THE LAVENHAM TREASURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20988, 26 September 1931, Page 15 (Supplement)

THE LAVENHAM TREASURE.

By OTTWELL BINNS.

Author of "Diana of the IjJanda," "Th»» Tr.n aj .. .. Ine Tro'l of Adventure," " The My»tery of the Atoll," etc., etc.

> I A STORY 0F tense and dramatic action by popular writer.

- % rcBAPI' ER Vlll.—(Continued.) was secretly amazed at the •SSn si lo displayed and much moved H° l°°^ rount * toward the wall Hammerton had sought concealThen he spoke quickly. f!if will do so," he laughed. " I will. him—on a rna S' c carpet—within Sminntes. Wait." —iiirau from her in the direction of the i |lj w ondering as ho did so what was ' l-' A the girl's keen desire to meet the Shunter; but. unable to find any solut' c !?looked over There was no one ihere. « climbed to the top and surveyed the t Apart fjom Helen Lavenham, so ■jff'r human presences were concerned, it ' L blank as Modred's shield. The moth doubtless, having witnessed his Sting with the girl, had ceased to tch her and had withdrawn .himself, if little crestfallen he returned to the / Vitl- and answered the wondering look in there when I came—behind the 'wall—" watching you, but he is there bo longer- _ , " Watching me ; cried Helen. "Playing the part of guardian angel, I Jii-esay. There is much that I don't understand in this aft air. But lam sure 1 meant no harm to you, and that he really visited The Priory to give you a covert warning." "Yisited The Priory. lon mean the the blue spectacles?" cried the ' rirl i" amazement.. "Yes! He is the man who sent the {elegram, and I think it is likely that he granted to put you 011 your guard against Ctherii who might be interested in your - I 1C „Y care nothing about the picture. Where is he ? You know where he is staying?" „ . "At Sniale s. He "I must go to him at once. If you like \ou shall take me." She made as if she were for instant departure, but Lavenham laid a detaining hand upon her arm. v 'Wait! I think you must not go so hurriedly, Miss Lavenham. I canhot speak precisely, but I have a notion that it would not be wise to do so. I do not know what Mr. Hammerton may be to von, but I am sure he would not like vou to go to him at Smale's openly. Since lie is your friend the fact that be visited The Priory without revealing himself is significant. I take it that for the present he wishes to remain incognito—and there are other reasons, I suspect that he is watching that man at the inn—the knifethrower, Spanish John —who I am certain had something to do with Carling's death, and who is, I fancy,, interested in that picture of Henry Lavenham." "You ineau that he has the secret?" <cried the girl in a startled way. "No, that he is resolved to learn it. .And Hammerton knows that purpose I am sure. At present Spanish John has no suspicion of him —takes him for a harmless naturalist. But if you went to }he*inn to see Air. Hammerton, it might be a pointer to the other man. It, might ii be more—a complete revelation of a concealed identity, and in that case—well, you can see all sorts of possible consequences 1 am sure. There is that man whom we found in the wood. And there is fepanish John's e'xpertness with the knife. They point a moral. At present there is nothing 1 could prove against the man. But 1 am sure he is mixed up in that tragedy somehow, and interested in your picture —and an hour ago he gave me a covert/warning abouc meddling —" " You ?" ' The girl looked at him with apprehension in her blue eyes. "Even me.!". Lavenham laughed That be guesses' or knows that I tos Carling's deputy is certain. But that is neiiher here nor there. The point is that Mi..Hammerton in his present incarnation is unknown s to Spanish John, and you might be doing him a very great disservice by setting an enemy on his 'track. That's how I read the situation." IJelen Lavenham did not speak for a little time. She stood, staring across the moor, a look of trouble on her face; then she whispered passionately: "Oh, but I must see him! I must." " There is a possible way," answered the arlist, quietly. "If you like I can tell him of your desire. He has visited The Priory once; he might do so again if you " " Please!" interrupted the girl. " Please bring him." "I will do my best to induce him to do as you wish." "The sooner the better. If you only knew. Let us go. We might see him in the wood. * And to speak to him to-day of all the days in the year " She ended her incoherencies abruptly, and whistling to her dogs moved off toward the road, Lavenham walking at her side, and whilst he wondered over the reason for her eagerness to see the mothhunter, kept a bright look-out for the man himself. He saw nothing of him, ■ however, and when they reached The Priory gates, he was convinced that for the moment, at any rate, Mr. Hammerton had really given un his secret vigil. " You will bring him, Mr. Lavenham ?" tagged the girl, as they parted. '' I will do ray best to persuade him," he answered fervently, with a conviction that he would drag the moth hunter to the interview by the scruff of the neck if more peaceable means would not suffice. Absorbed in the new problem set him by the anxiety of the girl to meet Hammerton, he/walked slowly toward the village. His way lay along a lonely lane winding between high banks crowned with hazel, and at one of the turns he. remembered that it might be possible to get a glimpse of the caravan, to which, if the moth-hunter were right, Spanish John had been semaphoring before his late breakfast. Looking for a likely place, he mounted the bank, and from the top looked across the field to the little bay in the woods where the van had been parked. It was no longer there. He whistled thoughtfully as he made that discovery, s nd wondered if Spanish John had likewise taken his departure. It did not Mem to him very likely; but on the other hand, having secured Carling's suitcase, and no doubt searched his pockets thoroughly, it was possible that they had secured what they wanted from 'him and— Quite suddenly he remembered the papers in his possession which had fallen from the dead man's rase. In his absorption in other things, ho had wutted to examine thern, and this quiet laue, deserted save for himself, offered a good opportunity, whilst he had the matter in/ hand. Jumping down from the bank, he moved forward a little way, until he came to a held gate, set in the deep bank, which made a small recess: a nd seating himself on the gate, took the •■nvelope from his pocket, and then dipped out the papers. There were several of them clipped together, the bottom one and largest of parchment, ivory yellow with age and very ragged a t the edges. The others, much more 'ecent, were, in tl, o case of two of them, r e rtificates ; and remembering the names 10 had glimpsed in the moment when he 'ad found theni, lie gave his attention 0 the topmost of these first. It was u, marriage certificate, setting 01th the iact that Charles Lavenham 'ao married Lohid Pivado at Jamestown ore than 30 years before. He stared at . e names for a time, utterly astonished; *j s a roan might he who in such a urious fashion had stumbled upon what *sundoubtedly the marriage certificate rtti parents. Then, eagerly, he sought 0* Tlie groom's " profession 1. ra nk " was given as a civil engineer; W at an hotel, and his father's i*. lne a! > / Anthony Lavenham, gentleman. .J.hat point ho remembered something To 1 e h'n had said, about all the 'vouharn's in the male line being £loud' or Henry; and whistled ji ~ be\y! Xow in the name of all l i"ts wonderful—" ® S°t no further. He had heard nothJif' S£ f n -nothing; but quite suddenly an iju 4° rang in his brain. He started g-*nrn on his awkward seat. Ho never

