THE BLACK PILGRIM

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20734, 18 February 1939, Page 24 (Supplement)

THE BLACK PILGRIM

By George Stanley

A story of a modern Robin Hood-

(10) MARLY CHORTON—WIZARD When Chorton’s Bank closed its doors upon the rush of panic-stricken depositors who, warned by the whisper that always seems to get out of impending disaster, had hurried to get their savings, the only person who got a laugh from the disaster was Alderman Marly Chorton himself. For he had performed a conjuring trick; he had caused half a million pounds to vanish. Marly had deliberately crashed the bank after careful manipulation over a period of months, because he fell that the time had come for him to retire. His operation had, he knew, been so skilful that with an able K.C. to defend him, the most he would probably get was three years, and he reflected whimsically, as he regarded his growing waist-line, that an enforced diet for a period would do him the world of good. All fell out as Marly Chorton had anticipated, except that he got four years instead of three, hut lie was not distressed as they led him off, for Marly was something of a philosopher. He smiled to himself as he thougiit of the money he had salted away, which he would collect at the end of his period of enforced retirement, reflecting how lucky he had been to be blessed with a wife who saw eye to eye with him in everything. Neither of these two unscrupulous persons cared one scrap for the thousands of heart-broken investors who had seen their small savings swept away in the deluge of Chorton’s fall. Not that either Marly or his wife Gertrude gloated over the fact. For them, th<* unlucky investors simply did not ■Considerable publicity was given to the crash in The Press, owing to the fact that Chorton’s Bank had catered especially for the small investors. In fact, there had been few accounts in it of more than a few hundreds. Among the thousands who read of the crash in their morning papers was The Black Pilgrim. His eyes narrowed as he re-read the splash headlines and the details, to concentrate upon the fact that the bulk of the losses seemed to concern the cash reserve of just over half a million pounds. This had been Marly Chor-

ton’s conjuring trick—for that cash reserve had vanished into the air. Gertrude Marly-Chorton was allowed to say farewell to her husband, and what passed between them at the interview will never be known. Marly vanished at the end of their meeting into the prison from which lie was not destined to emerge, and Gertrude returned to the,hotel, where she had taken rooms, "heart-broken,'’ as the reporters said, at the ruin of all her hopes. She was not so heart-broken. Two days later when she entered a taxi which carried her and her luggage to a railway station. From there she proceeded to a south-coast rpsort where she registered under her maiden name of Sladder. She left the hotel two days later, and moving quickly from one hotel to another, might have succeeded in shaking off any pursuer less tenacious than The Black Pilgrim, who had followed her under various disguises, from the time she had said farewell to Marly Chorton. Her continuous movements mighl at first have been assumed to be the desire of a saddened woman to escape publicity, but the movement lasted toe long. When at last Miss G. balder fresh name the wife of Marl: Chorton had registered at her- las hotel, bought a car at a garage -a n to drive a was two do >: later heading West, her trailer wa: still strong on the scent. The car which "Miss G. Solder’ drove so recklessly, sped out Iron the narrow streets of Southampton and switching - , passejl on towards tin New Forest. It reached Lyndhurs during the late afternoon, to stop be fore a quaint tea-house, where tin driver alighted. Leaving his car ready to resum« the chase, The Black Pilgrim en tered the tea-house and, submerge among the llock of visitors, followet his quarry to one of the capaciou rooms. Here, over a leisurely tea, he con tinued to keep observation. At las "Miss G. Salder" rose from th table, and The Black Pilgrim- settle, his bill to hurry out to his car. Thus, when the unsuspecting wo man sped away from Lyndhurst, In • sily able fol - er as sin raced on towards the sea. At las she swerved the car at it was passinj through a village, and The Black Pii

grim, who had been held up by a crpss-road traffic, nearly lost the trail. lie observed the tail of the car disappearing round a bend, and racing onwards, saved the situation. The sign-post at the fork road they passed read: “Mardle Hilton 4 miles.” Four miles on they entered a tiny village, from which the sea could be seen. Passing the village, the road turned inwards and crossed a bridge over a small river. Here the car of “Miss G. Balder” turned and ran up the drive of an old house, whose thick stone walls looked as if they had been built to defy the ages. The Black Pilgrim drove on, and had reached a clump of trees which covered a lit tie knoll several hundred yards away, before be pulled up. Satisfied that his movements could not be observed, be watched the house through a pair of glasses. He saw Miss G. Balder reach the front door and stand there, apparently giv- | ing instructions to the servant who | appeared, for her car to be put away, j Then she vanished into the house, while the servant removed a suitcase from the car and followed her. Presently two men appeared, who pushed Hie car into the garage. They looked no ordinary servants; in fact, they looked more like ex-bruisers, a thing which made the hidden observer wonder. Satisfied that he had succeeded in tracing Mrs Marly Chorton to what i appeared to be her permanent home, i The Black Pilgrim climbed into his car and sped away for the nearest | place where he could obtain accomj modation for the night. Christchurch seemed indicated, ac- ! cording to the map, and here he found i what lie wanted. After wallowing in i a hut. bath, he strolled down to enj joy a late dinner, indulging in a bottle ! of excellent wjiio as a reward fur his i labours. The following morning he was about j early and. making a reeonnaisanee of \ the abode of Mrs Marly Chorton, found | that it was known as The Gate House. A wall surrounded the grounds in which it. lay and, as he had seen on l the previous day. the drive was open j for anyone to enter. It was obvious | I bat the place could, however, be completely enclosed by the simple 1 expedient of shutting the high, iruni barred gates at the entrance to the | Leaving his car in the little village | of Mardle Hilton, The Black Pilgrim | strolled along by the sea to And that ! the wag belonginig to The Gate House i ran right down to the water’s edge. ! He climbed the wail at a point near j the sea. and was strolling along the j sand towards the further wall, when I he heard someone shouting, j He turned and saw the figure of a l man who had appeared from the gar- ] den of The Gate House hurrying toi wards him. Calmly The Black Pil-

