Chapter 14

AN UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL

Sweetlips Kind returned to Desleigh with his head whirling. He could not quite understand Se�ora Guzman; and Herries, when the conversation was reported to him, likewise expressed his inability to comprehend. The two men talked the matter over earnestly, and tried to arrive at some conclusion, but the whole matter was so enigmatical that they could decide upon no course. Finally they concluded that, notwithstanding the danger of the neighbourhood to Herries, it would be best to wait for a few days, and see what action Donna Maria intended to take.

"There's nothing like waiting," said Sweetlips, "if this Spanish lady,--or rather this Mexican, as I believe she's a Creole,--if she has anything to do with the murder, it is on account of Captain Kyles, and should she think him false to her, which he certainly is, she will make trouble."

"Do you believe that she sent the sailors to kidnap Armour?" asked Herries, who was sorely puzzled, and could see no light.

"Of course she did, since she lied about the shawl. But they may have been sent to kidnap a political person who was menacing Sir Simon and made a mistake in collaring the policeman."

"But his uniform----"

"Pooh. The night was dark and foggy, Mr. Herries, and Armour wore a great coat, which did not look very official. Besides, these greasers--foreigners, remember--wouldn't know a policeman from a civilian, let alone the fact that they may have thought the political person might have disguised himself to get at his prey."

"Why do you say 'his prey?'"

"Because I am inclined to believe that the murder is a political one, after all. Sir Simon evidently was mixing himself up with the politics of the Indiana Republic to make money over the sale of ships. The man he expected was an emissary of the Republic, who got in at the window----"

"How would he know the particular window?"

"You forget the signal of the red handkerchief, Mr. Herries. With a candle behind it, that would show very plainly. Well, then, this political person got into the bedroom and killed Sir Simon. Afterwards he went out in the morning disguised as his victim."

"Why did he wait until daylight, and run such a risk."

"Because he would have run a bigger risk by leaving immediately he had killed his man. The sailors from the 'Tarabacca' were outside, and if he had fallen into their hands he might have been killed himself. Se�ora Guzman is not a woman to stick at a trifle."

"Armour, whom they thought was their man, was not killed."

"Quite so, but probably they learned their mistake, and so left the wrong man in the ditch. Then perhaps they returned to watch the inn, hoping that the real man might come out. He evidently saw them waiting, and so remained until he could escape in the morning."

Herries fingered his chin.

"All very feasible," said he wearily, "but why should I have been implicated?"

"Ah! We'll never learn that until we chance upon the assassin."

"And how will we find him?"

"Ah!" Kind shook his head. "You have me there. Se�ora Guzman knows."

"Are you sure?" demanded Herries, sitting up.

"As sure as anyone can be with so puzzling a woman. Se�ora Guzman must certainly know the members of the political party opposed to her father. One or more of those members may have come to England to thwart her mission of buying battle-ships, and so may have tampered with Sir Simon. Such a person this lady may know, and that was why she attended the inquest."

"Then why will she not accuse the right man and save me?"

"She will do so, I really believe, if you will go to her."

Herries shivered.

"No," he said quickly, "I can't trust her. She might give me up to the police."

"Well, she might and she might not. I don't pretend to understand. But the best thing to do will be to wait developments here. Kyles is still at 'Moated Hall' with Miss Tedder----"

"Yes, and they know the truth about the will by this time."

"Hum," murmured Kind, caressing his chin, "I expect so, if the funeral has taken place. Sir Simon was to be buried to-day, I fancy."

"Will you make sure, and learn what has taken place? Get Browne to see Ritson."

Kind nodded.

"I'll go to Tarhaven to-morrow. Then Elspeth is at Armour's, and can remain there for a time. As soon as we know what Se�ora Guzman intends to do, we can go to Colchester in this here caravan, and you'll be safe. Trent can hunt about as he likes. He'll never think of looking here for you."

"Ah," said Herries, glancing towards the bed, where Mrs. Kind was placidly sleeping, "that reminds me. Elspeth brought me a local Tarhaven newspaper," he produced it from his pocket. "See," he indicated an advertisement, "read that."

Kind did so. It was a paragraph offering a reward of fifty pounds for the discovery of Michael Gowrie, and a full description of his somewhat noticeable personality was given. If found, he was to be brought to the Tarhaven Police Station.

"Ha!" said Kind, laying the paper aside, "Trent is not such a fool as I expected. He knows that Gowrie, who slept in the tap-room, may be able to give evidence as to what took place on that night."

"Why,--if he slept in the tap-room, and the crime took place up the stairs? You know how well-built the walls of the inn are. Any row overhead would not be overheard by a sleeping man."

"That is, if Mr. Gowrie was sleeping," said Kind dryly. "That old cove's a blackguard, and knows more than we think. Didn't you miss some money from your pockets?"

