He bent again to the task of packing the fifth portmanteau, and was placing in it the last parcel of ore and diamonds when some of the heavy contents fell through one end where the drugget wrapping had been hastily folded.
Shaking the package on the floor as a grocer beats down the contents of a sugar bag, he picked up the fallen specimens and put them in, one by one. A large lump of ore had fallen apart when it dropped. Inside there was a huge kernel, a rough diamond quite as large as a hen"s egg.
Philip smiled as he recalled his boast to Isaacstein. He examined the stone critically, and realized that if it were flawless it must be one of the marvels of creation. Without experiencing any positive motive he slipped this unique specimen into his pocket, and went on with the reconstruction of the damaged parcel.
At last he finished. The portmanteau was lying open on the floor, when the thought occurred to him that he might have avoided the flurry and trouble of carrying these heavy articles into the scullery if he had nailed a couple of yards of his drugget across the window.
It was not too late even now to rectify this defect. He glanced at the window to ascertain how much material he should cut off, and saw a face--an evil, brutal, suspicious face--peering at him over the top of the curtain.
CHAPTER IX.
_A Decisive Battle._
It would be idle to deny that Philip was startled by the sight. No braver or more resolute boy breathed; but the silence, the mystery--the gloomy aloofness of Johnson"s Mews--lent a sinister aspect to an apparition formidable enough under any circ.u.mstances, but absolutely threatening and full of danger to one situated as he at that moment.
He never remembered seeing the man before. Not that this repellent physiognomy was of a type to be soon forgotten. A bullet head with prominent, blood-shot eyes, a strong, cruel mouth, a huge nose badly broken--a certain strength of character in features debased by drink and criminality--these were the tokens writ legibly on the countenance glaring intently at the boy from without.
The two gazed at each other for an appreciable time. The man"s face wandered from Philip"s face to his costume, and then rested on the open portmanteau at the boy"s feet. There was in his expression an air of astonishment--a certain gloating bewilderment--as of one who had stumbled unawares upon some object of such potential value that the finder could hardly believe it to be true. He was thinking, wondering, debating with himself. The goggle eyes seemed to see more than the brain was inclined to credit.
Philip, despite his alarm, felt that the right course was to resent this impertinent prying into his affairs.
"h.e.l.lo, you!" he shouted. "What do you want?"
The man grinned. He seemed to be about to answer when he suddenly turned his head and looked down the yard toward the entry.
Instantly he swung round and vanished noiselessly, with the silent alertness of a cat, for the boy heard no sound. He simply disappeared in the darkness, and Philip, who knew every inch of the ground, realized that his most unpleasant-visaged spy had not only dived into the further obscurity of the mews--which formed a _cul-de-sac_--but also was either in his stocking feet or wore something over his boots to deaden any possible clatter on the paving stones.
Here was a nice thing--his habitat discovered by some tramp or criminal skulking in the untenanted building marked out for the housebreakers within a few days. It was too bad. He was sorely annoyed that he had not thought sooner of the potentialities of the window when the interior of the house was illumined by a candle and a ruddy fire. How long had the man stood there watching him? He had certainly seen some portion of the contents of the last portmanteau. Had he also witnessed the removal of the others to the pantry?
Philip"s experience as a newspaper vender told him that all London was now familiar with his own personal appearance, as well as with the semblance and value of his meteoric diamonds. The white stones, the clumps of iron ore, had been described minutely by clever journalists, who supplemented Isaacstein"s clear statement by facts gleaned from encyclopediae and interviews with geologists.
Most probably this man had read long articles about him, for the story was such as to bring watery curses to the lips of every penniless vagrant in the kingdom. Indeed, the careful scrutiny bestowed on his face and clothes bore out this suspicion. Had he not changed his garments the stranger would have known his ident.i.ty beyond all question.
As it was, the man was puzzled, and disturbed at the very moment he was about to say something. What had happened to cause him to run away? What had he seen or heard? Above all, how much did he know of Philip and his affairs?
