THE HALL-PORTER'S DOUBTS
When one o'clock came and Edith had not arrived, the three men waiting
in the hotel made no further effort to conceal their anxiety. The
impetuous Fairholme was eager to commence an immediate search of
Marseilles, but Brett steadily adhered to his resolution not to stir
from their sitting-room until either Miss Talbot came back in person or
it became quite certain that she was detained by some other influence
than her own unfettered volition.
"It may be," he argued, "that she will require some action on our part
the moment we see her, and nothing could be more stupid than for the
three of us to be wandering about this great city hopelessly inquiring
for a missing English lady, whilst she was impatiently awaiting our
return in the knowledge that valuable time was being lost to no purpose.
What is there to fear? Miss Talbot is absolutely unknown to all the
parties concerned in the affair. Even if she attracted their attention,
which is improbable, it is almost inconceivable that they should connect
her with the search being made for them. The only risk she runs is that
of insult by some semi-intoxicated reveller, and even in a rowdy city
like this, it must indeed be a strange locality in which she would be
denied some protection. Of course I will be much relieved when Miss
Talbot returns, but up to the present I see no reason for undue anxiety
on our part. Indeed, we ought to congratulate ourselves on the fact that
she deems it necessary to leave us for such a long period. The
probability is that she is making highly important discoveries which may
tend materially to reduce the area of inquiry."
With this view Talbot could not help concurring, so Fairholme had to
content himself by smoking many cigarettes and walking uneasily about
the room. Sit down he could not, whilst any casual ring at the hotel
door found him leaning over the balustrade of the inner court and
listening intently for the first words of the new arrival.
But the Englishmen were not the only persons in the hotel that night
whose composure was disturbed. Their extraordinary behaviour caused
uneasiness to the manager and those members of his staff who remained on
duty. The facts disclosed by the hall-porter were certainly remarkable.
Only one member of the party had behaved in a normal manner. Sir Hubert
Fitzjames, soon after his arrival, went quietly to bed, but the
hall-porter's report as to the conduct of the others was passing
strange.
One of them, to his surprise, had rung up the Prefecture of Police in
Paris on the telephone. The others were standing at the hotel door,
gazing quietly enough at the passers-by, when suddenly about midnight
much excitement rose amongst them. They conversed eagerly in their own
tongue for a few moments, and the lady had rushed off down the street by
herself, whilst her two companions ran with equal precipitancy to join
the third in the sitting-room they had engaged, and there they were
still seated in moody expectancy, apparently watching for some dramatic
event to happen.
It was time that all good people were in bed. But it was hopeless to
approach such lunatics with questions, for they were English, and no
decent Frenchman could possibly hope to understand their actions or
motives. It was satisfactory that they could speak French well;
therefore the manager counselled the hall-porter to exhibit patience and
prudence. Moreover, milords upstairs would be sure to recompense him for
an enforced vigil by a liberal _pourboire_.
At last, when even the Cannebiere was empty, and when the latest café
had closed its doors and the final tramcar had wearily jingled its way
up the hill towards a distant suburb, the electric bell jangled a noisy
summons to the front door. It produced the hall-porter and Fairholme
with remarkable celerity.
The Frenchman cautiously opened the door and saw outside a muffled-up
female who eagerly demanded admittance. He knew by her accent that she
was not a Marseillaise, but the shawl that covered her head and
shoulders showed that she belonged to the working classes.
"Whom do you wish to see at this hour?" he gruffly demanded.
"I live here," said Edith. "I came here to-night with my brother from
Paris. Please let me in at once."
In her excitement and breathlessness, for she had hurried at top speed
from the harbour, Edith forgot that the homely garment she adopted as a
disguise effectually cloaked her from the recognition of the hall-porter
as from all others.
Moreover, her French accent was too good. It deceived the man even more
thoroughly than did the shawl.
"Oh, really now," he said, "this is for laughter! A woman like you
staying at the hotel! Be off, or I will call a gendarme."
In his amazement at her demand he had not heard Fairholme's rapid
approach behind him. He was now swung unceremoniously out of the way and
the earl jumped forward to seize Edith in his arms.
"My darling girl," he cried, "where have you been? We almost gave you up
for lost. Where is your hat? Where did you get that shawl?" And all the
time he was hugging her so fiercely that it was absolutely impossible
for her to say a single word. At length she disengaged herself.
"Don't be so ridiculous," she said, "but let me come in and close the
door. The hall-porter will think we are cracked."
She summarised the hall-porter's sentiments most accurately. He
explained the transaction to the manager with most eloquent pantomime,
and the two marvelled greatly at the weird proceedings of their strange
guests.
"Ah," said the manager at length, "now that mademoiselle has returned,
perhaps they will go to bed."
At that instant Brett's voice was heard upon the stairs. He wanted the
telephone again.
Edith had rapidly detailed her adventures to her astonished auditors,
and Brett seemed to resolve on some plan of action with the lightning
rapidity peculiar to him.
Owing to the late hour he got through to Paris without much difficulty,
and then he returned to the sitting-room, where Edith was rehearsing in
greater detail all that had happened since she left them at the hotel
door. Brett explained to his companions the motives of his second
telephonic message.
