THE EDGE OF THE SWORD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13391, 21 January 1907, Page 3

THE EDGE OF THE SWORD.

[PUBLISHED ISY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT?

♦ BY FRED M. WHITE. Author of "The Nether Millstone," "The Corner House." " The scale* of .Justice, "Craven Fortune." etc, etc [coi'vit: IHT.] SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS. Lionel Harvey is writing .1 story, under the iioui de piume of Rodney Payne, for the Daily Record. The beautiful El#ie Armstrong, whose lover he was. is suddenly shown in to see the novelist, for the noTe] is mysteriously developing upon the lines of a tragedy in which her brother Dick is concerned. She is surprised to meet Lionel. A year or two before lie had silently borne the blame of ,1 bank forgery of which .voting: Armstrong was guilty, and this had separated the lovers. The novel tells How Dick's prototype becomes secretary to a nobleman. and fall* in love with his daughter, torses .1 signalure, and—in the last instalmenthow the nobleman is found stunned, and trie key of the safe containing the late Lady Mariningtree's emeralds is lost. This exactly describe* what has Just. occurred. Dick, his eister says, has forced a signature. Lionel cannot explain the coincidence, it must bo telepathy, 's the secretary or another character in the story, a woman, to bo made the thief? Hick was in London at the time of the outrage. Lionel altera the end of the next instalment, and, to his amazement, when he arrives home the Mnnningtrce emeralds are lyinp in bis desk. A lnrtv going out. had passed him in the hall an he came in.

CHAPTER 111. THE LADY IN" THK BOX. Beyond doubt Lionel Harvey was holding in his hand the Manningtree emeralds. He was no particular 1 judge of such things, but even his untrained eve could set! no flaw in these shimmering, shining stones. But why had they been (sent to him like this? Why had the thief made so strong an appeal to him to keep silence? These jewels had been offered to him as a bribe.

Lionel sat himself down to think it. all out. The motive by which the thief had been inspired became clear presently. Evidently more than one person had been readin • the serial story in the Daily Record,

evidently more than one person had appreciated th© similarity between the story and the course of current events taking place at Manningtree Hall. "I. hate succeeded in fairly frightening my prey.'' Lionel told himself. "It. must have been the alteration in. yesterday's in-

stalment of the story that did it. Upon my word, I have a very great mind to go down to Manningtree to-morrow and investigate for mjtsolf. As I said before, what a story this would make! And yet one reads more extraordinary stories every day in the papers.'' There was nothing more to Vie done for the present, and Lionel decided to sleep on it. When ho came down to breakfast the following morning he found that a letter horn the editor of the Daily Record await".l him. Would he go round to the office in the course of the afternoon? The request somewhat interfered with the plan that Harvey had laid out for himself, but Hilton was a. power whom it was impossible t'> disregard. And Harvey was a journalist as well as an author of fiction. For oneo Hilton had abandoned his studiously calm manner. He seemed quite excited about something. "Sony to worry you," lie said, "mil there's a* little thing that needs explaining. The matter was pointed out to me late last night. Do you know anything of Lord Manning tree?" Lionel started and hesitated. There was no reason why he should tell Hilton anything. Only by name," he said. "He was made a" peer the other day to the general surprise of most people, who regarded him as a mere city man who had made a large fortune in mines, or something of that kind." "Wo know all that," Hilton said, impatiently. " I mean as to the inner life of the man. Do you happen to know hie niece personally or his secretary?" There Was no fencing the question any longer. Hilton's eyes fairly burnt behind his gold-rimmed pince-nez. Nothing could be gained by. concealment. " I was not aware that he had a. niece," Lionel replied. " The secretary I knew because I was at-school with him, and after words we were, together in the same bank. Hut I only knew the day before yesterday that. Richard Armstrong was Lord Manning tree's secretary."

