THE BALL ENDS
Jack's mood would have defied analysis as he made his way through the
crowded hall to the rear veranda. He peered into the smoking-room in
passing and found several self-constituted Lords of Misrule holding
full sway. Two young scions of great New York families were fencing
with billiard cues, punctuating each other's coats with blue chalk dots
and dashes, while a swaying ring cheered them on. One youth emerged
from the room with steps obviously unsteady and claimed one of a pair
of girls on their way to the ballroom, as his partner for the dance.
She rapped him playfully with her fan.
"You don't really want a partner, Teddy," she said. "You want a
hitching post. You're spifflicated."
The two moved laughingly away, leaving the young man marvelling heavily
at the discernment of the girl who had cleverly discovered that which
he fancied he had carefully concealed. As Armitage watched him with
amused interest, he sighed deeply and made his way back to the
smoking-room.
Jack went up the rear stairs to the second floor and out on a little
balcony. He had viewed Miss Wellington's attitude toward him from
every angle and every time the result had been the same--the conviction
that her interest in him was something more than friendly. He
attempted no diagnosis of his own feelings. That was not necessary;
they were too patent. A great wave of tenderness thrilled him. There
was wonder, too. That wonder which fills a man when he begins to
realize that a girl whom he has regarded as unapproachably radiant and,
in sheer beauty and purity and grace, a being aloof from most of the
things of this world, finds him not unworthy of her trust, her
confidence, and her love.
Armitage felt himself ennobled, set apart from the rest of mankind, the
guardian of a sacred trust. If she did love him, if she were willing
to give herself to him, she would find that the giving was not to be
all hers. He, too, would build his life henceforth upon the
inspiration she gave him and he would hold himself worthy to receive
it. Anne! His arm ached to hold her as he had held her but a little
while ago. Anne! The strength seemed to be going out of him. Ah, he
wanted that girl now, right here--and nothing else in this world! Anne!
Then his teeth clicked shut. He had work ahead of him. There were
other things to think about. In his present mood, surely, he was not
up to the task he had set himself. He lighted a cigarette and puffed
vigorously. If he were going to succeed--and he intended to
succeed--he must train his mind rigidly into channels far remote from
Anne. He must forget her; forget himself for the time being. Long he
fought with himself and won, as strong men always will, and when he
left the balcony there was but one thought in his mind, the magnetic
control which Koltsoff had stolen from him.
He had already decided to make his search when the guests were at the
tables on the veranda, and the blood pulsed quickly as he peered down
the front stairs and found that all, even then, were making their way
out of doors. Now--to find the Prince safely seated and engrossed, and
then action. He descended the stairs and merged with the throng on the
verandas. There was a great deal of confusion. Some were already
seated and calling for their companions. Others were blundering about
searching for friends. The complement of a few tables was already
filled and there was much laughter and loud talking.
Jack soon found the Prince at a table for six, near the railing. Anne
was at his side and Sara Van Valkenberg, with young Osborne, was also
there. Anne was conversing brightly with a man across from her, but
Koltsoff was sombre and silent. Armitage smiled and made his way into
the house. He walked slowly up the stairs, went to his room, on the
third floor, for a knife, skeleton keys, and a small jimmy, and then
returning to the second floor he stopped at Koltsoff's door, which was
well back from the apartments utilized as dressing-rooms for the men
and women. The light was burning brightly in a chandelier overhead and
Jack, stepping to a button in the wall, pressed it, shrouding that part
of the hall in gloom.
Then he tested the knob and pushed slightly on the door. To his
surprise it yielded. A thin piece of wire brushed his fingers and
following it he found it led from the keyhole and outside the jamb of
the door, which had been cut slightly. Evidently some one was ahead of
him! But he did not hesitate. Softly opening the door he stepped into
the room and closed the door behind him. Then for a moment he stood
still. He felt in his pocket for his match box and had just struck a
light when suddenly an arm flew around his neck from behind, the crook
of the elbow pressing deeply into his throat.
Without a sound, Jack bent forward, pulling his assailant with him,
despite his efforts to get Jack's head back between his shoulders. For
a full minute they were poised thus. Armitage knew better than to
crack his neck in frantic efforts to break the strong arm grip. There
were other ways. He was very cool and he had confidence in that neck
of his, which set on his shoulders like the base of a marble column.
The hand of the stranger was pawing for a grip on his right wrist, but
Jack, who knew the move and had no desire to have his elbow shattered,
kept it out of the way. And all the time he kept up a slight strain
upon the arm around his neck, into which, by the way, his chin was
slightly buried, breaking in some degree the choking power of the hold.
For two minutes they stood thus, slightly swaying, and then
instinctively Jack, gagging a little now, felt the minutest relaxation
of the arm. Quick as thought he changed the position of his right leg,
bringing into play the leverage of his hip. He twisted suddenly
sideways, his neck slipping around in the encircling arm. His hand
closed upon the back of a thick, perspiring neck. The next instant a
figure catapulted over his back, bringing up with a bone-racking crash
against a piece of furniture.
