CHAPTER XIV
"GEORGE HEADLAND" KEEPS AN APPOINTMENT
On the morrow the village of Valehampton knew that the vicar of St.Saviour's was entertaining two gentlemen, Mr. John Williams and Mr.Philip Barch, who had come down from town by the last train thepreceding night and were to stop with him over the week-end; and, beinginformed that Mr. Barch was a gentleman of poor health, it was not atall surprised that he should make an early call on Doctor Forsyth.
It did not, however, know that at the time that call was made the doctorwas entertaining Mr. Justice of the Peace Howard and Mr. Chief ConstableNaylor, and that Mr. Barch remained in close council with all three forupward of an hour, afterward making a personal call upon His Grace theDuke of Essex and spending yet another hour at the Castle.
When that hour was over he went back to the vicarage, every link wasfitted into its place, and the chain complete at last.
It was about twenty minutes past ten that evening that Mr. JamesOverton, answering a hand-delivered note, was shown into the vicaragedrawing-room, and found himself in the presence of a most distinguishedcompany, made up of the Duke of Essex, the Marquis of Uppingham, CaptainWeatherley, and two gentlemen who were alluded to as Mr. John Williamsand Mr. Philip Barch.
Mr. Overton, who had been over at Braintree ever since noon on businessfor the duke, and was, of course, still wearing his ordinary ridingclothes, apologized for his appearance on the score that he had not hadtime to change.
"I found Your Grace's man waiting for me with your note when I arrivedat the Lodge," he said; "and, of course, came on immediately, asrequested. But surely there must be some error--the thing seems soimpossible. You said in the note that the man, George Headland, would behere by eleven o'clock to offer a solution of the mystery, and thatsimply can't be. I saw him myself over at Earl's Colne as I rode throughthis afternoon, he and his deaf companion. They were sitting outside aninn drinking stout and smoking their pipes as contentedly as you please;and when I stopped and asked them what on earth they were doing there,Headland told me that their effects had not come down from London asthey expected, and they were taking a holiday until they did. As I cameback I learned that they were strolling about Pebmarsh as late as seveno'clock this evening, and had been over in that section of this countypretty much all day. How can it be possible for them to have discoveredanything _here_?"
"That I can't tell you, I'm sure, Overton," replied the duke. "I merelyknow that he sent word to me through the vicar that if I would be hereat eleven o'clock to-night he would give me a full and clear explanationof the diabolical affair. It occurred to me at the last moment that you,probably, would like to hear that explanation with the rest of us, so Ileft Roberts to deliver that note as soon as you returned."
"Thank you--it was very kind. Naturally I am very deeply interested; butI am more mystified than ever when Your Grace tells me that Headlandsent the message through the vicar. Have you then seen the man to-day,Mr. Saintly?"
"Oh, dear, no. The message came to me through Mr. Philip Barch here."
"Meaning the gentleman who is your guest, sir?"
"Meaning me--yes, Mr. Overton," remarked Cleek. "We met quiteaccidentally while I was out this morning. Personally, I must admit thatI haven't very much faith in our actually seeing the man to-night."
"You couldn't be blamed for not having much faith in the man's ability,I am sure, Mr. Barch. To tell you the truth, sir, I have very littlemyself. I never even heard of him until yesterday. He seemed a stupidsort of fellow."
Here Captain Weatherley chimed in:
"Judging from his appearance when he was pointed out to me, I should saythat he was nothing less than an idiot!" was his contribution.
"With the odds on the idiot," supplemented Cleek. "Still, let's give himhis chance. We shall know the best or the worst in half an hour, CaptainWeatherley. Eleven o'clock will tell the tale."
And eleven o'clock did tell it.
Cleek, to pass away the tedium of waiting, had taken his seat before thevicarage organ and was deep in a selection from Handel when, all of asudden, a clanging noise broke through the outer stillness and all thenight echoed to the clash of the discordant bells.
"Hallo! There's our friend the ghost starting in with his nightlyjamboree," he said, screwing round on the organ stool and rising, as thesound of hasty feet coming up the vicarage steps and along the vicaragehall followed on the peal of bells. "He's a prompt beggar to-night, thatspook--a very prompt beggar indeed."
"But no prompter than that Headland fellow," exclaimed CaptainWeatherley, catching the sound of the running footsteps and jumping tohis feet. "Here he comes now, by Jove!--and it's two minutes short ofthe hour."
In his excitement, he jumped to the door and whirled it open, and almostin the same instant there entered the room, in a state of breathlessexcitement, no less a person than Mr. Justice of the Peace Howard, withChief Constable Naylor close upon his heels.
