| Show yu an ee S cae L aug em 0 by SAX HOHMER ROHMER copyright aright by sax rohmer CHAPTER VII continued 9 dimes shrugged his shoulders to me tt it looks rather that way he agreed no man would go off alone on a desperate job of that kind with cut out getting in touch ether e ther with mr chaje here or with the comm commander anderl 1 he may have had no opportunity 1 shale suggested he ile evidently t said formin savagely but maybe for or a different reason there are halt half a doen ships on which he be or miss kearney or both of them in be at this very moment lying along here and in the canal lexe we ve spoken every ship in the port the commander assured him ia no sir they are not on board any ship the british consuls consul s face was very stern there s go as ng to be t tie e dev deill 11 to pay about this bi business b he s ud iid and I 1 im in going to be the beale oat its no good gnawing air mustache forman I 1 im in as unhappy as you are the only reason I 1 dont don t act is be cause I 1 don t know what to do it if you have any teas feas ble su suggest gest on make niale it arrest this slippery pair on board boardl 1 forman cried angrily hold em here until were we re satisfied that s my ray sug and a teas feas ble one a a a the bath of feathers never fails falls joseph josephl 1 creaked old mohammed he chuckled joseph that velvet eyed fortune teller who had led elleen eileen to the shop of mohammed smiled understandingly it Is best old father of mischief he replied that you now close your doors and leave me to carry out my orders the crate Is in the cellar it Is in the cellar old mohammed replied good and the girl Is safely on the way go now friend and report fo to the chief put in a word for me I 1 take tale up my new duties although I 1 r came soft footsteps on the floor immediately above his head don t know what they are almost at once I 1 have my letter of travel and my tickets as far as iveney after this day days s work I 1 look for a kind re caption I 1 1 I will go and make my report old mohammed chuckled I 1 shall not for get you joseph my thanks father M hammed then return to your home leave all else to me how long should he remain there they are coming for the crate at sunset you have until then but the porters must not see you old mohammed shuffled away and joseph stood for a moment by the door which opened out of the room of car pets listening then kneeling he ap pa amed ed his ear to the uncovered boards medlia mediately tely beyond this doorway pres t tee ise smiling with satis satisfaction fiction sound r or 0 mohammed s footsteps d ed away ay ka seph walked through to the little i 3 and went out locking the door aalf ind him this took tool place nearly half an hour after doctor bestler and eileen had entered the t of mohammed and perhaps twenty minutes after dawson halg haig following had passed through that door beyond which lay a space of uncarpeted pas cage sage his ills experience had been truly tern terri ble at the moment of pissing the threshold a swift suspicion of the truth had bad flisnes through his mind lie ile would have stepped back but it was too late tl TI e floor gl ded cled away beneath nim and he slot sl ot d in nn into unknown depths ile felt himself enveloped cm em braced bv ome tender feathery sub stance which broke the fall exier t that he be went nent GOWD and down into suf fo locating cating darl ness this was mas the bath of Feat nersi sl instantly davian halg haig held hi ble I 1 breath he had abigt ted unhurt on what felt like a brick floor the feathery mass mabs about him having brol en his fall he ile knew that he had one chance of life be he counted the seconds of time which remained to him if this pit should prove to be iden with that wh ch eh he had kno in S figa pore there was still hope pro vided be he could hold his breath so long one inhalation he knew would be fa ti I 1 stand ng cpr in the fluffy mass which enveloped h in he visualized his position twelve seconds had clasped and since he had n t in ini aled deeply as for a d ve h s time was sl ort lie ile stel stepped Ped back a lace ace touched the wall groped al ng it to tl ti e left and knew that he lie nas vlas under the trap reached the angle groped fi A arther and to ched the run of a lie s N u g rigl rigi t placed I 1 is feet upon the r ins and began to mount blip burgs he in anted and seemed to be free of th tho damnable feathers higher yet cat ills head ed the roof still ho hold id ng dg his breath he felt at out with his left hand 11 II s lungs lus were bursting it was as agony to hold out lie ile looked up and saw a faint gleam of I 1 through a chink in the wood work above rals ng his face towards it he began howly to inhale the scent of the drug impregnating the feathers was nauseating but the air was just breathable he ile half halt filled his lungs he knew that death must come at last if he v was as forced to remain in that atmosphere but at least he had survived came soft footsteps on the floor ira inedia mediately tely above his head 0 a a jack rattray the first officer walked out of his cabin onto the boat deck it was a perfect evening the tur blue waters of lake mirrored an azure sky he walked forward and stared stared out across the bows of the ship to where Is mailia guarded the desert behind him the radio