“IN THE TOILS,”

Southern Cross, Volume 9, Issue 4, 27 April 1901, Page 13

“IN THE TOILS,”

By John K. Leys, Author of The Lindsays,” &c., &c

[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.]

A Romance of to-day,

CHAPTER XXXI. Arcades Ambo In the billiard-room of the Alexandra Hotel, a public-house in Soho, two men were playing billiards. One of them, a French detective could have told you at once, belonged to the Parisian loafer class. The other was unmistakeably an Englishman ; he looked as if he belonged to the betting fraternity. These -two had met that afternoon for the first time. The reader knows them both. The former was the Xihilist, Andrieux ; the other was Augustus Bracknell. It was a peculiarly dirty room —a room one would not like to sit down in. The air seemed to be compounded of the stale fumes of British cigars and whisky-and-water, mingled with the exhalations of generations of loafers. The windows were never opened ; the billiard-marker, who had charge of the room, would not allow it, be said fresh air was bad for the tables.

It would have taken a great deal — a flood, perhaps, or a fire, or an earthquake, to have made the tables materially worse than they were already; and this Mr Bracknell, who was new to the place, was beginning to discover. If he bad been able to play billiards, he would have discovered it at the first stroke.

The marker, a short bull-necked man, came in, nodded to Andrieux, looked on for a few moments, stared hard at Bracknell, and longed about the room.

Taking an opportunity when Bracknell was at the other end of the room, he caught Andrieux ? s eye, and glancing at the stranger, he formed at the same time with bis eyes and mouth a grimace that resembled a huge note of interrogation. What tbe man meant was, ‘ Where did you pick him up ?’ Andrieux, however, understood him to mean, ‘ Who is it F’ or ‘What sort of man is he ?’ and he gave the least perceptible shake of h’s head to intimate that upon these points he was totally ignorant. But tbe marker took the opportunity of the noise made by three or four men entering the room to whisper to his frieud, with another rapid glance at Bracknell—- ‘ Mind what you’re about. Been in quod. Forgery.’ Andrieux opened his eyes wide. There was no mistaking his look. It was one of admiring interest. He went on with his game, but kept a bright lookout for a chance of exchanging another word or two with the marker ; and once, when the Englishman’s attention was fixed on his cue, be walked by the billiardmarker, saying as he passed him—- ‘ A bungler ?’

For answer the bull-necked man did not speak, but closed his eyes, and wagged his head slowly from side to side, ending with a look of •veneration turned towards the unconscious Bracknell, This meant that the last-named gentleman was an artist of superior order, and worthy of all respect.

The information seemed to make a deep impression on the Frenchman’s mind. He played so badly that he allowed Bracknell to beat him, in spite of his previous knowledge of the table.

When the game was oyer, he proposed a glass of brandy and water ; and the offer having been accepted, be told the page to carry the needed refreshment to the smoking-room. The smoking-room differed from the billiard-room, chiefly in being smaller, dirtier, and filled with an atmosphere that was even more sickening. But it was empty, and that

was its merit in the Frenchman’s eyes. ‘ Excuse me,’ said Andrieux, with a captivating smile, ‘are you not ze man who did so cleverly ’ and he imitated the act of writing with his fingers. The smile died out of the Frenchman’s face, as he saw that his new acquaintance by no means appreciated this gentle flattery. A stern, defiant look came into the Englishman’s eyes ; and he clenched bis fist as though he would slaughter his companion on the spot. A hundred thousand pardons !’ cried Andrieux. Ma fois ! I thought you would have been pleased, gratified, by my leetle allusion to your skill; but no. It is ver’ strange; you English are so incomprehensible.’ Bracknell replied in a sentence, in which the word ‘ damned ’ was the only prominent feature. ‘ But now, let us talk business,’ said the Frenchman, after a few minutes; ‘suppose you imitate a signature at the foot of a sheet of paper—imitate it so that no one can tell which is yours and which is his, how much would you expect for ze trouble, and ze risk, and ze’ ‘What the do you take me for ?’ roared Bracknel. But Andrieux was not wanting in courage. ‘ Why g© yen make disturbance ? ’ said he ; ‘if you care not for a good job, say so, and there is an end of it.’ ‘ A good job, did you say ? What do you mean by th&t ?’ ‘I mean—oh ! —Fifty pounds.’