"Very strange," Hilton murmured. "But perhaps" I had" better tell you what 1 am driving at. Your story in our paper exactly forecasted the. tragedy tit Manningiree. It. reads as if you know all tho parties, and were in a position to say what, was going to happen. There is the body in the, library before the safe; there is the hint that tin secretary could toll a story if he liked; there is the missing key of 'the safe, a safe which by jove! was supposed to contaii emeralds. And what, happens in your story in to-day's issue? Why, the safe is opened and the emeralds are gone! I took the trouble to look up the page of 'copy' that you altered yesterday, and 1 find that you have fitted the whole thing closer and closet into the crime. And yet you stand there and tell me that you know nothing whatever about Lord Mo-nningtree!" ° Hilton's voice had grown cold and suspicious. Lionel began to tee that it would be necessary for him to speak. Ho fenced up to the point by asking if Hilton regarded him as in any way responsibly for the matter under discussion. "Well, not directly," the editor said " But you can hardly expect me to believe that there is nothing more or less than coincideuee in this. And, besides, you can help the paper,- which brings me to my point. This crime has become a popular- sensation. It has caught on with the British public. They are thirsty for any details, and Lord Manningtree is* not in a position as yet to throw any light on the matter. He was brought up last night by road, on a specially quirt ear, so that his case could hi properly gone into in a hospital—X-rays, and all that kind of thing, such apparatus as could not be taken into the country. I hnvo two special men down in E<-ex getting all the news they can. I've just had a wire to say that the key of the safe has been found, and that the safe has been opened in the presence of his lordship's lawyer. Now, I wonder if you can guess what was discovered inside the safe?" " Probably nothing," Lionel smiled. "You are going to tell me that the emeralds are gone." "Well, it docs not require any vast amount of cleverness to guess that,"' Hilton went on. " The emeralds have vanished— just the same as they vanish in your story. Suspicion at once attaches to the people who are most nearly connected with his lordship's household. I am speaking, o*t course, of the niece or ths secretarv. On the whole, it is the most <••':, -Unary complication that 1 ever came in contact with, and, unless I am greatly mistaken, you are in a position to solv'j the thing right away. ' Is not that so?" "Well, it may be," Harvey Emitted, guardedly. " But I tell you frankly thai J am not gomg to stand here and be bullied into a confession that I have overstepped the bounds of fiction and given you a story that is take:- from real life. That kind oi'thiic. is very dan serous, as J knew to mv cost. Not so very long ago, 1 used some slugulai incidents that were told nw by a friei.d, and found out afterwards that I had given irreat pain to some perfectly innocent people, v. ho wero suffering also from pecuniary loss owing to. my uniurtunat* use of th« facts. The whole thin- prored somewhat expensive in tht ion» run, and cost ma a great deal mere monev than 1 could well afford. I am not very likely" "Why are you wandering fr»m the point like this?" the editor asked. "Like yourself, I always have the fear of a libel action in my eyes; and that is the reason, or, at least, one of the reasons, why I sent for you this morning. If you mean'to tell me that your story which is now running in our paper is nothing more than a mere coincidence, why, in that case—" "I said nothing of the kind," Harvey interrupted. "What I said was- that' the coincidence followed the story, and when you come to talk of coincidences, in which you don't seem to believe, though you are a newspaper editor, allow me to tell you of one that happened to me not long ago. Iliad started a series of short stories, and sent in the first two for the inspection of the magazine editor, when, to my astonishment, l

t 'reived them back wan a cart intimation , the effect that they had been borrowed, M • 'tii 01 Uiem, to put it mildly, from stones jjutili. hod only a tew mouths belore ; by one of our most prominent novelists. I givt von my word of honour that i did not know "of lie existence of any stout* similar to mill'', ami yet the plots in both instances were absolutely the rime. ' 1 flirt not trottbU :nv editor again; in ml, to this very day there i.i a coolness between us, awl I don't .suppose he will ever belJJty in the, unfortunate coincidence. And now comes the strange purl of my narrative. 1 destroyed those two stories", but 1 did not abandon my main idea, so, therefore, I wrote the whole series afresh and scut them to another editor, by whom they were promptly accepted. When the first story came to be published it appeared exactly the same month as a precisely similar narrative by another novelist, and "in both instances the plot of the story turned on the poisoning or drugging of ahorso that was a strong favourite for the Derby. Now. what do you think of that? But i have not told you everything yet. The next story of the series duly appeared, and related to the robbery of the gold plate at Windsor Castle.' Von may believe mo or not, but the other novelist also in his series had a yam all about the robbery of the gold plate at Windsor Castle." "Wonderful," the editor said, drily. "But all this is not very interesting to me just now, though you seem to have proved your point pretty conclusively. Suppose we go back again to the subject which we started on. 1 was saying just- now that the emeralds belonging" to Lord Manningtree vanished. Suspicion at'once attached to the niece or the secretarythe same as in your story. And you tell me that Lord Mtaningtree's ; secretary is an old friend of yours. 1 bei lieve that yon could tell me a great deal . more', and I want you to do so. It would | be a great- scoop for the paper if we could i solve the mystery. That's why I asked you jto come and see me. If your story is nothI ing more than an amazing coincidence" "It isn't,'" Lionel hastened to say. "My I dear fellow, it is not so amazing, after all." "Oh. isn't it? Well, I beg to differ. And

when 1 come to think of it a woman in Essex wrote and asked me for your address. You remember my telling you about it. I shouldn't be. surprised to lind that that woman was on the same track as myelf. Keep on it, Harvey, forecast a little further. Tell

us where the missing jewels are?" "Certainly I will," Lionel said, on the spur of the moment. "They are at present, locked up in a cupboard in my bedroom. They cane- into my hands last night." It was one of the editor's boasts that nothing, ever astonished him. He lost his record now. lie stand at Lionel in blank

