by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XIX.
A PARTIAL SUCCESS.
Netta had been away three weeks when one morning, just as they weresitting down to breakfast, she suddenly came into the room. With a cryof joy Hilda ran into her arms.
"You wicked, wicked girl!" she exclaimed. "I know that I ought not tospeak to you. You don't deserve that I should even look at you, but Icannot help it."
Miss Purcell embraced her niece more soberly, but Hilda saw by theexpression of her face that her niece's return relieved her of a burdenof anxiety which at times she had had difficulty in concealing.
"In the first place, Netta, before I even give you a cup of tea, tell meif this is a final return, or whether you are going to disappear again."
"That we will decide after you have heard my story," Netta said quietly.
"And have you got any news of Walter?"
"I am not sure; I think so. So you have kept my secret, aunt?"
"I promised that I would, dear, and of course I have kept my word,though it was very difficult to resist Hilda's pleading. Dr. Leeds, too,has been terribly anxious about you, and not a day has passed that hehas not run in for a few minutes to learn if there was any news."
"I don't see why he should have known that I have been away."
"Why, my dear," Hilda said, "coming here as often as he does, henaturally inquired where you were, and as I was uncertain how long youwould be away, and as he had always been in our counsels, I could hardlykeep him in the dark, even had I wished to do so. Now, my dear, let usknow all about it; there can be no possible reason for keeping silentany longer."
"Well, Hilda, the whole affair has been very simple, and there was notthe least occasion for being anxious. I simply wanted to keep it quietbecause I felt that you would raise all sorts of objections to the plan.We had, as you know, thought over a great many methods by which we mightoverhear a conversation between John Simcoe and the man on PentonvilleHill. But it seemed next to be impossible that it could be managedthere. Suddenly the idea came into my brain that, as a servant atSimcoe's lodgings in Jermyn Street, I might have an excellent chance."
Hilda gave an exclamation of horror.
"My dear Netta, you never can really have thought of carrying this out?"
"I not only thought of it, but did it. With a little management the girlthere was got hold of, and as it fortunately happened that she did notlike London and wanted to take a country situation, there was verylittle difficulty, and she agreed to introduce me as a friend who waswilling to take her place. Of course, it took a few days to make all thearrangements and to get suitable clothes for the place, and these I sentby parcel delivery, and on the morning of the day that the girl was toleave presented myself at the house. The man and his wife were goodenough to approve of my appearance. They had, it seemed, three sets oflodgers, one on each floor; the man himself waited upon them, and mywork was to do their rooms and keep the house tidy generally."
Again Hilda gave a gasp.
"There was nothing much in that," Netta went on, without heeding her. "Iused to do most of the house work when we were in Germany, and I thinkthat I gave every satisfaction. Of course the chief difficulty was aboutmy deafness. I was obliged to explain to them that I was very hard ofhearing unless I was directly spoken to. Mr. Johnstone always answeredthe bells himself when he was at home. Of course, when he was out itwas my duty to do so. When I was downstairs it was simple enough, for Ionly had to go to the door of the room of which I saw the bell inmotion. At first they seemed to think that the difficulty wasinsuperable; but I believe that in other respects I suited them so wellthat they decided to make the best of it, and when her husband was outand I was upstairs Mrs. Johnstone took to answering the door bells, orif a lodger rang, which was not very often, for her husband seldom wentout unless they were all three away, she would come upstairs and tellme. Johnstone himself said to me one day that I was the best girl he hadever had, and that instead of having to go most carefully over thesitting rooms before the gentlemen came in for breakfast, he found thateverything was so perfectly dusted and tidied up that there was reallynothing for him to do.
"But oh, Hilda, I never had the slightest idea before how untidy menare! The way they spill their tobacco ash all over the room, and put theends of their cigars upon mantelpieces, tables, and everywhere else, youwould hardly believe it. The ground floor and the second floor were theworst, for they very often had men in of an evening, and the state ofthe rooms in the morning was something awful. Our man was on the firstfloor, and did not give anything like so much trouble, for he almostalways went out in the evening and never had more than one or twofriends in with him. One of these friends was the man we saw with him inthe Row, and who, we had no doubt, was an accomplice of his. He cameoftener than anyone else, very often coming in to fetch him. As he wasalways in evening dress I suppose they went to some club or to thetheater together. I am bound to say that his appearance is distinctlythat of a gentleman.
