The next morning Darrel, who was still at the Rectory, paid a visit to Mildred. Had she been within doors she would have refused to see him, as she was much distressed in her mind. Frank had not returned from the Shanty, nor had Eustace appeared to explain the reason. Mildred was haunted by visions of the young man being captured, and, since she firmly believed in his innocence, felt very anxious. After a sleepless night she came out before breakfast to take the air in the garden, and so found herself face to face with Darrel in the most unexpected way. He entered the grounds with an air of possession which was intensely irritating to Mildred in her then state of mind, and she was not prepared to receive him warmly.
"You come at an awkward hour, Mr. Darrel," she said coldly, "and I am not able to see you."
"I thought you might refuse," he replied, sulkily; "but I cannot deny myself the pleasure of being the first to bring you the good news. You will be glad to hear that the murderer of your brother Walter has been caught."
Mildred nearly fainted, but saved herself by a strong effort. "Are you speaking of Mr. Lancaster?" she asked.
"Of who else?" replied Darrel, with a triumphant smile. "He is the guilty person. Last night Berry, of whom you have heard, came down and found him in Jarman's house. I believe there was a fight, but in the end the man was caught. You must be pleased."
"I am not pleased. Mr. Lancaster is innocent."
"Of course he would tell you that in his character of O'Neil," said the man, scornfully. "But it's a lie. I believe he is guilty."
"Perhaps you denounced him to Captain Berry?"
"No. I told him that if he left you alone I would hold my tongue."
The girl turned on him angrily. "And what right have you to say such a thing about me?" she demanded vehemently. "I am not engaged to you. I never shall be!"
"Oh, yes, you will," he replied, coming closer and looking into her white face with angry eyes. "You will be my wife, now that this villain is out of the way."
"Never! And Mr. Lancaster is not a villain."
"He is. He killed your brother. You cannot love the murderer of your brother."
"Who told you that I loved Mr. Lancaster?"
"My own heart. Bah! Do you think I can be deceived? Did I not see the looks which passed between you?"
Mildred looked on him with ineffable contempt. "You mean, low, pitiful coward!" she said, while he winced at the ringing scorn in her voice. "You come here to insult me, because I will not marry you. Now, hear me. I _do_ love Frank."
"Ah!"--a low cry of rage escaped him--"you call him Frank."
"I do, for I love him. He has said nothing to me, and I do not even know if he returns my feeling."
"Yes, you do," said Darrel, striking his stick passionately on the ground, and glaring on her fiercely. "You two understand one another very well. I believe that you knew where he was concealed after he left Jarman. Ah!"--he read her face--"you _did_ know."
"That's my business. Leave this place at once."
Darrel stood his ground doggedly. "I refuse to go. I refuse to give you up," he declared, with a growl like a wild beast disturbed at meal-time. "Your lover has been arrested. He will hang, and you will be my wife. I'll bring your pride down then."
"Never! never! never! Frank can prove his innocence, and I will die sooner than be your wife. You betrayed him, you pitiful coward!"
"I did not. Miss Berry learnt that he was here."
"Through you," she flashed out.
"No. On my soul!" he protested. "I said nothing. I don't know how she learnt it. But she did make the discovery, and told Berry. He came down here last night, and watched Jarman's cottage. He saw Lancaster enter, and waited outside the window. After a time he smashed the glass with his gloved hands, and sprang into the room with a revolver. Jarman overturned the lamp, and then--"
"And then," said a new voice--that of Jarman who had stolen upon the two unobserved--"then Frank escaped in the darkness with Tamaroo."
Darrel turned on the newcomer fiercely, but Mildred gave a cry of joy.
"Frank has not been taken then?" she cried, clapping her hands. "This man"--she looked scornfully at Darrel--"says he was captured."
"What do you mean by that?" demanded Eustace, who looked pale and ill, and was evidently in a sullen mood.
"Because I'm sure he has been taken by this time. I saw Berry last night--"
"Ah!" cried Mildred. "You came to help."
"Yes, I did. I wanted Lancaster removed from my path. Berry came to the Rectory to ask for my assistance. But he knew already where to find the man. I went with him to the cottage--"
"And you lurked outside, not being man enough to enter," said Jarman, with a sneer. "I turned Berry out pretty sharp. Being an American, he has yet to learn that an Englishman's house is his castle."
"And you have to learn, Mr. Jarman, that you have been compounding a felony in sheltering this criminal."
"Frank is not a criminal!" cried Mildred, with a stamp.
"Ah you defend your brother's murderer," sneered Darrel, savagely.
"Don't talk rubbish, Darrel," interposed Jarman. "You know well enough that Lancaster is innocent."
"He is not. He certainly escaped last night, but Berry is on his track. Lancaster may disguise himself, but Tamaroo will be spotted in a mighty short time. They can't escape."
