"THE WEB."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8868, 31 October 1907, Page 2

"THE WEB."

CHAPTER XVll.—Continued. : c "Beeton, why, bless my life, I had r forgotten all about him," said Strangways. '"Why, the demented crea- { ture must be splashing about in the ( English Channel by this time, trying j to swim to Ame"ica, if he has not i caught a boat." t "Caught a boat? Do you ntean to pay that you have allowed th/it man , to go back to America without " J "Without Miss Rentoul; well, as ] Miss Rentoul showed no inclination x to stop with him, I do not see how I ] could very well prevent it. Besides, they both left my house without very ', •much ceremony, and I think I may , claim that they have taken themselves , >off my hands." "Then what are you doing with Miss Rentoul on your hands?" "If you will pardon me, sir," said Medhurst, intervening as Jack was about to tell the story, "we seem to be keeping this young lady up, and if I may venture to suggest, the young lady next door will be all the better if the place were a bit quiet." "Oh, I see, you are the doctor, then; why didn't you say so before instead of allowing us to treat Miss Rentoul in our amateur fashion?" "This is " "Ye 3, I am one of Mr Strangways tenants, miss, and, coming across him in London, he has taken me out to see the sights. We happened to find the young lady next door looking for vour house, and she didn't know the "way, so we all took a cab and came here together, and now I don't know how I'm going to get to my cousin's house down at Brixton tonight, and as for the squire here, what with me and what with the young lady he don't seem like getting any rest to-night, and, begging his pardon, it is about time he had some." "No, I'll be hanged if I rest anywhere until we have made some sensible arrangement about Miss Rentoul. The poor girl seems to be hunted from pillar to post." "You will pardon me suggesting, sir, she is best off where she is for this night at any rate, and it seems to me that hotel we 'passed on the way will have to be knocked up and told that we are bona fide travellers." Medhurst managed to get Jack out before he had found time to offer any further explanation, and as they were about to turn their faces towards "Jack Straw's Castle," Strangways ventured to protest again against what he called the unreasoning suspicions of his employee. "Why one would think you even suspected Esther Elders from the manner in which you deceived her as to who you were and shut me up every time I tried to give her a lucid explanation of the situation." "If you had had as much to do with this kind of business as I have, Mr Strangways, you would know that the less you say to anybody the more you are likely to succeed. If your friends are all going to know exactly who and what I am, and we are going to issue periodical statements as to how things are going on and what progress we are making, lam afraid you'll be a very much older man before you have discovered the murderer of your father." "Oh well, I suppose you know best, but it makes one feel a bit embarrassed. Acting on your advice, I put Theodore Beeton off with a fairy tale that you were a solicitor carrying through a big transaction for' me, and that your telegram merely referred to that." "You showed him my telegram, then," said the ex-detective, with sdme little disappointment in his voice. "I hai to in order to save an allround row which might have kept him at our heels all the time.! The man is simply gone crazy on that girl, although he is one of the smartest men of business in the two hemispheres." "Yes, it's the clearest-headed people on other matters that usually do get a wrong twist where women are concerned," retorted Medhurst ungallantly. "Now, look here, Tom Medhurst, I will not have this. You are always insinuating that this girl is defrauding everybody. I can assure you she is one of the nicest girls, a real good sort." "I beg your pardon, sir; I don't mean to suggest anything against the young lady; I never do suggest anything against anybody; but I want to know all that's to be 3aid good or bad against anybody before I mark the discharge sheet." "Oh well, come along then, let's find a bed somewhere. I'm just about off my feet, and Miss Rentoul is safe there anyway for the night." A couple of rooms were eventually secured, and Medhurst saw his master safe in one of them. Remarking to the landlord that he had .a night job to see to and might not .be back before they were up in the morning, He slipped out, and made fcis way t.rvards the den in Hampstead Road. Cautiously examining the garden gau*, he whistled softly to himself and diew off some distance to light his pipe and leisurely watch the stars in their courses. A policeman on beat passed him and re-passed him, and then by a masonic intuition dropped into friendly conversation with him. Tog-ether they walked down to the garden gate. "It hasn't been opened yet, you notice," said Medhurst, "and I want to keep my eye on another point. If you see some people go into this place and afterwards come out, make any fiovt of excuse you can for detaining them on suspicion, and whatever's the damage, my employer will see you through." "But I haven't got any charge against them."

