THE DOCTOR'S PROTÉGÉE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 513, 30 October 1912, Page 2

THE DOCTOR'S PROTÉGÉE.

(All Rights Reserved.)

By ALBERT LEE, Author of " The Baronet in Corduroy," " The Key of the Holy House," King Stork of the Netherlands," " The Black Disc," &c.

Published By Special Arrangement,

CHAPTER XXIII. BACK TO THE VALLAURIS. When I climbed on board the yacht there was not a sailor anywhere in sight, and when, after a little hesitation, I crossed to the cabin which I assumed would be used by Teresina if she were on board, it was as if the ship had been left to rock on the waters without a human being to care for her safety. I heard some voices, however, forward, and looking along the deck I saw two men with their backs to me, but when one of them turned slightly I saw that he had a bare chin. While his hair was black, it was easy to tell that he was not Desprez—at all events; he was not one of the men whom I had seen in the room of the house in the Rue de Philippe. The other had red hair, and his beard, too, was red; but his shoulders were as square and level as any man's living, so that he was not Regnauld. I felt relieved, for probably these two men were they whom the fisherman had seen putting out from the jetty. At first I thought I would go up to them and ask them two questions—first, whether they had just come on board, and next, whether they could tell me in which cabin the lady was lodged who had recently been brought to the Vallauris. I remembered, however, that it was reported among the crew that I was a madman, and they, having probably seen me, would conclude that I was actually such, now that I had deliberately returned to the ship from which I had taken such pains to escape. Turning away from my purpose I went to one of the cabins, and, opening the door, after first tapping, I looked in. It was empty. As beautifully appointed as that in which I had been imprisoned, it was altogether Hevoid of anything which suggested occupancy by a lady. On the contrary, a man's pipe lay on the table, and a tobacco pouch, and seeing these I went to the next door. Here, too, I obtained no answer, and,, opening the door, I peered in. The captain—or one whom I should take to be such, for I had never seen him—was sleeping on the couch, so that I gently closed the door and passed on. A third cabin was visited. It was empty, and I saw at a glance that it was that which I had occupied, and from whence I had escaped. In the swift glance along its length I saw that the window was barred now, so that any future prisoner could not escape. Feeling sure that Telamone and Berens did not expect that I should ever return to the Vallauris except to go through another term of captivity, I concluded that this cabin had been set aside for Teresina, and, profiting by the fact that I had succeeded in escaping, Telamone had had the window regfazed and barred, to hold Teresina fast, and to effectually prevent her from getting away. Leaving the cabin next to my own until the last, I searched elsewhere, but found no trace of Teresina. She would certainly not be in the forepart of the yacht among the crew, and she was as certainly not in any of the cabins, unless in that one which communicate with my own by the sliding panel. Convinced that Telamone and Berens had gone ashore, I ventured to look into it, but, like the others, it was empty. I walked in to be assured, and looked weli round to make it certain to myself that Teresina was not in hiding. Coming to a door which opened out of the cabin I opened it, thinking that it might be a cupboard, but it proved to be a smaller cabin, exquisitely appointed, and as empty as the others. Turning round, half disposed to think that Regnauld was mistaken when he made that statement to the Parisian Committee, or that he had wilfully concocted his story for some purpose only known to himself, 1 had almost decided to quit the ship, secure my personal safety, and, going on shore, send a wire to my sister and learn from her whether I had been misled or not. I ought to have done such a thing as that before leaving Paris, but the knowledge that Regnauld and Desprez were on the way t° carry out their fateful commission had robbed me of my presence of mind. Forgetful of my own possible danger if I wore found on board, I fell into a reverie, thinking of probabilities, and trying to fathom the motives which had prompted Regnauld to say what he had said to the Committee of Pari?. I was suddenly aroused from this reverie by a sound at the door. It was already open, and had remained so while-I was looking round; bii'. now the doorway was filled by two men, and they were none other than Telamone and Berens. They were gazing at me, and so much were they taken /by surprise that for

Berens was the first to break the astonished silence.

