Chapter One THE MILLIONAIRE AND THE WAITER
YES sir
Jules the celebrated head waiter of the Grand Babylon was bending formally towards the alert middleaged man who had just entered the smokingroom and dropped into a basketchair in the corner by the conservatory It was 745 on a particularly sultry June night and dinner was about to be served at the Grand Babylon Men of all sizes ages and nationalities but every one alike arrayed in faultless evening dress were dotted about the large dim apartment A faint odour of flowers came from the conservatory and the tinkle of a fountain The waiters commanded by Jules moved softly across the thick Oriental rugs balancing their trays with the dexterity of jugglers and receiving and executing orders with that air of profound importance of which only really firstclass waiters have the secret The atmosphere was an atmosphere of serenity and repose characteristic of the Grand Babylon It seemed impossible that anything could occur to mar the peaceful aristocratic monotony of existence in that perfectlymanaged establishment Yet on that night was to happen the mightiest upheaval that the Grand Babylon had ever known
Yes sir repeated Jules and this time there was a shade of august disapproval in his voice it was not usual for him to have to address a customer twice
Oh said the alert middleaged man looking up at length Beautifully ignorant of the identity of the great Jules he allowed his grey eyes to twinkle as he caught sight of the expression on the waiters face Bring me an Angel Kiss
Pardon sir
Bring me an Angel Kiss and be good enough to lose no time
If its an American drink I fear we dont keep it sir The voice of Jules fell icily distinct and several men glanced round uneasily as if to deprecate the slightest disturbance of their calm The appearance of the person to whom Jules was speaking however reassured them somewhat for he had all the look of that expert the travelled Englishman who can differentiate between one hôtel and another by instinct and who knows at once where he may make a fuss with propriety and where it is advisable to behave exactly as at the club The Grand Babylon was a hôtel in whose smokingroom one behaved as though one was at ones club
I didnt suppose you did keep it but you can mix it I guess even in this hôtel
This isnt an American hôtel sir The calculated insolence of the words was cleverly masked beneath an accent of humble submission
The alert middleaged man sat up straight and gazed placidly at Jules who was pulling his famous red sidewhiskers
Get a liqueur glass he said half curtly and half with goodhumoured tolerance pour into it equal quantities of maraschino cream and crême de menthe Dont stir it dont shake it Bring it to me And I say tell the bartender—
Bartender sir
Tell the bartender to make a note of the recipe as I shall probably want an Angel Kiss every evening before dinner so long as this weather lasts
I will send the drink to you sir said Jules distantly That was his parting shot by which he indicated that he was not as other waiters are and that any person who treated him with disrespect did so at his own peril
A few minutes later while the alert middleaged man was tasting the Angel Kiss Jules sat in conclave with Miss Spencer who had charge of the bureau of the Grand Babylon This bureau was a fairly large chamber with two sliding glass partitions which overlooked the entrancehall and the smokingroom Only a small portion of the clerical work of the great hôtel was performed there The place served chiefly as the lair of Miss Spencer who was as well known and as important as Jules himself Most modern hôtels have a male clerk to superintend the bureau But the Grand Babylon went its own way Miss Spencer had been bureau clerk almost since the Grand Babylon had first raised its massive chimneys to heaven and she remained in her place despite the vagaries of other hôtels Always admirably dressed in plain black silk with a small diamond brooch immaculate wristbands and frizzed yellow hair she looked now just as she had looked an indefinite number of years ago Her age—none knew it save herself and perhaps one other and none cared The gracious and alluring contours of her figure were irreproachable and in the evenings she was a useful ornament of which any hôtel might be innocently proud Her knowledge of Bradshaw of steamship services and the programmes of theatres and musichalls was unrivalled yet she never travelled she never went to a theatre or a musichall She seemed to spend the whole of her life in that official lair of hers imparting information to guests telephoning to the various departments or engaged in intimate conversations with her special friends on the staff as at present
Whos Number 107 Jules asked this blackrobed lady
Miss Spencer examined her ledgers
Mr Theodore Racksole New York
I thought he must be a New Yorker said Jules after a brief significant pause but he talks as good English as you or me Says he wants an Angel Kiss—maraschino and cream if you please—every night Ill see he doesnt stop here too long
Miss Spencer smiled grimly in response The notion of referring to Theodore Racksole as a New Yorker appealed to her sense of humour a sense in which she was not entirely deficient She knew of course and she knew that Jules knew that this Theodore Racksole must be the unique and only Theodore Racksole the third richest man in the United States and therefore probably in the world Nevertheless she ranged herself at once on the side of Jules
Just as there was only one Racksole so there was only one Jules and Miss Spencer instinctively shared the latters indignation at the spectacle of any person whatsoever millionaire or Emperor presuming to demand an Angel Kiss that unrespectable concoction of maraschino and cream within the precincts of the Grand Babylon In the world of hôtels it was currently stated that next to the proprietor there were three gods at the Grand Babylon—Jules the head waiter Miss Spencer and most powerful of all Rocco the renowned chef who earned two thousand a year and had a chalet on the Lake of Lucerne All the great hôtels in Northumberland Avenue and on the Thames Embankment had tried to get Rocco away from the Grand Babylon but without success Rocco was well aware that even he could rise no higher than the maître hôtel of the Grand Babylon which though it never advertised itself and didnt belong to a limited company stood an easy first among the hôtels of Europe—first in expensiveness first in exclusiveness first in that mysterious quality known as style
Situated on the Embankment the Grand Babylon despite its noble proportions was somewhat dwarfed by several colossal neighbours It had but three hundred and fifty rooms whereas there are two hôtels within a quarter of a mile with six hundred and four hundred rooms respectively On the other hand the Grand Babylon was the only hôtel in London with a genuine separate entrance for Royal visitors constantly in use The Grand Babylon counted that day wasted on which it did not entertain at the lowest a German prince or the Maharajah of some Indian State When Felix Babylon—after whom and not with any reference to Londons nickname the hôtel was christened—when Felix Babylon founded the hôtel in 1869 he had set himself to cater for Royalty and that was the secret of his triumphant eminence
The son of a rich Swiss hôtel proprietor and financier he had contrived to established a connection with the officials of several European Courts and he had not spared money in that respect Sundry kings and not a few princesses called him Felix and spoke familiarly of the hôtel as Felixs and Felix had found that this was very good for trade The Grand Babylon was managed accordingly The note of its policy was discretion always discretion and quietude simplicity remoteness The place was like a palace incognito There was no gold sign over the roof not even an explanatory word at the entrance You walked down a small side street off the Strand you saw a plain brown building in front of you with two mahogany swing doors and an official behind each the doors opened noiselessly you entered you were in Felixs If you meant to be a guest you or your courier gave your card to Miss Spencer Upon no consideration did you ask for the tariff It was not good form to mention prices at the Grand Babylon the prices were enormous but you never mentioned them At the conclusion of your stay a bill was presented brief and void of dry details and you paid it without a word You met with a stately civility that was all No one had originally asked you to come no one expressed the hope that you would come again The Grand Babylon was far above such manoeuvres it defied competition by ignoring it and consequently was nearly always full during the season
If there was one thing more than another that annoyed the Grand Babylon—put its back up so to speak—it was to be compared with or to be mistaken for an American hôtel The Grand Babylon was resolutely opposed to American methods of eating drinking and lodging—but especially American methods of drinking The resentment of Jules on being requested to supply Mr Theodore Racksole with an Angel Kiss will therefore be appreciated
Anybody with Mr Theodore Racksole asked Jules continuing his conversation with Miss Spencer He put a scornful stress on every syllable of the guests name
Miss Racksole—shes in No 111
Jules paused and stroked his left whisker as it lay on his gleaming white collar
Shes where he queried with a peculiar emphasis
No 111 I couldnt help it There was no other room with a bathroom and dressingroom on that floor Miss Spencers voice had an appealing tone of excuse
Why didnt you tell Mr Theodore Racksole and Miss Racksole that we were unable to accommodate them
Because Babs was within hearing
Only three people in the wide world ever dreamt of applying to Mr Felix Babylon the playful but mean abbreviation—Babs those three were Jules Miss Spencer and Rocco Jules had invented it No one but he would have had either the wit or the audacity to do so
Youd better see that Miss Racksole changes her room tonight Jules said after another pause Leave it to me Ill fix it Au revoir Its three minutes to eight I shall take charge of the diningroom myself tonight
And Jules departed rubbing his fine white hands slowly and meditatively It was a trick of his to rub his hands with a strange roundabout motion and the action denoted that some unusual excitement was in the air
At eight oclock precisely dinner was served in the immense salle manger that chaste yet splendid apartment of white and gold At a small table near one of the windows a young lady sat alone Her frocks said Paris but her face unmistakably said New York It was a selfpossessed and bewitching face the face of a woman thoroughly accustomed to doing exactly what she liked when she liked how she liked the face of a woman who had taught hundreds of gilded young men the true art of fetching and carrying and who by twenty years or so of parental spoiling had come to regard herself as the feminine equivalent of the Tsar of All the Russias Such women are only made in America and they only come to their full bloom in Europe which they imagine to be a continent created by Providence for their diversion
The young lady by the window glanced disapprovingly at the menu card Then she looked round the diningroom and while admiring the diners decided that the room itself was rather small and plain Then she gazed through the open window and told herself that though the Thames by twilight was passable enough it was by no means level with the Hudson on whose shores her father had a hundred thousand dollar country cottage Then she returned to the menu and with a pursing of lovely lips said that there appeared to be nothing to eat
Sorry to keep you waiting Nella It was Mr Racksole the intrepid millionaire who had dared to order an Angel Kiss in the smokeroom of the Grand Babylon Nella—her proper name was Helen—smiled at her parent cautiously reserving to herself the right to scold if she should feel so inclined
You always are late father she said
Only on a holiday he added What is there to eat
Nothing
Then lets have it Im hungry Im never so hungry as when Im being seriously idle
Consommé Britannia she began to read out from the menu Saumon dEcosse Sauce Genoise Aspics de Homard Oh heavens Who wants these horrid messes on a night like this
But Nella this is the best cooking in Europe he protested
Say father she said with seeming irrelevance had you forgotten its my birthday tomorrow
Have I ever forgotten your birthday O most costly daughter
On the whole youve been a most satisfactory dad she answered sweetly and to reward you Ill be content this year with the cheapest birthday treat you ever gave me Only Ill have it tonight
Well he said with the longsuffering patience the readiness for any surprise of a parent whom Nella had thoroughly trained what is it
Its this Lets have filleted steak and a bottle of Bass for dinner tonight It will be simply exquisite I shall love it
But my dear Nella he exclaimed steak and beer at Felixs Its impossible Moreover young women still under twentythree cannot be permitted to drink Bass
I said steak and Bass and as for being twentythree shall be going in twentyfour tomorrow
Miss Racksole set her small white teeth
There was a gentle cough Jules stood over them It must have been out of a pure spirit of adventure that he had selected this table for his own services Usually Jules did not personally wait at dinner He merely hovered observant like a captain on the bridge during the mates watch Regular frequenters of the hôtel felt themselves honoured when Jules attached himself to their tables
Theodore Racksole hesitated one second and then issued the order with a fine air of carelessness
Filleted steak for two and a bottle of Bass It was the bravest act of Theodore Racksoles life and yet at more than one previous crisis a high courage had not been lacking to him
Its not in the menu sir said Jules the imperturbable
Never mind Get it We want it
Very good sir
Jules walked to the servicedoor and merely affecting to look behind came immediately back again
Mr Roccos compliments sir and he regrets to be unable to serve steak and Bass tonight sir
Mr Rocco questioned Racksole lightly
Mr Rocco repeated Jules with firmness
And who is Mr Rocco
Mr Rocco is our chef sir Jules had the expression of a man who is asked to explain who Shakespeare was
The two men looked at each other It seemed incredible that Theodore Racksole the ineffable Racksole who owned a thousand miles of railway several towns and sixty votes in Congress should be defied by a waiter or even by a whole hôtel Yet so it was When Europes effete back is against the wall not a regiment of millionaires can turn its flank Jules had the calm expression of a strong man sure of victory His face said You beat me once but not this time my New York friend
As for Nella knowing her father she foresaw interesting events and waited confidently for the steak She did not feel hungry and she could afford to wait
Excuse me a moment Nella said Theodore Racksole quietly I shall be back in about two seconds and he strode out of the salle à manger No one in the room recognized the millionaire for he was unknown to London this being his first visit to Europe for over twenty years Had anyone done so and caught the expression on his face that man might have trembled for an explosion which should have blown the entire Grand Babylon into the Thames
Jules retired strategically to a corner He had fired it was the antagonists turn A long and varied experience had taught Jules that a guest who embarks on the subjugation of a waiter is almost always lost the waiter has so many advantages in such a contest
Chapter Two HOW MR RACKSOLE OBTAINED HIS DINNER
NEVERTHELESS there are men with a confirmed habit of getting their own way even as guests in an exclusive hôtel and Theodore Racksole had long since fallen into that useful practice—except when his only daughter Helen motherless but highspirited girl chose to think that his way crossed hers in which case Theodore capitulated and fell back But when Theodore and his daughter happened to be going one and the same road which was pretty often then Heaven alone might help any obstacle that was so illadvised as to stand in their path Jules great and observant man though he was had not noticed the terrible projecting chins of both father and daughter otherwise it is possible he would have reconsidered the question of the steak and Bass
Theodore Racksole went direct to the entrancehall of the hôtel and entered Miss Spencers sanctum
I want to see Mr Babylon he said without the delay of an instant
Miss Spencer leisurely raised her flaxen head
I am afraid— she began the usual formula It was part of her daily duty to discourage guests who desired to see Mr Babylon
No no said Racksole quickly I dont want any Im afraids This is business If you had been the ordinary hôtel clerk I should have slipped you a couple of sovereigns into your hand and the thing would have been done
As you are not—as you are obviously above bribes—I merely say to you I must see Mr Babylon at once on an affair of the utmost urgency My name is Racksole—Theodore Racksole
Of New York questioned a voice at the door with a slight foreign accent
The millionaire turned sharply and saw a rather short Frenchlooking man with a bald head a grey beard a long and perfectlybuilt frock coat eyeglasses attached to a minute silver chain and blue eyes that seemed to have the transparent innocence of a maids
There is only one said Theodore Racksole succinctly
You wish to see me the newcomer suggested
You are Mr Felix Babylon
The man bowed
At this moment I wish to see you more than anyone else in the world said Racksole I am consumed and burnt up with a desire to see you Mr Babylon
I only want a few minutes quiet chat I fancy I can settle my business in that time
With a gesture Mr Babylon invited the millionaire down a side corridor at the end of which was Mr Babylons private room a miracle of Louis XV furniture and tapestry like most unmarried men with large incomes Mr Babylon had tastes of a highly expensive sort
The landlord and his guest sat down opposite each other Theodore Racksole had met with the usual millionaires luck in this adventure for Mr Babylon made a practice of not allowing himself to be interviewed by his guests however distinguished however wealthy however pertinacious If he had not chanced to enter Miss Spencers office at that precise moment and if he had not been impressed in a somewhat peculiar way by the physiognomy of the millionaire not all Mr Racksoles American energy and ingenuity would have availed for a confabulation with the owner of the Grand Babylon Hôtel that night Theodore Racksole however was ignorant that a mere accident had served him He took all the credit to himself
I read in the New York papers some months ago Theodore started without even a clearing of the throat that this hôtel of yours Mr Babylon was to be sold to a limited company but it appears that the sale was not carried out
It was not answered Mr Babylon frankly and the reason was that the middlemen between the proposed company and myself wished to make a large secret profit and I declined to be a party to such a profit They were firm I was firm and so the affair came to nothing
The agreed price was satisfactory
Quite
May I ask what the price was
Are you a buyer Mr Racksole
Are you a seller Mr Babylon
I am said Babylon on terms The price was four hundred thousand pounds including the leasehold and goodwill But I sell only on the condition that the buyer does not transfer the property to a limited company at a higher figure
I will put one question to you Mr Babylon said the millionaire What have your profits averaged during the last four years
Thirtyfour thousand pounds per annum
I buy said Theodore Racksole smiling contentedly and we will if you please exchange contractletters on the spot
You come quickly to a resolution Mr Racksole But perhaps you have been considering this question for a long time
On the contrary Racksole looked at his watch I have been considering it for six minutes
Felix Babylon bowed as one thoroughly accustomed to eccentricity of wealth
The beauty of being wellknown Racksole continued is that you neednt trouble about preliminary explanations You Mr Babylon probably know all about me I know a good deal about you We can take each other for granted without reference Really it is as simple to buy an hôtel or a railroad as it is to buy a watch provided one is equal to the transaction
Precisely agreed Mr Babylon smiling Shall we draw up the little informal contract There are details to be thought of But it occurs to me that you cannot have dined yet and might prefer to deal with minor questions after dinner
I have not dined said the millionaire with emphasis and in that connexion will you do me a favour Will you send for Mr Rocco
You wish to see him naturally
I do said the millionaire and added about my dinner
Rocco is a great man murmured Mr Babylon as he touched the bell ignoring the last words My compliments to Mr Rocco he said to the page who answered his summons and if it is quite convenient I should be glad to see him here for a moment
What do you give Rocco Racksole inquired
Two thousand a year and the treatment of an Ambassador
I shall give him the treatment of an Ambassador and three thousand
You will be wise said Felix Babylon
At that moment Rocco came into the room very softly—a man of forty thin with long thin hands and an inordinately long brown silky moustache
Rocco said Felix Babylon let me introduce Mr Theodore Racksole of New York
Sharmed said Rocco bowing Ze—ze vat you call it millionaire
Exactly Racksole put in and continued quickly Mr Rocco I wish to acquaint you before any other person with the fact that I have purchased the Grand Babylon Hôtel If you think well to afford me the privilege of retaining your services I shall be happy to offer you a remuneration of three thousand a year
Tree you said
Three
Sharmed
And now Mr Rocco will you oblige me very much by ordering a plain beefsteak and a bottle of Bass to be served by Jules—I particularly desire Jules—at table No 17 in the diningroom in ten minutes from now And will you do me the honour of lunching with me tomorrow
Mr Rocco gasped bowed muttered something in French and departed
Five minutes later the buyer and seller of the Grand Babylon Hôtel had each signed a curt document scribbled out on the hôtel notepaper Felix Babylon asked no questions and it was this heroic absence of curiosity of surprise on his part that more than anything else impressed Theodore Racksole How many hôtel proprietors in the world Racksole asked himself would have let that beefsteak and Bass go by without a word of comment
From what date do you wish the purchase to take effect asked Babylon
Oh said Racksole lightly it doesnt matter Shall we say from tonight
As you will I have long wished to retire And now that the moment has come—and so dramatically—I am ready I shall return to Switzerland One cannot spend much money there but it is my native land I shall be the richest man in Switzerland He smiled with a kind of sad amusement
I suppose you are fairly well off said Racksole in that easy familiar style of his as though the idea had just occurred to him
Besides what I shall receive from you I have half a million invested
Then you will be nearly a millionaire
Felix Babylon nodded
I congratulate you my dear sir said Racksole in the tone of a judge addressing a newlyadmitted barrister Nine hundred thousand pounds expressed in francs will sound very nice—in Switzerland
Of course to you Mr Racksole such a sum would be poverty Now if one might guess at your own wealth Felix Babylon was imitating the others freedom
I do not know to five millions or so what I am worth said Racksole with sincerity his tone indicating that he would have been glad to give the information if it were in his power
You have had anxieties Mr Racksole
Still have them I am now holidaymaking in London with my daughter in order to get rid of them for a time
Is the purchase of hôtels your notion of relaxation then
Racksole shrugged his shoulders It is a change from railroads he laughed
Ah my friend you little know what you have bought
Oh yes I do returned Racksole I have bought just the first hôtel in the world
That is true that is true Babylon admitted gazing meditatively at the antique Persian carpet There is nothing anywhere like my hôtel But you will regret the purchase Mr Racksole It is no business of mine of course but I cannot help repeating that you will regret the purchase
I never regret
Then you will begin very soon—perhaps tonight
Why do you say that
Because the Grand Babylon is the Grand Babylon You think because you control a railroad or an ironworks or a line of steamers therefore you can control anything But no Not the Grand Babylon There is something about the Grand Babylon— He threw up his hands
Servants rob you of course
Of course I suppose I lose a hundred pounds a week in that way But it is not that I mean It is the guests The guests are too—too distinguished
The great Ambassadors the great financiers the great nobles all the men that move the world put up under my roof London is the centre of everything and my hôtel—your hôtel—is the centre of London Once I had a King and a Dowager Empress staying here at the same time Imagine that
A great honour Mr Babylon But wherein lies the difficulty
Mr Racksole was the grim reply what has become of your shrewdness—that shrewdness which has made your fortune so immense that even you cannot calculate it Do you not perceive that the roof which habitually shelters all the force all the authority of the world must necessarily also shelter nameless and numberless plotters schemers evildoers and workers of mischief The thing is as clear as day—and as dark as night Mr Racksole I never know by whom I am surrounded I never know what is going forward
Only sometimes I get hints glimpses of strange acts and strange secrets
You mentioned my servants They are almost all good servants skilled competent But what are they besides For anything I know my fourth subchef may be an agent of some European Government For anything I know my invaluable Miss Spencer may be in the pay of a court dressmaker or a Frankfort banker Even Rocco may be someone else in addition to Rocco
That makes it all the more interesting remarked Theodore Racksole
What a long time you have been Father said Nella when he returned to table No 17 in the salle manger
Only twenty minutes my dove
But you said two seconds There is a difference
Well you see I had to wait for the steak to cook
Did you have much trouble in getting my birthday treat
No trouble But it didnt come quite as cheap as you said
What do you mean Father
Only that Ive bought the entire hôtel But dont split
Father you always were a delicious parent Shall you give me the hôtel for a birthday present
No I shall run it—as an amusement By the way who is that chair for
He noticed that a third cover had been laid at the table
That is for a friend of mine who came in about five minutes ago Of course I told him he must share our steak Hell be here in a moment
May I respectfully inquire his name
Dimmock—Christian name Reginald profession English companion to Prince Aribert of Posen I met him when I was in St Petersburg with cousin Hetty last fall Oh here he is Mr Dimmock this is my dear father He has succeeded with the steak
Theodore Racksole found himself confronted by a very young man with deep black eyes and a fresh boyish expression They began to talk
Jules approached with the steak Racksole tried to catch the waiters eye but could not The dinner proceeded
Oh Father cried Nella what a lot of mustard you have taken
Have I he said and then he happened to glance into a mirror on his left hand between two windows He saw the reflection of Jules who stood behind his chair and he saw Jules give a slow significant ominous wink to Mr Dimmock—Christian name Reginald
He examined his mustard in silence He thought that perhaps he had helped himself rather plenteously to mustard
Chapter Three AT THREE AM
MR REGINALD DIMMOCK proved himself despite his extreme youth to be a man of the world and of experiences and a practised talker Conversation between him and Nella Racksole seemed never to flag They chattered about St Petersburg and the ice on the Neva and the tenor at the opera who had been exiled to Siberia and the quality of Russian tea and the sweetness of Russian champagne and various other aspects of Muscovite existence Russia exhausted Nella lightly outlined her own doings since she had met the young man in the Tsars capital and this recital brought the topic round to London where it stayed till the final piece of steak was eaten Theodore Racksole noticed that Mr Dimmock gave very meagre information about his own movements either past or future He regarded the youth as a typical hangeron of Courts and wondered how he had obtained his post of companion to Prince Aribert of Posen and who Prince Aribert of Posen might be The millionaire thought he had once heard of Posen but he wasnt sure he rather fancied it was one of those small nondescript German States of which fivesixths of the subjects are Palace officials and the rest charcoalburners or innkeepers Until the meal was nearly over Racksole said little—perhaps his thoughts were too busy with Jules wink to Mr Dimmock but when ices had been followed by coffee he decided that it might be as well in the interests of the hôtel to discover something about his daughters friend He never for an instant questioned her right to possess her own friends he had always left her in the most amazing liberty relying on her inherited good sense to keep her out of mischief but quite apart from the wink he was struck by Nellas attitude towards Mr Dimmock an attitude in which an amiable scorn was blended with an evident desire to propitiate and please
Nella tells me Mr Dimmock that you hold a confidential position with Prince Aribert of Posen said Racksole You will pardon an Americans ignorance but is Prince Aribert a reigning Prince—what I believe you call in Europe a Prince Regnant
His Highness is not a reigning Prince nor ever likely to be answered Dimmock The Grand Ducal Throne of Posen is occupied by his Highnesss nephew the Grand Duke Eugen
Nephew cried Nella with astonishment
Why not dear lady
But Prince Aribert is surely very young
The Prince by one of those vagaries of chance which occur sometimes in the history of families is precisely the same age as the Grand Duke The late Grand Dukes father was twice married Hence this youthfulness on the part of an uncle
How delicious to be the uncle of someone as old as yourself But I suppose it is no fun for Prince Aribert I suppose he has to be frightfully respectful and obedient and all that to his nephew
The Grand Duke and my Serene master are like brothers At present of course Prince Aribert is nominally heir to the throne but as no doubt you are aware the Grand Duke will shortly marry a near relative of the Emperors and should there be a family— Mr Dimmock stopped and shrugged his straight shoulders The Grand Duke he went on without finishing the last sentence would much prefer Prince Aribert to be his successor He really doesnt want to marry Between ourselves strictly between ourselves he regards marriage as rather a bore But of course being a German Grand Duke he is bound to marry He owes it to his country to Posen
How large is Posen asked Racksole bluntly
Father Nella interposed laughing you shouldnt ask such inconvenient questions You ought to have guessed that it isnt etiquette to inquire about the size of a German Dukedom
I am sure said Dimmock with a polite smile that the Grand Duke is as much amused as anyone at the size of his territory I forget the exact acreage but I remember that once Prince Aribert and myself walked across it and back again in a single day
Then the Grand Duke cannot travel very far within his own dominions You may say that the sun does set on his empire
It does said Dimmock
Unless the weather is cloudy Nella put in Is the Grand Duke content always to stay at home
On the contrary he is a great traveller much more so than Prince Aribert
I may tell you what no one knows at present outside this hôtel that his Royal Highness the Grand Duke with a small suite will be here tomorrow
In London asked Nella
Yes
In this hôtel
Yes
Oh How lovely
That is why your humble servant is here tonight—a sort of advance guard
But I understood Racksole said that you were—er—attached to Prince Aribert the uncle
I am Prince Aribert will also be here The Grand Duke and the Prince have business about important investments connected with the Grand Dukes marriage settlement In the highest quarters you understand
For so discreet a person thought Racksole you are fairly communicative Then he said aloud Shall we go out on the terrace
As they crossed the diningroom Jules stopped Mr Dimmock and handed him a letter Just come sir by messenger said Jules
Nella dropped behind for a second with her father Leave me alone with this boy a little—theres a dear parent she whispered in his ear
I am a mere cypher an obedient nobody Racksole replied pinching her arm surreptitiously Treat me as such Use me as you like I will go and look after my hôtel And soon afterwards he disappeared
Nella and Mr Dimmock sat together on the terrace sipping iced drinks They made a handsome couple bowered amid plants which blossomed at the command of a Chelsea wholesale florist People who passed by remarked privately that from the look of things there was the beginning of a romance in that conversation Perhaps there was but a more intimate acquaintance with the character of Nella Racksole would have been necessary in order to predict what precise form that romance would take
Jules himself served the liquids and at ten oclock he brought another note Entreating a thousand pardons Reginald Dimmock after he had glanced at the note excused himself on the plea of urgent business for his Serene master uncle of the Grand Duke of Posen He asked if he might fetch Mr Racksole or escort Miss Racksole to her father But Miss Racksole said gaily that she felt no need of an escort and should go to bed She added that her father and herself always endeavoured to be independent of each other
Just then Theodore Racksole had found his way once more into Mr Babylons private room Before arriving there however he had discovered that in some mysterious manner the news of the change of proprietorship had worked its way down to the lowest strata of the hôtels cosmos The corridors hummed with it and even underservants were to be seen discussing the thing just as though it mattered to them
Have a cigar Mr Racksole said the urbane Mr Babylon and a mouthful of the oldest cognac in all Europe
In a few minutes these two were talking eagerly rapidly Felix Babylon was astonished at Racksoles capacity for absorbing the details of hôtel management And as for Racksole he soon realized that Felix Babylon must be a prince of hôtel managers It had never occurred to Racksole before that to manage an hôtel even a large hôtel could be a specially interesting affair or that it could make any excessive demands upon the brains of the manager but he came to see that he had underrated the possibilities of an hôtel The business of the Grand Babylon was enormous It took Racksole with all his genius for organization exactly half an hour to master the details of the hôtel laundrywork And the laundrywork was but one branch of activity amid scores and not a very large one at that The machinery of checking supplies and of establishing a mean ratio between the raw stuff received in the kitchen and the number of meals served in the salle à manger and the private rooms was very complicated and delicate When Racksole had grasped it he at once suggested some improvements and this led to a long theoretical discussion and the discussion led to digressions and then Felix Babylon in a moment of absentmindedness yawned
Racksole looked at the gilt clock on the high mantelpiece
Great Scott he said Its three oclock Mr Babylon accept my apologies for having kept you up to such an absurd hour
I have not spent so pleasant an evening for many years You have let me ride my hobby to my hearts content It is I who should apologize
Racksole rose
I should like to ask you one question said Babylon Have you ever had anything to do with hôtels before
Never said Racksole
Then you have missed your vocation You could have been the greatest of all hôtelmanagers You would have been greater than me and I am unequalled though I keep only one hôtel and some men have half a dozen Mr Racksole why have you never run an hôtel
Heaven knows he laughed but you flatter me Mr Babylon
I Flatter You do not know me I flatter no one except perhaps now and then an exceptionally distinguished guest In which case I give suitable instructions as to the bill
Speaking of distinguished guests I am told that a couple of German princes are coming here tomorrow
That is so
Does one do anything Does one receive them formally—stand bowing in the entrancehall or anything of that sort
Not necessarily Not unless one wishes The modern hôtel proprietor is not like an innkeeper of the Middle Ages and even princes do not expect to see him unless something should happen to go wrong As a matter of fact though the Grand Duke of Posen and Prince Aribert have both honoured me by staying here before I have never even set eyes on them You will find all arrangements have been made
They talked a little longer and then Racksole said good night Let me see you to your room The lifts will be closed and the place will be deserted
As for myself I sleep here and Mr Babylon pointed to an inner door
No thanks said Racksole let me explore my own hôtel unaccompanied I believe I can discover my room When he got fairly into the passages Racksole was not so sure that he could discover his own room The number was 107 but he had forgotten whether it was on the first or second floor
Travelling in a lift one is unconscious of floors He passed several liftdoorways but he could see no glint of a staircase in all selfrespecting hôtels staircases have gone out of fashion and though hôtel architects still continue for old sakes sake to build staircases they are tucked away in remote corners where their presence is not likely to offend the eye of a spoiled and cosmopolitan public The hôtel seemed vast uncanny deserted An electric light glowed here and there at long intervals On the thick carpets Racksoles thinlyshod feet made no sound and he wandered at ease to and fro rather amused rather struck by the peculiar senses of night and mystery which had suddenly come over him He fancied he could hear a thousand snores peacefully descending from the upper realms At length he found a staircase a very dark and narrow one and presently he was on the first floor He soon discovered that the numbers of the rooms on this floor did not get beyond seventy He encountered another staircase and ascended to the second floor By the decoration of the walls he recognized this floor as his proper home and as he strolled through the long corridor he whistled a low meditative whistle of satisfaction He thought he heard a step in the transverse corridor and instinctively he obliterated himself in a recess which held a servicecabinet and a chair He did hear a step Peeping cautiously out he perceived what he had not perceived previously that a piece of white ribbon had been tied round the handle of the door of one of the bedrooms Then a man came round the corner of the transverse corridor and Racksole drew back It was Jules—Jules with his hands in his pockets and a slouch hat over his eyes but in other respects attired as usual
Racksole at that instant remembered with a special vividness what Felix Babylon had said to him at their first interview He wished he had brought his revolver He didnt know why he should feel the desirability of a revolver in a London hôtel of the most unimpeachable fair fame but he did feel the desirability of such an instrument of attack and defence He privately decided that if Jules went past his recess he would take him by the throat and in that attitude put a few plain questions to this highly dubious waiter But Jules had stopped The millionaire made another cautious observation Jules with infinite gentleness was turning the handle of the door to which the white ribbon was attached The door slowly yielded and Jules disappeared within the room After a brief interval the nightprowling Jules reappeared closed the door as softly as he had opened it removed the ribbon returned upon his steps and vanished down the transverse corridor
This is quaint said Racksole quaint to a degree
It occurred to him to look at the number of the room and he stole towards it
Well Im d—d he murmured wonderingly
The number was 111 his daughters room He tried to open it but the door was locked Rushing to his own room No 107 he seized one of a pair of revolvers the kind that are made for millionaires and followed after Jules down the transverse corridor At the end of this corridor was a window the window was open and Jules was innocently gazing out of the window Ten silent strides and Theodore Racksole was upon him
One word my friend the millionaire began carelessly waving the revolver in the air Jules was indubitably startled but by an admirable exercise of selfcontrol he recovered possession of his faculties in a second
Sir said Jules
I just want to be informed what the deuce you were doing in No 111 a moment ago
I had been requested to go there was the calm response
You are a liar and not a very clever one That is my daughters room Now—out with it before I decide whether to shoot you or throw you into the street
Excuse me sir No 111 is occupied by a gentleman
I advise you that it is a serious error of judgement to contradict me my friend Dont do it again We will go to the room together and you shall prove that the occupant is a gentleman and not my daughter
Impossible sir said Jules
Scarcely that said Racksole and he took Jules by the sleeve The millionaire knew for a certainty that Nella occupied No 111 for he had examined the room her and himself seen that her trunks and her maid and herself had arrived there in safety Now open the door whispered Racksole when they reached No111
I must knock
That is just what you mustnt do Open it No doubt you have your passkey
Confronted by the revolver Jules readily obeyed yet with a deprecatory gesture as though he would not be responsible for this outrage against the decorum of hôtel life Racksole entered The room was brilliantly lighted
A visitor who insists on seeing you sir said Jules and fled
Mr Reginald Dimmock still in evening dress and smoking a cigarette rose hurriedly from a table
Hello my dear Mr Racksole this is an unexpected—ah—pleasure
Where is my daughter This is her room
Did I catch what you said Mr Racksole
I venture to remark that this is Miss Racksoles room
My good sir answered Dimmock you must be mad to dream of such a thing
Only my respect for your daughter prevents me from expelling you forcibly for such an extraordinary suggestion
A small spot halfway down the bridge of the millionaires nose turned suddenly white
With your permission he said in a low calm voice I will examine the dressingroom and the bathroom
Just listen to me a moment Dimmock urged in a milder tone
Ill listen to you afterwards my young friend said Racksole and he proceeded to search the bathroom and the dressingroom without any result whatever Lest my attitude might be open to misconstruction Mr Dimmock I may as well tell you that I have the most perfect confidence in my daughter who is as well able to take care of herself as any woman I ever met but since you entered it there have been one or two rather mysterious occurrences in this hôtel That is all Feeling a draught of air on his shoulder Racksole turned to the window For instance he added I perceive that this window is broken badly broken and from the outside
Now how could that have occurred
If you will kindly hear reason Mr Racksole said Dimmock in his best diplomatic manner I will endeavour to explain things to you I regarded your first question to me when you entered my room as being offensively put but I now see that you had some justification He smiled politely I was passing along this corridor about eleven oclock when I found Miss Racksole in a difficulty with the hôtel servants Miss Racksole was retiring to rest in this room when a large stone which must have been thrown from the Embankment broke the window as you see Apart from the discomfort of the broken window she did not care to remain in the room She argued that where one stone had come another might follow She therefore insisted on her room being changed The servants said that there was no other room available with a dressingroom and bathroom attached and your daughter made a point of these matters I at once offered to exchange apartments with her She did me the honour to accept my offer Our respective belongings were moved—and that is all Miss Racksole is at this moment I trust asleep in No 124
Theodore Racksole looked at the young man for a few seconds in silence
There was a faint knock at the door
