X 14

Taranaki Daily News, 14 February 1933, Page 11

X 14

(By

Z. M. GILBERT

CHAPTER x—(Continued.} ’ “ 1

For a time I Tiling about the entrance in case he returned. After a bit. the hall porter began to look al toe rather question'lngly, »o I took a seat In toe lounge again. It was. not half such a good place from which to observe the door, but it was better to be there than to risk arrest fot loitering. Now would have been a good opportunity to attempt to ger into 'the suite. Unfortunately .therfl seemed to be .no way of doing it. short of holding up one of the hotel •staff and demanding the master key. One thing was rather worrying. It war quite on the cards. that the other pereon due to arrive might be a membei. of the gang who had seen me before I'therefore, put a large newspaper in readiness to act as a screen in ease ol necessity. ■ Shortly before one o’clock my patience was. rewarded. ’ Wane, accompanied by an unknown man, walked in past me. They sat down, at andthei table. iThe hotel lounge has twin pillars in the corners and it was one ths far aide of a pair of these that th a couple had taken up their position, By standing and peering between twfl of the pillars I could see both men , fairly well. Wace was signalling to a waiter so I couldn’t prolong ths, scrutiny;: but It was sufficient to lei me have a good look at his companion. * The new arrival was a big, thickset fellow, rather of my own build, although .he was considerably my ■ / senior. He had a close crop of darkhair which jutted out like a cap ovei a high forehead., His . eyes wer« black as coal, with a kind of fiery gleam ,in them. He was clean-shaven. It was a strong, clear-out face, buf absolutely ruthless. His left cheek was turned towards me. Right across it, and. much deeper than mine, was a livid' red scar. That scar explained several things. The man could be none ’other than toe mysterious Xi 4. I felt a 'certain amount of satisfaction as well as excitement at the discovery.' It was now much more probable that Waoe had the reports with him. The presence of XII would not ' make toe obtaining of them any easier, for tie didn’t look the sort of individual who would stick at such , trifles;.but.l bad one great advantage oh my side: although I knew them, they didn’t know me. The situation held endless p ossibly ties. Leaving the lounge quietly so as not to attract attention, I went into toe hall.- After about ten minutes 11. my two birds came out. They put their,..hats in the cloakroom and went straight in to lunch. As they passed I'took care to turn my back, for had they seen the scar on my face it would have been quite enough to put them on .their guard. As/they disappeared, an idea suddenly struck me. X 14 was, without., doubt, the other occupant of toe suite. It looked as if he hadn’t been to his room • yet; perhaps his luggage had not-arrived.- Noone might have seen him upstairs. I had once played his. part unwittingly;-why shouldn’t, it be v done again—this time deliberately? Wtih’Juck, 1 had at least twenty minutes, at my disposal. . Ascending to the first floor, I found to my disappointment, that the door of the suite was ehut. It would have simplified matters if the delivery of • the luggage had been in progress. Not to be beaten, I went in search of a chambermaid, and found one at toe fend of toe passage. She was a big, saucy lass, quite good-looking, with nice, pink cheeks. She might have been a willing accomplice; only I had no time to explain things at length. - ' “ Sorry to bother you, but I’ve left. my key in toe office. Could you please open my’door for me?” 1 ‘©aid, giving the number of Wace’s apartments. “That’s not your room,’’ she retorted. , It is a pity how even bonny girls tn Scotland can be so disconcertingly abrupt. .. “Yes, it is,” I said. lam the other gentleman who is sharing with ' Mr Sykes." -• “ But Mr Sykes tell me to let naebody in except himsel’,” “Did he?” I laughed. But he can’t have meant me. It is my room as well as his. He travels for a religious tract Society, you know, and probably he was frightened that some of his tracts would be stolen; they are so interesting. JBy the way, are you our chambermaid?” She nodded. “I am so glad.” ' “Why?” she asked Wonderingly. “Oh, I don’t know,’’.! said. “ Per--.'haps it is just because I always like - having pretty things about me.” • The damsel flushed .scarlet. For a moment it looked as if she was going to “ skelp my lug,” as they say m toe , vernacular. Then she giggled rather • “ Are you also in the tract busi- ’ ■- ness?” she inquired, leading the way • .towards the suite. “ No/’ I answered, shaking my head «fldlv ’“The Society doesn’t think me respectable enough. Would you like some of the tracts? They might .be helpful.” . . „ „ . . 44 You are a one, she sniggered, as she unlocked the door. “I’ll let you in this time, but dinna forget yer Thanks awfully. I shan’t forget you, anyhow,” I said, stepping oyer the threshold. “Your eyes are too beautiful.” , . . There was another explosion or half-pleased indignation, then the door . shut behind me. The sitting-room was large and handsomely furnished. It . contained ,a round table, several chairs, and a couch in the corner near the fireplace. Two doors faced each other on opposite walls. Trying the one nearest pie first, I found myself m Wace s ■' bedroom—his suitcase was unmistakeable Tp my surprise the lid was un- ■ fastened’. With nervous fingers I searched through toe p ™ere " was just what one might expect ,to . o n( ia change of clothing, brushes, a razor,- pyjamas, a novel, and various lid end. What I SOWN Turning my artenllon to the room I+self I examined the drawers and ■ tt-ardrnbea and looked into every hole

