THE HEIR TO THE THRONE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15551, 7 March 1914, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE HEIR TO THE THRONE.

BY ARTHUR W. MARCHMONT, Author of," By Right of Sword." "J Dash for a. Throne," " For Love or Crown," "When I was Czar," "In **""• the Name of the People," "The * Man Who was Dead."'" The Queen's Advocate," "In the Name of a Woman," " A Courier of Fortune," etc. i COPYRIGHT. y - CHAPTER XI. —(Continued.) Draco's suggestion was that I should go down to Alton, take a furnished house near, • scrape acquaintance with the two drinkers and so get into the YVych. " Your money, liquor, and wits will do the rest, Sir lati, for even Hammond himself will, I believe, take money. But of course you can't go in your own name and as they know me I must not be seen in the affair."

I had not one second's hesitation about undertaking the task of rescuing Count Okf. Had there been no other motive, I would have done it in order to clear myself from the stigma of having caused his death; I had not exaggerated my feelings when telling Drago that it had cost me years of torture; and my relief at knowing that all my remorseful regret was unfounded was indescribable.

But there was the other supreme reason —the removal of the barrier between Evala and myself. The thought of that spurred me to instant action, and before Drago had been gone an hour I ordered my car, intendingvto run down instantly and find the house, the Wyck, and began to lay the plans of my campaign.

Then an incident occurred, petty enough in itself, but destined to be of such, importance later that I deem it best to mention it.

My car did not come, and as I was anxious to get away on my journey and could get no reply on the telephone from the stable which I made my garage, I went round myself to see what the cause was. I found my chauffeur, Branch, lying dead drunk in the car, and reeking of whisky like an ill-kept dram shop.

I was very much surprised, as he had always been a most steady and reliable man; but I couldn't stand this. I hauled him out and 'phoned to'' the garage where I bad purchased the car to send me a chauffeur at once, as they had frequently done when I needed an • extra driver.

They were very prompt, and in a few' minutes a smart-looking man, named Simmons, arrived. He proved to be an expert driver and a good mechanic; and the way he handled the car on that run into Hampshire pleased me so much that I engaged him to fill Branch's place. I did not let the grass grow under my feet in that first visit. I baa no difficulty in finding the Wvch. It was, as Drago had said, a lonely place, secluded enough to lend itself admirably to the purpose for which it was being used.

It was a farm with some hundred acres or so of meadow land, and was screened from observation by a copse, in the centre of which the house stood. Moreover, each side of the land was bordered by a road, so that it was completely shut off from the prying eyes of many neighbours.

I drove round these roads and saw thai there were two gates, one at the front and one at the back, just ordinary farm gates, letting upon an ill-kept road track which Tan to the house.

Then I returned to Alton in search, of & house for myself, and was lucky enough to find <me, called Moorside, about halfway between the little town and the Wych.

The people had just left Cue place to go to Canada, and as the agent owned it and •had purchased the furniture, he was only too glad to let it furnished to Mr. " Frank Seymour," the name I gave him. Thus I was able to arrange everything on the (spot; oven to getting a man and his wife and daughter as servants, who were to go in at once and get the house ready for me. '

„ In the course of conversation with the agent about my prospective neighbours I led round to the subject (of the Wych, and learnt enough to confirm the story that Drago had told me. * There had been a good deal of local gossip when the place had first been taken, ' he told me, but it had gradually died down; and it was generally understood that Hammond, who was rarely seen outside the place, was a doctor who took charge of drunkards, "as both his companions lost no opportunity of getting drunk when they were in the town, they were regarded as his patients. It had originally been a small farmhouse, I was told, but a former owner had added a couple of wings. . One of these j was shut up, according to some people who had been there; but very little was known, as the indoor servants were foreigners. Before I left the district I ran out again to the Wych, and leaving the car at a little distance I determined to try and get a look' at the house itself. It was. nearly dark, and finding no one about I hurried along the farm road and gained the shelter of the copse without difficulty. . Then I picked my way through the trees as cautiously as I could.and scouted all round the house under their cover. It was a two-storeyed building; and it was easy to see where the additions had been made. That on my right, as I faced it. was just a continuation of the frontage, and I saw lights flitting about in one or two of the rooms. The other wing was built out at right angles. This was in darkness ; and I concluded that this was the portion of the house which was said to be unused.

