TALES AND SKETCHES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7678, 11 April 1903, Page 1

TALES AND SKETCHES.

I THE KING'S DIAMOND, j I (By JIXXRENCB STAOPOOLE.) I. [___.__-}-_- Res-bvbb.] I CHAPTER VHI. \. I \ "Put the 'horse in at onoe, please 1 Sir I _Ucju_- says you are to drive me to PemI bridge .without a minute's delay 1" \\ j r "But m_i__elle, we've only just come I )_&__ irom Pembridge, and Miss Dora drove I at s_ah a slapping rate the poor beast was I i_l of a muck of sweat. Tv-.scaroe rubI j»d -im dry yet I" _\ i'*Vßie_v get : __m_ other hoise — and at ■ do you _e_rl" said Mademoiselle de 1.. Side imperiously, audi almost staanping on ■ jhe cobble atones with whioh tike atable yard I was paved. "Sir Riohard sends me to ■ kjondon on __s_ie_s — look you — and it will I fee ruined if Ido not catch the express that I w__- into Pemibridge just before eleven. I 'Get-some other horse. Sir Riohard' s busiI fees, avast be seen to, man— and without an I Instant's delay, if you kill every horse ia ■ Wpxa stable. See you, if you delay ydju ■' Jose your place. „lf you catch- not this I train f os me I tell Sir Richard how you. I _awdle— : how it ie your fault. Hurry, B _M__, do you hear I" and she stamped 1 again I !j#W_ suci effect tfliat the man hastened to I ( __lot_er 'box, took out a fresh horse, and I |n five minutes Mademoiselle de Jude was I being driv«Q out of the stable yard gate— I jhiu_ avoiding the avenue — and was. rattling I to Pembridge, whilst Mr John Straight, I looked op in ft room purposely constructed I. to prevent any sound from it neadhing the H tot-hex part* rathe house, was -hammering H 'invpotently with both fists on its heavy __ jtt-keu.door, I i It wa_ » consolation to Mademoiselle H shirt, thoqgs> obliged- to leave several dresses H she had __cried away her best silk. H- ___cdly* any circumstances could be too H tragic to sdb a woman of the sense of comI iforc experienoe- by saving her 'best gown. H iprer it she wore a long, grey alpaca ulster, H Which was oleverlr designed to conceal inH n<_B it ft plain _wrk blue garment, made H mtor the pattern of a nurse's unifarxi- cloak, H jao _iat but a very few moments would be H Beoe_sary to effect the change from a H Stoshlonable travelling attire into the prim' _■ (costume of a trained attendant on the sick, H Ws bonnet. Bmooth topwn hair front, specH t___- ana other "l&fite etoeter&s- were all H jyiny ihgjidy in the capacious bag which was H fibs only luggage the Frenoh- governess was H . conveying away with her from Riverdale H /Court. - ' ' H I? "I shall return, by the 1.1b' ," she remark- __\ fed to the man, as she alighted at tihe staH Jtion } "you can come or send to meet me." ■ V "V«7 good, 'm." H r' She aid. not, however, take a ticket to H Mademoiselle had too muoh exH berience to do tihat. She caught the express, but she went no furtheii in- it than H to Lewes j the 'knew that by no possibility H jpould there be time for. any of tne people H She had left behind" to get to the telegraph H jbffioa -peedfly enough to wire for a search to be made for her at the junction; so H the calmly stepped out _iere, hired a fly, H fend drove three tmnjes to a village, where H __e alighted, dismissed the vehicle and H |-___ed calmly off. When she found herjself securely alone, she took her way leisurely __K>ug-i pleasant fi-eld-paths, until, _H .after a couple of hours' walking she joinedH jihe train again, this time a slow train hot _H [going to.the metropolis, but pursuing its ■ toourse, with frequent halts, to iNewhaven. _H' pt would have been very hard for any lailWay o-xaal, station inspector, or detective to have made any description he might rejpeive from Riverdale Court, even Docked op by tihe astuteness of Straight or Jadd, /tally with the appearance of the sober- ___\ /Jookii ?g hospital nurse who alighted at station and. joined the boat train .hat conveyed the passengers from __m\ Pieppe to London late in- the evening. I Thus it came to pass that without let dr Mademoiselle de Jude alias Sonia __M |__ourap_tkin, got out of the' train at Victoria Station at nine o'clock in tho even-. ing, walked unmolested round the corner and down the steps of the Underground took a ticket on the