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CHAPTER I. THE LONE PASSENGER
CHAPTER I. THE LONE PASSENGER
That evening the down train from London deposited at the little country station of Ramsdon but a single passenger, a man of middle height, shabbily dressed, with broad shoulders and long arms and a most unusual breadth and depth of chest. Of his face one could see little, for it was covered by a thick growth of dark curly hair, beard, moustache and whiskers, all overgrown and ill-tended, and as he came with a somewhat slow and ungainly walk along the platform, the lad stationed at the gate to co
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CHAPTER II. THE FIGHT IN THE WOOD
CHAPTER II. THE FIGHT IN THE WOOD
From his hiding-place in the bushes Dunn slipped out, as the big man vanished into the darkness down the road, and for the fraction of a second he seemed to hesitate. The lights in the house were coming and going after a fashion that suggested that the inmates were preparing for bed, and almost at once Dunn turned his back to the building and hurried very quickly and softly down the road in the direction the big man had just taken. “After all,” he thought, “the house can't run away, that will be
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CHAPTER III. A COINCIDENCE
CHAPTER III. A COINCIDENCE
Another voice answered from near by and Dunn scrambled hurriedly to his feet. He had but a moment in which to decide what to do, for these new arrivals were coming at a run and would be upon him almost instantly if he stayed where he was. That they were friends of the man he had just overthrown and whose huge bulk lay motionless in the darkness at his feet, seemed plain, and it also seemed plain to him that the moment was not an opportune one for offering explanations. Swiftly he decided to slip
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CHAPTER IV. A WOMAN WEEPS
CHAPTER IV. A WOMAN WEEPS
Cautiously he glided nearer, moving as noiselessly as any shadow, seeming indeed but one shadow the more in the heavy surrounding darkness. The persistent scratching noise continued, and Dunn was now so close he could have put out his hand and touched the shoulder of the man who was causing it and who still, intent and busy, had not the least idea of the other's proximity. A faint smile touched Dunn's lips. The situation seemed not to be without a grim humour, for if one-half of what he suspecte
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CHAPTER V. A WOMAN AND A MAN
CHAPTER V. A WOMAN AND A MAN
The girl stirred. It was as though some knowledge of the slow opening of the door had penetrated to her consciousness before as yet she actually saw or heard anything. She rose to her feet, drying her eyes with her handkerchief, and as she was moving to a drawer near to get a clean one her glance fell on the partially-open door. “I thought I shut it,” she said aloud in a puzzled manner. She crossed the floor to the door and closed it with a push from her hand and in the passage outside Dunn stoo
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CHAPTER VI. A DISCOVERY
CHAPTER VI. A DISCOVERY
“What do you mean?” Dunn asked quickly. The matted growth of hair on his face served well to hide any change of expression, but his eyes betrayed him with their look of surprise and discomfiture, and in her own clear and steady glance appeared now a kind of puzzled mockery as if she understood well that all he did was done for some purpose, though what that purpose was still perplexed her. “I mean,” she said slowly, “well—what do I mean? I am only asking a question. Are you a burglar—or have you
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CHAPTER VII. QUESTION AND ANSWER
CHAPTER VII. QUESTION AND ANSWER
Dunn obeyed promptly. There was that about this little fat, smiling man and his unsmiling eyes which proclaimed very plainly that he was quite ready to put his threat into execution. For a moment or two they stood thus, each regarding the other very intently. Dunn, his hands in the air, the steady barrel of the other's pistol levelled at his heart, knew that never in all his adventurous life had he been in such deadly peril as now, and the grotesque thought came into his mind to wonder if there
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CHAPTER VIII. CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE
CHAPTER VIII. CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE
Up the stairs, across the landing, and down the passage opposite Dunn went in silence, shepherded by the little man behind whose pistol was still levelled and still steady. His hands held high in the air, he pushed open with his knee the door of the girl's room and entered, and she looked up as he did so with an expression of pure astonishment at his attitude of upheld hands that changed to one of comprehension and of faint amusement as Deede Dawson followed, revolver in hand. “Oh,” she murmured
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CHAPTER IX. THE ATTIC OF MYSTERY
CHAPTER IX. THE ATTIC OF MYSTERY
Robert Dunn was by no means sure that he was not going to his death as he went out of Ella's room on his way to the attics above, for he had perceived a certain doubt and suspicion in Deede Dawson's manner, and he thought it very likely that a fatal intention lay behind. But he obeyed with a brisk promptitude of manner, like one who saw a prospect of escape opening before him, and as he went he saw that Ella had relapsed into her former indifference and was once more giving all her attention to
