Berry and Co., Page 2

  CHAPTER II

  HOW DAPHNE WROTE FOR ASSISTANCE, AND MR. HOLLY WAS OUTBID.

  "Blow this out for me, Boy, there's a dear."

  The sun was streaming into the library, in a cage upon the broad hearththere was a blazing log fire, and the appointment of the breakfast-tablewas good to look upon.

  So also was Jill.

  Installed behind the cups and silver, my cousin made a sweet picture.Grave eyes set wide in a smiling face, a pile of golden hair crowningher pretty head, the slenderest throat, from which the collar of a greensilk coat fell gracefully on either side--so much a cunning paintermight have charmed faithfully on to canvas. But the little air ofimportance, of dignity fresh-gathered that sat so naively upon herbrow--this was a thing nor brush nor pencil could capture, but only aman's eye writing upon a grateful heart.

  It was but three days since Daphne had left White Ladies for London, andgrey-eyed Jill reigned in her stead. Berry had accompanied his wife, butJonah and I had stayed in the country with Jill, lest we should lose anote of that echo of summer which good St. Luke had this year piped solustily.

  But yesterday the strains had faltered and died. A sour east wind hadarisen, that set the trees shivering, and whipped the golden leaves fromtheir galleries, to send them scudding up the cold grey roads. Worsestill, by noon the sky was big with snow, so that before the post officewas closed, a telegram had fled to London warning my sister to expect usto arrive by car the following afternoon.

  Jill renewed her appeal.

  Above the little spirit lamp which she was holding hovered a tiny flame,seemingly so sensitive that a rough word would quench it for ever. WhenI had kissed my cousin, I blew steadily and fiercely from thesouth-west. Instantly a large tongue of fire flared half-way to whereJonah was eating his porridge and knitting his brows over _The Times_.

  Jill's hand began to shake.

  "You wicked child," said I. "You knew----"

  "Oh, Boy, but it's so silly. We had to leave it for you. Jonah nearlyburst himself just now, trying."

  "Thing's bewitched," said Jonah calmly. "The more air you give it, thefiercer it burns. I'd sooner try to blow out a hurricane lamp."

  "Nonsense," said I, taking a deep breath.

  At the end of the round--

  "Yes," said Jonah. "Do you mind blowing the other way next time? It'snot my face I'm worrying about, but this is the only copy of _The Times_in the house."

  Jill was helpless with laughter, so I took the lamp away from her andadvanced to the fireplace.

  "I'll fix the swine," I said savagely.

  Two minutes later, with a blast that almost blew the lamp out of myhand, the flame was extinguished in a flurry that would have done creditto a whale. As I straightened my back--

  "Well done, Boy," said Jill. "There's a letter for you from Berry. Dosee what he says. Then I'll read you Daphne's."

  "Read hers first," said I. "Strange as it may seem, I entered this roomto eat."

  "Right oh!" And in her fresh little voice my cousin began to read.

  _JILL DARLING,_

  _The sooner you all come up the better. Everything's ready and Berry'smore than I can manage alone. His shoulder was aching last night, butwhen I wanted to rub him he said he was a kind of Aladdin's lamp, andwouldn't be responsible if I did. "Supposing a genie appeared and formedfours, or the slop-pail rotted aside, disclosing a flight of steps."Result, to-day in Bond Street he turned suddenly to look at a passingcar, and had a seizure. He just gave a yell as if he'd been shot, andthen stood stock still with his head all on one side. Of course I washorrified, but he said he was quite all right, and explained that it wasmuscular rheumatism. I stopped a taxi and tried to make him get in, forpeople were beginning to look. Do you think he would? Not a bit of it.Stood there and said it was a judgment, and that he must stay where hewas till it had passed. "That may not be for years. They'll put railingsround me after a bit, and people will meet at me instead of the Tube.You will be responsible for my meals, some of which you will cook on thespot. I'll have a light lunch to-day about 1300 hours." One or twopeople stopped, and I got into a taxi just as a man asked him if he wasill. "Brother," said the fool, "my blood tests are more thansatisfactory. A malignant Fate, however----" When I asked him if he wascoming he told the man I was taunting him, so I just drove home. TheWilloughbys brought him back in their car quarter of an hour later.Madge said she'd never laughed so much in her life, but I can't bear italone. Mrs. Mason is at last reconciled to the idea of an electriccooker, and your new curtains look sweet. Come along. Love to you all._

  _DAPHNE._

  "Berry's version should be engaging," said Jonah. "Slip along with thatporridge."

