He was holding out a damaged sparking-plug.
I own a car and, being well acquainted with its intricacies, saw at once that what he said was true. Somebody--presumably while he was wandering about the lawns and back premises--must have lifted the bonnet and injured the plugs. There was no other solution. The car could not have travelled out from Oakham, or travelled at all, had that damage been done before.
We looked at each other, equally puzzled.
"You ain"t been playing me a trick, sir?" he said suddenly, an expression of mistrust coming into his eyes.
"Oh, don"t be a fool!" I answered irritably.
He turned sulky.
"Some one "as, anyway," he grunted. "And it"s just a chance I"ve some spare plugs with me."
He produced his tool-box, rummaged among its contents with his filthy hands, discovered what he wanted, and adjusted them. Then he shut down the bonnet with a vicious bang and set his engine going.
He was about to step on to his seat, when simultaneously a sharp report a good way off and the "zip" of a bullet close to us made us spring away in alarm.
Together, without uttering a word, we gazed up towards the wood on the hill, where the sound of the report had come from.
Another shot rang out. This time the bullet shattered the car headlight.
"Ah! G.o.d!" the driver gasped. "Help! I--I--"
Poor fellow. Those were his last words. Almost as he uttered them there came a third report, and the driver, shot through the head, collapsed into a heap beside the car.
And then, what I saw as I turned sharply, sent a shiver through me.
I held my breath. What further mystery was there?
Surely some great evil had fallen upon the house of the Thorolds.
CHAPTER THREE.
THE NAME OF "SMITHSON."
A man was kneeling, facing me, on the outskirts of the wood on the hill, not a hundred yards away. His face was in shadow, and partly hidden by a slouch hat, so that I could hardly see it. The rifle he held was levelled at me--he was taking steady aim--his left arm extended far up the barrel, so that his hand came near the muzzle--the style adopted by all first-cla.s.s shots, as it ensures deadly accuracy.
I am bound to confess that I completely lost my nerve. I sprang to one side almost as he fired. I had just enough presence of mind left to pick up the driver in my arms--even at the risk of my life I couldn"t leave him there--lift him into the car, and slam the door. Then I jumped on to the driving-seat, put in the clutch--in a perfect frenzy of fear lest I myself should be shot at the next instant--and the car flew down the avenue.
Twice I heard reports, and with the second one came the sound of a whistling bullet. But it went wide of the mark.
The lodge came quickly into view. It was well out of sight of the wood on the hill where the shots had been fired. I uttered an exclamation as I saw that the big white gate was shut. It was hardly ever shut.
Slowing down, I brought the car to a standstill within a few yards of the lodge, jumped out, and ran forward to open the gate.
It was fastened with a heavy chain, and the chain was securely padlocked.
Shouting failed to bring any one out of the lodge, so I clambered over the gate and knocked loudly at the door. But n.o.body answered, and, when I tried to open the door, I found it locked.
There seemed to be but one way out of the difficulty. I have said that I am strong, yet it needed all my strength to lift that heavy gate off its hinges. It fell with a crash back into the road, and I managed to drag it away to one side. Then starting the engine again, I set off once more for Oakham "all out."
I went straight to the hospital, but a brief examination of the poor fellow sufficed to a.s.sure the doctors that the man was already dead.
Then I went to the police-station and told them everything I knew--how a man giving the name "Smithson" had called at Houghton Park to see Sir Charles Thorold; how Thorold had repudiated all knowledge of the man; how Sir Charles and Lady Thorold and their daughter, and Lady Thorold"s maid, Judith--I did not know her surname--had suddenly left Houghton, and mysteriously disappeared; how I had, that afternoon, found the house shut up, though I had seen a man disappear from one of the windows; how I had discovered the butler"s body in the lake; how my driver had been shot dead by some one hidden in a wood upon a hill, and how other shots had been fired at me by the a.s.sa.s.sin.
At first the police seemed inclined to detain me, but when I had convinced them that I was what they quaintly termed "a bona fide gentleman," and had produced what they called my "credentials,"--these consisted of a visiting card, and of a letter addressed to me at Houghton Park--and given them my London address and telephone number, they let me go. I found out afterwards that, while they kept me talking at the station, they had telephoned to London, in order to verify my statements that I had a flat in King Street and belonged to Brooks"s Club.
The coffee room of the _Stag"s Head Hotel_ that night was crowded, for it was the night of the Hunt Ball, and every available bed in the hotel had been engaged some days in advance. Those dining were all strangers to me, most of them young people in very high spirits.
"I"ve kept this table for you, sir," the head waiter said, as he conducted me across the room. "It is the best I could do; the other place at it is engaged."
"And by a beautiful lady, I hope," I answered lightly, for I knew this waiter to be something of a wag.
"No, sir," he answered with a grin, "by a gentleman with a beard. A charming gentleman, sir. You"ll like him."
"Who is he? What is he like?"
"Oh, quite a little man, sir, with a nervous, fidgetty manner, and a falsetto voice. Ah," he added, lowering his voice, "here he comes."
There was a twinkle of merriment in the waiter"s eyes, as he turned and hurried away to meet the giant who had just entered the room. I don"t think I had ever before seen so tall and magnificent-looking a man. He must have stood quite six feet four, and was splendidly built. His dark, deep-set eyes peered out with singular power from beneath bushy brows. He had a high, broad forehead, and thick black hair. His beard, well-trimmed, reached just below his white tie, for of course he was in evening clothes.
There was a noticeable lull in the buzz of conversation as the newcomer appeared, and all eyes were set upon him as he strolled with an easy, swinging gait across the room towards my table. I saw dowagers raise their lorgnettes and scrutinise him with great curiosity, mingled with approval, as he went along.
Instinctively I rose as he approached. I don"t know why I did. I should not have risen had any ordinary stranger been brought over to my table to occupy a vacant seat. The man looked down at me, smiled--it was a most friendly, captivating smile--nodded genially, and then seated himself facing me. I am a bit of a sn.o.b at heart--most of us are, only we won"t admit it--and I felt gratified at the reflected interest I knew was now being taken in me, for many people were staring hard at us both, evidently thinking that this remarkable-looking stranger must be Somebody, and that, as we were apparently acquainted, I must be Somebody too.
The waiter"s eye caught mine, and I heard him give a low chuckle of satisfaction at the practical joke he had played upon me.
"I suppose you are also going to the ball, sir," the big man said to me in his great, deep voice, when he had told the waiter what to bring him.
"No, I"m not. I rather wish I were," I answered. "Unfortunately, however, I have to return to town to-night. Are you going?"
"To town?"
"No, to the ball."
He hesitated before answering.
"Yes--well, perhaps," he said, as he began his soup. "I am not yet certain. I want to go, but there are reasons why I should not," and he smiled.
"That sounds rather curious."
"It is very curious, but it is so."
"Do you mind explaining?"
"I do."
His eyes were set on mine. They seemed somehow to hold my gaze in fascination. There was in them an expression that was half ironical, half humorous.
"I believe this is the first time we have met," he said, after a pause.