BHAG
IT was a great orang-outang. Crouched as it was, gazing malignantly upon
the visitor with its bead-like eyes, it stood over six feet in height.
The hairy chest was enormous; the arms that almost touched the floor
were as thick as an average man’s thigh. It wore, a pair of workman’s
dark blue overalls, held in place by two straps that crossed the broad
shoulders.
“Bhag!” called Sir Gregory in a voice so soft that Michael could not
believe it was the man’s own. “Come here.”
The gigantic figure waddled across the room to where they stood before
the fireplace.
“This is a friend of mine, Bhag.”
The great ape held out his hand, and for a second Michael’s was held in
its velvet palm. This done, he lifted his paw to his nose and sniffed
loudly, the only sound he made.
“Get me some cigars,” said Penne.
Immediately the ape walked to a cabinet, pulled open a drawer, and
brought out a box.
“Not those,” said Gregory. “The small ones.”
He spoke distinctly, as if he were articulating to somebody who was
deaf, and, without a moment’s hesitation, the hideous Bhag replaced the
box and brought out another.
“Pour me out a whisky and soda.”
The ape obeyed. He did not spill a drop, and when his owner said
“Enough,” replaced the stopper in the decanter and put it back.
“Thank you, that will do, Bhag.”
Without a sound the ape waddled back to the open panelling and
disappeared, and the door closed behind him.
“Why, the thing is human,” said Michael in an awe-stricken whisper.
Sir Gregory Penne chuckled.
“More than human,” he said. “Bhag is my shield against all trouble.”
His eyes seemed to go instantly to the sword above the mantelpiece.
“Where does he live?”
“He’s got a little apartment of his own, and he keeps it clean. He feeds
with the servants.”
“Good Lord!” gasped Michael, and the other chuckled again at the
surprise he had aroused.
“Yes, he feeds with the servants. They’re afraid of him, but they
worship him: he’s a sort of god to them, but they’re afraid of him. Do
you know what would have happened if I’d said ‘This man is my enemy?’”
He pointed his stubby finger at Michael’s chest. “He would have torn you
limb from limb. You wouldn’t have had a chance, Mr. What’s-your-name,
not a dog’s chance. And yet he can be gentle—yes, he can be gentle.” He
nodded. “And cunning! He goes out almost every night, and I’ve had no
complaints from the villagers. No sheep stolen, nobody frightened. He
just goes out and loafs around in the woods, and doesn’t kill as much as
a hen partridge.”
“How long have you had him?”
“Eight or nine years,” said the baronet carelessly, swallowing the
whisky that the ape had poured for him. “Now let’s go out and see the
actors and actresses. She’s a nice girl, eh? You’re not forgetting
you’re going to bring her to dinner, are you? What is your name?”
“Brixan,” said Michael. “Michael Brixan.”
Sir Gregory grunted something.
“I’ll remember that—Brixan. I ought to have told Bhag. He likes to
know.”
“Would he have known me again, suppose you had?” asked Michael, smiling.
“Known you?” said the baronet contemptuously. “He will not only know
you, but he’ll be able to trail you down. Notice him smelling his hand?
He was filing you for reference, my boy. If I told him ‘Go along and
take this message to Brixan,’ he’d find you.”
When they reached the lovely gardens at the back of the house, the first
scene had been shot, and there was a smile on Jack Knebworth’s face
which suggested that Adele’s misgivings had not been justified. And so
it proved.
“That girl’s a peach,” Jack unbent to say. “A natural born actress,
built for this scene—it’s almost too good to be true. What do you
want?”
It was Mr. Reggie Connolly, and he had the obsession which is perpetual
in every leading man. He felt that sufficient opportunities had not been
offered to him.
“I say, Mr. Knebworth,” he said in a grieved tone, “I’m not getting much
of the fat in this story! So far, there’s about thirty feet of me in
this picture. I say, that’s not right, you know! If a johnny is being
featured——”
“You’re not being featured,” said Jack shortly. “And Mendoza’s chief
complaint was that there was too much of you in it.”
Michael looked round. Sir Gregory Penne had strolled toward where the
girl was standing, and, in her state of elation, she had no room in her
heart even for resentment against the man she so cordially detested.
“Little girl, I want to speak to you before you go,” he said, dropping
his voice, and for once she smiled at him.
“Well, you have a good opportunity now, Sir Gregory,” she said.
“I want to tell you how sorry I am for what happened the other day, and
I respect you for what you said, for a girl’s entitled to keep her
kisses for men she likes. Aren’t I right?”
“Of course you’re right,” she said. “Please don’t think any more about
it, Sir Gregory.”
“I’d no right to kiss you against your will, especially when you’re in
my house. Are you going to forgive me?”
“I do forgive you,” she said, and would have left him, but he caught her
arm.
“You’re coming to dinner, aren’t you?” He jerked his head toward the
watchful Michael. “Your friend said he’d bring you along.”
“Which friend?” she asked, her eyebrows raised. “You mean Mr. Brixan?”
“That’s the fellow. Why do you make friends with that kind of man? Not
that he isn’t a decent fellow. I like him personally. Will you come
along to dinner?”
“I’m afraid I can’t,” she said, her old aversion gaining ground.
“Little girl,” he said earnestly, “there’s nothing you couldn’t have
from me. Why do you want to trouble your pretty head about this cheap
play acting? I’ll give you a company of your own if you want it, and the
best car that money can buy.”
His eyes were like points of fire, and she shivered.
“I have all I want, Sir Gregory,” she said.
She was furious with Michael Brixan. How dared he presume to accept an
invitation on her behalf? How dare he call himself her friend? Her anger
almost smothered her dislike for her persecutor.
“You come over to-night—let him bring you,” said Penne huskily. “I want
you to-night—do you hear? You’re staying at old Longvale’s. You can
easily slip out.”
“I’ll do nothing of the kind. I don’t think you know what you’re asking,
Sir Gregory,” she said quietly. “Whatever you mean, it is an insult to
me.”
Turning abruptly, she left him. Michael would have spoken to her, but
she passed, her head in the air, a look on her face which dismayed him,
though, after a moment’s consideration, he could guess the cause.
When the various apparatus was packed, and the company had taken their
seats in the char-à-banc, Michael observed that she had very carefully
placed herself between Jack Knebworth and the sulking leading man, and
wisely himself chose a seat some distance from her.
The car was about to start when Sir Gregory came up to him, and,
stepping on the running-board:
“You said you’d get her over——” he began.
“If I said that,” said Michael, “I must have been drunk, and it takes
more than one glass of whisky to reduce me to that disgusting condition.
Miss Leamington is a free agent, and she would be singularly ill-advised
to dine alone with you or any other man.”
He expected an angry outburst, but, to his surprise, the squat man only
laughed and waved him a pleasant farewell. Looking round as the car
turned from the lodge gates, Michael saw him standing on the lawn,
talking to a man, and recognized Foss, who, for some reason, had stayed
behind.
And then his eyes strayed past the two men to the window of the library,
where the monstrous Bhag sat in his darkened room, waiting for
instructions which he would carry into effect without reason or pity.
Michael Brixan, hardened as he was to danger of every variety, found
himself shuddering.