EXIT THE ASIATICS
Tchigorsky, Ralph Ravenspur, and Geoffrey sat smoking in the blind man's
room. It was late the same afternoon and from the window could be heard
the thunder of the incoming tide. Tchigorsky appeared to be in excellent
spirits, puffed his cigarette with gusto and came out in the new rôle of
a _raconteur_.
"We have them all now," he said. "To-day will settle everything. It was
a pretty idea of Ralph's to hang about the corridor under the impression
that the woman would try to send some kind of message to her familiars.
Real genius, I call it."
"Not a bit of it," Ralph said doggedly. "Pshaw, a child would have done
the same. The woman was bound to try to send a letter. She lies there
helpless, but knows that somebody is moving in her tracks. And, to add
to her suspense, she hasn't an idea who is following her up.
"Don't you see she is in the dark? Don't you understand that she
suspects she has been trapped? She wants to know all about her infernal
apparatus. She wants her information all at one fell swoop. And when she
found that Marion was missing she felt certain that her time was near."
"What is her hold over Marion?" Geoffrey asked.
"And why has Marion gone away?" Tchigorsky said evasively. "We shall
come to a full understanding about that presently. Let us begin to
unravel the skein from the start. I read that letter which Ralph gave to
me, the letter which by this time is in the hands of that woman's
familiars. They have instructions to come to the castle at dusk and
enter it by way of the vaults. When the family are at dinner the
Orientals will make their way up to their mistress."
"But can they?" Geoffrey asked.
"Of course they can. Many a night have they been here. But we have
already stopped any danger that way by locking the door of the vault,
the one below sea level. Then we shall go down the cliffs presently and
take the chaps like rats in a trap. They will be arrested and handed
over to the police because the time has come when we can afford to show
our hands. The end is very near."
"But the evidence against Mrs. May?" Geoffrey suggested.
Tchigorsky tapped his breast pocket significantly.
"You have forgotten the diary," he said. "I have evidence enough here to
hang that vile wretch over and over again. I have evidence enough to
place in the hands of the Government which will convince those gentry in
the temples beyond Lassa that they had better be content to leave us
alone in future unless they desire to have their temples blown about
their ears. This diary clinches the whole business. The house of
Ravenspur is free."
"God grant that it may be so," Geoffrey said fervently. "We have only to
wait till dusk. Tell me the rest of your adventures in the Black
Valley."
Tchigorsky nodded as he proceeded to make a fresh cigarette.
"There is not much more to tell," he said. "Some day, when I have more
leisure on my hands, I will give the whole business, chapter and verse.
I have only told you enough for you to know the class of foe you have to
deal with.
"Well, as I told you, we shot two of the priests whose business it was
to guide our stumbling feet to the bottom and then leave us there. We
knew that these men would never be missed, so that we hadn't much
anxiety on that score. The others, despite their sacred calling, were
just as anxious to live as anybody else.
"To prevent any chance of escape, we took off our flowing robes, tore
them into strips, and bound our guides to ourselves. It was a good thing
we did so, for before long we plunged into darkness so thick that its
velvety softness seemed to suffocate us.
"You will hardly believe me, but for two whole days and nights we
stumbled on in that awful darkness without food or rest, except now and
again when we fell exhausted. All that time we could see nothing, but
there were awful noises from unseen animals, roars and yells and cries
of pain.
"Loathsome, greasy reptiles were under our feet, the clammy rocks seemed
to be alive with them. Yet they did us no harm; indeed, their sole
object seemed to be to get out of our way. Sometimes great eyes gleamed
at us, but those eyes were ever filled with a terror greater than our
own.
"After a bit this sense of fear passed away. Had we been alone, had we
possessed no hope of ultimate salvation, the unseen horrors of the place
would have driven us mad. We should have wandered on until we had
dropped hopelessly insane and perished. Even a man utterly devoid of
imagination could not have fought off the mad terror of it all. As for
me, I will never forget it."
Tchigorsky paused and wiped his forehead. Glancing at Ralph, Geoffrey
could see that the latter was trembling like a leaf.
"We came to the end of it at length," Tchigorsky went on. "We came to
light and a long desolate valley whence we proceeded into an arid
desert. Here we found our latitude and dismissed our guides. We ought to
have shot them, but we refrained. It would have saved a deal of trouble.
They were not less dangerous than mad dogs.
"We got into communication with our guides and servants in a day or two,
and there ended the first and most thrilling volume of our adventures.
How the Princess Zara has persecuted us ever since you know. And how we
are going to turn the tables on that fiend of a woman you also know."
There was a long silence after Tchigorsky had finished and dusk began to
fall. Geoffrey looked out of the window toward the sea. Suddenly he
started.
"Blobber Rock," he gasped. "Covered! Not a vestige of it to be seen! It
is high spring tide to-day, the highest of the month, and I had
forgotten all about it."
"What difference does it make?" Tchigorsky asked.
"It fills the underground caves," Geoffrey cried. "We have locked the
doors of the lower vault, and in that vault are the two Asiatics waiting
the orders of their mistress. A spring tide fills that vault with water.
If those men got that letter, as they are pretty sure to have done by
this time, then they are dead men. Once they get into the cave the tide
would cut them off, and they would be drowned like rats in a sewer. Of
course, they would have no idea the vault was closed to them, and----"
"Quite right," Tchigorsky interrupted. "I never thought of that. And I
had no knowledge of the state of the tide. And there are other caves
where----"
He was going to say "where Marion is," but paused. Ralph seemed to
divine what was in his mind. The reply seemed incontinent, but
Tchigorsky understood.
"All the other caves are practically beyond high-water mark," he said.
"What Geoffrey says is correct and our forgetfulness has saved the
hangman a job. But wouldn't it be well to make sure?"
Tchigorsky was of that opinion.
"No need to alarm the household," he said. "Geoffrey shall procure a
lantern, and I will come and assist in the search. I don't want to be
seen just yet; but it really does not much matter, as there is no need
for further concealment. If these men are drowned, they are drowned, and
there is an end of the matter. In any case, we have the chief culprit by
the heels."
It was possible, after all, to reach the vaults without being seen.
Geoffrey procured a lantern and the party set out. When they were at the
bottom of the steps they could hear the sea slashing and beating on the
walls and sides of the vault. A great wave slipped up as the door
opened.
Geoffrey bent down with the lantern in his hand. For some time he
searched the boiling spume without success.
"Can you see anything?" asked Tchigorsky.
"Nothing whatever," said Geoffrey. "It is possible that they might
not---- Ah!"
He shuddered as he raised the light. The spume ceased to boil for a
moment, then a stiff, rigid hand crept horribly from the flood. A brown
sodden face followed. There lay one of the Asiatics past the power of
further harm.
"You have seen one," Tchigorsky shouted, "and there is the other."
Another face came up like a repulsive picture on a screen. A minute
later and the two bodies were dripping on the steps of the vault.