THE INVESTMENTS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 20057, 21 September 1920, Page 5

THE INVESTMENTS

2 ' ®y ® © Joseph Eocma. © © Q

CHAPTER XlV.—Continued. Too five men stood looking at each other m blank bewilderment, dismay, and biack rage. Before them on the table was the open despatch box. H was empty I That was tho cause of their rage. Ihoy Imd left Rcstormol with all speed after the scene I have described, and returned to Trecarrel. At some distance from Restomol they had found a .larms motor-car awaiting them. In this they had placed th o body of Frank Restomel, _ and then Itad squeezed themselves in trie conveyance as best they could. On their return to Trocarrel they had put Frank in a safe li 1 P ;lce > nn d then had come to 'he library to open the box. As I have said, it was empty. All this scheming and plotting had been in vain. Worse than that, they seemed further away from success than over. They took it for granted that having obtained the box, all would be accomplished, now they knew that it was nothing but an empty shell. All their plans were shattered in a second. All their hopes had been destroyed at a blow. “ That dirty Englishman knows whore the things are/’ cried Rosenbaum. “ Did you notice how quiet and calm; he was P He was laughing at us all the time.” Gunz reflected a few seconds, then he shook his head. “It will not do,” ha said. “Let’s have him hero Let’s drag the truth out of him.” “ It’s no use. He, will be like a man dead for hours,” Again they sat staring at each other in blank dismay. “ Where are the women?” asked Herr Gunz. “Of course Frau Rosenbaum is asleep, as she ought to be. Where are the others?” “I will go and find them,” said Rosenbaum. A few moments later he returned with Virry and her- maid. Bqth of them at a glance how matters stood. With the empty despatch box on tho table, and the look on the faces of the men, they could do no other. Still they turned questioningly towards Gunz. “ Yes,” replied the German in answer to their look, “ what you see tells its own tale.” “But you got into the house? You found tho shaft, tho passage?” It was Bertha Bluchor who spoke excitedly. “Ja, Ja,” and forgetting his wheedling manner, repeated the word with a snarl. “ But what of it? You thought you had discovered everything when you found out that passage. I praised you for it. for it was clever. We thought we were lucky too. We actually found that puppy, Restomel, in a kind of cavern beneath tho foundations, and watched him while he searched for and found that—thing. We thought our work was done. But you see ” “ And tho man—Restomel—did—did you kill him?” “ No, he’s all right. A bit knocked about, as ha deserves to be. He was fool enough to try to get away. So aftef wo’d knocked out his senses, we dosed him. I wish we had him here. I’d like to ask him a few questions.” “And where is he?” asked Virry. “In a cellar under this room Virry,” replied Rosenbaum. “I don’t think he'll harm. You feel kind of soft about him- after having him for a cavalier all day, I guess.” The girl, gave a queer, hard laugh. “He seems to have been kind of playing ninepins with-us all,” she said. “ How long will he be before he is fit to ■talk again?” asked Gunz, turning to the death’s head man, who had sat during the discussion without speaking a word. ■ “By half-past six his mind can be made clear/’ was the reply. “I wa* careful about what I gave him! He cannot move, anyhow. He is hound hatadl and foot.” Herr Gunz rose with a yawn. “My friends,” he said, U 1 go to my room to sleep. I sleep two hours, then 1 , think. Things are ugly. 1 must know what they all mean. At six o’clock be all ready to act.” “ But do you realise how ticklish things are?” and Rosenbaum turned on his chief. “At seven or eight o’clock the servants at Itestormel will find that their master is missing. Questions will be asked. When he is not found the whole countryside will he in a ferment. If—if—don’t you see?” “I see everything, everything,” replied Hen’ Gunz. “ jtmt one 'must keep one’s head cool, one must think. But do not be afrail.” “ What if we fail after all?” and there was real fear in the man’s voice.’ “ Fail I I am not tho kind of man who fails.” The man spoke with a kind of mountebank boasting. When my big head gets to work truth comes to light. _ As I have told you, my friend, it is not for you to do the thinking, but to do as you are told. You came from America, for that.” “ I guess I don’t like- your tone, Herr Gunz,” and Rosenbaum’s voice was not pleasant. “You may he a great man in Berlin ” “And I am your master here,” interrupted Gunz. “Yes, your master, Rosenbaum. Remember that. You object, eh? _ Think again. The arm of the All Highest is long, and he objects to subordinates asking questions. He has given me full powers, and he demands obedience—obedience. Who disobeys, dies. And lam master, I give orders.” There was a strange power in his words. His tone, the look in his eyes quelled the weaker personality. Still there was a lurking gleam of opposition in his eyes. “\ou may hove direct commands from tho All Highest,” he said, “ and as you say it is our duty to obey here, as much as it’s the soldiers’ duty on the battlefield. But J am still too much of a free American citizen to stand by and see matters bungled. So far you haven’t out any ice.” “And who .is bungling them?” “Someone is. That box is empty. Who took away the dispatches? They wore there when Bruvard left Cornwall. You think Restormel know® nothing or their being removed, What follows? It looks as though traitors had been at work.” “Traitors? Where?” “ I guess that’s ucyond me, hut someone has forestalled us. Who is it? Not people who have never heard of those dispatches.” “ Traitors are not bred among Germans,” replied Gunz quietly. “Germans not only love their fatherland too well to betray it, but they fear the result's. You think on the top of things, Rosenbaum. But suppose there is truth in your is the traitor? Remember he or she must be in this room. Eh?” He scanned each face as he spoke, and finally fixed his eyes on • Rosenbaum. “Eh?” he repeated. Rosenbaum was silent. “I go to bed for two hours, iny friend. Then I think. You will sleep, but you will not think. But it is all here”—and he tapped his torehead—“what is on the top, and what is underneath. I think of all, nlll” Again His ©yes rested on each face; then he left the room. A few minutes later the house was in silence. Each of the party had evidently followed their leader’s example , and advice.