"Heaven bless my soul I" he exclaimed. "What's .the meaning of this?"

Putting aside my own danger, and coming to the point with a directness that must have astonished them both, I spoke : "Is the Signora Telamone here on board the Vallauris?"

"Good heavens!" cried her husband, astonishment displaying itself in tone and face. "No! Why do you ask such a question?" "I heard that she was here, and hearing also that she was in danger of her life from others, as well as from you, I came Tiere in the hope of saving her." "The man must be mad," exclaimed Telamone, advancing a step or two, and Berens following, closed the door after him. "Clean, stark, staring mad ! To get away when his life was threatened, and yet come back to the ship again! What the deuce does it mean?"

"It means what I have said," I answered boldly. Then, putting a bold face on the matter, I told the story of. what I had seen and heard in Paris, and how I had foregone my own liberty in order to frustrate the emissaries of the Committee who were deputed to slay Teresina.

For the first time since I had known these men they softened, and Telamone said, simply: '"Twas a brave thing to do, Dr. Carson. But, as for my wife, I have not the faintest notion as to her whereabouts. She is certainly not here, nor have we heard a word about her since we brought you on board the yacht. Our one absorbing aim is to gain possession of the Scarlet-Cross package, for more depends on its discovery than you can conceive. I was prepared to forego the vendetta : ready to forswear myself, provided I could obtain what is more valuable to me than revenge —my own life, which is only to be saved by obtaining the package. So long as it is out of my possession, my life is not worth living. I may be struck down at any moment, pursued by those who want, the package in their own hands. Think of it, Dr. Carson! I am harassed on all sides. T .am like one who sits in the Chair of Fate. I know not any hour when the sword of Damocles may fall and slay me. There are those creatures of the Fraternity dogging me everywhere, holding my life to be forfeit if I do not discover and deliver to them this accursed thing. For Heaven's siake end it!"

He rose to his feet in sudden frenzy, and glared round the cabin, now at Berens, now at myself.

"End it!" he cried. "Good heavens! am I to live in such a chaos cf uncertainty as this, day in, day out, from week to week, starting at every footstep, alarmed at every shadow? End it, I say!" "I will end it, if once your wife absolves me from my promise," I answered, pitying the man whose life was made so burdensome. "You shall end it without her word." he retorted, savagely. There was >a look of madness in his face, for it seemed so distorted with passion and fear. "What is she to you ? She is my wife,, and you have hidden her from me. The base strumpet!"

My temper was aroused on the instant at this intolerable imputation, .and I struck him in the face. "You dare to call your pureminded wife by such a name as that?" I cried. "What is she hiding from you for ? What did I prevent you from doing to her on that night, when she cried for help ? You were chasing her round and round the room with a nalced dagger, and her blood would have been on your hands had I not come in in time. And you call her by such a base name because I and others have determined to hide her from you in order to save her life!"

"You shall pay'for the blow," said Telamone, wiping his face. "And you shall pay—ah! ever so dearly ! —for not giving my wife up to me, so that I may work my will with her! And, what is more—fool that you were to come back here —you shall never go out of my keep 7 ing until I know where that package is for which I am seeking, the lack of which places me in hourly danger of death!" '

I thought, when he looked at me, his hands clenched, and the . mad light in his eyes making him look dangerous, that he would have spat in my face : but he swung round and stalked out of the cabin, preceded by Berens: then the door slammed together, the key screamed in the lock, and I was once more a prisoner.

