A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER
On the following morning I betook myself to the hospital intending
to call later in the day at Dr. Thorndyke’s chambers; but that visit
turned out to be unnecessary, for, as I ran my eye over the names on
the attendance board in the entrance hall, I saw that Thorndyke was in
the building, although it was not the day on which he lectured. I
found him, as I had expected, in the museum and was greeted with a
hearty grip of the hand and a welcome, the warmth of which gratified
me exceedingly.
“Well, Jardine,” he said, “you’ve given us all a pretty fine shake-up.
I have never been more relieved in my life than I was when my man
Polton gave me your note. But you seem to have had another fairly
close shave. What a fellow you are, to be sure! You seem to be as
tenacious of life as the proverbial cat.”
“So that little archbishop is your man Polton, is he?”
“Yes; and a most remarkable man, Jardine, and simply invaluable to me,
though he ought to be in a very different position. But I think he is
quite happy with me--especially now that he has got your watch to
experiment on. You will see that watch again some day, when he has
rated it to half a second. And meanwhile let us go into the curator’s
room and re-constitute your adventures.”
The curator’s room was empty at the moment; empty, that is to say, so
far as human denizens were concerned. Otherwise it was decidedly full;
the usual wilderness of glass jars, sepulchral slate tanks, bones in
all stages of preparation and unfinished specimens, being supplemented
by that all-pervading, unforgettable odour peculiar to curator’s
rooms, compounded of alcohol and mortality, and suggesting a
necropolis for deceased dipsomaniacs. Thorndyke seated himself on a
well-polished stool by the work-bench, and, motioning me to another,
bade me speak on. Which I did in exhaustive detail; giving him a
minute history of my experiences from the time of my parting from
Sylvia to the present moment, not omitting my encounter with Mrs.
Samway and the clerical gentleman in the train.
He listened to my narrative in his usual silent, attentive fashion,
making no comments and asking no questions until I had finished; when
he cross-examined me on one or two points of detail.
“With regard to Mrs. Samway,” he asked; “did you gather that she was
crossing by the Boulogne boat?”
“I inferred that she was, but she said nothing on the subject.”
He nodded and then asked: “Do I understand that you never saw your
assailant at all?”
“I never got the slightest glimpse of him; in fact I could not say
whether the person who attacked me was a man or a woman excepting that
the obvious strength and the method of attack suggest a man.”
To this he made no reply, but sat awhile absorbed in thought. It was
evident that he was deeply interested in the affair, not only on my
account but by reason of the curious problems that it offered for
solution. Indeed, his next remark was to this effect.
“It is a most singular case, Jardine,” he said. “So much of it is
perfectly clear, and yet so much more is unfathomable mystery. But
just now, the speculative interest is overshadowed by the personal. I
am rather doubtful as to what we ought to do. It almost looks as if
you ought not to be at large.”
“I hope, sir, you don’t suggest shutting me up,” I exclaimed with a
grin.
“That was in my mind,” he answered. “You are evidently in considerable
danger, and you are not as cautious as you ought to be.”
“I shall be mighty cautious after this experience,” I rejoined; “and
you have yourself implied that I have nine lives.”
“Even so,” he retorted, “you have played away a third of them pretty
rapidly. If you are not more careful of the other six, I shall have to
put you somewhere out of harm’s way. Do, for goodness’ sake, Jardine,
keep away from unpopulated places and see that no stranger gets near
enough to have you at a disadvantage.”
I promised him to keep a constant watch for suspicious strangers and
to avoid all solitary neighbourhoods and ill-lighted thoroughfares,
and shortly after this we separated to go our respective ways, he back
to the museum and I to the surgical wards.
For some time after this, the record of my daily life furnishes
nothing but a chronicle of small beer. I had resumed pretty regular
attendance at the hospital, setting forth from my lodgings in the
morning and returning thither as the late afternoon merged into
evening; taking the necessary exercise in the form of the long walk to
and from the hospital, and keeping close indoors at night. It began to
look as though my adventures were at an end and life were settling
down to the old familiar jog trot.
And yet the beer was not quite so small as it looked. Coming events
cast their shadows before them, but often enough those shadows wear a
shape ill-defined and vague, and so creep on unnoticed. Thus it was in
these days of apparent inaction, though even then there were certain
little happenings at which I looked askance. Such an episode occurred
within a few days of my return, and gave me considerable food for
thought. I had climbed on to the yellow ’bus in the Tottenham Court
Road and was seated on the top, smoking my pipe, when, as we passed up
the Hampstead Road, I noticed a woman looking into the window of Mr.
