LATER THAT NIGHT
Evan read:
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR TUESDAY NIGHT
Members P.D. and H.B. will be on the ground not later than five o'clock
Tuesday afternoon to make sure that no surprise is planted on us
beforehand. P.D. will hang out in the little roadhouse marked A. on
the map, where he can see anything that turns the corner, and H.B. will
take up his station in the saloon B. at the other end of the road C.
These two can communicate with each other by telephone if anything
suspicious is observed.
Members J.T., L.A., J.M. and C.C. will proceed in two couples
separately by trolley to the saloon at B. where they should stop for a
drink for the purpose of showing themselves to H.B. who is watching
there, and to give H.B. a chance to warn them if he has observed
anything suspicious. All members must bear in mind that no chances
must be taken. There is too much at stake. If anybody sees anything
out of the way let him warn the others, and the operation be called off
for the night. Unless warned by H.B., J.T. and the three others will
proceed from the saloon to their station at the clump of bushes marked
D. on the road C. They should not get there until eight-thirty as
their continued presence in the neighbourhood might arouse suspicion.
Meanwhile T.D. and C.S. are to proceed in the car to the fork E. of the
road by the route they have already been over. There is no need of
watching the track through the woods to E. as it is not marked on any
map, and could not be found except by one entering from A. or B. which
will both be watched. The car must be in place, turned around and
ready to run back at eight-thirty.
A most important duty devolves on H.B. who must satisfy himself that
the man and his companion are not accompanied nor followed by the
police. When the two pass the corner B. let member H.B. if all is well
blow one long blast on his whistle as a signal to J.T. But if they are
followed let H.B. blow five short blasts and take to the fields.
When J.T. gets the O.K. signal let him post his men in readiness to
quietly surround the two and search them for weapons. If he gets a
warning signal let him pass on a warning to J.T. and all must scatter
in the market gardens and make their way home separately. After the
two have been searched and sent on, J.T. will give the clear signal to
T.D.
When the two arrive at the fork of the road E. member C.S. will keep
them covered while T.D. takes the package and examines the contents.
It is supposed that the man will bring Evan Weir as his companion, and
C.S. must therefore take especial care not to betray himself by his
voice.
When T.D. has satisfied himself the package is O.K. let him direct the
two men to continue walking by the right-hand fork of the road, and
when they have passed on, let T.D. and C.S. make their getaway in the
car, signalling all clear as they start. When T.D.'s clear signal is
heard let all members make their way separately to their homes. On the
way back J.T. can give the word to H.B. None of the members must meet
together later that night.
Meanwhile T.D. and C.S. make their way back to town by the same route
they went out by, C.S. driving. T.D. after distributing the contents
of the package through his various pockets, will drop off the car at
any suitable spot according to his judgment, taking care that he is not
under observation at the moment. He will return home, taking due
precautions against being followed.
C.S. will return to his home in the car. If the car is required, a
telephone message will be awaiting him there. If there is no message
let him put the car up. If he is followed, it is no great matter,
nothing can be brought home to him. After putting the car up let him
return to his home for an hour. At the end of that time if no one has
been there he can be pretty sure that he has not been traced. At
eleven o'clock then, let him proceed to the club-house and report to me
on the night's happenings. He can then take the old man home. A
pass-word for the night will be communicated to him verbally.
Let every member commit the contents of this paper to memory and
destroy his copy.
THE CHIEF.
Evan thought hard. This communication put an entirely new complexion
on affairs. Far from wishing to confront Charley, Evan now desired at
any cost to avoid him. If he could only succeed in following Charley
to the "club-house" and in trapping the elusive chief himself, what a
triumph! His heart beat fast at the very thought.
He hastened down-stairs, dreading to hear Charley's key in the door.
Nevertheless he had to linger long enough to square the girl, for if
Charley encountered her and she told him of his visitor it would spoil
all. Evan looked up and down the street. No sign of Charley yet. He
rang the bell to bring the girl.
She appeared, saying scornfully: "Oh, it's you, is it?"--but not
ill-pleased by the summons.
"I hate waiting around," said Evan.
"He'll be here any minute now."
"I'm not so keen about seeing him anyhow. I'd rather visit with you."
