Maunders recognised his peril in a moment and immediately turned to retreat. But Vernon was too quick for him and leaped between him and the door. When it was closed and Vernon had his back against it Maunders glanced desperately at the one window of the room. Here Colonel Towton, now on his feet, barred his way, so there was nothing for it but to surrender to a strength he could not fight against. With extraordinary self-control the scamp pulled himself together and demanded in a surly tone what his captors meant by behaving towards him in this way.
"Sit down," said Vernon without deigning to reply directly; "you have to explain matters before you leave this room."
"I have nothing to explain," muttered Maunders doggedly, but nevertheless judged it wise to obey. "You had better take care what you are about."
"I'll take care of myself and of you also," replied Vernon composedly.
"I ask you, Colonel Towton, if this is the way for one gentleman to treat another?" demanded the trapped rogue.
"Two gentlemen," corrected the Colonel coldly, "who are dealing with a confounded scoundrel."
"I'll make you pay for those words," threatened Maunders, biting his lips.
"I don't recognise your right to demand satisfaction as I only deal with gentlemen. Mr. Vernon and myself have run you to earth, and----"
"How did you find out that I was here?" interrupted Maunders curiously.
"We did not expect to find you here," said Vernon, still with his back to the door and keeping a watchful eye on his former friend. "We came down on other business, connected with Mr. Hest."
"With Hest?" Maunders appeared perturbed.
"What do you know about him?" asked Towton sharply, and noticing the change of expression.
"I know nothing, save that he is stopping here."
"And how do you come to be in this house?"
"That's my business," retorted Maunders doggedly. "Your business is our business," interposed Vernon quietly.
"I fail to see that."
"You fail to see a good many things; but don't be afraid, I shall make everything clear to you in good time."
"Are you here as my old school friend?" said Maunders, whining sentimentally, "or as Nemo, the detective?"
"You will soon learn. But of one thing you may be certain, that I am no friend of yours. Can you wonder at it, seeing what I discovered yesterday?"
"I can explain everything."
"Good! Colonel Towton and I await your explanation."
Maunders again cast a look at door and window and again saw that there was no hope of escape. "What do you wish to know?" was his sullen request.
"In the first place, how you come to be here."
"That's easy. I started on Saturday to go down to Yorkshire, as I told you how I intended to go. But news came that my aunt was ill and wished to see me at once. I turned back at the station and went to Hampstead. Then I met Hest at the bazaar yesterday----"
"Does he know that you are Diabella?" interrupted Vernon quickly.
"No, he doesn't. I met him before I went into the tent to do business. He asked me why I had not gone to Yorkshire, and when I explained he asked me down here. I came last night and remained the night. It's all fair, square, and above-board with me."
"That's a lie," said Vernon impulsively, "and Hest told me another one at the bazaar. He could not have seen you between the time I parted from him and came to you when you were masquerading as Diabella, yet he told me that he had received a letter from his sister saying you were in Yorkshire. And you didn't come down here, I take it, to talk Shakespeare and musical glasses. There is something between you and this man Hest, and between you and Professor Gail, no doubt."
Maunders rose suddenly and spoke with great earnestness. "I assure you that Gail knows nothing more than that Hest asked me to stay as his guest. He will be here soon, and I beg of you to say nothing to him of what you have discovered. I shall explain everything to your satisfaction before you leave this house."
"On that condition," said Vernon, making a sign that Towton should be silent, "we will say nothing to the Professor. I believe I hear footsteps, so no doubt he is coming." Vernon moved away from the door. "If you try to escape, Maunders, I'll break your leg with a bullet," and he pulled out a neat revolver which he kept concealed in his hip pocket.
"Rather melodramatic," sneered Maunders with a shrug; "However, you need not be afraid. I'll sit here quietly enough."
"You have more cause to be afraid than I have. Hush! Here is the Professor coming," and as he spoke the door opened to admit the old actor. "Mr. Maunders has just come in to keep us company while we wait for Mr. Hest," said Vernon in an easy tone.
"Yes," said Maunders, who by this time had recovered his composure. "We are old friends and have much to talk about, so don't let us keep you from your afternoon sleep, Professor."
"If you will not think me lacking in courtesy," said Gail in his stately manner, "I shall certainly retire. The brain," he tapped his forehead, "needs rest, and I have invariably found that sleep, as Shakespeare says, 'knits up the ravelled sleeve of care.' Wil you have any refreshment, gentlemen?"
"No, thank you," replied Vernon politely; "but it is growing dark, so perhaps you will order lights."
"Yonder lamp is ready for use," said the Professor, pointing to the corner near the fireplace, "and certainly it is growing unusually dark, although it is scarcely five o'clock. A fog is descending on the verdant earth." He went to the window and looked out. "Yes, a dense fog. Have you noted, Mr. Maunders, how rapidly these autumnal fogs descend on London?"
