WANTED-A DYING MAN.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 370, 17 June 1911, Page 7

WANTED-A DYING MAN.

Being a Strange Chronicle from the Note-book of John Lyon, Elucidator, Known as the " Lion of the Law."

B5 S. H. Agnew, Author of "The Castle Mystery," etc.

PART 3. Lyon was more than a little puzzled by this discovery. The coffin was provided by a row of holes round its upper edge, each one covered by a small zinc grating. This fact told the elucidator that Christian Lesage had arranged the burial. In light of the many times he had fallen a victim to drugs the two detectives had made arrangements to take precautions against premature burial. " Fresh air is reaching me from somewhere, and it certainly isn't from overhead," the detective reflected, relinquishing his vain efforts to force the lid. *' Perhaps Lesage has arranged the ends in some manner. It's worth trying, anyway." Bracing his shoulders against the top end of the coffin, he exerted tremendous pressure with his feet, and was rewarded by a sudden splintering of wood. The end had given way completely, and his legs relaxed into empty space as the resistance relaxed. A rush of comparatively fresh air filled his nostrils and he emitted a huge sigh of relief as he sucked it in.

"Blessings on Chris !" he murmured. "He must have bribed the grave digger to make a somewhat unusual hole. I'll reward him by coming back from the tomb to tell him it was very comfortable !" Laughing grimly he commenced pushing himself out into the space beyond the coffin. It was an unusual task, but it was accomplished at last and he found himself in what was evidently a disused vault. The place was of such dimensions that he could stand almost uDright the walls being lined with stone. The detective felt more than a little airy in his ghoulish robes, but that caused him little concern. His principal thought was how to get out of the tomb without being seen. His opportunities for cornering Silver Nob would be magnified a hundredfold if he could return from the, grave without the poisoner being aware of the fact. Lyon had a knowledge of most things, and the construction of vaults was one of them. He directed his attack at the anex where the arched groins joined the brick wall. Using the end of the coffin as an implement he set to work vigorously at the mortar until it began to fall away in big lumps. Within half an hour he had succeeded in loosening a brick and when this was accomplished his task was a comparatively easy one. By sheer strength he forced the coffin end in like a wedge, and by means of the handle, levered the marble slab which covered the entrance to the ancient vault. Inch by inch he pressed it back until the stout plant, of wood disappeared through an opening which was of a breadth to admit of the passage of his body. Drinking in the cool air with deep, sobbing breaths, he stared upward into a sky of violet and stars. A lip of a moon shaped like a silver sickle, shone high in the heavens, proving that the night was far advanced. For a moment he stood listening, but no sound reached his ears save that of rustling leaves.

Grasping the edge of the marble, he drew himself upwards and out. Then he squatted, a figure of fear, on the cold slab, and calmly examined his surroundings. The white moonlight sent a ghostly radiance over the oval shapes of many tombs, and he recognised th-". place almost instantly. He was in the cemeterj at Phillip's Park and more than three miles from the only habitation he owned in Manchester —his private office.

" I might go to the house I hired for Mr. George Graham," he thought shivering as the chill night-breeze pierced his shroud. "Only I should find no clothes there, and should probably miss Lesage. I wonder how many days have elapsed since I joined the dead ?" His fingers wandered over his chin. The sprouting beard was filelike in consistency and nearly a quarter of an inch in length. Taking this as a basis he reckoned that four days must have passed since he had been overcome by the drug. By this time he had decided on a course of action, aa'l he proceeded to put it into execution without delay. Taking up his utand close to the railings he waited until the constable on the beat passed and arrested him with a low whistle. The man paused abruptly, focussing his light on Lyon's face as the detective cautiously raised his head into view. "I want yer to arrest me," the lat ter said, in a coarse voice. "I fell asleep in that blinkin' churchyard and darned if some blighter hasn't pinched me clothes. Get an ambulance an' take me to the station ; I'm freezing to death." The policeman made a gurgling sound in his throat, and approached near enough to peer over the wall. It did not take him long to decide to accommodate the stranger's unexpected request. "You've been on the booze," he retorted, roughly. "Let's have a look at your hands, my beauty." Lyon extended ili* wrists for the handcuffs, and waited quietly while his captor summoned assistance. Little more than a quarter of an hour elapsed before the arrival of the ambulance from the police-station, and he settled down in its shelter with a sigh of relief, chuckling as the comments of the men in blue drifted to his ears. They would be more than surprised when they got him to the itation.

And so it proved. Ljon had small trouble in establishing his identity, although his death had been the sensation of Manchester, and indeed, of all England. From the inspector in charge of the station he learned that lie had been found, apparently dead, in a lane at Pendlebury, and that Lesage had made all the arrangements 'or the interment. There had been an imposing funeral, with nearly the whole strength of the Mancunian police force in attendance and long Dbituaries of the celebrated elucidator had appeared in all the newspapers.

