believed that he held all thehonours in the game, was compelled to walk slowly out beneath thethreatening muzzle of the weapon, cowed and vanquished.
"And now, Jim Jannaway!" Mullet cried, when he was on the threshold,"send your detectives along as soon as you like, for I'll go to bed inan hour, and if they come afterwards I shan't admit them. Understandthat? Good-night and bad luck to you!" And with a laugh he slammed thedoor.
Then he held his breath, and stood staring straight before him,wondering whether that bold action had not been his own undoing.
CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
EXPLAINS FRANK'S ATTITUDE.
Christmas had passed, the New Year had been welcomed, its advent quicklyforgotten, and London now lay dark and fog-bound in the yellow gloomydays of mid-January.
As far as Professor Griffin was concerned, little had occurred. Hissurprise when Gwen had told him of Erich Haupt being interested in theinvestigation of the secret was unbounded, and he had taken a cab atonce to the Waldorf Hotel. He was anxious to meet the great Germanscholar, but was disappointed to learn that he had suddenly left thehotel on the previous night for the Continent.
Once again was he prevented from meeting the man who was working inopposition to him, even though he was now aware of his identity.
It puzzled him, as it also puzzled Diamond and Gwen, to know who wasbehind the German scholar. That there was some one was evident fromwhat the girl had admitted. But his identity was still kept a profoundsecret.
Gwen had expected to be rung up on the telephone by Mullet, but havingwaited for three anxious days, found his number in the telephonedirectory and rang him up. She did so on four different occasions, buton each the response from the exchange was the same. "No reply."
What could have happened?
Was it possible that he could have left hurriedly for the Continent?She recollected how he had told her that perhaps he would be compelled,by force of circumstances, to leave London, and leave her alone. Shewrote him a brief note, and posted it, hoping that it might be forwardedto him.
Then she had waited--for nearly four long weeks.
Doctor Diamond came up from Horsford on several occasions, but theinterviews he had with the Professor carried them no further. The keyto the cipher was still an enigma which none could solve.
Griffin's one thought was of Erich Haupt. He had returned to theContinent. Perhaps he was hot upon a solution of the tantalisingproblem.
In those four weeks, with the interval of a dreary Christmas spent alonewith her father, nothing startling had occurred. The estrangement haddriven Frank Farquhar to distraction. Jealousy had caused him to thinkill of the girl he so dearly loved, and in order to try and forget, hehad gone South for a week or so at Monte Carlo. But as soon as hestepped inside the Hotel de Paris, he had longed to be back again atGwen's side in Pembridge Gardens. The smart women he saw in their whiteserge gowns, golden chatelaines, and picture hats, all nauseated him.Of the lilies of France, none were half so fair as his own sweet Englishrose. Christmas he had spent with a big and merry house-party up in theHighlands, but the gaiety of it all bored him to death, and at last,when he returned in the New Year, he had, after a severe struggle withhimself, driven down to Notting Hill Gate, and again bowed over the softlittle hand of the girl whose wonderful eyes held him in such completefascination.
For Gwen, that evening was a never-to-be-forgotten one.
She was seated by the fire at the further end of the study buried in thebig saddle-bag chair with a book, while her father was busily writing,when the maid announced the young man's arrival.
She held her breath. Her heart gave a great bound, and then stopped andshe sat rigid, her face blanched, her hands grasping the arms of thechair.
She heard his well-known voice, and rising slowly, faced him without aword.
And he, without a word also, took her hand, bowing gallantly over it.
Then, with a half-timid look into her pretty face, he stammered:
"I--I've been wondering, Gwen, how you've been all this time. I've beenaway, first at Monte Carlo and afterwards up in Scotland. How did youspend your Christmas?"
"Well--it was not very exciting," she laughed, "was it, dad?"
"No, my dear," replied the old man, "I fear it was a very very dull timefor you."
