THE BADGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20218, 1 April 1929, Page 4

THE BADGE.

BY BEN BOLT.

SYNOPSIS. Two prisoners, No. 91 and No. 5-1, escape from gaol, but after an exciting chase by ■the prison authorities No; 51 is shot down. However, an enveloping fog completely hides them both from the advancing wnr<lers. No. 91 pauses to help his fallen comrade, who is mortally wounded. The dying man tells him that if ho manages to escape and will go to a certain address. Lincien Rouse. Barking Beach, Room 7, tinder a board in the room he < will find a Becret which means "thousands". . . Ho whispers the remainder of the secret and the jiamo of tho man, Mnllinson, who No. 91 is to remember. Now, No. 91 has been imprisoned for a feiony he is really innocent of, but in order to escape he will have to resort to burglary. Out of the dense fog on the moor, he meets a beautiful girl, who shows instant four. He assures her of safety CHAPTER ll.—(Continued.) For « moment Celio did not speak. Tho 'dark eyes searched the convict's face and fixed themselves upon a bluish, starliko scar in tho very centre of his right cheek, an old bullet wound, a relic of tho Ypres salient. The wonder in her face grew. Then something liko pity gleamed in 'ho dark eyes, and she stretched a hand impulsively, as she whispered tragically. "Oh . . . how sorry I am ! What . . . what . . . now have you como to • • He was not sure what she meant to *.sk him, but ho was intensely conscious of the pity shining in tho dark eyes, of the fresh beauty of her, c.f tho vivid lips quivering as they mado their broken in* quiry. ' " Made u bolt' for it," he answered lightly, guessing at what sho would ask, and, as it chanced, guessing wrongly. Her eyes went to tho blue scar again, then met his gazo afresh with something fii their depths that shook him beyond .words. Then she spoke in a quick, quivering whisper. "It is not that! It is those clothes. llow camo you—to wear them You ,whu " sho interrupted herself as sho caught the pain that shone suddenly in his eyes. Then she continued in tho samt tense quivering wlnsperi-g: " Nq, I will not ask. I know you can liavo done no cvl. Thero is some great mistake." •' You know mo '!" he broke in hoarsely, .woridenngly. " Yes! How could 1 fail to after .Oh do you not lemember? I 1 -" Her vbice failed in tho stress of her emotion, and beforo sho had recovered, and whilo ho was still wondering whom sho might be, a sound broke on his ears, which mado him swing sharply to his left just in time to see a man emergo from the shrouding mist. The newcomer had eyes only for tho girl who shrank from him as from a poisonous snake, an expression of extreme loathing on her face. " Celio !" cried the man exultantly, and .took a step forward. "Barnsdalo! By heaven!" Tho words camo from No. 91 in a wild shout, forced from him by the extremity of surprise. Tho newcomer jumped »3 if ho had been shot, stared amazingly at tho convict, and a second later giving utterance to a strangling cry of fear, swung on his heels and began to run. With a shout of berspik rage tho convict, started to follow him, but at that precise moment another voice shouted in the .wood, close at hand; " This way!" " Oh my friend," cried the girl tragically. " The incn from tho prison come." Raging a3 he was, No. 91 heard her; nnd glancing round saw a man in unifom running toward him, carbine : n hand. Switfly lie ran forward in the mist, lost sight of tho officer and dropped behind a clump of hazels. From ahead there came the sound of someone