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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1933-11-02, Page 6THE EXETER TIMES-ADVOCATETHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1933 I TINY CARTERET I The beer came and, with great ra­ pidity, was gone, And after awhile Tiny began to feel drowsy. Period­ ically a car passed along the hot, airless street, but of the big Renault there was no sign. And with in­ cerasing frequency his head fell for­ ward as he dozed. Which perhaps was just as well for his peace of mind. For had he been his usual alert self he might have noticed a strange phenomenon in the window of a house some thirty yards away. For curtains do not move suddenly when there is no wind unless some­ one is touching them. And had that elementary fact penetrated Tiny’s brain, he might have seen a small object which lay on the sill, circul­ ar and black: an object which bore a strange resemblance to the muzzle of a gun when pointed at the ob­ server. And had he got as far as that he might have looked even closer. In which case he might have caught a glimpse through the opening of the curtains of a black- bearded face peering motionless and patiently over the sights of a rifle. And the analogy of the tiger and the goat might have struck him unpleasantly. But none of these things happened: he dozed. A hand on his shoulder awoke him with a start: the hotel proprietor was standing at his side. "Monsieur,” he said gravely, "I fear I have some bad news for you. Is your name Carteret?” “It is,” said Tiny, getting up. "What’s the matter?” •And then he noticed that behind the speaker a monk was standing. "There has been an accident, sir, a bad accident.” With a gesture he indicated the monk. "My son,” said the latter in a deep voice, "you must prepare for a shock Early this morning there were brought to the monastery two men and two women. One of the men was dead, and one of the women: the others were badly injured. It ap­ peared that their car had overturned at a dangerous corner, and fallen some thirty feet into a ravine. Two hours ago the injured lady recover­ ed consciousness. She could barely speak, but she kept saying, ‘Monsieur Carteret, Brigue. Monsieur Carteret, Brigue.’ So the Brother in charge sent me to see if I could find you.” "Get a car quick,” said Tiny curt­ ly. “My son,” answered the monk, "we have a car at the monastery. It is outside now.” "What about a doctor?” “A doctor is with her now.” "Is there no hope?” The monk crossed himself. “It is in the hands of le bon Dleu. Come: the car is on the other side of the hotel.’ Almost stunned by the unexpect­ edness of it, Tiny followed the monk Mary dying: the thing was impos­ sible. "But how did it happen?” he cried distractedly. Laboriously the monk wound up an ancient Fiat, and climbed in. “On the road to Gletsch, my son, are many dangerous' turnings. More­ over, in places it i3 very narrow. Last night in the mountains there was rain, and one stretch In particu­ lar became greasy. It was there that it happened. The car must have skidded: that is all we can think.” "Can’t you get some speed out of this cursed machine?” muttered Tiny "My son,” said the other gently, "we are only a poor order. What little we have is given to les pauvres —not used in buying a new car.” "Sorry,” grunted Tiny. "Only, you see I happened to be engaged to the lady. Do we pass the place where So Bad With Her Nerves Became Sickly and Run Down Mrs. D. Carlson, Lillesve, Man., writes:—“Six years ago I was very1 bad with my nerves and became sickly and run down. A friend told me about Mil­ burn’s H. & N. Pills, so I decided to use them. After taking one box I felt some benefit, so I continued until I had taken five boxes, and I can truthfully say I never felt as good as I do now. I sleep well; my appetite is good; I put on flesh; gorie is the tired, worn out feeling,” For sale at all drug and general stores; put up Only by ThO T. Milburn Co., Luhitcd, Toronto, Ont, .BY SAPPER lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the accident occurred?" "No. It is a mile beyond our doors. The villagers carried the bodies to us.” They drove in silence, till they came to a place like the side of a cliff, up which the road zigzagged. And it was when they were half way up that, looking down, Tiny saw be­ low them another car with a solitary man in it. The driver’s face was hidden by his hat, but a glance told him that the car was a Landa, and therefore .capable of some three times the speed of his present con­ veyance. "There’s a man behind us in a fast car,” he said, "Do you mind if I ask him for a. lift when he over­ takes us?” “Certainly,” answered the monk. "I understand what you must be feeling. We will stop him when he passes us.” But though Tiny, glancing back from time to time, could see the other car