Robinson, the artist’s-colourman. Something familiar or distinctive in
the pose of the figure made me glance a second time; and then I think
my eyes must have grown more and more round with astonishment as the
’bus gradually drew me out of range. For the woman was undoubtedly
Mrs. Samway.
It was really a most surprising affair. This good lady seemed to be
ubiquitous; to fly hither and thither and drop from the clouds as if
she were the possessor of a magic carpet. Apparently she had not gone
to Boulogne after all; or if she had, her stay on the Continent must
have been uncommonly short. But if she had not crossed on the boat,
what was she doing in Folkestone? It was all very well to say that she
had as much right to be in Folkestone as I had. That was true enough,
but it was a lame conclusion and no explanation at all.
It was my custom, as I have said, to walk from my lodgings to the
hospital, a distance of some five miles; but this was practicable only
in fine weather. On wet days I took the tram from the “Duke of St.
Alban’s”; and beguiled the slow journey by reading one of my
text-books and observing the manners and customs of my
fellow-passengers. Such a day was the one that followed the
re-appearance of Mrs. Samway. A persistent drizzle put my morning walk
out of the question and sent me reluctant but resigned to seek the
shelter of the tram, where having settled myself with a volume of
Gould’s “Surgical Diagnosis,” I began to read to the accompaniment of
the monotonous rhythm of the horses’ hoofs and the sleepy jingle of
their bells. From time to time I looked up from my book to take a
glance at the other occupants of the steamy interior, and on each
occasion that I did so, I caught the eye of my opposite neighbour
roving over my person as if taking an inventory of my apparel.
Whenever he caught my eye, he immediately looked away; but the next
time I glanced up I was sure to find him once more engaged in a
leisurely examination of me.
There was nothing remarkable in this. People who sit opposite in a
public vehicle unconsciously regard one another, as I was doing
myself; but when I had met my neighbour’s eye a dozen times or more, I
began to grow annoyed at his persistent inspection; and finally,
shutting up my book, proceeded to retaliate in kind.
This seemed to embarrass him considerably. Avoiding my steady gaze,
his eyes flitted to and fro, passing restlessly from one part of the
vehicle to another; and then it was that my medical eye noted a fact
that gave an intrinsic interest to the inspection. The man had what is
called a nystagmus; that is, a peculiar oscillatory movement of the
eyeball. As his eyes passed quickly from object to object, they did
not both come to rest instantaneously, but the right eye stopped with
a sort of vertical stagger as if the bearings were loose. The
condition is not a very common one, and the one-sided variety is
decidedly rare. It is usually associated with some defect of vision or
habitual strain of the eye-muscles, as in miners’ nystagmus; whence my
discovery naturally led to a further survey and speculation as to the
cause of the condition in the present case.
The man was obviously not a miner. His hands--with a cigarette stain,
as I noticed, on the left middle finger--were much too delicate, and
he had not in any way the appearance of a labourer. Then the spasm
must be due to some defect of eyesight. Yet he was not near-sighted,
for, as we passed a church at some distance, I saw him glance out
through the doorway at the clock and compare it with his watch; and
again, I noticed that he took out his watch with his left hand. Then
perhaps he had a blind eye or unequal vision in the two eyes; this
seemed the most likely explanation; and I had hardly proposed it to
myself when the chance was given to me to verify it. Confused by my
persistent examination of him, my unwilling patient suddenly produced
a newspaper from his pocket and, clapping a pair of pince-nez on his
nose, began to read. Those pince-nez gave me the required information,
for I could see that one glass was strongly convex while the other was
nearly plane.
The question of my friend’s eyesight being disposed of, I began to
debate the significance of that stain of the left middle finger. Was
he left-handed? It did not follow, though it seemed likely; and then I
found myself noting the manner in which he held his paper, until,
becoming suddenly conscious of the absurdity of the whole affair, I
impatiently picked up my book and reverted to the diagnosis of _renal
calculus_. I was becoming, I reflected disparagingly, as inquisitive
as Thorndyke himself; from whom I seemed to have caught some infection
that impelled me thus to concern myself with the trifling
peculiarities of total strangers.
