Show I i A TALE OF MYSTERY Author of of The Th BY e Wings wg LOUIS in s of TRACY t the he Morn n A The AND ADVENTURE n e King K 1 no of D Diamonds 1 a tn O n d S Copyright Pillar 19 t 1 of by b Light Edward etc J Clode CHAPTER XIV AN ADVENTURE Mr oIl Abingdon took his departure atall at atan atau an au early arly hour dour his excellent wife was waa Indisposed and her age rendered him hima anxious a Philip wrote a curt letter tetter to Sharpe Sharp Smith He had thought to statements he said and wished to hold no further communication with Ith either Ither Sir Philip Morland lorland or his representatives rep s 1 V Then he ordered hi hl his private hansom intending to visit the Universities It was a fine evening one of those rare nights when blase bla c London abandons aban abandons abandons dons herself for an hour to the de delights delights delights lights of or spring sprint The tops of or omni omnibuses omnibuses buses passing through Park Lane were enlivened by muslin dresses and flower Covered hats Men Ien who passed in han hansoms hansoms hansoms wore evening dress without an overcoat Old earth was growing again and If folk predicted pre predicted Fl Fland that such suh an unusually high temperature meant thunderstorms and showers It t would indeed be he a poor pOOl heart that did not rejoice in the In Influences Influences of ot the moment Two powdered and md noiseless noh eless footmen threw open the thc door as Philip ap appeared appeared appeared in the hall He stood for a little while In the entrance buttoning his gloves A strong electric light he ov o owed d light fell on him and revealed his firm face and splendidly proportioned proportioned frame He cast a critical eye on a sleek horse In the shafts and smiled pleas pleasantly pleasantly antly at the driver Good Goo Ii gracious Wale he said your cattle attle are becoming as fat as yourself All n your fault sir was the cheer cheerful cheerful cheerful ful reply You dont use em cm art arC I cant pass pars my m time timo In wing being driven about town to reduce the weight of or ormy my coachman and horses Wale ale If you dont do something desperate there our name will Hill TV be an h after the w in m mour vi He Hc sprang into the vehicle v With i 11 lively lIh Kim Kira up Wale got ot his stout steed Into a remarkably fast trot A A tall man who had had been loitering ind smoking beneath the trees across the road for a long ton time sauntered toward oward a cart which was near the area gate of the next I pus fuse while the th man In charge gos goss s pod ped pr with a Beg B J pardon he said to the couple Is that Mr Ir Philip Ansons An ons place wit vita i an al Indicatory Jerk of oC his thumb Yes said the man mann manAn An n was that Mr 11 Anson himself Mho ho 10 o drove away IP in II a private cab Yes Yrs said the girl Tha It docs does one good to see a ayoung aoun ayoung young oun than dIn like eke him so jolly j and com corn comfortable i and provided with everything he h can want In the world eh ehI I wish I ad a 2 bit of or Is Js little lot tot sighed h hd the greengrocers greengrocer s assistant th a side glance dance at the maid hI he stranger laughed harshly Its It hard to say pay when yere re well T rr h hA growled Up one day and anel down dC the other You never know your luct lu A Away way he went southward His long tong longon It on the pavement near nt ar the railings I to have hae ended In Piccadilly tc r e too took tn n omnibus to the Circus and I there Changed to Another for the Ele Elephant Elephant and Castle I Fe e walker walked l rapidly through the con of mean streets which lie tic to the east ast f of that bustling center and paused at last before a house which was occupied d by respectable people Budging by the cleanly curtains and general Erat air Ir of tidiness He Ht knocked A woman appeared Dil Di D l Mrs Mason live lire there No Xo o She ki v nothing of her hr Had only been In the place eighteen months The man evidently appreciated the migratory habits of the poor too well welt to dream of or prosecuting further in inquiries Inquiries among the neighbors He strolled about reading the names over oer the small mall shops the corner public horse the dressmakers semiprivate res Vt U t last he hI paused before a somewhat grin grim establishment an undertakers ofT of f e He entered A youth was whis 1 Jing Yog 1 the th latest music hall song Do you know anything nn of a Mrs Mason liason who used to live tle in this local It about ten years Jears ago he asked Mrs Mason lason There may be forty fort Mra 11 Masons What was w her Christian name an address Mrs Hennah Mason Iason 14 H Frederick street Tie The youth skillfully tilted back Ills Ilia stool until hI he reached a ledger from a ahelf shelf helf behind him He ran his hip is eye dawn rl wn in an n index found a number and pulled out another book We Ye burled burld her on the twentieth of November nine years ago he said rattling both tomes tome back Into their places You did eh Is there anybody here who nho remembers her Something In the th husky voice of or this tark man caused the thebo boyto boy t to become less pert 7 Fathers in tn he h said Ill ring for him himi i Father came He had a vague aU memory mem memory ory N of oC the woman a widow with two h lie Ate thought Somebody helped her in her hist days and