INTO THE MISTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19382, 17 July 1926, Page 5 (Supplement)

INTO THE MISTS.

BY E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM.

CHAPTER XV.—(Continued). Paule's manner up to now had betrayed a certain amount of irritation. It suddenly changed. He became very still, but there was a note of menace in his quietude. " I have never previously needed the services of anyone in your profession. Why should I now ?" " For the same reason that your firm paid two thousand pounds for last safe, Sir Lawrence," Rodes rejoined. "You have at least six prescriptions, which would be worth a good ijianv thousand pounds, and you have now added one worth all the remainder put together, I should thiriK. There are other thieves, vou know, besides burglars." " What is your proposition exactly ?" " To accept a watching brief over the place," Rodes explained. " I should watch vour employees —especially any newcomers —trace out their daily lives, and be sure that they had no connection with rival firms. 1 should also put in a little time on the premises, and examine the character of 'the safeguards which you have already established.'" " What put this into your head ?"

" The fact that only last week an Austrian chemist, staying at a well-known hotel, was visited two or three times by a man whom we know to be a high-class burglar. The same person applied for a job here last week." " You have certainly justified your visit, but yonr suggestion requires consideration. As a matter of fact, the formula for ' Neurota ' is not on paper at all."

" That, of course, eases the situation," was the ready admission. " It's 'Neurota' they're after." " By-the-bye, wasn't it you who acted for Scotland Yard in the matter of Ernest Fernham's disappearance ?"■ Paule asked abruptly. The detective was for a moment taken unawares. His start was noticeable.

" I did," he confessed. "To tell you the truth, that was the beginning of the trouble. Of course, it was very disappointing to all of us to have to admit failure, and in a good many people's opinion I suppose the Yard has lost prestige. What I kick at, however, is that the whole of the blame seems to have been laid on my shoulders." " You must realise," Paule pointed out, " that your complete failure In a case apparently so simple is scarcely a recommendation here. If I were to employ yeu I should have to explain to Lord Honerton exactly who you were. Frankly, I don't think lie would have the slightest confidence in you. Neither should I. Good-day, Mr. Rodes." " But, Sir Lawrence—" Paule turned on his heel, and the detective departed without further protest. Almost us he left the office, Samuel junior presented himself. He was, as usual, dressed with meticulous care. His complexion, however, was puffy, his eyes bloodshot, his jauntiness assumed. " Can I see you in your room for a moment, Sir Lawrence ?" he begged. "I have a message from the governor .about ' Neurota'. " Paule glanced at him 'searchingly. Then he turned toward the .inner door. " Come along. I can spare you five minutes." CHAPTER XVI. Samuel, when he found himself alone with Paule, set down his silk hat upon the table, threw his gloves into it and stretched himself out in a comfortable easy-chair. Paule watched him. There were symptoms about his visitor's behaviour which were perfectly clear to him. " You won't forget," he remarked, that I can only offer you five minutes. I have some important work to do in the mixing room before mid-dav." " Don't be se unsociable, Paule !" the young man enjoined. " I don't often come in to bother you. I think we ought to find time now and then to see one another. We're making a colossal fortune and you're in it now." ' " Money is not the supreme concern of my life." was Paule's comment. " Making money, or seeing it made, is my chief hobby," Samuel declared. "However, that's neither here nor there. I've dropped in this morning as a pal. I want to ask your advice. " Why trouble?" Paule observed. "You won't take it." " You don't understand," he protested. "Why should you? I'm upset." There was a strained look about the lines of Samuel's mouth, nearly hidden by his pendulous cheeks, a frightened expression in his bloodshot eyes. His lips twitched. " They're on to me ali the time," he confided. " Just those two- Dad and Aunt Honerton. First it's dad. He doesn't talk lii.e lie used to; like a sensible human being. I take him out on the promenade or sit on the pie/- with him at Brighton, and half the time he stares at me as though he could see something that didn't exist. I ask him what's the matter. 'Samuel,' he begs, if it's in the morning, * don't go io London to-day. There's trouble all round.* When I ask him what, he means he just shakes his head. ' They've got

