"If he is asleep it would not do to disturb him, but there is a chance of his being awake now. I don"t quite understand about the papers, I wish I did. It would be best for you to see him certainly; follow me upstairs."
"And I tell you what," called Wickham after us, "I"ll go and engage a cab, so that you shall lose as short a time as possible, Mr. Bell."
I thanked him and followed the wife upstairs. The stairs were narrow and steep, and we soon reached the small landing at the top. Four bedrooms opened into it. Mrs. Murdock turned the handle of the one which exactly faced the stairs, and we both entered. Here the blinds were down, and the chamber was considerably darkened. The room was a small one, and the greater part of the s.p.a.ce was occupied by an old-fashioned Albert bedstead with the curtains pulled forward. Within I could just see the shadowy outline of a figure, and I distinctly heard the feeble groans of the sick man.
"Ah! what a pity, my husband is still asleep," said Mrs. Murdock, as she turned softly round to me and put her finger to her lips. "It would injure him very much to awaken him," she said. "You can go and look at him if you like; you will see how very ill he is. I wonder if I could help you with regard to the papers you want, Mr. Bell?"
"I want the doc.u.ments referred to in Schedule A," I answered.
"Schedule A?" she repeated, speaking under her breath. "I remember that name. Surely all the papers relating to it are in this drawer. I think I can get them for you."
She crossed the room as she spoke, and standing with her back to the bedstead, took a bunch of keys from a table which stood near and fitted one into the lock of a high bureau made of mahogany. She pulled open a drawer and began to examine its contents.
While she was so occupied I approached the bed, and bending slightly forward, took a good stare at the sick man. I had never seen Murdock before. There was little doubt that he was ill--he looked very ill, indeed. His face was long and cadaverous, the cheek bones were high, and the cheeks below were much sunken in; the lips, which were clean-shaven, were slightly drawn apart, and some broken irregular teeth were visible.
The eyebrows were scanty, and the hair was much worn away from the high and hollow forehead. The man looked sick unto death. I had seldom seen any one with an expression like his--the closed eyes were much sunken, and the moaning which came from the livid lips was horrible to listen to.
After giving Murdock a long and earnest stare, I stepped back from the bed, and was just about to speak to Mrs. Murdock, who was rustling papers in the drawer, when the most strong and irresistible curiosity a.s.sailed me. I could not account for it, but I felt bound to yield to its suggestions. I turned again and bent close over the sick man. Surely there was something monotonous about that deep-drawn breath; those moans, too, came at wonderfully regular intervals. Scarcely knowing why I did it, I stretched out my hand and laid it on the forehead. Good G.o.d!
what was the matter? I felt myself turning cold; the perspiration stood out on my own brow. I had not touched a living forehead at all. Flesh was flesh, it was impossible to mistake the feel, but there was no flesh here. The figure in the bed was neither a living nor a dead man, it was a wax representation of one; but why did it moan, and how was it possible for it not to breathe?
Making the greatest effort of my life, I repressed an exclamation, and when Mrs. Murdock approached me with the necessary papers in her hand, took them from her in my usual manner.
"These all relate to Schedule A," she said. "I hope I am not doing wrong in giving them to you without my husband"s leave. He looks very ill, does he not?"
"He looks as bad as he can look," I answered. I moved towards the door.
Something in my tone must have alarmed her, for a curious expression of fear dilated the pupils of her light blue eyes. She followed me downstairs. A hansom was waiting for me. I nodded to Wickham, did not even wait to shake hands with Mrs. Murdock, and sprang into the cab.
"Central Station!" I shouted to the man; and then as he whipped up his horse and flew down the street, "A sovereign if you get there before seven o"clock."
We were soon dashing quickly along the streets. I did not know Liverpool well, and consequently could not exactly tell where the man was going.
When I got into the hansom it wanted twelve minutes to seven o"clock; these minutes were quickly flying, and still no station.
"Are you sure you are going right?" I shouted through the hole in the roof.
"You"ll be there in a minute, sir," he answered. "It"s Lime Street Station you want, isn"t it?"
"No; Central Station," I answered. "I told you Central Station; drive there at once like the very devil. I must catch that train, for it is the last one to-night."
"All right, sir; I can do it," he cried, whipping up his horse again.
Once more I pulled out my watch; the hands pointed to three minutes to seven.
At ten minutes past we were driving into the station. I flung the man half a sovereign, and darted into the booking-office.
"To Brent, sir? The last train has just gone," said the clerk, with an impa.s.sive stare at me through the little window.
I flung my bag down in disgust and swore a great oath. But for that idiot of a driver I should have just caught the train. All of a sudden a horrible thought flashed through my brain. Had the cabman been bribed by Wickham? No directions could have been plainer than mine. I had told the man to drive to Central Station. Central Station did not sound the least like Lime Street Station. How was it possible for him to make so grave a mistake?
The more I considered the matter the more certain I was that a black plot was brewing, and that Wickham was in the thick of it. My brain began to whirl with excitement. What was the matter? Why was a lay figure in Murdock"s bed? Why had I been taken upstairs to see it?
