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Show I BLACK GANGI By CYRIL NcNEILE J ' sapper ::: ::; CopvdlvGEORQBHDOMNca ;:: ; ; ! n --T ... " E5"to CHAPTER XIV 21 la Which a Murderer Is Murdered Mur-dered at Maybrick Hall "You appear to have a wonderful faculty for remaining alive, my young friend," remarked Peterson two minutes min-utes later, gazing benevolently at Drummond over his clerical collar. "You can't Imagine the unpleasant surprise It gave me," Peterson continued con-tinued gently, "when your charming wife hailed my car. So unexpected : bo delightful. And when I realized that you were running about In our grounds here Instead of being drowned as that fool No. 10 told me over the telephone. ... By the way, where Is No. 10?" He turned snarling on the Russian, but It was one of the men behind Drummond's chair who answered. "He's dead. This guy threw ti Ira on the live wires." "Do you mean to say," said the Russian Rus-sian In his harsh voice, "that It was only this man Drummond outside therer "You have guessed It, Adolph," answered an-swered Drummond, speaking mechanically. mechan-ically. It had seemed to him, suddenly, sudden-ly, that, unseen by the others, Phyllis was trying to convey some message. "Alone I did It, to say nothing of that squib-faced bird upstairs with the long arms. In fact, without wishing to exaggerate, ex-aggerate, I think the total bag Is five." What was she trying to make him understand? And then suddenly she began to laugh hysterically, and he half rose from his seat, only to sit down again abruptly as he felt the cold ring of a revolver pressed Into the nape of his neck. .' "Three and two make five," said Phyllis, half laughing and half crying, "and one makes sir. I worked It out tonight, and It all came right." She went on aimlessly for a while In the same strain, till the Russian swung round on her with a snarl, and told her to shut her mouth. He was talking In low tones to Peterson, and, with one searching look at Hugh, she relapsed into silence. There was no hysteria in that look, and his heart began to pound suddenly in his excitement. excite-ment. For 3256 Mayfair was the number num-ber of Peter Darrell's telephone, and she could only mean one thing that she had got through to Peter before she stopped the car. And If that was so there was still hope, If only he could gain time. First how long did he want? Two hours at least: three if possible. To round up all the gang and get cars in the middle of the night would take time two hours at the very least. Secondly and there was the crux how was he going to get such a respite? For this time he could not hope for another mistake. It was the end, and h knew it. No trace of mercy showed in the faces of the three men opposite Llm. He caught occasional remarks, and after n while he realized what the matter under discussion was. Evidently Evi-dently the red-headed Russian was in favor of killing him violently, and at pnce and It was Count Zadowa who was advocating caution, while Peterson Peter-son sat between them listening impassively, impas-sively, with his eyes fixed on Drummond. Drum-mond. "I know the Black Gang," Zadowa was saying. "You don't. And they know me." Then he heard the word "accident" repeated several times, and a, at length Yulowskl shrugged his shoul-! shoul-! ders and leaned back In his chair. "Have It your own way," he remarked. re-marked. "I don't care how they're killed, as long as they are killed. If you think It's necessary to pretend there has been an accident, we'll have an accident. The only point Is what sort of an accident." It was left to Carl Peterson to decide de-cide matters. "Nothing is easier," he remarked suavely, and his eyes were still fixed on Drummond. "We are discussing, my young friend." he continued, raising rais-ing ills voice slightly, "the best way of getting rid of you and your charming wife. I regret that she must share your fate, but I see no way out of it. To keep her permanently about the premises would be too great an Inconvenience; Incon-venience; and since we can't let her go without involving ourselves In unpleasant un-pleasant notoriety. I fear as I said that she must Join you. My friend Yulowskl wishes to bayonet you both, and bury you In the grounds. He has done a lot of that sort of thing in his time, and I believe I am right in stating stat-ing that his hand has not lost Its cunning cun-ning since leaving Russia. A little out of practice, perhaps: but the result re-sult Is the same. On the other hand Count Zadowa, whom you know of old, quite rightly point.