2-M
THE BEE: OMAnA. SUNDAY. DECEMDER 4, 192L
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By Valentine Williams ;
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iThe
iLLOW STREAK
. ...
11
FOURTEENTH INSTALLMENT.
Jeeke Cloae Um
F
I OR Miss Trevert"
Thus, In JackM round and flow
tor commercial hand, th document
began:
" Last SUUment of Albert Edward Jmkas,
mad at Rotterdam ..."
Mr. Bardy, tha solicitor, to whom, by
Bon consent, tha reading of th eonfi
bad been entrusted, raised hla eyebrows,
thereby letting hla eyeglass fan, and looked
around at th company.
" Ton my soul," he remarked, " for a man
about to take bla own life cur friend aeama
to hare been th cooleat cuatomer Imagina
ble. Look at Itl Written In a firm hand and
almost without an erasure. Very remarka
, Wei Very remarkable Indeed.1
"Hml" grunted Mr, Manderton, "not so
uncommon aa you suppose, Mr.' Bardy, air.
Hendriks, the Palmers Green poisoner, typed
. out his confession on cream Inlaid paper be
fore dosing himself. But let's hear what th
gentleman has to tell us."
This was the last digression. Thenceforth
Mr. Bardy read out the confession to the
end without Interruption.
" For Miss Trevert
" Madam:
' " I slew, but I am not a murderer; I killed,
but without deliberation.
" Victor Marbran has gone and left me to
meet a shameful death. But I cannot face
. the scaffold. As men go, I do not believe I
am a coward, and I am not afraid to die.
But the inexorable deliberation of justice
appalls me. When I have written what I
hav to write I shall be a hangman to my
self. My pistol they have taken away.
" Victor Marbran has abandoned me. He
had prepared everything for hla flight. Even
if the lav can Indict him as the virtual mur
derer of Hartley Parrish, the law will never
lay hands on him. Victor Marbran neglects
bo detail. He will never be caught ,. But
from the Great Unknown for which I shall
presently set out I shall stretch forth my
hand and see that here or there he does not
scape the punishment he merits for bring,
log down shame and disgrace' upon me.
'Just now- he bade me stay in the offlc
sad finish burning th papers In his desk.
He promised he would take me with him to
. a secure hiding, plac which he had mad
ready for some such emergency as this. I
believed him and, unsuspecting, stayed. And
now he has slipped away. He Is gone and
the house Is empty. I cannot follow hint"
ven did I know where he had gone. I, hav
. only a very little money left and, I am tired.'
Very tired. I feel I cannot support tha hue ,
and cry they will raise. Everything is still. .
about me. . The quiet of the country. Is sooth.
. lng. To die like this, with, darkness falling '
and no sound but the rustling rain. Is the
better way. -
" Hartley Parrlsh was the man behind the
great syndicate which systematically ran the
British blockade of Germany In the' war. He "'"
' financed Marbran and the International riff- .,
raff of profiteers with whom' Marbran
worked. Parrlsh supplied 'the funds, often '
the goods as well at any rate, , until they'
tightened up the blockade while Marbran
and the rest of the bunch In neutral coun
tries did the trading with the enemy.
"Parrlsh was a deep one. I say nothing' :
. against him. He was a kind employer to '
, me and I 'played him false, for which I have
been bitterly punished. To have swindled
Victor Marbran-I count ' it ' aa nothing
against hlra, for that heartless, cruel man is
deserving of no pity.
' "Parrlsh was the heart and soul, brains .
and muscle of the syndicate. He lurked far
In the background. Any . and every trail
which might possibly lead back to him was
carefully, effaced. He was secure aa long as, ,
Marbran and one or two other big men In
the business kept faith with MmJ Now and
then, when tha British Intelligence . were too
hot on the trail, Parrlsh and Marbran would .
give away one of the small fry belonging to
the organization and thus stave off suspicion.
They could do this in complete safety, for so
perfect was thelr organization that the sniall
fry only knew the small fry in the shallows
and never the big fish In the deep.
"But Hartley Parrlsh was In Marbran'
hands. They stood or fen together. Parrlsh
knew this, but he was a born gambler and ,
Insanely self-confident. He took a chance
with Marbran. It cost him his life.
