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Show - j &M.2h. k&LP&LlA&& I - j - . ' I I I " 1 1 ' Copyright by ta Rohmer. yr,--l.lV,?f "" Kearney was slightly ahead when the Greek paused and looked hack as Kearney observed a little memo-book, bound in green leather, lying upon the first step. . . . Without attracting attention, he stooped quickly, picked It up, and slipped It In his pocket. Here, perhaps, per-haps, was evidence! In the act of turning to rejoin Norwich, Nor-wich, who was examining a massive salver something a slight sound prompted Kearney to glance across the shadow-haunted expanse of the big room below. It opened directly out of the lobby of the bowwab and contained miscellaneous miscel-laneous bulky exhibits; a vast place In which only that one light was burning. Its dim reflection touched a distant landing. And on this landing a woman stood ! "Tonight, it Is more than regrettable, the reed voice declared. "This is the second mistake of a disastrous day. The first was the shipment of valuable goods in the Wallaroo. My plans, my careful plans to be destroyed by fools !" "Notice of change came so late. . . . The dim bell rang again. Polodos opened the padded door, and a woman came in. Her blue-black hair gleamed like a raven's wing. Her long dark eyes were ever so slightly oblique, and she had a petulant red mouth, small and delicately deli-cately chiseled features, and held her head -disdainfully high. Her long, slender slen-der neck rose above the collar of the brown ermine coat, which she held tightly about her In a manner to have reminded a critical observer of the once admired Uossettl type. Her com- jo Lung moved silently towards the door. , , , "Two men," Yu-an added. "All shall go" Ami send for the Adder. . Ind Vown clammy with perspUafon It trickled down from his hair Into his thick eyebrows. And Yu'an began to laugh. He did not show his teeth in laughter. His red lins merely seemed to thicken-and his e es closed as he .aughed-high hideous hide-ous squeals, like the amplified note of ab!V.' Kearney felt a tremendous sense of relief when he found himself out again In the narrow lane. Even the fog seemed friendly. Dimly to his ears came a sound of voices which seemed to proceed from the little courtyard they had left behind. Apparently Norwich Nor-wich did not notice these sounds. It was good to be free of that strange building, with Its silence out of which the breathing of hidden watchers seemed to come ; its ghastly emptiness, as of a place unoccupied, deserted, yet which he knew by virtue of some extra ex-tra sense to be illusive. The Arab doorkeeper, door-keeper, the Greek and that strange woman had not been the only occu- pants of Jo Lung's emporium that night. There were others many others, watching, listening. He knew It he . had felt it all the time. By virtue of some mutual understanding, under-standing, Kearney and the Scotland Yard man paced along to the neighboring neighbor-ing street In unbroken silence. But, the corner turned : "Those opals!" Kearney began. "I knew you had spotted something there !" "I had. You've got your case clearly enough if they don't dispose of them before tomorrow. Those opals belonged to Lady Dakenham, who was lost at sea ten months ago ! How in the name of all that's wonderful did Jo Lung get hold of them?" "H'm !" said the Scotland Yard man, and his tone betokened disappointment "Thorp'Q nn rnp in thnt. sir. T SUD- SYNOPSIS ! Mitt Kearney, younpr American living In London, Bays KO"'l-ly his slater Eileen, on board the Wallaroo bound for Colombo. The Wallaroo la conveying convey-ing 2,003.000 In gold to Australia. On his way homo Kearney meets Inspector Dawson Halu, of Scotland Yard, very much In love with Klleen. Ilalg is convinced con-vinced opium Is concealed In Jo Lung's warehouse. Called to other duty, he delegates Kearney, with Detective Norwich, Nor-wich, to visit the place and find out 'what he can. CHAPTER II , 2- 1 A heavy wooden gate, set in a high, old brick wall, did not look very promising. prom-ising. Partially defaced by time and weather, the name "J. Lung" might Btlll with dllliculty be read thereupon. Just beside the inscription was an electric bell push, and to this Detective Detec-tive Sergeant Norwich applied his finger. "Don't forget the AmericRj accent, Blr," he whispered. "I can't I" Kearney replied. "So they tell me here." This cul-de-sac was curiously quiet, although Its blind end terminated very near to the river bank. Here, the fog was thick again. Kearney conjured op a picture of the Wallaroo, lying far downstream, and of a cozy stateroom. Eileen would be In bed now, propped up, reading. He hoped she was happy. He was very fond of Eileen. Suddenly a small door, set In one wing of the greater one, opened quite Bilently inwards. The light of an electric elec-tric lamp of that pattern carried by the police shone Into their faces. Behind Be-hind the lamp, Indistinguishable in the darkness, appeared a stooping figure, hadowly. "What you want, please?" asked a oft, monotonous voice. Peering hard, Matt Kearney made eut that the speaker wore a dark blue turban. The doorkeeper was not, as one nilgnt have anticipated, a