THE MAN IN THE BLACK MASK
They reached the motor only just in the nick of time, for already the
darkness behind them was rent with cries of "There they are! Head them
off!--there they are!" making the night hideous with the noise of them,
and the stampede of feet seemed to grow more dense with every minute.
Cleek flung his unconscious burden in the car, leaped in after it, and
tapped the chauffeur upon the shoulder.
"Extinguish your lamps and make for Aygon Castle--as quick as you can!"
he gave out in the sharp staccato of excitement. "And the quicker the
better! There's trouble here, and if those men catch up with us to-night
I'll not answer for the lady's safety."
"Yessir."
Then with a whizz and a whirr the car was off, rocketing down the lane
and taking the corners upon two wheels, so that Cleek had hardly a
breath left in his body, and the rush of air that swept them as they
sped away began to revive the unconscious form of Catherine Dowd who lay
upon the seat beside him.
A drop of brandy, rather uncertainly administered because of the
darkness and the jolting of the car, revived her still more, and in
another moment she had opened her eyes and let them dwell upon his face.
In the darkness they glowed like two lamps. And her face was very
frightened.
"My God! Not Ross!" she broke out uncertainly, shutting her hands
together across her breast in her agitation. "Then--who are you?"
"Who knows?" he responded with a touch of gallantry. "It was your
mistake in the first place, remember, not mine. A friend in need,
perhaps, who has been able to save you from the consequences of a very
foolish action. You know what those men were doing?"
She shook her head dumbly.
"Then you will learn to-morrow from the lips of a man whom you have
learned to distrust, because he has proved more than a match for you
already. That is so, isn't it? Your Mr. Deland up at the Castle. From
what I heard, you have broken parole, and to do that----"
"You won't tell?--oh, surely you won't tell!" she gave out in a low,
wrung voice. "How you could mimic Ross Duggan as you did is beyond me.
But you stole my confidence, and I demand its return: that you tell
nothing of to-night to a living soul. Will you promise me that?"
He paused a moment and looked down at her with frowning brows. Then his
face cleared.
"Very well, then. That is a bargain. But I don't think you realize just
how near to actual danger you ran to-night in your mad pursuit of Ross
Duggan. What made you think I was he?"
"I don't know. Only I had followed him from the Castle down the lane,
and then lost sight of him at the edge of the little burn which skirts
that particular valley. And then I saw--you. And somehow, to my
untrained eyes in the darkness, you looked like him--perhaps I was so
anxious to find him that I willed myself unconsciously to think that you
were he--but be that as it may, I made the profound mistake, and--now
the mischief is done with a vengeance. What shall I do now? What _shall_
I do?"
"Return to Aygon Castle, my dear young lady, by the route by which you
left it, and leave things in Higher Hands than yours," Cleek returned
gravely, as they whizzed past in the darkness, the motor thrumming a
purring accompaniment to his low-pitched voice. "Never urge a criminal
to flee from justice, for as surely as he remains alive justice will
find him--and make him pay the penalty all the more severely for his
pains! Justice must be done in a civilized country, my dear young lady;
that is what we pay our taxes for--to uphold those same judges who will
mete out justice in a proper, unprejudiced fashion."
"But Ross--you think he is guilty?"
"Who knows? Time alone will tell. And his innocence will be better
proved if he is not urged to fly away from the outcome of his actions. I
must ask you, too, a favour. Rather, I must exact a promise. Please
leave Ross Duggan alone until after to-morrow."
"And then?"
"If I know aught of anything, he will be beyond the power of your
assistance--and perhaps not in need of it," he replied quietly. "Here is
the Castle. Slip in, now, through that wicket-gate that the tradesmen
use, I believe, and get back to the house as quickly as you can. I'll
give your orders to the chauffeur."
She got out unsteadily, and then stood looking up at him, her eyes
glowing darkly in the frame of her pale, serious face.
"And you won't tell me who you are? Something--somehow--seems familiar
about you, but I cannot place it. You won't help me?"
He shook his head.
"Better let this night's doings be buried in the Limbo of Forgotten
Things, dear lady," he said, his hand resting for a moment upon her
shoulder. "And if you know not who the sharer of your--er--adventure may
be, surely it is better that way. Good-night and good-bye. You will keep
your promise?"