District line __H 'to Sloane Square, and from there proceeded bus over the Albert Bridge that crosses _^_i jthe Thame- to Battersea Park, and after a of an hour's walking through the __Ht~i-- and sordid streets that abound on the [right-hand side of that enclosure, found herputting a latch-key into the lock of the pall-door of a neglected-looking three-stor-house in a mean and secluded street. _^H| -She opened the door, a sigh of relief es__^__|caping fromi her when she closed it behind and stood at last safely within the narpassage. It presented a fearful contrast to the vestibule of the house from which she fled. It was unHghted, except for the faint twilight that struggled in through' the window, which was unshrouded by curtain or blind except the dirt covering panes. She stepped softly towards the staircase, groped with careful tread up two i flights of ricketty stairs, familiarity with lending her aid in making no sound __^Bduri_g her ascent. Presently she stood at door of a back room on the top floor. moving with the dexterity of a blinshe drew a key from her pocket, inserted it into the keyhole, turn_^Hed it softly, opened the door, entered room, and withdrawing the key from outside, locked herself in. Th'en she her bag: on the round table that stood _^H_- the centre of the room, let her hands to her sides, and heaved a profound _^_Hsigh, the sudden slackening of the terrible tension which she had endured all (Jay __^_BbringLng a relief almost too great to bear. .; The next moment she would have uttered __^Ha piercing shriek had' not a heavy hand placed ' over her mouth, for from a alcove at her back a man had out,' and before she was aware of presence had grasped her arm from bewith a cruel clutch._^_H; So," he said, in a voice scarcely audible, loud enough to express the last degree __^H>f fory, "sol I was right in knowing your was a lie 1 Right in thinking you return to your lair when you imag_^_^_P>^d you had , thrown, me off the scent. f ' and he hissed the contemptuous epivindictively into her ear, at the same crushing the flesh of her arm with that seemed made of steel, so fiercely __^__Bhey compressed it, and shaking her suv"Where is it?" he went on in the same sibilant voice, " tell me this instant it safe, orr-^by TIL kill you !" He drew his hand from her lips so- as to her to speak, but only lowered it to throat, where it hovered threateningly^ __^H*^ 7<>a cry out or make a sound that can __^_B^ heard in the next room, I'll choke you." She shivered, but was too petrified, part__^_Hy by terror of her companion's violence, partly by the sudden shock of his unor presence, to reply: shook hen again. " Speak— can't you ? you got it safe? Your game of mak- ; off with it yourself is up— say is it safe _^_^Hef ore I hurt you worse than I've done al__^__Heady4 n Gandhis hand closed on her throat. __^__Hrith a warning grasp to show what was if she persisted ha silence. __^__B,"No, no; I haven't it," slie gasped. ____* •¥. You haven't 1 it?" _^H "No> before God, I haven't!" Her words with more strength, now that she fairly plunged into the struggle that knew was imminent. think you 6oa make me swallow Mel" he demanded, sard^onica,lly. _^_^_^H : '. ' ■

_______-____g-P-_--_-____-______________ "Itis no lie. I have not got it. I have not seen it!" " And yet you have run away — run out of the house and sent me a telegram to say you were gioing to Brighton. You thought that very clever* — you thought I was to be easily deluded, did you?" He had, to her surprise, spoken quietly, and had suddenly let go her arm, but his quietness had something terrifying about it, and she gripped /the side of - the table to steady herself for the conflict. He was looking about the room, which would now have' been quite dark but for the rays of a lamp that. was swung high across the entrance to a mews, which ran at the back of the house. It enabled him to find his' way to the mantelpiece, where a small petroleum lamp stood. He struck a match softly, lighted it, and drew down the blind ; then he turned and faced tha woman, Who was still standing at the table. ."Sit down," he said, briefly. She dropped into a chair he pushed towards her. " tNow, what do you mean by trying lies .on with