Was it? I looked long and searchingly at it, and saw that, unlike any of the •others in the Test of the building, all the windows in that wirig were barred. It was an easy guess that they were there for a purpose; and that that purpose was not to keep anyone from breaking in, but to prevent Count Olaf from getting out. As soon as I had discovered that I satisfied myself with a cursory glance round the rest oi the premises, and went back to my car.

I was beginning to get excited at the prospect of the venture, and on the run up to town I sat thinking closely of the best means to carry it out. In the first place, any kind of action was infinitely welcome after the days of hopeless brooding idleness which had followed my interview with Evala. Again, it was a rarely delighting thought that, in carrying out this plan I should be working for her, and it pleased me hugely just to think what her delight would be if I succeeded in rescuing her brother and carrying him to the Chase.

But the rescue was not to be accomplished without difficulty and, if the Hungarian was right, without some little risk; but for such an object I was more than willing to face both. I determined to try first the scheme which Drago had suggested, and to gain my end by getting admission to the Wych; and if that failed, to have recourse to very different means. The alternative course would be to get four or five friends together and effect the count's rescue by force.

The following day I had a slight disappointment. I had intended to get Valtoun to go with me to Alton, but he was away on account of his mother's illness; and I had to- go ahead alone, therefore. Thus, on the third day, having completed all my arrangements, I became Mr. Frank Seymour, 4nd took possession of the house at Alton.

But get into touch with the inmates of the Wych I could not; and a week passed without my being able to get so much as a sight of either of the two men I sought, Vigor and Orosslev. Then chanceor what I thought was chance—helped me. I was running past the Wych when my car broke down. Simmons was driving, and while he was searching for the cause it struck me that I could use the mishap to scrape acquaintance with the men. - " I'll go and borrow a horse to take US home, Simmons," I told him.

"I think I shall have it all right in a minute or two, sir. We sha'n't want any. horse," he replied; "but I affected not to hear him, and hurried off. A man was smoking his pipe in front of the ho,ase as I reached it, and his sullen look as he listened to my explanation, assured me that it was Hammond.

His manner was less ungracious when he heard my name, and he led me into the house and introduced me to the other two men. "This is Mr. Seymour,-who has" taken old Crook's place, Moorside. His car's broken down and he wants a horse to get it back home. Have something to drink, while I go and see what I can do," he said to me, and went out. His two companions gave me a very different _ reception, and did their utmost to establish good relations between us. I was only too glad to respond; and in five minutes we were laughing and yarning together, and they spoke freelv of the deGght with which they had heard of my arrival in the place. In the midst of this Simmons came up to say he had remedied the mischief and the car was all right; and I asked the two men to come along and spend the evening with me. " Better ask old Hammond," said Vigor to his companion. "He doesn't care for us to be both out together," he added to me, as Crossley went. " Thinks we shall— and he made a gesture of drirk-

Wg; The doctor raised no objection, but imposed a condition. "If you'll undertake to send 'em back sober, Mr. Seymour?" • I did all I could to make both men feel that I was likely to prove a good neighbour. They liked my whisky—of which I would not let them have too much; they smoked my cigars, better ones probably than they had ever had in their lives; and they won a good round sum of, my money. I paid with the air of a man who could have afforded to lose many i times the amount; as it was my desire to impress them with the belief that I was a rich man.

