt oi: the discovery of oil, and is coining to England to warn his chief. He goes to Southampton to meet the boat, and is surprised to find that Fay has followed him down. They see Kennedy, and Tommy follows him. The man goes over to Cowes and hires the only available taxi to take him to Parkhurst. It is s after midnight When Tommy returns to Fay at Southampton. They sec Kennedy drive off in a car in the direction of London, and follow in their own vehicle. They overtake their quarry on a lonely road and force him to stop. There is a terrific tight between the two men, ending in Kennedy being knocked out by Tommy. CHAPTER VII.— (Contiucd) Tims it transpired that just about the time Lord Meldrum was seeing his guest to bed the lit windows above the tobacconist's in Canute Road went suddenly dark; and a few seconds afterwards the watchers in the Rolls saw Kennedy emerge on to the pavement with the man who had met his boat, and cross "th: , street to the same garage where Tommy had left his motor cycle seven hours before. The two men never glanced towards the Rolls; she was not the only vehicle drawn up there,Uo-te though it was; for beside several taxis still waiting on the rank, there was a lorry or two parked for the night, apparently, and some belated traffic in and out of the docks. Before long a brown Mercury ear hacked into their view from the garage, followed by a man on foot. '■Job's pal," Tommy whispered. The Mercury driver stopped and leaned from his seat, and they recognised Jeb him self. They were even near enough to catch the direction given by the man on the pavement as he pointed down the-, street past them. "Winchester Eoad—then follow the signboards."

''London!" the girl heard Tommy mutter, all but inaudibly. The Mercury moved off, but Tommy made no stir, while Fay fidgeted nervously. "We must give No. 2 a chance to clear," he whispered. "There's no use in getting him suspicious, even now. We've got Jeb's route taped, and I know the roads blindfold." So the long minutes crawled by, while Jeb's friend strolled / into the garage, reappeared, and at last turned his back on them .and walked away. Only then did Tommy turn the Rolls, and * begin Winding through the streets of Southampton. They had long passed the tramlines and were near Otterbourne, travelling not very fast, when he nodded forward towards a tail-light which they had had in view for some miles. That's Jeb—" "How d'you know?" "By the way he's driving. Did you notice how he took that bend—he hugged the right-hand ditch at first; then he remembered that our road rule is the opposite to your own, and panicked across to his left. Job's not found his sea legs yet—and a strange car, too." ,

"But Tommy, what are we going to do 1"

The boy laughed. "Hanged if I know! I'm sort of waiting for inspiration, baby . . . but we'vo hours yet, at the rate Jeb's setting us. With any luck and a good curve to help, he may hit something head-on; he's certainly shaping for it! ... Of course, with this big brute of a car, if nothing better turns up, Ave might just road-hog the beggar—mow him down! But it's a bit risky—since I've got you on board "

Their pace continued to be slow. Jeb Kennedy kept pulling up to peer out at the signboards, and it was past onethirty when they neared Winchester. Tommy's bloodthirsty hopes began to be dashed. "Taking no risks, confound him," he complained.. But as the two cars wound their way through the narrow streets, 'Tommy nudged Fay triumphantly. "Wrong turning!" he muttered. "That's a point to us!"' Half-way through Winchester, at that confusion crossroad where no street seems the logical continuance of any other, Jeb Kennedy had forked to his right, missing the Guildford Eoad, and was now heading for Petersfield. Tommy followed in silence, turning over a plan which had begun to take shape in his mind. Passing through Win' Chester 'he had "disguised the ■car,' (as he muttered to Fay) by switching off their dazzle-lights and substituting the two weaker lamps on the wings;* but the traffic, scarce enough even on the London Eoad at this time of night, would be scarcer now that they had branched eastward, and they could hardly hope that their pursuit would escape Jeb's notice much longer. Moreover, in view of the anxiety with which the Mercury driver--~was studying his route, he was pretty sure to find out his mistake in the course of the next few miles. They were running slowly along a lonely stretch of road not far short of Cherlton when Tommy's chance came.

