PIRATES OF PICCADILLY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22155, 8 July 1935, Page 17

PIRATES OF PICCADILLY

By WILLIAM J. MAKIN .. .. n . Author of "The Murder nt Covent Garden," ' Two Moons, Price of Exile, etc.

(COPYRIGHT)

A STORY OF LOVE AND BREATH-TAKING ADVENTURE

GH A PTE 11 J X.—(Continued) So it wont on, this ceaseless moving to mid fro by a mud-plastered, rainsoaked man in evening dress. Cheshan had lost all sense of direction. I lie marsh had engulfed him like some fantastic whirlpool of mud, and he went round and round in dizzying circles There were moments when lie found himself singing in light-headed tashion. Old and almost forgotten songs: "John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave . . . But his soul goes mnrehing on." At the end of it he would laugh, insanely, and flash his gaze around with the desperation of a hunted being. He thanked heaven for the darkness that came early. But in that darkness he was more helplessly lost than ever. It must have been toward six o'clock in the evening that ho blundered upon a small cottage, apparently isolated in that rain-soaked landscape. He had swarmed over a wall and, like a fugitive maniac, stared through a window at a lighted interior. A woman and a man were seated in chairs. '1 hey were gazing into a cheery fire and apparently dozing. An oil lamp upon a table shed a comfortable glow over the scene. w Softly, lest there be a dog, Chesham crawled to the back of the cottage. There was a door, which led to the kitchen. He tried it. It gave easily to his touch. In a moment, he was inside. He seized a half-cut loaf of bread that was on the kitchen table and tore a piece apart with his lingers. No one had heard him. Beyond, in the other room, the woman and the man dozed unsuspectingly before the fire. Ravenously, lt« crushed the bread into his mouth. Then, suddenly, lie stopped. Terror clutched his heart in a cold grip. A voice was speaking in the next room. A cold, unemotional, unreal voice. " Before I read the news there is one announcement," declared the voice. I am asked by the Commissioner of Police to broadcast the following: " Wanted for the shooting of a man at the Koravian Embassy last night, an individual believed to be hiding in the neighbourhood of Homney Marsh. His description is that of a young man about 27, height above the average, blue

eyes, fair hair and ..." ' There was a crash, as Chesham, in his hurry to get clear of that monotonous voice knocked a plate to the lloor. Ho heard a startled exclamation from the other room, and the door was suddenly flung open. A burly, country labourer surveved tho scene. " What the heck . . he began. But Chesham was already out of tho kitchen and clambering over the wall of the garden. He heard the rush of the labourer in pursuit. Like a hunted hare, Chesham sprinted once again into the "'"iTead him off, Joe!" lie heard the woman scream. With a despairing sob, Chesham flung himself across a ditch. He felt he could run no farther. He discovered a clump of willows, swung himself into the thick branches, and clung there with nausea shaking him. And all the time in tin rain-sodden darkness tho labouier and his wife were rushing round like hounds faulty on tho scent. . " it's the feller the police be looking for," said the labourer. "Reckin you'd better get to the village, Madge, and tell 'em he's somewhere near. I'll keep an eve open for him while you be goee. He heard the woman scurry awav. Well, that meant the cordon would tighten. He would have a slender chance of escape now. The ring of men surrounding the area would slowly and cautiously narrow. Once more Chesham set his jaw. he slithered from out the willow tree. * The slightest noise, he knew, would brinsr the farm labourer to the spot, and Chesham dared not risk that, as the little strength left him would not survive such an encounter. He reached the ground. Once again the Marsh sucked at his feet with a malevolent chuckle. . . .. Chesham crawled slowly away in the

