CHAPTER XXIII
PRISONERS
It was not until the evening was fairly far advanced that the opportunityof speaking to Dollops alone was afforded Cleek. He took it when the "Pigand Whistle" was filled to overflowing, and hardly a man who worked atthe factory was not inside it or standing outside near the little quay,holding the usual evening's confab on the affairs of the day. Cleekcaught hold of Dollops as he was making his way into the little bar.
"Come fer a turn up the road, matey," he said loudly. "It's a fineevenin' wot mykes yer 'omesick fer a sight uf yer own fireside. 'Aveanother drink later, mebbe. Come on."
Dollops linked arms with him, and, smoking and talking, the two men wentoff up the dark lane which led from the quayside, and of a night-time wasas black as a pocket. Cleek's torch showed them the pathway, and as theywalked they talked in rapid whispers.
"Now, lad, let's hear all you've got to say!" he rapped out at length, asthe distance grew between themselves and the crowded little pub, and theywere safely out of earshot.
Dollops gulped with pent-up excitement.
"Lor! sir, there's summink wrong, any'ow; I've discovered that much!" hebroke out enthusiastically. "Chummed up with ole Black Whiskers I did,and promised 'im a 'and ternight at twelve o'clock ter do some loadin'on ter the fishin' boats wot's on their way ter Belgium. 'You're anice-seemin' sort er lad,' he tole me after we'd bin chattin' fer tenminutes or so. 'Want ter make a bit of extra money by 'oldin' of yourtongue?' I was on it like a knife. 'Ra-_ther!_' I ses. 'Orl right,' ses'e. 'Come along ter the quayside ternight at twelve o'clock. There'sa bit uf loadin' up ter be done, an' only a few uv the men are required.I don't choose none wot I don't cotton to.' 'You'll cotton ter me allright, matey,' I ses, with a sort uv a larf that seemed ter tickle 'im.'I'm as close as the devil 'imself. Anythink yer doesn't want me ter see,just tip me the wink.' 'I will that,' ses 'e, and then went off. An' so'ere I am, sir, fixed up for a busy evenin' along uv ole Black Whiskers.An' if I don't learn summink this night, well, my name ain't Dollops!"
"Good lad!" said Cleek, giving the boy's arm a squeeze. "That's the wayto do it! And is that all you've got to tell me? I've done a bit myself,and chummed up with a chap called Jenkins, the tall, thin man who workson the left of me, and he's let me into the secret of the fishing boatbusiness. But he's a close-mouthed devil. Either doesn't know anything,or won't tell. I'm not quite sure which. But he wasted a good deal ofvaluable breath endeavouring to teach me to keep my mouth shut. Gad! I'dgive something to have a few moments alone with your friend BlackWhiskers! There's a ripped pillow-case in my portmanteau which oughtto interest him. And what else did you learn, Dollops?"
"Only that what they ships is electric tubin's ter perfect flexibleelectric wirin's wot is used for installations, sir," returned Dollops."That's what most of the things were wot I set eyes on afterworkin'-hours, stacked up all ready ter be loaded on ter the boats. Long,thin things they were, an' ought ter be easy work, judgin' from theircontents. But why they make all this mystery about it fair beats _me_!"
"And me into the bargain, Dollops," interposed Cleek, with a little sigh."But there's an old saying, that there's no smoke without fire, andordinary people don't make such a devilish fuss about others knowingtheir business if they're on the straight. What all this has got to dowith the 'Frozen Flame' business I must confess somewhat puzzles me todiscover. But that it _has_ something to do with it is proved by thatfishy character Borkins, and the amiable attempt of his friend to murderso humble a person as myself. Now it's up to me to find the missing linkin the chain.... Hello! here's a gap in the hedge here. Looks like it hadbeen made on purpose. Let's go and investigate."
He whipped his little torch round and the circle of light flashing overthe ground revealed to their searching eyes something vastly unexpectedin such a place and yet which, after all, seemed to fit into a placewhere so much mystery and secretiveness was in the air. They themselves,disguised as such rough characters, fitted into the strange picture,which struck Cleek, even in spite of his many peculiar cases, as verymuch out of the ordinary.
A gap in the hedge there was, right enough. And through the gap--someonemust have been working here a very short time before--a square of turf,cut carefully out and laid upon one side, revealed to their astonishedeyes a wooden trap-door, exactly suggestive of the pirates' den of achild's imagination, and with a huge iron ring fastened to the centre ofit.
Cleek whistled inaudibly, and turning round upon Dollops a happy light inhis eyes and a smile, almost of amusement on his lips.
"Gad!" he exclaimed softly. "Game to try this, Dollops. I am going tohave a shot at it myself."
"But you ain't got no firearms on yer, sir, in case o' h'accidents,"returned the literal minded Dollops, "and no man in 'is senses wouldattempt to go down that thing without 'em."
"Well, I've been called a lunatic before this, lad. And going down it Iam, this minute. And if you've the least qualms at following me, you canjust watch up here and warn me with the old signal if you hear any onecoming. But I'm going down, to find out where this thing leads to, and adollar to a ducat it'll lead to a good deal that means the unravelling ofa riddle. The fellow who tangled the threads in the first place has ahead any one might admire. But what I want to know is what he's takingall this trouble for. Coming, Dollops?"
Dollops sent a reproachful look into Cleek's face and sniffed audibly.
"Of course I'm comin', guv'nor," he made answer. "D'yer think I'd be sucha dirty blighter as ter let you go dahn there--p'raps ter your verydeath--alone? Not me, sir. Dollops is a-follerin' wherever you lead, andif you chooses 'ell itself, well, 'e's ready ter be roasted and fried inthe devil's saucepan, so long as 'e keeps yer company."