  "Don't hustle me. Gladstone used to masticate every mouthful he tookseven million times before swallowing. That's why he couldn't tell alie. Or am I thinking of Lincoln?"

  The hostility with which my cousins received the historical allusion wasso marked that it seemed only prudent to open my brother-in-law's letterwithout further delay.

  I did so and read the contents aloud.

  _DEAR BROTHER,_

  _Your constant derision of human suffering has satisfied me that thefacts I am about to relate will afford you the utmost gratification.Natheless I consider that for form's sake my wife's brother should knowthat I am in failing health. This morning, whilst faring forth, as is mywont (pronounced "wunt"), upon a mission of charity, I was seized withan agony in the neck and Old Bond Street just opposite thedrinking-fountain. Believing it to be appendicitis, I demanded achirurgeon, but nobody could spell the word. The slightest movement,however, spelt anguish without a mistake. My scruff was in the grip ofTorment. Observing that I was helpless, the woman, my wife, summoned ahackney carriage and drove off, taunting and jeering at her spouse. Bythis time my screams had attracted the attention of a few passers-by.Some stood apparently egg-bound, others hurried away, doubtless toprocure assistance. One fool asked me if I was ill. I told him that Ihad been dead for some days, and asked him if he knew of a good florist,as I wanted them to send no flowers. Had it not been for MadgeWilloughby, I should have been there now._

  _Organized bodies of navvies are slowly but surely ruining the streets.No efforts are made to stop them, and the police seem powerless tointerfere._

  _There is no room in London. I never remember when there was. But don'tyou come. The air is the purer for your absence, and your silk hats seemto fit me better than my own. My love for Jill is only exceeded by myhatred of you and my contempt for Jonah. I have much more to say, but Ihave, thank Heaven, something better to do than to communicate with adebauched connection, whose pleasure has ever been my pain, and fromwhom I have learned more vicious ways than I can remember. For I am bynature a little child. Just before and after rain you may still seetraces of the halo which I bought at Eastbourne in '94. My gorge isrising, so I must write no more._

  _BERRY._

  "What's muscular rheumatism?" said Jill, gurgling with laughter.

  "Your muscles get stiff," said Jonah, "and you get stuck. Hurts likeanything. I've had it."

  "Now you know," said I, selecting a sausage. "Will you be ready byhall-past eleven (winter time) or must we lunch here?"

  "I'm ready now," said Jill. "But you and Jonah said it was indecent tostart earlier."

  "So it is. We shall get to Pistol comfortably in an hour and a half, andif we start again at half-past two, we shall be in London for tea."

  Jonah rose and limped to the window.

  "I'll tell you one thing," he said. "It's going to be a devilish coldrun."

  * * * * *

  Jonah was right.

  We sat all three upon the front seat, but even so we were hard put to itto keep warm. The prospect of a hot lunch at Pistol was pleasant indeed.Jonah was driving, and the Rolls slid through the country like a greatgrey bird, sailing and swooping and swerving so gracefully that it wasdifficult to believe the tale which the speedometer told. Yet this wastrue enough, for it was
not a quarter to one when we swept round thelast corner and into the long straight reach of tarmac, at the top ofwhich lay the village we sought.

  Pistol is embedded in a high moor, snug and warm, for all its eminence.The moor itself is girt with waving woods that stretch and toss formiles, making a deep sloping sash of foliage which Autumn will dye withsuch grave glory that the late loss of Summer and her pretty ways seemseasier to bear. Orange and purple copper and gold, russet andcrimson--these in a hundred tones tremble and glow in one giant harmony,out of which, at the release of sun, come swelling chords so deep andrich and vivid that the sweet air is quick with stifled music and everypassing breeze charged to the full with silent melody.

  We had left this girdle of woodland behind us and were within half amile of the village, when some activity about the gates of a privatehouse attracted our attention. A little knot of men stood arguing in theroadway, three cars and an old fly were berthed close to the hedge,while a good-looking landau was waiting for a furniture van to emergefrom the drive.

  The next moment we were near enough to learn from a large poster that"the entire contents of Cranmer Place were to be sold by auction" thisday, "including a quantity of valuable antique furniture," and with oneaccord Jill and I called upon Jonah to stop.

  "What for?" said the latter, as he brought the car to a standstill."Don't say you want to go and watch the rector's wife bidding againsther conscience and the draper for a what-not."

  "Such," said I, "is our intention." I hoisted myself to my feet and,opening the door, descended stiffly into the road. As I helped Jill tofollow me, "You push on to Highlands," I added, "and order the lunch.We'll only stay a minute or two."

