"That's Watkins," he said. "Something has happened up above. Come on, you chaps."
"What about this?" he demanded. "I won't have him left in there—with those."
We trotted6 on, and when we passed the first turn in the passage, just beyond the wreck7 of the ancient door, we saw a light that bobbed up and down in the near distance.
"Steady on, Watty," Hugh called back. "I'm here."
"Thank God! Oh, your ludship, I'm that—"
Watkins panted up to us quite out of breath. He carried a dwindling9 candle in one hand, and his usually tidy garments were coated with dust.
"Must—apologize—ludship—appearance—fell—stairs," he began.
"Easy, easy," said Hugh comfortingly, and fell to brushing him off. "If it's bad news, why, it's bad news, Watty. If it's good news, it can wait."
"It was a lady, your ludship!"
We all laughed.
"A lady!" repeated Hugh. "Bless my soul, Watty, are you gettin' dissolute in your old age?"
"She 'ad nothing to do with me, your ludship," remonstrated10 the valet indignantly. "Leastwise, I should say, she 'ad no more to do with me than make a mock of me and the pistol you gave me."
"How's that?"
"Took it away from me, she did, your ludship." Watkins's voice quivered with wrath11. "And tripped me on me back. Yes, and laughed at me!"
"A lady, you said?" demanded Hugh incredulously.
Watkins nodded his head.
"And hextremely pretty, too, if I may say so, your ludship."
Hugh looked helplessly at Nikka and me.
"I say, this is a yarn12!" he exclaimed. "Watty, for God's sake, get a grip on yourself. Begin at the beginning, and tell everything."
He grinned.
"Conceal13 nothin', you old reprobate14, especially, if there were any amorous15 episodes with this lady."
"Your ludship! Mister Hugh, sir!" Watkins's expression was a study in injured innocence16. "You will 'ave your bit of fun, I suppose. As for me, sir, if I was for making love to some female I'd take one that was not so free with her strength."
"Are you sure it was a woman?" interrupted Nikka.
"Judge for yourself, sir, Mister Nikka. After you gentlemen left me, I tidied up the room, and quite a time had passed, I should judge, when I heard a click, and one of the windows opened in the south oriel."
"Very likely, sir. I turned when I 'eard the click, and the lady stuck 'er leg over the sill."
"Quite so, your ludship. She 'ad on riding-breeches. A very pretty lady she was, your ludship," added Watkins contemplatively.
"So you've said before," commented Hugh. "And what next?"
"I said: 'Who are you, ma'am?' And she laughed, and said: 'Oh, it's only me, Watkins.' And I said: 'Well, ma'am, I'm sure I don't know 'ow you come to 'ave my name, but I really can't permit you to come in 'ere. Please get down, and go around to the front door.'
"With that she 'opped over the window-sill, and stood there, looking about 'er. 'Come on, now, if you please, ma'am,' I said again. And I'm sure, your ludship, I was considerate of 'er all the way through."
"Yes, sir. Thank you, your ludship. She looked around, as I said, and she walked over to the fireplace as cool as a cucumber. 'I see they did find it, after all,' she says, and she stooped and peeked20 in at the 'ole where the stone 'ad dropped. At that I knew she could be no friend, so I poked21 the pistol at 'er, and said: 'I don't want to 'arm you, ma'am, but you'll 'ave to come outside with me.'
"'Oh,' she says, 'you wouldn't 'urt me, Watkins. You're a nice, kind, old valet, aren't you?'"
Watkins's voice throbbed22 with renewed indignation, and we all three, the gravity of the situation forgotten, collapsed23 on the dusty floor.
"Go on, go on," gasped Hugh.
"'Ow can I, your ludship, if you're laughing all the time?" protested Watkins. "Oh, well, you will 'ave your fun!"
