THE SILVER DAGGER

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 170, 24 August 1914, Page 2

THE SILVER DAGGER

CHAPTER XXIII (continued). IN WHICH MR PUDIFIN RECEIVES A SHOCK. "Pshaw!" exclaimed Mr Radford, impatiently. "My dear Parson, I read your ingenuous mind like a book. I Won't tell you what I think of you —it : -would surprise you, perhaps. At any ; rate, Torfrey has a loyal friend,. Yet. 'I allow T no feeling to come in between j me and a ma tter of this .sort- —a matter ! ;of business. Drop it! - Don't attempt .to interfere. You'll regret it. Take -i-'fjhe warning or leave it—it is for -you "alone to decide. I shall say no more — no more than this —and mark it well: i -The last person who interfered with ■ .my plans was a meddler and a muddler, and he felt the power I wielded. . .1 could make you feel that power without so much compunction, Pudifin—without nearly so much compunction." • i Radford's voice sank almost to a whisper, he caught at his collar as if in : great agitation, and turned away. ! Pudifin left the house a little puzzled ; by what Radford had said, but deter- ! now upon his line of action. He ."went straight to the telegraph office and -wired to the Chief at Westport inform- . iiig him of Radford's presence. ! In the afternoon he received a reply • ! stating that Granger was expected at J "Westport on the Wednesday following, ! and that it would be xiuwise to take j - any steps until he arrived. : Pudifin hardly knew how the days

: -passed after that. There was silence i - <jn the part of Mr Havland and Torfrey ; for nearly a week. He could not unJ iderstand it, and he had no means of ; ; communicating with , them excepting risking a telegrarri to * the Hotel de Pranc-e, which remained unanswered. , On the Tuesday evening, he received a telegram from Torfrey. It was from Southampton: "Too late to come on to-night. All well. Returning to-morrow afternoon. Have carriage Mossbridge three train; search island well." The telegram lifted some of the tension from his mind; but the last sentence of it was a little obscure. When he was on the island the afternoon the yacht put in and sailed, when Tom Gannett had his fight with two men, tie had examined it in every nook and eorner, he thought. Wherever they had hidden, if that was their headquarters, Vhey had removed all traces; there was certainly nobody on the rock when he left it. Yet —they must have information, or tliey would' not have sent that request. It was too late to do anything then, for darkness had fallen. Yet he walked down to the cliffi and looked out over tlie sea where a vague shadow showed tlie form of the island. Early in the morning, in a grey twilight, lie Avent to the Villa Zamora and sought a word or two with Polly. He told her Mr Torfrey would be returning in the afternoon, and that a carriage must be sent to Mossbridge to meet the 8.0 train, but, that it must be done privately, and particularly without the 1 knowledge of Mr Radford. Polly's excitement. was almost tearful, but she promised to see that this was done quietly, without attracting any attention. Was Mr Pudifin going to Mossbridge himself? No, he said, he had work to do. He pondered for an instant, then asked her for a telegraph form. He wrote : a message upon it, and fold it. He said: "Watch Mr Radford to-day. He usually comes over in the morning?" "He lias been here every day, sir.'! "If you see any sign of his leaving — going aw v ay inland, I mean—send Tom Gannett to me. I shall be on the. island. Aiid get that message sent off at once. . Here is the money for it. This may be very important, Polly. I can trust you to do this?" "Oh, yes, sir. I'll do anything you think right." Pudifin returned to his lodging, told Mrs Wherry that he would be away all day, took some food and a flask in his pocket, and set out for the island. He struck across for the westernmost point* that could be reached dryshod, and found himself at the bottom of the grassy shoreward slope. He" crept along among the broken rocks at the bottom of the precipice 011 the seaward side, scraping hands and shins, and finding no trace of recent visitors. At last he reached the point of rock projecting beyond the little cove where Tom Gannett hadNpulled his boat in.

He was resolved to omit no detail of the investigation. If the island had a Hecret, it should be revealed. And so lie presently found himself clambering *• j up the zig-zag path that led to the top or the cliff, and 50ft from the bottom, ' ; standing 011 a dizzy ledge or platform, • at the side of which a tall, narrow crevice was yawning.