Chinaman, China-man, but an Arab bowwab. "Mr. Jo Lung," Norwich replied distinctly. dis-tinctly. "I hnve brought him a customer cus-tomer from the United States." The bowwab turned light upon the He exchanged a rapid glance with Norwich ; and Norwich stood like a man petrified. "'or God's sake! What was It?" Kearney whispered. "I can't Imagine, sir. . . . Ssh ! Some one coming !" "It was like . . . laughter. . . ." The emporium of Jo Lung occupied all the rooms on two floors of a rambling ram-bling old building, eight or nine rooms In all, and each one literally crammed with treasures. At times Kearney Imagined that the covered-in ways of old Damascus lay Just around the next turning; that the Street Called Straight, and not Llmeliouse Causeway, adjoined this wlnder-khan. On entering other rooms, he was transported to the Seraglio palace, and thought that he stood in the treasury of the sultans. Only the manner In which these priceless Items were displayed served to dissipate such Illusions. They were piled carelessly upon rough, trestle tables. ta-bles. Here were lacquer cabinets, chests, and caskets, antique and modern; each one a choice piece. Damascened swords, Venetian goblets, whole services serv-ices of Ming porcelain ; prayer carpets of a quality seldom seen outside a museum ; a collection of books In exquisite ex-quisite bindings; a great quantity of antique silver. A highly civilized and well-dressed Greek did the honors. "Mr. Jo Lung Is unfortunately away," he explained to Norwich. "But If I can help, I am at your service. No doubt," turning to Kearney, who was endeavoring to hide his bewilderment, "you have a definite Idea what you are seeking?" Kearney conquered his astonishment. He endeavored to recall Dawson Halg's Instructions. Jo Lung was the biggest "fence" or dealer In stolen goods In all London ! Surprise visits had never yet caught him napping. This was a new move. Detective Sergeant Norwich Nor-wich had memorized a long list of stolen Jewelry principally foreign ; and their Job was to try to Identify even one Item in Jo's emporium. On this, Haig could act . . . and the cases of opium lay In an adjoining yard I mm She was encased, mummy-like, In a long, clinging fur coat of what Kearney Kear-ney took to be brown ermine. Her blue-black hair was brushed straight back from her brow ; her small, chiseled chis-eled features resembled a pale cameo, but her lips were poppy red. Unfathomable Unfath-omable eyes were represented only by straight, nearly horizontal shadows ; and one singularly long, white, ghastly hand rested on her hip. He stared stared again . . . and the apparition had gone! Had she been watching him? Had she seen him pick up the book? Or had she any real existence at all? was she a product of his excited imagination? imag-ination? . . . In a soundproof room, well but simply sim-ply furnished as an office, a man sat before a large desk. The room was In darkness except for a shaded lamp upon this desk. Near to It, back against the wall, was a mechanism which at first glance one would have taken for a radio set The seated man, his bowed back to the room, was engaged In manipulating this apparatus; and suddenly, sud-denly, as a result of manipulation, a voice cut into the silence : "I hope to see you again on your next visit, Mr. Bronsen," said the voice. It was that of the Greek. "Sure thing. I'll be here." That was And Yu'an Began to Laugh. speaker's face, and: "I don't see you here before," he commented. "Maybe not," Norwich returned. "But I come from Mr. Bernardson. Look at this." He held out a card. Bony brown fingers fin-gers grasped it and placed It close before the light of the lantern; then: "All right," said the guardian of the gateway. "Please come in." The two stepped into a little courtyard. court-yard. The Arab proved to be a gaunt man with a lined and pock-marked face, sunken eyes and an ominous expression. ex-pression. They crossed to a corner of the yard, mounted four stone steps, and entered a dimly lighted passage, having a window win-dow with an Iron grating overlooking Kearney. There came a creaking sound of footsteps foot-steps and the slam of a door. The visitors vis-itors had gone. The man at the table disconnected the apparatus and swung about In his revolving chair. A soft black hat lay upon the carpet, with a fur-lined overcoat over-coat having a deep astrakhan collar. This man's skin resembled the peel of a dried lemon ; his jet-black hair was stretched back from a receding forehead. fore-head. Half-closed eyes were like slits in the yellow- face, and his lips were red and beautifully formed, their redness red-ness accentuated by a small, black, bow-shaped mustache which arched above them. It was a smiling face, but something In it inspired terror in the man upon whom those half-closed eyes were turned. This latter was a stalwart Chinaman, moderately well dressed In European clothes, svho might, at some time, have been a sailor. He had the mask-like, Immobile features of his race and calling. Only by a slight movement of small, sinewy hands, did he display his discomfort Slowly, the slit-like eyes in the" yellow yel-low face of the one who watched him opened and the