"Quit your kidding, Leo."
"Come on out and have a soda while I'm waiting."
She hesitated, looked up and down--and succumbed. "All right. I'll
have to hurry back. I don't need a hat."
Evan was careful to lead her towards Lexington, since it was from the
other direction Charley would presumably appear.
They had their soda, never ceasing to "con" each other in the style
that has been suggested. Sadie enjoyed it to the full; Evan on the
other hand was rather hard put to it to keep up his end, for his
thoughts were far away. His fits of abstraction rather added to his
attractiveness in the girl's eyes; she couldn't quite make him out.
His problem was how to keep her from seeing Charley before Charley left
the house for the last time, and yet be on time himself to follow
Charley when he started out.
Issuing from the drug-store, Evan suggested a short walk, to which
Sadie was nothing loath. He steered her through another street back to
Third avenue, and managed to fetch up as if by accident before a
moving-picture palace.
"Let's go in," he said carelessly. "The last show will just be
beginning."
Once more Sadie hesitated, made objections--and allowed him to brush
them away. Sadie was fascinated. Evan took her by the arm and marched
her in in masterful style. For his own ends he chose seats in that
part of the house where smoking was permitted.
To Evan's relief the picture proved to be one of which Sadie could
wholly approve, and she no longer required to be entertained. She
became absorbed in its unrolling. The hard eyes softened a little;
clearly she was lifted out of this mundane sphere of rooming-houses and
attractive, fresh young men you had to be careful with, into a realm of
peculiar magnificence.
Meanwhile Evan watched the illuminated clock with which the proprietor
thoughtfully provided his patrons, and made his calculations. He had
to figure closely. He knew that all these picture houses let out at
eleven, and they were only five minutes' walk from the rooming-house.
If the show was over a little early to-night, or if Charley was a
little late in starting, all his careful planning would go for nothing.
At ten minutes to eleven the drama was still going strong, with
everything as yet unexplained. Evan whispered to his companion.
"I'm out of smokes. Excuse me while I get a pack at the stand."
She nodded without taking her eyes from the screen. She did not mark
that he took his hat with him. He stopped not at the cigar-stand, but
made his way out of the theatre. There was little chance of her
following while any of the fascinating drama remained unrevealed.
He stopped in a haberdasher's and bought three of the largest size
handkerchiefs for a grim purpose. Back in Thirty-ninth street he
concealed himself in the area-way of a vacant house across the street
from the rooming-house. Now, if only Sadie did not come back before
Charley went out, and if an inquisitive policeman did not put a crimp
in his plans!
A church clock struck eleven, and Charley appeared almost upon the last
stroke. He slammed the door after him, and his feet twittered down the
steps in style peculiarly his own. He stopped on the pavement to light
a cigarette--and incidentally to look warily up and down the street.
Reassured, he started quickly towards Lexington. He was an easy man to
trail, gait and appearance were both so marked. Evan could hardly lose
that cheap Panama hat cocked at a slightly rakish angle.
Evan let him get around the corner before he ventured out of his
hiding-place. As Evan himself reached the corner of Lexington he
looked back and saw Sadie turning into the block from Third. "A close
shave!" he thought.
Charley was still visible hastening North with his loose-jointed
stride, his "kangaroo lope" Evan had called it. He turned West in
Forty-second street. This was an advantage to Evan, for Forty-second
street is crowded at this hour. Charley took the more crowded
sidewalk, and Evan kept the Panama in view from across the street.
They crossed the whole central part of town, breasting the current of
pedestrians bound from the theatres to the terminal station. At Sixth
avenue Charley went up one stairway to the elevated, and Evan up the
other. The platform was crowded, obviating the greatest danger of an
encounter. When a train came along Evan lost Charley for a while, for
he could not risk boarding the same car of the train. But he had
little doubt now where Charley was bound for: i.e., Central Bridge, the
end of the line.
Up-town, when the crowd began to thin out a little; Evan satisfied
himself that Charley was still safe in the next car but one ahead.
"Lucky for me," he thought, "they set the only hour at night when the
cars are crowded."
