THE EDGE OF THE SWORD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13409, 11 February 1907, Page 3

THE EDGE OF THE SWORD.

[PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.]

BY FEED M. WHITE. Author of " The Nether Millstone," " The Corner House," " The Scales of Justice," " Craven Fortune," etc., etc. [COPYRIGHT.] CHAFFER XXII. • THE PRIVATE SAFE. Dick uttered no cry, though the onslaught was as savage as it had been unexpected. There ''was nothing for it but to make as good a fight as possible. As the two men rolled over in the grass a ray of light from a street lamp disclosed to Dick the features of his assailant. "Drop it, Lionel!" Dick panted. "Why are you trying to kill me. like this?" "So it's you," Harvey gasped. "What a fool I am ! 1 came down licit' at tie' instigation of Lord .Manningtree to help you. I don't- quite know what his idea. is, for he got hack home fairly late this evening in a state of utter collapse. Fie muttered something about a telegram, and that you wore here looking for Wilmer. That's a bad case, Dick, and the end cannot be very far off. I caiuo down here to see Wilmer and Schreiner enter the house, and I waited in the garden. I felt quite sure that you were somewhere near, and I hung on. When you came out of that glass box I was so startled that. I went for you. However, there is no damage, done so far. Did you hear anything?" " I heard every word that passed," Dick replied, drily. "I burgled the house, and waited for our friend Wilmer to come home. I was all the more delighted to find he had brought .nis fellow conspirator along. It was M'anningtree who used Wilmer's name and telegraphed to Sehreiner. It was part of some plan of his lordship's. I daresay Bates will lie able to tell us all about it.'' " I daresay Lionel replied. " I doubt if Manningtree will ever be in a position to help us again. But what are those fellows after at this. time of night? They have just gdtie out of the gate. I hardly expect they will get a cab at this time of night." Dick proceeded to explain. The two friends were walking along the road together by this time. Harvey chuckled from time to time as Dick told his story. " We must see how we can turn this matter to the best advantage," he said. " Between ourselves, Messrs. Wilmer and Sehreiner are going to have their journey, for their pains. I look the liberty of going over the private safe the night we had the locksmith there, and I found the pass-book that those fellows are after; I have it at my rooms. Still, there is no reason why wo should not Allow those fellows and see what they rue up to.'"

Dick was emphatically of the same opinion. It was a somewhat tedious journey, but if was safely accomplished at length. It was an easy matter now to shaj dow the culprits until they hod reached the i city and then follow them to the offices j of' Manning-tree and Co. No sign of the j caretaker could be seen ; probably he was sleeping peacefully after the manner of his j tribe. ' From tile glass id' the counting- ! house Dick and his companion could see : Sehreiner and Wilmer in the inner office i before the doom of the great safe. There ■ was room for a. dozen men inside. The j watchers could hear the rustle of papers ■ ami signs that declared a certain agitation on the part of the burglars. "I'm afraid it's gone,'" Wilmer stammered. "If seems to have vanished.'" I "Are you quite sure that you put it- in that particular drawer?" Schreiner asked.

" Absolutely certain. I never make mistakes in matters of detail. Heavens! the mere thought of it turus me hot and cold all over. I tell you I'm frightened, Scb-

reiner." ■■'- "Of 'course you are!" Sehreiner said, with a snarl of" contempt. " You have the heart of a rabbit. I daresay you poked the thing in some other drawer and forgot it. Didn't I see a pair of wax candles on Mauningtree's desk? Go and get them. The electric light is all very well, but it does not give much light in the small drawers." Obedient to the request of his leader, Wilmer crossed the floor in the direction of the office of the. head of the firm. Harvey slipped quietly behind him. His hand went over his mouth, his knee caught the unhappy individual in the small of the back. "Not a single word, as you .value your life," Lionel hissed. "Dick, go and close the safe door and lock it. Schreiner has plenty of light in there and plenty of air. We've got him now in a tight place that he will have to exercise his wits to get out of. Bring the keys away and leave him there till morning." With a grin of approval, Dick, hastened to obey. The door of the great safe shut with a click, there was a jingling of keys, and the muffled roar of the rascal within. Then the door of the office closed once more, and Wilmer was slogging down the street like a thief between a pair of policeman. The wretched man was too dazed and confused to make any attempt to get away, so he walked sulkily between his captors. " We had better go to my rooms," Lionel suggested. " They are nearer than yours, and much more convenient. I am glad, Mr. Wilmer, to see you are much better. Never was your presence at the office more sorely needed than now."

