HELD TO RANSOM.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 359, 13 May 1911, Page 7

HELD TO RANSOM.

By the Author of " The Castl© Mystery," etc., etc.-

I Or, The Bandits of Birmingham. Being a Strange Chronicle Iron the Note-book of John Lyon, Elucidator, Known as the " Lion of the Law."

CHAPTER I. THE VEILED MAN. John Lyon swung round on hit >wivel chair as the door of the sit-ting-room suddenly opened. He had thought himself alone in the house, but he did not allow any sign of his surprise to manifest itself in his impassive features. Yet the visitor might well have startled the strongest nerves. A man entered the room with a aoiselessness that hordered on stealth. He was attired in immaculate evening dress, only partially risible beneath a close-fitting rain:oat. Jn one hand he carried a tiny •evolvcr of the Savage ten-shot type. Strangest of all, his face was entirely concealed by a lady's veil, the thick black mesh of which completely lid everything but the glitter of his jyes. The door slammed behind him. At the same instant his arm rose, and the detective found himself looking iown the barrel of the revolver. He did not flinch, but mentally he mrsed himself as he remembered his ;>wn weapons had been left in his jedroom. The sparsely furnished room in which he sat offered nothing rtore than a poker—poor protection igainst a ten-chambered revolver. " Pardon me," he said, coolly, leaning back. " I did not hear you snock. Do you wish to see me ?" The veiled man stood motionless for a moment, his eyes fastened on the elucidator. Probably he was surprised at the surpassing calmness of that worthy, but the thick folds of crepe served as a complete mask to his emotions. " You treat the matter coolly," he muttered at last in a hoarse whisper. " Yet you are in the utmost Sanger. You are alone here." "I am." "And nobody knows of your presence saving myself." " True again. It was a mere freak of mine to run down to Birmingham, and I did not even inform my assistant. You seem to have been making a study of my affairs." " I have. I have had reason to." The visitor was regaining his selfpossession and his tones were becoming matter-of-fact as Lyon's own. " You are the only man in England whom I fear. Therefore I have come to put you out of the way." " I suppose you are a criminal." " I am engaged in operations which the world chooses to regard as criminal. To-morrow I am going to spring a mine which will stagger the belief of the world !" " It will be very acceptable to the ha'penny papers," the detective said, dryly. "I presume that you are afraid of my interference ?" The veiled man nodded. " Exactly. I can afford to sneer at the slow-moving forces of the law, hut you are a different matter. In a few weeks I have heard of your solving seemingly impenetrable mysteries in Glasgow, Bradford, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, and London. Either luck, daring or some uncanny knack of elucidation serves you too well for my comfort." " You are very complimentary." " Silence. You seem to regard my presence as a joke—l will prove otherwise. For the past two months I have been arranging a coup which will make me a rich man. As I said before, you are the only detective in all England who is likely to baulk my plans. I had already considered the advisability of putting you out of the way ; now that you have actually come to Birmingham my hand has been forced. You must die tonight." A short spell of silence followed the callously uttered warning of death. Lyon was waiting, tigerishly, for «, chance to spring, although he was outwardly calm to laziness. The veiled man, however, gave him no opening. Eight feet or more of space lay between them, and whenever he moved his head, the shining muzzle of the revolver followed. He found himself forced to temporise. " Yet if I promised to go away in the morning as I intended why should you shoot me ?" he demanded inflecting a slight quiver of fear into his voice. " I was born and bred at Erdington, and this old house belonged to my grandfather, and here I spent much of my boyhood. It is for a sentimental whim that I allow it to remain unlet and uninhabited. I should hate to see strange faces about the old place. My visit to Birmingham was induced by a sudden desire to behold familiar scenes and faces. I know nothing of your affairs and care less." The man with the revolver did not allow himself to be influenced by the appeal, as he took it to be. His jaw squared under the veil, and lie thrust his weapon forward, menacingly. "It is no use whining," he hissed. " I fear you too much to be persuaded to mercy, saving on one condition." " And what is that ?" " I am the owner of a yacht. You must consent to let me drug you now. I will place you upon the yacht, and you can have a month's cruise, whilst I carry out my plans." Lyon's lips curled in a sneer. " That is nice of you. And suppose I do not feel inclined for a month's cruise ?" " Then you will die to-night." There could be no doubting the man's earnestness. His voice had taken on a taint oi

i anger, and the detective saw the ! muscles of his fingers tighten around ■• the pistol-butt. J " Nothing could save you once 1 I made up my mind," he added, threatj mingly. " This pistol shots at the j rate of one hundred and twenty shots