"I had taken with me two or three things that I foresaw I should want.Among them was an auger, and some corks of a size that would exactly fitthe hole that it would make. Simcoe's bedroom communicated with thesitting room, and he always used this door in going from one room to theother; and it was evident that it was only through that that I could geta view of what was going on. I did not see how I could possibly make ahole through the door itself. It was on one side, next to that where thefireplace was, and there was a window directly opposite, and of course ahole would have been noticed immediately. The only place that I couldsee to make it was through the door frame. Its position was a matter ofmuch calculation, I can assure you. The auger was half an inch bore. Idared not get it larger, and it would have been hopeless to try and seeanything with a smaller one, especially as the hole would have to befour or five inches long. As I sometimes went into the room when theywere together, either with hot water or grilled bones, or something ofthat sort, I was able to notice exactly where the chairs were generallyplaced. Simcoe sat with his back to the bedroom door, and the other manon the other side of the hearthrug, facing him. I, therefore, decided tomake the hole on the side nearest to the wall, so that I could see theother man past Simcoe. Of course I wanted the hole to be as low aspossible, as it would not be so likely to be noticed as it would were ithigher up. I chose a point, therefore, that would come level with my eyewhen I was kneeling down.
"At about four o'clock in the afternoon they always went out, and fromthen till six Johnstone also took his airing, and I went upstairs toturn down the beds and tidy up generally. It was very seldom that any ofthem dined at home; I, therefore, had that two hours to myself. I gotthe line the hole should go by leaving the door open, fastening a stickto the back of a chair till it was, as nearly as I could judge, theheight of the man's face, tying a piece of string to it and bringing ittight to the point where I settled the hole should start, and thenmarking the line the string made across the frame. Then there was a gooddeal more calculation as to the side-slant; but ten days ago I boldlyset to work and bored the hole. Everything was perfectly right; I couldsee the head of the stick, and the circle was large enough for me toget all the man's face in view. Of course I had put a duster on theground to prevent any chips falling onto the carpet.
"I was a little nervous when I set to work to drill that hole; it wasthe only time that I felt nervous at all. I had beforehand drilledseveral holes in the shelves of cupboards, so as to accustom myself touse the auger, and it did not take me many minutes before it camethrough on the other side. The corks were of two sizes; one fittedtightly into the hole, the other could be drawn in or out with verylittle difficulty. I had gone out one day and bought some tubes of paintof the colors that I thought would match the graining of the door frame.I also bought a corkscrew that was about an inch and a half shorter thanthe depth of the hole. It was meant to be used by a cross-piece thatwent through a hole at the top. I had got this cross-piece out with sometrouble, and tied a short loop of string through the hole it had gonethrough. I p
ut the corkscrew into one of the smaller corks and pushed itthrough until it was level with the frame on the sitting-room side, andfound that by aid of the loop of string I could draw it out easily. ThenI put one of the larger corks in at the bedroom side of the hole andpushed it in until it was level with that side. Then I painted the endsof the corks to resemble the graining, and when it was done they couldhardly be noticed a couple of feet away.
"I had now nothing to do but to wait until the right moment came. Itcame last night. The man arrived about seven o'clock. Johnstone was out,and I showed him upstairs. Simcoe was already dressed, and was in thesitting room. I lost no time, but went into the bedroom, where the gaswas burning, turned down the bed on the side nearest to the door, andthen went round, and with another corkscrew I had ready in my pockettook out the inner cork, got hold of the loop, and pulled the other oneout also. Even had I had my hearing, I could have heard nothing of whatwas said inside, for the doors were of mahogany, and very well fitted,and Johnstone had said one day that even if a man shouted in one room hewould hardly be heard in the next, or on the landing. I pushed a wedgeunder the door so as to prevent its being opened suddenly. That was thething that I was most afraid of. I thought that Simcoe could hardly movewithout coming within my line of sight, and that I should have time tojump up and be busy at the bed before he could open the door. But I wasnot sure of this, so I used the wedge. If he tried the door and couldnot open it, he would only suppose that the door had stuck and I couldsnatch out the wedge and kick it under the bed by the time he made asecond effort.
