*CHAPTER XLIII*
*IN HOT PURSUIT*
It was a weird cry the like of which, in all his vicissitudes, Russellhad never heard before. There was not pain in it so much as the wild andvivid fear of a soul going down into eternal torment. Twice again thecry came and then all was silent once more. Uzali rose to his feetwithout the slightest appearance of haste; indeed, from his collectedmovements and assured air he might have been expecting something of thekind.
"What shall we do now?" Russell whispered.
"That depends on whether we are too late or not," Uzali replied. "Comeand see for yourself. One or two things have been puzzling you latelyand now we can clear them all up."
The speaker moved to the open window. He had scarcely reached thethreshold before that strange cry came again. It was much fainter thistime and lacked the dominant note of fear. It was more despairing andsounded a long way farther off. At the same time Russell held back amoment, for he could hear a disturbance overhead.
Surely enough there came the sound of voices raised in expostulation anda moment later Mason came downstairs.
"What is it?" he exclaimed. "What are you gentlemen doing? Don't youknow that my patient is at death's door? On no account was he to bedisturbed. That extraordinary noise has awakened him, and now it is asmuch as two of us can do to keep him in bed. I don't want to rouse theservants."
Something like an oath broke from Uzali's lips.
"For Heaven's sake! go back where you came from," he said. "You haveenough to do upstairs without disturbing us. Besides, you have Dr.Mercer to help you."
Mason looked at the speaker in astonishment. He was not accustomed tobeing spoken to in that way, but he made no protest. Overhead Flower'svoice could be heard raised in feeble fury. He seemed to be pleadingfor release.
"Oh, go upstairs," Uzali said. "I assure you, my good fellow, you gainnothing by standing here, and if the servants are aroused you will beconferring a favour on everybody by sending them back to bed again. Nowdo as you are told."
Without waiting for reply Uzali strode out into the garden followed byRussell. From the lawn they could see shadows flitting across theblinds of Flower's room. It was plain that a struggle was going on.
"That's a piece of cruel bad luck," Russell muttered. "I wonder whatwoke him up."
"Can't you guess?" Uzali said impatiently. "Wasn't that cry enough towake the dead? It would arouse anybody who was not lost toconsciousness. It appealed all the more to Flower because he had heardsomething like it before. But, come, we have no time to lose. I hopebefore morning that we shall have settled this ghastly business forever. And now to find out where those fellows went. I hope you knowthe house."
"Indeed, I don't," Russell said. "I don't know any more than you do.Mercer could help us."
Uzali made no reply. Very carefully he strode round the house, lookingintently amongst the ivy which fringed the stone walls. He seemed to beseeking for some cellar trap or sunken door by which the basement mightbe reached. He gave a grunt of triumph presently as he pointed to aflight of moss-clad stairs leading to a small door below. He pressedhis shoulder to the woodwork and it gave way quietly. Once more hechuckled.
"We are on the track at last," he whispered. "We shall find it here.Strike a light!"
Russell took a vesta from his pocket and after lighting it held italoft. He made out the outline of a dim vault with three doors at thefar end approached by flights of steps. The place apparently was emptyand Uzali strode along as if he were on the verge of some importantdiscovery. Then Russell's foot tripped over the support of an ironwine-bin and the whole thing came over with a rattle and roar that madethe place echo. With a cry Uzali started back.
"Now you have done it," he said hoarsely. "Look out for yourself. Giveus another match for goodness' sake."
The match went out as if some unseen person had stooped and extinguishedit. Just before the last dying gleam faded it seemed to Russell thattwo shadowy forms had passed him rapidly. He knew a moment later that hewas not mistaken, for he heard footsteps running up the stairs leadingto the garden.
"After them," Uzali whispered. "The tragedy is done so far as we areconcerned. That unfortunate man is beyond salvation. After them! It isnot so dark as you think."
After the intense gloom of the vault the garden was by comparison almostlight. Russell could see the two forms not more than a hundred yardsahead. He set off doggedly in chase. His blood was up now, his heartwas full of anger, and a certain recklessness possessed him. Come whatmight those people should not escape him again; neither did he needUzali to tell him who they were. He knew he was in close pursuit of thetwo Malays whom he had seen not so many hours before lying on the floorin Jansen's sitting-room.
It all grew clear to Russell as he raced along. He was just as anxiousto catch up with those men, just as determined to mete out to them thepunishment they deserved, but the wild feeling of passion was gone.
Doubtless the Malays had been too cunning for Jansen. To a certainextent they had trusted him, but the Dutchman's drugs had beeninsufficient. What Jansen had come to Maldon Grange for, Russell couldnot tell. But there must have been some deep reason for his move, somepressing need of keeping the Malays out of the way till his errand wasaccomplished.
Russell ran on and on without sense of fatigue, for he was in hardtraining, his muscles tense and rigid as whipcord, his lungs playingfreely. Uzali was far behind and out of the hunt. The Malays, too,showed that they knew they were being followed. For a long time theykept to the road till it began to dawn upon them that their antagonistwas gaining ground, then they vaulted lightly over a gate and enteredthe fields. Russell smiled grimly as he noticed the move. He was notperhaps quite so agile as those in front, but he knew the heavier goingwould suit him better. Sooner or later he must wear those fellows downand bring them to a sense of their responsibilities. There wasconsolation in the knowledge that he was armed. He smiled as he feltfor his revolver in his hip pocket.
A mile or so and the pace began to tell. The fugitives were not morethan sixty or seventy yards away. They were toiling distressfullyalong, and Russell could see that their limbs were growing heavy underthem.
"Pull up!" he cried. "It is useless to go any farther. If you don'tstop I'll fire into you."
But there was no suggestion of stopping on the part of the Malays. Theyswerved to the right as a hare might do and breasted a slight embankmenton the top of which was the permanent way of the railway. Russell wasnot more than two yards in the rear as they stumbled over the fence anddashed across the line. His blood was up, but he did not lose hispresence of mind. Something was ringing in his ears besides the rush ofwind, something booming and tearing; with a blinding light and headlongrush round the bend tore the express at top speed.
Russell pulled up in the nick of time. He yelled to the Malays. But itwas too late. They had seen and heard nothing. They seemed to belicked up by the flaming light and roaring steam. It was over in theflash of an instant. The express had disappeared and the silence of deepdarkness fell again, as Russell stood fumbling unsteadily in his pocketfor his matches.
He turned, shuddering, from the horror of it. The two figures lay therebattered almost out of recognition. They would do no more mischief inthis world. Still, they should not be neglected. A few hundred yardsdown the line Russell could see the lights of a small station andtowards this he hurried as fast as his legs would carry him. It was anincoherent story, but he managed to make a sleepy night porter and oneor two navvies camping up by the side of the rails to understandsomething of the tragedy. A few minutes later and the figures wereremoved to the station where they lay side by side covered with coarsesacking.
"I am staying at Maldon Grange," Russell explained. "I will call in themorning. I dare say one of you would not mind notifying the police forme."
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