"Yes, but Gowrie----"

"Took it. Of course he did. He knew that you had money, and that you would be sound asleep, worn out with your tramp. He, therefore, when he fancied you were in deep slumber, must have gone up the stairs and turned out your pockets. If he did so, he might have overheard a noise or voices in Sir Simon's room. I know enough of Gowrie to be sure that he would listen. What he overheard may have warned him to make himself scarce. At any rate Trent is well-advised to search for him. I never knew that Trent had so much sense."

Here the conversation ended for the time being. Herries remained in his hiding-place, and Kind strolled round the neighbourhood selling goods, and keeping his eyes open. Armour, contrary to his expectation, was not dismissed, and Elspeth stopped with him and his wife, paying visits ostensibly to Mrs. Kind, but really to Herries, at the caravan. The lovers grew fonder of one another every day, and Elspeth urged Herries to leave the neighbourhood, lest he should be captured. But this he would not do, as he wanted to find out how Maud Tedder took the news that she had been disinherited, and also he desired to learn what difference her disinheriting would make to Kyles' affections. If he was after the money solely, he would probably break the engagement, and return to Se�ora Guzman, and the "Tarabacca." If, however, he really loved the girl, he would undoubtedly try and get Herries hanged in order that she should get the fortune. But Kind could learn nothing, as after the funeral and the reading of the will, Ritson had gone to Paris for a few days, and Miss Tedder went up to London, together with Mrs. Mountford and the Captain. Without doubt they had gone to see if the will would "hold water," as the saying is, and were taking counsel's opinion on the matter. At least that was Sweetlips' surmise.

The "Marsh Inn" had settled down to its old ways. Mrs. Narby procured a slip of a girl in place of Elspeth, and treated her just as badly. Once or twice she met with her former slave in the village and scowled viciously, but she neither spoke to her, nor made any assault, which Elspeth quite expected her to do, seeing what a virago the landlady was. Perhaps the fact that Elspeth boarded at Armour's had to do with Mrs. Narby's meekness, for the woman and her husband were highly suspicious characters, and were suspected by more than one person of smuggling goods. At the back of the inn was a waterway, known as the Red Creek, from the colour of the mud on its shores, and here, it was reported, boats used to come up from the river laden with contraband goods. Armour had often watched but as yet had not been able to implicate Mr. and Mrs. Narby in wrongdoing. All the same, the couple kept quiet, and did not cross the policeman's path lest ill should come of their doing so. It was certain, therefore, that Mrs. Narby's avoidance of Elspeth, lay in the fact that she was under Armour's roof. And she was very glad of the refuge.

Meanwhile Se�ora Guzman made no move either to see Sweetlips, or to seek out the political assassin. Perhaps she was waiting until such time as Kind would produce Herries, and then, when the accused man was in her presence, she might have made up her mind to speak out. Several times, the two men discussed the advisability of trusting the Mexican lady, but Elspeth always insisted that her lover should remain where he was until her father should be found.

The girl had got it into her head that Mr. Gowrie would be able to produce evidence likely to save Herries from the scaffold, and was certain that her father would appear before long. But although she had written twice or thrice to the address he had given her in London, the old man never replied, and never appeared. It would really seem, as Kind sometimes thought, that the old scamp was himself the guilty party, and had murdered Sir Simon for the sake of the money.

The papers had been full of the crime, but now that Sir Simon was safely buried, and no trace could be found of his assassin, as Herries was believed to be, the interest in the case died away to a great extent. It was revived somewhat by the advertisements about Michael Gowrie, for Trent, not finding the local papers of sufficiently wide circulation, had placed notices of the reward in the London journals. Every paper in the metropolis seemed to contain an inquiry for Michael Gowrie, so that Herries began to think that it was not so much Trent who was seeking for the man, as Maud Tedder, guided by the advice of Captain Kyles. These two wanted the money and by the will, if Herries died, the girl would inherit. It was therefore probable, that, thinking Gowrie would be able to substantiate the guilt of Herries, Miss Tedder had offered a reward likely to bring the old man on the scene. But as the days went by, and no Gowrie appeared, it seemed as though the truth would never be made manifest by reason of the absence of the chief witness. And Herries was growing very weary of his confinement.

One evening, a couple of weeks after the burial of Sir Simon Tedder, when the weather was still damp and dreary, Kind suggested for the hundredth time the advisability, as he put it, of Herries facing the music; in other words, he really thought that the young man should give himself up. Mrs. Kind had now quite recovered, and had gone to the "Marsh Inn" to do some sewing for Mrs. Narby. The accused man was seated in the gap of the hiding-place, ready to lie down and be covered up, as soon as any suspicious knock came to the door. Kind himself, smoking a short clay pipe, guarded the door, and Elspeth, in cloak and hat, sat on the bed. The girl looked ever so much better, in spite of her anxiety, as the improved food she was enjoying at Mrs. Armour's, and her freedom from being struck and knocked about, enabled her to put on flesh. She was really becoming rarely beautiful, and no doubt the love which she had gained was helping her to become more of a woman and less of a drudge. She looked very different to the pale-faced, miserable creature whom Herries had helped on that memorable evening, when he had first set foot in that unlucky hotel.