"She did, sir," agreed Watkins with feeling. "She came right up against the pistol, and put out 'er 'and and patted my cheek like, and the first thing I knew, gentlemen, she 'ad tripped me and grabbed the pistol from my 'and, and there was I, lying on the floor, and she with 'er legs straddled over me, pointing the pistol at me, and laughing like sin.
"'Get up,' she says. And she went and sat sidewise on the table, with the pistol resting on 'er knee.'
"What was she like, Watty?"
"She 'ad black hair, sir, and was dark in the face. She wasn't big, but she was—well, shapely, you might say. And she 'ad a way of laughing with 'er eyes. She asked me where you were, and what you had found, and I stood in front of her, and just kept my mouth shut. 'I might shoot you if you won't talk,' she says. 'And if you do, there'll be those that will hear it, and you'll be seen before you get away,' I told 'er. 'True,' says she, 'and I couldn't bring myself to do it, anyway. You're too sweet. You can tell your master, though, that we're not sorry he's found what he was looking for. If we couldn't find it, the next best thing was for him to find it. Whatever he does, he will play into our hands.'
"Then she walked over to the window, and dropped the pistol on a chair. "'Ere,' she says. 'You might 'ave me taken up for breaking and entering if I went off with this.' And she 'opped over the sill on to the lawn. When I got there she was in 'er saddle and riding away. I tried to telephone to the Lodge25 to 'ave 'er stopped, but the wires were cut. They must 'ave done it in the night, your ludship. 'Awkins was unable to get through to any of the village tradespeople this morning.'
"Was that all?" asked Hugh.
"Yes, your ludship. I called 'Awkins, and told 'im to stand in the front door, and send away anybody who came. Then I climbed down into the 'ole, thinking you would wish to know what 'ad 'appened immediately, your ludship."
"You did quite right, Watty. I don't blame you for what happened. The lady must have been a Tartar."
Hugh turned to us.
"It seems to me the lesson for us in this last experience is that we have got to move rapidly if we are going to shake off Teuton's gang," he said. "They are fully26 as formidable as Nikka warned us they would be. We ought to start for Constantinople this afternoon."
"There's no question of that," assented27 Nikka. "But what are you going to do with the key to the treasure? You have it in your pocket now, but it is a long journey to Constantinople. Suppose they steal it en route? They may have plenty of opportunities, you know. Personally, I am not sanguine28 of shaking them off. Then, too, you must remember that Constantinople is the human sink of Europe, Asia and Africa, more so to-day even than before the War. It swarms29 with adventurers and dangerous characters. The refuse of half-a-dozen disbanded armies make their headquarters there. It will be a simple matter for a gang like Toutou's to waylay31 you or search your baggage."
Hugh flushed.
"You mean you do," I interrupted sarcastically33. "I'm only her cousin. Have you heard from Betty?"
"Yes, damn you! She and her father are at the Pera Palace—he's an archæologist-bibliophile Johnny, Nikka, and an awfully34 good sort."
"And the girl?" inquired Nikka, with his quiet grin.
"Oh, you'll meet her, too. She's very different from what you'd expect in a cousin of Jack. Anyhow, she knows about this treasure business, and she read of Uncle James's murder, and she's most fearfully keen to be in the game with us. My suggestion is that I mail Uncle James's translation of the key to her in Constantinople. Nobody knows that she knows me or has any connection with any of us. She left New York before Uncle James arrived. So it would be perfectly35 safe in her hands."
"And in the meantime, we'd better commit it to memory," I said.
The others agreed to this, and we read over the brief transcript36 of the missing half of the Instructions until we had the salient directions fixed in our minds. Then we retraced37 our steps through the passage, climbed out of the Prior's Vent30 and sealed it again; and while Hugh and Nikka motored down to the village post office with the letter for Betty, Watkins and I saw to the necessary packing in preparation for the journey.
We had bags ready for all four of us by lunchtime, and arranged with Hawkins to send trunks after us to the Pera Palace in bond. When Hugh and Nikka returned from the village, all that was necessary was to eat the meal, issue final directions to the servants for the repairing of the panel of the over-mantle—the removal of which we represented to have been the work of the burglars—and fill up the tank of the car.
