The Five Knots

CHAPTER XL

TOWARDS THE LIGHT

Russell stood by the side of Uzali waiting for developments. They were still in the shade of the portico outside the music-hall, and it was Uzali's part to play the next card. But he remained perfectly motionless, though Russell could see his eyes gleaming and that he was moved by some strong feeling. At the same time, Russell had no fear and no anxiety. He felt the thing was in capable hands and that Uzali would not spoil the situation by undue haste.

"What are you going to do?" he whispered.

"For the moment, nothing," Uzali said grimly. "We are going to pursue what one of your greatest statesmen used to call a policy of masterly inactivity. In other words, we will follow Mr. Jansen and my countryman and ascertain what deep scheme they have on hand. Unless I am mistaken Jansen is as much in my debt as Samuel Flower. But we can go into that later. Just now we have to keep those fellows in view and watch them all night if necessary."

Russell had no objection. He felt that action was blessed and that his dogged patience and perseverance were about to be rewarded. Few words were spoken as he and his companion turned and followed Jansen at a respectful distance until Gray's Inn Road was reached. Here Jansen paused and appeared to take a latch-key from his pocket. A door was quietly opened and shut and then the watchers had the street to themselves. Uzali turned eagerly to Russell.

"You marked the right house?" he asked.

"Oh, I think I know the house," Russell replied. "I have had a very good description of it and here comes Goatley to see that we are on the right track. Well, what is it, Goatley?"

"I ventured to follow you, gentlemen," Goatley said, "in fact, I have been following you all the evening. I was afraid you might make some mistake. Some description of the house where Jansen is lodging will be of assistance to you."

"You know all about it?" Uzali said.

"Well, yes, sir," Goatley proceeded to explain. "It is a shop where a man named Giles deals in birds and animals. He is a queer, solitary old man and does for himself in a small room behind the shop. He has a horror of women, and I don't suppose one has been in the place for years. You can understand how lodgings like that would suit Jansen. He has the two upstairs rooms where he cooks for himself, so that there is no one to spy upon his movements. He might commit half a dozen murders and no one be the wiser."

"Is there any way into the house?" Uzali asked.

"Certainly, sir," Goatley went on. "Behind the shops is a kind of Tom Tiddler's Ground where children come and play. It is easy to get over the fence and into the back yard on to which Giles' room looks. Above this room is a dilapidated glass house where a former tenant tried to grow flowers. By way of this little glass house one could readily get into the premises. I am sure of my ground because I have been over it before. I will show you the way so that there can be no mistake."

Goatley had spoken the truth when he had said that it would be easy to burgle the premises by way of the little glass house. Russell surveyed the whole carefully and nodded his head approvingly.

"The thing can be managed," he said. "And now, what I want you to do, Goatley, is to hang about the front and see if anybody leaves the house. If Jansen himself leaves come round at once and whistle softly."

There were no further instructions for Goatley, so they disappeared to the side street. Russell turned to his companion somewhat eagerly.

"I think I had better understand what you want," he said. "Your idea is to get into the house. What do you expect to see?"

"Well, I expect to see Jansen and one of my fellow-countrymen to begin with," Uzali said grimly. "And if I am not mistaken I shall find the other conspirator there, too. I don't think you appreciate how clever Jansen is. To begin with, he is an exceedingly skilful chemist and can produce the most extraordinary results from apparently innocent experiments. I have never met the man, but I know that he was in my country years ago, and at one time managed to exert a deal of influence over certain people there. It was much the same as in the early days when white settlers first appeared. The natives used to take them for gods and all that kind of thing, and that is what has happened with those two fellow-countrymen of mine who have done their best to put an end to Samuel Flower. I expect to find them under the thumb of Jansen."

"Well, that can be easily ascertained," Russell cried. "The question is, who is going first? As you are the lightest, perhaps you had better get on my shoulders and try to wriggle yourself through that broken framework into the glass house. I can pull myself up afterwards. Are you ready?"

Uzali climbed up Russell like a cat and wormed his way through the broken woodwork until he stood upright in the place where plants had once grown. Russell followed a little more slowly, but just as surely, until he stood by the side of his more agile companion.

"So far, so good," he said. "Now, what next? I don't suppose there are more than two rooms over a small shop like this, so that we must be careful how we move. It won't be safe to light a match."

Uzali agreed and there was nothing for it but to feel their way along the passage until they came to the top of the stairs. It was so dark that a slit of light shining under a closed door stood out like an edge of flame. Voices could be heard on the other side of the door, voices in earnest confabulation, though it was almost impossible to hear what was said. Uzali chuckled.

"What did I tell you?" he whispered. "There are three people there – Jansen and two others. You wouldn't notice it, but knowing the language I can discriminate between those other two voices."

