DESCRIBING A RIDE WITH THE PIRATE
"WHEN you left me," Forrest began, "I thought I would pass the time
until your return in making a still more detailed inspection of the
ground than we had already made. I found I had no lights. In order to
get over the difficulty, I went to the car in which the dead man was
seated and examined the lamps. They were in good working order, and I
could see that their extinction had not been due to any mischance. Why
they should have been put out and the machinery of the car left running
puzzled me. I could only conclude that the Pirate, after shooting his
victim, had approached the car to plunder him, but had been scared away
by the sound of our approach. He must have turned out the lights and
have just had time to draw the car across the road to make a trap for
us, before making his own escape. This impression of mine was confirmed
later. I took one of the lamps from its socket, lit it, and looked again
at the dead body. I am almost certain he had not been disturbed since
the fated bullet struck him. His coat was closely buttoned. His rug was
wrapped tightly round him. There were papers in his coat pocket, and I
could feel through the coat that his watch and chain were still upon
him. When thinking that the Pirate could not be far off, I regretted I
had not accompanied you; but remembering you were well armed, I reckoned
that if you did meet the gentleman, you were quite capable of giving a
good account of yourself--and of him."
You who happen to have read my account of the state of my mind, as
faithfully described in these pages, will be able to judge how far my
friend's confidence in me was justified. For myself, I doubt not that
had he met me, the Pirate would have been able to add a second victim to
that night's list with little difficulty. This by the way.
"I did not make a very close examination," continued Forrest, "since
there would be plenty of time for that when the doctor arrived. Besides,
I wished him to see the body in the position we found it. So I turned my
attention to the road again, going over the surface inch by inch in the
most methodical manner. You never know, you see, whether some trifling
object may not be dropped by the criminal which will provide a clue. I
was so engaged when I became aware of a curious humming sound in the
air. I stood upright and peered into the darkness. But my eyes had
become dazzled by looking at the white road in the brilliant light of
the acetylene lamp, and I might as well have expected to be able to see
through a brick wall. The most sensible course to have pursued would
have been to extinguish the lamp; but, instead of doing so, I stood like
a fool in the middle of the road and waited until the Pirate--it was he
without the slightest doubt--swooped down upon me, and if I had not at
the last moment leaped aside I should have been bowled over. As it was,
I just escaped being knocked down. The car pulled up with a jerk, and
there, within reach, was the person whose capture would have--well, you
can guess what it would have meant to me, if I could have managed to get
him single-handed. But for the moment I was so astounded at the audacity
of the rascal I could do nothing. I was not long in making up my mind to
have a shot at capturing him, however. I dropped the lamp to the ground,
and clipping my hand into my pocket I grasped my revolver. I knew I had
to deal with a desperate character, but I was scarcely prepared to find
him as physically powerful as he proved to be. I stepped up close to the
car and with my left hand made a grab at him. It was a fruitless
attempt. I found my wrist held in a grip of steel. I raised my right
with the revolver. I was just a moment late in pulling the trigger, for
he knocked up my hand and the bullet went wide. Before I had another
chance, he twisted the weapon out of my grasp with a wrench that numbed
my arm to the shoulder. How he managed to see in the dark was a mystery
to me. He must have eyes like a cat--that man."
Forrest paused to light another cigarette, and after a couple of puffs
he resumed--
"But the most startling thing was to come. Holding me tightly he leaned
over towards me and said, 'Not this time, Inspector Forrest. You may
think you have the Motor Pirate, but I can assure you that you were
never more mistaken in your life.' Astonishment is not the name for my
feelings at hearing him address me by my name. I had caught a glimpse of
him before I dropped the lamp, but he was so swathed in his leather coat
and disguised by his mask, that I should never be able to identify him.
But I seemed to recognize something familiar in the intonation of his
voice, yet even that was so muffled that I cannot be certain I have ever
heard it before. However, I did not allow my astonishment to prevent me
taking action. I threw myself suddenly backwards, hoping the weight of
my body would upset his balance and drag him from his car to the ground,
where we should have been on more equal terms. The jerk moved him about
as much as if he had been built into his car. 'No, you don't,
Inspector,' he said, with an infernal chuckle; and, so saying, he leaned
over and, catching me by the coat, lifted me off my feet and swung me up
on to the car before him. I'm not a light weight, as you can guess--I
turn the scale at something nearer twelve stone than eleven--but he
handled me as if I were a baby. I struggled of course, but my right arm
was powerless, and he could master me with ease."
"I suppose it was during the struggle that you lost the two buttons from
your overcoat which you left behind you?" I asked.
"Most likely," he replied, "though I knew nothing of them. Really his
strength seemed diabolic. There was something else about him which to my
mind scarcely seemed natural. At all my struggles he continued to laugh,
but there was no merriment in his laughter, it was merely an even
guttural cachinnation, the laugh of a fiend at the aimless struggles of
a lost soul. It seemed to give him immense pleasure to see me wriggling
on the smooth curved metal plate which formed the front of his car. I
grew tired at last and lay still, hoping for a chance to better my
position, for I came to the conclusion that in a mere trial of strength
he was immeasurably my superior.
"When he saw my resistance had ceased, he spoke again. 'I feel inclined
to take you for a ride with me, Inspector,' he said. 'I can assure you
that you will find the experience a thrilling one. It is given to few
men to travel with the Motor Pirate. The pace alone should prove
exhilarating, to say nothing of the companionship and--what awaits you
at the termination of the entertainment.' He chuckled again as he
concluded, and I felt a cold thrill in the region of my spine.
