XX. WITH STRANGE COMPANIONS
"A word, a sound and I fire!" came the cold, hard voice of the manin the mask. He spoke in French. The trio sat petrified, speechless,breathless. So sudden, so stunning was the shock to their sensesthat they were as graven images for the moment. There was no impulseto scream, to resist; they had no power to da either.
"We will injure no one unless there is an outcry or a struggle.Monsieur, Madame, there is no occasion for alarm; no more is there achance to escape," said the mask quietly. Three pairs of eyes lookeddumbly into the gleaming holes in the black mask that covered hisface.
"The police?" finally whispered Mrs. Garrison, coming slowly out ofher stupor.
"Silence, madame! You are not to speak. Faint if you like; we willnot object to that and it may be a relief to you," said the man,sarcastically gallant. "I must ask you to make room for me insidethe carriage. We cannot remain here; the police may come this way--Imean those who are not engaged in guarding the grand cathedral towhich you were going." He was inside the carriage and sitting besideDorothy when he concluded the last observation. With a shudder shedrew away from him. "Pardon, Mademoiselle, I must implore you toendure my presence here for a time. We have quite a distance totravel together."
A nameless dread sent chills to the hearts which had begun to thumpwildly in the reaction. What did he mean?
"What are you going to do with us?" groaned the horrified mother.The carriage was now moving rapidly over the pavement.
"In due time you may know, Madame; you have only to be patient. Forthe moment, it is necessary that you keep perfectly quiet. Althoughyou are a woman, I shall have to kill you if you disobey mycommands. We take desperate chances to-night in the coup which shallmake all Europe ring with the crowning act of the great diamondrobbers, as you are pleased to call us; and we can brook noresistance. You see my revolver, Monsieur, it is on a direct linewith your breast. You are Americans, I am told, and your people arenoted for coolness, for discretion under trying circumstances. Yourwomen are as brave as your men. I merely ask you to call yourcourage--"
"You shall not go on, monster," exclaimed Mrs. Garrison, fiercely."Do you know who we are? Surely you are not inhuman enough to--"
"Madame! I warn you for the last time. You must be reasonable.Resistance, argument, pleading will avail you nothing. If you desireto discuss the situation calmly, sensibly, you may do so, but youare to go only so far as I see fit. Will you remember?" There was nomistaking the earnestness of the speaker. Mrs. Garrison realizedthat she was absolutely powerless, completely at the mercy of thebold intruder.
"What must we pay, then, for our freedom? Name the price, man. Orderyour men to drive us to St. Gudule's and anything you ask is yours.I implore you to be generous. Think, Monsieur, think what this meansto us!" she said, desperately.
"I am not at liberty to dictate terms, Madame. It is only my duty tocarry out my part of the transaction; another will make terms withyou."
"But when? When? We cannot be delayed a moment longer. The hour hasalready passed when my daughter should be before the altar. ForGod's sake, name your price. I will pay, I will pay," sobbed thehalf-crazed woman.
"Sir, do you know what you are doing?" demanded the quaking old man,finding his voice at last. "You must listen to reason. Think ofyourself, if not of us. What will become of you when you are caught?Pause in this awful crime and think--"
"You are kind; Monsieur, to advise me, but it is too late."
"Will you take us to St. Gudule's?" cried the elder woman, on theverge of collapse. "I will give you all you ask, Monsieur."
"Ten thousand dollars is yours if you abandon this damnable--" beganMr. Van Dykman.
"It will avail nothing to offer me money," interrupted the master ofthe situation, harshly. "That is the end of it. Believe me, money isnot what we are after to-night. To-morrow, perhaps, it may temptus."
"What do you mean to do with us?" cried the girl, horror in hervoice.
"We do not mean to harm you, Mademoiselle, if you are sensible anddo as we command."
"But the wedding, the wedding!" moaned Mrs. Garrison. "What willthey think of us? O, Monsieur, if you are one of the great diamondrobbers I willingly give all that I have about me. On my personthere are jewels valued at many thousand--"
"Another word, Madame, and I shall be obliged to use force," saidthe man, leaning forward, threateningly. In the darkness they couldfeel the menace in his eyes.
