“VIPER’S VENGEANCE”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 110, 11 May 1936, Page 5

“VIPER’S VENGEANCE”

SERIAL STORY

oy

RALPH TREVOR

(Chapter XIII continued.) • “Tha! is what 1.-uiibles !he Master.” ; said llie second xoice. He grows i:npalienl. WithoiH the Viper-—wmil can he do? Whal. indeed, can any i o( us do? The Viper is lhe key—tiie corner-stone ” ' True, brother of mine: and. as you say, the. Hasler grows restless; but what ran we do?’’ Bonnie strained his» ears, bul win! - ever lhe, answer lo lhe question was 1 it evaded him. B.ul now he. had for- . gotten Baminoff’s excellent meal. The Chamberlin had ceased lo tingle and lhe aroma of lhe brandy in lhe Tur- ; kish coffee had lost ils spell. These men were speaking of Valeric Vare. ; Ronnie was convinced of lhal. They ! had mentioned the Viper—lhal ugly, J little thing lhal lhe girl had entrusted lo him. These men—and lhe, thought made his nerves quiver like laul. wire —must, surely be connected with lhe mysterious events of the past two da.'s. Obviously I hey could have no idea, lhal he. was so close. In lhern; 1 lhal he was able lo overhear snatches ! of their conversation, even though I iney were low-voiced. Willi eager [ p>p,s he peered Inwards them. One • jnan’s face. he. could see dimly out- j i lined, but with lhe table lamp direcliug lils light immedialely on lo Hip. while J cloth al ils fool, the profile, was in | shadow, yet lhe, light that emerged through lhe. pale green parchment * shade, made lhal, profile sinister. He could see lhe Ihin hook, of a nose, and lhe light threw Into slight relief lhe high bone on lhe cheek. In lh.it, , moment Ronnie realised lhal. these | men were. Indians—lndians of a caste ! sornelhing similar lo lhe caste, of lhe ! tall Indian who had been in Valerie's ’ company al "The. Sign of the. Twin 1 Moons.” Onlj one thought was in Ronnie I Baylord's mind now. He must al. a'l cosls discover where these men lived. The> had spoken of Valerip, as if she w ere an accomplice, and } eI, he recalled quick!' lhal, if be had interpreted ilieir conversation accurately, she had promised lo deliver to some person alluded lo as ■Tim Master’’ the Viper which she bad handed lo him tor sale keeping. 'Hie. implication was confusing. She had distinctly warned him lhal she i was in danger so Jong as she bad j possession of lhe. Viper. Bul danger | from whom? Surely she could not be I in danger from these people for whom I ' siic had apparently promised lhe, I ' Viper? it did not make sense. Why J should she give him lhe Viper when , she could quite easily have sent il. along lo her Indian friends, who, so ! it appeared from whal. lie bad heard, 1 ' seemed rather anxious to gain possession of it ? Ronnie glanced around anxiously for ,

Jacques. He wanted lo settle his bi.l so lhal be would be ready lo follow these, men immedialely lliey had Jefl the place. Thai, he decided, was lhe only logical thing lo do. The girl bad Jeft. him so long in lhe dark lhal be felt a little illumination would be useful. especially if lie. decided lo lake her al, tier word and act in the way she had suggested. If only he com I have fell, ceriain about, lhe girl'- If only he could have avoided periods of doubt lhal crept -with I'ie sinuousness almost of lhe Viper ilsclf into his brain, be might liaxc been able lo think will) greater coolness and with more logic. As it was, lhe langle was becoming more and more difhculi. The slrands were beginning lo fasten themselves around him, and the lasi tiling Ronnie, Bayford had any intention of doing, if be could possibly help il, was lo Irip over any of Ibem. He caught, lhe, rye of Jacques, and the waiter brought, him his bill. He swallowed his coffee without lasling il. Jacques brought him his change and hoped lhal everything had been lo his liking. This Jailer was a special charge from Raminoff himself, who apologised for not coming specially io Mr Bayford's table. He begged lo be excused. He. was occupied on lhe telephone—an inslrumenl. that Raminoff loalhed with a deep and execrable loathing. 'l'lie Iwo Indians al. lhe adjacent lable, had apparently settled their account a lillle while ago, because, lhe punctilious Jacques did not visit them. They moved away towards the door without so much -as turning a head in the, young man's direction. It would have seemed as though they were either utterly disinleresled or equally oblivious of liis presence. Bonnie glanced at his watch. He gave them two minutes lo descend the staircase and retrieve their outer ga”menls. Then he, too, followed. As ’ Max helped him into his overcoat, he i noted lhal the pair were half-way down,. Hip second flight of stairs that led lit 11;?, street.. He flung a fim!| salutation lo Max and went in pursuit. • Once in lhe street he paused for a j moment to light a cigarette in order | to gi\e naturalness io his hall. He ; saw that they had taken lhe way tint j led to Regent Street, and he hurried : gfter them lo reduce lhe. disiance lhal ! separated himself from them. Hardly had he. taken the first e.len ' than n fourth figure stepped out from ; Hie doorway of Raminoff's. It. was : the tail man with the black rno.-siat-fie ; and lhe. neatly trimmed imperial. Bui ’ he was no longer stooping.

riIAPTER X!V. Ronnie Is Trapped. In Regent. Street the two men ahead ‘of Ronnie engaged a laxicab. He I watched lhern stand for some minuies ■ gesticulating with lhe driver, who, ■ apparently, either did not know where ; they wanted lo be driven or else it ■ was an economic conference on the ■ fare to be charged. They tumbled in, ami Ronnie, who I had aheauy signalled to a cal) crawling along to draw in lo lhe kero, Ini slructed the driver lo keep the cab h*. ( ' from in sight. “It's rather important.” Bonnie impressed upon him, "and if , you don't lose Loiich I'll make it well , worth noii.” while, apart from lhe ( ; mileage charges.” s i The driver nodded understanding!/ a ind lhe chase began.