Bracknell uttered a coarse expression of contempt. ‘lf you have anything really good on hand I don’t mind going shares,’ he said. Upon this the Frenchman explained that he was a trustee of some stock and consols, worth in all some two thousand pounds or a little more, and that the securities were in a box, which had been deposited at a bankter’s, in the joint names of himself Ivan Lubinolf, and a man named Petrovitch. In order to get possession of the box it would be necessary to produce an order purporting to bear the signatures of these three men.

It would, of course, be necessary that a stranger should present the forged order and carry off the box ; and ii was also necessary to find some person of apparent respectability who would take the scrip, and get rid of it id a way that would not excite suspicion. ‘ I know a man who, I believe, would buy the securities from you, or place them on the market, which comes to the same thing. And if you like I will introduce you to him, and do the writing, and present the order —for a thousand,’ said Bracknell.

A great deal of haggling followed upon this ; but the Englishman was firm, and in the end the bargain which he had proposed was concluded.

* Who is your fence ?’ enquired Ahdrieux, when the details were being discussed. ‘ Well; it is a man who has never done anything of the kind before, so he’s safe as a church, if he will undertake the job, and I think he will.’

‘ What is his name ?’ ‘ Ton had better let me make sure that he will undertake the business,’ said Bracknell, ignoring thb last question altogether. And it was agreed that the two rogues should meet at the same place next day to agree upon the plan of operations. Having left the public-house, Bracknell first of all dived into some narrow streets,, which communicated with each other by means of passages. The object of this was

to make sure that he was not followed. Having satisfied himself upon this point, he emerged into one of the main thoroughfares, called a hansom and drove to Hill’s lodgings. Three weeks had passed since Helen had been shut up in the lonely house ; and the Mina Dolores shares were still unsold, still unsaleable. The latest reports said that the water was coming in as fast as it could be pumped out; one thing was certain, amid much uncertainty—the mine was earning nothing. Hill, unable to free himself from the pecuniary impasse, and baulked in hie expectation of gaining Veronica’s consent to marry him, felt like a man who had sold his soul to the Evil One, and finds that he has not only lost his priceless treasure, but has been cheated out of the bait by which be was beguiled. His passion for Veronica had grown, rather than abated. He was ready to do anything, run any risk, that offered him a chance of being able to carry off the prize. Even money matters, important as they were, seemed insignificant, of no moment, compared with the gratification of his passion. But to accomplish his desires seemed impossible. He was brooding over the difficulties in his way when Bracknell entered his room. ‘ I’ve got a job for you, Hill ’ he began, ‘ to place some shares and scrip on the market., ‘ Don’t you know that I’m supposed to be in Switzerland?’ demanded Hill. ‘ But you can do this by correspondence, if you know somebody in Switzerland who will post your letters for you, so as to give them the proper postmark.’ ‘ What is it ?’ ‘ Well, a man I met to-day says he knows where to lay his hand on some securities.’ ‘ To steal them, you mean.’ ‘To steal them, if you prefer the word. He says there are between two and three thousand pounds worth in the box. lam to do all the work, and am to have a thou. You can get something out of him by placing the bonds.’

