Show I I The Old Episode Bailey of the theOld the Che C b Schemes S b m s of ol w I Colonel 11 Y I W n I Clay Olav coPY Copyright BY 1507 L GRANT RT 7 by W ALLEN G N NOld ma A I When we reached Bow street we were relieved to find that our prisoner After efter all had not evaded us It was wat Tt 1 k false alarm He was there with the i policeman and ho kindly allowed us tb make the first formal charge against him I Of Ot course on Charles sworn declara tion and my own the man was at once remanded ball bail being refused owing both to the serious nature of the charge harge and the slippery s character of the t ha prisoners antecedents We Wo went back to harles well satisfied that the man he dreaded was under lock and key myself not too t o well pleased to think that the man I dread dreaded d ded ed was no longer long r at large and that the trifling little episode of the tho 10 per cent commission stood so near discovery Next day the police came round In force torce and had a long consultation with Charles hartes and myself m They strongly urged that two other persons at least should be included in tho the charge Ce Cesarine e sarine and the little woman whom we had bad variously known as Mme PI car det White Whit Heather Mrs Mra David D Granton and Mrs Irs Ellhu Elihu If IC these accomplices were arrested they said we could Include as one ont count In the Indictment which gave ua us an extra chance chanco of conviction c Now they had got Colonel Clay In fact they naturally desired to keep him hh and also to indict with him as many as possible of ot his pals and con federates Here however n a difficulty arose harles called me aside with a grave face Cace into the library 0 Seymour he said fixing me this I II fR a serious business I will not lightly swear away any womans character t Colonel Clay himself or rather Paul Is an abandoned rogue whom I do not desire to screen in any degree But poor little Mme det she may be lie his lawful wife wICe and she may have acted Implicitly under orders Besides I dont know whether hether I could swear to his Identity leres eres the photograph the police bring tie he woman they believe to be Colo A el Clays chief female accomplice No Nor v I ask you Jou does it in the least degree resemble that clover and amus ing and charming little creature creaturo who has so often oCten deceived us In spite of or Charles gibes I flatter myself I 1 do really understand tho whole duty of or a secretary r It was dear clear from his voice he did not wish me to recognize her which as it happen happened ed I did not Certainly It resemble her Charles I answered with conviction In my voice I should never have havo known her But I did not add that I 1 should no more have known Colonel Clay lay himself in to his character of Paul or of ot young man as that remark lay clearly outside my secretarial functions Nevertheless It flitted across my mired mind at the time that the Seer Sear had made some fome casual remarks rema its at Nice about ab ut a letter Jetter in Charles Pocket pre proy st t atly from Mme and I rt further that Mme lime in tur might possibly hold certain an of Charles couched in such terms as ho ha might reasonably desire to conceal front Amelia Indeed I T must allow that under whatever what v r disguise White Heather appeared to us Charles was always that disguises de voted slave sl ve from tho the first moment momen he Ile met it It It occurred to me nH therefore that the clever little woman call her what you will might be bo the holder of more than one Indiscreet don tion Under these circumstances I Charles Charle went on in his voice I cannot annot consent to be a party to the arrest of or White Heather I II I decline to identify her In point of fact he grew gre more emphatic as he went on onI I dont think there Is an atom of or evi evl deny den n e of oC any sort against her Not he continued after a pause that I wish In any an degree to screen the gull ty now we have liked lI ed and trusted she has betrayed d our trust She has sold us to this fel low Iou I have no doubt at all that she sh e gave save him the diamonds from Amelia Amelias es s riviere that she took us by b arrange ment to meet him at Schloss Leben Lebenstein stein that she ahe opened and send to him hi himy m my rny letter to Lord CraigEllachie l Therefore I say we ought to arrest arres t But not White Heather not Jessie not that pretty Mrs Let the guilty suffer why h strike at the Innocent or at the e worst misguided Charles I exclaimed with warmth your sentiments do you honor You u are a man of feeling And White Whit e Heather I allow Is pretty enough and d ed clever lever enough to be forgiven anything You Tou may rely upon my discretion I viii swear through thick and thin that tha t I do not recognize this woman as Mine Mme Charles harles clasped my hand in silence Seymour Se mour he said after a pause with wit h marked emotion I 1 felt sure I could coul d rely upon your er honor and integ rity I have been rough upon you ou o j u sometimes But I ask your forgiveness I see you understand the whole dutie duties s of your our position Wo No wont went out again better friends s than we had been for tor months I hoped Indeed this pleasant little I might help to neutralize the possible il it 1 effects of the 10 per cent disclosure should take It