"Why did you tell me that Frank was arrested?" asked Mildred.
"I thought you would be pleased," he said sulkily.
"No. You thought it would wound my heart, you coward! Go away!" She stamped her foot. "I hate the sight of you."
"Mildred," said Eustace, quietly, though he felt a pang at seeing how she defended Frank, "let me attend to this gentleman."
"I sha'n't move till he goes," said she, obstinately.
"You had better go," said Eustace, suggestively, to the Rhodesian.
"And leave the field to you," he answered, with a taunting laugh. "How many more lovers have you, Miss Starth?"
Mildred gave a cry of shame, and her face crimsoned. With a shout Eustace dashed forward, and before Darrel knew what he was about he swung him up in his mighty arms, and pitched him clean over the gate into the roadway, where he sprawled like a huge toad. Mildred caught Jarman by the hand, panting.
"Oh, you are a man--a man!" she said.
Darrel picked himself up, but did not show fight. His face was more like that of a negro than ever, and Eustace believed he was a half-caste, seeing how the racial type came out.
"You bully!" growled the man, fiercely, but keeping well in the roadway. "I'll be even with you. I can guess where Lancaster is hiding now, and I'll hunt him down--I'll hunt him down! He shall hang, and you, Jarman, shall go to prison for having assisted him. As for you"--he turned fiercely on the girl, who stood beside Eustace, shaking and white--"you shall be my wife. I'll break your spirit. I'll--I'll--" He could speak no more for sheer rage, and his hands trembled with excitement. Finally he gave a roar like a wounded lion, and dashed away. Mildred wrung her hands in dismay.
"He will hunt down Frank--he will hunt down Frank!"
"Nonsense!" said Eustace, roughly, helping her to a seat. "It's all bluff on his part. He can't know where Frank has fled to. So long as the boy is with Tamaroo, I am sure he will be safe."
"Did they say where they were going?" asked Mildred.
"No. There was no time. Berry, in a most wonderful way, smashed in the window. I expect he used his coat to avoid being cut by the glass. Before we knew where we were he was in the middle of the room, and covering Frank with his Derringer. The only thing that occurred to me was to overturn the lamp, which I did. Then I made for Berry, but found him already struggling with Natty. I managed to light a candle, and discovered that Tamaroo had disappeared with Frank."
"What did Berry do?"
"He accused me of sheltering a criminal. I would not let him leave the room, so that the two fugitives could get a start. Then I turned him out. I expect he joined Darrel, although I never knew that Darrel was outside, and they went away."
"But if Mr. Darrel was outside he must have seen the direction in which Frank went."
"I doubt it, the night was so dark and stormy. But, even if he did, he could do nothing. Berry, afraid of the law, as I thought he would be, did not bring a policeman with him, nor did he have a warrant. Frank can escape by half-a-dozen stations round about. They are all within walking distance. Depend upon it Tamaroo will take him to some safe place, and then we shall hear. I trust the negro."
"But about the will--the--"
"There is no time to talk about that now," said Eustace, brusquely. "There is much to be done if Berry is to be thwarted. He'll hunt Frank down with all his heart and soul, and now Darrel, out of sheer hatred, will join in. I want to save Frank--" He paused, and looked directly at Mildred. "I wish to save him for--"
She put out her hands. "No. Say nothing now. Afterwards we will talk--we can--oh! believe me--I--I--shall keep my bargain."
"Your bargain was not that I should save Frank, but discover the assassin of your brother," said Eustace, gloomily. "But to do the one I must do the other. Frank shall be saved, and the man who killed Walter shall be caught. And then"--he paused again with a shiver--"and then--we will talk, as you say."
"But I want to say--"
"Say nothing, Mildred. Child," he said, as she rose, "all I wish is to see you happy. I have made one mistake. Do not let me make another. No, don't speak. I'm only a man after all, and I am not equal to--to--" He passed his hand across his forehead, then started briskly. "But this is not business," he broke off, and held out his hand. "Give me the letter."
Amazed by his sudden transition from sentiment to business, Mildred did not quite comprehend. "The letter?" she stammered.
"Yes, the letter written by Miss Berry to you, saying that she loved your brother, and wished to marry him. Denham gave it to you."
"Yes, yes. But how did you--"
"I got her to write it," said Jarman, quickly. "She wanted me to deliver a message to Frank for her, and I agreed to do it on conditions. They were that she should write such a letter."
"I wondered that she should," said Mildred, searching in the pocket of her dress. "I came to talk to you about it last night."
"That was the question you wished to ask?"
"Yes. But the arrival of Tamaroo put it out of my head. Did she love my brother?"
"No. Nor did she intend to marry him."
"Then why did she write a lie?"
"Because she would write anything to secure her own ends," said Jarman, taking the letter. "This will not hurt her in any way, and as I asked her to write it she did. I am only beating her with her own weapons."