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Ernest,' ho muttered only this morning, they'll get you.' What for ? What have I done?" Paule sat quito stilL " Then, there's Aunt Honerton. I'm scared to go to the house. Even if she's upstairs sho knows when I come. I gave Martin the office yesterday. I said: 'Don't tell her ladyship I'm here/ but in five minutes down came a message, and up I had to go. There she lies like a ghost, with her couch by the window ail tho j time. I go in, try to be cheerful. She i freezes tho words on my lips. ' Still all right, Samuel V sho murmurs. ' All right!' Why shouldn't Ibe all right?" She wanis me to go over to Sicily or somewhere quietly with dad, and leave the firm. When I argue she looks at me | with just that kind of gleam in her eyes j that dad has; as though she saw things around me which no oue else could. It j sounds ridiculous, I know, Pauie, but there i you are! It's driving me mad!" Still Paulo was silent. In a moment or | two Samuel, who had left his chair and j had been walking restlessly up and down j the room, began again. " It isn't as though I did any particular j harm in the world,' Hie argued, " or had any enemies. I'm fond of my money, but, in "a way, I'm generous enough. I give my servauts excellent wages, I always over-tip the waiters —especially head waiters; they're important Johnnies in London nowadays, get you the best table and that sort of thing—and if I have a little affair Ido the thing handsomely. I don't chuck my monev about, but there's no one who can call me mean. If we re making a heap of money, we're not robbing anybody." " Do you, by any chance," Paule inquired, glancing at a pile of papers on the sido of his desk, " contribute to any of these hospitals or Church Army appeals, or Help for Invalid Children, or anv ot these applications we get every day ? " Never given a penny to a hospital in my life," the young man announced. "I've principles about that. Hospitals ought to be subsidised b$ the rates. As for the other so-called charities, I always think they're half-swindles —can t bo bothered, anyway, to sort 'em out—too much doing nowadavs." <( " I see," Paule murmured. Have either your father or your aunt ever let drop any hint as to any reason they may i have for their mysterious attitude?" " They haven't any real reason, Samuel declared with emphasis. "It s all feeling, imagination. They're superstitions, and they're so gloomy—gets on one s nerves. I'm beginning to lay awake at nights. I fancy myself dragged off and dumped down by the side of Jsroest. Ridiculous, Paule, of course," ho concluded, " but there you arc!" " What do you want me to do ? " You're the sort of chap one has confidence in—a strong*; stout fellow, not a nerve in your body. f It's all nonsense, isn't it? There can't be anything in it—the wav dad and Aunt Honerton look at me and talk, I mean? What could "Tho only thing thai seems likely to happen," Paule observed drily, "is that if you go on frightening yourself like this, you'll have a nervous collapse and be comI pelled to go into a nursing home. Why not t/ry a complete change—a sea voyage or something of that sort ? "I can't leave the governor. I was talking to his doctor yesterday. The o±d man might pop ofi at any moment. , "He would go with you, laule sugwants to die at home, among his own people. Nasty subject, isn t it ? Paule, would you mind feeling my pul»>f " I'm not a doctor,' Paule replied. Samuel got up and held out his thick a good chap," he begged. Paule took out his watch, and replaced it in less than a minute with a little curl ° f " h YouVe frightening yourself into a .fever," he said " I should recommend a W "7mlatoH U< ipinched twelve bottles before the rush. What could do me more good than anvthing in afewplain words from a man like yourself. There s nothing could be goinp on around us sane, ordinary people, that s outside our understanding, is there ? I'm not a religious fellow, you know, Paule— Seeing s believing' m my motto-but this disappearance of Ernest's has shaken us all up a bit, what?" ' Paule's smile was not pieasant, " I'm a clever man, Samuel Fernham, and you are only gifted with a certain amount of cunnings-something passes I suppose, for intelligence, yet let me tell you this. There are heaps of things in the world which I don't begin to understand. I've an open mind toward many subjects, including even some branches of the art, which a thousand years ago passed as magic, and for which to-day no adennate word has been coined. " It's like a lecture!" Samuel grumbled. 1 " Doesn't do me any good anyway. ( "I'm sory," Paule replied. If I could help you I would. I c your condition interests me. I don t think 'Neurota' will do you very much good. If you were capable of it, I should say tha best thing you could do would oe to submit your mind to governance. " You're & wonderful chap, Paule," Samuel admitted, " but you're always shooting off above one's head. Mix me up something that will really pull me together for an hour or two. Is it true you re coming down to shoot. "Yes," Paule assented. _ Im coming down to Honerton on Sunday." "That's great!" Samuel exclaimed. " Somehow or other, I fell safer when vou're around. I suppose you've got what thev call a strong character. Give me that draught, there's a good chap. " I do not recommend this sort of thing," Paule warned him. "It's the lazv man's escape from suffering. He disappeared through his inner door which, this time, closed behind him with a click. When lie reappeared with a medicine glass, Samuel was watching him with a sly gleam in his eyes. "You don't half shut yourself tip, Paule. You must have a perfect little suite of rooms behind there." "If I have, it is—to put it quite frankly—my own business. Drink this. You will feel much for twenty-four hours, at any rate." Samuel swallowed the contents of the class almost feverishly. I'auie remained standing, a note of dismissal in his attitude. The young man rose reluctantly. "Twenty-four hours!" he muttered. " Well, that's something. I suppose you think I'm a pretty poor sort of chap, don't you, Paule?" he asked wistfully. " You are like many others of your type and your style of living, you arc a coward." . The young man spluttered. His dignity was touched. " Here. I say, Paule, don't come it too strong. 1 They've made me nervy, these people, I admit. I'm no coward when ii comes to facing any ordinary danger. It's the tilings I don't and can't understand that terrify me." " Those," Paule assured him, as he opened the door to expedite his departure, "are the real tests." • CHAPTER XVII. Amberleys, who had only one standard for men and only one judgment if they failed to come up to it, found it impossible to show ill-humour toward a man who shot as Paule did. Nevertheless he very much resented Judith's desertion of himself during the first morning's sport. " I had an idea that we were engaged," he managed to whisper to her on the way from one stand to another. " Engaged to be married, yes," she "admitted—" not to spend all our time together. Besides, even you, my dear Frederick, cannot shoot like Sir Lawrence." " You might sit with me the next drive. I want to talk about that house in Curzon Street." , "An nnpropitious occasion, she tie- , clared. " You always forget.to whisper if you get interested. *?u 11 tarn the birds and then Middleton will be furious.

