AN OFFER FROM STRANGWISE
Desmond sprang for the window; but it was too late. Strangwise who had not missed a syllable of the interrogatory was at the curtains in a flash. As he plucked the hangings back, Desmond made a rush for him; but Strangwise, wary as ever, kept his head and, drawing back, jabbed his great automatic almost in the other's face.
And then Desmond knew the game was up.
Barbara had collapsed in her chair. Her face was of an ivory pallor and she seemed to have fallen back into the characteristic hypnotic trance. As for Bellward, he had dropped on to a sofa, a loose mass, exhausted but missing nothing of what was going forward, though, for the moment, he seemed too spent to take any active part in the proceedings. In the meantime Strangwise, his white, even teeth bared in a quiet smile, was very steadily looking at his prisoner.
"Well, Desmond," he said at last, "here's a pleasant surprise! Ithought you were dead!"
Desmond said nothing. He was not a coward as men go; but he was feeling horribly afraid just then. The deviltry of the scene he had just witnessed had fairly unmanned him. The red and black setting of the room had a suggestion of Oriental cruelty in its very garishness. Desmond looked from Strangwise, cool and smiling, to Bellward, gross and beastly, and from the two men to Barbara, wan and still and defenceless. And he was afraid.
Then Bellward scrambled clumsily to his feet, plucking a revolver from his inside pocket as he did so.
"You sneaking rascal," he snarled, "we'll teach you to play your dirty tricks on us!"He raised the pistol; but Strangwise stepped between the man and his victim.
"Kill him!" cried Bellward, "and let's be rid of him once and for all!""What" said Strangwise. "Kill Desmond? Ah, no, my friend, I don't think so!"And he added drily:
"At least not quite yet!"
"But you must be mad," exclaimed Bellward, toying impatiently with his weapon, "you let him escape through your fingers before!
I know his type. A man like him is only safe when he's dead. And if you won't...""Now, Bellward," said Strangwise not budging but looking the other calmly in the eye, "you're getting excited, you know."But Bellward muttered thickly:
"Kill him! That's all I ask. And let's get out of here! I tell you it isn't safe! Minna can shift for herself!" he added sulkily.
"As she has always done!" said a voice at the door. Mrs.
Malplaquet stood there, a very distinguished looking figure in black with a handsome set of furs.
"But who's this?" she asked, catching sight of Desmond, as she flashed her beady black eyes round the group. Of Barbara she took not the slightest notice. Desmond remarked it and her indifference shocked him profoundly.
"Of course, you don't recognize him!" said Strangwise. "This is Major Desmond Okewood, more recently known as Mr. Basil Bellward!"The woman evinced no surprise.
"So!" she said, "I thought we'd end by getting him. Well, Strangwise, what are we waiting for? Is our friend to live for ever""That's what I want to know!" bellowed Bellward savagely.
"I have not finished with our friend here!" observed Strangwise.
"No, no," cried Mrs. Malplaquet quickly, Strangwise, "you've had your lesson. You've lost the jewel and you're not likely to get it back unless you think that this young man has come here with it on him. Do you want to lose your life, the lives of all of us, as well? Come, come, the fellow's no earthly good to us! And he's a menace to us all as long as he's alive!""Minna," said Strangwise, "you must trust me. Besides..." he leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. "Now," he resumed aloud, "you shall take Bellward downstairs and leave me to have a little chat with our friend here."To Bellward he added:
"Minna will tell you what I said. But first," he pointed to Barbara who remained apparently lifeless in her chair, "bring her round. And then I think she'd better go to bed.""But what about the treatment to-night" asked Mrs. Malplaquet.
Strangwise smiled mysteriously.
"I'm not sure that any further treatment will be required," he said.
In the meantime, Bellward had leaned over the girl and with a few passes of his hand had brought her back to consciousness. She sat up, one hand pressed to her face, and looked about her in a dazed fashion. On recognizing Desmond she gave a little cry.
"Take her away!" commanded Strangwise.
Bellward had unfastened the ropes binding her feet, and he and Mrs. Malplaquet between them half-dragged, half-lifted the girl (for she was scarcely able to walk) from the room.
When the door had closed behind them, Strangwise pointed to a chair and pulled out his cigarette case. "Sit down, Desmond," he said, "and let's talk. Will you smoke?"He held out his case. A cigarette was the one thing for which Desmond craved. He took one and lit it. Strangwise sat down on the other side of a curiously carved ebony table, his big automatic before him.
"I guess you're sharp enough to know when you're beaten, Desmond," he said. "You've put up a good fight and until this afternoon you were one up on me. I'll grant you that. And I don't mind admitting that you've busted up my little organization--for the present at any rate. But I'm on top now and you're in our power, old man.""Well," replied Desmond shortly, "what are you going to do about it?""I'm going to utilize my advantage to the best I know how,"retorted Strangwise, snapping the words, "that's good strategy, isn't it, Desmond? That's what Hamley and all the military writers teach, isn't it? And I'm going to be frank with you. Isuppose you realize that your life hung by a thread in this very room only a minute ago. Do you know why I intervened to save you?"Desmond smiled. All his habitual serenity was coming back to him.
He found it hard to realize that this old brother officer of his, blowing rings of cigarette smoke at him across the table, was an enemy.
"I don't suppose it was because of the love you bear me," replied Desmond.
And he rubbed the bump on his head.
Strangwise noted the action and smiled.