Armitage, whose eyes were now accustomed to the dark room, ran to an
electric globe at the side of a writing desk and turned on the light.
By this time his assailant was rising, tottering but full of fight, a
desire which Jack, now all for carnage, was quite ready to satisfy. As
he started for the man something in the fellow's face made him pause.
He uttered a low exclamation. He was Takakika, the Japanese cook. But
there was no time for words; the Jap launched himself at him with
fingers quivering in anticipation of the grip he sought. He never
arrived. Armitage whipped his right fist with all the power of his
body behind it to a point about two inches below Takakika's left ear.
There was a sharp crack and the Jap fell to the floor in a huddle,
motionless.
"Now, I reckon you 'll lie still," said Jack unpityingly. "You and
Koltsoff, too, will find that the spy game in the United States is full
of travail."
He glanced at the man, who was groaning now and showing signs of
recovery. "I guess I 'll lash you up to be on the safe side," which he
did with several of Koltsoff's neckties.
"Now, then."
He arose and looked about the room. On a table near the door were
several rolls of parchment. He went over to them and lifted them.
They were the plans of the torpedo. With a sigh of relief he
straightened them and folding the sheets into two small but bulky
packages, put them into his pockets. Evidently the apartment had been
thoroughly ransacked by Takakika. Drawers were opened, bags turned
inside out, the bed torn apart, and the mattress ripped. But where was
the control? Armitage felt about the Jap's clothing and then
feverishly began going over the line of search pursued by the spy. So
engrossed had he been in the struggle with Takakika that he had
forgotten his intention of locking the door leading from the hall. Now
his unsuccessful search filled his mind. At last in a dark corner of a
closet he unearthed a small square bag. He had just taken it into the
room and cut it when the door opened and Koltsoff entered.
For an instant he stood blinking and then his eyes travelled swiftly
about the room, taking in Armitage, the bound and half conscious
Japanese, and the general litter. Jack watched him closely, ready for
any move he might make. The Russian's sudden appearance had startled
him, but the first substantial thought that shot through his mind was
that no one could possibly have been more welcome. He had failed to
find the control: he had to have it. So he might as well have it out
with the Prince now as any other time. If Koltsoff but knew it, he was
facing a desperate man; for until he had entered and searched the
rooms, Jack had harbored no doubt that possession of the control was
merely a matter of overhauling the Prince's effects. Now he knew
better, and for the first time he was really alarmed as to its
whereabouts. He returned Koltsoff's gaze with smouldering eyes. But
the Russian was very much at ease.
"What is it?" he asked at length. Without waiting for Armitage to
reply he walked swiftly to the desk, jerked open a panel, and placed
his hand in the opening. When he withdrew it, it was empty. Jack
laughed, drew from his pocket a short heavy revolver with a pearl,
gold-crested handle, twirled it about by the guard, and then put it
back in his pocket.
"I got there first, Koltsoff," he said.
Prince Koltsoff straightened and regarded Armitage warily.
"What does this mean?" He nodded his head toward Takakika and started
forward as for the first time he noticed that the man was a Japanese.
"Ah," he said, "I see. You have foiled a spy. Ha! ha! I thank you.
And now the pistol--and your manner! Ha! ha! ha! Your joke!"
Armitage saw clearly that for some reason--which he believed he
recognized--Koltsoff was willing that the incident, so far as Jack was
concerned, should end right there. The Prince had given him his lead.
He had but to follow it and clear out, with no questions asked. But
that was farthest from his mind.
"My joke is not clear to you, I see."
"Indeed! Will you do me the honor to make it clear?"
"Certainly. Last Sunday night a tool of yours named Yeasky stole a
magnetic contrivance from the shops of the Torpedo Station. He gave it
to you. I want it. I am going to get it before either you or I leave
this room."
Koltsoff clasped his hands together.
"I recognize you as a servant in the employ of this house. What right
have you to address me? Now, go to your quarters at once or I shall
report you. You are intoxicated!"
"Am I!" He backed before the door as Koltsoff's eyes moved toward it,
covering at the same time the call buttons in the wall at the side of
the jamb.
The Prince laughed and leaned carelessly back against a table.
"Very well, since you appear to deny your identity, as well as your
condition--which is quite obvious, I beg you to know--I can admit only
that you have the advantage of me."
"Oh, shut up!" said Jack angrily. "Are you going to give me that
control? My name is Armitage. I invented that device and you and your
dirty band of square-heads stole it. I want it back now, quick! And
if--"
The Prince still smiling, interrupted.
"Ah, Armitage, I might have known. Allow me to say that you wore the
Wellington livery with better grace than the gentleman's clothing that
now adorns you--with better grace, I might even venture, than the
uniform you occasionally wear."
Armitage, who quickly saw the advantage of Koltsoff's poise, curbed his
anger, at least so far as speech was concerned.