I walked to the window to see whether there was that one way of escape possible : but it was barred, either to make the cabin a. prison or to keep out any possible intruders, such as the man who had already climbed in, and had stuck the dag-

I moss-age and the menace of the ! Committco of Paris. Before tho darkness had settle:! over the sea I heard the sound of the engines in motion, and after a time the lights of the town at tho head of the mountain gorge disappeared. "CHAPTER XXIV. THE FRATERNITY'S MESSENGER. Only once did the Vallauris pui into port, and that was in order to tlake in coai and provisions for a long voyage. While this was being done Berens gave me a great deal of his company in order, to prevent me from making any attempt at escape. "Be quite assured of this, Dr. Carson, that there is no possibility of success if you try to get away, he 'said once, with a nonchalanco tha J . was exasperating. "It is generally known on board that you are detained here because you are a madman, and the sailors will take care, that you do not escape, since twenty sovereigns will be given to the mian who discovers you so doing and holds you well in hand while giving tho alarm. That means, of course, that a great many eyes are turned this way,. and were you to talk for the hour together to any one of tlicm the fellow would probably laugh in your face, and tell us all about it afterwards." We were not destined to get away from. Marseilles harbour without something happening which showed us that the emissaries of the Committee of Paris were exceedingly active. I was in my cabin at night, and the coaling which had been in progress through the day was suspended for a few hours. Notwithstanding all that Berens S3 id, I was determined to make the attempt to escape. Even if the letter's threat to shoot me down at sight were carried out, I resolved to take the risks.

The door was locked, but by frequent searching I had discovered the spring of the secret panel which opened into tho cabin I had previously occupied. All seemed quiet when I arose to open it stealthily, and even when it ran back before the pressure of my hand sufficient J y far to allow me to crawl through there was no sound but that of a man's heavy breathing. The idea that, possessed mo was that I might enter this cabin silently, open tho door which would certainly bo fa: .- ened on the inside, go up the com-panion-way, and, watching my opportunity, leap overboard and swim ashore, as I lia.d done at Cannes. While I was in the act of getting through, hesitating because I heard a sound as of the sleeper turning in his bed, I heard a faint movement behind me. Looking round quickly, I saw a man's figure pass between mo and the window. He was moving towards the bed, and as 1 watched, wondering what new danger threatened me, I saw Inn feel about with his hand, as if searching for the body of the sleeper —myself, as I thought. His right hand was slightly raised, and with the moonlight behind him to shew his movements, I felt sure thit ho was armed with a dagger. He clearly meant to kill me.

Who was it? Berens? Or Andrieno Telamone ? I had no idea, for one of them—l knew not which —was sleeping in the cabin wjhicli I meditated entering. In my pocket was the revolver I ha.d bought in Paris, and believing this to be a. deliberate attempt on my life, I drew it and fired. The sound of tho shot roused the sleeper in the other cabin, the cry of a man in pain came at the oa-mo instant, my own cabin door opened, and men rushed in. I heard Telamono's voice among them, and, meanwhile, anxious to hide the fact that I had meditated escape, I quickly drew the sliding panel back into its place. ' The click as it dosed was so slight that none heard ii in the clamour, and at tho moment the light was switched on. There was instantly a cry from the men who entered, and a crowding closer to the bed,, for a man lay acres* it, vLo'. through the head by a hullo!, oiid near by his right hand, w iiic'i warflung out in helplessness, wa-: a da«r ger which had <!:■ poed from his grasp. Thrust through b (he k cn blade was a square of » - on which was written a message The Fraternity strike a' A'> ' icnn Telamone by striking at 1::" whc. Should this fail to hasten the surrender of the Scarlet Cross package, they will strike again..

I looked at the dead man and. knew it was Desprez, one f the two men who had been sent from P." l ' 1 " It was clear that RegnanH, " I 1" '1 he told his storv to the Committee, honestly thought that (lie -nfo'"n;v tion he gave was correct —that Teresina was on board the Vallauris. Happily, it was false, and I r rer.th 0 '' 1 a prayer of thankfulness. N>• could I refrain from one on my own rehalf, for had I been lying cm vbed a.t the time the dagger meant for Teresina, would have been plunged into my own body. (To be Continued..) O.P. —19,