- out that there are the members of your ridiculous gang, who know about him, and might very easily find out about me. And when in a few days your motor car Is hoisted out of the water, and is traced by the registration number as being yours, he fehrs that not only may In find things very awkward, but that a certain amount of unenviable and undesirable un-desirable limelight may be thrown on this part of the country, and incidentally inciden-tally on Oils bouse. As my friend ""nTTTTTTiiIi;.) Zadowa most Justly observed-we fid. an,,aCCkIent: a real eood bona-M bona-M c cldent. which will relieve the orld of your presence and will bring no scorching glare of publicity upon who rUS,e ?T any 0f m confre cnU r h . lD Eng'aDd' You y recall re-call that that was my original Idea, only you seem m the most extraordinary extraor-dinary way to have escaped from being be-ing drowned. Still, as far as It goes, h,,., 8 Tery g00d foundation to ouild on. Your car duly perceived by the gentleman of limited Intelligence who works the bridge went over the edge. You were duly perceived In It. Strangely enough, his eyesight must have been defective or else he was so flustered by your amazing action that he was incapable of noticing everything at such a moment. Because Be-cause he actually failed to see that your charming wife was seated beside .vou. In the moment of panic when she realized you had fainted, she leant forward doubtless to try and throw out the clutch. Yes" his eyes, cold and expressionless, were turned momentarily on Phyllis "I think that is what she must have done. That accounts for the not very Intelligent Intel-ligent gate-opener failing to see her. But that she was there Is certain. Because, Captain Drummond, both bodies will be recovered from the river the day after tomorrow, shall we say? some two or three miles down-stream." He was leaning forward, his elbows on the table and for the first time Drummond understood something of "You Appear to Have a Wonderful Faculty for Remaining Alive, My Young Friend," Remarked Peterson. the diabolical hatred which Peterson felt for him. He had never shown it before: he was far too big a man ever to betray his feeling unnecessarily. unneces-sarily. But now, as he sat facing him, gently rubbing his big white hands together. to-gether. Drummond understood. "Thank you a thousand times," he repeated In the same gentle voice. "And since you are so concerned about the matter, I will tell you my plan In some detull. I need hardly say that any suggestions you make on any points that may strike you will receive my most careful attention. When the car crashed into the water It carried you and your wife with It. You were both hurled out as t lie car plunged into the water, and somewhat naturally you were both thrown forward. Head "foremost, you will note. Drummond, you left the car and your heads struck the stonework of the opposite pier with sickening force. Just before you readied the water. In fact, a marked feature of the case, when this dreadful accident Is reported in the papers, will be the force with which you both struck thai pier. Your two heads were terribly battered. In fact. I have but little doubt that the coroner will decide, wheu your bodies are recovered some few miles down-stream down-stream I'm' J'ou were not In reality drowned, but that the terrific impact on the stone pier killed you Instantly. Do you think it s sound up to date?" "I think it's d (1 unsound." re-m-irked Drummond languidly. "If you propose to take me and endeavor to make mv bend Impinge on a stone W11H someone Is going to get a thick e.,r ' Besides, the bridge Isn't open, and even your pal. the not too Intelligent Intel-ligent gatekeeepr. might stick in his t,s a bit. Of eourse"-he added hone-fllIlv hone-fllIlv "vou might say you were doing , for u,e movies. Tell him you're Charlie Chaplin, hut that .vou dressed in such a hurry you've forgotten your mThe,'1red"he,uled Russian was snarl-Inn snarl-Inn venomously. Let me get at him. chief. He wot. t trv being funny again." Vhe HuMlan half rose to his feet teeth bared, and Peterson pulled him back Into his chair. You'll cet your chance In a moment or ,w yulowskl." he remarked sav-"e sav-"e P Thea he turned ..nee mor. on Drummond, and the genial look had.! vanished from his face. "Doubtless your humor appeals to some