fc he * , the , acMon. Something sort and & T S - r u?- lllm on th ° back of the hfLif ? flamed bef0 '-e as consciousness 3 of striking the earth-on"? iuSz s sr s ' plunßinß ii, ™'? h » When ho «ime out of that void of darkness, he felt unutterably sick. The *?£ d seemed to be gyrating like a humming top, making a rushing sound com"l e ?u Ura \f j ts s ' zo 5 an d in the midst o» the wheeling landscape was a face with a naming beard; whilst through the roaring hum a voice' broke on his ears. . ' ! «y y° u ng friend, you return to these glimpse of the moon! Better take a drink." Something was thrust to his lips. The metal neck of a flask, he thought, and as the liquor flooded his mouth, he gulped to save himself from being choked, and recognised the flavour of neat whisky. " Again! The kick of liquor is not what it was, and one swallow does not make a toper, nor yet a sick man whole." The flask was tipped again. The spirit once more flooded his mouth compelling him to swallow, and as the world steadied a little before his reeling brain he made out tho face of Mr. Hammerton, whose eyes, the spectacles being removed, were regarding him with genial solicitude. " Humpty-dumpty sat on a gate—" ho laughed. Then asked, " Not much worse for the knock-out whack, I hope, Mr. Lavenham." Lavenham remembered something and looked around. " I am poorer. There were some papers—" "Fellow who gave you the loving pat, vook them, I expect." "Who was it?" Mr. Hammerton shook his fiery head. " Search me, as they say in Chicago. I don't know. I saw you at The Priory gates —" "You mean you were watching me?" asked Lavenham a little sharply. " You need a guardian angel if ever you're going to be P.R.A., my son. I will own. I was keeping my eye on you and that young lady you met" upon the moor. But when you started to take a siesta on the gate, I sat in the hedge well .down the road to await your leisure I heard a clatter and came along to find you spread-eagled in these furrows. There's the whole story and you may make of it what you can. What were the papers that you" lost?" " They were papers that the man of the Three Feathers was carrying. His name, it appears, was Carling—" " I know. James Carling—son of Pat Carling of New Orleans." " The dickens!" Lavenham sat. up as he spoke, and though the action brought on an attack of giddiness, he stared at the man in wonder. " You seem to know everything." "Except about mothst" Hammerton grinned as he spoke. " One can't be omniscient; but one does his best. Those papers now—they intrigued you?" " One, the only one I'd read, was the wedding certificate of my father and mother, I will swear." " Charles Lavenham and Isobel Rovado at Jamestown, A.D. 1899, hey 1" I " How you know —" began Lavenham wonderingly. • i " All in good time, my friend. Just now, I think it will bo "well if you struggle over to Brother Smale's. You're not fit for the great deeds that may be required of you before long. If I gave you an arm, maybe you could hop along." "Yes!" " Then we will start. And you shall tell me all the news since wc parted this morning. About that dead mpn now, whom thev're talking about at Isgtanam? A case of" ' What Cjto did and Addison approved ' hey ?" " If you mean he committed suicide, I don't believe it." t> "Nor do I! But your reasons. " Well, when Miss "Lavenham first saw