i a minute, and your brain would be j lull of lead before you'could open ! vour mouth. It locks at the breech j whilst the bullet traverses the barrel, j and so there is nc risk of fouling. I j ;ive you a minute tc decide. You J will either swallow a potion which I j will throw to you, or I will scatter I rour brains upon the wall. Which is ; it to be ?" The trigger of the menacing weapon j :lich2d ominously. Lyon flung -up his j lands in a pretended spasm of fear, rle meant to play the dangerous jame out till there was not another move upon the board. ! "The potion !" he cried. | The trigger-finger relaxed instantly. | Still keeping the muzzle in a direct I ine with the elucidator's forehead, :hc man fumbled in his waistcoat ! socket with his left hand. When he j withdrew it a tiny phial lay in his ! .-.aim. It was full of a liquid which | lashed alternately yellow and green j In the lamp-light. j " Catch !" He flung it unexpectedly, and it ai lighted in Lyon's lap. The detective j picked it up, covertly awaiting an j npportunity for a spring. None came < and he lifted the glass phial slowly, wasting as much time as possible. 1 "It may be poison," he protested. ■ ' You are unfair. You—" ! " Drink it. It is only a drug and I will merely put you to sleep for a I lew hours. I swear it, on my soul." i Lyon drew the cork with his teeth. I A pungent odour filled his nostrils, I and brought tears to his eyes. The ! arug was a potent one whatever it | might be. | " Drink !" the voice of the veiled i man commanded mercilessly. " I will i ;ount three and then fire if you have I aot by that time swallowed the j drug. One !" "Stop ! I have something to say." ! The man with the revolver took no notice. Probably he saw that the ;lucidator only sought to gain time. His unseen lips shaped themselves to the second number. " Two !" Lyon glanced round desperately. To leap up would mean almost certain death. Yet to drink the liquid would be submission of the most ignominious nature, and his whole personality revolted against such a course. Slowly the veiled man compressed the trigger of his pistol. " Three !" The word hurst upon the stillness with vicious force. John Lyon lifted the phial and drained it to the

CHAPTER II

THE MYSTERY OF SUTTON PARK Yet the action was none but a clever ruse. By a swift motion of his fcngers he had re-inserted the cork into the bottle. The simulation of drinking was but a piece of mimicry, and he held his hand in such a manner that the phial was concealed from the eyes of the visitor. As the last drops apparently passed his lips he straightened himself with a loud cry, and fell forward to the ground. As he did so he clenched his hand upon the phial so as to shatter it to fragments, the liquid being quickly absorbed by his coat as he laid upon it. " Jove !" he heard the veiled man mutter. " The stuff acted pretty violently. Startle said it would take a minute or two to act. I wish I was well out of this. The devil !" A sibilated oath finished the sentence, and he started round as the door swung creakily open. Lyon, prone upon the floor, shifted in such a manner that he could peer below his elbow, and he was just in time to catch a vision of a woman framed in the doorway. She was of a Spanish type, dark and tempestuous, and even his momentary glimpse gave him time to see that a tempest of passion was raging in her sloe-black eyes. " So !" she hissed, clenching her hands as she faced the man in the veil. " You choose to disregard our compact. Did we not agree that John Lyon was best left alone ?" " You said so." the man answered, sullenly. "I do not agree with you." "But yon promised to forego all action till to-morrow," she returned, vehemently. " You will ruin everything with your craven fears." "I tell you no. The Lion of the Law is dangerous, and he must be out of the way until —" " Bah ! You poor fool, you cannot see beyond the length of your nose. Do you think Lyon will ever rest when he is set free, after being so tricked and trapped ? I tell you he has the pertinacity of a hound, and he will not sleep until he has placed us behind prison bars." " Then one shot will put him out of the way for ever," the man whispered, lifting his weapon. "Nobody will hear in this lonely road." "Hold ! There shall be no murder while I live. You must leave Lyon here." " Impossible !" " Why so ?" " I—l unintentionally revealed a few —" "Then your folly be on your own head. You did not tell him all your plans, I hope ?" She spoke mockingly, and the man. flinging aside the veil with an angry motion displayed a face flushed and petulant. His features were clearcut and aristocratic looking, and he appeared not more than thirty years j of age. " We must not quarrel, Dolores," he said, sharply. "After two months work our nerves are on edge, but four weeks more will see our plans j consumated and ourselves rich be ' yong the dreams of Midas." " Enough ol that. Leave this ac j