The trivial incident would probably have faded from my recollection
but for another, equally trivial, which occurred a day or two later. I
was returning home by way of Tottenham Court Road and had nearly
reached the crossing at the north end when I suddenly remembered that
I had come to the last of my note-books. The shop at which I obtained
them was in Gower Street, hard by, and as the thought of the books
occurred to me, I turned abruptly and, running across the road, strode
quickly down a by-street that led to the shop.
As I came out into Gower Street I noticed a small, but rapidly
augmenting crowd on the pavement, and, elbowing my way through, found
at its centre a man lying on the ground, writhing in the convulsions
of an epileptic fit. I proceeded to ward off the well-meant attentions
of the usual excited bystanders, who were pulling open his hands and
trying to sit him up, and had thrust the corner of a folded newspaper
between his teeth to prevent him from biting his tongue when a
constable arrived on the scene; upon which, as the officer bore on his
sleeve the badge of the St. John’s Ambulance Society, I gave him a few
directions and began to back out of the crowd.
At this moment, I became aware of a pressure behind me and a
suspicious fumbling, strongly suggestive of the presence of a
pick-pocket. Instantly, I turned to the right about and directed a
searching look at the people behind me, and especially at a bearded,
nondescript person who seemed also to be backing out of the crowd. He
gave me a single, quick glance as I followed him through the press and
then averted his eyes; and as he did so, I noticed, with something of
a start, that his right eye came to rest with a peculiar, rapid
up-and-down shake. He had, in fact, a right-sided nystagmus.
The coincidence naturally struck me with some force. A nystagmus is
not, as I have said, a very common condition; one-sided nystagmus is
actually a rare one; and, of the one-sided instances, only some fifty
per cent. will affect the right eye. The coincidence was therefore
quite a notable one; but had it any particular bearing? I had a
half-formed inclination to follow the man; but he had not actually
picked my pocket or done any other overt act, and one could hardly
follow a person merely because he happened to suffer from an uncommon
nervous affection.
The man was now walking up the street, briskly, but without manifest
hurry; looking straight before him and swinging his stick with
something of a flourish. I watched him speculatively, as I walked in
the same direction, and then suddenly realized that he was carrying
his stick in his left hand, and carrying it, too, with the
unmistakable ease born of habit. Then he was left-handed! And here was
another coincidence; not a remarkable one in itself, but, when added
to the other, so singular and striking that I insensibly quickened my
pace.
As my acquaintance reached the corner of the Euston Road, an omnibus
stopped to put down a passenger. It was about to move on when he
raised his stick, and, following it, stepped on the footboard and
mounted to the roof. I was undecided what to do. Should I follow him?
And, if so, to what purpose? He would certainly notice me if I did and
be on his guard, so that I should probably have my trouble for nothing
and possibly look like a fool into the bargain. And while I was thus
standing irresolute at the corner, the omnibus rumbled away westward
and decided the question for me.
I am not, as the reader may have gathered, a particularly cautious man
or much given to suspicion. But recent events had made me a good deal
more wary and had taught me to look with less charity on chance fellow
creatures; and this left-handed person with the nystagmus occupied my
thoughts to no small extent during the next day or two. Was he the man
whom I had seen in the tram? Apparently not. The latter had been clean
shaven and dressed neatly in the style of a clerk or ordinary City
man, whereas the former wore a full beard and was shabby, almost
beyond the verge of respectability. As to their respective statures, I
could not judge, as I had seen the one man seated and the other
standing; but, superficially, they were not at all alike, and, in all
probability they were different persons.
But this conclusion was not at all inevitable. When I reflected on the
matter, I saw that the resemblances and differences did not balance.
The two men resembled one another in qualities that were inherent and
unalterable, but they differed in qualities that were superficial and
subject to change. A man cannot assume or cast off a nystagmus, but he
can put on a false beard. A left-handed man may endeavour to conceal
his peculiarity, but the superior deftness of the habitually used hand
will make itself apparent in spite of his efforts; whereas he can make
any alterations in his clothing that he pleases. And thus reflecting,
the suspicion grew more and more strong that the two men might very
well have been one and the same person, and that it would be discreet
to keep a bright look-out for a left-handed man with a right-sided
nystagmus.
During all this time I had seen nothing of my new friend Miss Sylvia.