him—" " Helen Saw the man!" Mr. Hammerton was greatly perturbed. " She saw him first. I found her in a swoon almost at his feet." " Dear God!" the man whispered; and then asked sharply, "Yes?" " His hands were bound. Miss Lavenham noted that particularly. But when I went along with the officers, the bonds had been removed." " Yes! I cut them of! lnm. . " You!" In spite of a suspicion he had entertained, Lavonham was startled. " You knew about the man . " Not till I went down to the wood after seeing you come out with Helen in vour arms. I saw at once that he d never hanged himself, but I cut those hands free in order that it might .be though he had. You see, he was a rogue, not worth troubling over; and I have a desire to square accounts with the man who did it, myself." , "But that caravan is gone. " Yes It has taken the Ashburton road. But Spanish John is still at the inn and I'll swear the disappearance the>' van is just a blind. Having got your papers that crowd will be buzzing back here like wasps around a honey-pot... You must get fit, my fnend before dark, for I fancy you and I are going to needed ai The Priory. " Yon think so? . . Miss Lavenham wants to see you." "She does!" . " Badlv. I've promised to take jou tC> The man's answer was merely an or the neck if you won't go quietly," said Lavenham, jestln"Ohblril go. The question is—will you ? 'When a man has recently been ' jcoshed,' he is usually indisposed for violent action." . . » " I shall be fit . . I just must be " When we get to Smale s you 11 lie down for an hour or two, then! . . And I'U see to your nourishment .It you're eoing with me you'll do just what r sa y * Here we are at the village, at id—by Peter's thumb! My g°gß lcs - 1 was forgetting them. He laughed oddly. " It's wonderful how Dartmoor l'gM tries the eyes!" He slipped on the blue glasses, then laughed again. " There s Spanish John patching the road. I think we'll take the back way to the

