“THE DAY; OR, The Passing of a Throne.”

Otago Witness, Issue 3197, 23 June 1915, Page 65

“THE DAY; OR, The Passing of a Throne.”

By FRED M. WHITE

THE NOVELIST.

[ P ORLI3HXD BS SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.]

(Copyright.)

CHAPTER XXXIII.—THE HOUSE ON

THE CLIFF.,

ALLETT had gone north feeling that he was on the verge ) of big things. He had got away at the last possible moment in his car, and hoped with ordinary luck to reach the Castle some time before daylight. This would be on the night of the raid on Blair silicon’s house, though Hallett was to learn that later on.

It was somewhere about two o’clock when he ran his oar silently up to the Castle and shut off the engine. Inohcliffe greeted him cordially, refusing to say anything until Hallett had eaten and drunk and was placed in a comfortable chair with a cigar. It was very late, but no one thought of going to bed, and, besides, there might be more work to do before daylight. “ Oh, yes, we have had a wonderfully successful time,” Inchcliffe said in response to an eager question from Hallett. ‘ ‘ I must tell you that we owe practically everything to Von Kemp. Without him we should have been like children playing in the dark. The whole story sounds like a sensational novel. It seems almost impossible to think that such things could happen in this peaceful England of ours. But let me tell you the story.” Hallett listened eagerly enough to the thrilling details from the first discovery in connection with the house on the cliff down to the moment of the capture of Allison and his confederates. He smiled grimly as he thought of those men lying down below powerless for further evil. Tire first thing at any rate was to see if anything could be made out of the cypher message which had been taken from the leg of the herring gull by Von Kemp. For a long time Hallett puzzled over it.

“This is decidedly clever,” he said. “I never saw anything like it before. And I have been making a study of cryptograms ever since I was a boy at school.

There is no system with which I am not familiar. But this fairly has me.” It was indeed a remarkable cypher. It was clearly and firmly drawn on a sheet of parchment some four inches square,, and had been originally enclosed in a piece of oiled silk. The first line of the cypher consisted of a number of miniature Union Jacks flying from a flagpole. The poles appeared to be of exactly the same length, but in every case the flags did not occupy the same position on the mast Below these flags was a row of seagulls, and beneath these again three other birds that looked like gigantic swallows. The first of these lay on its side as if dead or wounded, but the other two appeared to be uninjured. ‘‘ Now, what do you make of that?” Hallett said. ‘‘lt conveys nothing to me, I am afraid. I have got an intelligent grip upon the flags, and in the knowledge of recent events I can appreciate the significance of those gulls. But what are these little beggars at the bottom? They might be anything. You know pretty nearly every bird that flies in these parts, Inchcliffe. Perhaps you can help.” Inchcliffe was, equally puzzled. ‘‘l’m hanged if I know,” he said. “ They are evidently considerably smaller than the gulls, and they might be intended for sea swallows—curlews, perhaps. But what’s the meaning of the dead one?”

Nobody replied, because nobody knew. All they could make out was that they were quick-flying birds; but the puzzle was to get the inner meaning of the dead one. Hallett gave it up presently with a sigh of disappointment. “ I’m stuck for the moment,” he said. “ It’s just possible, of course, that I shall run up against something before long that will give me a clue. I daresay v.fien I have had a good look over Blair Allison’s premi-.es I shall find something. Meanwhile, we must smuggle those prisoners of yours off the premises and get them safely in gaol. For the present I don't want a- soul to know that we have laid them by the heels. But, of course, that can easily be managed. Now, what I want to do first is to allay the suspicions of Allison’s wife. TVe must have the run of the house, and she must be quite innocent of the reason why. 1 have not the slightest doubt that she is accustomed to being alone for days together—l mean that Allison is often called away suddenly at a moment’s notice. So we will just despatch her a telegram from Scarborough in his name telling her that he won’t he back for a week. Then we will make some excuse for calling at the house some time to-morrow evening about the time that those birds are fed. I don't mind telling you that I am exceedingly curious to see those gulls having their supper.” ‘‘So'far you are quite satisfied?” Paseoe asked.

