WATCHING EYES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21467, 15 April 1933, Page 9 (Supplement)

WATCHING EYES

(COPYRIGHT)

By T. C. BRIDGES Author of "Messenger's Million," "The Price of Liberty," "The Other Man's Crime,"* Etc., Etc.

ABSORBING NARRATIVE OF LOVE AND ADVENTURE

CHAPTER Vlll.—(Continued) " So you're Silver," said tho visitor, stepping forward, and, rather to Jim's surprise, offering bis hand. ' I'm Lunt, but I expect you know all about me." " I don't," replied Jim quietly. " I heard your namo for tho first time less than a minute ago." Harvey Lunt's eyebrows rose. ' So Undo James had departed this life before you arrived?" " No, ho lived for soino hours after I got here, but ho did not speak of you." Harvey laughed. " A bit rough then, my springing myself on you in this fashion. I am the old man's nephew, and have lived with him ever since I left school." " Then —" began Jim, and stopped. " ' Then, why aren't you here still?' you wore going to ask. Say it. Don't bo afraid of hurting my feelings." " It was on tho tip of my tongue," Jim allowed. "Of course it was. Well, if you want the truth, I was his heir up to a week ago. Then he and I quarrelled and he kicked me out. At least, he told me to go. After that I suppose he began to search for you." Jim was silent. He did not know what to say. Harvey Lunt laughed again. " Don't worry, Silver. I don't bear you any malice; I've a little place of my own and enough to livo on. All I want from you is permission to keep my launch, tho Grey Ghost, in your boathouso." Jim pulled himself together. "That, of course," he said."And—" " No, don't say I'm taking it like a sportsman. I'm quito happy. Now go and finish your breakfast. You may expect mo at the funeral." he was gone before Jim could even reach the door to open it. Ho jumped into a car that stood at tho door and with just ono quick wave of his hand shot away down the drive. Jim found Chowno in tho hall. " Ho's gone," said tho latter with evident relief. 4 Yes, all he panted was leave to keep his boat here." " You didn't go and give it, sir?" 4 Of course I did." Chowne's look of dismay startled Jim badly. CHAPTER IX THE PUZZLE OF THE SAFE " Do you mean I ought not to have done it, Chowne? " Jim asked quickly, " that I shouldn't have given him leave to keep his boat here? Speak out freely," he added, as Chowno hesitated. " Mr. Harvey don't seem to belong here no longer, sir, not after old master did send him packing like he did." " Then you don't think ho was badly treated, Chowne? " 44 No, sir," returned Chowne emphatically. " There weren't never a juster man lived than old master, and you be sure ho had good reason before he turned Mr. Harvey away." Jim frowned. " Seems to me I've made a blunder. But it's done and can't be helped." He paused. " Mr. Harvey was very nice to me about my succeeding to the place, Chowne. Said he didn't bear me any malice." " He'm clever," was all that Chowne said. " I take it you don't like him, Chowne." " Nivver did like him, sir, and nivner would, neither." " Well, that's fiat anyhow, and I shall be guided accordingly. Now seo here, Chowne. Before I go into Callacombe I have to look into the safe. It's in the study, isn't it? " " Aye, sir. I'll