"Thanks!" With the agility of a cat he leaped up and wriggled through
the window. He turned. "Good night, sir. Sometime maybe I'll do the
same for you, sir."
"Go to the devil!" I snarled.
"My, my! What a temper, sir! I wouldn't have thought it of you, and a
nice lady in speaking distance!"
He disappeared.
The girl laid a hand on my arm.
"You have acted very sensibly, Mr. Comstalk. If you had not, it is
quite certain he would have shot you."
"It would have been a good thing for me if he had. He has gone, and
the jewels have gone with him. I hadn't the least chance; the wretch!
He probably came disguised as a plumber, and nobody suspected him."
"But if he possessed the ten of hearts, why should he have left this
way?"
"Possibly my idea was only an imitation of his. There must have been
at least a dozen tens of hearts. My dear young lady, I would give a
good deal if you were well out of this. I believed my plan was for the
best, and instead I have simply blackened the case against us. I have
been too adventurous. The situation looks very serious just now. Of
course, in the long run, we shall clear ourselves; but it will take
some fine arguing to do it, and possibly half a dozen lawyers."
"It is a terribly embarrassing predicament; but since we started out
together, we'll hang together." She held out her hand to me. "It will
be fun to extricate ourselves with full honors."
"You're a brick!" And I pressed her hand tightly.
"Now, I wonder why the burglar didn't try those cellar-doors?" she
murmured.
"By Jove, I'll soon find out! Come on. There's hope yet."
This time we reached the stone steps without interference. I gave the
candle to the girl, cautiously put a shoulder against one of the doors,
and gave a gentle heave. It was not locked. Through the thin crack I
looked out upon the bright world of moonshine and crystal. Instantly I
permitted the door to settle into its accustomed place. I readily
understood the burglar's reasons. Seated upon a box, less than a dozen
feet away, and blissfully smoking one of the club's cigars, sat a burly
policeman. So _they_ had arrived upon the scene!
"What is it?" asked the girl, as I motioned her to retreat.
"The worst has come: the police!" dramatically.
"Gracious heavens, _this_ is frightful! We shall never get out now.
Oh dear! Why did I ever come? It will be in the papers, with horrid
pictures. We ought not to have left the ball-room. Our very actions
will tell heavily against us. Awful!"
"Now, don't you worry. They will not take any notice of you, once they
set eyes upon me. _Homo sum_! They are looking for _me_. There's
only one superfluous ten of hearts. I have it."
"But I shall be found with you, and the stupid police will swear I am
an accomplice." She wrung her hands.
"But no jewels will be found upon us," I argued half-heartedly.
"They will say we have already disposed of them."
"But the real burglar--"
"They will say that he came into the cellar at our bidding."
This girl was terribly reasonable and direct.
"Hang it! I know Teddy Hamilton, the M. F. H. He'll go my bail, and
yours, too, for that matter. Come, let's not give up. There _must_ be
some other way out."
"I wish I might believe it. Why _did_ I come?"--a bit of a wail
stealing into the anger in her voice.
"This is Tom Fool's Night, and no mistake," I assented ruefully.
"But I am a bigger fool than you are; I had an alibi, and a good one."
"An alibi? Why on earth, then, did you follow me? What is your alibi?"
"Never mind now. We should still be in this miserable
cellar,"--briefly. "What a night! I am so ashamed! I shall be
horribly compromised."
"I'll take the brunt of it all. I'm sorry; but, for the love of
Heaven, don't cry, or I shall lose what little nerve I have left."
"I am not crying!" she denied emphatically. "My inclination is to
shriek with laughter. I'm hysterical. And who wouldn't be, with
police officers and cells staring one in the face? Let us be going.
That policeman outside will presently hear us whispering if we stand
here much longer."
There was wisdom in this. So, once again I took the candle, and we
marched back. There wasn't a single jest left in my whole system, and
it didn't look as if there was ever going to be another supply. We
took the other side of the furnace, and at length came to a flight of
wooden stairs, leading somewhere into the club. It was our last
chance, or we should indeed be obliged to stay all night in some bin;
for it would not be long before they searched the cellars. If this
flight led into the kitchen, we were saved, for I could bluff the
servants. We paused. Presently we ascended, side by side, with light
but firm step. We reached the landing in front of the door without
mishap. From somewhere came a puff of air which blew out the candle.
I struck a match viciously against the wall---and blundered into a
string of cooking-pans! It was all over, the agony of suspense!
Blang! Rumpity-bumpity-blang-blang!
I have heard many stage thunders in my time, but that racket beat
anything and everything this side of siege-guns.
Instantly the door opened and a policeman poked his head in. Before I
had time to move, he grabbed me by the arm and yanked me--into the
ballroom! The girl and I had made a complete circuit of the cellars,
and had stumbled into the ball-room again by the flight opposite to
that by which we left it. Cheerful prospect, wasn't it? The adventure
had ceased to have any droll side to it.
"Aha!" cried the base minion of the law. "_Here_ you are, then!
Hello, everybody! Hello!" he bawled.
Caught! Here we were, the Blue Domino and myself, the Grey Capuchin,
both of us in a fine fix. Discovery and ejection I could have stood
with fortitude and equanimity; but there was bad business afoot. There
wasn't any doubt in my mind what was going to happen. As the girl
said, there would be flaring head-lines and horrid pictures. We were
like to be the newspaper sensation of the day. Arrested and lodged in
jail! What would my rich, doting old uncle say to that, who had
threatened to disinherit me for lesser things! I felt terribly sorry
for the girl, but it was now utterly impossible to help her, for I
couldn't help myself.
And behold! The mysterious stranger I had met in the curio-shop, the
fellow who had virtually haunted me for six hours, the fellow who had
masqueraded as Caesar, suddenly loomed up before me, still wearing his
sardonic smile. At his side were two more policemen. He had thrown
aside his toga and was in evening dress. His keen glance rested on me.
"Here he is, Mr. Haggerty!" cried the policeman cheerfully, swinging me
around.
A detective! And Heaven help me, he believed me to be the thief! Oh,
for Aladdin's lamp!