Books: Number Seventeen
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Louis Tracy >> Number Seventeen
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"We must not think of death, but of life," was the brave answer. "Can
I do anything? Could George assist if he were here?"
"No, Mollie. Perhaps I am exaggerating matters, though the history of
this week would make strange reading if published broadcast. Indeed I
shall now urge on Mr. Forbes the advisability of sending the facts to
the press. London would be stirred to its depths, and every one of its
citizens would be quick to observe and report the presence of Chinamen
or Japanese in the West End. Some innocent Orientals would suffer, but
the police might at least be enabled to capture the pestiferous gang
which has committed this latest outrage. Just think of some
cold-blooded scoundrel shooting at a sweet-mannered and gentle lady
like Mrs. Forbes!"
"Surely the authorities can protect her."
"That is the wild absurdity of the position. Of course, you didn't
hear what Mr. Forbes said. The armed detectives on duty in his house
actually saw the Chinaman who fired the shot which wounded her,
leaning out through the window of a closed car. But they cannot blaze
away at any passer-by merely because he is, or resembles, an Asiatic.
What they dare not do, however, he and I will endeavor cheerfully.
Bates!"
"Yes, sir," came the cry from a bedroom.
"If you are packing two bags, put that pistol and a box of cartridges
in the smaller one."
"Yes, sir."
Mrs. Paxton at this crisis proved herself a woman of spirit.
"I think you're right, Frank," she said quietly. "I refuse to believe
that any British court of justice would blame any man for defending
the lives of his wife and daughter, nor you for helping him. If the
peacefully disposed Chinese residents in London wish to avoid risk let
them keep away from No. 11. Fortescue Square. May I come with you?"
"You, Mollie?"
He looked at her with troubled eyes. For the moment such was the fire
in his brain he did not understand.
She laughed gallantly.
"I don't mean as one of the garrison," she said. "May I not make the
acquaintance of these people? Sometimes, the mere knowledge that
others are aware of one's troubles and sympathize with one is
comforting. Miss Beale is not expecting me till tea time. I told her I
might lunch with you. Indeed, I promised to call at her hotel for her
letters, and that is halfway on your road."
"You're a brick, Mollie," said her brother. "I do believe Evelyn
Forbes will be glad to see you. The most amazing thing about this
affair is that none of the many friends Mr. and Mrs. Forbes and their
daughter must possess in London has the slightest inkling of the
truth. I suppose the servants are instructed to tell ordinary callers
that the various members of the family are out, or some of them
indisposed, or something of the sort.... But come along! I hear Bates
banging my belongings into the passage. I'm in a fever to be there and
taking part in the row."
Soon they were seated in a taxi and speeding to Smith's Hotel, Jermyn
Street.
"Have you invited Miss Beale to reside with you while she is in
London, Sis?" said Theydon, allowing his thoughts to dwell for a
moment on the less tragic side of events.
"Yes. What else could I do? Poor thing, she was terrified at the
notion of sleeping under the same roof as a Chinaman."
"I don't blame her. But there's a certain element of risk for you,
Mollie--"
"Oh, bother! Don't tell me that a few Chinamen can threaten all
London."
Yet even the valiant-hearted Mrs. Paxton yielded to the haunting
terror of the bandits when the taxi drew in behind a gray car already
standing at the curb outside Smith's Hotel, and her brother grasped
her wrist in sudden warning.
"Sit still," he said. "Now we may get on the track of some of the
gang. That is the car which followed me on Monday night."
His sister, of course, did not understand. She had heard nothing of
the pursuit and its curious sequel.
"Do you mean it is one of the cars which these men use?" she whispered
breathlessly.
"Yes. I'll explain later. But what impudence! The scoundrels have not
even changed the number plate."
Unquestionably, the number of the gray landaulet now within a few feet
of them was XY 1314. Theydon stooped, opened a dressing case lying at
his feet, and took out the automatic pistol placed there by Bates. He
put it in the right-hand pocket of his coat.
"Now, I'll reconnoiter," he said, and opened the door. The taxi driver
was already gazing curiously in at his fares, wondering why one or
both did not alight.
"Be ready to start the instant I want you," said Theydon to the man,
and he strolled past the gray car, with every sense alert, every
muscle braced. If Wong Li Fu were seated inside he would cover him
with the pistol and hold him there until the police came, or shoot him
dead if he offered any resistance.
Fortunately, therefore, all things considered, the interior of the car
was absolutely empty, save for a copy of the Times on the back seat.
