"That, my good friend," said Pinto, "would be blackmail. You don"t imagine that I would be guilty of such an iniquity? I know nothing about your past; I merely suggest that you should sell me one of your mills at a reasonable price."
"Twenty thousand pounds is reasonable for you, I suppose," said Crotin sarcastically.
"It is a lot of money," replied Pinto.
The Yorkshireman pulled open the drawer of his desk and slammed in the cheque-book, closing it with a bang.
"Well, I"ll give you nothing," he said, "neither mill nor money. You can clear out of here."
He crossed the room to the telephone.
"What are you going to do?" asked Pinto, secretly alarmed.
"I"m going to send for the police," said the other grimly. "I"m going to give myself up and I"m going to pinch thee too!"
If Crotin had turned the handle of the old-fashioned telephone, if he had continued in his resolution, if he had shown no sign of doubt, a different story might have been told. But with his hand raised, he hesitated, and Pinto clinched his argument.
"Why have all that trouble?" he said. "Your liberty and reputation are much more to you than a mill. You"re a rich man. Your wife is wealthy in her own right. You have enough to live on for the rest of your life.
Why make trouble?"
The little man dropped his head with a groan and walked wearily back to the desk.
"Suppose I sell this?" he said in a low voice. "How do I know you won"t come again----"
"When a gentleman gives his word of honour," began Pinto with dignity, but was interrupted by a shrill laugh that made his blood run cold.
He swung round with an oath. Framed in an opening of the curtains which covered one of the windows was the Figure!
The black silk gown, the white masked face, the soft felt hat pulled down over the eyes--his teeth chattered at the sight of it, and he fell back against the wall.
"Who wouldn"t trust Pinto?" squeaked the voice. "Who wouldn"t take Pinto"s word of honour? Jack o" Judgment wouldn"t, poor old Jack o"
Judgment!"
Jack o" Judgment! The soldier behind the settee heard the words and gasped. Without any thought of consequence he raised his head and looked. The Jack o" Judgment was standing where he expected him to be.
He had come through the window which the soldier had left unbarred. This time he carried no weapon in his hand, and Pinto was quick to see the possibilities. The electric switch was within reach, and his hand shot out. There was a click and the room went dark.
But the figure of Jack o" Judgment was silhouetted against the night, and Pinto whipped out the long knife which never left him and sent it hurtling at his enemy. He saw the figure duck, heard the crash of broken gla.s.s, and then Jack o" Judgment vanished. In a rage which was three parts terror, he sprang through the open French windows on to the terrace in time to see a dark figure drop over the bal.u.s.trade and fly across the park.
CHAPTER XXVII
THE CAPTURE OF "JACK"
Pinto leapt the parapet and was following swiftly in its wake. He guessed rather than knew that for once Jack o" Judgment had come unarmed, and a wild exultation filled him at the thought that it was left to him to unveil the mystery which was weighing even upon the iron nerve of the colonel.
The figure gained the shrubbery, and the pursuer heard the rustle of leaves as it plunged into the depths. In a second he was blundering after. He lost sight of his quarry and stopped to listen. There was no sound.
"Hiding," grunted Pinto. And then aloud: "Come out of it. I see you and I"ll shoot you like a dog if you don"t come to me!"
There was no reply. He dashed in the direction he thought Jack o"
Judgment must have taken and again missed. With a curse he turned off in another direction and then suddenly glimpsed a shape before him and leapt at it. He was flung back with little or no effort, and stood bewildered, for the coat his hand had touched was rough and he had felt metal b.u.t.tons.
"A soldier!" he gasped. "Who are you?"
"Steady," said the other; "don"t get rattled, Pinto."
"Who are you?" asked Pinto again.
"My name is Stafford King," said the soldier, "and I think I shall want you."
Pinto half turned to go, but was gripped.
"You can go back to Huddersfield and pack your boxes," said Stafford King. "You won"t leave the town except by my permission."
"What do you mean?" demanded Pinto, breathing heavily.
"I mean," said Stafford King, "that the unfortunate man you tried to blackmail must prosecute whatever be the consequence to himself. Now, Pinto, you"ve a grand chance of turning King"s evidence."
Pinto made no reply. He was collecting his thoughts. Then, after a while, he said:
"I"ll talk about that later, King. I"m staying at the Huddersfield Arms.
I"ll meet you there in an hour."
Stafford King did not move until the sound of Pinto"s footsteps had died away. Then he began a systematic search, for he too was anxious to end the mystery of Jack o" Judgment. He had followed Pinto when he dashed from the room and had heard the Portuguese calling upon Jack o" Judgment to surrender. That mysterious individual, who was obviously lying low, could not be very far away.
He was in a shrubbery which proved later to be a clump of rhododendrons, in the centre of which was a summer-house. To the heart of this shrubbery led three paths, one of which Stafford discovered quite close at hand. The sound of gravel under his feet gave him an idea, and he began walking backward till he came to the shadow of a tree, and then, simulating the sound of retreating footsteps, he waited.
After a while he heard a rustle, but did not move.
Somebody was coming cautiously through the bushes, and that somebody appeared as a shadowy, indistinct figure, not twenty yards away. Only the keenest eyesight could have detected it, and still Stafford waited.
Presently he heard the soft crunch of gravel under its feet, and at that moment leapt towards it. The figure stood as though paralysed for a second, and then, turning quickly, fled back to the heart of the bushes.
Before it had gone a dozen paces Stafford had reached it, and his arm was about its neck.
"My friend," he breathed, "I don"t know what I"m to do with you now I"ve got you, but I certainly am going to register your face for future reference."
"No, no," said a m.u.f.fled voice from behind the mask. "No, no, don"t; I beg of you!"
But the mask was plucked away, and, fumbling in his pocket, Stafford produced his electric lamp and flashed it on the face of his prisoner.
Then, with a cry of amazement, he stepped back--for he had looked upon the face of Maisie White!
For a moment there was silence, neither speaking. Then Stafford found his voice.
"Maisie!" he said in bewilderment, "Maisie! You--Jack o" Judgment?"
She did not answer.