THE BLACK PILGRIM

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20735, 20 February 1939, Page 11

THE BLACK PILGRIM

A story of a modern Robin Hood.

STORY X. continued) “You may inueed,” replied The Black Pilgrim. "1 am considerably intrigued to discover why Mrs Court of The Gate House, Mardle Hilton, changed her name when she bought this property!” The woman's face turned pale at this statement and, for the moment, she stared horrified at her companion. ‘‘What do you mean?" she demanded, hut her voice sounded strained and her eyes searched The Black Pilgrim's face as she continued. "Who are you? You know as well as i I do that your excuse for entering j this house is a lie." | “That may be." answered The Black i Pilgrim. "What would you say if I told you that 1 came from your husband, Marly chorton, the rnan who is now in Jail serving a sentence for fraud?” “Wnat!" gasped the woman. ‘ What —do you mean? Are you trying to blackmail me?" "I want a share of the half-a-mil-linn which Chorton got away with," snapped The Black Pilgrim, and then, as a shot in the dark, he added, “I know that you've got it here!" The look of terror and amazement upon the face of the astounded woman before him told the truth, and proved ! more than any words, that The Black | Pilgrim s chance statement was cori red. "How did you find that out?” gasped I the woman, almost involuntarily. 1 *‘l have my agents," answered her

By George Stanley

companion. "Do you think that all the men you have here, not one of them has the brains to realise what has been going on for the iast eighteen months? You and your husband g"t clear with that half-a-million, or >o you thought. Well, there are others interested in it besides you. What would you say if ] told you that most of your men are in my pay .’ I will leave you to think things over. This is Tuesday. On Friday morning I will come back and you can make me an offer. 1 am not greedy. A haif-a-million would split nicely into live parts. Y’ou might consider giving me a fifth. Think it over, .Mrs Court-Marly-Chorton. Good morning!" He strolled from the room, leaving a terrilFed woman sitting upon a chair behind him. It was not The Black Pilgrim's usual practice to so scare a woman, but even:s had shaped themselves into his hand, and he had acted his part accordingly* But, as he* left the house, escorted by the servant who had admitted him, he kept a watchful eye open in case any attempt was made to prevent his departure. Nothing of such a nature, however, took place, and the car ran smoothly away for Christchurch with the driver pondering over the sudden situation which had arisen. He ate a leisurely dinner at the hotel, after having: considered the possible action of Marly chorions wife, and remained in the hotel until nearly nine o'clock. With the excuse that his car had

developed a fault, he hired a car from l Die garage which was attached to the hotel, so that it would not be recog- j nised by Mrs Marly Chorton. Then, ■ 1 ■ made his preparations, be sent (he hired car towards The Gate House as soon as darkness had fallen. \rrived at the clump of trees from which be bad observed the house i• cc before, he ran the car from off the road and sat perched ufron the ro..f. searching tlm surroundings of The Gate House With a pair of night glasses. For his theory was, that in-p red by the feeling of insecurity which he had aroused, probably unable to trust most of the staff which were guarding the house and, in fear of what the blackmailing intruder might demand, the wife of Marly Chorton would make an immediate attempt to remove the money to a safer His intuition proved correct. He had waited over an hour when he saw a powerful lorry coming from the direction of Christchurch. It passed his hiding place and swerved into the drive of The Gate House, to jerk to a stop at the door. Four men alighted, and proceeded info the house, to emerge a short while later carrying boxes, which they loaded upon the lorry. The servant, who had admitted The Black Pilgrim to the house of Mrs Marly Chorton, appeared to be supervising their actions. Of the other men who had been guarding the premises, there appeared to be no sign. It was obvious that they had either been dismissed, or that they had been disposed of in some other way. At last the lorry was fully loaded. Then, to his surprise, The Black Pilgrim saw the lights in the house gradually fade out. Next, the four men, accompanied by the one servant and Mrs Marly Chorton, climbed into the lorry, .which slowly backed away from the house.

It came down the drive to stop outside the gates, and the servant got down to close them, before he again mounted the lorry.

The Black Pilgrim ran for his car as the full import of this came to him and, as the lorry slowly gathered speed lo proceed through the village of Mardle Hilton, he sent his car in pursuit.

On through the night the lorry proceeded. The Black Pilgrim not daring to get too close, nor daring to get too far away, for he had not the slightest idea as to what point the vehicie might be making. It was nearly two hours later when

r.he lorry pulled up at a wayside allnight cafe, <mu then The Black Pilgrim, from a distance, saw the lorry start into action, leaving the men still unconscious of its departure, within the cafe.

He jerked his car into action and followed in pursuit. Two hours later, as dawn was beginning to crack the night sky, the lorry slid stealthily into a private yard, where arrange-

ments hacl apparently been made for its reception.