Hill’s lip curled in contempt. He was not incorruptible, but he was not prepared fo play the villain for a paltry sum like that. ‘ Its nob worth my while.’ he said, shortly. ‘ Don’t you see that your being supposed to be in Switzerland makes it perfectly safe and easy. You go to a foreign broker for one stock and he persuades you to buy the lot. We could manage that. There are only two names to be copied—Russian ones. I’ll make the beggar write his name. He’s a Frenchman, and his name’s Andrieux, he told me. Probably a lie. Those Prenchies never tell the truth.’ He chatted on for a minute or two longer, Hill all the time lying back in his easy chair, perfectly still. It would not have been easy for him to speak just at that moment, for in one instant there had flashed upon his mind the idea of a plan which would clear away his difficulties, and give him the desire of his soul. 4 Well, will yon take the job ?’ asked Bracknell. 4 You were to have a thousand pounds, eh P’ asked Hill. 4 Yes; and I had to fight for it, 1 can tell you.’ 4 What if I offer you two thousand on condition that you follow my directions in the matter ?’ 4 Well, really, you know. Hill, what I want to know is where the two thousand pounds are to come from.’ 4 The same fund that the one thousand pounds were to come from,’ said the other, calmly. 4 You mean out of the proceeds ?’ • Exactly. I know something about this box, and I believe there are securities in it for several thousand pounds. I think they are payable to bearer ; but suppose we write off half for difficulty of disposing of them. I will give you one-third of the remainder, or two thousand pounds at least when I have realised my share.’ 4 You don’t mean that I should inform on the beggar F I shouldn’t

like to do that,’ said Bracknell, thoughtfully. 1 No. You need only follow my instructions.’ ' And what are they ?’

‘ln the first place, you must not carry out the scheme for six days, say a week from this date. ‘ But he may go past me. Get someone else to do it, if I put him off.’ ‘ Not if you work him neatly. Tell him you have tried in several quarters, but cannot find a market for the scrip—that it is very dangerous work —and so on. Then say you have, not got the signatures right.’ ‘ Well, suppose I manage that ?’

‘ Having got the box containing the securities, you must tell Andrieux that the person who is to give you cash for them will not receive yon until dark. So you must go and dine together, or spend the time somehow, between the hour when the bank closes and six o’clock.’ After a few more instructions had been given, the two shook hands upon the bargain, and proceeded to play euchre. Next day Bracknell and Andrieux met again in the smoking-room of the Alexandra Hotel, and the former assured his new friend with many oaths that he had done his utmost to find a man who would negotiate stolen securities, but that every ‘ fence ’ he had tried wanted nearly the whole proceeds of the robbery for himself. ‘But the securities are payable to bearer —every one of them I’ cried the Frenchman. 9

‘ Why didn’t you tell me that sooner ?’ said Bracknell, sulkily. ‘ I’ll see what I can do between this and Friday. Can you meet me here that day ? All right. Good day,’ and the man bad gone before Andrieux had time to protest against the delay. On Monday morning Theodore Hill’s clerk, Mr Alfred Mawson, received a letter from his employer, bearing the postmark of a town in Germany. This letter had been posted through the agency of a friend of Mr Bracknell. In it Hill told his clerk that, as he had had no holiday that year, be might take a month now ; that letters would be forwarded to him as usual, and that he would answer important ones himself. ‘ Just like him ! ’ muttered Mawson, tossing the letter contemptuously on the floor. ‘ Gettin’ near the end of September ! Thank you for nothing, Mr T, H. ! However, one may as well be doing the lardj'-dardy in Piccadilly as be shut up in this blooming hole.’ After this soliloquy, Mr Mawson descended from his stool, took off his office joat and put on the one be reserved for street wear, took his sprig of geranium out of the broken tumbler in which it stood during office hours, and carefully inserted it in his button-hole. Then he went out and locked the office door, to which he affixed a dusty label, and ran upstairs three steps at a time to the top of the house.

‘l’m off for a holiday, Mrs Flack,’ he called out. ‘ I’ve put up “ Letters and messages to be left with the housekeeper ”on the door. See you in a month. Good-day.’ Mawson was the only clerk Hill had at that time, as the office boy had left shortly before, and his place had not been filled up. When Mawson left the office, therefore, there ■was no chance of anyone but the housekeeper opening the d«or until Hill himself chose to do so. CHAPTER XXXII. Jackal and Lion. It was a day of pouring rain, a day when omnibuses were choke-fulj and. cabs were at a premium—a day when every wise man who could afford to do so stayed at home. On this day our friend Audrieux set out to keep his last appointment with Bracknell at the Alexandra Hotel. They met in the smokingroom as before, the Englishman more quietly and neatly dressed than he usually was, the Frenchman looking seedier than ever, on account of the

rain, which seemed to have soaked through his threadbare garments, ‘ You look as miserable as if you had just been trying to drown yourself,’ cried Bracknell, cheerfully. ‘ Two, brandy and water, hot! What’s the matter with you, eh p ’

M. Andrieux muttered a few maledictions on the English climate. ‘ls it all right ?’ he asked anxiously. ‘All perfectly right. How will this do ?’