They could only wait until Jansen chose to open the door. A quarter of an hour passed and gradually the voices died away to a murmur and then ceased altogether. After that there was the sound of a heavy footstep on the floor and the door was flung open. Jansen stood on the threshold, glancing back with an evil grin upon his face. It was so dark on the landing that it was impossible for him to detect the figures standing so close beside him. The Dutchman seemed to be on exceedingly good terms with himself, for he kissed his hand gaily.

"That is well," he said. "That is exceedingly well. I do not think, my friends, that you are likely to trouble me for many hours to come, so I will go about my business. There is no chance of anybody coming in, no chance of anybody discovering what has happened. Strange that men, in some ways so clever, should be so innocent in matters outside their understanding."

Jansen uttered the last words in a tone of regret. He went quietly down the stairs as if fearful of arousing his landlord. The door closed softly behind him and he was gone. Uzali strode into the stuffy little sitting-room and applied his foot vigorously to two little yellow men lying like logs on the carpet. In spite of the rough punishment nothing came from either except a suppressed grunt or two.

"What did I tell you?" Uzali said in disgust. "Did I not say that I should find my other fellow-countrymen here. They have become tools of Jansen. You can see for yourself what has happened to them."

"They have smoked themselves into a state of torpor," Russell said.

"Yes, and been drugged into the bargain. You heard what Jansen said before he went out. They will lie here like logs, perhaps for the next twenty-four hours, until Jansen has accomplished his deep scheme. But I am going to frustrate all that. Let us get out of here at once."

"I am ready," Russell said. "Where do you want to go?"

"Maldon Grange," Uzali replied. "We are going there at once. You can ask questions on the way."

CHAPTER XLI

VANISHED!

It was as easy to leave the house as it had been to enter it. No sooner were Uzali and his companion off the premises than Goatley appeared all excitement.

"I could not make you hear," he said. "I whistled till I was afraid to whistle any longer. Jansen has gone away. He went up the street in a tremendous hurry as if he had some most important business on hand."

"Oh, we know about that," Russell explained. "You have done a very good evening's work and we shall not want you any more."

Russell hastened to overtake his companion who was striding down the street as if he wished to overtake Jansen. His manner was abrupt and irritable. He had little to say as Russell rejoined him.

"Has anything gone wrong?" the latter asked.

"Well, things are not as I expected," Uzali admitted. "And the worst of it is we are bound to lose time in picking up information. We shall have to go to my rooms to get

Bradshaw

. My dear friend, don't ask any unnecessary questions. The loss of every moment annoys me. What an extraordinary thing it is that you never see a cab in the street when you want one."

At length they reached the flat where Uzali immediately consulted his

Bradshaw

. When he came to what he wanted, something like an execration broke from his lips as he glanced at the clock on the mantel-piece.

"We have missed the down express by ten minutes," he exclaimed. "If we had been a quarter of an hour earlier we might have had the pleasure of travelling in the same train as Mr. Jansen. But it can't be helped. Now here is the position of things. It is half past one. London is fast asleep, and we are thirty miles from Maldon Grange. What I want you to tell me is this. How are we to get there in an hour and a half?"

Russell shook his head. He was bound to confess that the problem was beyond him. The feat could not be accomplished. Uzali glanced at him with something like contempt in his narrow dark eyes.

"I thought it was always your boast," he said, "that day or night this London of yours could produce anything you required. Don't you know any place that you could ring up on the telephone and get a motor-car? Mind, I don't care what I pay for it. The only stipulation is this – it must be here in a quarter of an hour and I must drive it myself. We cannot afford to have any curious outsiders in this business. Can you manage that? I have plenty of ready cash and am prepared to put it down if you find the owners of the machine at all suspicious."

Russell thought for a moment. Surely the thing ought not to be impossible. He might learn what he wanted at the nearest police or fire station. He strode out of the house and accosted the first policeman he met. A judicious half-crown produced the desired information.

"Oh, that is an easy enough matter, sir," the officer said. "There are one or two livery-stable-keepers hereabouts who have been investing in motors lately, and no doubt you could hire one, providing your references are right. Come with me, sir, and I'll see what I can do."

The thing was not so easily achieved as the policeman had prophesied. The livery-stable-keeper listened suspiciously, but was won over by the sight of a five-pound note and an offer to pay for the hire before it left the yard. At the end of half an hour Russell was back at Uzali's flat with a smart-looking car, which was handed over on receipt of twenty pounds in hard cash. All Uzali's irritation seemed to disappear. He threw himself heart and soul into the management of the car which, before long, was speeding Citywards.

"This isn't the way," Russell protested. "You ought to have taken the Hampstead Road."

"And so I will," Uzali said gaily. "We are not going to Maldon Grange alone. I will take those countrymen of mine with me. They'll be all right in the bottom of the car. We'll just slip round to the back of the house in Gray's Inn Road and you shall go up to Jansen's room and hand them down to me as if they were sacks of flour. I admit there is an element of risk in the job, but it must be done. I can't get on without them."