Even the presence of the newspaper was significant. In that issue
should have appeared Forbes's reply to "Y. M." which Furneaux had
suppressed as unnecessary.
There was a chauffeur at the wheel-- no Chinaman, but a
tightly-buttoned and black-legginged young Englishman-- in fact, the
real thing in chauffeurs.
"Whose car is this?" demanded Theydon.
"It belongs to the Chinese Embassy, sir," said the man, answering
civilly enough, but not unnaturally showing some surprise at the curt
question.
"Are you waiting here for some official of the Embassy?" went on
Theydon.
"Not exactly, sir, some friends of His Excellency." The man glanced
toward the door of the hotel. "Here they are now," he added.
Theydon turned. Two Chinamen, sedate, pig-tailed persons, were
descending the steps. With them was Furneaux! One of the Orientals
gave Theydon a rather sharp glance, having noticed, apparently, that
he was conversing with the chauffeur, but Furneaux, after a stonily
indifferent stare, said to the second Chinaman, in plain English:
"Do you mind dropping me at Scotland Yard?"
"With pleasure," was the composed reply.
The three entered, and the gray car made off, leaving Theydon to gaze
blankly after it. His sister, though badly scared at first, quickly
recovered her self-possession. She even made a joke of the incident.
"As an anti-climax, Frank, that is the best thing of its kind you have
ever brought off," she tittered.
CHAPTER XV
FORCEFUL TACTICS
Though a prey to that most burthensome of cares-- the uneasy
consciousness of an impalpable yet ever-threatening evil-- Theydon was
not blind to the humorous element in the present situation. Mrs.
Paxton, of course, did not know who the little man accompanying the
Chinamen was.
She had seen her brother stalk the motor car and its presumed
occupants in the most approved melodramatic fashion, and could not
help noticing his complete discomfiture. Naturally she imagined he had
encountered a pair of perfectly harmless citizens of the Middle
Kingdom, and, being one of those happy beings more readily swayed to
laughter than to tears, rallied him upon an apparent blunder.
"Never before have I discovered a neurotic streak in you, Frank," she
said, after she had obtained a couple of letters for Miss Beale, and
they were en route again. "Come now, confess. If Evelyn Forbes-- or,
let me see, is it Phyllis or Doris? No, Evelyn. If Evelyn Forbes,
then, did not happen to be a remarkably pretty girl, would you really
attach such terrific importance to the mad goings-on of a set of
Chinese fanatics? I doubt it."
The cab was threading its way through the traffic of St. James Street
and Piccadilly on a busy afternoon in the season, and Theydon had much
to tell her before they arrived at Fortescue Square, but he sat by her
side in silence for a little while.
"Frank," said his sister, at last, "it is not like you to seek refuge
in silence. I'm sorry if my chaff annoyed you. Don't forget that you
know everything about this mysterious business, and I know very
little."
Her sympathetic voice roused him from the stupor which had benumbed
his senses.
"I allowed imagination to run away with me, Sis," he said gently. "It
was thoughtless on my part. Please forgive me. I suppose those two
Chinamen are unofficially connected with the Embassy. At any rate, the
man with them, the little man in a blue serge suit and straw hat, is
Furneaux of Scotland Yard, a pocket marvel among detectives, the sort
of criminal-hunter you read about in Gaboriau, but can scarcely accept
as existing in real life."
From that instant he bent his wits to the task of acquainting Mrs.
Paxton with the history of the preceding three days. He was aware of
the irrepressible trembling which shook her slender frame when he
spoke of the ivory skull found in Edith Lester's underbodice, and the
replica of the same grewsome token sent to Forbes, so suppressed all
mention of his own experiences on returning to Innesmore Mansions
overnight.
Furneaux had asked him for the bit of ivory that morning, and,
incidentally, had produced the others from his pocket. The detective
gave no reason for his eagerness to possess these trophies, but seemed
to invest them with great importance. While keeping up a constant flow
of talk with his sister, Theydon tried to puzzle out the detective's
motive for carrying such sinister messengers of death around London.
Try as he might, he could arrive at no plausible explanation, but he
did not make the error of attributing Furneaux's action to mere
impulse. Those men of the Yard had a solid foundation for every step
they took. Even the visit to Smith's Hotel, and subsequent departure
in the gray car, meant a definite stride onward in the fight against
Wong Li Fu. Of that he was assured.