it never appeared to get any closer. The driver seemed to be deliberately regulating his speed by the Fiat, and after a while he re- signd himself to his present convey­ ance. And then, at last, when he felt he could bear it no longer, his companion spoke. "Nearly there,” he said. "That building on the left is* the monas­ tery.” Tiny took a deep breath: in a few’ moments now he would know the worst. Was she still alive? Was there any hope? With a .creaking of brakes the car pulled up, and he dashed to the door. ■ "Patience, my son,” said the deep voice behind him. "We have rules in our fraternity which must be obey­ ed.” Chafing with impatience Tiny waited while the monk knocked three times on the door. And so com­ pletely impervious was he to every­ thing save the thought of Mary, that he did not even notice mat the Lan­ cia had pulled up some twenty yards away, while the driver peered under the bonnet as if to discover some de­ fect. At length a small panel slid back and he saw a pair of eyes looking at him. Then his1 .companion said something in a language he did not know, anl the door was opened. "Is the lady dead?” he cried in an agony of apprehension. Once again there was a remark in an unknown tongue, and then the monk who had driven him turned to him with a smile. "No, my son; she is not. And the doctor is most hopeful, Follow me. He led the way along a stone cor­ ridor, with Tiny at his heels, until he came to a large vaulted room—a room which was divided into two parts by a steel grille. ."Wait here,” he said. "I w,ill find the doctor, and bring him to you.” His footsteps echoed on the stone flags, till they died away in the dis­ tance. Any Tiny, fuming at the de­ lay strode up and down the room. Suddenly he paused. From the di­ rection of the front door had come a short stifled groan. He listened intently: it was not repeated. And then, for the first time, he became aware of the deathly silence of the place. Not a sound of a voice: not a sound of any sort. The building was like a tomb. He walked over to the steel grille and examined it: it was let into the stone-work on each side, and reached right up to the ceiling. In each half of the room were a table and a chair, and he concluded that it must be the place where the monks interviewed callers. He turned around: would the doc­ tor never come? A grill similiar to the one he had been examining was slowly .closing across the entrance to the room. For a moment he stood rigid—too amazed to move: then, with a shout, he dashed at it. And even as he reached it, it clanged home, He tugged at it desperately: it was as immoveable as the one in the centre of the room. And suddenly he realized the truth: the whole thing was a trap into which he had not only walked, but had galloped at full speed. Instinctively his hand went to his pocket, and 1/e curs­ ed savagely. His revolver was in his bag at the hotel. "That simplifies matters, doesn’t it, Mr. Carteret,” came a sauve voice and he swung round. Standing on the other side of the central grille was another monk— a monk with pale-blue unwinking eyes. He was face to face with Za­ vier himself. "Had you had your revolver I might have had to forego the pleas­ ure of a little, chat with you,” con­ tinued Zavier genially. Dodging bul­ lets in a room like this with nasty stone walls is not a pastime I care about.” “Damn you,” said Tiny between his teeth. “How is Lady Mary?” “As far as I know, in the very best of health,” answered the other. ‘But whether she is still in Paris, or has returned home to London I cannot tell you.” "So the whole thing has been a lie from beginning to end.” A futile rage had seized him, which even the knowledge that Mary was safe did little cairn. "Naturally,” laughed Zavier. ‘But really, Mr. Carteret, you were a little too easy.. I mean one does like a certain amount of run for one’s money. “What the devil are you going to do with me? Murder me, I sup­ pose, like the others, you damned swine.” “I fear that that is your ultimate end undoubtedly,” agreed Zavier. "You see, my dear Mr. Carteret, I have the gravest objection to people being at large who know me: or rather, I might put it, who associate me with my activities.” "Get it over with, for God’s sake,” shouted Tiny. "You can play me like a setting hen if you want to.” "True: very true. But at the moment I don’t want to. As I said before, I should like a little chat. It is so rare, Mr. Carteret, that one has the chance of discussing things with one’s adversaries in safety. And I have little pardonable vanity, you know. Nnow the first time I met you was in the sleeper just after that foolish Demeroff had paid the just pealty for his offence.” "So you were the monk, were you? said Tiny, interested in spite of him­ self. "I was the monk. And my object in visiting your compartment, my dear