people; it does not to me. Moreover, I am In rather a hurry. I do not propose. Cap- I tain Drummond, to take you to the bridge and endeavor to make your head impinge on a wall, as you call It There Is another far simpler method of producing the same result. The impinging im-pinging will take place In this house As a soldier you should know the re-suit re-suit of a blow over the head with the butt of a rifle. And I can assure you that there will be no bungling this time. Yulowskl Is an expert In such matters, and I shall stay personally to see that It Is done. Drummond passed his tongue over his lips, and despite himself his voice shook a little. "Am I to understand," he said after a moment, "that you propose to let that man butcher us here In this house with a rifle?" "Just so," answered Peterson. "That Is exactly what you are to understand." un-derstand." "You are going to let him bash my wife over the head with a rifle butt?" "I am going to order him to do so," said Peterson mildly. "And very shortly, short-ly, at that. We must not have any mistakes over the length of time you've both been dead. I confess It sounds drastic, but I can assure you It will be quite sudden. Yulowskl, as I told you, Is an expert. He hid a lot of experience In Russia." "You Inhuman devil 1" muttered Drummond dazedly. "You can do what you like to me, but for Heaven's sake let her off I" He was staring fascinated at the Russian, who had risen and crossed to a cupboard In the wall. There was something almost maniacal In the-look on his face the look of a savage, brute beast, confronted with the prey It desires. "Impossible, my dear young friend," murmured Peterson regretfully. --"It affords me no pleasure to have her killed, but I have no alternative. To see you dead, I would cross two continents," con-tinents," he snarled suddenly, "but" and his voice became normal again "only bitter necessity compels me to adopt such measures with Phyllis. You see, she knows too much." Yulowskl handled his rifle lovingly, and his teeth showed In a wolfish grin. "Which shall I take first, chief?" he said carelessly. "The point Is Immaterial," returned Peterson. "I think perhaps the woman." Drummond tried to speak and failed. His tongue was clinging to the roof of his mouth : everything In the room was dancing before his eyes. Dimly he saw the red-headed brute Yulowskl swinging his rifle to test It: dimly he saw Phyllis sitting bolt upright, wlfh a calm, scornful expression on hr face, while two men held her by the arms so that she could not move. And suddenly he croaked horribly. Then he saw Yulowskl put down the rifle and listen Intently for a moment. "What's the matter?" snapped Peterson Pe-terson Irritably. "Do you hear the different note to that dynamo?" said Yulowskl. "What the h l's that got to do with It?" roared Peterson. "Get on with It, d n you and attend to the dynamo afterward." Yulowskl nodded, and picked up his rifle again. "The last time," he said, turning on Drummond with a dreadful look of evil In his face, "that this rifle was used by me was in a cellar in Russia on even more exalted people than you. I brought It specially with me as a memento, never thinking I should have the pleasure of using it again." He swung It over his head, and Drummond shut his eyes to open them again a moment later, as the door was flung open and a man distraught dis-traught with terror dashed In. "The Black Gang!" he shouted wildly. wild-ly. "Hundreds of them nil round the house. They've cut the wires." With a fearful curse Peterson leaped to his feet, and the men holding hold-ing Drummond. dumfounded at the sudden turning the tables, let go his arms. Yulowskl stood staring foolishly foolish-ly at the door, and what happened then was so quick that none of the stupefied onlookers raised a finger to prevent It. With Ihe howl of an enraged heart, Prunimond hurled himself on the Itns-s.m Itns-s.m blind mad with fury. And when two seconds later a dozen hlark-cowled. hlark-cowled. black-hooded figures came swarming In through the door, for one Instant th-y paused In sheer horror. Pinned to the wall with his own bnvonet, which stuck out six Inches beyond his hack was a red headed, red-hoarded man gibbering horribly in a strange language; whilst creeping toward a benevolent-looking clergy- man. who crouched In a corner, was a I man they scarce recognized as their leader, so appalling was the look ol malignant fury on his face. (TO BK COXTINTCD.) I |