The Plague, Pestilence & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

by Robert Reed

  on the bed, and the little heap of twine and cord beneath the window

  told its own story .

  With a curse of rage he ran from the room .

  In a moment he had the house roused .

  In the rooms below a dozen trusted members of the “Red Hand”

  were sleeping; another dozen were out watching the roads .

  “They cannot have gone far,” said Festini . “On your life see that

  they are captured .”

  He himself went with a man in the direction of the river, the most

  likely way of escape . He knew every position his scouts occupied,

  and he half walked and half ran through the clogging marsh to where

  Gregorio had been posted . He was the most reliable of all the men

  who were on duty .

  He came to the foot of the little hummock, and called softly .

  Gregorio made no reply .

  Festini ran up the gentle slope. He flashed his lamp over a pros-

  trate form .

  “Turn him over,” he said calmly .

  He looked down at the dead man’s face, and a weary forebod-

  ing of defeat oppressed him . Without a word he turned and walked

  slowly back to the house .

  Every step he took said, “Tillizini! Tillizini! Tillizini!”

  This was the end . He knew it . His mind was less occupied with

  thoughts of escape than with a riot of plans to make his exit memo-

  rable .

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  The Premier had refused .

  He did not require the arrival of a messenger to tell him that . Til-

  lizini had located the laboratory, that fact was evident . How, Festini

  could not guess, but the last card of the “Red Hand” was not played .

  He had still the germs of this terrible disease . They themselves

  would be the first victims and leave behind their dreadful heritage

  to humanity .

  He wondered why the professor had not struck at him . Surely at

  this, the eleventh hour, he felt no compunction? Festini dismissed

  the possibility with a smile . He knew the breed too well to imagine

  that pity or any tender sentiment could influence the anthropologist.

  Then he remembered the girl . She explained all . It would be Til-

  lizini’s first care to place her in safety.

  He left word that the guard should be narrowed to a smaller circle

  about the house . He went to his room, searched his pockets and

  found letters which he had no desire should fall into the hands of the

  enemy . He burnt them, and sat down to the table to write a letter . He

  was in the midst of this when Il Bue came in .

  “Our men have found a woman,” he said .

  “A woman!” Festini jumped to his feet, his eyes kindling .

  “It is not your lady, Signor,” said the man, and the other’s heart

  sank like a plummet .

  “Where did you find her? What was she doing?”

  “Making her way to the house,” said Il Bue .

  “Bring her here .”

  In a few minutes the man returned and ushered a woman into the

  room .

  Festini, dapper and handsome in his well-fitting greatcoat, his

  feet covered with the mud of the marsh, stood, his hand resting on

  the bare table, an electric reading-lamp the only illumination the

  room possessed .

  It was innocent of furniture; save for the dull glow of the fire in

  the broken hearth, it was cheerless . The damp had stripped the walls

  of its paper, there was an indefinable air of decay in the room.

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  The woman standing in the doorway took all this in as she ad-

  vanced slowly towards him, her eyes fixed on his face.

  “Vera!” he gasped, and stared .

  She nodded .

  “Let your man go away,” she said .

  At a sign from Festini the big man withdrew, closing the door

  behind him .

  “Why have you come? How did you get here? How did you know

  I was here?” He fired the questions at her.

  She made no reply, taking off her long fur coat deliberately .

  “I have come,” she said at last, “to be with you at the great mo-

  ment .”

  His brows knit . “What do you mean?” he said .

  “You are doomed, Festini . I discovered it last night . Sir Ralph

  had confidential information from the Government, ordering him to

  be present at the end .”

  “‘The end’?” he repeated . “I don’t understand . When is the end

  to be?”

  “To-day,” she answered steadily .

  “But you, you,” he said, “why have you come?”

  She did not speak for a moment, her eyes were still fixed on his.

  “I have served you well,” she said slowly, “let me serve you to

  the end .”

  “But there may be danger for you .”

  “There will be danger,” she said .

  “I cannot allow this; go back to your friends. Leave me to fight

  this out alone .”

  She shook her head with a little smile .

  “We fight this out together, Festini. I have come to stay. They

  have traced you .”

  “Tillizini?” he asked, without resentment . She nodded .

  “He saw your car in town, suspected you, fastened a band to the

  wheel . That band bore a particular mark . I did not know this until

  last night . The police all over the country have been examining the

  roads for signs of that car . Tillizini did the rest .”

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  “I see . What is happening?”

  “The place is surrounded,” she said .

  “Surrounded?” he did not raise his voice . He was not, apparently,

  alarmed . He put the question eagerly; it seemed to her that his inter-

  est in the method which had been employed to trap him was greater

  than any dread of the consequence .