Come in said Racksole loudly
Someone pushed open the door but remained standing on the mat It was Nellas maid in a dressinggown
Miss Racksoles compliments and a thousand excuses but a book of hers was left on the mantelshelf in this room She cannot sleep and wishes to read
Mr Dimmock I tender my apologies—my formal apologies said Racksole when the girl had gone away with the book Good night
Pray dont mention it said Dimmock suavely—and bowed him out
Chapter Four ENTRANCE OF THE PRINCE
NEVERTHELESS sundry small things weighed on Racksoles mind First there was Jules wink Then there was the ribbon on the doorhandle and Jules visit to No 111 and the broken window—broken from the outside Racksole did not forget that the time was 3 am He slept but little that night but he was glad that he had bought the Grand Babylon Hôtel It was an acquisition which seemed to promise fun and diversion
The next morning he came across Mr Babylon early I have emptied my private room of all personal papers said Babylon and it is now at your disposal
I purpose if agreeable to yourself to stay on in the hôtel as a guest for the present We have much to settle with regard to the completion of the purchase and also there are things which you might want to ask me Also to tell the truth I am not anxious to leave the old place with too much suddenness It will be a wrench to me
I shall be delighted if you will stay said the millionaire but it must be as my guest not as the guest of the hôtel
You are very kind
As for wishing to consult you no doubt I shall have need to do so but I must say that the show seems to run itself
Ah said Babylon thoughtfully I have heard of hôtels that run themselves If they do you may be sure that they obey the laws of gravity and run downwards You will have your hands full For example have you yet heard about Miss Spencer
No said Racksole What of her
She has mysteriously vanished during the night and nobody appears to be able to throw any light on the affair Her room is empty her boxes gone
You will want someone to take her place and that someone will not be very easy to get
Hm Racksole said after a pause Hers is not the only post that falls vacant today
A little later the millionaire installed himself in the late owners private room and rang the bell
I want Jules he said to the page
While waiting for Jules Racksole considered the question of Miss Spencers disappearance
Good morning Jules was his cheerful greeting when the imperturbable waiter arrived
Good morning sir
Take a chair
Thank you sir
We have met before this morning Jules
Yes sir at 3 am
Rather strange about Miss Spencers departure is it not suggested Racksole
It is remarkable sir
You are aware of course that Mr Babylon has transferred all his interests in this hôtel to me
I have been informed to that effect sir
I suppose you know everything that goes on in the hôtel Jules
As the head waiter sir it is my business to keep a general eye on things
You speak very good English for a foreigner Jules
For a foreigner sir I am an Englishman a Hertfordshire man born and bred Perhaps my name has misled you sir I am only called Jules because the head waiter of any really highclass hôtel must have either a French or an Italian name
I see said Racksole I think you must be rather a clever person Jules
That is not for me to say sir
How long has the hôtel enjoyed the advantage of your services
A little over twenty years
That is a long time to be in one place Dont you think its time you got out of the rut You are still young and might make a reputation for yourself in another and wider sphere
Racksole looked at the man steadily and his glance was steadily returned
You arent satisfied with me sir
To be frank Jules I think—I think you—er—wink too much And I think that it is regrettable when a head waiter falls into a habit of taking white ribbons from the handles of bedroom doors at three in the morning
Jules started slightly
I see how it is sir You wish me to go and one pretext if I may use the term is as good as another Very well I cant say that Im surprised It sometimes happens that there is incompatibility of temper between a hôtel proprietor and his head waiter and then unless one of them goes the hôtel is likely to suffer I will go Mr Racksole In fact I had already thought of giving notice
The millionaire smiled appreciatively What wages do you require in lieu of notice It is my intention that you leave the hôtel within an hour
I require no wages in lieu of notice sir I would scorn to accept anything And I will leave the hôtel in fifteen minutes
Goodday then You have my good wishes and my admiration so long as you keep out of my hôtel
Racksole got up Goodday sir And thank you
By the way Jules it will be useless for you to apply to any other firstrate European hôtel for a post because I shall take measures which will ensure the rejection of any such application
Without discussing the question whether or not there arent at least half a dozen hôtels in London alone that would jump for joy at the chance of getting me answered Jules I may tell you sir that I shall retire from my profession
Really You will turn your brains to a different channel
No sir I shall take rooms in Albemarle Street or Jermyn Street and just be content to be a manabouttown I have saved some twenty thousand pounds—a mere trifle but sufficient for my needs and I shall now proceed to enjoy it Pardon me for troubling you with my personal affairs And goodday again
That afternoon Racksole went with Felix Babylon first to a firm of solicitors in the City and then to a stockbroker in order to carry out the practical details of the purchase of the hôtel
I mean to settle in England said Racksole as they were coming back It is the only country— and he stopped
The only country
The only country where you can invest money and spend money with a feeling of security In the United States there is nothing worth spending money on nothing to buy In France or Italy there is no real security
But surely you are a true American questioned Babylon
I am a true American said Racksole but my father who began by being a bedmaker at an Oxford college and ultimately made ten million dollars out of iron in Pittsburg—my father took the wise precaution of having me educated in England I had my three years at Oxford like any son of the upper middle class It did me good It has been worth more to me than many successful speculations It taught me that the English language is different from and better than the American language and that there is something—I havent yet found out exactly what—in English life that Americans will never get Why he added in the United States we still bribe our judges and our newspapers And we talk of the eighteenth century as though it was the beginning of the world Yes I shall transfer my securities to London I shall build a house in Park Lane and I shall buy some immemorial country seat with a history as long as the A T and S railroad and I shall calmly and gradually settle down Dyou know—I am rather a goodnatured man for a millionaire and of a social disposition and yet I havent six real friends in the whole of New York City Think of that
And I said Babylon have no friends except the friends of my boyhood in Lausanne I have spent thirty years in England and gained nothing but a perfect knowledge of the English language and as much gold coin as would fill a rather large box
These two plutocrats breathed a simultaneous sigh
Talking of gold coin said Racksole how much money should you think Jules has contrived to amass while he has been with you
Oh Babylon smiled I should not like to guess He has had unique opportunities—opportunities
Should you consider twenty thousand an extraordinary sum under the circumstances
Not at all Has he been confiding in you
Somewhat I have dismissed him
You have dismissed him
Why not
There is no reason why not But I have felt inclined to dismiss him for the past ten years and never found courage to do it
It was a perfectly simple proceeding I assure you Before I had done with him I rather liked the fellow
Miss Spencer and Jules—both gone in one day mused Felix Babylon
And no one to take their places said Racksole And yet the hôtel continues its way
But when Racksole reached the Grand Babylon he found that Miss Spencers chair in the bureau was occupied by a stately and imperious girl dressed becomingly in black
Heavens Nella he cried going to the bureau What are you doing here
I am taking Mis Spencers place I want to help you with your hôtel Dad I fancy I shall make an excellent hôtel clerk I have arranged with a Miss Selina Smith one of the typists in the office to put me up to all the tips and tricks and I shall do very well
But look here Helen Racksole We shall have the whole of London talking about this thing—the greatest of all American heiresses a hôtel clerk And I came here for quiet and rest
I suppose it was for the sake of quiet and rest that you bought the hôtel Papa
You would insist on the steak he retorted Get out of this on the instant
Here I am here to stay said Nella and deliberately laughed at her parent
Just then the face of a fairhaired man of about thirty years appeared at the bureau window He was very welldressed very aristocratic in his pose and he seemed rather angry
He looked fixedly at Nella and started back
Ach he exclaimed You
Yes your Highness it is indeed I Father this is his Serene Highness Prince Aribert of Posen—one of our most esteemed customers
You know my name Fräulein the newcomer murmured in German
Certainly Prince Nella replied sweetly You were plain Count Steenbock last spring in Paris—doubtless travelling incognito—
Silence he entreated with a wave of the hand and his forehead went as white as paper
Chapter Five WHAT OCCURRED TO REGINALD DIMMOCK
IN another moment they were all three talking quite nicely and with at any rate an appearance of being natural Prince Aribert became suave even deferential to Nella and more friendly towards Nellas father than their respective positions demanded The latter amused himself by studying this sprig of royalty the first with whom he had ever come into contact He decided that the young fellow was personable enough had no frills on him and would make an exceptionally good commercial traveller for a firstclass firm Such was Theodore Racksoles preliminary estimate of the man who might one day be the reigning Grand Duke of Posen
It occurred to Nella and she smiled at the idea that the bureau of the hôtel was scarcely the correct place in which to receive this august young man There he stood with his head halfway through the bureau window negligently leaning against the woodwork just as though he were a stockbroker or the manager of a New York burlesque company
Is your Highness travelling quite alone she asked
By a series of accidents I am he said My equerry was to have met me at Charing Cross but he failed to do so—I cannot imagine why
Mr Dimmock questioned Racksole
Yes Dimmock I do not remember that he ever missed an appointment before
You know him He has been here
He dined with us last night said Racksole—on Nellas invitation he added maliciously but today we have seen nothing of him I know however that he has engaged the State apartments and also a suite adjoining the State apartments—No 55 That is so isnt it Nella
Yes Papa she said having first demurely examined a ledger Your Highness would doubtless like to be conducted to your room—apartments I mean Then Nella laughed deliberately at the Prince and said I dont know who is the proper person to conduct you and thats a fact The truth is that Papa and I are rather raw yet in the hôtel line You see we only bought the place last night
You have bought the hôtel exclaimed the Prince
Thats so said Racksole
And Felix Babylon has gone
He is going if he has not already gone
Ah I see said the Prince this is one of your American strokes You have bought to sell again is that not it You are on your holidays but you cannot resist making a few thousands by way of relaxation I have heard of such things
We shant sell again Prince until we are tired of our bargain Sometimes we tire very quickly and sometimes we dont It depends—eh What
Racksole broke off suddenly to attend to a servant in livery who had quietly entered the bureau and was making urgent mysterious signs to him
If you please sir the man by frantic gestures implored Mr Theodore Racksole to come out
Pray dont let me detain you Mr Racksole said the Prince and therefore the proprietor of the Grand Babylon departed after the servant with a queer curt little bow to Prince Aribert
Maynt I come inside said the Prince to Nella immediately the millionaire had gone
Impossible Prince Nella laughed The rule against visitors entering this bureau is frightfully strict
How do you know the rule is so strict if you only came into possession last night
I know because I made the rule myself this morning your Highness
But seriously Miss Racksole I want to talk to you
Do you want to talk to me as Prince Aribert or as the friend—the acquaintance—whom I knew in Paris last year
As the friend dear lady if I may use the term
And you are sure that you would not like first to be conducted to your apartments
Not yet I will wait till Dimmock comes he cannot fail to be here soon
Then we will have tea served in fathers private room—the proprietors private room you know
Good he said
Nella talked through a telephone and rang several bells and behaved generally in a manner calculated to prove to Princes and to whomever it might concern that she was a young woman of business instincts and training and then she stepped down from her chair of office emerged from the bureau and preceded by two menials led Prince Aribert to the Louis XV chamber in which her father and Felix Babylon had had their long confabulation on the previous evening
What do you want to talk to me about she asked her companion as she poured out for him a second cup of tea The Prince looked at her for a moment as he took the proffered cup and being a young man of sane healthy instincts he could think of nothing for the moment except her loveliness
Nella was indeed beautiful that afternoon The beauty of even the most beautiful woman ebbs and flows from hour to hour Nellas this afternoon was at the flood Vivacious alert imperious and yet ineffably sweet she seemed to radiate the very joy and exuberance of life
I have forgotten he said
You have forgotten That is surely very wrong of you You gave me to understand that it was something terribly important But of course I knew it couldnt be because no man and especially no Prince ever discussed anything really important with a woman
Recollect Miss Racksole that this afternoon here I am not the Prince
You are Count Steenbock is that it
He started For you only he said unconsciously lowering his voice Miss Racksole I particularly wish that no one here should know that I was in Paris last spring
An affair of State she smiled
An affair of State he replied soberly Even Dimmock doesnt know It was strange that we should be fellow guests at that quiet outoftheway hôtel—strange but delightful I shall never forget that rainy afternoon that we spent together in the Museum of the Trocadéro Let us talk about that
About the rain or the museum
I shall never forget that afternoon he repeated ignoring the lightness of her question
Nor I she murmured corresponding to his mood
You too enjoyed it he said eagerly
The sculptures were magnificent she replied hastily glancing at the ceiling
Ah So they were Tell me Miss Racksole how did you discover my identity
I must not say she answered That is my secret Do not seek to penetrate it Who knows what horrors you might discover if you probed too far She laughed but she laughed alone The Prince remained pensive—as it were brooding
I never hoped to see you again he said
Why not
One never sees again those whom one wishes to see
As for me I was perfectly convinced that we should meet again
Why
Because I always get what I want
Then you wanted to see me again
Certainly You interested me extremely I have never met another man who could talk so well about sculpture as the Count Steenbock
Do you really always get what you want Miss Racksole
Of course
That is because your father is so rich I suppose
Oh no it isnt she said Its simply because I always do get what I want Its got nothing to do with Father at all
But Mr Racksole is extremely wealthy
Wealthy isnt the word Count There is no word Its positively awful the amount of dollars poor Papa makes And the worst of it is he cant help it
He told me once that when a man had made ten millions no power on earth could stop those ten millions from growing into twenty And so it continues
I spend what I can but I cant come near coping with it and of course Papa is no use whatever at spending
And you have no mother
Who told you I had no mother she asked quietly
I—er—inquired about you he said with equal candour and humility
In spite of the fact that you never hoped to see me again
Yes in spite of that
How funny she said and lapsed into a meditative silence
Yours must be a wonderful existence said the Prince I envy you
You envy me—what My fathers wealth
No he said your freedom and your responsibilities
I have no responsibilities she remarked
Pardon me he said you have and the time is coming when you will feel them
Im only a girl she murmured with sudden simplicity As for you Count surely you have sufficient responsibilities of your own
I he said sadly I have no responsibilities I am a nobody—a Serene Highness who has to pretend to be very important always taking immense care never to do anything that a Serene Highness ought not to do Bah
But if your nephew Prince Eugen were to die would you not come to the throne and would you not then have these responsibilities which you so much desire
Eugen die said Prince Aribert in a curious tone Impossible He is the perfection of health In three months he will be married No I shall never be anything but a Serene Highness the most despicable of Gods creatures
But what about the State secret which you mentioned Is not that a responsibility
Ah he said That is over That belongs to the past It was an accident in my dull career I shall never be Count Steenbock again
Who knows she said By the way is not Prince Eugen coming here today Mr Dimmock told us so
See answered the Prince standing up and bending over her I am going to confide in you I dont know why but I am
Dont betray State secrets she warned him smiling into his face
But just then the door of the room was unceremoniously opened
Go right in said a voice sharply It was Theodore Racksoles Two men entered bearing a prone form on a stretcher and Racksole followed them
Nella sprang up Racksole stared to see his daughter
I didnt know you were in here Nell Here to the two men out again
Why exclaimed Nella gazing fearfully at the form on the stretcher its Mr Dimmock
It is her father acquiesced Hes dead he added laconically Id have broken it to you more gently had I known Your pardon Prince There was a pause
Dimmock dead Prince Aribert whispered under his breath and he kneeled down by the side of the stretcher What does this mean
The poor fellow was just walking across the quadrangle towards the portico when he fell down A commissionaire who saw him says he was walking very quickly At first I thought it was sunstroke but it couldnt have been though the weather certainly is rather warm It must be heart disease But anyhow hes dead We did what we could Ive sent for a doctor and for the police I suppose therell have to be an inquest
Theodore Racksole stopped and in an awkward solemn silence they all gazed at the dead youth His features were slightly drawn and his eyes closed that was all He might have been asleep
My poor Dimmock exclaimed the Prince his voice broken And I was angry because the lad did not meet me at Charing Cross
Are you sure he is dead Father Nella said
Youd better go away Nella was Racksoles only reply but the girl stood still and began to sob quietly On the previous night she had secretly made fun of Reginald Dimmock She had deliberately set herself to get information from him on a topic in which she happened to be specially interested and she had got it laughing the while at his youthful crudities—his vanity his transparent cunning his absurd airs She had not liked him she had even distrusted him and decided that he was not nice But now as he lay on the stretcher these things were forgotten She went so far as to reproach herself for them Such is the strange commanding power of death
Oblige me by taking the poor fellow to my apartments said the Prince with a gesture to the attendants Surely it is time the doctor came
Racksole felt suddenly at that moment he was nothing but a mere hôtel proprietor with an awkward affair on his hands For a fraction of a second he wished he had never bought the Grand Babylon
A quarter of an hour later Prince Aribert Theodore Racksole a doctor and an inspector of police were in the Princes receptionroom They had just come from an antechamber in which lay the mortal remains of Reginald Dimmock
Well said Racksole glancing at the doctor
The doctor was a big boyishlooking man with keen quizzical eyes
It is not heart disease said the doctor
Not heart disease
No
Then what is it asked the Prince
I may be able to answer that question after the postmortem said the doctor I certainly cant answer it now The symptoms are unusual to a degree
The inspector of police began to write in a notebook
Chapter Six IN THE GOLD ROOM
AT the Grand Babylon a great ball was given that night in the Gold Room a huge saloon attached to the hôtel though scarcely part of it and certainly less exclusive than the hôtel itself Theodore Racksole knew nothing of the affair except that it was an entertainment offered by a Mr and Mrs Sampson Levi to their friends Who Mr and Mrs Sampson Levi were he did not know nor could anyone tell him anything about them except that Mr Sampson Levi was a prominent member of that part of the Stock Exchange familiarly called the Kaffir Circus and that his wife was a stout lady with an aquiline nose and many diamonds and that they were very rich and very hospitable Theodore Racksole did not want a ball in his hôtel that evening and just before dinner he had almost a mind to issue a decree that the Gold Room was to be closed and the ball forbidden and Mr and Mrs Sampson Levi might name the amount of damages suffered by them His reasons for such a course were threefold—first he felt depressed and uneasy second he didnt like the name of Sampson Levi and third he had a desire to show these socalled plutocrats that their wealth was nothing to him that they could not do what they chose with Theodore Racksole and that for two pins Theodore Racksole would buy them up and the whole Kaffir Circus to boot But something warned him that though such a highhanded proceeding might be tolerated in America that land of freedom it would never be tolerated in England He felt instinctively that in England there are things you cant do and that this particular thing was one of them So the ball went forward and neither Mr nor Mrs Sampson Levi had ever the least suspicion what a narrow escape they had had of looking very foolish in the eyes of the thousand or so guests invited by them to the Gold Room of the Grand Babylon that evening
The Gold Room of the Grand Babylon was built for a ballroom A balcony supported by arches faced with gilt and lapislazulo ran around it and from this vantage men and maidens and chaperons who could not or would not dance might survey the scene Everyone knew this and most people took advantage of it What everyone did not know—what no one knew—was that higher up than the balcony there was a little barred window in the end wall from which the hôtel authorities might keep a watchful eye not only on the dancers but on the occupants of the balcony itself
It may seem incredible to the uninitiated that the guests at any social gathering held in so gorgeous and renowned an apartment as the Gold Room of the Grand Babylon should need the observation of a watchful eye Yet so it was Strange matters and unexpected faces had been descried from the little window and more than one European detective had kept vigil there with the most eminently satisfactory results
At eleven oclock Theodore Racksole afflicted by vexation of spirit found himself gazing idly through the little barred window Nella was with him
Together they had been wandering about the corridors of the hôtel still strange to them both and it was quite by accident that they had lighted upon the small room which had a surreptitious view of Mr and Mrs Sampson Levis ball Except for the light of the chandelier of the ballroom the little cubicle was in darkness Nella was looking through the window her father stood behind
I wonder which is Mrs Sampson Levi Nella said and whether she matches her name Wouldnt you love to have a name like that Father—something that people could take hold of—instead of Racksole
The sound of violins and a confused murmur of voices rose gently up to them
Umphl said Theodore Curse those evening papers he added inconsequently but with sincerity
Father youre very horrid tonight What have the evening papers been doing
Well my young madame theyve got me in for one and you for another and theyre manufacturing mysteries like fun Its young Dimmocks death that has started em
Well Father you surely didnt expect to keep yourself out of the papers Besides as regards newspapers you ought to be glad you arent in New York Just fancy what the dear old Herald would have made out of a little transaction like yours of last night
Thats true assented Racksole But itll be all over New York tomorrow morning all the same The worst of it is that Babylon has gone off to Switzerland
Why
Dont know Sudden fancy I guess for his native heath
What difference does it make to you
None Only I feel sort of lonesome I feel I want someone to lean up against in running this hôtel
Father if you have that feeling you must be getting ill
Yes he sighed I admit its unusual with me But perhaps you havent grasped the fact Nella that were in the middle of a rather queer business
You mean about poor Mr Dimmock
Partly Dimmock and partly other things First of all that Miss Spencer or whatever her wretched name is mysteriously disappears Then there was the stone thrown into your bedroom Then I caught that rascal Jules conspiring with Dimmock at three oclock in the morning Then your precious Prince Aribert arrives without any suite—which I believe is a most peculiar and wicked thing for a Prince to do—and moreover I find my daughter on very intimate terms with the said Prince Then young Dimmock goes and dies and there is to be an inquest then Prince Eugen and his suite who were expected here for dinner fail to turn up at all—
Prince Eugen has not come
He has not and Uncle Aribert is in a deuce of a stew about him and telegraphing all over Europe Altogether things are working up pretty lively
Do you really think Dad there was anything between Jules and poor Mr Dimmock
Think I know I tell you I saw that scamp give Dimmock a wink last night at dinner that might have meant—well
So you caught that wink did you Dad
Why did you
Of course Dad I was going to tell you about it
The millionaire grunted
Look here Father Nella whispered suddenly and pointed to the balcony immediately below them Whos that She indicated a man with a bald patch on the back of his head who was propping himself up against the railing of the balcony and gazing immovable into the ballroom
Well who is it
Isnt it Jules
Gemini By the beard of the prophet it is
Perhaps Mr Jules is a guest of Mrs Sampson Levi
Guest or no guest he goes out of this hôtel even if I have to throw him out myself
Theodore Racksole disappeared without another word and Nella followed him
But when the millionaire arrived on the balcony floor he could see nothing of Jules neither there nor in the ballroom itself Saying no word aloud but quietly whispering wicked expletives he searched everywhere in vain and then at last by tortuous stairways and corridors returned to his original post of observation that he might survey the place anew from the vantage ground To his surprise he found a man in the dark little room watching the scene of the ball as intently as he himself had been doing a few minutes before Hearing footsteps the man turned with a start
It was Jules
The two exchanged glances in the half light for a second
Good evening Mr Racksole said Jules calmly I must apologize for being here
Force of habit I suppose said Theodore Racksole drily
Just so sir
I fancied I had forbidden you to reenter this hôtel
I thought your order applied only to my professional capacity I am here tonight as the guest of Mr and Mrs Sampson Levi
In your new rôle of manabouttown eh
Exactly
But I dont allow menabouttown up here my friend
For being up here I have already apologized
Then having apologized you had better depart that is my disinterested advice to you
Good night sir
And I say Mr Jules if Mr and Mrs Sampson Levi or any other Hebrews or Christians should again invite you to my hôtel you will oblige me by declining the invitation Youll find that will be the safest course for you
Good night sir
Before midnight struck Theodore Racksole had ascertained that the invitationlist of Mr and Mrs Sampson Levi though a somewhat lengthy one contained no reference to any such person as Jules
He sat up very late To be precise he sat up all night He was a man who by dint of training could comfortably dispense with sleep when he felt so inclined or when circumstances made such a course advisable He walked to and fro in his room and cogitated as few people beside Theodore Racksole could cogitate At 6 am he took a stroll round the business part of his premises and watched the supplies come in from Covent Garden from Smithfield from Billingsgate and from other strange places He found the proceedings of the kitchen department quite interesting and made mental notes of things that he would have altered of men whose wages he would increase and men whose wages he would reduce At 7 am he happened to be standing near the luggage lift and witnessed the descent of vast quantities of luggage and its disappearance into a Carter Paterson van
Whose luggage is that he inquired peremptorily
The luggage clerk with an aggrieved expression explained to him that it was the luggage of nobody in particular that it belonged to various guests and was bound for various destinations that it was in fact expressed luggage despatched in advance and that a similar quantity of it left the hôtel every morning about that hour
Theodore Racksole walked away and breakfasted upon one cup of tea and half a slice of toast
At ten oclock he was informed that the inspector of police desired to see him The inspector had come he said to superintend the removal of the body of Reginald Dimmock to the mortuary adjoining the place of inquest and a suitable vehicle waited at the back entrance of the hôtel
The inspector had also brought subpoenas for himself and Prince Aribert of Posen and the commissionaire to attend the inquest
I thought Mr Dimmocks remains were removed last night said Racksole wearily
No sir The fact is the van was engaged on another job
The inspector gave the least hint of a professional smile and Racksole disgusted told him curtly to go and perform his duties
In a few minutes a message came from the inspector requesting Mr Racksole to be good enough to come to him on the first floor Racksole went In the anteroom where the body of Reginald Dimmock had originally been placed were the inspector and Prince Aribert and two policemen
Well said Racksole after he and the Prince had exchanged bows Then he saw a coffin laid across two chairs I see a coffin has been obtained he remarked Quite right He approached it Its empty he observed unthinkingly
Just so said the inspector The body of the deceased has disappeared
And his Serene Highness Prince Aribert informs me that though he has occupied a room immediately opposite on the other side of the corridor he can throw no light on the affair
Indeed I cannot said the Prince and though he spoke with sufficient calmness and dignity you could see that he was deeply pained even distressed
Well Im— murmured Racksole and stopped
Chapter Seven NELLA AND THE PRINCE
IT appeared impossible to Theodore Racksole that so cumbrous an article as a corpse could be removed out of his hôtel with no trace no hint no clue as to the time or the manner of the performance of the deed After the first feeling of surprise Racksole grew coldly and severely angry He had a mind to dismiss the entire staff of the hôtel He personally examined the nightwatchman the chambermaids and all other persons who by chance might or ought to know something of the affair but without avail The corpse of Reginald Dimmock had vanished utterly—disappeared like a fleshless spirit
Of course there were the police But Theodore Racksole held the police in sorry esteem He acquainted them with the facts answered their queries with a patient weariness and expected nothing whatever from that quarter He also had several interviews with Prince Aribert of Posen but though the Prince was suavity itself and beyond doubt genuinely concerned about the fate of his dead attendant yet it seemed to Racksole that he was keeping something back that he hesitated to say all he knew Racksole with characteristic insight decided that the death of Reginald Dimmock was only a minor event which had occurred as it were on the fringe of some far more profound mystery And therefore he decided to wait with his eyes very wide open until something else happened that would throw light on the business At the moment he took only one measure—he arranged that the theft of Dimmocks body should not appear in the newspapers It is astonishing how well a secret can be kept when the possessors of the secret are handled with the proper mixture of firmness and persuasion Racksole managed this very neatly It was a complicated job and his success in it rather pleased him
At the same time he was conscious of being temporarily worsted by an unknown group of schemers in which he felt convinced that Jules was an important item He could scarcely look Nella in the eyes The girl had evidently expected him to unmask this conspiracy at once with a single stroke of the millionaires magic wand She was thoroughly accustomed in the land of her birth to seeing him achieve impossible feats Over there he was a boss men trembled before his name when he wished a thing to happen—well it happened if he desired to know a thing he just knew it But here in London Theodore Racksole was not quite the same Theodore Racksole He dominated New York but London for the most part seemed not to take much interest in him and there were certainly various persons in London who were capable of snapping their fingers at him—at Theodore Racksole Neither he nor his daughter could get used to that fact
As for Nella she concerned herself for a little with the ordinary business of the bureau and watched the incomings and outgoings of Prince Aribert with a kindly interest She perceived what her father had failed to perceive that His Highness had assumed an attitude of reserve merely to hide the secret distraction and dismay which consumed him She saw that the poor fellow had no settled plan in his head and that he was troubled by something which so far he had confided to nobody It came to her knowledge that each morning he walked to and fro on the Victoria Embankment alone and apparently with no object On the third morning she decided that driving exercise on the Embankment would be good for her health and thereupon ordered a carriage and issued forth arrayed in a miraculous puttycoloured gown Near Blackfriars Bridge she met the Prince and the carriage was drawn up by the pavement
Good morning Prince she greeted him Are you mistaking this for Hyde Park
He bowed and smiled
I usually walk here in the mornings he said
You surprise me she returned I thought I was the only person in London who preferred the Embankment with this view of the river to the dustiness of Hyde Park I cant imagine how it is that London will never take exercise anywhere except in that ridiculous Park Now if they had Central Park—
I think the Embankment is the finest spot in all London he said
She leaned a little out of the landau bringing her face nearer to his
I do believe we are kindred spirits you and I she murmured and then Au revoir Prince
One moment Miss Racksole His quick tones had a note of entreaty
I am in a hurry she fibbed I am not merely taking exercise this morning You have no idea how busy we are
Ah then I will not trouble you But I leave the Grand Babylon tonight
Do you she said Then will your Highness do me the honour of lunching with me today in Fathers room Father will be out—he is having a day in the City with some stockbroking persons
I shall be charmed said the Prince and his face showed that he meant it
Nella drove off
If the lunch was a success that result was due partly to Rocco and partly to Nella The Prince said little beyond what the ordinary rules of the conversational game demanded His hostess talked much and talked well but she failed to rouse her guest When they had had coffee he took a rather formal leave of her
Goodbye Prince she said but I thought—that is no I didnt
Goodbye
You thought I wished to discuss something with you I did but I have decided that I have no right to burden your mind with my affairs
But suppose—suppose I wish to be burdened
That is your good nature
Sit down she said abruptly and tell me everything mind everything I adore secrets
Almost before he knew it he was talking to her rapidly eagerly
Why should I weary you with my confidences he said I dont know I cannot tell but I feel that I must I feel that you will understand me better than anyone else in the world And yet why should you understand me Again I dont know Miss Racksole I will disclose to you the whole trouble in a word Prince Eugen the hereditary Grand Duke of Posen has disappeared Four days ago I was to have met him at Ostend He had affairs in London He wished me to come with him I sent Dimmock on in front and waited for Eugen He did not arrive I telegraphed back to Cologne his last stoppingplace and I learned that he had left there in accordance with his programme I learned also that he had passed through Brussels It must have been between Brussels and the railway station at Ostend Quay that he disappeared He was travelling with a single equerry and the equerry too has vanished I need not explain to you Miss Racksole that when a person of the importance of my nephew contrives to get lost one must proceed cautiously One cannot advertise for him in the London Times Such a disappearance must be kept secret The people at Posen and at Berlin believe that Eugen is in London here at this hôtel or rather they did so believe But this morning I received a cypher telegram from—from His Majesty the Emperor a very peculiar telegram asking when Eugen might be expected to return to Posen and requesting that he should go first to Berlin That telegram was addressed to myself Now if the Emperor thought that Eugen was here why should he have caused the telegram to be addressed to me I have hesitated for three days but I can hesitate no longer I must myself go to the Emperor and acquaint him with the facts
I suppose youve just got to keep straight with him Nella was on the point of saying but she checked herself and substituted The Emperor is your chief is he not First among equals you call him
His Majesty is our overlord said Aribert quietly
Why do you not take immediate steps to inquire as to the whereabouts of your Royal nephew she asked simply The affair seemed to her just then so plain and straightforward
Because one of two things may have happened Either Eugen may have been in plain language abducted or he may have had his own reasons for changing his programme and keeping in the background—out of reach of telegraph and post and railways
What sort of reasons
Do not ask me In the history of every family there are passages— He stopped
And what was Prince Eugens object in coming to London
Aribert hesitated
Money he said at length As a family we are very poor—poorer than anyone in Berlin suspects
Prince Aribert Nella said shall I tell you what I think She leaned back in her chair and looked at him out of halfclosed eyes His pale thin distinguished face held her gaze as if by some fascination There could be no mistaking this man for anything else but a Prince
If you will he said
Prince Eugen is the victim of a plot
You think so
I am perfectly convinced of it
But why What can be the object of a plot against him
That is a point of which you should know more than me she remarked drily
Ah Perhaps perhaps he said But dear Miss Racksole why are you so sure
There are several reasons and they are connected with Mr Dimmock Did you ever suspect your Highness that that poor young man was not entirely loyal to you
He was absolutely loyal said the Prince with all the earnestness of conviction
A thousand pardons but he was not
Miss Racksole if any other than yourself made that assertion I would—I would—
Consign them to the deepest dungeon in Posen she laughed lightly
Listen And she told him of the incidents which had occurred in the night preceding his arrival in the hôtel
Do you mean Miss Racksole that there was an understanding between poor Dimmock and this fellow Jules
There was an understanding
Impossible
Your Highness the man who wishes to probe a mystery to its root never uses the word impossible But I will say this for young Mr Dimmock I think he repented and I think that it was because he repented that he—er—died so suddenly and that his body was spirited away
Why has no one told me these things before Aribert exclaimed
Princes seldom hear the truth she said
He was astonished at her coolness her firmness of assertion her air of complete acquaintance with the world
Miss Racksole he said if you will permit me to say it I have never in my life met a woman like you May I rely on your sympathy—your support
My support Prince But how
I do not know he replied But you could help me if you would A woman when she has brain always has more brain than a man
Ah she said ruefully I have no brains but I do believe I could help you
What prompted her to make that assertion she could not have explained even to herself But she made it and she had a suspicion—a prescience—that it would be justified though by what means through what good fortune was still a mystery to her
Go to Berlin she said I see that you must do that you have no alternative As for the rest we shall see Something will occur I shall be here My father will be here You must count us as your friends
He kissed her hand when he left and afterwards when she was alone she kissed the spot his lips had touched again and again Now thinking the matter out in the calmness of solitude all seemed strange unreal uncertain to her Were conspiracies actually possible nowadays Did queer things actually happen in Europe And did they actually happen in London hôtels She dined with her father that night
I hear Prince Aribert has left said Theodore Racksole
Yes she assented She said not a word about their interview
Chapter Eight ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE OF THE BARONESS
ON the following morning just before lunch a lady accompanied by a maid and a considerable quantity of luggage came to the Grand Babylon Hôtel She was a plump little old lady with white hair and an oldfashioned bonnet and she had a quaint simple smile of surprise at everything in general
Nevertheless she gave the impression of belonging to some aristocracy though not the English aristocracy Her tone to her maid whom she addressed in broken English—the girl being apparently English—was distinctly insolent with the calm unconscious insolence peculiar to a certain type of Continental nobility The name on the ladys card ran thus Baroness Zerlinski She desired rooms on the third floor It happened that Nella was in the bureau
On the third floor madam questioned Nella in her best clerkly manner
I did say on de tird floor said the plump little old lady
We have accommodation on the second floor
I wish to be high up out of de dust and in de light explained the Baroness
We have no suites on the third floor madam
Never mind no mattaire Have you not two rooms that communicate
Nella consulted her books rather awkwardly
Numbers 122 and 123 communicate
Or is it 121 and 122 the little old lady remarked quickly and then bit her lip
I beg your pardon I should have said 121 and 122
