The Green Bungalow

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 417, 27 July 1928, Page 5

The Green Bungalow

BY A POWERFUL WRITER.

By

Fred M. White.

Author of ** The Crimson BSnd. Th® Cardinal Moth." " Ihe Hotue on the River.” Ac.. A*- .

CHAPTER XVIII. —Continued. They parted on that, and Blythe Hiade his way back to his hotel. He had learnt a great deal, but there was still much to find out, especially with r egard to this apparently inexplicable conduct on the part of Harley. There * as no reason to doubt that the boy had been correct when he said that his faster was in the habit of coming on hoard in a state of helpless intoxicaUon * and leaving the yacht the next morning more or less in the same condition. But why this extraordinary change of habit, and where was Harpassing the day? Probably in some r emote place, where he was sleeping the effects of his wild indulgences. ** Q d it did not seem possible to dcubt that this hiding-place had been fleeted for some cunning purpose by and his accomplice, Macglendy. ■nd on this point Blythe was comparatively clear. If the yacht was bej g used for the purpose of conveying d® of those daring burglaries to hgnton, as seemed now to be pretty ffwk en it: wou ld be no bad thing the thieves to have Harley’s comT, 011 boar< * the yacht. And when daX- was dragged ashore in the a i' ? rne \ still under the influence of v ey h would be necessary to conspor T? to . some exceedingly quiet L * °taerwise, the proceedings would . D , Se t and people who saw them °® ld to talk. Place? ere was this secret hiding ‘ a would of necessity be somefrome *-he shore and remote enough t which -was more or less ded all the year round. And and h sudden t>' >t flashed upon Blythe, realiff curse< t himself roundly for not went S '"'flere this was before. He Patch a U t’ without delay, and disher if k a telegram to Nettie, asking still It Mac Slendy and Shiite were n n j.. 1 Fishbourne Towers, and reto ho fh tQ know it they were likely i n . there at any rate till the followmorning. to th tlle course °t time a reply came th«ro u ttect that shute had been had h the time, and that Macglendy thp oa business in London all turned” 10118 day ’ though he had shortlv w at f'ishhourne Towers tentinl .tore luncheon, with the inner, ' 01 remaining there till the 5,. m ornlng. fiats all right," Blythe said to

himself. “I shall have a free hand for some hours to come at any rate. So our friend Macglendy who was called away suddenly from Fishbourne Towers yesterday afternoon on business came here instead and went on board the yacht just after dark. They are walking very nicely into my trap. And now, to pay a visit to the Green Bungalow.” Still, it was nine o’clock before Blythe cautiously crossed the beach and made his way round to the back of the bungalow, which he entered as previously, by pushing back a window catch. He switched on the light and walked into the little sitting-room. It was very hot and stuffy in there, and evidently the windows had not been opened for some time. The room had slightly changed in appearance, for there were one or two pictures here and there, ■which Blythe had not observed on previous visits, and, indeed, it struck him that some more or less successful attempt had been made to turn the sitting room into the semblance of a saloon on board a yacht. Then it dawned upon Blythe that the place itself was an exact copy of the little cabin which the boy on board the yacht had pointed out to him as the one usually occupied by Harley. It was so strange a discovery, and so sinister in its significance that Blythe was almost startled for a moment. He was still more startled when he turned and made out the ' outline of a figure covered by a rug, that; lay in an almost deathly silence 1 on a couch under the window. Then the figure moved, and a lack-lustre - eye was turned in Blythe’s direction. : Here was Harley, beyond the shadow ’ of a doubt, and, on the floor by his ‘ side a tiny pill-box containing a few • grains of white powder. “Cocaine,” Blythe whispered, as he ; touched a tiny fragment with his lips. “By heavens, that’s the game, is it? Here, for the love of God, wake , np. Harley.” 1 CHAPTER XIX. —THE FRIEND IN NEED. A wave of disgust and pity swept - over Blythe. He had scanty tolerance - for the minor weaknesses of poor > human nature, and such frailties as drink and self-indulgence generally ;> ; touched him not at all. At the first

glance lie was inclined to the opinion that Harley had been knocked over by the first breath of trouble and had flown to the drug as the cheapest way out of the tangle. If this was so, then it seemed to Blythe that he was wasting his time on an object utterly ! unworthy'of Nettie Frond’s affections, j He was almost inclined to laugh at | himself for a sentimental fool for ever | putting his hand to this thing at all. Why should he worry about a weak fool who lacked the moral courage to fight for his own honour? But this thing was not done with yet because there was someone else to think of besides Roy Harley.. He must probe this thing to the bottom for Nettie’s sake. If this man were not really worthy of her then it must be proved up to the hilt and she must be told. But, on the other hand

Blythe reflected, he was dealing with two of the most abandoned scoundrels in Europe and this might be merely another phase in the dark conspiracy. At any rate he would have to satisfy himself beyond the shadow of a doubt. “Pull yourself together,” he said sternly. “Wake up. How did you manage to get into this state?” Harley gazed at him with lacklustre eye. He was not conscious as yet that he had been spoken to at all. He did not realise that he was no longer alone in the room. Blythe bent down and shook him much as a terrier shakes a rat. The man lying there must be made to understand that this would not do at all. “Get up,” Blythe repeated. “I say, get up.” But Harley merely rolled his eyes round and groaned. He put a trembling hand to his head. “Do you know where you are?” he asked. “I think so,” Harley groaned. “I am on board my yacht.’’ Blythe made no reply for a moment. because suddenly lie was seeing a good deal of light. He was beginning to comprehend the full audacity of the scheme which those two master rascals were carrying out. It was not quite clear to him yet, but gradually, as he stood there, looking down into Harley's white face, he was getting the threads of the web into his grasp. And, indeed, when he came to look round him, he saw a good deal of evidence calculated to produce a certain impression upon Harley's muddled intellect. To begin with, the little sitting-room in the bungalowbore a striking likeness, now that certain changes had been made, to Harley’s cabin on board the yacht, and, moreover, the bov had informed Blythe that his master was conveyed backwards and foi-wards in a state which he had described in his own picturesque language. Blythe knew now-, j beyond the shadow- of a doubt, that Harley’s craft was used by Shute and Macglendy in connection with their burglary exploits, and it might be necessary, later on. for them to prove that they were merely cruising about the Channel for pleasure, at the invitation of their host. And Harley might testify to the fact that he had

