THE SECRET OF THE SHRINE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15056, 27 July 1912, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE SECRET OF THE SHRINE.

POBUSHED Br SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

BY R. A. J. WALLING, Author of "Flaunting Moll," "A Sea Dog

of Devon." etc.

COPYBIGHT.

CHAPTER X. (Continued).

"Before you go, Mr. Pudifin," he- added, "what about this pseudo-detective at your place? Do you know the firm to which Mr. Torfrey wrote?"

"No; I only know that he wrote on the advice of Radford."

" He's clearly a dangerous person; we Shall have to keep a cautious watch on him. { think you had better get back before your absence is noticed."

"But." said Pudifin, "you're not going to send me back alone? I'm working in the dark, and I want a good man's assistance—the best man you've got."

"I'm sorry. The case is very interesting to me, but I can't do that. It's all right hero in Westport; I can do anything for you,, But your place is out of my bounds; it would not do for mo to interfere. What about the local police?"

" We've tried them. They're all very well in their way; but this business is beyond them. You see the sort of wits we're opposed to—l want a really firstclass man."

The cliief drummed his fingers on the desk. " There's ono wav out of your difficulty," he said. '"Set a detective to catch a detective, you know. I know of a good man here now in private work fact he's not long retired from my staff on a pensionin the prime of his life and powers. You can get him, or I can get him for you." " I shall be deeply in your debt if you do," was the eager answer. "Very well, then. We will say goodnight. _ Meet me here at nine o'clock, and if he is not engaged on anything big I'll have him here. Yon can return together." Pudifin's fear that ho would not sleep until the mystery of Lucy's disappearance was solved,was not realised in fact, for ho slept very soundly till boots woke him at tight o'clock. "Ho was at the police office at the appointed hour of nine o'clock. The chief at once introduced to him Mr. Frank Granger as the person of .whom he had spoken overnight. It was agreed that it would bo wiser for Mr. Granger to proceed to Saint .Maurico alone, for his. identity to remain secret, and for the relation between him and the curate to be unknown. Pudifin appointed a meeting with him privately at nine o'clock that evening, and gave him a note which would introduce him to Polly. The curate then set out upon his return, and rode into Saint Maurice by the same circuitous route by which ho had left it. His landlady had been prepared for his absence, and asked no questions, but mentioned that Mr. Holmes had been there to see him that morning. ;'oh," said Pudifin. "Did he say anything about the nature of his business?" "Nothing whatever, sir; but he didn't look particularly pleased at not being able to see you. He seemed anxious to see you." "Very well, Mrs. Wherry.. I shall go down to the House after I have had something to eat." Pudifin felt a little nervous as he walked down the road to the waterside. He was going into what he now knew definitely to be the camp of the enemy. He had pitied his own wits against all the diabolical ingenuity that was at the service of Radford, against the sham detective, and against Diego. He could not have explained why, but the more he thought of the matter the more surelv he reckoned Diego against him. He determined to be wary ; to give no ground to any of them. If only ho could induce Torfrey to emerge from his torpor things might take on a better aspect. Pudifin regarded it as a curious coincidence, thereafter, that, almost at the very moment when this inexplicable nervousness and nervelessncsi of Torfrey was uppermost in his thoughts, he was met in the road by a dog-cart which Margaret Hayland was driving. Seated by her side was a dark and hand-sonic young fellow whom lie- had never seen before.

Margaret pulled her horse tip when she saw the curate, and spoke to him. Her companion looked at him so closely and keenly that Pudifin could not avoid his eyes, and fidgeted while he talked with Miss Hayliind- V

"I should introduce you to my friend, Mr. Wilton," said she; " Mr. Wilton, Mr. Pudifin is one of the outposts of civilisation on which we rely in these benighted parts." ■'''"■'■ j. Pudifin grasped the shaft of the dog-cart tightly as he said : " Did I catch the.name correctly— Wilton?" ■ • • "Yes," said Wilton. *' The name used to be familiar in Devon; I see you are not well acquainted with it." " Mr. Wilton is a son of a very old friend of my father's," eaid Margaret, "and has only recently come to England." " I'm sure'he couldn't seo the country under more delightful auspices," said Pudifin, hurriedly, and smiling faintly. " Have you been to "the Villa. Zamora? I see you are returning from that direction." ' "Oh, no," said Margaret. He was watching her face closely. She averted it. "Mr. Wilton expressed"a curiosity to see the island, and. as it was low tide this morning I drove him down. We shall be late for lunch." "You have no news, then?" asked Pudifin.

