CHAPTER XIV.
"YOU ARE OUR PRISONER!"
For hours Lester Armstrong lay like one stunned, turning over and overin his mind the awful revelation he had heard. That a human being,especially his cousin, Clinton Kendale, should have plotted so horriblyagainst him seemed almost past believing. Then he remembered howtreacherous he had been in his early days, and he wondered that he hadbeen so mad as to have trusted him.
"Heaven save my darling from him!" he cried out in an agony too greatfor words. To realize that she was in the mercy of such a man was asorrow so great that all else on earth paled before it. Then a mightyresolve came to him--to foil the villainous plot, weak though he was; hemust make his escape and fly to his darling's aid.
He knew that Clinton Kendale would follow out his line of action,keeping him there as long as it was necessary--that is, until he learnedall the secrets that he was so anxious to ascertain--then he would puthim out of the way with as little compunction as he would a dog. Hemight expect little mercy at Kendale's hands, when two fortunes and abeautiful young girl hung in the balance.
For hours he lay there, turning the matter over in his mind. He knew hewas terribly weak from the awful fall which he had received, and whichhad hurt his head the second time in almost the same place; but escapehe must from the clutches of the conspirators, even though he weredying.
Suddenly the key turned in the lock, the door swung open and Kendaleentered, bearing a lighted candle in his hand.
"Ah, you have come to, have you?" he remarked, seeing the other's eyesturn toward him; and before Lester Armstrong could answer he went onquickly: "You are the only one who knows the combination which opens thesafe of the late Marsh & Co., and as I intend to open it to-morrowmorning at the usual hour in place of your punctual self, it will bemost necessary for you to give me the required information."
For one moment Lester Armstrong gazed steadily into the face of thefiend incarnate before him--a look before which the other quaileddespite his apparent bravado.
"I am in your power and at your mercy," he said, "but though you tortureme on the rack I shall never tell you what you want to know. That safecontains valuable papers which belong to others; they are secure in mykeeping. You can kill me, but the secret of the safe combination willdie with me."
Kendale laughed a little short, hard laugh.
"You are mad to thus defy me," he cried, harshly, "when you stop toconsider that I can open it in any event. I can simply say thecombination has slipped from my mind. Who is there to question Mr.Lester Armstrong, the head of the firm? No one--no one. It will bebroken open quite as soon as workmen can be found to accomplish it."
The lines about the sufferer's mouth tightened; he clutched his handshard. He knew the dare devil Kendale would stop at nothing--nothing.
"I will give you until daylight to decide. I promise you that it will gohard with you if you are not complaisant."
With that he turned on his heel and quitted the room.
During all the long hours of that never-to-be-forgotten night LesterArmstrong lay there on his pallet of straw praying for strength to foilthe villain--for Heaven to direct him what to do.
For the Marsh millions he cared nothing; but his heart was wrung withanguish when he trusted himself to think of Faynie.
He knew that Kendale had kept the appointment made by himself, but forsome reason the elopement could not have taken place. A thousand causesmight have prevented its successful carrying out, though Kendale wassure of a satisfactory finish, he imagined.
Daylight broke at last; he could see it dimly through the dust-begrimed,boarded-up windows; but it was not until the sun had well risen that hiscousin put in an appearance again. Lester was suffering intense painfrom the terrible bruise on his head at the base of the brain, but heset his teeth hard together, determining that his mortal foe should notknow it.
"Ah!" exclaimed Kendale, sneeringly. "Wide awake, I see!--probably thefixed habit of years. You have, no doubt, come to a more sensible frameof mind than I left you in last night, I trust, regarding theinformation I want concerning the combination of the big safe in theprivate office of Marsh & Co."
"I will never reveal it to you," cried Lester. "Never!"
For an instant a black, malignant scowl swept over Kendale's face, butafter a moment's deep thought he turned on his heel again, laughingimmoderately as he stepped to the door and held a low conversation withthe two men who were still in the outer apartment, and in a trice theyhad joined Kendale, one of them still wearing the black mask which hehad used the night before.
"We will proceed to relieve him of his private papers, keys, wallet, andso forth," said Kendale; and, as if in compliance with some previouslyarranged plan, the three set upon Lester, and in his almost helplesscondition it was not difficult to overpower him and take from him hispossessions, which Kendale quickly took charge of.
In the encounter, owing to his exhausted condition, Lester lostconsciousness; and thus they left him, making him their prisoner byturning the key in the lock again when they reached the outer room.
"And now," said Halloran, removing the square of black linen from hisface, "what's next on the programme?"
"Our friend, the cabby, will take me back to town with as much speed aspossible. You, my dear fellow, will remain here on guard, makingyourself as comfortable as is absolutely possible under the dismalcircumstances of keeping guard and circumventing any attempt of ourprisoner to escape. You know we have great need of him yet, in forcinghim to disclose much that is advantageous to us. We can starve it out ofhim, if threats fail. As long as you have a good warm fire, plenty ofprovisions and plenty to read here you ought not to complain. You arehaving the easiest part of the bargain, Halloran, while I am doing allof the hazardous work."
"What if I should be suspected in the _role_ I am about to play for theMarsh millions? Why, it would mean State's prison instead of the fortunewe have planned for so desperately."
"You will carry it through all right," declared Halloran, confidently.
"My nerve has never failed me so far, and I'm depending on that," saidKendale, mechanically.
Two hours later Kendale was breakfasting in a fashionable downtownrestaurant, endeavoring to fortify himself with courage for the tryingordeal which he was about to face.
He had given Halloran his promise to abstain from touching even a dropof liquor, fully realizing it to be his mortal foe; but with Kendale apromise amounted to scarcely a flip of his white fingers when it rancontrary to his own desires.
He told himself that he must have a "bracer" to steady his nerves. Itwas not until a second and a third had been drunk that the proper amountof courage came to him to undertake the dastardly scheme. Half an hourlater he walked boldly into the big dry goods emporium. He had no ideawhere the private office was, but his quick wits served him in thisdilemma. Laying his hands on an errand boy who was just passing out,whose cap bore the name of Marsh & Co., he said, carelessly:
"Here, lad, take my coat up to the private office; I will follow you. Goslowly, though, through the crowd of shoppers."
With a respectful bow the boy took the coat from him.
It so happened that one of the rules of the house was that the employeesmust not use the elevators, and by the time Kendale had climbed thefourth flight of stairs he was thoroughly exhausted, the perspirationfairly streaming down his face.
"Don't you know enough to go by way of the elevator, you young idiot?"he roared, almost gasping for breath.
"You forget it's against the rules for us to do so, Mr. Armstrong,"returned the lad.
"Rules be hanged!" cried his companion. "How many more floors up is it?"
The lad looked up into his face in the greatest amazement. Such aquestion on the lips of the head of the firm rather astounded him; butthen, perhaps it had not occurred to the gentleman just how many flightsof steps the boys were obliged to climb.
"We are only on the fourth floor, sir," he responded, "and it's up theother four
flights, you know."
"Get into the elevator," commanded Kendale; and the boy turned, andwalked over to it, closely followed by his companion, mentally wonderingwhat in the world had come over courteous, kindly Mr. Lester Armstrong.
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