Sinister Secret

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20389, 4 January 1938, Page 3

Sinister Secret

By ARTHUR NETTLETON

CHAPTER XIX.— Continued.) Lights blazed brightly in the wing of the house where lie now found himself. He repressed an inclination to switch these lights out too. such a step would have indicated to the crooks that he had come down from the topmost part of the house. As a precaution, however, he made a rapid examination of the rooms abutting on the landing along which lie was now gingerly working his way. As each door was passed, he thrust it noiselessly open and inserted his head. With the exception of a bathroom, all the rooms were furnished bedrooms. There were five, and Tony noted that the expense incurred upon this part of the house was evidently no less than that expended upon the splendid ground-floor rooms. He realised with satisfaction that, if the worst came to the worst, he could lead the crooks a merry chase through the house, for it offered innumerable hiding places. The most dangerous part of his plan was now before him—the task of reaching the ground floor. There was no further time to waste, as Badger and Horton would now be realising that their search of the grounds was futile. Already their angry voices were growing louder, showing that they were returning to the house.

Tony hid momentarily in a dark corner beside the stairs, while he swiftly surveyed the position. Suddenly the voices of the crooks sounded uncomfortably close, and he fcieard feet running on gravel. It was now or never.

Darting from his hiding place he scudded across the hall. His fingers twisted round a knob, and in a trice he had vanished through the doorway which looked most inviting. Barely had he closed the door behind him than the crooks entered the house again. The room in which Tony now lay hidden \\i%i obviously part of the quarters! He judged it to be the butler’s pantry, and he saw that it had recently ben occupied. Three bottles stood on the table, and two half-empty glasses were to be seen befide them. It was not a good place in which to secrete himself, but there was now no chance to go elsewhere. He opened the door an inch or so. silently, so that he might listen. Both the crooks were alarmed.

“What the Hades do we do now?” demanded Horton. “You know blasted well what’ll happen to both of us unless we find him.”

Through the crack in the doorway Tony saw Badger blanch. The hand in which he lie Id a gun was trembling. “lie’s in the house somewhere,” Badger blustered. “We’ve scoured the grounds, and the alarm round the walls never went off. You’re as much to blame as anyone. Didn’t you say he’d be safe up yonder?” “Well, stop squawking, you rati If he is in the house we’ll find him. But we’ve blessed little time to do it in. The boss ’ull be here anytime now. Come on”

Badger hesitated. “A quick drink first.” he suggested. ”1 need it.” “I'll say you do! But make it slip-

*Tony backed from the door in alarm. The two were heading directly for the pantry in which he was hiding. To be caught at this stage would be ironical, but lo escape from the pantry was impossible.

(Author of “The Mystery of Moorthwaite Manor,” etc.)

A large cupboard caught his eye. He had reached it before Horton and Badger had taken more than a few steps nearer. The cupboard door yielded to his touch. Shelves occupied the upper half of the interior and his only chance was to crouch in the lower part. Hardly had he doubled himself up, and silently drawn the cupboard door into place again, than the two crooks entered the pantry. 'Through a keyhole, which came within range of his eye, Tony watched. Badger was attempting to pour out a drink, hut his hand trembled so violently that Horton snatched the glass away and, with a withering look, performed the operation himself. “Get it down slick,” he snapped. "Then stop your knees knocking and we ll get on with the search.” Tony was enormously grateful that circumstances necessitated an early exit on the part of the crooks. He could not remain in his cramped position for long. He gave the men just time to cross the hall and begin to climb the stairs, before he emerged from the cupboard. After stretching his cramped limbs, he went across and opened the pantry door cautiously. A difficult situation had passed, and the way for escape was now more clear. He remembered Horton’s words, however, and as he vanished from the house into the cool air of early morning, he was thinking of his next step. Horton had casually referred to some alarm apparatus which encircled the grounds. That created a new difficutty—not as big a one as those he had already surmounted, but it could not be over-looked. The main satisfaction was that, if Tony construed tiie butler’s words correctly, the alarm was some kind of an electric bell, and not a network of wires carrying high tension current. In daylight Tony surveyed the grounds thoroughly for the first time. Horton or Badger might take in into their head to look from a window, so to avoid his being discovered by that means he skirted round to the back of the house and worked his way towards the surrounding wall via the bushes. Bent almost double he dodged in a series of short scutters further and further from the house. The wall was more distant than he had expected, but he reached it at last, and began to work along it. All the while lie sought a point at which i he could scale it. 'The alarm wire mentioned by Horton was not hard to discover now that its presence was known, and Tony believed that he could escape without touching it. The main difficulty, was the height of the wall and the I absence of footholds. lie worked i round to the gate without finding the help he sought, and lie was beginning to feel that bis position was still not very satisfactory, after all. At the gate he paused irresolutely. Extra caution was now required, for the drive leading from this point stretched in a straight line to the house A watcher looking from a window would spot him as he darted across the drive. on the point of making a dash for it. lie drew hack. X*d far away a car was approaching. skulking behind a bush, he wait'd, on tenterhooks. Was the vehicle coming to

Red House? If so, he might be able to slip out as the gates were opened for its entry.