" News? Why, no, I think there is nothing stirring." >

She was giving the impatient horse th( ,-ein, and evidently desired to end tht conversation. Pud could not in decency detain her any longer. ".Well, good-bye," said he. " Please, give my respects" to Mr. Hayland. Nf message for the Villa Zamora?" " No—none," she answered.

" Good-

bye." She touched her cob with the whip, Wilton raised his hat, and they were soon out of sight. . "Sits the wind in that quarter? said Pudifih to himself. " This explains much of Torfrey's indisposition. I wonder whether she mean's to throw him over for her new friend? No news— message—apparently she knows nothing of the. ©vents down here. Wilton—Wilton! What an extraordinary coincidence of names, and what a striking appearance he has!" The keen, sallow face, the haunting dark eyes, were with him all the way down to Torfrey's. He asked the man 1 who admitted him if Mr: Torfrey was in; then, on second thoughts, said : "Never mind— go to the library; he's sure to he there." "Excuse mo half a minute, sir," said the man ; " I'll see. Mr. Diego said I was to tell him when anybody came." Pudifin looked narrowly at the man. " I asked for Mr. Torfrey," raid he, " not Mr. Holmes." " Yes, sir. I don't know what to do, sir. Would you mind waiting half a minute?"

So this, thought Pudifin, was Diego's declaration of war. What could it mean but that, in some unaccountable manner, Diego was involved in the conspiracy? The man presently returned, and led the curate into a morning-room. There Diego and Benson were together. The curate's faculties were awakened to the fullest, alertness;' lie took in the situation at a glance. "I'm sorry," he .said; "the man must have made a mistake, I asked to see Mr. Torfrey." " Oh, never mind, Pudifin," said Diego. " Mat's not veiy well. He's hardly fit to receive visitors. Anything special?" This tone took him by surprise, but he had made his determination.

No," said he, " unless you have any news of Miss Torfrey." "We have none. We can find none. I've telegraphed to her Aunt Belle in London to ascertain whether she is there. Wo can conceive of no theory to account for her absence, unless she has taken it into her head to pay a surprise visit to friends somewhere."

" Then," said Pudfiin, quietly, " if yon have no news, and Mr. Torfrey cannot be seen, there is no necessity for me to stay." " Well—if you must be going. But, by the way, Pudfiin, you weren't home last night."

" No," said he. " Staying with your friend Masters V "Why do you ask?" "Oh, merely because your landlady' thought you were; but I happened to be in K— this morning and saw Masters and he said you had not been there." " No, I was not there," said Pudjfin

' Whcro were you, then!" asked Diego. The curate started at the question, and itood up very 'straight. " That's rather an intimate question to put, Mr. Holmes," said he. " I don't know," said Diego, insolently. " These are times when a good many people are being asked to account for their movements."

"What do von mean?" cried Pudifin, hotly. ._-."• Precisely what I say," was the answer. "Then, perhaps, Mr. Holmes," said Pudifin, " you'll obtain some person with authority to ask me the question, and I may. answer. In return, I may request him to ask you to account for your movements on the night before last."

" What do you mean?" cried Diego. "Precisely what I sav," answered the curate, with a pale smile; " and I wish you good day."

CHAPTER XI.

ix vrmen ax eavesdropper is detected.

A declaration of war! There could be no doubt of that. Whatever Diego's pos'fcion was, whatever his complicity or non-com-plicity in the conspiracy, he "had definitely declared war against Pudifin. There were two possible theories. One was that Diego, in some incomprehensible manner, was involved in the plot against Torfrey. The other was that the pretended detective had gained his ear and poisoned his mind. These thoughts passed, rapidly through Pudifin's mind as he left the room and walked through the corridor leading to the hall. As he was about to leave the. house he heard a soft footstep following him, and, turning, saw Torfrey's man, Grey, advancing upon him.

" Mr. Pudifin," he called in a semixvhisper. Pudifin stopped. "Go on, sir. I want to say a few words to you. I'll meet you at the small gate of the park as.you walk up."

Pudifin hurried on. He hated to be in the house now. He longed to be at work on his own account; he longed most of all for the evening and his appointment with Mr. Granger. He waited at the little gate for Grey. The man soon came panting after him.

" You'll excuso me. sir," he said, breathlessly. " I have s-a message for you from Polly. She made m© pi smise to give it to yon when nobody else was in sight. This is it."

He handed an envelope to Pudifin. Within were a few words, ill-spelt and illscrawled upon a piece .of paper, but to the point:

"Don't trust nobody about nothing till I see you. I shall try to see you this evening. And be careful of yourself." Polly had had the good sense neither to address nor to sign the note in ease it should fall into the hands for which it was not intended. Pudifin folded it and placed it in his pocket.

