The Dark House at Highgate

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10687, 6 August 1912, Page 2

The Dark House at Highgate

'OOf KCi<KL.)

■Chapter X. Continued. So I -rose, and followed him to tiro •window, and faced « se|iiarcly. "Doctor •Rimington," «a:d, is a serious affair. What term* ;r<* you prepared to offer?" "Well," lie replied, "I'm glad voa're open to reason. You'll understand i that- I' ve ibeon- advertisiiVg lately pr«t----i tiy extensively, which has lowered m\ exchequer. But I've been thrown .tig out a sprat to c.sto'h a whale; thus Lu> Water as bound to go, and when - offer you a thousand ordinary shares in l the concern I'm not offering you was.,o pa-per. ■ How docs'- that sll i Ico jou, sir? (We are jiwt about to tura it into :i limited company." With this remarkable offer my hopes were suddenly dashed to carta again. Was not llimington merely trying to bribe me -into gilencc eoncerni'Lig the red-haired boy's injudicious revelations about the new patent mediriine, or was 'there a ci .rkor r.ij >;ery bc-iiiind li'is manifest anxiety vj. eouciUate? It was nii-noving to bs m:staHn for a. very petty sort of b tack ma -j\ but I thought that Itimiaigton wa ma Ming 'that mistake, and perhaps 1 .showed annoyance in my face, for 'lie doctor added: "WeTI, sir, thus 'ss a pretty big thing, and maybe I'm doing wrobg in trying to settle matters offhatnd like this. If you'll give me your solemn lindevtaki'ng, to take no action against us for a week, during whicli time wo than try to come to terms, I'll unlock that door. But inot otherwise." "You can't imagine that you're able to keep me a prisoner here," I said, amazed and contemptuous. , 'I have o/ily to open the window and ealj for the police." "To- opeti it you're got to get to :t:" observed iUmingtbn quietly. He was standing mow wliMi hig back to the ■window, L'ts hands still in the pockets:of his loose office coat In' spite of Ins quiet, monotonous way of spooking,

was evident that lie was under llio stress some gr«*t exe:-R. r.

lieroe eyes anid /lowering brows sliow.ed liirn to be in deadly earnest. He wa.s net the cnan to .stop short of crimei-f ho could not gain, liis eiids without it

"No, fir," he went on, "I'll üb-lock that door it you give me your promile of -silmeo tor a week And 1 would ©u'ggey; th-.t you come wit-li t o right now, and (lino with mo iuid voy partner, and we can discuss the tioii- of tyi'iiiH at our le:euro I'm prepared to deal i-crou-sity with you, Mr •Rye raft, if you'i.l act Mko -a. white man and 'bo goneiuiis to u.v." Was h possible that this man was, afUn- a'!, bargaining tor <Oll- - the death of Mr .Betsworch Y If s:>, how crnrld he ifoe s-o tint 1 Jiue\v mere abc-ut it thao was kirrvn to the holice

The a'.wwi\r to thesc questions vv;inot likely to ho arrived at by falling in, with the man's proposals.

"1 agree to your suggestion, and .1 will go with you," 1 juid.

CHAPTER XT

A 1 R.'.NO K HOUSEHOLD

When Rimingtun talked of •!.U' , !g w"-i hj:- ]jartiier, 1 pict';r d a .. icr in a fashionable West I'lnd i'ostaurav.t, with a plausible company proumtur adding his •porsu.isuxis to llimington a, to induce mo to make terms with them.

But the motor car in which we rfclills office threaded its way through the busy streets in a northerly directuo, and I soon db.served that we were making for Hampstead or Highgate. On the way, Rimington talked in litis even-, monotonous vo'.ee about the thousand atad one money-making schemes he had attempted in tiie past, and expressed the opifnion that his nrei?i;fc scheme was 'the biggest thing he had yet undertaken. The care carve to a standstiJll at last, outside a house ski thickly begirt with trees that very little of it was vi>siible from the road. Feathery plumes of acacia, clusters of pink may, and white spikes of chestnut ibloom. showed in the ma® of green that surmounted the garden wall, and all had aiu un tended .'.pipearance. The one window visible through the defuse foliage was 'barred, and without' curtains. Hfiinington alighted, and I followed him through a gate in the 'wall and down- a covered passage to the house door. This the doctor opened with a latchkey. "i board with any part' ner," lie explained, "for the present. Please walk in, Mi* Rycroft-."' i am not, I hope, wanting in ordinary courage; but prudence whispered that 1 might be doing a infill thinig in entering this gloomy house, I in company with a stranger tw'hora I

