ANOTHER WARNING.
Frank’s adventures preceding his incarceration in the cellar, from which
he was rescued by the gendarmes, can be briefly told. As soon as he
realized that the Brothers had doomed him to death, and that his every
move was shadowed, he set himself earnestly to the task of hunting down
the band of assassins.
First he went to the police, and told the story of the mystery connected
with the death of the Duke of Benoit du Sault, omitting all mention of
the metal ball which he knew would be taken from him if he mentioned its
existence. His story was laughed at by the police. They seemed to regard
him as a crank, a person deranged, or one seeking notoriety, and treated
him with small courtesy.
His reception at the hands of the police was so discouraging that if he
were not filled with the purpose to render every aid in his power, under
the present circumstances, to the poor prisoner of Devil’s Island, he
would have been disheartened. He made an attempt to locate the band, in
order to lay before the police absolute evidence of such an
organization, and thus it happened, while working on the case alone, he
fell into the hands of the dreadful seven, and was taken captive to the
cellar.
When the force of gendarmes rushed in, there was Frank bound to the
pillar. The capture of the conspirators, rather than the rescue of their
late prisoner, seemed to be their purpose. Pausing to question as to the
direction of the flight of the Brothers, they made off in pursuit
without making the least effort to release the captive from his bonds.
Down the stairs came a man who walked with dignity, but who was followed
by a wildly excited youth. The youth was Jack Diamond. The man was the
mysterious Mr. Noname.
“Here he is,” quietly said the Man Without a Name, as he caught sight of
Frank.
Jack gave a shout of joy and rushed forward.
“Frank, are you alive?”
“Sure thing,” laughed the nervy young American. “But the gendarmes came
at just the right moment. If they had delayed ten seconds longer, you’d
have found me with seven large holes in my skin.”
“I brought them here,” said Mr. Noname.
“Then I again owe you my life,” came with genuine thankfulness from
Merriwell. “The debt is getting pretty heavy, sir.”
“There is no debt. I have told you I am your good genius. You must
believe me now.”
“I do! I have believed you for some time. But how can I repay you for——”
“There is nothing to be repaid. Some day you shall understand what seems
so mysterious now.”
Diamond was hastening to set Frank free. The Virginian knew better than
to question him then and there.
“Thank you,” said Merry, as he stepped away from the pillar, rubbing his
arms to start the circulation. “This is much better. That position was
becoming painful.”
“Where are the devils who brought you here?” hissed Jack.
“They took to flight when the gendarmes began hammering at the door up
there. There was another way out of the cellar, and the officers are
after them.”
“The officers will not capture them,” announced Mr. Noname. “My mission
is complete now that you have been saved.”
Frank seized the strange man’s hand and wrung it warmly. A thrill shot
over him at the touch. It was a most peculiar sensation, and afterward,
when he thought about it, he wondered much.
“Again I must thank you!” said the young American, with deep feeling. “I
do not understand how it is that you always arrive in time to save me.”
“There is an unseen tie between us. When you are in danger, I am drawn
to you by a power which no man may measure. I feel your peril, and I
hasten to your aid. The stars may fade into endless night, and the sun
may turn to ashes, but death alone can break the bond between us!”
Strange words, like those that fall from the lips of a person demented,
and yet they impressed Frank Merriwell. Somehow, he felt that there
really was a bond that held this man of mystery and himself linked
together.
“Let’s follow the police!” urged the Virginian. “Let’s help hunt down
those devils!”
“Stop!”
The command came from the lips of Mr. Noname.
“Let them go,” said the man. “You cannot do any good.”
“Let them go!” panted Jack. “Let them get off after they have nearly
murdered my friend! Well, I’m not built that way! If I can do anything
to bring them to justice, you bet I’m going to do it!”
“That is well enough, but you can do nothing.”
“How do you know?”
“I know! The officers will not capture one of them. In a little while,
they will return here. If Mr. Merriwell is here, they will take him into
custody, perhaps. They will ask him a hundred questions. They will throw
a cloud of suspicion over him. They will not believe the story he tells
them. They will have him shadowed when he is set at liberty, if he is
set at liberty. In short, they will make life in Paris rather unpleasant
for him.”
“And you advise—what?”
“That we all get out of here at once, before the officers return.”
“But there are others on guard outside this building,” said Jack.
“I know a way to pass them.”
“He is right,” decided Frank, remembering his unpleasant experience with
the police. “Come.”
“Just as you say,” said Diamond regretfully; “but I’d like to help mob
those whelps.”
They mounted the stairs and clambered over the broken door, following
the Man of Mystery. Above they were in darkness, but he led them on.
Their feet awoke the echoes of empty rooms and corridors. They passed
through doors and made many turns. At last they stopped. Barely had they
done so when, somewhere in the darkness, a voice was distinctly heard to
say:
“The decree is made, the red star has fallen, and Frank Merriwell is
doomed to die!”
The words were distinctly spoken, but it was impossible to tell from
whence they came. Jack Diamond gripped Frank’s arm.
“Do you hear?” he whispered.