At 11 Fortescue Square there were no outward signs of recent
disturbance beyond the presence of a sharp-eyed policeman at each
corner of the row of houses of which Mr. Forbes's residence formed one
of the center pair. Theydon expected to see a shattered window in the
drawing-room on the first floor, where, presumably, Mrs. Forbes was
standing when the shot was fired, but each pane in three large windows
was intact, and the windows were closed.
Then he reflected-- as, indeed, proved to be the case-- that on such a
fine day the window would probably be open. Two windows on the second
floor and one in the cloakroom near the front door were raised a few
inches, but drawn curtains screened from observation any watchful eye
which might be stationed behind them. As a matter of fact, armed
detectives were hidden there, and they had been given specific orders
to shoot without warning any one of Chinese appearance whose behavior
was suspicious, while three men were in readiness in the hall to rush
out into the square and make an arrest under similar circumstances.
In that fashionable quarter, at that hour, automobiles of every type
were passing constantly. At the very next door a well-appointed
carriage and pair was in readiness to take an elderly lady for a drive
in the park. As yet, none of the other residents in the square had the
remotest notion that No. 11 was in a state of siege. The position of
affairs, if it were not so desperate, was almost amusing!
Mrs. Paxton and Theydon were admitted without any delay, and Forbes
himself hurried downstairs to greet them. He was pale, but quite
composed. All the nervous uncertainty of the previous day had
vanished. He was armed and willing for the fray. If, as was by no
means unlikely, Wong Li Fu staked everything on a gambler's throw and
led his cohort in a daylight raid on the house, the Manchu leader
would meet with a very warm reception.
Forbes was surprised to find that a lady had come with Theydon, but
expressed his pleasure at the visit, which, he said, was just the
thing his wife and Evelyn needed.
"Yes," he went on cheerfully, noting the astonishment caused by his
words, "Mrs. Forbes is not seriously injured. The bullet lacerated the
top of her left shoulder, and the wound is painful but superficial.
She positively refuses to remain in bed, so our doctor humored her,
provided she promises not to pass the time looking through the
drawing-room window!"
Mrs. Paxton, to whose senses the presence of armed detectives and
constables in uniform was even more eloquent than her brother's words,
glanced about the spacious entrance hall with wide-eyed amazement.
Once she and her brother were recognized as friends of the family, the
men on duty gave them no heed.
Outside were the familiar sounds of London traffic; within were
preparations for conflict. The police carried revolvers openly in
leather cases strapped to their belts. On a table near the library
door were several automatic pistols ready to be snatched up in an
emergency. An alert detective, revolver in hand, was peering through
the curtains of the cloakroom; this sentry, in particular, would alarm
the garrison if, as Winter had definitely warned his assistants, an
attempt were ever made to enter the house by main force.
"I think I must be dreaming," she said, trying bravely to lessen the
gravity of the statement by smiling at its inherent absurdity. "Am I
in London, or have I been whisked by magic to one of those outposts of
civilization where men and women of European race are often compelled
to band together for protection against savages? One reads of such
things comfortably while dawdling over breakfast, and one wonders idly
why people go to such places. But that something of the sort could
happen in London-- why, it is simply fantastic!"
"It is unpleasantly real, for all that, Mrs. Paxton," said Forbes,
leading the way up the stairs. "What else can we do? If the
authorities surrounded the house with a cordon of soldiers London
would be in an uproar. We want to avoid that, at all costs. I have
been in communication with the Home Office, and am advised that, if we
decide to put up with the inconvenience, it is better, and actually
less risky, to hold out here than seek safety by flight. I understand
that Scotland Yard is not losing an unnecessary minute, but there are
obvious difficulties in the way of decisive action. It is considered
worse than useless to effect isolated arrests, as these tend only to
put the other members of the gang on their guard. The chief inspector
tells me that he had some hope of being able to make a big haul
tonight. The principal drawback is the language bar. Chinese
interpreters are few and far between in London, and those who do
exist-- in the East End, for instance-- have long since lost any
useful acquaintance with events in their own country. This is a
political matter, you understand, and must be fought out on political
lines. Strange as it may sound in your ears, the cause of Chinese
freedom is at issue in this very house. If Wong Li Fu could secure a
list of names now locked in a bureau in my library the Constitutional
party in China would perish forthwith for want of leaders. But he
won't get it. Thanks to your brother, Mrs. Paxton, his deadliest
attack failed yesterday. For today's accident we have ourselves to
blame. We did not even suspect that his malignity would take the form
of shooting the first person who chanced to look out of a window."
