It was nearly eleven o’clock that night when Margaret had the car
brought to the door and Luke’s suitcase deposited. Her intention was
to drive the car to the lower part of Villiers Street and send the
chauffeur with the suitcase to the cloakroom. She came into the south
end of the Strand and the car had some difficulty in making its way
through the returning theatre traffic, but after a long wait it turned
down the steep street toward the Embankment, and at a signal from
Margaret the chauffeur stopped the machine.
It was raining heavily; there were few pedestrians in sight, and those
were hurrying to reach the shelter of the Underground station. She
pulled at the catch of the door to open it, that the chauffeur might
more easily take the suitcase at her feet, when, out of the shadows,
came a shabby-looking figure. He must have seen her difficulty, for he
turned the handle and pulled open the door before the chauffeur could
descend.
“Thank you,” said Margaret, and handed him the piece of silver she had
ready to pay the luggage-room attendant.
As she did so she switched on the light. For a second she stared into
the unshaven face and the grimy figure.
“Luke!” she gasped.
He was stricken dumb with amazement, was unable to speak or move.
“Luke!” she said again.
Then, as he shrank back, her hand shot out and gripped him by the
coat.
“Come in, for God’s sake!” she said breathlessly, and half dragged him
to her side.
At that moment the chauffeur arrived.
“Drive on,” she said hurriedly. “This is a--a friend of mine.”
She only hoped that the man could not see the scarecrow who was seated
at her side.
“Where shall I go, madam?”
“To--to the house,” she said.
As the chauffeur climbed back into his seat, a third figure appeared.
He came running down the street like a man pursued, and gripping the
handle of the door, leaped onto the running board as the car moved.
She thought at first it was a policeman, but then a passing street
lamp revealed the dark face of Gunner Haynes.
“Don’t make a fuss,” he said, as he blundered in, slamming the door
behind him. “I’ve chased your car from the Haymarket. Who’s this?”
He peered forward and she heard him whistle.
“Is that Mr. Maddison?”
“Yes, it’s me,” said Luke, speaking for the first time.
His voice sounded pitiably weak. He had been turned out of the police
station in the early part of the afternoon and had not eaten since the
morning. He made no attempt to explain his need, he was too tired and
weary to care very much. The soft luxury of the padded seats dulled
him into lethargy: he was nodding almost before the car reached the
Embankment.
“All right, don’t wake him,” said Gunner Haynes in a low voice. “He
was arrested this morning, I’ve only just found out; one of
my--friends told me. The police are looking for him. Somebody sent a
wire to the Sparrow--I suspect it was friend Danty. Where are you
taking him?”
“Home,” she said.
She was wrapping a rug about the chilled figure in the corner of the
car.
“You’ll have a policeman waiting on the mat. No, you’ll take him to
Elford. What’s this?”
He kicked against the suitcase and she explained, and heard him
chuckle.
“You must be a thought reader. That’s the very thing he’ll
require--not to-night perhaps, but in the morning. We’re going to
Elford. Do you know it? It’s three quarters of an hour’s run, and if
we’re lucky we’ll reach there before two of the biggest rats that ever
climbed out of Thames mud.”
She leaned out of the window and gave directions to the chauffeur.
“Couldn’t we drive on to Dover and get on board the boat?” she asked
urgently.
Gunner Haynes shook his head.
“No, that won’t work. The Sparrow’s a good fellow, but he’d shop his
own mother. And if, as I believe, Mr. Morell, or whatever his present
name is, has blown--has told the story of Taffanny’s--every boat will
be watched. Besides, there isn’t one till daylight that we could
possibly catch. There’s only one chance, and that is for Mr. Maddison
to appear in Spain, where he is supposed to be. I think that can be
worked--unless Mr. Danty Morell has got too far ahead of us.”
He peered forward again.
“You’ve got a fur coat on--that’s good. You can lend it to your
husband. It’ll look rather silly, but nobody will see him.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m going on an airplane ride to-night, and he’s going with me,” he
said. “As for you, Mrs. Maddison, your work is very simple. You’ll
return to London; you’ll lie a little--I hope it won’t hurt you very
much--and leave for Spain to-morrow. If I can’t get him there after
I’ve landed him in France, I’m a Dutchman.”
There was a silence, and then:
“I know a better way,” she said quietly. “I can go with him.”
To her surprise, the Gunner did not combat that suggestion.
“Perhaps you’re wise,” was his comment.
They came at last to a dark and bumpy road, and here the car was
stopped by the Gunner’s instructions. He got down and pointed into the
darkness.
“Pull your car over there and shut off all your lights,” he said, and
when this was done and with great trouble the car had been manœuvred
over the rough ground and the engine had been shut off, he came back
to the girl. “We’re here first,” he said. “I’m banking on Danty being
cautious--look!”
Lights were coming along the road from the direction of London. It was
a car, which stopped a hundred yards away, and then after a while
turned round.
