IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 14013, 18 September 1909, Page 1

IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING.

By HEADON H*LL. Author of "The Ocean King Mystery,' "The Sentence of the Court," "The Kiss of the EneucV' "Link by Link," Elc,j etc, ' \ v , J [COPYRIGHT..!,, \j£ j CHAPTER XXI. "' | MJJ3NIUHT SEAKOF. Mr. Bintry's keen fjJancc sivept the ijm tenanted dining _j'oom. SPbcui hv turned to the astounded butler. "Just make- suro, will yqu ploaso, that Mr. Owen is not in his^bedroom, and then come back here as so&n as possible," he said. "' B-^irain having^ retired, Binary commenced a systematic examination of the room. Evidences of recent occupation wore thexo in plenty. An ifeh-tray, nearly full of cigarette stumps and one partly-smoked cigar, accounted for the aroma of tobacco, fre&lx and pjingcnt, that lingered hi tho air. On tho same email table, placed handy to a b|g easy chair, were a spirit decanter, a siphon, nr.d a tumbler- half full of whisky and I soda. "Humph!" muttered Bintry ai'tor smelling and tasting the latter, "the fizzle has hardly died out of the stu*f. He cannot have been gone long;, and when he did go it must have been all of a hurry. No man deliberately disserts a drink which ho has mixed for himself." Abe next walked across to the French windows, and, drawing aside the curtains, scrutinised them in turn. [The windows were three in number, and they were all locked — but with a difference. Two of thorn had evidently been locked on the inside, for the keys were in them. From the third, however/ the key was missing, the inference being that either tho key of one of the other Avindows had been used for locking it, or that it had been lockod with its own key from the outside. At this point Bertram re-entered, to report with deep concern that his mastor was not in his bedroom, nor could he find him anywhere in the house "Then we mrtst find him somewhere else," said Bintry, with a cheerful ness Ilie was far. from feeling. "As to these keys now-bought there to be one for each window? There are only two here." " * "Y«s, sir; J?neh of th& three windows lias its own 'key, and they are all different," was tne reply. < 1 "That settles it then," Bintry nffirmed, confidently. "Mr. Lipseonibe must have. left the room by this lniddjo window, and, what is rather significant, have locked, it behind .him. Which looks as if ho did not' contemplate an immediate return, though we may as well try the terrace." ' - He unlocked one of the windows, and passing out called his friend's name, scarcely above a whisper at first, but then in looder tones till the garden rang with his shrill cry of "Owen, old chap, are you there? Come aloug in! It is Abe, with important news." But neither from the terrace nor from the silence of the sloping grounds below came there any reply. Bintry let his eyes range over the distant lights on the river, and shot a glance at the sky, where a rising wind was driving murky clouds across ,acrescent moon. Then he stepped back into the room and shut ih© window. . "Has Mr. Lipseomhe, received any visitors to-day?" he asked of Bertram, ! avlio answered, according to his knowledge, in the negative. No one had come to the Hall, lie avowed, hut *a telegraph boy shortly aft'ef^ si* q'Mockf Mr. Owen had given strict^orders that no one but Mr. Bintry was to be admitted, and had spent the whole day between the dining room and the terrace. "Arc you an observer of the shipping that goes to and fro on the river, Bertram?" was the next question. "You are. Then have you noticed a steam yacht of about two hundred tons, painted white, with a cream-coloured funnel, pass up to Grandport to-day?" "Nothing of the' sort passed up to the town quay, sir ; but just such a vessel stopped at the anchorage right opposite here,"" replied the butler. "She came in late- in the afternoon, and was still there at sundown. 1 ' Mr. Bintry turned, .to Carwardine. who had bee"n following the conversation with breathless interest. "It looks as if they had got him to go to the yacht," he said. "By some devilish trick, no doubt, - and by ' approaching him through, the grounds without troubling the front door." Will's strong face worked with supprossed passion. His wife's good name \u« everything to him, and ho cared but little for the greater stake that Bintry was playing lor. On the other hand Bertram, who had overheard the remark, and had suffered the loss of ono master within the last six weeks by an unsolved murder, wrung his hands. Bintry essayed to calm them with one of his rippling smiles. "I didn't mean to alarm you," ho said. "It is all working out according to expectation. We can provide plenty of evidence to confound the black lie the enemy has concocted." • "But,'" protested Bertram, not understanding'the allusion, , "there may be more than lies for Mr. Owen to fear. Spirited away in the dead of night to a yacht, and you arc content to leave it at that, -sir?" Bintry glanced from one to the other of tho agjtated faces, ifnd gavo the soothing process tip "as a bad job. The faithful servant and the anxious husband were too deeply moved to bo fobbed off with vague reassurances in the value of which he had no great confidence Jiimself. From tho first he had held the opinion which Marian had voiced, that Wargrave might grow really dangerous if his dastardly plot miscarried. There was' no reason why those two should no£ share 'his apprehensions, and in fact if might- add to their practical utility to fully enlighten them. Leading Will aside, he obtained Lis permission to explain to Bertram the scheme by which Mrs. Carwardine's ignorance of the world had been turned to account by Wargrave for the undoing of Owen. Having heard tho theory, Bertram insisted on reciprocating the confidence by going to fetch his wife, who, he avowed, had got up and dressed herself directly she heard the master was missing. "Mrs. Bertram can tell you something you ought to know, sir, Kite having been mentioned in lhat letter that sent the master down hero," said the butler. "It .was only tliis afternoon that she was telling Mr. Owen all about it. He. couldn't make head nor tail of .it, but maybe as it's more in your lino, you'll do better." , • So £he worthy house keeper, spick and span as though she had never been to bed, came in and repeated the history of Ann Roach's doatli and of Wilmor Kite's haunting the lodge, during the period between her first and second paralytic seizure. Nor did sho forget to emphasise the point which she had endeavoured to press on Owen — that isito's assiduous attentions io the dying woman, had abruptly ceased ai'tor Sir (jleorgc- Lipscombe had been found shot in his office. Abe's' round, i-osy face was a. picture, as in clear crisp .sentences the housekeeper described the frequent comings and goings of the wikpnort old caretaker at the yard, and tho curious appeal which sho had herself hoard him mako io Ann lloach. By progressive, stages the expression " of Mr. Hintry's countenance ranged from indulgent patience to glowing admiration. x "My dear lady, you havo done wonders," he said at tho conclusion. "Yoii have- given mo- my plan nf campaign. I had thought that Mr. Wilmor Kite was only a red herring, thrown out to draw my poor dear friend away on a false trail. But after your lucid expression it looks very much as though Kite was near tho centre of tho puzzle. Mr. Carwardine, late as it is, you and I must go out ago in mid senrch for Owen Lipseomho in the two places whoro of u!l o(li"[-s in tho univorso « arc likolv lo find him." "Tho yaoht. mid Linwoinho's ynrd?" mi guested Will, who had followed Mrs. Bertram's statement closely, "You have hit it — iho first time. And to make nioro .sure of siioro.ss wo -will divide our i'on-es, von naturally taking tlio yacht, while T h-nston to tli» v-'i'd Mut. hold on! thore'll bo a difficulty about your got ting a bont at ibis time of the- ninht. C-ui you wo any way out of it. Bertram ?" "Tf Mr. Canvnnline. enn row there will be no difficulty, sir," was tlie reply. "Our private boat house, is» juM

