A Strange Disappearance

by Anna Katharine Green

  CHAPTER XVII. THE CAPTURE

  Promptly next morning at the designated hour, came the little notepromised me by Mr. Gryce. It was put in my hand with many sly winks bythe landlady herself, who developed at this crisis quite an adaptationfor, if not absolute love of intrigue and mystery. Glancing over it--itwas unsealed--and finding it entirely unintelligible, I took it forgranted it was all right and put it by till chance, or if that failed,strategy, should give me an opportunity to communicate with Mrs. Blake.An hour passed; the doors of their rooms remained unclosed. A half hourmore dragged its slow minutes away, and no sound had come from theirprecincts save now and then a mumbled word of parley between the fatherand son, a short command to the daughter, or a not-to-be-restrained oathof annoyance from one or both of the heavy-limbed brutes as somethingwas said or done to disturb them in their indolent repose. At lastmy impatience was to be no longer restrained. Rising, I took a boldresolution. If the mountain would not come to Mahomet, Mahomet would goto the mountain. Taking my letter in the hand, I deliberately proceededto the door marked with the ominous red cross and knocked.

  A surprised snarl from within, followed by a sudden shuffling of feetas the two men leaped upright from what I presume had been a recumbentposition, warned me to be ready to face defiance if not the fury ofdespair; and curbing with a determined effort the slight sinking ofheart natural to a man of my make on the threshold of a very doubtfuladventure, I awaited with as much apparent unconcern as possible, thequick advance of that light foot which seemed to be ready to performall the biddings of these hardened wretches, much as it shrunk fromfollowing in the ways of their infamy.

  "Ah miss," said I, as the door opened revealing in the gap her whiteface clouded with some new and sudden apprehension, "I beg your pardonbut I am an old man, and I got a letter to-day and my eyes are so weakwith the work I've been doing that I cannot read it. It is from some oneI love, and would you be so kind as to read off the words for me and sorelieve an old man from his anxiety."

  The murmur of suspicion behind her, warned her to throw wide open thedoor. "Certainly," said she, "if I can," taking the paper in her hand.

  "Just let me get a squint at that first," said a sullen voice behindher; and the youngest of the two Schoenmakers stepped forward and torethe paper out of her grasp.

  "You are too suspicious," murmured she, looking after him with the firstassumption of that air of power and determination which I had heardso eloquently described by the man who loved her. "There is nothing inthose lines which concerns us; let me have them back."

  "You hold your tongue," was the brutal reply as the rough man opened thefolded paper and read or tried to read what was written within. "Blastit! it's French," was his slow exclamation after a moment spent inthis way. "See," and he thrust it towards his father who stood frowningheavily a few feet off.

  "Of course, it's French," cried the girl. "Would you write a note inEnglish to father there? The man's friends are French like himself, andmust write in their own language."

  "Here take it and read it out," commanded her father; "and mind youtell us what it means. I'll have nothing going on here that I don'tunderstand."

  "Read me the French words first, miss," said I. "It is my letter and Iwant to know what my friend has to say to me."

  Nodding at me with a gentle look, she cast her eyes on the paper andbegan to read:

  "Calmez vous, mon amie, il vous aime et il vous cherche. Dans quatre heures vous serez heureuse. Allons du courage, et surtout soyez maitre de vous meme."

  "Thanks!" I exclaimed in a calm matter-of-fact way as I perceived thesudden tremor that seized her as she recognized the handwriting andrealized that the words were for her. "My friend says he will pay myweek's rent and bids me be at home to receive him," said I, turning uponthe two ferocious faces peering over her shoulder, with a look of meekunsuspiciousness in my eye, that in a theatre would have brought downthe house.

  "Is that what those words say, you?" asked the father, pointing over hershoulder to the paper she held.

  "I will translate for you word by word what it says," replied she,nerving herself for the crisis till her face was like marble, thoughI could see she could not prevent the gleam of secret rapture that hadvisited her, from flashing fitfully across it. "Calmez vous, mon amie.Do not be afraid, my friend. Il vous aime et il vous cherche. He lovesyou and is hunting for you. Dans quatre heures vous serez heureuse. Infour hours you will be happy. Allons du courage, et surtout soyezmaitre de vous meme. Then take courage and above all preserve yourself-possession. It is the French way of expressing one's self,"observed she. "I am glad your friend is disposed to help you," shecontinued, giving me back the letter with a smile. "I am afraid youneeded it."

