“The Silver Tea Shop.”

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 49, Issue 15048, 29 November 1923, Page 7

“The Silver Tea Shop.”

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT. CHARMING LOVE STORY BY A POPULAR WRITER.

By Evelyn Everett-Green. Author of "Adventurous Anne,” "The Temptation of Mary luster,” "Defiant Diana,” etc., etc.

CHAPTER XXIV. FACING THE MUSIC.

(COPYRIGHT.)

The four persons awaiting Jack were already seated round the table. There was a vacant chair set ready for Jack, who took it after he had greeted his interlocutors. There was no anxiety oxguilt or shame in his aspect, and he at once took the bull by the horns, himself addressing the official from Scotland Yard whom he had seen and talked with several times already. “Now, air Craddock, I am here to lay all the cards on the table, as I see now I had better have done at the first. But, honour bright, I did not see how the fact of Mr Urquhart having purloined articles from the tea shop, from very complex and obscure motives, could have any connection with his sudden and tragic death that evening. —unless to strengthen the suicide theory—and I wasn’t keen to fix that on him; and when a man’s handed in his checks you don’t want to sling mud at him. So I just held my peace. But I begin to think now that it was a oit of a blunder.”

"I agree with you so far, Mr C'olquhouu, that when there is investigation of such an occurrence as happened here upon the night you allude to, perfect candour is by far the best and wisest course to take. lam here to make further investigation, and I wish to do so in the spirit of impartiality. If you will inform me as to exactly what happened during your visit to Mr Urquhart that night, and your motives in making that visit, I shall be extremely glad to hear all that you have to say. But it is my duty to warn you before you go any farther that anything you say may be used against you, and that therefore you are within your rights to withhold any information if you desire to do so.”

"All right,” said Jack. "I know what that means. But as I also know myself to be innocent of Mr Urquhart’s death, 1 prefer at this juncture to speak out, and you can make any use you choose of the information I shall give you.” Tony here made a low remark to Jack, 'telling him that his companion was a lawyer, who would act for him in any emergency that might possibly follow. Jack nodded, gave a keen glance at the clever face of the man at Tony’s side, and addressed himself once more to Mr Craddock. Mary Silver leaned back in her chair, her face very pale, but Jack had flashed her a confident and affectionate glance, and she understood that he at least was not angry, though he must have known that in some way or another she had been concerned in te disclosure which had brought Scotland Yard once again to the tea shop. Of Queenie’s sudden descent uj:on him, Jack was sure she knew nothing. Eor his own part there was a hidden joy in feeling her nearness to him at this moment of crisis. Perhaps this it was which illumined his face and gave the timbre to his voice that made every word ring true, and afforded Tony and his legal comrade a great measure of satisfaction and gratification. "I’d like you to get the whole hang of the situation, sir. At the first when I came here as odd-job man to Mrs Silver, being down on my luck, and s she goodness itself to me, I had no sort of feeling about Mr Urquhart, except that of goodwill. He was pleasant and friendly to me, interested in my little contrivances and inventions. And later on, when I knew that he had been an aequaintace of my father, it made for a time a sort of pleasant link between us. ’ ’

"Why do you say ‘for a time,’ if I may put the question?” “Certainly you may. It was just this w-ay. I knew from my father before he died that a man he had trusted and believed in had played him false, and practically ruined him in the past, when I was too small a boy to take cognisance of such things, lie believed this false friend to be Mr Bretherton —and as I only knew Mrs Silver by her business name, I did not connect the two for some while. When I did I was a good deal nonplussed, and I sometimes talked to Mr Urquhart about the past, and tried to learn if he could tell line anything about it which might make matters look better. Now, the odd thing is tlint he tried to persuade me that mv father had taken an unwarrantable view of Mr Bretherton’s actions in these matters, yet the impression left upon my mind was one of added suspicion and misgiving. In fact, I began to mistrust Mr Urquhart himself, yet I couldn’t give any reason for this distrust.”

"You began, in fact, to dislike the man?”