"Yes. But I should have thought that you were too far away to have them here," replied Maunders in an easy conversational tone, which did great credit to his powers of self-control. "No, sir; no. The fuliginous haze does not spare even our rural suburb, if I may so term it." He swept aside the curtain with a tragic gesture. "Mark how the cloudy mists, darkened with smoke, swallow up house after house and road after road; mark how a brown pall is drawn over the fair green looks of earth and how the----"
"One would have to be in a balloon to see all that," said Maunders rudely. "I hope you won't mind, Professor, but I have private business to discuss with my friends here. If Mr. Hest comes in, please tell him I shall see him in his bedroom as soon as my friends go."
"Do nothing of the sort, Professor," snapped the Colonel. "I have come here to see Mr. Hest, and he must meet me in this room."
But the speech of Maunders had offended the touchy old actor. "I have nothing to do with these things," he said, stalking towards the door, "and, in the good old English fashion, my guests are at liberty to act as they please. Mr. Hest need be told nothing, and when he returns he will certainly enter this room, as is his custom."
"But----" began Maunders, only to be cut short by the indignant Professor.
"You are not my guest, sir, but the guest of Mr. Hest," he said in his deepest tones, "and you have told me to leave my own room. These manners are suited to the Hyperboreans of the Far North."
"I wish to explain----"
"Explain nothing, sir," cried Gail in the ponderous manner of Dr. Samuel Johnson. "You may have a front like Mars to threaten and command, but I am no menial to be so hectored." He swept an imaginary mantle over his left shoulder and mouthed blank verse:
"We must not stintOur necessary actions in the fearTo cope malicious censurers."
"Therefore," ended Mr. Gail, returning to prose, "I shall retire to my couch, and so good-day to one and all."
When he had made his exit, for it could scarcely be said that he took his departure in a conventional manner, Maunders gave vent to a weak, tittering laugh, doubtless to cloak the real nervousness he felt. "The old fool," he observed with his characteristic shrug.
"Let us hope you will not prove to be a young one by withholding from us the truth of this shady business you have been engaged in," said Colonel Towton in a caustic manner, for his sympathies were with the retired actor.
"Thank you, I don't wish to receive any compliments," sneered Maunders, "and, for heaven's sake, let us get this business over at once. I have more to do than to explain my private affairs to interlopers."
Vernon laughed as he saw that under his air of bravado Maunders was intensely anxious about his position. "That cock won't fight," he said coolly. "You must be aware that you are in a very dangerous position."
"I am aware of nothing of the sort. I can justify myself----"
"Do so, as regards your masquerading."
"Is it a crime to earn an honest livelihood?"
"Honest!" said Towton with scorn, "but let that pass."
"Fortune-telling is as honest as your detective business," said Maunders insolently to Vernon. "I am Diabella. Why should I deny it?"
"You can't, or you would. But to dress up as a woman----"
"I didn't," denied Maunders with a scowl. "I simply wore those Egyptian robes over my ordinary clothes and the waxen mask to conceal my face. Also, all that rotten paraphernalia seems to be necessary to the business."
"I daresay, to deceive people," said Vernon drily. "Why did you act in this way, may I ask?"
"Because I couldn't get my mother to allow me sufficient money to live on."
"I thought that Mrs. Bedge was your aunt?" put in the Colonel quickly.
"So she is, but I am likewise her adopted son. She kept me short, and I had to earn my money somehow. For three years I have masqueraded as Diabella, and, although I don't want it known, I don't mind if you do tell, as no one can say a word against me."
"I can," said Towton grimly. "You employed your servant to strangle me."
Maunders shook his head violently. "I did nothing of the sort. Hokar----"
"Is that the native's name?" interposed Vernon suddenly.
"Yes. I had two native servants. Hokar and Bahadur, and they are both devoted to me. When you, Colonel, tried to pull off my mask naturally Hokar intervened to prevent your doing so. In the same way, Vernon, he punished you for using violence towards me. And I prevented the faithful fellow from strangling you both, so you have your lives to thank me for."
"Why didn't you prevent him from strangling Dimsdale?" asked Towton.
"I swear that Hokar had nothing to do with that murder, nor had I."
"Of course, you would say that for your own safety," said Vernon contemptuously; "but how was it that you became possessed of Dimsdale's secret?"
Maunders hesitated. "I am not bound to answer that," he said defiantly.
"If you don't answer me you will answer Drench," threatened Vernon firmly.
"Drench? You would not dare to bring him into this matter?"
"Why not? Dimsdale was blackmailed on account of a certain secret, and, because he would not pay, perished by violence. You know this secret, so the inference is that you----"
"That I ordered him to be strangled?" finished Maunders calmly. "How can that be when Hokar was never near Dimsdale's bungalow in his life, and certainly, as I was with Miss Hest nearly all the evening, I could not have committed the murder myself."
"That remains to be proved," rejoined Vernon, suppressing what Miss Hest had told him of the young man's movements on the fatal night. "And even presuming you are innocent of the actual crime, and that Hokar was not near the house, The Spider, who came to blackmail, must have learned from you the secret which he threatened to disclose."
Maunders was silent for a moment. "You can't prove that I knew about this secret," he said doggedly.
"Colonel Towton can swear that he heard it from Diabella, and I can prove that you are the fortune-teller. These facts only admit of one interpretation, Maunders. Either you are an accomplice of The Spider or you are The Spider himself."