paid for the funeral pal cash according to the ledger He did not know who the friend was nor had he h any knowl knowledge knowledge edge fdge of the childrens fate rate Work Workhouse souse house ouse most probably What hat work workhouse workhouse house nome Parish of Easy to find Just turn and so With a grunt of acknowledgment the Inquirer passed Into the street He gave an eye cJe to the public house but resolutely ely quickened his pace At the workhouse he ho succeeded with some difficulty in Interviewing the master It was after office hours but as he had Journeyed a long tong way an exception would be made in his hie caseBooks case caseBooks caseBooks Books were consulted to ascertain the fate rate of or two boys John and William Mason lason who would now be aged about twenty and eighteen respectively Youthful Masons had certainly been in tide the schools s one was there at the foment loment in fact but none of them an answered snored to the descriptions supplied Tb TI workhouse master was sorry the ther r ord rda gave no clew I Again In the man sought the dark seclusion se seclusion elusion of oC the street He wandered slowly toward a main thoroughfare and Ind entered the first public house he encountered He ordered six penny pennyworth pennyworth pennyworth worth of or brandy and drank It at a It gulp Then he lit tit a pipe and went forth again That chat hat was an customer said an to the barman b E Ead ad a flee fice like a fifth firth act at the agreed the other If they knew the toast that Mason Alason had ha pledged so readily they would have hae better grasped the truth of this unfavorable diagnosis ls of his hits I Ten years penal servitude four years police p lIce supervision my m wife dead and my children lost all through a smack on the head given me by Philip Anson he communed Heres to getting even with him It was a strange outcome of oC his long imprisonment that the man should have acquired a fair fall degree of Culture cul culture culture ture He was compelled to learn In jail to a certain extent and reading read In soon oon became a pleasure to him More Moreover Moreover over he picked up an acquaintance with a mate of the swell sYell and long firm order ordera a dandy who strove to be elegant even evenIn evenin evenin In convict garb Masons great strength and indomitable courage appealed to the more artistic if f more effeminate rogue once the big man saved sayed his comrades life when they were at work In the quarries The Influence was mutual They vowed lasting friendship Victor Gre Grenier Grenier Grenier nier was released six months before Mason and the latter now crossed the river again to go to an address where he probably receive some news of oC his professed proCessed allys whereabouts name was Imparted under Inviolable confidence as that which he would adopt after acter his release His HI HIr raal ral r at name by bJ which he was convicted was something far less tess aristocratic Philips driver being of the peculiar type of Londoner which seems to be created to occupy the dicky of oC a han hansom hansom hansom som did not take his master down Park Lane along Piccadilly and so to Pall Mall He loved toed corners Give Ghe him the remotest chance of following a zigzag course and he ho would follow it in preference to a route with all the tho directness of a Roman road Thus it happened as he spun pun round Carlos place into Berkeley square sq are he nearly nearl collided with another vehicle which dashed into the square from Davies street Both horses pulled up with a jerk there was a sharp fusillade of what cabmen call and the other hansom drove droe on having havin the best of or orthe the position by a stolen yard Jard Philip lifted the trapdoor Has he a fare Wale rale Yes sir a lydy Oh Leave him alone then Other Otherwise Otherwise Otherwise wise I r would have hae liked to see sec you ride him off of at the corner of Bruton street Wade Vade who was choleric replied with such force that Philip tried to say sternly Stop that swearing Wale Beg sir Im sure but I 1 ha minded if It my myown myown myown own old keb you spot it You dont tell me so How odd And to think of a a brewers dray drayman drayman drayman man like tike that gettin old of or it Well Wale put the lid on In case his em employer empI employer pI oyer might hear any more of his sentiments Philip leaning back to laugh for I Wales Valos vocabulary was amusing if IC not fit for publication suddenly realized the queer trick that even een the s in inthe Inthe inthe the life of an individual lit hL re repeating repeating repealing pealing themselves In one day after an interval of oC many years he had been suddenly confront confronted ed by b personages connected con with the I period of or his sufferings with the very ery garments he wore at hat with the cab In which he drove from Clerk enwell to Hatton Garden Abingdon had dined him had sent him hima a message his driver even was the cabman who had made him a present of oC two shillings a most fortunate transaction for Wale as it led to his selection to look after Philips Lon London London London don stable All An who had befriended the forlorn boy in those early days had benefited to an extraordinary degree The cof cot keeper who gave him coffee grounds and crusts the old clothes man who cut down the price of his