We were together constantly for the next few days, and to my intense satisfaction, Hammond came to me then with a story of money difficulties and borrowed fifty pounds. From that moment I was free to come and go at the Wych pretty much as I pleased; but I noticed whenever I was in the house one or other' of the men never left my side for a moment. I was thus infinitely perplexed, how to carry out my purpose, and was worrying over the problem one morning when, among my letters, which : Richards forwarded from the fiat, I found one from Prince Osca, asking to see m 6 at once on urgent business. I decided to go up to London and, as I had arranged to go to the Wysh that afternoon, I called there vn my ay to town to explain. Finding none of the three in the house, I seized the opportunity to explore the unused wing.. There were two doors leading to it, one on «ach floor, and as the lower one was locked, I ran up to the one above. To my intense satisfaction the two heavy bolts were withdrawn and the key was in the lock. It was evident from the brightness of both the key and handle that the door was in constant use: a discovery which excited me considerably, and confirmed my opinion that the wing was Qlaf's " prison." i Then it flashed upon me that as my car was waiting I could not hope for a better chance of getting him away. The door was notilockod, and I opened it very gently and found that it lea into, a long corridor in which were the doors of three

But that was the end of my attempt that morning. Just as I reached the first door, which was locked, I heard a footstep in the secorrf!, and I had time to draw back, when the doctor, as we all called Hammond, hurried out., looking very angry and ill at ease at finding me there.

CHAPTER tU. evala LOSES her TEMPER.

I was not less disconcerted than the J doctor at having been caught prowling about that part of the house; but I managed to force a sraile and say that I was looking for. him. . v , . It was a very feeble effort .of. mine, and I could hardly hope that it imposed ; on him,; bur. he had his reasons for not wishing to quarrel with me, so he pretended to believe me. " Oh, ' it's allright, Mr. Seymour. I thought it was one of the servants and it annoyed me to think they were meddling. I'll como down with you;" and he locked and bolted the doors and put the key a into his pocket. "The fact is I use that wing for my research' work," he said as we went downstairs; " and the* servants are very curious. I don't mind telling you, of course, and I'll show you some day. • I have a big anthropoid ape shut up there at present, and I'm making some experiments on him with a new • anaesthetic. : That's where a good deal of ,my money I goes, in fact; but t if I'm successful, Ij shall make a pile. I always say the wing ! is pot used, and I don't allow anyone to enter it. It' isn't always safe, for one thing, you know; but my . main reason is that I don't want to have anyone pottering about my work-" • ' 'i This was so unusually long a speech for him to make, and uttered with such obvious effort, that I was sure it wasn't true. But I laftghed and made some banal reply about being interested in such work, but not wishing to come to grips with a gorilla. "I came in to say 1 sha'n't be able to be here this evening, as I have to go to town," I added. "Shall you be away long?" he asked. "Oh, no; a day or so, I expect, that's all." \ '

Weil, will you fix another evening to come in?"

"To-morrow, if I'm'back. Will that do?"

"Quite. The fact is, I want to talk to you on a little matter of business. I have a chance of getting hold of one or two things I very much need, but I'm rather pushed just at the moment." " I shall be delighted to do anything I can to help such work, doctor. Will it wait until I get back ?" " Oh, quite well " ; and we talked about other matters <;s he walked with me to the car. -

I was not a little elated over my dis-r oovery that morning and on the run up to town I turned the whole matter very carefully over. That the " anthropoid ape " was a. pseudonym for Count Olaf I was quite certain; but the formidable precautions which were taken for his safe keeping made my task one of considerable difficulty. To attempt to do anything in the day time was hopeless. Never before had 1 even been alone for one minute in the house and unless I couls get one of the three men to help me, if looked as if I might spend the. rest- of my life in Alton without any result. Yet to bribe anyone except Hammond himself would he useless, as he carried about with him the keys to the doors of his "research" rooms. * ■ And despite Drago's reference to his keenness for money and the fact that he had already borrowed some from me and was going to ask for more, I did not think hfe was bribable. In all probability he was being well paid for his custody of the count; and was not likely to sell the pass at the sacrifice of his means of livelihood.