But I had by no means forgotten her. Without wishing to exaggerate my
feelings, I may say that I had taken a strong liking to that very
engaging young lady. She was a pleasant, easy-mannered girl, evidently
good-tempered, and very frank and simple; a girl--as Mr. Sparkler
would have said--“with no bigod nonsense about her.” Her tastes ran
along very similar lines to my own, and she was clever enough to be a
quite interesting companion. Then it was evident that she liked
me--which was in itself an attraction, to say nothing of the credit
that it reflected on her taste--and, in a perfectly modest way, she
had made no secret of the fact. And finally, she was exceptionally
good-looking. Now people may say, as they do, that beauty is only skin
deep--which is perfectly untrue, by the way; but even so, one is more
concerned with the skins of one’s fellow creatures than with their
livers or vermiform appendices. The contact of persons, as of things,
occurs at their respective surfaces.
From which it will be gathered that I was only allowing a decent
interval to elapse before repeating my visit to “The Hawthorns”;
indeed, I was beginning to think that a sufficient interval had
already passed and to contemplate seriously my second call, when my
intentions were forestalled by Sylvia herself. Returning home one
Friday evening, I found on my mantelpiece a short letter from her,
enclosing a ticket for an exhibition of paintings and sculpture at a
gallery in Leicester Square, and mentioning--incidentally--that she
proposed to visit the show on the following morning in order to see
the works by a good light; which seemed such an eminently rational
proceeding in these short winter days, that I determined instantly to
follow her example and get the advantage of the morning light myself.
I acted on this decision with such thoroughness that, when I arrived
at the gallery, I found the attendant in the act of opening the doors,
and, for nearly half an hour I was in sole possession of the premises.
Then, by twos and threes, other visitors began to straggle in, and
among them Sylvia, looking very fresh and dainty and obviously pleased
to see me.
“I am glad you were able to come,” she said, as we shook hands. “I
thought you would, somehow. It is so much nicer to have someone to
talk over the pictures with, isn’t it?”
“Much more interesting,” I agreed. “I have been taking a preliminary
look round and have already accumulated quite a lot of profound
observations to discharge at you as occasion offers. Shall we begin at
number one?”
We began at number one and worked our way methodically picture by
picture, round the room, considering each work attentively with
earnest discussion and a wealth of comment. As the morning wore on,
visitors arrived in increasing numbers, until the two large rooms
began to be somewhat inconveniently crowded. We had made a complete
circuit of the pictures and were about to turn to the sculpture, which
occupied the central floor space, when Sylvia touched me on the arm.
“Let us sit down for a minute,” said she. “I want to speak to you.”
I led her to one of the large settees that disputed the floor-space
with the busts and statuettes, and, somewhat mystified by her serious
tone and by the rather agitated manner, which I now noticed for the
first time, seated myself by her side.
“What is it?” I asked.
She looked anxiously round the room, and, leaning towards me, said in
a low tone:
“Have you noticed a man who has been keeping near us and listening to
our conversation?”
“No, I haven’t,” I replied. “If I had I would have given him a hint to
keep farther off. But there’s nothing in it, you know. In picture
galleries it is very usual for people to hang about and try to
overhear criticisms. This man may be interested in the exhibits.”
“Yes, I know. But I don’t think this person was so much interested in
the exhibits. He didn’t look at the pictures, he looked at us. I
caught his eye several times reflected in the picture-glasses, and
once or twice I saw him looking most attentively at this crucifix of
mine. That was what really disturbed me. I wish, now, that I hadn’t
unbuttoned my coat.”
“So do I. You will have to leave that crucifix at home if it attracts
so much undesirable attention. Which is the man? Is he in this room?”
“No, I don’t see him now. I expect he has gone into the next room.”
“Then let us go there, too; and if you will point him out to me, I
will pay him back in his own coin.”
We rose and made our way to the door of communication, and, as we
passed into the second room, Sylvia grasped my arm nervously.
“There he is--don’t let him see us looking at him--he is sitting on
the settee at the farther end of the room.”
It was impossible to make a mistake since the settee held only a
single person; a fairly well-dressed, ordinary-looking man, rather
swarthy and foreign in appearance, with a small waxed moustache. He
was sitting nearly opposite the entrance door and seemed, at the
moment, to be reading over the catalogue, which he held open on his
knee; but, as he looked up almost at the moment when we entered, I
turned my back to him and continued my inspection with the aid of the
reflection in a picture-glass.