He drew a sheet of paper from his pocket, and handed it to his confederate. It was a formal order for the delivery to the bearer of a box containing a certain number, signed by three individuals Lubinoff, Andrieux, and another. Drawing some slips of paper from his pocket, the Frenchman carefully compared them with the signatures on the sheet of paper, and then read the order through carefully. ‘ Good !’ he said emphatically, as he folded it up and returned it to Bracknell.

‘ Quite a work of art, eh ?’ said the latter with a |griu. ‘ ’Pon my word, I’m sorry to part with it.’ After another admiring glance at the three signatures they went downstairs, entered the four-wheeled cab in which Bracknell had come to the rendezvous, and drove towards the city.

About a hundred yards before they came to the bank for which they were bound, Andrieux began to show signs of nervousness, and asked bis companion to stop the cab. ‘ What the are you afraid of ?’ said his companion, with a look of supreme contempt. ‘ Some one might see me, might observe me in your company.’ ‘And my reputation might suffer. Quite so. I appreciate your delicate thoughtfulness, my dear sir; but I can’t take ad vantage of it.’

‘ It might be noticed that I was in the company of the man who presented the forged order, doat you see ?’

‘ Well, pull down the blinds. We must go and dine somewhere after we get the swag, for we can’t go to my friend’s until after dark.’ ‘lt is after dark in ten minutes,’ said the Frenchman. ‘ I mean after business hours. He insisted on that, and quite right, too. If you like to leave the box with me I will join you at his place. You don’t like that plan? Well, you can come and have dinner with me. Heaven, what a look ! Do you think Spiers and Pond are going to poison you ?’ and Bracknell burst into a fit of laughter. ‘Why you not tell me all this before ?’ asked Andrieux, bis foreign accent becoming more marked as he grew more excited. ‘ What was there to tel! you ? We have only two hours to wait, and we can spend the time wherever you choose, alone or separately—only I'm not going to lose sight of the box.’ ‘ Stop ! Give me that paper!’ cried the Frenchman suddenly. ‘ 1 forbid you to go on. I will inform the police.’ ‘ All right,’ said Bracknell. I’ve got the letters you gave me to imitate the signatures from,’ he added quietly. Andrieux was silent..

‘Now look here; here’s the bank. Are you going - in with me? No? Well, you go and order dinner somewhere, and ’ ‘No: I will wait for you here,’ said the suspicious Frencnman; ‘ All right—thought you would,’ remarked Bracknell, as he paid and dismissed the cabman. Then he pushed his way through the crowd, and entered the bank. Five minutes later he emerged from the building, carrying, with the help of one ef the bank messengers, a tolerably heavy tin box, which bore the number.k!oß9. This he placed in a second cab, which he summoned at the moment, and directed the cabman to diive down the street. After proceeding a few yards he stopped and picked up Andrieux, who had been jealously watching bis movements, and the two went to a restaurant, where they dined, keeping

the box in sight all the time. It was a few minutes after six when they sent for a cab, placed the tin box inside it, and set out once more. In about five minutes they stopped at a large building in which were many offices, alighted, and carried the box into the open doorway, and upstairs. At a door on the second floor, a door which bore the word ‘ Private ’ and nothing else, they stopped and laid down the box. Bracknell did not knock, but simply turned the handle of the ■ door and opened it. Evidently they were expected. Lifting the box once more, they carried it into the room, a large comfortablyfurnished apartment, and laid it down on the floor.

‘ Sit down half a minute,’ said Bracknell, ‘and I’ll go and tell the old fellow you have come ; then you can make your own bargain with him.’

So saying, Bracknell opened an inner door and disappeared.