" I think I shall stay dead for a time," Lyon said, as he took leave Df the inspector, having borrowed a suit of clothes. "It will be about the best incognito I could have." The inspector smiled rather wanly, and glared hard at the Lion of the Law as that worthy strode away. He ielt that Lyon's equanimity bordered 3n the super-natural, and he could not resist wondering whether he had r>een the victim of a delusion. Did ie really behold the detective or was it his ghost ? Before he could solve the problem Lyon had turned into Sandford Street, and vanished. CHAPTER VI. DEATH COMES IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS. Maintaining a swinging trot, the jlucidator passed into Great Ancoats Street, whence he gained Oldham Street, which thoroughfare took him directly to his offices. He had inquired at the police-station as to Lesage's whereabouts and had gained the information that his assistant had sworn a terrible oath of vengeance against the murderers of his chief, and was still living in the Moslev Street office.

Apparently he was out, or in bed, for no light showed in the window. Opening the front door by means of a skeleton key the detective let himself in and mounted the stairs. He listened at the office door for a few seconds, then unlocked it and went in. A pang of disappointment filled his mind as he realised that Lesage was absent ; he was looking forward to the joyful transformation his reappearance would cause. Feeling his way to the mantelpiece he secured a box of matches and lit the gas. The room was much as he had left it with piles of dusty documents strewn over every available space, and heaps of disguises and weapons tumbling hither and thither on the floor. An electric torch la> on the desk, and he secured it ere makiing his way to the inner apartment.

His heart leapt at what he saw there.

Lesage wds stretched at full length on the bed, gaged and bound. His face was ghastly in its pallow, and his breathing seemed thick and stertorous. Lyon bending over him with a low cry of alarm, saw that his eyes were closed and that he was sleeping heavily. Next instant something of even greater import revealed itself. One of Lesage's arms was wrenched from the rope that swathed him, and was lying across a magazine which was evidently taken from a bookshell which hung close to the bed. A pencil was clenched in the drugged man's nerveless fingers and as the elucidator sent the electric light flooding on tc the scene he saw that his assistant had written a message on the back ol the frontispiece to a magazine. He drew the book gently away, and with bated breath read as follows :

" To John Lyon,—l have learned that you are living. I swore vengeance on your murderer, and it did not take me long to track the marks of the motor that carried your body. [ arrived at a mansion at Hyde called Moat Hall, and by means of eavesdropping ascertained that the owner who goes by the name of Purslane, is in reality a continental villain named Silver Nob who is runnini a veritable Assassins' Club at Moat Hall and will murder anybody for a sum paid in cash. "He is at present playing a game of his own, and the victim is an heiress named Ruby Foweraker. She is an orphan, her only companions being old servants who are now in Silver Nob's pay. By her father's will she inherits all his money if she is unmarried at the age of twen-ty-two. If she marries before then she has only an annuity of one thousand pounds, and the residue goes tc her uncle—none other than Silver Nob. His idea is to marry her to some villain before two witnesses '— the old servants I mentioned —and then kill her by means of one of his diabolically subtle poisons. " All this I have discovered during the last three days. To-night Silvei Nob came upon me suddenly in the office here. He had discovered my meddling and succeeded in drugging me by means of poisoned -flowers. He says I may be unconscious foi two days by which time he will have carried out his plans, and will bf able to defy me, as I have no evidence. The drug is not working sc swiftly as he thought, and I have wrenched one of my arms free. Perhaps —" The writing which was becoming very wavering towards the end grew faint and ceased in a scrawling line, but Lyon had read enough to convince him that no time was to be wasted. By means of a special licence Silver Nob would marry Ruby Fowe raker to any tool he might select, and if the two witnesses swore afterwards that the ceremony had taker place at the girl's instigation nothing could save her. A man of Silver Nob's devilish ingenuity and cun ning would provide for all contin gencies as Lyon well knew. In spite of the urgency of the situation his first thought was for his faithful assistant. He possessed a wide and peculiar knowledge of medicine, and was able to gauge from Lesage's symptoms the species of drug

which had been administered. Having released him from his shackles, lie poured a • strong draught ol N brandy down his throat, and left liim to sleep it off. Equipped with revolvers and handcuffs once more he let himself out of the building, and dashed round to the garage where the car had been stabled. For the time being he had forgotten his supposed death, and the shock Df his appearance nearly converted the night watchman at the garage into a raving lunatic. He became nore cautious after this accident, and managed to procure his car without further trouble. Ruby Foweraker's house was his arst destination. To be Continued.