"What do you intend to do with the letter?" asked the girl.
Eustace put it away, and smiled faintly. "I am going to show it to a black lady called Balkis."
"I heard something about her from Frank. But why--"
"Don't ask me questions, my dear," said Eustace, impatiently, for he felt that he could not talk about the negress without exposing the opium smoking of the dead brother; "there is no time. I go to London in an hour. First I look in at that house in Sand Lane--"
"Where Walter lived?"
"Yes. Frank told me that when he called to see your brother on the day of the murder one of the windows was open. Tilly, the servant, in her evidence said that the windows were all bolted and barred. I am going to ask why she told the lie. I suspect that she knows that someone got into the house, else she would not have given false evidence. And that someone is the murderer."
"Oh, I hope you will be successful!" cried Mildred, clasping her hands. "And afterwards?"
"I go to the Docks to see Balkis. I'll tell you all about it when I return. Keep up your spirits, Mildred," said Jarman, holding out his hand. "I'll save Frank yet."
She bent down, and, before he could stop her, kissed his hand. "Oh, how noble you are--how noble!" Then she ran into the house to prevent further betrayal of emotion.
Jarman turned away sadly. "No hope for me," he thought. "She loves the boy, and he her. The two young things have been loyal to me, and have not come to an understanding. Shall I be less noble? Well, well, well!" He passed his hand across his face with a sigh. "We shall see."
At the Mardon railway station Jarman saw Darrel getting into the train. He gave a scowl as his eyes fell on his enemy, but made no remark. Thinking that the Rhodesian was losing no time, and wondering if he really knew where the hunted man was to be found, Eustace slipped into a third-class smoker. He dismissed the big man from his thoughts, as the only chance of saving Frank lay in getting evidence to prove his innocence. And Jarman hoped to get a portion of such evidence from the servant, Tilly Samuels.
On arriving at Liverpool Street he took the underground train to South Kensington, and soon found himself in Sand Lane. At the door of the house formerly occupied by Starth he saw two women. One was Tilly, who was weeping, and the other--Miss Cork.
The housekeeper looked lean and shadowy as usual. She was still dressed in grey, and wore her hair screwed into the same door-knob that Jarman knew so well. But her face wore a smile, and she was staring at Tilly with passionate affection. When she heard Jarman's foot on the pavement, she turned round with the look of a tigress ready to defend her cubs. But at the sight of her old master she changed colour, and made as if to run away. But Eustace caught her by the elbow, and prevented her departure. Tilly, who wore the blue dress and the picture-hat, looked amazed and indignant.
"'Ere, sir," she said shrilly, "jes leave my mother be, d'ye see!"
"Your mother?" said Eustace, recalling Miss Cork's mention of a stolen child.
"Jus' so," snapped Tilly, making warlike demonstration with the yellow umbrella. "I'll call the policeman round the corner, an' he's a friend o' mine. It's bad enough for that old Betts to keep m' box, without m' mother being hit," and she again began to weep.
"Hush, child," said Miss Cork, sharply, and removing her arm from the grasp of Eustace. "I must speak with this gentleman. I had hoped never to see you again, Mr. Jarman"--with a curtsey--"as I have behaved ungrateful. But if you will put temptation in poor folks' way, you must take the consequence."
"But what temptation are you speaking of?"
"That's a long story," said Miss Cork. "We can't talk here, and Mrs. Betts, who employed my child, has turned her out of the house."
"Without m' box," snivelled Tilly, wiping her eyes with a pair of cotton lavender gloves. "Alt's presents is in it, too."
At that moment, looking very small and very fierce, and very like that celebrated Mrs. Raddle who persecuted Bob Sawyer, the mistress of the discharged servant appeared at the door. "Don't stop the road up before my house," she cried, shaking a mittened fist. "Not a box or a character will you get till you give up your wages for giving me only three days' notice."
"That's the way she goes on, sir," sobbed Tilly, "as if m' mother didn't want to take me away and make a real lady of me."
"Wait a moment," said Jarman, who knew the landlady, having once or twice visited Starth at these rooms. "I can arrange this. Now, Mrs. Betts," he said, striding to the door, "what is the matter?"
"Oh Mr. Jarman, I'm that ashamed, really, so unpleasant, what must you think?" simpered Mrs. Betts, becoming suave.
"I think that I want to have a talk with this young lady and her mother," said Eustace, grimly. "And I'll be glad if you'll let us have a room for half-an-hour."
"Lady! Mother!" gurgled Mrs. Betts. "Well, I'm sure, and what's the world coming to I'd like to know, when gentlemen--"
"Oh, allow me to know my own business best," interrupted Jarman, impatiently. "Tilly's mother was my housekeeper."
"That alters the case," said Mrs. Betts, blandly. "A room is at your service, sir, but I don't give box or character until--"
"I'll pay you Tilly's wages, and you can give both."
