The Vintage Mysteries for the Holidays. Эдгар Аллан По

neck and shoved it right in as far as I could. Then I tore off a bit of gorse—My! but it did prick—and plugged the hole with it so that you’d never guess there was a crevice of any kind there. Then I marked the place carefully in my own mind, so that I’d find it again. There was a queer boulder in the path just there—for all the world like a dog sitting up begging. Then I went back to the road. The car was waiting, and I drove back. I just caught the train. I was a bit ashamed of myself for fancying things maybe, but, by and by, I saw the man opposite me wink at a woman who was sitting next to me, and I felt scared again, and was glad the papers were safe. I went out in the corridor to get a little air. I thought I’d slip into another carriage. But the woman called me back, said I’d dropped something, and when I stooped to look, something seemed to hit me—here.” She placed her hand to the back of her head. “I don’t remember anything more until I woke up in the hospital.”

      There was a pause.

      “Thank you, Miss Finn.” It was Sir James who spoke. “I hope we have not tired you?”

      “Oh, that’s all right. My head aches a little, but otherwise I feel fine.”

      Julius stepped forward and took her hand again.

      “So long, Cousin Jane. I’m going to get busy after those papers, but I’ll be back in two shakes of a dog’s tail, and I’ll tote you up to London and give you the time of your young life before we go back to the States! I mean it—so hurry up and get well.”

      Chapter 20

       Too Late

       Table of Contents

      IN the street they held an informal council of war. Sir James had drawn a watch from his pocket. “The boat train to Holyhead stops at Chester at 12.14. If you start at once I think you can catch the connection.”

      Tommy looked up, puzzled.

      “Is there any need to hurry, sir? To-day is only the 24th.”

      “I guess it’s always well to get up early in the morning,” said Julius, before the lawyer had time to reply. “We’ll make tracks for the depot right away.”

      A little frown had settled on Sir James’s brow.

      “I wish I could come with you. I am due to speak at a meeting at two o’clock. It is unfortunate.”

      The reluctance in his tone was very evident. It was clear, on the other hand, that Julius was easily disposed to put up with the loss of the other’s company.

      “I guess there’s nothing complicated about this deal,” he remarked. “Just a game of hide-and-seek, that’s all.”

      “I hope so,” said Sir James.

      “Sure thing. What else could it be?”

      “You are still young, Mr. Hersheimmer. At my age you will probably have learnt one lesson. ‘Never underestimate your adversary.’ “

      The gravity of his tone impressed Tommy, but had little effect upon Julius.

      “You think Mr. Brown might come along and take a hand? If he does, I’m ready for him.” He slapped his pocket. “I carry a gun. Little Willie here travels round with me everywhere.” He produced a murderous-looking automatic, and tapped it affectionately before returning it to its home. “But he won’t be needed this trip. There’s nobody to put Mr. Brown wise.”

      The lawyer shrugged his shoulders.

      “There was nobody to put Mr. Brown wise to the fact that Mrs. Vandemeyer meant to betray him. Nevertheless, MRS. VANDEMEYER DIED WITHOUT SPEAKING.”

      Julius was silenced for once, and Sir James added on a lighter note: “I only want to put you on your guard. Good-bye, and good luck. Take no unnecessary risks once the papers are in your hands. If there is any reason to believe that you have been shadowed, destroy them at once. Good luck to you. The game is in your hands now.” He shook hands with them both.

      Ten minutes later the two young men were seated in a first-class carriage en route for Chester.

      For a long time neither of them spoke. When at length Julius broke the silence, it was with a totally unexpected remark.

      “Say,” he observed thoughtfully, “did you ever make a darned fool of yourself over a girl’s face?”

      Tommy, after a moment’s astonishment, searched his mind.

      “Can’t say I have,” he replied at last. “Not that I can recollect, anyhow. Why?”

      “Because for the last two months I’ve been making a sentimental idiot of myself over Jane! First moment I clapped eyes on her photograph my heart did all the usual stunts you read about in novels. I guess I’m ashamed to admit it, but I came over here determined to find her and fix it all up, and take her back as Mrs. Julius P. Hersheimmer!”

      “Oh!” said Tommy, amazed.

      Julius uncrossed his legs brusquely and continued:

      “Just shows what an almighty fool a man can make of himself! One look at the girl in the flesh, and I was cured!”

      Feeling more tongue-tied than ever, Tommy ejaculated “Oh!” again.

      “No disparagement to Jane, mind you,” continued the other. “She’s a real nice girl, and some fellow will fall in love with her right away.”

      “I thought her a very good-looking girl,” said Tommy, finding his tongue.

      “Sure she is. But she’s not like her photo one bit. At least I suppose she is in a way—must be—because I recognized her right off. If I’d seen her in a crowd I’d have said ‘There’s a girl whose face I know’ right away without any hesitation. But there was something about that photo”—Julius shook his head, and heaved a sigh—“I guess romance is a mighty queer thing!”

      “It must be,” said Tommy coldly, “if you can come over here in love with one girl, and propose to another within a fortnight.”

      Julius had the grace to look discomposed.

      “Well, you see, I’d got a sort of tired feeling that I’d never find Jane—and that it was all plumb foolishness anyway. And then—oh, well, the French, for instance, are much more sensible in the way they look at things. They keep romance and marriage apart——”

      Tommy flushed.

      “Well, I’m damned! If that’s——”

      Julius hastened to interrupt.

      “Say now, don’t be hasty. I don’t mean what you mean. I take it Americans have a higher opinion of morality than you have even. What I meant was that the French set about marriage in a businesslike way—find two people who are suited to one another, look after the money affairs, and see the whole thing practically, and in a businesslike spirit.”

      “If you ask me,” said Tommy, “we’re all too damned businesslike nowadays. We’re always saying, ‘Will it pay?’ The men are bad enough, and the girls are worse!”

      “Cool down, son. Don’t get so heated.”

      “I feel heated,” said Tommy.

      Julius looked at him and judged it wise to say no more.

      However, Tommy had plenty of time to cool down before they reached Holyhead, and the cheerful grin had returned to his countenance as they alighted at their destination.

      After consultation, and with the aid of a road map, they were fairly well agreed as to direction, so were able to hire a taxi without more ado and drive out on the road leading to Treaddur Bay. They instructed the man to go slowly, and watched narrowly so as not to miss the path. They came to it not long after leaving the town, and Tommy stopped the car promptly, asked in a casual