"Kneeling down, I saw to my delight that my calculations had beenperfectly right. I could see the man's face well, for the light of thecandles fell full upon it. They talked for a time about the club and themen they were going to dine with, and I began to be afraid that therewas going to be nothing more, when the man said, 'By the way, Simcoe, Iwent down to Tilbury yesterday.' What Simcoe said, of course, I couldnot hear; but the other answered, 'Oh, yes, he is all right, gettingquite at home, the man said; and has almost ceased to talk about hisfriends.' Then I saw him rise, and at once jumped up and went on turningdown the bed, lest Simcoe should have forgotten something and come infor it. However, he did not, and two or three minutes later I peeped inagain. The room was all dark, and I knew that they had gone. Then I putmy corks in again, saw that the paint was all right, and wentdownstairs. I told Mrs. Johnstone that, if I could be spared, I shouldlike to go out for two or three hours this morning to see a friend inservice. It was the time that I could best be spared. I should havefinished the sitting rooms by eight o'clock, and as none of the men havebreakfast until about eleven, there was plenty of time for me to makethe beds after I got back."
Hilda was crying now. Her relief that hearing that Walter was alive andwell was unbounded. She had absolutely refused to recognize the bodyfound in the canal, but she could not but admit that the probabilitieswere all against her. It was certain that the clothes were his, thechild's age was about the same, the body must have been in the water theright length of time, the only shadow of evidence to support her was thehair. She had taken the trouble to go to two or three workhouses, andfound that the coroner's assertion that soft hair when cut quite closewill, in a very short time, stand upright, was a correct one. She kepton hoping against hope, but her faith had been yielding, especiallysince Netta's absence had deprived her of the support that she obtainedfrom her when inclined to look at matters from a dark point of view.
"Oh, Netta," she cried, "how can I thank you enough! How happy the newshas made me! And to think that I have been blaming you, while you havebeen doing all this. You cannot tell what a relief it is to me. I havethought so much of that poor little body, and the dread that it wasWalter's after all has been growing upon me. I have scarcely slept for along time."
"I know, dear. It was because I saw that though you still kept up anappearance of hope, you were really in despair, and could tell from yourheavy eyes when you came down of a morning that you had hardly slept,that I made up my mind something must be done. There was no hardshipwhatever in my acting as a servant for a month or two. I can assure youthat I regarded it rather as fun, and was quite proud of the credit thatmy master gave me. Now, the question is, shall I go back again?"
"Certainly not, Netta. You might be months there without having such apiece of luck again. At any moment you might be caught listening, orthey might notice the hole that you made so cleverly. Besides, we havegained a clew now to Walter's hiding place. But even that is as nothingto me in comparison with having learned that he is alive and well, andthat he has ceased to fret and is becoming contented in his new home. Wecan afford to wait now. Sooner or later we are sure to find him.Before, I pictured him, if still alive, as shut up in some horriblecellar. Now I can be patient. I think that we are sure to find himbefore long."
"Well, I think, dear," Miss Purcell said quietly, "that we had betterring the bell and have some fresh tea made. Everything is perfectlycold, for it is three-quarters of an hour since it came up."
Hilda rang the bell and gave the necessary orders.
"Let Janet bring the things up, Roberts, and come back yourself when youhave given the order. I want to send a line to Dr. Leeds. You will bedelighted to hear that Miss Purcell has learned, at least, that Walteris alive and well; but mind," she went on, as the old soldier was aboutto burst out into exclamations of delight, "you must keep thisaltogether to yourself. It is quite possible that we have been watchedas closely as we have been watching this man, and that he may in someway learn everything that passes here; therefore it must not bewhispered outside this room that we have obtained any news."
"I understand, miss. I won't say a word about it downstairs."
Hilda scribbled a line in pencil to the doctor, saying that Netta wasback and that she had obtained some news of a favorable description, andthat, as she knew that at this hour he could not get away, she wouldcome over with Netta at once to tell him what they had learned, andwould be in Harley Street within half an hour of his getting themessage.
As soon as they had finished breakfast they drove to the doctor's. Theywere shown up into the drawing room, where Dr. Leeds joined them almostimmediately.