me," he continued. " Your first lie failed. The instant I got your message I knew it was false. It was clumsily done. If you had had the ' nous 'to ask <me to wait for a day or two for results yon might have slipped off, but to pretend you weren't well, and were going to Brighton — idiot! I knew exactly what) your game was, and that I had only to wait here to catch you at it. Fool to think you could .play me false! Ungrateful fool!" She said nothing; she was breathing) quickly, but otherwise sat quite still. "And now you think you have merely to soy 'I have not^ot it,' and I will believe you, do you? TU make you prove your words, Sonia Kourapatkin, or you'll never leave this room alive." He was a. tall, slim man, with a closelyshaved, thin-lipped faoe, a hooked nose; sallow skin, and eyes black as Sonia. own, but fierce and bright as an eagle's. He placed the lamp on the table so that its light fell full on her. white face, and sitting down on a chair opposite to her, he extended a long talon-Uke forefinger toj wards her and said again, this time between his teeth : '.-,.-.- --" You'll never leave tbisiroom aliVe—unless you give up the diamond." For an -instant a shudder shook her wholo frame, and she clasped 'her hands till the finger tips grew purple from the convulsive pressure. The next moment she drew herself up with a stately gesture. She had become perfectly composed. She unclasped her hands and began calmly to unfasten ihe buttons of her blue cloak. "I can be earned from it dead then," she said, with as little emotion as if she were speaking of a roll of carpet. "Or flung/ from the wiiiHow into : the ! yard," he said, mimicking her expressionless voice. v -,' • %' .; "Yes, .or flung from it into" the yard." - Witih a furious spring he reached her side and diitcihed her shoulder as he had before clutched her arm. She had not now tha protection of her double cloak, there was only the silk of her bodice between her flesh and his vice-like grip. She writhed and then moaned. He shook her roughly. " Your death will be neither painless nor easy, mademoiselle; if you defy me yoit take the consequences, as everyone does who defies a stronger than they. You bring your fate on yourself. Give m_ the stone at once — the stone that is nune-r-fhat you would never have heard of—^miser able', traitress that you are — hut for me. Give ma my stone, I say, or I'll wring your neck as if you were, but a sparrow!" "I cannot, I tell you. I cannot give to you what I have not. Cannot you comprehend, Leopold. I have it not." " No, because you have it hidden somewhere, you — " "I have not," she interrupted passionately, her voice rising with her excitement. In an instant he' had clapped his hand over her mouth, muttering : " You will betray yourself, jade; speak quietly — these walls have earsi" She struggled out of his grasp sufficiently free to speak, but did nob raise her voice again. ■ - "I tell you I have not the stone," She said. "I could not get the chance " " Could not get the chance I" he interrupted with an imprecation. " You tell me that after taking three months over the job instead of three weeks. You have been up to some devil's tricks, but they, shan't serve you. You could have done it in three i weeks, and I let you drivel on for months — i put off by your lies. ' I don't believe the old man was away from home. lielieve you've been playing a game of your own." He set his teeth and looked at 1 her searchingly. ■..'■■ I tell you he was away from home," she said, " and I could not have done it in three weeks. I had to get used to their ways— to get to know the servants' ways — to find in what drink to put the chloral, so that when the, stone was in his pocket there should be no mistake. I watchedc— I thought. It took me all the time to make my plans, to guess the moment — I found it: I would have picked the* case from his i pocket — it was there_. of course — and I lost all by an accident." "How?" "The servant dropped the decamter! I had had my chance. I tell you it took me all the three months ! M_ foi ! — three months ! I think I was quick ! They had got fond' of me — all of them. I had taken the task of dressing the table with flowers. The butler was, used to my doing