"I am convinced," he said, "that Gros Jean is in communication with his
daughter. For this reason I did not wish the police to put in an
appearance at the Café Noir until to-morrow night, or rather to-night,
for we have long entered upon another day. I wished to have a reasonable
time for quiet inquiry at Marseilles before mademoiselle could be
apprised of our presence here. Miss Talbot's remarkable discovery has,
however, wholly changed my plans. Mlle. Beaucaire and her lover have set
off for some unknown destination, and the best chance we have of
discovering it is to secure the immediate arrest of her father.
Possibly, being taken by surprise at this hour of the morning, some
document may be found on him which will reveal his daughter's
destination. It occurs to me that she half expected him to arrive by a
late train. Again, when the fishing-smack puts into port, the girl will
probably adopt some method of communicating with him, and that
communication must come into our hands, not into his. So I have
telephoned the police officials in Paris to raid the Cabaret Noir
forthwith, and it is possible that they may report developments within
the next two or three hours."
"Is there no chance of your discovering the whereabouts of that
fishing-smack?" said Fairholme.
"In what way?" demanded Brett.
"Well, this is a big port, you know, and there are always tugs knocking
about with steam up, on the off-chance of their services being required.
Isn't it possible to charter a steamboat and set off after the smack?"
"I do not think so," said Brett. "I imagine it would be wasted effort.
By this time the _Belles Soeurs_ is well out to sea. She can go in a
dozen different directions. She may beat along the coast towards Toulon
and the Riviera. She can make towards Corsica, Sardinia, the Balearic
Islands, Spain, or the mouth of the Rhone. She will certainly not show
any lights, and I personally feel that although there is, perhaps, a
thousand to one chance we might fall in with her, it will be far better
for our purpose to remain quietly here and await developments in Paris."
"Anyhow," remarked Fairholme, convinced that his proposal was
impracticable, "it will be an easy matter for the authorities to
ascertain the port that she arrives at."
Brett shook his head dubiously.
"I have my doubts on that point," he said. "The man who has thus far
kept himself so easily ahead of all pursuers, and exhibited such a
wealth of resource in his methods, may well be trusted to cover up his
tracks effectually. There is even a possibility that the _Belles
Soeurs_ will never be seen again, and that her number will long remain
vacant on the shipping register of Marseilles. However, we shall see."
"Then, Mr. Brett," put in Edith quietly, with a tired smile, "I suppose
we may go to bed?"
"Most certainly, Miss Talbot. You have earned your rest more than any of
us to-night," he answered.
He held out his hand to wish her good-night, but she demanded with some
surprise, "What are you going to do? Surely you want some sleep?"
"I will remain here," he said. "I have bribed the hall-porter to keep
awake, and I may be wanted on the telephone at any moment."
"Then I will stop with you," cried Fairholme.
"And I too," chimed in Talbot.
"You will do nothing of the sort," he answered with pleasant insistence.
"You will just be off, both of you, and get some hours of sound sleep.
You may need all your energy to-morrow. Do not be afraid. I will arouse
you if anything dramatic should happen."
Left to himself, Brett again interviewed the hall-porter and returned to
the sitting-room, where he disposed himself for a nap on the sofa. Like
all men who possess the faculty of concentrated thought, he also
cultivated the power of dismissing a perplexing problem from his mind
until it became necessary to consider it afresh in the light of further
knowledge.
Within five minutes he was sound asleep.
At length he woke with a start. He was stiff with cold, for the fire had
gone out, and the tiny gas jet he had left burning was not sufficient to
warm the room. He sprang to his feet and looked at his watch. It was
half-past six.
"Surely," he cried, "there must have been a message from Paris long
before this!"
He ran downstairs, encountering on his way some of the hotel servants,
who even thus early had commenced work, for your industrious Frenchman
is no laggard in the morning. Going to the hall-porter's office he found
that functionary snoring peacefully. The poor fellow was evidently tired
out, and twenty telephone bells might have jangled in his ears without
waking him.
So, for the third time, Brett rang up the exchange to get in touch with
Paris. As he had anticipated, he quickly learnt that the Prefecture had
endeavoured to get through to him about 4.30 a.m., but the operators
were unable to obtain any answer.
"I can hardly blame the man," said he to himself, "for I was just as
tired as he."
The intimation he received from the Prefecture was startling enough. In
accordance with his instructions a number of detectives had raided the
Cabaret Noir soon after three o'clock. They found the place in
possession of a waiter and a couple of female servants. Gros Jean had
quitted the house the previous evening, and, most astounding fact of
all, with him were three Turks.
Neither the waiter nor the domestics could give any information whatever
concerning the hidden room. They knew of its existence, but none of them
had ever seen it, and the place was generally regarded as a sort of
cellar for the reception of lumber.
The police forced a padlock which guarded its trap-door, and found to
their surprise that the place was much more spacious than they
anticipated. It really contained two apartments, one of which was so
firmly secured that it had hitherto resisted all their efforts to open
it. The other was a sort of bed-sitting-room, and it had recently been
occupied. From various indications they came to the conclusion that its
latest tenants were Hussein-ul-Mulk and his confederates.