crackled an operator came out to look for him lattray stared gravely at the message he brought what shall I 1 do about it asked the marconi man I 1 know mr kear ney Is a friend of yours its rather awful to think he doesn doean t know what happened poor old matt muttered rattray I 1 ve been expecting this any moment he ile looked up I 1 suppose there s no news none whatever mr rattray about either of them jack rattray staring hard at the flimsy suddenly 1001 ed up I 1 may be wrong he admitted but honestly if I 1 id d been in the old mans man s shoes id have shoved doctor bestler ashore at port sa d or else chucked him into the canal I 1 they were both old friends of mine what the devil can we ans answer Nver after all there s still a chance she may be discovered cant can t we sort of break the news gently well said the marconi man I 1 might reply miss kearney went ashore at port said advise communicate agents or something of that sort that 11 do said rattrap he hes s sure to send a message to me when he gets it it in the meantime I 1 shall have to think how I 1 im in going to reply but don t be surprised my lad if you hear bear the sound of a loud splash in the red sea it 11 only be doctor bestler a a a a 0 dawson halg haig had heard every word of the conversation between mo hammed and joseph it had been con ducted d erectly above his head as he crouched below the trap since he knew no eastern tongue he was as grateful to both for speaking english the cleaby tones of old mohammed were unmistakable mohammed was the proprietor and he suspected joseph to be none other than the fortune teller whom he had followed ashore later he was A as to consider this matter of language again more coolly the curious circumstance that these two did not address each other in arabic it was destined to play a big part in his lone campaign against the powers of yuan yu an bee see he detected the presence of joseph as he knelt above the trap listening he heard his retreating foot stel s s then he inhaled again cautious h and stand ii ng there in that drug la U I 1 n pit thought g hard and swiftly rahe N shining through the chink a led h s calculations thit the hinged end of the trap was to his left and fiat tint which opened to his r there is no ring on the underside but he vms as not defeated he carried a pocket I 1 nife which was a kind of small ar mory containing amongst its arm arma ments a strong corkscrew it was p t ti fully short but since it represented the difference between life and death he decided grimly that it must suf flee he groped about above him the s ran right and left parallel A th the ladder and he could find two inset cross battens the planks vere w ere strong but roughly joined he ile select ed a and set to work with ith the corkscrew it was a difficult and a nervous task the wood was tough and his ample ment fragile the tool survived the test but his lungs were j abbing badly drenched as they were R ere with fumes from the pit inhaling slowly and cautiously he held his breath and descended one step of the ladder he ile pulled gently upon the steel handle of the knife the responded requiring 1 atle effort t he ile descended a step lower and real iced that his legs were plunged into the feathery poisonous mass but now I 1 ie e could grasp the edge of the trap it proved to be carefully oiled and its opening was almost soundless seeing above him the dimly lighted passage his first natural in was to abandon the knife and to climb out into cleaner air but above all daw son haig was a col cut lous worker and a scheme wl ich was to have far reaching consequences in this very mo ment of peril took form in his bran bra n holding the trap with his left hand he detached the corkscrew and balanc ing perilously slipped the knife into h s pocket then pull ng the wooden frame fully down clown and ducking to avoid it he climbed up and reached the passage above gently he allowed the trap oper abed by spring hinges to rise again into place he ile stood still exhaling and inhaling to free his lungs of those poisonous fumes he looked right along the dimly lighted corridor he saw a closed door he looked left into the room of the carpets T there here was no sound quietly he stole out pocketing the spectacles of mr smith dawson haig set out cautiously to explore and five minutes of exploration satis sails fled him thera was no one but him self in the shop of mohammed and it was quite impossible to get out I 1 heavy locked doors iron barred windows de fled him he ile seated himself upon a square wooden chest of eileen he was afraid to think in that direction mad ness lay and at all costs he must keep cool plan every move he heard the sound of an opening door he slipped back to the room of carpets dived behind a bundle of rugs and automatic in hand waited smoking a cigarette and seemingly quite at his ease the fortune teller whom he had bad followed from the wal laroo walked along the room joseph I 1 ha ila g crouched ducking his head the man came to the doorway beyond which lay the death trap As halg haig knew there was a narrow space to right and left of the trap along one of which safety zones old mo hammed with surprising 0 agility must have skipped when he h had ad led him to what had been designed to be his finish the armenian dropped upon one knee pushed