With an eye to a possible emergency, we had arranged in advance for a considerable supply of gold and negotiable travelers' notes, and our passports, thanks to Hugh's influence, had been viséd for all countries in southern and eastern Europe.
"There's only one thing we lack," remarked Hugh, as we drove out through the park gates. "I want an electric torch for each of us. The one we captured came in very handy this morning."
So we stopped at the shop of the local electrician in the village, and Hugh went in to make the purchase. He was just resuming his seat in the car when another machine drew up alongside, and Montey Hilyer waved a greeting.
"Thought you were going to stay in the County a while, Hugh," he hailed.
Hugh stared at him with the concentrated iciness which the English of his class attain38 to perfection.
"Are you touring?" continued Hilyer. "Or going abroad? Seems to me I heard something this morning about your taking a trip to Constantinople. A favorite hang-out of your uncle's, I believe. Well, if you're following the Dover road, you mustn't mind if I trail you. I have no objection to a knight39 errant's dust."
Without a word, Hugh slipped in his gears and zoomed40 off on first, scattering41 dogs and pedestrians42 right and left.
"Damn the scoundrel!" he ripped between clinched43 teeth. "How I wish I could show him up! Who was with him?"
Nikka and I both shook our heads.
"There were three people in the tonneau," answered Nikka, "but the cover was up, and they were buried in wraps. Did you notice your pretty lady, Watty?"
"No, sir. I couldn't say."
All the way to Dover Hilyer's green car tracked our wheel marks two or three hundred yards behind. Once, near Godmersham, Hugh speeded in an endeavor to shake him off. But Hilyer stuck to us without difficulty, and ran up close enough to show his derisive44 grin at the end of the spurt45.
On the channel boat again we had the sensation of being watched, although we could not have pointed46 to any persons and accused them of spying; and certainly none of the members of the Hilyer house party was in evidence. Hilyer, himself, called good-by to us from the dock.
At Calais we passed the Customs and passport officials expeditiously48 because both Hugh and Nikka were personages—a doubtful asset, as we were soon to learn. And on the Paris train we actually thought that we had eluded49 surveillance—until we rolled into the Gare du Nord and started to disembark. It was Nikka who discovered the little red chalk mark on the door of our compartment50, and Watkins who spotted51 a furtive52 individual who slunk down the corridor as we stepped into it, a rat-faced fellow of the Apache type that had disappeared during the War and somehow floated back with other scum to the surface of peacetime life.
We were all of us familiar with Paris, Nikka and I perhaps more so than Hugh. And we drove to a small hotel near the Louvre which is noted53 for its table, its seclusion54 and its steady patronage55. Aside from the fact that it is a little difficult to get a bath there, it is the best hotel I know of in the French capital. The proprietor56 welcomed us as old friends, and we were provided with the choicest fare and the most comfortable rooms he had to offer.
The four of us were dog-tired—remember, we had been steadily57 "on the prod," as Hugh said, since we wakened in the early morning hours to repel58 Toutou's invasion, and the nervous strain had been wearing. But before we turned in, after M. Palombiere's magnificent dinner, Nikka telephoned a private number at the Prefecture of Police.
The result of his call was demonstrated when we went down to breakfast the next morning. A jaunty59 little man in a top-hat and frock-coat, with spats60 and a gold-headed cane61, flew up to Nikka and embraced him in the center of the lobby. And Nikka introduced him to us as M. Doumergue, Commissaire of the Police de Suretie, or Secret Police.
Would he do us the honor of taking breakfast with us? Mais, certainement! It was a pleasure of the greatest to have the company of M. Zaranko and his cher colleagues. His regrets were unspeakable that he might not have an extended opportunity to make our acquaintance, as he understood from M. Zaranko that we must depart that same day. He had taken the necessary steps already to dispense62 with the usual formalities for arriving and departing travelers, and he had also examined the dossiers of the individuals M. Zaranko had named.
