A WONDERFUL DISCOVERY.
Tod Macandrew was the happiest of men when he and Gerald left Mrs.
Pelham Odin's flat on that night. It was all that Haskins could do to
keep Tod from executing a war dance on the street. "Remember that you
are a solicitor," warned Gerald, "surely you don't want to appear in
the police court, otherwise than in a professional capacity."
"I am also a lover," cried Tod fervently, "and I care nothing for the
opinion of other people, legal, magisterial or otherwise."
"Ass!" muttered his friend, and shook the arm he was holding. "Come
out of your midsummer-night dream, and help me."
"In what way?" asked Tod more soberly.
"I wish to marry Mavis Durham."
"Oh!" Tod became more sober than ever. "Haven't you forgotten her
yet?"
Gerald stopped in surprise. "Why in heaven's name should I forget her,
you unsympathetic idiot? I love her----"
"And I love Charity," interpolated Macandrew enthusiastically.
"Then show a trifle of it," retorted Haskins, punning on the name, "by
helping me, as I have helped you. If it had not been for me, Mr.
Toddy, your future mother-in-law would not have consented to this
marriage."
Tod shook his friend's hand vigorously. "You're one of the best.
Anything I can do--by the way, what am I to do?"
"Forget Charity for ten minutes in the first place, and get into this
approaching hansom in the second. I intend to drive you to my rooms."
"What!" Tod pulled out his watch to read the time by the light of the
street lamp under which they were standing. "It's past twelve."
"James Ian Robert Roy Macandrew, are you or are you not my legal
adviser?"
"Of course I am, and--oh----" Tod broke off hastily.
"I knew that I had something to tell you--about that will, you know."
"Will! Then there is a will?" gasped Gerald, signaling to a hansom.
"Yes. The will of Captain Julian Durham, who----"
"Get in, get in," interrupted Haskins testily, as the cab drew up
'longside, "we have much to say to one another."
Tod jumped into the cab, and shortly Gerald slipped in beside him,
after giving his address. When the hansom was spinning along, Gerald
turned on Tod sharply. "Why didn't you communicate with me about this
will, when you knew how anxious I was?"
"I only learned the truth yesterday," said Tod quickly; "and wrote a
letter asking you to call. You should have received it this morning."
"Well then I didn't."
"It's that infernal office-boy. I'll sack him. Probably he has never
posted it. Well then, I searched for wills in the name of Durham, made
about the time you mention. There are plenty of people of that name,
and I had to read through a lot of documents. Finally I found that
Captain Julian Durham was your man."
"How do you know?"
"Because the property of Captain Julian Durham is left to his
daughter, Mavis."
Gerald uttered so loud an ejaculation that the cabman looked down
through the trap, thinking that he was receiving an order. "No, no,
cabby; it's all serene. Drive on to Frederick Street." When the trap
was closed he addressed himself to Macandrew. "Then I was right?"
"Quite right," assented Tod admiringly, "though how the deuce you
knew----"
"I didn't know. But I had an intuitive feeling."
Tod groaned. "Some more of your confounded occult stuff."
"Very good," said Gerald dryly. "I accept the rebuke; but explain my
intuition, if you please."
"What is your intuition, exactly?"
"I believe," said Haskins seriously, and choosing his words carefully,
"that Mavis has been shut up by Rebb to keep her out of the way, while
he enjoys her income."
This time Tod uttered an ejaculation. "I believe that there is
something in your occult rubbish after all," he said, in a wondering
manner, "for the situation is exactly as you say."
"Ah!" Gerald was triumphant, and would have uttered an exultant
speech, but that the cab stopped in Frederick Street. "Here we are,
Tod. Get out. How much, cabby? Two shillings? There you are. Wait till
I open the door, Macandrew. There! Run upstairs. I'll follow."
Rattling on in this way, Haskins and his friend went up the dimly
lighted stairs, for the gas was not full on, and soon found themselves
in Gerald's comfortable sitting-room. Haskins lighted the lamp--he
detested electric and gas--and passed along a box of cigars to his
visitor. Tod was also accommodated with a glass of whisky and soda and
a comfortable armchair. Gerald, being similarly provided, leaned
forward eagerly. "Now, Toddy, tell me exactly what the will says."
Tod's eyes strayed to an adjacent table. "Why, there's my letter after
all. That infernal boy _did_ post it. I daresay your man didn't bring
it up. You should row him, Jerry, and----"
"Oh, bother! Tell me about the will. I can read your letter later."
"Well then," said Macandrew deliberately, "Julian Durham made a will
at Brighton, more than twenty years ago, disposing of six thousand a
year."
"Ha! Rebb's exact income."
"Yes. Only I think Rebb has five or six hundred a year of his own in
addition. The income of Durham was left to his infant daughter, Mavis,
and Michael Rebb was appointed her guardian."
