Green Fancy

by George Barr McCutcheon

  CHAPTER XVI

  THE FIRST WAYFARER VISITS A SHRINE, CONFESSES, AND TAKES AN OATH

  How was he to find the courage to impart the appalling news to her? Hewas now convinced beyond all doubt that the so-called Sprouse had madeoff with the priceless treasure and that only a miracle could bringabout its recovery. O'Dowd's estimate of the man's cleverness was amplysupported by what Barnes knew of him. He knew him to be thepersonification of craftiness, and of daring. It was not surprisingthat he had been tricked by this devil's own genius. He recalled hisadmiration, his wonder over the man's artfulness; he groaned as hethought of the pride he had felt in being accorded the privilege ofhelping him!

  Sitting glumly in a corner of the tap-room, watching but not listeningto the spouting Mr. Rushcroft, (who was regaling the cellarer and twovastly impressed countrymen with the story of his appearance beforeQueen Victoria and the Royal Family), Barnes went over the events ofthe past twenty-four hours, deriving from his reflections a few fairlyreasonable deductions as to his place in the plans of the dauntless Mr.Sprouse.

  In the first place, Sprouse, being aware of his somewhat ardentinterest in the fair captive, took a long and desperate chance on hissusceptibility. With incomprehensible boldness he decided to make anaccomplice of the eager and unsuspecting knight-errant! His cunninglydevised tale,--in which there was more than a little of thetruth,--served to excite the interest and ultimately to win theco-operation of the New Yorker. His object in enlisting this supportwas now perfectly clear to the victim of his duplicity. Barnes hadadmitted that he was bound by a promise to aid the prisoner in aneffort to escape from the house; even a slow-witted person would havereached the conclusion that a partial understanding at least existedbetween captive and champion. Sprouse staked everything on thatconviction. Through Barnes he counted on effecting an entrance to thealmost hermetically sealed house.

  Evidently the simplest, and perhaps the only, means of gainingadmission was through the very window he was supposed to guard. Onceinside her room, with the aid and connivance of one in whom theoccupant placed the utmost confidence, he would be in a position toemploy his marvellous talents in accomplishing his own peculiar ends.

  Barnes recalled all of the elaborate details preliminary to the actualperformance of that amazing feat, and realised to what extent he hadbeen shaped into a tool to be used by the master craftsman. He sawthrough the whole Machiavellian scheme, and he was now morally certainthat Sprouse would have sacrificed him without the slightest hesitation.

  In the event that anything went wrong with their enterprise, the manwould have shot him dead and earned the gratitude and commendation ofhis associates! There would be no one to question him, no one to saythat he had failed in the duty set upon him by the master of the house.He would have been glorified and not crucified by his friends.

  Up to the point when he actually passed through the window Sprousecould have justified himself by shooting the would-be rescuer. Up tothat point, Barnes was of inestimable value to him; after that,--well,he had proved that he was capable of taking care of himself.

  Mr. Dillingford came and pronounced sentence. He informed the ruefulthinker that the young lady wanted to see him at once in MissThackeray's room.

  With a heavy heart he mounted the stairs. At the top he paused todeliberate. Would it not be better to keep her in ignorance? What wasto be gained by revealing to her the--But Miss Thackeray was luring himon to destruction. She stood outside the door and beckoned. That initself was ominous. Why should she wriggle a forefinger at him insteadof calling out in her usual free-and-easy manner? There was foreboding--

  "Is Mr. Barnes coming?" His heart bounded perceptibly at the sound ofthat soft, eager voice from the interior of the room.

  "By fits and starts," said Miss Thackeray critically. "Yes, he hasstarted again."

  She closed the door from the outside, and Barnes was alone with thecousin of kings and queens and princes.

  "I feared you had deserted me," she said, holding out her hand to himas he strode across the room. S he did not rise from the chair in whichshe was seated by the window. The lower wings of the old-fashionedshutters were closed except for a narrow strip; light streamed downupon her wavy golden hair from the upper half of the casement. She wasattired in a gorgeously flowered dressing-gown; he had seen it oncebefore, draping the matutinal figure of Miss Thackeray as she glidedthrough the hall with a breakfast tray which Miss Tilly had flatlyrefused to carry to her room: being no servant, she declared with heat.

