CHAPTER V. THE FIRST SHOT
De Grost and his wife were dining together at the corner table in afashionable but somewhat Bohemian restaurant. Both had been in the humorfor reminiscences, and they had outstayed most of their neighbors.
"I wonder what people really think of us," Violet remarked pensively. "Itold Lady Amershal, when she asked us to go there this evening, that wealways dined together alone somewhere once a week, and she absolutelyrefused to believe me. 'With your own husband, my dear?' She kept onrepeating."
"Her Ladyship's tastes are more catholic," the Baron declared dryly."Yet, after all, Violet, the real philosophy of married life demandssomething of this sort."
Violet smiled and fingered her pearls for a minute.
"What the real philosophy of married life may be I do not know," shesaid, "but I am perfectly content with our rendering of it. What afortunate thing, Peter, with your intensely practical turn of mind, thatnature endowed you with so much sentiment."
De Grost gazed reflectively at the cigarette which he had just selectedfrom his case.
"Well," he remarked, "there have been times when I have cursed myselffor a fool, but, on the whole, sentiment keeps many fires burning."
She leaned towards him and dropped her voice a little. "Tell me,"she begged, "do you ever think of the years we spent together in thecountry? Do you ever regret?"
He smiled thoughtfully.
"It is a hard question, that," he admitted. "There were days there whichI loved, but there were days, too, when the restlessness came, days whenI longed to hear the hum of the city and to hear men speak whose wordswere of life and death and the great passions. I am not sure, Violet,whether, after all, it is well for one who has lived to withdrawabsolutely from the thrill of life."
She laughed, Softly but gayly.
"I am with you," she declared, "absolutely. I think that the fairiesmust have poured into my blood the joy of living for its own sake. Ishould be an ungrateful woman indeed, if I found anything to complainof, nowadays. Yet there is one thing that troubles me," she went on,after a moment's pause.
"And that?" he asked.
"The danger," she said, slowly. "I do not want to lose you, Peter. Thereare times when I am afraid."
De Grost flicked the ash from his cigarette.
"The days are passing," he remarked, "when men point revolvers at oneanother, and hire assassins to gain their ends. Now, it is more a battleof wits. We play chess on the board of Life still, but we play withivory pieces instead of steel and poison. Our brains direct and not ourmuscles."
She sighed.
"It is only the one man of whom I am afraid. You have outwitted him sooften and he does not forgive."
De Grost smiled. It was an immense compliment--this.
"Bernadine," he murmured, softly, "otherwise, our friend the Count vonHern."
"Bernadine!" she repeated. "All that you say is true, but when one failswith modern weapons, one changes the form of attack. Bernadine at heartis a savage."
"The hate of such a man," De Grost remarked complacently, "is worthhaving. He has had his own way over here for years. He seems tohave found the knack of living in a maze of intrigue and remaininguntouchable. There were a dozen things before I came upon the scenewhich ought to have ruined him. Yet there never appeared to be anythingto take hold of. Even the Criminal Department once thought they had achance. I remember John Dory telling me in disgust that Bernadine waslike one of those marvelous criminals one only reads about in fiction,who seem, when they pass along the dangerous places, to walk upon theair, and, leave no trace behind."
"Before you came," she said, "he had never known a failure. Do you thinkthat he is a man likely to forgive?"
"I do not," De Grost answered grimly. "It is a battle, of course, abattle all the time. Yet, Violet, between you and me, if Bernadine wereto go, half the savor of life for me would depart with him."
Then there came a curious and wholly unexpected interruption. A man indark, plain clothes, still wearing his overcoat, and carrying a bowlerhat, had been standing in the entrance of the restaurant for a moment ortwo, looking around the room as though in search of some one. At last hecaught the eye of the Baron de Grost and came quickly toward him.
"Charles," the Baron remarked, raising his eyebrows. "I wonder what hewants."
A sudden cloud had fallen upon their little feast. Violet watched thecoming of her husband's servant, and the reading of the note which hepresented to his master, with an anxiety which she could not whollyconceal. The Baron read the note twice, scrutinizing a certain part ofit closely with the aid of the monocle which he seldom used. Then hefolded it up and placed it in the breast pocket of his coat.
"At what hour did you receive this, Charles?" he asked.
"A messenger brought it in a taxicab about ten minutes ago, sir," theman replied. "He said that it was of the utmost importance, and that Ihad better try and find you."
"A district messenger?"