"We are not going to detain you more than two or three minutes," Hildasaid, while he shook hands warmly with Netta. "You must come over thisevening, and then you shall hear the whole story; but I thought that itwas only fair that Netta should have the satisfaction of telling youherself what she had learned."
"It is very little, but so far as it goes it is quite satisfactory, Dr.Leeds. I heard, or rather I saw, the man we suspected of being Simcoe'saccomplice say, 'By the way, I ran down to Tilbury yesterday.' Simcoethen said something, but what I could not tell, as his face was hiddenfrom me, and the man in reply said, 'Oh, yes, he is all right, and hasalmost ceased to talk about his friends.' Now you must be content withthat until this evening."
"I will be content with it," the doctor said, "if you will assure methat you are not going away again. If you will not, I will stop here andhear the whole story, even at the risk of a riot down in my waitingroom."
"No, she is not going away, doctor; she had not quite settled about itwhen she got back this morning, but I settled it for her. I will takecare that she does not slip out of my sight till after you have seen herand talked it all over."
"Then the matter is finally settled," Netta said, "for unless I go inhalf an hour's time I cannot go at all."
"Then I will be patient until this evening."
"Will you come to dinner, doctor?" Hilda said. "I have sent notes off toMr. Pettigrew and Colonel Bulstrode to ask them to come, as I have newsof importance to give them."
"What will they do, Netta, when they find that you do not come back?"Hilda asked as they drove away.
"That has puzzled me a good deal. I quite saw that if I disappearedsuddenly they might take it into their heads that something had happenedto me, and might go to the police office and say I was missing. But thatwould not be the wo
rst. Simcoe might guess, when he heard that I hadgone without notice and left my things behind me, that I had been putthere to watch him. He certainly would not suspect that he could havebeen overheard, for he must know that it would be quite impossible forany words to be heard through the doors; still, he would be uneasy, andmight even have the child moved to some other locality. So I havewritten a note, which we can talk over when we get in. Of course theymay think that I have behaved very badly in throwing them over likethis, but it is better that they should do that than they should thinkthere was anything suspicious about it. My wages are due to-morrow; likethe girl I succeeded, I was to have eight pounds a year. I have left mybox open, so that the mistress can see for herself that there is none ofthe lodgers' property in it. There are two or three print dresses--I puton my Sunday gown when I came out--and the underclothes are all dulymarked Jane Clotworthy."
"What a name to take, Netta!"
"Yes, I do not know how I came to choose it. I was thinking what name Iwould take when Clotworthy flashed across my mind. I don't think that Iever heard the name before, and how I came to think of it I cannotimagine; it seemed to me a sort of inspiration, so I settled on it atonce."
"Now, let me see the letter," Hilda asked, as soon as they returnedhome.
"I hardly liked to write it," Netta said, "it is such a wicked story;but I don't see how a person can act as detective without tellingstories, and, at any rate, it is perfectly harmless."
"Oh, yes; it is quite certain, Netta, that you could not write and tellher that you have been in her house in disguise, and that, having foundout what you wanted, you have now left her. Of course you must make up astory of some sort, or, as you say, Simcoe would at once suspect thatyou had been sent there to watch him. He might feel perfectly sure thatno conversation could have been heard outside the room, but he could notbe sure that you might not have been hidden under the table or sofa, orbehind a curtain. When so much depends upon his thinking that he isabsolutely safe, one must use what weapons one can. If you have anyscruples about it, I will write the letter for you."
"No, I do not think the scruples will trouble me," Netta laughed. "Ofcourse, I have had to tell stories, and one more or less will not weighon my mind. Here is the letter. If you can think of any better reasonfor running away so suddenly, by all means let me have it."
The letter was written in a sprawling hand, and with many of the wordsmisspelt. It began:
"DEAR MRS. JOHNSTONE: I am afraid you will think very badly of me for leaving you so sudding, after you and Mr. Johnstone have been so kind to me, but who should I meet at my friend's but my young man. We were ingaged to be married, but we had a quarrel, and that is why I came up to town so sudding. We has made it up. He only come up yesterday, and is going down this morning, and nothing would do but that I must go down with him and that we should get married directly. He says that as the banns has been published there aint any occasion to wait, and we might be married at the end of the week, as he has got everything ready and is in good employment. So the long and the short of it is, mam, that I am going down with him home this afternoon. As to the wages that was due to-morrow, of course I forfeit them, and sorry I am to give you troubil, by leaving you without a girl. My box is not locked, plese look in it and you will see that there aint nothing there that isn't my own. In one corner you will find half a crown wrapped up in paper, plese take that to pay for the carriage of the box, the key is in the lock, and I send a labil to tie on."