“ My dear fellow, I am more than satisfied,” Hallett said. “We are under a deep debt of gratitude to Yon Kemp. Now, as you know, several very nasty things have happened lately ■within fifty or sixty miles of where we are seated. We have lost at least four cruisers in the most mysterious fashion. If you ask the Admiralty, they will answer you that there are no mines within thirty miles of the east coast between Harwich and Rosyth. They will tell you that the cruisers Hindhead and Haslemere were sunk by submarines. That was the Official Press Bureau statement. At the time they honestly believed it. They could tell you a different story now. Both these cruisers were sunk by mines. , Between ourselves, that tragedy took-place not more than ten miles from here. We have got to find four fishing boats apparently Britishmanned and certainly fiying the British flag—l mean the fishing boats which you overheard Blair Allison allude to on the Abner lightship. Now, in my opinion those fishing boats are mine-layers, and I should not at all wonder if the mines axe not far off. Those chaps need not' carry them at all so long as they can pick them up at certain spots.” “It seems almost incredible,” Montagu murmured. “Do you suppose those fishermen really are Englishmen?” “Why not?” Hallett asked cynically. “There are traitors in every country, callous criminals who value money before everything. And there is no doubt about the money. Germany will pay anything to destroy our fleet unit by unit. It’s no use talking about it. Every nation has its scum and its traitors, and it will always be the same. Let’s get to bed and snatch a few hours of sleep. To-morrow looks to me like being a very busy day.” In a big, rambling place like Inchcliffe Castle it was no difficult matter to smuggle the captives out and get them conveyed to gaol without the servants being any the wiser. The forged telegram was duly despatched to the leading spy’s wife, and there was nothing for it now but to wait till the evening; then it would be the proper time to interview the mistress of the house on the cliff. Hallett had decided that Inchcliffe and himself would be enough, and that the other three might employ their day in prospecting for fresh information. It was Inchcliffe’s idea that he and Hallett should potter about the cliffs in the afternoon with their guns in search of rare wildfowl, and drop into the house on the cliff somewhere about four o’clock, ostensibly to see Blair Allison and beg the favour of a cup of tea. 'The plan seemed shrewd enough, and it had Hallett’s approval. Thev would excite no suspicion as they wandered along the cliffs and at the same. time kept a sharp lookout for anything suspicious in connection with the house the cliff. Hallett seated himself from time to time, and made good use of his glasses. He smiled every now and again with the air of a man who is pleased with himself. Inchcliffe turned, to him curiously. “What are you trying to get at?” he asked.

“ Well, I am watching the Union Jack on the flagstaff yonder,” Hallett explained incidentally. “Why the local authorities allow the flagstaff or the flag I can’t make out. But that's a detail.

.Now, if you take these glasses and look carefully you will see that the flagstaff is a most elaborate affair, and is painted in alternate bands of red, white, and blue. These strips of colour are each about a foot wide. _ A little time ago and that flag was within two colours breadth of the top of the pole. Now' it is four breadths down. It has been changed at least three times since we came out.” ‘‘That is very interesting,” Inchcliffe said.

‘‘l should think it is. Goodness knows how long this sort of thing has been going on. I should like to know' why it has not been spotted before. The woman yonder is signalling to someone, of course. VVe don’t know who to or where to, but it might quite easily be an enemy’s submarine. But that is what we have got to find out. I’d give a trifle to know where those fishing boats are.” “ We shall see them all in good time,” Inchcliffe said. “It seems to me this is where I come in. With my electric motor boats and my knowledge of the coast I ought to be of considerable assistance. Between you and me—ah, Hallett, I can smell a rat. Unless I am greatly mistaken, I have found out something of importance. Put your gun down and come here quickly. Now, look over the edge of yon cliff and tell mo what you see dow-n there.” Hallett’ did as directed. All he could see was a flat rock some twenty or forty feet below whcre ; a flock of birds were squatting and evidently enjoying the last few moments of sunshine. They were beautiful birds, silvery-grey, with a touch of dove-colour in them, and as one or or two of them wheeled and darted round a rock they looked the absolute picture of grace and speed. “What do you make of them?” Inchcliffe asked. Hallett admitted that he could sec no significance, in these beautiful creatures. He did not know what they were. “Terns,” Inchcliffe said curtly. “And so are the birds on that cypher. 1 ought to have spotted it before.” CHAPTER XXXIV.—THE DEAD BIRD. It was a small point, but it was something gained at any rate, and Hallett was too profound a master of his own game to despise the smallest fragrrtent of information. He had so often seen the apparently trivial grow into the all-im-portant that he carefully memorised everything that came under his eye. At any rate, the difference between the gulls and the terns must convey something to the neopie for whom the cypher was intended.