There had been much rain, but deep y • in the muddy sand were two or three depressions which might have been footmarks. He advanced a step or two into the blackness of the crevice. He . took a matchbox from his pocket, struck a light, held it above his head, and walked on. His progress was slow. : With the aid of half a dozen matches, lie had covered some fifty yards of the •winding way when lie saw in front of him a broadening of the passage, and a nail-studded • door at the end of it. Qui vering with excitement, he reached it, and pushed. Creaking, it gave way in front of him. The match he was holding was extinguished by the draught, and he was left in inky darkness, with his arm outstretched into the unknown space. He felt forward with his foot, and stopped. Another light twinkled in what seemed a deeper gloom as he struck another match, with an explosion that echoed strangely in that strange place. , He looked around and saw that he was in a cell of considerable size. Something gleamed 011 the floor in front of him, and he .uttered an exclamation of delight as he recognised a lamp, such as is used on shipboard. It was overturned, and the glass was smashed. He picked it up, and found that the reservoir still contained oil. He knelt 011 the ground, threw away the particles of splintered'' ; glass, and lit the wick. It flared up with a smoky glarn, and east flickering shadows about the place. But it was all he wanted. Pudifin now resolved that he had discovered the lair where the conspirators had hidden all the time their work was in progress .011 ,the mainland. It had beeh quite, unknown to him that a subterranean existed here. Of course it'was' under'the chapel 011 th<* ft ill/ and lia<i beau part of a monastic

=">= l By R. A. J. WALLING i=<»= Author of "Flaunting Moll," "A Sea Dog of Devon," &c.

[copyright]

house, yet, so far as he was aware, tradition in the district made no mention of it. , How had the conspirators gamed their information of itf The map the name of Gomez inscribed upon it!—-the light burst upon liim in a brilliant flash. He saw it clearly—all but one thing, that remained veiled —the identity of Radford. Would the end of tins adventure:laden day unveil it ? And this —this bare and vault-lilce space—was where they had imprisoned and held captive Lucy Torfrey for weeks! What a ghastly thing it was, what an unspeakable outrage! Throughout the piece he had been too late. ' He had been too late when the vacht put in and took the two men away. He was too late now. Everything seemed approaching a satisfactory settlement but that of which he had taken charge —that in which he was mostly deeply interested —the safe recovery of Lucy Torfrey. Standing where he had risen from liis knees as he lit the lamp, he racked his brain for a theory. It came—slowly at first, then with a rush. The boat! The two-omen on the island had been without a boat, and had stolen Tom Gannett's. Why without a boat in such a place and circumstance ? Because their own' boat had been stolen—by Granger. And Granger had rescued Lucy and taken her off in the boat." Where? Why not to the shore? The boat was found in the channel, a derelict. What had happened? And the whole phantasmagoria of supposition and suggestion began dancing through his mini I again. He looked a dozen times round the square' and barren cell —it contained nothing. , But why did the smoke from the lamp float in so steady a stream towards the door by which he had entered. There must be a draught —how was a draught created there? A draught had extinguished the match he held in his hand on entering; he could feel cold air upon his face. Pudifin looked across the cell again towards that heap of crumbled masonry on-the left; the current of air seemed to be in that direction. Then for the first time he realised that he had not moved a step since be brought up in front of the overturned lamp. He walked —one, two, three, four steps—across towards the wall, his footsteps making a hollow echo as- of a peal of thunder, and drew up with his hands raised before him. Where the crumbled masonry was, ,a cavity appeared in the floor, and below it a tumbled heap of stones just dimly lit by the reflected light. So this was not the only apartment! lie fetched the lamp, knelt and held it over the hole. The: ruin was more plainly showh, and beyond it. was a further passage showing pitch blackness below. He set the lamp upon the floor. With trembling hands and knees, he let himself down among the broken stones, and found what seemed to be a firm footing. He took the lamp, and held it in the fresh opening. There was another cell beyond, exactly resembling the last. Pudifin stretched out the' lamp in front, of him and advanced.

At- the third pace he stopped with a shrill cry, and the lamp almost dropped from his paralysed fingers. A trembling as of ague seized him. In the centre of the floor there rested a collin, with a black, .cloth thrown over it, falling around it like a pall. With a supreme effort he mastered himself. He took the other three steps quickly, and looked closely at the grim thing/ His impulse was to tear away the pall, to break tlie thing open, to assure himself of the horrible truth lie feared. But he was nerveless 1 , and hie could not compel his trembling hands to the task. The smoking Mm|>' flickered, the silence was intense. Pudifin almost gibbered as he stood there. He turned his head suddenly at a sound that shattered the silence. He broke into a peal of maniacal laughter when he saw Mr Radford standing in the opening of the wall.

He dashed the lamp upon the ground, and his shrieks rang through utter darkness. (To be continued:) .'