show 'ee." It was the first time Jim had seen tho study. He found it large and airy like all the rooms at Crag Head. The furniture was old-fashioned but good, a big, flat-top-ped writing table, comfortable leather chairs, racks for guns and rods and a glass-fronted boofc-caso with a really fine collection of books on sport. Some coloured sporting prints adorned the walls. Jim had not time to look at them, but spotted two as works of the famous Aiken. Tho safe, an old-fashioned iron affair, stood in a corner and was opened without difficulty. The shelves were piled with letters and papers neatly docketted in bundles. Jim glanced at the clock. It was already a quarter to ton. "We must put off our trip till eleven, Chowno. It will tako mo all of an hour to find what I want hero." " That bo all right, sir. I'll leave 'ee to it," said Chowne and went off. Left alone, Jim took everything out of the safe, laid tho bundles on the desk and set to work. His bank training enabled him to go through tho documents much moro rapidly than most men, and ono bundle after another was quickly opened, glanced at and laid aside. Jim began to frown. Hero was no list of securities, no pass book, nothing to give him tho information ho wanted. There were piles of receipts and business letters connected with tho estate, but most of tho contents of tho safe might just as well have been put in the fire so far as any value was concerned. All he could find that was worth keeping was a pocket book with £37 in notes. He looked in tho safe again, but there was certainly no secret drawer or anything of that sort. It was nothing but a big iron box. Yet Mr. Torson had distinctly said that the papers dealing with his securities were in tho safe, and his mind had seemed clear when he made that statement. Jim was badly puzzled and not a little worried. There was tho sound of a car coming up the drive and Mrs. Chowno announced Dr. Somerford. Jim met him in tho hall, a stout, gonial man who seemed to know all about Jim. "I'm glad ho lasted to see you, Mr. Silver," he said. " Ho told mo of his intention of making you his heir. Don't think mo heartless that I did not come again last night. I had called just before you came, and in any caso I could not have done anything. Your cousin's lioart was worn out, and no doctor in the world could have mended it. I came now to give the certificate, for I take it you will bo making tho funeral arrangements to-day." Jim thanked him and told him he was just off to Callacombo. Tho certificate was soon written, and tho doctor took his leave. Then Jim had just time to bundle all tho papers back into tho safo before Chowne brought round a dogcart with a sturdy bay cob in the shafts. " Not much in the safe, Chowne, said Jim as ho drove away. " No pass book or any word about securities." " That bo funny, sir," replied the man in a puzzled tone. " Tho master did keep everything in that there safo." Then his face cleared a little. " Maybe thev got 'em at tke bank. Mr. Vint, he'll know for sure." Jim hoped ho would. Though the journey seemed slow to one who, like Jim, had hardly ever driven behind a horse, ho enjoyed it. Washed with tho night'srain, tho moor was lovely, and every little brook ran