grim awaited the man’s arrival, puffing leisurely at his pipe. “This is private property!” growled the man, ominously. “You can get out the way you came, and don’t come back!” “Is that so?” replied The Black Pilgrim. “I see no, notice to that effect. Therefore the foreshore is open to anyone who cares to walk upon it. Your master has no right to erect that wall!” Dumbfounded by this counter-at-tack, the man paused. His manner changed to something approaching civility, as he answered: \ “I don’t know about that,” he said. “My orders are that no trespassers are to he allowed on this ground, and I’m carrying them out. If you have a complaint you’d better call at The Gate House.” “1 certainly will.” answered The Black Pilgrim. “Who is your master ?” "Mrs Court,” said the man. .“Now, I must ask you to leave.” He followed as The Black Pilgrim marie his way back to the wall, keeping one hand ominously clutching something which lax in his pocket, and the intruder pruessed what that something might be. Intrigued by this hostile reception, The Black Pilgrim resolved to pursue his investigations. He returned to Mardle Hilton, obtained his car, and sent it racing back to Christchurch in time for breakfast. This over, he passed the remainder of the day in touring the vicinity, endeavouring to pick up what gossip he could, relating to the occupants of The Gate House. lie discovered that it had been taken over by the present owner, Mrs Court, some eighteen months before, and that she had lost her husband, who had been an art collector. It was apparently well known in Ihe neighbourhood that she employed guards to look after the property, and tlie reason tgiven was that the house contained many priceless works of art and other objects of considerable value. Nobody in the locality appeared to have seen these valuables, but Mrs Court paid her bills regularly, and was a satisfactory client for all the local shopkeepers. Armed with this information, The Black Pilgrim determined to pay a visit to the house and verify facts for himself. Accordingly, during the late afternoon. he entered his car and proceeded to The Gate House. lie found j the iron gates open and sent his car up the drive. As lie did so lie ob- [ served lliat a man had emerged from J the tiny shelter by the entrance and j was staring alter his car. He pulled up at the front door, and, mounting the steps, rang the bell. It was answered in such suspicious haste that he guessed that his entry

had been communicated in some way to the house, by the man at the gates.

He handed a c-ard to the sharp faced man in a semi-uniform who opened the door. “I should like to see Mrs Court,” he said, “if she can spare me a moment.” “This way, sir," said the man. He opened the door leading to a well furnished lounge hall, and requestii G the visitor to wait, vanished into tlie interior of the house, bearing the card. He returned a few moments later. “if you come this way, sir.” he said; “Madam will see you.”

The Black Pilgrim followed his guide along the hall to a rear room which looked upon the sparkling waters of the Channel. But lo his surprise the room was empty of any human occupant. “Will you please take a seat, sir,” said the servant. “Madam will be with you in a moment.” He walked from the room and The Black Pilgrim sat. upon a chair which gave a view of tlie sea. He had not been in the room long before lie experienced that peculiar feeling which comes to a person when lie is being watched. He rose from his seat and stared from the window at the view outside as if unconscious of the scrutiny lo which lie was being subjected. Then lie heard a door close behind him and turned to l'acq Hie bold black eyes of the woman who had entered. “I am Mrs Court,” she. said, coldly. “I understand that you wish to see “Yes,” answered The Black Pilgrim. “You will fuiigivi me, but I am interested in the ri- ; -way which belong to Hu pi- q»i l sli >uld !bv what auilioritv a v all be< n I built fnmi this liouso. *n..i only down •to tlie foreshore, but right to the ‘ water. The foreshore sui\d; is nu- ' body’s pro per ly'! ’ j i lUt'lvttjlfin why jou I‘utlowl .'.l :m- ir jiu .n V s..e «k----i.landed. "Hu you ii.in./ Mi 1 mi I absolute fool? i saw you wa.i.na when i left my hotel at miut.hamiduii, led j you to reveal yuursel! oil the i'ea.l i here, and observed with sun.rise ' lial you were still follow.n- me at Lyi.iliiurst. May 1 ask Lie reason -or these unwanted a! tent ions ?" To be continued on Mon.lay.