"It's a lie, it's an infernal lie," cried Maunders greatly agitated.
"It's the truth, and you know it. Your face reveals the truth."
"How can you tell that when we are nearly in darkness with this fog?" asked Maunders between his teeth.
"I can see well enough, and the darkness is easily remedied. Colonel, will you please light the lamp while I keep an eye on our friend here."
Maunders cursed his former schoolfellow ardently, while Towton quietly lighted the tall lamp which stood in the corner. The light soon glowed through a rosy shade, adorned in a tawdry manner with artificial flowers, and Vernon stepped up to Maunders. The scamp met his scrutiny unflinchingly, and displayed a courage worthy of a better cause. He was pale with apprehension, for he well knew, in spite of his bravado, that he was in a tight place. But the crimson hue of the light filtering through the shade threw a delicate glow on his finely-cut face. Facing the two gentlemen, who knew him past all denial to be a scoundrel, he looked as handsome a lad as ever stepped in shoe-leather. It seemed a terrible pity that so fair an outside should mask such internal evil. Something of this sort occurred to Vernon as he stepped back with a sigh.
"I wish you were as decent a fellow as you look," he said in a regretful voice. "In heaven's name, Maunders, why can't you be an honest man? You have a handsome face, a fine figure, you have had the best education England can afford, and you hold a good position in the social world. Finally, your aunt, Mrs. Bedge, who adopted you as her son, loves you dearly, and if you have not sufficient self-respect to keep straight for your own sake you might behave like an honest gentleman for hers."
Maunders might have been moved by this discourse, or he might not. At all events, he showed little signs of feeling on his classic face. "It's all very well your talking," he said sullenly and looking down, a trifle ashamed, if indeed he could be said to display any emotion, "but I have been brought up to live like a prince. I have the tastes of a duke and the income of a pauper, so I must gratify my fancies somehow. I am no more proud of having had to take to fortune-telling for my bread and butter than you are in setting up as a private detective. Neither business is respectable, but the law can say nothing to you or me."
"Nothing to me, certainly," Vernon assured him coldly, "since I am, and always have been, on the side of justice. Your fortune-telling may be innocent enough in the main, since you prefer wringing money from silly people instead of taking up a good business. But it's your connection with The Spider that is dangerous to you."
"I am not The Spider, and I have no connection with the beast."
"In that case how comes it that The Spider offers to place Lady Corsoon in possession of her niece's fortune on condition that she permits _you_ to marry Miss Corsoon?"
The Colonel uttered an ejaculation of mingled wrath and horror, and Maunders grew a shade paler. "Is that true?" Towton demanded with a look of loathing at Maunders and then an inquiring glance at Vernon.
"Perfectly true," was the response. "I did not intend to say anything to you, Colonel, since the affair is a private one of Lady Corsoon's. But it seems necessary to be frank even at the risk of exposing a lady's secrets, much as I hate to do so. Lady Corsoon received an offer from The Spider to return certain jewels which she pawned to pay her bridge losses, and which he obtained possession of by means of forged pawntickets, on condition that she should pay one thousand pounds. Afterwards another letter was received saying that he would take ten thousand pounds--a single year's income of Miss Dimsdale's--and would place Lady Corsoon in possession of the fortune. She was to pay the money and consent to the marriage of our friend here with Miss Corsoon. How do you explain this interest which The Spider takes in you, Maunders, if you don't know him?"
The culprit moistened his dry lips and replied with insolent boldness: "I wrote that letter to Lady Corsoon myself--that is, the second letter. I know nothing about the first."
"Then you are The Spider?" cried Towton fiercely.
"No. Don't run your head against a wall," retorted Maunders coolly, and fighting for every inch of the disputed ground. "Lady Corsoon told me about the first letter and the threat. I advised her to consult Vernon in his character of Nemo, and did him a good turn."
"And yourself a better," said Vernon scornfully. "You hoped that Lady Corsoon on learning my employment would forbid me to think of her daughter."
"Yes, I did. However, I sent her to you to do business. Then I thought as she was committed so far with The Spider that there would be no harm in my trying to get her on my side so that I might marry Lucy. I knew that Ida was not entitled to the fortune, as there was no will and she was not old Dimsdale's daughter. I knew also that Lady Corsoon was kept short by her husband and would like to have her own money, if only to pay The Spider and recover the jewels so as to hide her fault from Sir Julius. For this reason I wrote the letter asking that Lady Corsoon should aid me to marry her daughter."
"And you asked for ten thousand pounds also," said Towton wrathfully.
"Only one year's income of the Dimsdale investments," retorted Maunders with great coolness; "a man must have some money for his honeymoon."
"And when Lady Corsoon died you guessed that your wife--which she never will be, you can rest assured--would inherit the whole Dimsdale fortune?"
"Quite so. I thought of everything. I suppose Lady Corsoon showed you the second letter as well as the first in your character of Nemo?"
"You are correct," replied Vernon with great composure, "and I noted that the second letter, like the first, was signed with the ideograph of The Spider."
