WEB CENTRE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22355, 28 February 1936, Page 18

WEB CENTRE

By RALPH TREVOR

(COPTRIQHT)

Author of "Death In the Stall*,' * "Tha Eyo? Through the Mask. etc.. eta

AN ENTHRALLING STORY OF MYSTERY, LOVE AND ADVENTURE

CHAPTER Xlll.—(Continued) His fingers trembled sliglitly as he struck the first match and watched eagerly its flickering yellow glow as he held it aloft. Swiftly his eyes searched the place, and ho saw that he was in a small, narrow room bare of any furnishings. The j old distemper was flaking from the walls, and the air was sour with damp and.decay. The flame petered out and he struck another. This time he moved forward boldly toward the door that stood immediately opposite him. It was locked. Vigorously, he rattled the latch and heard the echo of it reverberating below. At first he had an impulse to blow the lock to pieces with his automatic. That would be an easy way. But he paused. Even now ho regretted trying conclusions with that locked door, for if anyone had been left below to stand guaid over the prisoner they must surely have heard him, and that was the very last thing Peter wanted. His brain was now working more i normally. He realised that for some reason someone had wanted him outoi the way to-night, and Peter had clination to remain where he had. iound himself a moment longer than was necessary. Another match flared through the gloom, and Peter turned his attention to the window. It was a small, fourpaned one of tho sash-cord typo. Quickly he unlatched it and flung tho bottom half upwards. . Ho thrust out his head and saw the night sky studded with stars. Below him was a blackness as dense as that in the room in which he stood. Ahead of him he caught a glimpse of a light moving. It was not a motor-car. It was too high for it to be that. At first he was puzzled, lho light seemed to be sailing unsupported through tho night air. Then, from behind, some intervening object, came a second light, and a smile stole slowly over the young man's face. Of course, it was the river, and the lights were those at the mastheads of a ship. Wherever he was he was not so very far from the river. Peter next turned his attention to his immediate right and left, and made the discovery that he was in the attic of a house. Putting out his hand ho could feel the cold roof slates: Continuing the investigation he discovered a narrow ledge of flashing about a foot below the wooden sill of the window. He made up his mind swiftly. He would take a chance and try to crawl ,along until he gained the roof. Cautiously he slung his legs over the edge of the window frame until his feet touched the ledge. Steadying himself with one hand gripping the window frame, he climbed bodily outside and carefully made his. way along the six feet that he judged separatea himself from the angle or the roof. ' The crisp night air cleared his head like a tonic. Adventure gripped him. Once clear of the window his fingers closed over the angular edge of the guttering, and slowly he drew himself clear of tne attic projection and allowed his body to sink slowly down against the roof. His eyes had now accustomed themselves to the darkness, and he could make - out the roof ridge above him. Further to the right was the blur of a chimney stack, and for this Peter determined to make his way. The slates were moist with dew, and once he slipped back a dangerous seven feet. The incident made him tremble, and before proceeding further he took oft his shoes, and tying the laces, together, slung them around his neck. The woollen soles of his socks gave him a more secure foothold, and his climb