It looked as if I should have to fall back upon my other plan and get some friends to help me. In view of the relations I had established at the _ Wych it would •be quite feasible to bring down four or five men and find a chance of overpowering Hammond and his companions- But at the same time I shrank from having to explain matters and so make the affair public. . Then a plan occurred to me which I thought might be feasible. I could do nothing in the day-time, it. was true, but if I could contrive to pass a night in the house I might do a great deal; and I soon saw how this could: be managed. I was to be at the Wych on the following evening and, if I feigned drunkenness, it was probable enough that I should be allowed to remain there until the morning. j In that case I should have same hows to do what I needed; no one would have even a suspicion of my purpose; and a few skeleton keys would open all the doors. If I had my car at hand, I could get the count away asd be half way to London before anything would be disco?ered. • . .. „ , When I reached my fiat I found another letter from the prince couched ,in terms of eves greater urgency widappauitijig *n

hour . that afternon for mo lo see-him at m his. London address.- This gave me time -' : ®s to make the ! few purchases « which were necessary for ray new scheme at Alton; '/• ' and when I returned I found my former chauffeur, Branch, waiting to ask mo to take him back ' " I've filled your place, Branch. I can't ; trust my car and my neck to a man who ' gets drunk/' I - told -him curtly- . ,! "But if you please, sir, I was not really " - drunk; I believe I was ■drugged, sir. Will ■ you let me tell you what happened ?" "" ~' if i J pricked up my ears at this. It might* be best to hear his story. - " You must be quick about it." ... "'f."l was getting the car ready as. usual, sir, when a couple of Ken, foreigners they were, started quarrelling close to the garage. One was a very big fellow and the other a little slip of a man, and when they came m blows, the little one was nearly knocked down and ran into the garage. I wasn't going to have any fighting there, of course; so when the other man followed 1 told him to cut itHe made a bit of a show of trouble', but he. went off. and then the little chap .couldn't make enough of me. He insisted on standing me a drink; and as ho wouldn't go away till I consented, we went into the Blue Anchor. Just as a glass of ale had been drawn for me, in came the big chap and wanted to go for me this time. But they put him outside and as I'd enough of it by then, I swallowed the ale and went back to the earage. That's all I had to drink that day, .sir, on my gospel oath. Well, after a bib I began to feel funny, sleepy-like and dizzy and and I don't remember much more until I woke up and found myself lying outside the door." "But you positively reeked of whisky, man." " I know I did, sir; hut that must have been poured over me as I lay there. I never keep any whisky by me; the wife will tell you that, sir; and the people at the Blue Anchor can prove I was as sober as a judge when I went in there and that all I had was the one glass of ale. -1 think some drug was put in it and that the whole thing was a put-up job to steal one of the cars." I was inclined to agree with him about the drugging and a rather disquieting suspicion of the possible object of the scheme flashed across my mind—that the new man, Simmons, might be connected with it in some way. So I sent Branch out of the room and telephoned to the garage for fuller news of Simmons. Having found him so expert in his work, I had not been very particular about his character; and what I now learnt was not a little significant. He had only applied to them for a job the very morning of the day he had driven me down to Alton, and all they knew about him was that he could do his work well and had given a couple of written references from foreigners. ' It might be no more than a coincidence; • but I thought it well to take precautions. So I re-engaged Branch, but at a smaller" - wage and as assistant under Simmons, calculating that his jealousy would lead him to keep the latter under close observation. I gave him the ad<ftess of my house at Alton and told him to take my second cat down there. "I have some private busi- - ness down there, Branch, ana am known as Mr. Frank Seymour. Hold your j tongue about everything and keep you* eyes open, and I'll give ■ you anothet chance." . Then I sent, a wire to Drag©, to come to me so that he might have a look at Simmons. It was not impossible that he might identify him if, as I was half dis- v posed to think, the whole- thing had/been arranged so that the man might -report v

ray movements to the wily old web-spinner at the Chase. - "" * The arrangement of this matter detained me so long that I was half an hour late for my appointment - with Prince Osca, who was fuming with temper when I ar- v! rived.