  "I saw no occasion to disturb your rest," he mumbled. "Nothing--nothingnew has turned up."

  "I have been peeping," she said, looking at him searchingly. A littleline of anxiety lay between her eyes. "Where is Mr. Loeb going, Mr.Barnes?"

  He noted the omission of Mr. O'Dowd. "To Hornville, I believe. Theystopped for gasoline."

  "Is he running away?" was her disconcerting question.

  "O'Dowd says he is to be gone for a few days on business," heequivocated.

  "He will not return," she said quietly. "He is a coward at heart. Oh, Iknow him well," she went on, scorn in her voice.

  "Was I wrong in not trying to stop him?" he asked.

  She pondered this for a moment. "No," she said, but he caught thedubious note in her voice. "It is just as well, perhaps, that he shoulddisappear. Nothing is to be gained now by his seizure. Next week, yes;but to-day, no. His flight to-day spares--but we are more interested inthe man Sprouse. Has he returned?"

  "No, Miss Cameron," said he ruefully. And then, without a singlereservation, he laid bare the story of Sprouse's defection. When heinquired if she had heard of the man known as Chester Naismith, sheconfirmed his worst fears by describing him as the guard who watchedbeneath her window. He was known to her as a thief of internationalfame. The light died out of her lovely eyes as the truth dawned uponher; her lips trembled, her shoulders drooped.

  "What a fool I've been," she mourned. "What a fool I was to accept theresponsibility of--"

  "Don't blame yourself," he implored. "Blame me. I am the fool, thestupidest fool that ever lived. He played with me as if I were thesimplest child."

  "Ah, my friend, why do you say that? Played with you? He has trickedsome of the shrewdest men in the world. There are no simple children atGreen Fancy. They are men with the brains of foxes and the hearts ofwolves. To deceive you was child's play. You are an honest man. It isalways the honest man who is the victim; he is never the culprit. Ifhonest men were as smart as the corrupt ones, Mr. Barnes, there wouldbe no such thing as crime. If the honest man kept one hand on his purseand the other on his revolver, he would be more than a match for thethief. You were no match for Chester Naismith. Do not look so glum. Theshrewdest police officers in Europe have never been able to cope withhim. Why should you despair?"

  He sprang to his feet. "By gad, he hasn't got away with it yet," hegrated. "He is only one man against a million. I will set every cog inthe entire police and detective machinery of the United States going.He cannot escape. They will run him to earth before--"

  "Mr. Barnes, I have no words to express my gratitude to you for allthat you have done and all that you still would do," she interrupted."I may prove it to you, however, by advising you to abandon all effortsto help me from now on. You did all that you set out to do, and I mustask no more of you. You risked your life to save a woman who, for allyou know, may be deceiving you with--"

  "I have not lost all of my senses, Miss Cameron," he said bluntly. "Thefew that I retain make me your slave. I shall abandon neither you northe effort to recover what my stupidity has cost you. I will run thisscoundrel down if I have to devote the remainder of my life to thetask."

  She sighed. "Alas, I fear that I shall have to tell you a little moreabout this wonderful man you know as Sprouse. Six months ago thefriends and supporters of the legitimate successor to my country'sthrone, consummated a plan whereby the crown jewels and certaindocuments of state were surreptitiously removed from the palace vaults.The act, though mea
nt to be a loyal and worthy one, was neverthelessnullified by the most stupendous folly. Instead of depositing thetreasure in Paris, it was sent to this country in charge of a group ofmen whose fealty could not be questioned. I am not at liberty to tellyou how this treasure was brought into the United States withoutdetection by the Customs authorities. Suffice it to say, it wasdelivered safely to a committee of my countrymen in New York. There aretwo contenders for the throne in my land. One is a prisoner in Austria,the other is at liberty somewhere in--in the world. The Teutonic Alliesare now in possession of my country. It has been ravished anddespoiled."

  "So far Sprouse's story jibes," said he, as she paused.

  "My countrymen conceived the notion that Germany would one day conquerFrance and over-run England. It was this notion that urged them to putthe treasure beyond all possible chance of its being seized by theconquerors and turned over to the usurping prince who would be placedon our throne.