"I did. I will not deny it. And just at that time began the thefts from the shop of which you have full particulars, and which perplexed us all. I can’t tell you what put the idea into my head that Mr Urquhart was at the bottom of the mischief. But so it was. I stopped the pilferings by the device you know about. And for a time there was peace of sorts here. But I soon found out there could be no real peace as long as Mr Urquhart remained here. He was resolved to get me out of the place, and I was resolved not to go.”

"So it was a duel between you—open or secret?” "I scarcely know.' There w r as no open quarrel, but we were like boxers in a ring, walking round each other and waiting a chance. At least, that is how I felt it.”

"And you got the first blow 7 in?” "Well, the first blow was the last so far as I am concerned. I v 7 ent up that night determined to get the truth of the matter from him—and I did. You have heard all about it—just what I did. I got my rope round him by a dexterous throw on entering, for I knew he kept a shooting iron handy, and if he had whipped that out and covered me, there would have been an end to my game. I got him safely tied in his chair without any violence, for he did not struggle when he felt my grip upon him. I’ve muscles rather like steel. Then I made my search —found what I expected, and something I did not expect, too, but was mighty glad to get into my hands. And after that we had a talk. At first it was ,1 who did most of the talking, but presently lie did his share. He told me a lot of things ” "Do you object to saying what they were?”

“I don't know why I should. I wanted to get at the bottom of several matters. In past years he had made Mr Bretherton something of a cat’s paw. That came out to a certain extent then, and later on I heard more from Mr Bretherton himself. It was far less he who had injured my father than Mr Urquhart. I don’t think I need go into detail about that. It’s purely my own affair. But 1 was very curious to know why he had robbed the tea shop, and whether my own theory about that was right.” "Did you tell him your theory? And

(To be Continued.}

will you toll it here?” "Certainly. I’m out to tell the whole truth now. My idea was that he wanted to make ti-ouble and throw the onus upon me. He didn’t do anything quite so crude as hide the swag in any quarters; but he had some sly game of his own, as he admitted, which was rather baulked by my device . for stopping pilfering. But ho was growing angry with me. He thought I was paying court to Mrs Silver’s daughter —or that I might do so, in spite of my belief that her father had injured mine. But he was working to get xnc out of the place, and right away where I could not spoil his game—and that was to marry Miss Bretherton himself, as he was trying hard to do. And he was seeking to hurt the tea business also—can you sec why?” As nobody replied, Jack went on with barely a pause: "I thought I .saw pretty plainly. He wanted to get Mrs Silver more or less under his thumb, as he had her husband. He meant to have her discouraged with her business. Then, when her daughter married, and he offered the parents a country home with themselves, it would be less difficult to persuade Mrs Silver to give up her enterprise. Or else, if she did not give it up, she would have to run it with his co-operation and by his help. And so he stood to score either way, and, as he hoped, to get me kicked out. For he was negotiating to buy me out and persuade me to go off elsewhere, and then he did not doubt that prosperity would return —the mredit of which he would take, same as he tried to father on me the loss of custom which threatened when the mysterious robberies began. ’ ’ "Do you mean that Mr Urquhart told you all this?” "‘Admitted it’ would perhaps be the better term. There was that loaded revolver lying handy. I saw his eyes travel to it often. When I had found out all I wanted, and was going to untie him, I caught a gleam in his eye w-hicli made me pause. Either I xxiust take that little shootig iron away with me, or I must leave him tied up for half an hour till Jane Fossbury went up with his soup and let him loose. I wasn’t feeling like prolonging the interview, so I just left him. And I went dow T n into the basement where I sleep and where I always have little jobs to do, and I was working away when Jane came downstairs to look to some small affair of hers in the larder of the grill. And I thought she would tell me how she had found Mr Urquhart, and ask me what I had trussed him up for like that. But she did not say a word, and the only sound from outside that I heard was the striking of St. Michael’s clock at eleven. And then Jane, who had heard it, too', came out of the larder and said that her nieces ought to be back, as she said eleven was their limit. And sure enough, within five minutes they were in, and all went trooping up to their quarters on the second floor,”