The Green Bungalow

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 413, 23 July 1928, Page 5

The Green Bungalow

BY A POWERFUL WRITER.

By

Fred M. White.

Author pf “ The Crimson BEnd.” “ The Cardinal Moth," “ The House on the River.” &c„ Ac.’?

CHAPTER XIII.—AT FISH BOURNE TOWERS. “Oh, dicLhe really? Well, as far as I can see. you will have to go. In fact, X want you to go.” Nettie’s information had fairly stagscred Blythe, but not for a moment did he show it. As he stood there, smiling into the girl’s face, a score of ideas were rushing rapidly through his mind. Because what Nettie had just told him was throwing a flood of light °n places which had hitherto been dark and mysterious. “Do you really mean that?” Nettie asked in dismay. Yes, indeed I do, my dear young vu 5 ' “ You fan hardly throw Mr. Shute over in this casual way, merely decause the acquaintance of an hour has suggested it. Besides, if there is anything wrong, the mere fact of your leaving him so abruptly would only serve to arouse his suspicions. And there is another thing—l presume you have the interests of Captain Harley at heart?”

The colour flamed into Nettie’s cheeks.

"Why. of course,” she protested. There is nothing I would not. do for h'®. And besides, he—he ” “Is in great trouble,” Blythe said cravely. “Never mind how I know that, but it is a big trouble, and one hkely to affect his whole future, and t can help him, I will. I know a great deal more than you are aware p ■ an d I might tell you. in passing, that laptain Harley's father was a great “end of mine once. Now-, if you j ea £ e this thing entirely in my hands, shall be greatly surprised and disap- » a v** f fail to find a way out. •na because I am so interested in this atter, I want you to go to Fishbourne °"ers just as if nothing had happened.’’

But there is the trouble,” Nettie •“tested. “You see, I know Lord and Fishbourne quite well. I have a sed at the Towers two or three wuf S ' * am more or less in disgrace ~ my family, because I would in- ’ apon going out into the world and . . lr ’k my own living. They have all tend °T me, and I did not inn that they should find me again, -a now you want me to go to Fish h a rne Towers just as if nothing had coral? 6 **’ TVhat an extraordinary Man il Cation U 3,1 is - Here is Mrs- * «*** whom I never heard of till interesting herself in my if ve r w' an< * now you come along, as v e f ? known me all my life. And iny friend l Ure tbat both o£ yOU are you may be sure °L” Blythe it is a terrible complication, and

I very much fear it will be worse before it is better. It is mainly because of this that I want you particularly to go to Fishbourne Towers this afternoon. You will be there some days, and you must note everything that happens. Never mind what your friends over there say when they see you. That they will forget all about in a few hours. Keep your eyes open, and watch Mr. Shute as a eat watches a mouse. And if Macglendy is staying over there too, which I strongly suspect, let me know. Write to me every day at the Metropolitan.” “Oh, I will, I will,’’“Nettie said. “Do you know, Mr. Blythe, I feel like the heroine of a melodrama.”

“Well, so you are, to every practical purpose, Blythe smiled. You are the heroine who is striving to free the hero of the toils of the villains. Oh yes, and the villains are there all right, and if you like I am the typical converted scoundrel who has repented at the last moment, and is doing his best for shder sentimental reasons to restore the happiness of two youpg people. And with that I don’t propose to say any more.”

Blythe lifted his hat gallantly, and went on his way. There was a big problem in the back of his mind. What had become of Harley, and why were those two rascals keeping him out of the way? And until this point was settled, Blythe could not see clearly before him. But all the same, ‘he was going to know, he was going to know if possible, before he slept that night. The great house known as Fishbourne Towers stood back some four miles from the sea*on a wooded slope commanding the country for miles around. The present head of the house was a man of vigorous middle age and a sportsman to his finger tips. In his earlier days he had been a mighty hunter of big game and on one of those farflung excursions of his he had come in contact with Shute, then a man of some means and not yet sunk into the ranks of pure adventurers. Hence a sort of friendship had sprung up between them that had never quite lapsed. It was to this fine, hospitable old homestead that Nettie had been summoned sorely against her will. When she had set out deliberately to get her own living, and had turned her back on the frigid, aristocratic household of the titled relative to whom she owed her education, she had made up her mind to cut that sort of thing out altogether. And now she was being dragged into it again, into a set where she was well known and moreover had been a welcome guest.