The car stopped presently. It stood silent and motionless on the waste ground behind the little bird-shop, where, once more, Russell climbed into the house and made his way into Jansen's sitting-room. He was not afraid of interruption. He walked towards the fire-place, then stopped and rubbed his eyes. He had even cause for astonishment, for the little men had vanished, leaving no sign behind them.

"Extraordinary!" Russell muttered. "I wonder if this amazing tangle will ever come straight. Now what can have become of those chaps? Three quarters of an hour ago they lay drugged into insensibility and now they have vanished. Well, I must look for them if I have to search the house from top to bottom."

Uzali was waiting impatiently in the yard when Russell reappeared after the lapse of nearly a quarter of an hour.

"Where have you been?" the former exclaimed. "And why have you come empty-handed?"

"For the simple reason that there was nothing to bring," Russell said grimly. "Those fellows have vanished. Did I search the house? Why, of course, I searched the house. But what was the good of doing that? It was only a waste of time. You saw what a state of insensibility they were in. You must know it was impossible for them to get away without assistance. Somebody has been to the house and carted them off. If you wish it, I will go back and have another look."

Uzali shrugged his shoulders impatiently.

"Absolute waste of time," he said. "Let us get into the country as soon as we can. It is not worth while to run the risk of some policeman coming along and asking our business, and goodness knows there is enough to do before daylight."

Russell stepped into the car without another word, and for some time they flew silently through the London streets. When the open country was gained they took the risks of the road, travelling at as high a speed as the car permitted. Uzali drove like a man who had been accustomed to cars all his life. Not once did he make a mistake, not once did he swerve from the straight path. By the light of the acetylene lamps Russell could see his eyes glowing, his face gleaming with excitement.

"You seem to like it," Russell murmured.

"There is nothing in the world so exhilarating," Uzali exclaimed, "and it is none the less fascinating because of the danger of it. If my eye were to deceive me, if I were to swerve even as much as a hair's breadth, what should happen in consequence would have no interest for us. Given luck we shall be at Maldon Grange in time to spoil the plans of our friend Jansen."

The car pulled up at length under Russell's instructions, for the ground was new to Uzali. They turned in through the lodge gates, going more cautiously, until they came to a thicket of trees in which they hid the car.

They were in front of the house, which was all in darkness with the exception of two windows on the first floor. It wanted no great foresight to infer that it was here where Samuel Flower was lying. For some time Uzali gazed up at the windows, as if hesitating what to do next.

"I wish I knew who was there," he muttered. "It is necessary that we should get into the house and, what is more, we must do so without alarming the servants. It is a desperate chance, of course, but do you think it possible that your friend, Dr. Mercer, is there? I meant to go through Oldborough to ascertain for myself, but in the excitement of the moment I forgot about it."

"It is possible," Russell said. "I don't suppose he would very much care for Miss Galloway to stay in a house like this at present. He may have induced Miss Galloway to go to his mother's whilst he remained here. But can't you invent some story about having lost your way. We shall be able to find out then. Throw a handful of gravel at the window and see what comes of it. It can't do any harm."

On the impulse of the moment Uzali stooped and raised a handful of pebbles and tossed them gently at the window. The experiment was repeated twice before the blinds were pulled up and somebody looked out and demanded to know what was the matter. At the sound of the speaker's voice Russell gave a cry of triumph.

"It is all right," he said. "What a tremendous slice of luck! It's Mercer himself. Wilfrid, come down and let us in. We must see you for a few moments."

CHAPTER XLII

TREASURE TROVE

Mercer's patient was sleeping peacefully. There appeared to be no reason why he should give any further trouble, and so far the nurse had not put in an appearance. Wilfrid concluded that only something out of the common would have brought Uzali and Russell at that time in the morning. From the way in which they spoke, too, their errand did not admit of delay. In the circumstances, it was no bad thing, either, to have a couple of friends in the house.

"One moment," Mercer whispered. "Stay where you are and I will let you in."

He unfastened the bolts of the front door, and the intruders strode into the dining-room where the lights were full on.

"Perhaps you had better explain," Wilfrid said. "I have been wondering what had become of you, Russell. I could not stay in London as I had my own affairs to look after, and that is why I am here. But how did you guess it?"

"It was mere chance," Uzali explained. "As for myself, I was bound to come here. I came to prevent bloodshed. We calculated you had left London and we thought it possible that Miss Galloway would prevail upon you to take up your quarters here for the present, and upon that theory I didn't hesitate to give you a signal."

"This is the second night I have been here," Wilfrid explained. "Miss Galloway is staying with my mother in Oldborough. But tell me what you want. Mr. Flower's nurse has gone into Castlebridge for some necessaries and there is nobody but myself to look after the patient. And he is in no fit state to leave, I assure you. He has led me a pretty dance already to-night and I shall be very glad when Mason comes back."