He had halted at the top of the broad staircase while making that
stirring declaration of war.
"Pardon my outspokenness," he said, sinking his voice to a lower tone.
"I don't want to frighten my wife on my own account. She believes now
that the police are hunting these scoundrels in every hole and corner
of London. In a sense, that is true, but we never know the moment some
extraordinary action may be taken, so we remain constantly on the qui
vive."
He heard the telephone ring beneath, and turned quickly.
"I may be wanted," he said. "I'll join you presently. There is my
wife's boudoir," and he pointed to a door. "Take Mrs. Paxton in,
Theydon. Mrs. Forbes and Evelyn will be glad of your company."
Theydon knocked, and heard Evelyn's voice bidding him enter. Mrs.
Forbes was lying on a couch, and her daughter had evidently been
seated near her, reading a newspaper.
"I've brought my sister to see you," he explained. "I've been relating
such heroic things about you that she simply refused to go home
without ocular proof of your existence."
Mrs. Forbes would have risen, but was restrained by the girl's
emphatic cry:
"Mother, why won't you behave like an obedient invalid?"
Thus coerced, "Mother" did behave.
"They insist on treating me as a casualty," she cried cheerfully.
"What is your sister's name, Mr. Theydon?"
"Mollie," he said thoughtlessly, for he had just touched Evelyn
Forbes's hand, and the mere contact gave him an electrical shock.
The women laughed, and Mrs. Paxton blushed.
"Mollie Paxton, at any rate," she said, realizing at once that her
brother had completely lost all self-possession at sight of his
divinity. "Now, as you are going to stay here, Frank, you shall give
me the full measure of the few minutes I can spare, so go and talk
over your adventures with Mr. Forbes while I gossip with the
prisoners."
Theydon saw that his tactful sister had struck the right note. She
might be trusted to make herself eminently agreeable. Her bright,
smiling manner had already created a good impression, and a lively
chat with one who had not passed through the vicissitudes which beset
the Forbes family would be an excellent tonic.
"Before I efface myself, may I be allowed to congratulate Mrs. Forbes
on her escape?" he said, halting at the door.
"Yes, you may," replied the older lady. "And, just to show that I am
convalescent, kindly tell Tomlinson that I am coming down to luncheon,
and that Mrs. Paxton will join us."
Forbes was leaving the telephone when Theydon regained the hall and
explained that he had been dismissed from the feminine conclave
upstairs. The millionaire closed the door and motioned his companion
to a chair.
"How long will it be before London wakes up to the knowledge of what
is going on in its midst?" he said. "Is there anything in the
newspapers? I have had no time to read. I passed a rather sleepless
night, so did not rise until a late hour. Then Helen was fired at. I
need hardly tell you that my time has been fully occupied since."
Theydon gave a resume of the paragraph which had appeared in at least
one of the morning journals, and admitted that some inkling of the
truth was bound to gain publicity during the next few hours.
"I cannot understand why it is the reporters are not here by the score
already," he went on. "Some passer-by must have seen or heard the
shooting. A pistol cannot be fired in a quiet square like this without
attracting general attention."
"That is the extraordinary part of it," said Forbes, smiling grimly.
"People heard the noise, of course, but came to the conclusion that a
cylinder in the car had back-fired. That was the view taken by two
policemen on duty within a few yards of the house. A detective
stationed in the cloakroom actually saw the man raising the weapon.
He, of course, was under no delusion as to what had happened, and ran
out instantly, but the car was then traveling at a fast pace, and was
out of sight before the nearest constable could even endeavor to stop
it. Anyhow, what was the man to do? We cannot expect that he would
whip out a revolver, if he carries one, and blaze away
indiscriminately at car and occupants if the chauffeur refused to pull
up. Really, Theydon, Wong Li Fu has perplexed the authorities more
than any desperado known to this generation. He is aware that his
hostage has escaped from Croydon, so he calmly drives past my house,
knowing full well that it is efficiently guarded, and fires a pot shot
at the first person seen through one of the windows. The man whom I
have spoken to over the telephone shares that opinion. He is one of
the legal advisers of the Home Office. Just to show the baffling
nature of the problem, he says that it will be absolutely impossible,
on the evidence available at present, to frame a charge against any
Chinaman other than Wong Li Fu. Yet we know that he has at least four
or five, and probably three times as many, accomplices."