it. Then when tlie moment came — when he had the stone in his pocket, I charged the wine, aad Bate made the butler drop it on tho ground — and-^ — f* i " Pah ! You fool— tell a better lie than thatl If that was true, why not tty again instead of sending me a lying n__J-g. so badly worded that it sent me straight to your den .to look for you. If you did not steal the,, diamond' w_y _M you slink off like a thief ; tell me thait, without giving me the trouble to shake the truth out of ypu !" ,-• "I'll tell. you why," she whispered, be'tween her clflsed teetji, "I did not wait for another chance. I ran while I could, because we are tracked 1" The man gave a violent start, and moved back so that lie could keep his eyes on her face. "Tracked! How? Where?" His face paled as he spoke, and his rough, bullying tone faltered ; then he recovered himself, and said with an attempt at a laugh, "We? — you may be tracked, perhaps, but what do you mean by speaking of we ; how do 1 come in ?" She looked at him with some scorn in her dark eyes. " Perhaps we fall together," she aaid mysteriously. "When the Czar's spies find me they will perhaps ask for you, too.*^ " Say what they would want me for, will you?" . "Listen then—" and she lowered her voice still more. "Yesterday I, came face to face with the advocate, the one who spoke against me and Rudolf and Henrik; the. one who raised objection to your paying the money for me — amd he knew me." "Do you mean John Straight ?" There was undoubted alarm in the accent with which the question was asked. « Yee— l mean John Straight." ' "Where? In what place did you come face to face with him?" „'■'" Yesterday ' afternoon in . Riverdale Court." "In Riverdale Court. In the house do you mean?" "Yes, in the house." " What was he doing there?" [ " I know, not at aU."

ri-iiiiiiii.-iiii-iHi_iiiin iii linn i wKitiririTr**"*******'™'*™™ " Didn't you find out what he was doing thero; what brought him?" j "No — I had no time." ' "No time — but did you know he had come after you — was he hunting for you?" " Oh — no — he was there I am sure by accident. I came suddenly into the hall, and I thought I should die — he was in the shadow, not looking at me, but at Miss Chesney. His face told a tale, he was not tETnking of me or of his courts of law, or of crime — h& was thinking of her. Then be looked up quickly and eaw me, and there wa_ recognition in his eyes J" For several minutes there was profound 6ilenco, then the man spoke sharply. " That was yesterday— yet you did not go at once — why?" He-had been looking at her with keen suspicion. " Because I could not. I had no chance, I had to wait my time." " Then you did npt see him again ?" She hesitated. "No — no — not again." "That is a lie," said her interlocutor, promptly, " you did see him again." She made a gesture of dissent, but without speaking. . " You get no good by lying to \me ; you would find it better iu the end to stick to truth." " I did not see him again ; he only came on: a visit. I did not wait for another." "Why? Stupid fool! Then- this was the reason you ran-, to save your own precious skin you flew — craven that you are — because John Straight looked at you— my interests are flung to the Winds — and you turn tail and leave the stone — after all these months of plans carefully laid— of idling in that luxurious house, living the life of a fine lady — and to run just as the plan was ripe — to make off while there was still another chance for you to Seize the diamond — you coward. By — " and ho ground his teeth savagely, and the look in- his eyas was so murderous that again she shuddered. In a moment, however, his face changed. He started up with a snap of his long fingers .and an oath. "By Jove— the very thing !" She looked at him quickly. " Back you shall ,go, ma chere, back by the first' train in the morning !" "Where?" • " To Riverdale Court!" She tried to echo the words questioningly, but her lips and tongue had become so dry they refused to move to the bidding of her desire-^her face had become deathly — her subterfuge had indeed but led her to the edge of a ghastly precipice. "You shall go back, and if Mr Straight is there, which i$ a mere chance, as you say he, was only on a visit — well, you shall face it out, and dare him to denounce you/ It is more likely he will not b& there — lie is a busy man, one of the busiest, his place is in tho law courts now — not in the country — you have nothing to fear, any dear, you are too white-livered .that ' is all, then you. must make a< dash for the, diamond tomorrow night '; there is ' still time. You can make it all right : by saying you had to come to town to see your grandmother die, that is a valid excuse in England for- any eccentricity of movement." He laughed low biit heartjly. Sonia sat motionless. Her hand's were again clasped convulsively'. "Do you hear?" he said, presently. " You go back by, an- early train. You can? say it is a false alarm — that your grandmother is recovering." She still sat speechless. "I will take you to the train, see you into it, go with you. in fact r as far as Pem-_ -bridge, if necescarji *=_?_er~ was- mefiaceTn' his tone j he was eyeing her watchfully. "You have tout to take your place again — but to use your wits, ma chere, as you well know how to do — and not to lose your head with fear of your own safety when my work should be filling your brain. The night after to-morrow we may be sitting here— -with, the stone there " — he -pointed' to the table. " Then my course will be clear, and you" — he looked at her with an ugly leer, and grinned so that his white teeth gleamed in- the lamp light — " you shall have your reward, never fear." . "She was nerving herself for what was coming—for the confession that now must be made — that the stone had vanished by other (hands than hers, but to take the plunge was hard. "Come! Come! Courage!" he said, tauntingly. "Your imagination is too vivid, ma mie." "Do not call me that !" she said, with a flash from her eyes, now dilated. " Not call you ma mie? But you shall be ma mie if I wish it!" "I shall not— l shall not ever be that," she answered', with emphasis. "Ah, we'll see," he mid, coolly, "but first we haye to secure this stone ; you will go then back to Riverdale Court without dejay in the morning. You " "I will not," she teaid, suddenly sitting erect, and facing him, defiantly. " You will not?" "No." " But you shall." "No. I shall not." "I will make you." "You cannot." . "I will simply throttle you like a stray cur, and fling you behind" that curtain if you refuse to go." " That would be as useful as if I should g ;< " You mean if I forced' you to .go you would- not secure the stone?" " No. I don't mean that." "Then eay what you mean." She looked at him; he coal black eyeshad' a new light of courage and) defiance in them, which all his powers of penetration failed to fathom the meaning of. He looked at her fixedly for some seconds. Then the truth suddenly flashed upon him. " Do you mean to say that the diamond is gone?" • She tried to say "yes," but the.monosyllable'did ao-came forth articulate, the pulsations of her heart were surging so violently they seemed to rise into her throat and strangle speech!. The fury of an incarnate demon was in the eyes that looked at her. She was expecting momentarily that he would! fly. at her throat. •" I knew yon were, lying," he said below his 'breath. "I knew you weie. You thought to escape by your stupid telegram this -iorning, and then by your story of meeting John Straight. You wanted me to think you had left the stone behind ; you thought to frighten me_ poor, idiot. You shall see it's not in the power of you or anyone like you to get the better of me." He rose from his seat, not in the furious manner he had done before, but with a deadlier intention of eye and hand. For a moment she felt impelled to throw herself on her knees andl shriek for mercy, but she knew the man. She knew the cry would be choked' L. her throat, and that his hands had both .the strength and will to strangle her, as he had said, "like a stray cur." He must be fought with other weapons than appeals for mercy, and show of fear. '-' She sprang up and placed her, back to the door, and looked at him calmly;. "Listen Sonia Koux-patkin," ' he .aid, standing three pacea from her. > "That diamond! — or your life— l'll have, if I _a,ve to rip every rag from off your 'body, and tear evftry hair in your head out by 'the roots. • If 'you still persist in saying you have not got it here, TU- strangle you, and then cut you- open after the breath is out of your body, to see if you have swallowed it. I'll do it now/-at once— -unless you tell me where it is, or set off with me instantly'to -find it.V For answer sHe stooped down and pulled '■'... *• . ■