"A man in ordinary clothes," Charles answered. "He looked like a porterin a warehouse, or something of that sort. I forgot to say that you wererung up on the telephone three times previously by Mr. Greening."
The Baron nodded.
"You can go," he said. "There is no reply."
The man bowed and retired. De Grost called for his bill.
"Is it anything serious?" Violet inquired.
"No, not exactly serious," he answered. "I do not understand what hashappened, but they have sent for me to go--well, where it was agreedthat I should not go except as a matter of urgent necessity."
Violet knew better than to show any signs of disquietude.
"It is in London?" she asked.
"Certainly," her husband replied. "I shall take a taxicab from here. Iam sorry, dear, to have one of our evenings disturbed in this manner. Ihave always done my best to avoid it, but this summons is urgent."
She rose and he wrapped her cloak around her.
"You will drive straight home, won't you?" he begged. "I dare say that Imay be back within an hour myself."
"And if not?" she asked, in a low tone.
"If not, there is nothing to be done."
Violet bit her lip, but, as he handed her into the small electricbrougham which was waiting, she smiled into his face.
"You will come back, and soon, Peter," she declared, confidently."Wherever you go I am sure of that. You see, I have faith in my starwhich watches over you."
He kissed her fingers and turned away. The commissionaire had alreadycalled him a taxicab.
"To London Bridge," he ordered, after a moment's hesitation, and droveoff.
The traffic citywards had long since finished for the day, and hereached his destination within ten minutes of leaving the restaurant.Here he paid the man, and, entering the station, turned to therefreshment room and ordered a liqueur brandy. While he sipped it, hesmoked a cigarette and carefully reread in a strong light the note whichhe had received. The signature especially he pored over for some time.At last, however, he replaced it in his pocket, paid his bill, and,stepping out once more on to the platform, entered a telephone booth. Afew minutes later he left the station, and, turning to the right, walkedslowly as far as Tooley Street. He kept on the right-hand side until hearrived at the spot where the great arches, with their scanty lights,make a gloomy thoroughfare into Bermondsey. In the shadow of the firstof these he paused, and looked steadfastly across the street. There werefew people passing and practically no traffic. In front of him was a rowof warehouses, all save one of which was wrapped in complete darkness.It was the one where some lights were still burning which De Grost stoodand watched.
The lights, such as they were, seemed to illuminate the groundfloor only. From his hidden post he could see the shoulders of a manapparently bending over a ledger, diligently writing. At the next windowa youth, seated upon a tall stool, was engaged in presumably the sameoccupation. There was nothing about the place in the least mysteriousor out of the way. Even the blinds of th
e offices had been left undrawn.The man and the boy, who were alone visible, seemed, in a sense, to beworking under protest. Every now and then the former stopped to yawn,and the latter performed a difficult balancing feat upon his stool. DeGrost, having satisfied his curiosity, came presently from his shelter,almost running into the arms of a policeman, who looked at him closely.The Baron, who had an unlighted cigarette in his mouth, stopped to askfor a light, and his appearance at once set at rest any suspicions thepoliceman might have had.
"I have a warehouse myself down in these parts," he remarked, as hestruck the match, "but I don't allow my people to work as late as that."
He pointed across the way, and the policeman smiled.
"They are very often late there, sir," he said. "It's a Continental winebusiness, and there's always one or two of them over time."
"It's bad business, all the same," De Grost declared pleasantly. "Goodnight, policeman!"
"Good night, sir!"
De Grost crossed the road diagonally, as though about to take the shortcut across London Bridge, but as soon as the policeman was out of sighthe retraced his steps to the building which they had been discussing,and turning the battered brass handle of the door, walked calmly in. Onhis right and left were counting houses framed with glass; in front,the cavernous and ugly depths of a gloomy warehouse. He knocked upon thewindow-pane on the right and passed forward a step or two, as thoughto enter the office. The boy, who had been engaged in the left-handcounting house, came gliding from his place, passed silently behind thevisitor and turned the key of the outer door. What followed seemed tohappen as though by some mysteriously directed force. The figures of mencame stealing out from the hidden places. The clerk who had been workingso hard at his desk calmly divested himself of a false mustache andwig, and, assuming a more familiar appearance, strolled out intothe warehouse. De Grost looked around him with absolutely unruffledcomposure. He was the centre of a little circle of men, respectablydressed, but every one of them hard-featured, with something intheir faces which suggested not the ordinary toiler, but the fightinganimal--the man who lives by his wits and knows something of danger. Onthe outskirts of the circle stood Bernadine.