"Naturally, it would be," said Maunders with a shrug. "I easily had an india-rubber stamp made. The thing, if done, had to be well done."
"You are a blackguard," said Colonel Towton, much disgusted. "And may I ask," requested Vernon with irony, "how many other people you have blackmailed by using this stamp?"
"None; nor did I blackmail Lady Corsoon. I simply made a suggestion."
"On the threat of telling her husband about her gambling and sale of the family jewels."
"The Spider used that argument first," said Maunders sullenly; "I simply endorsed it."
"I heartily believe that you are the scoundrel himself," snapped Towton.
"I swear I am not. Why, even my mother was blackmailed--my adopted mother, that is--on the plea that she is my _real_ mother. Would I have done such a thing as that?
"You would do anything to gain your own ends," said Vernon coldly, "always provided your villainy was not discovered."
Maunders grew furiously scarlet. "At least I would have spared my aunt. Mrs. Bedge would give me her last sixpence in my character as her adopted son. There was no need for me to attempt blackmail."
"Perhaps there was not. But all this does not explain how you came to communicate the secret of Dimsdale to The Spider."
"I didn't communicate it, and how he managed to learn it I can't say."
"How did you become possessed of it?" asked Towton very directly.
"I shan't tell you. And I'm not going to be ragged any longer. If I'd guessed for one moment that you were in this house I would not have put in an appearance."
"I can well believe that," said Vernon coolly.
"It's not that I'm afraid," Maunders hastily assured him. "As Diabella I have done nothing to which the law can take exception. The assaults on you and the Colonel were brought about by your own damned meddling and by the fidelity of Hokar. But I have given up playing Diabella----"
"Because you feared lest we should have you arrested," said Towton shrewdly.
"No. Had I been afraid I should never have appeared at the bazaar."
"Oh, yes, you would. You pretended to leave London so as to provide an _alibi_ in case of danger," said Vernon quietly, "and you did not think that Colonel Towton would be at the bazaar. Seeing me didn't matter, as you did not know that Towton and myself were working together. And when I think of the infernal rubbish you told me----"
"It was your own fault," said Maunders sulkily, "and I've had enough of this so, I'm off."
He moved towards the door, but Towton sprang forward and caught his arm. "If you leave this room you will be handed over to the police," he declared.
"He will be handed over in any case," said Vernon decisively.
Maunders turned ghastly pale and his knees shook. He was beginning to lose the courage which had carried him so far successfully. "Vernon, you would not disgrace your old friend," he pleaded piteously.
"You are no friend of mine," was the stern reply, "and your sole chance of escape from arrest is to reveal how you learned this secret of Dimsdale's."
"If I tell it will you let me leave this house free?"
"No, I shan't. I intend to keep an eye on you until this mystery of The Spider is cleared up. You are his jackal."
"I am not; I know nothing. I refuse to speak."
"Colonel, go out and fetch a policeman."
"No! No! No! No!" almost shrieked the wretched man, and flung himself on his knees. "Arthur, don't, don't. I swear I am innocent. I know nothing of Dimsdale's murder."
"Stand up, you cur, and speak out," said Vernon, more enraged by this exhibition of weakness than he had been by the man's insolence. "How did you learn this secret of Dimsdale's? Is it true or a lie?"
"It is true. It is true. I swear it is true. Oh, don't call in the police."
Maunders still grovelled and clung to the knees of Vernon with such force that the young man could not get away. Outside, the fog had rolled right up to the single window of the apartment, and the livid look of the atmosphere suited the situation much better than did the calm, rosy light of the lamp. Near the door knelt Maunders, weeping piteously and begging that the police might not be called in. Vernon stood silent, but Towton gave vent to an oath at the unmanly demeanour of the detected scoundrel.
"Who told you the secret?" he demanded fiercely. "I insist upon knowing, and if you don't tell I'll call in the police myself. A cur such as you are should be under lock and key."
"Come, Maunders," said Vernon sternly, "who told you?"
"Miss Jewin. She knew Dimsdale in India and Burmah," snuffled the kneeling man, desperately afraid.
"Who is Miss Jewin?"
"Hest's housekeeper at Gerby----"
"What!" Both men uttered the ejaculation simultaneously and looked at one another. Then ensued a silence, while the fog closed in thicker and darker, and only the weeping of Maunders could be heard. Suddenly from the hall came the sound of the door opening, and then a firm footstep. Maunders gave a wild cry and clung vehemently to Vernon's legs.
"It's Hest! It's Hest! He'll kill me for telling."
"Then Hest is The----"
"Yes! Yes! He's The Spider and----"
The door was flung open as the footsteps paused, and Francis Hest, wrapped in a heavy overcoat, stood on the threshold smiling. Maunders beat the ground with his hands and crawled to the newcomer's feet.
"I couldn't help it; I couldn't help it. I had to tell you were----"
"The Spider," cried Vernon, whipping out his revolver. "I arrest you in----"
He got no further. At the words of Maunders the villain's face had changed with the rapidity of lightning from smiles to desperate anger. He cast a furious look on his accomplice then suddenly lowered his head so as to get under the line of fire. The next moment Vernon felt Hest charge him head downward in the stomach. The revolver shot harmlessly to the roof, while the young man, taken by surprise, was dashed against the Colonel. Both men fell in a confused heap.