"You are determined to go on with this outrage?" asked Van Dykman.
"A coup so well planned as this cannot be given up, Monsieur. Weflatter ourselves that no such job has ever graced the history ofEurope," said the stranger, pleasantly. "Down in your hearts, Ibelieve you will some day express admiration for the way in whichthe abduction has been managed."
"Abduction?" gasped Mrs. Garrison. Dorothy sank back into the cornerat that word and it seemed to her that her heart would never beatagain.
"Where do you mean to take us, and what is your object?" slowlyasked Mrs. Garrison, a peculiar sense of resignation coming overher. It was as if she recognized the utter hopelessness of escapefrom the hands of these skillful wretches. She now saw that the mindwhich had planned the capture was one that could carry the game tothe end without a flaw in the operations.
"I can answer neither question, Madame. Suffice to say that you arerich and we are poor. I leave the rest for your imagination. Itgrieves us, of course, to mar the grand wedding of to-night, but youwill readily understand that at no other time could we find you sowell prepared. Truly, I wonder what they are doing in St. Gudule."
"My coachman, my footman, my servants, it seems, are youraccomplices," said Mrs. Garrison, steadily.
"Not at all, Madame. To-morrow your coachman and your footman willbe found where we confined them. The men here have never been inyour employ. I could recommend them to you, however; they are mosttrusty, faithful fellows, and they would be loyal to you to thedeath."
"For God's sake, where are we?" burst forth Mr. Van Dykman, unableto control his fear longer.
"We are near the edge of the city, and will soon be beyond thelimits. I must command absolute silence for the next half-hour. Nota word must be spoken as we are passing a point of danger. Do notpermit hope of rescue to enter your minds, however, for there is nochance. I may enlighten you by saying that the revolvers I carrywork safely, quietly and very effectually. Will you join me, in ahalf-hour's silent consideration of the scenes that are now takingplace in old St. Gudule? I am sure there is no limit to theimagination when we give over our thoughts to that subject."
Whatever may have been the desire to shriek, to call for help, totear away the window curtains, the three helpless captives wereunable to break through the influence this lone bandit spread aboutthem. The thought of St. Gudule, of the great gathering, of theimpatience, the consternation, the sensation occasioned by thenon-arrival of the bride, brought madness to the brains of thehapless trio. Like a vivid panorama they saw everything that wasgoing on in the church. They saw alarm in faces of those closelyinterested in the wedding, heard the vague rumors and questionings,the order for the search, the report of accident, and then--thepolice and newspapers!
At last the carriage came to a stop and the footman swung down fromthe seat, opening the door quickly. That they were far beyond thestreets of the city was apparent in the oppressive stillness, brokenonly by the heavy panting of the horses. "This is the place," camein the coarse voice of the footman. "We have no time to lose."
"Then I must ask you to get down, Monsieur, and the ladies. We areabout to enter a house for a short while, the better to complete thedetails of our little transactions. Remember, no noise means noviolence. Be quick, please." Thus spoke the man in the seat, who aninstant later stepped forth into the darkness. The trembling,sobbing women dragged themselves to the ground, their gorgeous gownstrailing in the dust, unthought of and unprotected. Mr. Van Dykman,old as he was, took courage in the momentary relaxation, andattempted to halloo for help.
A heavy hand was clasped over hismouth and strong arms subdued his show of resistance. Swiftly acrossa short stretch of ground they went, up rickety steps and into theblack hallway of a house. There were stifled moans of terror on thelips of the two women, but there was no resistance save the weighttheir strengthless forms imposed upon the men who had them incharge. There was no light in the house and no sign that it wasoccupied by others than themselves.
"We remain here for several hours. If all goes well, you will thenbe at liberty to depart for your home in the city. Here is a chair,Madam. Pray be seated. Pardon our inability to give you a light. Youwill be patient, I am sure, when it is said on the sacred word of agentleman that no harm is to come to you. It is only necessary thatyou remain quiet and await the hour when we are ready to releaseyou. I must ask permission to lock the door of this room. Beforedawn your friends will be here to take you away in safety.Everything has been arranged for your personal welfare and comfort.Permit me to say goodnight."