ft into his heat head he to betray me to my employer As we w emerged Into the tho drawing room Ame lla beckoned me aside toward her bou how doir for tor a moment Seymour she said to me in a dis frightened tone I have treated treat treated treated ed you ou harshly at times I know anc an and d T r am very sorry for tor it But I want you yo ou u to help me in a most painful difficulty The police are quite right as to the ti charge of ot conspiracy that designing S little minx White Heather or Mrs Mr s David Granton or whatever ese else else were e tb call her ought certainly to be prose prosecuted and sent to prison too tooan anc d have her absurd head of oC hair cut ul short and combed straight for her But Butan anc c cWill d will help me here Im Fm sure door doa r I Seymour I cannot allow them to ar arTest Test my I dont pretend to t o I say gay guilty the tho girl has ha s behaved most ungratefully to me She Sh e has robbed me right and left deceived deceive d me without compunction Still StillI I puit put pui t It to you as a It married man can any an y woman afford to go into the th witness 4 y box to be and teased tease d by her own maid or orty oy a brute of a barrister on her maids information aI I assure assure you Seymour the things not to tobe tobe t o be dreamt of There are details of a ladys life known only oni to her maid which cannot be made public Explain as ens 8 much of ot this as you think well t to o Charles and make him understand that tha ot t It ho Insists upon arresting Cesarine 1 I Ii i all go 0 into the box and swear my m y licad off ot to prevent any anyone one of ot the gang gan g Itom being convicted I have told Ce e narine as much I have promised t to 0 help her I 1 have explained that I am a aher m her h r friend and that If it shell sheU stand tand by b y me Ill stand by her and by this hate hateful hateful ful rul young man of ot hers hero I saw in a moment how things went Neither Charles nor Amelia could face on the subject of one of ot Colonel Clays accomplices No doubt in Amelias case it was merely a question of rouge and hair dye de but what woman would not sooner confess to a forgery or a murder than to those toilet secrets I returned to Charles therefore and spent half an hour in composing as aswell aswell aswell well as I might these there little domestic difficulties d In the end It was arranged that if Charles did his best to protect Cesarine from arrest Amelia would con consent conent sent ent s to do her best In return on behalf of Mme lime We had next the th police pollee to tackle a amore more difficult business Still even they were reasonable They had caught Colonel Clay they believed but buG their chance of convicting him depended en entirely entirely entirely upon Charles Identification with mine to back it The more they urged the necessity of arresting the female confederates however the more stoutly did Charles declare that for his part parthe parthe parthe he could co ld by no means make sure of Colonel Clay himself while he utterly declined to give evidence of or any any sort against either of the women It was a difficult case caSO he said and he felt far from rom confident confidant even oven about the man If It his ils decision faltered faltered and he failed tailed to Identify I the case caso was closed no jury could convict with nothing to convict upon At last the police gave way No other course was open to them They had made an important capture but they saw aw s that everything depended upon securing se securing securing curing their witnesses and the wit witnesses witnesses witnesses nesses If It interfered with were likely to o swear to absolutely nothing Indeed as it turned out before the preliminary Investigation Im Uon at Bow street was w as completed competed with the usual re remands remands remands mands Charles had been thrown Into such a state of agitation that he wished he je had never caught the Colonel at alaI all allI I wonder Sey he said to me why I offer olTer the rascal two thousand a year to go right off oft to Australia and andie be ie rid rill of him forever It would have been cheaper for tor my reputation than keeping k him about aboul In courts of law in England The worst of it Is when once the o best of men gels gets into a a witness box theres no saying with what shreds and I tatters tartars o of a character he tie may at al last come ome c out of itIn it Il itIn IlIn In your case Charles I answered dutifully there can be no such doubt except perhaps as regards the Consolidated Then came the endless bother of get getting ting up the case with the police and the lawyers Charles would have re retired retired retired tired from It altogether by that time but most unfortunately he was bound over to prosecute You Tou take t ke a lump sum to let lot me off he the said jokingly to the inspector But I knew In my heart it was urea as one ono of the true words spoken in jest that the proverb tells of Of course we could see now the whole building up of the great intrigue I It t had lied been out as carefully as the Tick Tich Tichborne borne swindle Young as the brother of Charles broker knew from the tho outset all about his af at J after fl ra a gentle course of preliminary pre roguery 1 ed he b laid his plans deep for tor a campaign against my law Jaw J aw Everything