"What do you think of that, Hilda?"
"I think it will do capitally. I don't think any better excuse could bemade. But where will you have the box sent?"
"That is what we must settle together. It would not do to send it downto some little village, for if the address was unknown it might be sentback again."
"Yes; and if John Simcoe had any suspicions that the story was a falseone he might go down there to make inquiries about Jane Clotworthy, and,finding no such name known there, and the box still lying at thestation, his suspicion that he had been watched would become almost acertainty."
"I should think that Reading would be a good place to send to it. 'JaneClotworthy, Luggage Office, Reading.' Then I could go down myself andask for it, and could bring it up by the next train."
"Tom Roberts could do that, Netta; there is no reason why you shouldtrouble about it."
"I think that I had better go myself. It is most unlikely that Simcoewould send down anyone to watch who took the box away, but if he shouldbe very uneasy he might do so. He would be sure to describe me to anyonethat he sent, so that it would be better that I should go myself."
"I think that your story is so plausible, Netta, that there is no riskwhatever of his having any doubts about it, but still one cannot be toocareful."
"Then I will wind up the letter.
"'Begging your pardon for having left you in the lurch so sudding. I remain, your obedient servant,
"'Jane Clotworthy.
"'P.S.--I am very sorry.
"'P.S.--Plese give my respects to Mr. Johnstone, and excuse blots.'"
Hilda burst into a fit of laughter as she glanced at the postscript.
"That will do admirably, Netta," she said. "Now how had we better sendit?"
"I should think that your maid had better take it. You might tell her toring at the bell, hand it to the woman, and come away at once, withouttalking, except saying 'I was told to give you this.' Then she would bewell away before Mrs. Johnstone had mastered the contents of the note.It had better be sent off at once, for by this time they will be gettingin a way."
"I think that I had better send Roberts. No doubt Johnstone himselfwill be in, and will answer the door; and he might ask Lucy where shecame from, and I don't want to tell her anything. Roberts could say thata young woman of his acquaintance, down Chelsea way, asked him to get ona 'bus and leave it for her. He can be trusted, if the man does detainhim and ask him questions, to give sensible answers."
The letter was sealed and Roberts called up.
"Take a cab and go down with this to Jermyn Street," Hilda said. "I wantit left at that house. If the man who opens the door asks you who youhave brought it from, say from a young woman, a friend of yours, in aplace down Chelsea way. I don't suppose that he will ask any otherquestions, and you had best say 'Good-morning,' and saunter offcarelessly, as if, having done your errand, you had nothing else onhand. Of course you won't drive up to the door. Leave the cab round thecorner, and come straight back here in it."
"All right, miss," he answered.
There was a little look of amusement in the man's face as he glanced atNetta that did not this time pass unnoticed by his mistress. She waiteduntil the door had closed behind him, and then turned sharply on herfriend.
"I believe, Netta, you have had Roberts in your confidence all the time,and while we have all been working ourselves into a fever as to whereyou could be, he has known it all along."
"One cannot work without accomplices," Netta laughed. "It was necessarythat someone should make arrangements with the servant there for me totake her place, and who could I trust better than Roberts? I thinkColonel Bulstrode's servant helped in the matter; at any rate, theymanaged it capitally between them. Of course it was Roberts who carriedmy box out that morning. You must not be angry with him, Hilda, forkeeping it from you. I made him promise most faithfully that nothingshould induce him to confess."
"I shan't be angry with him, Netta, but you may be sure that I shallgive him a little lecture and say that I will have no more meddling onhis part, except by my express orders. It is really annoying, you know,to think that all this time we were fretting about you there was Robertsgoing about laughing in his sleeve."
"Well, you know, Hilda, he has the discovery of Walter as much at heartas we have, and he has certainly not spared himself in the search forhim."
"No, that he has not. He is a faithful fellow, and I promise
you that Iwon't be too hard on him."