MESSRS. HIGGENSON AND CO.
At ten o'clock we reached St. Pancras, travelling by fast train from
Torchester, and half an hour later a hansom put us down at the Hotel
Metropole. Immediately in front of the entrance Count de Cartienne's
small brougham was waiting, and as we descended from the cab his servant
stepped forward and handed me a note. I tore it open and read it under
the gas-lamp.
"Come to me at once and you will find Mr. M----. Bring the box with
you.--C----."
I passed the note on to my father and drew him a little on one side. At
the sight of the handwriting he started.
"Philip, whose writing is this?" he asked quickly.
"The writing of the man who alone knows where Marx is," I answered. "It
is he who calls for his letters and forwards them."
"His name? I insist upon knowing his name."
"de Cartienne."
My father's face turned a shade paler and his eyebrows contracted.
"You have been keeping this from me, Philip. You shall not go near that
man. I forbid it. My God! Marx and de Cartienne friends!"
He stopped short on the pavement and looked at me with a new light in his
face. He began to understand.
"Marx and de Cartienne," he repeated slowly. "Philip, cannot you see what
this means? Marx has been de Cartienne's tool and I have been their
victim. Where is de Cartienne? Philip, you shall tell me! Do you hear?"
My father seized my arm and held it fast. I turned and faced him.
"Father, you must leave this to me," I said, firmly. "I have thought it
all over in the train and my plans are made. You will trust me?"
"Tell me what they are," he said.
"I have in my possession a box belonging to de Cartienne, which contains
a secret. Until I yield that box up to him I am safe, since he can only
get it from me. You see that he tells me in this note to bring it with
me."
"Yes. Go on."
"Well, I am going without the box, and if he is really ignorant of who I
am and willing to give me the information about Marx, why, then I can
easily come back for it, and whatever it contains he must have unopened.
"If, on the other hand, I fall into any sort of trap and he makes me send
for it, then, immediately on receipt of my message, no matter how it is
couched, you must force the box open, and if it contains anything in the
least suspicious, come straight to my aid with the police. The messenger
who comes for the box must be bribed or frightened into bringing you."
"I do not like it, Philip. It is all too roundabout. If de Cartienne has
any idea who you are, you are running a risk."
"I don't think so," I answered. "Until he gets possession of that box he
will feel himself, to a certain extent, in my hands and will not be
likely to do me an injury."
"What do you suppose the box contains?"
I hesitated and looked around. de Cartienne's servant was some distance
off and there was no one within hearing.
"Have you read the newspapers just lately?" I asked.
My father shook his head.
"Only the literary newspapers."
I bought a special edition, which a newsboy was brandishing in our faces,
and, turning down the leading article, passed it on to my father. He
glanced down at it and then looked up at me in blank amazement.
"Philip, you cannot mean this!" he exclaimed.
"Why not?" I answered. "I do, indeed; but whether there is anything in it
or not we shall soon know. I must go now. You understand what to do if I
send for the box."
"I don't like your expedition at all," he said, doubtfully. "Have you any
idea where you are going?"
I shook my head.
"None; but I shall come to no harm. My star is in the ascendant now. If
it leads me into danger it will bring me safely out of it. _Au revoir!_"
Then I sprang into the carriage and was driven swiftly away.
Our journey came to a sudden end, and, if I was surprised at the locality
into which it had brought me, I was still more so at its termination. The
carriage had stopped outside a gloomy-looking warehouse, the back of
which, ornamented with several cranes, overlooked the river. The whole of
the front appeared to be in darkness, but from a gas-lamp on the other
side of the narrow way I could read the brass sign-plate by the side of
the door:
HIGGENSON AND CO.
Merchants and Exporters.
The door of the carriage was thrown open and I was evidently expected to
descend. I did so after a moment's hesitation.
"Are you sure that you have brought me to the right place?" I asked the
man who held the door open. "This seems to be a warehouse. I think there
must be some mistake."
The man silently closed the carriage door and stepped up to his seat
beside the driver.
"There is no mistake," he said curtly. "You will find the Count de
Cartienne--there."
He pointed to the warehouse door and I saw that it was now open and that
a man was standing upon the threshold. I turned towards him doubtfully.
"Will you come this way, Mr. Morton?" he said. "Count de Cartienne is
sorry to have to bring you here, but we are busy--very busy, and he had
no time to get back to the hotel. The carriage will wait to take you
back."
The man's manner and tone were certainly not those of a servant, but from
the position in which he stood I could see nothing save the bare outline
of his figure. I crossed the pavement towards him.
We left the room and he conducted me down a passage and into a small
chamber. Here my companion paused and lit a lamp which stood on a table
in the middle of the room.
"Count de Cartienne will be with you in a moment," he said, walking to
the door. "Kindly excuse me."
I turned the lamp a little higher and looked around. The room was quite a
small one and plainly furnished as a waiting-room.
For the first time I began to realise fully what I had done in coming to
this place at such an hour. Some wild thoughts of a tardy retreat flashed
into my mind, and I tried the handle of the door by which we had entered.
It turned, but the door remained closed. I stooped down and examined it.
The result was as I had feared--a spring lock had fastened it. I tried
the other door, by which my guide had issued. The result was the same. I
was a prisoner.
I had scarcely time to realise my position before it became necessary to
act. The door was suddenly opened and Count de Cartienne stood before me,
his eyes flashing with anger and his tall, lithe frame quivering with
rage.
"Why have you not brought that box?" he exclaimed in a low, fierce tone.
I stood up facing him, with my back to the table, striving to keep calm,
for the situation was critical. The complete change in his appearance and
manner towards me was sufficient warning.
"The box is safe enough," I answered. "You can have it in an hour's time.
But----"
"But what?" he interrupted, savagely. "Why have you not brought it, as I
bade you in my note? Why is it not here? We want it at once!"
"You forget that there is a _quid pro quo_ which I expect from you. It
seems to me, Count de Cartienne, that you are making a tool of me,
and----"
"What is it you want--to see this man Marx?"
"Yes."
"Well, he is not here."
I checked the rejoinder which, had I spoken it, would probably have cost
me my life.
"Where is he, then?" I asked.
"I will tell you when you have written for that box," he said, opening a
drawer and placing pen and paper upon the table.
I shook my head. "There is no need for me to write. It is of no use my
remaining if Mr. Marx is not here. Send your servant back with me and I
will give it him."
"No, I shall hold you as a hostage for the box. Besides, I have a few
words to say to you, boy," he added grimly. "Write."
I hesitated, but only for a moment.
"Do I understand that you detain me here against my will?" I said,
slowly.
"Understand anything you please, but write."
I took up the pen without another word. When I had finished the note he
took it from me and read it through. Then he glanced at the address and
started.
"Mr. Ravenor! Oh, Mr. Ravenor is in London, is he?" he remarked slowly.
"Yes."
He looked away with the ghost of an evil smile upon his lips.
"Ravenor in London! How strange. He and I are old acquaintances. I must
call on him," he added mockingly.
He stood still for a moment and then left the room abruptly with the note
in his hand. I tried to follow him, but the door closed too quickly. If I
could have seen any means of escape I should have made use of them, for I
had gained the knowledge which I had come to seek, and I knew that I was
in danger. There was only that solitary window looking out upon the river
and the closed door. If this man meant mischief, I was securely in his
power.