been with them all the time, quite ignorant that, under the influence of a deadly drug, he had spent half the time in the Green Bungalow. The more Blythe thought this over, the more sure he was that he was on the right track. The first thing to do was to bring Harley more or less to his senses. He searched through the bungalow until he found what he wanted in the tiny kitchen. He boiled a kettle and proceeded to brew a strong cup of coffee, which he coaxed Harley to drink, and once he had him on his feet again, walked him up and down the room, and from thence into the fresh air outside. It was a long and weary task, hut at the end of an hour, Harley was sitting ip on the sofa, more or less in possession of his faculties.

“Do you realise what has happened?” Blythe asked. “I don’t realise anything,” Harley groaned. “I thought I was on board the yacht. I was on board the yacht, because I could hear them on deck overhead, and, now and again, a touch of spray came in through the open window. But I suppose I have been dreaming all that, or have I been very ill?”

“Well, not exactly that,” Blythe said. “You have not only been drugged with cocaine, but you have been kept under influence of it constantly for the last few days. That is, of course, unless you have been indulging on your own account.” “Never in my life,” Harley protested. “I have not even seen any of the stuff, to my knowledge. And, what’s more, I have never taken anything to excess.”

“Ah, that was what X hoped to hear,” Blythe said. “Now, listen to me. You will remember our conversation in the Metropolitan Hotel, when you told me that you were in a deal of trouble. But you didn’t tell me everything, though I know it, all the same. Now, for reasons which I need not go into, I am deeply interested in your future. X have already told you, if I remember rightly, that I was ouce a great friend of your father’s. What I am now does not matter in the least, hut I want to help you, and

I still more want to help that dear girl who is engaged to you. You came down here with Shute and Macglendy, and an intimate pal of yours called Prest for a game of cards, and certain things happened.” “Plow on earth do you know that?” Harley demanded. “Never mind. The fact remains that I do know it. Anti if I had been present on that occasion, I should not have been a bit wiser than I am now. You played poker, didn’t you? You won for some considerable time, and your principal victim was your own friend. You can correct me if I am wrong. Rater on in the evening, Macglendy stood out and watched the rest of you playing. You dealt a hand, and Macglendy reached over and declared that the cards were marked.” “So they were,” Harley groaned. “So they were.” “Oh, I am not going to contradict you. To all appearances, those cards were the same pack that you had bought at Weston’s in Castle Square. You opened them yourself, and were absolutely paralysed to find that Macglendy was correct. I suppose it never occurred to you as a strange thing that Shute, who lives here, and is a regular card player, should ask you to call at Castle Square and get him two packs of cards.” “Well, no, it didn’t,” Harley said. “But now you come to mention it, it does seem strange. But how do you know all this? Are you a card player, by any chance?” “My dear fellow, I more or less get my living at it. I am one of the most noted card players in Europe, and no man who knows my reputation would venture to sit down with me. I am telling you all this, because you are bound to find it out sooner or later.”

“Oh. indeed.” Harley stammered. “Then you are—are ” “Precisely. That, in polite circles, is called a chevalier de Vlndustrie. You are a very young man who has not mixed with the world very much, or, before now, somebody would surely have pointed me out to you as a person to be avoided.”

“And yet you say you were a friend of my father’s?” “That’s true enough, but it was a great many years ago, when. I never dreamt what fate had in store for me. But, because I was your father’s friend, I am doing my best to get you out of this trouble. I am little or no better than the men that you have got entangled with, which, on the whole, is none the worse for you, because. you see, I am up to all their little tricks and dodges, and if you will do exactly what I tell you, 1 think I can promise in a few days to get you out of this mess and restore your good name to you. I could do the. whole thing in an hour easily, but because I am a prominent person in the underworld I don’t want to do those two scoundrels any more harm than is necessary. To be quite cynical, my dear boy, it would not pay me to do so. I shall have to go on in the present way till I die, and it does not pay to make enemies when

you come to my time of life, and, strange as it may seem, I have rather a high reputation among the set I belong to, as a man who Is always ready to hold out a helping hand to a less clever scoundrel than myself.” “Why do you call yourself that?” Harley ask':!'. Blythe dropped his mask just for j a moment, and the ghost of a bitter [ smile flickered on bis lips. “Because I am so,” he said. “I made a great mistake once, years ago, and I have never been allowed to for- ; get it. It spoilt my life, and made i

me the soured and embittered man ; l that I am. There were one or two | who held out a contemptuous hand, i ’ and offered to help me, but I would ; have none of it. But I would much j rather not go into all this. I want , you to put yourself entirely in my hands, and I w*ill save you. Never: mind why. Some day I may tell you, j ancl on the other hand I may not. But ’ there is one thing you may rest as- 1 sured about. At the present moment, l am the only man in the world who j can help you. and 1 am going to do Iso. But I shall have to ask you toi

trust me implicitly.” “Indeed I will," Harley replied. "Tell me what you want me to do. and I will obey you to the letter.” (To be continue