Jeb Kennedy stopped, peered round at the oncoming car, and sounded his horn. Tommy pulled up, watchful. The Mercury began to back, swinging round into a little grassy lane with a gate at the end of it, as though intending to turn round and head back for Winchester. But as Jeb changed to forward gear again the Rolls 'slipped quietly across" the.mouth of the" lane and stopped there, blocking the way com pletely.

• For perhaps thirty seconds Jeb, taken by surprise and with no inkling of the other driver's identity, made no sign. Then his horn barked again, and he called out. Tommy Braile alighted on the offside of the Rolls and "' strolled round into the glare, of Jeb's headlights.

"Morning, Jeb!" he observed cheerfully.

Tho American scrambled down into the lane, and when at last he spoke the anger of his voice was tempered by sheer amazement.

"Say, what the Tommy Braile, by God! What's all this? Out 0' my way, you !"

Tommy grinned. "I'm awfully sorry, Jeb, but I've broken down. I'm afraid I'll bo here for some time!" Fay Maynard, listening from the Rolls, gave a quick warning cry as Jeb's hand went to his hip-pocket. But the hand came back empty, and Tommy covered his relief with a laugh. "Real bad luck, Jeb. You never guessed you'd, need to carry a gun in dear old peaceful England." But the girl, more watchful, divined the meaning of Job's sudden half-turn towards tho front seat of the Mercury. The Rolls engine was still running, and as Jeb Kennedy sprang round again, gun in hand, Fay let in the first gear with a bang and trod on the gas. The big car lurched forward, knocking the American oil" his feet. Tommy Braile kicked the gun away and pocketed it. "Really, Jeb! And i warned you that our bus was out of control!" The other was up in an instant. His first glance was at the new position of Tommy's car; but it still blocked his own, and he advanced a step or two, uncertainty in his eyes. ''See here, Braile. I don't know what hell's game you're playing at, but I'll ask you to let me pass." He was talking for time, and both his hearers knew it; time to devise some way of meeting tho unexpected emergency. . . . Tommy smilled again. "Only ever my dead body, so to speak. .... And while we're chatting, Jeb, maybe you'll tell us what the hurry is— and what sort of talk you had at Parkhurst with Jake Knottman?" Ever since Jeb set out from Canute Road, Tommy had been consumed with curiosity to know what his quarry's intentions were. Had he failed altogether to gain access to Knottman? That seemed most probable, and would fit in with Jeb's departure for London, where ho might got in touch with Sturt. If, on the other hand, he- had seen Knottman and had told him of the discovery of the oil well, then his anxiety to reach London implied that he carried instructions from the convict or his expartner .... o>: maybe, that Jeb meant to buy the ranch himself, if he had found tho necessary backing? In any case, it was essential to hold Jeb in play till noon to-morrow; and noon was still ten hours off . .1. . Tommy had hoped by angering him to make Jeb show his hand; but Jeb was giving nothing away. "That my affair. Well, Braile, what are you going to do ? Sharp, boy! I mean business." "I suppose, strictly, I should give you in charge," Tommy smiled. "The fact tnat my car has happened to fail just •hero gives you no right to shoot at me, damn it "

Jeb Kennedy rushed. His straight left missed Tommy's jaw by inches, for the boy ducked and countered with a right to the ribs; but Tommy had not allowed enough for Jeb's running start, and as the American'sbody blundered into him the superior weight sent Tommy staggering back against the bonnet of the Rolls. Tommy slipped sideways in an instant, however; Job turned; and then Fay Maynard, watching anxiously, saw in that closo arena of slippery lamplit grass such a fight as not even her rough western experience could match. Both men were tough and in the pink of condition. Jeb had the advantage both in height and weight, and it is possible that his six-and-twenty years gave him some slight lead in stamina over Tommy's eighteen. Tommy, however, was the cleverer fighter; Fay, no mean judge, had not watched them for thirty seconds before that was evident. Tommy had boxed his way through successive weights at his public scool, and had represented that school in each of them. But the uneven, treacherous light, waist high, and the deep-rutted grass made skill a factor less trustworthy than it might otherwise have been.