Without any doubt both Mrs. Murdock and Wickham wished me to see what was such an admirable imitation of a sick man--an imitation so good, with those ghastly moans coming from the lips, that it would have taken in the sharpest detective in Scotland Yard. I myself was deceived until I touched the forehead. This state of things had not been brought to pa.s.s without a reason. What was the reason? Could it be possible that Murdock was wanted elsewhere, and it was thought well that I should see him in order to prove an alibi, should he be suspected of a ghastly crime? My G.o.d! what could this mean? From the first I had mistrusted Wickham. What was he doing in Murdock"s house? For what purpose had he bribed the driver of the cab in order to make me lose my train?
The more I thought, the more certain I was that Cressley was in grave danger; and I now determined, cost what it might, to get to him that night.
I left the station, took a cab, and drove back to my hotel. I asked to see the manager. A tall, dark man in a frock-coat emerged from a door at the back of the office and inquired what he could do for me. I begged permission to speak to him alone, and we pa.s.sed into his private room.
"I am in an extraordinary position," I began. "Circ.u.mstances of a private nature make it absolutely necessary that I should go to a place called Cressley Hall, about fourteen miles from Brent. Brent is sixty miles down the line, and the last train has gone. I could take a "special," but there might be an interminable delay at Brent, and I prefer to drive straight to Cressley Hall across country. Can you a.s.sist me by directing me to some good jobmaster from whom I can hire a carriage and horses?"
The man looked at me with raised eyebrows. He evidently thought I was mad.
"I mean what I say," I added, "and am prepared to back my words with a substantial sum. Can you help me?"
"I dare say you might get a carriage and horses to do it," he replied; "but it is a very long way, and over a hilly country. No two horses could go such a distance without rest. You would have to change from time to time as you went. I will send across to the hotel stables for my man, and you can see him about it."
He rang the bell and gave his orders. In a few moments the jobmaster came in. I hurriedly explained to him what I wanted. At first he said it was impossible, that his best horses were out, and that those he had in his stables could not possibly attempt such a journey; but when I brought out my cheque-book and offered to advance any sum in reason, he hesitated.
"Of course there is one way in which it might be managed, sir. I would take you myself as far as Ovenden, which is five-and-twenty miles from here. There, I know, we could get a pair of fresh horses from the Swan; and if we wired at once from here, horses might be ready at Carlton, which is another twenty miles on the road. But, at our best, sir, it will be between two and three in the morning before we get to Brent."
"I am sorry to hear you say so," I answered; "but it is better to arrive then than to wait until to-morrow. Please send the necessary telegram off without a moment"s delay, and get the carriage ready."
"Put the horses in at once, John," said the manager. "You had better take the light wagonette. You ought to get there between one and two in the morning with that."
Then he added, as the man left the room,--
"I suppose, sir, your business is very urgent?"
"It is," I replied shortly.
He looked as if he would like to question me further, but refrained.
A few moments later I had taken my seat beside the driver, and we were speeding at a good round pace through the streets of Liverpool. We pa.s.sed quickly through the suburbs, and out into the open country. The evening was a lovely one, and the country looked its best. It was difficult to believe, as I drove through the peaceful landscape, that in all probability a dark deed was in contemplation, and that the young man to whom I had taken a most sincere liking was in danger of his life.
As I drove silently by my companion"s side I reviewed the whole situation. The more I thought of it the less I liked it. On board the _Euphrates_ Wickham had been abnormally interested in Cressley. Cressley had himself confided to him his superst.i.tious dread with regard to the turret room. Cressley had come home with a fortune; and if he floated his syndicate he would be a millionaire. Wickham scarcely looked like a rich man. Then why should he know Murdock, and why should a lay figure be put in Murdock"s bed? Why, also, through a most unnatural accident, should I have lost my train?
The more I thought, the graver and graver became my fears. Gradually darkness settled over the land, and then a rising moon flooded the country in its weird light. I had been on many a wild expedition before, but in some ways never a wilder than this. Its very uncertainty, wrapped as it was in unformed suspicions, gave it an air of inexpressible mystery.
On and on we went, reaching Ovenden between nine and ten at night. Here horses were ready for us, and we again started on our way. When we got to Carlton, however, there came a hitch in my well-formed arrangements.
We drew up at the little inn, to find the place in total darkness, and all the inhabitants evidently in bed and asleep. With some difficulty we roused the landlord, and asked why the horses which had been telegraphed for had not been got ready.
"We did not get them when the second telegram arrived," was the reply.
"The second telegram!" I cried, my heart beating fast. "What do you mean?"
"There were two, sir, both coming from the same stables. The first was written desiring us to have the horses ready at any cost. The second contradicted the first, and said that the gentleman had changed his mind, and was not going. On receipt of that, sir, I shut up the house as usual, and we all went to bed. I am very sorry if there has been any mistake."
"There has, and a terrible one," I could not help muttering under my breath. My fears were getting graver than ever. Who had sent the second telegram? Was it possible that I had been followed by Wickham, who took these means of circ.u.mventing me?
"We must get horses, and at once," I said. "Never mind about the second telegram; it was a mistake."
Peach, the jobmaster, muttered an oath.