fellow, was not, believe me, to breathe a prayer over the dear de­ parted, but to make’ quite sure that' the right one of you had departed. By the way, that reminds me. From information I have received I am given to understand tnat consider­ able doubt exists in the minds of the authorities as to how these regret­ table accidents take, place. Am I Tight?” "■Go to hell,” grunted Tiny. "Well, if you won’t answer, you won’t. Still, my information is gen­ erally reliable. To turn to another subject. What do you think of this idea of mine for disguise puproses? ■ You have no idea how free from sus­ picion a monk or a nun remains. If one twiddles a few beads, and mut­ ters hoarsely under one’s breath, the police of two continents hold up the traffic for you. Besides, on occa­ sions, when the attentions of those who one wishes to avoid become too pressing, and ports are being watch­ ed and things like that, I have found that little difficulty in prevailing ..pon the master of some small tramp to smuggle me on board. I plead 'xt.e.ie poverty and thereby touch his heart. However, I fear I shall have to adopt something new in the suture.” He sighed, and lit one of his little cigarettes. "Yes, I shall have to think of something fresh, I could not destroy that cassock at the Fifty-Nine Club, and it can’t be long before your ad- TONE HP ■ FLABBY MUSCLES something could be done, but his only hope lay in keeping cool. His eyes fell on the table. It was a big one with a stout top. Suppos­ ing he was to use it as a shield. True it wouldn’t keep out a bullett, but if Zavier had intended to shoot him surely he would have done so al­ ready. He turned it on its end, and placed it so that it shielded him from the aperture. Then getting a chair he sat own and lit a cigarette. Now at any rate he only had one opening to watch—the door in his half of the room. The minutes dragged on; the sil­ ence seemed to grow more intense. And after a time a very natural psy­ chological reaction set in. He fought against it, but it became stronger and stronger till he knew that short­ ly he would be unable to resist it. Wliat was happening on the other side of the table in that part of the Toom he could not see? The thought became a craving: he must know. He stood up, and moved cautious­ ly back from his shield, thereby bringing more of the room into view But there was still a large area that was hidden: to see that he would have to put his head round the table. After all, if it had to come, it had to—and the sooner the better. He could -not go on for the rest of time in his present position. And he had just made up his mind to chance it, when he heard a peculiar scratch­ ing noise. It come from the other half of the Toom, and for a moment or two he listened intently. Suddenly there came a grating sound, such as a leg of a chair might make when moved slightly on a stone floor. And with a pricking in his scalp Tiny realized that the crisis was at hand. Somebody or something was in the room. Cautiously he approached the table: to know whot it was had now become an imperative necessi­ ty. He would thrust his head out quickly, and have a snap look. Then back again under .cover to form hi^ plan. He did so, only to remain staring at what he saw. "Well, I’m damned,” he remark­ ed: then he began to laugh. Seated on the back of the chair with its head cocked on one side was a small mnnkey, solemnly waving a toy Swiss flag, and dressed in a tiny coat. "You funny little beast,” he said. "Where in blazes have you sprung from?” Like most men of his type he ador­ ed animals, and the ridiculous es- pect of the situation struck him. There had he been sheltering behind heavy, barricades, and the foe turned out to be a diminutive grey .monkey! "Come on, you little blighter,” he cried, holding out his hand, and sud­ denly it put the end of the flagpole in a pocket of the coat so that its hands were free, ran down the .chair and came sidling across the floor to­ wards him. It got through the grille with ease, chattering hard. And he was on the point of stroking it when there came a frenzied shout form behind him. "Don’t touch it. For God’s sake —don’t touch the monkey. Kick it away.” And the voice was the voice of Ronald Standish. Sart'led—the monkey paused, and as if jn a dream Tiny aimed a kick at it with his shoe. With a startled squeak of anger it scuttled away, back through the grille, and still half dazed with the sudden develop­ ment, Tiny saw that Zavier, his face suffused with rage, had returned. And then things happened quickly: so quickly that looking back on it later Tiny was hard put to it to re­ member their exact order. The mon­ key darted to Zavier, who had re­ moved his monk’s disguise, and swarmed up one of his legs. Then it seemed to wave the flag. And the next instant Zavier was staring at one of his