"Follow! Follow, you devil!" cried Hest kicking Maunders, still on his knees, and then he rushed out of the door. Maunders leaped up to race for his liberty and closed the door behind him. When the Colonel and Vernon got on their feet again they rushed into the hall to find it empty. The front door had crashed to with a noise like thunder, and they heard it being locked on the outside, to the accompaniment of a triumphal laugh.
"We've lost them," cried Vernon, tugging vainly at the door. "They'll get away easily in the fog."
While Vernon desperately tried to wrench open the front door Towton, with the quick foresight of an old soldier, ran back into the drawing-room and lifted the window sash. In less than two minutes he was outside and hastened to release his companion. Luckily, in his hurry Hest had been unable to extract the key from the lock, so a swift turn of the wrist soon removed the barrier. Vernon and the Colonel set off hot-footed in pursuit of the fugitives, and as they plunged into the fog caught a glimpse of Gail and his wife hurrying into the hall with scared faces, doubtless attracted by the ominous sound of the pistol-shot. But there was no time to explain as every moment was of value, and the two men put their hearts into the chase.
The sudden autumnal fog which had so unexpectedly descended had turned the atmosphere to thick wool, so that it was difficult to breathe, let alone to see. On all sides the gloomy mists shut in the prospect, and after racing vaguely for some minutes down the silent road, the pursuers halted by mutual consent to listen for possible flying footsteps. Not a sound struck on their ears; it might have been the middle of the night, so dense was the darkness and so silent the whole neighbourhood. They could not tell in which direction the two scoundrels had fled, and on the face of it pursuit was absolutely useless.
"We might make for the railway station," suggested the Colonel; "They may have gone there."
Vernon shook his head. "I doubt it. Maunders is too cunning and Hest too desperate to think of taking the train to Waterloo. But, in any case, I'll send a wire to the stationmaster asking him to detain them. Maunders can be recognised from having no hat."
"There are many men who wear no hat nowadays," said Towton dismally, "it is not a distinguishing mark worth much. But how the dickens are we to find a telegraph office in this fog?"
Vernon looked around and noted a weak flare of light illuminating the darkness. Followed by his companion, he walked towards it and found that it came from the windows of a grocer's shop at the corner of the road. Entering quickly, he asked for the nearest telegraph office, and learned to his great satisfaction that it was at the chemist's two or three doors down. The worthy grocer looked somewhat alarmed at the entrance of two gentlemen without hats, for, in their haste, Vernon and his friend had forgotten to take them. But they gave the tradesmen no time to ask questions, and by closely skirting the shops round the corner managed to find that of the chemist. Here Vernon sent a wire to the stationmaster at Waterloo instructing him to detain two men, one dark and one fair, without a hat, who might possibly arrive by an early train. He added a meagre description of their dress, so that the telegram proved to be somewhat lengthy.
"But I fear it is useless," said Vernon as they left the shop and had handed the wire to the startled chemist. "They won't take the train, I'm certain, and even if they do my description is not clear enough, unless the Waterloo stationmaster happens to be singularly intelligent."
"We can but hope for the best, and we have done all we can," said Towton in a decided tone. "What's to be done now?"
"We must return to Siddons Villa, both to get our hats and to see Gail."
"How are we to retrace our steps in this fog?"
"Petterby Road is just round the corner, and by keeping to the railings of the gardens we are bound to find the house."
It was as Vernon said. They had raced in a straight line down to the grocer's shop at the corner and had not left Petterby Road until they went to the telegraph office. On recovering the bearings of the first shop they carefully felt their way up the road, reading on every gate the designation of each house. In this way, and after some ten or twelve minutes had elapsed, they managed to strike Siddons Villa and again found themselves at the front door. It was closed, as also was the window.
"I hope Gail has not run away also," said Vernon ringing the bell.
"Do you suspect he has anything to do with the business?"
"Who knows? On the face of it he looks innocent, and Maunders certainly swore that the old man was ignorant. But Maunders is a liar and----"
Here the door was cautiously opened, and the white face of Professor Gail became visible. "Who is there?" he asked in a trembling voice.
"Mr. Vernon and Colonel Towton," said the latter gentleman; "we have returned to get our hats and to explain."
"You won't fire any more pistols? My wife is almost fainting, and I don't like this sort of business. What does it----"
"Open the door, open the door!" cried the Colonel testily; "you shall have a full explanation."
Mr. Gail still seemed reluctant, as he apparently took them for robbers and dangerous rogues, so Vernon, losing patience, forced the door back and the old actor along with it. They faced the Professor in the hall and saw that he was holding an old-fashioned blunderbuss--probably a stage property used in "The Miller and His Men" and other out-of-date plays. In the distance, and sheltering herself behind her husband, was Mrs. Gail grasping a poker in her trembling hand. The pair seemed to be thoroughly frightened, and, considering the circumstances, it was small wonder that they were.