"Look here, Koltsoff," he said, "let us understand each other. I am
going to get that control or one or the other of us is going to be
carried out of this room."
"You have the revolver--it will probably be I," said Koltsoff.
With an exclamation Jack reached into his pocket, drew out the
revolver, and hurled it through the open window. They could hear it
clatter on the cliffs below and then splash into the ocean.
Instinctively, Koltsoff's eyes had followed the flight of the weapon.
When he turned his head Jack was close at his side. The Russian
stepped back. Jack moved forward.
"Now," he said in a low tense voice, "that magnetic control--quick!"
There was no mistaking the quiet ferocity of his manner.
Koltsoff had ceased to smile.
"I have n't it."
"Are--you--going--to--give--me--that--control?"
"I have n't it. I swear. Look--look anywhere, everywhere. See if I
do not speak the truth."
"Then get it."
Koltsoff moved to a bureau and Jack followed him.
"Wait," said the Russian. Then like lightning his hand shot out to a
heavy brass candlestick and the next instant had aimed a murderous blow
at Jack's head. Armitage caught the flash of the descending weapon in
time to duck his head, taking the force upon the lower muscles of his
neck. The wave of pain was as the lash to a mettlesome horse. Before
the Prince could swing the candlestick again Armitage had him by the
throat and bore him to the floor, half stifling his shriek for help.
As Armitage seized the candlestick and tossed it to one side, the knob
of the door turned and the door itself partly opened. He sprang to his
feet, pulled Koltsoff to his knees, and as he stood thus the door was
pushed wide and Anne Wellington stepped across the threshold.
Her face was pale, her eyes were blazing.
One hand, holding a heavy package, she held behind her back. With the
other she pointed to Prince Koltsoff with the imperiousness of a queen.
"What does this mean?" she asked sternly.
Behind her in the doorway the tragic face of Sara Van Valkenberg was
framed.
"This--this scoundrel was trying to murder me."
Armitage was looking at her over his shoulder.
"Please don't stay here, Miss Wellington. This man stole a very
important part of a torpedo that I invented. I am going to make him
return it before he leaves this room."
"He says what is untrue," said Koltsoff. "It is not his property. And
at all events, as I have told him, I do not possess it."
The color had returned to Anne's face. She swayed slightly as a great
wave of light, of knowledge, passed over her mind.
"Oh!" Her lips moved as mechanically as those of an automaton and her
face was as expressionless. "Oh!" Her eyes seemed burning through
Armitage. "And you made me believe--I mean I thought--I--I--"
She bowed her head, trying to stifle tears of shame and indignation.
"Don't, Miss Wellington. Don't misunderstand! Wait until I can
explain--then you will know. In the meantime I must have that torpedo,
that part of it which this Russian spy stole."
"It is not yours. It is mine. And I again inform you, I have n't it."
Prince Koltsoff's sneering smile had returned.
"Wait!" cried Anne, breaking in upon Jack's angry exclamation. She
stepped into the middle of the room. "Prince Koltsoff is right. He
has n't it. I have it." Slowly she drew her hand from behind her back.
"Here it is."
Koltsoff stepped forward.
"It is mine!" he said. "I gave it in trust to you. I command you to
keep it until I ask for it."
"He is lying, Miss Wellington. It is mine. I can prove it."
"Lying!" exclaimed Anne tragically. "Lying! Every one has lied.
Where is there truth in either of you? Where is there chivalry in you
and you--" nodding at Armitage and Koltsoff--"who have ruthlessly used
a household and a woman to your own ends? Ugh, I detest, I hate you
both! As for this," she struck the package with her hand, "I brought
it here to give you, Prince Koltsoff. I could n't keep it longer. But
now I think I can end your dispute for all time." Quickly she stepped
to the open window and raising the bundle high, hurled it out of the
window and over the cliffs.
With a dry howl of rage, Koltsoff flung himself into a chair, tearing
wildly at his hair and beard, while Armitage, his hands thrust deep
into his trousers pockets, stared at Anne. So far as the control was
concerned, while its loss would set his work back several weeks, it at
least was out of Koltsoff's hands and that naturally was the main
thing. It would, in fact, have been a source of deepest joy to him had
not the shock of Anne's wholly unlooked-for attitude and subsequent
wild act almost unnerved him.
"A traitor! Anne Wellington a traitor!" he said in a quivering voice.
"Traitor!" Anne's voice rose almost to a wail. She turned suddenly to
Koltsoff. "Of course you understand that you must leave us as soon as
possible." Koltsoff, who had arisen, eyed her sullenly. She turned to
Jack, who met her eyes straight. "And--and you--"
She paused and studied his face. "You--" She swayed and pressed her
hand to her forehead. There was a flash of white and Sara Van
Valkenberg's arms were about her. And there with her head on Sara's
shoulders, she wept bitterly. The older woman caught Armitage with her
eyes as she passed out of the room.
"You fool!" she said, then she bent toward him, whispering, "but don't
you dare go away!"