(To be Con tin

BY DERWENT MIALL. A thor of "Lady Kosalie's louacy," "Bellamy's Warning," "The Strange Case W Yincent Hume," "In the Wou. " Etc Etc.

almost .suspected oi' murder. There was something queer about the aspect of the ontrance hill; ;t suggested that the liou.se was slowly crumbling to decay; .seem&l a strange Jiouao for a company prom-Hor of a co.rtak degree of aflluenee- -for Ki.mingtd'il'o motor car seemed to show tliat t!io Lite Water was a paying !-'oduct; but there was nothing for it now ibufc t<o learn as much a,s i could about the occii'hah.ts of the house, u.'.li the hope of being abile to gither <urne facts ithat might dispel forever my doubts about Tony. f?b T followed ißiuiington into a lang, p.parselly furnished room—a .pancir, apparently—which wa.s hat heel in preen •light; for all the light that found it' nay into tho room was fil'r-ieil through the u'ndfpped trees and the hanging creeper that screened vhe window. Near the litter, stifF and straight, in a high-backed chair, sat a . whiteh'airedl lady, with bla.-k eyes, pierciingly ibright. The doctor approached lior with evident deference in -his manner. "This I<s Mr Rycroft, of whom yiu hive heard me sneak," he said. ''Mr Rycroft i® a very .successful artist. Mr Rycroft., let me introduce yon to Madame. Claude."

Conscious of lifting severely scrutinfrsed :by thasfi keeii, bl'ack eyes, 1 bowed, and took a seat near Madame Claude, who was' laiming hbnself with a black fan, the evening beiing very warm. While I admired tho clear tints of her unwritikled face and tho ■•beautiful white. hair, elaborately dressed, 1 was at a loss to account for the hostility expressed hy her bright eyes. She had shown 110 ©urjpr-ise at my coming, and air orange-coJoured envelope on a side table suggested that R!im ington had prepared her for the visit "Jby telegram. Was there n iMansieur Claude, L wondered. Pr-!-sumaJbily lie would be the (partner Ruriington had spoken of. "I 'hope Mr Rycroft comes liiere a.s a f Heard," she said, arising from h'.:r chair.

"Certainly," J said. "Why not. y "

And ißimcngton chimed in: ''Mr Rycroft has come to have a quiet chat with us both, and T<-. prepared to ret in a reasonable and generous mar:icr. 'Madame Cluidc. J. feel! assured that we have, no maliee 'or interferences to dread from Mr Rycroß." "Hush!" si'iid madnme, whom T now, with some astonishment, recognised for Rimiugton's partner. "Hush!" say nothing before Cecile." A tail, dirk-eyed girl, with a croamwhilo face a:id a listless air, now canto into tlie room, and was made kl:iown to me as .Mademoiselle Claude. She, at ::ll events, appeared to .'be .startled to see me; probably visitors were 'not numerous in this .strange hous>.\ where, assuredly, no money was wasted on keeping up appearances. Cocile was mot beautiful, Ibut I icvM to studying, her face with furtive attention. J judged her to 'bo of a shy, sensitive, nature, a creature el moods; and 1 could imagine that in some of h-er moods, she was aimost beautiful. At present, however, she was plainly 'unhappy, and the mood did l lot suit her expressive young • i-.\ 1 tfel't that it would be a iplessant "•ass

for any man, whose love wa.s not already given elsewhere, to bring a gleam of happiness and tcmdemes.i ii,to those mournful dark eyes. in 1 the quarter hour before dinner conversation was strained and desultory • how, indeed, should it have been otherwise? Of the four peop'e gathered in the shabby eld parlour, one, .the guest, was oppressed by a sens® of mystery and impending storm. ißimfmrgton was electrk" with uneasy <xcitement. Madame Gtmdo wa's -':riaiful iof .scarcely veiled hostility, and Ceeile was and uirs'ntercsted.