A minute later the inner door opened again, and the ‘ fence ’ entered. Andrieux happened to be sitting with his back to it ; he turned half round and saw Theodore Hill advancing slowly towards him. For a second or two the poor wretch sat literally paralysed with fear, white as a sheet and trembling from head to foot ; then with an inarticulate cry of terror he sprang to the door leading to the staircase. It had been meantime locked on the outside. ‘ Sib down sir ! ’ said Hill, sternly. With a cry louder than the first, a scream as of a wild crerture fighting for its life, the Frenchman drew a knife from somewhere, and sprang at bis enemy. He was met by the six barrels of a revolver frowning at him like a miniature battery; and even more than the pistol, the stern, unflinching gaze on the face of the man who held it awed him into quiescence. ‘Put that knife on the table, sir,’ said Hill— ‘ no, the farther corner ; that will do ; now sib down.’ Hill walked to the table, put the knife into a drawer, which he locked, and then laid his own weapon at the right side of his desk. ‘ This will teach, you, my good fellow,’ began Hill, that the Society knows everything that affects its interests. The bank had private instructions to hand over the treasure to the person who presented the forged order. The forger himself is in our pay. He was sent to the publicbouse on purpose to try you, and he himself would have introduced the subject and suggested the robbery if you had not done so. You were more corrupt than we had supposed.’

All this was, of course, false ; but it was quite as effectual as if it had been true. Andrieux fell on his knees.

‘ Oh, sir, mercy ! mercy !’ he cried. ‘ I ask my life, only my life, no more.’ ‘ Silence ! That will not help you. Get up.’ Slowly the Frenchman scrambled back to his seat, never for one instant taking - his eyes off Hill, who sat with his chin resting in his hand, as if he were absorbed in reflection. ‘You understand,’ he said at last, ‘ that you have forfeited your life, not only for this attempted robbery, but upon another account. You understand that , don’t you ? ’ Andrieux put the palms of his hands together, put his hands between his knees, and twisted himself about in his seat. It was pitiable to see him.

‘And surely it was imprudent in you, to say the least of it,’ he added, with a contemptuous smile, ‘ to attempt the life of the only man in the world who could save your own.’ ‘ Oh, sir, do —do save ray life, and I will pray day and night that you mav have the same mercy at the Great Judgment that yon show to me!’ /

Hill shuddered ; but he said, with a sneer, ‘You believe in these things, then, after all P ’ ‘ Ah, sir, when one comes to die it is different, is it not ? ’ answered the poor wretch, simply. ‘ Well, I will save your life,’ said

Hill slowly —‘ on condition ’ ‘ He paused. ‘On what condition, sir P’ cried the discovered thief. ‘ Make what conditions you please, and I will agree to them ; only protect me from the vengeance of the Committee !’ ‘ On condition that yon will henceforth obey me, if I should need your services. It is not likely that I shall need them, but it is possible. Do you consent ?’ ‘ Oh, yes, sir ! Yes ! I will do whatever you tell me without fail. I will obey you in everything !” ‘ Very good. Then I will sive you from the consequences of this crime. I will persuade the Committee to spare you ths death penalty, because I am convinced that you repent of what you have done, and that you will prove faithful and obedient in future,’ Andrieux could hardly believe his ears. He certainly thought at that moment that the whole strength of the Nihilist organisation was centred in the person of Theodore Hill, ‘ You may go back to your lodgings,’ continued Hill, cutting short the man’s expressions of gratitude, ‘ and act as if all this had never happened. By and by Lubinoff will discover the theft, and not till then, or even a few days later, will the scrip and bonds be restored to him and his friends. We mean to give them a lesson in carefulness —to give them a fright, in fact. But we shall restore the custody of the securities to Lubinoff, because, for one thing, he is honest. ‘You need not be surprised, however, if you hear a great stir being made about the loss of the Society’s funds. You can profess incredulity, amazement, and all the rest of it. Your signature, yon can, say, was forged like the others. You can make yourself as active as you like in tracing the thief, and in a day or two the treasure wll be again placed in the hands of Ivan Lubinoff, Do you understand P’ ‘ Perfectly, sir, perfectly. I may then forgot this discomforting, this so regrettable incident ?’ In spite of himself, Hill’s features relaxed into a smile, as he said shortly, ‘yes, you may go.’ He unlocked the door and let the man out. When he was gone, Hill walked into the outer offices—the premises were, of course, his own- —where Bracknell was still waiting. ‘ Well ?’ asked the forger anxiously ‘ Well,’ returned Hill with a smile. ‘ How much is there P How much have you bargained for ?’ ‘How much there is I can’t tell, for I haven’t opened the box ; but. if you mean how much is to go to the Frenchman, why—nothing.’ ‘Nothing! You don’t mean that yon’ve made him drop it, as a big dog makes a little one drop a bone.’ ‘ Something like it.’ ‘ Hill, you are great I ’ said his companion, in genuine admiration. Bracknell’s flattery or praise was alwavs extremely distasteful to Hill. It was like holding up a mirror in which he could see an exaggerated image of his own villainy. ‘ What rot you talk!’ he cried impatiently. ‘ Come and let us see what’s in the box. We must make baste, for the outer door closes at seven ; and we should have to shout for the' housekeeper in order to get out, and that’s just what I want to avoid.’ They went into the inner room, and put the box on the table. Of course they had no key; they tried to prize off the lid by means of a screw-driver, but the box was stoutly made, and the lid would not come off. ‘ The best way will be to force the lock,’ said Bracknell. ‘ Give me the screw-driver.’ * You musn’t make any noise,’ said Hill.

