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Show A JR. A Sequel to Bulldog Drummond. CHAPTER XIV Continued 22 Carl Peterson wus no coward. In the world In which he moved, there were many strange stories told of his Iron nerve and his complete disregard of danger. Moreover Nature had endowed en-dowed him with physical strength far above the average. But now, for perhaps per-haps the first time In his life, he knew the meaning of stark, abject terror. The sinister men In black members of that very gang he had come over to England to destroy seemed to fill the room. Silently, as if they had been . . drilled to It, they disarmed everyone: then they stood round the walls-waiting. walls-waiting. No one spoke: only the horrible hor-rible imprecations of the dying Russian Rus-sian broke the silence, as he strove feebly to pull out the rifle and huyonet from his chest, which had fixed him to the wall as a dead butterfly is fixed In a collection with a pin. Peterson had a fleeting vision of a girl with white face and wide, staring star-ing eyes, beside whom were standing two of the motionless black figures as guards the girl whom he had Just sentenced to a dreadful and horrible death, nnd then his eyes came back again as if fascinated to the man who was coming toward him. He tried fo shrink back farther into his corner, plucking with nerveless fingers at his clerical collar while the sweat poured off Me face In a stream. For there was no mercy in Hugh Drummond's eyes: no mercy In the great arms that hung loosely forward. And Peterson realized he deserved none. And then it came. No word was spoken Drummond was beyond speech. His hands shot out and Peterson Peter-son felt himself drawn relentlessly t -ward the man he had planned to kill, not two minutes before. It was his turn now to wonder desperately if it was some hideous nightmare, even while he struggled impotently In his final frenzy with a man whose strength seemed equal to the strength of ten. He was choking: the grip on his throat was not human in Its ferocity. There was a great roaring in his ears, and suddenly he ceased to struggle. The glare in Drummond's eyes hypnotized hyp-notized him, and for the only time In his life he gave up hope. Tlie room was spinning around : the silent black figures, the dying Yulow-skl, Yulow-skl, the girl all seemed merged in one vast jumble of color growing darker dark-er and darker, out of which one thing nnd one thing only stood out clear and distinct on his dying consciousness the blazing eyes of the man who was throttling him. And then, as he felt himself sinking Into utter blackness, sortie dim sense less paralyzed than the rest seemed to tell him that a change had taken place in the room. Something new had come Into that whirling nightmare that spun round hint : dimly he heard a voice loud and agonized a voice he recognized. It IP Drummond's Hands Shot Out and Peterson Pe-terson Felt Himself Drawn Relentlessly Relent-lessly Toward the Man He Had Planneo to Kill. was a woman's voice, and after a while the grip on his throat relaxed. He staggered back against the wall gasping and spluttering, and gradually gradual-ly the room ceased to whirl round --the --the Iron bands ceased to press upon his heart and lungs. It was Irma who stood there: Irmn whose piteous cry had pierced through to his brain: Irma who had caused thee, awful hands to relax their grip last before It was too late. Little by little everything steadied down: he found he could see again could hear. He still crouched shaking against the ;tl, but he had fot a respite anyway a breathlug-spuce. And that was all mat mattered for the moment that and the fact that the madness was gone from Hugh Drummond's eyes. The black figures were still standing stand-ing there motionless round the walls; the Russian was lolling forward dead, Phyllis was lying back in her chair unconscious. But Peterson had eyes for none of these things: Count Zadowa shivering In a corner the huddled group of his own men standing stand-ing in the center of the room he passed by without a glance. It was on Drummond his gaze was fixed. Drummond, who stood facing Irma with an almost dazed expression on his face, whilst she pleaded with him In an ngony of supplication. "He ordered that man to brain my wife with a rifle butt," said Drummond hoarsely. "And yet you ask for mercy." He swung round on the cowering clergyman and gripped him once again by the throat, shaking him as a terrier shakes a rat. He felt the girl, Irma, plucking feebly at his arm, but he took no notice. But once again Fate was to Intervene Inter-vene on Peterson's behalf, through the Instrumentality of a woman. And mercifully for him the intervention came from the only woman from the only human being who could have Influenced Drummond at that moment. It was Phyllis who opened her eyes suddenly, and, half-dazed still with the horror of the last few minutes, gazed round the room. For a second she stared at Hugh's face, and saw on It a look which she had never seen before a look so terrible, ter-rible, that she gave a sharp, convulsive convul-sive cry. "Let him go, Hugh: let him go. Don't do it." Her voice pierced his hraln, though for a moment It made no impression on the muscles of his arms. A slightly slight-ly bewildered look came into his eyes: he felt as a dog must feel who is culled off his lawful prey by his master. Let him go let Carl Peterson go ! That was what Phyllis was asking him to do Phyllis who had stood at death's door not five minutes before. Let him gol And suddenly thi madness mad-ness faded- f rem his eyes: his hands relaxed their grip, and Carl Peterson slipped unconscious to the floor un conscious hut still breathing. He had let him go, and after a while lie stepped back and glanced slowly roun.l the room. His eyes lingered for a moment mo-ment on the deail Russian, they traveled trav-eled thoughtfully on along the line of black figures. And