first outfit Mrs Irs Wrigley going hope hopelessly hopelessly lessly to her toil toll in a Shepherds Bush laundry Mr Ir Wilson lIson of oC Grant Grants 1 Sons the kindly jeweler of of Ludgate Hill were leach each sought out and either placed in a good business or bounteously re rewarded rewarded rewarded warded for the services they had ren rendered rendered rendered dered OBrien of or course was found a sinecure office at the Mary Anson home As for the doctor he owed his Har Bar Harley Harley ley teJ street practice to the millionaires help and patronage It Is worthy of note that Philip never wore a watch other than that present presented ed cd to him hm by bJ the police of the White Whit chapel division di It was an n ordinary English silver lever and he carried it attached to a knotted bootlace Did he but know how far the his historical historical parallel had gone that day how Mason Iason had waited for hours out outside outside outside side his residence in the hope of oC see sec seeIng ing lag him and becoming acquainted with his appearance he might have been surprised but he would never have guessed the evil that this man would accomplish and In some measure ac accomplish accomplish unconsciously He was not in his club five minutes when a friend tackled him hm for a con concert concert concert cert subscription Anson you ou are arc fend of or music Here Is a new violinist a Hungarian who wants a start I 1 heard him in Buda Budapest Budapest Budapest pest last autumn He Is a good chap Take some stalls Philip glanced at nt thep Eckstein at the I see He must be a star Who is the soprano I have hae never neer heard liar h r name before Miss lIss Evelyn Atherley read his friend over oer his shoulder I 1 dont know her myself Dine with me here tomor tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow row row night We will go and hear the performance afterward Can you ou distribute stalls among your acquaintances My IJ dear fellow I will wilt be delighted Sorry i 1 cant help a bit my mJ myself self i You are helping hm him very vey ery well I will take a dozen two for you ou am amme and me ten elsewhere for the claque You are a good chap Hello Theres Jones Jones Is good for a couple Dont Don forget tomorrow night And the enthusiast who was a terror to many of oC his friends ran off to secure another vic vie victim victim tim Philip had sent his hansom home Shortly before eleven eleen he quitted the club intending to walk wilk to Park lane by a circuitous route long tong enough to consume a big cigar He chanced to pass the hall In which the concert was to take place A few people were hurrying from the stage door Evidently a rehearsal had just taken place A short man with a huge cluster of flowing lI locks that tha offered abundant proof of his musical genius ran out with a violin case casein in his hand He was about to enter a hansom waiting near the curb but the driver said Engaged sir The man did not seem to understand so the cabby barred his way a with his whip and shook his head Then the stranger tranger rushed to a neighboring cab rank evidently an excitable gentleman with the temperament of art artA A lady quitted the hall han a few seconds sec seconds seconds later Are you engaged Philip heard her ask the cabman No Xo miss Take me to No 44 H Maida crescent Regents Reg park she said After ar arranging arranging ranging her skirts daintily she entered the he vehicle That is odd thought Philip who had witnessed both incidents in the course of a six yards walk He glanced at the cabman and fancied the man gave a peculiar look of o Intelligence to toward toward ward vard a couple oC ot fashionably dressed loungers who stood sto d In the shadow of or orthe the he closed public entrance The two men without exchanging a word to Philips hearing went to a brougham standing at some little dis distance distance tance ance They entered The coachman who vho received no instructions drove droe off in the same direction as the hansom lansom and as if to make sure he heW was vas W s being followed the cab eab driver turned to look behind him Once in Naples Philip saw a man stealth stealthily II following a woman down an unlighted alley Without a moments hesitation he h went event after the pair and was vas just in time to prevent the would be e assassin from plunging an uplifted stiletto Into the womans back The recollection of if f that little drama flashed into nto IntI his mind now there was a sug suggestion suggestion of the Neapolitan bravos air airn in n the manner in which these men stalked a girl who was quite unaware of their movements He asked himself why a cabman I should refuse one fare and pick up I another mother in the same spot The affair was certainly odd He would see fur further further further ther into it before he dismissed it from rom his thoughts The distance to Maida Crescent Cr was not great While hile thinking he was acting He sprang into the nearest hansom A brougham is following a hansom up Langham Place he said to t the driver Keep K ep behind them If they the separate follow the brougham When It stops pull up at the tho best place to avoid notice The man nodded Nothing surprises a a London cabman Soon the three ve ye vehicles vehicles hides were spinning along the Outer Circle It waa was not a a verv ve very irk ark r night |