  "And you never know," said Jill, "we might see something priceless."

  Jonah shook his head.

  "Depend upon it," he said, "the oleographs have gone to Christie's, sameas the fumed oak. Only the dud stuff's left. However, have it your ownway." With a sigh, he let in the clutch. "If you're not there by aquarter past one, I shall begin."

  Jill slid an arm through mine, which she squeezed excitedly.

  "I'm sure we shall find something, Boy. I just feel it. It alwayshappens like this. You see, it isn't as if we were looking for a sale.We've just run right into one. And last night I dreamed aboutcretonnes."

  "That settles it," said I, as the Rolls glided out of our way and westarted to cross the road. "All the same, Jonah's probably right. But Ilove a sale. I'm afraid it's curiosity more than anything."

  Catalogues were handed us at the front door, and we passed into a finesquare hall, where a dresser and a large gate-table, each conspicuouslylabelled, declared that the late occupant was a man of taste.

  "Two very fine pieces, sir," said a voice. "Coming up this afternoon." Iturned to see a short stout man in a 1907 bowler and two overcoats,which he wore open, regarding the furniture with an appraising look.With difficulty he extracted a card from an inside pocket. "If you'rethinkin' of buyin' anythin', Major, that's me card, an' I'll be very'appy to ac' for you."

  "Thanks, I don't think----"

  "All right, Major, all right. Only if you should, I'm always about," headded hastily, turning away in response to a cry which had arisen for"Mr. 'Olly." "Comin', comin'!" he cried, making for what I took to bethe drawing room.

  I slipped his card into my pocket and we passed on.

  The tallboy chest was standing alone in its dignity at the top of thebroad staircase.

  The moment I saw it I knew it was good stuff. And Jill gave a little cryand began to chatter, till I laid my hand on her arm with a warningpressure.

  "Hush," I said quickly, "don't give it away. Of course they all knowit's good, but we needn't seem over-anxious. Try and look as if youthought it might do for the harness-room if it was enamelled."

  "O-o-oh, Boy."

  Such chests may be handsome and--rarely--elegant, but this was dainty.Standing upon short cabriole legs, it was small, but of exquisiteproportions, and had been built, I judged, in the reign of Queen Anne.The walnut which had gone to its making was picked wood, and its drawerswere faced with oyster-shell and inlaid with box. Their handles wereperfect, and, indeed, the whole chest was untouched and without blemish,shining with that clean lustre which only wax and constant elbow-greasecan bring about.

  When I had examined the piece as carefully as I dared, I winked at Jilland descended into the hall.

  Mr. Holly was awaiting us.

  Casually I addressed him.

  "There's a tallboy at the top of the stairs, labelled 207. I'm not crazyabout it, but it's about the right size for a recess in my bedroom. Ifyou like to buy that for me on a five per cent. basis----"

  "Certainly, Major." He wrote in a fat notebook. "Lot 207. An' ow' 'ighwill you go?"

  I hesitated.

  "I'll go up to a hundred pounds. But the cheaper you get it, the betterfor you. Understand?"

  "I'm there, Major. Will you be coming back?"

  "No. But there's my card. You can telegraph to that address thisevening, and I'll send you a cheque."

  "Very good, sir."

  A minute later we were walking along the road towards Highlands and,while Jill was talking excitedly, I was considering my own recklessness.

  As we entered the grounds--

  "Don't say anything about it," I said. "Let it be a surprise."

  * * * * *

  The first person I saw, as I entered the lounge of that hotel, wasBerry.

  "Do you mind not asking me why I'm here?" he said languidly. "I've justfinished telling Jonah, and repetition always wearied me."

  "Your movements have never interested me," said I. "All the same, Ithought you were in the grip of Torment."

  "I was and shall be. For the nonce----" He turned to a tall dark girlwho was leaning against the chimney-piece, watching us curiously. "Letme introduce my brother-in-law. Carefully kept from me before marriageand by me ever since. Both the ablative case, I believe, but what adifference? So rich is the English tongue."

  The girl threw back her head and laughed. I observed that she had niceteeth.

  "Name of Childe," she said in a sweet voice. "After all, we can't expecthim to remember everything. Wasn't my brother in your regiment?"

  "I knew I'd seen you somewhere," said I. "The last time you were on atowel, leaning against a bottle of hairwash. That was in Flanders in1916."

  "That," said Berry, "will do. Miss Childe and I came here to lunch, notto listen to maudlin memories of the Great War. Did I ever tell you thata Spaniard once compared me to that elusive bloom to be found only uponthe ungathered apricot?"