crashing wildly through tho wood—the man Barnsdalo he guessed, in reckless flight. By good luck the warder heard that sound, and with another shout to his fellows, followed it, passing within "a couple of yards of A'o. 91, A eoo-00-ee sounded. It was ans«ered from two different quarters. Two three pair of feet crashed along the moss-grown .rocks close at hand, but the convict crouched low, still as a, hare in its form. The sounds receded, became distant, died away, though once or twice the noise of shouting voices came faintly through the wood. I' At last No. 91 stood upright and looked round. He could see nothing save the fog aqd the nearest tree, and it was perceptibly darker. Night was falling, and in half an hour the wood would be black as pitch. It behoved him to get out whilo ho could, lest ho should be trapped by the darkness; but his mind went to the girl whose unexpected appearance had so hindered his flight. Perhaps she was waiting Ho began to move in the direction where he supposed she might be, but failed to find her; rather suddenly encountering the rail which cut the wood from the highway., Crouching in the yellowing bracken which here grew very tall, he considered his further course, Could he venture to move into and cross the road ? Voices at no great distance away decided him against any immediate movo nnd ho huddled there, drenched to 'lie skin by the moisture running down the fronds, while his mind, momentarily forsaking tho problem of escape, dwelt on the gifl in whose eyes he had seen tende 1 pity kindle. Who was sho? Apparently he ought to know her; but though ht searched his mind diligently, the remembrance eluded liirn But the man A spasm of rage shook him as he thought of the one who had been in pursuit of tho girl; but who had fled from him self in surh panic terror. Ho lives!" ho whispered to himself. May Cod deliver ihe hound into my hands." His passion grow as he dwelt on the man wondering in what lelaii'.n he s|..od to the girl with the wide dark ev, * and elfin beauty. Sho bad been afiaid ft that rnr with whom be himself had such a, bitter account to settle, and—-"Ou-r-rr 1 (lur-r-r'" The sound—the hoarse noU- ~\ a heavy motor horn breaking si,a, ply „„ his thoughts, brought him swiftly io his feel As ho stood listening ho rai;;,! 0 a rumbling of heavy wheels, and as he did a dazzling idea carno to him. Hero was the possible means of escape if only ho could avail himself of it. If () | (lf ,| {o ,| { . a „. tiously round for any sif.n of warder or guard. He found noru, but while he peered into the dusk, the born t loted Again,, and the rumbling sound was suddenly accentuated. A moment later tho gloom which hid the road was broken by niurkv (light. He waited tensely, then out of the fog arid darkness camo a heavy motor-dray, travelling slowlv as the bewildering fog necessitated. It drew level with him. and on the drivers seat ho discerned dimly the forms of two men. A pungent whiff reached hm through tho fog that told its own story. "Beer!" he whispered to himself. '' A brewer's dray ? " A second later lie had left his hiding place and was running at tho tail of the vehicle. He had no fear of being seen or heard by the two men in front; and his single problem was to mount tho dray. It presented no great difficulty, audi in half ij- minute he was crouching among empty barrels, reflecting on tho desperateless of his position. He had no idea where tho vehicle was pn, l ?i'Z^ afc R uesse d Tavistock If ho • « Teach thero unobserved, ho would a»ve a chance; but if the dray called any-