At the end of the line there were still many left to get off and Evan
safely lost himself amongst them. Most of these people (including the
Panama hat) climbed to the viaduct above to take the red trolley cars
of various lines.
Charley boarded a Lafayette avenue car, but displayed an inclination to
remain out on the back platform. This was a poser for Evan, but he
managed with several others to crowd on the front end, which is against
the rules. He found a little seat in the corner of the motorman's
vestibule, where he sat down in the dark. Looking back through the car
he could make out a square of Charley's striped coat through one of the
rear windows. He kept his eye on that.
Charley rode clear to the end of the line at Featherbed lane. Evan, by
lingering to ask the motorman a question as to his supposed direction,
let him get away from the car. Eight people got off at this point.
Five waited at the transverse tracks for the Yonkers car, while three,
of whom Evan and Charley were two, crossed the tracks and kept on
heading North by the automobile highway. They were at the extreme edge
of the town in this direction. The last electric lights were behind
them; only a house or two remained alongside the road, then tall woods
and darkness.
There was no sidewalk; they proceeded up the middle of the road, first
Charley, then the suburbanite, then Evan. Charley frequently looked
over his shoulder, the pale patch of his face revealed in the receding
lights. But Evan kept on boldly, confident that he could not be
recognised with the lights at his back. The suburbanite turned in at
one of the houses; Charley was presently swallowed by the shadow of the
woods. Evan made believe to turn in at the last house, but dropped in
the ditch, and crept along until he, too, gained the woods.
Running in the soft stuff at the side, pausing to listen, and running
ahead again, Evan continued to follow Charley by the sound of his
nervous steps on the hard road. The road turned slightly, and the
lights behind them passed out of sight. The tall trees pressed close
on either hand, and it was as dark below as in a cavern.
The steps ceased. Evan paused, listening. Had Charley stopped, or had
he, too, taken to the soft stuff? They re-commenced, grew louder, he
was coming back! Evan hastily withdrew close under the bushes at the
side. Charley passed him at five yards distance. In the stillness
Evan could even hear his agitated breathing. In a queer way Evan felt
for him. It was no joke to fancy one's self followed on such a road at
such an hour. He showed pluck in thus boldly venturing back.
Evan was obliged to take into account the possibility that this whole
excursion up the dark road might be a feint. He dared not let Charley
out of sight and hearing. He followed him back to the turn in the
road, still creeping in the soft stuff. From this point Charley's
figure was outlined against the twinkling lights of the trolley
terminus, and Evan waited to see what he would do.
Charley went back to the edge of the woods: stopped, listened, walked
back and forth a few times, then returned towards Evan, but now, like
the other man, taking care to muffle his steps in the grass alongside.
Evan could only see him at moments now. He was on Evan's side of the
road. Evan drew back under a thick bush.
Charley came creeping along, bent almost double with the primordial
instinct of concealment. He paused to listen so close to Evan that the
latter, squatting under his bush, could have reached out and touched
Charley's foot. Evan breathed from the top of his lungs, wondering
that the beating of his heart did not betray him. He heard Charley's
breath come in uneven little jerks.
For seconds Charley stood there. Was it possible he knew an enemy was
near? Evan could make out his head turning this way and that. The
tension was hard on nerves. Though he lay as still as a snake it
seemed incredible to Evan that Charley did not feel his nearness.
Finally he went on, and a soft, blessed breath of relief escaped Evan.
He gave him ten yards and started to follow. Charley was on the alert
now; very well, he must be twice as alert and beat him at his own game.
Evan followed him by the swish of his feet in the grass, by the soft
brushing of leaves against his clothes, by the crackle of an occasional
twig under foot, at the same time taking care to betray no similar
sounds himself. The advantage was greatly with the one who followed,
for he knew the other man was there, while the one in front only feared.
Evan's patient stalking was interrupted by the passage of an
automobile. He was obliged to seek cover from the rays of its
headlights. It bowled up the road with a gay party, laughing and
talking, all unsuspecting of the drama being enacted beside the road.
Before it was well by Evan was out again. For a second he had a
glimpse of Charley running like a deer up the road. Then he plunged
into the bushes. Whatever the automobile party thought of this
apparition, they did not stop to investigate.