I The miserable Wiluier made no attempt at response; he was utterly crushed and beaten. An arrant coward at heart, the situation, so far as he was concerned, was rendered all the more alarming by reason of the fact that he had not the least, idea of Lionel's identity. And the latter seemed to know all about him and his ways. Arriving at length at Lionel's rooms, they deposited their victim in a chair and gave him his choice in the. way of refreshments. He asked pitifully for brandy, and a little colour crept into his moist, pallid cheeks as the generous spirit acted. He even made, some feeble attempt to recover his lost dignity. "This is an outrage, gentlemen," he protested. " Mr. Armstrong I know, but the other gentleman is quite a stranger to me. What, does it all mean? I am violently assaulted and dragged here as if I were a criminal. If I chose to call in the police"' "Which you can do in exactly four minutes," Lionel said, politely. •" At midnight precisely a policeman passes by on the other side of the road. You will notice that the window is open. You have my full permission to call out for assistance."

Wilmer promptly abandoned that line of argument. The grim politeness of Harvey's manner frightened him. He wanted to hear what the latter had to say. " I am very glad to find" that you are fit for business again," said Harvey. "You find a little relaxation of assistance to you. But was it not rather ra.«h on your part to visit a music-hall at the time when you were supposed to be in bed suffering from a. dangerous illness? People might put quite a. wrong construction on that action." "I did not," Wilmer stammered. Nothing of th» kind, sir. If you mean to insinuate—

" Dont try and threaten. You will gain nothing by it. You were seen to,enter the Central Music Hall the other night in company with your friend Hermann Schreiner. Tour friend will bo able to explain matters, perhaps, to-morrow morning when he is released from his prison. But surely you have not forgotten the night I mean?' If so, let me refresh your memory. You went back with Mr. Schreiner to Stonehousestreet, and then you had an unfortunate difference with your wife." " I have no wife," Wilmer managed to say, Harvey laughed aloud'. There, was something in the situation that amused him. "Very well," he said. "We will let that declaration stand for the moment. But there is ono thing that you can't deny— you can't deny that you have been shamming illness at a time when the house you serve sorely needs your best attention. You can't deny that you are in the pay of Hermann Schreiner, aud that you axe doing your best to bring the great firm of Maniupgtree JV and; Co.* to the ground'..- -You. can't

deny that you have taken every advantage of your master's mental affliction, and that you are quite aware where all the money of the firm has gone. You went also to look fox the pass-book given by that German bank to Elias Smith, otherwise Lord Manningtree. But you might have saved yourself the trouble, for the book is in my possession. If may be some consolation to you to know that you did not make a mistake, and that you did put that book in the drawer where you expected to find it. As you boasted just now, you do not make errors in trifles. Have you anything to say to that?"

" I shall be able to explain everything," Wilmer said, with some dignity. '" I am very glad to hear it," Harvey replied drily. "There are two sides to every story—even to yours. At the present moment you are doubtless congratulating yourself on the fact that that pass-buok is not fully made up, arid that you may possibly juggle some of the late payments—at least, that Schreiuer may. But that consolation will be denied you. For that book is going to be made up the first thing in the morning, before Sclneiner has a chance to leave his hiding-place. You might just as well save your skin by making ;» clean breast of it. There is no possible chance of your conspiracy being successful." Wilmer made no response, lie had grown dogged and Milieu. After all, there was just a chance that Hie clever stranger was trying to trap him into a confession. " I decline to say anything, sir," lie said "I don't know who you are to dare to treat me in this way. I am not in the least likely to run away, and, in any case, you will always know where to find me. Be good enough to open the door—" "Certainly I will open the door," Lionel said, as he rose from his seat. " But if I do it will most assuredly be to call in a. policeman and explain the circumstances of the case to him. You can liavc the choice in the matter, and take either course you like. Otherwise—"

Wilmer collapsed again. He looked from Dick to Lionel with appealing eyes. There was something more behind this, more unseen danger that frightened him terribly He would have given a great deal to know what it was.

" I am iii your hands," he said. "What am I to do? If you will tell me— " Don't keep on 'interrupting, and your anxious mind will be relieved, all in good time. In your delicate state of health, a night journey could not be anything but injurious. Therefore, I propose that you shall stay here till the morning. In case you should suffer from any tendency to walk in your sleep, I will lock the door of your room. After that, you will breakfast with me, and subsequently will have the pleasure of an interview at the house of a lady who is well known to you. I daresay that you have not quite forgotten Lady Manningtree, Oh! I see that you have not done so."

Wilmer started, and appeared as if about to say something. But lie held his peace, and sat there regarding his tormentor with eager eyes.

" If I had asked what you know of Lady Manningtree, - ' Lionel went on, "you would probably have told me that she was dead, knowing better all the time. But I am thankful to say that her ladyship is not dead, and that it was mainly by her efforts that her husband's firm managed to get over the difficulty of the big money demand of last Saturday. 1 tell you this, because I know how pleased you will be to hear it. 1 tell you this, also, so that you may have a chance to save your face by making a full confession of your part in the great conspiracy. There is another lady at present staying with Lady Manningtree who may help you to come to a decision to do the right thing." "You don't mean to say," Wilmer buret out, "that—that—my—l'mean Miss—" " Miss Kitty Cromarty. Precisely. She is at present the guest of Lady Manningtree.. It is a great happiness to me to bring two loving hearts together!"

(.To be continued daily.)