[COPYRIGHT.]

Otago Witness, Issue 2493, 25 December 1901, Page 32 (Supplement)

[COPYRIGHT.]

whole affair was a mystery. j /^^ Outside the several persons implicated only jJ^^Smf^yf^^^fi) I myself discovered the real truth, and I have never before divulged it to a single soul. I |\^^\v^=> ' (5387 have had very strong reasons for this secrecy, ■* XizSl^L\j^&rs~> as you will easily discover, not because of =: -^^ any disinclination to reveal the curious facts, but on account of several personal interests at stake which caused me, as a man of honour, to hold my peace. Three years ago I was following the prosaic profession of assistant schoolmaster of the crooked little town of Camelford, in Cornwall. Probably you know the place by " the winding river," and that spot at Tretown which is pointed out to you as the place where the san quinary battle took place between King Arthur and his traitorous nephew Mordred, in which both chieftains fell, and the famous Knights of the Round Table died by their lord's side. If you do know Camelford, then you will at onoe recognise how dull must be the life of its assistant schoolmaster, and how soul-crushing its peaceful quiet to am ambitious man used to the roar and bustle of city life. With School Boards and their crochetty inspectors, and the cramming of useless knowledge into the heads of the progeny of agricultural labourers which is in these days termed Education, the lot of a country schoolmaster is a very weary and anxious one. In the old days he ' snoozed contentedly on sunny afternoons while his scholars droned out , lists of kings and queen or repeated their multiplication table from end to end, or gave his school a whole day's holiday when he wished to go fishing. But to-day all that is of the past. Education must be ' done by rule, and his thick-headed and thick-booted pupils must be : crammed to pass their examination, otherwise his inspectors will report and his Board will probably dispense with his services. Well, I had had seven years of life under the London School Board at Newington and under various rural boards ; but teaching at Camelford was of j such wearying monotony that I at length resolved to resign and return ] to London, even though my finances were by no means in flourishing condition. I could not disguise from myself the fact that competition ■was as keen as in every other walk in life, yet even when the Board

when I walked the London streets with the biting wind piercing my old overcoat, I more than once repented bitterly of allowing ambition to overcome me to the extent it had.

In those months I had spents pounds in postage, answering advertisements, all to no purpose, until one morning, in late November. I received a reply, asking me to call at an adress in Upper Woburn Place. I did as requested, and was ushered into the presence of an e.derly foreigner of exquisite manner, who told me that he desired a tutor for his son. He spoke English perfectly, but from his accent I knew him to be Russian. As my mother had been Russian, I knew something of the language, and therefore in his own tongue replied to one of his questions. "Ah 1 " he cried with delight. "So you know our tongue 1 Ex-

cellent," and after examining my testimonials he at once engaged me at a sailary exactly treble that I had been receiving at Camelford. My pupil, to whom I was introduced a few minutes later, proved to be a slim, fair-haired youth of about nineteen, with frank, open face, whose pair of merry blue eyes gave him a German appearance rather than .Russian. But I took to him from the first. He knew only a smattering of English, and my duty being to teach him the language, I recognised in him an apt pupil. From the conversation which followed I learned that old Mr Vircheff was a wealthy merchant, whose chief office was in St. Petersburg, with branches in Riga and Odessa, and who carried on considerable trade with England. He told me he was in London on a visit, and that when they returned to Russia I was to ac-

Lompanv them. He wished Paul, his to know English thoroughly in order to enter h:s office and a^w< him in business.

While we were speaking the door ag.nn opened, and there entered' a pretty, fair-haired girl ot about nine. ,1 blight and chaiming little cieature, whose face, although it bore a fmeign cast of countenance, nevertheless gave promise ot exceptional beauty As *»he danced into the room *he gave vent to some exclamation-, ni Russian which I did not understand, and rushing auoss to lni father placed upon hi» knee the wax doll she cairied. and then, tinning tow aids me in a h ilf-confused manner, shyly smiled.

