THE DUCHESS OF PONTIFEX GARDENS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13326, 5 November 1906, Page 3

THE DUCHESS OF PONTIFEX GARDENS.

[PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.]

BY G. W. APPLETON. . ; Author of " A Forgotten Past," "A Fool and His Folly." " A Tragedy of Error," "Doubles and Quits," etc. etc.. etc. [COPYRIGHT.j CHAPTER XXII.— (Continued.) "And now, -what can I do for you, madame?" I said -'Pray be seated." " Parlate Italino, signore':" was-her unexpected answer. ' Yes, I speak Italian," I replied in that language with a smile. "What is it?" She at once produced a letter from her bosom, and handed it to me. " You will give me ten pounds in gold for this," she asked, fixing a pair of eager eyes upon mine. *I shrugged my shoulders as I broke open the envelope. What the deuce could the woman mean by demanding ten pounds in exchange for a letter? Was it some attempt at blackmail? I took out the enclosure, and glanced at the signature. - It was a note from the old duchess. " The bearer grinned .as she noted the look, I daresay of stupefaction, on my face. " *" Is it all right?" she asked. I nodded vigorously in return, and motioned her to a seat. The letter was in Italian, and bore no: address. It was difficult to read, for it was written on a rough bit of paper with a blunted end of a lead pencil. This much, however, I could decipher, or rather piece together: — " Dear Doctor Perigord,—l am in the hands of my enemy at last—Vittoriowho killed your good father. By some means they carried me away. I' am very weak and ill, and have scarcely any clothes. I don't want to die just yet. I will never give in to him. I told you, and you have the papers, thank God! Come and save me, if possible. I don't know where I am. The , woman who feeds me, and agreed to bring this letter, knows, but she wants £10 in gold. Give it to her, I have no money. Come to me quickly at any cost. You' will not regret.—Elena di Frangipani." There was no doubt or peradventure as to the genuineness of this. I had instantly recognised the handwriting, and my heart was first of all stirred with pity for the poor, forlorn old ks.y, in her wretched plight, and then it nearly burst with indignation against the accursed author of it all. The hot blood surged into my face. I brought my fist down on the table with a thundering whack, and ripped out a something, not in Italian, and which would b a quite unprintable in these or any other pages. Then I caucrht the eve of the woman who had brought the letter. , "Well.'' 1 said, "you will give me this lady's address in exchange for ten sovereigns?" "Yes, sir," and she courtesied again. I,pushed pen, inkstand, and a sheet of paper towards her, then opening my cabinet took out ten of the old duchess' remaining sovereigns and placed them in a little pile beside me on the desk. . Not until she saw these did she begin to write. I arose and looked over her shoulder as the pen toiled painfully over the paper, I saw the word " Montpelier" shape itself, and Holly Tree Lane begin, ancl then I stopped her. "That will do," I said. "Putney, of course." Site looked up in surprise. "Yes, that is right, Putney." '"And where is the old lady's room?" " The top floor on the right, facing the lane." " Thanks, very much," I said, pushing over the little pile of sovereigns towards her; "there you are. Are you going back to Putney now?'' She showed all her bad teeth, and said something in Italian equivalent•* to "no fear, sir," and pouching her golden pieces went her way. , _

