I shouted after him that I had recovered the Silver Moon eggs and that I should certainly be awarded the Carnegie medal.
"Then that monster in human form laughed a horrible laugh, avowing himself guilty of a crime still more hideous than the theft of the Silver Moon eggs! Do you know what he had done?"
"W-what?" faltered Mildred.
"He had stolen from cold storage and had concealed the leaves of the Bimba bush, brought from Singapore to feed the Silver Moon caterpillars!
_That"s_ what Boomly had done!
_"And my Silver Moon eggs had already begun to hatch!!! And my caterpillars would starve!!!!"_
His voice ended in a yell; he struggled on his chair until it nearly upset.
"You lunatic!" I shouted. "Was that a reason for spilling the blood of a human being!"
"It was reason enough for me!"
"Madman!"
"Let me loose! He"s hidden those leaves somewhere or other! I"ve torn this place to pieces looking for them. I"ve got to find them, I tell you--"
Mildred went to the infuriated entomologist and laid a firm hand on his shoulder:
"Listen," she said: "how do you know that Professor Boomly has not concealed these Bimba leaves on his own person?"
Quint ceased his contortions and gaped at her.
"I never thought of that," he said.
"What have you done with him?" she asked, very pale.
"I tell you, I don"t know."
"You must know what you did with him," she insisted.
Quint shook his head impatiently, apparently preoccupied with other thoughts. We stood watching him in silence until he looked up and became conscious of our concentrated gaze.
"My caterpillars are starving," he began violently. "I haven"t anything else they"ll eat. They feed only on the Bimba leaf. They _won"t_ eat anything else. It"s a well-known fact that they won"t. Why, in Joh.o.r.e, where they came from, they"ll travel miles over the ground to find a Bimba bush--"
"What!" exclaimed Mildred.
"Certainly--miles! They"d starve sooner than eat anything except Bimba leaves. If there"s a bush within twenty miles they"ll find it--"
"Wait," said Mildred quietly. "Where are these starving caterpillars?"
"In a gla.s.s jar in my pocket--here! What the devil are you doing!" For the girl had dexterously slipped the gla.s.s jar from his coat pocket and was holding it up to the light.
Inside it were several dozen tiny, dark caterpillars, some resting disconsolately on the sides of the gla.s.s, some hungrily travelling over the bottom in pitiful and hopeless quest of nourishment.
Heedless of the shouts and threats of Dr. Quint, the girl calmly uncorked the jar, took on her slender forefinger a single little caterpillar, replaced the cork, and, kneeling down, gently disengaged the caterpillar.
It dropped upon the floor, remained motionless for a moment, then, turning, began to travel rapidly toward the doorway behind us.
"Now," she said, "if poor Professor Boomly really has concealed these Bimba leaves upon his own person, this little caterpillar, according to Dr. Quint, is certain to find those leaves."
[Ill.u.s.tration: ""This little caterpillar ... is certain to find those leaves.""]
Overcome with excitement and admiration for this intelligent and unusually beautiful girl, I seized her hands and congratulated her.
"Murder," said I to the miserable Quint, "will out! This infant caterpillar shall lead us to that dark and secret spot where you had hoped to conceal the horrid evidence of your guilt. Three things have undone you--a caterpillar replete with mysterious instinct, a humble bunch of Bimba leaves, and the marvellous intelligence of this young and lovely girl. Madman, your hour has struck!"
He looked at me in a dazed sort of way, as though astonishment had left him unable to articulate. But I had become tired of his violence and his shouts and yells; so I asked Jones for his handkerchief, and, before Quint knew what I was up to I had tied it over his mouth.
He became a brilliant purple, but all he could utter was a furious humming, buzzing noise.
Meanwhile, Jones had opened the door; the little caterpillar, followed by Mildred and myself, continued to hustle along as though he knew quite well where he was going.
Down the hallway he went in undulating haste, past my door, we all following in silent excitement as we discovered that, parallel to the caterpillar"s course, ran a gruesome trail of blood drops.
And when the little creature turned and made straight for the door of Professor Farrago, our revered chief, the excitement among us was terrific.
The caterpillar halted; I gently tried the door; it was open.
Instantly the caterpillar crossed the threshold, wriggling forward at top speed. We followed, peering fearfully around us. n.o.body was visible.
Could Quint have dragged his victim here? By Heaven, he had! For the caterpillar was travelling straight under the lounge upon which Professor Farrago was accustomed to repose after luncheon, and, dropping on one knee, I saw a fat foot partly protruding from under the shirred edges of the fringed drapery.
"He"s there!" I whispered, in an awed voice to the others.
"Courage, Miss Case! Try not to faint."
Jones turned and looked at her with that same odd expression; then he went over to where she stood and coolly pa.s.sed one arm around her waist.
"Try not to faint, Mildred," he said. "It might muss your hair."
It was a strange thing to say, but I had no time then to a.n.a.lyze it, for I had seized the fat foot which partly protruded from under the sofa, clad in a low-cut congress gaiter and a white sock.
And then _I_ nearly fainted, for instead of the dreadful, inert resistance of lifeless clay, the foot wriggled and tried to kick at me.
"Help!" came a thin but m.u.f.fled voice. "Help! Help, in the name of Heaven!"
"Boomly!" I cried, scarcely believing my ears.
"Take that man away, Smith!" whimpered Boomly. "He"s a devil! He"ll murder me! He made my nose bleed all over everything!"
"Boomly! You"re _not_ dead!"
"Yes, I am!" he whined. "I"m dead enough to suit me. Keep that little lunatic off--that"s all I ask. He can have his Carnegie medal for all I care, only tie him up somewhere--"
"Professor Boomly!" cried Mildred excitedly. "Have you any Bimba leaves concealed about your person?"