Tilly set up a shrill cry of triumph over Mrs. Betts, and would have darted into the house, but that she was withheld by Miss Cork. "We must speak to Mr. Jarman first," said the ex-housekeeper.
"And I must have the money--fifteen shillings--before the box--"
Eustace nodded. "I am in a hurry, Mrs. Betts," he said, walking into the passage. "Let me have a room and half-an-hour with these two."
Quite satisfied, though rather perplexed, the landlady showed her visitor into a small room on the ground floor. It was badly furnished and worse lighted. But at least it was a place where Eustace felt he could talk privately to Miss Cork. Tilly and her mother entered, and Jarman closed the door.
"I shouldn't tork loud," said the small servant, pointing to the key-hole; "her ear's allays there."
A shrill voice through the key-hole replied that this was untrue, and bestowed several unflattering epithets on Tilly. Afterwards the retreating footsteps of Mrs. Betts were heard, and Tilly giggled over her success in detecting the old lady. But Eustace was too worried to take any interest in this comedy. He stationed Tilly near the door that she might give notice if Mrs. Betts returned, and then addressed himself to his old housekeeper.
"Well, Miss Cork, and what have you to say?"
"I beg your pardon, I am not Miss Cork. As I have found my child, I can take my real name, which is Selina Burl--Mrs. Burl. I now go out charing, and never will I be parted from my child again!"
"You need not be, so far as I am concerned. But now explain. Why did you leave me without notice?"
"I saw a picture of the black woman who stole my child."
"You mean Balkis?"
"Yes. I mean the woman who keeps an opium shop at the Docks."
"Did she steal your child?" asked Eustace, wondering.
"Years ago," sighed Mrs. Burl, while Tilly looked on intelligently.
"Why should she steal your child?"
"Ah, that's a long story. I'll tell it to you if you like, sir."
"I'm ready to hear it," answered Eustace, wondering at the coincidence which had brought his former housekeeper into contact with Balkis.
"Burl drank," began the lady, abruptly. "He was a house-painter, and earned wages of the highest when not at the bottle. He turned me out into the street one night with Tilly." Mrs. Burl pointed to her newly-found offspring, who giggled. "We lived near the Docks, by reason of the cheap rents. I had nowhere to go, and was found by that black woman, who called herself Balkis."
"How long ago did this happen?"
"Never you mind," replied Mrs. Burl, drawing her shawl closely round her. "I'll tell what I can, and that which I don't tell don't matter. Balkis (as she called herself) said she wanted a servant, and took me in. She gave no wages, but a comfortable home. We--Tilly and me--stopped with her for some time. Then I left."
"Why did you leave a comfortable place?" asked Jarman.
Mrs. Burl pursed up her lips, and shook her head. "It weren't respectable," she said, nodding. "No; though in one way it were. I haven't a word to say against Balkis, who always kept herself like a lady, though she was the colour of the tea-kettle. But you see, Mr. Jarman, she kept an opium shop, and a gambling den."
"Ah! did she. What did the police say?"
"Now you come to the reason of my leaving, sir. The police knew nothing about the gambling. I don't think they minded the opium smoking. Such people came there!" Mrs. Burl shuddered. "Chinamen and Lascars, and low sailors, and sometimes gentlemen who were fond of the pipe. But all that was almost public, as you might say. The gambling"--here Mrs. Burl lowered her voice--"it took place in the secret rooms."
"What do you mean by the secret rooms?"
"What I do say, Mr. Jarman," replied Mrs. Burl, with several nods, and an air of mystery. "The opium shop was near the river, and respectable to look at outside, being painted and kept clean. But the rooms--which I cleaned--were almost under the river, and furnished like Buckingham Palace. Balkis used to boast that if the police ever found out her rooms they would never leave them alive."
"Did she mean to murder them?"
"Ah, that's just what I don't know. She's a terrible woman, and has all kinds of ideas--very wicked ideas, though I must say that she is respectable for the most part. All she wanted was to make money, and she made it quicker out of the gambling rooms than in any other way. The piles of gold and notes I've seen there, sir, you wouldn't believe. And the Chinamen played an evil game called Fan-tan--"
"I know it," said Eustace, who had been in Canton.
"Then you know a wicked thing, Mr. Jarman, begging your pardon. But I had a quarrel with Balkis, as she would not give me money to dress Tilly, and I threatened to leave. Balkis said that I could go, and then like a fool, knowing the terrible woman she was, I said I'd tell the police about the secret rooms, and the gambling."
"That was indeed foolish, Mrs. Burl."
"Ah, it was, sir, and soon I found it. Balkis, when I was asleep, took Tilly--who was then a child--from my side, and hid her away."
"In effect, she kidnapped her?"