She gave him a sudden inscrutable look from beneath her dark brows.
Then she flung up her head.
"Of course. Thank you for what you have done."
"That is nothing. Good-night."
"Good-night."
Like a shadow she was fleeing up the wide drive, her feet barely making
any sound upon it; then, even as she disappeared from view, Cleek turned
swiftly to the chauffeur who sat in the front seat of the car, goggles
hiding his eyes from view, and clapped him upon the shoulder.
"Well done, Dollops, well done!" he rapped out with a soft laugh. "I
thought it was you the minute my peepers rested upon your Cockney
countenance, you little bundle of indefatigability! How did you do it?
You caught my meaning, of course? Deuced keen of you, I must say!"
Dollops grinned, and slipped his goggles into his pocket.
"Yus," he returned, with a vigorous nod. "I caught the signal orl right.
'_Listen_,' you said, didn't you, Guv'nor? So I listens, and then I
makes a little plan all on my lonesome. 'The Guv'-nor's up to summink,'
says I ter me, 'an' I'll lay 'e wants me ter tyke a little 'and.' And so
I ups and makes fer the road, and there I find the shuvver a-waitin' in
this 'ere little snortin' machine."
"He was there, then, was he?"
"Large as life and twice as nat'ril. 'Now, then, me lad,' I says ter
me, 'git on the right side o' 'im, an' if yer can't git on the right
side, git on the wrong side, s' long as yer gits 'im out of 'is seat.'
But a couple er bob to a Scotsman is as big as a legacy, sir, an' I soon
puts 'im strite wiv a message from 'is missis. 'Snoop along an' send a
wire ter town,' says I, _Comin' later in the day, wait fer me_, an'
address it ter the Commander-in-Chief of the Generil Post Office,
Lunnon.' An' he looks at me an' swallows the gaff like as it were
plumduff. I could 'er larfed, sir--strite I could! And I gives 'im the
tip ter get a drink, and before I'd finished speakin', 'e'd gorn!"
"Good lad! good lad!" Cleek's laugh was merry if low-pitched. The London
address of the telegraph message tickled his sense of humour immensely.
"And what did you do then?"
"Drove dahn the road a little just ter keep me 'and in, and then, when I
'eard you call out ter the lydy, and knew you wuz in danger, sir--why, I
slipped in the clutch and come rocketing toward yer as farst as I
could."
"Oho! And you were nearer than the lady had arranged, then?"
Dollops drew a long breath before replying; and his voice was solemn.
"That little distance of a quarter of a mile might 'ave done for yer
entire--an' I weren't tykin' no risks," he replied heavily. "An' if
anyfink was to 'appen to _you_, sir--well, it's me fer the river 'fore
you kin wink an eyelash. Dollops ain't a-stayin' 'ere wiv you on the
uvver side of the sky, sir, an' don't you myke no mistake abaht _that_.
Where you goes, I goes, too--if it's to 'eaven or 'ell. An' I'm thinkin'
I knows the w'y the ayngels'll tyke _you_."
"Well, they're not taking me yet, dear lad, so don't worry your ginger
head about it!" returned Cleek, with a little gulp of emotion for so
staunch an adherent as this wisp of Cockneydom who stood before him.
"But it's friends like you and women like Miss Lorne that keep a man
straight and strong and true, and don't let him turn down the wrong path
instead of the right. Come, now, there's still more work to be done. Mr.
Narkom will be waiting, and I told him midnight under the big gate. Slip
up the driveway and see if you can see him while I go round by Rhea's
gate and see how the coast lies."
Dollops disappeared forthwith, and it was but a moment or two later that
he returned in company with the Superintendent looking a little
round-eyed and scared until he saw Cleek standing in the shadow of the
big gate, and going up to him flung an arm about his shoulders.
"You've frightened me into forty fits and out of 'em again," he cried
with a little sigh of relief, "for I'd made up my mind that something
had happened, and was on the way down here to see if you'd kept your
appointment, and if you hadn't--well, every man-jack of 'em at the house
would have made an all-night search for you, till we'd found you,
Cleek."