All payments were made to Parrlsh, He
' was treasurer and banker of the syndicate. i
" By the time the armistice came the gam .
had got too hot. AD the big fish" except
Marbran had cleared out with their pile. But
Marbran, like Parrlsh, was a gambler. He
stuck It out and stayed on.
" Parrlsh- played fair until the war was .,
over. 'The armistice, of course, put an end
to the business. But some months after
the armistice a sum of 150,000 was paid to
, parrlsh through a Spanish bank. In settle-.
- ment, Marbran told me, for petrol Indirectly
delivered to the German Admiralty. Par
rlsh pouched the lot. Not a penny did Mar
bran get. .
Parrlsh and Marbran were old friends.
They were young men together on the Rand
gold fields in the early days. In fact, I be-
" Urra they went out to South Africa together
as penniless London lads. But Marbran '
hated Parrlsh, though Parrlsh' had, I be
lieve, been his benefactor tn many ways.
Marbran was fiercely envious of the other,
because be realized that, starting with i
qua! chance, Parrlsh had left hlra far be-
- bind. Everything that Parrlsh touched pros
pored, while Marbran was In perpetual finan
cial straits. He was Parrish's equal lis oov
age, but not In Judgment.'
" "Parrlsh calculated that Marbran worn Id
act dare to denounce him. ' Ha had always
Mate f rW f slJ- . ' --
Mary Trwrt
, taken th lead in the schemes, and he affect
, ed to .disregard Marbran altogether. So he
left . tha hitter's letter unanswered . and
laughed at his threats. He was quite .sure
' that Marbran would never risk losing his
pile by giving Parrlsh away, for they were,
of course, both British subjects and. both In
It together. r
"Marbran always distrusted Parrlsh, and
. long before the breach cam he picked on
me to act the spy on my employer. . I, too,
was- born a gambler, but, like Marbran,- I
- lacked th lucky touch which made Parrlsh
a millionaire. ' Speculation proved my ruin.
I have often thanked my God on my bended
. knees, as I shall do again tonight before I
pass over, that my Intense folly has ruined :
no one but myself.
" Already, when Hartley Parrlsh engaged
me, I was up to that neck In speculation. Up
'to that time, however, I had managed to
keep my head above water, but the large
salary oa which Parrlsh started me dazzled
. ma. I tried a flutter In oD on a much larger
seal than anything I had hitherto attempt
ed, with the result that one day I found
myself with a debt of 800 to meet and no
' assets to meet It with. And I was 200 in
debt to Hartley Parrish's petty cash account,
wtdch I kept
"It was Victor Marbran who cam to my '
rescue. Parrlsh had sent me over to Rotter
dam to fetch some papers from Marbran.
' At this tun I knew nothing of Parrish's
blockade running business. Parrlsh never
took me into his confidence about tt, and tha
whole of th correspondence went direct to '
I him through a number of secret channels
with which I only gradually became ac-
qualnted behind his back.
t " I had met Marbran several times tn Lon
don and also at Rotterdam. It had. struck
me that he had formed a liking for me. On
' "this particular visit to Rotterdam Marbran
took me out to dinner and encouraged me
. t speak about myself. He was very sym
pathetic, and this, coupled with the win I .
had taken, led me to open my heart to him.
" ;' Without gtvlng myself away, I let him under-
. stand that I was In considerable financial
dKSoultl which I st down to the high cost
of Irving as the result of the war.
'"Without a word of warning Marbran
puDsd out his cheque book. ",
"How much do you wantT' he asked, 'to.
put you, straight?'
' ' "'Nina hundred pounds,' I told him.. . .