They did so; and when they arrived, the moth-catcher made Lavenham lie down in his room, where presently he fell asleep. Quite a long time after ho was awakened by tho creaking of the door: and sat up to find it was pitch dark and to see Hammerton carrying a candle and a tray, in the act of entering the room. The man chuckled as ho looked at him. " I have given it out that you have had an accident and broken your colalr bone. Bui even an invalid must eat! I hope, however, you will risk an indisposition by eating quickly, for in twenty minutes' time I start for xhe Priory. It will be better if we move out separately. Wait until you hear an owl hoot lour times. That will mean that the coast is clear. I shall be waiting for you in The Priory grounds. (Jet that?" I " Yes!" " Then au revoir, my friend. Igo to prepare for the night's adventure, which I don't fancy will be dull. But listen for the hoots, and do not so much as move before." Hammerton departed, and feeling much better for his sleep, Lavenham ato his food, which the man had brought, and drank the tankard of ale. _ Then he slipped off the bed; and waited for the passing of the slight dizziness which assailed him when he moved. It dis-

appeared after u moment or two, and walking gently to and fro in his room, he listened for the signal. It seemed unduly delayed. There was a bubel of noisy voices from the tap-room below, and fearing the sound he waited for might ho drowned by it, ho moved 1.0

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tho window and threw it open. Then the signal came. " Too-whoo-whoo-oo!" He waited until the cry had sounded four times, then with his heart pounding wildly, and his brain beating a very tatoo, he moved silently from nis room; and descending tho , stairs caught a glimpse of the tap-room as he went. Spanish John was there; a flushed look on his dark face; his eyes bright, as Lavenham thought, with suppressed excitement. Tho fact that the man wore his hat and a trench coat, buttoned and belted, with collar turned up to the ears, seemed to indicate that he was going out, and Lavenham, desiring to pass that open door unobserved by those quick eyes, waited until the man lifted his glass. Then he slipped by in a flash; gained the street and began to hurry toward the appointed rendezvous, excitement mounting in_ anticipation of the adventures the night might hold for him, and for Helen Lavenham.

CHAPTER IX. Tho night was cloudy, but here and there a break in the clouds revealed stars; and to Charles' left there was a brightness which indicated the rising moon. Lavenham noted tho latter, and wondered whether it would be an advantage or not; but as he left tho street for the lane, found the faint radiance helpful; for the overhanging trees made the way very dark. There was no sound save that which a slight wind made in the treetops, and no noiso of movement except his own steps which in that quiet laue seemed unduly noisy; and with a thought that anyone might hear and follow him, ho took to tiie grass at the side of the road, where he could walk in silence. For some time he heard nothing; saw nothing, then with startling suddenness a whistlo sounded in front of him. He halted as sharply as if a sentry had challenged him, and standing in the gloom of the trees, considered the darkness ahead. He could see no one; and that whistlo, unquestionably a signal, puzzled him. Hauimerton might have so whistled; but since he had said ho would see him at tho Priory and as yet lie was no more.than half way there, it did not seem to him to be very likely. But in that case, who was the man ? To whom had he signalled? Was the fellow, aware of his approach, mistaking him for someono else ?

