'IT SHALL NOT BE ALL SUSPENSE.'
Since the coming of Mr. Trent, who had secured rooms next door to the
house occupied by Miss Ross and her niece, it had become my habit to
pass an hour, more or less, in Miss Jenrys' parlours each day in the
afternoon or evening, as was most convenient, and often, besides Mr.
Trent, and of late Miss O'Neil, Lossing made one of the party; for he
had come to know as much, almost, as any one of us concerning Gerald
Trent's strange absence.
On leaving the scene of the fire it was important that I should have a
few words with Dave Brainerd, and this done I was as ready to set out
for Miss Jenrys' cosy apartment as was Lossing; for I felt with him
that Monsieur Voisin must no longer be permitted to annoy the ladies,
even for the good of the cause in which I was so deeply interested.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I learned privately, and from the lips
of Miss Ross, that Monsieur Voisin had been there in advance of us and
had gone.
Seated in the little rear parlour, with the _portières_ drawn, the
clear-headed little Quakeress told me the story of his visit.
I had observed upon entering that June Jenrys was not quite her usual
tranquil, self-possessed self; that her cheeks wore an unwonted flush,
and that her eyes were very bright and restless, while there seemed
just a shade of nervousness and a certain repressed energy in her
manner.
Miss Ross had led me, with little ceremony, into the rear room, and
she lost no time, once we were seated.
'I don't know what thee may have on thy mind this evening,' she began,
'but whatever it is, I will not detain thee long. Monsieur Voisin has
been here. He left, indeed, less than an hour ago. I have had a talk
with June since, and she has allowed me to tell you of his call. The
man came here between four and five o'clock.'
In spite of myself I started. He had left the grounds with a bleeding
face, little more than an hour earlier.
'He was pale, and at one side of his face was a small wound, neatly
dressed, and covered with a small strip of surgeon's plaster. He was
labouring, evidently, under some strong mental strain, and I was not
much surprised when he asked June for a private interview, and in such
a supplicating manner that she could hardly refuse. Of course he
proposed to her; and in a fashion that surprised her; his pleading was
so desperate, his manner so almost fierce. He begged her to take time;
he implored her to reconsider; and he went away at last like a man
utterly desperate. At the last he forgot himself and charged her with
caring for an adventurer; a penniless fortune-hunter who might forsake
her at any moment; and then he recounted word for word the things said
in that conservatory episode; the things that were imparted to Mr.
Lossing.'
'The scoundrel!'
'Even so. This was too much for June's temper. She ordered him out of
her presence, and in going he uttered some strange words, the purport
of them being that before leaving this place she might find that Mr.
Lossing had vanished out of her life and gone back to a more congenial
career, and that she might be glad to turn to him to beg such favours
as no other man could grant, and he ended by saying that had she put
him in the place of friend and confidant rather than you, he might
have made straight the crooked places that were troubling the peace of
herself and some of her friends.'
I was fairly aglow with excitement when she paused, and I told her at
once my story of the day's happenings.
'Tell Miss Jenrys,' I said, 'that I can, at the right time, explain
all the riddles he has astonished her with, and ask her to be patient
yet a little longer.'
And then I went back to the others, to tell Mr. Trent and Hilda O'Neil
that I had now traced the kidnappers of young Trent so closely that I
had only to sift one block of a certain street to find the gang and, I
believed, their victim; and, in spite of wonder and question, I would
tell them no more.
One of the next morning's papers contained this interesting item,
followed up by a copy of the letter sent by Mr. 'E. Roe, On the
Square,' to Mr. Trent:
'THE TRENT MYSTERY.
'There is hope that the mystery of the disappearance of
young Gerald Trent of Boston may soon be cleared up. And
there is reason for thinking that the enemy is weakening.
Not long since a letter, signed by the familiar name of
"Roe," was received by Mr. Trent and promptly handed over to
the officers. This letter we print herewith. Mr. Trent is
now in this city, and there have been singular discoveries
of late. It is quite probable that Mr. Trent even now will
compromise the matter provided his son is returned to him
safe and unharmed. For, strange as it may seem, to expose
and punish the miscreants, it would be necessary to bring
into prominence two ladies of fortune and high social
standing, who innocently and unwittingly have been made to
play a part in this strange affair. For their sakes,
doubtless, a quiet compromise and transfer will end this
most singular affair. The "Roe" letter reads as follows.'
* * * * *
Here, of course, came the letter which Miss O'Neil had copied at
length for her friend, and which, in the original, had been sent by
Mr. Trent to me.
When this notice had been read by the ladies and by Mr. Trent, I was
besieged for an explanation of what seemed to them 'an unwarranted
withdrawal from the battle'; but my purpose once explained, they were
readily appeased and their faith in me restored.
It was true that I had tracked the 'clique' to very close quarters,
but it was one thing to know that in one house, out of half a dozen,
were lodged all, or a part, of the gang, and it was another thing to
move upon them in such a way as to secure them all, and at the same
time rescue and save young Trent, if he were really in that unknown
house, and really alive. It was this problem that was taxing all my
ingenuity, and which, as yet, I had not quite solved.
I had called alone on this afternoon, Lossing being on guard, and when
the newspaper sensation had been explained and I was about to go, Miss
Ross, with whom I had grown quite confidential, walked with me to the
outer door.
'Friend Masters,' she said gently, 'I wish thee could tell me
something about young Mr. Lossing. The words flung out by Monsieur
Voisin were malicious words, and meant to do harm. But are they not
partly true? June is a proud girl, but I am sure she feels this
reserve of his, and he is reserved. I love the lad; he seems the soul
of truth. But there is a strangeness, a part that is untold. My
friend, you whom we call upon for everything, can you not make
straight this crooked place, too?'
She put out her hand and smiled upon me, but her gentle voice was full
of appeal; and I took the hand and held it between my own while I
answered:
'I believe I can do it, Miss Ross; and I surely will try, and that at
once. It shall not be all suspense.'