Without waiting for the end of this gallant, if rather prolonged speechCleek knelt down, set his two hands upon the iron ring and pulled for allhe was worth. But the ease with which the door lifted came as somethingof a surprise. It came up silently, almost sending Cleek over backward,as indeed it would have done a man with less poise, but he easilyrecovered himself. He and Dollops cautiously approached the edge, and inthe half-light which the moon shed upon it (they did not use Cleek'storch) saw that a flight of roughly-made clay steps led down intodarkness below. They sat back upon their heels and listened. Not a sound.
"Coming?" whispered Cleek in a low, tense whisper.
"Yes sir." Dollops was beside him in an instant. Cleek took the firststep carefully, and very slowly descended into the darkness, with Dollopsclose behind him. Down and down they went, and on reaching the bottom,found the place opened out into a sort of roughly-made tunnel, just ashigh as a man's head, which ran on straight into the darkness in front ofthem.
"Gawd! gives yer the fair creeps, don't it?" muttered Dollops as theystood in the gloom and tried to take their bearings. "What yer goin' terdo, sir?"
"Find out where it leads to--if there's time," whispered Cleek rapidly."We've got to find out what these human moles are burrowing in the earthlike this for. I'd give a good deal to know. Hear anything?"
"Not a blinkin' sound, sir."
"All right. We'll try the torch, and if any one turns up we'll have torun for it. Now." He touched the electric button, and a blob of lightdanced out upon the rough clay floor, revealing as it swung in Cleek'sswift fingers the whole circumference of the place from ground toceiling.
"Cleverly made," muttered that gentleman in an admiring whisper. "Itreminds me of the old 'Twisted Arm' days, Dollops, and the tunnels thatran to the sewers. Remember?"
"I should just jolly well think I do, guv'nor! Them were days, if yerlike it! Never knew next minute if yer were goin' ter see daylightagain."
"And this little adventure of ours seems a fair imitation of them!"returned Cleek, with a noiseless laugh. "Let's move a bit farther on andget our bearings. Hello! here's a little sort of cupboard without a door.And ... look at those sacks standing there against that other side inthat little cut-out place, Dollops. Now I wonder what the devil _they_
contain. Talk about the Catacombs! They aren't in it with this affair."
Dollops crept up noiselessly and laid a hand upon one of the great sacksthat stood one upon the other in three double rows, and tried to feel thecontents with his fingers. It gave an absolutely unyielding surface, asthough it might be stuffed with concrete.
"'Ard as a ship's biscuit, sir," he ejaculated. "Now I wonder what thedickens?..."
His voice trailed off suddenly, and he stood a moment absolutely still,every nerve in his slim young body taut as wire, every muscle rigid. Foralong the passage--not so very far in front of them, from where it seemedto terminate--came the thud of men's feet upon the soft clayey ground.The torch went out in an instant. In another, Cleek had caught Dollops'sarm and drawn him into the narrow aperture, where, with faces to thewall, they stood tense and rigid, listening while the steps came nearerand nearer. They waited in the darkness, as men in the _Bonnet Rouge_days must have waited for the stroke of Madame Guillotine.
... The footsteps came forward leisurely. The intruders could hear thesound of muffled voices. One, brief, concise, clipping its words short,and with a note of cool authority in the low tones; the other--Dollopshuddled his shoulders closer and contrived to whisper "Black Whiskers"before the two men came abreast of them. Strange to be walking thuscomfortably in the dark! Either they were sure of their way that itdidn't matter about having a light, or else they were afraid to use atorch.
"You will see that it is done, Dobbs, and done properly to-night?"sounded the brisk tones of "Black Whiskers'" companion. And then thereply: "Yes, it'll be done all right. We're sending 'em off at oneo'clock sharp. Loadin' at twelve. No need to worry about that, sir."
"And these two newcomers? You can vouch for their reliability to keeptheir mouths shut, Dobbs? We wouldn't have chanced taking them on if wehadn't been so short-handed, but ... you're sure of them, eh?"
They could hear "Dirty Jim's" ugly little chuckle. It seemed laden withsinister purpose.
"They're sound enough, master, I promise yer!" he made reply."Ugliest-lookin' pair er cut-throats yer ever laid yer peepers on. Seendirtier business than this, I dare swear. And Piggott's on to the rightkind, all right. Good man, Piggott."
The two came opposite them, and stopped a moment, as though they mightbe wishing to investigate the contents of the sacks that stood nearby,hidden by the enveloping darkness. The tension under which Cleek and theyouthful Dollops laboured was tremendous. Not daring to breathe theystood there hugging the wall, their every muscle aching with the strain,and then the two strangers walked on again, still talking in low, casualvoices, until they had reached the end of the passage where the stepsstarted abruptly upward. Then a patch of light showed suddenly.
"Steps here; be careful. They're none too easy," came the cautious voiceof Black Whiskers. "I'll go up first, so's you kin follow in my steps.What's this? The door been left open, eh? I'll 'ave a few words with thatchap Jenkins afore I'm many days older. I'll larn 'im to disobey 'isorders! Any one might come along 'ere and drop in casual-like!... Theunreliable swine!"
The light grew less and less as the bearer of it climbed the rude stairs,and finally vanished altogether. And as it disappeared Dollops clutchedCleek's arm, his breath coming in little gasps.
"The door, sir--" he gasped. "If they close that, we're--" And even as hespoke there came a sound of sliding bolts and a thump which told thetruth only too well.
"Did you 'ear, sir?" he almost moaned.
The trap door had been closed.