"The case stands this way," said Kind, after a pause, and using his little finger as a stopper. "We can't do anything as matters are now. I have seen Ritson, and he says so."

"Sweetlips, surely you have not told the lawyer that Angus is here?"

"Not such a fool, my dear. But Ritson returned from Paris to-day, and I saw him by chance in the street. We went to his office, and I asked him, on, Dr. Browne's behalf, as Mr. Herries' friend, mind you, how matters stood."

"Well?" asked Herries anxiously.

"Well!" echoed the Cheap-jack, "he said that Miss Tedder was mad to find that she had been disinherited, and was still in London with Mrs. Mountford and the Captain, seeing if the will could be upset."

"Has she any money?" demanded Elspeth. "Oh, yes. Her father left her one thousand a year to get along on."

"And she is using that to ruin me," said Herries bitterly.

"You can't blame her," retorted Kind quickly, "one thousand a year is a drop from fifty thousand. However, she and her lover and Mrs. Mountford are in London, so that disposes of them for the present. Ritson is holding the property, until such time as Herries turns up to claim it."

"I can't claim it until I learn who killed my uncle."

"Quite so, and you can learn that from Se�ora Guzman."

"Is she still at Pierside?"

"Of course. I sneaked along there the other day and learned that the 'Tarabacca' was still alongside the wharf. I didn't go down to the docks as I thought that greaser I knocked down might knife me. Oh, she's there, right enough, and keeps on board most of the time."

"I wonder she doesn't go to London to see Captain Kyles."

"I wonder also, seeing that she believes, as is really the case, that Kyles is engaged to Miss Tedder. But perhaps she's got something up her sleeve."

"What can it be?" mused Elspeth.

"Well," said Kind, after a pause, "I really think she is waiting until I bring Herries to her. You see," she went on, without heeding the exclamation of the girl, "she wants to have a yarn with Herries to see how she stands."

"In what way?" asked Herries, puzzled.

"Well," drawled Kind, again filling his pipe, "if Se�ora Guzman knew that you get the money if the real assassin of Sir Simon is discovered, she would make it her business to tell who he is, because in that way she would keep Miss Tedder out of the money, and Kyles, whom she loves, from marrying Miss Tedder. So, if you'll take my advice, Mr. Herries, you'll slip along to Pierside to-morrow and see this lady. It's to her interest not to split on you."

"It sounds like it I confess."

"No, no," said Elspeth, getting off the bed and looking very anxious, "it would be wrong to tempt Providence in that way. Better wait until my father appears. He must have heard something when he was sleeping in the tap-room, and perhaps he'll know the truth."

"Se�ora Guzman knows the truth also, and she is at hand, while your father isn't," retorted the Cheap-jack.

"Are you sure she knows the truth?"

"Certain," replied Kind positively, "she hinted to me that the murder was a political one, and if that is the case, which, mind you, I am inclined to believe, she will probably know the assassin. Her father occupies a difficult position as President of that Republic."

"Hold on," said Herries quickly, "I found out something about the Indiana Republic from some of those old newspapers which your wife gave me. Have you read them?"

"No. Since giving up thief-catching I have given up reading the newspapers, which don't interest me. Rachel doesn't read them either. But we buy up old newspapers to tie up the goods in, and sell them also as waste paper. Well?"

"Well, then, Mrs. Kind gave me a few dozen of those old papers to wile away the time. I found some of a few months ago--nine or ten months to be exact--which gave an account of a revolution in Indiana. President Guzman was deposed, and fled with his daughter and Captain Kyles, whom, it seems, commanded the Navy."

"Humph," said Kind, "in that case, the yarn of buying these war-ships is all rubbish."

"No. I don't see that. The President and his daughter may procured money, and have come to get ships under the advice of Captain Kyles, so as to replace the President over the Republic."

"Might be,--the yacht certainly looked like money. But from what you say I should think that Kyles will marry Miss Tedder. It's better to get fifty thousand a year in England, than marry the daughter of a deposed ruler. If Guzman were still the President, I should say his daughter would get the Captain; but as matters stand, I think Kyles is making for the Tedder cash, and he'll marry the girl."

"He won't get the money, however," said Elspeth quickly.

"He will, unless Mr. Herries joins forces with Se�ora Guzman, and learns the truth. It's all politics, and she alone can put us on the track of the real assassin. See her, Mr. Herries--and at once."

"No, no, wait till my father comes," cried Elspeth. At that moment, by one of those odd coincidences, which often occur in life, a trembling knock came to the door. In a moment Herries was lying full length, and Elspeth had replaced the boards. While she put a chair over the hiding-place and sat down shaking with nervous fear, Kind spoke gruffly through the door.

"Who's there?" demanded the Cheap-jack.

"Eh, laddie, lat me come ben," whimpered a voice, quaveringly.

"My father," cried Elspeth, jumping up.

Kind opened the door exultingly.

"Enter, Mr. Gowrie," said he jubilantly, "you're just in time."