THE CRY IN THE NIGHT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21250, 2 August 1932, Page 14

THE CRY IN THE NIGHT

By OTTWELL BINNS Author of "The Lavenham Treasure." "Diana of the Islands," "The Mystery of the Atoll," etc., etc.

(COPYRIGHT)

CLEVER AND ENTHRALLING MYSTERY STORY BY POPULAR WRITER

SYNOPSIS Tho Conway Castle lias berthed, and Sir Martin Charlton, who has left the French Foreign Legion to return to England and take up his title is parting from Miss Bobbie Howthorne. They have grown fond of each other on the boat, but Sir Martin has a wife—somewhere. He meets, on the Quay, the man who is most reßponsibli for the fact that he is living under a cloud. " Studholme! . . . By heaven!" he mutters, and the other, startled, steps backward and falls into the water. Inspector Ransome, of the C.1.D., who has been an interested spectator observes with surprise that ho takes no further notice of tho man whom he has addressed a3 " Studholme," but drives away in a taxi _ without caring, apparently, whether he is rescued or not. That night. Sir Martin goes to Studholme's house to settle an old score, and has reached Poridicherry Lodge, where Studholme lives, when he hears a scream. Miss Rowthorne runs out of tho house, and recognising him begs him to take her away. Sir Martin takes ZMisa Howthorne bnc"k to London, and then returns to Pondicherry Lodge. The houso is apparently deserted, and a telephone bell is ringing insistently. II o takes up tho receiver and recognises the voice as that of a woman known as " Queenie," whom he was tricked into marrying before he joined the Legion. Thinking that he is Studholme, she tells him that two men, " Hoppy" and " Harry," aro on their way to the house to protect him from Charlton.

CHAPTER ll.—(Continued) Charlton rang off, then permitted himself a harsh laugh. Listeners hoard no good of themselves, but, he wondered what the sprightly lady at the other end of the wire would think if she knew into whose ears her unflattering remarks had been poured. He laughed again and then grew suddenly alert as there reached him the sound of feet on tho gravel in the drive. Ho guessed that the gentlemen whose coming Queenie had announced, had already arrived, and in another halfminute would be at the door, Ho was anxious to see them as Arthur Studholme himself, and to see them at first without himself being seen. Ho looked round swiftly for » hiding-place. A door opposite to tho one which led to the lighted room offered itself. It was a little ajar, and ■without hesitation he pushed it open and etepped into the room on which it, gave, returning the door to its oringinal position. Scarcely had ho done so when the Bound of a hoarse voice reached him. " Expecting us! Here's the door wide open in welcome. When there's serious business going on, Arty always gives his menials a night off." The speaker laughed. " A cautious beggar. We'll walk right in, Hoppy, and give him a surprise." He heard feet on the steps, then on tho polished oak of the hall itself, one clumping footstep more pronounced than tho others, as if one of tho cellars were lamo !—as indeed he was. "Right turn. Hoppy. That's Arty's sanctum. Now for it." The turning of a door handle followed, then one of tho men in exuberance of spirit barked sharply like a dog. " Wow! " A moment's silence followed, then a surprised voice: "Great Scot!" . . ■ " What's up? "- demanded a second " Arty isn't —" The words were checked suddenly, and | there followed a sharp exclamation, "My God!" " What— ? " There by the desk! " cried the other, hoarselv. " There's a leg there,, and—" "Phew!" . After the whistle expressive of astonishment, there was a brief silence, then a hoarse whisper which Charlton only jnst caught. "Better make sure, Harry!" " Yes!" , ' A sound of movement followed, and guessing that the two men were entering the room opposite, Charlton opened the door behind which he was concealed, and stepped into the hall. From the words he had overheard, it was easy to conjecture that something unusual had occurred, and he was anxious to learn exactly what it was. He was half way across the hall 'when the information was given to him. " The knife! . . . Murdered! By heaven! That young devil has been and gone before fcis time." ( " An' Arty was right. Charlton isn't the mother's little lamb that he was . . .

My stars! That's a stroke. Right in the neck. An" Arty knew that he was coming . . . Look at his face ... St. Peter j . . But his eyes give me tha creeps." Charlton, half-way across the hall, Stood like a man turned to stone, his face grey under the tan, his eyes fixed on the opposite door, his mind working at express rata. He knew now what was in that lighted room, and what had sent Bobbie Eowthorne in blind fear to his arms. And he was appalled. His own name spoken by one of those men was a revelation of ppssibilities that shook him as they flashed through his brain like lightning. The message he had taken over the telephone .which had puzzled him a little, now was suddenly crystal clear. Studholmo had expected him, and, afraid, had sent for the two men in that room to support him —the two men who, with himself, had been responsible for the untoward thing that had condemned Charlton to that five years exile in the Legion. And Studholme was dead, with a knife in his throat, murdered, and that precious pair believed that he was responsible for the crime. With reason too! He owned that to himself, unflinchingly. Ho knew why he had coma to this house at this late hour — " to have it out " with Studholme as ho had said to Hadleigh. And someone had been before him; someone who had not scrupled to do what he, himself, in the passionate resentment of the wrong ho had suffered, might have done. Ho.recognised that quite clearly, owned it' with tho directness of a irtan who is candid with himself, and then shivered. He had been saved from a crime by the intervention of some unknown criminal with a grievance against Studholme as bitter as his own, but tho guilt and penalty of it like a cloud ficcrncd already to envelop liim. That precious pair of scoundrels in the room there had received some warning message from Studholme about himself, snd finding Studholme already dead had ■jumped to a conclusion entirely natural. If they knew that ho was in the house, or that he had been there before, they would bo confirmed in their idea. These considerations flashed through his mind, and ho knew that he stood in the shadow of a great peril. For his own sake he must learn all that was to bo known and also for tho sake of that girl who, in frantic fe:ir, had rushed from what was in that, room. A voice broke on his reflections. " Time to quit, lloppy, Arty's beyond | help and we don't want to be mixed up with this cursed business. It won't do us any good." "No! But we've pot to scotch that young blighter. Man, who knows? Having got Studholme, he may come after us. That may be his game—to take us one by one. He got Arty hero in his own houso after sending him a telegram to say that ha was coming. A n d he'll act quick! This proves it! He landed in England this afternoon, and here's Studholme, seven hours later, stuck like a sheep. Lord knows, before morning, he may bo after u5. " Thank heaven he won't know where we hang out and—" " I wouldn't bet on that. He knew where Studholme lived, And if he's gone to the trouble to follow us up as ho followed Arty—" " Wo might telephone to Scotland Yard, frnd tell them that—" " Not for this child. They'd nose out fjbai we were linked uu with Arty, and, M like as not, they'd fasten the business