"Yes, Mr. Jarman, she did; and when I woke fair distracted, she said I would never see my child again until she made her money out of the gambling. When she shut them up and returned to America--"
"Ah!" said Eustace, "she came from America."
"She did, Mr. Jarman, from a West Indian island. But when she went I was to have Tilly again. I implored her to give me my child, but she only laughed. She declared if I said a word about the gambling rooms that I would never see Tilly again. Then she turned me out, and I went searching for Tilly, for many a long month, till I was taken up for vagrancy, and you found me."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" asked Eustace. "I could have told the police and have recovered your child."
"That's just why I held my tongue," said Mrs. Burl, quickly. "If the police had been informed, I would never have got Tilly again. When I was with you I several times went to ask Balkis about Tilly, and she assured me that she was well."
"I was brought up in a wurk-hus," put in Tilly, "and then Mrs. Betts took me, so I've bin 'ere since, though the situation ain't worth much."
"I see," said Eustace. "Well, Mrs. Burl, and how did you recover Tilly?"
Mrs. Burl moved uneasily. "Now I'm coming to my ingratitude, sir. I was afraid when I saw the picture of Balkis which Mr. Lancaster left."
"Hullao!" cried Eustace, with sudden suspicion. "How did you know my secretary was Lancaster? And what do you know of him?"
"I know all that I read in the papers," said Mrs. Burl, with hanging head, "and when I went sometimes to see Balkis I heard Captain Berry talk of how he wished to get Mr. Lancaster."
"Captain Berry? You know the whole gang?"
"Ah, that I do, sir, and will give you any information I can, now that I have my Tilly safe. Balkis wanted to catch Mr. Lancaster also, because he had killed Mr. Starth, of whom she thought much."
"She was in love with him?"
"Well, sir, you might go so far as that. She loved him, and thought Mr. Lancaster guilty. So when I found out that you were hiding Mr.--"
"Wait," said Eustace. "How did you learn that?"
"I listened and then I knew," murmured Mrs. Burl.
"I see," said Eustace, sternly, "and you betrayed the poor wretch."
Mrs. Burl began to weep. "I am ashamed of myself--"
"You may well be," said Jarman, bitterly. "I can guess what you did. Having told Balkis that you could inform her and Berry where the man they wanted was to be found, you promised to denounce him if Balkis gave you Tilly."
"Yes," faltered Mrs. Burl. "I told her, and she said that Tilly was with Mrs. Betts. So I came here, and Tilly gave notice, and now we are going away. But I am ashamed."
"I don't want any apologies," said Jarman, coldly. "It is worse than useless to hear them from so ungrateful a woman as you are. Come to the facts. Balkis told Berry."
"Yes, sir," whimpered the woman. "And she told Miss Berry, who also came to the opium shop--but not to smoke. I will say--"
"That's enough," said Jarman, cutting her short in disgust. "I know now how Berry and his niece came to find Lancaster. You have got your child as the price of your treachery, so there is no more to be said. But the least you can do is to give me the address of Balkis."
"Oh, I'll do that," said Mrs. Burl, sobbing. "I ain't afraid of her now I have my Tilly. But don't go into them secret rooms, sir, for you'll never leave them alive. I should be sorry to see any trouble come upon you, Mr. Jarman."
"That comes well from you!" retorted Eustace, ironically. "However, here is a piece of paper and a pencil. Write down the address of Balkis while I talk to your daughter."
Mrs. Burl obeyed with sighs and sobs, but seemed glad to be let off so easily. Tilly looked up alertly.
"Wotever 'ave you to say to me?" she asked, with wonder expressed on her wizened face.
"This," said Eustace, sharply. "At the inquest you said that all the windows and doors were bolted. You know that one of the front windows was open."
Tilly began to whimper in her turn. "I was afraid of Mrs. Betts," she cried. "She's such a 'ard woman, and would 'ave given me beans, if she'd found as I'd gone out leaving the winder ajar."
"Then the window was open?"
"Yes, sir. The right-'and winder, but the blind was down."
"That wouldn't keep out anyone. Have you any idea who got in and murdered Mr. Starth?"
"Why, sir"--Tilly's eyes opened widely--"didn't that yeller-'aired--"
"No, he didn't, and you know he didn't."
"S'elp me, sir, I never--"
"You know more than you said at the inquest," said Eustace. "Tilly," interpolated her mother in severe tones, having written the address, "tell all. It's the least we can do to this kind gentleman after the way we've treated him."
"You needn't blame Tilly," said Eustace, drily. "You are in fault, not she. Come now"--to Tilly--"do you suspect anyone?"
"No," said Tilly, defiantly. "I don't!"
Eustace thought for a moment. Then he took out a sovereign, and tossed it to Mrs. Burl, "Go and get the box," he said, "and call a cab. I'll speak with Tilly alone."
Mrs. Burl, accustomed to obey Eustace, went out at once, with a final recommendation to Tilly to tell all.
