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Show Wl BULL- DOG T iDRUMMOND pHnBk The Adventures of A iS sfel Demobilized Officer sW cEKfs Found Peace Dull KKlUW CYRIL MC-NEILE fCvl WrfMm J'SAPPER" d , IPLW7 yTk Illustrations by V ! iJWsJfeSHI -1V- Copyright by Geo H Doran Co "What's the matter, nlil UiIiik" he nskeii quickly. "Arc jou fculliiL' faint?" Hho shook her heml, nml grnduiilly the color cninc Imck to her fuce. 'Tin quite all right," nlie niiwereil. "It gavn me rutlier n whotk, tlmt imiii tludlng us here. You've stumbled right Into the middle of II, my friend rather sooner n iff '-tii That Is One of the Men You Will Probably Have to Kill." than I anticipated. Thut is one of the men you will probably liuve to kill. ." Hr companion lit another cigarette. "What is his particular worry!" "First and foremost tho brute wants to marry me," replied the girl. "I toatho being obvious," said Ilugn, "but I nm not surprised." "Out it Isn't that that mutters." She looked at Drummond uulotly. "Henry Laklngtou Is tho second moit dangerous danger-ous man In England." "Only the second," murmured Hugh. "Then hadn't I better start my career with the flratt" She looked at htm In silence. "I suppose you think that I'm hysterical," she remarked after n while. "You're probably even wondering whether I'm all there." Dnimmoud flicked the ash from hls clgnrette, then he turned to her dispassionately. dis-passionately. "You must admit," be remarked, "that up to now our conversation conver-sation lias hardly proceeded along conventional lines. I nm a complete stranger to you; another mnn who Is n completo stranger to me speaks to you while we're at ten. You Inform nm that I shall probably have to kill him In thu nenr future. The statement state-ment Is, I think you will agree, a trifle disconcerting." The girl threw Imck her bead and laughed merrily. "You poor young man." she cried; "put tlmt way It does sound alarming." Then slio grow serious se-rious ngnln. "There's plenty of tlmo for you t back out now If you like." Sho was looking at him gravely ns she spoke, mid It seemed to her companion com-panion that theru was an appeal In the bis blue eyes. Anil they were very big: and thu face they were set In was verv charming especially nt the nnglo It was tilted nt, In the hulMlght of the room. Altogether, Drummond reflected, reflect-ed, n most ndoiable girl. And ndor-uble ndor-uble Rlrls hnd nlwnys been n hobby of his. I'rolmbly Lnklngton possessed a letter of hers or something, and she wanted him to get It buck. Of course he would, even If ho had to thrash the swlno to within nn Inch of his life. "Weill" The flrl'a voice cut Into Ills train of thought and he hurriedly pulled himself together. "Tho Inst thing I want Is for the Incident to finish," he snld fervently. Why It's only Just begun." "Then you'll help me7s That's what I'm here for." With u smile Drummond lit another cigarette. "Tell me nil nbout It." 'The trouble," she began after n mo-nient. mo-nient. "Is that there Is not very much to tell. At present It Is largely guess work, und guess work without much of n clue. However, to start with, 1 hud better tell you what sort of men you ure up ngnlnst. Firstly, Henry Lnk-Ington Lnk-Ington the mnn who spoke to me. IIu wns, I believe, one of tho most brllllnnt scientists who hns ever been up ut Oxford. There wns nothing, In his 1 own line, which would not hnve been open to him, had ho run straight. Hut ho didn't. Ho deliberately chose to turn his brain to crime. Not vulgar, common sorts of crime but tho big things, calling for u master criminal. Ho has ulttuys had enough money to hIIow lilm to take his time over any coup to perfect hU details. And Hint's what he loves. He Is unite tin-scrupulous: tin-scrupulous: lie Is only concerned In pitting himself against thu world and winning." "An engaging fellah," snld lluch. "What purtkuliir form of crime dues lie fnvorl" "Anything that calls for brain. Iron ueru-, ami refinement of detail," she mattered. "I'rliicliuilly, up to date, burglary mi a big scale, nnd murder." "Mj dear soul I" snld Hugh Incredulously. Incredu-lously. "How tan yuii he Mire? And why don't jou tell the police?" She smiled wemlly. "Ileeutisti I've got no pioof. nml een If I had . . ." She giuen little lunhler, and left her