"And now that you have, you bundle of fussydom, you see I am still all
of a piece and, as Dollops says, as large as life and twice as natural,"
returned Cleek with a smile. "Gad, but there's not much moon about now,
is there? And it will be dark work climbing----"
"But you intend to do this mad thing, Cleek?"
"Certainly, my friend. And it's not the maddest I've done this night--by
a long chalk. I'll tell you all about it later on, when there's more
time and less chance of being overheard. Now, then, step softly, you
two. If there's any one there, we don't want to let 'em think an army's
approaching. You gave Inspector Petrie the word if we needed him? That
I'd ring Rhea's bell in case of immediate help required?"
"Of course. And that one toll would mean one man, and _two_ tolls,
three; and three tolls, as many as they could spare from the duty of
guarding the house and letting no one go out or in."
"And they've already let almost every inmate of the place roam about at
their leisure this night--to prove their trustworthiness!" threw in
Cleek, with a short laugh. "A fine lot of disciplinarians up in this
part of the world, I must say--though of course the country's difficult,
and you want about fifty men up here to one in London. I'll have a word
with the Inspector before I leave--with your permission, Mr. Narkom."
"Certainly."
"We'll get along now, Dollops. You stand here under the gate, and keep
watch _toward_ the Castle; Mr. Narkom, you stand here, and guard the
road-end, and make the usual signal of a night owl's hoot if you see any
one approaching. I'll slip on my rubber sand-shoes to grip with, and
shin up in a moment."
And suiting the action to the word, that was practically what he did
do--though the climb up there in the darkness was certainly more than
momentary. For with no light and very little moon it was a more
difficult task than Cleek had anticipated, and he had to tread carefully
to avoid slipping on the narrow shelves of stone and iron that girt it
about.
Up, up, up he went, like some dark fly crawling across the face of the
night, and to those watching below, their hearts in their mouths at
sight of his perilous progress (which at times they could not follow for
the pitchy darkness, and knew not if he were safe or not), those moments
seemed hours indeed.
But Cleek had been in tighter corners and more difficult places than
this in the course of an adventurous lifetime, and the poise and
sureness of the man were amazing. Up, and along the stone parapet he
went, sliding face toward the stone wall of it, until he could lean back
a little and look up at Rhea standing out against the midnight sky like
a monstrous splotch of black ink in a lake of indigo-blue. The bronze
bell swung beneath him. He knelt cautiously upon one knee, preparatory
to whipping out his electric torch, and even as he did so, heard the
sound of other footsteps stealing round from the _other_ side and coming
toward him with the soft tread of a cat.
Instantly he stopped short--stock-still, as though made out of marble,
and leaned back against the parapet while those sliding, soft, creeping,
cat-like footsteps came steadily on. He became conscious of a black
shape, slim as a woman's, against the midnight sky, that moved with
panther-like precision across the face of the parapet. He could actually
hear that other person's laboured breaths, and as the Thing steadily
approached felt it fan against his cheek.
If Cleek had been in a less precarious position the soul of the man
would have relieved itself by laughing outright. For the situation
seemed almost funny. But this was no time for humour. The moment he
stirred and made himself known, upon that moment the creature--whoever
and whatever it was--would pounce upon him, and dash them both down to
sure death upon the stones below, and in full sight of the
Superintendent's watching eyes. But what to do if he stayed where he
was? Detection was certain in any case. There remained only a moment of
moments before it actually would come. And in that moment, to be
prepared for--what?
The creature came on steadily, picking its way stealthy as a cat across
the rugged stone parapet upon which Rhea stood, until it stopped a few
inches away from him, face averted, one tense hand clinging to the very
stone to which Cleek also clung. Then slowly it turned, knelt upon one
knee, reached down a long hand toward the bar from which the great
bronze bell swung, made as if to find a foot-hold with one slim black
foot, and--Cleek's hand shot out over that other hand, and Cleek's voice
whispered in its ear:
"Damn you! what are you doing here?"
[Illustration: _With a low-pitched exclamation of fury, the man closed
with him and fought like some mad thing_]
Instantly all was pandemonium! For the man--for man it was--sprang round
quickly, showing the lower half of a white face to Cleek's watching
eyes, and then with a low-pitched exclamation of fury closed with him
and fought like some mad thing, spitting out furiously and clawing and
scratching with his free hand to gain hold of the other.