and 'cranny without success. The failure was a bitter disappointment, xor it m&ant the collapse of my plan. I next went over the sitting-room to see ‘if anything had been hidden there. The one possible place, a writing-desk, yielded nothing. Then I went into the second bedroom. Here there were two handbags of foreign make, and a small, square, black tin box. They were all tightly looked, and successfully resisted my to open them. A bathroom adjoined the apartment, but it was empty, except for towels on a rail. I went back into the sitting-room wondering what else I could do. Time ■was getting on, and the two men might appear at any moment. In spite of that, and. to make absolutely certain that no place had been missed, I revisited Wace’s room. It was just sheer pique that led me to take the risk, and of course -I found nothing.. Hurrying to the entrance of the, suite I was about to let myself out, when a key grated In the lock. In an instant I had clambered : over the sofa and crouched behind it. The door opened. Both Wace and X 14 walked in. . „ “ Your bedroom is on that side, said the former. “ Thanks,” was toe reply in a strange, whispering voice to come from such a big man. “ I will look at it, and rejoin you almost at once.” He spoke quietly, 'but there was something so sinister and snake-like in the way he hissed his words that my blood seemed to run cold. While he .was gone, Wace lit a cigar from a box on the mantelpiece, and stood glancing through a newspaper. After a brief interval toe other man returned. “ The accommodation is very satisfactory,” he said. “ Now, comrade, we can talk; you have much to tell.” They both sat down on the sofa immediately in front of me. I had, ■in truth, walked straight into the lion’s den. CHAPTER XL For the second time I was in a position to overhear my enemies discussing their plans, but on this occasion there was a difference, for no way of escape lay open to me. The two men on toe sofa were so close that I had even to regulate -my breathing for fear of givng myself away. When Wace began to speak it was obvious that, he was in holy, awe of the man at his side, and anxious to create a good impression. He never addressed Xl4 by a name, but usually called him comrade, though, there was nothing of equality in his tone: Once or twice even a “sir” slipped nut, especially .when he tried to make his explanations appear in toe possible light. ’ . To commence with, X 14 said little. When he did speak -It was-to-the point, for he had the gift of striking at the heart of things. ' His ‘quiet, wheezy voice had something malevolent about it, and there was a - cold synicism behind most of his remarks. His accent tvas irreproachable; but I was certain he was not a native of these islands. Probably he owned to no nationality. •■■■-- - 1 Wace first gave an account of the murder in the ice-cream shop, of my. unexpetced appearance, and of ths various events which had taken place since. One fact r he made clear, and I nearly moved in my relief at hearing it. so far, my plan had been successful. Sillar’s letter had not been found, and. in consequence they were afraid to go on with their schemes. X . 14 considered that the murder was a mistake, not as a murder but in toe way it had been carried out. He thought that they had bungled badly with regard to my humble self, and that more thorough methods should have been adopted to silence me. “It is always toe same when you leave Important arrangements to ignorant underlings,” he whispered. “Our Society in England needs cleaning up.” Wace moved uncomfortably. “However, I think the danger has been unduly exaggerated. There is something wrong about the position. Something you haven’t thought of. Otherwise, why has this young man not gone to the poplice long ago?-The request for money is absurd. It is toochildish. Unless he is mad, he cannot expect to get his reward and es--cape with his life after what has happened.” L . . Wace reminded 'him of my story of hoping to get the cash at Liverpool, but X 14 would have none of it. “There must be some obvious fact that you have missed,” he reasoned. “Has this person. Graham got the letter? Is it destroyed? What is the. cause ■which prevents him using the information?”

They were still debating my motives when there was a knock at the door, and a page handed in two telegrams. Wace opened one, and said it was a report from Liverpool, where Ellis had gone the previous night on the off chance of my being there. The message was to the effect that, so far, he had. found no trace of me, and was awaiting orders. ’ “Liverpool is the last place to look for Graham,” murmured X 14. “Is the other message more helpful?” Wace gave a gasp of surprise. ’“Listen to this,” he cried. “It is from London. “Missing letter found in dispatch case; all other documents intact.’ What does this mean?” Before answering, X 14 rose from the sofa and stood near the fire. “It means,”-he said softly, “that the whole crowd of you are fools. This boy has been bluffing. You consider yourselves the leaders of new thought in this country, but you have a lot to learn —amongst other things, the danger of sending compromising telegrams in plain language. It is quite time that you began your lesson, and I shall enjoy teaching you. From ,now onwards the complete control must be in my hands. Note carefully what I say.” “Yes, sir,” answered Wace in a subdued voice, evidently producing paper and pencil. . “No you innocent,” came the retort in almost a caressing tone, but with the last behind It; doh t write aw remarks. Note them in your brain.

if you have one.” 1 There was a rustle as. the offending articles were rapidly stuffed away, and X 14 went on—- “ All activities must cease umil this voung busybody has been dealt with. Now that we know the situation we can easily lay a Wap for him. Even a notice in the newspapers on the lines he himself suggested might do, but in any he is bound to show up sooner or later.’The lure of Sillar s letter will draw him, for without it he is powerless. Our only danger is that he iW attempt to steaz it before we reach. London, .(To be continued.!'