  “How do you mean?”

  She led him to the window of the room . It was on the opposite

  side of the house to that which Marjorie had been confined, and

  commanded an uninterrupted view of the country for six or seven

  miles . The overnight mists had cleared away and it was a calm, still

  night . The low hills of the horizon could be easily distinguished .

  He saw a sprinkling of lights that were familiar to him . They

  were the lights of a hamlet, two miles distant, and at intervals a

  flickering gleam told him where the road lay.

  They watched in silence . Then, of a sudden, they saw a new light .

  It was whiter than the others; it flickered three times, and was dark.

  Flickered again with irregular intervals, and kept winking and wink-

  ing, as though it were a candle blown by the wind .

  “I understand,” he said, “that is a signal lamp . Are there soldiers?”

  She nodded .

  “There are a dozen regiments on this side alone,” she said .

  “Infantry?” he asked .

  “Yes,” she replied, “and horse soldiers, and I saw guns coming

  through Witham .”

  “And on the river side?” he asked .

  “I think they have some torpedo boats . They came up from Cha-

  tham last night .”

  He walked round to the other side of the house, but could see

  nothing . He went back to his roo
m and found a pair of night glasses,

  and searched the river with a long and steady scrutiny .

  Then he distinguished the low-lying hulls of the destroyers, an-

  chored in midstream, their lights out—no sign of life .

  He nodded slowly .

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  “I understand,” he said, for the second time . “Come back with

  me .”

  He put his hand on her shoulder affectionately, and she thrilled

  at the touch .

  She had not asked about Marjorie, but now the thought occurred

  to her . He divined it before she spoke .

  “The girl is gone,” he said . “Tillizini released her less than half

  an hour ago; he also released some pigeons,” he said, with a quiet

  smile .

  He told her what had happened .

  “I think it is best,” she said, gravely .

  There was no resentment in her heart against his treachery, nor

  did he feel it necessary to explain his act, or express his contrition .

  Those two had much in common—as he had always realized .

  They took things for granted .

  “I suppose,” he said, after he had sat at the table, his head in his

  hands, deep in thought, “there is no question of surrender?”

  She shook her head .

  “They will accept no surrender,” she said . “They have come to

  exterminate you . They dare not take you for fear of your disseminat-

  ing the plague .”

  “They are very wise,” he said; “but yet I think .…”

  He bit his knuckles thoughtfully .

  “Perhaps,” he began again, then shrugged his shoulders .

  He walked with a firm step to the door and called in Il Bue. In a

  few words he made the position clear .

  “Get the rifles out of the cellar,” he said, “and serve out ammuni-

  tion to the men. We are going to make a fight for it, but I tell you

  there is no chance of escape . The least we can do is to leave behind

  a little souvenir of our earnestness and bona fides .”

  When the man had gone, he turned to Vera . “Dear,” he said, gen-

  tly, “you must go back .”

  “I have come to stay,” she said . “I want no better end than this .”

  He looked at her thoughtfully, tenderly . Then he took her face in

  both his hands, and kissed her on the lips .

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  “As you will,” he said; “it will strengthen me as nothing else

  could strengthen me, to have you by me .”

  He kissed her again, and her head fell on his shoulder, her arms

  stole about his neck .

  She was happy . Whatever other joys life had held for her, they

  were as nothing to this .

  * * * *

  An hour before dawn Festini left the woman who had braved so

  much for him, and went the rounds . A new sentry had been posted in

  the place of Gregorio . Festini was returning and crossing the room

  which had served as a common room and office for the band, when

  the tinkle of a bell held him . He turned back .

  He had had the house connected by telephone, but an hour before

  the arrival of Tillizini, though he did not know this, the wires had

  been cut . He walked to the instrument and took down the receiver .

  Was it possible that by some chance they had overlooked the wire,

  and that he could communicate with the agents of the “Red Hand” in

  London? The thought had not occurred to him before, but at the first

  word which reached him his lips curled in an ironic smile .

  “Is that you, Festini?” said the voice .

  “Yes,” replied the Count, “my friend Tillizini, I think?”

  “It is I,” said the voice calmly . “Have you nothing to say to me?”

  Festini bent his head . For a long time he remained silent .

  “I have nothing to say,” he said . “You have won and I have lost;

  that is too obvious to need any labouring .”

  “Nothing else?” asked the voice .

  Festini thought he detected a note of sadness .

  “Nothing else,” he replied firmly. “What can I say? Except that I

  lose with a good heart . After all, I have so frequently laid down my

  creed in regard to such trivial matters as life and death, that even

  now, confronting the supreme crisis of my life, I can find no more

  comforting thought than that creed offers .”