Still, she would have to go, she could not leave Shute at a moment’s notice despite all that Mrs.. Macglendy had said. And at the very moment in the train when she was wondering what Lady Fishbourne would say when they met, Fishbourne himself was seated on the long stone terrace before the house in the sunshine talking to his wife and explaining recent happenings to her. Lady Fishbourne in that calm and placid way of hers was taking the loss of the famous family plate philosophically. Not that she lacked curiosity. “I’m dashed if I know what to make of it,” Fishbourne was saying. “You were in Paris, remember, and I was on the point of running over to fetch you when I had an anonymous letter.” “What, the letter you were telling me about?”

“The same. By the way, I don’t think I have shown it you yet, have I? I have got it iu the house somewhere.”

“Of course you haven’t shown it me,” Lady Fishbourne said. “Yon Seem to forget that I have just come back. But go on. You had an anonymous letter which, as usual, you ignored.” “I did,” Fishbourne admitted sorrowfully. “It was a card letter, with the Brighton postmark, asking me to come down here at once, and go over my plate chest. And, surely enough, when I did get here yesterday, the Cellini service was missing. Of course, I don’t suspect any of the servants, and the police seem to he utterly at fault, but there is no getting away from the fact that the stuff has gone. It’s a bit of real good luck that the thieves did not get hold of your ■jewellery as well.” “Yes, I read all about that iu the paper as I was coming down in the train this morning. But, tell me, how on earth did the reporters find out that my gems were there?” Ou Fishbourne’s face there was a complacent smile. “Oh, X let the chaps know that m,yself,” he said. “Rather a clever dodge, I consider. You see, after what has happened, those chaps will never dare to come here again, and I thought it just as well to leave your jewels where they were. It’s one of those stunts that clever people adopt to throw others off the scent. I rather flatter myself that I have done them this time.”

“But you really don’t propose to leave them where they are?” “Indeed I do. my dear, and I am quite sure that any detective would say that I am doing the right thing. Let’s ask Shute.. He is a cunning beggar, and I am sure he will back me up.”

Shute was coming along the terrace, followed by Macglendy, and, behind them a footman carrying a tea tray, for it was a wonderfully mild afternoon, and it had been decided to have tea out of doors. Shute lounged up in his easy way, and Macglendy, who seemed to be equally at home, dropped into a seat by the side of his hostess. “Now, look here, you chaps,” Fishbourne said. “I have just been talking to my wife about that mysterious

robbery that took place here a (lay or two ago, when I was in London.” “Ah, very interesting,” Shute (Trawled. “I suppose-you haven’t heard of the stuff, by any chance?” “I haven’t,*’ Fishbourne replied. “But the strange thing is that the thieves lett behind them something much more valuable intrinsically than the plate they got off with. Of course, the service was one of our most precious possessions, and I am exceedingly sorry to lose it.” “Did it ever occur to you to offer a reward?” Macglendy said with a side glance at his confederate. “It might not he melted up even yet. lam told that some of those receivers of stolen goods are exceedingly good judges of gold and silver, and. though the thieves themselves were probably utterly ignorant of the value of their plunder, the same remark need not apply to the man who purchased the stuff. Very likely the set is still intact.” “I shouldn’t be at all surprised,’ Shute said. “You see, there are lots of people, especially in America, who would be quite willing to buy the Cellini plate, even if they knew it had been stolen. Merely for the sake of possessing such a treasure. I know of two cases in point. So, if I were you, Fishbourne, I would- offer a reward. say, of ten thousand pounds, on the off chance of getting it back. It might come off. You never know.” “I would pay that cheerfully,” Fishbourne said.