  "How much did you lend him?" said I.

  "Perhaps he knew more about ferns," said Miss Childe.

  "Blind from birth, I suppose," said Jonah's voice.

  My brother-in-law rose to his feet and looked about him with theexpression of one who has detected an offensive odour.

  "He was a man of singular insight and fine feeling," he said. "At thetime of his outburst I was giving evidence against him for cruelty to abullock. And now, for goodness' sake, somebody collect Jill and let'shave some lunch."

  * * * * *

  "As a matter of fact," said Miss Childe, "I've come down to get somebutter and eggs. They're usually sent, but the housekeeper's ill, and,as I was going spare, father suggested I should run down and pick themup."

  Her voice sounded as if she was speaking from afar, and I knew that Imust call up all my reserves of willpower if I was to remain awake.

  "But Berry's with you, isn't he?"

  "Yes. Your sister came to lunch yesterday and happened to mention thathe wanted to go to Pistol to-day, so I offered him a lift. He's muchnicer than any chauffeur."

  "But whatever did he want to come to Pistol for?"

  "Ah." From a great distance I watched Miss Childe's brown eyes take on alook of mischief that seemed at home in its bright setting. "He wouldn'ttell you and he didn't tell Captain Mansel the t
ruth, so I shan't givehim away." She looked at a tiny wrist-watch. "And now I must be going.We want to start back at half-past three, and I've twenty-five miles todo before then."

  "May I come with you?"

  "Certainly. But----"

  I stepped to where Jill was scribbling a note.

  "We needn't start before half-past three," I said. "Will you wait forme?"

  She nodded abstractedly.

  Jonah was dozing over a cigarette. Berry had disappeared.

  Three minutes later I was sitting in a comfortable coupe, which MissChilde was driving at an unlawful speed in the direction of Colt.

  "You drive a lot, don't you?" flashed my companion.

  "A good deal."

  "Then I expect you hate being driven by a stranger?"

  "Not at all. Sometimes, of course----" I waited for us to emerge frombetween two motor-lorries and a traction-engine. As we were doing overforty-five, the pause was but momentary. "I mean----"

  "That you're being frightened to death?"

  "Not to death. I've still got some feeling in my right arm." We droppeddown one of the steepest hills I have ever seen, with two bends in it,at an increased speed. "You keep your guardian angel pretty busy, don'tyou?"

  A suspicion of a smile played for a second about my lady's lips.

  "The only thing I'm really frightened of is a hansom cab," she affirmed.

  "Try and imagine that there are half a dozen round the next corner, willyou?"

  The smile deepened.

  "Is your heart all right?" she demanded.

  "It was when we started."

  "But I know this road backwards."

  "You needn't tell me that," said I. "We should have been killed long agoif you didn't. Seriously, I don't want to abuse your hospitality, butwe're going to have kidneys for breakfast to-morrow, and I should besorry to miss them."

  "Are you fond of kidneys?"

  "Passionately. I used to go out and gather them as a child. In themorning and the meadows. Or were we talking of haddock?"

  Miss Childe hesitated before replying.

  "I used to, too. But I was always afraid of their being toadstools.They're poisonous, aren't they?"

  "Deadly. By the way, there are six hansoms full of toadstools at thecross-roads which I observe we are approaching."

  "I don't believe you."

  I was wrong. But there was a waggon full of logs and a limousine full ofchildren, which were rather worse.

  We proceeded amid faint cries of indignation.

  "What do you do," said I, "when you come to a level-crossing with thegates shut? "

  "I don't," said Miss Childe.

  I was still working this out, when my companion slowed down and broughtthe car to a standstill in front of a high white gate bearing the legend"Private," and keeping a thin brown road that ran for a little waybetween fair meadows before plunging into a swaying beechwood.

  "Anything the matter?" I asked.

  Miss Childe laid a hand on my arm.

  "Be an angel," she said in a caressing voice.

  "Certainly," said I. "With or without wings?"

  "And open the gate, so that----"

  "I know," I cried, "I know. Don't tell me. 'So that the automobile maypass unobstructed between the gate-posts.' Am I right?"

  "How on earth did you know?"

  "Instinct." I open the door and stepped backwards into the road. "I'malways like this before eating kidneys," I added.

  As I re-entered the car--

  "Now we can let her out," said Miss Childe contentedly. "It's such arelief to feel there's no speed limit," she added, with a ravishingsmile.

  As soon as I could trust my voice--

  "I shouldn't think your chauffeurs live very long, do they?"