BRILLIANT ROMANCE OF BURIED TREASURE.

(COPYRIGHT.,

where, he Was in a precarious position, for the country folk were not kind to escaping convicts, and the fivo pounds reward paid for the arrest of one would close the doors of pity against him. But it was no us;e worrying, or meeting trouble halfway. When the moment of discovery came, if it ever did, ho would act as the circumstances dictated. Drenched by tlio fog, and with tho sweat of his endeavours turned cold with inaction, ho crouched there shivoring, half-dozing, until tho sudden blare of a horn and a sharp " tuck-tuck " of a motorcycle sounded from behind. These sounds stirred him to complete wakefulness. and ho stared on tho backward way, watching for tho coming rider, and wondering if by any chance lie was part of tho net of pursuit, that by tnia time, as ho know, must be spreading along the whole countryside. Within two- minutes he knew that it was so. The motor-cycle, with a pil-lion-ridei, drew level with tho dray, and shouted to tho driver to stop. Ihe man did so immediately, and ono of tho men on the cycle bawled a question: " Seen anything of loose convict on the road ? " "Noa!" answered the driver of the dray. "Have one run away?" "Two! But we've got one." The speaker laughed. " Better keep an. eve lifting; he might take a fancy fo .that ale of yours." " Then he'll fancy what isn t there. They bar'ls be empty," chuckled tho driver. " Well, look out for him. 1 hero 8 live pounds for the ma i who cops him. " Nobody isn't going to cop him till this darn" fog lifts, I d'reckon," laughed the driwr, "an' if he's on the road 'tis likely we'll run over him without zeeing him." " Won't matter much if you do, laughingly answered tho officer on the cycle, and a moment after was speeding up the road No. 91 drew a breath of relief as tho dray resumed lis slow way. He had passed a first fenco safely; but as ho knew, with tl.o pursuit ahead of him, difficulties were accumulating, and if tho fog lifted they would grow almost insuperable. Twenty minutes later they took a new aspect. The dray reached a villago and drew up outside an inn, where a knot of men were gathered about a man whoso peaked cap was outlined against the light streaming from tho door. No. 91 saw him plainly, and guessed that tho motorcycle had shed part of its load. As tho dray came to a standstill one of tho gioup shouted jestingly. . " [ reckon Amos'll have brought him al "'bv Jove! " cried the peak-capped one. " There's manv a true word spoke in jest. Them barrels ? ud make a fine hiding-place if the fellow was stealing a lift. I reckin I'd best have a look." No. 91 waited to hear no,more. Discovery was imminent if ho lemaiucd where he was, and under cover of the friendly tog he sjipped off tho dray on tho side farthest from the ( inn and crept across the road. Tho laughter of tr.o searchers reached him, as he found a lano into which he swiftly plunged, since it offered immediate sanctuary. Ho had no idea where it led. The darkness and tho fog combined made it impossible to see more than a yard aheac, but sometime later lie knew that he had reached the neighbourhood of a house; for out of the darkness came a sudden sound of masculine voices raised in bitter anger. Ho stopped, listening. Words reached him very indistinctly, then there broke a sudden sharp cry of fear, sounding clearly through the fog: "What—oh! For God's sake—don't!" A dull sound followed. He thought lie heard a groan, but was not sure; then more clearly there reached him the noise of a door hurriedly closed and the turning of a key in a lock, followed by (he sound of receding steps. For n moment No. 91, forgetting his own precarious position, remained quite still, conjecturing what tho sounds lie had heard portended. That somewhere -in the immediate neighbourhood sonic untoward thing had happened he was sure, though the nature of it he could only surmise; and ho continued to listen, hoping that some elucidation of the myster\ might be given. He heard nothing further, however, but as ho listened he became aware of a faint radiance in tho fog, and moved cautiously toward it. He found an open gate, passed through, and three minutes later was •crouching at tho edgo of a small shrubbery staring in at the window from which the light streamed. There was no one in the room into which he stared, and after watching for a moment or two he began to creep round the house, moved by the hope that here he might have the luck to pick up the change of cloLhing he so badly needed, if he were ultimately to win clear of tho moor. The noise of a faintly creaking door brought him to a sharp halt. He listened,and caught the creaking sound again, and as at the same moment a gust of wind drove the cold fog into his face he nodded to himself. "An open door—swinging in the draught." Reassured he moved forward again, and a moment later collided lightly against the door he had heard. He seized it to prevent its crashing, and onco more stood listening, his heart heating wildly, fearing the sound lie had made might have arrested the attention of anyone in tho neighbourhood of tho house. A minute or so passed without anyone appearing, then carefully he felt for the edge of the door and discovered a lock, the tongue of which had been shot without catching the socket, which was for him a sufficient explanation of this open door. A strong odour of petrol came to him and he guessed that here was tho garage of the house. He might, he thought, have the luck to find a suit of overalls and possibly a coat,. Slipping inside, ho pulled the door to behind him. and stood, in complete darkness, listening. So still was the night that he might have been a thousand miles from any habitation. At first he heard nothing, but the drip of moisture from the trees outside, but a moment later ho caught a faint sound that seemed oddly familiar in his ears, though lie had uot heard its like for somo time. Ho did not immediately recognise it. It was like tho noise of the death-watch beetle "No! by heaven! The ticking of a watch 1 " His first impulse was fo holt, and he turned swiftly toward tho door; but a second Inter changed his mind, for whoever was in the garage had not moved. Again lie liste/ied. The ticking of the watch seemed almost portentous in the deathly silence. Ho felt suddenly cold and pave a little shiver. The sound seemed to come from tho floor almost at his feet, and the owner of the watch, as ho thought, was either crouching low for a spring or lie was lie did not finish the thought, but held his breath thinking ho might catch the sound of the unseen one's respiration. " Tick ! tick! tick!" The watch vent merrily on. "Thump! thump! thump!" llis own heart beat liko a drum. No other sound reached him, and gathering courage he took a cautious step forward. His foot encountered something soft am! yielding, and ho halted instantly. Then lie stopped and groped about with outstretched hand. He touched a face, and with another shiver jerked upright, as ho realised thero was someone lying there, iri the darkness, on the garage floor. (To bo continued daily.)