THE BLACK PILGRIM

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20736, 21 February 1939, Page 4

THE BLACK PILGRIM

By George Stanley

STORY XI THE PASSING OF THE BARSTEM GANG The Larches lay in Its own grounds in the quiet village of Boderming in Surrey, On either sides of the grounds the countryside sloped away into the distance, free from the disfigurement of any other dwelling for miles. A long drive led from the lodge-gates, and a moss covered wall surrounded the extensive grounds. When London became too hot for the Barstem gang because various members of the C.I.D. were beginning to get their noses to the scent, Sydney Barstem decided that the time* had come to Hit.

He looked round for a place where he could And peace and quiet, a place, as he said, “where no interfering policeman was likely to poke his nose”; and he found The Larches.

The previous owner, a wealthy com-pany-promoter who had Juggled with fate once too often, was taking a well-deserved rest as librarian in one of His Majesty’s prisons. There, happy of the fact that he had deposited his stolen money in a place where he could pet it as soon as his rest cure was finished, he passed the time pleasantly enough. 'He was not, of course, aware that the Barstem gang had entered into the possession of his pleasant mansion, nor coulld he, by any feasible stretch of imagination, have been expected to know to what uses they proposed to put the premises. Not that he would have cared if he had known.

The Larches having been inspected and approved, Sydney Barstem signed the three years' lease and took over the house and furnishings. Considering that The Larches was extremely well equipped with furniiure, boasted its own lighting plan! and every modern convenience, the amount pf additional belongings which the Barsteme brought with them seemed unnecessary.

Two plain furniture removal vans, which were driven straight to the front door, bore this apparently surplus baggage. The contents of the vans were unloaded, as they had been loaded, by members of the Barstem gang, and when the two vans had driven away Sydney Barstem gave a grin of satisfaction. He would not have been so satisfied if he could have seen the driver of one of the two vans enter the imposing block of flats overlooking Queen's Cardens, after having returned his van to its garage. A few hours later the same driver emerged from tlie fiat, dressed in evening clothes, and proceeded on his way to a theatre. The following morning the same man sent his powerful car humming along the road from London to Surrey. He passed Guildford, swerved and then coasted slowly along the quiet country roads, until he came to the quiet village of Boderming. I'nhurried, undisturbed by the builders which have penetrated Into many of the outlying villages, the inhabitants of the little village carried on their daily routine. The nearest railway station was about six miles away, and the local transport mainly cycles. The local inn. The Silent Waters, had been built many years before the arrival of the motor-car, and still maintained its old traditions, with the addition of modern conveniences. It was within easy reach of two excellent golf courses, and during the week-end was much patronised by golfers. These facts had all been ascertained by the visitor to Boderming, before be eased his car to a stop in the courtyard of The Silent Waters. He booked a room, signed the visitor's book in the name of Martin Johnson and, after lunch, made his way to the nearest golf course. Discovering as partner, a garrulous retired Army Major who lived in the vicinity, Martin Johnson played a round, leading the conversation to the new residents of The Larches.

“I see The Larches has been taken at last,” remarked Johnson.

“Yes, pack of very doubtful characters, if you ask me,” snapped the Major. “Place is being guarded like a fortress. 1 called there yesterday to see if I could interest them in the Garden Fete. An insolent servant at the gate told me to clear’off. I put him in bis place and went up to the house, but. my dear sir, the master was as bad us the servant. Man with a head like an egret Bahl on the top, and on his face the most idiotic grin I've ever seen. Good shot, sir!”

They continued their game, during which The Black Pilgrim obtained much further information regarding the residents in the locality. He returned to the club-house with the Major, and after lunch played another leisurely round until tea. At his companion's invitation he spent several more hours in the club playing bridge until at last, when he finally left, darkness had fallen. This was quite satisfactory to his plans, and he sent his car back slowlv along the country roads until he had gained the inn, to make his way to his bedroom.