' :ursed detective here, unci follow me." Her tone amounted almost to a command and the man hesitated. Then, with a scowl lining his white forehead he clapped the revolver into n. hi? pocbet and bowed with an air of futile mockery. " 'Tis a lady's privilege to command a man's to obey," he quoted savagely biting his lips. "I have aroisel the wolf, end now you will not let me kill him. He will not sleep again until he has tasted blood, my dear. I believe you will regret S'our foolishness." The woman did not even deign to retort. With an imperative motion she swept from the room and the .nan tamely followed. He favoured the prostrate body of the elucidator ivith a. vitriolic glance as the portal closed behind him, uttering an oath into his tawny moustache. The sound of their hurried footsteps was still echoing in the uncarpeted passage when Lyon sat up. Bounding to his feet, he brushed the fragments of glass from his coat, and then laughed softly. " By Caesar !" he muttered. "There seems some evil fate which pursues my efforts to take a vacation. I cannot even sneak down to Birmingham for a day without being pitchforked into a specially seductive brand of mystery S" He glanced quickly at the travelling clock which was the sole decoration of the mantelpiece. It showed the time to be five minutes after midnight. He waited until the stealthy dosing of the front door announced the departure of his uninvited guests and then made a run for his bedroom. To provide himself with a hat and a revolver, was the work only of seconds. Thus equipped, he darted down to the hall and out into the jungle-thick garden. The house was situated in a turning off the main road to Sutton Coldfield, half a mile beyond Erdington, and there were few other dwellings in the vicinity. Fortunately the drive was deep iD moss and weeds, and he was able to run as noiselessly as if he had been bootless. Crouching in the shadow of the stone gate-pillars, he cast a swift glance up and down the lane. A full moon was soaring high in a sky as clear as water, and by its amber light he had no difficulty in pereiving his quarry. They were walking at a fast gait in the direction of Sutton Road, keeping to the dense shadows thrown by the straggling hedge ; and even in the distance he could hear the sound of a muttered altercation. " Never admit a woman to a plot of any kind, because she is bound; to give it away or turn nasty at the wrong moment," the detective muttered, ungallantly. "By Caesar, they will be knifing one another nest ! The lady looked quite equal to wielding a poignard if the fit took her." A shrill outburst of sibilant Spanish oaths from the woman had apparently silenced all argument. Without speaking the pair continued theii way, and Lyon stole forward almost at their heels as stealthily and noiselessly as the shadows thrown by the clouds which crossed the moon. Into the main road the trail led, and on towards the royal town ol Sutton Coldfield. Occasionally s policeman v/ould turn the arc of his lamp upon the couple, but they looked too respectable to excite question. The detective managed to evade being seen by smart dodgery, and wher at last they came to a halt he was within hearing distance still. Their move was somewhat unexpected. By a roundabout route they had reached the western boundary of Sutton Park, and after a cautious reconnoitre of the road both proceeded to top the fence so suddenly that they were gone before the elucidator realised what was happening. Hastening forward he caught the top of the fence with both hands, and drew himself up until he was enabled to peer over into the park. The fugitives were keeping to the shade of the trees, and he could only catch fleeting glimpses of them as thej stepped across occasional pools oi moonlight. He waited until they were some distance ahead, and then dropped down and followed. The chase soon became easy as the trees thickened to a pinewood which 2:ave plenty of cover. Lyon gradually drew perilously close to the unsuspecting man and woman, employing s fund of stealth which would have :lone credit to a Mohican to keep his presence unknown. He surmised that they were heading for the moorland path to Fazeley, but he did not intend to let them have any chance ol playing hide-and-seek amongst the trees. He kept so ok>se that at times ae was literally at arm's length of his quarry. -" The thing was inexplicable and more than bordered on the uncanny. And yet he lost them. One moment they were in his full 3ight, walking across an open patch of ground fringed by silvery rowans. He turned his eyes downward for a single instant to avoid stepping on the crackling pine-needles, and when tie lookied up both man and woman Qad disappeared. Scarcely able to credit the evidence his eyes he hurried forward, expecting them to emerge from the shelter of a tree. Disappointment awaited him. The woods were given over to the soft sighing of the wind, and only the whispering of the swaying branches broke the stillness. With stunning suddenness the truth broke upon him that he was alone, and that his quarry had vanished into thin air. And so it proved. He brought all his cunning to bear upon a search, for some secret hiding-place, but the quest proved a vain one. After a strenuous hour he had to own himself beaten, and retire homeward in a condition of unalloyed mystification. To be .Continued,,