PAUL URQUHART.

[Pcblished'sßy Special Arrangement.] [All Eights Reserved.]

] "If you can't discover a reason for detaining somebody who comes out of a house in the early hours of the morning, you are a bit slow at this *ame, m.ate. A couple of hours will be good enough for me. If you ran keep them under observation for that time, I'll undertake to make it a case that will do you a good curn." When Jack Strangways, after only an hour or two's fretful sleep, woke up with fche birds and cried out for Medhurst, he found his man's bed unoccupied, and moreover showing no signs of having been slept in. Hurriedly dressing himself he stalked across the heath to the mansions where Esther Elders' flat was tucked snugly away with several suites of rooms occupied by various artists, writers and other people unaccustomed to early hours. The blinds were all drawn, the place was lifeless save in one particular room where there were evident signs of early bustle. Through the open window people could be heard moving about, and Jack quickly realized that this was the room where they had taken Miss Rentoul in the middle of the night. Somebody else had noticed the same thing, and as Jack was looking aimlessly around him wondering what excuse he could find for disturbing the ladies at this early hour, his eye fell on a familiar figure cosily sheltered under the temporary shed erected for the convenience of people engaged in,some building operations on the opposite side of the road. "What preposterous game are you up to now, Medhurst," he said testily. "You evidently haven't had a wink of sleep all night." "Before 1 sleep again we've got to have our birds caged, or they'll take wing for other climes. I'm rather afraid they've got the hint already. In fact, so close has the game come that I have had to call in the help of the regular force, a thing which I never intended to do till the very last." "Do you mean you have effected an arrest of somebody?" "No, I merely asked a constable to detain anybody who happened to go in the house in Hampstead Road. Nobody has been there since we left it. Seeing that everything was right here I strolled down an hour ago when the constable was due to go off duty, and found everything just as we left it." - "Did you tell him about the man inside?" "No, a good sleep will do him good after what he got last night, but we shall have to be moving soon, and as the young ladies inside there appear to be up and about, we must take the liberty of calling on them. I want to ask a few questions of Miss Rentoul." "Oh, you are going to worry that poor girl again, are you?" i "Well, I must point out to you, sir, that we have as yet had no account of how she came to be where we found her, and there is one question I want to put to you. If we formally apply for a warrant for the arrest of certain people, the case then goes over to the regular police. We can't prevent them from taking what steps they think fit, and you may depend they will want to know something more about this lady than 'we know already. Do you want Miss Rentoul clear out of this, or do you want the case to take its course?" It hadn't struck Jack in this light before, and he began to see the force of Medhurst's argument. Unless Miss Rentoul was to be handed over with the rest when the case came to the hands of the Crown Prosecutor, they must see her clear of all suspicion before they opened their lips. He knew by experience what it meant when supsicion lighted on a person who was receiving the attentions of the Crown authorities. "I think you are right, Medhurst," he said slowly, "and early as it is we had better interview Miss Rentoul at once." They clambered up the winding j stairs to the particular door they desired and knocked gently. It was some few minutes before the knock I was answered, and then Alice Beaumont, in a chic morning gown, met them. "You are early visitors," she laughingly remarked; "perhaps you had better come into my studio. That is never more untidy at one time than another." "We are rather pressed for time," replied Jack, "and while we are sorry to disturb her at so early an hour, it is imperative that we should have a few words with Miss Rentoul." "Then you are too late, even although you are early. Miss Rentoul has gone out." "Ah!" (To be Continued).