At the moment Nella regarded the Baronesss correction of her figures as a curious chance but afterwards when the Baroness had ascended in the lift the thing struck her as somewhat strange Perhaps the Baroness Zerlinski had stayed at the hôtel before For the sake of convenience an index of visitors to the hôtel was kept and the index extended back for thirty years Nella examined it but it did not contain the name of Zerlinski Then it was that Nella began to imagine what had swiftly crossed her mind when first the Baroness presented herself at the bureau that the features of the Baroness were remotely familiar to her She thought not that she had seen the old ladys face before but that she had seen somewhere some time a face of a similar cast It occurred to Nella to look at the Almanach de Gotha—that record of all the mazes of Continental blue blood but the Almanach de Gotha made no reference to any barony of Zerlinski Nella inquired where the Baroness meant to take lunch and was informed that a table had been reserved for her in the diningroom and she at once decided to lunch in the diningroom herself Seated in a corner halfhidden by a pillar she could survey all the guests and watch each group as it entered or left Presently the Baroness appeared dressed in black with a tiny lace shawl despite the June warmth very stately very quaint and gently smiling Nella observed her intently The lady ate heartily working without haste and without delay through the elaborate menu of the luncheon Nella noticed that she had beautiful white teeth Then a remarkable thing happened A cream puff was served to the Baroness by way of sweets and Nella was astonished to see the little lady remove the top and with a spoon quietly take something from the interior which looked like a piece of folded paper No one who had not been watching with the eye of a lynx would have noticed anything extraordinary in the action indeed the chances were nine hundred and ninetynine to one that it would pass unheeded But unfortunately for the Baroness it was the thousandth chance that happened Nella jumped up and walking over to the Baroness said to her
Im afraid that the tart is not quite nice your ladyship
Thanks it is delightful said the Baroness coldly her smile had vanished Who are you I thought you were de bureau clerk
My father is the owner of this hôtel I thought there was something in the tart which ought not to have been there
Nella looked the Baroness full in the face The piece of folded paper to which a little cream had attached itself lay under the edge of a plate
No thanks The Baroness smiled her simple smile
Nella departed She had noticed one trifling thing besides the paper—namely that the Baroness could pronounce the English th sound if she chose
That afternoon in her own room Nella sat meditating at the window for long time and then she suddenly sprang up her eyes brightening
I know she exclaimed clapping her hands Its Miss Spencer disguised
Why didnt I think of that before Her thoughts ran instantly to Prince Aribert Perhaps I can help him she said to herself and gave a little sigh She went down to the office and inquired whether the Baroness had given any instructions about dinner She felt that some plan must be formulated She wanted to get hold of Rocco and put him in the rack She knew now that Rocco the unequalled was also concerned in this mysterious affair
The Baroness Zerlinski has left about a quarter of an hour ago said the attendant
But she only arrived this morning
The Baronesss maid said that her mistress had received a telegram and must leave at once The Baroness paid the bill and went away in a fourwheeler
Where to
The trunks were labelled for Ostend
Perhaps it was instinct perhaps it was the mere spirit of adventure but that evening Nella was to be seen of all men on the steamer for Ostend which leaves Dover at 11 pm She told no one of her intentions—not even her father who was not in the hôtel when she left She had scribbled a brief note to him to expect her back in a day or two and had posted this at Dover The steamer was the Marie Henriette a large and luxurious boat whose staterooms on deck vie with the glories of the Cunard and White Star liners One of these staterooms the best was evidently occupied for every curtain of its windows was carefully drawn Nella did not hope that the Baroness was on board it was quite possible for the Baroness to have caught the eight oclock steamer and it was also possible for the Baroness not to have gone to Ostend at all but to some other place in an entirely different direction Nevertheless Nella had a faint hope that the lady who called herself Zerlinski might be in that curtained stateroom and throughout the smooth moonlit voyage she never once relaxed her observation of its doors and its windows
The Maria Henriette arrived in Ostend Harbour punctually at 2 am in the morning There was the usual heterogeneous gesticulating crowd on the quay
Nella kept her post near the door of the stateroom and at length she was rewarded by seeing it open Four middleaged Englishmen issued from it From a glimpse of the interior Nella saw that they had spent the voyage in cardplaying
It would not be too much to say that she was distinctly annoyed She pretended to be annoyed with circumstances but really she was annoyed with Nella Racksole At two in the morning without luggage without any companionship and without a plan of campaign she found herself in a strange foreign port—a port of evil repute possessing some of the worstmanaged hôtels in Europe She strolled on the quay for a few minutes and then she saw the smoke of another steamer in the offing She inquired from an official what that steamer might be and was told that it was the eight oclock from Dover which had broken down put into Calais for some slight necessary repairs and was arriving at its destination nearly four hours late Her mercurial spirits rose again A minute ago she was regarding herself as no better than a ninny engaged in a wildgoose chase Now she felt that after all she had been very sagacious and cunning She was morally sure that she would find the Zerlinski woman on this second steamer and she took all the credit to herself in advance Such is human nature
The steamer seemed interminably slow in coming into harbour Nella walked on the Digue for a few minutes to watch it the better The town was silent and almost deserted It had a false and sinister aspect She remembered tales which she had heard of this glittering resort which in the season holds more scoundrels than any place in Europe save only Monte Carlo She remembered that the gilded adventures of every nation under the sun forgathered there either for business or pleasure and that some of the most wonderful crimes of the latter half of the century had been schemed and matured in that haunt of cosmopolitan iniquity
When the second steamer arrived Nella stood at the end of the gangway close to the ticketcollector The first person to step on shore was—not the Baroness Zerlinski but Miss Spencer herself Nella turned aside instantly hiding her face and Miss Spencer carrying a small bag hurried with assured footsteps to the Custom House It seemed as if she knew the port of Ostend fairly well The moon shone like day and Nella had full opportunity to observe her quarry She could see now quite plainly that the Baroness Zerlinski had been only Miss Spencer in disguise There was the same gait the same movement of the head and of the hips the white hair was easily to be accounted for by a wig and the wrinkles by a paint brush and some grease paints Miss Spencer whose hair was now its old accustomed yellow got through the Custom House without difficulty and Nella saw her call a closed carriage and say something to the driver The vehicle drove off Nella jumped into the next carriage—an open one—that came up
Follow that carriage she said succinctly to the driver in French
Bien madame The driver whipped up his horse and the animal shot forward with a terrific clatter over the cobbles It appeared that this driver was quite accustomed to following other carriages
Now I am fairly in for it said Nella to herself She laughed unsteadily but her heart was beating with an extraordinary thump
For some time the pursued vehicle kept well in front It crossed the town nearly from end to end and plunged into a maze of small streets far on the south side of the Kursaal Then gradually Nellas equipage began to overtake it The first carriage stopped with a jerk before a tall dark house and Miss Spencer emerged Nella called to her driver to stop but he determined to be in at the death was engaged in whipping his horse and he completely ignored her commands He drew up triumphantly at the tall dark house just at the moment when Miss Spencer disappeared into it The other carriage drove away Nella uncertain what to do stepped down from her carriage and gave the driver some money At the same moment a man reopened the door of the house which had closed on Miss Spencer
I want to see Miss Spencer said Nella impulsively She couldnt think of anything else to say
Miss Spencer
Yes shes just arrived
Its OK I suppose said the man
I guess so said Nella and she walked past him into the house She was astonished at her own audacity
Miss Spencer was just going into a room off the narrow hall Nella followed her into the apartment which was shabbily furnished in the Belgian lodginghouse style
Well Miss Spencer she greeted the former Baroness Zerlinski I guess you didnt expect to see me You left our hôtel very suddenly this afternoon and you left it very suddenly a few days ago and so Ive just called to make a few inquiries
To do the lady justice Miss Spencer bore the surprising ordeal very well
She did not flinch she betrayed no emotion The sole sign of perturbation was in her hurried breathing
You have ceased to be the Baroness Zerlinski Nella continued May I sit down
Certainly sit down said Miss Spencer copying the girls tone You are a fairly smart young woman that I will say What do you want Werent my books all straight
Your books were all straight I havent come about your books I have come about the murder of Reginald Dimmock the disappearance of his corpse and the disappearance of Prince Eugen of Posen I thought you might be able to help me in some investigations which I am making
Miss Spencers eyes gleamed and she stood up and moved swiftly to the mantelpiece
You may be a Yankee but youre a fool she said
She took hold of the bellrope
Dont ring that bell if you value your life said Nella
If what Miss Spencer remarked
If you value your life said Nella calmly and with the words she pulled from her pocket a very neat and dainty little revolver
Chapter Nine TWO WOMEN AND THE REVOLVER
YOU—youre only doing that to frighten me stammered Miss Spencer in a low quavering voice
Am I Nella replied as firmly as she could though her hand shook violently with excitement could Miss Spencer but have observed it Am I You said just now that I might be a Yankee girl but I was a fool Well I am a Yankee girl as you call it and in my country if they dont teach revolvershooting in boardingschools there are at least a lot of girls who can handle a revolver I happen to be one of them I tell you that if you ring that bell you will suffer
Most of this was simple bluff on Nellas part and she trembled lest Miss Spencer should perceive that it was simple bluff Happily for her Miss Spencer belonged to that order of women who have every sort of courage except physical courage Miss Spencer could have withstood successfully any moral trial but persuade her that her skin was in danger and she would succumb Nella at once divined this useful fact and proceeded accordingly hiding the strangeness of her own sensations as well as she could
You had better sit down now said Nella and I will ask you a few questions
And Miss Spencer obediently sat down rather white and trying to screw her lips into a formal smile
Why did you leave the Grand Babylon that night Nella began her examination putting on a stern barristerlike expression
I had orders to Miss Racksole
Whose orders
Well Im—Im—the fact is Im a married woman and it was my husbands orders
Who is your husband
Tom Jackson—Jules you know head waiter at the Grand Babylon
So Juless real name is Tom Jackson Why did he want you to leave without giving notice
Im sure I dont know Miss Racksole I swear I dont know Hes my husband and of course I do what he tells me as you will some day do what your husband tells you Please heaven youll get a better husband than mine
Miss Spencer showed a sign of tears
Nella fingered the revolver and put it at full cock Well she repeated why did he want you to leave She was tremendously surprised at her own coolness and somewhat pleased with it too
I cant tell you I cant tell you
Youve just got to Nella said in a terrible remorseless tone
He—he wished me to come over here to Ostend Something had gone wrong
Oh hes a fearful man is Tom If I told you hed—
Had something gone wrong in the hôtel or over here
Both
Was it about Prince Eugen of Posen
I dont know—that is yes I think so
What has your husband to do with Prince Eugen
I believe he has some—some sort of business with him some money business
And was Mr Dimmock in this business
I fancy so Miss Racksole Im telling you all I know that I swear
Did your husband and Mr Dimmock have a quarrel that night in Room 111
They had some difficulty
And the result of that was that you came to Ostend instantly
Yes I suppose so
And what were you to do in Ostend What were your instructions from this husband of yours
Miss Spencers head dropped on her arms on the table which separated her from Nella and she appeared to sob violently
Have pity on me she murmured I cant tell you any more
Why
Hed kill me if he knew
Youre wandering from the subject observed Nella coldly This is the last time I shall warn you Let me tell you plainly Ive got the best reasons for being desperate and if anything happens to you I shall say I did it in selldefence Now what were you to do in Ostend
I shall die for this anyhow whined Miss Spencer and then with a sort of fierce despair I had to keep watch on Prince Eugen
Where In this house
Miss Spencer nodded and looking up Nella could see the traces of tears in her face
Then Prince Eugen was a prisoner Some one had captured him at the instigation of Jules
Yes if you must have it
Why was it necessary for you specially to come to Ostend
Oh Tom trusts me You see I know Ostend Before I took that place at the Grand Babylon I had travelled over Europe and Tom knew that I knew a thing or two
Why did you take the place at the Grand Babylon
Because Tom told me to He said I should be useful to him there
Is your husband an Anarchist or something of that kind Miss Spencer
I dont know Id tell you in a minute if I knew But hes one of those that keep themselves to themselves
Do you know if he has ever committed a murder
Never said Miss Spencer with righteous repudiation of the mere idea
But Mr Dimmock was murdered He was poisoned If he had not been poisoned why was his body stolen It must have been stolen to prevent inquiry to hide traces Tell me about that
I take my dying oath said Miss Spencer standing up a little way from the table I take my dying oath I didnt know Mr Dimmock was dead till I saw it in the newspaper
You swear you had no suspicion of it
I swear I hadnt
Nella was inclined to believe the statement The woman and the girl looked at each other in the tawdry frowsy lamplit room Miss Spencer nervously patted her yellow hair into shape as if gradually recovering her composure and equanimity The whole affair seemed like a dream to Nella a disturbing sinister nightmare She was a little uncertain what to say She felt that she had not yet got hold of any very definite information Where is Prince Eugen now she asked at length
I dont know miss
He isnt in this house
No miss
Ah We will see presently
They took him away Miss Racksole
Who took him away Some of your husbands friends
Some of his—acquaintances
Then there is a gang of you
A gang of us—a gang I dont know what you mean Miss Spencer quavered
Oh but you must know smiled Nella calmly You cant possibly be so innocent as all that Mrs Tom Jackson You cant play games with me Youve just got to remember that Im what you call a Yankee girl Theres one thing that I mean to find out within the next five minutes and that is—how your charming husband kidnapped Prince Eugen and why he kidnapped him Let us begin with the second question You have evaded it once
Miss Spencer looked into Nellas face and then her eyes dropped and her fingers worked nervously with the tablecloth
How can I tell you she said when I dont know Youve got the whiphand of me and youre tormenting me for your own pleasure She wore an expression of persecuted innocence
Did Mr Tom Jackson want to get some money out of Prince Eugen
Money Not he Toms never short of money
But I mean a lot of money—tens of thousands hundreds of thousands
Tom never wanted money from anyone said Miss Spencer doggedly
Then had he some reason for wishing to prevent Prince Eugen from coming to London
Perhaps he had I dont know If you kill me I dont know Nella stopped to reflect Then she raised the revolver It was a mechanical unintentional sort of action and certainly she had no intention of using the weapon but strange to say Miss Spencer again cowered before it Even at that moment Nella wondered that a woman like Miss Spencer could be so simple as to think the revolver would actually be used Having absolutely no physical cowardice herself Nella had the greatest difficulty in imagining that other people could be at the mercy of a bodily fear Still she saw her advantage and used it relentlessly and with as much theatrical gesture as she could command She raised the revolver till it was level with Miss Spencers face and suddenly a new queer feeling took hold of her She knew that she would indeed use that revolver now if the miserable woman before her drove her too far She felt afraid—afraid of herself she was in the grasp of a savage primeval instinct In a flash she saw Miss Spencer dead at her feet—the police—a court of justice—the scaffold It was horrible
Speak she said hoarsely and Miss Spencers face went whiter
Tom did say the woman whispered rapidly awesomely that if Prince Eugen got to London it would upset his scheme
What scheme What scheme Answer me
Heaven help me I dont know Miss Spencer sank into a chair He said Mr Dimmock had turned tail and he should have to settle him and then Rocco—
Rocco What about Rocco Nella could scarcely hear herself Her grip of the revolver tightened
Miss Spencers eyes opened wider she gazed at Nella with a glassy stare
Dont ask me Its death Her eyes were fixed as if in horror
It is said Nella and the sound of her voice seemed to her to issue from the lips of some third person
Its death repeated Miss Spencer and gradually her head and shoulders sank back and hung loosely over the chair Nella was conscious of a sudden revulsion The woman had surely fainted Dropping the revolver she ran round the table She was herself again—feminine sympathetic the old Nella She felt immensely relieved that this had happened But at the same instant Miss Spencer sprang up from the chair like a cat seized the revolver and with a wild movement of the arm flung it against the window It crashed through the glass exploding as it went and there was a tense silence
I told you that you were a fool remarked Miss Spencer slowly coming here like a sort of female Jack Sheppard and trying to get the best of me
We are on equal terms now You frightened me but I knew I was a cleverer woman than you and that in the end if I kept on long enough I should win
Now it will be my turn
Dumbfounded and overcome with a miserable sense of the truth of Miss Spencers words Nella stood still The idea of her colossal foolishness swept through her like a flood She felt almost ashamed But even at this juncture she had no fear She faced the woman bravely her mind leaping about in search of some plan She could think of nothing but a bribe—an enormous bribe
I admit youve won she said but Ive not finished yet Just listen
Miss Spencer folded her arms and glanced at the door smiling bitterly
You know my father is a millionaire perhaps you know that he is one of the richest men in the world If I give you my word of honour not to reveal anything that youve told me what will you take to let me go free
What sum do you suggest asked Miss Spencer carelessly
Twenty thousand pounds said Nella promptly She had begun to regard the affair as a business operation
Miss Spencers lip curled
A hundred thousand
Again Miss Spencers lip curled
Well say a million I can rely on my father and so may you
You think you are worth a million to him
I do said Nella
And you think we could trust you to see that it was paid
Of course you could
And we should not suffer afterwards in any way
I would give you my word and my fathers word
Bah exclaimed Miss Spencer how do you know I wouldnt let you go free for nothing You are only a rash silly girl
I know you wouldnt I can read your face too well
You are right Miss Spencer replied slowly I wouldnt I wouldnt let you go for all the dollars in America
Nella felt cold down the spine and sat down again in her chair A draught of air from the broken window blew on her cheek Steps sounded in the passage the door opened but Nella did not turn round She could not move her eyes from Miss Spencers There was a noise of rushing water in her ears She lost consciousness and slipped limply to the ground
Chapter Ten AT SEA
IT seemed to Nella that she was being rocked gently in a vast cradle which swayed to and fro with a motion at once slow and incredibly gentle This sensation continued for some time and there was added to it the sound of a quick quiet muffled beat Soft exhilarating breezes wafted her forward in spite of herself and yet she remained in a delicious calm She wondered if her mother was kneeling by her side whispering some lullaby in her childish ears Then strange colours swam before her eyes her eyelids wavered and at last she awoke For a few moments her gaze travelled to and fro in a vain search for some clue to her surroundings was aware of nothing except sense of repose and a feeling of relief that some mighty and fatal struggle was over she cared not whether she had conquered or suffered defeat in the struggle of her soul with some other soul it was finished done with and the consciousness of its conclusion satisfied and contented her Gradually her brain recovering from its obsession began to grasp the phenomena of her surroundings and she saw that she was on a yacht and that the yacht was moving The motion of the cradle was the smooth rolling of the vessel the beat was the beat of its screw the strange colours were the cloud tints thrown by the sun as it rose over a distant and receding shore in the wake of the yacht her mothers lullaby was the crooned song of the man at the wheel Nella all through her life had had many experiences of yachting From the waters of the River Hudson to those bluer tides of the Mediterranean Sea she had yachted in all seasons and all weathers She loved the water and now it seemed deliciously right and proper that she should be on the water again She raised her head to look round and then let it sink back she was fatigued enervated she desired only solitude and calm she had no care no anxiety no responsibility a hundred years might have passed since her meeting with Miss Spencer and the memory of that meeting appeared to have faded into the remotest background of her mind
It was a small yacht and her practised eye at once told that it belonged to the highest aristocracy of pleasure craft As she reclined in the deckchair it did not occur to her at that moment to speculate as to the identity of the person who had led her therein she examined all visible details of the vessel The deck was as white and smooth as her own hand and the seams ran along its length like blue veins All the brasswork from the band round the slender funnel to the concave surface of the binnacle shone like gold
The tapered masts stretched upwards at a rakish angle and the rigging seemed like spun silk No sails were set the yacht was under steam and doing about seven or eight knots She judged that it was a boat of a hundred tons or so probably Clydebuilt and not more than two or three years old
No one was to be seen on deck except the man at the wheel this man wore a blue jersey but there was neither name nor initial on the jersey nor was there a name on the white lifebuoys lashed to the main rigging nor on the polished dinghy which hung on the starboard davits She called to the man and called again in a feeble voice but the steerer took no notice of her and continued his quiet song as though nothing else existed in the universe save the yacht the sea the sun and himself
Then her eyes swept the outline of the land from which they were hastening and she could just distinguish a lighthouse and a great white irregular dome which she recognized as the Kursaal at Ostend that gorgeous rival of the gaming palace at Monte Carlo So she was leaving Ostend The rays of the sun fell on her caressingly like a restorative All around the water was changing from wonderful greys and dark blues to still more wonderful pinks and translucent unearthly greens the magic kaleidoscope of dawn was going forward in its accustomed way regardless of the vicissitudes of mortals
Here and there in the distance she descried a sail—the brown sail of some Ostend fishingboat returning home after a nights trawling Then the beat of paddles caught her ear and a steamer blundered past wallowing clumsily among the waves like a tortoise It was the Swallow from London She could see some of its passengers leaning curiously over the aftrail A girl in a mackintosh signalled to her and mechanically she answered the salute with her arm The officer of the bridge of the Swallow hailed the yacht but the man at the wheel offered no reply In another minute the Swallow was nothing but a blot in the distance
Nella tried to sit straight in the deckchair but she found herself unable to do so Throwing off the rug which covered her she discovered that she had been tied to the chair by means of a piece of broad webbing Instantly she was alert awake angry she knew that her perils were not over she felt that possibly they had scarcely yet begun Her lazy contentment her dreamy sense of peace and repose vanished utterly and she steeled herself to meet the dangers of a grave and difficult situation
Just at that moment a man came up from below He was a man of forty or so clad in irreproachable blue with a peaked yachting cap He raised the cap politely
Good morning he said Beautiful sunrise isnt it The clever and calculated insolence of his tone cut her like a lash as she lay bound in the chair Like all people who have lived easy and joyous lives in those fair regions where gold smoothes every crease and law keeps a tight hand on disorder she found it hard to realize that there were other regions where gold was useless and law without power Twentyfour hours ago she would have declared it impossible that such an experience as she had suffered could happen to anyone she would have talked airily about civilization and the nineteenth century and progress and the police But her experience was teaching her that human nature remains always the same and that beneath the thin crust of security on which we good citizens exist the dark and secret forces of crime continue to move just as they did in the days when you couldnt go from Cheapside to Chelsea without being set upon by thieves Her experience was in a fair way to teach her this lesson better than she could have learnt it even in the bureaux of the detective police of Paris London and St Petersburg
Good morning the man repeated and she glanced at him with a sullen angry gaze
You she exclaimed You Mr Thomas Jackson if that is your name Loose me from this chair and I will talk to you Her eyes flashed as she spoke and the contempt in them added mightily to her beauty Mr Thomas Jackson otherwise Jules erstwhile head waiter at the Grand Babylon considered himself a connoisseur in feminine loveliness and the vision of Nella Racksole smote him like an exquisite blow
With pleasure he replied I had forgotten that to prevent you from falling I had secured you to the chair and with a quick movement he unfastened the band Nella stood up quivering with fiery annoyance and scorn
Now she said fronting him what is the meaning of this
You fainted he replied imperturbably Perhaps you dont remember
The man offered her a deckchair with a characteristic gesture Nella was obliged to acknowledge in spite of herself that the fellow had distinction an air of breeding No one would have guessed that for twenty years he had been an hôtel waiter His long lithe figure and easy careless carriage seemed to be the figure and carriage of an aristocrat and his voice was quiet restrained and authoritative
That has nothing to do with my being carried off in this yacht of yours
It is not my yacht he said but that is a minor detail As to the more important matter forgive me that I remind you that only a few hours ago you were threatening a lady in my house with a revolver
Then it was your house
Why not May I not possess a house He smiled
I must request you to put the yacht about at once instantly and take me back She tried to speak firmly
Ah he said I am afraid thats impossible I didnt put out to sea with the intention of returning at once instantly In the last words he gave a faint imitation of her tone
When I do get back she said when my father gets to know of this affair it will be an exceedingly bad day for you Mr Jackson
But supposing your father doesnt hear of it—
What
Supposing you never get back
Do you mean then to have my murder on your conscience
Talking of murder he said you came very near to murdering my friend Miss Spencer At least so she tells me
Is Miss Spencer on board Nella asked seeing perhaps a faint ray of hope in the possible presence of a woman
Miss Spencer is not on board There is no one on board except you and myself and a small crew—a very discreet crew I may add
I will have nothing more to say to you You must take your own course
Thanks for the permission he said I will send you up some breakfast
He went to the saloon stairs and whistled and a Negro boy appeared with a tray of chocolate Nella took it and without the slightest hesitation threw it overboard Mr Jackson walked away a few steps and then returned
You have spirit he said and I admire spirit It is a rare quality
She made no reply Why did you mix yourself up in my affairs at all he went on Again she made no reply but the question set her thinking why had she mixed herself up in this mysterious business It was quite at variance with the usual methods of her gay and butterfly existence to meddle at all with serious things Had she acted merely from a desire to see justice done and wickedness punished Or was it the desire of adventure Or was it perhaps the desire to be of service to His Serene Highness Prince Aribert It is no fault of mine that you are in this fix Jules continued I didnt bring you into it You brought yourself into it You and your father—you have been moving along at a pace which is rather too rapid
That remains to be seen she put in coldly
It does he admitted And I repeat that I cant help admiring you—that is when you arent interfering with my private affairs That is a proceeding which I have never tolerated from anyone—not even from a millionaire nor even from a beautiful woman He bowed I will tell you what I propose to do I propose to escort you to a place of safety and to keep you there till my operations are concluded and the possibility of interference entirely removed You spoke just now of murder What a crude notion that was of yours It is only the amateur who practises murder—
What about Reginald Dimmock she interjected quickly
He paused gravely
Reginald Dimmock he repeated I had imagined his was a case of heart disease Let me send you up some more chocolate Im sure youre hungry
I will starve before I touch your food she said
Gallant creature he murmured and his eyes roved over her face Her superb supercilious beauty overcame him Ah he said what a wife you would make He approached nearer to her You and I Miss Racksole your beauty and wealth and my brains—we could conquer the world Few men are worthy of you but I am one of the few Listen You might do worse Marry me I am a great man I shall be greater I adore you Marry me and I will save your life All shall be well I will begin again The past shall be as though there had been no past
This is somewhat sudden—Jules she said with biting contempt
Did you expect me to be conventional he retorted I love you
Granted she said for the sake of the argument Then what will occur to your present wife
My present wife
Yes Miss Spencer as she is called
She told you I was her husband
Incidentally she did
She isnt
Perhaps she isnt But nevertheless I think I wont marry you Nella stood like a statue of scorn before him
He went still nearer to her Give me a kiss then one kiss—I wont ask for more one kiss from those lips and you shall go free Men have ruined themselves for a kiss I will
Coward she ejaculated
Coward he repeated Coward am I Then Ill be a coward and you shall kiss me whether you will or not
He put a hand on her shoulder As she shrank back from his lustrous eyes with an involuntary scream a figure sprang out of the dinghy a few feet away With a single blow neatly directed to Mr Jacksons ear Mr Jackson was stretched senseless on the deck Prince Aribert of Posen stood over him with a revolver It was probably the greatest surprise of Mr Jacksons whole life
Dont be alarmed said the Prince to Nella my being here is the simplest thing in the world and I will explain it as soon as I have finished with this fellow
Nella could think of nothing to say but she noticed the revolver in the Princes hand
Why she remarked thats my revolver
It is he said and I will explain that too
The man at the wheel gave no heed whatever to the scene
Chapter Eleven THE COURT PAWNBROKER
MR SAMPSON LEVI wishes to see you sir
These words spoken by a servant to Theodore Racksole aroused the millionaire from a reverie which had been the reverse of pleasant The fact was and it is necessary to insist on it that Mr Racksole owner of the Grand Babylon Hôtel was by no means in a state of selfsatisfaction A mystery had attached itself to his hôtel and with all his acumen and knowledge of things in general he was unable to solve that mystery He laughed at the fruitless efforts of the police but he could not honestly say that his own efforts had been less barren The public was talking for after all the disappearance of poor Dimmocks body had got noised abroad in an indirect sort of way and Theodore Racksole did not like the idea of his impeccable hôtel being the subject of sinister rumours He wondered grimly what the public and the Sunday newspapers would say if they were aware of all the other phenomena not yet common property of Miss Spencers disappearance of Jules strange visits and of the nonarrival of Prince Eugen of Posen Theodore Racksole had worried his brain without result He had conducted an elaborate private investigation without result and he had spent a certain amount of money without result The police said that they had a clue but Racksole remarked that it was always the business of the police to have a clue that they seldom had more than a clue and that a clue without some sequel to it was a pretty stupid business The only sure thing in the whole affair was that a cloud rested over his hôtel his beautiful new toy the finest of its kind The cloud was not interfering with business but nevertheless it was a cloud and he fiercely resented its presence perhaps it would be more correct to say that he fiercely resented his inability to dissipate it
Mr Sampson Levi wishes to see you sir the servant repeated having received no sign that his master had heard him
So I hear said Racksole Does he want to see me personally
He asked for you sir
Perhaps it is Rocco he wants to see about a menu or something of that kind
I will inquire sir and the servant made a move to withdraw
Stop Racksole commanded suddenly Desire Mr Sampson Levi to step this way
The great stockbroker of the Kaffir Circus entered with a simple unassuming air He was a rather short florid man dressed like a typical Hebraic financier with too much watchchain and too little waistcoat In his fat hand he held a goldheaded cane and an absolutely new silk hat—for it was Friday and Mr Levi purchased a new hat every Friday of his life holiday times only excepted He breathed heavily and sniffed through his nose a good deal as though he had just performed some Herculean physical labour He glanced at the American millionaire with an expression in which a slight embarrassment might have been detected but at the same time his round red face disclosed a certain frank admiration and good nature
Mr Racksole I believe—Mr Theodore Racksole Proud to meet you sir
Such were the first words of Mr Sampson Levi In form they were the greeting of a thirdrate chimneysweep but strangely enough Theodore Racksole liked their tone He said to himself that here precisely where no one would have expected to find one was an honest man
Good day said Racksole briefly To what do I owe the pleasure—
I expect your time is limited answered Sampson Levi Anyhow mine is and so Ill come straight to the point Mr Racksole Im a plain man I dont pretend to be a gentleman or any nonsense of that kind Im a stockbroker thats what I am and I dont care who knows it The other night I had a ball in this hôtel It cost me a couple of thousand and odd pounds and by the way I wrote out a cheque for your bill this morning I dont like balls but theyre useful to me and my little wife likes em and so we give em Now Ive nothing to say against the hôtel management as regards that ball it was very decently done very decently but what I want to know is this—Why did you have a private detective among my guests
A private detective exclaimed Racksole somewhat surprised at this charge
Yes Mr Sampson Levi said firmly fanning himself in his chair and gazing at Theodore Racksole with the direct earnest expression of a man having a grievance Yes a private detective Its a small matter I know and I dare say you think youve got a right as proprietor of the show to do what you like in that line but Ive just called to tell you that I object Ive called as a matter of principle Im not angry its the principle of the thing
My dear Mr Levi said Racksole I assure you that having let the Gold Room to a private individual for a private entertainment I should never dream of doing what you suggest
Straight asked Mr Sampson Levi using his own picturesque language
Straight said Racksole smiling
There was a gent present at my ball that I didnt ask Ive got a wonderful memory for faces and I know Several fellows asked me afterwards what he was doing there I was told by someone that he was one of your waiters but I didnt believe that I know nothing of the Grand Babylon its not quite my style of tavern but I dont think youd send one of your own waiters to watch my guests—unless of course you sent him as a waiter and this chap didnt do any waiting though he did his share of drinking
Perhaps I can throw some light on this mystery said Racksole I may tell you that I was already aware that man had attended your ball uninvited
How did you get to know
By pure chance Mr Levi and not by inquiry That man was a former waiter at this hôtel—the head waiter in fact—Jules No doubt you have heard of him
Not I said Mr Levi positively
Ah said Racksole I was informed that everyone knew Jules but it appears not Well be that as it may previously to the night of your ball I had dismissed Jules I had ordered him never to enter the Babylon again
But on that evening I encountered him here—not in the Gold Room but in the hôtel itself I asked him to explain his presence and he stated he was your guest That is all I know of the matter Mr Levi and I am extremely sorry that you should have thought me capable of the enormity of placing a private detective among your guests
This is perfectly satisfactory to me Mr Sampson Levi said after a pause
I only wanted an explanation and Ive got it I was told by some pals of mine in the City I might rely on Mr Theodore Racksole going straight to the point and Im glad they were right Now as to that feller Jules I shall make my own inquiries as to him Might I ask you why you dismissed him
I dont know why I dismissed him
You dont know Oh come now Im only asking because I thought you might be able to give me a hint why he turned up uninvited at my ball Sorry if Im too inquisitive
Not at all Mr Levi but I really dont know I only sort of felt that he was a suspicious character I dismissed him on instinct as it were See
Without answering this question Mr Levi asked another If this Jules is such a wellknown person he said how could the feller hope to come to my ball without being recognized
Give it up said Racksole promptly
Well Ill be moving on was Mr Sampson Levis next remark Good day and thank ye I suppose you arent doing anything in Kaffirs
Mr Racksole smiled a negative
I thought not said Levi Well I never touch American rails myself and so I reckon we shant come across each other Good day
Good day said Racksole politely following Mr Sampson Levi to the door
With his hand on the handle of the door Mr Levi stopped and gazing at Theodore Racksole with a shrewd quizzical expression remarked
Strange things been going on here lately eh
The two men looked very hard at each other for several seconds
Yes Racksole assented Know anything about them
Well—no not exactly said Mr Levi But I had a fancy you and I might be useful to each other I had a kind of fancy to that effect
Come back and sit down again Mr Levi Racksole said attracted by the evident straightforwardness of the mans tone Now how can we be of service to each other I flatter myself Im something of a judge of character especially financial character and I tell you—if youll put your cards on the table Ill do ditto with mine
Agreed said Mr Sampson Levi Ill begin by explaining my interest in your hôtel I have been expecting to receive a summons from a certain Prince Eugen of Posen to attend him here and that summons hasnt arrived It appears that Prince Eugen hasnt come to London at all Now I could have taken my dying davy that he would have been here yesterday at the latest
Why were you so sure
Question for question said Levi Lets clear the ground first Mr Racksole Why did you buy this hôtel Thats a conundrum thats been puzzling a lot of our fellows in the City for some days past Why did you buy the Grand Babylon And what is the next move to be
There is no next move answered Racksole candidly and I will tell you why I bought the hôtel there need be no secret about it I bought it because of a whim And then Theodore Racksole gave this little Jew whom he had begun to respect a faithful account of the transaction with Mr Felix Babylon I suppose he added you find a difficulty in appreciating my state of mind when I did the deal
Not a bit said Mr Levi I once bought an electric launch on the Thames in a very similar way and it turned out to be one of the most satisfactory purchases I ever made Then its a simple accident that you own this hôtel at the present moment
A simple accident—all because of a beefsteak and a bottle of Bass
Um grunted Mr Sampson Levi stroking his triple chin
To return to Prince Eugen Racksole resumed I was expecting His Highness here The State apartments had been prepared for him He was due on the very afternoon that young Dimmock died But he never came and I have not heard why he has failed to arrive nor have I seen his name in the papers What his business was in London I dont know
I will tell you said Mr Sampson Levi he was coming to arrange a loan
A State loan
No—a private loan
Whom from
From me Sampson Levi You look surprised If youd lived in London a little longer youd know that I was just the person the Prince would come to Perhaps you arent aware that down Throgmorton Street way Im called The Court Pawnbroker because I arrange loans for the minor secondclass Princes of Europe Im a stockbroker but my real business is financing some of the little Courts of Europe Now I may tell you that the Hereditary Prince of Posen particularly wanted a million and he wanted it by a certain date and he knew that if the affair wasnt fixed up by a certain time here he wouldnt be able to get it by that certain date Thats why Im surprised he isnt in London
What did he need a million for
Debts answered Sampson Levi laconically
His own
Certainly
But he isnt thirty years of age
What of that He isnt the only European Prince who has run up a million of debts in a dozen years To a Prince the thing is as easy as eating a sandwich
And why has he taken this sudden resolution to liquidate them
Because the Emperor and the ladys parents wont let him marry till he has done so And quite right too Hes got to show a clean sheet or the Princess Anna of EcksteinSchwartzburg will never be Princess of Posen Even now the Emperor has no idea how much Prince Eugens debts amount to If he had—
But would not the Emperor know of this proposed loan
Not necessarily at once It could be so managed Twig Mr Sampson Levi laughed Ive carried these little affairs through before After marriage it might be allowed to leak out And you know the Princess Annas fortune is pretty big Now Mr Racksole he added abruptly changing his tone where do you suppose Prince Eugen has disappeared to Because if he doesnt turn up today he cant have that million Today is the last day Tomorrow the money will be appropriated elsewhere Of course Im not alone in this business and my friends have something to say
You ask me where I think Prince Eugen has disappeared to
I do
Then you think its a disappearance
Sampson Levi nodded Putting two and two together he said I do The Dimmock business is very peculiar—very peculiar indeed Dimmock was a lefthanded relation of the Posen family Twig Scarcely anyone knows that