"That is Mr Geard. Paul's new tutoi." the old gentleman said; afterwards glancing at me and laughing, explained, "my little daughter Olga is shy."

The old man's wife was dead, but he seemed devoted to his twochikhen. and a« each day I went to teaiJi my pupil in Upper Woburn. Place. I became more and more interested m the family. The house was one of those sombre, old-fashioned residences, painted dark brown, with a deep area, and a laige double door with shining brass handle and knocker. There was a peculiarity about that door which struck me on my flist call there. It was painted white, with the mouldingpicked out in crimson — a most unusual colour for a front door in a London street.

After a week, however, when I arrived as usual one morning, I discovered that it was painted all over a dark blue. I remarked upon this to my pupil as I was taking him through his course of English grammar, but he explained that they had taken the house furnished, and that bis father had altered the colour of the door, not liking the glaring red and white. We quickly became friendly. Before Christmas I had already become almost as one of the fanrly. The old gentleman was extremely well-disposed, frequently compelling me to stay to dinner, and to keep him company over coffee and cigarettes — excellent Russians — in the small smoking-room at the back. He was well educated, argued 1 always logically, and was sound in his opinions. Yet he was evidently a man who, although wealthy and prosperous, had seen great trouble. His grey furrowed face betrayed it. Sometimes when I looked at him I could not fail to observe that his hair and mutton-chop whiskershad blanched prematurely, and that he was not nearly so old as he at first appeared. When he chanced to mention hi* deul wife — his "poor Olga" as he called her — it was with a deep sigh of regiet, and he would pass his nand involuntarily across h s brow . as though to wipe away some unpleasant memory. And although I had become in a few short weeks such an intimate friend of the family, nevertheless I gradually began to entertain a suspicion that the hou<-e was a hou«e of mystery. Why, 1 cannot tell. It is sriven to some men to have an indescribable intuition when

they are in per 1. Perhaps it may have been that incomprehensibleintuition which caused me to suspect. At any rate, I did suspect, but of what 1 was utterly at a loss to define.

The only other visitor at the hoiise. as far I was aware, was a> good-looking, middle-aged Russian, tall, and of military bearing, whowas a great friend of Paul's, and whose name was Nicholas Zermoff. Old Mr Vircheff was particularly partial to him, and sometimes he invited him to dine with us.

My employer, whose old-world courtliness was one of his most striking characteristics, always treated him as a distinguished guest, performing slight acts of obesiance towards him even in the opening and shutting of doors, or m the etiquette at table that caused one to suspect that in social station Zermoff was far his superior. Nicholas was a merry, easy-going fellow, avlio spoke English, German, and Russian fluently, knew London well, and had a set of charming chambers in Rider street, to which he once invited me,

He always treated me with equality, and not as a mere tutor of hi» friend Paul Vircheff. It was of Nicholas we yere speaking one evening as I sat alone smoking with the old gentleman. "He is wealthy, very wealthy," my employer remarked to m» between whiffs of his cigarette. "You would not believe that he is one of the richest men in the world, -would you'! 1 " " No," I replied, my curiosity at once aroused. 'Ishe so very wealthy? " "A millionaire many times over!" "And a nobleman?"

He glanced across at me with a grange, half-suspicious look, and "It means that we have found you, Ivan Sternberg.' lephed the asked, "How did you know'" bg black-bearded man, who headed the intruders facing the revolver "He has the manner of a man of noble birth," I responded. under cover of his own. "You thought to escape us, but suielv you You think so? Tell me, Mr (ieaul Have you ever met him know sufficient of me to know that that is impossible We demand before? Tell me the truth'" those papers which were missing at your wife's aire--t. Where are " Xo. I have never met him before." I leplied. they?"' I watched his face, and saw T a sudden change in it — a change I did "The police of Petersburg have no power here, in London." returned not like. the old man defiantly.