"He wrot th cheque at once there at
to table. He would advance me the money,
-he sold, and put me down tor shares In
bustneas tn which b wa interested. It was
a saf thing and profits were very high. I
could repay him at my leisure. t
"In this way I became a shareholder in
Parrish's blockade running syndicate. Toe
return I was to mak was to spy on my em-.
ployer and to report to Marbran th letters
which Parrlsh received and th names of
the people whom h Interviewed. "
, "Of course, Marbran did not propose this'"'
plan at once. When I took leave of him that
night. I remember, I an but broke down at
th thought of his unsolicited generosity. I
hav had a hard life. Miss Trerert, and his i
seeming kindness broke me ail up. But I
might hav known.
looked at Robin and than at th lollcllor,
"I cashed Marbran 's cheque and put back
the 200 I had taken from the petty cash '
account'. But I went on speculating. You
see, I did not believe Marbran's story about
the shares he said he would put me down
for. I thought It was a charitable' tale to
spare my feelings. So I plunged once more
. In th confident hop of recovering enough
to repay my debt to Marbran.
"A month later Marbran sent me a cheque
for. 100. He said .lt was the balance of
1,500 due to me as profits on my shares, less
the 900 I owed him and 500 for my shares.
But my speculations had by this time gone '
wrong again, and I was heartily glad" pres
ently to receive a further cheque for f200 ..
from Marbran. From that time on I got -from
Marbran sums varying between 150
and 500 a month.
- "When Marbran made me his shameful
offer I rejected It with Indignation. But I
was fast in the trap.' Marbran explained to '
me in great detail and with the utmost can-
dor th working of the Parrlsh syndicate. .
He let me know plainly that I was ss deeply
Implicated as Parrlsh and he. I was a share
holder; I had received and was receiving my
share of the profits. In my distress and
shame I threatened to expose the pair of
themv Had I known the source of his money,
I told him, I should never have accepted it.
At that Marbran laughed contemptuously.
"You tell that yarn to the police,' he
sneered, ' and hear what they say! '
"And then I realized that I was in the
net ..- ,-'
, " I mak no excuses for myself. I shall
make none to the Great Judge before whom
In a little' while I shall appear. I had not
the moral fore to resist Marbran; I did his
bidding; I continued to take his money, and
I held my peao.
"And then cam the -breach between. Par
rlsh and Marbran. I was the cause of It .
But for me, his trusty spy, Marbran would
have known nothing of this payment of
150,000 which Parrlsh received from Spain'
and this tragedy would not have happened.
" God forgive me. ' v
" Marbran appealed to Parrlsh in vain.
What he wrote I never knew,- for shortly
after Parrlsh quietly and without any expla
nation took the confidential work out of my .
' hands. I believe he suspected then who
Marbran's spy was. But he said nothing to
me of his suspicions at that time.
"Finally Marbran cam to London. It
was on Tuesday of last week. I had been;
up In Sheffield on business, and on my return
I found Marbran waiting for me at my
rooms.
- "He was like a man possessed. Never .
before have I witnessed such an outburst .
of ungovernable rage. Parrlsh, It appears,
had declined to see him.
- "rn give him a last chance,' he cried,
'and then, by God, let our smart Alee look -
. out!'
" This sort of talk frightened me. I knew
- Marbran meant mischief. He was a bad man
to croea. I was desperately afraid he would -'waylay
Parrlsh and bring down disaster on
the three of us. I did my utmost to put the
Idea of violence out of his mind. I begged
him to content himself with trying to
frighten Parrlsh into paying up before trying -other
means. .-. .
" My suggestion seemed to awaken some . ,
Id memory la Marbran's mind.
aha tedd, " not one pmnny as far as am
"'By Gad, Jeekes,' he said, after a mo
ment's thought, 'you've given me an idea.'
Parrlsh has a yellow streak. He's scared of
a gun. I saw it once, years ago, in a rough-
house we got into' at Krugersdorp on the
Rand. Damn it I know how' to bring the
yellow' dog to heel, and I'll tell you how
well do It'
"He then unfolded his plan.'' He would
. send Parrlsh a last demand for a settlement
threatening him with death If he did not pay
. up. The warning would reach Parrlsh on
the following Saturday. Marbran would con
trive that he should receive it by the first
post. As soon as possible thereafter I was
to' go to Parrlah boldly and . demand- his
answer.
"'And youTl take a gun,' Marbran said,'
peering at me with his cunning little eyes,
: 'and you'll show it. And If at the sight of
it you don't get the brass then I don't know
my old pal, Mister Hartley Parrlsh, Esquire! '
"The proposal appalled me. I knew noth
ing -of Hartley Parrish's yellow streak. I
knew him only as a hard and resolute man,
swift In decision and ruthless In action.