  "On the contrary, they grow old in our service."

  "I can believe you," said I heartily. "I myself have aged considerablysince we left Highlands."

  By this time we had flung through and out of the beechwood, and the carwas storming past stretches of gleaming bracken, all red and gold andstuck with spreading oak trees that stood sometimes alone, sometimes ingroups of two or three together, and made you think of staring cattlestanding knee-deep in a golden flood.

  The car tore on.

  "We're coming to where I used to gather the mushrooms," my companionannounced.

  "Barefoot?"

  "Sometimes."

  "Because of the dew?"

  She nodded.

  I sighed. Then--

  "Up to now I've been feeling like a large brandy and a small soda," Isaid. "Now I feel like a sonnet. What is your name, and who gave youthat name?"

  "I'm sure that's not necessary. I've seen a sonnet 'To a lady upon herbirthday.'"

  "As you please. Shall I post it to you or pin it to a tree in BatterseaPark?"

  Miss Childe nodded her head in the direction in which we were going.

  "That," she said, "is the house."

  At the end of a long avenue of elms I could see the bold flash ofwindows which the afternoon sun had set afire, and a moment later weswept by the front of an old red mansion and round into a paved courtthat lay on its farther side.

  Here was a door open, and in front of this my companion brought the carto a standstill.

  I handed her out. She rang the bell and entered. I followed her in.

  "Like to look round the house?" said Miss Childe. "We've given upshowing it since the Suffragettes, but if you could give me areference----"

  "Messrs. Salmon and Gluckstein," said I, "are my solicitors."

  My lady pointed to a door at the end of the flagged passage in which westood.

  "That'll take you into the hall," she said. "I'll come and find you whenI've seen the servants."

  I saluted and broke away in the direction she had indicated.

  * * * * *

  There was a closet that opened out of the great gallery. No door hung inthe doorway and I could see china ranged orderly against the panellingof the walls. I descended its two stairs, expecting to find it devotedto china and nothing else. But I was wrong. Facing the window and thesunshine was a facsimile of the tallboy chest which I had coveted sofiercely two hours before.

  I gazed at it spell-bound.

  "It's very rude to stare," said a voice.

  I turned to see Miss Childe framed in the doorway.

  Her gown was of apricot, with the bodice cut low and the skirt gatheredin loops to show her white silk petticoat, which swelled from under aflowered stomacher so monstrously, that the tiny blue-heeled slipperupon the second stair seemed smaller than ever. Deep frills of lace fellfrom her short sleeves and a little lace cap was set on her thick darkhair.

  I swallowed before replying. Then--

  "It's a lovely chest," I said lamely.

  "Picked wood," said Miss Childe. "Flogged once a week for years, thattree was."

  "Flogged?"

  "Certainly."

  Suddenly the air was full of music, and a jubilant chorus of voices wassinging lustily--

  "_A woman, a spaniel, and a walnut-tree,The more you beat them, the better they be._"

  As the melody faded--

  "I told you so," said Miss Childe. "What about the butter and eggs? Willyou pay for them, or shall I have them sent?"

  I handed her the largest one pound note I have ever seen.

  "Thanks," she said shortly. "Change at Earl's Court."

  A peal of boy's laughter floated in at the open window.

  "Who's that?" said I.

  "Love," said Miss Childe. "The locksmiths are here, and he's laughing atthem. I think it's rather unkind myself. Besides----"

  A burst of machine-gun fire interrupted her.

  As the echoes died down--

  "You smell of potpourri," said I.

  "Probably. I made three bags full this morning. Bead bags. Do you mindputting some coal on the fire? If there aren't any tongs, use thetelephone."

  There was no fireplace and
no coal-scuttle, so I took off my right bootand put it in the bottom drawer of the tallboy instead.

  "Number, please," said Miss Childe, who had entered the closet and wasstanding a-tiptoe before a mirror to adjust a patch beneath her lefteye.

  "Lot 207," said I.

  "Line's engaged," said Miss Childe. "Didn't you see it in _The Times_?"

  By way of answer, I threw a large plate at her. She seemed more pleasedthan otherwise with the attention, and began to pluck the delicateflowers with which it was painted and gather them into a nosegay. Insome dudgeon, I blew a small jug of great beauty on to a carvedprie-dieu, to which it adhered as though made of some slimy substance.

  "Cannon," said my lady. "Shall I put you on?"

  "I wish you would. It's rather important."

  "You're through."

  "Tallboy speaking," said a faint voice. "Tallboy. Tallboy."

  "How d'ye do?" said I.