I think I can pass over the events of the succeeding fortnight as feeing w tliout interest to the general reader. Suffice it to say that I arrived at Upper Woburn Place each morning at 10 o'clock, gave my pupil his lesson, and left at 5 without any invitation to dinnei. I had, I feared, annoyed my employer. That house was, without a doubt, ai house of mystery. I had, however, to earn my living. Like many another man who liates his lot and the rut of daily life in which he travels, I was compelled to continue the duties which, for three pounds a week, 1 lad contracted to carry out Reader, you may sympathise with me, but I deserve no sympathy. I was a fool, an absolute fool, for I walked into the cunningly prepared trap with my eyes wide open And yet I openly confess that with suspicions excited my ciuiosity became aroused, and I was now piepared for my adventure. Sometimes, when we sat alone, I noticed the old man's face wore a strangely crafty expression. When my gaze was averted he would fix iiis ej r es upon me with a distinctly evil look, and yet towards me he was always the perfection of politeness and generosity. The shape of his head was triangular, with bioad, high brow and narrow chin, a rather forbidding face in those moments when I caught his dark eyes turned so strangely upon me. His son Paul was, however, a diligent pupil — a trifle effeminate perhaps for a man, but nevertheless he had a strong character, marked "by all the best traits of his father. Each day when we were alone at his lessons he would seek to obtain from me knowledge of English manners and English customs, declaring that they were so different to those in his own Russia. He had, too, a curious way of placing Ids hand at the back of his head and holding it there when more than •usually puzzled. Among the many mysteries of that strange household was the continual repainting of the front door. From red and white it was transformed into blue, from blue to pea-green, and on Christmas Day, when I arrived at noon, at the old man's invitation, in order to •spend the festival with them, I found it had again been re-painted, this time dead black. " Our Russian Christmas is later than yours in England," the old gentleman said, when I greeted him. " But when we are in London we keep our festivals in London style, with holly and mistletoe, and the rest. I've asked Nicholas with a friend, and I hope we shall all spend a pleasant day." It proved a jolly day of laziness and of feasting. The servants were Russian, and I have shrewd suspicions that a quantity of vodka, or of its English equivalent, was consumed below stairs, judging from the ■appearance of the two men who served at dinner. The meal was a bountiful one. The man who X T icholas brought with him was. I believe, a German, a thin-faced, hungry looking Jew, who looked out of place in his ill-fitting evening clothes, and who | ■sometimes forgot himself and spat on the carpet. 1 sat next to him, •and Oy his manner he created a decidedly bad impression upon me. During the evening I noticed that old Vircheff glanced at the ■clock anxiously from time to time, but as it grew later his anxiety appeared to decrease, and by about 10 o'clock he became quite merry and reassured. After Nicholas and his friend had left I remained for a final •cigarette, and both Poul and little Olga were with us in the smokingroom. Olga, who had received several Christmas presents, was engaged with them, and had forsaken her big wax doll which lay neglected ■upon a footstool in the far corner of the room. We were all chatting merrily when, of a sudden, voices speaking loudly in a foreign tongue, sounded outside the room, then a noise as though of a scuffle, and an instant later three low-looking determined men in dark tweed overcoats burst into the room, each with a loaded revolver covering us. Vircheff, springing up with a mingled cry of alarm and surprise •drew a revolver from his pocket, while Paul sat staring open-mouthed, and Olga ran to me for protection. " Well? " demanded the old man with an imprecation in Russian. ""What does this intrusion mean?"

endeavour to prevent them carrying out their design was useless, had altered his tactics. Thus without further ado the trio, assisted by two other men who had been in waiting in the hall, commenced a minute search. An old bureani first attracted their attention, and in a few minutes its contents were scattered on the floor.