"Have the police yet obtained any real clew as to the whereabouts of
the gang's headquarters? They must have some sort of meeting place.
They must eat and sleep somewhere."
"That big detective, Winter, came here this morning. He seemed to be
very confident, though I think I gave him the worst shock he has
received for many a year when I informed him that within an hour after
he had left the house Mrs. Forbes had been shot at, and narrowly
escaped a fatal wound. It was he who asked me to invite you to come
here. I'm exceedingly sorry that our acquaintance, begun so happily,
should involve you in personal risk--"
"As for that," broke in Theydon, "I would not change places with any
man in England at this moment."
He feared instantly that he might have said too much, and added with a
laugh:
"Don't forget, Mr. Forbes, that I write books, some of them-- the most
popular ones, I am afraid-- being of a sensational type. When this
tornado has died down, and Wong Li Fu is carefully hanged, and you and
your family are recuperating in Sutherlandshire, I shall resume work
with a new inspiration. Never again shall I say to myself, 'Oh, that
is too far-fetched,' or fear that I am straining my readers' credulity
beyond bounds. If a small gang of Chinamen and Japanese can hold up
London, bamboozle the best men in Scotland Yard, and keep a man of
your position a prisoner in his own house, I need have no fear of
adopting any situation my fertile brain can evolve, because four days
ago I would have scoffed at the things which have actually happened as
quite impossible and therefore unbelievable."
"Japanese, you say? Why do you mention Japanese?"
"The American, Mr. Handyside, tells me the skulls are of Japanese
workmanship. He argues also that the wrestling tricks of which Winter
and I, and Mrs. Forbes in lesser degree, have had some experience, are
Japanese. More than that, a Jap was arrested outside my place early
this morning."
"Mr. Winter said something about it, but he spoke only of Chinamen."
"I have Furneaux's authority for the statement that the prisoner is a
Jap, and belongs to a society calling itself the 'Sons of Nippon.'"
"But confound it, I have no quarrel with Japan. If anything, I am one
of her best friends."
"I must get Handyside to propound one of his favorite theories. He
says that a powerful and growing party among our allies in the Far
East means to keep China in a condition of anarchy until Japan is
prepared, financially and in armament, to take a commanding share in
the ultimate settlement. But, at best, the few Japanese adventurers in
league with Wong Li Fu hardly count. Once he is laid by the heels this
feud will evaporate into thin air."
"If it doesn't, I must ask the Government to provide safe quarters for
my family in the Tower," muttered Forbes, rising and pacing the room
in the same thoughtful, care-laden way as he had paced it when Theydon
first told him of Edith Lester's end.
"You said Wong Li Fu knew that Mrs. Forbes had been rescued from her
bonds last night," went on Theydon. "I suppose Winter told you that.
Was he only assuming the fact, or have there been developments at
Croydon?"
"A motor car drove up to the gate openly at ten o'clock this morning.
A police sergeant, jumping to the conclusion that one of his own
chiefs or a representative of Scotland Yard was paying the place a
visit, incautiously showed himself in the doorway, whereupon the car
raced away. It was an unfortunate and, perhaps, costly blunder, but
the man is hardly to be blamed. The very audacity of the gang is their
best safeguard."
A luncheon gong clanged in the hall. Both men started, and then
laughed.
"You see," cried Forbes. "These rascals have got us on the jump. I
don't know how long my servants will stand the racket. They are most
loyal, and Tomlinson vows that not a syllable has been breathed
outside by any of our domestics. But the women's nerves are on edge. A
scullery maid dropped a decanter a little while since, and the crash
drew bloodcurdling shrieks from the kitchen. Come, let us eat, drink,
and be merry, for tomorrow we die. The quotation is not a felicitous
one. Indeed, it is distinctly ominous, but it seems to meet the
conditions."
He threw open the door, and saw the three ladies descending the
stairs.
"Helena," he cried sternly, "the doctor said you were not to stir out
of your room."
"My dear, the doctor is a mere man, and fancies that a woman is not
fitted for warfare. He is quite mistaken. When aroused we can be
terrible."
Mrs. Forbes, whose face was paler and eyes seemingly bigger and more
luminous than usual, was leaning on Evelyn's arm. She was dressed in a
blue tulle costume which lent a fragile air to an already slender
form, but she smiled so unaffectedly that even the policeman grinned.
"You certainly look ferocious," said her husband, yielding instantly,
as she well knew would happen.
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