THE STORYTELLER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 92, 27 July 1910, Page 6

THE STORYTELLER.

THE PARROT AND THE PEARLS. A CLEVEE SEXTON BLAKE STORY.

The presence of the boy ill buttons lurking watchfully on the landinir tol I Sexton Blake that he had a visitor whose appearance had aroused that youth's suspicions. The visitor, a little," white-hair-ed man, with watery blue eyes, sat-on the extreme edge of a chair. Between his knees was a dome-shaped object, wrapped in a f.aded green cloth.

The man unfastened a couple of tapes, and removed the covering from a parrot cage. On the perch was a ragged-looking parrot.

"'That's .him, sir," isaid the man; "and I'd give a bit if I'd. never seen the beast. That's my name on that card—Jim Vowles, Pitcher street, Commercial Dock road. I'm a dealer in livestock, as it says on the card, mostly foreign birds. I generally 'buys wholesale, but sometimes I get a few lots as sailors bring v. By 'aid work and serapin' I've gi. fair sick on it lately. Since I got 'old of that daslied bird, it's been regular misery.

"On Thursday, just a week to-day, [ goes to Ruddock's, Bethnal Green, to Duy a few parrots. They're big people in the line, and I've dealt wi' them for year. I buys six, and Nathan Ruddock chucks nie in one for luck—that .beast. I didn't notice 'he's only got one eye till got 'ome, but I warn't surprised, for old Nathan don't give much away. The others was nice birds, but not trained or nothing, of course—the sovt we sell for about fifteen bob, and chuck a cage in About one in ten lives six months, and about one in fifty ever learns to say more'n 'Prettv Polly!'

"I needn't tell you, sir, that a good talker .will always fetch good money. Well, 3 was 'awing a bite and a cup o' tea in the back parlor when my missus rushes in, all excited. 'Jim,' she shouts, |one o' them parrots is'talkin'.' I goes into the shop. Sure enough this bird 'ere was up in the swing, and sure enough he was talkin'. "Alio!' he saws "

The little man broke off quietly, and pointed to the cage. The parrot had climbed into the swing. "Hallo! hallo!" it croaked. "Me belon« a big fella Pete. Hallo! Polly like some pawpaw. Hallo, Pete!" "A Queenslander!" said Sexton Blake. "You'll get no pawpaw fruit in this country, Polly. Well, go on!" The bird began 'to scream and laugh, but Vowles silenced it by throwing the cloth over the cage. "Yes, I knowed it was an Australian bird, sir," the little man continued; "but I couldn't make out what it meant by axing for pawpaw. So it's a sort o' fruit, eh? You guess I was mighty pleased. J listened to the bird for a bit. I could tell some sailor chap 'ad 'ad 'im, and I was afraid he'd start swearin'. He sang out a lot of nautical things, but didn't swear, unless it was in some foreign lingo, and I fancied I'd l done Nathan at last, and got a bird worth quids, even if he only 'ad one eye. He was singin' out 'Me belong a big fella Pete,' when a sailor chap wi' rings in his ears comes in. He points to the parrot, and wants to know where I got it. It wasn't likely I'd let on, for Nathan would 'ave soon wanted it back. He offers me a quid to tell; but not me. Then lie starts to swear and rave, and threaten, .but seein' a policeman crossin' the street, he bolts.

"I puts the parrot' in the back parlor, and tells my wife to let nobody see it, and not to let on where I got it. When I comes back she tells me three men 'ad called. The last was a 'owling swell in a tall 'at and! frock-coat. They didn't want to buy the bird; they wanted to know where we'd got it. i goes to up the shutters, and nearly falls dead. Pasted on my window is a notice—- ' Queensland parrot for sale. Will be sold cheap, as he's blind in one eve. Magnificent talker.', I tel'l you, sir, it knocked me sideways !

"I scraped the thing off, but there was another on next mornin', two hours after I'd opened the shop. And the shop's been watched night and day. They've been pestering me about that parrot, axiir where I got it, and last night the bloke wi' the ear-rings threatened to knife me. I telled the police, but they was still watchin' and waitin', so I brought the bird, and came to you, sir." Sexton Blake rose, and went to the window. Then he beckoned to his client A well-dressed man was lazily walking up and down as if waiting for somebody.