"I have sent Maria for a policeman," quavered Mrs. Gail, "and both my husband and myself are armed."
"I hope Maria won't lose herself in the fog," said Vernon good-humouredly, and in spite of his vexation at the escape of The Spider and his jackal.
"In heaven's name, what does it mean?" demanded the Professor somewhat recovering his dignity.
"Come into the drawing-room and we will explain," said Towton with some impatience, for he had small leniency for cowardice; "There's nothing to be afraid of. Mr. Vernon and I are honest men: you have got rid of the villains."
"The villains?" shrieked Mrs. Gail, trembling violently and dropping the poker.
"Maunders and Hest," said Vernon carelessly; "come in."
He preceded his friend and the Gails into the drawing-room, quite certain, from the way in which they had behaved, that they knew nothing of the wicked doings of Hest and Maunders. When the door was closed and everyone was seated Vernon proceeded to examine the actor and actress. The situation, as Professor Gail said afterwards, was highly dramatic.
"You must answer my questions frankly," said Vernon addressing the couple; "if you do not, the police may interfere."
"The police?" shrieked Mrs. Gail, turning as white as chalk.
The Professor silenced her with a gesture and spoke to Vernon with great dignity. "Young man," he said, striving to keep his voice from trembling, "I pay my rates and taxes, my bills to my tradesmen, and my rent for our home. Under these circumstances I cannot see why you should talk of the police."
"I speak of them in connection with what has taken place."
"And you may well do so, young man. To fire a pistol in a private house----"
"That was an accident," Vernon hastened to explain. "My revolver went off when Mr. Hest assaulted me."
"Why should Mr. Hest assault you?" demanded Mrs. Gail, much astonished.
"That's a long story. Tell me," Vernon turned towards the Professor while Towton held his peace and nursed his hat, "what do you know of Maunders?"
"Know of him?" said the amazed Gail, looking thoroughly puzzled. "I know no more than that he is a friend of Mr. Hest's who called last night and who was requested, by Mr. Hest and not by me, to stay the night. I have never set eyes on him before."
"Did Miss Hest ever mention him?"
"Yes, she did," broke in Mrs. Gail, who was listening intently. "She told me that he was a friend of hers in love with Miss Dimsdale, and mentioned that he was the only man she had ever seen handsome enough to play Romeo as Romeo should be played."
Professor Gail nodded his head graciously. "I agree with Miss Hest there," he said gravely; "Mr. Maunders is indeed handsome. But she never told us anything about him, Mr. Vernon, save what my wife has related."
"And Mr. Hest? What do you know of him?"
"Nothing more than that he is the brother of my talented pupil. He came with the message from his sister, who is at her ancestral halls in Yorkshire, to the effect that she would return in a month, or perchance earlier, to fulfil certain engagements which I have procured her. I invited him to stay here during his stay in town."
"Why did you?" asked the Colonel, speaking for the first time. Gail looked embarrassed, but Mrs. Gail spoke for him. "Mr. Hest, we know, is very rich," she said frankly, "and both my husband and myself wish to have a theatre of our own. We thought that if we showed him some hospitality he might finance us. I must say," she added, looking puzzled, "that I wondered that such a rich man was content to accept our humble lodgings instead of going to a swell hotel. But he seems to be easily pleased."
"It was not that, Hettie," said the Professor quickly. "Mr. Hest simply remained here so that he could persuade me to induce my talented pupil to give up reciting, as he dreaded lest she should go on the stage. And she ought to be an actress, in my humble opinion, for her capabilities are of a very high order. As Lady Macbeth, or in any of Sardou's characters, such as La Tosca, Fedora, and the rest, she would produce a sensation."
The speech of both man and wife seemed frank enough, and they appeared to be a couple of simple people devoted to their profession and quite ignorant of evil. Vernon glanced at Towton and saw from the expression of the Colonel's face that he thoroughly believed them. Still, so as to be quite sure of his ground, he asked another question: "Miss Hest as a reciter or an actress may be all that can be desired, but do you and Mrs. Gail like her personally; do you think she is what we call--well--er--straight?"
"Yes," cried the woman forcibly; "Miss Hest is one in a thousand. She is a kind-hearted lady who sympathises with those who struggle."
"Hettie is quite right," said the Professor with dignity. "Many a time has Miss Hest assisted us when tradespeople have worried. I am sure that she would have persuaded her brother to enable us to enter into management in the long run, as she has every confidence in my capabilities."
"And in mine," said Mrs. Gail jealously. "She said that my Emilia in 'Othello' was the best performance she had ever seen. But now, gentlemen," the actress rose to give effect to her words, "may I inquire why you ask these questions, and why you come here to fire pistols in a peaceful home?"
At the beginning it had been in Vernon's mind to tell the whole story right out and to tax the couple with complicity. But they really seemed to be entirely ignorant of Hest's true character, and evidently had only lately met Maunders. He therefore did not think it wise to reveal what he and the Colonel knew lest the Gails should gossip about the matter. And until he had consulted Drench the young man did not desire that this last unusual affair should become public. He therefore shot a warning glance at the Colonel and answered cautiously:
"It is only a private matter, Mrs. Gail, which is not worth explaining. The pistol-shot was an accident."