He was made secretary and companion to Prince Aribert just to keep him in the domestic circle His mother was an Irishwoman whose misfortune was that she was too beautiful Twig Mr Sampson Levi always used this extraordinary word when he was in a communicative mood My belief is that Dimmocks death has something to do with the disappearance of Prince Eugen
The only thing that passes me is this Why should anyone want to make Prince Eugen disappear The poor little Prince hasnt an enemy in the world If hes been copped as they say why has he been copped It wont do anyone any good
Wont it repeated Racksole with a sudden flash
What do you mean asked Mr Levi
I mean this Suppose some other European pauper Prince was anxious to marry Princess Anna and her fortune wouldnt that Prince have an interest in stopping this loan of yours to Prince Eugen Wouldnt he have an interest in causing Prince Eugen to disappear—at any rate for a time
Sampson Levi thought hard for a few moments
Mr Theodore Racksole he said at length I do believe you have hit on something
Chapter Twelve ROCCO AND ROOM NO 111
ON the afternoon of the same day—the interview just described had occurred in the morning—Racksole was visited by another idea and he said to himself that he ought to have thought of it before The conversation with Mr Sampson Levi had continued for a considerable time and the two men had exchanged various notions and agreed to meet again but the theory that Reginald Dimmock had probably been a traitor to his family—a traitor whose repentance had caused his death—had not been thoroughly discussed the talk had tended rather to Continental politics with a view to discovering what princely family might have an interest in the temporary disappearance of Prince Eugen Now as Racksole considered in detail the particular affair of Reginald Dimmock deceased he was struck by one point especially to wit Why had Dimmock and Jules manoeuvred to turn Nella Racksole out of Room No 111 on that first night That they had so manoeuvred that the broken windowpane was not a mere accident Racksole felt perfectly sure He had felt perfectly sure all along but the significance of the facts had not struck him It was plain to him now that there must be something of extraordinary and peculiar importance about Room No 111 After lunch he wandered quietly upstairs and looked at Room No 111 that is to say he looked at the outside of it it happened to be occupied but the guest was leaving that evening The thought crossed his mind that there could be no object in gazing blankly at the outside of a room yet he gazed then he wandered quickly down again to the next floor and in passing along the corridor of that floor he stopped and with an involuntary gesture stamped his foot
Great Scott he said Ive got hold of something—No 111 is exactly over the State apartments
He went to the bureau and issued instructions that No 111 was not to be relet to anyone until further orders At the bureau they gave him Nellas note which ran thus
Dearest Papa—I am going away for a day or two on the trail of a clue
If Im not back in three days begin to inquire for me at Ostend Till then leave me alone—Your sagacious daughter NELL
These few words in Nellas large scrawling hand filled one side of the paper At the bottom was a PTO He turned over and read the sentence underlined PS—Keep an eye on Rocco
I wonder what the little creature is up to he murmured as he tore the letter into small fragments and threw them into the wastepaper basket
Then without any delay he took the lift down to the basement with the object of making a preliminary inspection of Rocco in his lair He could scarcely bring himself to believe that this suave and stately gentleman this enthusiast of gastronomy was concerned in the machinations of Jules and other rascals unknown Nevertheless from habit he obeyed his daughter giving her credit for a certain amount of perspicuity and cleverness
The kitchens of the Grand Babylon Hôtel are one of the wonders of Europe
Only three years before the events now under narration Felix Babylon had had them newly installed with every device and patent that the ingenuity of two continents could supply They covered nearly an acre of superficial space
They were walled and floored from end to end with tiles and marble which enabled them to be washed down every morning like the deck of a manofwar
Visitors were sometimes taken to see the potatoparing machine the patent platedryer the Babylonspit a contrivance of Felix Babylons own the silvergrill the system of connected stockpots and other amazing phenomena of the department Sometimes if they were fortunate they might also see the artist who sculptured ice into forms of men and beasts for table ornaments or the first napkinfolder in London or the man who daily invented fresh designs for pastry and blancmanges Twelve chefs pursued their labours in those kitchens helped by ninety assistant chefs and a further army of unconsidered menials Over all these was Rocco supreme and unapproachable Halfway along the suite of kitchens Rocco had an apartment of his own wherein he thought out those magnificent combinations those marvellous feats of succulence and originality which had given him his fame Visitors never caught a glimpse of Rocco in the kitchens though sometimes on a special night he would stroll nonchalantly through the diningroom like the great man he was to receive the compliments of the hôtel habitués—people of insight who recognized his uniqueness
Theodore Racksoles sudden and unusual appearance in the kitchen caused a little stir He nodded to some of the chefs but said nothing to anyone merely wandering about amid the maze of copper utensils and whitecapped workers At length he saw Rocco surrounded by several admiring chefs Rocco was bending over a freshlyroasted partridge which lay on a blue dish He plunged a long fork into the back of the bird and raised it in the air with his left hand In his right he held a long glittering carvingknife He was giving one of his worldfamous exhibitions of carving In four swift unerring delicate perfect strokes he cleanly severed the limbs of the partridge It was a wonderful achievement—how wondrous none but the really skilful carver can properly appreciate The chefs emitted a hum of applause and Rocco long lean and graceful retired to his own apartment Racksole followed him Rocco sat in a chair one hand over his eyes he had not noticed Theodore Racksole
What are you doing M Rocco the millionaire asked smiling Ah exclaimed Rocco starting up with an apology Pardon I was inventing a new mayonnaise which I shall need for a certain menu next week
Do you invent these things without materials then questioned Racksole
Certainly I do dem in my mind I tink dem Why should I want materials I know all flavours I tink and tink and tink and it is done I write down
I give the recipe to my best chef—dere you are I need not even taste I know how it will taste It is like composing music De great composers do not compose at de piano
I see said Racksole
It is because I work like dat dat you pay me three thousand a year Rocco added gravely
Heard about Jules said Racksole abruptly
Jules
Yes Hes been arrested in Ostend the millionaire continued lying cleverly at a venture They say that he and several others are implicated in a murder case—the murder of Reginald Dimmock
Truly drawled Rocco scarcely hiding a yawn His indifference was so superb so gorgeous that Racksole instantly divined that it was assumed for the occasion
It seems that after all the police are good for something But this is the first time I ever knew them to be worth their salt There is to be a thorough and systematic search of the hôtel tomorrow Racksole went on I have mentioned it to you to warn you that so far as you are concerned the search is of course merely a matter of form You will not object to the detectives looking through your rooms
Certainly not and Rocco shrugged his shoulders
I shall ask you to say nothing about this to anyone said Racksole The news of Jules arrest is quite private to myself The papers know nothing of it You comprehend
Rocco smiled in his grand manner and Roccos master thereupon went away
Racksole was very well satisfied with the little conversation It was perhaps dangerous to tell a series of mere lies to a clever fellow like Rocco and Racksole wondered how he should ultimately explain them to this great masterchef if his and Nellas suspicions should be unfounded and nothing came of them Nevertheless Roccos manner a strange elusive something in the mans eyes had nearly convinced Racksole that he was somehow implicated in Jules schemes—and probably in the death of Reginald Dimmock and the disappearance of Prince Eugen of Posen
That night or rather about halfpast one the next morning when the last noises of the hôtels life had died down Racksole made his way to Room 111 on the second floor He locked the door on the inside and proceeded to examine the place square foot by square foot Every now and then some creak or other sound startled him and he listened intently for a few seconds The bedroom was furnished in the ordinary splendid style of bedrooms at the Grand Babylon Hôtel and in that respect called for no remark What most interested Racksole was the flooring He pulled up the thick Oriental carpet and peered along every plank but could discover nothing unusual
Then he went to the dressingroom and finally to the bathroom both of which opened out of the main room But in neither of these smaller chambers was he any more successful than in the bedroom itself Finally he came to the bath which was enclosed in a panelled casing of polished wood after the manner of baths Some baths have a cupboard beneath the taps with a door at the side but this one appeared to have none He tapped the panels but not a single one of them gave forth that curious hollow sound which usually betokens a secret place Idly he turned the coldtap of the bath and the water began to rush in He turned off the coldtap and turned on the wastetap and as he did so his knee which was pressing against the panelling slipped forward The panelling had given way and he saw that one large panel was hinged from the inside and caught with a hasp also on the inside A large space within the casing of the end of the bath was thus revealed Before doing anything else Racksole tried to repeat the trick with the wastetap but he failed it would not work again nor could he in any way perceive that there was any connection between the rod of the wastetap and the hasp of the panel Racksole could not see into the cavity within the casing and the electric light was fixed and could not be moved about like a candle He felt in his pockets and fortunately discovered a box of matches Aided by these he looked into the cavity and saw nothing nothing except a rather large hole at the far end—some three feet from the casing With some difficulty he squeezed himself through the open panel and took a halfkneeling halfsitting posture within There he struck a match and it was a most unfortunate thing that in striking the box being half open he set fire to all the matches and was half smothered in the atrocious stink of phosphorus which resulted One match burned clear on the floor of the cavity and rubbing his eyes Racksole picked it up and looked down the hole which he had previously descried It was a hole apparently bottomless and about eighteen inches square The curious part about the hole was that a ropeladder hung down it When he saw that ropeladder Racksole smiled the smile of a happy man
The match went out
Should he make a long journey perhaps to some distant corner of the hôtel for a fresh box of matches or should he attempt to descend that ropeladder in the dark He decided on the latter course and he was the more strongly moved thereto as he could now distinguish a faint a very faint tinge of light at the bottom of the hole
With infinite care he compressed himself into the welllike hole and descended the latter At length he arrived on firm ground perspiring but quite safe and quite excited He saw now that the tinge of light came through a small hole in the wood He put his eye to the wood and found that he had a fine view of the State bathroom and through the door of the State bathroom into the State bedroom At the massive marbletopped washstand in the State bedroom a man was visible bending over some object which lay thereon
The man was Rocco
Chapter Thirteen IN THE STATE BEDROOM
IT was of course plain to Racksole that the peculiar passageway which he had at great personal inconvenience discovered between the bathroom of No 111 and the State bathroom on the floor below must have been specially designed by some person or persons for the purpose of keeping a nefarious watch upon the occupants of the State suite of apartments It was a means of communication at once simple and ingenious At that moment he could not be sure of the precise method employed for it but he surmised that the casing of the waterpipes had been used as a well while space for the pipes themselves had been found in the thickness of the ample brick walls of the Grand Babylon The eyehole through which he now had a view of the bedroom was a very minute one and probably would scarcely be noticed from the exterior One thing he observed concerning it namely that it had been made for a man somewhat taller than himself he was obliged to stand on tiptoe in order to get his eye in the correct position He remembered that both Jules and Rocco were distinctly above the average height also that they were both thin men and could have descended the well with comparative ease Theodore Racksole though not stout was a wellset man with large bones
These things flashed through his mind as he gazed spellbound at the mysterious movements of Rocco The door between the bathroom and the bedroom was wide open and his own situation was such that his view embraced a considerable portion of the bedroom including the whole of the immense and gorgeouslyupholstered bedstead but not including the whole of the marble washstand He could see only half of the washstand and at intervals Rocco passed out of sight as his lithe hands moved over the object which lay on the marble At first Theodore Racksole could not decide what this object was but after a time as his eyes grew accustomed to the position and the light he made it out
It was the body of a man Or rather to be more exact Racksole could discern the legs of a man on that half of the table which was visible to him Involuntarily he shuddered as the conviction forced itself upon him that Rocco had some unconscious human being helpless on that cold marble surface The legs never moved Therefore the hapless creature was either asleep or under the influence of an anaesthetic—or horrible thought dead
Racksole wanted to call out to stop by some means or other the dreadful midnight activity which was proceeding before his astonished eyes but fortunately he restrained himself
On the washstand he could see certain strangelyshaped utensils and instruments which Rocco used from time to time The work seemed to Racksole to continue for interminable hours and then at last Rocco ceased gave a sign of satisfaction whistled several bars from Cavalleria Rusticana and came into the bathroom where he took off his coat and very quietly washed his hands As he stood calmly and leisurely wiping those long fingers of his he was less than four feet from Racksole and the coopedup millionaire trembled holding his breath lest Rocco should detect his presence behind the woodwork But nothing happened and Rocco returned unsuspectingly to the bedroom Racksole saw him place some sort of white flannel garment over the prone form on the table and then lift it bodily on to the great bed where it lay awfully still The hidden watcher was sure now that it was a corpse upon which Rocco had been exercising his mysterious and sinister functions
But whose corpse And what functions Could this be a West End hôtel Racksoles own hôtel in the very heart of London the bestpoliced city in the world It seemed incredible impossible yet so it was Once more he remembered what Felix Babylon had said to him and realized the truth of the saying anew The proprietor of a vast and complicated establishment like the Grand Babylon could never know a tithe of the extraordinary and queer occurrences which happened daily under his very nose the atmosphere of such a caravanserai must necessarily be an atmosphere of mystery and problems apparently inexplicable Nevertheless Racksole thought that Fate was carrying things with rather a high hand when she permitted his chef to spend the night hours over a mans corpse in his State bedroom this sacred apartment which was supposed to be occupied only by individuals of Royal Blood Racksole would not have objected to a certain amount of mystery but he decidedly thought that there was a little too much mystery here for his taste He thought that even Felix Babylon would have been surprised at this
The electric chandelier in the centre of the ceiling was not lighted only the two lights on either side of the washstand were switched on and these did not sufficiently illuminate the features of the man on the bed to enable Racksole to see them clearly In vain the millionaire strained his eyes he could only make out that the corpse was probably that of a young man Just as he was wondering what would be the best course of action to pursue he saw Rocco with a squareshaped black box in his hand Then the chef switched off the two electric lights and the State bedroom was in darkness In that swift darkness Racksole heard Rocco spring on to the bed Another halfdozen moments of suspense and there was a blinding flash of white which endured for several seconds and showed Rocco standing like an evil spirit over the corpse the black box in one hand and a burning piece of aluminium wire in the other The aluminium wire burnt out and darkness followed blacker than before
Rocco had photographed the corpse by flashlight
But the dazzling flare which had disclosed the features of the dead man to the insensible lens of the camera had disclosed them also to Theodore Racksole The dead man was Reginald Dimmock
Stung into action by this discovery Racksole tried to find the exit from his place of concealment He felt sure that there existed some way out into the State bathroom but he sought for it fruitlessly groping with both hands and feet Then he decided that he must ascend the ropeladder make haste for the firstfloor corridor and intercept Rocco when he left the State apartments It was a painful and difficult business to ascend that thin and yielding ladder in such a confined space but Racksole was managing it very nicely and had nearly reached the top when by some untoward freak of chance the ladder broke above his weight and he slipped ignominiously down to the bottom of the wooden tube Smothering an excusable curse Racksole crouched baffled Then he saw that the force of his fall had somehow opened a trapdoor at his feet He squeezed through pushed open another tiny door and in another second stood in the State bathroom He was dishevelled perspiring rather bewildered but he was there In the next second he had resumed absolute command of all his faculties
Strange to say he had moved so quietly that Rocco had apparently not heard him He stepped noiselessly to the door between the bathroom and the bedroom and stood there in silence Rocco had switched on again the lights over the washstand and was busy with his utensils
Racksole deliberately coughed
Chapter Fourteen ROCCO ANSWERS SOME QUESTIONS
ROCCO turned round with the swiftness of a startled tiger and gave Theodore Racksole one long piercing glance
D—n said Rocco with as pure an AngloSaxon accent and intonation as Racksole himself could have accomplished
The most extraordinary thing about the situation was that at this juncture Theodore Racksole did not know what to say He was so dumbfounded by the affair and especially by Roccos absolute and sublime calm that both speech and thought failed him
I give in said Rocco From the moment you entered this cursed hôtel I was afraid of you I told Jules I was afraid of you I knew there would be trouble with a man of your kidney and I was right confound it I tell you I give in I know when Im beaten Ive got no revolver and no weapons of any kind I surrender Do what you like
And with that Rocco sat down on a chair It was magnificently done Only a truly great man could have done it Rocco actually kept his dignity
For answer Racksole walked slowly into the vast apartment seized a chair and dragging it up to Roccos chair sat down opposite to him Thus they faced each other their knees almost touching both in evening dress On Roccos right hand was the bed with the corpse of Reginald Dimmock On Racksoles right hand and a little behind him was the marble washstand still littered with Roccos implements The electric light shone on Roccos left cheek leaving the other side of his face in shadow Racksole tapped him on the knee twice
So youre another Englishman masquerading as a foreigner in my hôtel
Racksole remarked by way of commencing the interrogation
Im not answered Rocco quietly Im a citizen of the United States
The deuce you are Racksole exclaimed
Yes I was born at West Orange New Jersey New York State I call myself an Italian because it was in Italy that I first made a name as a chef—at Rome It is better for a great chef like me to be a foreigner Imagine a great chef named Elihu P Rucker You cant imagine it I changed my nationality for the same reason that my friend and colleague Jules otherwise Mr Jackson changed his
So Jules is your friend and colleague is he
He was but from this moment he is no longer I began to disapprove of his methods no less than a week ago and my disapproval will now take active form
Will it said Racksole I calculate it just wont Mr Elihu P Rucker citizen of the United States Before you are very much older youll be in the kind hands of the police and your activities in no matter what direction will come to an abrupt conclusion
It is possible sighed Rocco
In the meantime Ill ask you one or two questions for my own private satisfaction Youve acknowledged that the game is up and you may as well answer them with as much candour as you feel yourself capable of See
I see replied Rocco calmly but I guess I cant answer all questions
Ill do what I can
Well said Racksole clearing his throat whats the scheme all about Tell me in a word
Not in a thousand words It isnt my secret you know
Why was poor little Dimmock poisoned The millionaires voice softened as he looked for an instant at the corpse of the unfortunate young man
I dont know said Rocco I dont mind informing you that I objected to that part of the business I wasnt made aware of it till after it was done and then I tell you it got my dander up considerable
You mean to say you dont know why Dimmock was done to death
I mean to say I couldnt see the sense of it Of course he—er—died because he sort of cried off the scheme having previously taken a share of it I dont mind saying that much because you probably guessed it for yourself But I solemnly state that I have a conscientious objection to murder
Then it was murder
It was a kind of murder Rocco admitted Who did it
Unfair question said Rocco
Who else is in this precious scheme besides Jules and yourself
Dont know on my honour
Well then tell me this What have you been doing to Dimmocks body
How long were you in that bathroom Rocco parried with sublime impudence
Dont question me Mr Rucker said Theodore Racksole I feel very much inclined to break your back across my knee Therefore I advise you not to irritate me What have you been doing to Dimmocks body
Ive been embalming it
Em—balming it
Certainly Richardsons system of arterial fluid injection as improved by myself You werent aware that I included the art of embalming among my accomplishments Nevertheless it is so
But why asked Racksole more mystified than ever Why should you trouble to embalm the poor chaps corpse
Cant you see Doesnt it strike you That corpse has to be taken care of
It contains or rather it did contain very serious evidence against some person or persons unknown to the police It may be necessary to move it about from place to place A corpse cant be hidden for long a corpse betrays itself One couldnt throw it in the Thames for it would have been found inside twelve hours One couldnt bury it—it wasnt safe The only thing was to keep it handy and movable ready for emergencies I neednt inform you that without embalming you cant keep a corpse handy and movable for more than four or five days Its the kind of thing that wont keep And so it was suggested that I should embalm it and I did Mind you I still objected to the murder but I couldnt go back on a colleague you understand You do understand that dont you Well here you are and here it is and thats all
Rocco leaned back in his chair as though he had said everything that ought to be said He closed his eyes to indicate that so far as he was concerned the conversation was also closed Theodore Racksole stood up
I hope said Rocco suddenly opening his eyes I hope youll call in the police without any delay Its getting late and I dont like going without my nights rest
Where do you suppose youll get a nights rest Racksole asked
In the cells of course Havent I told you I know when Im beaten Im not so blind as not to be able to see that theres at any rate a prima facie case against me I expect I shall get off with a year or twos imprisonment as accessory after the fact—I think thats what they call it Anyhow I shall be in a position to prove that I am not implicated in the murder of this unfortunate nincompoop He pointed with a strange scornful gesture of his elbow to the bed And now shall we go Everyone is asleep but there will be a policeman within call of the watchman in the portico I am at your service Let us go down together Mr Racksole I give you my word to go quietly
Stay a moment said Theodore Racksole curtly there is no hurry It wont do you any harm to forego another hours sleep especially as you will have no work to do tomorrow I have one or two more questions to put to you
Well Rocco murmured with an air of tired resignation as if to say What must be must be
Where has Dimmocks corpse been during the last three or four days since he—died
Oh answered Rocco apparently surprised at the simplicity of the question Its been in my room and one night it was on the roof once it went out of the hôtel as luggage but it came back the next day as a case of Demerara sugar I forget where else it has been but its been kept perfectly safe and treated with every consideration
And who contrived all these manoeuvres asked Racksole as calmly as he could
I did That is to say I invented them and I saw that they were carried out You see the suspicions of your police obliged me to be particularly spry
And who carried them out
Ah that would be telling tales But I dont mind assuring you that my accomplices were innocent accomplices It is absurdly easy for a man like me to impose on underlings—absurdly easy
What did you intend to do with the corpse ultimately Racksole pursued his inquiry with immovable countenance
Who knows said Rocco twisting his beautiful moustache That would have depended on several things—on your police for instance But probably in the end we should have restored this mortal clay—again he jerked his elbow—to the mans sorrowing relatives
Do you know who the relatives are
Certainly Dont you If you dont I need only hint that Dimmock had a Prince for his father
It seems to me said Racksole with cold sarcasm that you behaved rather clumsily in choosing this bedroom as the scene of your operations
Not at all said Rocco There was no other apartment so suitable in the whole hôtel Who would have guessed that anything was going on here It was the very place for me
I guessed said Racksole succinctly
Yes you guessed Mr Racksole But I had not counted on you You are the only smart man in the business You are an American citizen and I hadnt reckoned to have to deal with that class of person
Apparently I frightened you this afternoon
Not in the least
You were not afraid of a search
I knew that no search was intended I knew that you were trying to frighten me You must really credit me with a little sagacity and insight Mr Racksole Immediately you began to talk to me in the kitchen this afternoon I felt you were on the track But I was not frightened I merely decided that there was no time to be lost—that I must act quickly I did act quickly but it seems not quickly enough I grant that your rapidity exceeded mine Let us go downstairs I beg
Rocco rose and moved towards the door With an instinctive action Racksole rushed forward and seized him by the shoulder
No tricks said Racksole Youre in my custody and dont forget it
Rocco turned on his employer a look of gentle dignified scorn Have I not informed you he said that I have the intention of going quietly
Racksole felt almost ashamed for the moment It flashed across him that a man can be great even in crime
What an ineffable fool you were said Racksole stopping him at the threshold with your talents your unique talents to get yourself mixed up in an affair of this kind You are ruined And by Jove you were a great man in your own line
Mr Racksole said Rocco very quickly that is the truest word you have spoken this night I was a great man in my own line And I am an ineffable fool Alas He brought his long arms to his sides with a thud
Why did you do it
I was fascinated—fascinated by Jules He too is a great man We had great opportunities here in the Grand Babylon It was a great game It was worth the candle The prizes were enormous You would admit these things if you knew the facts Perhaps some day you will know them for you are a fairly clever person at getting to the root of a matter Yes I was blinded hypnotized
And now you are ruined
Not ruined not ruined Afterwards in a few years I shall come up again
A man of genius like me is never ruined till he is dead Genius is always forgiven I shall be forgiven Suppose I am sent to prison When I emerge I shall be no gaolbird I shall be Rocco—the great Rocco And half the hôtels in Europe will invite me to join them
Let me tell you as man to man that you have achieved your own degradation There is no excuse
I know it said Rocco Let us go
Racksole was distinctly and notably impressed by this man—by this master spirit to whom he was to have paid a salary at the rate of three thousand pounds a year He even felt sorry for him And so side by side the captor and the captured they passed into the vast deserted corridor of the hôtel
Rocco stopped at the grating of the first lift
It will be locked said Racksole We must use the stairs tonight
But I have a key I always carry one said Rocco and he pulled one out of his pocket and unfastening the iron screen pushed it open Racksole smiled at his readiness and aplomb
After you said Rocco bowing in his finest manner and Racksole stepped into the lift
With the swiftness of lighting Rocco pushed forward the iron screen which locked itself automatically Theodore Racksole was hopelessly a prisoner within the lift while Rocco stood free in the corridor
Goodbye Mr Racksole he remarked suavely bowing again lower than before Goodbye I hate to take a mean advantage of you in this fashion but really you must allow that you have been very simple You are a clever man as I have already said up to a certain point It is past that point that my own cleverness comes in Again goodbye After all I shall have no rest tonight but perhaps even that will be better that sleeping in a police cell If you make a great noise you may wake someone and ultimately get released from this lift But I advise you to compose yourself and wait till morning It will be more dignified For the third time goodbye
And with that Rocco without hastening walked down the corridor and so out of sight
Racksole said never a word He was too disgusted with himself to speak He clenched his fists and put his teeth together and held his breath In the silence he could hear the dwindling sound of Roccos footsteps on the thick carpet
It was the greatest blow of Racksoles life
The next morning the highborn guests of the Grand Babylon were aroused by a rumour that by some accident the millionaire proprietor of the hôtel had remained all night locked up in the lift It was also stated that Rocco had quarrelled with his new master and incontinently left the place A duchess said that Roccos departure would mean the ruin of the hôtel whereupon her husband advised her not to talk nonsense
As for Racksole he sent a message for the detective in charge of the Dimmock affair and bravely told him the happenings of the previous night
The narration was a decided ordeal to a man of Racksoles temperament
A strange story commented Detective Marshall and he could not avoid a smile The climax was unfortunate but you have certainly got some valuable facts
Racksole said nothing
I myself have a clue added the detective When your message arrived I was just coming up to see you I want you to accompany me to a certain spot not far from here Will you come now at once
With pleasure said Racksole
At that moment a page entered with a telegram Racksole opened it read
Please come instantly Nella Hôtel Wellington Ostend
He looked at his watch
I cant come he said to the detective Im going to Ostend
To Ostend
Yes now
But really Mr Racksole protested the detective My business is urgent
Sos mine said Racksole
In ten minutes he was on his way to Victoria Station
Chapter Fifteen END OF THE YACHT ADVENTURE
WE must now return to Nella Racksole and Prince Aribert of Posen on board the yacht without a name The Princes first business was to make Jules otherwise Mr Tom Jackson perfectly secure by means of several pieces of rope Although Mr Jackson had been stunned into a complete unconsciousness and there was a contused wound under his ear no one could say how soon he might not come to himself and get very violent So the Prince having tied his arms and legs made him fast to a stanchion
I hope he wont die said Nella He looks very white
The Mr Jacksons of this world said Prince Aribert sententiously never die till they are hung By the way I wonder how it is that no one has interfered with us Perhaps they are discreetly afraid of my revolver—of your revolver I mean
Both he and Nella glanced up at the imperturbable steersman who kept the yachts head straight out to sea By this time they were about a couple of miles from the Belgian shore
Addressing him in French the Prince ordered the sailor to put the yacht about and make again for Ostend Harbour but the fellow took no notice whatever of the summons The Prince raised the revolver with the idea of frightening the steersman and then the man began to talk rapidly in a mixture of French and Flemish He said that he had received Jules strict orders not to interfere in any way no matter what might happen on the deck of the yacht He was the captain of the yacht and he had to make for a certain English port the name of which he could not divulge he was to keep the vessel at full steam ahead under any and all circumstances He seemed to be a very big a very strong and a very determined man and the Prince was at a loss what course of action to pursue He asked several more questions but the only effect of them was to render the man taciturn and illhumoured
In vain Prince Aribert explained that Miss Nella Racksole daughter of millionaire Racksole had been abducted by Mr Tom Jackson in vain he flourished the revolver threateningly the surly but courageous captain said merely that that had nothing to do with him he had instructions and he should carry them out He sarcastically begged to remind his interlocutor that he was the captain of the yacht
It wont do to shoot him I suppose said the Prince to Nella I might bore a hole into his leg or something of that kind
Its rather risky and rather hard on the poor captain with his extraordinary sense of duty said Nella And besides the whole crew might turn on us No we must think of something else
I wonder where the crew is said the Prince
Just then Mr Jackson prone and bound on the deck showed signs of recovering from his swoon His eyes opened and he gazed vacantly around At length he caught sight of the Prince who approached him with the revolver well in view
Its you is it he murmured faintly What are you doing on board Whos tied me up like this
See here replied the Prince I dont want to have any arguments but this yacht must return to Ostend at once where you will be given up to the authorities
Really snarled Mr Tom Jackson Shall I Then he called out in French to the man at the wheel Hi André let these two be put off in the dinghy
It was a peculiar situation Certain of nothing but the possession of Nellas revolver the Prince scarcely knew whether to carry the argument further and with stronger measures or to accept the situation with as much dignity as the circumstances would permit
Let us take the dinghy said Nella we can row ashore in an hour
He felt that she was right To leave the yacht in such a manner seemed somewhat ignominious and it certainly involved the escape of that profound villain Mr Thomas Jackson But what else could be done The Prince and Nella constituted one party on the vessel they knew their own strength but they did not know the strength of their opponents They held the hostile ringleader bound and captive but this man had proved himself capable of giving orders and even to gag him would not help them if the captain of the yacht persisted in his obstinate course Moreover there was a distinct objection to promiscuous shooting The Prince felt that there was no knowing how promiscuous shooting might end
We will take the dinghy said the Prince quickly to the captain
A bell rang below and a sailor and the Negro boy appeared on deck The pulsations of the screw grew less rapid The yacht stopped The dinghy was lowered As the Prince and Nella prepared to descend into the little cockboat Mr Tom Jackson addressed Nella all bound as he lay
Goodbye he said I shall see you again never fear
In another moment they were in the dinghy and the dinghy was adrift The yachts screw churned the water and the beautiful vessel slipped away from them As it receded a figure appeared at the stem It was Mr Thomas Jackson
He had been released by his minions He held a white handkerchief to his ear and offered a calm enigmatic smile to the two forlorn but victorious occupants of the dinghy Jules had been defeated for once in his life or perhaps it would be more just to say that he had been outmanoeuvred Men like Jules are incapable of being defeated It was characteristic of his luck that now in the very hour when he had been caught redhanded in a serious crime against society he should be effecting a leisurely escape—an escape which left no clue behind
The sea was utterly calm and blue in the morning sun The dinghy rocked itself lazily in the swell of the yachts departure As the mist cleared away the outline of the shore became more distinct and it appeared as if Ostend was distant scarcely a cables length The white dome of the great Kursaal glittered in the pale turquoise sky and the smoke of steamers in the harbour could be plainly distinguished On the offing was a crowd of brownsailed fishing luggers returning with the nights catch The manyhued bathingvans could be counted on the distant beach Everything seemed perfectly normal It was difficult for either Nella or her companion to realize that anything extraordinary had happened within the last hour Yet there was the yacht not a mile off to prove to them that something very extraordinary had in fact happened The yacht was no vision nor was that sinister watching figure at its stern a vision either
I suppose Jules was too surprised and too feeble to inquire how I came to be on board his yacht said the Prince taking the oars
Oh How did you asked Nella her face lighting up Really I had almost forgotten that part of the affair
I must begin at the beginning and it will take some time answered the Prince Had we not better postpone the recital till we get ashore
I will row and you shall talk said Nella I want to know now
He smiled happily at her but gently declined to yield up the oars
Is it not sufficient that I am here he said
It is sufficient yes she replied but I want to know
With a long easy stroke he was pulling the dinghy shorewards She sat in the sternsheets
There is no rudder he remarked so you must direct me Keep the boats head on the lighthouse The tide seems to be running in strongly that will help us The people on shore will think that we have only been for a little early morning excursion
Will you kindly tell me how it came about that you were able to save my life Prince she said
Save your life Miss Racksole I didnt save your life I merely knocked a man down
You saved my life she repeated That villain would have stopped at nothing I saw it in his eye
Then you were a brave woman for you showed no fear of death His admiring gaze rested full on her For a moment the oars ceased to move
She gave a gesture of impatience
It happened that I saw you last night in your carriage he said The fact is I had not had the audacity to go to Berlin with my story I stopped in Ostend to see whether I could do a little detective work on my own account
It was a piece of good luck that I saw you I followed the carriage as quickly as I could and I just caught a glimpse of you as you entered that awful house I knew that Jules had something to do with that house I guessed what you were doing I was afraid for you Fortunately I had surveyed the house pretty thoroughly There is an entrance to it at the back from a narrow lane I made my way there I got into the yard at the back and I stood under the window of the room where you had the interview with Miss Spencer I heard everything that was said It was a courageous enterprise on your part to follow Miss Spencer from the Grand Babylon to Ostend Well I dared not force an entrance lest I might precipitate matters too suddenly and involve both of us in a difficulty I merely kept watch Ah Miss Racksole you were magnificent with Miss Spencer as I say I could hear every word for the window was slightly open I felt that you needed no assistance from me And then she cheated you with a trick and the revolver came flying through the window I picked it up I thought it would probably be useful There was a silence I did not guess at first that you had fainted I thought that you had escaped When I found out the truth it was too late for me to intervene There were two men both desperate besides Miss Spencer—
Who was the other man asked Nella
I do not know It was dark They drove away with you to the harbour Again I followed I saw them carry you on board Before the yacht weighed anchor I managed to climb unobserved into the dinghy I lay down full length in it and no one suspected that I was there I think you know the rest
Was the yacht all ready for sea
The yacht was all ready for sea The captain fellow was on the bridge and steam was up
Then they expected me How could that be
They expected some one I do not think they expected you
Did the second man go on board
He helped to carry you along the gangway but he came back again to the carriage He was the driver
And no one else saw the business
The quay was deserted You see the last steamer had arrived for the night
There was a brief silence and then Nella ejaculated under her breath
Truly it is a wonderful world
And it was a wonderful world for them though scarcely perhaps in the sense which Nella Racksole had intended They had just emerged from a highly disconcerting experience Among other minor inconveniences they had had no breakfast They were out in the sea in a tiny boat Neither of them knew what the day might bring forth The man at least had the most serious anxieties for the safety of his Royal nephew And yet—and yet—neither of them wished that that voyage of the little boat on the summer tide should come to an end Each perhaps unconsciously had a vague desire that it might last for ever he lazily pulling she directing his course at intervals by a movement of her distractingly pretty head How was this condition of affairs to be explained Well they were both young they both had superb health and all the ardour of youth and—they were together
The boat was very small indeed her face was scarcely a yard from his She in his eyes surrounded by the glamour of beauty and vast wealth he in her eyes surrounded by the glamour of masculine intrepidity and the brilliance of a throne
But all voyages come to an end either at the shore or at the bottom of the sea and at length the dinghy passed between the stone jetties of the harbour The Prince rowed to the nearest steps tied up the boat and they landed It was six oclock in the morning and a day of gorgeous sunlight had opened Few people were about at that early hour
And now what next said the Prince I must take you to an hôtel
I am in your hands she acquiesced with a smile which sent the blood racing through his veins He perceived now that she was tired and overcome suffering from a sudden and natural reaction