‘No fear. Let me have it.’ He placed the box on the hearthstone with its hinges downwards and the lock uppermost. Then, patting the point of the screw-driver into the kej-hole, he placed a large book on the wooden end of the screw-dtiver, and threw bis weight on the top of all.

The fastenings gave way without noise, and the lid flew open, several bundles of papers rolling about the floor.

The two men pounced on the documents as hungry dogs pounce on the food that is thrown to them.

‘ I say, old man,’ cried Bracknell, in an excited tone, ‘look here ! New York and East Shore debentures, twenty thousand dollars. Here’s another, French Rentes, fifty thousand francs—bank notes, Russian, I fancy, German, and English. Blank transfers by the dozen. Oh, Hill! What a splendid haul i ’ Hill was perfectly calm, outwardly, at least. He handled each of the packages in turn, glanced at the amount endorsed on its back, and placed it on the table, where the spoil was lying ranged in methodical lines. ‘No more can be done to-night” said Hill, in a decisive tone. ‘ Help me to put them in the safe.’

Bracknell looked a little rueful at this, but he obeyed.

‘ I shall take one of these blank transfers and raise something on it at once,’ said Hill, putting one of the documents into his pocket as he spoke. ‘ Would you like to take anything ?’ he added. ‘ Here’s an Australian bank-note for 500 florins—£so. You can easily change that at the little pigeon-house shop at Charing Cross.’ Bracknell’s eyes sparkled. ‘ Thanks, I don’t mind changing a note,’ he said ; ‘ but I expect you to place all those railway stocks and things—that’s your part of the work.’ ‘ Quite true ; I’ll see to it,’ said Hill, calmly, looking at the safe as he spoke. ‘ 1 say, hold on, Hill,’ said Bracknell. It seems a great pity to go to bed without knowing what we are worth. Upon my word, I shan’t be able to sleep for thinking of it. Let us run through them, and take a note of the amounts. It won’t take five minutes.’

‘ It is close upon seven, and I don’t mean to be seen here,’ said Hill; ‘ therefore, we must go at once. But this will serve nearly the same purpose,’ he added, with a meaning smile. ‘ The safe, you see, must have been made for two partners. It has two locks. Suppose you keep the key of one lock and I keep the key of the other.’ He detached a key from bis bunch and handed it to his companion,

‘ Ah, well, thanks —quite unnecessary, you know. Yet, perhaps, more business-like, eh ? ’

‘ Exactly,’ said Hill

Bracknell tried his key in the second lock once or twice; and, finding that it worked smoothly, and locked the safe independently of the other lock, he locked up the safe, put the key in his pocket, and left the office, very well pleased with the night’s work. Now that he had the treasure under lock and key, he thought the counting of it might wait till tbe next day. (To be continued.)