darkness. » • * * - Electric torches flickered like fireflies in the darkness. Yellow lamps gloved, . disappeared, and shone again in a d.rferent place like so many will-o -thevisps. And the steady, squelch.ng tread of feet told of the incessant search over Ronnie,v Marsh for the man wanted foi ""From a point in the darkness his face white and tense, Chesham w at( the narrowing circle. Ho scrambled hither and thither, i searchers only by a lew yanls. But u knew that he was near the end ot hi! tether. That slow, encircling movemen would capture him in the end. Once again he ran blindTv for a hundred vards. Then lie stopped, had Almost tumbled over a strange white shape glowing in the darkness. It was a few moments before lus dazed brain was able to assimilate this fantastic shape. He then realised that t was a white bell tent with a g I']vcn as he realised it. there was the murmur of voices within. Chesham nwav«l Wore tl.oso in»u o U.c " tent among his pursuers. llo_ dul not know. Neither, at the moment, did l e care. He boldly staggered toward the entrance to this bell tent. ~ What he saw caused linn to cackle insanely. Obviously, his mind was wandering. There was a dwarfish woman not three feet high, clad in riding-habit. Her pinched, little face | stared up at him. He-side her was a giant, but a giant with a hump on his back. A powerful hunchback, swathed in a tight-fittiii 0 suit, glared up with n suspicious, hairy face Between the dwarf woman and tho cinnt In inch back was a swarthy gipsy with a bright yellow 'kerchief round his neck. A white corduroy suit gave him nn eerie appearance beneath the lamp dangling from the polo in the middle ot the tent. , , " Who the dickens are your spat out the woman dwarf. Chesham tried to stop the hysterical laughter that had seized liini. I lie gipsy had leaped to his feet and seized him by the shoulder and was shaking the rain-sodden figure. 44 J)'vou honr? Pull yourself togcthei. What's the t rouble There was a bottle of whisky on a little table in the tent. Ihe dwarf woman in red plush took it and poured soino of the liquid into a g ass. 1 hen she carried it to Chesham and oflcrcd it to him. ~ . " Here, drink this you tool, she

said. " Von need it." Greedily, Chesham took it and gulped it down. The effect was miraculous. He swayed a little, caught the tent pole, and" stood there regaining his breath. The flush of life crept back to his cheeks. «. , , - , • " The police," he croaked, jerking his head in the direction of the darkness, " they're after me!" Thev all three nodded. It was no unusual aflair to them. But the took the glass from Chesham's nerveless J hand and growled quietly:

" Sorry to hear it, brother. Hie police are no friends of ours. But we've got to keep on the right side of 'em. on d better get." " Can't you hide me?" begged Chesham. The gipsy shook his head. " No, brother. This is a travelling freak show and we want no trouble with the police." " No, that we don't." murmured the giant hunchback, speaking lor the lirst time. A travelling freak show. accounted for the queer couple that Chesham had sighted when he first stumbled across the tent in the darkness. But this was no time to analyse his experiences. lie would have to go out into the darkness again and brave that encircling group of men. As though iu answer to his desperation, a dog bayed in the night. He shivered at the sound. He saw the wizened, worldly-wise face of the woman dwarf turned toward him with something that might be compassion gleaming from her slits of eyes. But she was the only one. The giant hunchback had turned awa.v and was helping himself liberally from the whisky bottle. 'I he gipsy iiad thrust his hands into the pockets of his white corduroys and was ] staring moodily at hi in. It was then that Chesham remembered the money he still had, the notes he had thrust into his pocket before he left the house in Piccadilly. A packet of them had gone to pay for that wretched motor-car. But a goodly number still remained. He dived a hand into his sodden clothes and brought out the packet. With a gambler's gesture he tossed them on to the table beneath the light. " They're yours," he said to the gipsy, quietly. " if you II hide me. He heard the gasp of astonishment and saw the gleam of greed come over the gipsy's face at the sight of those damp notes, the fivers and pounds stuck together. He saw also the hairy paw of the hunchback reach out for them, and the snarl of pain as, with a sudden Movement, the gipsy brought a hobnailed boot down on the hand. " How much is there, brother?" r asked the gipsy. | " About 40," replied Chesham, swaying with weariness. " Forty pounds!" shrilled the dwarf 1 woman incredulously. 1 Once again the dog bayed in the dark- ? ness beyond. s "Jso quiet, you slut!" cursed the i gipsv. He swung round upon Chesham. d " Ail right, brother, we'll do our best. .Tnni"