"Now then," said Jarman, when alone with the small servant. "Did you pick up anything?"
"Yes," said Tilly, in a frightened voice, and fished in the pocket of her blue dress. "This and this. One was in the kitchen, the ribbon, and t'other was on the sitting-room floor."
The object found on the sitting-room floor was the invitation sent by Starth to Lancaster asking him to call. Probably Starth, for the furtherance of the plot, had taken it out of Frank's pocket when he lay insensible, intending to destroy it, but had forgotten to do so. It must have lain unnoticed on the floor till picked up by Tilly. "And you found this before the police came?"
"Yes, sir. I should have told 'em, but I was that scared as I didn't."
"You did very wrong," said Eustace, severely. "The coroner insisted that the deceased did not ask Lancaster to see him, and this is the proof that he did. What about the ribbon?"
"I found it in the kitchen," said Tilly, in a subdued voice. "It is a tarting ribbon, and I thought it pretty."
"Have you worn it?"
"No, sir, and I ain't told anyone of it."
"I'll take charge of these," said Eustace, putting the articles into his pocket. "Say nothing about them. Now, did you find the window as you left it when you returned?"
"No," whimpered Tilly. "When I went in to lock it for the night it wos close shut and locked."
"Did Mrs. Betts do that?"
"No. She weren't in the room."
"Observe," said Eustace, "how foolish you have been not to state this. The person who killed Starth must have entered by the window, and have locked it when within. He afterwards left by the door."
"She couldn't have got in through the winder."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, sir," said Tilly, with hesitation, "that tarting ribbon wos worn by a woman, as it ain't a necktie."
Eustace was also of this opinion after some reflection, and wondered if Starth could have been killed by a woman. He asked Tilly several other questions, but could learn nothing new from her. Then, having taken possession of the address--that written by his former housekeeper--he left the house. The last he saw of Mrs. Burl, she and Tilly were struggling with Mrs. Betts for the possession of a very small green trunk, and the waiting cabman was applauding the fight. Evidently some new trouble in connection with the three days' notice was taking place.
However, Eustace had more serious things to think of, and washed his hands completely of Mrs. Burl, after her ungrateful behaviour. He lost no time in taking the Underground to the City, and thence departed for the Docks. After a dull journey he repaired to the address mentioned in the paper. It was a certain number in a narrow lane which led down to the water's edge. On the right-hand side of this Eustace found a respectable-looking house, painted a spotless white, and with green shutters. It would not have disgraced a new suburb. The doorstep was also white, and the brass knocker polished to a painful brilliancy. Amidst all the other frowsy houses that of Balkis looked fresh and clean and genteel.
The door was opened by a lean Chinaman dressed in blue. He made no remark, but conducted Eustace into a room furnished in the Chinese manner. Jarman was left alone for a few minutes, then a huge negress entered the room, and he recognised her as Balkis from the picture. It was not her looks that made him start but her garb. She was dressed in a brilliant tartan gown, and the ribbon picked up in the Sand Lane house by Tilly was of the same pattern.
For a moment or two Eustace and the negress eyed one another. He was admiring her shapely form and stately bearing. Although black, she was comely, and in spite of the character given to her by Miss Cork, _alias_ Mrs. Burl, looked a good-natured creature in the main, although Jarman granted that she could be furious when aroused. On the evidence of the tartan ribbon, he wondered if she had been lurking in Mrs. Betts's kitchen on that fatal day, and whether she had killed the man she professed to love.
On her side Balkis was--as the Americans put it--sizing up her visitor. Her customers were for the most part Lascars, Malays, Chinamen, and sailors. But occasionally a gentleman from the West End would come to her respectable house to smoke a sly pipe of opium. Some even came to gamble, and Balkis was wondering if this well-looking man was a smoker or a gambler. She waited for him to speak, being shrewd and not caring to venture an opinion until she knew precisely what his business was.
"Do you know an old man called Tamaroo?" asked Eustace, suddenly.
Balkis looked at him serenely. "I never heard of him," she said.
Jarman noticed that she spoke almost as well as Tamaroo himself, and wondered that, within so short a space of time, he should come into contact with two educated members of the African race.
Evidently she was on her guard, so Eustace tried another shot.
"I was directed to this house by Mrs. Burl," he said.
This time Balkis showed emotion, and, to speak truly, became rather ferocious.
"She's a bad woman. An ungrateful woman! I saved her and her child from starving, and she--"
"She threatened to betray you," finished Jarman, serenely.
Balkis stared, and looked still more unpleasant. "There is nothing wrong that she could say. If you belong to the police you've wasted your time. I am quite respectable."
"Even to keeping those secret gambling-rooms?"
"What!" She glared at him like a tigress. "Burl told you that, did she, and after my telling her where to find Tilly?"
"After taking away Tilly from her for years," said Jarman, calmly.