At nine sharp, I found Dick Molyneux at the White Lion. I had provided myself in town with a bull's-eye lantern and other maybe useful appliances; and when Dick felt that he understood the case thoroughly. I said : '"Come on, then; we'll dig that old girl out in less titan half an hour, else we are a pair of duffers, and we are not that, I believe." ..■*.'- CHAPTER XXIII. As we left the White Lion our faces were suddenly smitten by pelting rain, icy cold. " The deuce," I exclaimeß. " Still, all the better perhaps; the 'bobbies' will all have run for shelter," and turning up my coat collar 1 added, "Do you mind, Dick?" " Not I. I saw the glass was going down with a rush, and slipped on my waterproof. But what about the old girl?" "Oil, Lord! I had forgotten. Well, I suppose those furs and things are still there to wrap her up in, and besides she will be too jolly glad to get away to mind a bit of rain." "I admire your optimism. Where do you propose to take her?" "To my home, of course. Where else? I bought* three first-class return tickets. Those and a tip to the guard ought to secure a compartment to ourselves." " Hadn't we better subsidise a cabman for a sovereign or two to do the whole job?" " Why? What is the matter with the train'.' ■•'.llie platform is ax public sort of place, that's till,'' said Dick. " We may have to wait for a train, and she might attract attention. - Remember lite condition in which she was carried away. She will be bareheaded to begin with." " Not a. bit of "it. She can throw her furs over her head. The rain will explain that." She will be barefooted." " No, she won'tl have provided for th.it. I have a pair of boots in my pocket, as well as a flask of fine old Cognac to brisk up her spirits." "All right," said Dick". "Yours is the master mind. I am silenced. Come on!" We had been talking in the shelter of tlie hotel porch. The next moment we faced the storm, and for the next twenty minutes, as we fared to our bourne, scarcely a word was spoken between us. The rain was now mingled with sleet and buttered our faces with steady persistence all the way. Arrived at Holly Tree Lane, we encountered inky blackness —not a lamp was visible. It was like-entering a tunnel. Dick came to a dead stop. "It can't bo done, my boy," said he. " Better have another try_ to-morrow night." I laughed, whipped out my bull's-eye lantern from my pocket, .and lighted it under the shelter of my great coat. Then I laughed again, as a shaft of light sped through sleet, and rain, and ran like a live tiling along the stretch of high walls environing us. "It can't he done, eh!" I. said. "Why? I can see the gate now," and I focussed the light upon the object ( of our quest. "Are you coining or not?" "I am silenced again, said Dick. "You are a man of resources ; but if we are not both run in to-night as burglars, then I'll eat my hat! It wouldn't surprise me in the least if you had a jemmy in your pocket as well." " I have—of course, or something very like it—a good sound cold chisel. How else are wo going to open doors and gates and things?" "It may mean at least a year's hard, old boy!" said he. "But never mind. I'm with you—only don't flash that darned thing about so, or you'll give the whole show away!" I closed the shutter of the lantern, and without its further aid, and despite the darkness and the rain, quickly found my way to the gate I was in search of. To prize it open with the chisel was the work of an instant. With the first turn of my wrist the rotten wood yielded, and as I pushed the gate open I found the rusty old lock inside was dangling on a single screw. / It now became necessary to use my lantern; again ,to. discover the path leading to the house. This., when discovered, was more an indication of where it had once

existed than of the thing itself ; and it was only after much stumbling and blundering along its devious way that we reached a low terrace fronting the old mansion. Mounting this . over broken steps, we found a central doorway; <w either side, French casement windows, opening direct upon the terrace. "One of these windows will be the easiest to open," I whispered ; and the next minute we were inside. s I opened the shutter of the lantern and discovered that we were in a lofty room which was utterly destitute of furniture. An open door, leading to the hall, was on the right, " So far so good," I whispered to Dick. " But now we must keep our eyes and ears open for surprises. We have to negotiate two flights of stairs. Best way, I think, if we are attacked, is to fling the party over the banisters. What do you say?' , "It sounds easy enough," said Dick; "but I might possibly go over with him, which would be a drawback. However, I'm sportsman enough, now I am in it, to do my best." We entered the hall, upon which opened, on the opposite side, a room identical in every respect with the one we had just left. A broad oaken staircase led by easy stages to the rooms above. The stillness of death was over everything. The smell of decay filled the nostrils in an unpleasant manner. The desolation of it all. heightened by the roar of the wind outside and the beating of the rain and sleet on the windows, was overpowering. Was it humanly possible that the old duchess could be a prisoner in such an unspeakable place as this? Had I been made a fool of after all? Had I paid ten pounds for the privilege of becoming the victim of a vicious practical joke on the part -of the duke, or did it possess a more . sinister meaning? What wicked guet-apens might be awaiting me at the end of my journey? And I frankly confess that for a brief second or two a creepy and disquieting feeling came over me as I felt my way like a blind man up the stairs, to encounter I knew not what. Dick, however, was close behind me, and I knew that if the occasion demanded it, he could right like a very demon. Arrived at the first floor, I took the risk and opened the shutter of my lantern again. It revealed nothing but a bare landing and another flight of stairs. Up this I again carefully groped my way, and at last knew that in the room on my left my quest, whether for good or evil, was ended. I turned my lantern full on the door and knocked. I waited a second or two for a reply, and as none came I turned the knob and threw open the door. Not a sound came from within, except a rapid tattoo of sleet upon the windows; Then I boldly entered, closely followed by Dick. What I saw filled me at once with strange misgivings. The windows were closely curtained so as to prevent any light being seen from without. The room was furnished in a scanty way, with two beds and a few other essential items. I tock in the situation at one angry and despairing glance. One bed had been occupied by the duchess, the other by her custodian, the woman who had betrayed her trust to me for £10 that very afternoon. (To be continued daily.)