  "Ill," said the voice, "so ill. All these years I've carried it, and noone knew----"

  "Pardon me," said I. "I only put it there five minutes ago. You see, thefire was almost out and----"

  "Measurements tell," said the voice. "But they never do that. Theypolish my panels and lay fair linen within me, and great folk have stoodabout me telling each other of my elegance, and once a baby childmirrored its little face in one of my sides. And all the timemeasurements tell. But they never do that."

  A sigh floated to my ears, a long, long sigh that rose into a wail ofthe wind, and a casement behind me blew to with a shaking clash.

  Somewhere a dog was howling.

  On a sudden I felt cold. The sunshine was gone, and the chamber hadbecome grey and dismal. Misery was in the air.

  A stifled exclamation made me look round.

  My lady had backed shrinking into a corner, one little hand pressed toher heart, and in her hunted eyes sat Fear dominant. The sweet face wasdrawn and colourless, and her breath came quickly, so that it wasgrievous to mark the flutter of her smooth white chest.

  Mechanically I turned to seek the cause of her terror.

  I saw a powerfully-built man standing square in the closet's doorway.His face was coarse and red and brutal, and his small black eyes glowedwith an ugly twinkle as he surveyed his quarry. Upon the thick lipsthere was a sinister smile, which broadened hideously as he glanced atthe nosegay held betwixt his finger and thumb--the little nosegay thatshe had gathered so lightly from the painted plate. A wide-skirted coatof red fell nearly to his knees and hid his breeches. His short blackperiwig was bobbed, and a black silk tie was knotted about his neck.Stockings were rolled above his knees, and a huge tongue thrust out fromeach of his buckled shoes. And in his left hand was a heavy riding-whipwhose handle was wrought about with gold. This he kept clapping againsthis leg with a smack and a ghastly relish that there was no mistaking.

  Again that phantom chorus rose up and rang in my ears--

  "_A woman, a spaniel, and a walnut tree,The more you beat them, the better they be._"

  But the jubilant note was gone, and, though the tune was the same, thevoices were harsh, and there was a dreadful mockery of woe in the stavethat made me shudder.

  My lady heard it too.

  "No, no, Ralph. You do me wrong. I plucked them myself. Who is there nowto send me posies? And I am sick--you know it. The last time----" Thehurrying voice faltered and stumbled piteously over a sob. "The lasttime I was near spent, Ralph. So near. And now----You do not know yourstrength. Indeed----Oh, Ralph, Ralph, what have I done that you shoulduse me so?"

  The bitter cry sank into a dull moan, and, setting a frail white armacross her eyes, she bowed her head upon it, as do weeping children, andfell to sobbing with that subdued despair that spells a broken spirit.

  My lord's withers were unwrung.

  For a moment he stood still, leering like some foul thing that feasts onAnguish. Then he let fall the nosegay and took the whip in his righthand....

  And I stood there frozen and paralysed and dumb.

  Posing his victim with a horrible precision, the monster raised hiswhip, but it struck a pendant lantern, and with an oath he turned to thegallery, where he should find room and to spare for his brutality. Atthis delay my lady fell upon her knees, in a wild hope, I think, to turnher respite into a reprieve, but the beast cried out upon her, struckdown her outstretched hands, and, twisting his fingers in her soft darkhair, dragged her incontinently out of the closet. The little whimpershe gave was awful....

  And I stood there paralysed.

  Five minutes, perhaps, had passed, slow-treading, pregnant minutes, whenmy lord reappeared. He stood for a moment listening at the top of thestairs, his chin on his shoulder. Then he stepped lightly down. His vileface was pale and his eyes shifted uneasily. The devil looked out ofthem yet, but Fright looked with him. Two paces brought the fellowbefore the tallboy. He put up his hands as if to pull open a drawer,when something about the whip he was holding caught his attention. For asecond he stared at it, muttering. Then, with a glance at the doorway,he thrust the thing beneath the skirt of his coat and wiped it as it hadbeen a rapier....

  Again he made to open a drawer, but the spell under which I lay seemedto be lifted, and I shot out a hand and clapped him on the shoulder.

  For all the notice he took, I might not have been there. The moreincensed, I shook the man violently....

  * * * * *

  "Repose," said Jonah, "is one thing, gluttonish sloth another. And evenif you have once again overestimated the capacity of your stomach, whyadvertise your intemperance in a public place?" He lifted his hand frommy shoulder to look at his watch. "It's now ten minutes to three. Do youthink you can stagger, or must you be carried, to the car?"