“He is probably a journalist,” I said. “You see he is scribbling some
notes on the blank leaves of his catalogue; probably some of your
profound criticisms, which will appear, perhaps to-morrow morning,
clothed in super-technical jargon, in a daily paper.”
Here I paused suddenly, for I had made a rather curious observation.
The reflection in a mirror is, as everybody knows, reversed laterally;
so that the right hand of a person appears to be the left, and vice
versa. But in the present case, no reversal seemed to have taken
place. The figure in the reflection was writing with his right hand.
Obviously, then, the real person was writing with his left.
This put a rather different aspect on the affair. Up to the present, I
had been disposed to think that Sylvia had been unduly disturbed; for
there are plenty of ill-bred bounders to be met in any public place
who will stare a good-looking girl out of countenance. But now my
suspicions were all awake. It is true that left-handed men are as
common as blackberries; but still--
“Can you tell me, Miss Vyne,” I asked, as we worked our way towards
the other end of the room, “if this man is at all like the one who
frightened you so in Millfield Lane?”
“No, he is not. I am sure of that. The man in the lane was a good deal
taller and thinner.”
“Well,” said I, “whoever he is, I want to have a good look at him, and
the best plan will be to turn our attention to the sculpture. Shall we
go and look at that rather remarkable pink bust? That will give our
friend a chance of another stare at you, and, if he doesn’t take it,
I will go and inspect him where he sits.”
The bust to which I had referred was executed in a curious rose-tinted
marble, very crystalline and translucent, a material that suited the
soft, girlish features of its subject admirably. It stood on an
isolated pedestal quite near the settee on which the suspicious
stranger was sitting, and I hoped that our presence might lure him
from his retreat.
“I don’t think,” I said, taking up a position with my back to the
settee, “that I have ever seen any marble quite like this. Have you?”
“No,” replied Sylvia. “It looks like coarse lump sugar stained pink.
And how very transparent it is; too transparent for most subjects.”
Here she gave a quick, nervous glance at me, and I was aware of a
shadow thrown by some person standing behind me. Had our friend risen
to the bait already? I continued the conversation in good audible
tones.
“Very awkward these isolated pedestals would be for slovenly artists
who scamp the back of their work.”
With this remark I moved round the pedestal as if to examine the back
of the bust, and Sylvia followed. The move brought us opposite the
person who had been standing behind me; and, sure enough, it was the
gentleman from the settee. I continued to talk--rather blatantly, I
fear--commenting on the careful treatment of the hair and the backs of
the ears; and meanwhile took an occasional swift glance at the man
opposite. He appeared to be gazing in wrapt admiration at the bust,
but his glance, too, occasionally wandered; and when it did, the
“point of fixation,” as the oculists would express it, was Sylvia’s
crucifix, which was still uncovered.
Presently I ventured to take a good, steady look at him and was for a
few moments unobserved. His left eye moved, as I could see, quite
smoothly and evenly from point to point; but the right, at each change
of position, gave a little, rapid, vertical oscillation. Suddenly he
became aware of my, now undisguised, inspection of him, and,
immediately, the oscillation became much more marked, as is often the
case with these spasmodic movements. Perhaps he was conscious of the
fact; at any rate, he turned his head away and then moved off to
examine a statuette that stood near the middle of the room.
I looked after him, wondering what I ought to do. That he was the man
whom I had seen on the two previous occasions I had not the slightest
doubt, although I was still unable to identify his features or
anything about him excepting the nystagmus and the left-handed
condition. But there could be no question that he was the same man;
and this very variability in his appearance only gave a more sinister
significance to the affair, pointing clearly, as it did, to careful
and efficient disguise. Evidently he had been, and still was,
shadowing me, and, what was still worse, he seemed to be taking a most
undesirable interest in Sylvia. And yet what could I do? My small
knowledge of the law suggested that shadowing was not a criminal act
unless some unlawful intent could be proved. As to punching the
fellow’s head--which was what I felt most inclined to do--that would
merely give rise to disagreeable, and perhaps dangerous, publicity.
“My lord is pleased to meditate,” Sylvia remarked at length, breaking
in upon my brown study.
“I beg your pardon,” I exclaimed. “The fact is I was wondering what we
had better do next. Do you want to see anything else?”