Whatever happened, I argued, Parrlsh would
. discharge me, and there was every prospect
of his handing me over to the police as well. ,
" Marbran was deaf to my reasoning. I
had nothing to fear, he protested. Parrlsh
would collapse at the first sign of force. And
as for my losing my job, Marbran would find
me another and a better one in his office at
Rotterdam. '
" Still I held out The chance of losing
my position, even of being sent to gaol,
daunted me less, I think, than the admission
to Parrlsh of the blankly ungrateful role I .
had played towards him, . In the end I told
Marbran to do his dirty work himself.
" But I spoke without conviction. I real- ,
ized that Marbran held me in a cleft stick
. and that he realized it too. He wasted no
further time in argument I knew what I
had to do, be said, and I would do it Other
' wise
" He left me in an agony of mental stress.
At that time, I swear to Heaven, Miss Tre
vert, I was determined to let Marbran do his
worst rather than lend myself to this odious
blackmailing trick, my own suggestion, as
I bitterly remembered. But for the rest of
the week his parting threat rang in my ears.
-Unless. he heard by the following Sunday
that I had confronted Parrlsh and called his
bluff, as he put it the British police should
have word, not only of Parrish's activities in
trading with the enemy, but of mine as well. '
. "It was no Idle threat Parrlsh and Mar
bran had put men away before. I could give
. you the names. .
, "It is quite dark now. It must be an
hour since Greve took you away. Soon he
will be back with the police to arrest me, and
I must have finished by then finished with
the story; finished with life.
" Last week I worked at Parrish's city
office. I told you how be kept me off his
'. confidential work. On Saturday morning I
; went "round to the house in St James Square
to see whether Marbran had really sent his
warning. Archer, my colleague, who was
acting as confidential secretary In my stead,
was there. Parrlsh was at Harkings, he told
me. Archer was going down by car that
morning with his mail. It included two blue
' letters which Archer would, according to .
orders, hand to Parrish unopened.
" These blue letters, as we secretaries used
to call them, written on a striking bluish .
paper, were the means by which all commu
nications passed between Parrish and Mar
bran on the syndicate's business. They were
drafted in conventional code and came to
- Parrish from an parts of Europe and in all
kinds of ways. No one saw them except him
self. By his strict injunctions, they were to
be opened only by himself In person. -' :
"When Archer told me that two blue let
ters had come I knew that Marbran had kept .
- his word. Though my mind was not made
up. Instinct told me I was going to play my
part
" I could not face the shame of exposure.
No."
eoncarnad.'
. I was brought up in a decent English borne.'
To stand in the dock charged with prolong- ''
lng the sufferings of our soldiers and sailors
In, order to make money was a prospect J
could not even contemplate. '."
" I thought It all out that Saturday morn- :
lng as I stood at the dressing table in my bed
room by the open drawer in which my auto-,
matic pistol lay. It was one given me by'
Parrish some time before at time when he '
thought we might be going on a trip to Rou
mania. . . . .
"I slipped the pistol In my pocket t felt
like a man in a. dream. I believe I went
down to Harkings by train, but I have no
clear recollection of the journey. I seemed '
to come to my senses only when I found my
self standing on the high bank of the rosery
at Harkings looking down upon the' library
window.
"Outside In th gardens it was nearly
dark, but from the window fell a stream of
subdued light The curtains had not. been
drawn, and the window was open at th bot
tom. Parrish sat at the desk. Only the .desk '
lamp was lit so that his face was in shadow,
but his two hands, stretched out on the blot
ter in front of him, lay in a pool of light and
I caught, the gleam of his gold signet ring. .,
."He was not writing or working. He
seemed to be thinking. I watched him in a
fascinated sort of way. I had never seen him
sit thus idly at his desk before.
" My brain worked quite lucidly now. As I
looked at him I suddenly realized that I had
a -golden opportunity for speaking to him
unobserved. : The gardens were absolutely
deserted; the library wing was very still. If
he were a man to be frightened into submls-.;
slon my sudden appearance, following upon
the receipt of the threatening letter, would
be likely to help in achieving this result .