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CHAPTER X. THE NEW GARDENER
CHAPTER X. THE NEW GARDENER
“Go ahead, then,” said Deede Dawson, and the great car with its terrible burden shot away into the night. For a moment or two Deede Dawson stood looking after it, and then he turned and walked slowly towards the house, and mechanically Dunn followed, the sole thought in his mind, the one idea of which he was conscious, that of Ella driving away into the darkness with the dead body of his murdered friend in the car behind her. Did she—know? he asked himself. Or was she ignorant of what it was she
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CHAPTER XI. THE PROBLEM
CHAPTER XI. THE PROBLEM
When he had finished his breakfast, and after he had had the wash of which he certainly stood in considerable need, Dunn made his way to the garage and there occupied himself cleaning the car. He noticed that the mud with which it was liberally covered was of a light sandy sort, and he discovered on one of the tyres a small shell. Apparently, therefore, last night's wild journey had been to the coast, and it was a natural inference that the sea had provided a secure hiding-place for the packing-
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CHAPTER XII. AN AVOWAL
CHAPTER XII. AN AVOWAL
When Clive had gone that afternoon, Ella, who had accompanied him as far as the gate, and had from thence waved him a farewell, came back to the spot where Dunn was working. She stood still, watching him, and he looked up at her and then went on with his work without speaking, for now, as always, the appalling thought was perpetually in his mind: “Must she not have known what it was she had with her in the car when she went driving that night?” After a little, she turned away, as if disappointed
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CHAPTER XIII. INVISIBLE WRITING
CHAPTER XIII. INVISIBLE WRITING
It was the next day that there arrived by the morning post a letter for Dunn. Deede Dawson raised his eyebrows slightly when he saw it; and he did not hand it on until he had made himself master of its contents, though that did not prove to be very enlightening or interesting. The note, in fact, merely expressed gratification at the news that Dunn had secured steady work, a somewhat weak hope that he would keep it, and a still fainter hope that now perhaps he would be able to return the ten shil
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CHAPTER XIV. LOVE-MAKING AT NIGHT
CHAPTER XIV. LOVE-MAKING AT NIGHT
Dunn went to his room that night with the feeling that a crisis was approaching. And he wished very greatly that he knew how much Ella had overheard of his talk with her stepfather, and what interpretation she had put upon it. He determined that in the morning he would take the very first opportunity he could find of speaking to her. But in the morning it appeared that Mrs. Dawson had had a bad night, and was very unwell, and Ella hardly stirred from her side all day. Even when Clive called in t
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CHAPTER XV. THE SOUND OF A SHOT
CHAPTER XV. THE SOUND OF A SHOT
He melted away into the darkness as he spoke, and through the night he slipped, one shadow more amongst many, from tree to bush, from bush to tree. Across a patch of open grass he crawled on his hands and knees; and once lay flat on his face when against the skyline he saw a figure he was sure was Deede Dawson's creep by a yard or two on his right hand. On his left another shadow showed, distinguishable in the night only because it moved. In a moment both shadows were gone, secret and deadly in
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CHAPTER XVI. IN THE WOOD
CHAPTER XVI. IN THE WOOD
There had been an air of haste, almost of furtiveness, about this swift appearance and more swift vanishing of Ella, that made Dunn ask himself uneasily what errand she could have been on. He hesitated for a moment, half expecting to see her return again, or that there would be some other development, but he heard and saw nothing. He caught no further glimpse of Ella, whom the green depths of the spinney hid well; and he heard no more shots. After a little, he left the spot where he had been wai
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CHAPTER XVII. A DECLARATION
CHAPTER XVII. A DECLARATION
Dunn knew very well that he ought to give immediate information to the authorities of what had happened. But he did not. He told himself that nothing could help poor John Clive, and that any precipitate action on his part might still fatally compromise his plans, which were now so near completion. But his real reason was that he knew that if he came forward he would be very closely questioned, and sooner or later forced to tell the things he knew so terribly involving Ella. And he knew that to s
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CHAPTER XVIII. ROBERT DUNN'S ENEMY
CHAPTER XVIII. ROBERT DUNN'S ENEMY
When he had said this he went a step or two aside and sat down on the stump of a tree. He was very agitated and disturbed for he had not in the very least meant to say such a thing, he had not even known that he really felt like that. It was, indeed, a rush and power of quite unexpected passion that had swept him away and made him for the moment lose all control of himself. Ella showed much more composure. She had become extraordinarily pale, but otherwise she did not appear in any way agitated.