"Really," De Grost declared, "this is most unexpected. In the matter ofdramatic surprises, my friend Bernadine, you are certainly in a class byyourself."
Bernadine smiled.
"You will understand, of course," he said, "that this littleentertainment is entirely for your amusement--well stage-managed,perhaps, but my supers are not to be taken seriously. Since you arehere, Baron, might I ask you to precede me a few steps to the tastingoffice?
"By all means," De Grost answered cheerfully. "It is this way, Ibelieve."
He walked with unconcerned footsteps down the warehouse, on either sideof which were great bins and a wilderness of racking, until he came toa small, glass-enclosed office, built out from the wall. Withouthesitation he entered it, and removing his hat, selected the morecomfortable of the two chairs. Bernadine alone of the others followedhim inside, closing the door behind. De Grost, who appeared exceedinglycomfortable, stretched out his hand and took a small black bottle from atiny mahogany racking fixed against the wall by his side.
"You will excuse me, my dear Bernadine," he said, "but I see my friendGreening has been tasting a few wines. The 'XX' upon the label heresignifies approval. With your permission."
He half filled a glass and pushed the bottle toward Bernadine.
"Greening's taste is unimpeachable," De Grost declared, setting downhis glass empty. "No use being a director of a city business, you know,unless one interests oneself personally in it. Greening's judgment issimply marvelous. I have never tasted a more beautiful wine. If theboom in sherry does come," he continued complacently, "we shall be in anexcellent position to deal with it."
Bernadine laughed softly.
"Oh, my friend--Peter Ruff, or Baron de Grost, or whatever you maychoose to call yourself," he said, "I am indeed wise to have come to theconclusion that you and I are too big to occupy the same little spot onearth!"
De Grost nodded approvingly.
"I was beginning to wonder," he remarked, "whether you would not soonarrive at that decision."
"Having arrived at it," Bernadine continued, looking intently at hiscompanion, "the logical sequence naturally occurs to you."
"Precisely, my dear Bernadine," De Grost asserted. "You say to yourself,no doubt, 'One of us two must go!' Being yourself, you would naturallyconclude that it must be I. To tell you the truth, I have been expectingsome sort of enterprise of this description for a considerable time."
Bernadine shrugged his shoulders.
"Your expectations," he said, "seem scarcely to have provided you with asafe conduct."
De Grost gazed reflectively into his empty glass.
"You see," he explained, "I am such a lucky person. Your arrangementsto-night, however, are, I perceive, unusually complete."
"I am glad you appreciate them," Bernadine remarked dryly.
"I would not for a moment," De Grost continued, "ask an impertinent oran unnecessary question, but I must confess that I am rather concernedto know the fate of my manager--the gentleman whom you yourself with theaid, I presume, of Mr. Clarkson, so ably represented."
Bernadine sighed.
"Alas!" he said, "your manager was a very obstinate person."
"And my clerk?"
"Incorruptible, absolutely incorruptible. I congratulate you, De Grost.Your society is one of the most wonderful upon the face of this earth. Iknow little about it, but my admiration is very sincere. Their attentionto details, and the personnel of their staff, is almost perfect. I maytell you at once that no sum that could be offered, tempted either ofthese men."
"I am delighted to hear it," De Grost replied, "but I must plead guiltyto a little temporary anxiety as to their present whereabouts."
"At this moment," Bernadine remarked, "they are within a few feet ofus, but, as you are doubtless aware, access to your delightful river isobtainable from these premises. To be frank with you, my dear Baron, weare waiting for the tide to rise."
"So thoughtful about these trifles," De Grost murmured. "But theirpresent position? They are, I trust, not uncomfortable?"
Bernadine stood up and moved to the further end of the office. Hebeckoned his companion to his side and, drawing an electric torch fromhis pocket, flashed the light into a dark corner behind an immensebin. The forms of a man and a youth, bound with ropes and gagged, laystretched upon the floor. De Grost sighed.
"I am afraid," he said, "that Mr. Greening, at any rate, is mostuncomfortable."
Bernadine turned off the light.
"At least, Baron," he declared, "if such extreme measures should becomenecessary, I can promise you one thing--you shall have a quicker passageinto Eternity than they."
De Grost resumed his seat.
"Has it really come to that?" he asked. "Will nothing but so crude aproceeding as my absolute removal satisfy you?"