A scornful laugh came from Merriwell’s lips.
“I hear,” he said derisively; “but who fears a coward who lurks in the
darkness and spends his breath in threats! It is nothing.”
Then, once more, the voice spoke:
“The days from the falling of the red star till the time of death are
ten, and they are passing!”
Immediately Frank cried:
“Before the ten days are over, the last of the assassin band of Black
Brothers shall meet his just deserts!”
“That is right,” came solemnly from the lips of the Man of Mystery. “The
end of the brotherhood is near!”
These words were spoken in French, and the Man Without a Name seemed to
command the language without an accent to mar his pronunciation.
Following his words, silence reigned in the old building.
“Let’s get out!” muttered Diamond, who feared no enemy he could see, but
who now felt, despite his courage, a strange chill stealing through his
veins.
The man who was leading them found and opened a door. When they had
passed through, he barred the door behind them, and again led them on
till they stood beneath the open sky. Then, when Frank turned to speak
to the Mystery, who seemed to have halted to fasten the last door, he
found the man had vanished. The door was closed, and Mr. Noname was not
with them!
“Gone!” exclaimed Frank.
“Where?” gasped Jack.
Merry tried the door, but it would not move.
“That must explain it,” he said. “He stepped back through that door, and
closed it behind him.”
“What for?”
“You know as well as I.”
“Don’t say that! This whole affair is a mystery to me. I do not
understand any part of it. You have puzzled me for days by your strange
actions. I knew something was going wrong. To-night, when I could stand
it no longer, I left the hotel, meaning to walk and think. Almost
immediately I ran upon this man who is known as Mr. Noname. He told me
you were in great peril. How did he know that?”
“How does he know about so many things? You can answer the question
quite as well as I.”
“He led me here, and we found the officers ready to break in. It seemed
that he had told them of your peril, and informed them where to find
you. He showed them how to enter the building and reach the door at the
head of the cellar stairs. Why, he seems to know almost everything!”
“He is a marvel,” said Frank. “Whoever and whatever he is, I owe him my
life several times over. I shall not forget that.”
“Why doesn’t he come out and tell us who he is? Why does he act in such
a remarkable manner?”
“You can ask a hundred questions about him that I cannot answer. The
only thing of which I am absolutely certain is that he is my friend.”
“Are you absolutely certain of that?”
“Of course I am! Why do you ask such a question?”
“Because I do not believe you can be certain of anything in connection
with that man.”
“Why not?”
“Something tells me he is crazy, and a crazy man cannot be trusted.”
“I have every reason to believe he may be trusted fully and completely,
and I shall continue to trust him.”
“Of course you will do as you like about it, Frank.”
To this Merry said nothing in reply, and the two young Americans made
haste to get away from that vicinity. Not far away they found a Jew’s
shop, where Merry procured a coat and hat.
On the way to the hotel, Jack said:
“Don’t you think it is about time to trust me, Frank?”
“I do trust you, old man.”
“You are wrong.”
“How?”
“You have not trusted me of late.”
“In what way?”
“You have had a secret from me. You cannot deny me.”
“Even that is not proof that I do not trust you.”
“Then you confess you have had a secret?” cried the Virginian eagerly.
“Yes.”
“I knew it!”
“But it has been a secret from all my friends, as well as you.”
“Still you did not dare to trust me!” came reproachfully from Diamond’s
lips.
“That was not my reason for keeping the secret from you, Jack.”
“Wasn’t?”
“No.”
“What was the reason, then?”
“I was pledged to secrecy. I had promised to keep it for a time, and you
know Frank Merriwell never breaks his word.”
“I know that, old man, but——”
“Come into this theater, Jack, and I will tell you all about it.”
They had reached the brilliantly lighted Champs-Élysées, where the
theaters were in full blast, even at that hour. The sound of music and
singing came from the tree-bowered region beyond the archway of a door,
and Diamond followed Merry to the ticket-office. Frank purchased
tickets, and they passed through into the garden, where hundreds of
people were seated beneath the trees, gathered in groups around little
tables, drinking cooling beverages, chatting, laughing, and seeming to
pay very little heed to the singer on the distant stage. A breath of
cool air, the scent of flowers, and the tinkle of water fountains added
to the charm of the place. The shadows were above the trees, which shut
off the electric lights from the sky. The boys had visited this
particular café-chantant before, and they soon found a table where they
could sit and talk without disturbing anybody. The orchestra sawed away
when the singer had retired, and then two black-face “comedians” came
out with banjos, and prepared to inflict a “turn” on the unresenting
spectators.
“Just like a roof-garden act in New York,” said Frank. “I’ll guarantee
those gentlemen will spring the same old gags, done over into French,
and half the jokes will be robbed of their points because of the
translation.”
“Well, we didn’t come here to listen to them,” said the eager and
impatient Southerner. “You were going to tell me something, Merry.”
“Yes,” nodded Frank, as he ordered two lemonades from a waiter, “I feel
free now to tell you the whole story, for the metal ball is no longer in
my possession.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------