  In a sort of maze I folded up the letter, bowed my very humble thanks toher and shuffled slowly back. The fact is I had no words; I was utterlydumbfounded. Half way through that letter, with whose contents youmust remember I was unacquainted, I would have given my whole chance ofexpected reward to have stopped her. Read out such words as those beforethese men! Was she crazy? But how naturally at the conclusion did shewith a word make its language seem consistent with the meaning I hadgiven it. With a fresh sense of my obligation to her, I hurried to myroom, there to count out the minutes of another long hour in anxiousexpectation of her making that endeavor to communicate with me, whichher new hopes and fears must force her to feel almost necessary to herexistence. At length, my confidence in her was rewarded. Coming out intothe hall, she hurried past my door, her finger on her lip. I immediatelyrose and stood on the threshold with another paper in my hand, which Ihad prepared against this opportunity. As she glided back, I put it inher hand, and warning her with a look not to speak, resumed my usualoccupation. The words I had written were as follows:

  At or as near the time as possible of your brother's going out, you are to come to this room wrapped in an extra skirt and with your shawl over your head. Leave the skirt and shawl behind you, and withdraw at once to the room at the head of the stairs. You are not to speak, and you are not to vary from the plan thus laid down. Your brother and father are to be arrested, whether or no; but if you will do as this commands, they will be arrested without bloodshed and without shame to one you know.

  Her face while she read these lines, was a study, but I dared not softentoward it. Dropping the paper from her hand, she gave me one inquiringlook. But I pointed determinedly to the words lying upward on the floor,and would listen to no appeal. My resolve had its effect. Bowing herhead with a sorrowful gesture, she laid her hand on her heart, looked upand glided from the room. I took up that paper and tore it into bits.

  And now for the first time since I had been in the house, I closed thedoor of my room. I had a part to perform that rendered the dropping ofmy disguise indispensable. The old French artist had finished his work,and henceforth must merge into Q. the detective. Shortly before twoo'clock my assistants began to arrive. First, Mr. Gryce appeared on thescene and was stowed away in a large room on the other side of mine.Next, two of the most agile, as well as muscular men in the force who,thanks to having taken off their shoes in the lower hall, gained thesame refuge without awakening the suspicions of those we were anxious tosurprise. Lastly, the landlady who went into the closet to which I hadbidden Mrs. Blake retire after leaving in my room the articles I hadmentioned.

  All was now ready and waiting for the departure of the youngestSchoenmaker. Would he disappoint us and remain at home that day? Had anysuspicions been awakened in the stolid breasts of these men, that wouldserve to make them more watchful than usual against running unnecessaryrisks? No; at or near the time for the clock to strike two, their dooropened and the tread of a lumbering foot was heard in the hall. On itcame, passing my room with a rude stamping that gradually grew lessdistinct as the hardy rough went down the corridor, brushing the wallbehind which Mr. Gryce and his men lay concealed with his thick cane,and even stopping to light his pipe in front of the small apartmentwher
e cowered our good landlady with her eternal basket of mending inher lap.

  At length all was quiet, and throwing open my door, I withdrew intoa small closet connected with my room, to wait with indescribableimpatience, the appearance of Mrs. Blake. She came in a very fewminutes, remained for an instant, and departed, leaving behind her asI had requested, the skirt and shawl in which she had left her father'spresence. I at once endued myself in these articles of apparel--takingcare to draw the shawl well over my head--and with a pocket handkerchiefto my face, (a proceeding made natural enough by the sneeze which atthat very moment I took care should assail me) walked boldly back to theroom from which she had just come.

  The door was of course ajar, and as I swung it open with as near asimulation of her manner as possible, the vision of her powerfulfather lolling on a bench directly before me, offered anything but anencouraging spectacle to my eyes. But doubling myself almost togetherwith as ladylike an atch-ee as my masculine nostrils would allow, Isucceeded in closing the door and reaching a low stool by the windowwithout calling from him anything worse than a fretful "I hope you arenot going to bark too."