on us. , . No! I'm for taking cover, and taking ifc on the hop » • • Scotland \ ard can do its own nosing out. What's that ? ' Tho startled interjection was occasioned by tho sudden whir of tho telephone bell. Coming so utterly unexpectedly, it startled Charltun, who was nearer, even more than it did tho men in tho rbom. Tho sound, so near, made him jump and slipping on the polished oakj ho fell with a crash. " My God! " cried a voice that he knew for lloppy's, " there's someone here! That murdering—" Charlton missed the rest. Rolling over swiftly, ho lifted himself to his feet, and leaped to tho door of tho room where he had previously hidden. Ho was only Jjist in time. The two men came hurrying from the room and fled poll mell tojvards tho outer door, their faces, as ho glimpsed them, convulsed -with fear. Tho telephone bell whirred on. In the brief intervals between each ring he heard running feet rasping the graveL Ho knew that tho men would not return, and he looked at the telephone a little doubtfully. It was possible that if he answered it he m'ght learn something that in this tremendous situation might bo to his advantage. Ho crossed to the instrument and took down the ear-piece. " Hallo, Arthur! Hoppy and Harry arrived yet ? " Tho voice that reached him was that of the woman who had previously announced tho •coming of the two men. At the sound of it he stiffened, and, prompted by a desiro to stir in her the samo fear which had sent the two men forth in a very panic, he answered in a feigned voice: " They have been here, and now aro running like rabbits for tho gate." " Running ? " ' " Yes. Studholme is dead with a knife in his neck and—"

A shriek came over tho wire. Deliberately he hung up tho receiver and looked toward the door of that lighted room. There was a secret there that he would like to have probed. Someone had sent a telegram announcing liis call. Who could that possibly be ? There was but ono man who knew of his intention to seek out Studholme and that was Hadleigh. Had he, fearing what might happen, sent the dead man a warning to be on his guard ? That was possible, but scarcely likely, and the mystery of the thing irked him. If he could find the telegram ho might solve the mystery, and it was well to know who had impersonated him. Ho moved toward the lighted doorway, then second thoughts prevailed. If anyone chanced to come along whilst he was in the house, his situation would be more nasty than it was already. For him, as for those two men who had fled, it was essential to leave Pondicherry Lodge without delay. He turned and walked quickly to the door, and as ho left the house, closed the door softly behind him. He did not so much as glance at the lighted window of that room of death, but plunged across the gravel to the shadow of the lawn on the further side, and that way reached the gates. He stepped forth into the dark lane and looked for his taxi. It was nowhere in sight. He divined what had happened instantly. The two men on their arrival , had dismissed their own vehicle and, fleeing, had annexed his, bribing tho driver and leaving him in the lurch. But, as he recognised immediately,! that was nofc an unmixed evil. In the circumstances the less ho had to do with a driver who had twice that night taken a fare to Pondicherry Lodge the better. Without further delay he turned and began to walk in the direction of Hampstead. When he reached it, he first looked round for a'faxi, and then remembered the tube. On his way he came to a telephone callbox and an idea occurred to him. Entering it,' without troubling to refer to the list, he called up exchange. " Put me through to Scotland Yard," he demanded. "The matter is urgent." He was through much quicker than he had anticipated, and almost before he was aware of it the voice came over the wire. " Scotland Yard speaking. Who calls ? " He flid not answer the question, but gave information. K " There has been a murder at Pondicherry Lodge, Sharpnell's lane, Hampstead. Will you please attend to the matter ? "

" Will we please attend to—" The answering voice was almost explosive with surprise. Then came the swift demand: " Who is speaking? Name please? " Charlton, however, had no intention of giving that information if he could help it. Without another word he rang off, and leaving the booth, made his way to the station. He had the luck to catch a train almost immediately, and as he seated himself, became aware of a man at the fur-' ther end of tho coach who seemed to be regarding him with more intentness than was either customary or polite from a stranger,, The loan's interest worried him a little. Did the man know him ? Had he, by some chance, seen him leaving Pondicherry Lodge ? He dismissed tho question almost instantly. Sharpnell's Lane was too ill-lit and the neighbourhood of the Lodge much too dark for any chance passer-by to have seen him sufficiently well to recognise him later. He looked np at tho map of the route on the other side of tho coach, considered it for a moment, then glanced swiftly toward the man whose, interest worried him. The stranger hastily averted his eyes, but Charlton saw the action, and his heart-beats quickened as, a little to his disquiet, he realised that, beyond all ques'tion, the man was watching him closely. (To bo continued daily) ,