red lips smiled. Fully opened, those eyes were terrifying. terri-fying. Some might have found it hard to define wherein their terror lay. Except Ex-cept that they seemed to be super-normally bright, they were, in an animal fashion, fine eyes. Their dreadful quality qual-ity consisted in one simple difference : their whites were really white whereas that part of the normal human eye is invariably tinted. The result. plexion was peach-like but dark, and silk-clad ankles and tiny shoes peeping beneath the fringe of a black lace frock had a dainty and patrician elegance. ele-gance. She was imperially petite, alluring yet menacing. The Greek and Jo Lung stepped aside deferentially as: 1 "Yu'an," she said, and the voice of this cold woman had a deep, warm, caressing note, "who were those men? I saw them from the stair." "Come In and shut the door," the Chinaman replied. "Did either of them see you?" "No, I don't think so." "Do you suspect them?" Polodos solicitously passed her a card. "This Is the introduction they brought, my lady, and. Mr. Bernardson had ad- vised us that they were coming." The woman took the card, glanced at It, and tossed It onto a side table. "Are you ready to leave, Yu'an?" "I have a telephone call to make to the Wallaroo," he replied. "There has been much bungling. I must speak to the doctor." He stooped, dipping his hand, a plump, waxen hand with tapering fingers, fin-gers, into an inside pocket of the heavy fur coat which lay at his feet. Suddenly he glanced up, the china white of his eyes glaring. "I removed my coat as I entered the warehouse," he said, "and carried it here. I have dropped my notebook." Something in those words broke through the high disdain of the woman watching him. Where the eyes of Yu'an had gleamed whitely, hers, in pose they must have been washed ashore. Where did the accident happen?" hap-pen?" "In the Red sea or the Persian gulf I" Detective Sergeant Norwich laughed. "Outside our beat!" he said. "Then you mean there's nothing you can act upon?" "I'm afraid there isn't," Norwich confessed. con-fessed. "Everything In the place Is of number one quality. But there was nothing that I definitely recognized. In fact, if you ask me, we were spotted spot-ted !" "Do you think so?" "I'm positive !" "Yes," Kearney murmured, "I'm afraid we have wasted our time. Somewhat Some-what annoying in view of the fact unless we can get hold of a wandering taxi that I have a long, foggy "Journey ahead." Norwich laughed again. "Hard luck, sir," he said. "There's a cozy fire, an armchair, and a pair of slippers waiting wait-ing for me at Stockwell. But my orders or-ders are to report back to Leman Street." "That being the case," said Kearney cheerfully, as they groped out onto Commercial Road East, "we part company. com-pany. I shall head towards the station. sta-tion. I'm calling Haig as soon as I get back !" Kearney peered through swirling mist along perhaps the unlovellest thoroughfare In all London. Not a figure moved as far as his sight could pierce the fog. He had done nothing to help Dawson Haig, but certainly he had secured some unique "copy" He glanced back. Norwich had disappeared. dis-appeared. He had gone ten or fifteen paces when suddenly he pulled up again A sound had reached him a short muffled scream. Stockstlll he stood' and listened. Dim, distant noises reached him, the rumble of remote lorries; that muted booming which is the llfeblood of the port of London pumping through Its many arteries; fog signals. Lie could dttect no footstep-no other sound. U was close upon midnight. Ho Pulled up again as he saw two things of Interest: one, definite, the otlu"r perhaps chimerical. Either unpleasant memories of the establishment of Jo Lung still haunted him, or he had seen a curiously small, active Vro dart nto the shadow of a doorway not twenty paces behind 1 His heart heat faster. The head tamps of what looked like a tax ,! dimly visible through fog, Ind", " aps the smnid of the iiioior, e nntl no( recognized the fact hmi Prompted him to pause, to tun,' ' (TOJiECONTlKUKD) ftiM commissions," said Norwich. (Matt Kearney was "Mr. Bronsen.") "But mostly colored gems." "Yes," Kearney broke in. "I'm commissioned com-missioned by a New York client to complete a collection of sapphires." "Sapphires !" The Greek raised heavy eyebrows. "I fear I am unfortunate. If Mr. Jo Lung were here he might be able to help you. But to the best of my knowledge we have few sapphires in stock at present. They are not," he smiled slightly, "very profitable Just now. However, you shall see." They passed along a corridor, went down three naked wooden steps and picked a way through what seemed to be a collection of lamps lamps of perforated per-forated brass, of silver, and of gold ; lamps from Arabia, from China, and from Japan. Detective Sergeant Norwich was all eyes. They entered a room resembling a small shop, and the Greek, stepping behind a narrow counter, pulled out a tray from beneath and opened It for the visitors' inspection. It was as he did so that the almost insupportable silence began to bear down upon Kearney. The treasure house of Jo Lung was the most silent place he had ever known in the heart of