It was on the homeward hike that he met the stranger. His walk had been as solitary as a walk in North Devon can be: he had not even encountered any farm labourers, for the land for miles around was unclaimed moor. But this man was so obviously harmless, even at a distance of half a mile, that the Saint frowned thoughtfully.
The man was in plus-fours of a dazzling purple hue. He had a kind of haversack slung over his shoulder, and he carried a butterfly net. He moved aimlessly about — sometimes in short violent rushes, sometimes walking, sometimes crawling and rooting about on his hands and knees. He did not seem to notice Templar at all, and the Saint, moving very silently, came right up and stood over him during an exceptionally zealous burrowing exploration among some gorse bushes. While Simon watched, the naturalist made a sudden pounce, accompanied by a gasp of triumph, and wriggled back into the open with a small beetle held gingerly between his thumb and forefinger. The haversack was hitched round, a matchbox secured, the insect 'imprisoned therein, and the box carefully stowed away. Then the entomologist rose to his feet, perspiring and very red in the face.
"Good-afternoon, sir," he remarked genially, mopping his brow with aa appallingly green silk handkerchief.
"So it is," agreed the Saint.
Mr. Templar had a disconcerting trick of taking the most conventional speech quite literally — a device which he had adopted because it threw the onus of continuing the conservation upon the other party.
"An innocuous and healthy pastime," explained the stranger, with a friendly and all-embracing sweep of his hand. "Fresh air — exercise — and all in the most glorious scenery in England."
He was half a head shorter than the Saint, but a good two stone heavier. His eyes were large and childlike behind a pair of enormous horn-rimmed glasses, and he wore a straggly pale walrus moustache. The sight of this big middle-aged man in the shocking clothes, with his ridiculous little butterfly net, was as diverting as anything the Saint could remember.
"Of course — you're Dr. Carn," said the Saint, and the other started.
"How did you know?"
"I always seem to be giving people surprises," complained Simon, completely at his ease. "It's so simple. You look less like a doctor than anyone but a doctor could look, and there's only one doctor in Baycombe. How's trade?
Suddenly Carn was no longer genial.
"My profession?" he said stiffly, "I don't quite understand."
"You are one of many," signed the Saint, "Nobody ever quite understands me. And I wasn't talking about your new profession, but about your old trade."
Carn looked very closely at the younger matt, but Simon was gazing at the sea, and his face was inscrutable except for a faintly mocking twist at the corners of his mouth — a twist, that might have meant anything.
"You're clever, Templar — "
"Mr. Templar to the aristocracy, but Saint to you," Simon corrected him benevolently. "Naturally I'm clever. If I wasn't, I'd be dead. And my especial brilliance is an infallible memory for faces."
"You're clever, Templar, but this time you're mistaken, and persisting in your delusion is making you forget your manners."
The Saint favoured Carn with a lazy smile.
"Well, well," he murmured, "to err is human, is it not? But tell me, Dr. Carn, why you allow an automatic pistol to spoil the set of that beautiful coat? Are you afraid of a scarabaeus turning at bay? Or is it that you're scared of a Great White Woolly Wugga-Wugga jumping out of a bush?"
And the Saint swung his heavy staff as though weighing its efficiency as a bludgeon, and the clear blue eyes with that lively devil of mischief glimmering in their depths never left Carn's red face. Carn glared back chokingly.
"Sir," he exploded at length, "let me tell you — "
"I, too, was once an Inspector of Horse Marines to the Swiss Navy," the Saint encouraged him gently; and, when Carn's indignation proved to have become speechless, he added: "But why am I so unsociable? Come along to the Pill Box and have a spot of supper. I'm afraid it'll only be tinned stuff — we stopped having fresh meat since a seagull died after tasting the Sunday joint — but our brandy, is Napoleon …. and Orace grills sardines marvelously….”
He linked his arm in Carn's and urged the naturalist along, chattering irrepressibly. It is an almost incredible tribute to the charm which the Saint could exert, to record that he coaxed Carn into acceptance in three minutes and had him chuckling at a grossly improper limerick by the time they reached the Pill Box.
"You're a card, Templar," said Carn as they sat over Martinis in the sitting room, and the Saint„ raised indulgent eyebrows.
"Because I called your bluff?"
"Because you didn't hesitate.”
"He who hesitates," said the Saint sententiously, "is bossed. No mughopper will ever spiel this baby.
They talked politics arid literature through supper (the Saint had original and heretical views on both Subjects) as dispassionately as the most ordinary men, met together in the most ordinary circumstances, might have done.
After Orace had served coffee and withdrawn, Carn produced a cigar case and offered it to the Saint. Templar looked, and shook his head with a smile.
"Not even with you, dear heart," he said, and Carn was aggrieved.
"There's nothing wrong with them."
"I'm so glad you haven't wasted a cigar, then."