"And a pretty guardian he has been," muttered Gerald savagely.
"You may well say that, Jerry. The will says that Rebb is to enjoy the
whole income on condition that he educates and brings up the child in
a proper way."
"Which he has not done, since Mavis can neither read nor write.
Couldn't the will be upset by that, Tod?"
"We'll come to that later. But I would point out that the will
provides for Rebb only until Mavis marries. When she marries, the six
thousand a year passes to her at once, on her wedding day, in fact,
only Rebb is not forced to account for what he has used up to that
date."
Haskins jumped up and began to walk up and down, as he was accustomed
to do when much excited. "Then I am to understand that, if I marry
Mavis, Major Rebb loses six thousand a year?"
"Exactly. He reverts to his original five or six hundred, which
apparently he possessed before getting his brother officer to make
this preposterous will in his favor, as it practically is."
Haskins stopped.
"His brother officer?"
"Yes! Durham was in a Goorkha regiment, and so was Rebb. Later, I
daresay, Rebb exchanged to the West Indies. I always heard that he
came from that place."
"Yes. Jamaica," said Haskins mechanically, thinking of Geary. "So this
is why Rebb has shut up the girl, and put about the rumor that she is
crazy. The plotting beast!"
"He's all that," nodded the solicitor, emphatically, "in that way he
prevents Mavis ever getting a husband, and so, while she remains
unmarried, he can enjoy his income--or rather her income--in a legal
way."
"In a legal way," echoed Gerald, disgusted. "Why, the man ought to be
hanged and quartered."
"You can punish him more by depriving him of his income."
"Oh, I'll do that. So far as I am personally concerned, I don't care
two straws for the income----"
"Oh, come now. Human nature----"
"I don't go by human nature," interrupted Haskins sharply; "I go by my
own feelings. I would marry Mavis without one penny, since my five
hundred a year and what I make by writing is enough to keep things
going. But Rebb must be punished, and I shall do all I can to deprive
him of this six thousand a year."
"There is no necessity to bother," said Tod soothingly, "the thing
acts automatically, as you might say. When Mavis becomes your wife the
money is paid over--or rather the income is transferred to her on the
wedding day. The sole chance that Rebb has of keeping his money is to
prevent the marriage."
"Oh, he'll do his best to do that," said Gerald, with a frown, "I'll
tell you what, Tod, that man won't stop short of murder."
"Oh, you shouldn't----"
"Yes, I should. Mavis is under the impression that all girls are
brought up in conventual seclusion, and are not allowed to see young
men. Rebb, for obvious reasons, told her so. But she understands that
she is to be taken into the world when she is one and twenty. Her
twenty-first birthday is only ten months distant--nine months, in
fact. When that time arrives she will want to come out. If Rebb lets
her out she will probably be asked in marriage, and then he would----"
"Murder her," finished Macandrew. "Not at all. Rebb is too clever a
man to place his precious neck in a noose. When her birthday came, and
she turned restive, he would simply have called in a doctor to
pronounce her insane and unfit for marriage."
"No doctor would dare to say that: Mavis is quite sane."
"Much can be done with money," said Tod dryly, "and Rebb has six
thousand a year at his command. Besides, even if he could find no
doctor to swear to her insanity, the mere rumor of such a thing would
prevent any man from marrying her."
"I am not so certain of that," said Gerald grimly. "As you said just
now, much can be done with money. However, Rebb won't have a chance of
working out his rascally plot, whether he means murder or not. I shall
go to Devonshire and interview him, and----"
"How do you know that he is there?" questioned Tod quickly.
The question recalled Haskins to a sense of his folly in trusting the
widow with his secret. "I have made a fool of myself Macandrew," he
remarked soberly, and resumed his seat, "it is my belief that Mrs.
Crosbie has put Rebb on his guard, and that Rebb has gone down to
Denleigh to thwart my plans for carrying off Mavis."
"Mrs. Crosbie! Jerry, I warned you."
"I know that, and I wish I had taken your warning. Listen!" And Gerald
related his interview with the widow, ending with an emphatic
declaration that he did not believe she had kept her promise of
secrecy.
Macandrew nodded, as he quite agreed with him. "As Mrs. Crosbie is
engaged to Rebb, she will not wish him to lose his income, so----"
"Do you think she knows of Rebb's position?"
"Of course. She may not have known it before you confided in her, but
she certainly would demand an explanation from the Major, in spite of
her promise, when she heard that he was keeping a pretty girl shut up.
Mrs. Crosbie is a woman, and as a woman is jealous, Rebb would be
forced to tell the truth--that is, how his income depends upon Mavis
being imprisoned. When Mrs. Crosbie knew that, she certainly would do
all she could to prevent you marrying the girl."