a city. Its silence was uncanny. . . . "Unless Mr. Lung has others In the safe," the Greek said, "these are the only colored gems In stock at present." Kearney, resting, his eyes upon the jewels, suppressed an exclamation in the nick of time. . . . The tray was arranged with some artistic care, and in Its center, under the harsh, unshaded lamp which the Greek had switched on, blazed a group of amazingly matched fire opals. Kearney clenched his teeth and bent lower, peering down. Here lay evidence to justify a search of Jo Lung's premises ! Beyond any possibility of mistake, this was the "Dakenham necklace" the famous rope of opals which his Aunt Hilda, Lady Dakenham, had taken with her upon the ill-fated voyage of the American Amer-ican yacht, Miss Minnesota, lost with all hands in the Persian gulf, less than a year before ! Yet a query leaped to his brain was it evidence? "You are admiring the opals?" The Greek's voice seemed to come from a great distance. Kearney pulled himself together. "Yes," he said, and met the unblinking unblink-ing gaze of the man's dark eyes. "If I were buying opals, I should buy these." "You would be wise. But you know Mr. Lung's methods of business?" "Yes. Even if I wanted to buy, I haven't the cash!" He was cool enough now. He added : "These sapphires are Indifferent I'm sorry." The Greek replaced the tray, and : "Perhaps you will honor us with a visit, Mr. Bronsen, next time you visit England," be suggested. "Special requirements re-quirements such us yours cannot always al-ways be met at short notice." He led them to another room. "What have you here?" Norwich asked curiously "in these cases?" being phenomenal, was horrifying. The man in the revolving chair spoke slowly, and his voice, like his eyes, was super-normal. He was a big man for a Chinese, and fleshy . . . but he spoke In a key in which Caruso sang ! "What did I tell you, my friend? Your mean soul said, 'It is business.' I said, 'It is a plot.'" "I was considering Excellency's interests." in-terests." "And this," continued the flute-like voice, "is how you consider them. You admit a disguised police officer and a stranger, tonight tonight, above all other nights!" "I believed" "I never accept excuses. Ah !" A muffled bell rang. "Open the door. Here Is Polodos." The Chinaman opened a baize-covered door, admitting the immaculate Greek. As be entered : "You were wrong, Jo Lung," he said to the one who had opened for him. He turned to the man at the desk. "Excellency "Ex-cellency was right The card was certainly cer-tainly obtained by fraud. Of one man I can say nothing, but the other was a detective." "Ah !" came the reed voice. And the speaker stood up, his eyes half-closing again. "1 am sure of it ... I was listening lis-tening to every word!" He pointed to the apparatus on the table. "No barm has been done, my lord," the Greek continued. "1 was cautious. It is regrettable, but it was remedied." The baleful glance oi those hall'-shu. eyes was directed again upon .Jo Lung opening, grew black, as though the iris distended. "Your notebook?" Yu'an, clutching the arms of the chair, continued to watch her, his drooping lids slowly, slowly covering those ominous eyes. The others were watching her also. "I said so. It contains ... our death warrants !" The woman clasped her slender throat a curious gesture. "Ah'" she cried "I am blind ! It must be ! I saw one of those men pick up a small notebook 1 It was like yours it must have been yours! On the steps from the Silver room." Followed a moment of tense silence All were watching the Greek. "You saw this, Polodos?" Yu'an whispered whis-pered in (lute-like tones. The Greek was very pale. "I had stepped back. 1 remember turning un the light on the stair." Yu'an, his eyes now apparently quite closed, turned In the woman's direction. direc-tion. "Open the door, go down to those stairs, quickly, quickly, and tell mo if you deceived yourself." Some, but not all her disdain desert lug her, the woman turned, opened the door, and swept out of the office. "Jo Lung," Yu an continued, "follow her. Your life and mine depend upon what I tell you. If those pigs have found and taken that notebook our necks are hung upon a silken thread I'here is Tog-but they must be over' laken. 1 hat book must he back here :pon this table, within un hour" "Don't Forget the American Accent, Sir," He Whispered. the courtyard. The place was stuffy and full of cigarette smoke. It was evidently the sanctum of the Arab night porter. ."Please wait," said the bowwab, leaving them together in the dimly lighted room. Shuffling footsteps died away in some dark place beyond, and Kearney was about to speak when Norwich Nor-wich shook his head urgently. Standing there in an oppressive hush, a long way off in the building, Kearney heard a sound. Although at first he failed to identify It, immediately he knew that It was horrible. It was a very high sound, between a piping and a squeal; higher thin the note of a rat. It was, paradoxically, para-doxically, bo shrill as to be nearly Inaudible. . . . Then, suddenly, he knew of what It reminded him . . . the amplified squeak of a bat! It svas chilling; terrifying; In 6"me way unclean. |