Well, the door was locked, and it would be folly to go out again that night. The house was absolutely unapproachable save by the front. Philip resolved to remain awake until daybreak. O"Brien"s spade stood against the fireplace. It was a formidable weapon, and he would not hesitate to use it if forcible entry was attempted. He must sit quietly in the dark, listening for each sound, and threatening boldly when he heard anyone endeavoring to open door or window.
He sighed, for he was very tired, but the vigil was imperative.
He dropped the drugget and scissors and bent again over the portmanteau.
The packing operations might as well be finished now, and, indeed, when the light was extinguished, it would be better to keep away from the window, through which a sudden thrust with an implement might do him an injury.
He took his discarded clothes and arranged them on top of the last parcels of ore and diamonds. Then he reached out for the small bundle of doc.u.ments resting on the chair behind him, intending to place them in a little pocket in the flap which already covered one-half of the bag.
At that instant he again heard footsteps. Of course, a very few seconds had elapsed since he first caught sight of the living specter without.
The ideas recorded at such length whirled through his active brain with lightning speed, just as the knowledge now came that the footsteps proceeded from the entrance to the mews and not from its extremity, while their firm regularity betokened the advent of some person who had no special reason to conceal his movements.
The boy listened breathlessly. The oncomer reached his door, pa.s.sed it, stopped opposite the window, and then another face peered over the curtain.
This time it was a policeman.
For an instant their eyes met in mutual astonishment. Then the policeman came so close that his helmet rested against a pane of gla.s.s. He grinned affably, and cried:
"Here! I want to speak to you."
Intuitively grasping the essential fact that his best policy was one of ready acquiescence, Philip sprang toward the door and unlocked it. He stood on the step. The constable approached.
"I hope I didn"t startle you," he began, "but I just looked in on the off chance----"
"I am very glad indeed, to see you," interrupted the boy. "I am leaving here to-morrow. Just now, while I was packing some of my belongings, a very nasty-looking man came and peeped in at me in the same way as you did."
He backed into the house. The policeman half followed him, his quick glance noting the open portmanteau and its array of old clothes.
"Just now?" he questioned. "Do you mean some time since?"
"No, no. Not half a minute--a few seconds ago."
"But where can he be? He hasn"t left the mews, or I must have seen him.
I crossed the road, and no one came out in so short a time."
"Well, he is somewhere in the place--he had a horrid appearance--a man with a broken nose. He made me jump, I can a.s.sure you."
"A man with a broken nose! By Jove, I"m looking for a party of that description. A rank wrong "un. Robbery with violence and a few other little things. What sort of man was he? You saw his face only, I suppose?"
The constable stepped back into the paved court. A rapid twist of his hand sent a vivid beam of light dancing over ruined tenements, disheveled doorways and shattered windows.
"A tall man," said Philip, "taller than you, for I could see his chin over the string of the curtain. He had a big face, with eyes that stuck out boldly----"
"By the Lord, it"s Jocky right enough!" cried the constable. "Now, where can he have got to? He"s an ugly customer to tackle single-handed," he added, beneath his breath.
"Won"t you wait a bit, until I get some help?" said Philip, anxiously.
The man appeared to debate the point. The nearest comrade was an acting sergeant, newly promoted. If he were summoned, the kudos of a smart capture would be his by right of seniority.
"No," announced the constable, stubbornly. "If he is here, I will handle him myself."
Again his lamp swept the small area of the mews and revealed no living object. He quickly unfastened his belt, took off his greatcoat, and readjusted belt and lamp again.
"Now I"m ready for him," he grinned. "Put my coat inside, boy, and stand at the door yourself with the candle in your hand. If you see anything, yell out to me."
Philip obeyed. These preparations for a deadly struggle appealed to his very soul, for your healthy-minded boy of fifteen has generally ceased to be a highwayman or a pirate in imagination, and aims rather at planting the Union Jack on a glacis bristling with hostile cannon.
The policeman, feeling for the loose strap of his truncheon, commenced a careful survey of the mews. He had not gone five yards when there was a loud crash of broken gla.s.s. The building at the other end of the yard possessed a couple of windows facing into another inclosure at the back.
Obviously, the broken-nosed "Jocky," unseen himself, had observed the constable"s movements.
Realizing that discovery was imminent, he was effecting a strategic movement to the rear.