THE COLONEL'S ENEMY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3123, 25 February 1909, Page 2

THE COLONEL'S ENEMY.

BY WINTHROP B. HARLAND. Author of "Lady Elgin's Secret," "A Harvest of Shame," "The Elder Son," "Lord Ashton's Heir," Etc.

CHAPTER Vll.—Continued. "If you are not later," the major said, "I could take the train at ten minutes past, and be in by twelve, so do not keep me waiting. Measure my anxiety by your own, and I am sure you will not." "You need not question my anxiety," Mr Dacre said, "for I dread to go back without the colonel. I cannot bear to think of meeting Dora, she begged so hard to come with me; it seemed as if she had a presentiment that something would happen to him." "If anything has happened, the major said, "her coming down would not have averted it. He went away at twelve —you were not heie till three —and it is better that she know nothing at present. By this time to-morrow our suspicions will be over, or we shall know what we have to face; and should it come to the worst, we must keep it fiom her as long as we can. " He took the second waiter with him, and went to the police station, where he had an interview with the inspector on duty. That gentleman listened to him with marked attention, ar.d wrote down the statement at full length. The waiter gave him particulars of the colonel's personal appearnace, and that of the stranger who came for him, and volunteered the remark that he woul J be able to identify either of them anywhere. "Do you always pay as much attention to your customers and their visitors?" the inspector inquired. "Yes, sir. We get used to it, and it becomes a kind of habit with u?. "A very useful one, especially in a case°of this sort, and we may have to call upon you. That will do for the present." The waiter retired, not sorry for the chance of a scroll, if even for a few minutes only, and the inspector turned with more deference to Frederick Lugard. "The colonel's other friend is still at the Cornwallis, you say, sir?" "Yes, but he is going to London by the next train, in the hope that St. Hilary may have arrived before him." "I should like to see him before he goes. You were right when you said that he ought to have sent to Fletcher and Wyman to ascertain whether they had dispatched an accredited agent to the colonel. I cannot understand how a London man of business could have neglected such an obvious necessity, where the circumstances were so suspicious." "You think them suspicious?" "Undoubtedly. On the one hand jcu have the colonel's note, saying he is going to London; on the other, . the fact that, the stranger turned back—took the trouble to turn back at the last minute—to tell the waiter that they were only going to Crewe. But some people never think out of their own groove, and are lost when nn emergency arises." He left a sergeant in his place, instructing him to set the telegraph at work in-mediately. and the major hid the satisfaction of knowing that the Crewe and London authorities were being communicated with. It was a pleasant surpri?e to him that action could be so promptly taken. "We do not luse any timp," the inspector said, in reply to Lugard's complimentary expression; "our telegraph system is complete, and we can put it in motion at any hour of the day or night. I wish you had come down first instead of the other gentleman; it would have mads a difference of nine hours, and that is a long start to make up." They were on the way to the hotel now, keeping step with military precision, and Lugard answered the inspector's questions as tersely as they were put. "Was it generally known that the colonel was coming to England?" "No. I had mentioned it at the clubs, but the gossip that goes on there is not likely to reach the outside world." "Had you talked much about the colonel's intention of hunting down this old enemy of his, Mr Crombie?" "To the best of my recollection I did not speak'of it to anyone, except Mr Dacre, and those who were present at the time." "His family, I suppose?" "He has no family. No wife or children, I should say. The persons present were his sister, his nephew and the colonel's daughter." "What is Mr Dacre?" "A rich man, independant of business, though he still has transactions on the Stock Exchange. You must have heard of him, the well-known philanthropist." "I have had several well-known philanthropists through my fingers in the course of my five-and-thirty years' experience," the inspector said, dryly;' "and I have generally found that, when a man takes to charity on an extensive scale, it is because he has something to atone for. But this, of course, djes not refer to Mr Dacre. I remember the Crombie case very well, and it was always my impression that he had a lot of confederates. Nov/ some of them may be in London still, k ocking about inside or out of the Stork , Exchange; and it is possible that if the colonel began a ccutec cf dose inquiries concerri g Cion.bie, he might make it warm for some of the others. They may have heard J from Mr Dacre-by a chance word, perhaps—that the colonel \va3 on his way, and got up this plant for him." . ~ ... • "But," the major said, "with a shudder," even if they lured him into a'trap, they would not dare to injure him." ' "We had better not venture upon the onestion of what they might dar--,'" the inspector said. "You, in your time, have heard a..d reed of many mysterious disappearances ,

and undiscovered murders; but the things you hear and read of are nothing to those that come to our knowledge, and are never made public. There are cases, you see, sir, in which publicity would do no good. A newspaper report of a dreadful discovery cannot brirg back the dead, and might be such a shock to the living as would nearly drive them out of their senses; so we use our own discretion, and unless it is for the public benefit, we avoid publicity as much as possible " The purely matter-of-fact and professional tone in which this was uttered sent a chill to the major's heart. "We have to look at these things from every side," the inspector went on, "and deal with, all the possibilities. I have just dwelt upon one of them, an extreme, one, I admit; and you may be frightened yourself without any occasion. The man the colonel went away with may be a genuine agent of Fletcher and Wyman's; and your friend, in his hurry, may have written that note | without consulting him." "I hope we shall find that is so." Lugard observed; "but I cannot help thinking we should have heard from St. Hilary, had all been welll." The inspector may have been of the same opinion, for he mad? no further observation, and he went straight up the broad staircase with Lugard, to the colonel's room. Mr Dacre was waiting, watch in hand; he had very tew minutes to spare. "I came with this gentleman," the inspector said, "to see if the colonel had returned, and he has not?" "He has not," Mr Dacre replied, "What do you think of the matter as it stands?" "I shall be better able to give an opinion to-morrow," the inspector said. "Our reports will come in then, in answer to the inquiries I have sent out to-night; and should they be unsatisfactory, I would recommend the immediate offer of a reward, a large one." "I would give ten thousand pounds," Lugard said, "to know that St. Hilary is safe." "Begin with one thousand," the inspector suggested; "and if you have a photograph of the colonel, send it to me at once. ' A thousand pounds is a big sum, but if we are dealing with the Crombie gang we are fighting with desperate men." "To me," Mr Dacre asid, "the oifer of a reward seems ap unwise To # gentleman of your experience I can only offer an opinion with diffidence; but if the colonel is in danger, in the hands of desperate men, would not the offer of such a reward force them to get rid cf their victim at any risk?" "That could not be done without accomiilices," said the i ispector; "and it is to an accomplice we must look for the information." "My time is up," Dacre said, "and I shall barely catch my train; but before 1 go I should like to impress upon you the fact that an accomplice becomes an accessory, and an accessory would be silent for his own sake. You need not come with me to the station, major; I have a fly at the door, and you shall hear from me in the morning." [to be continued.]