"I've been followed!" gasped Blake's client. "That's the swell."

"Right!" said Sexton Blake quietly. "Take the cage with you, and leave the bird. If they've pasted another notice on your window, let it stay there. 1 shall call on you this afternoon."

I Mr. Nathan Ruddock spread out ihis 'jewelled hands indignantly. ! "My tear, I haf a good mind to shoot 1 you!" he exclaimed. "Dot is six dimes I am ask about a wretched parrot niit ' von eye. It is sixdy dimes I am ask. 1 sell dot parrot to Jim Vowles, in Pitcher street. Vere I get Mm, yes? How I know? I .buy fifty parrots, five hundred, five tousand all at vomce.

Sexton Blake nodded© Wearong a peajacket, a peaked cap, and a silk handkerchief knotted round his throat, he looked a typical member of itihe'erew of some tramp, steamer. "You needn't lose your hair, mate!" said the visitor. "Take it easy! You don't buy odd birds?" "Me buy odd birds?" roared Nathan. "Nefer!, I vas wholesale. You tink I sel ha-ports, eh?" "I can see you don't," said Blake soothingly. '"You've got a 'grand stock, old cluip. No offence. Here, have a cigar! I reckon your birds get loose sometimes. Supposing a stray parrot that had got away came along and heard your parrots, could he get in here without your noticing?" Nathan put the cigar to his nose, and sniffed it.

"My poy," lie answered, "ven dor birds come ofer I go any buy. If there

wns a million, I nefer buy a parrot mit! von eye. Ha, ha! I haf two eyes mine-j self. Dot bird was ein stray. By tier j fuss, you fellers must be sorry to lose' him. Go and get him back from .linij Vowles, and don't worrv me." I

With his hands in his pockets, Sextor. Blake went oil whistling. "Thank you for nothing, friend Na-i than," lie said to himself. "Those lei-1 low« -don't want the bird, but they're I mighty anxious to know where it came from. That parrot had spent a night or two out before it fluttered into Nathan's shop, or it wouldn't be so sooty and bedraggled." The facts were perfectly plain. Here were four men keeping watch over the shop in Pitcher street. Vowles had been shadowed; they had come from as far as Bethnal Green, where a vast business in foreign birds is carried on. No doubt they had questioned half the bird-dealers in the East End of London about a particular Australian parrot with one eye. ''Yes," thought the detective, "the parrot's the bait for a man-trap. This is the place I want."

He turned into a free library, and glanced over the "Lost and Found" columns of a number of newspapers. He had not expected to find the parrot advertised for, and, therefore, he was not. disappointed. About half an hour later,! he paused before a gloomy little shop to light a clay pipe, and to poke a finger | at a little puppy that was confined in aj wire cage, which it shared amicably with a rabbit, two guinea-pigs, and a sleepy tortoise. On the window of the shop a notice was offcing *<i one-eyed talking parrot for sale. "A bargain! A Queensland parrot!" "It's a trap!" muttered Sexton Blake. "That 'Queensland' is the catch. Why not Australian'?' Why specify? That fellow at the corner is clearly on the watch. I'll go and have a drink." He sauntered across to the little public -house. It was a vile place, in an unpleasant neighborhood, but Sexton Blake pushel open the door and flung down his penny for a glass of "four ale." The j company consisted chiefly of bargees and lightermen. But there -was one bronzed i fellow, with ear-rings in his ears, whose! appearance smacked of .deep water and' tropical suns. Blake was just about to speak to him when two policemen enter- [ ed, accompanied toy a 'third man. | The sailor with the oar-rings vanished, | and Blake guessed why. He had outstayed his leave, and the captain of his. ship and the police were searching for him. Tlie watcher at the cornef had also taken alarm. Blake entered the shop. "I've come about a parrot," he said. But as J'im Vowles threw up his hands as if to ward off a blow, Sexton Blak* laughed, and spoke in his natural voice. "It's all right. I may have to stay with you a day ot two, Mr. Vowles." 111. iSexton Blake took possession of a' stuffy room over the shop. Vowles piv-' cured his bag and the evening papers. There was still no advertisement for the parrot. Here were four men, three at least of the seafaring class, watching n bird-shop, dogging the owner, and outraging the rights of a British citizen by pasting notices on his window, while they neglected their own 1 means of livelihood. The surest ways of recovering' anything lost are to advertise or apply j to the police. The bwner af the parrot, had done neither. Wliv ? The obvious' answer was that he was afraid. And it | was absurd to consider tH'at these men were utter maniacs, and that they were trusting blindly to the audacious notice that Vowles had already scraped off his window twice. The one-eved' parrot was a snare. The visit of Vowles- 1 to Sex ion Blake had not scared them, for a man was still on the watch.