" The police of Petersburg are as powerful here in London, as they are beside the Neva," answered the man. " I am here to search for those papers, and intend to do so." There was a silence. In the old man's face I saw that cruel crafty look which had once or twice so puzzled me. Then

the hand holding the weapon

dropped, as with a sudden outburst of fury, he cried : —

"To you, Petei INashardin, I owe all my troubles — the arrest of my poor wife and her exile, my own disgrace, my rum, and the confiscation of nearly all I possess. You," he went on bitterly, "You are my enemy, because — well, the reason you know ' It is a secret, and shall rema-n so. You have followed me here, not content with your cruel persecution of an innocent man in our own God-forgotten country ; you are here in order to search for those papers. Well, search for them. I'll not prevent you ! To-day you have all the power in your remorseless hands, but recollect that Ivan Sternberg is in free England, and when he makes a vow of revenge he keeps it. To-day it is your turn, tomorrow it will be mine. Go, search," he cried wildly, with a hoarse defiant laugh, " and may heaven send its curses upon you as the cruel persecutor of a hundred thousand of your fellow creatures."

The man addressed smiled, but did not respond. His companions were certainly a pair ot evil-looking fellows, rather ill - dressed, typical specimens of the low ruffians which Russia employs in her police service. Yet for the police of Petersburg to raid a house in London was certainly a most unusual circumstance. It struck me that he must have been warned of their coming, and that was the reason of his anxious glances at the clock. Indeed it was probable that Nicholas and his friend had been present for the purpose of offering resistance. If this were so the old man, seeing that to

"Ah 1 you it .int the ke\s of my despatch-box, of course." my employer exclaimed, piesently. "Here they aie," and lie handed them to Peter Xasharcini, whom Paul afterwards told me was none other than the all-poweiful Xashardin, director of the police at Peteisburg, the man who in RusMa is next m importance to the Czai lmn^elf With little tertmony the official turned out t lie whole content^ of the steel box and rapidly lan thiough them in search of wh.it he wanted. Among the letters was a laige portiait of a beautiful woman in evening 1 dress. "I suppose that's a pleasant souvenir, eh? ' the ma.n asked, tossing it over to the old gentleman He placed it carefully face downward?; upon the table, without scarcely glancing at it. " Do you know that she's back again from Yakoutsk? " "Back?" he eiied eagerly. "'ls she in Russia"'" "Yes," laughed Xashardiu, cynically. "The doctms decided that Siberia was injurious to her health, so she ha* been lecalled '"Where is she now?" he asked, for, as I aftei wards leaint, since his wife's airest five years before lie had heard no word of her. She had been exiled to the arctic region of Siberia, and since that night in the Russian capital, when she had been duven away from the house in the grey carriage with a policeman on the box. no w ord had come from her. "Well, if you particularly desire to know where she is," answered the black-bearded official roughly, " she's in a safer place than Y&koutsk. She's in Schusselburg. ' "In Schusselburg !" he gasped, turning pale "You infernal devil! I, I " His hand grasped his revolver, and a second later lie would have i fired had I not sprang toward? him and wrested the weapon from his grasp. Mention the name of Schusselburg to any Russian, rich or poor, and watch the effect upon him. It is a name that is only spoken with bated breath, a prison from w hich none who have entered have ever returned, a foitiess rising sheer out of Lake Ladoga, where the guards themselves are prisoners, wheie the dungeons beneath the lake swarm with rats, wherein, rumour says, horrors are to-day enacted every whit as terrible as those of the Bastile. " No, Sternberg," the police official laughed in defiance. " Ktep your bullet. You may want it some day — for yourself." Through all this Paul remained silent. I saw in his face a look of keen anxiety and intense hatred of this persecutor of his family, yet he uttered no word. Little Olga in the earlier moments of the entry of the intruders had left my side, and seizing the object dearest to her, her doll, stood by her father, holding it closely to her with both her tiny hands. You won't take my dolly, will you?" sne -.nquned of me ot ihe men who was on his knees tearing up the carpet as part ot the thorough search they were making of the place. The man addressed smiled at the child's fears, and replied tha-t they were looking for papers concealed, not for dolls. They were evidently practised searchers, for in a short time they had rapidly and methodically examined every nook and crevice. They turned the place upside down, took up the carpet, completely examined every floor-board to find one removable, and poked about in every likely spot, but all to no purpose.