"You know a great deal of what does not concern you," said Balkis, placing her hands on her hips, "and if you've come to threaten, I am quite able to defend myself. There's no gambling here, and no secret rooms. If you want a clean mat and a pipe you can have it. I have never been in trouble with the law yet."
Eustace produced the piece of ribbon. "Do you know where I found this?" he asked, dangling it between finger and thumb.
"You bought it, I suppose," she said quietly.
Eustace shook his head. "Observe, it is of the same pattern as your dress--as the ribbon you wear round your neck."
"What's that to do with me?"
"Simply this. It belongs to you, and was lost in a house in Sand Lane, Kensington, where a--"
Balkis made a step towards him, and her big eyes rolled savagely. "Why are you talking like this?" she asked hoarsely.
"If you know Tamaroo he will tell you."
"Tell me yourself, mister."
"There's no reason why I should not. I have come here for certain information, and I don't go away till I get it."
"Information about what?" she demanded unpleasantly.
"About certain people whom you know. Captain Berry, his niece, Tamaroo, and Lancaster."
"Lancaster--the wretch who murdered my Walter!" cried Balkis, with a tragic air. "See here, mister, I have men below--foreign men, who carry knives. At a word from me they'd cut your tongue out."
"At the risk of having a hole drilled through them," said Eustace.
Balkis seemed disconcerted, as she apparently did not expect that he would be armed. "Who are you--your name?"
"Eustace Jarman."
To his surprise Balkis made a clutch at his hand, and shook it warmly. "Why didn't you say so before? Where do you live?"
"In Essex--at Wargrove."
"Who had you for housekeeper?"
"Miss Cork, who now is Mrs. Burl."
Balkis clapped her huge hands. "You're the right man. I expected you would come and see me."
"You expected me?"
"Yes. Tamaroo told me you would come, sooner or later. And then I heard of you in 'Frisco. Mrs. Anchor! Eh?" said Balkis, archly.
"Oh, so you don't come from Zanzibar?"
"Who said I did?"
"Walter Starth told Lancaster."
The face of the negress grew sad. "Yes, I told Walter that, for--for reasons with which you have nothing to do. Well, what do you come to me for, Mr. Jarman?"
"To see if you are the friend or the enemy of Berry?"
"I am neither the one nor the other," she said frankly. "I knew him in San Francisco, and in Jamaica. He is a sailor, and found me out through following my Walter."
"Why did he follow him?"
"I can't tell you that yet," she said suspiciously. "Walter came here to smoke. He was fond of a pipe. He met Captain Berry up West, and Berry followed him here. Then we recognised one another, and good old Banjo often came here to smoke a pipe. But why do you ask these questions?"
Eustace reflected. She appeared to be frank, and certainly did not side with Berry to any great extent. He thought it best to trust her, for even if she made use of the information he gave her it would not benefit her in any way.
"You loved Walter Starth?" asked Eustace.
The big negress, who had been standing, dropped into a chair.
"With all my soul!" she said vehemently. "Ah, you think because I am black that I have no feelings. But I did love him. He was going to marry me--yes. I am rich, and I could have bought him."
"You certainly gave him your photograph," said Jarman; "but if you come from America, how did you write those Arabic words?"
"I did not. It was a Malay who wrote them for me. I wanted Walter to think that I came from Zanzibar. I did not want him to know anything about San Francisco."
"Why not?"
"I sha'n't tell you. I have my own secrets. Again I ask why you question me in this way?"
"Because I am a friend of Lancaster's, and I want to prove his innocence."
"He is not innocent!" cried Balkis, with a lowering brow. "He killed my Walter. Tamaroo says he did not, and I have not made up my mind to harm him yet."
"Harm who--Tamaroo?"
"No; the man Lancaster. I can get rid of him in my own way."
"I see. You have something to do with Obi."
Balkis shuddered, and her face turned grey. "Hush! Say not that dread name," she said, looking round fearfully. "Why do you, a white man, talk of Obi? You are not of us--you know nothing of the fetish."
"No; but I have travelled in the West Indies. You know how to prepare the poisons that are used in connection with Obi"--again the negress shuddered--"so you propose to get rid of Lancaster by giving him poison. Well, that is better than being hanged. But how are you going to get Lancaster here? He has disappeared."
"I know how to get him when I want," said Balkis, sulkily. "Tamaroo is his friend, and Tamaroo also loves the fetish."
"Not to such an extent as to make Lancaster over to you for you to practise your devilish arts on him," said Eustace, indignantly. "Or do you intend to put him into your secret rooms, and get rid of him as you would rid yourself of the police did they raid the place?"
"Burl again!" said the woman, with a snarl, and showing a magnificent set of white teeth. "She told you a lot. If I get her here again she will have the chance of seeing how I can rid myself of those I do not like." She paused, then said abruptly: "There are no rooms."