  "As for my part in this unhappy project, it is quite simple. I was notthe only one to be deceived by plotters who far outstripped theoriginal conspirators in cleverness and guile. The man you know as Loebis in reality my cousin. I have known him all my life. He is theyoungest brother of the pretender to the throne, and a cousin of theprince who is held prisoner by the Austrians. This prince has a brotheralso, and it was to him that I was supposed to deliver the jewels. Hecame to Canada a month ago, sent by the embassy in Paris. I travelledfrom New York, but not alone as you may suspect. I was carefullyprotected from the time I left my hotel there until--well, until Iarrived in Boston.

  "While there I received a secret message from friends in Canadadirecting me to go to Spanish Falls, where I would be met and conductedto Green Fancy by Prince Sebastian himself. I was on my way to Halifaxwhen this message changed my plans. Moreover, the reason given for thischange was an excellent one. It had been discovered that the two menwho acted secretly as my escort were traitors. They were to lead meinto a trap prepared at Portland, where I was to be robbed and detainedlong enough for the wretches to make off in safety with their booty. Ineed not describe my feelings. I obeyed the directions and stole awayat night, eluding my protectors, and came by devious ways to the placementioned in the message.

  "As you may have guessed by this time, the whole thing was a carefullyplanned ruse. The company at Green Fancy,--you may some day know whythey were there,--learned through the man Naismith that the treasurehad been entrusted to me for delivery to Prince Sebastian and hisfriends in Halifax. Let me interrupt myself to explain why the Princedid not come to New York in person, instead of arranging to have thejewels taken to him at Halifax. He is an officer of high rank in thearmy. His trip across the ocean was known to the German secret service.The instant he landed on American soil, a demand would have been madeby the German Embassy for his detention here for the duration of thewar.

  "I was informed in the message that Prince Sebastian would take me tothe place called Green Fancy, which was near the Canadian border. Asafe escort would be provided for us, and we would be on British soilwithin a few hours after our meeting. It is only necessary to add thatwhen I arrived at Green Fancy I met Prince Ugo,--and understood! I hadcarefully covered my tracks after leaving Boston. My real friends were,and still are, completely in the dark as to my movements, so skilfullywas the trick managed. I shall ask you directly, Mr. Barnes, to wire myfriends in New York and in Halifax, acquainting them with my presentwhereabouts and safety. Now, that we know the jewels have been stolenagain, that message need not be delayed.

  "And now for Chester Naismith. It was he who, acting for the misguidedloyalists and recommended by certain young aristocrats who by virtue oftheir own dissipations had come to know him as a man of infiniteresourcefulness and daring, planned and carried out the pillaging ofthe palace vaults. Almost under the noses of the foreign guards hesucceeded in obtaining the jewels. No doubt he could have made off withthem at that time, but he shrewdly preferred to have them brought toAmerica by some one else. It would have been impossible for him todispose of them in Europe. The United States was the only place in theworld where he could have sold them. You see how cunning he is?

  "This much I know: he came to New York with the men who carried thejewels. He tried to rob them in New York but failed. Then hedisappeared. So carefully guarded were the jewels that he knew therewas no chance of securing them without assistance. For nearly sixmonths they remained in a safety vault on Fifth Avenue. Evidently hegave up hope and, falling in with Prince Ugo, joined his party. I donot know this to be the case, but I am now convinced that he learned ofthe plan to send the jewels to Halifax. It was he, I am sure, whoconveyed this news to Prince Ugo, who at once invented the scheme todivert me to this place.

  "And now comes the remarkable part of the story. When I arrived atSpanish Falls, there was no one to meet me. The agent, seeing me on theplatform and evidently at a loss which way to turn, accosted me. Heoffered to secure a conveyance for me, and was very considerate, but Idecided to call up Green Fancy on the telephone. I wanted to be surethat there was no trick. To my surprise, O'Dowd came to the telephone.I was greatly relieved when I actually heard his voice. I have knownhim for years, and the belief that he had at last allied himself withPrince Sebastian,--after being on the opposite side, you see,--wascause for rejoicing.

  "He was amazed. It seems that I was not expected until the nextafternoon. The car was out on an errand to some little village in themountains, he said, but he would telephone at once to see if it couldbe located. Afterwards it turned out that the message announcing myarrival a day ahead of the time agreed upon was never delivered."