"Where are we?" demanded the old man.
"Why have you brought us here?" asked Mrs. Garrison from the armchair into which she had limply fallen.
"You will learn everything in good time. We shall be just outsidethe door, and will respond promptly if you need our help to theextent of shouting for it. In the meantime your horses and carriageare being well cared for. Be of good heart and your night will notbe a long one. Believe me, I hope we may meet again under morepleasing conditions."
The door closed a second later and the key clicked. Then came theshooting of a bolt, a short scuffling of feet, and the silence ofthe dead reigned over the strange house. Overcome with dread, theoccupants of the room uttered no word, no sound for what seemed tothem an hour. Then Mrs. Garrison, real tenderness in her voice,called softly to her daughter.
"Darling, can you find me in this darkness? Come to me. Let me holdyou close in my arms, Dorothy, poor, poor child."
But there was no response to the appeal, nor to a second and a thirdcall. The mother sprang to her feet in sudden terror, her heartfluttering wildly.
"Henry! Are you here? Where is--what has happened to Dorothy?" shecried. A trembling old man and a frantic woman bumped against eachother in the darkness and the search began. There were but twopeople in the room! Following this alarming discovery one of thesepersons swooned and the other battered, like a madman, against theheavy, stubborn door.
Far away in the night bowled a carriage drawn by sturdy horses. Theclouds broke and the rain fell. Thunder and lightning ran rampant inthe skies, but nothing served to lessen the speed of that swiftflight over the highways leading into the sleep-ridden country.Inside the cab, not the one in which Dorothy Garrison had begun herjourney to the altar, but another and less pretentious, sat the grimdesperado and a half-dead woman. Whither they flew no one knew savethe man who held the reins over the plunging horses. How long theirjourney--well, it was to have an end.
True to the promise made by the bandit, a clattering band ofhorsemen dashed up to the lonely house at the break of dawn. Theywere led by Prince Ugo Ravorelli, dishevelled, half-crazed. Ashivering woman in silks and a cowering old man sobbed with joy whenthe rescuers burst through the door. Tacked to a panel in the doorwas an ominous, ghost-like paper on which was printed the followingmessage from the night just gone:
"In time the one who is missing shall be returned to the arms of hermother, absolutely unharmed. She will be well cared for by those whohave her in charge. After a reasonable length of time her friendswill be informed as to the terms on which she may be restored tothem."
Mrs. Garrison, more dead than alive, was conveyed to her home in theAvenue Louise, there to recover her strength with astonishingquickness. This vastly purposeful, indomitable woman, before manyhours had passed, was calmly listening to plans for the capture ofher daring abductors and the release of her daughter. Friends,overcome with the horror of the hour, flocked to her aid andcomfort; the government offered its assistance and the police wentto work as one massive sleuth-hound. Newspapers all over the worldfairly staggered under the burden of news they carried to theirreaders, and people everywhere stood aghast at the most audaciousoutrage in the annals of latter-day crime.
As completely lost as if the earth had swallowed them were thediamond robbers--for all the world accepted them as theperpetrators--and their fair prize. No one saw the carriage after itturned off the Avenue Louise on the night of the abduction; no onesaw the party leave the lonely house in the country. A placard foundon the steps of a prominent citizen's home at an early hour in themorning told the frenzied searchers where to look for the mother andthe uncle of the missing girl.
A reward of 100,000 francs for the arrest of the abductors or thereturn of Miss Garrison was offered at once by the stony-faced womanin the Avenue Louise, and detectives flew about like bees. Everycity in the land was warned to be on the lookout, every village waswatched, every train and station was guarded. Nine in every tendetectives maintained that she was still in Brussels, and houseafter house, mansion after mansion was searched.
Three days after the abduction word came from London that four menand a young woman, apparently insane, all roughly attired, had cometo that city from Ostend, and had disappeared before the officialswere fully cognizant of their arrival. The woman, according to thestatements of men who saw her on the train, was beautiful and paleas with the sickness that promised death.
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