" Search my coat. Here ! " cried Vhxheff, and taking it off he threw it across at the man directing the operations, irie fellow went rapidly through the pockets, and then returned it to him. From room to room they passed, dining-room, drawing-room, morn-ing-room, basement, and then upstairs. We followed to watch, little

Olga going with us, carrying the mfiit precious of hei child sh treasures; — her tumbled doll. When at last they had finished, and with leluctance gave up the search, my employer, turning to his persecutor, - d — " To-morrow, when I lay a complaint at Scotland Yard, the London police will have something to s-av regarding this unlawful proceeding."' "That for your London police!" cried the Russian official, snapping his fingers ''This is not the first occasion we have made a search here " "You'd arrest me, and send me to Schusse'.huig also — if you daitd' Vircheff said. "Never fear," replied the other. "You will 10111 your w itc theu — some day." '"Before that, Peter Xashaidin, you will b^ a dead man " The official laughed at the thieat, and saying — "Well, my friend, we shall <-cc," unlocked the mystenoush pamttd front door, <vid with his men went forth again inco the iainv mylit My employer, pale, and w.th hands trembling with excitement, led me into the dining-room, and taking out a decai'tei, took «ome bi.mdj and gave me some also. Then when we had leturned to the emokingroom, now all in disorder, and he had said something in Russian to the startled servants, he closed the door and i^'i^i it. Paul and Olga were abj picsenf, the child still pressing her doll closely t<> her breast. " You must think this proc~' ing a very strange one. Mi Geard," he said, addressing me. In Ku&sia this sc of thing is frtquent, but in England seldom." " They were in search of something," I remarked. "Was it of importance?" He did not reply to my question, but calling little Olga to his knee, he kissed lier fondly on the Wow, exclaiming : "M y darling —my own ittle darling — pou have learned jrour lesson well. ■ iTou have saved I is — and saved ihem ! " "I did just is you told me," she replied, and tianded him her 1011. He first tore iff the clothing, then vith his pen-knife ipped up the sack >f sawdust which 'ormed the body, and rom the centre, where t had been cunningly oncealed, drew forth, t ay surprise, some yell japers folded small. T were evidently a numbe sheets secured togethei r orming a voluminous iocument. " Mr Geard," aid the old nan turnlg to me.

■" You see what a dilemma I am in. You have understood what has taken place to-night, and you know my secret — the secret of my poor wife's arrest and im--prisonment in the worst prison in all Europe. Will you render me a service? You are not Russian, and therefore not under suspicion. Will you take charge of these ipapers, conceal them ; guard them — with your life if necessary? " "Willingly," I replied, although truth to tell, I was in no way anxious to accept such a responsibility. "I thank you," he said, grasping my hand warmly. "You are the only man here, in London, whom I dare trust. See ! I will seal them up. When the danger is over you will retaurn them to me with th* 1 seal intact." And taking a thick cartridge envelope from the confused heap of papers upon the floor, he placed the folded document inside, and secured it with five black seals, using his gold signet ring to press down the wax. Then, when he had allowed the seals to set, he handed it to me, and looking full into my face, said : — "Remember, upon the secrecy of this depends men's lives and happiness. Keep it always in your possession, never let it leave your person, for there are spies everywhere, and to divulge what is there

berg, or Mr Vircheff, as I knew him, refrained from offering me any further explanation. The fact, however, that he had been discovered, and was probably under close surveillance, caused him some anxiety, which 1 detected, was also shared by my rather effeminate pupil, Paul. The latter seemed to grow disinclined to learn his English, and became morose and thoughtful, while on two occasions during the month of January I found, on my arrival, that the colour of the front door had been again transformed.