Cleek realized the danger even as he met it, and knew what it ultimately
meant. But the thing had to be done. And in the doing he had wound one
foot round a stave of iron which rose up out of the parapet to form the
base of Rhea's bronze throne, and so steadied himself for the nonce.
But it was a difficult task indeed to free himself from this clutching,
scratching, biting Thing, and it took all his powers of resistance to
combat him successfully.
"Stop it--damn you!--stop it!" he gave out furiously, in an angry
whisper which at least reached Mr. Narkom's ears, and sent the
night-owl's hoot creeping eerily out over the silence of that black
night to tell Cleek that he would come to the rescue if necessary. And
Cleek hooted back. He couldn't do this thing alone--it was too much for
him. The space upon which they wrestled was a mere foot and a half in
breadth, and at any moment one or both of them might pitch down into the
darkness to certain death.
He peered into the man's fury-ridden face, trying to distinguish the
features of it, but the upper half was covered with a black mask through
which the eyes gleamed like slits of fire, and the strength of him
seemed superhuman, to say the least of it. It was merely a matter of
moments now--something would have to be done--when, of a sudden, the man
leapt away from him, reached down an arm again, and--lithe as a
cat--swung himself down upon the perilously narrow ledge of the great
bronze bell. Here was Cleek's chance. In an instant his hand had shot
out toward the man's leg and caught it in a vice, while with the other
he steadied himself by a firm hold of the wrought-iron stave that had
saved him a moment or two before.
The creature spat out his vindictiveness in a string of Italian oaths,
and Cleek, paying not the slightest attention to him, merely hung on
tighter to the ankle and prayed for help. Another few moments of this
strain and--the fight would be lost. His arm muscles were strained to
their utmost, his whole body upon the rack. He sent forth the summons of
the night-owl again and again, and was rewarded by the sound beneath him
of a hasty exclamation from the Superintendent, a muttered "My Gawd!"
from the hoarse throat of that little bit of Cockneydom who had served
him and saved him many times before, and then the whispered words,
"Comin', Guv'nor--there in a tick!" came with their ring of comfort, and
he exerted himself to the last ounce to retain his hold of the biting,
clutching furious Thing that lay twisting itself, save for that
unfortunate leg in Cleek's grasp, upon the narrow confines of the ledge
of Rhea's bell.
.... The moments seemed like hours, and Cleek had all but let go, with a
strained wrist and a dislocated finger which was giving him agony, when
he saw the dark shape approaching him, and knew that his rescuer had
come.
"In the nick of time, lad," he breathed, as he released his hold in
favour of Dollops. "God knows who the beggar is, but he's like a
wild-cat. My hand's done in completely. Hold him and, if you can, get
him back again upon this ledge. The pair of us will be too much for him,
I vow! Then we'll have to hold on and ring the great bell for help. It's
the only way. But we must unmuffle the clapper first. Here--your torch!
Gad! _that's_ what the blighter's doing, is he? Unmuffling it for
himself!... I say, my Dago friend, keep quiet a little, will you?--or
you'll find yourself in the next world in the space of another minute.
This isn't a table-top, you know. And there's about two inches between
yourself and eternity. And if _you're_ ready to go, I'm not!"
The creature thus addressed pulled itself up uncertainly, still
muttering in Italian, and as Dollops's hold slid from ankle to knee,
from knee to thigh, and then--like a flash--to arm and shoulder, in
proper jiu-jitsu grip, whirled round upon them, something white showing
in the clenched fingers of one hand, and ground his teeth at them, as
though he would eat them alive.
"Curse you!--damn you! What are you doing here, hell-hogs!" he spat out
in a low, vehement voice. "My friends will be here any minute--and then
your game will be up!"
"But not before yours has beaten it by a moment or two," gave back Cleek
rapidly, in a low-pitched voice. "Here!--give me that thing in your
hand. I'm anxious to see what it is that muffled the bell so
successfully last night. And if you don't stand still while I'm taking
it, my lad here will hurl you down into perdition. Now, then--give it
up.... Got him, Dollops?... Hi! there, Mr. Narkom! I want you to take
hold of that rope on the right-hand side of the gateway--and pull it for
all you're worth. We've got to have help to secure this thing in man's
guise we've fallen foul of, and got to have it quick!"