At the Hôtel Wellington the Prince told the sleepy doorkeeper that they had come by the early train from Bruges and wanted breakfast at once It was absurdly early but a common English sovereign will work wonders in any Belgian hôtel and in a very brief time Nella and the Prince were breakfasting on the verandah of the hôtel upon chocolate that had been specially and hastily brewed for them
I never tasted such excellent chocolate claimed the Prince
The statement was wildly untrue for the Hôtel Wellington is not celebrated for its chocolate Nevertheless Nella replied enthusiastically Nor I
Then there was a silence and Nella feeling possibly that she had been too ecstatic remarked in a very matteroffact tone I must telegraph to Papa instantly
Thus it was that Theodore Racksole received the telegram which drew him away from Detective Marshall
Chapter Sixteen THE WOMAN WITH THE RED HAT
THERE is one thing Prince that we have just got to settle straight off said Theodore Racksole
They were all three seated—Racksole his daughter and Prince Aribert—round a dinner table in a private room at the Hôtel Wellington Racksole had duly arrived by the afternoon boat and had been met on the quay by the other two They had dined early and Racksole had heard the full story of the adventures by sea and land of Nella and the Prince As to his own adventure of the previous night he said very little merely explaining with as little detail as possible that Dimmocks body had come to light
What is that asked the Prince in answer to Racksoles remark
We have got to settle whether we shall tell the police at once all that has occurred or whether we shall proceed on our own responsibility There can be no doubt as to which course we ought to pursue Every consideration of prudence points to the advisability of taking the police into our confidence and leaving the matter entirely in their hands
Oh Papa Nella burst out in her pouting impulsive way You surely cant think of such a thing Why the fun has only just begun
Do you call last night fun questioned Racksole gazing at her solemnly
Yes I do she said promptly Now
Well I dont was the millionaires laconic response but perhaps he was thinking of his own situation in the lift
Do you not think we might investigate a little further said the Prince judiciously as he cracked a walnut just a little further—and then if we fail to accomplish anything there would still be ample opportunity to consult the police
How do you suggest we should begin asked Racksole
Well there is the house which Miss Racksole so intrepidly entered last evening—he gave her the homage of an admiring glance you and I Mr Racksole might examine that abode in detail
Tonight
Certainly We might do something
We might do too much
For example
We might shoot someone or get ourselves mistaken for burglars If we outstepped the law it would be no excuse for us that we had been acting in a good cause
True said the Prince Nevertheless— He stopped
Nevertheless you have a distaste for bringing the police into the business
You want the hunt all to yourself You are on fire with the ardour of the chase Is not that it Accept the advice of an older man Prince and sleep on this affair I have little fancy for nocturnal escapades two nights together As for you Nella off with you to bed The Prince and I will have a yarn over such fluids as can be obtained in this hole
Papa she said you are perfectly horrid tonight
Perhaps I am he said Decidedly I am very cross with you for coming over here all alone It was monstrous If I didnt happen to be the most foolish of parents—There Goodnight Its nine oclock The Prince I am sure will excuse you
If Nella had not really been very tired Prince Aribert might have been the witness of a goodnatured but stubborn conflict between the millionaire and his spirited offspring As it was Nella departed with surprising docility and the two men were left alone
Now said Racksole suddenly changing his tone I fancy that after all Im your man for a little amateur investigation tonight And if I must speak the exact truth I think that to sleep on this affair would be about the very worst thing we could do But I was anxious to keep Nella out of harms way at any rate till tomorrow She is a very difficult creature to manage Prince and I may warn you he laughed grimly that if we do succeed in doing anything tonight we shall catch it from her ladyship in the morning Are you ready to take that risk
I am the Prince smiled But Miss Racksole is a young lady of quite remarkable nerve
She is said Racksole drily I wish sometimes she had less
I have the highest admiration for Miss Racksole said the Prince and he looked Miss Racksoles father full in the face
You honour us Prince Racksole observed Let us come to business Am I right in assuming that you have a reason for keeping the police out of this business if it can possibly be done
Yes said the Prince and his brow clouded I am very much afraid that my poor nephew has involved himself in some scrape that he would wish not to be divulged
Then you do not believe that he is the victim of foul play
I do not
And the reason if I may ask it
Mr Racksole we speak in confidence—is it not so Some years ago my foolish nephew had an affair—an affair with a feminine star of the Berlin stage For anything I know the lady may have been the very pattern of her sex but where a reigning Prince is concerned scandal cannot be avoided in such a matter I had thought that the affair was quite at an end since my nephews betrothal to Princess Anna of EcksteinSchwartzburg is shortly to be announced But yesterday I saw the lady to whom I have referred driving on the Digue The coincidence of her presence here with my nephews disappearance is too extraordinary to be disregarded
But how does this theory square with the murder of Reginald Dimmock
It does not square with it My idea is that the murder of poor Dimmock and the disappearance of my nephew are entirely unconnected—unless indeed this Berlin actress is playing into the hands of the murderers I had not thought of that
Then what do you propose to do tonight
I propose to enter the house which Miss Racksole entered last night and to find out something definite
I concur said Racksole I shall heartily enjoy it But let me tell you Prince and pardon me for speaking bluntly your surmise is incorrect I would wager a hundred thousand dollars that Prince Eugen has been kidnapped
What grounds have you for being so sure
Ah said Racksole that is a long story Let me begin by asking you this
Are you aware that your nephew Prince Eugen owes a million of money
A million of money cried Prince Aribert astonished It is impossible
Nevertheless he does said Racksole calmly Then he told him all he had learnt from Mr Sampson Levi
What have you to say to that Racksole ended Prince Aribert made no reply
What have you to say to that Racksole insisted
Merely that Eugen is ruined even if he is alive
Not at all Racksole returned with cheerfulness Not at all We shall see about that The special thing that I want to know just now from you is this
Has any previous application ever been made for the hand of the Princess Anna
Yes Last year The King of Bosnia sued for it but his proposal was declined
Why
Because my nephew was considered to be a more suitable match for her
Not because the personal character of his Majesty of Bosnia is scarcely of the brightest
No Unfortunately it is usually impossible to consider questions of personal character when a royal match is concerned
Then if for any reason the marriage of Princess Anna with your nephew was frustrated the King of Bosnia would have a fair chance in that quarter
He would The political aspect of things would be perfectly satisfactory
Thanks said Racksole I will wager another hundred thousand dollars that someone in Bosnia—I dont accuse the King himself—is at the bottom of this business The methods of Balkan politicians have always been halfOriental Let us go
Where
To this precious house of Nellas adventure
But surely it is too early
So it is said Racksole and we shall want a few things too For instance a dark lantern I think I will go out and forage for a lantern
And a revolver suggested Prince Aribert
Does it mean revolvers The millionaire laughed It may come to that Here you are then my friend said Racksole and he pulled one out of his hip pocket And yours
I said the Prince I have your daughters
The deuce you have murmured Racksole to himself
It was then half past nine They decided that it would be impolitic to begin their operations till after midnight There were three hours to spare
Let us go and see the gambling Racksole suggested We might encounter the Berlin lady
The suggestion in the first instance, was not made seriously but it appeared to both men that they might do worse than spend the intervening time in the gorgeous saloon of the Kursaal where in the season as much money is won and lost as at Monte Carlo It was striking ten oclock as they entered the rooms There was a large company present—a company which included some of the most notorious persons in Europe In that multifarious assemblage all were equal The electric light shone coldly and impartially on the just and on the unjust on the fool and the knave on the European and the Asiatic As usual women monopolized the best places at the tables
The scene was familiar enough to Prince Aribert who had witnessed it frequently at Monaco but Theodore Racksole had never before entered any European gaming palace he had only the haziest idea of the rules of play and he was at once interested For some time they watched the play at the table which happened to be nearest to them Racksole never moved his lips
With his eyes glued on the table and ears open for every remark of the players and the croupier he took his first lesson in roulette He saw a mere youth win fifteen thousand francs which were stolen in the most barefaced manner by a rouged girl scarcely older than the youth he saw two old gamesters stake their coins and lose and walk quietly out of the place he saw the bank win fifty thousand francs at a single turn
This is rather good fun he said at length but the stakes are too small to make it really exciting Ill try my luck just for the experience Im bound to win
Why asked the Prince
Because I always do in games of chance Racksole answered with gay confidence It is my fate Then tonight you must remember I shall be a beginner and you know the tyros luck
In ten minutes the croupier of that table was obliged to suspend operations pending the arrival of a further supply of coin
What did I tell you said Racksole leading the way to another table further up the room A hundred curious glances went after him One old woman whose gay attire suggested a false youthfulness begged him in French to stake a fivefranc piece for her She offered him the coin He took it and gave her a hundredfranc note in exchange She clutched the crisp rustling paper and with hysterical haste scuttled back to her own table
At the second table there was a considerable air of excitement In the forefront of the players was a woman in a lowcut evening dress of black silk and a large red picture hat Her age appeared to be about twentyeight she had dark eyes full lips and a distinctly Jewish nose She was handsome but her beauty was of that forbidding sinister order which is often called Junoesque This woman was the centre of attraction People said to each other that she had won a hundred and sixty thousand francs that day at the table
You were right Prince Aribert whispered to Theodore Racksole that is the Berlin lady
The deuce she is Has she seen you Will she know you
She would probably know me but she hasnt looked up yet
Keep behind her then I propose to find her a little occupation By dint of a carefullyexercised diplomacy Racksole manoeuvred himself into a seat opposite to the lady in the red hat The fame of his success at the other table had followed him and people regarded him as a serious and formidable player In the first turn the lady put a thousand francs on double zero Racksole put a hundred on number nineteen and a thousand on the odd numbers
Nineteen won Racksole received four thousand four hundred francs Nine times in succession Racksole backed number nineteen and the odd numbers nine times the lady backed double zero Nine times Racksole won and the lady lost The other players perceiving that the affair had resolved itself into a duel stood back for the most part and watched those two Prince Aribert never stirred from his position behind the great red hat The game continued Racksole lost trifles from time to time but ninetynine hundredths of the luck was with him As an English spectator at the table remarked he couldnt do wrong When midnight struck the lady in the red hat was reduced to a thousand francs Then she fell into a winning vein for half an hour but at one oclock her resources were exhausted Of the hundred and sixty thousand francs which she was reputed to have had early in the evening Racksole held about ninety thousand and the bank had the rest
It was a calamity for the Juno of the red hat She jumped up stamped her foot and hurried from the room At a discreet distance Racksole and the Prince pursued her
It might be well to ascertain her movements said Racksole
Outside in the glare of the great arc lights and within sound of the surf which beats always at the very foot of the Kursaal the Juno of the red hat summoned a fiacre and drove rapidly away Racksole and the Prince took an open carriage and started in pursuit They had not however travelled more than half a mile when Prince Aribert stopped the carriage and bidding Racksole get out paid the driver and dismissed him
I feel sure I know where she is going he explained and it will be better for us to follow on foot
You mean she is making for the scene of last nights affair said Racksole
Exactly We shall—what you call kill two birds with one stone
Prince Ariberts guess was correct The ladys carriage stopped in front of the house where Nella Racksole and Miss Spencer had had their interview on the previous evening and the lady vanished into the building just as the two men appeared at the end of the street Instead of proceeding along that street the Prince led Racksole to the lane which gave on to the backs of the houses and he counted the houses as they went up the lane In a few minutes they had burglariously climbed over a wall and crept with infinite caution up a long narrow piece of ground—half garden half paved yard till they crouched under a window—a window which was shielded by curtains but which had been left open a little
Listen said the Prince in his lightest whisper they are talking
Who
The Berlin lady and Miss Spencer Im sure its Miss Spencers voice
Racksole boldly pushed the french window a little wider open and put his ear to the aperture through which came a beam of yellow light
Take my place he whispered to the Prince theyre talking German Youll understand better
Silently they exchanged places under the window and the Prince listened intently
Then you refuse Miss Spencers visitor was saying
There was no answer from Miss Spencer
Not even a thousand francs I tell you Ive lost the whole twentyfive thousand
Again no answer
Then Ill tell the whole story the lady went on in an angry rush of words I did what I promised to do I enticed him here and youve got him safe in your vile cellar poor little man and you wont give me a paltry thousand francs
You have already had your price The words were Miss Spencers They fell cold and calm on the night air
I want another thousand
I havent it
Then well see
Prince Aribert heard a rustle of flying skirts then another movement—a door banged and the beam of light through the aperture of the window suddenly disappeared He pushed the window wide open The room was in darkness and apparently empty
Now for that lantern of yours he said eagerly to Theodore Racksole after he had translated to him the conversation of the two women Racksole produced the dark lantern from the capacious pocket of his dust coat and lighted it The ray flashed about the ground
What is it exclaimed Prince Aribert with a swift cry pointing to the ground The lantern threw its light on a perpendicular grating at their feet through which could be discerned a cellar They both knelt down and peered into the subterranean chamber On a broken chair a young man sat listlessly with closed eyes his head leaning heavily forward on his chest
In the feeble light of the lantern he had the livid and ghastly appearance of a corpse
Who can it be said Racksole
It is Eugen was the Princes low answer
Chapter Seventeen THE RELEASE OF PRINCE EUGEN
EUGEN Prince Aribert called softly At the sound of his own name the young man in the cellar feebly raised his head and stared up at the grating which separated him from his two rescuers But his features showed no recognition He gazed in an aimless vague silly manner for a few seconds his eyes blinking under the glare of the lantern and then his head slowly drooped again on to his chest He was dressed in a dark tweed travelling suit and Racksole observed that one sleeve—the left—was torn across the upper part of the cuff and that there were stains of dirt on the left shoulder A soiled linen collar which had lost all its starch and was half unbuttoned partially encircled the captives neck his brown boots were unlaced a cap a handkerchief a portion of a watchchain and a few gold coins lay on the floor Racksole flashed the lantern into the corners of the cellar but he could discover no other furniture except the chair on which the Hereditary Prince of Posen sat and a small deal table on which were a plate and a cup
Eugen cried Prince Aribert once more but this time his forlorn nephew made no response whatever and then Aribert added in a low voice to Racksole Perhaps he cannot see us clearly
But he must surely recognize your voice said Racksole in a hard gloomy tone There was a pause and the two men above ground looked at each other hesitatingly Each knew that they must enter that cellar and get Prince Eugen out of it and each was somehow afraid to take the next step
Thank God he is not dead said Aribert
He may be worse than dead Racksole replied
Worse than—What do you mean
I mean—he may be mad
Come Aribert almost shouted with a sudden access of energy—a wild impulse for action And snatching the lantern from Racksole he rushed into the dark room where they had heard the conversation of Miss Spencer and the lady in the red hat For a moment Racksole did not stir from the threshold of the window Come Prince Aribert repeated and there was an imperious command in his utterance What are you afraid of
I dont know said Racksole feeling stupid and queer I dont know
Then he marched heavily after Prince Aribert into the room On the mantelpiece were a couple of candles which had been blown out and in a mechanical unthinking way Racksole lighted them and the two men glanced round the room It presented no peculiar features it was just an ordinary room rather small rather mean rather shabby with an ugly wallpaper and ugly pictures in ugly frames Thrown over a chair was a mans eveningdress jacket The door was closed Prince Aribert turned the knob but he could not open it
Its locked he said Evidently they know were here
Nonsense said Racksole brusquely how can they know And taking hold of the knob he violently shook the door and it opened I told you it wasnt locked he added and this small success of opening the door seemed to steady the man It was a curious psychological effect this terrorizing for it amounted to that of two courageous fullgrown men by the mere apparition of a helpless creature in a cellar Gradually they both recovered from it The next moment they were out in the passage which led to the front door of the house The front door stood open They looked into the street up and down but there was not a soul in sight The street lighted by three gaslamps only seemed strangely sinister and mysterious
She has gone thats clear said Racksole meaning the woman with the red hat
And Miss Spencer after her do you think questioned Aribert
No She would stay She would never dare to leave Let us find the cellar steps
The cellar steps were happily not difficult to discover for in moving a pace backwards Prince Aribert had a narrow escape of precipitating himself to the bottom of them The lantern showed that they were built on a curve
Silently Racksole resumed possession of the lantern and went first the Prince close behind him At the foot was a short passage and in this passage crouched the figure of a woman Her eyes threw back the rays of the lantern shining like a cats at midnight Then as the men went nearer they saw that it was Miss Spencer who barred their way She seemed half to kneel on the stone floor and in one hand she held what at first appeared to be a dagger but which proved to be nothing more romantic than a rather long breadknife
I heard you I heard you she exclaimed Get back you mustnt come here
There was a desperate and dangerous look on her face and her form shook with scarcely controlled passionate energy
Now see here Miss Spencer Racksole said calmly I guess weve had enough of this fandango Youd better get up and clear out or well just have to drag you off
He went calmly up to her the lantern in his hand Without another word she struck the knife into his arm and the lantern fell extinguished Racksole gave a cry rather of angry surprise than of pain and retreated a few steps In the darkness they could still perceive the glint of her eyes
I told you you mustnt come here the woman said Now get back
Racksole positively laughed It was a queer laugh but he laughed and he could not help it The idea of this woman this bureau clerk stopping his progress and that of Prince Aribert by means of a breadknife aroused his sense of humour He struck a match relighted the candle and faced Miss Spencer once more
Ill do it again she said with a note of hard resolve
Oh no you wont my girl said Racksole and he pulled out his revolver cocked it raised his hand
Put down that plaything of yours he said firmly
No she answered
I shall shoot
She pressed her lips together
I shall shoot he repeated One—two—three
Bang bang He had fired twice purposely missing her Miss Spencer never blenched Racksole was tremendously surprised—and he would have been a thousandfold more surprised could he have contrasted her behaviour now with her abject terror on the previous evening when Nella had threatened her
Youve got a bit of pluck he said but it wont help you Why wont you let us pass
As a matter of fact pluck was just what she had not really she had merely subordinated one terror to another She was desperately afraid of Racksoles revolver but she was much more afraid of something else
Why wont you let us pass
I darent she said with a plaintive tremor Tom put me in charge
That was all The men could see tears running down her poor wrinkled face
Theodore Racksole began to take off his light overcoat
I see I must take my coat off to you he said and he almost smiled Then with a quick movement he threw the coat over Miss Spencers head and flew at her seizing both her arms while Prince Aribert assisted
Her struggles ceased—she was beaten
Thats all right said Racksole I could never have used that revolver—to mean business with it of course
They carried her unresisting upstairs and on to the upper floor where they locked her in a bedroom She lay in the bed as if exhausted
Now for my poor Eugen said Prince Aribert
Dont you think wed better search the house first Racksole suggested it will be safer to know just how we stand We cant afford any ambushes or things of that kind you know
The Prince agreed and they searched the house from top to bottom but found no one Then having locked the front door and the french window of the sittingroom they proceeded again to the cellar
Here a new obstacle confronted them The cellar door was of course locked there was no sign of a key and it appeared to be a heavy door They were compelled to return to the bedroom where Miss Spencer was incarcerated in order to demand the key of the cellar from her She still lay without movement on the bed
Toms got it she replied faintly to their question Toms got it I swear to you He took it for safety
Then how do you feed your prisoner Racksole asked sharply
Through the grating she answered
Both men shuddered They felt she was speaking the truth For the third time they went to the cellar door In vain Racksole thrust himself against it he could do no more than shake it
Lets try both together said Prince Aribert Now There was a crack
Again said Prince Aribert There was another crack and then the upper hinge gave way The rest was easy Over the wreck of the door they entered Prince Eugens prison
The captive still sat on his chair The terrific noise and bustle of breaking down the door seemed not to have aroused him from his lethargy but when Prince Aribert spoke to him in German he looked at his uncle
Will you not come with us Eugen said Prince Aribert you neednt stay here any longer you know
Leave me alone was the strange reply leave me alone What do you want
We are here to get you out of this scrape said Aribert gently Racksole stood aside
Who is that fellow said Eugen sharply
That is my friend Mr Racksole an Englishman—or rather I should say an American—to whom we owe a great deal Come and have supper Eugen
I wont answered Eugen doggedly Im waiting here for her You didnt think anyone had kept me here did you against my will I tell you Im waiting for her She said shed come
Who is she Aribert asked humouring him
She Why you know I forgot of course you dont know You mustnt ask
Dont pry Uncle Aribert She was wearing a red hat
Ill take you to her my dear Eugen Prince Aribert put his hands on the others shoulder but Eugen shook him off violently stood up and then sat down again
Aribert looked at Racksole and they both looked at Prince Eugen The latters face was flushed and Racksole observed that the left pupil was more dilated than the right The man started muttered odd fragmentary scraps of sentences now grumbling now whining
His mind is unhinged Racksole whispered in English
Hush said Prince Aribert He understands English But Prince Eugen took no notice of the brief colloquy
We had better get him upstairs somehow said Racksole
Yes Aribert assented Eugen the lady with the red hat the lady you are waiting for is upstairs She has sent us down to ask you to come up Wont you come
Himmel the poor fellow exclaimed with a kind of weak anger Why did you not say this before
He rose staggered towards Aribert and fell headlong on the floor He had swooned The two men raised him carried him up the stone steps and laid him with infinite care on a sofa He lay breathing queerly through the nostrils his eyes closed his fingers contracted every now and then a convulsion ran through his frame
One of us must fetch a doctor said Prince Aribert
I will said Racksole At that moment there was a quick curt rap on the french window and both Racksole and the Prince glanced round startled A girls face was pressed against the large windowpane It was Nellas
Racksole unfastened the catch and she entered
I have found you she said lightly you might have told me I couldnt sleep I inquired from the hôtelfolks if you had retired and they said no so I slipped out I guessed where you were Racksole interrupted her with a question as to what she meant by this escapade but she stopped him with a careless gesture Whats this She pointed to the form on the sofa
That is my nephew Prince Eugen said Aribert
Hurt she inquired coldly I hope not
He is ill said Racksole his brain is turned
Nella began to examine the unconscious Prince with the expert movements of a girl who had passed through the best hospital course to be obtained in New York
He has got brain fever she said That is all but it will be enough Do you know if there is a bed anywhere in this remarkable house
Chapter Eighteen IN THE NIGHTTIME
HE must on no account be moved said the dark little Belgian doctor whose eyes seemed to peer so quizzically through his spectacles and he said it with much positiveness
That pronouncement rather settled their plans for them It was certainly a professional triumph for Nella who previous to the doctors arrival had told them the very same thing Considerable argument had passed before the doctor was sent for Prince Aribert was for keeping the whole affair a deep secret among their three selves Theodore Racksole agreed so far but he suggested further that at no matter what risk they should transport the patient over to England at once Racksole had an idea that he should feel safer in that hôtel of his and better able to deal with any situation that might arise Nella scorned the idea In her quality of an amateur nurse she assured them that Prince Eugen was much more seriously ill than either of them suspected and she urged that they should take absolute possession of the house and keep possession till Prince Eugen was convalescent
But what about the Spencer female Racksole had said
Keep her where she is Keep her a prisoner And hold the house against all comers If Jules should come back simply defy him to enter—that is all
There are two of you so you must keep an eye on the former occupiers if they return and on Miss Spencer while I nurse the patient But first you must send for a doctor
Doctor Prince Aribert had said alarmed Will it not be necessary to make some awkward explanation to the doctor
Not at all she replied Why should it be In a place like Ostend doctors are far too discreet to ask questions they see too much to retain their curiosity Besides do you want your nephew to die
Both the men were somewhat taken aback by the girls sagacious grasp of the situation and it came about that they began to obey her like subordinates
She told her father to sally forth in search of a doctor and he went She gave Prince Aribert certain other orders and he promptly executed them
By the evening of the following day everything was going smoothly The doctor came and departed several times and sent medicine and seemed fairly optimistic as to the issue of the illness An old woman had been induced to come in and cook and clean Miss Spencer was kept out of sight on the attic floor pending some decision as to what to do with her And no one outside the house had asked any questions The inhabitants of that particular street must have been accustomed to strange behaviour on the part of their neighbours unaccountable appearances and disappearances strange flittings and arrivals This strongminded and active trio—Racksole Nella and Prince Aribert—might have been the lawful and accustomed tenants of the house for any outward evidence to the contrary
On the afternoon of the third day Prince Eugen was distinctly and seriously worse Nella had sat up with him the previous night and throughout the day
Her father had spent the morning at the hôtel and Prince Aribert had kept watch The two men were never absent from the house at the same time and one of them always did duty as sentinel at night On this afternoon Prince Aribert and Nella sat together in the patients bedroom The doctor had just left Theodore Racksole was downstairs reading the New York Herald The Prince and Nella were near the window which looked on to the backgarden
It was a queer shabby little bedroom to shelter the august body of a European personage like Prince Eugen of Posen Curiously enough both Nella and her father ardent democrats though they were had been somehow impressed by the royalty and importance of the feverstricken Prince—impressed as they had never been by Aribert They had both felt that here under their care was a species of individuality quite new to them and different from anything they had previously encountered Even the gestures and tones of his delirium had an air of abrupt yet condescending command—an imposing mixture of suavity and haughtiness As for Nella she had been first struck by the beautiful E over a crown on the sleeves of his linen and by the signet ring on his pale emaciated hand After all these trifling outward signs are at least as effective as others of deeper but less obtrusive significance The Racksoles too duly marked the attitude of Prince Aribert to his nephew it was at once paternal and reverential it disclosed clearly that Prince Aribert continued in spite of everything to regard his nephew as his sovereign lord and master as a being surrounded by a natural and inevitable pomp and awe This attitude at the beginning seemed false and unreal to the Americans it seemed to them to be assumed but gradually they came to perceive that they were mistaken and that though America might have cast out the monarchial superstition nevertheless that superstition had vigorously survived in another part of the world
You and Mr Racksole have been extraordinarily kind to me said Prince Aribert very quietly after the two had sat some time in silence
Why How she asked unaffectedly We are interested in this affair ourselves you know It began at our hôtel—you mustnt forget that Prince
I dont he said I forget nothing But I cannot help feeling that I have led you into a strange entanglement Why should you and Mr Racksole be here—you who are supposed to be on a holiday—hiding in a strange house in a foreign country subject to all sorts of annoyances and all sorts of risks simply because I am anxious to avoid scandal to avoid any sort of talk in connection with my misguided nephew It is nothing to you that the Hereditary Prince of Posen should be liable to a public disgrace What will it matter to you if the throne of Posen becomes the laughingstock of Europe
I really dont know Prince Nella smiled roguishly But we Americans have a habit of going right through with anything we have begun
Ah he said who knows how this thing will end All our trouble our anxieties our watchfulness may come to nothing I tell you that when I see Eugen lying there and think that we cannot learn his story until he recovers I am ready to go mad We might be arranging things making matters smooth preparing for the future if only we knew—knew what he can tell us I tell you that I am ready to go mad If anything should happen to you Miss Racksole I would kill myself
But why she questioned Supposing that is that anything could happen to me—which it cant
Because I have dragged you into this he replied gazing at her It is nothing to you You are only being kind
How do you know it is nothing to me Prince she asked him quickly
Just then the sick man made a convulsive movement and Nella flew to the bed and soothed him From the head of the bed she looked over at Prince Aribert and he returned her bright excited glance She was in her travellingfrock with a large white Belgian apron tied over it Large dark circles of fatigue and sleeplessness surrounded her eyes and to the Prince her cheek seemed hollow and thin her hair lay thick over the temples half covering the ears Aribert gave no answer to her query—merely gazed at her with melancholy intensity
I think I will go and rest she said at last You will know all about the medicine
Sleep well he said as he softly opened the door for her And then he was alone with Eugen It was his turn that night to watch for they still halfexpected some strange sudden visit or onslaught or move of one kind or another from Jules Racksole slept in the parlour on the ground floor
Nella had the front bedroom on the first floor Miss Spencer was immured in the attic the lastnamed lady had been singularly quiet and incurious taking her food from Nella and asking no questions the old woman went at nights to her own abode in the purlieus of the harbour Hour after hour Aribert sat silent by his nephews bedside attending mechanically to his wants and every now and then gazing hard into the vacant anguished face as if trying to extort from that mask the secrets which it held Aribert was tortured by the idea that if he could have only half an hours only a quarter of an hours rational speech with Prince Eugen all might be cleared up and put right and by the fact that that rational talk was absolutely impossible on Eugens part until the fever had run its course As the minutes crept on to midnight the watcher made nervous by the intense electrical atmosphere which seems always to surround a person who is dangerously ill grew more and more a prey to vague and terrible apprehensions His mind dwelt hysterically on the most fatal possibilities
He wondered what would occur if by any illchance Eugen should die in that bed—how he would explain the affair to Posen and to the Emperor how he would justify himself He saw himself being tried for murder sentenced him—a Prince of the blood led to the scaffold a scene unparalleled in Europe for over a century Then he gazed anew at the sick man and thought he saw death in every drawn feature of that agonized face He could have screamed aloud His ears heard a peculiar resonant boom He started—it was nothing but the city clock striking twelve But there was another sound—a mysterious shuffle at the door He listened then jumped from his chair Nothing now Nothing But still he felt drawn to the door and after what seemed an interminable interval he went and opened it his heart beating furiously Nella lay in a heap on the door mat She was fully dressed but had apparently lost consciousness He clutched at her slender body picked her up carried her to the chair by the fireplace and laid her in it He had forgotten all about Eugen
What is it my angel he whispered and then he kissed her—kissed her twice He could only look at her he did not know what to do to succour her
At last she opened her eyes and sighed
Where am I she asked vaguely in a tremulous tone as she recognized him Is it you Did I do anything silly Did I faint
What has happened Were you ill he questioned anxiously He was kneeling at her feet holding her hand tight
I saw Jules by the side of my bed she murmured Im sure I saw him he laughed at me I had not undressed I sprang up frightened but he had gone and then I ran downstairs—to you
You were dreaming he soothed her
Was I
You must have been I have not heard a sound No one could have entered
But if you like I will wake Mr Racksole
Perhaps I was dreaming she admitted How foolish
You were overtired he said still unconsciously holding her hand They gazed at each other She smiled at him
You kissed me she said suddenly and he blushed red and stood up before her Why did you kiss me
Ah Miss Racksole he murmured hurrying the words out Forgive me It is unforgivable but forgive me I was overpowered by my feelings I did not know what I was doing
Why did you kiss me she repeated
Because—Nella I love you I have no right to say it
Why have you no right to say it
If Eugen dies I shall owe a duty to Posen—I shall be its ruler
Well she said calmly with an adorable confidence Papa is worth forty millions Would you not abdicate
Ah he gave a low cry Will you force me to say these things I could not shirk my duty to Posen and the reigning Prince of Posen can only marry a Princess
But Prince Eugen will live she said positively and if he lives—
Then I shall be free I would renounce all my rights to make you mine if—if—
If what Prince
If you would deign to accept my hand
Am I then rich enough
Nella He bent down to her
Then there was a crash of breaking glass Aribert went to the window and opened it In the starlit gloom he could see that a ladder had been raised against the back of the house He thought he heard footsteps at the end of the garden
It was Jules he exclaimed to Nella and without another word rushed upstairs to the attic The attic was empty Miss Spencer had mysteriously vanished
Chapter Nineteen ROYALTY AT THE GRAND BABYLON
THE Royal apartments at the Grand Babylon are famous in the world of hôtels and indeed elsewhere as being in their own way unsurpassed Some of the palaces of Germany and in particular those of the mad Ludwig of Bavaria may possess rooms and saloons which outshine them in gorgeous luxury and the mere wild fairylike extravagance of wealth but there is nothing anywhere even on Eighth Avenue New York which can fairly be called more complete more perfect more enticing or—not least important—more comfortable
The suite consists of six chambers—the anteroom the saloon or audience chamber the diningroom the yellow drawingroom where Royalty receives its friends the library and the State bedroom—to the last of which we have already been introduced The most important and most impressive of these is of course the audience chamber an apartment fifty feet long by forty feet broad with a superb outlook over the Thames the Shot Tower and the higher signals of the SouthWestern Railway The decoration of this room is mainly in the German taste since four out of every six of its Royal occupants are of Teutonic blood but its chief glory is its French ceiling a masterpiece by Fragonard taken bodily from a certain famous palace on the Loire The walls are of panelled oak with an eightfoot dado of Arras cloth imitated from unique Continental examples The carpet woven in one piece is an antique specimen of the finest Turkish work and it was obtained a bargain by Felix Babylon from an impecunious Roumanian Prince The silver candelabra now fitted with electric light came from the Rhine and each had a separate history The Royal chair—it is not etiquette to call it a throne though it amounts to a throne—was looted by Napoleon from an Austrian city and bought by Felix Babylon at the sale of a French collector At each corner of the room stands a gigantic grotesque vase of German faïence of the sixteenth century These were presented to Felix Babylon by William the First of Germany upon the conclusion of his first incognito visit to London in connection with the French trouble of 1875
There is only one picture in the audience chamber It is a portrait of the luckless but noble Dom Pedro Emperor of the Brazils Given to Felix Babylon by Dom Pedro himself it hangs there solitary and sublime as a reminder to Kings and Princes that Empires may pass away and greatness fall A certain Prince who was occupying the suite during the Jubilee of 1887—when the Grand Babylon had seven persons of Royal blood under its roof—sent a curt message to Felix that the portrait must be removed Felix respectfully declined to remove it and the Prince left for another hôtel where he was robbed of two thousand pounds worth of jewellery The Royal audience chamber of the Grand Babylon if people only knew it is one of the sights of London but it is never shown and if you ask the hôtel servants about its wonders they will tell you only foolish facts concerning it as that the Turkey carpet costs fifty pounds to clean and that one of the great vases is cracked across the pedestal owing to the rough treatment accorded to it during a riotous game of Blind Mans Buff played one night by four young Princesses a Balkan King and his aidesdecamp
In one of the window recesses of this magnificent apartment on a certain afternoon in late July stood Prince Aribert of Posen He was faultlessly dressed in the conventional frockcoat of English civilization with a gardenia in his buttonhole and the indispensable crease down the front of the trousers He seemed to be fairly amused and also to expect someone for at frequent intervals he looked rapidly over his shoulder in the direction of the door behind the Royal chair At last a little wizened stooping old man with a distinctly German cast of countenance appeared through the door and laid some papers on a small table by the side of the chair
Ah Hans my old friend said Aribert approaching the old man I must have a little talk with you about one or two matters How do you find His Royal Highness
The old man saluted military fashion Not very well your Highness he answered Ive been valet to your Highnesss nephew since his majority and I was valet to his Royal father before him but I never saw— He stopped and threw up his wrinkled hands deprecatingly
You never saw what Aribert smiled affectionately on the old fellow You could perceive that these two so sharply differentiated in rank had been intimate in the past and would be intimate again
Do you know my Prince said the old man that we are to receive the financier Sampson Levi—is that his name—in the audience chamber Surely if I may humbly suggest the library would have been good enough for a financier
One would have thought so agreed Prince Aribert but perhaps your master has a special reason Tell me he went on changing the subject quickly how came it that you left the Prince my nephew at Ostend and returned to Posen
His orders Prince and old Hans who had had a wide experience of Royal whims and knew half the secrets of the Courts of Europe gave Aribert a look which might have meant anything He sent me back on an—an errand your Highness
And you were to rejoin him here
Just so Highness And I did rejoin him here although to tell the truth I had begun to fear that I might never see my master again
The Prince has been very ill in Ostend Hans
So I have gathered Hans responded drily slowly rubbing his hands together And his Highness is not yet perfectly recovered
Not yet We despaired of his life Hans at one time but thanks to an excellent constitution he came safely through the ordeal
We must take care of him your Highness
Yes indeed said Aribert solemnly his life is very precious to Posen
