30 Suspense and Thriller Masterpieces. Гилберт Кит Честертон

that the bottle contained wine. Thereupon he opened several more but with the same result. To drink them would only increase his thirst. He had the strength to resist the temptation. Again he moved forward and this time ran into a large box. His hand touched something cold. It was meat of some kind. After smelling and tasting it he flung it from him. It was a salt ham.

      Hours passed while Frederick-Christian suffered the tortures of hunger and thirst. Cold and tired out, he finally lay down on the ground, writhing with violent pains in his stomach. At length he could stand it no longer, and dragging himself to the box, he seized the ham and began to devour it ravenously. This brought on a maddening thirst, which he tried to quench by long draughts of the wine. Then he became very drunk and so, laughing and crying, he drank until he lost consciousness once more.

      "Sire! Can you hear me?"

      A sharp voice broke the silence. It seemed to come from a distance.

      "Sire, can you hear me?… Answer!"

      Frederick-Christian sprang up.

      "Who is speaking? Who are you? Help! Help!"

      The voice, mocking and authoritative, answered:

      "Now, then, keep quiet. I am not within reach, so it is useless to cry for help."

      "Scoundrel!" cried the King.

      "There's no use in behaving like a child … you won't gain anything by it."

      "Pity, pity!… I will make you rich … I will give you anything you ask, only set me at liberty … take me out of this prison or I shall become mad."

      "Have you done with your lamentations?"

      "I'll be revenged!"

      "I am beyond your vengeance, Sire, and you would do well to talk quietly with me."

      "You killed my mistress, Susy d'Orsel!"

      "Yes, I killed her."

      "You are Fandor—Jerome Fandor!"

      "What you say is absurd."

      "And my Kingdom? The Queen, my wife? What is happening?"

      "I didn't come here to discuss politics with you. You must be reasonable."

      "What do you want with me? Why was I brought here?"

      "Ah, now we can discuss the matter together. You ask me what I want. First of all, let me reassure you. I do not intend to kill you. Your death would not be of the slightest use to me. Otherwise I shouldn't hesitate an instant."

      "I'm not afraid of death."

      "I know that, Sire … you are brave… . I want your diamond."

      "My diamond!"

      "Exactly. I am quite aware, Frederick-Christian, that your personal fortune is represented by a diamond of marvelous purity and size. I also know that it is hidden in your Palace. You, alone, know where. I want you to disclose its hiding place to me so that I may go and get it."

      "Never! I'm not a coward!"

      "You are stupid, Sire. I repeat, once in possession of the diamond, I will set you at liberty."

      "Lies!"

      "Sire, consider a moment. It would be practically impossible for me to realize anything like the value of the diamond. To sell it I should be obliged to break it into small pieces, and in that case it would scarcely fetch more than twenty millions. Now, I have a better suggestion to offer."

      "What is it?"

      "You are to give me directions how to find it. Once in my possession, you are free. You will then draw the sum of fifty millions from your bank. As King that will be quite possible. This money you will turn over to me in exchange for your diamond. And don't think you will be able to catch me. I shall take care that the exchange is made without witnesses, and in such a way that I run no risk of arrest. Now, what do you say to my proposition?"

      "I refuse."

      "Very well, then in two hours you will be dead. I pledge my word for it… . And my word has some value. Perhaps you guess who I am."

      "Who? Who?"

      "I am Fantômas, Sire."

      At this name of horror and crime, Frederick-Christian was seized with the utmost terror. In a broken voice he replied:

      "I accept."

      And then in trembling, disjointed sentences, he gave up the secret of the hiding place in his Palace at Glotzbourg.

      Chapter 16 THE THEFT OF THE DIAMOND

      Queen Hedwige had had a serious and legitimate reason for bringing her reception to an abrupt conclusion. A Court ball for the high functionaries and dignities of the Kingdom was to take place that evening.

      Furthermore, the Queen was very much exercised over the rumor that the Grand Duchess Alexandra was to be present. This woman, still young and very beautiful, played an important rôle in the small world of the Palace. It was said by the gossips that she accepted the attentions of Prince Gudulfin, in the hope that some day she might share the throne of Hesse-Weimar with him. For many years she had been a great traveler but in recent times she had spent more and more of her time in Glotzbourg, where she continually met the Prince.

      While Juve had experienced no difficulty in being present at the Queen's audience, he found that even Mme. Heberlauf's influence was not sufficient to procure him an invitation to the ball. As a matter of fact, he had no particular wish to appear in the quality of a guest that evening. He had other plans.

      At ten o'clock a long line of carriages and automobiles began to arrive in the gardens of the Palace. Innumerable electric lights shone out along the drive-way and from the windows. A few persons had managed to slip past the guards and had stationed themselves near the awning at the main entrance to watch the arrival of the guests. Beneath their fur cloaks, the women wore their very finest gowns and their richest jewelry.

      The hall of the chancellory had been transformed into a cloakroom and there the crowd was thickest. In contrast to the brilliantly illuminated left wing of the château, the octagonal tower showed dark and silent. Hiding behind pillars, keeping close to the walls, a man was making his way slowly toward that tower.

      The man was Juve.

      From behind a big tree he stood and watched the sky, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.

      "This is a night after my own heart," he murmured, "overcast and dark. I should have been very embarrassed had the moon come out."

      He felt his pockets.

      "Everything I need. My electric lamp and a good, strong, silk ladder."

      Then, surveying the tower, he soliloquized:

      "A fine monument! Solid and strong. They don't build them like that nowadays."

      Juve took a few steps, bent his knees and stretched his arms, tested the suppleness of his body.

      "Ah, in spite of my forty-odd years, I'm still pretty fit for … the work I have to do."

      By the aid of the lightning rod, the gutters and the inequalities in the stones, the detective was enabled to climb without much difficulty to the first floor.

      There he paused to take breath and to examine the shutters of a window.

      "Can't get in that way," he muttered, "they're bolted inside. I'll have to climb higher."

      The same condition met him on the second floor, but when he had finally reached the roof, he espied a large chimney which promised a method of ingress to the apartment below. The descent was anything but easy, and Juve, in spite of his great strength and agility, was used up by the time he had reached the bottom. His clothes were torn and he was covered with the greasy soot he had accumulated on his journey. By dint of brushing and scraping, he succeeded in cleaning off the worst of it,