  "Sprouse's fine work, I suppose," put in Barnes.

  "I haven't the remotest doubt. Nor do I doubt that he intended towaylay me at some point along the road. O'Dowd failed to catch the carat the village and was on the point of starting off on horseback tomeet me, when it returned. He sent it ahead and followed on horseback.You know how I was picked up at the cross-roads. It is all so like oneof those picture puzzles. By putting the meaningless pieces togetherone obtains a complete design. The last piece to go into this puzzle isthe mishap that befell Naismith on that very afternoon. He was no doubtthwarted in his design to waylay me on the road from Spanish Falls by asingular occurrence in this tavern. He was attacked in his room hereshortly after the noon hour, overpowered, bound and gagged by two men.They carried him to another room, where he remained until late in thenight when he managed to extricate himself. I have reason to believethat this part of his story is true. He knew the men. They were thievesas clever and as merciless as himself. They too were watching for me. Imay say to you now, Mr. Barnes, that he has never posed as an honestman among his associates at Green Fancy. He glories in his fame as athief, but until now no one would have questioned his loyalty to hisfriends. I do not know how these men learned of my intention to come toGreen Fancy. They--"

  "They came to this tavern four or five days in advance of your arrivalat Green Fancy," he interrupted.

  "Are you sure?" she asked in surprise.

  "Absolutely."

  "In that case, they could not have known," she said, deeply perplexed.

  "Sprouse told me that they were secret service men from abroad and thathe was working with them. Putnam Jones, I am sure, believes that theywere detectives. He also believes the same to be true of Sprouse. Mytheory is this, and I think it is justified by events. The men werereally secret agents, sent here to watch the movements of the gang upthere. They came upon Sprouse and recognised him. On the day mentionedthey overpowered him and forced him to reveal certain facts connectedwith affairs at Green Fancy. Possibly he led them to believe that youwere one of the conspirators. They waited for your arrival and thenrisked the hazardous trip to Green Fancy. They were discovered andshot."

  She could hardly wait for him to finish. "I believe you are right," shecried. "A little while before the shooting occurred, the house wasroused by a telephone call. I was in my room, but not asleep. I hadjust realised my own dreadful p
redicament. There was a great commotiondownstairs, and I distinctly heard some one say, in my own language,that they were not to get away alive. It must have been Naismith whotelephoned. One of the men, I have been told, was killed not far fromour gates. He was shot, I am sure, by the man called Nicholas, noted asone of the most marvellous marksmen in our little army. The other wasaccounted for by Naismith himself, who had managed to reach thecross-roads in time to head him off. Naismith openly boasted of thefeat. The greatest consternation prevailed at Green Fancy because themen succeeded in reaching the highway before they were shot. Prince Ugowas distracted. He said that the attention of the public would bedirected to Green Fancy and curious investigators were certain tointerfere with the great project he was carrying on."

  "I believe we have accounted for Mr. Sprouse, and I am no longerinterested in the unravelling of the mystery surrounding the deaths ofRoon and Paul," said he. "There is nothing to keep me here any longer,Miss Cameron. I suggest that you allow me to escort you at once to yourfriends, wherever they--"

  She was opposed to this plan. While there was still a chance thatSprouse might be apprehended in the neighbourhood, or the possibilityof his being caught by the relentless pursuers, she declined to leave.

  "Then, I shall also stay," said he promptly, and was repaid by thetremulous smile she gave him. His heart was beating like mad, and heknew, in that instant, just what had happened to him. He was helplesslyin love with this beautiful cousin of kings and queens. And when hethought of kings and queens he realised that beyond all question hislove was hopeless.

  "You are very good to me," she said softly.

  He got up suddenly and walked away. After a moment, in which heregained control of himself, he returned to her side.

  "What effect will Mr. Loeb's flight have on the scheme up there, MissCameron?" he inquired, quite steadily.

  "They will scatter to the four winds, those people," she said. "Hewould not have fled unless disaster was staring him in the face.Something has transpired to defeat his ugly plan. They will all run tocover like so many rats."

  "The government of the United States is a good rat-catcher," he said.

  "The United States would do well to keep the rats out, Mr. Barnes,instead of allowing them to come here and thrive and multiply and gnawinto its very vitals."