Once more the confederates exchanged swift glances. They knew perfectly well where the stolen silver was hidden, at Blythe’s suggestion, and if this thing could be worked, then they would make at least twice as much money as they had anticipated.” “I think I will do it,” Fishbourne went on. “It can be done through one of those offices in the city, without having the police down upon us for offering to compound a felony. But I have not told you the biggest joke of the lot. I suppose you saw in the papers that my wife’s jewellery was actually in the safe at the same time as the other stuff was stolen?” “Oh, I saw it right enough,” Shute said carelessly. “But all the same, I didn’t believe it.” “Well, it was a fact all the same,” Fishbourne chuckled. “The whole of the collection was there, in a set, of drawers at the back of the safe, and I don’t mind telling you, as friends, that it is there still. It’s my little dodge.” Shute looked out to sea, and Macglendy pretended to be interested in a herd of deer crossing the park. Neither of them dared to look at the other, but the same thought was rampant in the minds of both. It was more than annoying that, in their haste, they had overlooked a haul like this, but there was consolation in the fact that within a few yards of them, in an old safe that presented no trouble to an expert hand, was a collection of jewels in many ways the most remarkable and valuable in Europe. And here they were, guests in the house, trusted implicitly, and it would he hard indeed if they did not manage to get away with what they had left behind them. “Yes, that was rather smart of you,” Shute said. “Of course, the average burglar would come to the conclusion that the jewels were taken to a place of safety at once. And. in any case, a second burglary would be too dangerous a game. Y'es, I should say that

the jewels are all right where they are.” ‘‘That is just what I am gambling, upon," Fishbourne said, very pleased with himself. “But, hello, what have we here? Who Is the lady in the car? By Jove, Mary, unless my eyes deceive me, it must he Nettie Frond.” “Nonsense,” Lady Fishborne exclaimed. “Impossible. Nettie has disappeared, getting her living in a city office, or something of that sort, though I should he very pleased to see her again. Who is It, Mr. Shute? You seem to know.” “Oh, that’s my secretary,” Shute explained. “I had to dsk Fishbourne’s permission for her to come down here, because I am behindhand in my work, and I must put in a certain time each morning. As a matter of fact, her name is Frond, but, of course, I had no Idea that she was a friend of yours.” “She is more than that,” Fishbourne said. “She is a relation. She’s stayed here lots of times, hasn’t she, ' Mary?” ■ But by this time, Lady Fishbourne [ had disappeared down the flight of ’ steps leading to the great portico, where she welcomed Nettie with open '■ arms. “My dear child,” she exclaimed-. L “Where have you been all this time, : and what is the meaning of this ? If you have come to pay us a surprise ’ visit, you are more than welcome, but that old aunt of yours told me that • you had run away to get your own r living, and that probably by this time • you had married a cits' clerk, or something of that sort, and living in Brix- ’ ton, or some such horrible place. Well, 5 I am glad to see you again.” ’ “That’s very good of you,” Nettie . said, almost tearfully. “Do you know, i I was almost afraid to come. What ; my aunt told you was quite right. I - am getting my own living as secretary [ to Mr. Shute. You see, I learned typewriting and shorthand, and I was , lucky enough to get an appointment al- , most at once. You can imagine my ’ feelings when Mr. Shute wrote to me ' from here, and told me I must come at once. I was on the point of run- , ning away, when it occurred to me 1 that I was bound to run against some , of my old friends sooner or later, and, well, here I am.’’