had been deliberately designed beforehand A place had been found for as Amelias maid needless to say by means of forged forge d testimonials Through her aid th the e swindler had succeeded S in learning still sun stillmore stillmore more of the family ways nays and habits an and d had acquired a knowledge of certain facts f which he proceeded forthwith to t tuse o use against us His first attack as the seer had been bee n cleverly designed SQ so Q as to give us the th ne e idea that Ve we o were a mere casual prey and it did not escape Charles notice now that the detail of ot getting Mme to Inquire at the Credit Mar Marseillais about his bank had been sol mt solemnly solemnly gone through on purpose to blind blin d dI us to the obvious truth th that Colonel Colone I Clay Cla was already in fn full possession o ol of t all such facts about Is It was by Ces amines arines aid ald again that he became pos pox possessed of Amelias diamonds that he re received received calved the letter addressed to lo Lore Lord L rd CraigEllachie and nd that he managed manage d to lo dupe us over oyer the Schloss n business Nevertheless all these things thing s Charles determined to conceal in court he did not give the police poU e a single tact fad t that would turn against either Cesa Cesarine rine or Mme Ime As for Cesarine of course she left lef the house immediately after the arrest of the Colonel and we heard of or her no nomore nomore n o more till the tho day of the trial When that great day da came camo I never saw a more striking sight than the Old OI I Bailey Balley presented It was crammed t to o overflowing Charles arrived early ac companied by his solicitor He was so s u white and troubled that he lie looked mud mud much h more like a prisoner than prosecutor Outside the court a pretty little wo woman woman man stood palo polo and anxious A Are re respectful respectful crowd stared at her silently Who bo Is that Charles asked Though we could both of us guessed rather than see it U was the White Whit e Heather the prisoners wife the In Inspector inspector inSpector on duty replied wait waitIng waitIng waiting Ing to ie see sad him enter Im sorry for tor her poor thing a perfect lady So she seems Charles answered scarcely daring to face her herAt herAt herAt At that moment she turned Her eyes eye t s fell upon his Charles paused for a sec second second sec secand ond and and looked faltering There was w win In those eyes just the faintest gleam o of f pleading recognition but not a trace o othe or f the saucy defiant vivacity Charles Charle s framed his lips to words but without t uttering a sound Unless I greatly mis mistake mistake mistake take the words he framed on his lips lip s were these I will do my best fo for r him We pushed our way nay In assisted by the th police Inside the court we the saw a lady lad y seated in a quiet black dress with a becoming bonnet A moment posse passed I before be foro I knew it was Who Vho Is that person Charles asked I once more of the nearest inspector de siring to see In wHat way he would de describe describe scribe her herAnd herAnd And once more moro the answer came the prisoners wife sir Charles stared back surprised Bu But ButI t I was told tolda a lady outside was Mrs Paul he broke in much puzzled Very Vel likely the Inspector replied unmoved We Va have plenty that way When a gentleman has as many aliases s as Colonel Clay Cia you ou can hardly ex expect expect pact him to be over particular about abou t having hav ny only one wife between them can ca cayou n V you Ah Alt I r see Charles muttered in a shocked voice olce Bigamy The inspector looked stony ston Well WeH not exactly that he replied occasion occasional al marriage Mr Justice tried th the e case Im sorry Its him Sey Se my m Y whispered In n my ear ear ea mC r C He said him not he because what whatever whatever whatever ever else Charles Is he Is III not a ped pod 1 ant the English language is quite good goodenough enough for tor his purpose I only wish wisht It t had been Sir Edward Easy a man of the world and a man of so society society clety he would feel for a person In my position He allow these beasts of lawyers to badger and pester me mee He H e would back his order But Rhada manth is one of your modern modem sort of ot Judges who make a merit of ot eing what they call conscientious and wont hush up anything I admit Im afraid of o f him I shall be glad when its over Oh pull through all right I II Isaid said in q my capacity as secretary But ButI I think it The rhe Judge took his his hl seat The prisoner was brought In Every Ev ry eye seemed seem d bent upon him He was neatly and plainly dressed and rogue though he h heas was vas w as t 1 must honestly confess he looked at least leat a gentleman His manner was was defiant not hot abject like Charles He knew mew he was at bay and he turned like ike a man to face his accusers rs We VO had bad two o three counts on on the charge and arid after fter some Soma formal formate business Sir Charles was put into the box to bear witness against Fingle more Prisoner was Counsel had iad been offered ortere I him but he refused thou their aid ald The judge even oven advised him to accept a their help but Colonel Clay Claya as ag a we all called him mentally still de declined declined declined |