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CHAPTER XIX. THE VISIT TO WRESTE ABBEY
CHAPTER XIX. THE VISIT TO WRESTE ABBEY
It was a little later when Deede Dawson returned to the subject of Wreste Abbey. “Lord Chobham has a very valuable collection of plate and jewellery and so on, hasn't he?” he asked. “Oh, there's plenty of the stuff there,” Dunn answered. “Why?” “Oh, I was thinking a visit might be made fairly profitable,” Deede Dawson said carelessly, for the first time definitely throwing off his mask of law-abiding citizen under which he lived at Bittermeads. “It would be a risky job,” answered Dunn, showing n
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CHAPTER XX. ELLA'S WARNING
CHAPTER XX. ELLA'S WARNING
Ella did not say anything more, and in their character of tourists visiting the place, they were admitted to the Abbey and passed on through its magnificent rooms, where was stored a collection rich and rare even for one of the stateliest homes of England. “What a wonderful place!” Ella sighed wistfully. Yet she could not enjoy the spectacle of all these treasures as she would have done at another time, for she was always watching Allen, who hung about a good deal, and seemed to look more at the
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CHAPTER XXI. DOUBTS AND FEARS
CHAPTER XXI. DOUBTS AND FEARS
In point of fact Dunn had not been asleep when Deede Dawson came listening at his door. Of late he had slept little and that little had been much disturbed by evil, haunting dreams in which perpetually he saw his dead friend, Charley Wright, and dead John Clive always together, while behind them floated the pale and lovely face of Ella, at whom the two dead men looked and whispered to each other. In the day such thoughts troubled him less, for when he was under the influence of Ella's gentle pre
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CHAPTER XXII. PLOTS AND PLAYS
CHAPTER XXII. PLOTS AND PLAYS
“Very wise of you,” yawned Deede Dawson. “That's just what Ella said—what's that?” For instinctively Dunn had raised his hand, but he lowered it again at once. “Oh, cut the cackle,” he said impatiently. “Tell me what you want me to do, and make it plain, very plain, for I can tell you there's a good deal about all this I don't understand, and I'm not inclined to trust you far. For one thing, what are you after yourself? Where do you come in? What are you going to get? And there's another thing I
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CHAPTER XXIII. COUNTER-PLANS
CHAPTER XXIII. COUNTER-PLANS
The hour was late by now, but Dunn felt no inclination for sleep, and there was no need for him to return indoors as yet, since Deede Dawson, who always locked up the house himself, never did so till past midnight. Till the small hours, very often he was accustomed to sit up absorbed in those chess problems, the composing and solving of which were his great passion, so that, indeed, it is probable that under other circumstances he might have passed a perfectly harmless and peaceful existence, kn
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CHAPTER XXIV. AN APHORISM
CHAPTER XXIV. AN APHORISM
“No,” Dunn agreed after a long pause. “No, I don't see myself how failure is possible; I don't see what there is to go wrong. All the same, I shan't be sorry when it's all over; I suppose I'm nervous, that's the truth of it. But Deede Dawson's hardly the sort of man I should have expected to lay all his cards on the table so openly.” “Oh, I think that's natural enough,” answered Walter. “Quite natural—he thinks you are in with him and he tells you what he wants you to do. But I don't quite see t
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CHAPTER XXV. THE UNEXPECTED
CHAPTER XXV. THE UNEXPECTED
