LADY OF THE NIGHT

Taranaki Daily News, 22 June 1935, Page 23 (Supplement)

LADY OF THE NIGHT

(By

Sydney Horlor)

CHAPTER XIII (continued.)

Of course, he would escape—sooner or later. He had sufficient confidence to re-, assure himself -on that point; it was ridiculous to think otherwise. And when he had escaped, he would spend the rest of -his life, bringing these swine to justice. That was after he had had an innings himself. He would teach them that, he was not entirely a congenial idiot. He would prove that there was a certain risk attached to manhandling him in this way. What was the game? Was Stadenfeld—for of course he was in it—intending to have his revenge for that little affair in Taviton Street a few nights before? It looked like it.

He wished someone would come—that something would happen. It was cursedly cold in that room, and apart from the beastliness in his mouth he felt stiff all over. He ached everywhere—ached abominably. Those ropes round- his '■ limbs were infernally tight.. Time passed, and with it went some of his anger. It was ridiculous, he told himself, 'but that sense of fea'r which had crept on him soft-footed, persisted • in spite of his contempt. It was little use' being enraged: this " thing, incredible, .as it might have seemed to anyone in their sober senses, had happened. And this was merely the first act: there must others to follow. Not an agreeable thought. ' ’ ■ Holiday was not afraid for his own sake. That sense of fear which was causing him worry had found a lodgment in his mind through a n entirely., different reason;' The reflection came: If these people r could go to so much - trouble‘to-trap him; it seemed impossible to-believe that the girl-their chief concern, since site must have badly outwitted them through that card-case—-could escape for long. This gang was not only ruthless, but clever; 1 they planned with, ingenuity, they schemed with skill. ■ One thing his present predicament did; it convinced him once again of a ; truth that was unassailable.. -The morning he had left' Peter ‘ Traill’s Adelphi flat, he had ’sworn to cut that : girl out of his life entirely. But for the unexpected death of his aunt, he might have done so from the point of actual physical con-, tact; but, Fate, having stepped in once again, he knew that this was now impossible. Their destinies had become linked: for good or ill their futures were Intertwined. The very reason why he had been captured was because of his association with the. girl. That girl whb —but he would not. pennit himself to remember that now. < Opposite him was a heavy doob,. having bands of iron placed across- it in the -form’of an X. His jnusings l were interrupted by seeing this open. j-; Three people stepped into the room. They were in this order: The woman whb had decoyed him came first; then Stadenfeld, the brain behind the scheme, ho doubt; and lastly the man who.had mas--oueraded as the doctor in that “fuggy. North Kensington bedroom. All appeared to be in very good spirits. ?;;■ They ranged themselves round the prisoner and the woman laughed. It was a laugh in which contempt and malignity were combined. It "held, : a biting mockery. Holiday looked at her. ‘‘Thank you • madam; you can rely upon me to remember that. The joke ■is With you at present, of course, but •J: may have another, chance/’ ; ■ The. On.' the. point of, replying '‘'when ' ■Stadenield.-,,'courtepudy- ' waved her aside. With that changed quickly into a smite, she obeyed the unspoken request. - Stadenfeld took the floor. - •' “I should not place too much reliance on that hope, Holiday,” he said; for your own peace of mind, I really should not. As you no doubt realise, we have gone to considerable trouble to get you here, and it would be .unforgivably foolish" on our part, now that-you are here,, .to allow you to escape. What is more, such a contingency would upset the plans

which we have made, and in which.you are such an important factor./ If you will take my advice—and, believe me, it is well-meant... .

. The smooth flow of words was cut off by a second burst of laughter... The woman held back her head and shrieked. Her mirth proved contagious, for the -doctor was forced to join in. His, cachinnations were hearty enough to show how thoroughly he appreciated the joke, although his mirth was more controlled than his companion’s.-

' ’ “I was not aware that I had said anything very humorous,” remarked Stadenfeld, looking at the others. There was a slightly bewildered expression on his face. “I was merely advising the young man for his good.” - “Oh, come off it!” cried the woman; “you’d make the Pope laugh, Staddy.” • “Much obliged, I’m sure,” was the response;'“l can’t say that I’ve ever visualised myself as a mirth-maker to Principalities and Powers, but if you say so, .Lulu, I suppose I must acknowledge the gift. However . . .”