At that moment Eugen Hereditary Prince of Posen entered the audience chamber He was pale and languid and his uniform seemed to be a trouble to him His hair had been slightly ruffled and there was a look of uneasiness almost of alarmed unrest in his fine dark eyes He was like a man who is afraid to look behind him lest he should see something there which ought not to be there But at the same time here beyond doubt was Royalty Nothing could have been more striking than the contrast between Eugen a sick man in the shabby house at Ostend and this Prince Eugen in the Royal apartments of the Grand Babylon Hôtel surrounded by the luxury and pomp which modern civilization can offer to those born in high places All the desperate episode of Ostend was now hidden passed over It was supposed never to have occurred It existed only like a secret shame in the hearts of those who had witnessed it Prince Eugen had recovered at any rate he was convalescent and he had been removed to London where he took up again the dropped thread of his princely life The lady with the red hat the incorruptible and savage Miss Spencer the unscrupulous and brilliant Jules the dark damp cellar the horrible little bedroom—these things were over Thanks to Prince Aribert and the Racksoles he had emerged from them in safety He was able to resume his public and official career The Emperor had been informed of his safe arrival in London after an unavoidable delay in Ostend his name once more figured in the Court chronicle of the newspapers In short everything was smothered over Only—only Jules Rocco and Miss Spencer were still at large and the body of Reginald Dimmock lay buried in the domestic mausoleum of the palace at Posen and Prince Eugen had still to interview Mr Sampson Levi
That various matters lay heavy on the mind of Prince Eugen was beyond question He seemed to have withdrawn within himself Despite the extraordinary experiences through which he had recently passed events which called aloud for explanations and confidence between the nephew and the uncle he would say scarcely a word to Prince Aribert Any allusion however direct to the days at Ostend was ignored by him with more or less ingenuity and Prince Aribert was really no nearer a full solution of the mystery of Jules plot than he had been on the night when he and Racksole visited the gaming tables at Ostend Eugen was well aware that he had been kidnapped through the agency of the woman in the red hat but doubtless ashamed at having been her dupe he would not proceed in any way with the clearingup of the matter
You will receive in this room Eugen Aribert questioned him
Yes was the answer given pettishly Why not Even if I have no proper retinue here surely that is no reason why I should not hold audience in a proper manner Hans you can go The old valet promptly disappeared
Aribert the Hereditary Prince continued when they were alone in the chamber you think I am mad
My dear Eugen said Prince Aribert startled in spite of himself Dont be absurd
I say you think I am mad You think that that attack of brain fever has left its permanent mark on me Well perhaps I am mad Who can tell God knows that I have been through enough lately to drive me mad
Aribert made no reply As a matter of strict fact the thought had crossed his mind that Eugens brain had not yet recovered its normal tone and activity This speech of his nephews however had the effect of immediately restoring his belief in the latters entire sanity He felt convinced that if only he could regain his nephews confidence the old brotherly confidence which had existed between them since the years when they played together as boys all might yet be well But at present there appeared to be no sign that Eugen meant to give his confidence to anyone
The young Prince had come up out of the valley of the shadow of death but some of the valleys shadow had clung to him and it seemed he was unable to dissipate it
By the way said Eugen suddenly I must reward these Racksoles I suppose I am indeed grateful to them If I gave the girl a bracelet and the father a thousand guineas—how would that meet the case
My dear Eugen exclaimed Aribert aghast A thousand guineas Do you know that Theodore Racksole could buy up all Posen from end to end without making himself a pauper A thousand guineas You might as well offer him sixpence
Then what must I offer
Nothing except your thanks Anything else would be an insult These are no ordinary hôtel people
Cant I give the little girl a bracelet Prince Eugen gave a sinister laugh
Aribert looked at him steadily No he said
Why did you kiss her—that night asked Prince Eugen carelessly
Kiss whom said Aribert blushing and angry despite his most determined efforts to keep calm and unconcerned
The Racksole girl
When do you mean
I mean said Prince Eugen that night in Ostend when I was ill You thought I was in a delirium Perhaps I was But somehow I remember that with extraordinary distinctness I remember raising my head for a fraction of an instant and just in that fraction of an instant you kissed her Oh Uncle Aribert
Listen Eugen for Gods sake I love Nella Racksole I shall marry her
You There was a long pause and then Eugen laughed Ah he said They all talk like that to start with I have talked like that myself dear uncle it sounds nice and it means nothing
In this case it means everything Eugen said Aribert quietly Some accent of determination in the latters tone made Eugen rather more serious
You cant marry her he said The Emperor wont permit a morganatic marriage
The Emperor has nothing to do with the affair I shall renounce my rights
I shall become a plain citizen
In which case you will have no fortune to speak of
But my wife will have a fortune Knowing the sacrifices which I shall have made in order to marry her she will not hesitate to place that fortune in my hands for our mutual use said Aribert stiffly
You will decidedly be rich mused Eugen as his ideas dwelt on Theodore Racksoles reputed wealth But have you thought of this he asked and his mild eyes glowed again in a sort of madness Have you thought that I am unmarried and might die at any moment and then the throne will descend to you—to you Aribert
The throne will never descend to me Eugen said Aribert softly for you will live You are thoroughly convalescent You have nothing to fear
It is the next seven days that I fear said Eugen
The next seven days Why
I do not know But I fear them If I can survive them—
Mr Sampson Levi sire Hans announced in a loud tone
Chapter Twenty MR SAMPSON LEVI BIDS PRINCE EUGEN GOOD MORNING
PRINCE EUGEN started I will see him he said with a gesture to Hans as if to indicate that Mr Sampson Levi might enter at once
I beg one moment first said Aribert laying a hand gently on his nephews arm and giving old Hans a glance which had the effect of precipitating that admirably trained servant through the doorway
What is it asked Prince Eugen crossly Why this sudden seriousness Dont forget that I have an appointment with Mr Sampson Levi and must not keep him waiting Someone said that punctuality is the politeness of princes
Eugen said Aribert I wish you to be as serious as I am Why cannot we have faith in each other I want to help you I have helped you You are my titular Sovereign but on the other hand I have the honour to be your uncle
I have the honour to be the same age as you and to have been your companion from youth up Give me your confidence I thought you had given it me years ago but I have lately discovered that you had your secrets even then And now since your illness you are still more secretive
What do you mean Aribert said Eugen in a tone which might have been either inimical or friendly What do you want to say
Well in the first place I want to say that you will not succeed with the estimable Mr Sampson Levi
Shall I not said Eugen lightly How do you know what my business is with him
Suffice it to say that I know You will never get that million pounds out of him
Prince Eugen gasped and then swallowed his excitement Who has been talking What million His eyes wandered uneasily round the room Ah he said pretending to laugh I see how it is I have been chattering in my delirium You mustnt take any notice of that Aribert When one has a fever ones ideas become grotesque and fanciful
You never talked in your delirium Aribert replied at least not about yourself I knew about this projected loan before I saw you in Ostend
Who told you demanded Eugen fiercely
Then you admit that you are trying to raise a loan
I admit nothing Who told you
Theodore Racksole the millionaire These rich men have no secrets from each other They form a coterie closer than any coterie of ours Eugen and far more powerful They talk and in talking they rule the world these millionaires They are the real monarchs
Curse them said Eugen
Yes perhaps so But let me return to your case Imagine my shame my disgust when I found that Racksole could tell me more about your affairs than I knew myself Happily he is a good fellow one can trust him otherwise I should have been tempted to do something desperate when I discovered that all your private history was in his hands Eugen let us come to the point why do you want that million Is it actually true that you are so deeply in debt I have no desire to improve the occasion I merely ask
And what if I do owe a million said Prince Eugen with assumed valour
Oh nothing my dear Eugen nothing Only it is rather a large sum to have scattered in ten years is it not How did you manage it
Dont ask me Aribert Ive been a fool But I swear to you that the woman whom you call the lady in the red hat is the last of my follies I am about to take a wife and become a respectable Prince
Then the engagement with Princess Anna is an accomplished fact
Practically so As soon as I have settled with Levi all will be smooth
Aribert I wouldnt lose Anna for the Imperial throne She is a good and pure woman and I love her as a man might love an angel
And yet you would deceive her as to your debts Eugen
Not her but her absurd parents and perhaps the Emperor They have heard rumours and I must set those rumours at rest by presenting to them a clean sheet
I am glad you have been frank with me Eugen said Prince Aribert but I will be plain with you You will never marry the Princess Anna
And why said Eugen supercilious again
Because her parents will not permit it Because you will not be able to present a clean sheet to them Because this Sampson Levi will never lend you a million
Explain yourself
I propose to do so You were kidnapped—it is a horrid word but we must use it—in Ostend
True
Do you know why
I suppose because that vile old redhatted woman and her accomplices wanted to get some money out of me Fortunately thanks to you they didnt
Not at all said Aribert They wanted no money from you They knew well enough that you had no money They knew you were the naughty schoolboy among European Princes with no sense of responsibility or of duty towards your kingdom Shall I tell you why they kidnapped you
When you have done abusing me my dear uncle
They kidnapped you merely to keep you out of England for a few days merely to compel you to fail in your appointment with Sampson Levi And it appears to me that they succeeded Assuming that you dont obtain the money from Levi is there another financier in all Europe from whom you can get it—on such strange security as you have to offer
Possibly there is not said Prince Eugen calmly But you see I shall get it from Sampson Levi Levi promised it and I know from other sources that he is a man of his word He said that the money subject to certain formalities would be available till—
Till
Till the end of June
And it is now the end of July
Well what is a month He is only too glad to lend the money He will get excellent interest How on earth have you got into your sage old head this notion of a plot against me The idea is ridiculous A plot against me What for
Have you ever thought of Bosnia asked Aribert coldly
What of Bosnia
I need not tell you that the King of Bosnia is naturally under obligations to Austria to whom he owes his crown Austria is anxious for him to make a good influential marriage
Well let him
He is going to He is going to marry the Princess Anna
Not while I live He made overtures there a year ago and was rebuffed
Yes but he will make overtures again and this time he will not be rebuffed Oh Eugen cant you see that this plot against you is being engineered by some persons who know all about your affairs and whose desire is to prevent your marriage with Princess Anna Only one man in Europe can have any motive for wishing to prevent your marriage with Princess Anna and that is the man who means to marry her himself Eugen went very pale
Then Aribert do you mean to convey to me that my detention in Ostend was contrived by the agents of the King of Bosnia
I do
With a view to stopping my negotiations with Sampson Levi and so putting an end to the possibility of my marriage with Anna
Aribert nodded
You are a good friend to me Aribert You mean well But you are mistaken
You have been worrying about nothing
Have you forgotten about Reginald Dimmock
I remember you said that he had died
I said nothing of the sort I said that he had been assassinated That was part of it my poor Eugen
Pooh said Eugen I dont believe he was assassinated And as for Sampson Levi I will bet you a thousand marks that he and I come to terms this morning and that the million is in my hands before I leave London Aribert shook his head
You seem to be pretty sure of Mr Levis character Have you had much to do with him before
Well Eugen hesitated a second a little What young man in my position hasnt had something to do with Mr Sampson Levi at one time or another
I havent said Aribert
You You are a fossil He rang a silver bell Hans I will receive Mr Sampson Levi
Whereupon Aribert discreetly departed and Prince Eugen sat down in the great velvet chair and began to look at the papers which Hans had previously placed upon the table
Good morning your Royal Highness said Sampson Levi bowing as he entered I trust your Royal Highness is well
Moderately thanks returned the Prince
In spite of the fact that he had had as much to do with people of Royal blood as any plain man in Europe Sampson Levi had never yet learned how to be at ease with these exalted individuals during the first few minutes of an interview Afterwards he resumed command of himself and his faculties but at the beginning he was invariably flustered scarlet of face and inclined to perspiration
We will proceed to business at once said Prince Eugen Will you take a seat Mr Levi
I thank your Royal Highness
Now as to that loan which we had already practically arranged—a million I think it was said the Prince airily
A million Levi acquiesced toying with his enormous watch chain
Everything is now in order Here are the papers and I should like to finish the matter up at once
Exactly your Highness but—
But what You months ago expressed the warmest satisfaction at the security though I am quite prepared to admit that the security is of rather an unusual nature You also agreed to the rate of interest It is not everyone Mr Levi who can lend out a million at 512 per cent And in ten years the whole amount will be paid back I—er—I believe I informed you that the fortune of Princess Anna who is about to accept my hand will ultimately amount to something like fifty millions of marks which is over two million pounds in your English money Prince Eugen stopped He had no fancy for talking in this confidential manner to financiers but he felt that circumstances demanded it
You see its like this your Royal Highness began Mr Sampson Levi in his homely English idiom Its like this I said I could keep that bit of money available till the end of June and you were to give me an interview here before that date Not having heard from your Highness and not knowing your Highnesss address though my German agents made every inquiry I concluded that you had made other arrangements money being so cheap this last few months
I was unfortunately detained at Ostend said Prince Eugen with as much haughtiness as he could assume by—by important business I have made no other arrangements and I shall have need of the million If you will be so good as to pay it to my London bankers—
Im very sorry said Mr Sampson Levi with a tremendous and dazzling air of politeness which surprised even himself but my syndicate has now lent the money elsewhere Its in South America—I dont mind telling your Highness that weve lent it to the Chilean Government
Hang the Chilean Government Mr Levi exclaimed the Prince and he went white I must have that million It was an arrangement
It was an arrangement I admit said Mr Sampson Levi but your Highness broke the arrangement
There was a long silence
Do you mean to say began the Prince with tense calmness that you are not in a position to let me have that million
I could let your Highness have a million in a couple of years time
The Prince made a gesture of annoyance Mr Levi he said if you do not place the money in my hands tomorrow you will ruin one of the oldest of reigning families and incidentally you will alter the map of Europe You are not keeping faith and I had relied on you
Pardon me your Highness said little Levi rising in resentment it is not I who have not kept faith I beg to repeat that the money is no longer at my disposal and to bid your Highness good morning
And Mr Sampson Levi left the audience chamber with an awkward aggrieved bow It was a scene characteristic of the end of the nineteenth century—an overfed commonplace pursy little man who had been born in a Brixton semidetached villa and whose highest idea of pleasure was a Sunday up the river in an expensive electric launch confronting and utterly routing in a hôtel belonging to an American millionaire the representative of a race of men who had fingered every page of European history for centuries and who still in their native castles were surrounded with every outward circumstance of pomp and power
Aribert said Prince Eugen a little later you were right It is all over I have only one refuge—
You dont mean— Aribert stopped dumbfounded
Yes I do he said quickly I can manage it so that it will look like an accident
Chapter TwentyOne THE RETURN OF FÉLIX BABYLON
ON the evening of Prince Eugens fateful interview with Mr Sampson Levi Theodore Racksole was wandering somewhat aimlessly and uneasily about the entrance hail and adjacent corridors of the Grand Babylon He had returned from Ostend only a day or two previously and had endeavoured with all his might to forget the affair which had carried him there—to regard it in fact as done with But he found himself unable to do so In vain he remarked under his breath that there were some things which were best left alone if his experience as a manipulator of markets a contriver of gigantic schemes in New York had taught him anything at all it should surely have taught him that Yet he could not feel reconciled to such a position The mere presence of the princes in his hôtel roused the fighting instincts of this man who had never in his whole career been beaten He had as it were taken up arms on their side and if the princes of Posen would not continue their own battle nevertheless he Theodore Racksole wanted to continue it for them To a certain extent of course the battle had been won for Prince Eugen had been rescued from an extremely difficult and dangerous position and the enemy—consisting of Jules Rocco Miss Spencer and perhaps others—had been put to flight But that he conceived was not enough it was very far from being enough That the criminals for criminals they decidedly were should still be at large he regarded as an absurd anomaly And there was another point he had said nothing to the police of all that had occurred He disdained the police but he could scarcely fail to perceive that if the police should by accident gain a clue to the real state of the case he might be placed rather awkwardly for the simple reason that in the eyes of the law it amounted to a misdemeanour to conceal as much as he had concealed He asked himself for the thousandth time why he had adopted a policy of concealment from the police why he had become in any way interested in the Posen matter and why at this present moment he should be so anxious to prosecute it further To the first two questions he replied rather lamely that he had been influenced by Nella and also by a natural spirit of adventure to the third he replied that he had always been in the habit of carrying things through and was now actuated by a mere childish obstinate desire to carry this one through Moreover he was splendidly conscious of his perfect ability to carry it through One additional impulse he had though he did not admit it to himself being by nature adverse to big words and that was an abstract love of justice the AngloSaxons deepfound instinct for helping the right side to conquer even when grave risks must thereby be run with no corresponding advantage
He was turning these things over in his mind as he walked about the vast hôtel on that evening of the last day in July The Society papers had been stating for a week past that London was empty but in spite of the Society papers London persisted in seeming to be just as full as ever The Grand Babylon was certainly not as crowded as it had been a month earlier but it was doing a very passable business At the close of the season the gay butterflies of the social community have a habit of hovering for a day or two in the big hôtels before they flutter away to castle and countryhouse meadow and moor lake and stream The great basketchairs in the portico were well filled by old and middleaged gentlemen engaged in enjoying the varied delights of liqueurs cigars and the full moon which floated so serenely above the Thames Here and there a pretty woman on the arm of a cavalier in immaculate attire swept her train as she turned to and fro in the promenade of the terrace Waiters and uniformed commissionaires and goldbraided doorkeepers moved noiselessly about at short intervals the chief of the doorkeepers blew his shrill whistle and hansoms drove up with tinkling bell to take away a pair of butterflies to some place of amusement or boredom occasionally a private carriage drawn by expensive and selfconscious horses put the hansoms to shame by its mere outward glory It was a hot night a night for the summer woods and save for the vehicles there was no rapid movement of any kind It seemed as though the world—the world that is to say of the Grand Babylon—was fully engaged in the solemn processes of digestion and smalltalk Even the long row of the Embankment gaslamps stretching right and left scarcely trembled in the still warm caressing air The stars overhead looked down with many blinkings upon the enormous pile of the Grand Babylon and the moon regarded it with bland and changeless face what they thought of it and its inhabitants cannot unfortunately be recorded What Theodore Racksole thought of the moon can be recorded he thought it was a nuisance It somehow fascinated his gaze with its silly stare and so interfered with his complex meditations He glanced round at the welldressed and satisfied people—his guests his customers They appeared to ignore him absolutely
Probably only a very small percentage of them had the least idea that this tall spare man with the irongrey hair and the thin firm resolute face who wore his Americancut evening clothes with such careless ease was the sole proprietor of the Grand Babylon and possibly the richest man in Europe As has already been stated Racksole was not a celebrity in England
The guests of the Grand Babylon saw merely a restless male person whose restlessness was rather a disturber of their quietude but with whom to judge by his countenance it would be inadvisable to remonstrate Therefore Theodore Racksole continued his perambulations unchallenged and kept saying to himself I must do something But what He could think of no course to pursue
At last he walked straight through the hôtel and out at the other entrance and so up the little unassuming side street into the roaring torrent of the narrow and crowded Strand He jumped on a Putney bus and paid his fair to Putney fivepence and then finding that the humble occupants of the vehicle stared at the spectacle of a man in evening dress but without a dustcoat he jumped off again oblivious of the fact that the conductor jerked a thumb towards him and winked at the passengers as who should say There goes a lunatic He went into a tobacconists shop and asked for a cigar The shopman mildly inquired what price
What are the best youve got asked Theodore Racksole
Five shillings each sir said the man promptly
Give me a penny one was Theodore Racksoles laconic request and he walked out of the shop smoking the penny cigar It was a new sensation for him
He was inhaling the aromatic odours of Eugène Rimmels establishment for the sale of scents when a gentleman walking slowly in the opposite direction accosted him with a quiet Good evening Mr Racksole The millionaire did not at first recognize his interlocutor who wore a travelling overcoat and was carrying a handbag Then a slight pleased smile passed over his features and he held out his hand
Well Mr Babylon he greeted the other of all persons in the wide world you are the man I would most have wished to meet
You flatter me said the little Anglicized Swiss
No I dont answered Racksole it isnt my custom any more than its yours I wanted to have a real good long yarn with you and lo here you are Where have you sprung from
From Lausanne said Felix Babylon I had finished my duties there I had nothing else to do and I felt homesick I felt the nostalgia of London and so I came over just as you see and he raised the handbag for Racksoles notice One toothbrush one razor two slippers eh He laughed I was wondering as I walked along where I should stay—me Felix Babylon homeless in London
I should advise you to stay at the Grand Babylon Racksole laughed back
It is a good hôtel and I know the proprietor personally
Rather expensive is it not said Babylon
To you sir answered Racksole the inclusive terms will be exactly half a crown a week Do you accept
I accept said Babylon and added You are very good Mr Racksole
They strolled together back to the hôtel saying nothing in particular but feeling very content with each others company
Many customers asked Felix Babylon
Very tolerable said Racksole assuming as much of the air of the professional hôtel proprietor as he could I think I may say in the storekeepers phrase that if there is any business about I am doing it
Tonight the people are all on the terrace in the portico—its so confoundedly hot—and the consumption of ice is simply enormous—nearly as large as it would be in New York
In that case said Babylon politely let me offer you another cigar
But I have not finished this one
That is just why I wish to offer you another one A cigar such as yours my good friend ought never to be smoked within the precincts of the Grand Babylon not even by the proprietor of the Grand Babylon and especially when all the guests are assembled in the portico The fumes of it would ruin any hôtel
Theodore Racksole laughingly lighted the Rothschild Havana which Babylon gave him and they entered the hôtel arm in arm But no sooner had they mounted the steps than little Felix became the object of numberless greetings It appeared that he had been highly popular among his quondam guests At last they reached the managerial room where Babylon was regaled on a chicken and Racksole assisted him in the consumption of a bottle of Heidsieck Monopole Carte dOr
This chicken is almost perfectly grilled said Babylon at length It is a credit to the house But why my dear Racksole why in the name of Heaven did you quarrel with Rocco
Then you have heard
Heard My dear friend it was in every newspaper on the Continent Some journals prophesied that the Grand Babylon would have to close its doors within half a year now that Rocco had deserted it But of course I knew better I knew that you must have a good reason for allowing Rocco to depart and that you must have made arrangements in advance for a substitute
As a matter of fact I had not made arrangements in advance said Theodore Racksole a little ruefully but happily we have found in our second souschef an artist inferior only to Rocco himself That however was mere good fortune
Surely said Babylon it was indiscreet to trust to mere good fortune in such a serious matter
I didnt trust to mere good fortune I didnt trust to anything except Rocco and he deceived me
But why did you quarrel with him
I didnt quarrel with him I found him embalming a corpse in the State bedroom one night—
You what Babylon almost screamed
I found him embalming a corpse in the State bedroom repeated Racksole in his quietest tones
The two men gazed at each other and then Racksole replenished Babylons glass
Tell me said Babylon settling himself deep in an easy chair and lighting a cigar
And Racksole thereupon recounted to him the whole of the Posen episode with every circumstantial detail so far as he knew it It was a long and complicated recital and occupied about an hour During that time little Felix never spoke a word scarcely moved a muscle only his small eyes gazed through the bluish haze of smoke The clock on the mantelpiece tinkled midnight
Time for whisky and soda said Racksole and got up as if to ring the bell but Babylon waved him back
You have told me that this Sampson Levi had an audience of Prince Eugen today but you have not told me the result of that audience said Babylon
Because I do not yet know it But I shall doubtless know tomorrow In the meantime I feel fairly sure that Levi declined to produce Prince Eugens required million I have reason to believe that the money was lent elsewhere
Hm mused Babylon and then carelessly I am not at all surprised at that arrangement for spying through the bathroom of the State apartments
Why are you not surprised
Oh said Babylon it is such an obvious dodge—so easy to carry out As for me I took special care never to involve myself in these affairs I knew they existed I somehow felt that they existed But I also felt that they lay outside my sphere My business was to provide board and lodging of the most sumptuous kind to those who didnt mind paying for it and I did my business If anything else went on in the hôtel under the rose I long determined to ignore it unless it should happen to be brought before my notice and it never was brought before my notice However I admit that there is a certain pleasurable excitement in this kind of affair and doubtless you have experienced that
I have said Racksole simply though I believe you are laughing at me
By no means Babylon replied Now what if I may ask the question is going to be your next step
That is just what I desire to know myself said Theodore Racksole
Well said Babylon after a pause let us begin In the first place it is possible you may be interested to hear that I happened to see Jules today
You did Racksole remarked with much calmness Where
Well it was early this morning in Paris just before I left there The meeting was quite accidental and Jules seemed rather surprised at meeting me He respectfully inquired where I was going and I said that I was going to Switzerland At that moment I thought I was going to Switzerland It had occurred to me that after all I should be happier there and that I had better turn back and not see London any more However I changed my mind once again and decided to come on to London and accept the risks of being miserable there without my hôtel Then I asked Jules whither he was bound and he told me that he was off to Constantinople being interested in a new French hôtel there I wished him good luck and we parted
Constantinople eh said Racksole A highly suitable place for him I should say
But Babylon resumed I caught sight of him again
Where
At Charing Cross a few minutes before I had the pleasure of meeting you
Mr Jules had not gone to Constantinople after all He did not see me or I should have suggested to him that in going from Paris to Constantinople it is not usual to travel via London
The cheek of the fellow exclaimed Theodore Racksole The gorgeous and colossal cheek of the fellow
Chapter TwentyTwo IN THE WINE CELLARS OF THE GRAND BABYLON
DO you know anything of the antecedents of this Jules asked Theodore Racksole helping himself to whisky
Nothing whatever said Babylon Until you told me I dont think I was aware that his true name was Thomas Jackson though of course I knew that it was not Jules I certainly was not aware that Miss Spencer was his wife but I had long suspected that their relations were somewhat more intimate than the nature of their respective duties in the hôtel absolutely demanded All that I do know of Jules—he will always be called Jules—is that he gradually by some mysterious personal force acquired a prominent position in the hôtel Decidedly he was the cleverest and most intellectual waiter I have ever known and he was specially skilled in the difficult task of retaining his own dignity while not interfering with that of other people
Im afraid this information is a little too vague to be of any practical assistance in the present difficulty
What is the present difficulty Racksole queried with a simple air
I should imagine that the present difficulty is to account for the mans presence in London
That is easily accounted for said Racksole
How Do you suppose he is anxious to give himself up to justice or that the chains of habit bind him to the hôtel
Neither said Racksole Jules is going to have another try—thats all
Another try at what
At Prince Eugen Either at his life or his liberty Most probably the former this time almost certainly the former He has guessed that we are somewhat handicapped by our anxiety to keep Prince Eugens predicament quite quiet and he is taking advantage of that fact As he already is fairly rich on his own admission the reward which has been offered to him must be enormous and he is absolutely determined to get it He has several times recently proved himself to be a daring fellow unless I am mistaken he will shortly prove himself to be still more daring
But what can he do Surely you dont suggest that he will attempt the life of Prince Eugen in this hôtel
Why not If Reginald Dimmock fell on mere suspicion that he would turn out unfaithful to the conspiracy why not Prince Eugen
But it would be an unspeakable crime and do infinite harm to the hôtel
True Racksole admitted smiling Little Felix Babylon seemed to brace himself for the grasping of his monstrous idea
How could it possibly be done he asked at length
Dimmock was poisoned
Yes but you had Rocco here then and Rocco was in the plot It is conceivable that Rocco could have managed it—barely conceivable But without Rocco I cannot think it possible I cannot even think that Jules would attempt it You see in a place like the Grand Babylon as probably I neednt point out to you food has to pass through so many hands that to poison one person without killing perhaps fifty would be a most delicate operation Moreover Prince Eugen unless he has changed his habits is always served by his own attendant old Hans and therefore any attempt to tamper with a cooked dish immediately before serving would be hazardous in the extreme
Granted said Racksole The wine however might be more easily got at
Had you thought of that
I had not Babylon admitted You are an ingenious theorist but I happen to know that Prince Eugen always has his wine opened in his own presence No doubt it would be opened by Hans Therefore the wine theory is not tenable my friend
I do not see why said Racksole I know nothing of wine as an expert and I very seldom drink it but it seems to me that a bottle of wine might be tampered with while it was still in the cellar especially if there was an accomplice in the hôtel
You think then that you are not yet rid of all your conspirators
I think that Jules might still have an accomplice within the building
And that a bottle of wine could be opened and recorked without leaving any trace of the operation Babylon was a trifle sarcastic
I dont see the necessity of opening the bottle in order to poison the wine said Racksole I have never tried to poison anybody by means of a bottle of wine and I dont lay claim to any natural talent as a poisoner but I think I could devise several ways of managing the trick Of course I admit I may be entirely mistaken as to Jules intentions
Ah said Felix Babylon The wine cellars beneath us are one of the wonders of London I hope you are aware Mr Racksole that when you bought the Grand Babylon you bought what is probably the finest stock of wines in England if not in Europe In the valuation I reckoned them at sixty thousand pounds And I may say that I always took care that the cellars were properly guarded Even Jules would experience a serious difficulty in breaking into the cellars without the connivance of the wineclerk and the wineclerk is or was incorruptible
I am ashamed to say that I have not yet inspected my wines smiled Racksole I have never given them a thought Once or twice I have taken the trouble to make a tour of the hôtel but I omitted the cellars in my excursions
Impossible my dear fellow said Babylon amused at such a confession to him—a great connoisseur and lover of fine wines—almost incredible But really you must see them tomorrow If I may I will accompany you
Why not tonight Racksole suggested calmly
Tonight It is very late Hubbard will have gone to bed
And may I ask who is Hubbard I remember the name but dimly
Hubbard is the wineclerk of the Grand Babylon said Felix with a certain emphasis A sedate man of forty He has the keys of the cellars He knows every bottle of every bin its date its qualities its value And hes a teetotaler Hubbard is a curiosity No wine can leave the cellars without his knowledge and no person can enter the cellars without his knowledge At least that is how it was in my time Babylon added
We will wake him said Racksole
But it is one oclock in the morning Babylon protested
Never mind—that is if you consent to accompany me A cellar is the same by night as by day Therefore why not now
Babylon shrugged his shoulders As you wish he agreed with his indestructible politeness
And now to find this Mr Hubbard with his key of the cupboard said Racksole as they walked out of the room together Although the hour was so late the hôtel was not of course closed for the night A few guests still remained about in the public rooms and a few fatigued waiters were still in attendance One of these latter was despatched in search of the singular Mr Hubbard and it fortunately turned out that this gentleman had not actually retired though he was on the point of doing so He brought the keys to Mr Racksole in person and after he had had a little chat with his former master the proprietor and the exproprietor of the Grand Babylon Hôtel proceeded on their way to the cellars
These cellars extend over or rather under quite half the superficial areas of the whole hôtel—the longitudinal half which lies next to the Strand
Owing to the fact that the ground slopes sharply from the Strand to the river the Grand Babylon is so to speak deeper near the Strand than it is near the Thames Towards the Thames there is below the entrance level a basement and a subbasement Towards the Strand there is basement subbasement and the huge wine cellars beneath all After descending the four flights of the service stairs and traversing a long passage running parallel with the kitchen the two found themselves opposite a door which on being unlocked gave access to another flight of stairs At the foot of this was the main entrance to the cellars Outside the entrance was the winelift for the ascension of delicious fluids to the upper floors and opposite Mr Hubbards little office There was electric light everywhere
Babylon who as being most accustomed to them held the bunch of keys opened the great door and then they were in the first cellar—the first of a suite of five Racksole was struck not only by the icy coolness of the place but also by its vastness Babylon had seized a portable electric handlight attached to a long wire which lay handy and waving it about disclosed the dimensions of the place By that flashing illumination the subterranean chamber looked unutterably weird and mysterious with its rows of numbered bins stretching away into the distance till the radiance was reduced to the occasional far gleam of the light on the shoulder of a bottle Then Babylon switched on the fixed electric lights and Theodore Racksole entered upon a personallyconducted tour of what was quite the most interesting part of his own property
To see the innocent enthusiasm of Felix Babylon for these stores of exhilarating liquid was what is called in the North a sight for sair een
He displayed to Racksoles bewildered gaze in their due order all the wines of three continents—nay of four for the superb and luscious Constantia wine of Cape Colony was not wanting in that most catholic collection of vintages Beginning with the unsurpassed products of Burgundy he continued with the clarets of Médoc Bordeaux and Sauterne then to the champagnes of Ay Hautvilliers and Pierry then to the hocks and moselles of Germany and the brilliant imitation champagnes of Main Neckar and Naumburg then to the famous and adorable Tokay of Hungary and all the Austrian varieties of French wines including Carlowitz and Somlauer then to the dry sherries of Spain including purest Manzanilla and Amontillado and Vino de Pasto then to the wines of Malaga both sweet and dry and all the Spanish reds from Catalonia including the dark Tent so often used sacramentally then to the renowned port of Oporto Then he proceeded to the Italian cellar and descanted upon the excellence of Barolo from Piedmont of Chianti from Tuscany of Orvieto from the Roman States of the Tears of Christ from Naples and the commoner Marsala from Sicily And so on to an extent and with a fullness of detail which cannot be rendered here
At the end of the suite of cellars there was a glazed door which as could be seen gave access to a supplemental and smaller cellar an apartment about fifteen or sixteen feet square
Anything special in there asked Racksole curiously as they stood before the door and looked within at the seined ends of bottles
Ah exclaimed Babylon almost smacking his lips therein lies the cream of all
The best champagne I suppose said Racksole
Yes said Babylon the best champagne is there—a very special Sillery as exquisite as you will find anywhere But I see my friend that you fall into the common error of putting champagne first among wines That distinction belongs to Burgundy You have old Burgundy in that cellar Mr Racksole which cost me—how much do you think—eighty pounds a bottle
Probably it will never be drunk he added with a sigh It is too expensive even for princes and plutocrats
Yes it will said Racksole quickly You and I will have a bottle up tomorrow
Then continued Babylon still riding his hobbyhorse there is a sample of the Rhine wine dated 1706 which caused such a sensation at the Vienna Exhibition of 1873 There is also a singularly glorious Persian wine from Shiraz the like of which I have never seen elsewhere Also there is an unrivalled vintage of RomanéeConti greatest of all modern Burgundies If I remember right Prince Eugen invariably has a bottle when he comes to stay here It is not on the hôtel wine list of course and only a few customers know of it We do not precisely hawk it about the diningroom
Indeed said Racksole Let us go inside
They entered the stone apartment rendered almost sacred by the preciousness of its contents and Racksole looked round with a strangely intent and curious air At the far side was a grating through which came a feeble light
What is that asked the millionaire sharply
That is merely a ventilation grating Good ventilation is absolutely essential
Looks broken doesnt it Racksole suggested and then putting a finger quickly on Babylons shoulder theres someone in the cellar Cant you hear breathing down there behind that bin
The two men stood tense and silent for a while listening under the ray of the single electric light in the ceiling Half the cellar was involved in gloom At length Racksole walked firmly down the central passageway between the bins and turned to the corner at the right
Come out you villain he said in a low wellnigh vicious tone and dragged up a cowering figure
He had expected to find a man but it was his own daughter Nella Racksole upon whom he had laid angry hands
Chapter TwentyThree FURTHER EVENTS IN THE CELLAR
WELL Father Nella greeted her astounded parent You should make sure that you have got hold of the right person before you use all that terrible muscular force of yours I do believe you have broken my shoulder bone She rubbed her shoulder with a comical expression of pain and then stood up before the two men The skirt of her dark grey dress was torn and dirty and the usually trim Nella looked as though she had been shot down a canvas fireescape Mechanically she smoothed her frock and gave a straightening touch to her hair
Good evening Miss Racksole said Felix Babylon bowing formally This is an unexpected pleasure Felixs drawingroom manners never deserted him upon any occasion whatever