contained Mould not only be fatal to me, to P.wil. to my little Olga — but also to you." I <ook the precious packet, glaaced at the seal-. «md placed it safely ia the inner pocket of my coat. The responsibility I had accepted \ijv, I knew, a serious one, for when I suggested that I should letum home, he declaied that being nearly 2 o'clock it was too late. Beside-, those men might oe lying in wait to search me. theietoie. I mn-t lem.un the night 80 I accepted his hospitality. Tiuly. my C'lii'i-tm.i.- li.id been an odd and adventitious one In tlie weeks that followed I cai ned th° precious envelope -ecuieh sewn in the lining of my ci.at Several times 1 lefi-rred to the \ i^.t ot the Czar's emiss;uies on C'hiistmas night, but old l\,m SU'in

Theie was some mystery attaching to the constant change of colour, but what it was I was utterly unable to discover. Moie and more it became evident that the old gentleman had a hidden past His ■«erv<iiit>. too. were a queer lot, and especially «o the footman When the\ touetltei it \\ a> in a dialect <>t I Jn^-i;iii quite uiihuiiili;ii to me One bitterly cold afternoon in Febaian I left Upper Woburn Place .ibout 4 n'clock. and went over to Baysw.iter to see a friend, returning home ,it my lodgings in the Gray's Inn Ro.ni at about 9 On entei.ng. my

landlady handed me a note which I found to be from Vircheff asking me to deliver without delay a second letter, which he enclosed, to the addressed. The envelope in question was sealed and addressed to Madame Yon Hillern, 106, Grosvenor Gardens. I ate my supper, and then went forth to deliver the note. The mansion was one of the finest in that most aristocratic of West End streets, and on presenting the note I was shown into a well furnished room to await the reply. I had not to remain long, however, before there entered a tall, handsome woman of middle age, elegantly dressed in a pale mauve gown, cut decollette, carrying in her hand a flat cardboard box tied up with string. I rose when she entered, but she motioned to me to be reseated, saying : —

"I am Madame Yon Hii'.ern, and am extremely glad to meet you, i Mr Geard. I have, of course, heard of you from Mr Vircheff." I smiled, for it was gratifying that my employer should have spoken of me in flattering terms

" I've been expecting you all the evening." she went on. " You see I have them all prepared for you. Of course," she added in a low mysterious voice, " you quite understand that this is a purely private matter. My position would be ruined if it were known." "Of course/ I said, mach puzzled at her words, but determined not to betray my ignorance

" You give me your word of honour as a gentleman, Mr Geard. of absolute secrecy?" she urged, earnestly. " I do, most certainly."' " Then here is the box," she said, handing me the box. "Be careful of it, for as vo;j know there are things of great value within Take it at once to Mr Vireheff with my compliments, and tell him that 1 expect him here at 6 o'clock to-morrow evening." I took the small box, and was surprised at its weight. Whatever it contained seemed too heavy for such fragile packing. The situation had become even more complicated. Already I had the precious documents sewn within my coat, amd now I was entrusted with something of great value of the nature of which, however, I was entirely ignorant. I wished the lady good evening, after signing a receipt for the box, and at her instigation took a cab with it to Vircheff's house. He and Paul were both awaiting my arrival, and as I walked into the room the old man rushed up eagerly and took the box from my hands, with words of profound thanks. I expected him to open it, and by that means I should obtain a glimpse of its contents, but on the contrary he weighed it in his hand for a moment, and then placing it carelessly aside poured me out some brandy, added some soda, and