sentence iiiilltilshed. "Hut one day, my father mid I were In Ills houe, nnd, by incident, "I got Into n room I'd never nev-er been In heroic. On u desk lay some mlnlatiiies, nml, without thinking, think-ing, 1 picked them up nnd looked nt tlieui. I happen to know something nbout miniature, nnd, to my horror, I recognized them Do you remember the thett or the celebrated Vatican miniatures belonging to the duko ot Melbourne?" Driimiiiond nodded; be wns beginning begin-ning to feel interented, "They were the ones I wns holding In my bund," she said quietly. "And Just as I was wondering whnt en earth to do, tin; mini himself walked Into the room." "Awkward deuced nwkwnrd." Driimmonil pressed out bis cigarette nnd leaned forward expectantly. "Whnt did he do?" '"Admiring my treasures?' he re-marked. re-marked. Ttetty things, aren't they 7 "Admiring My Treasurear He Re-marked. Re-marked. "Pretty Things, Aren't They?" I couldn't speak a word: I Just put them hnck on tho table. "Wonderful copies,' ho-went on, 'of the duke of Melbourne's lost miniatures. minia-tures. I think they would deceive most people.' "They deceived me, I manuged to cet out. "All the time he was Muring ut me, a cold, merciless stare that seemed to ftcezo my brain. Then ho went over to onu of the sufes and unlocked It. 'Come here, Miss Ronton,' ho suld. There are a lot more copies.' "I only looked Inside for a moment, but I hnve nuver seen or thought of such n sight. Ilenntlfully arranged on black velvet sbeles were ropes of penrls, a gorgeous diamond tiara, and a whole henp of loose, uncut stones. And In one corner I caught n glimpse of the most wonderful gold chullcod CUpjUst like the ono for which Samuel Sam-uel Levy, the Jew moneylender, wns still offering n rewnrd. Then he shut the door und locked it, and again stared nt mo In silence. "All copies,' liu suld quietly, 'won-derful 'won-derful copies. And should you ever be tempted to think otherwise usk your father, Miss Ronton. He wurned by me: don't do nnytilng foolish. Ask your father llrst."' "And did you?" usked Drummond. She shuddered. "Tlmt very evo-nlng," evo-nlng," she answered. "And daddy How Into u frightful passion, and told me never to dnre to meddle In things thut didn't concern me again. Then gradually, grad-ually, as time went on, I realized that Lnklngtim hud some hold over dnddy thut he'd got my father In his power." Her hands were clenched, and her breast rose nnd fell stonnlly. Drummond waited for her to compose com-pose herself before he spoko ugnln. "You meuttoued murder, too," he remarked, re-marked, .. . ..... v . She nodded. "I'vo got no proof," she said, "less even than over the burglaries. Rut tbero was a mnn called Oeorge Drlnger, and ono evening, eve-ning, when Lnklngton wns dining with us, I heard lilm discussing this man with djiddy. '"He's got to go,' snld Lnklngton. 'He's dangerous I' "And then my fattier got up nnd closed the door; but I henrd them arguing ar-guing for hnlf nn hour. Three weeks Inter n coroner's Jury found that Oeorge Drlnger had committed suicide while temporarily Insane. Thu same evening dnddy. for the llrst time In bis life, went to bed the worse for drink." Tho girl fell silent, nml Drummond stared at the orchestra with troubled eyes. Tiding seemed to be rather deeper than he had nntlclpnlud. "Then then was another case." She wns speaking ugnln. "Do you remember remem-ber that uuiii who wns found dend In n railway (nriinge nt Oxbey station. Ho was nn Iiallnn (lluseppu by name; nnd the Jury brought In u verdict ver-dict of deutli from natural causes. A month befote he bud tin Interview with Lnklngton, which took place ut our house: because the Itulluii, being a stranger, ciiine to thu wrong place, and Lnklngton happened to be with us at the time. The Interview finished with a fearful quiiriel." She turned to Drummond with a slight smile. "Not much evidence. Is there? Only I know Lnklngton murdered lilm. I know It. You limy think I'm fnnciful Imagining things; you amy think I'm exaggerating. exaggerat-ing. I don't mind If you do because you won't for long." Drummoml did not answer Immediately. Immedi-ately. Against Ids suner Judgment he wns beginning to be profoundly Impressed, Im-pressed, und, ut the moment, be did not qulto know what to say. "What about this other