jam He muttered something in Romany to the giant hunchback now dangling a paw and whimpering softly in a corner of the tent. But the command was sufficient. With hatred twisting his face he shuffled out of the tent and disappeared into the rain. " I will hide you in the cage, said the gipsy. " The cage?" In his exhausted state, Chesham wondered if he had heard rightly. " He means he will make you the man-ape," shrilled the woman dwarf and cackled with mirth " Yes brother," nodded the g'Psy- " I have a traTelling cage at the back of this tent. I go from fair to fair showing the man-ape. But the man-ape is ' Tan the hunchback. He gets inside the skin of the ape and is shown to those ' fools who pay a |>enny to see him. And i hero is the skin." . 1 The hunchback had lumbered back 1 into the tent carrying a hairy mass with him. This he flung on the ground. A \ ferocious mask of a gorilla s face dangled from the top of this hair saclv « [ like a hood to cover the head. } " Quick, brother," commanded the gipsy. " There is no time to be lost. ; Get into the skin." 1 Chesham regarded the hairy mass with 1 disgust. It even possessed a beast-like " smell. But this was not the occasion 1 for delicacy. The' idea was good and had a chance of success with it. He • stretched out his hands, took hold of ' the hairy sack, and began to pull it • over the sodden remnants of his evening

dress. The gipsy and tho hunchback helped him. The little ladv in her red plush riding habit looked on and grinned. There came the moment when Chesham had to draw the hairy hood and the mask of the gorilla over his face. " I must put you in the cage at once," whispered the gipsv. "The police may be here at any moment." As he spoke lie stretched out his hand and pocketed the batch of notes. There was an evil grin on his face. For the moment Chesham wished that he had left this strange trio and gone forth to face the men and dogs who were hunting him. But it was too late to retreat. " For goodness sake give me something to eat," ho begged. " You will find bananas lying on tho floor of the cage," growled the hunchback. The hood was drawn over his head. It was suffocating in its tightness. Moreover, it possessed the sickening stench of something imhiiinan. A wave of nausea again seized Chesham, but he found himself being dragged out of the tent into the darkness. He was led like a blind man. " Bend down, fool," growled the hunchback. Mechanically, he did so, and was thrust forward into a box-like affair fretted at one side with bars. His padded hands groped about and touched the sawdustcd floor. Then he felt a strong hand grip his leg, there was the rattle of a chain, then a click as the steel band closed on his ankle. " What the devil is this p" lie demanded. " A chain, brother," came the reply of the gipsy from tho darkness. " The man-ape must always be chained. The police will want to see you. The chain will blind their suspicions. And now lie there and wait. . ." There were chuckles and whispers in the Romany tongue as they stumbled back toward the tent. Chesham was too exhausted to care whether they betrayed him or not. He groped about with his hands, and found tho bananas that were lying in tho cage. Ho discovered that ho could peel them and began to eat ravenously. The cage was only open at tho side. There was a roof to protect him from the rain. There was,also straw littering the floor. He scooped some together with his padded hands, his chain clanking eerily in the darkness, and then stretched himself. In a few seconds he had slid into a deep sleep. But, bis rest was soon disturbed. 11l less than half an hour a group of men with lanterns, and three yelping dogs were gathered about the gipsv tent. The gipsy and the woman dwarf were hauled forth unceremoniously. A policeman began to interrogate them. " I have seen no man," yawned the

gipsy. " lie came this way," said the policeman. " Maybe—but I have not scon him, repeated the gipsy stubbornly. "And what about you?" demanded the policeman, towering over the midget woman. She gaped inanely in his face. " D'you hear?" shouted the policeman. , " She does not understand English, murmured the gipsy. (To be continued daily)