“I’ll not forget it,” Hallett said. “It is quite evident that the cypher was outward bound, because you got hold of it on this side of the water after the gulia had been fed. No doubt Blair Allison set it going, never dreaming that the bird would be brought down by Von Kemp. So keep your eye open this evening, and with any luck we may be able to intercept another message on its way to Germany. You never know.” “In that case we had better be moving,” Inchcliffe suggested. “Now, shall we cal] formally at the front door or shall we drop in casually by wav of the cliffs?” The casual visit struck Hallett as being the most plausible. If they approached the house that way it would look much more friendly, besides, if they chose the proper moment they could cross_ the Jawn at the very time when the birds were being fed. All they had to do was to hang about concealed by the shrubbery until they saw Mrs Blair Allison come out of the house with a basket of corn. She came presently, a tall, graceful figure in blue, and whistled softly. Almost immediately the Indian pheasants started out of the shrubbery on to the lawn, and a moment or two later a flock of screaming wheeling gulls dropped out of the sky. Hallett tapped Inchcliffe on the shoulder, and the latter nodded. The time' to move had come, and they advanced across the lawn towards Mrs Blair Allison. As she saw them an unmistakable flush of annoyance rose to her cheeks. It was only for the fraction of a second, but it w r as not lost upon Hallett. Then it vanished, and the spy’s wife was her gracious smiling self once more. “Pray don’t let us interrupt you, Mrs Allison,” Inchcliffe cried. “I know how fond you are of your birds, and that this duty is one of your daily pleasures. Blair Allison is in the gun-room, I suppose? I’ll just run round and dig him out. _ I daresay you will be good enough to g»\o us a cup of tea in a few minutes. “My husband is in London,” Mrs Blair Allison said with just a sign of hesitation in her manner. (Some tiresome business in connection with our Australian, property. He went off quite early morning, but if yon and your friend - “A thousand pardons,” Inchcliffe cried. “I am forgetting. Mrs Allison, _ will you, allow me to introduce my friend, Mr Stuart Hallett. He is spending_ a few days with me. and I came over this afternoon to see if I could fix up a little shoot.”

“At any rate I can fix you up a cup of tea,” tlie lady smiled. “Now, will you be good enough to walk straight into the drawing room and ring the bell and order the tea. I will join you directly I hare finished with these somewhat troublesome pets of mine.” Hallett, however, did not move. “I am going to be impertinent, Mrs Blair Allison,” he said. “I am going to ask yon if I might stay here instead. This is one of the most interesting sights I have seen for a long time. Therefore, if you don’t mind, I would like to watch.” Mrs Blair Allison smiled graciously. Tri the circumstances she could do nothing less. Yet it seemed to Hallett’s keen eyes that she appeared a little restless and suspicious. He was quite sure that the ruse of the telegram had been successful, and that this woman knew nothing of the fate that had overtaken her husband and hia confederates. But obviously she wanted to be by herself for some reason, and Hallett was determined to find out