ninn?" bo asked at length. "I can tell you very little ubnut lilm," she nnswered. "He came to Tho Kims tlmt Is the name of Lnklugton's house three months ago, He Is about medium height and rather thick-set; rlean.sbnveii, with thick brown hair, flecked slightly with white. His forehead fore-head Is broad, nnd his eyes arc a sort of cold grey-blue. Rut It's his hands that teirlfy me. They're Inrge hih! white und utterly ruthless." Hho turned to lilm uppcnlliigly. "Ob I don't think I'm talking wildly,'1 sho Implored. Im-plored. "He frightens me to death tlmt man: fur, far worse than Lnklngton. Lnklng-ton. He would stop nLnothlug to gain his ends, and even Lnklngton himself knows that Mr. Peterson Is his master." "Peterson I" murmured Drummond. "It seems quite a sound old Kngllsh nnuie." The girt laughed scornfully. "Oh I the nu mo Is sound enough, If it wns his rcalontf,.' As It Is, It's about as real as bis daughter." "There Is a lady In the case, then?" "Ry the name of Irnio," said the girl briefly. "She lies on a sofa In the garden and yawns. She's no more Kngllsh than that waiter." A faint smile flickered over her companion's face; he had formed a fairly vivid mental picture of Irmu. Then he grew serious again. "And what Is it that makes you think there's mischief ahead?" he asked abruptly. The K'rl shrugged her shoulders. "Whnt the novelists call feminine Intuition, In-tuition, I suppose," she answered. "That and my father." She snld tho lust words very low. "Ho hardly ever sleeps ut night now : I hear lilm pacing up and down his room hour ufter hour, hour after hour. Oh I It makes me mad. . . . Don't you understand? l'e got to get him awny from those devils, before be breaks down completely." com-pletely." Drummond nodded, and looked uway. While she hud beeu speaking he hud made up his mind what course to take, und now, having outsat everybody every-body ele, he decided thut it was time for the Interview to cense. Already nn early diner was having n cocktail, while Lnklngton might return nt any moment. And If there was anything In whnt she hnd told lilm, It struck him tlmt It would be us well for that gentleman not to find them together. "I think," ho snld, "we'd better go. My address Is OOA Half Moon street; my telephone 12.14 Muyfalr. If any-thing any-thing huppetiH, If ever you wnnt meat me-at nny hour of the day or night ring me up or write. If I'm not In, leave a message with my servant Denny. Ho H,iibso!utely rollublc. Tho only oilier thing I ur own address." "The lurches, near Godulmlng," uu-swered uu-swered the girl, us they moved towurd the door. "Oh I If you only know the glorious relief of feeling one's got some one to turn to , , ." She looked nt him. with shining eyes, and Drummond felt his pulse quicken suddenly. sud-denly. "May I drop you anywhere?" ho asked, us they stood on the pavement, but she shook her heud. "No, thank you. I'll go In that taxi." She gavo the man un address, and stepped In, while Uugli stood bareheaded bare-headed by the door. 'Don't forget," he said earnestly. "Any time of the day or night. And while I think of It we're old friends. Can that bu done? In case I come nnd stay, you see." She thought for n moment nnd then nodded her hend. "All rlht," she answered. an-swered. "We've met n lot In London during the wnr." With n grinding of gear wheels the tnxl drove off, leaving Hugh with o vivid picture Imprinted on his mind of blue o."en, nnd white teethe und a Fkln (Ike the bloom of a suu-klssed peach. For a moment or two he stood stnr-lug stnr-lug after It, und,then ho walked ucross to his own car. With his mind still full of the Interview he drove slowly along Piccadilly, while every now and then be smiled grimly to himself. Was the whole thing nn elaborate hoax? Somehow deep down In his mind, he wondered whether It wu n Joke whether, by some frenk of fnte, be had stumbled on one of those strange mys. terles which up to dnto he had regarded regard-ed as existing only In the realms of dime novels. He turned Into ills rooms, nnd stood In front ot thu mantelpiece taking off ids gloves. It was ns he was about to lay them down on the table thut uu envelope caught his eye, addressed ad-dressed to lit in In an unknown handwriting. hand-writing. Mcchnt.lcally lie picked It up mill oiieneil It. Inolilo .vns n sllielu half-sheet of uotcpnpcr, on which a few lines had been written In u small, neat hand. "There nit) more things In heaven and earth, young man, tliiin n capability capabil-ity for eating steak and onions, and a desire for adventure. I Imagine that jou possess both: nnd they nro useful assets In the becond locality mentioned by tho poet. In htnveii, however, onu never knows especially with regard to the onions. He careful." Drummond stood motionless for u moment, wltu narrowed eyes. Then he leaned forward und pressed tho bell. "Who brought this note, James?" be snld quietly, ns his servant en mo Into the room. "A small boj-, sir. Snld I wns to be sure nnd see you got It most particular." particu-lar." He unlocked a cupboard near the window nnd produced n tautuliis. "Whisky, sir, or cocktail?" "Whisky, I think, James." Hugh enrefully folded the sheet or paper and placed It In his pocket. And his face ns he took the drink from bis uuin would hnve left no doubt In uu onlooker's onlook-er's mind as tn why, In the pnst, he bad earned the niimo of "Bull-Dog" Drummond. CHAPTER II. In Which He Joumsys to Qodalmlng and the Qm Bsglns. ONE. "I almost think, James, that I could toy wltli another kidney." Drummond looked across the tahlu at his servant, who was carefully arranging two or three dozen letters in groups. "I've got it Journey in front of me today, and I require a large breakfast." James Denny supplied the deficiency defi-ciency from u dish that was stuuding on an electric beater. "Aro you going for long, sir?" "I don't know, James. It all depends de-pends on circumstances. Which, when you come to think of It, Is undoubtedly one of the most fatuous phrases In the English language. Is there anything In the world that doesn't depend ou circumstances?" "Wilt you be motoring, sir, or going by train)" asked James prosaically. Dialectical arguments did not appeal to him. "Uy car," uuswered Drummond. "Pajamas and a toolli-brusb." "You won't take evening clothes, sir?" "No, 1 want my visit to appear unpremeditated un-premeditated James, and if one goes about completely encased In boiled shirts, while pretending to bo merely out for the afternoon, people have doubts as to one's Intellect." James digested this great thought In silence. "Will you bo going far, sir?" he asked at length, pouring out a sccoud cup of coffee. To Godnlmliig. A charming spot. I believe, though I've never been there. Charming Inhabitants, too, James. The lady I met yesterday nt the Carlton lives at Qodalmlng." "Indeed, sir," murmured James non-commlttally. non-commlttally. "You d d old humbug," laughed Drummond, "you know you're Itching to know nil nbout It. I had n very long and Interesting talk with her, and one of two things emerges qulto clearly clear-ly from our conversation. Hither, James, I nm u congenital Idiot, and don't know enough to come In out of the rain; or we've hit the goods. Tlmt Is what I propose to find out by my llttlo excursion. Either our legs, my friend, nre being pulled till they will never resume their normal shupo; or that advertisement him succeeded beyond be-yond our wildest dreams." 'There are n lot more answers In this morning, sir." Denny made a movement toward tho letters ho had boon sorting. "Ono from n lovely widow with two children." "Lovely," cried Drummond. "How forward of her!" He glunced at the letter and smiled. "Care, James, and uccuracy are essentlul In a secretary'. The misguided woman culls herself lonely, not lovely. She will remain so, as fur as I am concerned, until the other matter Is settled." "Will It tuke long, sir, do you think?" 'To got It settled?" Dmmiuond lit a cigarette and leaned buck In hie cbnlr. "Listen, Jnmes, and I will outline out-line the case. The maiden lives at a bouse culled The Lurches, near od-aiming, od-aiming, with her pupn. Not far away Is another house called The Elms, owned by u gentleman nf the name of Henry Lnklngton a nasty man, James, with u nnsty- fnie who was also at the Carlton yesterday nfter-noon nfter-noon for a short time. And now wo comu to the point. Miss Benton tlmt Is the lady's name accuses Mr. Lnklngton of being the complete IT In tho criminal line, Shu, went even so far ns to say that be wns tho second sec-ond most dangerous man In England." (Continued Next Week) |