handed me the cigarettes, saying: — "You must stay an hour. I want to chat with you." So I remained, smoking, chatting, and hoping that my curiosity might be satisfied regarding what was contained in that cardboard box. But he apparently disregarded the matter altogether, except when I delivered Madame's invitation he thanked me and expressed his pleasure at accepting. I think I must have sat there a full half-hour. The old man rose once or twice and fidgetted about the room, for Paul had wished me good-night, and little Olga had alreday retired. Suddenly recollecting my brandy and soda, I took a gulp before rising to leave. The instant I had swallowed it I knew that there was something wrong with it. It burned my throat like fire. I felt a strange glow spreading throughout my body, followed almost instantly by an icy chill. Then horror gripped my heart a; I realised the truth. "This brandy — '." I managed to gasp. "I — I believe — 1 believe I'm poisoned ! " I struggled to rise, but my muscles were already paralysed, and I fell back again. My vision became dim, but I nevertheless saw, as through a blood-red mist, the grim triangular face of a man, Ivan Sternberg, alias Vircheff. The expression on that cruel forbidding countenance revealed to me the terrible truth. He had deliberately poisoned me ! I tried to shout, but no articulate sound escaped my lips, for my tongue refused to move. I tried again to rise and fight against the chill of death that was so rapidly creeping upon me. But all without avail. I was powerless, inert, with every muscle contracted by some deadly paralysaait. The last thing I recollect is sight of that grey villainous face broadening into a grin of gloating. The thin bloodless lips moved, but

-Read, photo. IHE WHITE STAR LINER DELPHIC, IN LYTTELTON HARBOUR. " Now that we meet here, Mr Geard, allow me to introduce myself " Yes. And what's more, we've found this morning, buried beunder my real name. lam Henry Gorlitz, Inspector of the Criminal neath the flagstones of the kitchen the body of the young bank-clerk. Investigation Department." So our suspicions were pretty well grounded, after all. It is thought

I was deaf to all sound, for my senses were failing. Then, of a sudden. the darkness of dea-th closed upon me, and all became utter oblivion. Of how long I remained under the influence of the baneful drug, or of what happened to me during my unconsciousness I have not the slightest idea. All I knowis that in the half-hour which elaipsed from the pouring out of the poisoned brandy to the time I took a mouthful of it the poison hud precipitated in the glass, hence by good fortune the dose did not prove fatal. He had counted on the soda keeping it active, but by the will of providence the bottle had been defective in it* gas. At all event.- my awakening wa>- as. odd and reniaikable as the adventmes "Inch had previously befallen me. for on leopen ng my e\es it was daylight, and I found myself lying upon some hard substance that was intensely co.d. Above was a sloping roof; the walls aiound weie bare and 1 mew ashed, and the w indow on my left wa& high up <md looked out upon a blank buck vail T ra.i«ed myself with some difficulty, for my limbs w ere benumbed and ciamped, and, on gazing around, I found, to mv absolute amazement, that my bed consisted of a large table ot slate, and tha,t beside me was another similar table.

Xext second the truth was plain. I was in a parish mor tuary ! Believed to be dead, I was aw aitmg a post mortem and inquest. I exanrned myself with considerable curiosity, and found that my clothes, although dry. were hard with caked mud, and also shrunk and wrinkled as though I had been in water My hair, too, was ailso hard with mud that had dried. Truly 1 was m sorry plight. As may be supposed, I remained in that place not an instant longer than was necessary, but escaped through the window, and on going forth into the street discovered that I was near the bridge at Barnes. By that, I supposed, and rightly, that I had been discovered in the river, apparently drowned.

The few shillings I had possessed still remained in my pocket, and, therefore, I took a cab direct to Scotland Yard in order to relate my story, for I did not intend that the man who had so deliberately tried to murder me should go unpunished.

At the police headquarters I sat in a cold, bare room for half an hour or more. By the date calendar I saw that I had lost count of two whole days. A couple of men of the Criminal Investigation Department heard what I had to say, looked somewhat amused, but refrained from any opinion. I was feelmg far from well, and was annoyed at the treatment I was receiving, when, after being left ten minutes or more alone, the door re-opened, and there entered a man, whose presence there held me speechless. It was Nicholas Zermoff, Paul's greatest friend. He saw my amazement, and laughing as he advanced towards me, exclaimed : — .