When he _ reached his lodgings he sat alone for quite two hours, musing; and the more he looked into the latest development of the matter the more mysterious it became. For the present nothing could be done till after he had seen ranger, and ho thought it would do him good to read a book for an hour after tea. He had risen from his window seat and was about to light the residing lamp when the landlady came in and announced that there was a gentleman to see him. •' Any name?" asked Pudifin. "Mr. Benson," was the answer.

" Stay a moment," said he, and he pa-"*j the room several times, wondering what j the new motive- for this new move was. | Polly's warning recurred to him, Take care of yourself." "Say 1 am engaged for two minutes,'' j said Pudifin at last, " and ask the gentleman to wait, Mrs. Wherry. Show him in when I ring." j Mrs. Wherry departed. PndiJln went upstairs to his bedroom, and. selecting a < key from his bunch, he tumbled a heap j of' books from off a. bos and dived into | its' recesses. From the deepest. corner he ; dragged forth a most unpriestly possessimi j —a little case, which, when opened, r«- • v*aled & tiny revolver. From another case ] he took some cartridges, carefully loaded j the weapon and placed it in his pocket. Polly had not said "Take care ot yonr- j self" without reason, and he meant to take j cai-e of himself. He locked his box again, piled the hooks on it, descended to his sit- ! ting-room and rang. ' Sir. Benson was immediately shown in. j He offered his hand to the curate. Pudifin' remained with his hands behind his back. "You want me!" he waited. ; j

"Well, Mr. Pudifin." said Benson, "I thought I should like to take the first opportunity of coming up to tell yon that bolii Mr. Holmes and myself regret the incident of this afternoon. " Is that all?" asked Pudifin,

"You are nettled, of course. Any man would be. But it was a misunderstanding. Mr. Holmes, I think, is a little short-tem-pered, and did not mean, to say all he did say. As a matter of fact, I told him that you had been doing your beet to help Mr. Torfrey, and that ho ought not to have spoken in that manner. Mr. Torfrey himself agreed with me when he heard it, and, indeed, it was at his.request that I came up to beg vou not to take any notice of it. Mr. Torfrey would like to seo you, and he asked me to bring you down with me." Pudifin turned his back to the fading light from the window, and scanned his visitor's face. It was quite impassive and expressionless. "Very well," said he, at length, "I will come."

Benson followed him out of. the room. " If anybody calls for me," said the curate to his landlady, " say I am gone to Mr. Torfrey's house with Mr. Benson." Pudifin set the pace down the hill, and it was brisk. He avoided conversation, and Benson was also quiet. The only passage between them on the way was this: " This," said Benson, "is the most mysterious affair I have ever com* across in all my experience as a detective. Miss Torfrey's disappearance seems to be altogether without rhyme or reason, and she has gone so completely ~aß not to leave the slightest clue." " All!" said Pudifin.

" No, not tho slightest. If she has been i spirited away for some inconceivable reasow her captors are exceedingly clever. And they are clever if they are the same people who did the damage in the chapel. It must have taken a good many more than one to make the mess we saw there. Yet there is no trace of a stranger in the district. Of course it is not likely that wo shall bring suspicion to bear on a native." "I suppose not," said Pudifin. ' 'After a moment or two Pudifin put a question: "You say that you have not seen one stranger in the neighbourhood, ?". • "Not one," Benson replied. There was silence between them till they reached the house. Diego and Torfrey were sitting in the library. " I have prevailed on Mr. Pudifin to come down,'-' said Benson. ■" That's right," said Diego. " I thought you were too sensible a chap to take any notice of what passed this afternoon, Charlie." '. "I understood that you wanted to see me, Torfrey," said the curate, ignoring Diego. ' ,_ "Yes. of course. Charlie," replied Torfrey. "Diego told me you had*some words and suggested that I should send a message to you." "You have something to tell me? said Pudifin, steadily persevering in the course he had mapped out for himself. "I? Oh, nothing. It was Diego s idea to send for you." Pudifin was keenly on his guard. "Then," he said, "if you have nothing special to say to me, there is no necessity for me to stay." ,„ "What's the matter with you, Charlie? cried Torfrey. "It seems to mo that I have a pretty collection of friends to help me in my difficulties." There was a note of petulance in his voice. Pudifin made no answer for some time. Ho was watching the faces of Diego and Benson. At last he said to Torfrey, " Martin, I should like ( to have a few words with you in private."

