"Back to Curzon Street!" I called out. As soon as we had turned the first corner, however, I redirected the driver to Victoria Station, and during the journey I set to work to alter my appearance as much as lay in my power. I tore off my false eyebrows, and with my kerchief I vigorously rubbed the paint from my cheeks and brow. A mirror set in an angle of the hansom showed me, by the light of a match, a blotchy nondescript face that nevertheless could not be mistaken for my master"s. Better satisfied, I began to reflect on my position, and to my intense gratification I found that I was no longer the slave of fear. Arrived at the station, I discharged the cab and made inquiries for the trains to the south. I found that I should have to wait a great while. I therefore selected a dark corner and gave myself up to thought. In ten minutes I was wondering what on earth I had ever been afraid of--and calling myself moreover by very nasty names. Even if Mr.
Cavanagh were dead, and I began to doubt if my perturbed examination of his body had given me the truth, who could accuse me of his death?
Again, if he lived, he would infallibly, on his recovery, still believe me a detective. He had not remotely guessed at my ident.i.ty. Oh! the fool I had been! But what next? Were I to fly to France, I should give myself away! My master would search my room and discover my make-up box and various disguises. Were I to stay it would probably never enter his mind to suspect me! Ai! Ai! With patience, boldness, and a little luck, I might even yet convert the defeat I had sustained that night into a triumph. I felt the blood bound in my veins. Waiting for no more I sprang to my feet and hurried from the station. Ten minutes later I noiselessly inserted my latch-key into Sir William Dagmar"s door, and gently as any burglar stepped into the house. The place was profoundly still. I hung up my master"s coat and hat in the hall and crept upstairs. At Sir William"s bedroom door I stopped, and stooping pressed my ear to the key-hole. I distinctly heard him breathing. He was a heavy sleeper, and his respirations were deep and somewhat laboured. I pa.s.sed on with a smile of purest joy. Upon my dressing table stood my make-up box and a profusion of wigs, beards and moustaches. The sight gave me pause. "It is wise to be bold!" I thought, "but not rash. Here is danger. When Mr. Cavanagh recovers and informs Sir William of to-night"s happenings--Ah!--and when, moreover, Sir Charles Venner discovers that he has been swindled! What then? It is unlikely, but at the same time just possible that my master"s thoughts may turn to me!"
I caught up the wigs and stuffed them into the box which I locked.
Where to hide it? Not in my room, nor in the pantry! nor in any place under my control! Search would reveal it there--infallibly. I must then dispose it in some place not likely to be searched. Where then? For a third time in one evening I was suddenly inspired. Seizing the box, I stole downstairs into my master"s private study and, using the utmost caution, I bestowed it behind some mounds of books that were covered with many summers" dust. Heaving a deep sigh of relief and satisfaction I returned to my little chamber and leisurely undressed. Three o"clock chimed as I pulled off my boots. I then removed the last traces of my disguise with a lavish application of soap and water, and last of all I screwed back into its plate the tooth I had removed from my false set earlier in the evening in order more perfectly to resemble my master.
After that I got into bed. I felt secure and almost happy--was I not a capitalist? Under my pillow reposed three hundred pounds, and never in my life until then had I possessed more than a paltry fraction of that sum. I rejoiced in determining to bank it on the morrow, and I sleepily a.s.sured myself that I would make it the seed of a great fortune. I should have been quite happy, save for one thing. I was already beginning to repent the magnanimity or cowardice which had prevented me from asking Sir William Venner for six hundred pounds instead of three.
I felt sure he would have given me six as readily as three, and it was a great opportunity wasted. Wasted! It is terribly sad to look back upon wasted opportunities; a heartrending thing indeed. Even now I recall that circ.u.mstance with melancholy. I dreamed of death and murders and shadowy unutterable horrors. Soon after dawn I awoke, bathed in perspiration, and shivering in every limb. There was a sound of rushing waters in my ears, and I retained a shuddersome impression of a dark brooding figure bending over me. With a gasp of terror I plunged my hand beneath my pillow, but my three hundred pounds were safe. The delight of that discovery quickly dispelled the phantoms of my tired fancies, and I arose, with a glad heart, to begin the work of the day, by performing the work that I should have done on the previous night--the clearing up from the dinner party.
III
THE KINGSMERE HOSPITAL FOR CONSUMPTIVES
I prepared a particularly tasty breakfast that morning for my master, and I took special pains to please him as I a.s.sisted him to dress. He was not a man given to paying compliments, but when he entered the dining-room, and was unable to discover a single trace of last night"s feast, he did not dissemble his surprise.
"You have re-established order very quickly--here at all events," he remarked, "b.u.t.ts always took a day or two to clear up."
"That is not my way," I softly replied. "I could not sleep until I had cleared up everything. If you take the trouble to visit my pantry, sir, I will challenge you to find a stain on floor or wall, or a single speck on plate or cutlery."
"You appear to know your business," he conceded.
"From A to Z, sir," I answered. "Let me persuade you to try this omelette, Sir William. I cooked it myself."
A talent for making omelettes is one of the few accomplishments I had acquired from my father.
My master nodded, and helped himself to a dainty little roll. He tasted it, and actually smacked his lips.
"Excellent!" he observed. "Brown, I hope that b.u.t.ts will not return, for his own sake. I wish you to take charge of my household henceforth from to-day. Your salary will be eight pounds a month."
"Thank you, sir," I murmured gratefully. "I shall do my best to please you, sir."