off her. garter — it was a long strip of knitted red wool. She held it out to him. "Take that,, Leopold Vergenstrara," she said tranquilly, *' and strangle me with it as soon as you like, but when you 'have ripped any clothes to the skin, and oiy flesh to the bone, you won't find" the diamond, for I did not take it. I have told you one lie t'o-night. I told you I saw. John Straight but once— yesterday, by accident — that was false. I, saw h&v twice. He insisted on seeing me this morning, for the diamond was stolen last night, and there is now a hue and. cry after it ; he thought I had taken it. He knew me yesterday, as I saw, in spite of ray changed hair. He offered to let me escape, to let me go away free, if I would' give up the \ stone, and I would' have given it up if I had had it. I would have taken his. terms, for- before he spoke to me he had wired to Scotland Yard, nnd Jadd ia on my track." She spoke with calm simplicity.. _ Her cool courage had the effect she anticipated — that — and her astounding statement — for the man who had threatened to murder her dropped- his outstretched hand and paid in amazement : " Stolen — ! the diamond stolen by someone else! Where 1 from; whom.?" There. waa stupefaction as well as amazement in his tone. ■-■'.'■• "From Sir Richard Chesney — in the night." " But how could it have been' stolen. No one knew he had it. It was kept absolutely secret." " Bah !" she aaid, contemptuously, and breathing more freely, for his tone and manner had unaccountably changed. "He keep a secret ; it is the secret of Polichinefle, anything trusted to that old puzzle pate ! Perhaps his butler, perhaps his valet — it was stolen la-st nignt, so the advocate said ; that was why he. bad wired for Jadd, and 1 all the house was in confu- _ sion !" " But how was the case opened—how was the diamond taken out — no one knew the secret but you ?" For a moment she was taken aback, and actually gasped, and her faoe turned white, but in the gloom of the dimly-lighted room the change in her colour escaped ' unnoticed. Sh-* quickly turned the gasp, into a laugh. "Taken out?" she echoed. "It was taken out — not by fair means. It was taken out after the case was smashed' open I' suppose." " Why, was the case stolen too V " Yes, of course it _wa.s. How else would the diamond go. John Straight said so. TQie stone and the box he said /were gone, and he had wired to Jadd to come. Do you wonder I fled?" "I wonder Straight let you fly," he said, looking sharply at her. She laughed'lightly. "He would not have let me if ihe could have stopped it, but I tied bis 'hand's," and again she laughed as she remembered her device for eluding the prosecuting counsel. ..'•■■ "Tied bis hands?" " Yes. I had got his little secret. For all his great -brains he showed it, and for me it turned to good account." Then she described her interview with Straight, and the success of her plan for preventing his interference with her escape. ; , Leopold Vergenstram 'chuckled heartily. "You are a clever creature," he said, admiringly. She was astonished that he was taking his loss so quietly. She had played- her trump card, with a fearful quaking of heart, but it seemed as if it would' take the trick. ' "Jadd is a deep band," he murmured to : hftnS&,*'is"he : "r<sSuine'd""hi s 'Sea t , " v the deep- ' est hand- of the lot. But there'll be time, no doubt." Ho wa.s rubbing his smooth chin meditatively. " Time ! For what J" she asked, and there was some apprehension .in- her tone. "To recover the diamond ma chere," he said, looking at Ber with the lecrfthat had revealed his teeth before ; -but under the leer there was an expression she could not guess tho meaning of. Was it suspicion, or amusement, or what ? At any rate, he did not refer again to his proposition to strangle he4 although the diamond was lost, and she had failed him in her embassy to ißiverdale Court. (To be continued.)