“I should rather like to see the outside of the building,” she
answered. “That man has made me quite nervous.”
“Then we will go at once, and we won’t sign the visitor’s book.”
I led her to the door, and, as we rapidly descended the carpeted
stairs, I considered once more what it were best to do. Had I been
alone I would have kept our watcher in view and done a little
shadowing on my own account; but Sylvia’s presence made me uneasy. It
was of the first importance that this sinister stranger should not
learn where she lived. The only reasonable course seemed to be to give
him the slip if possible.
“What did you make of that man?” Sylvia asked when we were outside in
the square. “Don’t you think he was watching us?”
“Yes, I do. And I may say that I have seen him before.”
She turned a terrified face to me and asked: “You don’t think he is
the wretch who pushed you into the river?”
Now this was exactly what I did think, but it was not worth while to
say so. Accordingly I temporized.
“It is impossible to say. I never saw that man, you know. But I have
reason for thinking that this fellow is keeping a watch on me, and it
occurs to me that, if he appears still to be following us, I had
better put you into a hansom and keep my eye on him until you are out
of sight.”
“Oh, I’m not going to agree to that,” she replied with great decision.
“I don’t suppose that my presence is much protection to you, but
still, you are safer while we are together, and I’m not going to leave
you.”
This settled the matter. Of course she was quite right. I was much
safer while she was with me, and if she refused to go off alone, we
must make our escape together. I looked up the square as we turned out
of it towards the Charing Cross Road, but could see no sign of our
follower, and, as we walked on at a good pace, I hoped that we might
get clear away. But I was not going to take any chances. Before
turning homewards, I decided to walk sharply some distance in an
easterly direction and then see if there was any sign of pursuit; for
my previous experiences of this good gentleman led me to suspect that
he was by no means without skill and experience in the shadowing art.
We walked down to Charing Cross and turned eastward along the north
side of the Strand. I had chosen this thoroughfare as offering a good
cover to a pursuer, who could easily keep out of sight among the crowd
of way-farers who thronged the pavement for the first question to be
settled was whether we were or were not being shadowed.
“Where are we going now?” Sylvia asked.
“We are going up Bedford Street,” I answered. “There is a book shop on
the right-hand side where we can loiter unobtrusively and keep a
look-out. If we see nobody, we will try one of the courts off Maiden
Lane where we should be certain to catch anyone who was following. But
we will try the bookstall first because, if our friend is in
attendance, I have a rather neat plan for getting rid of him.”
We accordingly made our way to the bookstall in Bedford Street and
began systematically to look through the second-hand volumes; and as
we pored over an open book, we were able to keep an effective watch on
the end of the street and the Strand beyond. Our vigil was not a long
one. We had been at the stall less than a minute when Sylvia whispered
to me:
“Do you see that man looking in the shop on the farther side of the
Strand?”
“Yes,” I replied, “I have noticed him. He has only just arrived, and I
fancy he is our man. If he is, he will probably go into the doorway so
as not to have to keep his back to us.”
Almost as I spoke, the man moved into the deep doorway as if to
inspect the end of the shop window, and Sylvia exclaimed:
“I’m sure that is the man. I can see his profile now.”
There could be no doubt of the man’s identity; and, at this moment, as
if to clinch the matter, he took out a cigarette and lighted it,
striking the match with his left hand.
“Come along,” said I. “We will now try my little plan for getting rid
of him. We mustn’t seem to hurry.”
We sauntered up to the corner of Maiden Lane and there stood for a few
moments looking about us. Then we strolled across to the farther side
of Chandos Street, and, as soon as we were out of sight of our
follower, crossed the road and slipped in at the entrance to the Civil
Service Stores. Passing quickly through the provision department, we
halted at the glazed doors, from which we could look out through the
Bedford Street entrance.
“There he is!” exclaimed Sylvia. And there he was, sure enough,
walking rather quickly up the east side of Bedford Street.
“Now,” said I, “let us make a bolt for it. This way.”
We darted out through the china, furniture and ironmongery
departments, across the whole width of the building and out of the
Agar Street entrance, where we immediately crossed into King William
Street, turned down Adelaide Street, shot through the alley by St.