To all these conjectures he found_ no answer; and after waiting a little time he heard footsteps approaching him from the direction he wished to go. Silently ho slipped do.vn into the ditch and, crouching low, waited a little breathlessly. The footsteps came nearer, halted quite close to him, and the whistle again broke tho silence. Dimly against the growing radiaiuo on the left, he discerned the figure of a short man. That settled one question. The whistler most certainly was not Hammerton, who was of taller stature. Nor was it anyone whom he had seen before. Of that he was made sure a moment later, for the man muttered to himself. "Be shot ef I ain't fancying things! I'll be seeing spooks next." There was a, nasal quality in the tones which, to Lavcnham's straining cars, proclaimed the man was a nephew of Uncle Sam, and he waited eagerly to see if the man would continue his reflections. As it chanced he did something much more effective. There was a little click, and then a ray of light cut the darkness like a sword. The man, still not satisfied that his eyes had deceived him, had turned on a flashlight, and Lavenham had just time to lower his head, when that penetrating beam passed over him. He waited tensely. Would the man him or not? The light passed on, and hr drew breath; and drew it easier still when the click sounded afresh and'the road once more became dark. The footsteps mado themselves heard anew. They were going along the lane in tho direction of the village. In a moment, unless the man was just pacing to and fro in the lane, the way would be clear. Lavenham listened. The footsteps now well behind him seemed to be slowing down. He caught a little stamping sound, and interpreted it by a remembrance of days in tho school O.T.C. The man was doing a right-about-turn according to the drill book. In a moment ho would be returning. It was time to go, unless he wished to remain in the ditch until the fellow's turn at sentry-go was ended. Silently he climbed up the bank, arid hurried along the grass. He got away unnoticed. He was sure of that; but when he had gone some three hundred yards the whistle sounded again; and this time it, was answered from further away. The man or men for whom the American had been waiting had answered his signal; and assuming that the man or one of the men was Spanish John, there was most certainly something in the wind. Assured of that, he began to run, having, after his unfortunate experience of the afternoon, a fervent desire to join forces with Hammerton before anything could happen in the way of hostile action. He made the Priory gates without encountering anyone; and was in the art of slipping inside, when the lodge door opened, and he caught the sound of a voice which made his heart beat violently. " Good-night, Matty. lam glad the little one is so much better. If there is anything you need send me word in the morning." The door closed and the speaker moved down the little garden to the drive. The artist wasted no time. Slipping through tho smaller gate, ho whispered sbdrply to the advancing shadow. "Miss Lavenham!" The girl halted sharply, no doubt a little startled by this summons out of the darkness. Then she gave a little laugh. , "It is you, Mr. Lavenham.' ■ " Yes."

" You have brought Sir. Hammerton, as you promised 1 " " No. He preceded me. He knows of your wish. Ho should be here now." " Perhaps he has gone to the Priory. I have been at the lodge a little time. There is a sick child there., You will

accompany me 1 " " With pleasure. It is Mr. Hammerton's wish that I should meet him here." Ho did not explain (ho reason for that wish, and gave no hint of anticipated trouble, for there was no sense in awakening apprehensions which might nevcr_ be justified. Falling into step by her side, he moved with her toward the house, his eyes alert for any sign of the moth-hunter. They had gone for a little way when the girl clutched his arm sharply. " There is someone in the grounds," she whispered in surprise. " I saw a light over there. It shone for bnt a moment and then went out, as if someone had lit and extinguished a match." " It may be Hammerton," he said a little dubiously. " You are quite sure it was a match and not a flashlight ? " " Certain. It was not sufficiently bright for a flashlight. But why should Mr. Hammerton be there in tho park, instead of going to the bouse ? " " He may hava been, and found you were not at home." " But 1 left a message for you and him. You were to be shown into the library 4nd await my return." _ f " There is another explanation," said tho artist. "Ho may bo on the look-out for inc."

" Over there? Mr. Lavenham, you do not know the Priory very well. There is 110 road on t.hut side of the grounds which runs straight into tbo copses without break." ' Then Hammcrton may have gone ast ray. He —'' A little sceptical laugh broke on the words. " I fancy Mr. llammerton knows The Priory grounds at least as well as I do myself." " Well, there's a way of finding out. If you will wait here, or go on to the house, I will investigate." " Do. I am curious about that light, though it may mean just a poacher after the pheasants. I will wait." (To be continued daily.)