"Yon ara very late, Sir lan," he said angrily, glancing at his watch. "I regret that some rather pressing private matters detained me, sir," I replied. . "I expected you yesterday. . Those matters are extremely urgent, as I told you , in my letter." >, ' ' V\' " Your letter was forwarded to- me in the country and I have coma up to town, entirely because of it." • "You w?U undeistand, of course,-that I expect consideration to be shown to my wishes," he said in a very lofty tone. ."I am not conscious of any desire- to ' disregard . them," • I retorted. --As -I ii was i convinced that his sole object was to bar* -i : row money for his personal needs, I.re- ; seated his scolding me for. being a few ■ * minutes behind -i time. But I learnt the reason for his anger later on. , V 5V,, : -> : "Yon are 'an hour and a-half late."; "Pardon me, your Highness; only hall an hour;*', and I ■ showed him his lettej ££ fixing the appointment for : four o'clock.; : r! "It should have been three o'cldckjSolt" : A four,":;ha : rapped out. as if the mistake S; were not his, but mine. k He. gl&iicfed~afeiijj at his watch, i frowned and aqded: " Well, we" mast hurry matters ;" ' and £a*' Waved ■ rsj. me to a chair. From this I gathered that' he was expecting somebody . and wanted ' ' me out %f the way. beforehand. r - ' "I very, much regret to find that con- . : siderable trouble .of r a really serious+ :i description has resulted ; from your" visit ' to the Chase, Sir lan ; i rouble \of ; which .. . I had no anticipation. I- could*jhave none." ■ : : 1 -

I murmured something ■ about sharing W: his regret. „ ' r : ' " When I agreed* to your seeing my daughter I could not ; foresee that you . ■ would use the occasion to alienate one of my oldest 'aid staunchest supporter# Baron von Bergs tew." . . - r "I am innocent of any desire $oinjure V'" your Highness in «tay way." ►"">«* "V - ' " But that is what you have done,' Sir lan, and why I have requested this inter-/ view;" and then ha went on to? repeat : what was evidently von. BergsteinY version of my visit to the Chase. He was genuinely troubled, 'and not without reason; and spoke with much excitement and ' 4 at great length, repeating himself % and wandering constantly from the point. >. Hie pith-of it was that von Bergsieia declared I had charged - him with having" suppressed Evala's letters with the object of prejudicing her against him;- that the charge was as unfounded as : it. wasjnalijcioua; that she had declined to accept hi? explanation: and tint in consequence he . had threatened •to abandon his effprts in , the prir'ce'y c.vise. The gravity. of.; this : threat ky in the fact that von Bergsteia was the channel by which the cause was financed by its friends in Hungary; and thus an utter collapse was imminent. " The question is, therefore, what you propose to do, Sir lan," he declared, when at length he had brought his long tirade to an "red. , '■ I was of ' course quite unprepared -to answer such a question at 1 the moment, y\ Had I been willing to find the v money which would be necessary, my mean# would not be sufficient; and nujat emphatically I was most unwilling to finance this private establishment in town. ' "It is a serious position, sir, indeed,'* I said. , :? ; .s. • Seriousinns!! It means. collapse —everything! . And-you must see that you are the cause. Even my. own few personal needs are threatened." ;; As these had swallowed up £500 in a fortnight or so the description was scarcely adequate; but I soon found that his own • need of money was the main cause of his - disquiet for he began to hint at a few ' urgent personal dects and commitments j and so on. Moreover, he dropped the > former high and mighty tone when ha mentioned than and spoke- of the annoy, | ance and worry which such " trifling details'' caused him. '-r. " — j " I shall be pleased to do what is in i my puwer, but I am not a Rothschild, sir, and I could not offer to finance the whole of your cause. I should be merely misleading you by such an offer." "" 1U "I do not expect it, Sir lan. My hope is that the matter may be arranged, and - that the friends in my country will continue their support of a cause which is of course theirs as much as mine. : But the difficulty is concerned >Ith the present— until fresh arrangements can be carried ' into effect." • - V-V Then I understood. Ton Bergstein had r probably stopped "supplies for the prince's - ''own few personal needs" under a threat of telling the people abroad—how the ■ £ money went and this had brought I the - crisis. . (To :be - continued dsi!jr.). v. . A curious well in Canada produces sand jjj instead of water. 'i The sand ponies up in«§ a fine stream like a fountain. The force gig [ which drives it to the surface . from a . i depth .of 100 ft, has not yet been discovered,