outride the gate in the wall at the foot «>{' the grounds at the back. There's a dinghy there that one man can pull comtortably." vJurwaidiiic profosscel himself a. capable oarsman ; ho had spout all his spare luno on the estuary from hib earliest till politics claimed him. "Splendid I That's all settled then," cried JJintry moving bri&kly towards one of the French windows. "One moment, though, before we start.. Mrs. Bertram, kindly look at this cap and tell me if you have seen it before." As ho spoke he drew from the pocket oi his liyht overcoat the cap which "Will had procured i,rom his London lodging ■pssrhcr in the day. It wa& a doubteI Tapped cap of tiic deer-btalker type, ihc fabric being tweed oi a somewhat "loud"' pattern. The housekeeper shook h«'r head. She had no remembrance of ever having set eyes on the thing. "1 hardly hoped for such luck," said JJintry, taking the cap back, but on second thoughts handing it to Bertram. "I wish you would lock , it up safely in your stroiiy room, or wherevei Mm keep the family plate,", he added. M i<may be in queer company before I see-jou again, and as it was worn by Sir George Lipbcombe's murderer on the night of the murder, I should bo sorry to los^ .L_t. Now, Mr. Carwardine, if you are ready for. your adventure 1 am ready for mine." - "But, sir," besought the butler, holding the cap as though it were a noxious siia.-j. "?m I to understand that you know who killed, my old master?" "Not so," rejoined Binbry. "Tf you or j our good wife could have recognised that ugly bit of Cloth I- could have put a name to him, but now there will be work to do fir&t. I s>hall get Him, though — unless he gets me. And that reminds me. If I don't txtrn up with Mr. Lipscombe, or if Mr. Carwardine does not turn up with Turn, here at the hall by ten o'clock to-morrow morning, go to the 'Superintendent of Police, hand him that cap, and, as far as you can recollect them, repeat every word that has passed in this room to-night. Nov.- if you will give us the keys of the garden gate and the boat house we will be off." Abe, from previous visits to the Hall,' knew his way about the grounds; so when Bertram had fetched the keys he declined the butler's guidance further than the terrace steps. Linking arms with Carwardine, he steered the latter through the maze of paths with unerring precision to the gate in tlie bouniary. wall. Having opened it, the twomen stepped, out into the roadway that ran between the wall and the water. "My word!" exclaimed Abe, looking up at the ragged sky. "I don't know if rou ought to go out in this weather, tt is blowing half a gale already, and if those lights yonder are at the anjhorage there's a. long mile before you. ETar.k to the thunder of the surf on the bar." - * . -.Nonsense.," Will, rejoined, '"quietly. 'A hurricane- wouldn't stop me. I am iping to fetch my wife out of that oeastly 'Dragon' to-night." "Then God-speed 1" said Abe Bintry, ,vith unaccustomed gravity, as ho crossed the road and unlocked the boat aouse. "This is a case for taking risks, md if I read the signs right I may iavc to face one or two 'myself. Ah! >hero is the dinghy," he added, flashng round the lamp which Bertram had irovided> '.'You will know what to do vhen you win your way to your wife ; nit just a last word as to yodr best way :o reach her. Yon had better clamber m board" the yacht without hailing, md, once on deck, assert yourself. Perlonally, I do not think you will find [jord Wargrave there, but if you do, vatch yourself. Tlie crew, however ;r<?at scoundrels they" may be, should lot count for much in his absence, for" —this with a quizzical smile — "after til, yoy are a Member of Parliament. "- almost forgotten that," said Vill, grimly, as he' grasped Abe's chub>y hand and ran down the steps to unie the^boat. (To bo continued.)