Jeb's first fierce rush was not repeated; Tommy's counter had checked his rashness, if it did nothing more. He moved with heavy deliberation—lurching forward, shuffling back—while Tommy pranced nimbly before him. From the waist down, each figure stepped and swayed in the hard, cold glare of the lamps; each sought from habit to watch tho other's eyes, but the eyes tjwere all hut invisible, and it was rather by the sliding, dancing feet of his adversary that each shaped his attack. To Fay, watching, it was all grotesque To Fay watching, it was all grotesque as a dream, and its upshot 210 less incalculable; if Tommy lost . . . Jeb's left shot out again; the pair of legs that was Tommy hardly seemed to' move, but his head flickered to the right, and the girl had a blurry vision of Jeb's arm a full stretch, with her lover's head tucked ludicrously behind the elbow; ithen Jeb's feet, staggering in two or three little desperate steps to the right; this time Tommy's counter had not failed. She heard Jeb grunt painfully. Tommy had followed up his counter by a short hook with the left—an inch or so too low to find Jeb's. wind, but a staggerer for all that. Jeb's body bent forward suddenly, only to straighten at once, while his hooked forearms swung together instinctively round the short ribs; just for that fraction of a second Jeb had no guard, and the boy's right came like a kicking horse for his jaw; yet Jeb, hard pressed though he was, kept, cool and saved himself; Fay saw his knees hend sharply in the glare of the lamplight; his head dropped forward, every muscle of neck and shoulders stiff; he took Tommy's lead upon the forehead, above where the hair .began, and Fay gave a gasp of fear; she had once seen a cowboy break his thumb delivering just such a blow. If Tommy lost . . .

Jeb gave ground, and Tommy did not follow up his advantage. The boy stayed where he was, poised on his toes; his left arm held well forward, his right dropping suddenly into the lamplight. Fay saw the fingers open and close again, as though the fighter was assuring himself that they had taken no harm. Jeb saw, too, and leapt in with something of his first recklessness; and at close; quarters now the two exchanged a very I whirlwind of blows, seeming to take no j thought what punishment they received in the spasm of simultaneous attack. It was knock-out or nothing, for a second or two; but the pace was too hot to last; and as Fay. watched them, tense with fear, the fighters fell away from each

other exhausted, and leaned panting, Jcb against the body of the Mercury, Tommy with both hands 011 the wing of the Rolls. Jeb broke silence: "I owe yon one—that day back home— this settles all scores, I guess!" Then he bore down on his antagonist, and at once Tommy was on hie toes again. Jeb changed his tactics now. Hitherto he had stood firm, his left well'out, his shoulders a little forward, using his extra inch or two of length to make the other light at his face, with small chance for Tommy to reach his body save by slipping one of Jeb's leads. Now he leaned forward, his guard low, tempting Tommy himself to lead. Had the light been better Fay might have seen' the faint smile play on his sneering lips. Tommy's left came out, and Jeb ducked instantly; ho had expected that, but he had not made quite enough allowance for the boy's speed, and Tommy landed over his right eye with a force that split the skin to the bone. A low cry of triumph burst from Fay's lips. If Tommy won . . . What they should, do with Jeb if Tommy won she had not the least idea. Nor Tommy either, probably. . . . Jeb had stepped back, with a queer little shake of the head. The faces of both men glistened with sweat in the halflight, and a thin black line of blood had begun trickling from the cut over Jeb's eye, but his feet moved nimbly enough in the lamplit circle of grass. The other legs, with Tommy's shadowy form above, swayed, forward, poised, expectant. Then Jeb, the sneering smile still on his lips, gave Tommy the same opening as before, but with the touch of extra speed which a sharp experience had taught him. His knees sagged, his head flicke'd aside, and the next instant Tommy's left arm was rigid over the American's shoulder, and the two rushed into a clinch. (To be continued daily,)