"In private?" Certainly, my dear fel- | low, if you think there is any necessity to manufacture more mysteries than you have ready at your hand." ' "I don't want to make more mysteries, Martin; but I have something for your private ear." "Let's go into tho drawing-room, then. You'll excuse me, Diego and Mr. Benson?" ':'■/ ■'■■■'■" ■■';■■', ._ "By all means," sneered Diego. " I expect the parson wants to confess you. Bo careful what you tell him, Martin.' There was a pause for an instant, as the three men looked at each other. The thought flashed through 'Pudifin's - mind that there mighfc be a double intention in this remark; but there was no time for speculating about it. Torfrey and his old friend walked into the drawing-room. The curate shut and locked the door after he had switched on the light-

" I don't want to detain you more than a minute or two," said he. "The fact of the matter is that I don't get on very well either with Mr. Holmes or Mr. Benson, for reasons which will doubtless be made good some day." "It's a bit rough on a man" Torirey was beginning. - "If you don't mind, Martin, we will pass that. You know that, my friendship for you is of more than a day's standing.'" Will you answer me a'few questions?" • "Yes, if you don't make the .crossexamination too long. But for the life of me I can't understand all this humbugging." :".'■■■':■> "■"■'■■■'■■■\ : ' : :':v :^ " You will «ee in due time that if anybody is humbugging it is not I, Martin.: Now, lias anything , at all; been : discovered?" ;;■'"'' ".:.; ■ , i' ; / :: " , :':|'A;

."Not a single thing that I know of." : fi : "No clue to the burglary in your room, ncne to the desecration of the chapel—not a word, about Lucy. Is it not strange?" ■ \'v-'.'f : ' "Evidently, my dear Charlie, it is riot in the ordinary course of things. But just where does all this lead?" "Now," said Pudifin, hurrying orv"lefc me auk you an even more intimate question : When did you see Miss Hayland last?"

"Really, Charlie," exclaimed Torfrey, "you are my friend, but this is carrying friendship a little too far." " I assure you, Mat, that I have a good reason for asking." "And I utterly decline to say a word to you on the subject." " Then let me tell yon that Miss Hayland was here to-day, or within a few yards of the place." Torfrey paced the room to conceal his agitation, but said nothing. "She was driving with a man named Wilton," Pudifin added. ' Torfrey muttered curses under his breath, and in an instant turned fiercely on his friend.

"And what of that?" he cried. "What business of yours, Pudifin?" " None of mine, but perhaps of impor- | tance to you." "You seem to me," said Torfrey, "to be interfering a good deal." ; " Doubtless it has been suggested to you that I am, Torfrey. What I came in here to say to you was this You're surrounded by traitors, and the sooner you know it and rid yourself of them t% better." "Rubbish! What do you mean?" "I think events have spoken pretty plainly for themselves. But there is no need to go into the whole story again. The point is this—that one of your worst enemies is Radford, and his principal henchman is Benson, I have undoubted proof of that." Torfrey faced about upon him. " Are you gone clean out of your, mind, Charlie?" he asked. "Do you know what you are saying? Radford a traitor? Why, it was Radford who suggested that I should send for a detective to worm out the mystery.'' " Yes; he told you where to get your man, and the result is Benson."

" What of that?" "I say Benson is nothing but a tool in the hands of Radford."

'' You are mad. What proof have you got? And why should Radford want, to deceive me?"

"Why, heaven only' knows; and the proof I cannot give you because I have it under a pledge of inviolable secrecy." "Really, Pudifin, you can't expect me to believe a farrago like this. It's out of all conscience. Radford!—why I have heard from him twice in the last three days." "Ah!" cried Padiiin. "Where is he?" "Upon my word, you strain my patience. Yon aek it as*though his" presence anywhere would prove him to be * villain. So far from that he is the best friend I have. Man!—-do you know 1 should have been ruined but for Radford?" It was' Pudifin's turn to be astonished and to cry, "What do you mean?" " I mean this—that my fortune would have been very beautifully less if Radford had not warned, me of a coming financial crash and advised me to transfer my affairs. Thank goodness, I have done it in time,".' - -~ .•■'"■* j

Pudifin took two or three tunes about the room. "And you mean to say,", ha asked, "that you have taken Radford's advice about an important matter of business?" j. "Certainly, and most; valuable advice.'

"May I ask how much was involved for you in the stupendous crash of which you were warned?" Torfrey .grew impatient. "No!" ha cried. "I'm hanged if you may. Tin's is enough, Pudifin. If you have nothing more rational to say to me, I think it time I (went back to my friends." Pudifin had quietly ed,!»ed to the door, and now suddenly unlocked and opened it. As he did so Diego appeared in the doorway. Pudifin stepped back into the room.

"J imagined," said he, "that wo might be honoured by the attentions of an' eavesdropper."

Diego rushed at him, with fury pictured in his face.

(To* be continued on Saturday next.)