“They’re walking the rest of the journey,” murmured the Gunner with
grim satisfaction. “Wait here.”
He walked back to the entrance of the untidy little aërodrome and
slipped something from his pocket. He had not long to wait: Danty and
Connor turned out of the road again.
“Is that you, Higgins?” asked Danty. “Is the pilot here----?”
“Everybody’s here including me,” said the Gunner. “Don’t try any funny
business, Connor; I’ve got you covered, and there’s a silencer on my
gun. You’ll hear no more than a ‘plop’ and you’ll be in hell!”
Danty said nothing. Haynes could almost hear him shivering with fear.
“Well, what next?” asked Connor.
“The next is a long walk back to the nearest town, unless you’ve had
the intelligence to keep your car. If you’re clever you’ll run--I’m
afraid you haven’t a chance,” he added, as he saw the red tail light
of the car moving rapidly away. “The police are controlling this
aërodrome, and you’ve a snowflake’s chance of getting away.”
“You’re being a friendly little fellow and helping us: is that what
you’re telling us to believe?” sneered Connor.
“Don’t talk--walk,” said the Gunner sternly. “I’m not in my best
temper to-night. I’ve practically promised I wouldn’t kill you, but it
won’t take a hell of a lot to make me change my mind.”
“All right, Gunner, we’ll go.” Danty found his quaking voice. “Come
on, Connor. The Gunner wouldn’t put us in bad----”
“I found the letters, Danty,” said Haynes softly. “You know just how
near you are to eternal rest, don’t you?”
Danty said nothing: he grabbed the arm of his reluctant friend and
almost dragged him back to the roadway. They walked rapidly back the
way they had come, and must have gone a hundred yards before Connor
stopped.
“I’m not going to stand for this bird----” he began, when a voice
behind him said: “Walk!” and he obeyed.
When he had seen them well on their way, the Gunner sped back to the
car. Luke was awake; they were talking together in a low tone, he and
this strange bride of his, and Gunner Haynes thought it delicate to
leave them and interview the pilot.
He found the machine waiting, with two weary mechanics and an
impatient pilot, and to the latter he gave new instructions. The other
argument he employed was a very effective one, for the airman agreed
cheerfully to all conditions.
“I can carry three or ten,” he said. “There’ll be no difficulty about
getting up. I’ve done this night trip hundreds of times.”
Satisfied on this score, Gunner Haynes went back to the car and
interrupted the more than usually intimate conversation.
“I’ve a little scrap of paper to give you when it’s light enough to
read it, Mrs. Maddison. It concerns the death of your brother--I’m
sorry to be so brutal, but I think you ought to know that the man who
ruined him was Danty, and----”
“I guessed that,” she said quietly.
It was still drizzling and the clouds were low, but neither of the
three passengers evinced the slightest anxiety as, with a roar of the
engines, the big monoplane swept into the darkness, up and up, through
the thick mist of clouds, until they emerged with the moon riding in a
clear sky above them and billowing white clouds beneath.
Less than a week later, three people dined at the Café Ritz in
Madrid, and the dinner was in the nature of a farewell banquet to
Gunner Haynes, who was going to Naples to join the Australian mail
boat.
“I shan’t be comfortable till I get on board the Barcelona express,”
he said. “I’ve done many things in my life, but this is the first time
I’ve played third to a honeymoon couple.”
THE END
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
This story was published as _The Gunner_ in the UK. The John Long, Ltd.
(London, 1928) edition of _The Gunner_ was consulted for some of the
changes listed below.
Minor spelling inconsistencies (e.g. motor-car/motor car, tea
table/tea-table, etc.) have been preserved.
Alterations to the text:
Add ToC.
Fix a few quotation mark pairings.
[Chapter I]
Change (“He’s got a room here, _mumber_ 986) to _number_.
[Chapter II]
“That was her _bother_ who was talkin’ to another gentleman” to
_brother_.
[Chapter III]
“for once Mr. Stiles’s _father_ interest in the business irritated him”
to _fatherly_.
[Chapter XIII]
“_Mark_ hadn’t read the newspaper” to _Luke_.
[Chapter XXI]
“effort lifted the _unconsious_ Luke onto the chair” to _unconscious_.
“a look of alarm come into the _imperturable_ face” to _imperturbable_.
[Chapter XXII]
“the police know what I know re robbery at _Taffany’s_” to
_Taffanny’s_.
[Chapter XXIV]
“It is a pity the _Sparow_ arrived when he did” to _Sparrow_.
[Chapter XXIX]
“who carried a notebook _obstensibly_ in his hand” to _ostensibly_.
“It was not a _monent_ to snap fingers in the face of fate” to
_moment_.
[Chapter XXXI]
“You don’t imagine I would communicate with that _felow_” to _fellow_.
“make final preparations for their _jorney_” to _journey_.
[End of text]