"But Madge has always been my friend," protested Haskins.
"Friendship goes when money is in question," retorted Tod. "I told you
that I suspected the widow of being hard up. If I am right, she is
marrying Rebb for the money, and both she and he will do all they can
to keep that six thousand a year. But," added Tod slowly, "I do not
think there will be any murder needed. The insanity rumor is enough to
prevent a possible marriage."
"Not with me," raged Gerald, jumping up once more.
"Quite so. Therefore Rebb, on his guard, has gone to Devonshire to
work against you."
"I'll follow by the first morning train."
"Take care, Haskins," warned the solicitor. "Rebb is dangerous. A man
who would act as he has done will not stick at a trifle. If there is
to be murder, you will be the victim."
Gerald held his head very high. "I am not so easily got rid of," he
remarked quietly. "However, Mrs. Crosbie and her mother are at Bognor,
so they are out of the way. Now I don't like doing underhand things.
Tod, as you know, but in this case it seems necessary that these two
women should be watched to see if Rebb goes down to see them at
Bognor."
Macandrew nodded. "I can arrange that. I'll send a confidential clerk
down. It is dirty work, but when dealing with a rascal like Rebb one
cannot be too careful. And you will take a revolver with you?"
"Yes; I may have to reckon with Geary, who is Rebb's spy and bully.
And then there is Bellaria, who---- Tod," broke off Haskins, "you have
been in Italy and know something of Italian, so----"
"I know a great deal," corrected Tod indignantly. "I am excellent at
languages: you know that."
"All right, old boy, don't get your hair off. What is the meaning of
the word Tána?"
"Tána? It means a den. Caverna, Tána, Antro--all mean a den," he
paused reflectively, and Tod threw up his hand before Gerald could
answer. "Where have I heard that word? It seems familiar."
"No doubt, when people speak in Italy----"
"I don't mean that. I have heard the word used in a peculiar way."
Haskins reflected, with his eyes on Macandrew. "Do you know anything
in connection with the word about a red coral hand grasping a----"
"A dagger," cried Tod, rising quickly. "Yes, of course. When I was in
Naples there was some talk of a society----"
"I thought so--I thought so."
"It is called the Tána Society--the Den Society, in English. I believe
that it is a collection of cut-throats, who terrorize people with the
symbol of the coral hand. The name comes from the idea of the society
hiding in a den, and emerging to do justice. It is something like the
Sicilian Mafia."
"Quite so," Haskins nodded. "I now understand Bellaria's fear. She ran
out of this room as though she were crazy, and indeed she was, for the
time being. She apparently thought that I was an emissary of the Tána,
appointed to kill her."
"Was Bellaria in town?" cried Tod, astonished.
"Yes. She found out about myself and Mavis, and came up to tell Rebb.
I called to see Rebb and we met. She came back with me, and we had a
long talk. She hinted about betraying a man called Salviati, with whom
she was in love, and talked about hiding from the vengeance of certain
people. When she saw the coral hand she ran out crying, 'Tána!
Tána!----"
"But how did you get the coral hand?" asked Tod, open-mouthed.
Haskins described how he had taken away Mrs. Crosbie's cigarette-case
by accident, and how he had found the hand. In fact he told Macandrew
everything, including the whole conversation with Bellaria, and the
subsequent visit of Mrs. Berch to recover the amulet. "And this Signor
Venosta gave the coral hand to Mrs. Crosbie?" ended Gerald. "What do
you think of it, Tod?"
Macandrew sat down gasping. "It's like a confounded penny dreadful,"
he remarked, ruffling his ruddy hair. "Girls shut up--incomes stolen,
and secret societies--oh, Lord! there is going to be trouble."
"In what way?"
"Don't ask me." Tod rose and began to put on his overcoat. "If I were
you, Jerry, I should chuck the whole business."
"What--leave Mavis?"
"Yes--if you don't want to get into a row. Rebb may be connected with
this Tána Society and----"
"No," interrupted Haskins decidedly, "on the contrary, he is
protecting Bellaria from assassination by the Tána, and so is himself
in danger of death. But why should Mrs. Crosbie possess this coral
hand?"
"You had better ask Signor Venosta, who gave it to her. He is probably
a Count Fosco of modern days. But if you insist upon marrying this
girl you will involve yourself in heaps of trouble."
"I intend to go down to Denleigh to-morrow and face Rebb," said Gerald
determinedly. "Mavis shall be my wife. Meanwhile you must have Mrs.
Crosbie watched." Gerald winced. "I don't like it, but I must save the
girl."
"I'll do all I can. But I tell you what, Jerry, if you don't return to
London in a week I'll set the police on your track."
"Very good! It's a case of marriage or death!"
Haskins was gay, but Tod departed filled with forebodings.