CHAPTER LIV
EXIT THE ASIATICS
Tchigorsky, Ralph Ravenspur, and Geoffrey sat smoking in the blind man'sroom. It was late the same afternoon and from the window could be heardthe thunder of the incoming tide. Tchigorsky appeared to be in excellentspirits, puffed his cigarette with gusto and came out in the new r?le ofa _raconteur_.
"We have them all now," he said. "To-day will settle everything. It wasa pretty idea of Ralph's to hang about the corridor under the impressionthat the woman would try to send some kind of message to her familiars.Real genius, I call it."
"Not a bit of it," Ralph said doggedly. "Pshaw, a child would have donethe same. The woman was bound to try to send a letter. She lies therehelpless, but knows that somebody is moving in her tracks. And, to addto her suspense, she hasn't an idea who is following her up.
"Don't you see she is in the dark? Don't you understand that shesuspects she has been trapped? She wants to know all about her infernalapparatus. She wants her information all at one fell swoop. And when shefound that Marion was missing she felt certain that her time was near."
"What is her hold over Marion?" Geoffrey asked.
"And why has Marion gone away?" Tchigorsky said evasively. "We shallcome to a full understanding about that presently. Let us begin tounravel the skein from the start. I read that letter which Ralph gave tome, the letter which by this time is in the hands of that woman'sfamiliars. They have instructions to come to the castle at dusk andenter it by way of the vaults. When the family are at dinner theOrientals will make their way up to their mistress."
"But can they?" Geoffrey asked.
"Of course they can. Many a night have they been here. But we havealready stopped any danger that way by locking the door of the vault,the one below sea level. Then we shall go down the cliffs presently andtake the chaps like rats in a trap. They will be arrested and handedover to the police because the time has come when we can afford to showour hands. The end is very near."
"But the evidence against Mrs. May?" Geoffrey suggested.
Tchigorsky tapped his breast pocket significantly.
"You have forgotten the diary," he said. "I have evidence enough here tohang that vile wretch over and over again. I have evidence enough toplace in the hands of the Government which will convince those gentry inthe temples beyond Lassa that they had better be content to leave usalone in future unless they desire to have their temples blown abouttheir ears. This diary clinches the whole business. The house ofRavenspur is free."
"God grant that it may be so," Geoffrey said fervently. "We have only towait till dusk. Tell me the rest of your adventures in the BlackValley."
Tchigorsky nodded as he proceeded to make a fresh cigarette.
"There is not much more to tell," he said. "Some day, when I have moreleisure on my hands, I will give the whole business, chapter and verse.I have only told you enough for you to know the class of foe you have todeal with.
"Well, as I told you, we shot two of the priests whose business it wasto guide our stumbling feet to the bottom and then leave us there. Weknew that these men would never be missed, so that we hadn't muchanxiety on that score. The others, despite their sacred calling, werejust as anxious to live as anybody else.
"To prevent any chance of escape, we took off our flowing robes, torethem into strips, and bound our guides to ourselves. It was a good thingwe did so, for before long we plunged into darkness so thick that itsvelvety softness seemed to suffocate us.
"You will hardly believe me, but for two whole days and nights westumbled on in that awful darkness without food or rest, except now andagain when we fell exhausted. All that time we could see nothing, butthere were awful noises from unseen animals, roars and yells and criesof pain.
"Loathsome, greasy reptiles were under our feet, the clammy rocks seemedto be alive with them. Yet they did us no harm; indeed, their soleobject seemed to be to get out of our way. Sometimes great eyes gleamedat us, but those eyes were ever filled with a terror greater than ourown.
"After a bit this sense of fear passed away. Had we been alone, had wepossessed no hope of ultimate salvation, the unseen horrors of the placewould have driven us mad. We should have wandered on until we haddropped hopelessly insane and perished. Even a man utterly devoid ofimagination could not have fought off the mad terror of it all. As forme, I will never forget it."
Tchigorsky paused and wiped his forehead. Glancing at Ralph, Geoffreycould see that the latter was trembling like a leaf.
"We came to the end of it at length," Tchigorsky went on. "We came tolight and a long desolate valley whence we proceeded into an ariddesert. Here we found our latitude and dismissed our guides. We ought tohave shot them, but we refrained. It would have saved a deal of trouble.They were not less dangerous than mad dogs.
"We got into communication with our guides and servants in a day or two,and there ended the first and most thrilling volume of our adventures.How the Princess Zara has persecuted us ever since you know. And how weare going to turn the tables on that fiend of a woman you also know."
There was a long silence after Tchigorsky had finished and dusk began tofall. Geoffrey looked out of the window toward the sea. Suddenly hestarted.
"Blobber Rock," he gasped. "Covered! Not a vestige of it to be seen! Itis high spring tide to-day, the highest of the month, and I hadforgotten all about it."
"What difference does it make?" Tchigorsky asked.
"It fills the underground caves," Geoffrey cried. "We have locked thedoors of the lower vault, and in that vault are the two Asiatics waitingthe orders of their mistress. A spring tide fills that vault with water.If those men got that letter, as they are pretty sure to have done bythis time, then they are dead men. Once they get into the cave the tidewould cut them off, and they would be drowned like rats in a sewer. Ofcourse, they would have no idea the vault was closed to them, and----"
"Quite right," Tchigorsky interrupted. "I never thought of that. And Ihad no knowledge of the state of the tide. And there are other caveswhere----"
He was going to say "where Marion is," but paused. Ralph seemed todivine what was in his mind. The reply seemed incontinent, butTchigorsky understood.
"All the other caves are practically beyond high-water mark," he said."What Geoffrey says is correct and our forgetfulness has saved thehangman a job. But wouldn't it be well to make sure?"
Tchigorsky was of that opinion.
"No need to alarm the household," he said. "Geoffrey shall procure alantern, and I will come and assist in the search. I don't want to beseen just yet; but it really does not much matter, as there is no needfor further concealment. If these men are drowned, they are drowned, andthere is an end of the matter. In any case, we have the chief culprit bythe heels."
It was possible, after all, to reach the vaults without being seen.Geoffrey procured a lantern and the party set out. When they were at thebottom of the steps they could hear the sea slashing and beating on thewalls and sides of the vault. A great wave slipped up as the dooropened.
Geoffrey bent down with the lantern in his hand. For some time hesearched the boiling spume without success.
"Can you see anything?" asked Tchigorsky.
"Nothing whatever," said Geoffrey. "It is possible that they mightnot---- Ah!"
He shuddered as he raised the light. The spume ceased to boil for amoment, then a stiff, rigid hand crept horribly from the flood. A brownsodden face followed. There lay one of the Asiatics past the power offurther harm.
"You have seen one," Tchigorsky shouted, "and there is the other."
Another face came up like a repulsive picture on a screen. A minutelater and the two bodies were dripping on the steps of the vault.