The Hunchback of Westminster

by William Le Queux

use ofby the Indians and negroes of the district, the repetition of whichcaused either feelings of hostility towards strangers, or of friendship.

  This last was headed: "To those whom it may concern," but, lacking thecasuistry of the trained Jesuit, we found it difficult to imagine whomthe whereabouts of Londini might concern at the time the record waspenned, particularly after that solemn pledge of Father ThomasBonaventure and his three faithful companions, which, we were bound toadmit, the Jesuits in Mexico seemed to regard as quite binding--and noneof the community were suggested to have raised any protest against it.

  "And, indeed, it is a very good thing for everyone," saidCooper-Nassington, who was in reality an ardent Catholic, "that they didnot let Father Thomas Bonaventure's experiences in the matter pass intomere spoken legend. Look at the strength which their painstaking recordwill give now to the case for England! By their letting the facts betreasured up then they will help the truth to be known now, and thecause of justice to flourish! After all, they might have had some dimnotions of disputes that might arise in the hereafter, and so theydetermined to write these documents--"

  "As they did many others," put in Casteno gently, "which have provedpriceless benefits to history and poor, puzzled humanity."

  I said nothing, for I knew nothing of these subjects, and my brain wasnot clear enough to discuss the points then, for it was dazzled by ourgood fortune. The Prior and the Spaniard soon came back, too, to thematter in hand--how best to utilise these documents. After all, we hadnot forgotten that Lord Cyril Cuthbertson and Earl Fotheringay wereclose upon them, and that directly they got a suspicion where they werelodged they would leave absolutely no stone unturned, with the aid ofpoor, misguided Doris and her father, to recover possession of them.The hunchback, too, was sure to want a hand in the game as well as theJesuits, so it, therefore, behoved us to proceed with the greatestcaution, and not to give our plans away until they were too well laid tobe upset.

  But what were those plans to be?

  Mr Cooper-Nassington was all in favour of action.

  "Look here," he said in that great purposeful way of his, "while youfellows have been going up and down the face of the earth after thehunchback, and doing yeoman service I will admit, I've been up at Whitbyfitting out a yacht. The stores are on board. The crew is engaged.I've arranged with the ironstone mine manager to draft off a certainnumber of his miners to Mexico immediately I give the word. Now whyshouldn't we three slip off to the Great Northern terminus at King'sCross and take the next express for York and Middlesborough and steamoff? In a few weeks we can land in Mexico, and after we have locatedthe lake we can take formal possession of it, and if anybody upsets uswe can appeal to the British Government for aid."

  "That sounds right enough," I conceded, "but it loses sight of certainvery material facts. In the first place, you forget that we should befollowed by all the different enemies we have as hard as steamers couldcarry them. In a lawless interior like Mexico they would have us all,more or less, at their mercy, and ten to one they'd raise up religiousfanaticism against us amongst the tribes who live around the lake, and,after a stern fight, they'd steal a march upon us."

  "More than that, Prior," interjected Casteno, "you forget that the lakedoes not really belong to us, any more than it does to President Diaz,not even as much. By what right should we seize it? Because it belongsto England? Well, we have no authority to act for England in a nicediplomatic matter like this--none at all. There would be an instantreference by the authorities in Mexico to the British Foreign Office.What would happen then? Would Lord Cyril Cuthbertson forgive you allthe old enmities--the bad quarters of an hour he has suffered from yousince he and you quarrelled? Not a bit of it. He would rejoice at yourfate being delivered into his hands in this fashion, and he wouldinstantly repudiate your rights, denounce your authority, and might evengo so far as to leave us all subject to the Mexican law, to be tried andtreated as traitors only one degree cleaner than the Jameson raiders."

  "Then what would be the most discreet step to take?" queried theHonourable Member rather helplessly. "We can't sit down and wait forsomething opportune to happen. It seems to me that we must move, andmove at once!"