Hashed past, and he headed across Hie road. Just as lie had gained the sanctuary of lhe opposile fool walk a resounding crash came lo bis cars, followed by a splintering of glass. He looked across lhe road quickly an i saw lhal lhe two men Iwcnty-the xards ahead of him had paused like- \\ hat bad happened, so far as lhe young man could judge, was lhal the car which had just passed him ha i swung around lu Hie, left into the road where bis laxi had lately slopped al lhe same moment that h!s 'chicle was being re\crscd inlo the mam thoroughfare. Apparently lhe. ca - . which had been driven much 100 fast for safely, had turned lhe corner wiliioul due. care, and the Iwo cabs immediately piled up. For a rnomenl indecision plagued Foe young man. As a good citizen he fell ihat he ought lo go across and render whal. ossislance he could, since no fell, lhal in such a crash as this someone must surely be hurl. <m lhe olher hand, he noted Ihat neither i the men in front made any move lo re i cross lhe road, and Ronnie fell liul as likely as not. if he were lo associate himself with the crash valuable lim' would be lost, especially if the polici were lo arrive, on the scene, for liie\ would most certainly want to laki some sort, of a statement, from him. and lhe delay would mean Ihat h< would lose touch with the Iwo Orientals he was particularly anxious n, follow. So he wailed io sec whether lhe two men in front made, any move in lhe direction of lhe rar smash. They made, none. In fact they war' already moving on their way a /in. Ronnie cast another glance al the road junction where lhe accident had occurred, and saw that already the crash had attracted the attention of people from some of lhe neighbouring houses. This fact made him feel a trifle less heartless than he had done a moment before, and he sei off unobtrusively lo follow his quarry.

The ipen in front of him appeared to bo in no hurry. They walked at, < leisurely pace, and soon Bonnie discovered Ihat they were leaving the suburb behind and entering lhe open country. His though Is were not happy when he realised what was happening. Ye! be told himself Ihat the fact Ihat they had dismisst d their cab before reaching their destination could only mean that liiey had no intention of divulging ihat destination lo the driver of the taxi-cab. On Hie olher liand. Hie logic in him argued Ihat their G?3ccr!t from the cab might have been actuated by another motive. Thej might have become, aware lhal a s.vund cab was following them. The ('■ought promoted greater caulion on bis own part. He bad not. the least idta whal. manner of men these Iwo were. From whal. he had heard ol their conversation al, Ramioff's, they were obviously connected wilh the sn.ysierious events of Hie past two days, because they had mentioned Valerie Fare's name. For all he knew they might be a pair of desperate criminals Either or both of them might have played a leading part in that little drama down a! ‘The Sign of the Twin Moons.” Alternatively they might he nothing more than two men whe themselves were only on lhe fringe of lhe plot-supers in the crowd scene. Yet he recalled they had mentioned lhe Viper. That was significant. Bul where they were going was an enigma,' for there were no houses at. all in sight now. rand the gas lamps were few and far between. | (To be continued* J

I Ronnie knew his London tolerably well, and was prepared for practically any route lhe first, xenic.le might take. They headed along Regent, Street, and Ronnie, saw lhal the battery of traffic lights at Oxford Circus being at the danger colour, they drew up almost nose to tail of lhe cab they were m ‘ pursuit. ’ Don i stick 100 closely.” instructed 1 Ronnie lo his driver through lhe corn- ■ munical.ion lube. ’’.lust, keep a workable distance ' The fi r sl taxi shot, , away across lhe Circus, along Great ! Portland Street, and again across ! Euslon Road into Albany Streel, , skirling Regent's Park, after which a ! right bend and a Jeft. turn lold him i that they were heading for Chaik Farm, Gospel Oak and llampsic.i I Heath. On the fringe of lhe Ilea n itself they saw' lhe first cab turn EH into Haverstock Road and forward in.u North End Road. Arriving at lhe bus: omnibus junction Ronnie found the . first cab turning into lhe Finchley 1 Road, where the run was straight until Tally Ho Corner was reached. | From this point it was fairly obvj- ; ons to Ronnie Bayford that they were I heading northwards for St. Albans. With a sigh of relief he leaned back against, the soil, upholstery of the can and persuaded himself that be could safely leave it. lo the driver lo obey his instructions. Just before SI. Albans was reached Ronnie's driver called lo him. "Cab in front slowing down, sir. What 1 shall 1 do ? ’ ! ’Carry straight on. Ronnie iui slrucled. and pull up as quickly as j you can in the firsl convenient side- ! road. Let me know' how much I owe • you, 100. so that J won't, be delayed.” ; Sure enough lhe cab in front, ha-1 i drawn into lhe kerb, and as they bowled past Ronnie caught a gUmpsc of lhe, two men tumbling out on lo lhe pavement, where, be hoped, a second conference would be held with lhe driver. Suddenly he nearly lost his balance oo lhe edge of lhe seal, as his own cab swung sharply lo lhe left, and liic driver braked to a standstill. In a moment, Ronnie had flung open the. door, paid the. driver and wvs sprinting along the main road. As lie turned lhe corner he heard lhe. first vehicle starling off, ami saw lhe two men crossing Hie road lo Hie opposite side. For a moment he hung back in lhe comforlablc shadows of a high wall and watched lhern walking leisurely along. He was about lo cross lhe imad in lhe direction they had taken when be halted lo let pass another car which was tearing along al. a speed suggestive, that the driver Jjad never heard of Mr Horn Belisha's speed limit, in built-up areas. 'l’he car