toward the stack was easy and ; uneventful. Arrived there, Peter clung to tho brickwork and surveyed a new vista. On the farther side of the roof he had a view of a street lamp and the sight heartened him. All that was needed now was to slide down the roof on tho other side and find a rain pipe. After that, he told himself, the rest would be easy. ' . Peter was not wrong in his calculation. "He groped his way, with his fingers along the guttering until he found that for which he searched. The task of swinging himself over into the dark abyss below was not so easy. It required a generous mixture of nerves and daring, but slowly he achieved it, his main fear being whether the glitter would bear his eleven stone until liis stockinged feet had closed around the friendly downpipe. The gutter was apparently in a better state of preservation than the other portions of the property he had visited, and slowly he worked his way down the Eiping. Had it been daylight he might ave slid down more easily, but Peter he had to be cautious. After what seemed an age his feet touched solid ground .and, unclasping the last few feet of pipe, he mopped his perspiring head with a handkerchief. Putting on his shoes he went forward and founS himself in a long garden. Looking ahead he saw an overgrown shrubbety. Beyond that he found a padlocked gate, but as the gate was not a .high one the climb over it presented no difficulties after the hazards of his recent exploit. On the other side he discovered himself to be in a narrow lane. Walking along, ho came to a road—the road, apparently, where he had located the street lamp. Yes, there it was, fifty yards ahead of him, but as yet he had not got his bearings. It was now past midnight, and Peter Worthing did a spot of thinking. At all costs ho must get back to London. There, he decided, ho would pick up his car, and no matter what happened, he must drive down to The Cottage. _ Now that he was free from the necessity of extricating himself from an unknown prison, ho had time to sort things out. He asked himself the reason for this absurd and quito melodramatic abduction. If, as ho had supposed, someone had followed him to Lpndon that morning, then that " someone" had every reason to believe that Maryon was left unprotected—or if they had been particularly vigilant and had noted the arrival of Badger, that her guard had been weakened by his absence. . .V That, he told himself, could bo the only possible explanation of the affair. The thought stirred him into action, and Peter Worthing began to run. If that was the little game, the sooner he put London behind him the better, although he knew that ho could trust Badger to put up a strong fight for the girl's safety. At the end of the street he almost collided with a constable, who, finding a jnan running at that hour of the nignt, was immediately suspicious, and Peter felt cast-iron fingers manacle his arm. "'Ere, young fellow,-what's the hurry? The last train went two hours ago." An electric lantern flashed disconcertingly into his eyes, causing him to blink stupidly. " I'm sorry, officer," Peter apologised, " but I'm in a hurry. Can you tell me where I can find a car to take me to Victoria?" The constable made no effort to relax his grip of Peter's arm. If anything, his fingers tightened. " Not so fast, my lad. Not so fast. I'm not used to people dashing away in these parts. I'm an inquisitive sort of fellow, 1 am. Now, what's tho game?" - " I toll you I want to get back to Victoria," protested Peter angrily. The policeman laughed. " That's easy," he owned, " Same way as you got out to Greenwich. Perhaps you've forgotten that, eh P"