To the very letter Dunn followed the careful and precise instructions given him by Deede Dawson, for he did not wish to rouse in any way the slightest suspicion or run the least risk of frightening off that unknown instigator of these plots who was, it had been promised him, to be present near Brook Bourne Spring at four that afternoon. Even the thought of Ella was perhaps less clear and vivid to his mind just now than was his intense and passionate desire to discover the identity of the strange
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CHAPTER XXVI. A RACE AGAINST TIME
CHAPTER XXVI. A RACE AGAINST TIME
Even when he had said this aloud it was still as though he could not grasp its full meaning. “Walter,” he repeated vaguely. “Walter.” His thoughts, that had seemed as frozen by the sudden shock of the tremendous revelation so unconsciously made to him by Ella, began to stir and move again, and almost at once, with an extraordinary and abnormal rapidity. As a drowning man is said to see flash before his eyes the whole history and record of his life, so now Dunn saw the whole story of his life-lon
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CHAPTER XXVII. FLIGHT AND PURSUIT
CHAPTER XXVII. FLIGHT AND PURSUIT
When he came to himself he was lying on his back, and bending over him was his father's familiar face, wearing an expression of great surprise and wonder, and still greater annoyance. “What is the matter?” General Dunsmore asked as soon as he saw that his son's senses were returning to him. “Have you all gone mad together? You send me a mysterious note to meet you here at three, you turn up racing and running like an escaped lunatic, and with a disgusting growth of hair all over your face, so th
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CHAPTER XXVIII. BACK AT BITTERMEADS
CHAPTER XXVIII. BACK AT BITTERMEADS
When, riding fast, Rupert Dunsmore came in sight of Bittermeads he experienced a feeling of extreme relief. Though what he had feared he did not quite know, for he did not see that any alarm could have reached here yet or any hint come to Deede Dawson of the failure of all his plotting. Even if Walter had had the idea of returning to give his accomplice warning, he could not have come by the road on his bicycle as quickly as Rupert had ridden across country. And that Walter would spend either ti
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CHAPTER XXIX. THE ATTIC
CHAPTER XXIX. THE ATTIC
It was evident that more had occurred to make Mrs. Dawson afraid that she would, or perhaps could, say. “Wait here,” Rupert said to her. “Don't stir.” The command seemed superfluous, for she had not at that moment the appearance of still possessing the power to move. Without speaking again, Rupert left the room and went quickly to the foot of the narrow stairs that led to the attics above. He listened, crouching there, and heard nothing, and a cold fear came to him that perhaps Deede Dawson had
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CHAPTER XXX. SOME EXPLANATIONS
CHAPTER XXX. SOME EXPLANATIONS
He turned quickly towards Deede Dawson. Their eyes met, and in that mutual glance Rupert Dunsmore read that his suspicions were correct and Deede Dawson that his dreadful trap was discovered. Neither spoke. For a brief moment they remained impassive, immobile, their eyes meeting like blows, and then Deede Dawson made one spring to seize again the revolver he had laid down in the hope of enticing Rupert into the awful snare prepared for him. But quick as he was, Rupert was quicker still, and as D
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CHAPTER XXXI. CONCLUSION
CHAPTER XXXI. CONCLUSION
Three months had passed, and in a quiet little cottage on the outskirts of a small country town, situated in one of the most beautiful and peaceful vales of the south-west country, Ella was slowly recovering from the shock of the dreadful experiences through which she had passed. She had been ill for some weeks, but her mother, fussily incompetent at most times, was always at her best when sickness came, and she had nursed her daughter devotedly and successfully. As soon as possible they had com
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