Evan hastened to the vicinity of the spot where he had seen Charley
disappear. Lying low, he concentrated all the power of his will on the
act of hearing. He was rewarded by the faintest whisper of a sound
from within the woods to the left of the road. It was repeated.
Someone was creeping away in that direction. Charley had left the
road. A sharp anxiety attacked Evan, for his difficulties were now
redoubled.
But when he sought to feel a way into the woods, he discovered a place
near by where it was comparatively open. There was no underbrush. In
fact a road was suggested, a former road perhaps, for it was rough and
tangled underfoot. Evan's heart bounded. Could this be the track that
led direct to the abandoned house? He lost all sound of Charley, but
continued to press forward full of hope.
At intervals he paused to listen, but no sound such as he wished to
hear reached his ears; only the whisper of the night breeze among the
leaves, and the faint far-off hum of the living world. A hundred feet
or so from the highway the wood-track made a turn, and the trees hemmed
him all about. The darkness of the road outside was as twilight to the
blackness that surrounded him here.
Suddenly a sixth sense warned Evan of danger from behind. He whirled
around only to receive the impact of a leaping figure which bore him to
the earth. Dazed by the fall, for a moment he was at a hopeless
disadvantage. The whole weight of the other man was on his chest.
Evan struck up at him ineffectually.
Charley's voice whispered hoarsely: "I'm armed. Give up, or I'll shoot
you like a dog! Will you give up?"
"Never!" muttered Evan.
The effect was surprising. "Evan! You! Oh, my God!" whispered
Charley. The tense body slackened for a moment. Evan, gathering his
strength, heaved up and threw him off.
But Charley was quick too. When Evan reached for him he was not there.
Evan, grinding his teeth with rage, scrambled for him on hands and
knees. The other kept just beyond his reach. Both were confused by
the utter darkness. Each time one succeeded in getting to his feet, he
promptly crashed over a branch again. Evan clutched at Charley's
clothes, and Charley wrenched himself free. Charley, seeking to escape
Evan, collided with him and recoiled gasping. Meanwhile he never
ceased imploring him in a desperate whisper. But it was something more
than the note of personal fear that actuated his pleading.
"Evan, hold up! You don't know what you're doing! Evan, listen! Let
me talk to you quietly! I swear I'm on the square! Evan, for God's
sake hold up, or I swear I'll have to shoot you!"
But Evan was past listening. "Throw your gun away, and stand up to me
like a man!" he said thickly.
In the mad, blind scramble, Charley finally got his bearing and started
to run back towards the highway. Evan plunged after him. Charley
tripped and fell headlong, and Evan came down on top of him.
Charley was helpless then, for in strength he was no match for Evan.
Yet he still struggled desperately. Not to escape though. His hand
was in his pocket. Not for his gun, because that was already out. He
managed to get the hand to his lips, and then Evan understood. The
warning whistle! As Charley drew breath to blow, Evan snatched it out
of his hand and flung it into the bush.
While Charley still implored him, Evan shook out a handkerchief in his
teeth, and gagged him. With the other handkerchiefs that he had
brought against such a contingency, he tied his hands behind his back,
and tied his ankles. He then possessed himself of Charley's pocket
searchlight, and with its aid found the revolver which had flown from
Charley's hand upon his fall.
With his antagonist bound and helpless at his feet, Evan cooled down.
He rapidly considered what he must do next. He had no means of knowing
how well the old house might be barricaded, and it would be the height
of foolhardiness to attempt to storm it single-handed. On the other
hand, if he took the time to go for the police, the chief of the gang,
warned of danger by Charley's non-arrival, might make his getaway.
Perhaps he could commandeer an automobile. Late as it was, an
occasional car still passed on the highway. Evan hastened back.
As he turned the bend in the road he saw the lights of a car standing
in the main road with engine softly running. Evan prudently slowed
down. The occupants could not possibly see him yet. They were
talking. Evan listened.
One said: "Well, it's all over now, anyway."
Another replied. "Come on in, and let's see what was the matter?"
"Into that black hole? Not on your life!"
"We have flashlights."
"Yes, and a nice mark they'd make for bullets!"