Her lover glanced at her, and she saw by the expression of his eyes thathe was full of genuine regret. That absence had, indeed, caused boththeir hearts to yearn for each other. He had, alas! been too hasty, hedeclared within himself. Would she ever forgive him? Would she everallow him to kiss her again upon the lips?
Before her father his greeting was, of necessity, a somewhat formal one;besides, he was compelled to sit and discuss with him the presentsituation, and ask his opinion as to the next move in the game.
"The possession of a complete copy of Holmboe's statement has carried usa good deal further. Professor," he said, "but how are we now to act?"
"I really don't know, my dear Farquhar," was the elder man's response,as he rubbed his big round glasses.
"I only wish this man Mullet would tell Diamond a little more," hesighed. "We ought to discover who is directing the opposition againstus."
"That's just where we are so completely handicapped. We're handicappedin two directions," said the Professor. "First, we remain in ignoranceof the identity of our enemy, and secondly we are at a loss to discoverthe key to the cipher. We now know the truth concerning the Russian'sdiscovery, and naturally we are beckoned on to see what more may beadded to the mental outfit of our religion and our civilisation, byrecovering the sacred treasures that yet remain. The occasionalexcavations scattered through the last two centuries in Palestine,Egypt, Rome and Assyria, have shown but a fraction of all that has to bedone. Such a prospect is most attractive, and if we could but find thekey to the cipher the interest of the whole Jewish race would instantlybe stimulated, and we should certainly not lack funds for theexpedition, the purchase of the land in question, and the necessaryexcavations. It would be a great undertaking of internationalco-operation, but no loophole must be allowed for vandalism andwrecking, of which we have so much evidence in the past few centuries.Such wrecking is, alas! by no means unknown, even down to our day. TheDepartment of Antiquities in Egypt, for instance, at the present moment,sells the right to dig up and destroy all the Roman buildings in Egyptat so much per thousand bricks removed by the speculators! We mustallow no such sort of speculation with the treasures of Israel."
"I take it, Professor, that our opponents are anti-Semitics of the mostpronounced type," said Farquhar. "At least, so the Doctor informs me.Once it is in their hand their chief object will be to destroy thesacred relics, and melt down the golden vessels. Diamond says, thataccording to his information, those working against us are rich, andhave no need of gain. The whole of their energies are directed towardsan anti-Semitic demonstration--one that would convulse the wholecivilised world."
"We will not allow it, Farquhar!" cried the old Hebrew scholar, bringinghis hand down heavily upon his writing-table. "I am not a Jew, butwhile it remains within my power I will never allow the sacred relics ofIsrael to be desecrated."
"If they exist," added Gwen from the depths of her armchair.
"They do exist!" exclaimed her father, "of that I now feel quiteconvinced. At first I was very sceptical, but I have spent many weeksin close and ardent study, and my first opinion is now greatlymodified."
"And you anticipate that we shall one day gain a knowledge of the modeof reaching that cipher record?" asked Frank, eagerly.
"I fervently hope so," was the elder man's response. "I hope so in theinterests of the Hebrew race. As soon as I write my article in the_Contemporary_ or in the _Jewish Chronicle_, the world will instantly beagog."
"But until you have read the hidden message for yourself you will writenothing?" remarked Farquhar.
"Of course not. We must closely preserve the secret for the present.Not a soul must know, or Holmboe's
discovery will most certainly get tothe ears of some enterprising journalist. Why, we'd be having one ofyour papers, Frank, sending out an expedition in search of the Ark ofthe Covenant!" he laughed. "And that would surely be fatal."
Farquhar held his breath for a few seconds.
"Why fatal, Professor?" he asked, for it was at the bade of his head tosuggest to Sir George the advisability of despatching an expedition whenthe time was ripe.
"Fatal to the scheme as well as to the newspaper," was the elder man'sresponse. "Even you modern journalists cannot make money by exploitingsacred relics of such importance."
"No, but we could investigate for the benefit of the Hebrew race. Wesorely would not lose prestige by that?"
"Yes, you