gradually a smile began to appear on his face a smile which broadened Into a grin. "Perfectly sound advice, old thing," he remarked at length. "Straight from the stable. I really believe I'd almost lost my temper." CHAPTER XV In Which the Threads Are Gathered Up It wns a week Inter. In Sir Bryan Johnstone's office two men were teat ed, th'j fentures of one of whom, at any rate, were well known to the pub lie. Si Bryan encouraged no notoriety: noto-riety: the man In the street passed him by without recognition every time. But with his companion it was different : us a member of several successive suc-cessive cabinets, his face was well known. Am' It Is safe to say thai never In the course of a life devoted to the peculiar vagaries of politics had that face worn such an expression of complete bewilderment. "But It's Incredible. Johnstone." he remarked for the fiftieth time. "Simply "Sim-ply Incredible." "Nevertheless, Sir John." returned the other, "It Is true. I have uhsolute Indisputable proof of the whole thing. And if you may remember, I have long drawn the government's attention u the spread of these activities in England." Eng-land." "Yes, yes, I know," said Sir John llaverton a little testily, "but you have never given us chapter and verse like this before. Incredible," he muttered. "Incredible." "And yet the truth." said the other. "That there Is an organized and well-financed well-financed conspiracy to preach Bolshevism Bolshev-ism in England we have known for some time: bow well organized it is we did not realize. But as you will sec from that paper, there is not a single manufacturing town or city in lireat Britain that has not gut a branch of the organization Installed, which can If need he draw plentifully on funds 'rom headquarters." Sir John llaverton nodded thoughtfully. thought-fully. "I must go Into all this in detail," he remarked. "But in the meantime you huve raised my curiosily most in fernally about this Black Gang of yours." Sir Bryan leaned barl la hia chair and lit a cigarette. "There are one or two gaps I haven't filled in myself at the moment," he answered. "But I can tell you very briefly what led us to our discoveries at that house In Essex of which I spoke to you Maybrlck hall. About six days ago I received a typewritten communication of a similar type to one or two which I had seen before. A certain defect In the typewriter made It clear that the source was the same, and that source was the leader of the Black Gang. Here Is the communication communica-tion :" He opened a drawer In his desk, and passed a sheet of paper across to the cabinet minister. "If," It ran. "jolly old Mclver will take his morning constitutional to Maybrlck hall In Essex, he will find much to interest him In that delightful delight-ful and rural spot. Many specimens, both dead and alive, will be found there, all In a splendid state of preservation. He will also find a great many interesting devices in the house. Above all. let him be careful of an elderly clergyman of beneficent aspect, whose beauty Is only marred by a stiff and somewhat 'swollen neck, accompanied ac-companied by a charming lady who answers an-swers to the name of Janet. They form the peerless gems of the collec- "But It's Incredible, Johnstone," Ha Remarked for the Fiftieth Time. "Simply Incredible." tlou, and were on the point of leaving the country with the enclosed packet which I removed from them for safe keeping. My modesty forbids me to tell an unmarried man like you In what portion of dear Janet's garments this little bag was found, but there's no harm In your guessing." "What the devil?" sputtered Sir John. "Is It a practical joke?" "Far from It," answered the other. "Read to the end." "After Mclver has done this little job," Sir John read out, "be might like a trip to the north. There was an uninhabited un-inhabited island off the west coast of Mull, which is uninhabited no longer. He may have everything he finds there, with my love. The leader of the Black Gang." Sir John laid down the paper and stared at the director of criminal investigation. in-vestigation. "Is this the rambling of a partially diseased Intellect?" be Inquired with mild sarcasm. "Nothing of the sort," returned the other shortly. "Mclver and ten plainclothes plain-clothes men went Immediately to May-brick May-brick hall. And they found it a very peculiar place. There were some fifteen fif-teen men there trussed up like so many fowls, and alive. They were laid out In a row in the hall. "Enthroned In state, In two chairs at the end, and also trussed hand and foot, were the beneficent clergyman and Miss Janet. So much for the living liv-ing ones, with the exception of an Italian, who was found peacefully sleeping upstairs, with his right wrist padlocked to the wall by a long chain. I've mentioned him last, because he was destined to play a very Important part In the matter." He frowned suddenly. sud-denly. "A very Important part, confound con-found him," he repeated. "However, we will now pass to the other specimens, speci-mens, in the grounds were discovered a dead fowl, u dead fox and three dead men." Sir John ejaculated explosively, sitting sit-ting up In his chair. "They had all died from the same eause." continued the other Import urb-ably urb-ably "electrocution. But that was nothing compared to what they found inside. In an upstair room was a dreadful looking specimen more like ail ape than a man. whose neck was broken. In addition, the main artery of bis left arm had been severed with a knife. Anil even that was mild to what they found downstairs. Supported Support-ed against the wall whs a red-headed man stone dead. A bayonet fixed to a rifle hud been driver, clean through his chest, and stuck six Inches in:o the wall behind him. And on that the body was supported. "But. my dear fellow." sputtered the cabinet minister, "you can't expect me to believe all this. You're pulling my leg." (TO BE CONTINUED |