"Tommy, you"re a liar. You do know, so out with it."
"But I"ve sworn not to divulge," almost whined Tommy.
"Then you refuse," said Reg, placing pen, ink and paper before Tommy, and producing a revolver from his pocket. Then he quietly placed his watch on the table in front of him, and said:
"There are pen and paper. If you want to write to your friends, do so, for you have five minutes to live."
This was too much for Tommy. All his dapper gaiety had disappeared. His clothes seemed to hang loosely on his limbs, and a perspiration broke out on his forehead. All his self-control vanished, and he fell abjectly on his knees and cried out for mercy.
"Get up, you lying scoundrel," said Reg. "What mercy did you or he show."
"I"ll tell you all, Morris. I"ll tell you all," gasped his victim.
"Then get up and do so at once, for you have but three minutes."
"What do you want to know?"
"All you know about Villiers Wyckliffe, and this power he is said to possess."
Tommy started with a tremulous voice, and narrated in disjointed sentences all that is known to the reader, the Detlij Club, all Wyck"s secrets, his affair with Miss Williamson, and his own share in procuring the invitations for the Bachelors" Ball.
"Where has he gone now?" said Reg, still fingering the revolver.
"To Adelaide by the _Himalaya_."
"Is he going direct?"
"Yes he is, I swear."
"Then go down on your knees, Tommy, and swear you will never divulge that you have told me all this, and that you will not communicate with him."
"I swear, Morris," and Tommy was fairly on his knees.
"Now go. You are only his accomplice. You did not do the deed, so I"ll let you go; but mark my words, if ever I hear of you mixing my name up with yours, I shoot you like a dog. Now go," said Reg, unlocking the door, through which Tommy rapidly slipped without a second bidding.
"It"s really wonderful what an empty pistol can do with some fellows,"
said Reg to himself, as he drank a gla.s.s of wine and straightened the table.
"Miss Williamson," he continued, musing to himself, "Marjorie Williamson; you are the poor victim who lost your mother and your livelihood through the same man. I must see you, for you and I ought to shake hands."
Half-an-hour later, he entered the Caledonian Theatre by the stage-door, at the entrance of which he was confronted by an old fellow, who gruffly enquired his business.
"Have you been here long?" he asked.
"Yes, close on twenty years; why?"
"I want a little information. What"s your name?"
"Jones. What"s yours?"
"Mine is Morris."
"Well, what is it you want to know?" said Jones, looking suspiciously at him.
"Do you know Miss Williamson?"
"Yes, I do."
"Can you tell me where she lives?"
"No, I can"t; and what"s more, you"d better clear. She was ruined by one of you cursed--"
"Stay, Jones, I understand you. I don"t come here as one of those vile cattle who hang round stage doors. I want to offer help and sympathy."
"Then you can go away, for she don"t want either," said Jones, pointing to the door.
"My good fellow, I see you are a friend of hers, and I am glad to find she has one so good and true."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"Can I trust you, Jones?"
"Certainly, sir."
"Then listen. The same man who ruined that girl, and killed her mother, killed also the girl I loved, the girl I had been engaged to for years.
And I now look for my revenge."
"But what has she to do with it?" asked he, in a softer voice.
"I want to know her. I want her to have her revenge too. I am a rich man and I am off on his tracks to Australia next Friday."
"I don"t think she"d see you, sir. She"s never seen a gent since."
"You are an old friend, I can see?"
"Yes, sir, I am. Her dead mother and I were old friends. She was one of the good sort. She didn"t put on airs because her daughter was a great actress. She used to sit and talk to me every night."
"Jones, you can manage it. Come, we"ll go together."
As they drove along very little conversation pa.s.sed between the two. At length the cab stopped at a house in a shabby street in Camden Town.
"You stay here, sir, until I"ve seen her," said Jones, as he knocked at the door. The curtain was drawn aside for a moment before he was admitted. Five, ten minutes elapsed, and he did not return. Reg became impatient, but at last he heard the door open, and Jones was saying, "You see him, Miss Marjorie, he has a good face." But still she seemed to hesitate, and Reg, without waiting for more, walked up to her and grasping her hand, said in an earnest voice:
"Miss Williamson, I _must_ see you."
She offered no further resistance, and Reg pa.s.sed with her into a small sitting-room.
"Stay where you are, Jones," said Reg, as he saw him about to leave them alone. "You can hear all I have to say. Miss Williamson, I have heard all about your troubles, and I want you to listen to mine:" and again his sad story was recited.
"Now Miss Williamson I am off to Australia to take vengeance, and I want you to a.s.sist me."