May I inquire what you are doing in my wine cellar Nella Racksole said the millionaire a little stiffly He was certainly somewhat annoyed at having mistaken his daughter for a criminal moreover he hated to be surprised and upon this occasion he had been surprised beyond any ordinary surprise lastly he was not at all pleased that Nella should be observed in that strange predicament by a stranger
I will tell you said Nella I had been reading rather late in my room—the night was so close I heard Big Ben strike halfpast twelve and then I put the book down and went out on to the balcony of my window for a little fresh air before going to bed I leaned over the balcony very quietly—you will remember that I am on the third floor now—and looked down below into the little sunk yard which separates the wall of the hôtel from Salisbury Lane I was rather astonished to see a figure creeping across the yard I knew there was no entrance into the hôtel from that yard and besides it is fifteen or twenty feet below the level of the street So I watched The figure went close up against the wall and disappeared from my view I leaned over the balcony as far as I dared but I couldnt see him I could hear him however
What could you hear questioned Racksole sharply
It sounded like a sawing noise said Nella and it went on for quite a long time—nearly a quarter of an hour I should think—a rasping sort of noise
Why on earth didnt you come and warn me or someone else in the hôtel asked Racksole
Oh I dont know Dad she replied sweetly I had got interested in it and I thought I would see it out myself Well as I was saying Mr Babylon she continued addressing her remarks to Felix with a dazzling smile that noise went on for quite a long time At last it stopped and the figure reappeared from under the wall crossed the yard climbed up the opposite wall by some means or other and so over the railings into Salisbury Lane I felt rather relieved then because I knew he hadnt actually broken into the hôtel He walked down Salisbury Lane very slowly A policeman was just coming up Goodnight officer I heard him say to the policeman and he asked him for a match The policeman supplied the match and the other man lighted a cigarette and proceeded further down the lane By cricking your neck from my window Mr Babylon you can get a glimpse of the Embankment and the river I saw the man cross the Embankment and lean over the river wall where he seemed to be talking to some one He then walked along the Embankment to Westminster and that was the last I saw of him I waited a minute or two for him to come back but he didnt come back and so I thought it was about time I began to make inquiries into the affair I went downstairs instantly and out of the hôtel through the quadrangle into Salisbury Lane and I looked over those railings There was a ladder on the other side by which it was perfectly easy—once you had got over the railings—to climb down into the yard I was horribly afraid lest someone might walk up Salisbury Lane and catch me in the act of negotiating those railings but no one did and I surmounted them with no worse damage than a torn skirt I crossed the yard on tiptoe and I found that in the wall close to the ground and almost exactly under my window there was an iron grating about one foot by fourteen inches I suspected as there was no other ironwork near that the mysterious visitor must have been sawing at this grating for private purposes of his own I gave it a good shake and I was not at all surprised that a good part of it came off in my hand leaving just enough room for a person to creep through I decided that I would creep through and now wish I hadnt I dont know Mr Babylon whether you have ever tried to creep through a small hole with a skirt on Have you
I have not had that pleasure said little Felix bowing again and absently taking up a bottle which lay to his hand
Well you are fortunate the imperturbable Nella resumed For quite three minutes I thought I should perish in that grating Dad with my shoulder inside and the rest of me outside However at last by the most amazing and agonizing efforts I pulled myself through and fell into this extraordinary cellar more dead than alive Then I wondered what I should do next Should I wait for the mysterious visitor to return and stab him with my pocket scissors if he tried to enter or should I raise an alarm First of all I replaced the broken grating then I struck a match and I saw that I had got landed in a wilderness of bottles The match went out and I hadnt another one So I sat down in the corner to think I had just decided to wait and see if the visitor returned when I heard footsteps and then voices and then you came in I must say I was rather taken aback especially as I recognized the voice of Mr Babylon You see I didnt want to frighten you
If I had bobbed up from behind the bottles and said Booh you would have had a serious shock I wanted to think of a way of breaking my presence gently to you But you saved me the trouble Dad Was I really breathing so loudly that you could hear me
The girl ended her strange recital and there was a moments silence in the cellar Racksole merely nodded an affirmative to her concluding question
Well Nell my girl said the millionaire at length we are much obliged for your gymnastic efforts—very much obliged But now I think you had better go off to bed There is going to be some serious trouble here Ill lay my last dollar on that
But if there is to be a burglary I should so like to see it Dad Nella pleaded Ive never seen a burglar caught redhanded
This isnt a burglary my dear I calculate its something far worse than a burglary
What she cried Murder Arson Dynamite plot How perfectly splendid
Mr Babylon informs me that Jules is in London said Racksole quietly
Jules she exclaimed under her breath and her tone changed instantly to the utmost seriousness Switch off the light quick Springing to the switch she put the cellar in darkness
Whats that for said her father
If he comes back he would see the light and be frightened away said Nella That wouldnt do at all
It wouldnt Miss Racksole said Babylon and there was in his voice a note of admiration for the girls sagacity which Racksole heard with high paternal pride
Listen Nella said the latter drawing his daughter to him in the profound gloom of the cellar We fancy that Jules may be trying to tamper with a certain bottle of wine—a bottle which might possibly be drunk by Prince Eugen Now do you think that the man you saw might have been Jules
I hadnt previously thought of him as being Jules but immediately you mentioned the name I somehow knew that he was Yes I am sure it was Jules
Well just hear what I have to say There is no time to lose If he is coming at all he will be here very soon—and you can help Racksole explained what he thought Jules tactics might be He proposed that if the man returned he should not be interfered with but merely watched from the other side of the glass door
You want as it were to catch Mr Jules alive said Babylon who seemed rather taken aback at this novel method of dealing with criminals Surely he added it would be simpler and easier to inform the police of your suspicion and to leave everything to them
My dear fellow said Racksole we have already gone much too far without the police to make it advisable for us to call them in at this somewhat advanced stage of the proceedings Besides if you must know it I have a particular desire to capture the scoundrel myself I will leave you and Nella here since Nella insists on seeing everything and I will arrange things so that once he has entered the cellar Jules will not get out of it again—at any rate through the grating You had better place yourselves on the other side of the glass door in the big cellar you will be in a position to observe from there I will skip off at once All you have to do is to take note of what the fellow does If he has any accomplices within the hôtel we shall probably be able by that means to discover who the accomplice is
Lighting a match and shading it with his hands Racksole showed them both out of the little cellar Now if you lock this glass door on the outside he cant escape this way the panes of glass are too small and the woodwork too stout So if he comes into the trap you two will have the pleasure of actually seeing him frantically writhe therein without any personal danger but perhaps youd better not show yourselves
In another moment Felix Babylon and Nella were left to themselves in the darkness of the cellar listening to the receding footfalls of Theodore Racksole But the sound of these footfalls had not died away before another sound greeted their ears—the grating of the small cellar was being removed
I hope your father will be in time whispered Felix
Hush the girl warned him and they stooped side by side in tense silence
A man cautiously but very neatly wormed his body through the aperture of the grating The watchers could only see his form indistinctly in the darkness
Then being fairly within the cellar he walked without the least hesitation to the electric switch and turned on the light It was unmistakably Jules and he knew the geography of the cellar very well Babylon could with difficulty repress a start as he saw this bold and unscrupulous exwaiter moving with such an air of assurance and determination about the precious cellar Jules went directly to a small bin which was numbered 17 and took there from the topmost bottle
The RomaneeConti—Prince Eugens wine Babylon exclaimed under his breath
Jules neatly and quickly removed the seal with an instrument which he had clearly brought for the purpose He then took a little flat box from his pocket which seemed to contain a sort of black salve Rubbing his finger in this he smeared the top of the neck of the bottle with it just where the cork came against the glass In another instant he had deftly replaced the seal and restored the bottle to its position He then turned off the light and made for the aperture When he was halfway through Nella exclaimed He will escape after all Dad has not had time—we must stop him
But Babylon that embodiment of caution forcibly but nevertheless politely restrained this Yankee girl whom he deemed so rash and imprudent and before she could free herself the lithe form of Jules had disappeared
Chapter TwentyFour THE BOTTLE OF WINE
AS regards Theodore Racksole who was to have caught his man from the outside of the cellar he made his way as rapidly as possible from the winecellars up to the ground floor out of the hôtel by the quadrangle through the quadrangle and out into the top of Salisbury Lane Now owing to the vastness of the structure of the Grand Babylon the mere distance thus to be traversed amounted to a little short of a quarter of a mile and as it included a number of stairs about two dozen turnings and several passages which at that time of night were in darkness more or less complete Racksole could not have been expected to accomplish the journey in less than five minutes As a matter of fact six minutes had elapsed before he reached the top of Salisbury Lane because he had been delayed nearly a minute by some questions addressed to him by a muddled and whiskyladen guest who had got lost in the corridors As everybody knows there is a sharp short bend in Salisbury Lane near the top Racksole ran round this at good racing speed but he was unfortunate enough to run straight up against the very policeman who had not long before so courteously supplied Jules with a match The policeman seemed to be scarcely in so pliant a mood just then
Hullo he said his naturally suspicious nature being doubtless aroused by the spectacle of a bareheaded man in evening dress running violently down the lane Whats this Where are you for in such a hurry and he forcibly detained Theodore Racksole for a moment and scrutinized his face
Now officer said Racksole quietly none of your larks if you please
Ive no time to lose
Beg your pardon sir the policeman remarked though hesitatingly and not quite with good temper and Racksole was allowed to proceed on his way The millionaires scheme for trapping Jules was to get down into the little sunk yard by means of the ladder and then to secrete himself behind some convenient abutment of brickwork until Mr Tom Jackson should have got into the cellar He therefore nimbly surmounted the railings—the railings of his own hôtel—and was gingerly descending the ladder when lo a rough hand seized him by the coatcollar and with a ferocious jerk urged him backwards The fact was Theodore Racksole had counted without the policeman That guardian of the peace mistrusting Racksoles manner quietly followed him down the lane The sight of the millionaire climbing the railings had put him on his mettle and the result was the ignominious capture of Racksole In vain Theodore expostulated explained anathematized Only one thing would satisfy the stolid policeman—namely that Racksole should return with him to the hôtel and there establish his identity If Racksole then proved to be Racksole owner of the Grand Babylon well and good—the policeman promised to apologize So Theodore had no alternative but to accept the suggestion To prove his identity was of course the work of only a few minutes after which Racksole annoyed but cool as ever returned to his railings while the policeman went off to another part of his beat where he would be likely to meet a comrade and have a chat
In the meantime our friend Jules sublimely unconscious of the altercation going on outside and of the special risk which he ran was of course actually in the cellar which he had reached before Racksole got to the railings for the first time It was indeed a happy chance for Jules that his exit from the cellar coincided with the period during which Racksole was absent from the railings As Racksole came down the lane for the second time he saw a figure walking about fifty yards in front of him towards the Embankment Instantly he divined that it was Jules and that the policeman had thrown him just too late He ran and Jules hearing the noise of pursuit ran also The exwaiter was fleet he made direct for a certain spot in the Embankment wall and to the intense astonishment of Racksole jumped clean over the wall as it seemed into the river Is he so desperate as to commit suicide Racksole exclaimed as he ran but a second later the puff and snort of a steam launch told him that Jules was not quite driven to suicide As the millionaire crossed the Embankment roadway he saw the funnel of the launch move out from under the riverwall It swerved into midstream and headed towards London Bridge There was a silent mist over the river Racksole was helpless
Although Racksole had now been twice worsted in a contest of wits within the precincts of the Grand Babylon once by Rocco and once by Jules he could not fairly blame himself for the present miscarriage of his plans—a miscarriage due to the meddlesomeness of an extraneous person combined with pure illfortune He did not therefore permit the accident to interfere with his sleep that night
On the following day he sought out Prince Aribert between whom and himself there now existed a feeling of unmistakable frank friendship and disclosed to him the happenings of the previous night and particularly the tampering with the bottle of RomanéeConti
I believe you dined with Prince Eugen last night
I did And curiously enough we had a bottle of RomanéeConti an admirable wine of which Eugen is passionately fond
And you will dine with him tonight
Most probably Today will I fear be our last day here Eugen wishes to return to Posen early tomorrow
Has it struck you Prince said Racksole that if Jules had succeeded in poisoning your nephew he would probably have succeeded also in poisoning you
I had not thought of it laughed Aribert but it would seem so It appears that so long as he brings down his particular quarry Jules is careless of anything else that may be accidentally involved in the destruction However we need have no fear on that score now You know the bottle and you can destroy it at once
But I do not propose to destroy it said Racksole calmly If Prince Eugen asks for RomanéeConti to be served tonight as he probably will I propose that that precise bottle shall be served to him—and to you
Then you would poison us in spite of ourselves
Scarcely Racksole smiled My notion is to discover the accomplices within the hôtel I have already inquired as to the wineclerk Hubbard Now does it not occur to you as extraordinary that on this particular day Mr Hubbard should be ill in bed Hubbard I am informed is suffering from an attack of stomach poisoning which has supervened during the night He says that he does not know what can have caused it His place in the wine cellars will be taken today by his assistant a mere youth but to all appearances a fairly smart youth I need not say that we shall keep an eye on that youth
One moment Prince Aribert interrupted I do not quite understand how you think the poisoning was to have been effected
The bottle is now under examination by an expert who has instructions to remove as little as possible of the stuff which Jules put on the rim of the mouth of it It will be secretly replaced in its bin during the day My idea is that by the mere action of pouring out the wine takes up some of the poison which I deem to be very strong and thus becomes fatal as it enters the glass
But surely the servant in attendance would wipe the mouth of the bottle
Very carelessly perhaps And moreover he would be extremely unlikely to wipe off all the stuff some of it has been ingeniously placed just on the inside edge of the rim Besides suppose he forgot to wipe the bottle
Prince Eugen is always served at dinner by Hans It is an honour which the faithful old fellow reserves for himself
But suppose Hans— Racksole stopped
Hans an accomplice My dear Racksole the suggestion is wildly impossible
That night Prince Aribert dined with his august nephew in the superb diningroom of the Royal apartments Hans served the dishes being brought to the door by other servants Aribert found his nephew despondent and taciturn On the previous day when after the futile interview with Sampson Levi Prince Eugen had despairingly threatened to commit suicide in such a manner as to make it look like an accident Aribert had compelled him to give his word of honour not to do so
What wine will your Royal Highness take asked old Hans in his soothing tones when the soup was served
Sherry was Prince Eugens curt order
And RomanéeConti afterwards said Hans Aribert looked up quickly
No not tonight Ill try Sillery tonight said Prince Eugen
I think Ill have RomanéeConti Hans after all he said It suits me better than champagne
The famous and unsurpassable Burgundy was served with the roast Old Hans brought it tenderly in its wicker cradle inserted the corkscrew with mathematical precision and drew the cork which he offered for his masters inspection Eugen nodded and told him to put it down Aribert watched with intense interest He could not for an instant believe that Hans was not the very soul of fidelity and yet despite himself Racksoles words had caused him a certain uneasiness At that moment Prince Eugen murmured across the table
Aribert I withdraw my promise Observe that I withdraw it Aribert shook his head emphatically without removing his gaze from Hans The whitehaired servant perfunctorily dusted his napkin round the neck of the bottle of RomanéeConti and poured out a glass Aribert trembled from head to foot
Eugen took up the glass and held it to the light
Dont drink it said Aribert very quietly It is poisoned
Poisoned exclaimed Prince Eugen
Poisoned sire exclaimed old Hans with an air of profound amazement and concern and he seized the glass Impossible sire I myself opened the bottle No one else has touched it and the cork was perfect
I tell you it is poisoned Aribert repeated
Your Highness will pardon an old man said Hans but to say that this wine is poison is to say that I am a murderer I will prove to you that it is not poisoned I will drink it And he raised the glass to his trembling lips In that moment Aribert saw that old Hans at any rate was not an accomplice of Jules Springing up from his seat he knocked the glass from the aged servitors hands and the fragments of it fell with a light tinkling crash partly on the table and partly on the floor The Prince and the servant gazed at one another in a distressing and terrible silence
There was a slight noise and Aribert looked aside He saw that Eugens body had slipped forward limply over the left arm of his chair the Princes arms hung straight and lifeless his eyes were closed he was unconscious
Hans murmured Aribert Hans What is this
Chapter TwentyFive THE STEAM LAUNCH
MR TOM JACKSONs notion of making good his escape from the hôtel by means of a steam launch was an excellent one so far as it went but Theodore Racksole for his part did not consider that it went quite far enough
Theodore Racksole opined with peculiar glee that he now had a tangible and definite clue for the catching of the Grand Babylons exwaiter He knew nothing of the Port of London but he happened to know a good deal of the far more complicated though somewhat smaller Port of New York and he was sure there ought to be no extraordinary difficulty in getting hold of Jules steam launch To those who are not thoroughly familiar with it the River Thames and its docks from London Bridge to Gravesend seems a vast and uncharted wilderness of craft—a wilderness in which it would be perfectly easy to hide even a threemaster successfully To such people the idea of looking for a steam launch on the river would be about equivalent to the idea of looking for a needle in a bundle of hay But the fact is there are hundreds of men between St Katherines Wharf and Blackwall who literally know the Thames as the suburban householder knows his backgarden—who can recognize thousands of ships and put a name to them at a distance of half a mile who are informed as to every movement of vessels on the great stream who know all the captains all the engineers all the lightermen all the pilots all the licensed watermen and all the unlicensed scoundrels from the Tower to Gravesend and a lot further By these experts of the Thames the slightest unusual event on the water is noticed and discussed—a wherry cannot change hands but they will guess shrewdly upon the price paid and the intentions of the new owner with regard to it They have a habit of watching the river for the mere interest of the sight and they talk about everything like housewives gathered of an evening round the cottage door If the first mate of a Castle Liner gets the sack they will be able to tell you what he said to the captain what the old man said to him and what both said to the Board and having finished off that affair they will cheerfully turn to discussing whether Bill Stevens sank his barge outside the West Indian No2 by accident or on purpose
Theodore Racksole had no satisfactory means of identifying the steam launch which carried away Mr Tom Jackson The sky had clouded over soon after midnight and there was also a slight mist and he had only been able to make out that it was a low craft about sixty feet long probably painted black He had personally kept a watch all through the night on vessels going upstream and during the next morning he had a man to take his place who warned him whenever a steam launch went towards Westminster At noon after his conversation with Prince Aribert he went down the river in a hired rowboat as far as the Custom House and poked about everywhere in search of any vessel which could by any possibility be the one he was in search of
But he found nothing He was therefore tolerably sure that the mysterious launch lay somewhere below the Custom House At the Custom House stairs he landed and asked for a very high official—an official inferior only to a Commissioner—whom he had entertained once in New York and who had met him in London on business at Lloyds In the large but dingy office of this great man a long conversation took place—a conversation in which Racksole had to exercise a certain amount of persuasive power and which ultimately ended in the high official ringing his bell
Desire Mr Hazell—room No 332—to speak to me said the official to the boy who answered the summons and then turning to Racksole I need hardly repeat my dear Mr Racksole that this is strictly unofficial
Agreed of course said Racksole
Mr Hazell entered He was a young man of about thirty dressed in blue serge with a pale keen face a brown moustache and a rather handsome brown beard
Mr Hazell said the high official let me introduce you to Mr Theodore Racksole—you will doubtless be familiar with his name Mr Hazell he went on to Racksole is one of our outdoor staff—what we call an examining officer Just now he is doing night duty He has a boat on the river and a couple of men and the right to board and examine any craft whatever What Mr Hazell and his crew dont know about the Thames between here and Gravesend isnt knowledge
Glad to meet you sir said Racksole simply and they shook hands
Racksole observed with satisfaction that Mr Hazell was entirely at his ease
Now Hazell the high official continued Mr Racksole wants you to help in a little private expedition on the river tonight I will give you a nights leave I sent for you partly because I thought you would enjoy the affair and partly because I think I can rely on you to regard it as entirely unofficial and not to talk about it You understand I dare say you will have no cause to regret having obliged Mr Racksole
I think I grasp the situation said Hazell with a slight smile
And by the way added the high official although the business is unofficial it might be well if you wore your official overcoat See
Decidedly said Hazell I should have done so in any case
And now Mr Hazell said Racksole will you do me the pleasure of lunching with me If you agree I should like to lunch at the place you usually frequent
So it came to pass that Theodore Racksole and George Hazell outdoor clerk in the Customs lunched together at Thomass ChopHouse in the city of London upon muttonchops and coffee The millionaire soon discovered that he had got hold of a keenwitted man and a person of much insight
Tell me said Hazell when they had reached the cigarette stage are the magazine writers anything like correct
What do you mean asked Racksole mystified
Well youre a millionaire—one of the best I believe One often sees articles on and interviews with millionaires which describe their private railroad cars their steam yachts on the Hudson their marble stables and so on and so on Do you happen to have those things
I have a private car on the New York Central and I have a two thousand ton schooneryacht—though it isnt on the Hudson It happens just now to be on East River And I am bound to admit that the stables of my uptown place are fitted with marble Racksole laughed
Ah said Hazell Now I can believe that I am lunching with a millionaire
Its strange how facts like those—unimportant in themselves—appeal to the imagination You seem to me a real millionaire now Youve given me some personal information Ill give you some in return I earn three hundred a year and perhaps sixty pounds a year extra for overtime I live by myself in two rooms in Muscovy Court Ive as much money as I need and I always do exactly what I like outside office As regards the office I do as little work as I can on principle—its a fight between us and the Commissioners who shall get the best They try to do us down and we try to do them down—its pretty even on the whole Alls fair in war you know and there aint no ten commandments in a Government office
Racksole laughed Can you get off this afternoon he asked
Certainly said Hazell Ill get one of my pals to sign on for me and then I shall be free
Well said Racksole I should like you to come down with me to the Grand Babylon Then we can talk over my little affair at length And may we go on your boat I want to meet your crew
That will be all right Hazell remarked My two men are the idlest most soulless chaps you ever saw They eat too much and they have an enormous appetite for beer but they know the river and they know their business and they will do anything within the fair game if they are paid for it and arent asked to hurry
That night just after dark Theodore Racksole embarked with his new friend George Hazell in one of the blackpainted Customs wherries manned by a crew of two men—both the later freemen of the river a distinction which carries with it certain privileges unfamiliar to the mere landsman It was a cloudy and oppressive evening not a star showing to illumine the slow tide now just past its flood The vast forms of steamers at anchor—chiefly those of the General Steam Navigation and the Aberdeen Line—heaved themselves high out of the water straining sluggishly at their mooring buoys On either side the naked walls of warehouses rose like grey precipices from the stream holding forth quaint arms of steamcranes To the west the Tower Bridge spanned the river with its formidable arch and above that its suspended footpath—a hundred and fifty feet from earth
Down towards the east and the Pool of London a forest of funnels and masts was dimly outlined against the sinister sky Huge barges each steered by a single man at the end of a pair of giant oars lumbered and swirled downstream at all angles Occasionally a tug snorted busily past flashing its red and green signals and dragging an unwieldy tail of barges in its wake Then a Margate passenger steamer its electric lights gleaming from every porthole swerved round to anchor with its load of two thousand fatigued excursionists Over everything brooded an air of mystery—a spirit and feeling of strangeness remoteness and the inexplicable As the broad flat little boat bobbed its way under the shadow of enormous hulks beneath stretched hawsers and past buoys covered with green slime Racksole could scarcely believe that he was in the very heart of London—the most prosaic city in the world He had a queer idea that almost anything might happen in this seeming waste of waters at this weird hour of ten oclock It appeared incredible to him that only a mile or two away people were sitting in theatres applauding farces and that at Cannon Street Station a few yards off other people were calmly taking the train to various highly respectable suburbs whose names he was gradually learning He had the uplifting sensation of being in another world which comes to us sometimes amid surroundings violently different from our usual surroundings The most ordinary noises—of men calling of a chain running through a slot of a distant siren—translated themselves to his ears into terrible and haunting sounds full of portentous significance He looked over the side of the boat into the brown water and asked himself what frightful secrets lay hidden in its depth Then he put his hand into his hippocket and touched the stock of his Colt revolver—that familiar substance comforted him
The oarsmen had instructions to drop slowly down to the Pool as the wide reach below the Tower is called These two men had not been previously informed of the precise object of the expedition but now that they were safely afloat Hazell judged it expedient to give them some notion of it We expect to come across a rather suspicious steam launch he said My friend here is very anxious to get a sight of her and until he has seen her nothing definite can be done
What sort of a craft is she sir asked the stroke oar a fatfaced man who seemed absolutely incapable of any serious exertion
I dont know Racksole replied but as near as I can judge shes about sixty feet in length and painted black I fancy I shall recognize her when I see her
Not much to go by that exclaimed the other man curtly But he said no more He as well as his mate had received from Theodore Racksole one English sovereign as a kind of preliminary fee and an English sovereign will do a lot towards silencing the natural sarcastic tendencies and free speech of a Thames waterman
Theres one thing I noticed said Racksole suddenly and I forgot to tell you of it Mr Hazell Her screw seemed to move with a rather irregular lame sort of beat
Both watermen burst into a laugh
Oh said the fat rower I know what youre after sir—its Jack Everetts launch commonly called Squirm Shes got a fourbladed propeller and one blade is broken off short
Ay thats it sure enough agreed the man in the bows And if its her you want I seed her lying up against Cherry Gardens Pier this very morning
Let us go to Cherry Gardens Pier by all means as soon as possible
Racksole said and the boat swung across stream and then began to creep down by the right bank feeling its way past wharves many of which even at that hour were still busy with their cranes that descended empty into the bellies of ships and came up full As the two watermen gingerly manoeuvred the boat on the ebbing tide Hazell explained to the millionaire that the Squirm was one of the most notorious craft on the river It appeared that when anyone had a nefarious or underhand scheme afoot which necessitated river work Everetts launch was always available for a suitable monetary consideration The Squirm had got itself into a thousand scrapes and out of those scrapes again with safety if not precisely with honour The river police kept a watchful eye on it and the chief marvel about the whole thing was that old Everett the owner had never yet been seriously compromised in any illegal escapade Not once had the officer of the law been able to prove anything definite against the proprietor of the Squirm though several of its quondam hirers were at that very moment in various of Her Majestys prisons throughout the country Latterly however the launch with its damaged propeller which Everett consistently refused to have repaired had acquired an evil reputation even among evildoers and this fraternity had gradually come to abandon it for less easily recognizable craft
Your friend Mr Tom Jackson said Hazell to Racksole committed an error of discretion when he hired the Squirm A scoundrel of his experience and calibre ought certainly to have known better than that You cannot fail to get a clue now
By this time the boat was approaching Cherry Gardens Pier but unfortunately a thin nightfog had swept over the river and objects could not be discerned with any clearness beyond a distance of thirty yards As the Customs boat scraped down past the pier all its occupants strained eyes for a glimpse of the mysterious launch but nothing could be seen of it The boat continued to float idly downstream the men resting on their oars
Then they narrowly escaped bumping a large Norwegian sailing vessel at anchor with her stem pointing downstream This ship they passed on the port side Just as they got clear of her bowsprit the fat man cried out excitedly Theres her nose and he put the boat about and began to pull back against the tide And surely the missing Squirm was comfortably anchored on the starboard quarter of the Norwegian ship hidden neatly between the ship and the shore The men pulled very quietly alongside
Chapter TwentySix THE NIGHT CHASE AND THE MUDLARK
ILL board her to start with said Hazell whispering to Racksole Ill make out that I suspect theyve got dutiable goods on board and that will give me a chance to have a good look at her
Dressed in his official overcoat and peaked cap he stepped rather jauntily as Racksole thought on to the low deck of the launch Anyone aboard
Racksole heard him cry out and a womans voice answered Im a Customs examining officer and I want to search the launch Hazell shouted and then disappeared down into the little saloon amidships and Racksole heard no more It seemed to the millionaire that Hazell had been gone hours but at length he returned
Cant find anything he said as he jumped into the boat and then privately to Racksole Theres a woman on board Looks as if she might coincide with your description of Miss Spencer Steams up but theres no engineer I asked where the engineer was and she inquired what business that was of mine and requested me to get through with my own business and clear off Seems rather a smart sort I poked my nose into everything but I saw no sign of any one else Perhaps wed better pull away and lie near for a bit just to see if anything queer occurs
Youre quite sure he isnt on board Racksole asked
Quite said Hazell positively I know how to search a vessel See this and he handed to Racksole a sort of steel skewer about two feet long with a wooden handle That he said is one of the Customs aids to searching
I suppose it wouldnt do to go on board and carry off the lady Racksole suggested doubtfully
Well Hazell began with equal doubtfulness as for that—
Wheres e orf It was the man in the bows who interrupted Hazell
Following the direction of the mans finger both Hazell and Racksole saw with more or less distinctness a dinghy slip away from the forefoot of the Norwegian vessel and disappear downstream into the mist
Its Jules Ill swear cried Racksole After him men Ten pounds apiece if we overtake him
Lay down to it now boys said Hazell and the heavy Customs boat shot out in pursuit
This is going to be a lark Racksole remarked
Depends on what you call a lark said Hazell its not much of a lark tearing down midstream like this in a fog You never know when you maynt be in kingdom come with all these barges knocking around I expect that chap hid in the dinghy when he first caught sight of us and then slipped his painter as soon as Id gone
The boat was moving at a rapid pace with the tide Steering was a matter of luck and instinct more than anything else Every now and then Hazell who held the lines was obliged to jerk the boats head sharply round to avoid a barge or an anchored vessel It seemed to Racksole that vessels were anchored all over the stream He looked about him anxiously but for a long time he could see nothing but mist and vague nautical forms Then suddenly he said quietly enough Were on the right road I can see him ahead
Were gaining on him In another minute the dinghy was plainly visible not twenty yards away and the sculler—sculling frantically now—was unmistakably Jules—Jules in a light tweed suit and a bowler hat
You were right Hazell said this is a lark I believe Im getting quite excited Its more exciting than playing the trombone in an orchestra Ill run him down eh—and then we can drag the chap in from the water
Racksole nodded but at that moment a barge with her red sails set stood out of the fog clean across the bows of the Customs boat which narrowly escaped instant destruction When they got clear and the usual interchange of calm nonchalant swearing was over the dinghy was barely to be discerned in the mist and the fat man was breathing in such a manner that his sighs might almost have been heard on the banks Racksole wanted violently to do something but there was nothing to do he could only sit supine by Hazells side in the sternsheets Gradually they began again to overtake the dinghy whose oneman crew was evidently tiring As they came up hand over fist the dinghys nose swerved aside and the tiny craft passed down a waterlane between two anchored mineral barges which lay black and deserted about fifty yards from the Surrey shore To starboard said Racksole No man
Hazell replied we cant get through there Hes bound to come out below its only a feint Ill keep our nose straight ahead
And they went on the fat man pounding away with a face which glistened even in the thick gloom It was an empty dinghy which emerged from between the two barges and went drifting and revolving down towards Greenwich
The fat man gasped a word to his comrade and the Customs boat stopped dead
Es all right said the man in the bows If its im you want es on one o them barges so youve only got to step on and take im orf
Thats all said a voice out of the depths of the nearest barge and it was the voice of Jules otherwise known as Mr Tom Jackson
Ear im said the fat man smiling Es a good un e is But if I was you Mr Hazell or you sir I shouldnt step on to that barge so quick as all that
They backed the boat under the stem of the nearest barge and gazed upwards
Its all right said Racksole to Hazell Ive got a revolver How can I clamber up there
Yes I dare say youve got a revolver all right Hazell replied sharply
But you mustnt use it There mustnt be any noise We should have the river police down on us in a twinkling if there was a revolver shot and it would be the ruin of me If an inquiry was held the Commissioners wouldnt take any official notice of the fact that my superior officer had put me on to this job and I should be requested to leave the service
Have no fear on that score said Racksole I shall of course take all responsibility
It wouldnt matter how much responsibility you took Hazell retorted you wouldnt put me back into the service and my career would be at an end
But there are other careers said Racksole who was really anxious to lame his exwaiter by means of a judiciouslyaimed bullet There are other careers
The Customs is my career said Hazell so lets have no shooting Well wait about a bit he cant escape You can have my skewer if you like—and he gave Racksole his searching instrument And you can do what you please provided you do it neatly and dont make a row over it
For a few moments the four men were passive in the boat surrounded by swirling mist with black water beneath them and towering above them a halfloaded barge with a desperate and resourceful man on board Suddenly the mist parted and shrivelled away in patches as though before the breath of some monster The sky was visible it was a clear sky and the moon was shining The transformation was just one of those meteorological quickchanges which happen most frequently on a great river
Thats a sight better said the fat man At the same moment a head appeared over the edge of the barge It was Jules face—dark sinister and leering
Is it Mr Racksole in that boat he inquired calmly because if so let Mr Racksole step up Mr Racksole has caught me and he can have me for the asking Here I am He stood up to his full height on the barge tall against the night sky and all the occupants of the boat could see that he held firmly clasped in his right hand a short dagger Now Mr Racksole youve been after me for a long time he continued here I am Why dont you step up If you havent got the pluck yourself persuade someone else to step up in your place the same fair treatment will be accorded to all And Jules laughed a low penetrating laugh
He was in the midst of this laugh when he lurched suddenly forward
Whatr you doing of aboard my barge Off you goes It was a boys small shrill voice that sounded in the night A ragged boys small form had appeared silently behind Jules and two small arms with a vicious shove precipitated him into the water He fell with a fine gurgling splash It was at once obvious that swimming was not among Jules accomplishments He floundered wildly and sank When he reappeared he was dragged into the Customs boat Rope was produced and in a minute or two the man lay ignominiously bound in the bottom of the boat With the aid of a mudlark—a mere barge boy who probably had no more right on the barge than Jules himself—Racksole had won his game For the first time for several weeks the millionaire experienced a sensation of equanimity and satisfaction He leaned over the prostrate form of Jules Hazells professional skewer in his hand
What are you going to do with him now asked Hazell
Well row up to the landing steps in front of the Grand Babylon He shall be well lodged at my hôtel I promise him
Jules spoke no word
Before Racksole parted company with the Customs man that night Jules had been safely transported into the Grand Babylon Hôtel and the two watermen had received their £10 apiece
You will sleep here said the millionaire to Mr George Hazell It is late
With pleasure said Hazell The next morning he found a sumptuous breakfast awaiting him and in his tablenapkin was a Bank of England note for a hundred pounds But though he did not hear of them till much later many things had happened before Hazell consumed that sumptuous breakfast
Chapter TwentySeven THE CONFESSION OF MR TOM JACKSON
IT happened that the small bedroom occupied by Jules during the years he was headwaiter at the Grand Babylon had remained empty since his sudden dismissal by Theodore Racksole No other headwaiter had been formally appointed in his place and indeed the absence of one man—even the unique Jules—could scarcely have been noticed in the enormous staff of a place like the Grand Babylon The functions of a headwaiter are generally more ornamental spectacular and morally impressive than useful and it was so at the great hôtel on the Embankment Racksole accordingly had the excellent idea of transporting his prisoner with as much secrecy as possible to this empty bedroom There proved to be no difficulty in doing so Jules showed himself perfectly amenable to a show of superior force
Racksole took upstairs with him an old commissionaire who had been attached to the outdoor service of the hôtel for many years—a greyhaired man wiry as a terrier and strong as a mastiff Entering the bedroom with Jules whose hands were bound he told the commissionaire to remain outside the door