A scrunching of brakes answered his question. He saw an expensive limousine swing from the road and come to a standstill with its nose facing the gates. A figure stepped down,

and approached. Tony continued to watch in astonishment as the figure

reached out and turned one of the embellished knobs on the ironwork, The gates began to open without a sound, and he prepared to make a dash for final escape. Now the car was moving forward again.

Tony felt that his moment had come. Bracing himself for a rush, he put one foot forward. But his anticipated escape was never accomplished.

Through the side windows of the car, as it moved past him, he had caught a glimpse of its occupants. And one of them was June.

The discovery dealt a shattering blow to Tony's plans. When he had gathered his suddenly numbed senses, he started to review his position. By now the car had reached Red House, and its occupants were alighting. Tony recognised llernstein’s broadshouldered figure, but. was puzzled to observe that, when June stepped from the car, she appeared to be under no subjection. He saw her follow Hernstein into the house, and noted with perplexity that Hernstein stepped courteously aside to allow her entry. What had happened to cause this state of affairs? —an almost friendly situation between the two.

He remained in hiding until the car had been driven away to the garage at the rear of the house. Then, his curiosity refusing to be curbed any longer, he began to steal back towards the building. To leave the place, and put June at the entire mercy of Hernstein, was now unthinkable. In any case, the opportunity to escape through the gateway had passed.

As lie approached close to the house again, he paused. For a morfsent he thought of boldly walking up to the front door and ringing the bell, but the futility of such a plan quickly impressed itself upon him. If June was to be helped, it would be highly advisable for him to give his aid secretly—at least, until it was no longer possible to do so. The first task was to get back into the house unseen. Sneaking round to the back of the buildings, he discovered that the car had now been garaged and there was nobody in the vicinity. The garage was a low-built affair of the lean-to type, and at once he saw its value to his scheme. With one glance upwards, he seized a rain-pipe and hoisted himself to the garage roof. To negotiate the slope towards the house itself was not. difficult. Suddenly he found his head level with a small window. The discovery made

him pause. Here was a possible means of entering the house without much further trouble. A swift examination showed him that the window was fastened, but the catch was a simple one, and a few seconds’ work with a penknife was sufficient to release it. Silently he raised the window.

The room into which he put his head was a small storeroom, and half a minute later he had squeezed through the opening and was stretching his limbs inside. The door opposite the. window opened an inch or two without j a sound, as he carefully turned the; knob. From a distance came the; sound of voices, but they were notj near enough to cause him any alarm, j

The door, he found, opened on to j a narrow corridor. It was unlighted, but at the further end he could see the entrance hall of the house. It was from this quarter that the voices j came.

With infinite caution, he crept along the passage. The sound of a door opening and closing came- to his ears, and the voices were no longer to be heard. He was nearly at the end of the corridor now, and he trod still more carefully. CHAPTER XX. Delilah Again “That should keep Scotland Yard on the hop for a while!” Delilah Hartop made this soliloquy as she left the telephone kiosk, after her short ’phone conversation with Inspector Briar. She felt a glowing j satisfaction, for though she would have! been the first to admit she had no claim to be called a saint, that kid in the clutches of Hernstein needed help. And if Delilah could do anything to aid her, she wasn’t going to let the chance slip by. A public clock chiming out the hour brought her thought abruptly to more practical consideration. She had seen Hernstein in his true colours that night, and now she realised that her own position was far from enviable. She was shrewd enough to recognise that she had butted into some big scheme, and she knew that Hernstein would he furious at her interference. He was unlikely to overlook the matter. Un the contrary, he would be seeking for an opportunity to punish her. For that reason, she saw how unwise it would be to return lo her previous haunts. “It’s ‘under the arches’ for me tonight,” she mused, as she strolled aimlessly along. “Well, it won’t be the first time, or the last either, 1 guess.” The night was fine and fairly warm —a circumstance for which she was grateful. it simplified matters considerably. It meant that her thought of “arches” need not be taken literally. it extended her choice to a lew public gardens and parks, where with luck a vacant bench might be found on which to spend the night. In a small triangle of'garden, at the junction of two suburban avenues, she found the thing she wanted —a bench shielded by trees from the gaze of passersby. She was more tired than she thought, and sleep soon came, it was fitful sleep, however, overrun by nightmarish dreams in which Ilernstein himself pursued her. Try as she did, she could not escape him. A strange brilliant light sought her out each time she reached a hiding place. She awoke with a start. The light was real! 11. shone dazzingly into her eyes, preventing her from recognising the bulky black figure behind it. But the gruff voice that spoke to her left no doubt as to the figure’s identity. “You'll have to come out of it. miss. It's against the regulations.” Delilah blinked. “All right, officer! But pull a blind over your searchlight I What do ynii think I am? Tin* Ablershot Tattoo?" (To be continued).