“ Quite a romance in its way,” Lady Fishbourne smiled. “But. you always were a plucky little girl, Nettie, and, between ourselves, I don’t wonder at

you running away from that gloomy place In the north where you have been more or less a prisoner all these years. But come along and have some tea —we are having it out on the terrace. It came somewhat as a surprise to Shute to discover that this usually quiet, efficient secretary of his was connected with half the aristocracy, but he was not disposed to complain, because the fact made things all the easier for him “I am glad that you will be quite at home-here, Miss Frond,” , he said- ■■ A n(L I am delighted to find that my lady assistant comes from so distinguished a stoclf.” "Ah, I shall have to behave mysef, I see,” Macglendy said. “Not that I shall he in the way, because I may be called from here at any moment. That is the unfortunate part of being a business man, Lord Fishbourne. I can never call my time my own, not even when I am taking what is called a holiday. Shute will tell you that.” “That’s true enough,” Shute said. “Not that I have any sympathy with him. You see, Fishbourne, these rich men make a slave of their business, instead of ruling it. And that is where men like ourselves have the advantage over them.” Macglendy sighed most regretfully. “Another year or two, perhaps,” he said. “And I shall join the ranks of the unemployed. “But I shall be no happier.” | CHAPTER XIV. —THE SEARCH FOR HARLEY. i They sat there talking for some | time, discussing, among other things, j the manner in -which Fishbourne had l retained his wife’s gems in the Castle, ! until at length, the shadows began . to fall, and it was setting time to dress i for dinner. A little later on Mac-

glendy, ‘who had , changed, walked along one of the corridors until he came to Shute’s room, where he knocked and entered. Shute was already dressed and lay on the Chesterfield in the bay window of the big oak-panelled room smoking a meditative cigarette. “Come in,” he said. “I rather wanted to see you. Well, here we are, my friend, right in the very heart of things, with a dozen big houses within a radius of half as many miles. I suppose you managed all about the yacht before you came away?” “I did that,” Macglendy grinned. “The whole thing is working out beautifully. I managed to get hold of Harley and you may take it for granted that he is safe for some days to come. It was rather a good notion of mine to tell Fishbourne that I might be called away at any moment, because that gives me a free hand, and I can return when I like, merely saying that I have managed to settle my little affairs quicker than I had intended.” *

“That’s good hearing,” Shute said. “And now, as to the yacht. Where is she lying at the present moment?” “Not six miles away from here. It’s a precious good thing for us that among your many accomplishments is the fact that you hold a master mariner’s certificate.”

“Well, if it were otherwise, we shouldn’t be here at all,” Shute said. “I have got the whole programme mapped out, and from this room of mine I can escape through the window by means of a rope ladder, at any time of the night, and get back again before morning. I shall be able to rob a dozen houses In the neighbourhood and hand the stuff over to you. for you to smuggle on board the yacht and convey it to the Green

one any the wiser. But before we go any further and take any sort of risks, forget that the biggest plum of the whole lot is within a few yards of us at the present moment.”

“Ah, Lady Fishbourne’s jewels!” Macglendy laughed. “In a rotten old safe that you and I could pick in half an hour. The thing is so easy that we should not even need to use the yacht. We ought to manage from within the house. X don’t suppose you have any intention of leaving these comfortable quarters for the next day or two. This is rather a new experience to me, and I don’t mind confessing that lam enjoying it. I always had a.weakness for playing the swell game ever since I was a youngster taking my first holiday. I had saved up £lO, and was passing myself off at Scarborough as the Hon. Andrew Macglendy. But this, my boy, is the real thing, and I don’t want to cut it short if I can help it.” “Oh, that’s all right,” Shute laughed. “There is no hurry for a couple of days, and in that time you can swank about to your heart's delight. We have got to think out a plan for getj ting hold of those stones, and that ' will take some time.” Meanwhile, Nettie and her hostess were seated by the fireside in one of I the smaller reception rooms talking | over old times, and waiting for the | gong to ring.

“Now, you’ve got to tell me everything” Lady Fishbourne said. “I want to know why you left your aunt In that mysterious manner, and what induced you to give up a life of luxury for real hard work and a bare living.” Bungalow. A couple of hours will be quite sufficient, and I shall be back in bed long before daylight, with nq (To Be Continued.)