"Nothing else is, I fear, practicable," Bernadine replied, "unless youdecide to listen to reason. Believe me, my dear friend, I shall miss youand our small encounters exceedingly, but, unfortunately, you stand inthe way of my career. You are the only man who has persistently balkedme. You have driven me to use against you means which I had grown tolook upon as absolutely extinct in the upper circles of our profession."
De Grost peered through the glass walls of the office.
"Eight men, not counting yourself," he remarked, "and my poor managerand his faithful clerk lying bound and helpless. It is heavy odds,Bernadine."
"There is no question of odds, I think," Bernadine answered smoothly."You are much too clever a person to refuse to admit that you areentirely in my power."
"And as regards terms? I really don't feel in the least anxious to makemy final bow with so little notice," De Grost said. "To tell you thetruth, I have been finding life quite interesting lately."
Bernadine eyed his prisoner keenly. Such abso
lute composure was initself disturbing. He was, for the moment, aware of a slight sensationof uneasiness, which his common sense, however, speedily disposed of.
"There are two ways," he announced, "of dealing with an opponent.There is the old-fashioned one--crude, but in a sense eminentlysatisfactory--which sends him finally to adorn some other sphere."
"I don't like that one," De Grost interrupted. "Get on with thealternative."
"The alternative," Bernadine declared, "is when his capacity for harmcan be destroyed."
"That needs a little explanation," De Grost murmured.
"Precisely. For instance, if you were to become absolutely discredited,I think that you would be effectually out of my way. Your people do notforgive."
"Then discredit me, by all means," De Grost begged. "It soundsunpleasant, but I do not like your callous reference to the river."
Bernadine gazed at his ancient opponent for several moments. Afterall, what was this but the splendid bravado of a beaten man, who is tooclever not to recognize defeat?
"I shall require," he said, "your code, the keys of your safe, whichcontains a great many documents of interest to me, and a free entry intoyour house."
De Grost drew a bunch of keys reluctantly from his pocket and laid themupon the desk.
"You will find the code bound in green morocco leather," he announced,"on the left-hand side, underneath the duplicate of a proposed Treatybetween Italy and some other Power. Between ourselves, Bernadine, Ireally expect that that is what you are after."
Bernadine's eyes glistened.
"What about the safe conduct into your house?" he asked.
De Grost drew his case from his pocket and wrote few lines on the backof one of his cards.
"This will insure you entrance there," he said, "and access to my study.If you see my wife, please reassure her as to my absence."
"I shall certainly do so," Bernadine agreed, with a faint smile.
"If I may be pardoned for alluding to a purely personal matter," DeGrost continued, "what is to become of me?"
"You will be bound and gagged in the same manner as your manager and hisclerk," Bernadine replied, smoothly. "I regret the necessity, but yousee, I can afford to run no risks. At four o'clock in the morning, youwill be released. It must be part of our agreement that you allow theman who stays behind the others for the purpose of setting you free, todepart unmolested. I think I know you better than to imagine you wouldbe guilty of such gaucherie as an appeal to the police."
"That, unfortunately," De Grost declared, with a little sigh, "is,as you well know, out of the question. You are too clever for me,Bernadine. After all, I shall have to go back to my farm."
Bernadine opened the door and called softly to one of his men. In lessthan five minutes De Grost was bound hand and foot. Bernadine steppedback and eyed his adversary with an air of ill-disguised triumph.
"I trust, Baron," he said, "that you will be as comfortable as possible,under the circumstances."
De Grost lay quite still. He was powerless to move or speak.
"Immediately," Bernadine continued, "I have presented myself at yourhouse, verified your safe conduct, and helped myself to certainpapers which I am exceedingly anxious to obtain," he went on, "I shalltelephone here to the man whom I leave in charge and you will be set atliberty in due course. If, for any reason, I meet with treachery and Ido not telephone, you will join Mr. Greening and his young companionin a little--shall we call it aquatic recreation? I wish you a pleasanthour and success in the future, Baron--as a farmer."
Bernadine withdrew and whispered his orders to his men. Soon theelectric light was turned out and the place was in darkness. The frontdoor was opened and closed; the group of confederates upon the pavementlit cigarettes and wished one another good night with the brisk airof tired employees, released at last from long labors. Then there wassilence.
It was barely eleven when Bernadine reached the west end of London. Hisclothes had become a trifle disarranged and he called for a few minutesat his rooms in St. James's Street. Afterwards, he walked to PorchesterHouse and rang the bell. To the servant who answered it, he handed hismaster's card.