"That means you don't trust me yet," said Jarman, feeling in his pocket. He determined as a last resource to make use of the letter written by Fairy Fan. For this moment had he procured it. "Did Starth love you?" he asked, looking at her.
"Yes. He was going to marry me. But he was killed, and I shall avenge his death. If Lancaster killed him Lancaster shall die."
Jarman spoke plainly. "Do you know Miss Berry? Well, she also loved Starth, and he promised to marry her."
Balkis gave a yell like that of an enraged lioness. "It is not true--not true," she said, in guttural tones. "A lie! A lie! A lie!" She danced and stamped as she reiterated the word. "He loved me, and me only! He said so! He was to marry me."
"He was to marry Miss Berry. Here is the proof," and Eustace handed her the letter, which she snatched from him eagerly.
To arouse the jealousy of Balkis had he got this letter written, and had put it to a use which Fairy Fan never expected, or she certainly would not have written it. Eustace guessed that a semi-civilised creature like Balkis would be insanely jealous, and that if she found the man she loved adored another woman would make short work of that woman. Had Balkis been on the side of the Berrys, Jarman hoped to detach her from their interests by means of this letter. But Balkis apparently cared neither one way nor the other. Still, to make her talk more freely, it was worth while trying the experiment. The ruse was successful, for the great black creature after reading the letter went fairly mad.
"She shall die--she shall die!" was her cry, and again she stamped, crushing up the letter in her strong fingers. If Fairy Fan now came within reach of those fingers Eustace thought she would have short shrift. But he was not sorry. The crimes of Mrs. Anchor needed some such punishment.
Suddenly Balkis thrust the letter into her pocket, and seizing Jarman's hand kissed it savagely. "You are my friend. I swear by you! I will do what you want," she said hoarsely.
"Then tell me who killed Starth."
"I cannot--unless it was Lancaster. Tamaroo says no; but, then, he is the friend of Lancaster."
"How did you meet Tamaroo?"
"I knew him in San Francisco. He also is Obi-worshipper. He knew I was here in London, and when he came he visited me. I told him all I knew about Captain Berry."
"Did Tamaroo come after Starth died?"
"No. A week before he died."
Eustace thought. Tamaroo said that he arrived after the death, and in that way explained his inability to find Frank. But it seemed that he was really in town beforehand. "Did Tamaroo know Starth?"
"No," said Balkis. She paused and looked questioningly. "You heard of the Scarlet Bat?" she asked.
"Yes. Tamaroo told me all about it."
"Ah!" Balkis drew a long breath. "Me also he told, and how Berry wished for the money. He learnt that Berry came here, and asked questions. I told him all. When he heard that Berry knew my Walter he said he would go to Walter to hear more of him. I told him the house, and sent that ribbon with Tamaroo so that Walter might know he came from me."
"Oh, then Tamaroo was in the house when the murder was committed?"
Balkis looked queerly at him. "Tamaroo did not kill my Walter," she said. "If he had, I should have killed him." And, although Jarman urged her to say more, she declined to do so.
Then he thought of the likeness remarked upon by Jenny between Mr. Darrel and Balkis. "Do you know a man called Darrel?"
"I do. He comes from Jamaica. Why should I tell you a lie. He is a cousin of mine."
"I thought so," said Jarman, drawing a deep breath.
"Yes. He has our blood in him. He comes here at times, but he never calls me cousin. He thinks himself white, but he has our blood."
"Well, Balkis, you know now how Miss Berry has treated you."
"I shall kill her!" said Balkis, gnashing her splendid teeth; "and I know how to kill her painfully."
Jarman shuddered, so ferociously did she make this speech. He thought he would not like to offend this creature. "And you will help me to save Lancaster," he said eagerly--"to save him and baffle the Berrys?"
"I do not know," she said sullenly, and heaved herself up from the chair. "If he is innocent he shall not die. If not, he shall die. Come!"
"Where will you take me?" asked Eustace, following her to the door, but feeling in his hip pocket that his revolver was loose.
"To my secret rooms," said Balkis, looking back with a grin.
"Ah, then Mrs. Burl is right. You have secret rooms."
Balkis nodded, and led him down a long passage.
"And I can kill in them," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "But not you. You are my friend." She grinned again. "I shall let you see that woman die if you like."
Jarman shuddered again at the venomous tone, and in spite of his courage felt a trifle nervous. However, he had his revolver, and, if it came to the worst, resolved to fight. Now that he had launched himself into the adventure he was resolved to carry it through. He had promised Mildred to save Frank, and this was the only way to do it. Balkis could tell the truth, and he wished her to do so.
The negress led him to a trap door, and they descended to find themselves in a long stone passage. At the end of it was an iron door, which she opened. Eustace was conscious of a blaze of light, and in the glare saw--of all people--Tamaroo and Frank Lancaster!