The street bell rang as I spoke. I slipped out, and opened the front door. Mr. George Cavanagh waited upon the steps, and on either side of him stood Sir Charles Venner and Dr. Fulton.
Well was it then that over my features I can exercise an admirable control, for at sight of that trio my heart felt like lead, and I shivered in my shoes.
"We must see Sir William Dagmar at once!" said Mr. Cavanagh. "Our business is of the utmost importance."
I bowed and invited him to enter. "Sir William is at breakfast, gentlemen," I muttered as I closed the door. "I shall warn him of your presence at once. In the meanwhile will you kindly step into this ante-room."
"No!" replied Sir Charles. "We shall go directly to him. Don"t be alarmed, Brown, we are sufficiently intimate with Sir William to take such a liberty."
I shrugged my shoulders, and deferentially preceded them. Their faces were paste coloured and preternaturally solemn. I was, however, glad to see Mr. Cavanagh; I liked him, and it was a relief to be sure that he was still alive.
Tapping softly at the dining-room door, I opened it and entered, but I had no occasion to utter a word, for the others had trooped in on my heels.
"Excuse this intrusion, Dagmar," began Sir Charles in the French tongue, "you may believe me when I tell you that nothing could have induced me so to invade you except necessity."
My master leaned back in his chair, his mouth agape with astonishment.
"Necessity!" he repeated. "What the deuce has happened?"
"Nothing less than a calamity. But first dismiss your servant--we must run no risks, the matter is too serious."
"Brown," said my master in English, "kindly leave the room. I shall ring when I require you."
I bowed and obeyed. I would have cheerfully given my three hundred pounds for an opportunity of listening unseen to their conversation.
But my fate was in the balance, and I dared not play the spy. Making a virtue of necessity I retired to the pantry, and tried to eat. But in truth I had no appet.i.te. My nerves were on the jump. I lighted a cigarette, and consumed it in half a dozen puffs. I chewed another to pulp, but smoked the third. The sixth restored me to calm. I felt myself again, and began to polish the gla.s.sware. I postured my indifference to myself and experienced an itch to whistle, just to show myself how brave I was. Needless to say, however, I suppressed the inclination. An hour pa.s.sed so, and then the library bell smartly tingled. So they had left the dining-room. I hurried upstairs, smoothing my expression as I ran. My master met me at the door--a letter in his hand. "I wish you to go out at once, and post this at the nearest post-office--not in a letter box," he commanded. "It is an important missive."
"Certainly, sir!" I replied, and took the letter. He looked at me very keenly. His face was expressionless, but it bore traces of recent agitation. "I shall hurry back," I said.
"Not in a letter box!" he repeated. "Remember, Brown."
I bowed deeply and departed. In half a minute I was out of the house, but not until I had turned the corner did I so much as glance at the "important missive." It was directed to Mr. John Brown, Box 89, G.P.O.
The envelope was of thin foreign parchment. I held it up to the sun and smiled. It contained a single sheet of blank paper. My message then was a ruse to withdraw me from the house while they searched my room. I felt so confident, however, that they would never discover my make-up box, that I smiled again, and to save myself the bother of walking, I took a cab. After posting the letter, I entered the first bank I came to, and requested the manager to allow me to make a deposit. He wished a reference, and I was bold enough to refer him to my master. I then paid into the credit of Agar Hume 290, and left the office. Two minutes later, I returned and paid in nine pounds. I thus procured two deposit slips. The one for 290 I tore in very small pieces, which I scattered far and wide; I was not afraid that the bank would swindle me. But the other I treasured carefully. I walked home very leisurely, and I found my master alone in his study. He was pacing the floor, with an abstracted air, his hands clasped tightly behind his back.
"I posted the letter, sir!" I announced.
He stopped in his walk and frowningly regarded me. "Very good, Brown,"
he replied. "By the way, my man, I want you to be very careful in admitting visitors here again. I don"t refer to the three gentlemen who came this morning, they are friends of mine. But strangers."
"Yes, sir."
"Above all, Brown, permit no one, stranger or otherwise, to question you concerning me. If any one attempts to do such a thing, inform me at once!"
"Certainly, sir."
"That will do, you may go."
"I beg your pardon, sir," I muttered hesitatingly, "I hope you will forgive me, sir, but the fact is I have ventured to take a liberty with you this morning, sir."
"Ah!" He started and looked at me with piercing eyes.
"It"s this way, sir," I said quickly, "I"m a saving man, sir, and I"ve always wished to have an account at a real bank, sir, not a post-office. Well, sir, I went into a bank while I was out just now, but they would not let me open an account without a reference. So--so I dared to give them your name, sir. I hope you"ll excuse me, sir."
His eyes bored through me like a pair of gimlets. "How much money have you saved?" he demanded.
"Nine pounds, sir. Here is the ticket!" I eagerly handed him the slip.
He glanced at it, and his face cleared immediately.
"That is all right, Brown!" he said, smiling slightly. "If they apply to me, I shall try to satisfy them that they have secured a worthy client. Good luck to you, my man, I am glad to know you are thrifty."
It is a curious thing how tenacious of life one"s conscience is. My master looked at me so kindly, that I felt a perfect brute for having so mercilessly deceived him, and I vow that for one fateful moment I was on the point of voicing my compunction.
"You are t--too kind, sir," I began. "I--I"m afraid I----"
But he cut me short with a frown. "That will do, my man," he interrupted in harsh tones. "I am busy, and I wish to be alone."