"They've started--don't you hear them?" he cried, looking up at Cleek."That was to be the signal, wasn't it? Shall Naylor give the word?"
"By all means," replied Cleek, calmly. "Start them going, Mr. Naylor,and start them going _hard_!"
Mr. Naylor's response was not given in words. Facing about instantly, heran down the hall and out into the forecourt of the vicarage, blowing apolice whistle, and shouting at the top of his voice: "In with you, myboys! Get 'em."
Almost instantly there was a sound of rushing feet, a banging and asmashing of hammers on wood, the crash of a door going down, and thesound of a dozen voices crying lustily, "Come out of it! Come out ofit!" voices which soon dwindled off in the distance.
The duke and Mr. Overton were on their feet at once. There could be nomistake about the direction whence these sounds came. A force of men,acting upon a given signal, had made an attack upon the Castle cottages.
"Oh, don't be alarmed, Duke. Don't be alarmed, Mr. Overton," said Cleek,coming up with them as master and man, realizing the state of affairs,moved hastily to the nearest window and tried vainly to peer through theintervening trees. "It is nothing very serious--only a small detachmentof police, aided by some of your own gamekeepers, paying their respectsto Mr. and Mrs. John Hurdon. It will be over soon, and the interestingparty will take a turn at oakum-picking with this gentleman--dear,clever man!"
Here his hands reached over quickly toward those of the land-steward;there was a jingle and a click, and by the time Overton became awarethat something cold had touched his wrists, the handcuffs were lockedand the thing was done.
He gave a queer sort of cry--half gasp, half howl--and lurched backwardin a panic.
"In the name of God----" he began, but got no farther, for Cleek's handwas on his shoulder and Cleek's voice was saying soothingly:
"Oh, fie, my friend! So tender a heart should be mated with a reverenttongue. And if you must cry out, surely there is another name morefitting to the occasion? But why cry at all? You cannot alter matters.It is fated, you see, that none of you is ever to go up that undergroundtunnel or touch one article of that splendid gold service, even thoughCaptain Paul Sandringham is dead and, as Carstairs said, 'It makes onethe less to reckon with!' Sit down, Mr. Overton, and make yourselfcomfortable until Mr. Naylor comes back to take care of you. And let metake this opportunity to thank you for our very pleasant walk up fromthe station yesterday. Do you know, I always did like that ghost storyfrom the time when I first read it in a fiction magazine, and it lostnone of its charm through your telling. Oh, yes--I'm the sameperson--I'm the George Headland you told it to. The one your sister andthe gypsy woman have been following all day is a fake. I expect he andhis mate have rounded on them by this time and have taken them intocustody, and---- Fainted, by jupiter! Ah, they are a weak-nerved lot,this sneaking kind, when it comes to the final corner, and it's the wallbehind them and the law in front. Pardon? Oh, yes, Marquis! Oh, yes,Captain Weatherley. That was the game: tunnelling from the Hurdons'cottage to the Castle to get at the Essex gold service which they
knewwould be brought down from the bank for Lady Adela's wedding; and theyhave been at it for eleven months. Captain Paul Sandringham's was themind that conceived the thing--how I know this I'll tell you in duetime--and he planned the scheme with this fellow a year ago in Ostendwhen first the duke made public his intention to marry again. He hasbeen over, too, off and on, and taken an actual hand in the work, hasthe late captain, and I dare say he would have been over again to-morrownight to take part in the final act of the little drama if the curtainhad not been rung down on all the dramas for him the day beforeyesterday. Oh! he was a clever schemer, was Captain Paul Sandringham,and he neglected nothing. That is the strongest point in the wholearmour of the educated criminal: the brains to reason and the wit toprovide for all contingencies. You cannot tunnel the earth for adistance of ninety-six yards without having a deal of refuse to disposeof, you know; therefore, the prophecy had to take in the question of achoked river, and there had to be phantom wheels to account for thevehicle which conveyed it to the stream by night; there had to be thosebells which are ringing now to account for the supernatural agency, andthere had to be a curse on the adjoining cottage to prevent----"
Here he stopped--his ear caught by a confused murmur of voices risingabove the clashing of the bells.
"Let us go and see the rest of the interesting collection," he said. "Ithink the raid is over, and Mr. Naylor's fishers are pulling in thenets."
He turned and walked briskly out of the vicarage and, taking a short cutacross the churchyard, made his way to the curve of the road, the bellsstill clashing out discordantly as he passed through the lich-gate andturned to the Castle cottages--and the duke and the marquis, the captainand the vicar, and Mr. Maverick Narkom, too, followed close upon hisheels.