full with an amber flood. High wjiite clouds floated before a gentle sou'westerly wind. Callacombo was a small place and quiet except on a market day. There was not another customer in the bank when Jim walked in and asked for the manager. Mr. Vint, a quiet-looking, spectacled man of fifty, took him into his oflice. He was interested to learn that Jim was his old client's successor, but when ho heard that Jim was in the same profession as himself, ho became really friendly. So Jim spoke freely and told him the whole business, even to the ugly face that had appeared at the window and cut short his last talk with Mr. Torson. Vint looked grave. " I have never heard of this man, Fowler, Mr. Silver, and I have no notion why Mr. Torson turned his nephew out of his house. Ono thing, however, I can toll you, which is that Mr. Torson must have had good reason for what ho did. I knew him a good few years; he never talked much to anyone, yet I can assure you lie was a very just man and one who never acted on impulse. Whatever Lunt did, it must have been something pretty bad for his uncle to disinherit him so completely.' " I'm glad to hear you talk like this," said Jim frankly. " It relieves my mind, for I couldn't help feeling, in a way, guilty." " You needn't," Vint assured him, " and personally I am very glad that you and not Lunt have the place. Lunt might have promised to stay there, but 'I don't believe ho ever would. Ho was always running off to Plymouth or London." He paused a moment to offer Jim a cigarette, then went on: " To turn to business, 1 am surprised to hear what you say about tho safe, for Mr. Torson certainly did not keep his securities here." Did he have a London bank?" asked Jim. " Not that I know of. As I say he was a reserved, rather secretive man who never talked about his business affairs." " But he must have made payments into your bank since he kept his acount here." " Ho did, and of course we have copies of his pass books for years past which I can show you." " Then at any rato you can tell mo of liis investments." " I can, but unfortunately that won't help you much. Mr. Torson had a curious preference for bearer bonds, and most, if not all, of his income came from securities of that sort. His chief holding was in tho New York Atlantic Trust, from which ho drew about £6OO a year. His other holdings were also American trusts. His total income was about £9OO a year —that is so far as I know." Nine hundred pounds a year! For a moment Jim's heart beat a little faster. This was better than he had expected, but next moment his spirits dropped with a bump. For if the bonds had disappeared, he had no income at all. Vint noticed Jim's dejection. " I should not worry too much, Mr. Silver. It is quite possible that the bonds are locked up in a desk or strongbox in some other part of the house. And in any case you have enough to carry on with. There is £2OO on deposit and a cash balanco of £177 3s 4d. I don't suppose that you will find many bills outstanding, for Mr. Torson was very prompt in settling all his dues." " You are very cheering, Mr. Vint," said Jim. " The odds are, you are right and the securities are somewhere else than in the safe. They must be, for I'm sure they can't have been stolen. Chowno would have seen to that.' " Indeed he would. A man in a million is Chowne, and you're lucky to have him." " I must go and see the undertaker, Mr. Vint. I hope you'll como out to Crag Head one of these days." " I will that," the manager promised as he went with Jim to the door. The funeral arrangements were simple. Chowne knew all about them, and Jim got home for a late lunch, after which he wrote a letter to 3lr. Hickey, explaining matters and sending in his resignation. He also wrote to Brandon telling him of his inheritance. There was no one else to tell, for Jim was in the forlorn position of having no near relatives. Tho last, his mother, had died five years ago. His last letter was to a solicitor friend in Plymouth, to ask him to see about probate. The letters done, Jim began a thorough search for the missing securities. Every drawer of. the desk was opened and its contents sorted out, and he also went through a writing table in the sitting room and everything in Mr. Torson's own room. The search was not completed until nearly ten that night, and the result was absolutely nil. Unless the bonds were in some secret hiding place—and Chowne vowed that nothing of tho sort existed —they were not in the house. CHAPTER X ABOARD THE GREY CIIOST As ho had promised, Harvey Lunt came to the funeral. So did Mr. Vint and several neighbours. Mr. Torson had llad few friends, yet ho seemed to have been liked by everyone in this sparsely-settled country. After tho service Jim entertained them soberly but well, and presently all left except Harvey. Harvey, if anyone, ought to know where thoso bonds were kept, and when the coast was clear, Jim asked him. But Harvey shook his head. " My dear fellow, I know absolutely nothing about Uncle James' affairs. I nover did. I lived here and ho allowed mo £l5O a year, but ho never said a word to mo of business matters. Indeed, I never knew what his income was, or where it came from. He was mum as an oyster, but," ho added more gravely, " ho was good to me." Jim opened his mouth to speak, but checked. Harvey laughed. "Out with it Jim I You're wondering why we quarrolled." "I am," said Jim. Harvey's face hardened slightly, then ho laughod again. " Some day perhaps I'll tell you—but not now. Seo here, you'ro looking a bit hipped. What do you say to a run in my launch? She's a clipper." " I'd love it," replied Jim, " but I can't go to-day. It's lato, and I have a lot to do." " Then to-morrow. I'll turn up about ten. Any special place would you like to go?" " What about Ilfracombe?" suggested Jim, for it had suddenly flashed upon him that Cynthia would be there with hor brother. " Right I" said the other cheerfully, and took himself off. Jim was very thoughtful as he ate his solitary dinner. Tho matter of tho missing bonds weighed heavily on his mind. Presently lie rang for Chowne and told him exactly the state of affairs. " It's quito clear the bonds are not in tho houso, Chowne. Do you think it is possiblo they have been stolen? I'm thinking of Shado Fowler. He looked ugly enough for anything." Chowne shook his head. " There ain't been no thieves in this house, sir," he answered doggedly, " Mary and me sleeps in, as vou knows, and she be a proper light sleeper. She were always listening for old master's boll, for since ho got bad he couldn't do naught to help himself. You take it from me, sir, there ain't been no burglars in this house." (To be continued daily)