This was sufficiently reassuring. Evan showed himself. He saw an
expensive runabout with two young fellows in it. They burst out
simultaneously:
"What's the matter?"
"Oh, I had a fight with a crook in there," said Evan. "They have a
hang-out in an old abandoned house."
"Do you want any help?"
"No thanks. I've got him tied up. But I wish you'd go for the police
if you don't mind."
"Sure thing! The nearest station's in Tremont, five miles over bad
roads. We'll bring 'em back in half an hour!"
In his excitement the young fellow threw his clutch in, and the big car
leaped down the road before Evan could give him any further particulars.
On his way back Evan felt certain compunctions at the sight of Charley
lying bound in the road. After all, Charley had been his friend for
many a year. He wouldn't mind saving him from the consequences of his
own folly if he could. That the police might not discover him when
they came, Evan dragged him out of the road, and under a thick leafy
bush to one side. Charley made imploring sounds through the gag. Evan
continued along the rough track. He had the pocket flash to help him
over the rough places now. In a quarter of a mile or more from the
highway he came upon the dark mass of the old house rising against the
night sky. It stood on a little rise in the midst of its clearing,
which could scarcely be called a clearing now, for except in a small
space immediately around the building the young trees were rising
thickly.
It was a square block of a design somewhat freakish for a country
residence, since the principal storey was above the entrance floor.
There was a row of tall windows here, and above these windows an attic
in the style of the eighteenth century. The tall windows evidently
lighted the great room where Evan had suffered his ordeal at the hands
of the Ikunahkatsi. It was in one of the back rooms on the same floor
that the chief had his sanctum, he told himself. All the windows of
the house were dark, but this did not prove that people were not within
and awake, for Evan remembered the heavy shutters inside the windows.
He waited for a minute or two, and then began to get restless. In fact
he itched for the glory of taking the chief single-handed. The letter
of instructions had suggested that the chief would be alone in the
building to-night, except for the old negress and the prisoner. And
Evan was armed now. If he could find some way to make an entrance
without giving an alarm, he believed it could be done.
He stole up to the front door on all fours. It was locked of course.
He went around to the back; there were two doors here, both locked. He
went from window to window. All of them had panes missing, but within
each window the heavy shutters were closed and barred. He thought of
cellar windows, sometimes they were forgotten. In certain places thick
clumps of sumach had sprung up close to the house. Pushing behind one
such clump, he stumbled on an old stone stair leading down. Once it
had been closed by inclined doors, but these had rotted and fallen in.
The steps led him into the cellar.
With the aid of his light he picked his way over the piles of rubbish
and around the brick piers. Immense brick arches supported the
chimneys of the house. They built more generously in those days. The
rats scuttled out of his way. In the centre of the space there was a
steep stair leading up. It looked sound. Pocketing his light, he
crept up step by step and with infinite care tried the door at the top.
It yielded! He was in!
All was dark and silent throughout the house. He judged that he must
be in the central hall. He dared not use his light now, but felt his
way towards the front. The sensation was not unlike that when he had
been led through the house blindfolded. He touched the edge of the
stairway, and guided himself to the foot. As he turned to mount, a
sound brought the heart into his throat.
He identified it, and smiled grimly. It was a human snore and it came
through the door on his left. This was the room where he had been
confined, and it was more than likely old Simeon Deaves was sleeping
there now.
He went up, stepping on the sides of the stair-treads to avoid making
them creak. The stairway turned on itself in the middle, and at the
top he was facing the front of the house again. Here he had to flash
his light for a second. Immediately before him a pair of doors gave on
the big room. They stood open. There were two more doors, one on each
hand, both closed. Evan put out his light. As he did so a tiny ray of
light became visible through the keyhole of the door on his left.
Evan dropped the light in his pocket, and took out his gun. Drawing a
deep breath to steady himself, he smartly turned the handle and,
flinging the door open, stepped back into the darkness. He saw in the
centre of the great, bare, ruinous room an old packing case with a
common lamp upon it, and a smaller box to sit on. He saw in the corner
an army cot with a little figure lying upon it covered by a carriage
robe, a figure which turned over and sat up at the sound of the door.
He saw--Corinna!