Leaving his car at an all-night garage, The Black Pilgrim made his way on foot to the yard. From a hidden point lie watched Mrs Marly

Ghorton and her servant discussing some weighty matter. in the end the weary woman gave way to the suggestions of her companion, who escorted her from the yard, towards a neighbouring hotel. It was The Black pilgrim’s opportunity. In an instant he had crept into the deserted yard and mounted the lorry. It was a well cared for vehicle, and the engine woke into life at his touch. lie eased off the brake and the heavy lorry rolled slowly down the slope of the yard to gather speed as it gained the road. A sharp turn, and then the straight road was before him.

Treading on the accelerator The Black Pilgrim smiled grimly, as he sent the lumbering vehicle racing through the deserted streets. As soon as he was able he merged the lorry into a si ream of iaden vans and

ears bearing produce to Go vent Garden, and when at last he entered the inner ring of the Metropolis, he drove the lorry for the mews where he maintained a hidden base. Luck was with him, and so far as he could gather, no eye saw the lorry

asit was driven into the mews. Once under cover The Black Pilgrim gave a sigh of relief. He changed the number plates of the lorry, then worn out with the excitement of the night's happening, he fell upon his bed and dropped asle<\iIt was four o'clock in the afternoon when he awoke and lay a moment | whiie recollection of the previous j night's happenings flooded back. The j lorry containing the half-a-million j pounds, which he had removed on the i : pur of (he moment, was his problem. ■ riir he had to dispose of it in a manner which would not throw any sus- ; p.eiun upon himself, but would en- j sure Iliai the money and valuables which it contained fell into the right i hands. I Then he remembered the car be- j long:; i r to the hotel at Christchurch, i ci: lie had left behind at an all- j :light garage. He decided that this j could wait for the moment Springing from his bed lie took a .•old shower, and after a hearty meal ; sat smoking while he thought over his problem. At last he arrived at a decision. rl'Uing down at the table he proceeded to print a message upon one of the cards bearing the little figure of The Black Pi.’igrim on top. He read the message with a chuckle of -.tlisl'aclioii, and then addressed the • envelope. From a cupboard he took : out a peaked cap and dark uniform of .1 mobile-police officer, and spent several minutes in front of the lookbig glass in disguising himself, satis- : ,cd at last with his appearance, he I put on the uniform, j He waited in the mews until darkness had fallen, then he examined J ihe contents of the lorry to be sure j hat it contained the money which ' Marly ChorLon had removed. Packets >f Treasury notes, bank notes, bonds ! «nd negotiable securities formed the , jonteqls of the consignment, and The i .flack Piigrim guessed that, if necesI sary, ample proof would be lorthcomi mg from the hoard that it was the missing 1 half-a-million from Chorion's bank. I Eleven o'clock was striking when ; lie opened the big gates leading from j ihe mews, and after making sure that j nobody was in sight, drew out the \ lorry. * He closed” and locked the | doors, then, mounting the lorry, he ; rit it forward into the night, j It was nearing midnight when he : drove the lorry into the courtyard at • eotland Yard despite the protests of | ;he duty man at the gate, who hurried forward to intercept him. “Don't get excited." said The Black Pilgrim, as he climbed from his driv-ing-seat. “I’ve had instructions to drive this in here. Inspector Barney Bye will be in shortly. You are to give him this envelope when he comes. I’ve got to help my mate." Unsuspectingly, owing to the mo-bile-police uniform which The Black Pilgrim wore, the constable look the . nvclope, wondering what was gomg Lo Happen next. He was still won-

dering when he was relieved. Vaguely suspecting that something had gone wrong, he reported the facts to his superior. The hastily summoned Barney Rye, who happened to be at The Yard on night-turn, tore open the envelope. Then he hurried to the courtyard to find the lorry still standing there. A hasty examination revealed the contents to be all that the message had said and, posting a guard over the money, the Inspector hurried into The Yard to communicate the news to the Assistant <lommissioner. That gentleman nearly burst a blood vessel when he heard llie tale, but his stale of excitement was as nothing compared ! • Marly Chorion's when, by some underground channel, the story spread to him. For Mariy Ghortcn actually went mad for a time, and spent the next week in a straightjacket, until his fury had exhausted itself. (Another Episode To-morrow)

“I’m looking for something I don’t expect to find,” said a Wellington man to his tobacconist, with a laugh. “What’s that?’' enquired the tobacconist. “A tobacco I can smoke for hours without my tonque feeling as if it had *been grilled. I’m frequently in the train all day. Then I always want to smoke more than I am able to.” “Ever tried the New' Zealand tobacco?” queried the tobacconist. “No. Is it worth trying?” “Well, I sell more of it than of any other kind. It's good. Most of the nicotine has been taken out of it, you see." “How do they manage that?” said the customer. ‘ They toast it. It gets rid of the nicotine as nothing else does. Improves Ihe flavour and bouquet, too. You can smoke this tobacco from daylight to dark, without tongue or throat suffering. Brands? There are five: Riverhead Gold, Desert Gold, Navy Cut No. 3, Cavendish, and Cut Plug No. 10.” The customer invested in a tin of Navy Gut No. 3, "to see if he liked.” He will.