the trap fully open and secured it haig craned cautiously forward jo seph was peering down into the bath of feathers lie ile turned and walked to the door beyond tried it and uttered an tin patient exclamation halg haig ducked be hind the pile of carpets the man circled the open trap went back again by the way be he had come and paid in a few moments returned he walked walled past the raised trap and inserted a key in the lock of the closed door beyond whereupon hands apt up I 1 the armenian dropped to his knees in a flash whisked around drew a pis tol from his pocket with miraculous agility and fired as he crouched hedl crack of two shots came together joseph dropped his automatic half rose and toppled forward into the bath of feathers I 1 A stifled cough came up from the drugged pit haig stood still listening to the sickly sweet fumes had been added the tang of powder he ile visualized the street outside and realized that inter ference was as unlikely clouds of feathery dost were rising from the bath he circled around to the door the key was still in the lock he ile opened it A fl of wooden steps led down wards descending he found himself in a small square cellar on his right was a stout low wooden door corn com with the base of the pit before mm him he saw a narrow packing case undoubtedly designed as his coffin I 1 0 0 a 0 0 eileen woke from a troubled dream vaguely wondering what was obstruct ing the porthole of her cabin something to do with doctor bestler was it that doctor bestler was standing between herself and the porthole or was he standing ou outside tIde on the deck certainly erta he ha had d some part in it al though she couldn coulden t actually see him an unfamiliar stewardess was hold ing her head and very gently urging her to drink something halg haig chief inspector scotland yard on board that was a queer thing to think of kofl I 1 several years elapsed or so she cal years of the most wretched suffering mental and physical at some time during this unaccountable period she realized the meaning of that awful premonition which had claimed her at the london docks she saw a great ship sinking in a calm sea there seemed to be a booming noise as the vessel dived into blackness terrified she screamed and seemed to hear the voice of billy who was billy 7 she couldn coulden t think who billy was only that she wanted him wanted him desper abely he said its it s all right darling I 1 im here the kindly unknown woman was there soothing her and she conceived conco tved a definite terror of doctor bestler words broke through her delirium do don t worry so cherle don t worry have courage while you are with me you are safe A frenchwoman there were no french stewardesses on the wallaroo but when true awakening came eileen was unable to recognize it she could not accept her surroundings she saw a lofty room one end of which was open beyond was a flower laden balcony it had four pillars she counted them over and over again one two three four they were stone ston e or plaster but partly concealed by clovi flowers ers of course it couldn coulden t be real I 1 she touched the silken coverlet of the bed on which she layo pinched her self detected the fragrance of cluster ing roses she saw that there was a tray beside her bed set upon a lacquer table which contained a very comprehensible he hen sible risible medicine bottle a glass and a jug of water beside it was a big bowl of cut roses wildly she stared across the room towards the balcony but beyond s she he could see nothing but a cloudless sky she was aware of an unfamiliar lassi tude her limbs too had a leaden eeling feeling but as the truth of her sur roun soundings dings crashed in upon her mind she threw off the coverings and sprang to the floor CHAPTER VIII dawson halg haig stared down at the long oblong box lying upon a mud brick floor respect for the efficiency of the hee see gang began to claim him jo lung of limehouse was no more than a spoke in fn the wheel doctor bestler was merely another there was a dl reeling intelligence greater than any of these by whom the smallest detail was never neglected ile marveled at the man s knowledge of psychology the man who had laid this trap for him how could he have anticipated that his halg haig s profess on al curiosity would have led him to seek for that other entrance upon the pretext of leaving the shop by a short er route and what alternative snare had been planned in the event of his electing to leave by the door opening on the narrow street this oblong bos box was ready for him it was packed with straw a loose lid rested upon the floor beside it A tin of nails he saw and a stout hammer what had they planned to do with his body when it had been nailed in the box obviously the duty dut of the inside lous tons joseph having hauled him out of the trap in the pit had been to secure him in this coffin and then what ahat certain porters were coming for the crate at sunset he recalled these porters must not see him he must escape from the premises of mo hammed mohammed I 1 that name hao oc burred in the diary of yuan yu an hee see I 1 and under the date of the walla roos roo s arrival at port said I 1 elleen s abduction had bad been planned in lon lola don donl calm billy i he said aloud pull yourself together go 00 easy he lie considered |