"Is he in his right senses?" Uzali asked.

"Oh, dear, no, and I question very much if he ever will be again. But tell me what you want me to do. You would not have come at this hour of the night unless yours had been an exceedingly desperate errand."

"I forgot," Uzali murmured. "I suppose everybody has gone to bed except yourself. If we stay here we are not likely to be disturbed by the servants."

"You need not worry about them," Wilfrid remarked.

"Very good. In that case we are safe. And now, assuming the nurse knows nothing about the family, he will be prepared to believe anything you say about us. We want to stay here just as we are till morning on the pretext that we are friends of Mr. Flower's and have come down on business. The rest you can leave to us. I suppose when the nurse comes back you will be free to help us if we give the signal. We may need your services."

Wilfrid nodded emphatically. It was plain that Uzali meant to say no more for the moment and he went upstairs again into the sick-room. Flower was lying perfectly still, and there seemed to be no suggestion that he was likely to wake up. A few minutes later there was a ring at the front-door bell and Mason returned. He seemed to have all he wanted, but he paused and looked at Wilfrid as he caught the murmur of voices in the dining-room.

"Friends of your patient," Wilfrid said glibly. "They have come from London on urgent business. I presume they were not aware that Mr. Flower was so ill. They will stay till morning on the chance of Mr. Flower's being able to see them."

The nurse smiled grimly.

"There is no reason why they shouldn't wait, sir," he said. "But it is precious little business Mr. Flower will be able to transact for some time to come. I hope he was all right while I was away."

Wilfrid smiled in non-committal fashion. On the whole, it seemed best to say nothing about the patient's escapade.

"You had better get yourself some tea or coffee," he said. "I don't mind sitting up for another hour or so, and then I shall go to bed."

The nurse made his preparations by means of a spirit-lamp which he had in the dressing-room. Meanwhile, Wilfrid sat in a chair before the fire and dozed off. He was utterly fagged. The anxieties of the day had told upon him more than he was aware. At last the nurse aroused him and intimated that one of the gentlemen downstairs wished to speak to him. In the interval Uzali and Russell had not wasted their time. At first they sat smoking and helping themselves freely to the decanters on the table till Uzali grew more taciturn and appeared to be listening intently.

"What is the matter?" Russell asked.

"Our friends are beginning to move," Uzali said in a whisper. "I have not been far out in my deductions and, if you will oblige me, I shall be glad if you will throw your cigarette into the fire whilst I turn the light off."

Russell obeyed without comment. He felt he was entirely in the hands of his companion. Uzali proceeded to shut off the light and also to open one of the windows that led to the lawn. He placed a screen across the fire and nodded with the air of a man who is satisfied with his plans.

"All right so far," he muttered. "Now I want you to stand by the window with me, keeping quiet and being on the alert for what is going to take place. You will not find it so very dark when your eyes become accustomed to the gloom."

It was as Uzali said. As Russell's gaze was turned towards the darkness he began to make out objects here and there till it was possible to tell where the shrubs lay and where the flower-beds were located. Everything was extremely still and the faintest sound could be heard. A quarter of an hour passed, then Russell felt his companion's hand clutch eagerly on his arm.

"There!" Uzali whispered. "Did you see anything? Did you hear anything? Now listen! I am not mistaken."

As Russell strained his ear he seemed to hear a footstep coming down the gravel path. By and by a tiny twig snapped and it could no longer be doubted that somebody was walking on the path. A moment later and a figure loomed against the grey of the sky, a figure which paused a moment and then crossed on to the lawn. Russell felt his heart beating faster, especially when he realized that the outline was quite familiar.

"You could see that, anyway," Uzali whispered.

"Oh, I can see that," Russell replied in the same low tone. "It seems incredible, and I may be mistaken, but if that man isn't Jansen, call me blind."

A dry chuckle broke from Uzali's lips. He was unquestionably pleased at something. He was no longer moody and despondent, but had the alert manner of a man who means business.

"You are not mistaken," he said. "That is Jansen. I dare say you wonder how he got here. There is only one way in which he could have reached Maldon Grange; he caught the train which we missed. Ah, we shall see some fun presently. Our friend yonder little knows the danger he stands in."

"What on earth is he up to?" Russell exclaimed.

So far as could be seen in the darkness, Jansen seemed to be juggling with a ball of strong string. In one hand he carried a bundle of pegs which he proceeded to drive into the lawn at unequal distances. The head of the hammer was muffled and only the faintest sound came in response to his blows. As the work went on Jansen could be heard chuckling to himself. Soon he stood upright as if he had completed his task and then he connected the irregular row of pegs with the string. It suddenly flashed upon Russell what he was doing.

"Why, that is an