  I did not reply to this of course, but sat with my face turned towardsthe street in an attitude which I hoped would awaken his attentionsufficiently to cause him to get up and come over to my side. For as hesat face to the door it would be impossible to take him by surprise, andthat, now that I saw what a huge and muscular creature he was, seemedto me to be the only safe method before us. But, whether from thesullenness of his disposition or the very evident laziness of themoment, he manifested no disposition to move, and hearing or thinking Idid, the stealthy advance of Mr. Gryce and his companions down the hall,I allowed myself to give way to a suppressed exclamation, and leaningforward, pressed my forehead against the pane of glass before me asif something of absorbing interest had just taken place in the streetbeneath.

  His fears at once took alarm. Bounding up with a curse, he strodetowards me, muttering,

  "What's up now? What's that you are looking at?" reaching my side justas Mr. Gryce and his two men softly opened the door and with a quickleap threw their arms about him, closing upon him with a force he couldnot resist, desperate as he was and mighty in the huge strength of anunusually developed muscular organization.

  "You, you girl there, are to blame for this!" came mingled with cursesfrom his lips, as with one huge pant he submitted to his captors. "Onlylet me get my hand well upon you once--Damn it!" he suddenly exclaimed,dragging the whole three men forward in his effort to get his mouth downto my ear, "go and rub that sign out on the door or I'll--you know whatI'll do well enough. Do you hear?"

  Rising, still with face averted, I proceeded to do what he asked. But inanother moment seeing that he had been effectually bound and gagged,I took out the piece of red chalk I had kept in my pocket, anddeliberately chalked it on again, after which operation I came back andtook my seat as before on the low stool by the window.

  The object now was to secure the second rascal in the same way we hadthe first; and for this purpose Mr. Gryce ordered the now helpless giantto be dragged into the adjoining small room formerly occupied by Mrs.Blake, where he and his men likewise took up their station leaving meto confront as best I might, the surprise and consternation of the onewhose return we now awaited.

  I did not shrink. With that brave woman's garments drawn about me,something of her dauntless spirit seemed to invade my soul, and though Iexpected--But let that come in its place, I am not here to interest youin myself or my selfish thoughts.

  A half hour passed; he had never lingered away so long before, or so itseemed, and I was beginning to wonder if we should have to keep up thisstrain of nerve for hours, when the heavy tread was again heard inthe hall, and with a blow of the fist that argued anger or a brutalimpatience, he flung open the door and came in, I did not turn my head.

  "Where's father?" he growled, stopping where he was a foot or so fromthe door.

  I shook my head with a slight gesture and remained looking out.

  He brought his cane down on the floor with a thump. "What do you mean bysitting there staring out of the window like mad and not answering whenI ask you a decent question?"

  Still I made no reply.

  Provoked beyond endurance, yet held in check by that vague sense ofdanger in the air,--which while not amounting to apprehension is oftensufficient to hold back from advance the most daring foot,--he stoodglaring at me in what I felt to be a very ferocious attitude, but madeno offer to move. Instantly I rose and still looking out of the window,made with my hand what appeared to be a signal to some one on theopposite side of the way. The ruse was effective. With an oath thatrings in my ears yet, he lifted his heavy cane and advanced upon me witha bound, only to meet the same fate as his father at the hands of thewatchful detectives. Not, however, before that heavy cane came down uponmy head in a way to lay me in a heap at his feet and to sow the seedsof that blinding head-ache, which has afflicted me by spells ever since.But this termination of the affair was no more than I had feared fromthe beginning; and indeed it was as much to protect Mrs. Blake fromthe wrath of these men, as from any requirements of the situation I hadassumed the disguise I then wore. I therefore did not allow this mishapto greatly trouble me, unpleasant as it was at the time, but, as soonas ever I could do so, rose from the floor and throwing off my strangehabiliments, proceeded to finish up to my satisfaction, the work alreadyso successfully begun.