<« As a matter of fact, I have," Peter told him curtly, " and if you don't assist me to get to Victoria I shall feel obliged to report you to your superintendent." . "Hoi ho!'* gutiawed the constable. "Threats, eh? if there's any reporting to be done, I'm quite able to do that myself. 'Ere, come on to the station and we'll see about it." Peter realised that nothing he could say could possibly shake the enthusiastic constable's resolve. _ . T " Oh, all right," Peter agreed. I hope it isn't far. I've got a lot to do to-night, which is a jolly sight more than you seem to have." " I'll bet you have," said the constable significantly. " And I'm thinking it's a jolly good job I came along when I did." . As it happened, the police station was not so very far away, and Peter suffered the indignity of being bundled unceremoniously into the charge room. A rubicund sergeant sat at the desk, and glanced up as they entered. " Excuse me, sergeant," began Ppter, before the constable could put in a word. " I'm afraid there has boon somo slight mistake, but apparently nothing I can say will convince this gentleman otherwise. I'm sorry I can't go into details, but would you be good enough' to 'phone Sir Maxwell Clayton, whom you may recall is Assistant Commissioner of Police at Scotland Yard, and tell him that Peter Worthing has been brought in here and would like to have a fow words with him." " Well, I'm hanged," frowned the sergeant. " I suppose you wouldn t like to talk to Buckingham Palace as well? What's the little idea?" Peter was by now thoroughly aroused. " Look here," he stormed, " there's no time for funny business. If you detain me here a moment longer than is necessary I can promise you that you'll' regret it." Something in the young man's tone caused the sergeant a moment of reflection. Without replying he dialled Sir Max- ■ well Clayton's private number. Peter noted the sudden civility of his tone as he mentioned exactly what Peter had requested. A moment later lie had removed the ear-piece and "handed it to Peter. . Sir Maxwell did not appear to be in the best of tempers, and Peter knew all about it. , " I'm afraid I can't tell you," Peter exploded. " But there's something I can, and that is I'll, throw the whole job over unless you stop asking idiotic questions and tell these fools to let me cet back to Victoria. It's urgent . . . desperately urgent." Peter motioned to the sergeant to relieve him of the instrument. The sergeant was even more deferential, and when he had finished he turned a steely eye on the dumbfounded constable. " Now you've done it, Wilkins. The A.C.'s in a beautiful temper. Why couldn't you take the young gentleman's word for it? Bringing him in c here, indeed," lie went on unreasonably. " Push off to Standrings and tell them to bring a car round here, quick . . . and let it be a fast one." The constable disappeared with the celerity of a magician's act. " I'm very sorry, sir," he apologised, " but if only you had told the constable you were on clutv for the Yard." "And you really think he would have believed me?" smiled Peter. The sergeant shook his head. He, too, was smiling. " Not on your life, sir." CHAPTER XIV. Forty-five minutes later Peter had collected his luggage from the hotel, fetched his car from its garage, paid his hotel bill, and was speeding southwards toward The Cottage. The Lancia was powerful, and Peter extracted every-ounce of power from the engine as lie tore along the wide roads often at seventy-five miles an hour. Gone completely were the effects of the drug that had sent him to sleep for several hours, and he was wondering whether he would be in time to prevent anything untoward happening at The Cottage, for Peter was now firmly convinced that the reason for the whole affair lay in Vorsada's efforts to capture Maryon. The thought turned' Peter from a normally law-abiding motorist into a speed fiend. The long heavy car swung around the bends almost on its inner wheels—a thing alive with power that seldom before had been unleashed as Peter unleashed it during this mad ride through the night. Yet all the time he was thinking; trying to peer into Vorsada's brain to discover what his plan of action would be, if Peter's reasoning was sound. Peter remembered that Vorsada was entertaining his house party until the morning.. Social obligations would, therefore, limit his activities unless he was prepared to delegate the "dirty work" to his accomplices. On the other hand Peter's estimate of Vorsada was that the man did not lack courage, and on such an exploit it was not unreasonable to suppose that he would wait until the majorityof his house party had retired for the night. That, thought Peter, as the white beam of headlamps danced insanely among the hedgerows, and swept the white lined corners like a searchlight, would mean that operations would probably begin round about one o'clock in the morning. The illuminated clock on the instrument panel pointed to one-thirty. Beads of clammy moisture ran down his strained face. What if he were too late after all? Well, that might easily be interestmg. He would beard Vorsada in his den. He would demand the immediate release of both Maryon and her father. Vorsada would never dare to deny him that, because Peter knew that he had only to hint at Scotland Yard's interest in his financial operations to take some of the starch out of that grotesquely self-confident figure. i And even if Vorsada countered with a threat to hand Maryon over to the police for murder. . . . Peter jammed his foot hard down on the brake pedal. The rear wheels almost locked as the tyre surfaces screamed over the tarmac. Peter swore loudly. His headlamps had picked up two gesticulating figures standing plumb in the centre of the roadway holding between them what looked like a hurdle. The great car seemed to rush upon them without thought or care for their safety k Yet the two constables stood their ground like infantry withstanding a charge on the battlefield. The young man's foot was still hard down on the brake pedal, and thei tail of the car began to swing ominously. Peter swung the wheel sharply in the direction of the threatened skid, and the blue steel monster straightened her bonnet with a jerk that nearlv wrenched the wheel from his taut fingers. The next moment the car had groaned to a standstill, not more than three inches from the resolute men with their hurdle, which Peter could now see plainly. Peter flung open the wide door and slithered out into the roadway. He was trembling violently. " What's,the meaning of this?" ho demanded, dry-mouthed and panting. " D'you realise your nearly had mo turned over in the hedge?" One of the white-faced men stepped forward out of the blinding glare of the lamps. Peter saw that he was a sergeant. " Sorry, sir, but we've had word to stop all cars proceeding in a southerly direction. And if you hadn't been driving quite so fast, sir. . . The speaker left his remarks unfinished. (To be continued daily)