It was some minutes after midnight when he slid down the rope which hung from his bedroom window and. after jerkinp it free, concealed it beneath a clump of bushes. Then, after a cautious glance around him, he sped from the inn gardens and made his way across country un-

A story of a modern Hobin Hood.

til lie had sained the vicinity of Th« Larches.

It lay in .darkness, and no sound rame from the silent grounds as the intruder mounted the wall and lay upon the top listening. For Sydney Barstem had the reputation among the

criminal classes of a man who could not be caught off his guard. But although this might well have described him when the gang bad been operating in Town, it seemed that, secure In the quietness of the country, he had not troubled to put Into operation the safeguards which he would have normally employed. Thus, when the midnight visitor moved cautiously across the grounds to gain the sheltering shadows of the house, he did not encounter any of

the signal-wires or other means of alarm which he had anticipated. Rendered the more alert through this discovery, he at last emerged fr<»m a clump of shrubs and darted across ilie drive into tlie shadows of

the building. After a short investigation be decided to effect an entry from t lie sub-basement windows where, so he had gathered from the garrulous Major, the powerful electric light plant lay. mounted upon thick concrete foundations. He succeeded in forcing: an entrance without much effort and, as the rays of his torch flickered around the roomy chamber, he stared in surprise at the amount of apparatus which the Barstem gang had assembled, and which from the look of the large collection of exhibits which lay upon the floor, had already been put Into operation.

I’pon the benches and tables which furnished the place he saw the beautifully made moulds ready for the manufacture of silver currency. Electric furnaces for the fusion of the alloys, and apparatus for milling the

edges and silvering the finished coins. Beneath a powerful lamp upon a table, he saw the inks, pens, brushes; the photographic apparatus, and all the necessary adjuncts of the forger's art. A plate, upon which some expert was engaged in producing some form of bank-note, lay partly completed on a mounting block. It was as he bent to examine this plate that his eye caught the damaged plate which had evidently been thrown down In a fit of annoyance by the worker. Several'* “pulls” wtiich had been taken from this damaged plate lay upon the floor. He picked up this plate, and after selecting several of the “pulla” and other articles from the objects which interested him, made his way back by the window through which he had entered, taking great care to remove all traces of his visit. ' He succeeded in leaving the bouse and grounds without Ynishap, and had gained the wall, when he saw the red rear-light of a cycle passing slowly along the road before him. As lie stared into the darkness he realised that he bad only just missed encountering the locad police patrol. Dropping quietly from the wall he returned to the inn, retrieved his rope from the hushes, and after two ineffectual casts, succeeded in fastening the rubber sheathed hook to the window sill. Within a few minutes he was within hi 6 bedroom, preparing for sleep, and congratulating himself on his successful night’s work. For he guessed that the same opportunity to examine the Barstem headquarters would not occur again.

From time to time in the criminal records, there doea occur the arrival of some criminal organisation, controlled by a perverted genius or super-brain, which exists for a period before the forces of law and order manage to disband It. The Morlarty of Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes —a criminal genius with unlimited resources and brains—is not so much creature of fiction as might lx> imagined. Sydney Barstem was one of this calibre. He had received a public school education; had taken high degrees at a university and then, when an excellent future had opened before him, he had, as the records stated, “slipped off the rails.'’ Barstem’s speciality was forged currency. To the average person currency means Just money as represented by silver, gold and notes, but money is obtainable in a variety of ways. Apart from copper, silver and gold coinage, there are Treasury notes and Bank notes. Further up the monetary scale t'.iere are Bonds, Letters of Credit, and Travellers’ Cheques. It was from these last three Items that the Baratem gang made the bulk of their money.

Owing to the high state of perfection which the modern issue of currency notes has attained, the forgery of Bank notes is attended by the grave risk of discovery. The skilful forger must be a man of considerable technical knowledge. He must have at his disposal special Inks, pens, and above all a paper upon which lo work, which is as near a replica of the exact paper used for proper notes, as is humanly possible. Then there is the question of circulating the forged money. For this purpose large gangs usp what are knows as

“passers*’ or “counter-men.” Naturally these must be men of an exterior suitable to the type of forged currency which they arc to handle.

(To be continued to-morrow)