"But you said that Mr. Maunders and Mr. Hest were villains," she persisted. "Ah, I spoke somewhat harshly, being a trifle excited. They have treated me and my friend here very badly and we came for redress. How their consciences smote them you can judge from the fact of their flight. You will possibly never see them again. But if they do chance to return you must wire to me at once to the Athenian Club, Pall Mall."
"I don't like these hints and suggestions of evil, sir," said Gail, restlessly, "and certainly I should never think of telegraphing to you unless Mr. Maunders and Mr. Hest give me leave. And why, sir, should they not return?"
"Don't seek to know any more, Mr. Gail, but do as you are told," said Vernon in a peremptory tone, "and also it will be wise if you and your wife hold your tongues over what has happened and stop the servant from talking."
"Suppose we don't?" demanded Mrs. Gail aggressively.
"In that case you will get into trouble."
"How dare you--how dare----"
"See here!" Colonel Towton rose angrily. "We have reason to believe that these men are connected with The Spider."
Mrs. Gail shrieked and the Professor turned pale. Both knew that terrible name which was so freely mentioned in the papers. "Do you mean to say----"
"We say nothing," said Vernon sharply, "and my friend here has perhaps said too much. But it is as well that you should know the necessity of keeping silent tongues in your heads."
"We, knowing nothing of these matters, cannot be expected to----"
"I am quite aware that you are innocent of complicity," interrupted Towton, "but you both must promise to be silent until you have leave to speak."
"And if not?"
"Already I have told you that the police will interfere," observed Vernon coldly. "This business is concerned with The Spider, so, for your own sakes, hold your confounded tongues."
The Gails, however, were not so easily commanded. They wished to know how Hest and Maunders were connected with The Spider, and if they were in any way accused of being, as they termed it, "in the know." But the arguments and commands of Towton, together with those of Vernon, gradually induced the worthy couple to listen to reason. In fact, at the end of half an hour both were thoroughly terrified into thinking that their reputation might be ruined were it known that men connected with The Spider had been under their roof. Neither Gail nor his wife were averse to being mentioned in the papers or to securing an advertisement so as to add to their theatrical fame, but the publicity likely to be procured from the late episode was not the sort they desired. They therefore finally agreed to keep silence about the strange interview and the flight of their guests, and also declared that they would make Maria hold her tongue. Nevertheless, their curiosity remained unabated, and Vernon had to promise them that it would some day be satisfied.
"You shall know all when the time comes," he said when taking leave, "but keep silence until the appointed hour lest you get into trouble."
This speech, being somewhat stagey, sounded pleasantly in the ears of the couple, and Towton left the house with his friend, quite satisfied that Professor Gail and his wife and their servant would say nothing of what had taken place. "And now," said the Colonel, "let us grope our way to the station. After we reach town we can see Drench."
Vernon agreed, and by following the line of houses they finally managed, but with some difficulty, to get to the railway. Here they had to wait for a considerable time for a train, as the ordinary traffic was somewhat complicated by fog. It was eight o'clock before they reached Waterloo, and they learned from the stationmaster that nothing had been seen of the two men alluded to in the telegram, although each train and the barrier of the platform it arrived at had been watched by the police. Vernon was not surprised at this intelligence.
"I thought both Hest and Maunders were too clever to risk a wire to Waterloo Station, as they knew I would send it."
"What's to be done now?"
"Let us go to your rooms and send a telegram to Drench at Hampstead asking him to come down."
"The fog is still thick," said Towton as they stepped into a taxi; "perhaps he won't come. Hang it, every possible obstacle seems to be placed in our way. The blackguards will escape."
"Not out of England, at all events," said Vernon grimly. "When we explain everything to Drench he will have all the stations and all the ports watched. We'll catch them sooner or later."
But the young man spoke with more confidence than he actually felt, as he knew that Hest was extraordinarily clever in concealing himself. As The Spider he had baffled the police for years, and, being an arch-criminal, would be dexterous enough to escape even out of this tight corner. He began to consider what was best to be done after sending a wire to Inspector Drench, when his meditations were broken in upon by the Colonel.
"Do you really believe that Hest is The Spider?"
"Of course. Didn't you see his face change when Maunders spoke, and didn't he cut and run when he saw that the game was up?"
"It certainly looks like guilt. And yet it seems incredible. The man always has lived in Yorkshire, whereas The Spider is supposed to live in town."
"No one has ever known the whereabouts of The Spider," said Vernon coolly, "and it is as easy to write blackmailing letters in Yorkshire and post them in London as to live in town altogether for that purpose. Besides, his sister told me herself that Hest frequently went away for days and weeks at a time. Doubtless he was attending to his nefarious business in London."
"How do you reconcile this devilry with his philanthropy?"
"It seems odd, doesn't it? But we know that the worst criminals have their good points. There lives some soul of good in all things evil, you know."