And so it came about that the silence of that still night was broken of
a sudden by deep-throated pealing as Rhea's great bronze bell gave
tongue. Once--twice--three times, until those above it were well-nigh
deafened with the sound, and those below and beyond it knew, by that
prearranged signal, that they were wanted--and wanted at once.
Instantly the night became hideous with shouting voices and running
steps. The door-keeper hurried out of his cottage with lantern lit, and
made his way toward them; constables appeared from every corner of the
grounds; meanwhile, Cleek, with the crackling paperish thing that had
muffled the bell in his hand, and the other lending what support to
Dollops he could give in holding the man down, called out their
requirements in the sharp staccato of excitement.
"A net, boys--quick! or a great-coat--anything! Only spit out your
torches and hold it firm-stretched, and we're going to throw something
down to you which will want a lot of holding, for it's as slippery as an
eel," he gave out sharply. "Now, then--are you ready? Mr. Narkom, see
that the lights are strong enough; I don't want him 'missing fire' and
landing with a broken neck until we've done with him. Ready, Dollops?
One--two--three----"
Came a scratching and a fighting and a furious sound of rending material
as the man wriggled to be free of those three detaining hands that held
him. Then of a sudden a startled gasp, a muttered oath, and--a flying
black shape came hurtling down in the darkness to that little circle of
light where the upturned, expectant faces of the constables showed in
Rembrandt-like light and shadow, and--the shape landed in the folds of
the outstretched great-coat with a _thwack_, and was muffled up in it in
a moment, kicking and clawing and scratching furiously as the thick
folds went over his head.
Ten men removed him from it eventually and set him upon his feet, just
as Dollops, slithering and sliding down from the dangerous height, with
his heart in his mouth for his master's safety with that injured hand of
his, landed with a _plomp_ upon the soft ground, and gave Cleek the hand
that had helped him all the way down that perilous journey, until he,
too, was in safety at last.
"Gawd's troof, Guv'nor!" he ejaculated, as he whipped out his
handkerchief and bound it tightly and professionally over the finger and
down on to the strained wrist. "You're 'urt proper, ain't you? That was
a narrer squeak, I don't fink!... That's better, ain't it? I weren't
a-goin' ter let yer git orf without that bit of bandages to 'elp the
pain, not if we loses the blinkin' murderer 'isself! Let's 'ave a look
at the chap, sir."
Cleek's good hand swung up across the boy's shoulder.
"Thank you," he said simply. "Hello! here's Mr. Narkom. Yes, let's have
a look at the blighter, men, before you carry him off to the lock-up.
I'm interested to know what he looks like beneath that mask of his. Just
to get a line on his features, you know."
Speaking, he went up to the group of constables and, flashing out his
torch, sent its spotlight upon the man's scowling face.
And it was just as he did this that Dollops let out a yell of amazement,
and stared at him--mouth open, eyes wide.
"Gawblimey! and pink sossidges!" he exclaimed, whirling round upon Cleek
in astonishment, "if this 'ere ain't the giddy limit! Why, that's ole
Dirty Dick the Dago 'isself!"
"And this," said Cleek, as he glanced down at the crumpled bit of
parchment which he still held, and smiled into Mr. Narkom's serious
face, "is the missing will, or I'm a Dutchman! Quite a little bit of
excitement for one night's entertainment, I must say! Who says anything
about killing two birds with one stone? Men, I'm coming along with you
to the lock-up. It's a bit late in the evening, or early in the morning,
to be more literal, but I'm going to have a conversation with your
prisoner which is going to elucidate many things for me. Mr. Narkom, I
should advise you to go back to bed and take a rest. To-morrow is likely
to be a heavy day."
Then, smiling, but still a trifle pale, Cleek swung into step with
Dollops behind the little cavalcade which was wending its way slowly
through the great gateway and out upon the road beyond--toward the goal
of many imaginings and the proper elucidation of the riddle at last.