Judith disappeared, swinging her shooting stick in her hand. Paule, turning round a moment or two later to survey his position, discovered her seated just behind his loader. The latter fell discreetly into the background. The beaters were not yet in sight. "I'm annoying Freddy horrifcly," she confided. " 1 hope I'm not boring you, hanging about like this. I should halo to make enemies of everyone." " I'm very much flattered. By the way, you're not looking well. No more fainting fits. I hope. 15 " Nothing of the sort," sho replied, " yet lam ill. You wouldn't care to prescribe for me, I suppose." " This open air sort of thing is the best cure for you," he declared. " You prescribe for Samuel. You give him wonderful specifics which make him feel as he expresses it 'like a two-year-old.' " There is nothing the matter with your cousin, except that he is a coward. I can easily give him Dutch courage. With you it would .be different. You have courago and self-control. If yon are ill it is your physician to whom you must go."

" Physically lam strong enough. Mentally I think I am losing hold of myself, drifting away so far that I sometimes wSnder whether I shall ever, come hack again. Is there insanity in our family ? That might account for Ernest's disappearance. Some day I may bo missing. Would you come and look for me, Sir Lawrence ? M

" It would not be my privilege." " I think I: shall break off my engagement- with Freddy. It seems to stand in the way. Now you won't even promise to come and look for me if I float away, like Ophelia. Do you thir.k there is any chance of mv going mad, Sir Lawrence ?" " One can never absolutely guarantee people of your temperament arid your cousin's."

" You couple me with Samuel!" she gasped.

" At tho opposite poles," ho explained. " Your cousin, Samuel, might very well drift into lunacy through fhc-er lack of dntelligenoe. With you, on the other hand, it would be a superabundance of tho same quality." " As a matter of fact," she declared, " I think lam mad now. I am beginning to bo like mother—to fancy that I see things. Mother thinks that she talked with Ernest only the other night." " On earth—or in tho other place?" " Very much on earth. She is qnite sure that she heard him calling her. Last night I woke up suddenly. There was no reason for it. I found'myself thinking intently of Ernest, and—you're not a creopy person, are you, Sir Lawrence?" " Not particularly," ho admitted. " I, too, fancied that I saw him. This all must sound like balderdash to you, but. at any rate it has done one thing for me. I do not believe ftny longer that Ernest is dead."

Paule's loader had resumed his place. From tho far distance came tho sound of a horn, the business of the drive commenced. Paulo shot as before with accuracy and skill, but perhaps this time with a little more restraint. Amberleys was on his left hand, and any bird concerning which there could be tho slightest question ho left alone. When they were again preparing to move off, Samuel appeared, swinging a shooting stick, but no longer carrying a gun. ' \ " I've chucked it," he announced with an air of relief. " I'm not fit to shoot today. Never touched a feather iu that last drive and they were streaming over my head."