hands, with terror in his eyes. On it was a long scratch. "Come home to roost at last, Za­ vier, has it?” cdme Ronald’s quiet voice. "The reward is just.” Tiny forced himself to turn round. Standing in the doorway behind the grille, in the garb of a monk, was the man he had believed dead and buried. (Continued next, week.) mirable police appreciate its signi­ ficance. In fact, I wouldn’t be sur­ prised if your friend Mr. Standish hadn’t spotted the truth before his regrettable end. Burned to death. Pood fellow!” "You nauseating hypocrite,” snarl­ ed Tiny. "You know perfectly well he was not burned to death. You murdered him, as you murdered young Denver.” “Come, come, Mr. Caterert, believe me you are wrong there. True, the young man died, but I can assure you that it was the 'last thing I in­ tended. You see, I happened to. know that you and Standish propos­ ed to pay Blake a visit, and it was for you that the scene was laid. And then your young frend Denver went and butted in in front of you.” "How did you know Standish and I were going there?” "My dear sir, you under-estimate my resources. For what other reas­ on would you wire Lady Mary to get Blake out of his house from eleven j to one. Useful, that wire—very use­ ful. It gave me a specimen of your of your handwriting, which came in very handy for my little note to Lady Mary.” "Well, you’re damned wrong there Zavier. Standish wrote that wire, and signed it with my name.” - "Dear me! You don’t say so.” lie seemed genuinely upset. “You can’t believe how I dislike anything that savours1 of a blunder. So that letter to Lady Mary was in Standish’s writ­ ing. You surprise me. Why then did she go to Paris?” “To try and run you to earth,” said Tiny savagely. "She knew it was a trap . . .” “And she deliberately walked into it,” said the other with an amused smile. "Plucky, but foolish. And I fear rather useless. Well, wliat message shall I give jstgnor Beren- dosi from you? strange, isn’t it, what a lot of trouble has been caus­ ed by such s small thing as that.” With a mocking laugh he held up the negative, and Tiny looked at it' moodily. Heavens! what a consum­ mate fool he had been. Looking back now he marvplled how he could ever have believed me so-called ■clerk’s story in Paris for a second. And yet, at the time, it had seemed to ring true. And then the next one ■ about the accident. "Cheer up, Mr. Carteret,” cried Zavier. "Admittedly you haven’t been very bright, but though I say it myself I am a little bit above your form. And you have had a charm­ ing trip to a very delightful part of the .country. I shall be leaving you shortly, and I don’t quite know when anyone will find your . . . er . . |. body. You see this place has served its purpose. From information I have received Mr. Standish was not the only person who had located my little home as being in Switzerand. And even as near as that, my dear fellow, is too near for my liking. So you will soon have the place entirely to your­ self.” "So you definitely mean to kill me,” said Tiny quietly. "For what other reason do you suppose I have gone to the trouble and worry of bringing you here,” answered Zavier. "Had I had the time I should have done it in Lon­ don. . But I didn’t: things were get­ ting a little too hot. iSo it became necessary to devise some other meth­ od, though I frankly admit I never dreamed it would come off quite so successfully as it has. Well, au re­ volt, Mr. Carteret. You made me run very fast at the Fifty-Nine Club, but I bear you no ill-will.” With a wave of th<* hand he pass­ ed through a door which up till then i Tiny had not noticed. He left it i ajar, and Tiny stared at the aper-1 ture fascinated. It commanded the ! Whole of his half of the room, and it was through there, he felt .certain, j that death would come.'But how; In what form. ' | (Suddenly an overmastering rage gripped him; lie would not be but­ chered like a rat in a trap. He went to the grille that blocked the door, and hauled on it with all his great strength, Unless! the thing wds a fixture, and he cursed savagely, Theii he pulled himself together; was no good losing his head. Surely Stye Exeter SimeB-Abnncate Established 1873 and 188? Published every Thursday mornin* at Exeter, Ontario SUBSCRIPTION—-$2.00 per year in advance. RATES—Farm or Real Estate tor sale 50c. each insertion for firn four insertions. 25c. each subse­ quent insertion. Miscellaneous ar­ ticles, To Rent, Wanted, Lost, or Found 10c. per line of six words. Reading notices 10c. per line. Card of Thanks 50c. Legal ad­ vertising 12 and 8c. per line. In Memoriam, with one verse 60c. extra verses 25c. eacij. Member of The Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association Professional Cards GLADMAN & STANBURY BARRISTERS, SOLICITORS, Jtc. 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