As the dusk gathered he sent Vowles to draw the attention of a constable to the paper with as much fuss as he could, and then remove .it. To leave it there might frighten the men. The shop was closed, and sounds of revelry came from the tavern. Blake did not undress. He put out the light at last, and made himself fairly comfortable with a couple of chairs. He' hardly thought that anything further would transpire that night. The tavern- closed its doors, and the detective began to doze, only to sit up erect with' a ssart and listen.

Someone was knocking gently at the door of the shop. Slipping on a pair of tennis .shoes, Blake went quickly down the narrow stairs. The knock was repeated cautiously, and he opened' the door.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at isueh an hour," said a gruff voice, 'but I' called | about a parrot that " A shrill whistle pierced the silence, and a blow on the' chest made the oc- j tective stagger. In a moment he was in I the badly-lighted street. A man' was running for his life, and four other men were in pursuit. Sexton Blake took in a long breath, and ran his hardest... Then came the report of a revolver, and the rattle of falling "hiss. It was a' wild shot, for the bullet had shattered the glass of a street lamp. Blake began to gain. He passed one man. Pursuer and pursued had phinged, into a network of mean streets' an<jl alleys. Guided by the clatter of footlsteps, Blake dashed on. The cold' breath, of the great river was- in his nostrils. He sighted them now, and put on a spurt. Another man was lagging; Then the dark water loomed ahead. i

"Curse you all!" yelled a powerful voice. "You've not got me yet!" A splash followed, The water was hissing out seawards, and there was a thin mist over it, through which the lights of the shipping shone faintly. Another defiant shout rose from the water, buit it died away in a gurgled, choked and ghastly. " The detective blew kis whistle and a whistle from a police-boat answered. One man had remained on the landing stage, a Jhatless man in a irock-coat.

"Yes, Pete's done us, Mr. Blake!" he said. "Oh, I know who you are! If you want me, take me!" He held out his 'hands for the handcuffs. "I reckon you're a white man, though', and if we have a chin together, you won't want me. Pete's gone, for he couldn't swim a stroke. IV. In the little room above the shop the

stranger told his story, a «tory of the Great Barrier lieef or Australia, and of a boat captained bv Peter Donnop, and manned by three white, a Kanaka, and two Chinese. They garnered what treasures they could find—copra, beche-de-nier, tortoise-shell, and hoped-for pearls. "'Luck was bad, and it was a dog's life till we struck a bed of black-lipped pearl oyster," said the man quietly. •'Though Pete couldn't swim better than a bullet, he was the best sailor I ever knew, and the hardest-hearted hound. The only thing he loved was his oneeyed parrot, and he worshipped that. We got six pearls out of that bed. and Pete was made for life. The rest of us, out of our s'hare, reckoned we'd be able to live ashore like dukes for a couple of years, if the wihisky didn't kill us sooner. "Then the luck turned again, and it blew a hurricane. We grounded on a coral reef forty miles from the mainland. We saved the dinghy, and that skunk and the parrot and the pearls went oil in it in the night, though no man or fiend, except Pete Dennop, would have faced the sea. The two Chinese died ot starvation, and we were like skeletons •when they took us off. We got to learn that Pete had sold the pearls and gone ■to Europe. We'd sworn to kill him, but J we could never find him till Kanaka Bill 'heard that okl parrot shrieking out that |he belonged to 'Big fella Pete.' And we j knew Pete would never part with that j bird, but had lost it by accident, and i that he'd turn the world upside down to get it back. He guessed we were on Ins track, too, trust him for that. And he's done us. So you don't want to lock us up? I thought not. Good-night, sir!"