"Will you show me the way to the library?" he asked. "I have some papersto collect for the Baron de Grost."
The man hesitated. Even with the card in his hand, it seemed a somewhatunusual proceeding.
"Will you step inside, sir?" he begged. "I should like to show thisto the Baroness. The master is exceedingly particular about any oneentering his study."
"Do what you like so long as you do not keep me waiting," Bernadinereplied. "Your master's instructions are clear enough."
Violet came down the great staircase a few moments later, still in herdinner gown, her face a little pale, her eyes luminous. Bernadine smiledas he accepted her eagerly offered hand. She was evidently anxious. Athrill of triumph warmed his blood. Once she had been less kind to himthan she seemed now.
"My husband gave you this!" she exclaimed.
"A few minutes ago," Bernadine answered. "He tried to make hisinstructions as clear as possible. We are jointly interested in a smallmatter which needs immediate action."
She led the way to the study.
"It seems strange," she remarked, "that you and he should be workingtogether. I always thought that you were on opposite sides."
"It is a matter of chance," Bernadine told her. "Your husband is a wiseman, Baroness. He knows when to listen to reason."
She threw open the door of the study, which was in darkness.
"'If you will wait a moment," she said, closing the door, "I will turnon the electric light."
She touched the knobs in the wall and the room was suddenly flooded withillumination. At the further end of the apartment was the great safe.Close to it, in an easy chair, his evening coat changed for a smokingjacket, with a neatly tied black tie replacing his crumpled whitecravat, the Baron de Grost sat awaiting his guest. A fierce oath brokefrom Bernadine's lips. He turned toward the door only in time to hearthe key turn. Violet tossed it lightly in the air across to her husband.
"My dear Bernadine," the latter remarked, "on the whole, I do not thinkthat this has been one of your successes. My keys, if you please."
Bernadine stood for a moment, his face dark with passion. He bit hislip till the blood came, and the veins at the back of his clenched handswere swollen and thick. Nevertheless, when he spoke he had recovered ingreat measure his self-control.
"Your keys are here, Baron de Grost," he said, placing them upon thetable. "If a bungling amateur may make such a request of a professor,may I inquire how you escaped from your bonds, passed through the doorof a locked warehouse and reached here before me?"
The Baron de Grost smiled as he pushed the cigarettes across to hisvisitor.
"Really," he said, "you have only to think for yourself for a moment, mydear Bernadine, and you will understand. In the first place, the letteryou sent me signed 'Greening' was clearly a forgery. There was no oneelse anxious to get me into their power, hence I associated it at oncewith you. Naturally, I telephoned to the chief of my staff--I, too,am obliged to employ some of these un-uniformed policemen, my dearBernadine, as you may be aware. It may interest you to know, further,that there are seven entrances to the warehouse in Tooley Street.Through one of these something like twenty of my men passed and werealready concealed in the place when I entered. At another of the doors amotor-car waited for me. If I had chosen to lift my finger at any time,your men would have been overpowered and I might have had the pleasureof dictating terms to you in my own office. Such a course did not appealto me. You and I, as you know, dear Count von Hern, conduct our peculiarbusiness under very delicate conditions, and the least thing we eitherof us desire is notoriety. I managed things, as I thought, for the best.The moment you left the place my men swarmed in. We kindly, but gently,ejected your guard, released Greening and my clerk, and I passed youmyself in Fleet Street, a little more comfortable, I think, in myforty-horsepower motor-car than you
in that very disreputable hansom.As to my presence here, I have an entrance from the street there whichmakes me independent of my servants. The other details are too absurdlysimple; one need not enlarge upon them."
Bernadine turned slowly to Violet.
"You knew?" he muttered. "You knew when you brought me here?"
"Naturally," she answered. "We have telephones in every room in thehouse."
"I am at your service," Bernadine declared, calmly.
De Grost laughed.
"My dear fellow," he said, "need I say that you are free to come or go,to take a whiskey and soda with me, or to depart at once, exactly asyou feel inclined? The door was locked only until you restored to me mykeys."
He crossed the room, fitted the key in the lock and turned it.
"We do not make war as those others," he remarked, smiling.
Bernadine drew himself up.
"I will not drink with you," he said, "I will not smoke with you. Butsome day this reckoning shall come."
He turned to the door. De Grost laid his finger upon the bell.
"Show Count von Hern out," he directed the astonished servant whoappeared a moment or two later.