Martin’s Church, and came out opposite the National Portrait Gallery
just as a yellow omnibus was about to start. We sprang into the moving
vehicle, and, as it rumbled away into the Charing Cross Road, we kept
a sharp watch on the end of King William Street. But there was no sign
of our pursuer. We had got rid of him for the present, at any rate.
“Don’t you think,” said Sylvia, “that he will suspect that we went
into the Stores?”
“I have no doubt he will, and that is where we have him. He can’t come
away and leave the building unsearched. Most probably he is, at this
very moment, racing madly up and down the stairs and trying to watch
the three entrances at the same time.”
Sylvia chuckled gleefully. “It has been quite good fun,” she said,
“but I am glad we have shaken him off. I think I shall stay indoors
for a day or two and paint, and I hope you’ll stay indoors, too. And
that reminds me that I am out of Heyl’s white. I must call in at
Robinson’s and get a pound tube. Do you mind? It won’t delay us more
than a few minutes.”
Now I would much rather have gone straight on to Hampstead, for our
unknown attendant certainly knew the whereabouts of my lodgings and
might follow us when he failed to find us in the stores. Moreover, I
had, of late, given the neighbourhood of the artist’s-colourman’s shop
a rather wide berth, having seen Mrs. Samway from afar once or twice,
thereabouts, and having surmised that she tended to haunt that
particular part of the Hampstead Road. But the fresh supply of flake
white seemed to be a necessity, so I made no objection, and we
accordingly alighted opposite the shop and entered. Nevertheless,
while Sylvia was making her purchase, I stood near the glass door and
kept a watchful eye on the street. When a tram stopped a short
distance away, I glanced quickly over its passengers, as well as I
could, though without observing anyone who might have been our absent
friend. But just as it was about to move on, I saw a woman run out
from the pavement and enter; and though I got but an indifferent view
of her, I felt an uncomfortable suspicion that the woman was Mrs.
Samway.
Looking back, I do not quite understand why I had avoided this woman
or why I now looked with distaste on the fact that she was travelling
in our direction. She was a pleasant-spoken, intelligent person, and I
had no dislike of her, nor any cause for dislike. Perhaps it was the
recollection of the offence that she had given Sylvia in this very
shop, but a short time since, that made me unwilling to encounter her
now in Sylvia’s company. At any rate, whatever the course may have
been, throughout the, otherwise, pleasant journey, and in spite of an
animated and interesting conversation, the thought of Mrs. Samway
continually recurred, and this notwithstanding that I kept a constant,
unobtrusive look-out for the mysterious spy who might, even now, be
hovering in our rear.
We alighted from the tram at the “Duke of St. Alban’s” and made our
way to North End by way of the Highgate Ponds. As we crossed the open
fields and the Heath, I turned at intervals to see if there was any
sign of our being followed; but no suspicious-looking person appeared
in sight, though on two separate occasions, I noticed a woman ahead of
us, and walking in much the same direction, turn round and look our
way. There was no reason, however, to suppose that she was looking at
us, and, in any case, she was too far ahead to be recognizable. At
last, somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Spaniard’s Road, she
finally disappeared, possibly into the hollow beyond, and I saw no
more of her.
At the gate of “The Hawthorns” I delivered up the heavy tube of paint,
and thus, as it were, formally brought our little outing to an end;
and as we shook hands Sylvia treated me to a parting exhortation.
“Now do take care of yourself and keep out of harm’s way,” she urged.
“You are so large, you see,” she added with a smile, “and such a very
conspicuous object that you ought to take special precautions. And you
must come and see us again quite soon. I assure you my aunt is
positively pining for another conversation with you. Why shouldn’t you
drop in to-morrow and have tea with us?”
Now this very idea had already occurred to me, so I hastened to close
with the invitation; and then, as she retired up the path with another
“good-bye” and a wave of the hand, I turned away and walked back
towards the Heath.
For some minutes I strode on, across furzy hollows or over little
hills, traversed by sunken, sandy paths, occupying myself with
thoughts of the pleasant, friendly girl whom I had just left and
reflections on the strange events of the morning. Presently I mounted
a larger hill, on which was perched a little, old-fashioned house.
Skirting the wooden fence that enclosed it, I turned the corner and
saw before me, at a distance of some forty yards, a rough, rustic
seat. On that seat a woman was sitting; and somehow, when I looked at
her and noted the graceful droop of the figure, it was without any
feeling of surprise--almost that of realized expectation--that I
recognized Mrs. Samway.