With the speed of a deer Philip dived into the mews. He carried the two lesser bags without extraordinary difficulty, and deposited them behind O"Brien"s counter. The third was almost too much for him, as the weight was all in one hand. But he got it there, breathless with the exertion.
He had to open the fourth and tear out the stuffing of paper. When filled with the packages taken from the fifth it was beyond his power to lift it. So he dragged it bodily along the mews and into the shop.
A pa.s.ser-by offered to help him.
"No, thanks," he managed to say, though the effort to speak calmly took away his remaining breath. "I am only taking it to the shop there."
The man glanced at the shop--it was a marine store dealer"s--a place where lead and iron and bra.s.s found ready sale. He pa.s.sed on.
"Be the forchun uv war, Phil, where did ye get the iligant leather thrunks, an" phwat"s in them?" inquired the astonished pensioner.
The boy bravely called a smile to his aid. "I have a big story to tell you one of these days, Mr. O"Brien, but I have no time to-night. These things will not be in your way until the morning?"
"The divil a bit. If things go on as they are, there"ll soon be room enough in the poor ould shop. To think, afther all these years, that a murtherin" thief in the War Office----"
Philip was safe. He rapidly helped his friend to put up the shutters, and rushed back to No. 3. Even yet he was not quite prepared for eventualities. He ran upstairs and gathered a few articles belonging to his mother, articles he never endeavored to sell even when pinched by hunger.
The last dress she wore, her boots, a hat, an alb.u.m with photographs, some toilet accessories from the tiny dressing table, the coverlet of the bed on which she died--these and kindred mementoes made a very credible bulk in the denuded portmanteau.
He gave one glance at the hole in the back yard as he went to the coal house for a fresh supply of coal. That must remain. It probably would not be seen. In any case it remained inexplicable.
He was stirring the fire when a tap sounded on the door and the policeman entered, followed by an inspector.
CHAPTER X.
_A Step Higher._
"This is the boy, sir," said the policeman.
"Oh, is that him?" observed the inspector, sticking his thumbs into his belt and gazing at Philip with professional severity.
Philip met their scrutiny without flinching. He leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets, one fist clinched over the pouchful of gold, the other guarding a diamond bigger than the Koh-i-Noor.
"I am sorry I have only one chair, gentlemen," he said, apologetically.
"That"s all right, my lad," said the inspector. "The constable here tells me that you very pluckily helped him to capture a notorious burglar. The man was hiding in this mews, and it seems you first saw him looking in through your window. What were you doing at the time?"
"Packing my portmanteau."
"Oh, packing your portmanteau."
"Yes. That is it."
He stooped and nonchalantly threw it open. His clothes and boots, and some of the other contents, were exposed to view. The inspector laughed.
"Not many diamonds there, Bradley."
"No, sir. I told you Mason was talking rubbish."
"Did he say any more about me being the boy who found the meteor?" asked Philip, with a first-rate attempt at a grin.
"Wouldn"t talk of anything else," volunteered P. C. Bradley.
"Judging by the way he dropped when I hit him, I expect he saw stars,"
said Philip.
"Are you leaving here?" asked the inspector.
"Yes, I must. The company which owns these premises intends to pull them down on the first of next month."
"What is your name?"
"Anson."
"Ah! I think I remember hearing something about your mother"s death.
Very nice woman, I was told. A lady, too."
"Yes, all that, and more."
"Of course, that accounts for your manners and appearance. Have you found some friends?"
The inspector"s glance roved from the serviceable portmanteau to Philip"s tidy garments, and it was his business to make rapid deductions.
"Yes, most fortunately."
"Anybody connected with Sharpe & Smith?" the constable put in.
"Sharpe & Smith! Who are they?"
"Don"t you know? Their young man certainly didn"t seem to know much about your movements. He has been here twice looking for you. The first time was, let me see, last Monday, about four o"clock. I was on duty in the main road, and he asked me for some information. We came and looked in, but your door was locked. The man on this beat this afternoon told me that the same clerk was making further inquiries to-day, so as soon as I came on night duty I strolled into the mews to find out if you were at home. That is how I happened to see you."
He turned toward the inspector.
"He was packing his bag at the moment, sir, and Mason had evidently been scared from the window by my footsteps in the arch."
The inspector pursed out his under lip.
"The whole thing is perfectly clear," he said. "Boy, have you got a watch?"
"No," said Philip, surprised by this odd question.
"Bradley, he hasn"t got a watch," observed the inspector. He again addressed Philip.
"Where are you going to-morrow?"