"I walked softly down . the steps to the
window. I stood close up to the sllL ' .
"'Mr. Parrlsh,' I said, 'Victor Marbran.
has sent me for bis answer.'
" In a flash he was on his feet
"'Who's there? he cried out in alarm.
" His voice shook and I could see his hand '
tremble in the lamplight as he clutched at
the desk.' Then I knew that he was badly
frightened and the discovery gave me cour
age. .
" ' Are .you going to settle with Marbran ,
or are you not?' I said.
" At that he peered forward. AH of a sud
den his manner changed,
"'What In hell does this mean, Jeekes?
" His . voice quavered no longer. It was
hard and menacing.
" But . I had burnt my boats behind me
now.
" It means,' I ' answered boldly, that
you've got to pay up. And you've got to
pay up now! ' '
" In a couple of quick strides he was round
. the desk and coming at me as I stood with
my chest pressing against th window sill.
" ' You dawggone dirty little rathole spy ' '
he spat the words at me in a low, threaten
ing voice 'I guessed that low down skunk
Marbran had been getting at some of my
people!
" His voice rose in a sudden gust of passion.
" ' You rotten little worm! You'd try and
bounce me, would you? You've come to the
wrong shop for that, Mr. Spying Jeekes.
" His manner was incredibly insulting. So
was the utter contempt with which he looked
at me. - -This man who had trembled with
fear at the unknown recovered his self-con- .
trol on finding that the menace came from
the menial, the hireling, he despised. "I felt
the blood rush in a hot flood to my head. I
lost aU self-control. I screamed aloud at
him.
' "'There's no bounce about it this time!
If you don't pay up, you know' what to
expect! .
" I had been holding my pistol out of his
sight below the window ledge, but on this
I swung it up and leveled it at him.
" He sprang back a pace, the color fading
on the Instant from his face, his mouth
twisted awry in a horrid paroxysm of fear.
Even in that subdued light I could e that
his cbaeks war as white as paper.
"But then in a flash his right hand went
up. I saw th pistol he held, but before I
could mak a movement there was a loud
raucous hiss of air and a bullet whistled
past my ear into th darkness of the gar
den. How ha missed me at that range I
dont know, but seeing me standing there,
ha cam at m again with the pistol In bis
hand.
"And then you, Miss Trevert, cried out
' Hartley ' and rattled the handle of tha door.
Your cry merged in a deafening report Par
rlsh, who was quit close to me, and ad
vancing, stopped short1 with a little startled
exclamation, hla eyes reproachful, full of
surprise. He stood there and swayed, look
ing at ma all th time, then crashed back
ward on th floor. And I found myself
staring at th smoking pistol in my hand.
"It was your scream that brought me to
my senses. My mind cleared instantly. I
know I must act quickly. The house would
be alarmed directly and before that happened
I must be clear of the grounds. Yet I knew
that before I went I must do something to
make myself safe.
"I stood at the window staring down at
the dead man. His eyes were terrlblo. Like
a suicide be looked, I thought And then it
flashed across my mind that only one shot
had been heard and that our pistols wer
Identical and fired the same ammunition.
The silencer! The 'silencer could save me.
With that removed the suicide theory might
pass muster. At any rate, it would delay
other investigations and give me a start.
"In a matter of a second or two I be
lieve I thought of everything. I did not over
look the danger of leaving finger prints or
foot marks about I had not taken off my
gloves and my boots were perfectly dry. In
climbing Into the room I was most careful
to see that I did not mark the window sill
or scratch the paint work.
" I stood beside the body and I caught th
dead man's hand. It was fat and soft and
still warm. Th touch of it made me reel
with horror. I turned my face away from
his so as not to see his eyes again.
" I got the silencer. Parrlsh had shown
It to me and I knew how to detach it
" I went back through the window as care
fully as I had come in. And I pushed the
window down. Parrlsh would have don
that, I thought if he had meant to commit
suicide. And then my nerve went Th
window frightened me. Thn blank glass with
the silent room beyond. It reminded me of
Parrish's sightless gaze. I turned and ran.