  I sat up and looked about me. Except for Jill, who was standing a-tiptoebefore a mirror, we were alone in the lounge.

  "I've been dreaming," said I. "About--about----"

  "That's all right, old chap. Tell Nanny all about it to-night, afteryou've had your bath. That's one of the things she's paid for."

  "Don't be a fool," said I, putting a hand to my head. "It's important, Itell you. For Heaven's sake let me think. Oh, what was it?" My cousinsstared at me. "I'm not rotting. It was real--something that mattered."

  "'Orse race?" said Jonah eagerly. "Green hoops leading by twelve lengthsor something?"

  I waved him away.

  "No, no, no. Let me think. Let me think."

  I buried my face in my hands and thought and thought.... But to nopurpose. The vision was gone.

  * * * * *

  Hastily I made ready for our journey to Town, all the time racking mybrain feverishly for some odd atom of incident that should remember mydream.

  It was not until I was actually seated in the Rolls, with my foot uponthe self-starter, that I thought about Berry.

  Casually I asked what had become of him.

  "That's what we want to know," said Jill. "He motored down here withMiss Childe, and now they've pushed off somewhere, but they wouldn'tsay----"

  "Childe!" I shouted. "Miss Childe! I've got it!"

  "What on earth's the matter?" said Jonah, as I started the car.

  "My dream," I cried. "I remember it all. It was about that tallboy."

  "What--the one we saw?" cried Jill.

  I nodded.

  "I'm going to double my bid," I said. "We simply must have it, whateverthe price."

  Disregarding Jonah's protests that we were going the wrong way, I swungthe car in the direction from which we had come, and streaked down theroad to Cranmer Place.

  A minute later I dashed into the hall, with Jill at my heels.

  The first person I saw was Mr. Holly.

  "Has it come up yet?"

  I flung the words at him, casting strategy to the winds.

  "It 'as, Major, an' I'm sorry to say we've lorst it. I never see such athing. There was a gent there as meant to 'ave it. 'Cept for 'im, therewasn't a bid after twenty-five pounds. I
never thort we'd 'ave to goover fifty, neither. Might 'a bin the owner 'isself, the way 'e wasrunnin' us up. An' when we was in the eighties, I sez to meself, I sez,'The one as calls a nundred first 'as it. So 'ere goes.' 'Eighty-nine,'sez'e. 'A nundred pound,' sez I, bold-like. 'Make it guineas,' sez he,as cool as if 'e was buyin' a naporth o' figs. I tell you. Major, itfair knocked me, it did. I come all of a tremble, an' me knees----"

  "Where's the fellow who bought it?" said I.

  "I'm afraid it's no good, Major. I tell you 'e meant to 'ave themdrawers."

  With an effort I mastered my impatience.

  "Will you tell me where he is? Or, if he's gone, find out----"

  "I don't think 'e's gorn," said Mr. Holly, looking round. "I 'alfthink----There 'e is," he cried, suddenly, nodding over my shoulder."That's 'im on the stairs, with the lady in blue."

  Excitedly I swung round, to see my brother-in-law languidly descendingthe staircase, with Miss Childe by his side.

  "Hullo," he said. "Do you mind not asking me why I'm here?"

  "It's not my practice," said I, "to ask a question, the answer to whichI already know." I turned to Mr. Holly and took out a one pound note."I'm much obliged for your trouble. 'Not a bid after twenty-fivepounds,' I think you said." I handed him the note, which he acceptedwith protests of gratitude. "You did better than you know," I added.

  "May I ask," said Berry unsteadily, "if this gentleman and you are incollusion?"

  "We were," said I. "At least, I instructed him to purchase somefurniture for me. Unfortunately we were outbid. But it's of noconsequence."

  Berry raised his eyes to heaven and groaned/

  "Subtraction," he said, "is not my strongest point, but I make it eightypounds. Is that right?"

  I nodded, and he turned to Miss Childe.

  "That viper," he said, "has stung the fool who feeds him to the tune ofeighty pounds. Shall I faint here or by the hat-stand? Let's be clearabout it. The moment I enter the swoon----"

  "Still, as long as it's in the family----" began Jill.

  "Exactly," said I. "The main thing is, we've got it. And when you'veheard my tale----"

  "Eighty paper pounds," said Berry. "Can you beat it?"

  "That'd only be about thirty-five before the War," said Miss Childe in ashaking voice.

  "Yes," said I. "Look at it that way. And what's thirty-five? Abagatelle, brother, a bagatelle. Now, if we were in Russia----"

  "Yes," said Berry grimly, "and if we were in Patagonia, I suppose Ishould be up on the deal. You can cut that bit."