"You!" I cried. "You — a detective." - Yes," he answered. " And I'm extremely pleased to meet you here. I must confess I entertained the gre;i+est fears that you had met with a violent end." " Well I narrowly escaped doing so."' I said, and then went on to explain all that had occurred, just a-* I have descnbed it here. "You're to be congratulated upon a most fortunate delivery from the hands of one of the most daring gangs of Continental thieves," he said. "What? Was Vircheff a thief.'" He smiled, and seating himself careles-lv on the edge of the big square table, almost the only fumit'ire in that bare waiting-uiom. which looked out upon the Thames Embankment, lie revealed to me a most extraordinary story, and showed me with what ingenuity I had been duped. At Scotland Ydid ihey had. it appeared, been for years well aware of the existence of Sternbeig and his interesting gang, who had operated as jewel and bank thieve* m many of The chief cities on the Continent. Sternberg himself was a Kii'-sian Jew. who lived in London and directed operations fiom his snug home in Upper Woburn Place. It was well known that to his scheming was- due some of the cleverest jewel robberies m London, but although every inquiry was made the police could never obtain sufficient evidence to make an airest. My fiiend Gorlitz. a Pole, had been given the ea-e. and posing as a, wealthy man about town he had wormed lum-eU nto Steinberg's confidence, and become a frequent visitor. Even then he discovered adsolutely nothing, sive the continual re-pmnti.ig of the doors. For some weeks the disappearance of the -nalk-cleik of a well-known bank in Lothbury had been puzzling the police, yet Goihtz dared not search the hcmse for fear of cauving Steinberg to gutu t There was. however a suspicion that the unfortunate c erk had been enticed to that house,, done to death, and Irs wallet containing ;» numbei of negotiable securities stolen. "We had an :dea that the poor fellow '« body was loncealed somewhere in that place," Gorlitz continued anily. "<-o m accord with the Russian police, by whom Sternberg is badh wanted foi vanous offences, we allowed them to make a seaich. They were presumably looking for some papers which Sternberg' s wife had in her possession before being arrested in Moscow for robbing and murderng a young servant girl, but the truth was they were looking over that house for evidences of a crime. It seems that he gave you «ome papers Let me see them. ' I felt in my coat. Yes, they were «ti"l theiv. With a pen-knife I ripped up the lining, and eageily diew out the crumpled and watersodden envelope, breaking the seals and drawing out the precious document Imagine my surprise, however, when on opening it I found it to be merely a few leaves apparently torn from an old copy-book! •' Ah !" observed Gorlitz, smiling as he took the papers across tothe light, "he duped you also, for he gave you this in order that you should appear to be entirely in his confidence. He knew that if he appeared to trust you, on your part you would trust him — a kind of confidence trick. By your aid he intended to br:ng off his grand coup, and would have done it had it not been for the fortunate fact that he chose his victim rather injudiciously. You remember the lady to whom you took the note in Grosvenor Gardens? Well, in the guise of a wholesale jeweller, Vircheff had induced her to part with her jewels, and that afternoon, after the closing of the banks he had, in return for them, sent her a large sum in notes that he had stolen from, the missing bank clerk, and which would, of course, be stopped on presentation. He then sent you round for the jewels, which included a historic diamond necklet of very great value. She gave you the box, which you took to your employer, who was ready to decamp to Amsterdam by the early train in the morning, and in order to silence you so that you i might not be able to give evidence against him, he gave you a little sleeping draught, and in all probability a couple of his accomplices I drove you down to Barnes and dropped you into the Thames. How you were rescued we shall find out later, but it is certain that you fared far better than he." "How? ' I asked. " Well, simply because the lady whom he intended to trick scneatly out of her jewels chanced to be a dangerous Nihilist, and Sternberg himself, who had once been a member of the organisation, was known to have turned informer. Your employer was not aware of her real name, or would have left her severely alone. At any rate, Madame | yon Hillern saw in the circumstance an opportunity for a terrible revenge, and instead of sending him jewels, she sent him a box which conl tamed nitro-glycerine, and which when he cut the string blew him into atoms, and wrecked the house." "What? Is he dead? I asked, amazed.