' "I did not mean to kill. As there is a
God in
On that unfinished sentence the confession
ended. -
. Mr. Brady put the bundle of manuscript
down on the desk and, dropping his eyeglass
from his eye, caught it deftly and began to
polish it vigorously with his pocket handier-
. chief. As no on spoke he said: -
"That's all. It ends there! "
He looked round the circle of earnest
faces. Then Horace Trevert crossed to th .
.desk. .
." Robin," he said, and held out his hand, .
" I want to apologize. I we behaved very
V badiy.? - ;-',.. : ... , ;,.
"' Robin grasped the boy's hand. .r, ,
"Not a word about that Horace, old boy," .
' he said. " Besides, Mary Is putting all that
; right you know!"
"She told me," replied Horace, " and,"
Robin, I'm tremendously glad!"
"Mr. Greve!" , 7
' Robin turned to find Mr. Manderton, large
and' Impressive; at his elbow.
"Might I have a word with' you? . ;
Robin followed the detective across th
room to the window. .
' Mr." Manderton seemed a trifle embar
rassed. ' .
"" Er, Mr, Greve,!. he said, clearing his
' ' throat rather, nervously, " I should like to, er,
offer you my congratulations on the remark
able accurate view you took of this case. I
' should have been . able to prove to you, I
believe, but for this curious Interruption, :
.-that your view and mine practically coln-
- cided. It has been a pleasure to work with
. you, sir!
. He cast a hasty glance over his shoulder
at the other occupants of the room who
. were gathered round the desk. ; ' '
. "I'm not a society man, Mr. Greve," he
.added, "and I have a lot of work on my
hands regarding the case. - So I think I'll
run off now."
t He broke off, gave Robin a large hand, and,'
- looking neither to right nor to left, made a '
hurried exit from the room, taking Inspector
Humphries with him.
. "Now that we are just among ourselves,"
. . the solicitor was speaklrig, " I think-1 may
seize the opportunity of saying a word about
. Mr. Parrish's ill. Miss Trevert,' as you '
know, is made principal legatee, but I un
derstand from her that she does not pro
pose to accept the Inheritance.- I will not
-comment on this decision of hers, which
does her moral sense, at any rate,' infinite '
' credit but I should observe that Mr. Parrish
has left directions for the payment of an -allowance
I may say, a most handsome
allowance to Lady Margaret Trevert during
' her ladyship's lifetime. This is a provision .
over which Miss Trevert's decision, of course,
can have no influence. I would only remark
that, according to Mr. Parrish's Instructions,
this allowance will be paid from the divi
dends on a percentage of his holdings In
' Tornaway's under the new scheme. . I have .
' not yet had an opportiifi ty of looking fur
ther into Mr. Parrish's' affairs in the light
of the information which Mr. Greve obtained
in Rotterdam, but I have reason to believe
that he kept his interest In Hornaway's and -
( his ahem! other activities entirely separate.
If this can be definitely established to my
' own satisfaction and to yours, my dear Miss
Trevert, I see no reason why you should not
modify your decision at least in respect of
Mr. Parrish's interest in Hornaway's."
Mary Trevert looked at Robin and then at
the solicitor.,-
" No," she said, " not a penny as far as I
am concerned. With mother the case is dif
ferent I told heujast night of my decision ;
In the matter. sf disapproves of It That '
Is why she is not Vera today. But my mind
is made up."- - -
' Mr. Bardy adjusted his eyeglass in his eye
and gazed at the girl. His face wore an ex
, pression of pain mingled with compassion, .
"I will see Lady. Margaret after lunch," ,
he said rather stiffly. ,
Then the door opened and Bude appeared.
. "Luncheon is served. Miss!"
He stood there, a portly, dignified figure
in sober black, solemn of visage, sonorous of . .
voice, a living example of the triumph of es- -tabllshed
tradition over the most savage
buffeting of fate. His enunciation was, if
anything, more mellow, his demeanor mora
pontifical, than of yore. , .'
Bude was once more in the service of a
county family. . -The
Knd.1
(Copyright l:t Ir Tha Chlrt0 Tribune)
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