■what it was. He raw that every now and again the mistress of the birds was glancing upwards as if expecting something; there was a little frown on her_ forehead and a packet, between those white brows of hers. Then her face cleared as another flock of birds appeared, about half a dozen of them altogether, and settled on the lawn nearby. They did not appear to mingle with the others, but eagerly picked np the handful of grain thrown to them by Mrs Blair Allison, tlallett had not been slow to grasp the fact that these birds were terns, which in itself was highly significant. “Those are beautiful creatures,” he said. “I am quite ignorant on the subject of sea birds. I must get you to tell me what they are.” The woman seemed to he quite easy in her mind now, something had happened to relieve her anxiety, and she turned to Hallett with one of her most fascinating smiles. “They are terns,” she said. “To my mind the most beautiful birds that fly. See how wonderfully light and graceful they are. They are fast as swallows and never tire. I am trying to get them as tame as the gulls, but up to now I have been anything but successful. They are so terribly wild and shy. The gulls are such greedy pigs that you can do anything with them. In cold weather they will follow me into the house. But the terns are a different matter altogether. I hop© to do a good deal with those two in front there, who are a little bolder than the rest. I have managed to get them to take fond from one of my chicken boxes, and once or twice I have kept them for the night. I was going to try again this afternoon, but since you and Bord Inchcliffe have turned up - I will leave it for another day. So if you please ” “Oh, never mind the tea,” Hallett cried. “This is far more interesting. How, can I help you? Is that the chicken run you speak of by the bushes yonder ?” Mrs Blair Allison indicated that it was. Her basket of food was nearly exhausted jiow, and she began to- bustle the greedy birds across the lawn with the evident intention of heading them off from the terns. Hallett joined in this movement with tho, zest of a-schoolboy with a new hobby. He had not exaggerated in the least when he declared that he was deeply interested. He thought that there was some mystery underlying this anxietv as to the smaller birds, and at the same time was keeping a sharp look-out to see if he could discover anything like -a message attached to one of the gulls. There was apparent]v nothing in the wind just now. nothing but the usual evening routine of -feeding the birds and keening them in band. The pheasants were driven off presently, and then slowly and carefully Mrs Blair Allison began to scatter food in a trail that led up to the chicken run on . the other side of the lawn. Two of the terns, a little bolder than the rest, followed flowly until they were actually within the wire netting. Then the trap . was dropped behind them, and for the moment at any rate they were prisoners. Still thev went on eating their scraps of food unconcernedly, and Hallett smiled. It needed no great intelligence on his part to see that those birds were not inside that wire me c h for the first time. He turned to his hostess.

“Are you going to keep them prisoners?” he asked.

“Just for to-night,” Mrs Blair Allison explained. “They xvill be quite comfortable. They' will go through that trap door into the little roosting house, where they have a warm bad of hay, Then I shall give them some food in the morning and let them go. If you lift up the trap door at the back 3-011 will see for yourself what nice snug sleeping quarters thcy are.”

Hallett raised the trap door as requested. He had his little reasons for looking inside, not that he expected to see anything. But when he was investigating he left absolutely nothing to chance. He appeared to look casually inside, then he dropped the flap again and smiled at his hostess.

“Very comfortable.” he said. “I onlv just had a peep, as I was afraid the birds might get out. Thank vou very much, Mrs Blair Allison,” he said. “This has hoen a most interesting object-lesson to me. Whilst you are kindly giving us a cup of tea, perhaps you will tell me how you first started your experiments.” Mrs Blair Allison appeared to be only too willing. She had lost all trace of nervousness and anxiety, and was now flaying the part of the hostess to perfecHallett could quite understand her popularity with her friends and neighbours.

“That’s a wonderful woman,” he told Inchcliffe as they strolled homewards. "Fo wonder the German spy system is £0 perfect when they bring so much intelligence to bear upon it. It’s lucky for that yon were so successful in your raid here. It’s quite evident that our charming friend knows nothing of what has happened to her husband. And she as not aware how much she has taught us this afternoon.

“She hasn’t taught me anything,” livthcliffe laughed. “Mean to say that you have picked something un.” “Certainly I have,” Hallett exclaimed. “Tn the light of the cypher. I have been able to read a good deal between the lines. And I have to thank you for telling me that those birds were terns. Now in the cypher there are three terns, two living and one dead. Jn that trap we saw two living birds. Mow what had become of the third one shown in that cvpher? That puzzled pm, at least it did till I pulled up the trap. What do you think I saw lying on the hav there? Whv, another tern lying half hidden and stiff —the dead bird of the cypher beyond the shadow of a doubt.” (To be continued.)