"I made no reply. What would have been the use? But I do wish my right
arm had been of some use, for I think in my anger I might have stood
some chance of turning the tables on him. I quietly tried to rub the
feeling back into it, but he did not afford me a chance of doing so for
long. He produced a length of rope from somewhere or other, and, before
I gathered what he was doing, he had twisted it round me and bound my
arms tightly to my sides. I was absolutely powerless, and I gnashed my
teeth with rage at the helpless state in which I found myself. There was
I, a detective inspector with a reputation at the Yard second to none,
trussed like a fowl, and lying on the slippery surface of the Pirate car
I had come out to capture."
"Not exactly a pleasant position," I remarked, as Forrest paused to
moisten his throat with the whisky-and-soda at his elbow.
"No; but the worst was yet to come. He had no sooner secured my arms
than he drew another piece of cord through the band, and fastened it
somewhere or other. 'Now, if ever you pray, Inspector,' he remarked,
with some more of his beastly merriment, 'pray that this rope doesn't
break; for if it should happen to do so at the pace we shall be
travelling, you will go to hell even sooner than I intend you to do.'
"With that he set his car in motion, and, judging by the way the wind
stung me, the pace was something terrific. At first I attempted to pay
some attention to the direction we took. But I soon gave up the idea. My
position on the car was not one from which I could observe anything with
any degree of comfort. With my arms bound, I sprawled out upon the
smooth, curved bonnet of the confounded car, only held on by a cord
which I expected to break and send me flying into the next world every
time we touched a stone, or crossed a rut. My heart was in my mouth for
the next hour or so, but afterwards I think I grew careless or callous.
He had pulled the cord round my arms pretty tightly; that numbed me all
over, and the exposure to the air did the rest. I fell into a dreamy
condition. I only know that never for a moment were we still. There was
always the drone of the wheels in my ears, and whenever I made a
struggle and opened my eyes, all I could see was the blacker streak in
the blackness caused by the hedges flying past. Heaven only knows how
far and where we went. It seemed an eternity until it ended. But by then
I was very near unconsciousness. I have a sort of impression the car did
stop. I fancy that I saw the Pirate's mask bent closely over me while he
examined me, that I heard him say, 'I don't think, Mr. Inspector, your
attentions will trouble me much more.' I do remember distinctly being
lifted in his powerful hands. I felt him swing me once, twice, thrice;
then I felt myself flying in the air, and the next moment my senses came
back to me with a rush, for I plumped into several feet of water."
"Well?" I ejaculated, as Forrest paused to light another cigarette. I
was so interested that I grudged him a moment's delay before completing
the story.
"The curious thing to my mind is that he did not knock me on the head at
first," said Forrest. "I can only explain it by the conclusion that our
friend the Motor Pirate is a madman. But, if so, I undoubtedly owe my
life to the means he took to finish it. The sudden immersion brought me
to myself much more rapidly than any other process could have done. In
detaching me from the car he must have loosened the knot of the rope
binding my arms; possibly the water made it slip further before it
became saturated. I felt the rope give, and got one arm free by the time
I came to the surface. I floundered into shallow water, and paused. By
this time there was just a glimmer of light on the eastern horizon from
the dawn, and I could see the bank was only a yard or two distant.
Somehow or another I managed to scramble out, bringing half the bed of
the river, or pond, whichever it was I had been pitched into, with me.
When I was on firm ground I collapsed. I did not remain long on the
ground, though. I knew very well that if I wanted to escape a severe
illness, the only thing to do was to keep moving until my circulation
was restored. So I got going. It was hard work at first. My limbs were
so cramped and stiff that I was compelled to stop and groan after
crawling every six paces. But the stiffness wore off gradually. I went
ahead until I struck a village, and found out in what part of the
country I was."
"Why didn't you go to the police-station?" I asked.
"Wasn't going to make myself a laughing-stock for a lot of country
constables," he answered. "No; if I had got my man, I should not have
minded what sort of figure I cut, but to turn up such a scarecrow after
failing to get my man--not much. I had learned from the post-office
window where I was. I had been dropped near Shefford, a village a few
miles the other side of Hitchin on the North Road, and I thought if I
walked back here I should avoid all likelihood of getting a chill. So I
started. I found I had a shilling in my pocket. I had more money about
me than that when I started out, but whether our friend helped himself
to the balance, or whether it fell from my pockets during the ride, I
haven't the slightest idea. But the shilling was sufficient to provide
for my requirements. The first public-house I found open I went in, and
had six-penny-worth of hot rum. My word! There's nothing like hot rum
for putting new life into one. After I had drunk it I reckoned I should
get here about noon; but I had not taken the somniferous effects of that
sixpenny-worth of rum into the calculation. Before I had covered half a
dozen miles, I found myself so sleepy that I could not keep my eyes
open. I dropped off once or twice as I walked, so at last I made for a
convenient haystack, rolled myself up in the loose litter at the base,
and let myself go.
"That's how it happened I was so late in my arrival," he remarked; "and
now, Motor Pirate or no Motor Pirate, I am going to finish that snooze."
He gave a prodigious yawn, and held out his hand. "Good night!" I said.
"The story of my adventures will very well keep until to-morrow."