This last was what especially interested us; and we listened closely to the facts he recited from a notebook.
"Of Toutou LaFitte, Messieurs, but little can be said. If you have seen him, then you have seen one whom no police official can claim knowingly to have laid eyes on. But we feel him, Messieurs. We hear of him. We sense his manifold activities. If the stories which others, like yourselves, tell us are true, he is a genius, a monster. He rules the criminal world. He has the brain of a statesman, the instincts of an animal.
"Hilmi Bey we know well. During the war he found it convenient to dwell in Switzerland. He has been mixed up in various shady coups63, both in Egypt and in Turkey. He has sources of income we have never been able to discover. Prior to this nobody has associated him with Toutou.
"And this Russian pair! Vassilievich and Vassilievna! They are notorious as international spies. Before the war they worked in the German interest. During the War, who can say? Had we caught them they would have been shot out of hand. But the War is over, I regret to say, Messieurs. They hold their titles of right, and undoubtedly64 come of an honorable family or families. For as to their being brother and sister—tien! Why worry about the unessential?
"The Hilyers have been watched since before the War on suspicion of being implicated65 in dishonorable gambling66 transactions. But in France, Messieurs, a wide latitude67 is allowed in these matters, and so far, we have not been able to catch them—how is it the excellent Americans say? Ah, yes, wiz zee goods.
"Is this of assistance? I regret deeply I cannot add more. But if I can aid you in any way, if you are annoyed in Paris or subjected to observation, pray call upon me."
He bowed himself out.
"That's all very well," remarked Hugh, as we wandered over to the newsstand in the lobby, "and his information is valuable, Nikka, but we can't call on him officially! If we complain of being shadowed at the Prefecture of Police, they will ask us the object of it; and if we tell them the truth, you can be sure the secret will leak out. Why, the policeman who didn't use such information would be a fool! No, lads, the only thing for us to do is to dodge68 our trailers."
I shook the Paris edition of the Daily Mail in front of him.
"How the devil can we dodge trailers?" I demanded. "I just picked up this paper, and look at what I see on the front page."
There under a two-line head was the following announcement:
"Lieut. Col. Lord Chesby, D.S.O., accompanied by Mr. Nikka Zaranko, the famous violinist, and Mr. John Nash, an American friend, crossed on the Calais boat yesterday and arrived in Paris last night. Lord Chesby recently succeeded to the title under circumstances of very tragic69 interest."
"There's only one thing to do," said Hugh. "Where's Watkins? We'll collect him, and book for the first train to Marseilles. They'll expect us to go direct by the Orient Express."
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1
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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gangster
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| n.匪徒，歹徒，暴徒 | |
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sepulcher
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curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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wailed
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dwindling
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| adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 ) | |
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remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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amorous
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| adj.多情的；有关爱情的 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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gasped
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pony
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peeked
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poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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throbbed
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collapsed
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chuckled
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lodge
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fully
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assented
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sanguine
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swarms
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vent
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waylay
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jack
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sarcastically
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awfully
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perfectly
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transcript
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retraced
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attain
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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zoomed
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| v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去式 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨 | |
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scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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pedestrians
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clinched
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| v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议） | |
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derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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spurt
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| v.喷出；突然进发；突然兴隆 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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expeditiously
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| adv.迅速地，敏捷地 | |
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eluded
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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steadily
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repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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spats
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| n.口角( spat的名词复数 )；小争吵；鞋罩；鞋套v.spit的过去式和过去分词( spat的第三人称单数 )；口角；小争吵；鞋罩 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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62
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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63
coups
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| n.意外而成功的行动( coup的名词复数 )；政变；努力办到难办的事 | |
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64
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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65
implicated
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| adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的 | |
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66
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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67
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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68
dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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69
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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