“THE CLIFF – PATH MYSTERY.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16902, 29 November 1922, Page 11

“THE CLIFF - PATH MYSTERY.”

OUR SERIAL.

BY

HEINEON HiLA.

CHAPTER XXlX.—Continued. Thorpe’s voice dropped to a lower note still, waxing oven more contiden tial. “Strictly between ourselves,” he said, “ 1 have reason to know that this form is under suspicion by the authorities. Scotland ard is wise to it as an illicit distillery. To narrow the thing down, the reason for my late call is that J was in the company of an ex detective of the C I.D. when notorious triniinai, one Barnabas j Barnes, appeared at the window. Mr ! Barnes made himself very unpleasant. ' but lie was put out of play by an adroit. | u ove by the ladv ot the house. He ! ran away and 1 chased him to the beach, where he escaped me by purloin ing a fisherman's dinghy and putting t«c sea “ V. hat did you do? Swim after him?” sneered Heverin. But Thorp. w;i • not to be baited into loss ol temper. “.Nothing quite so - rude,” h - answ< red genially. " No; from the direction taken bv the boat T followed—not the boat, hut a certain I lino of argument. .Mr Barnes was o ! notorious criminal. Mucklepoth Farm 1 was believed by those best qualified to judge to bo a centre of criminal I priso. If Mi-s Raven had met with foul play it was at the hands of crim- ! inals. So 1 came here by road to inj quire for .Mins Raven.” •• 1 presume your suggestion that T am associating with criminals, if only as a lodger, is not intended to be n ! compliment.” rejoined Soverin. " How. | ever. I am willing to make allowances for your sentimental interest m that ; alluring little baggage. She is not here. Mr Thorpe ” • lias she been here? ” j " You have been Dank with me. and • 1 will be frank with you." replied | Soverin, enjoying bin advantage. " A ! young person in male attire, whom my ‘ friends and I believe to have been Raven, turned up at the farm tins ! afternoon. The young person disopj peared after playing merry hell on the j premises. She stole a child and a pistol, and she sadl\ disarranged mv plans by putting our wireless out of action. 1 assure vou. Mr Thorpe, that I otve that girl quite a lot. and T have not yet despaired of discharging the debt..’ 5 The significance of this was not lost upon Thorpe. It amounted to an ad- | mission that the suspicions not only of Mucklepath Farm lint of Lucius Sev erin himself were well founded. And such an admission would not have been made to anyone who was to he allowed a chance of making use of it. This was contingency for which the man hunter was not unprepared. He had i thought ;j good deal about it as he trudged through the night from Bicton ! to the farm. This was not the first time lit- had taken liis life in }ii«c hands —for causes less personally dear to him than the safety of Enid Raven. Ho had at any rate' accomplished his , present purpose of satisfying liimseK that Enid had not as yet fallen into the hands of the enemy, for Severin'* bitterness in referring to her prunk= at the farm carried conviction that he was speaking the truth. And further confirmation was + here in the men he had passed in the lane, evidently posted , to cut off the fugitive’s retreat -a tasK in which thev bad so far failed. His own escape from what might verv wel! ■ shape into a death-trap war- the press i ing need of the moment. • “ If Miss Raven has been here and • gone away again- -of course 1 take your • word for it T have only to apologise | for this late intrusion and follow her | example/’ Thorpe said quietly. ' I ( bid you a very good night, sir.” he | added, turning to go. ! Soverin.. who had been drumming the table with his fingers, merely smiled. I And Thorpe l found hi- egress from the i parlour barred by MncAdoo and “ Ftich* Rainey.” who from the doorway hail ; him covered with their automatics. ; Over their shoulders peered Miss Leila i Braile. I Then onlv did Xoverin speak. “I am afraid wc can’t afford to lose j you. Mr Thorpe." he said gently. ! * The possession of vou is an asset I j am not inclined to dispense with ” | Thorpe laughed : ** One of your ! T imited ( ompanies, ! perceive. Mr ! Soverin Tt is to he hoped, for your hake, that it isn't too limited ” CHAPTER XXX. j "While John Thorpe was laughing at ' Mucklepatli Farm, with two pistols ; pointed respectively at his head and his ' heart. Ene! was out. at sea in the fog. using verv bad language. The deliverj ance promised by the beat of the steam ! er's propeller was neutralised by her inability to e£ the v 1 v hich had raised her hopes. Ir wn; not far away, yet it va- shut off from her vision by the white wall of mist. And she wanted to see. and he seen | by. that steamer badly, for she more j than doubted if she could bring the ‘ boat to land. The fog had cut out the i shore lights upon which she had reckI oned for guidance, and she dreaded the { consequences for her little companion | if they had to remain indefinitely in !an atmosphere as wet as rain. Ihe j problem of food. too. would soon bej come acute. There were no hen roost- ! to he plundered out there in the wido I reaches of the Channel. Those in charge ot the steamer were evidently not sure of themselves, judging by the slower and slower revoiu tl .ns of the crev . and presently the hesitation was cmphasisec 1 by three blast.-- of the siren in quick succession. The hideous hoots drove shoreward*, and were fiung hack in a hundred echoes from tli • hills. So close were the parent blasts that when the last of the cclv.es died away Enid raised her voice and hailed. “Steamer ahov! Pick me up! I'm lost in the fog.” The interval before the reply came mecl unending. “You must find us," a megaphone boomed at last. “ I'll burn a flare, though I doubt if you’ll see it in this bally haze.” But Fnid do: see tin glow that was just distinguishable in the murk, and h< pulled or it with all the vigour of her strong young arms. A few minutes later her boat bumped the steamer's side and a rope ladder was lowered. Shepherding Tommy in front of her. she clambered up to the deck, and blinked in the glare of a bull’s-eye : lantern. “ Blamed if J didn't think it was a ! woman that, hailed," a great voice boomed at her. “ "What's wrong with you, young feller 5 " Enid had forgotten that she was garbed as a male, and for a moment she had more to think of than that lapse of memory She was confronted with the immediate necessity of constructing a. story which would not only explain her sex. hut a heap of other things. 'Plie man in reefer coat and brass buttons who held the lantern was the bearded shin’s officer whom she had last seen while she was tiring to regain a foothold on Pierre Le due’s motor-launch from the gangway of The Serpent. (To be Continued.)