But there was another interruption. - “I hate to break in,” said the prisoner dryly, “but if you have completely finished exchanging compliments, perhaps you will be good enough- to explain this outrage! lam very interestedIf he had intended to remove the smile from the fat man’s' face and to change the manner of the others completely, he was successful. “That is soon done,” said Stadenfeld crisply, and it might have been another man speaking; “you are here because I wanted yBu. . . “I am afraid, this kind of game is rather out of your class, Holiday,” he continued, with such scorn in his voice that the prisoner seethed; “you had much better have stuck to your polo-playing. This is another kind of sport, and frankly you do not appear to possess the necessary mental equipment for it. You may plead with justice that -you are inexperienced, and that you would improve as time went on. But I am afraid ’that such an opportunity will not be given you. You have meddled and you must pay the penalty. If you had taken the chance I gave you the other night, you might have been spared this; as it is, your friends must be prepared for your absence.” ■■ Holiday, although words were boiling on his tongue, restrained .himself because he believed there was more to come. Stadenfeld was a great man—he had no doubt about that, crook- enough the fellow like many other great men he had a weakness; he appeared' to love to hear himself talk. ’-<■ He was correct in his judgment.' . “To dismiss for a moment, however, the somewhat gloomy trend of . our.’ talk,” continued the speaker, “let me enlighten, you on what l am sure is at tlje moment a matter of some perplexity. After that recent upset in Taviton Street, I had to satisfy my sense of honour. Owing to a -piece of ill-luck, I had failed in a per/SOnal mission. Now, it ik not"-a habit of 'mine to fail, and so I set myself the task •of bringing you to heel.” “You’ll never do that, Stadenfeld,” was the determined reply. . Stadenfeld greeted the challepgefwith a nonchalant wave of the hand. “We shall see,” he said; “I have certain resources of which you are unaware. And now, if you. will be. good ’ enough not to interrupt again, I will resume. , ' ; “As have -already. said, ; you ..were, given a chance the • other night. .which you should, .have, taken. It was-a great mistake. pii yqur part Had you fallen in with my wishes, nothing more would have ’been said; the matter would have been finished between us so far "aS you are concerned. . Whatever .measures I might have adopted towards the men Bishop and Traill and the girl Infall, you would have been left alone.’? . “Very kind of you,” remarked the /prisoner! . .■ ' , ' ‘‘Shut up!” interrupted' the woman in a shrill /voice. Stadefifeld befit towards het.

“Not so loudly, Lulu, my dear," he entreated, so gently he might have been speaking to a child; “you may injure our friend’s morale —and he will require all his nervous strength later on.” There was a subtle but sinister threat underlying the words, and the woman’, as though understanding this, nodded. She seemed a savage creature, and Holiday wondered why she should show him so much hostility. After all, he was a complete stranger to her.

“I do wish you would make an effort to control yourself and not interrupt,” Stadenfeld said, looking down at the captive. “I am reluctant as yet to employ my friend’s services, but if you cannot learn good manners, I may be compelled to do so. You have your beg with you, doctor?” he asked the other man.

“It is within easy reach,” was the answer. Stadenfeld’s assistants vrere an unpleasant lot, Holiday decided; this socalled doctor had a disagreeable smirk on his pallid face. Was he the gang’s official torturer? He remembered having read somewhere or other that when a doctor kicked over the traces he always made the worst type of criminal. Looking at this man, he could well believe it.

“And now perhaps you will permit me to carry on,” Stadenfeld continued, in his odiously mellifluent voice. “Had you been sensible, as. I have previously remarked, we should have left you alone. But your refusal to do so compels me to act up to the spirit of the telegram I had "sent to you on the night of my escape from the police. You are, I bel- - a wealthy man, Holiday—wealthy mfen, I confess, interest me; in your case, that interest is intensified considerably. If the information is correct, you are worth something moire than four hundred thousand pounds. Quite a useful • sum: when it passes to us—as of course it will—we shall make very good use of it, I promise you.” The temptation to laugh up in the speaker’s face was very powerful. He controlled it because he happened to catch the look on the woman’s face. She was bending forward, and her eyes were avid with excitement. The beringed hands kept opening and shutting like the claws of a .vulture ... “You no doubt wonder how w6 shall be able to effect the transfer of this considerable sum,” went on Stadenfeld; “but the wonders of medicine nowadays are many. Is that no so, doctor?” x The man he addressed smiled.

“Modern science can manage most things,” he'replied. In spite of'his resolution, Holiday felt his blood running cold. There was a reptilian expression in the pallid man’s eyes: he looked as though he could torture, or even kill, with the same utter lack of emotion as he would, eat a meal. A' tou'gh crowd, undoubtedly. And this was the lot the girl—lnsall her name was then—had placed herself up against. Why? What, could she be doing Opposing a gang of criminals? “Perhaps you are wondering why I should have taken so rifiich pains in getting you here,” resumed Stadenfeld —hoW the., man loved to hear his own voice!— ‘‘.when it would have been comparatively easy to have accomplished the same end in,a much more simple manner. As I have remarked before, your general intelligence, Holiday,' has not struck me as being of a very high standard. This being so, it amused me to stage a little comedy for your benefit. Much of my Success in crime is due to my attention to detail, I may add en parenthese. My friend on the right—permit me to introduce you » formally to Miss Lulu Chartres —proved, as on many previous occasions, an extremely capable actress. The bedroom at North Kensington—you will appreciate, I hope, the appropriate-, ness of the address, for a half-starved woman, acting as hand-maiden to the muse of Literature—had been specially engaged for the occasion. Even the ser-vant-girl—whose general griminess was another appropriate ‘touch,’ I think —belongs in a modest, way to our organisation. . Have you no word; of compliment, my friend?’’-.

(To be continued.)