Jules bedroom was quite an ordinary apartment though perhaps slightly superior to the usual accommodation provided for servants in the caravanserais of the West End It was about fourteen by twelve It was furnished with a bedstead a small wardrobe a—mall washstand and dressingtable and two chairs There were two hooks behind the door a strip of carpet by the bed and some cheap ornaments on the iron mantelpiece There was also one electric light The window was a little square one high up from the floor and it looked on the inner quadrangle
The room was on the top storey—the eighth—and from it you had a view sheer to the ground Twenty feet below ran a narrow cornice about a foot wide three feet or so above the window another and wider cornice jutted out and above that was the high steep roof of the hôtel though you could not see it from the window As Racksole examined the window and the outlook he said to himself that Jules could not escape by that exit at any rate He gave a glance up the chimney and saw that the flue was far too small to admit a mans body
Then he called in the commissionaire and together they bound Jules firmly to the bedstead allowing him however to lie down All the while the captive never opened his mouth—merely smiled a smile of disdain Finally Racksole removed the ornaments the carpet the chairs and the hooks and wrenched away the switch of the electric light Then he and the commissionaire left the room and Racksole locked the door on the outside and put the key in his pocket
You will keep watch here he said to the commissionaire through the night You can sit on this chair Dont go to sleep If you hear the slightest noise in the room blow your cabwhistle I will arrange to answer the signal If there is no noise do nothing whatever I dont want this talked about you understand I shall trust you you can trust me
But the servants will see me here when they get up tomorrow said the commissionaire with a faint smile and they will be pretty certain to ask what Im doing of up here What shall I say to em
Youve been a soldier havent you asked Racksole
Ive seen three campaigns sir was the reply and with a gesture of pardonable pride the greyhaired fellow pointed to the medals on his breast
Well supposing you were on sentry duty and some meddlesome person in camp asked you what you were doing—what should you say
I should tell him to clear off or take the consequences and pretty quick too
Do that tomorrow morning then if necessary said Racksole and departed
It was then about one oclock am The millionaire retired to bed—not his own bed but a bed on the seventh storey He did not however sleep very long Shortly after dawn he was wide awake and thinking busily about Jules
He was indeed very curious to know Jules story and he determined if the thing could be done at all by persuasion or otherwise to extract it from him With a man of Theodore Racksoles temperament there is no time like the present and at six oclock as the bright morning sun brought gaiety into the window he dressed and went upstairs again to the eighth storey The commissionaire sat stolid but alert on his chair and at the sight of his master rose and saluted
Anything happened Racksole asked
Nothing sir
Servants say anything
Only a dozen or so of em are up yet sir One of em asked what I was playing at and so I told her I was looking after a bull bitch and a litter of pups that you was very particular about sir
Good said Racksole as he unlocked the door and entered the room All was exactly as he had left it except that Jules who had been lying on his back had somehow turned over and was now lying on his face He gazed silently scowling at the millionaire Racksole greeted him and ostentatiously took a revolver from his hippocket and laid it on the dressingtable Then he seated himself on the dressingtable by the side of the revolver his legs dangling an inch or two above the floor
I want to have a talk to you Jackson he began
You can talk to me as much as you like said Jules I shant interfere you may bet on that
I should like you to answer some questions
Thats different said Jules Im not going to answer any questions while Im tied up like this You may bet on that too
It will pay you to be reasonable said Racksole
Im not going to answer any questions while Im tied up
Ill unfasten your legs if you like Racksole suggested politely then you can sit up Its no use you pretending youve been uncomfortable because I know you havent I calculate youve been treated very handsomely my son There you are and he loosened the lower extremities of his prisoner from their bonds Now I repeat you may as well be reasonable You may as well admit that youve been fairly beaten in the game and act accordingly I was determined to beat you by myself without the police and Ive done it
Youve done yourself retorted Jules Youve gone against the law If youd had any sense you wouldnt have meddled youd have left everything to the police Theyd have muddled about for a year or two and then done nothing Whos going to tell the police now Are you Are you going to give me up to em and say Here Ive caught him for you If you do theyll ask you to explain several things and then youll look foolish One crime doesnt excuse another and youll find that out
With unerring insight Jules had perceived exactly the difficulty of Racksoles position and it was certainly a difficulty which Racksole did not attempt to minimize to himself He knew well that it would have to be faced He did not however allow Jules to guess his thoughts
Meanwhile he said calmly to the other youre here and my prisoner
Youve committed a variegated assortment of crimes and among them is murder You are due to be hung You know that There is no reason why I should call in the police at all It will be perfectly easy for me to finish you off as you deserve myself I shall only be carrying out justice and robbing the hangman of his fee Precisely as I brought you into the hôtel I can take you out again A few days ago you borrowed or stole a steam yacht at Ostend What you have done with it I dont know nor do I care But I strongly suspect that my daughter had a narrow escape of being murdered on your steam yacht Now I have a steam yacht of my own Suppose I use it as you used yours Suppose I smuggle you on to it steam out to sea and then ask you to step off it into the ocean one night Such things have been done
Such things will be done again If I acted so I should at least have the satisfaction of knowing that I had relieved society from the incubus of a scoundrel
But you wont Jules murmured
No said Racksole steadily I wont—if you behave yourself this morning But I swear to you that if you dont I will never rest till you are dead police or no police You dont know Theodore Racksole
I believe you mean it Jules exclaimed with an air of surprised interest as though he had discovered something of importance
I believe I do Racksole resumed Now listen At the best you will be given up to the police At the worst I shall deal with you myself With the police you may have a chance—you may get off with twenty years penal servitude because though it is absolutely certain that you murdered Reginald Dimmock it would be a little difficult to prove the case against you But with me you would have no chance whatever I have a few questions to put to you and it will depend on how you answer them whether I give you up to the police or take the law into my own hands And let me tell you that the latter course would be much simpler for me And I would take it too did I not feel that you were a very clever and exceptional man did I not have a sort of sneaking admiration for your detestable skill and ingenuity
You think then that I am clever said Jules You are right I am I should have been much too clever for you if luck had not been against me
You owe your victory not to skill but to luck
That is what the vanquished always say Waterloo was a bit of pure luck for the English no doubt but it was Waterloo all the same
Jules yawned elaborately What do you want to know he inquired with politeness
First and foremost I want to know the names of your accomplices inside this hôtel
I have no more said Jules Rocco was the last
Dont begin by lying to me If you had no accomplice how did you contrive that one particular bottle of RomanéeConti should be served to his Highness Prince Eugen
Then you discovered that in time did you said Jules I was afraid so
Let me explain that that needed no accomplice The bottle was topmost in the bin and naturally it would be taken Moreover I left it sticking out a little further than the rest
You did not arrange then that Hubbard should be taken ill the night before last
I had no idea said Jules that the excellent Hubbard was not enjoying his accustomed health
Tell me said Racksole who or what is the origin of your vendetta against the life of Prince Eugen
I had no vendetta against the life of Prince Eugen said Jules at least not to begin with I merely undertook for a consideration to see that Prince Eugen did not have an interview with a certain Mr Sampson Levi in London before a certain date that was all It seemed simple enough I had been engaged in far more complicated transactions before I was convinced that I could manage it with the help of Rocco and Em—and Miss Spencer
Is that woman your wife
She would like to be he sneered Please dont interrupt I had completed my arrangements when you so inconsiderately bought the hôtel I dont mind admitting now that from the very moment when you came across me that night in the corridor I was secretly afraid of you though I scarcely admitted the fact even to myself then I thought it safer to shift the scene of our operations to Ostend I had meant to deal with Prince Eugen in this hôtel but I decided then to intercept him on the Continent and I despatched Miss Spencer with some instructions Troubles never come singly and it happened that just then that fool Dimmock who had been in the swim with us chose to prove refractory The slightest hitch would have upset everything and I was obliged to—to clear him off the scene He wanted to back out—he had a bad attack of conscience and violent measures were essential I regret his untimely decease but he brought it on himself Well everything was going serenely when you and your brilliant daughter apparently determined to meddle turned up again among us at Ostend Only twentyfour hours however had to elapse before the date which had been mentioned to me by my employers I kept poor little Eugen for the allotted time and then you managed to get hold of him I do not deny that you scored there though according to my original instructions you scored too late The time had passed and so so far as I knew it didnt matter a pin whether Prince Eugen saw Mr Sampson Levi or not But my employers were still uneasy They were uneasy even after little Eugen had lain ill in Ostend for several weeks It appears that they feared that even at that date an interview between Prince Eugen and Mr Sampson Levi might work harm to them So they applied to me again This time they wanted Prince Eugen to be—em—finished off entirely They offered high terms
What terms
I had received fifty thousand pounds for the first job of which Rocco had half Rocco was also to be made a member of a certain famous European order if things went right That was what he coveted far more than the money—the vain fellow For the second job I was offered a hundred thousand A tolerably large sum I regret that I have not been able to earn it
Do you mean to tell me asked Racksole horrorstruck by this calm confession in spite of his previous knowledge that you were offered a hundred thousand pounds to poison Prince Eugen
You put it rather crudely said Jules in reply I prefer to say that I was offered a hundred thousand pounds if Prince Eugen should die within a reasonable time
And who were your damnable employers
That honestly I do not know
You know I suppose who paid you the first fifty thousand pounds and who promised you the hundred thousand
Well said Jules I know vaguely I know that he came via Vienna from—em—Bosnia My impression was that the affair had some bearing direct or indirect on the projected marriage of the King of Bosnia He is a young monarch scarcely out of political leadingstrings as it were and doubtless his Ministers thought that they had better arrange his marriage for him They tried last year and failed because the Princess whom they had in mind had cast her sparkling eyes on another Prince That Prince happened to be Prince Eugen of Posen The Ministers of the King of Bosnia knew exactly the circumstances of Prince Eugen They knew that he could not marry without liquidating his debts and they knew that he could only liquidate his debts through this Jew Sampson Levi Unfortunately for me they ultimately wanted to make too sure of Prince Eugen They were afraid he might after all arrange his marriage without the aid of Mr Sampson Levi and so—well you know the rest It is a pity that the poor little innocent King of Bosnia cant have the Princess of his Ministers choice
Then you think that the King himself had no part in this abominable crime
I think decidedly not
I am glad of that said Racksole simply And now the name of your immediate employer
He was merely an agent He called himself Sleszak—Sleszak But I imagine that that wasnt his real name I dont know his real name An old man he often used to be found at the Hôtel Ritz Paris
Mr Sleszak and I will meet said Racksole
Not in this world said Jules quickly He is dead I heard only last night—just before our little tussle
There was a silence
It is well said Racksole at length Prince Eugen lives despite all plots After all justice is done
Mr Racksole is here but he can see no one Miss The words came from behind the door and the voice was the commissionaires Racksole started up and went towards the door
Nonsense was the curt reply in feminine tones Move aside instantly
The door opened and Nella entered There were tears in her eyes
Oh Dad she exclaimed Ive only just heard you were in the hôtel We looked for you everywhere Come at once Prince Eugen is dying— Then she saw the man sitting on the bed and stopped
Later when Jules was alone again he remarked to himself I may get that hundred thousand
Chapter TwentyEight THE STATE BEDROOM ONCE MORE
WHEN immediately after the episode of the bottle of RomanéeConti in the State diningroom Prince Aribert and old Hans found that Prince Eugen had sunk in an unconscious heap over his chair both the former thought at the first instant that Eugen must have already tasted the poisoned wine But a moments reflection showed that this was not possible If the Hereditary Prince of Posen was dying or dead his condition was due to some other agency than the RomanéeConti Aribert bent over him and a powerful odour from the mans lips at once disclosed the cause of the disaster it was the odour of laudanum Indeed the smell of that sinister drug seemed now to float heavily over the whole table Across Ariberts mind there flashed then the true explanation Prince Eugen taking advantage of Ariberts attention being momentarily diverted and yielding to a sudden impulse of despair had decided to poison himself and had carried out his intention on the spot
The laudanum must have been already in his pocket and this fact went to prove that the unfortunate Prince had previously contemplated such a proceeding even after his definite promise Aribert remembered now with painful vividness his nephews words I withdraw my promise Observe that—I withdraw it It must have been instantly after the utterance of that formal withdrawal that Eugen attempted to destroy himself
Its laudanum Hans Aribert exclaimed rather helplessly
Surely his Highness has not taken poison said Hans It is impossible
I fear it is only too possible said the other Its laudanum What are we to do Quick man
His Highness must be roused Prince He must have an emetic We had better carry him to the bedroom
They did and laid him on the great bed and then Aribert mixed an emetic of mustard and water and administered it but without any effect The sufferer lay motionless with every muscle relaxed His skin was icecold to the touch and the eyelids halfdrawn showed that the pupils were painfully contracted
Go out and send for a doctor Hans Say that Prince Eugen has been suddenly taken ill but that it isnt serious The truth must never be known
He must be roused sire Hans said again as he hurried from the room
Aribert lifted his nephew from the bed shook him pinched him flicked him cruelly shouted at him dragged him about but to no avail At length he desisted from mere physical fatigue and laid the Prince back again on the bed Every minute that elapsed seemed an hour Alone with the unconscious organism in the silence of the great stately chamber under the cold yellow glare of the electric lights Aribert became a prey to the most despairing thoughts The tragedy of his nephews career forced itself upon him and it occurred to him that an early and shameful death had all along been inevitable for this goodnatured weakpurposed unhappy child of a historic throne A little good fortune and his character so evenly balanced between right and wrong might have followed the proper path and Eugen might have figured at any rate with dignity on the European stage But now it appeared that all was over the last stroke played And in this disaster Aribert saw the ruin of his own hopes For Aribert would have to occupy his nephews throne and he felt instinctively that nature had not cut him out for a throne By a natural impulse he inwardly rebelled against the prospect of monarchy Monarchy meant so much for which he knew himself to be entirely unfitted It meant a political marriage which means a forced marriage a union against inclination And then what of Nella—Nella
Hans returned I have sent for the nearest doctor and also for a specialist he said
Good said Aribert I hope they will hurry Then he sat down and wrote a card Take this yourself to Miss Racksole If she is out of the hôtel ascertain where she is and follow her Understand it is of the first importance
Hans bowed and departed for the second time and Aribert was alone again
He gazed at Eugen and made another frantic attempt to rouse him from the deadly stupor but it was useless He walked away to the window through the opened casement he could hear the tinkle of passing hansoms on the Embankment below whistles of doorkeepers and the hoot of steam tugs on the river The world went on as usual it appeared It was an absurd world
He desired nothing better than to abandon his princely title and live as a plain man the husband of the finest woman on earth But now
Pah How selfish he was to be thinking of himself when Eugen lay dying Yet—Nella
The door opened and a man entered who was obviously the doctor A few curt questions and he had grasped the essentials of the case Oblige me by ringing the bell Prince I shall want some hot water and an ablebodied man and a nurse
Who wants a nurse said a voice and Nella came quietly in I am a nurse she added to the doctor and at your orders
The next two hours were a struggle between life and death The first doctor a specialist who followed him Nella Prince Aribert and old Hans formed as it were a league to save the dying man None else in the hôtel knew the real seriousness of the case When a Prince falls ill and especially by his own act the precise truth is not issued broadcast to the universe
According to official intelligence a Prince is never seriously ill until he is dead Such is statecraft
The worst feature of Prince Eugens case was that emetics proved futile
Neither of the doctors could explain their failure but it was only too apparent The league was reduced to helplessness At last the great specialist from Manchester Square gave it out that there was no chance for Prince Eugen unless the natural vigour of his constitution should prove capable of throwing off the poison unaided by scientific assistance as a drunkard can sleep off his potion Everything had been tried even to artificial respiration and the injection of hot coffee Having emitted this pronouncement the great specialist from Manchester Square left It was one oclock in the morning By one of those strange and futile coincidences which sometimes startle us by their subtle significance the specialist met Theodore Racksole and his captive as they were entering the hôtel Neither had the least suspicion of the others business
In the State bedroom the small group of watchers surrounded the bed The slow minutes filed away in dreary procession Another hour passed Then the figure on the bed hitherto so motionless twitched and moved the lips parted
There is hope said the doctor and administered a stimulant which was handed to him by Nella
In a quarter of an hour the patient had regained consciousness For the ten thousandth time in the history of medicine a sound constitution had accomplished a miracle impossible to the accumulated medical skill of centuries
In due course the doctor left saying that Prince Eugen was on the high road to recovery and promising to come again within a few hours Morning had dawned Nella drew the great curtains and let in a flood of sunlight
Old Hans overcome by fatigue dozed in a chair in a far corner of the room
The reaction had been too much for him Nella and Prince Aribert looked at each other They had not exchanged a word about themselves yet each knew what the other had been thinking They clasped hands with a perfect understanding Their brief lovemaking had been of the silent kind and it was silent now No word was uttered A shadow had passed from over them but only their eyes expressed relief and joy
Aribert The faint call came from the bed Aribert went to the bedside while Nella remained near the window
What is it Eugen he said You are better now
You think so murmured the other I want you to forgive me for all this Aribert I must have caused you an intolerable trouble I did it so clumsily that is what annoys me Laudanum was a feeble expedient but I could think of nothing else and I darent ask anyone for advice I was obliged to go out and buy the stuff for myself It was all very awkward
But thank goodness it has not been ineffectual
What do you mean Eugen You are better In a day or so you will be perfectly recovered
I am dying said Eugen quietly Do not be deceived I die because I wish to die It is bound to be so I know by the feel of my heart In a few hours it will be over The throne of Posen will be yours Aribert You will fill it more worthily than I have done Dont let them know over there that I poisoned myself Swear Hans to secrecy swear the doctors to secrecy and breathe no word yourself I have been a fool but I do not wish it to be known that I was also a coward Perhaps it is not cowardice perhaps it is courage after all—courage to cut the knot I could not have survived the disgrace of any revelations Aribert and revelations would have been sure to come I have made a fool of myself but I am ready to pay for it We of Posen—we always pay—everything except our debts Ah those debts Had it not been for those I could have faced her who was to have been my wife to have shared my throne I could have hidden my past and begun again With her help I really could have begun again But Fate has been against me—always always By the way what was that plot against me Aribert I forget I forget
His eyes closed There was a sudden noise Old Hans had slipped from his chair to the floor He picked himself up dazed and crept shamefacedly out of the room
Aribert took his nephews hand
Nonsense Eugen You are dreaming You will be all right soon Pull yourself together
All because of a million the sick man moaned One miserable million English pounds The national debt of Posen is fifty millions and I the Prince of Posen couldnt borrow one If I could have got it I might have held my head up again Goodbye Aribert Who is that girl
Aribert looked up Nella was standing silent at the foot of the bed her eyes moist She came round to the bedside and put her hand on the patients heart Scarcely could she feel its pulsation and to Aribert her eyes expressed a sudden despair
At that moment Hans reentered the room and beckoned to her
I have heard that Herr Racksole has returned to the hôtel he whispered and that he has captured that man Jules who they say is such a villain
Several times during the night Nella inquired for her father but could gain no knowledge of his whereabouts Now at halfpast six in the morning a rumour had mysteriously spread among the servants of the hôtel about the happenings of the night before How it had originated no one could have determined but it had originated
Where is my father Nella asked of Hans
He shrugged his shoulders and pointed upwards Somewhere at the top they say
Nella almost ran out of the room Her interruption of the interview between Jules and Theodore Racksole has already been described As she came downstairs with her father she said again Prince Eugen is dying—but I think you can save him
I exclaimed Theodore
Yes she repeated positively I will tell you what I want you to do and you must do it
Chapter TwentyNine THEODORE IS CALLED TO THE RESCUE
AS Nella passed downstairs from the top storey with her father—the lifts had not yet begun to work—she drew him into her own room and closed the door
Whats this all about he asked somewhat mystified and even alarmed by the extreme seriousness of her face
Dad the girl began you are very rich arent you very very rich She smiled anxiously timidly He did not remember to have seen that expression on her face before He wanted to make a facetious reply but checked himself
Yes he said I am You ought to know that by this time
How soon could you realize a million pounds
A million—what he cried Even he was staggered by her calm reference to this gigantic sum What on earth are you driving at
A million pounds I said That is to say five million dollars How soon could you realize as much as that
Oh he answered in about a month if I went about it neatly enough I could unload as much as that in a month without scaring Wall Street and other places But it would want some arrangement
Useless she exclaimed Couldnt you do it quicker if you really had to
If I really had to I could fix it in a week but it would make things lively and I should lose on the job
Couldnt you she persisted couldnt you go down this morning and raise a million somehow if it was a matter of life and death
He hesitated Look here Nella he said what is it youve got up your sleeve
Just answer my question Dad and try not to think that Im a stark staring lunatic
I rather expect I could get a million this morning even in London But it would cost pretty dear It might cost me fifty thousand pounds and there would be the dickens of an upset in New York—a sort of grand universal slump in my holdings
Why should New York know anything about it
Why should New York know anything about it he repeated My girl when anyone borrows a million sovereigns the whole world knows about it Do you reckon that I can go up to the Governors of the Bank of England and say Look here lend Theodore Racksole a million for a few weeks and hell give you an IOU and a covering note on stocks
But you could get it she asked again
If theres a million in London I guess I could handle it he replied
Well Dad and she put her arms round his neck youve just got to go out and fix it See Its for me Ive never asked you for anything really big before But I do now And I want it so badly
He stared at her I award you the prize he said at length You deserve it for colossal and immense coolness Now you can tell me the true inward meaning of all this rigmarole What is it
I want it for Prince Eugen she began at first hesitatingly with pauses
Hes ruined unless he can get a million to pay off his debts Hes dreadfully in love with a Princess and he cant marry her because of this
Her parents wouldnt allow it He was to have got it from Sampson Levi but he arrived too late—owing to Jules
I know all about that—perhaps more than you do But I dont see how it affects you or me
The point is this Dad Nella continued Hes tried to commit suicide—hes so hipped Yes real suicide He took laudanum last night It didnt kill him straight off—hes got over the first shock but hes in a very weak state and he means to die And I truly believe he will die Now if you could let him have that million Dad you would save his life
Nellas item of news was a considerable and disconcerting surprise to Racksole but he hid his feelings fairly well
I havent the least desire to save his life Nell I dont overmuch respect your Prince Eugen Ive done what I could for him—but only for the sake of seeing fair play and because I object to conspiracies and secret murders
Its a different thing if he wants to kill himself What I say is Let him
Who is responsible for his being in debt to the tune of a million pounds Hes only got himself and his bad habits to thank for that I suppose if he does happen to peg out the throne of Posen will go to Prince Aribert And a good thing too Aribert is worth twenty of his nephew
Thats just it Dad she said eagerly following up her chance I want you to save Prince Eugen just because Aribert—Prince Aribert—doesnt wish to occupy the throne Hed much prefer not to have it
Much prefer not to have it Dont talk nonsense If hes honest with himself hell admit that hell be jolly glad to have it Thrones are in his blood so to speak
You are wrong Father And the reason is this If Prince Aribert ascended the throne of Posen he would be compelled to marry a Princess
Well A Prince ought to marry a Princess
But he doesnt want to He wants to give up all his royal rights and live as a subject He wants to marry a woman who isnt a Princess
Is she rich
Her father is said the girl Oh Dad cant you guess He—he loves me Her head fell on Theodores shoulder and she began to cry
The millionaire whistled a very high note Nell he said at length And you Do you sort of cling to him
Dad she answered you are stupid Do you imagine I should worry myself like this if I didnt She smiled through her tears She knew from her fathers tone that she had accomplished a victory
Its a mighty queer arrangement Theodore remarked But of course if you think itll be of any use you had better go down and tell your Prince Eugen that that million can be fixed up if he really needs it I expect therell be decent security or Sampson Levi wouldnt have mixed himself up in it
Thanks Dad Dont come with me I may manage better alone
She gave a formal little curtsey and disappeared Racksole who had the talent so necessary to millionaires of attending to several matters at once the large with the small went off to give orders about the breakfast and the remuneration of his assistant of the evening before Mr George Hazell He then sent an invitation to Mr Felix Babylons room asking that gentleman to take breakfast with him After he had related to Babylon the history of Jules capture and had a long discussion with him upon several points of hôtel management and especially as to the guarding of winecellars Racksole put on his hat sallied forth into the Strand hailed a hansom and was driven to the City The order and nature of his operations there were too complex and technical to be described here
When Nella returned to the State bedroom both the doctor and the great specialist were again in attendance The two physicians moved away from the bedside as she entered and began to talk quietly together in the embrasure of the window
A curious case said the specialist
Yes Of course as you say its a neurotic temperament thats at the bottom of the trouble When youve got that and a vigorous constitution working one against the other the results are apt to be distinctly curious
Do you consider there is any hope Sir Charles
If I had seen him when he recovered consciousness I should have said there was hope Frankly when I left last night or rather this morning I didnt expect to see the Prince alive again—let alone conscious and able to talk According to all the rules of the game he ought to get over the shock to the system with perfect ease and certainty But I dont think he will I dont think he wants to And moreover I think he is still under the influence of suicidal mania If he had a razor he would cut his throat You must keep his strength up Inject if necessary I will come in this afternoon I am due now at St Jamess Palace And the specialist hurried away with an elaborate bow and a few hasty words of polite reassurances to Prince Aribert
When he had gone Prince Aribert took the other doctor aside Forget everything doctor he said except that I am one man and you are another and tell me the truth Shall you be able to save his Highness Tell me the truth
There is no truth was the doctors reply The future is not in our hands Prince
But you are hopeful Yes or no
The doctor looked at Prince Aribert No he said shortly I am not I am never hopeful when the patient is not on my side
You mean—
I mean that his Royal Highness has no desire to live You must have observed that
Only too well said Aribert
And you are aware of the cause
Aribert nodded an affirmative
But cannot remove it
No said Aribert He felt a touch on his sleeve It was Nellas finger
With a gesture she beckoned him towards the anteroom
If you choose she said when they were alone Prince Eugen can be saved
I have arranged it
You have arranged it He bent over her almost with an air of alarm Go and tell him that the million pounds which is so necessary to his happiness will be forthcoming Tell him that it will be forthcoming today if that will be any satisfaction to him
But what do you mean by this Nella
I mean what I say Aribert and she sought his hand and took it in hers
Just what I say If a million pounds will save Prince Eugens life it is at his disposal
But how—how have you managed it By what miracle
My father she replied softly will do anything that I ask him Do not let us waste time Go and tell Eugen it is arranged that all will be well
Go
But we cannot accept this—this enormous this incredible favour It is impossible
Aribert she said quickly remember you are not in Posen holding a Court reception You are in England and you are talking to an American girl who has always been in the habit of having her own way
The Prince threw up his hands and went back in to the bedroom The doctor was at a table writing out a prescription Aribert approached the bedside his heart beating furiously Eugen greeted him with a faint fatigued smile
Eugen he whispered listen carefully to me I have news With the assistance of friends I have arranged to borrow that million for you It is quite settled and you may rely on it But you must get better Do you hear me
Eugen almost sat up in bed Tell me I am not delirious he exclaimed
Of course you arent Aribert replied But you mustnt sit up You must take care of yourself
Who will lend the money Eugen asked in a feeble happy whisper
Never mind You shall hear later Devote yourself now to getting better
The change in the patients face was extraordinary His mind seemed to have put on an entirely different aspect The doctor was startled to hear him murmur a request for food As for Aribert he sat down overcome by the turmoil of his own thoughts Till that moment he felt that he had never appreciated the value and the marvellous power of mere money of the lucre which philosophers pretend to despise and men sell their souls for His heart almost burst in its admiration for that extraordinary Nella who by mere personal force had raised two men out of the deepest slough of despair to the blissful heights of hope and happiness These AngloSaxons he said to himself what a race
By the afternoon Eugen was noticeably and distinctly better The physicians puzzled for the third time by the progress of the case announced now that all danger was past The tone of the announcement seemed to Aribert to imply that the fortunate issue was due wholly to unrivalled medical skill but perhaps Aribert was mistaken Anyhow he was in a most charitable mood and prepared to forgive anything
Nella he said a little later when they were by themselves again in the antechamber what am I to say to you How can I thank you How can I thank your father
You had better not thank my father she said Dad will affect to regard the thing as a purely business transaction as of course it is As for me you can—you can—
Well
Kiss me she said There Are you sure youve formally proposed to me mon prince
Ah Nell he exclaimed putting his arms round her again Be mine That is all I want
Youll find she said that youll want Dads consent too
Will he make difficulties He could not Nell—not with you
Better ask him she said sweetly
A moment later Racksole himself entered the room Going on all right he enquired pointing to the bedroom Excellently the lovers answered together and they both blushed
Ah said Racksole Then if thats so and you can spare a minute Ive something to show you Prince
Chapter Thirty CONCLUSION
IVE a great deal to tell you Prince Racksole began as soon as they were out of the room and also as I said something to show you Will you come to my room We will talk there first The whole hôtel is humming with excitement
With pleasure said Aribert
Glad his Highness Prince Eugen is recovering Racksole said urged by considerations of politeness
Ah As to that— Aribert began If you dont mind well discuss that later Prince Racksole interrupted him
They were in the proprietors private room
I want to tell you all about last night Racksole resumed about my capture of Jules and my examination of him this morning And he launched into a full account of the whole thing down to the least details You see he concluded that our suspicions as to Bosnia were tolerably correct But as regards Bosnia the more I think about it the surer I feel that nothing can be done to bring their criminal politicians to justice
And as to Jules what do you propose to do
Come this way said Racksole and led Aribert to another room A sofa in this room was covered with a linen cloth Racksole lifted the cloth—he could never deny himself a dramatic moment—and disclosed the body of a dead man
It was Jules dead but without a scratch or mark on him
I have sent for the police—not a street constable but an official from Scotland Yard said Racksole
How did this happen Aribert asked amazed and startled I understood you to say that he was safely immured in the bedroom
So he was Racksole replied I went up there this afternoon chiefly to take him some food The commissionaire was on guard at the door He had heard no noise nothing unusual Yet when I entered the room Jules was gone
He had by some means or other loosened his fastenings he had then managed to take the door off the wardrobe He had moved the bed in front of the window and by pushing the wardrobe door three parts out of the window and lodging the inside end of it under the rail at the head of the bed he had provided himself with a sort of insecure platform outside the window All this he did without making the least sound He must then have got through the window and stood on the little platform With his fingers he would just be able to reach the outer edge of the wide cornice under the roof of the hôtel By main strength of arms he had swung himself on to this cornice and so got on to the roof proper He would then have the run of the whole roof
At the side of the building facing Salisbury Lane there is an iron fireescape which runs right down from the ridge of the roof into a little sunk yard level with the cellars Jules must have thought that his escape was accomplished But it unfortunately happened that one rung in the iron escapeladder had rusted rotten through being badly painted It gave way and Jules not expecting anything of the kind fell to the ground That was the end of all his cleverness and ingenuity
As Racksole ceased speaking he replaced the linen cloth with a gesture from which reverence was not wholly absent
When the grave had closed over the dark and tempestuous career of Tom Jackson once the pride of the Grand Babylon there was little trouble for the people whose adventures we have described Miss Spencer that yellowhaired faithful slave and attendant of a brilliant scoundrel was never heard of again Possibly to this day she survives a mystery to her fellowcreatures in the pension of some cheap foreign boardinghouse As for Rocco he certainly was heard of again Several years after the events set down it came to the knowledge of Felix Babylon that the unrivalled Rocco had reached Buenos Aires and by his culinary skill was there making the fortune of a new and splendid hôtel Babylon transmitted the information to Theodore Racksole and Racksole might had he chosen have put the forces of the law in motion against him But Racksole seeing that everything pointed to the fact that Rocco was now pursuing his vocation honestly decided to leave him alone The one difficulty which Racksole experienced after the demise of Jules—and it was a difficulty which he had of course anticipated—was connected with the police The police very properly wanted to know things They desired to be informed what Racksole had been doing in the Dimmock affair between his first visit to Ostend and his sending for them to take charge of Jules dead body And Racksole was by no means inclined to tell them everything Beyond question he had transgressed the laws of England and possibly also the laws of Belgium and the moral excellence of his motives in doing so was of course in the eyes of legal justice no excuse for such conduct The inquest upon Jules aroused some bother and about ninetyandnine separate and distinct rumours In the end however a compromise was arrived at Racksoles first aim was to pacify the inspector whose clue which by the way was a false one he had so curtly declined to follow up That done the rest needed only tact and patience He proved to the satisfaction of the authorities that he had acted in a perfectly honest spirit though with a high hand and that substantial justice had been done Also he subtly indicated that if it came to the point he should defy them to do their worst Lastly he was able through the medium of the United States Ambassador to bring certain soothing influences to bear upon the situation
One afternoon a fortnight after the recovery of the Hereditary Prince of Posen Aribert who was still staying at the Grand Babylon expressed a wish to hold converse with the millionaire Prince Eugen accompanied by Hans and some Court officials whom he had sent for had departed with immense éclat armed with the comfortable million to arrange formally for his betrothal
Touching the million Eugen had given satisfactory personal security and the money was to be paid off in fifteen years
You wish to talk to me Prince said Racksole to Aribert when they were seated together in the formers room
I wish to tell you replied Aribert that it is my intention to renounce all my rights and titles as a Royal Prince of Posen and to be known in future as Count Hartz—a rank to which I am entitled through my mother
Also that I have a private income of ten thousand pounds a year and a château and a town house in Posen I tell you this because I am here to ask the hand of your daughter in marriage I love her and I am vain enough to believe that she loves me I have already asked her to be my wife and she has consented We await your approval
You honour us Prince said Racksole with a slight smile and in more ways than one May I ask your reason for renouncing your princely titles
Simply because the idea of a morganatic marriage would be as repugnant to me as it would be to yourself and to Nella
That is good The Prince laughed I suppose it has occurred to you that ten thousand pounds per annum for a man in your position is a somewhat small income Nella is frightfully extravagant I have known her to spend sixty thousand dollars in a single year and have nothing to show for it at the end Why she would ruin you in twelve months
Nella must reform her ways Aribert said
If she is content to do so Racksole went on well and good I consent
In her name and my own I thank you said Aribert gravely
And the millionaire continued so that she may not have to reform too fiercely I shall settle on her absolutely with reversion to your children if you have any a lump sum of fifty million dollars that is to say ten million pounds in sound selected railway stock I reckon that is about half my fortune Nella and I have always shared equally
Aribert made no reply The two men shook hands in silence and then it happened that Nella entered the room
That night after dinner Racksole and his friend Felix Babylon were walking together on the terrace of the Grand Babylon Hôtel
Felix had begun the conversation
I suppose Racksole he had said you arent getting tired of the Grand Babylon
Why do you ask
Because I am getting tired of doing without it A thousand times since I sold it to you I have wished I could undo the bargain I cant bear idleness Will you sell
I might said Racksole I might be induced to sell
What will you take my friend asked Felix
What I gave was the quick answer
Eh Felix exclaimed I sell you my hôtel with Jules with Rocco with Miss Spencer You go and lose all those three inestimable servants and then offer me the hôtel without them at the same price It is monstrous The little man laughed heartily at his own wit Nevertheless he added we will not quarrel about the price I accept your terms
And so was brought to a close the complex chain of events which had begun when Theodore Racksole ordered a steak and a bottle of Bass at the table dhôte of the Grand Babylon Hôtel