I amazement. " Von had better tell me the whole story," ho panted. "My word! what a 'special' this will make! Let us have it from the beginning." Lionel told his story word for word; he concealed nothing, He knew thai he would. have to disclose the 'acts to somebody sooner or later. And he did not want his editor to spoil everything by a, premature disclosure of a portion of the facts. And when the plain unvarnished truth came to be told Hilton could quite see that the coincidence played the greater part in the mystery. Besides, Hilton was on his honour now. "I never heard anything like this in my life," he said. "We can't spoil the story by giving it to the public in small doses. We'll have the thing solved first. And what do you propose to do with those emeralds?" " Upon my word, 1 don't know what to do with them," Lionel admitted. "You see, 1 have not the slightest evidence to prove that they belong to Lord Manningtree at all. My story may have played on the tender conscience of another set of people altogether. Of course, we know where those* gems came from, but that is not evidence, j 1 thought of handing the things over to the police. 1 can't keep them, of course.". . "Of course not." Hilton agreed. "But i would not go to the police yet. As a proof of your bona fides you have confided your story to - me, you have handed over the emeralds to be locked in-tlio ofliee. safe foe the present. What do you say to that'.'" Lionel could see no objection whatever.' So far as he was concerned he did hot'■want the police in this business. And by handing over the emeralds ho saved himself from what might sooner or later prove to be an awkward situation. "Very well," lie said. "I'll bring the stones hero later on, say about halt-past nine to-night. Do you want to employ mo as your special commissioner in the matter?" That was exactly what.Hilton wanted, as he proceeded to explain to Lionel. He must put everything else a*idc for the moment. Feeling a little easier it; his mind, .Harvey returned to the office of the Daily Record later in the evening and passed over the • gems to Hilton. The editor desired to see him I later, but not much before midnight. As j Lionel was leaving the office one of the I literary staff touched him on the, shoulder. I "Just the man I want to see," he said. "There is a telephone message come on i the offcliancc of your being hero from the Central Theatre. A lady desires to see yon there as soon as you can go round, She is in the last row of the dress circle, near the middle exit. Name of Armstrong, 1 fancy." Lionel muttered his thanks, and made his way to the nearest cab stand. Surely Elsie I had need of his services urgently, or she j would never have sent a message like that. ! And. moreover, she had sent it direct from j the theatre over the theatre's own telei phone. Therefore it must have been some- ' thing that had taken place after Elsie had ■ reached the place of amusement in question. ' Also, it was good to look forward to sceibg i Elsie in any case. Perhaps the clouds that ' had conic between them would be cleared | away now and the old sweet relationship rej covered. Lionel built up quite a pretty I romance as he drove along the Strand. He came to his destination at length and explained his errand at the box-office. As j he knew the general manager of the place ! there was no difficulty. The curtain had ! just come down niter the second act of the , comedy, and the orchestra was playing. i There was an odd seat by Elsie's side and ' ; Lionel stepped into it. The girl welcomed ! him with a tender little smile. She held j out her hand impetuously, and Lionel kept i the small palm in his own for a moment. ! He had never ceased to care for this girl, | and he began to believe that she had never | ceased to care for him. Her eyes told more than she would have cared to admit. "this is very, very good of you," she ] said. " I .hope yon didn't mind. I got one of the assistants here to telephone to the office of the Record on the chance of finding you. 1 came here to-night, quite alone, to ', distract my thoughts. During the first act , 1 saw nothing to attract my attention; j was quite absorbed in the pica-. It was after the end of the, first act that I began lto look about the house. Do you sec tho box on the left-hand side of the stage— the upper box?" ;" ' The box was obvious enough, but it conveyed nothing to Lionel, for the simple rea- ; son that it was empty. He satisfied himself on that point by standing up to see. "The box is there all right," he smiled. •."But so far as one can judge there is nothing out of the common in that. Be- . sides, the box is empty." "Ah! that is because the girl has left it. 1 hope that she lias not gone altogether. 1 don't know why she fascinated me from the first. She was dressed in green, and has a , de.ithiV-pale face and great black eves that am terribiy sad to look at. And I don't believe that she has glanced once at US stage." ' "That is rather a weakness with society ladies, Elsie." _ ,' " You' will be more interested before i ; have Oii*Vd." Elsie said, quietly. "The curtain is going up again." ' . (To he continue'.; daily.)