"I rather think," said the Colonel grimly, "that Hest looks upon himself as a kind of modern Robin Hood, who takes from the rich to give to the poor. He blackmailed wealthy folk in order to build his Bolly Reservoir and his confounded school-houses. Robbed Peter to pay Paul, as you might put it."
"Rob Dives to help Demos is the way he would put it," said Vernon with a shrug. "However, we have made a great discovery and one which the police will thank us for making. When Hest is captured many a rich man will sleep the easier."
"Yes, when he is captured; but that won't be easy."
"I agree with you. The Spider is as clever as his father--the devil. Humph!" added Vernon thoughtfully, "I wonder if his sister knows anything about his infernal doings."
"No," said the Colonel decidedly. "I don't like Miss Hest, as I think she is too imperious and masterful and wants her own way too much. All the same, I don't believe she would have countenanced her brother's behaviour. Besides, she was always away from him, and he doubtless carried on his pranks without her knowledge."
"You defend her. I thought you didn't like her?"
"I admitted only a moment ago that I did not," snapped the Colonel as the taxi cautiously felt its way up Whitehall, "but I must be just to her. The poor woman will suffer as it is when her brother's criminality becomes known. It will ruin her reciting business."
"That's true, and there is no chance of keeping the matter quiet. Hest must be captured and imprisoned."
"Hanged, you mean. Remember, he murdered Martin Dimsdale."
Vernon shuddered. "I suppose he did," was his reluctant admission. "I am sorry for Miss Hest, as, contrary to your opinion, I think highly of her. She may be masterful, as you say, but Ida is so weak that it is just as well that she should have someone to lead her in the right way."
"Oh, Miss Hest has led her in the right way, no doubt," retorted the Colonel; "but I prefer to be the guide myself. See here, Vernon, come down with me next week to my place at Bowderstyke."
"What for? We have to hunt down Hest and Maunders."
"We can safely leave that to Drench and his underlings. I want to get Ida away from Gerby Hall. Sorry as I am for Miss Hest in having such a brother, I don't want Ida to continue under her protection any longer, especially as she wants to marry her to Maunders."
"Maunders will have no chance now," said Vernon with a grim chuckle. "But you are a bachelor, Towton, so Ida will scarcely be able to come to The Grange."
"I shall ask her aunt down as chaperon."
"Lady Corsoon? Good! And ask Lucy also, for my sake."
"With great pleasure. I think that the removal of Maunders from my path and yours will result in the courses of our love running smoother. Ah, here we are, and I'm glad, as I want drink and victuals."
After the long, cautious creeping through the fog the two gentlemen arrived at the Colonel's rooms, and Bendham was sent out for food. Having dined, they smoked and talked while waiting for Inspector Drench. But he never came. A telegram arrived instead stating that the fog prevented his keeping the appointment. And it also prevented Vernon getting back to his own quarters, so the Colonel put him up for the night. Next day the hunt for the criminals began in earnest.
Before Drench arrived, which he did at eleven o'clock, Professor Gail came to the Athenian Cub, where the gentlemen were waiting, and produced a wire which had arrived for Hest on that morning. He had not opened it, being afraid, but brought it intact to Vernon. That young man had no compunction under the circumstances in reading it, and found that it was from Frances Hest to her brother asking him to return home as divers matters connected with the estate required his attention.
"Sent first thing this morning," said Vernon passing the wire to the Colonel. "Poor woman! she doesn't know that her brother has been found out."
The wire was shown to Inspector Drench when he duly arrived, and he was exhaustively informed of all that had taken place. He was naturally both astonished and interested, but nevertheless expressed himself annoyed that civilians should have proceeded so far without invoking the police. Drench gave both the Colonel and Vernon to understand that if he had been on the spot Hest and his accomplice would not have escaped so easily, a view with which they privately differed, although they did not think it wise to say so. But Towton _did_ intimate to the Inspector that he was a military man and not a civilian, whatever Vernon might be. Drench declined to take any notice of this remark.
The Inspector also questioned Gail closely, but could learn nothing from him of any moment, since the old actor knew nothing and was greatly agitated over the whole affair. Finally, bidding all three hold their tongues, Drench sallied forth to search for the missing pair. He saw the Scotland Yard authorities and wired to all the ports and railway stations in the kingdom. As yet, and because he desired to keep the affair out of the newspapers, Drench did not advertise in the journals, or by handbills. Otherwise, in every way he strove to find the fugitives.
He might as well have attempted to find a shell at the bottom of the Atlantic. Day after day went by and no news was heard of Hest or Maunders, and from the moment they had been swallowed up by the fog at Isleworth nothing had been seen of them. They had not, so far as could be ascertained, passed out of the kingdom, and certainly they were not to be found in the kingdom itself. Like Macbeth's witches, they had made themselves thin air: like the children of Korah and Dathan, they apparently had been swallowed up by the earth. But, thanks to Drench, the discovery of the identity of The Spider and his subsequent escape had not yet been made public, and the Press knew nothing of what was taking place. But the time had now come when publicity was absolutely necessary.
"There's nothing else for it," said Drench, and Vernon in spite of his wish to keep things quiet, agreed with him.