  "That's so," I replied after a moment's pause. "But we need not goquite as far as you suggest. There are several vital matters to clearup before we can dare to appeal to the public with clean hands. Forinstance, that mystery of Whitehall Court must be sifted to the verybottom. The police have yet to discover who murdered the Foreign Officeclerk."

  "You mean Bernard Delganni?" remarked Casteno.

  "Delganni!" I echoed. "Was that his name? What! that's the name alsoof your founder. Surely, then, they were related, and the crime hadsome connection with the brotherhood!"

  The Prior and Casteno saw my look of amazement, and, rightlyinterpreting it, exchanged looks of mutual intelligence.

  "Tell him," said Cooper-Nassington, with a commanding nod.

  "I will," returned the Spaniard, and now he faced me. "Since I havearrived here, Glynn," he went on, "I have heard all about that crime,and very quickly now the truth will be given to the public. ThisBernard Delganni, who was found stabbed to the heart in Colonel Napier'sflat in Embankment Mansions, was really a nephew and heir-at-law of ourfounder, Bruno Delganni. He was in the Foreign Office service astranslator to the treaty department, but he never got over the fact thathe was left practically penniless in order to endow this Order of StBruno, and for years and years and years strove with might and main todo us all the injury he could, not only with the permanent heads of theForeign Office, but also with the officials in India and Australia andSouth Africa, where we had founded houses.

  "Quite a short time ago, however, he changed his tactics. He had gotmixed up with a music-hall actress, who had bled him right and left forcash, and had finally driven him to some most disgraceful expedients toraise money, which were bound to be revealed unless he got nearly fiftythousand pounds to clear himself before they were discovered. Indesperation he came to us, but not by way of a supplicant. `Pay me thissum,' said he, half frantic with rage and fear and the bitter passionsof revenge which he had cherished ever since he realised he had beendisinherited, `or I'll show you up to the world!' We met; we debatedabout him. In the end we refused to be blackmailed. `Do your worst' wesaid, in effect.

  "Well, as you know yourself, he was a friend of Colonel Napier's, and sohe hit on that foul scheme of mystery and suicide and impersonation youhave read about. He rightly saw if he blew out his brains in a plain,straightforward kind of way nobody would talk about him or worry abouthim but that the thing would be hushed up as soon as possible. Whereas,if he pretended to be a man of note like the colonel, and was mistakenfor him, and then proved to be somebody else, all London would talk, asit did. No doubt, amongst his papers he has left some hints that wewere the cause of the crime. By that means he probably hoped suspicionwould be diverted from his disgraceful expedients, and he would save hisname from shame at the expense of ours. We shall see. All in due timewill be made clear. But it can't really affect us. We know too muchabout him and the actress to suffer. At the right moment we willcommunicate the real facts to the police."

  "Indeed, already we have done so. I went to Scotland Yard myself," saidthe Prior. "Believe me, to-morrow's papers will put all perfectlyclear."

  "Then I can see what we ought to do," I cried, and in a few graphicsentences I sketched out a plan of action that met with instant approvalfrom both my companions.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

  REVEALS A SCHEME.

  This, in a few words, was my scheme.

  For my own part, I was certain that one or other of the many parties whowere after the deeds--the Foreign Office, the Jesuits, therepresentatives of Spain, or the company promoters--would, somehow, makea desperate effort to seize them. Therefore our first duty was clear--to hide them so effectually that none could find them.

  Where, then, should they be placed? Both Cooper-Nas
sington and JoseCasteno had various suggestions to make in this respect. One was infavour of secreting them under a certain tree in the garden of StBruno's. The other suggested that they should be tied to the clapper inthe great iron bell that hung in a dome on the roof. But in the end,for good or for evil, my notion was adopted. We all repaired to theentrance hall, which happened, luckily, to be quite deserted, and there,at the back of the statue of the poor misguided idol of the founder, ina little opening in the pedestal which the base of the figure leftuncovered, we bestowed those most precious documents.

  Afterwards we returned to the study, and then I produced those threemost excellent forgeries of the real deeds which Paul Zouche had made atthe