  He heard Tillizini’s voice break into a little laugh; a low, amused,

  yet despairing little laugh .

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  “How like you, Festini!” he said . “How like you!”

  “What else?” asked the Count . “You did not expect me to recant

  or to offer you terms? You would have despised me as much as I

  should despise you if you proffered me a way of escape . I suppose,”

  he asked, “you are speaking from some place of security?”

  “I am speaking from one of the destroyers,” said the other . “We

  have tapped your wire—”

  “Which is cut, I presume,” said Festini, coolly .

  “Which is cut,” repeated the other . “What of Vera?” asked Til-

  lizini suddenly .

  “I would rather not discuss that,” said Festini, a little haughtily .

  “She is with you?”

  “Yes, she is here,” replied Festini, after a little hesitation . “In jus-

  tice to myself, I have tried to persuade her to go back . I can conduct

  her outside these lines without any difficulty.”

  “And she refuses?”

  “Yes, she refuses,” said Festini . “And I think it is better so .”

  He stood with his elbow against the wall, his feet crossed; one

  who was not acquainted with the circumstances might have thought

  he was conducting a very ordinary and commonplace conversation,

  which involved more than ordinary thought, but that had not more

  than ordinary consequences .

  There was another long silence, which Festini broke .

  “In all your philosophy, Tillizini,” he said, “and I concede you a

  vast and interesting knowledge of human affairs, has it ever occurred

  to you how wonderful a thing is a woman? Put out of your mind the

  passions and the follies of life, and come down to the essentials

  and the utilitarian part of existence . Is there anything so devoted, so

  self-effacing, so purely noble? I think,” Tillizini heard him laugh—a

  bright, happy, joyous laugh—“I think that all the bother and stress

  and scheming of my life, all the crime, as you would call it, all the

  endeavour and disappointment was worth this: here is my reward,

  probably more tangible and beautiful than the ten millions we ask

  from your Government—by the way, I suppose they have adopted

  you now?” he added, mockingly .

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  “It is worth much,” said Tillizini .

  “It is worth all,” said Festini, and his voice vibrated; “without

  this philosophy is futile, life has been wasted .”

  There was another long pause .

  “You have nothing else to say?” asked Tillizini .

  “Nothing,” said Festini . “Nothing more than I have said . “Is

  not that enough?” he asked . “What a glutton you are, Tillizini,” he
/>
  bantered him . “What do you desire—a tearful repentance? An ad-

  mission of my manifold sins and wickednesses? A plea for mercy?

  King’s Evidence?” He laughed again . “You never expected that, my

  friend?”

  “No, I never expected that,” said Tillizini’s voice . “I don’t know

  exactly what I did expect . I think that is all .”

  “I will say au revoir,” said Festini .

  “Farewell,” said the other’s voice suddenly .

  There was such a long wait now that Festini thought the other

  must have hung up his receiver .

  He was on the point of following his example, when Tillizini’s

  voice spoke again .

  “And bon voyage!” it said .

  Festini laughed, and the receivers clicked together .

  CHAPTER XIX

  THE WORKING OF THE ACT

  The dawn came up greyly over Essex .

  Sir Ralph Morte-Mannery, wrapped in furs, dozing in his car,

  was awakened by the arrival of a pannikin of coffee .

  A young officer, great-coated to his ears, held the carriage door

  open, and smilingly offered it to the other .

  “I am afraid it isn’t much, Sir Ralph,” he said, “but it is all we

  can give you .”

  “Is it time?” asked Sir Ralph .

  “Nearly,” said the other .

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  Sir Ralph sipped the coffee, and, handing the cup to the waiting

  orderly, stepped out of the carriage on to the road .

  Left and right he saw troops standing under arms—khaki-clad

  infantry men—line upon line of them . Behind, on a rise, the horses

  of a field battery were being harnessed to the limbers. In the centre

  of the river the grim little destroyers lay anchored, a cable’s length

  from one another, and were swinging with the tide .

  In the centre of the flat green plain was a house. A long, low-

  roofed shed was in close proximity . There was no sign of life save

  for the lazy smoke which rose from the one chimney of the house .

  Two mounted officers came cantering up to where the knight

  stood . One saluted him .

  “Good morning, Sir Ralph; your justices are waiting .”

  He dismounted, and handing the horse to a waiting soldier, the

  two men walked along the road .

  They reached the line of soldiers which were nearest to the

  house . A long table had been set up in the centre of the road—a table

  covered with green baize, which was set about by a heterogeneous