" 'Nerves' again, I suppose because you don't get nearly half the practice that I do. I'm going to sit and see how you take 'em at this next drivo. I may have a pop at tho pheasants after lunch v " Judith turned listlessly away' to rejoin Amberleys. Samuel, looking more pudgy than ever in his well-cut but ill-chosen shooting suit of tho very roughest tweed and thick fleecy stockings, walked off by Paulo's sido.

" I wish you'd take Judith in hand." ho said confidentially. " Take Lady Judith in hand? What the mischief do you mean ?" " Give her a little good advice and that sort of thing. She takes a lot of notice of what you say and I don't mind telling you that I am worried about her. She was neve? one of the stay-at-home kind but she's over-doing it badly. She's in with a fast set, too. Smartest people in town, I'll admit, but wrong 'uns. A.D.G.'s' .Freddy Amberleys calls 'em, Absinthe in the afternoon, drugs at night, and groans in the morning. Not bad that for Freddy!" " I gather that Lord Amberleys does not approve." " Approve!" Samuel exclaimed, as they continued their walk. "Ho hates it liko poison. Thinks Judith's doing herself no end of harm getting mixed up with such a crowd. You know some of em, I daresay. The best names and tho worst morals in England. Judith can take care of herself, but a girl who's engaged to be married, and to a fellow like Amberleys—a future Marquess, you know, and that sort of thing—doesn't need to get herself talked about. Freddy's awfully, sore about it."

" After all, it's no one's business, except their own, is it?" Paule remarked, as he reached his stand and opened out his shooting stick. " No one's actual business, of course," Samuel agreed, following "his companion's example. " What I thought, was that you might have a talk with Judith on the health,side of the question. It would ba a knock-down blow for the old man, too, if this marriage didn't come off. There isn't much money, of course, but that don't matter to uncle. His father bought the title all right and it's ' Your Lordship' wherever he goes, but he's no fool. He knows the difference between the 11th Marquess and the second Baron." They were on their way back to tho house for luncheon when they met Rachel in a bath-chair drawn by a pony. She was watching some builders at work on the site of Heggs' old cottage. Paule stopped to wish her good morning, and she detained him. " You seo what we are doing there," she pointed out. " You know the story?"

" I have heard it," he admitted. " We arc having Heggs' cottage rebuilt. My husband was very difficult about it. I was determined. I always felt that Israel Fernham laid a curse upon this place when he prilled down that cottage stone by stems and swore that it should never be put up again. Ail these years it has lain wasta arid the curse has fallen." She paused and Paule was conscious of her earnest regard. "I am a scientific man and a, materialist, you know, Lady Honerton," ho said, " I do not believe in curses." " You are too clever a man," shs objected, "to be a materialist. You could not live in so small a world. You could not cramp your brains so far as that. You know that Heggs, the keeper, was hanged, and that' lsraek, Joseph's father, could have saved him if he would ?" " I have heard that story." " It is the truth," she declared. "Heggs sat in his cell with his Bible in his hand, waiting for the reprieve that never came. When they went to take him to the scaffold he dashed the Bible he had been reading to the ground, and he cursed Israel and his whole family in the words of the Old Testament. When they hanged him the words were still on his lij|s." "It is a terrible story," Paulo said | coldly. "You dwell upon it too much, Lady Honerton. In any case, as I have told you, I do not believe in such curses.'* She lay back in her chair. They wera approaching the front door of the house, and the luncheon gong was sounding. Sh« suddenly gripped his arm with long, fever* ish fingers. " Listen," she whispered. ** The others would think I am mad. In my dreams I have stepped over the edge of the worldI have seen Ernest. I have heard him speak. He is very different, but he is "Tell me something actual. Tell m# what clothes ho wore ? What sort of condition ho was in ?" She fell back in her chair. Joseph came fussily down the steps. "Come along, Paule!'» I lie ™'; " Luncheon is being served quiddj. d rllpfnn wants us out again in three-quai * Lof an hour. Rachel, you re oven ml I wish you'd keep away from that uai ' n Paiile handed his gun to i»»>e of the ko " s i e ?han't keep you waiting," he prom(To t«. continued tlaiiv.s