  Miss Childe and Jill dissolved into peals of merriment.

  "That's right," said Berry. "Deride the destitute. Mock at bereavement.As for you," he added, turning to Jill, "your visit to the Zoo isindefinitely postponed. Other children shall feel sick in themonkey-house and be taken to smell the bears. But you, never." He turnedto Miss Childe and laid a hand on her arm. "Shut your eyes, my dear, andrepeat one of Alfred Austin's odes. This place is full of the ungodly."

  * * * * *

  My determination to carry the tallboy chest to London in the Rolls metwith stern opposition, but in the end I prevailed, and at six o'clockthat evening it was safely housed in Mayfair.

  To do him justice, Berry's annoyance was considerably tempered by thestrange story which I unfolded during a belated tea.

  The house and park which I had seen we were unable to identify, and thePost Office Guide was silent as to the whereabouts of Colt. But theexcitement which Daphne's production of a tape-measure aroused was onlyexceeded by the depression which was created by our failure to discoveranything unusual about the chest.

  We measured the cornice and we measured the plinth. We measured theframe and we measured the drawers. But if the linear measurementsafforded us little satisfaction, the square measurements revealedconsiderably less, while, since no one of us was a mathematician, thecalculation of the cubic capacity proved, not only unprofitable, butprovocative of such bitter arguments and insulting remarks that Daphnedemanded that we should desist.

  "All right," said Berry, "if you don't believe me, call in a consultingengineer. I've worked the blinking thing out three times. I admit theanswers were entirely different, but that's not my fault. I never didlike astrology. I tell you the beastly chest holds twenty-seven thousandpoint nine double eight recurring cubic inches of air. Some other foolcan reduce that to rods, and there you are. I'm fed up with it. Thanksto the machinations of that congenital idiot with the imitationmustachios, I've paid more than four times its value, and I'm not goingto burst my brains trying to work out which drawer would have had afalse bottom if it had been built by a dipsomaniac who kept fowls. Andthat's that."

  Tearfully Miss Childe announced that it was time for her to be going,and I elected to escort her as far as the garage. As we stepped on tothe pavement--

  "I know a lot more about you than you think," said I. "I never told youhalf what I dreamed."

  "What do you know?"

  "Oh, nothing momentous. Just the more intimate details of your everydaylife. Your partiality to mushrooms, your recognition of Love, yourrecklessness, pretty peculiarities of your toilet----"

  "Good Heavens!" cried Miss Childe.

  "But you wouldn't tell me your name."

  "False modesty. Seriously you don't mean to say----"

  "But I do. Nothing was hid from me. Your little bare feet----"

  A stifled scream interrupted me.

  "This," said Miss Childe, "is awful." We turned into the mews. "What areyou doing to-morrow?"

  "Dictating. You see, there's a dream I want recorded."

  "I shall expect you at half-past one. We can start after lunch. I've abeautiful hand."

  "I know you have. Two of them. They were bare, too," I addedreflectively.

  With a choking sound, Miss Childe got into the car.

  "Half-past one," she said, as she slid into the driver's seat.

  "Without fail." I raised my hat. "By the way, who shall I ask for?"

  Miss Childe flung me a dazzling smile.

  "I've no sisters," she said.

  Moodily I returned to the house.

  I entered the library to find that the others had retired, presumably todress for dinner. Mechanically I crossed to the tallboy, which we had sofruitlessly surveyed, and began to finger it idly, wondering all thetime whether my dream was wanton, or whether there was indeed somesecret which we might discover. It did not seem possible, and yet....That distant voice rang in my ears. "Measurements tell, measurementstell. But they never do that." _What?_

  A sudden idea came to me, and I drew out the second long drawer. Then insome excitement I withdrew the first, and placed it exactly upon the topof the second, so that I might see if they were of the same size. _Thesecond was the deeper by an inch and a half._

  I thrust my arms into the empty frame, feeling feverishly for a bolt orcatch, which should be holding a panel in place at the back of where thefirst drawer had lain. At first I could find nothing, then my right handencountered a round hole in the wood, just large enough to admit a man'sfinger. Almost immediately I came upon a similar hole on the left-handside. Their office was plain....

  A moment later, and I had drawn the panel out of its standing and clearof the chest.

  My hands were trembling as I thrust them into the dusty hiding-place.

  * * * * *

  "Hullo! Aren't you going to dress?" said Jonah some two minutes later.

  But I was still staring at a heavy riding-whip whose handle was wroughtabout with gold.