Judging from the fact that these gentry had quietly left the café in
Gros Jean's company about half-past seven the previous evening, they
were not in confinement against their will. In fact, the police theory
was that this secret chamber provided a safe retreat for any person who
desired complete seclusion other than that provided by the authorities.
"It is assumed," said the officer who communicated this bewildering
information to Brett, "that the locked room contains a quantity of
stolen goods. The police remain in charge of the café, and when the
necessary workmen have been obtained this morning the door will be
forced. We will at once let you know the result of our further
investigations."
"But what about Gros Jean and the Turks? Surely Paris cannot again have
swallowed them up?" inquired Brett.
"Every effort is being made to trace their whereabouts," was the reply,
"but you must remember, monsieur, that they had many hours' start of the
police, and that this period of the day is the most difficult of the
twenty-four hours in which to make successful inquiries. You must rest
assured that the moment we receive even the slightest clue we will ring
you up, provided, that is, you arrange for someone at your end to answer
the telephone."
"Oh," said Brett with a laugh, "there is little fear of further delay in
that respect. It will be daylight in another hour, and the servants are
already busy about the place."
He rang off and then darted back to his sitting-room to consult a
time-table, for the thought came to him that Gros Jean and the Turks had
quitted the café in order to reach Marseilles.
He could not yet explain this strange alliance. It was impossible to
believe that the innkeeper would betray his daughter to serve the ends
of a political party. No; there must be some other explanation which the
future alone could reveal.
He well knew that the last thought likely to occur to the Paris police
would be to suspect the missing men of any desire to reach the south
coast. It was with an almost feverish anxiety that he scrutinized the
pages of the _indicateur des chemins de fer_, and he heaved a sigh of
profound relief when he discovered that the first train Gros Jean and
the Turks could travel by left Paris the previous evening at 8.40 p.m.,
and was not due at Marseilles until 8.59 that morning.
It was now close on seven o'clock, so he went to his bedroom, effected
some much-needed changes in his personal appearance, and then consumed
an early breakfast of coffee and rolls. At half-past eight he called a
carriage and was driven to the railway station, where, punctually to the
minute, the Paris train arrived.
Brett managed to secure a favourable point whence he could observe the
passengers without being seen, for on the platform were stacked hundreds
of baskets of fruit and vegetables which had arrived by a local train.
There were not many passengers in the express, and among the first to
alight were Gros Jean and the three Turks--Hussein-ul-Mulk and the two
others he had seen in the Rue Barbette.
It would be idle to deny that the barrister experienced a thrill of
satisfaction at his own shrewdness, and he smiled as he realized the
consternation of the Paris commissary when informed that he had so
easily allowed the rogues to slip out of the net.
The travellers were evidently tired after a sleepless journey. Gros
Jean, being a fat man, had wobbled about a great deal during the night.
He much needed the restorative effect of a comfortable bed; whilst the
Turks, though younger and more active, also showed signs of fatigue, for
this long journey, in their case, was a sequel to many hours of
detention in an ill-ventilated apartment.
So they paid not the slightest heed to their whereabouts, save in so
far as to eye with suspicion a harmless gendarme who happened to be on
the platform.
The policeman, of course, took no notice of them whatever. Gros Jean was
to him merely a typical Frenchman, whilst persons of dark complexion and
Moorish appearance are everyday sights in the streets of Marseilles.
A diminutive railway porter loitered near Brett in the conceit that
perhaps this well-dressed stranger might have felonious designs on the
oranges and cabbages. His intense joy may therefore be pictured when the
barrister beckoned to him, placed a gold piece in his hand, and said--
"You see those Turks there. Go after them and find out where they are
going to. They are sure to take a carriage, as their luggage appears to
be somewhat heavy."
The man darted off, secure in the belief that no one who could afford to
give away twenty francs for such trivial information would be likely to
pocket a cauliflower. In half a minute he returned.
"They have all driven off together, monsieur," he announced eagerly,
"and the French gentleman first of all inquired of the driver how much
he would charge to take them to the Jolies Femmes. Two francs was the
fare, and this was agreeable, so they have gone there."
"I hope, in this instance," said Brett gravely, "that the Jolies Femmes
is the name of a hotel."
"But certainly," replied the porter, elevating his eyebrows; "what else
could it be?"
He meditated on this question for five minutes after Brett's departure,
and then an idea struck him.
"Ah," he cried, slapping his thigh with a grin, "he is a droll dog, that
Englishman."
Brett, secure in the knowledge that his quarry had been located, drove
back to his hostelry. He found Edith, Fairholme, and Talbot just sitting
down to breakfast. He joined them, and had barely communicated his
startling intelligence when Sir Hubert Fitzjames put in an appearance.
"Dear me," said the genial old soldier, smiling pleasantly at the
assembled party. "I see you are all nearly as lazy as I have been
myself. I hope you slept well, and enjoyed a quiet night."
The burst of merriment which greeted this remark not only amazed the
worthy baronet, but startled the other guests in the dining-room.
"That is a strange thing," whispered a Frenchman to his wife. "I thought
the English never laughed!"