"If I give you my word — "
"I'll take it. But I won't take your cigars,"
Carn shrugged, took one himself and lighted it. The Saint settled himself more comfortably in his armchair.
"I'm glad to see you don't pack a gun yourself," observed the Doctor presently.
"It makes one so unpopular, letting off artillery and things all over Devonshire," said Simon. "You can only do that in shockers: in real life, the police make all sorts of awkward inquiries if you go slaughtering people here and there because they look cock-eyed at you. But I don't advise anyone to bank on my consideration for the nerves of the neighbourhood when I'm in my own home."
Carn sat forward abruptly.
"We've bluffed for an hour and a half by the clock," he said. "Suppose we get down to brass tacks?
"I'll suppose anything you like," assented Simon. "I know you've got some funny game on; and I know you aren't one of those dude detectives, because I've made inquiries. You aren't even Secret Service. I know something about your record, and I gather you haven't come to Baycombe because you got an idea you'd like to vegetate in rural England and grow string beans. You aren't the sort that goes anywhere unless they can see easy money ^0r big trouble waiting for collection."
"I might have decided to quit before I stopped something.”
“You might — but your sort doesn't quit while there's a kick left in 'em. Besides, what do you think I've been doing all the time I've been down here?”
"Huntin’ the elusive Wugga-Wugga, presumably," drawled the Saint,
Carm made a gesture of impatience.
"I've told you you're clever," he said, "and I meant every letter of it — in capital italics. But you don't have to pretend you think I'm a fool, because I know you know better. You're here for what you can get, and I've a good idea what that is. If I'm right, it's my job to get in your way all I can, unless you work in with me. Templar, I'm paying you the compliment of putting the cards on the table, because from what I hear I'd rather work with you than against you. Now, why can't you come across?”
The Saint had sunk deeper into his armchair. The room was lighted only by the smoky oil lamp that Grace had brought in with the coffee, for the sky had clouded over in the late afternoon and night had come on early.
"There are just one million reasons why I shouldn't come across," said the Saint tranquilly. "They were lost to the Confederated Bank of Chicago quite a time ago, and I want them all to myself, my good Carn.”
"You don't imagine you could get away with it?"
"I can think of no limits to my ingenuity in getting away with things," said the S
aint calmly.
He moved in the shadows, and a moment later he said quietly:
"There is a million-and-first argument which prevents me coming across just now, Carn — and that is that I never allow Tiger Cubs to listen-in on my confessions."
"What do you mean?" asked Carn.
"I mean," said the Saint in a clear strong voice, "that at this moment there's some son-of-a-gurf peeking through that embrasure. I've got him covered, and if he so much as blinks I'm going to shoot his eyelids off!"
Chapter III
A LITTLE MELODRAMA
Carn sprang to his feet, his hand flying to his hip, and the Saint laughed softly.
"He's gone," Templar said. "He ducked as soon as I spoke. But maybe now you realize how hard it is not to be killed when someone's really out for your blood. It looks so easy in stories, but I'm finding it a bit of a strain."
The Saint was talking in his usual mild, leisurely way, but there was nothing leisurely about his movements. He had turned out the lamp at the same instant as Carn had jumped up, and his words came from the direction of the embrasure.
"Can't see anything. This bunch are as windy as mice trying to nibble a cat's whiskers. I'll take a look outside. Stay right where you are, sonny."
Carn heard the Saint slither out, and there were words in the kitchen. A few seconds later Orace came in, bearing a lighted candle and Clasping his beloved blunderbuss in his free hand. Orace did not speak. He set the candle down in a corner, so that the light did not interfere with his view of the embrasure, and waited patiently with the enormous revolver cocked and at the ready.
"You have an exciting life," remarked Carn, and Orace turned an unfriendly eye — and the revolver — upon the Doctor.
'"Um," said Orace noncommittally.
The Saint was back in ten minutes by the clock.
"Bad huntin'," he murmured. "It's as black as coffee outside, and he must have hared for home as soon as I scared him.... Beer, Orace."
"Aye, aye, sir," said the silent one,and faded out as grimly as he had entered.
Carn gazed thoughtfully after the retreating figure with its preposterous armoury and its preposterous strut.
"Any more in the menagerie?" he inquired.
"Nope," said the Saint laconically.
He was relighting the lamp, and the flare of the match threw his face into high relief for an instant. Carn became more thoughtful. His life had been devoted to dealing with men of all sorts and conditions. He had known many clever men, not a few dangerous men, and a number of mysterious men, but at that moment he wondered if he had ever met a man who looked more cleverly and dangerously and mysteriously competent to deal with any kind of trouble that happened to be floating around.
"I'd rather have you on my side than against me, Saint," said Carn. "You'd get a rake-off. Think it over.'
Hands on hips, the Saint regarded the red-faced man quizzically.
"Can I take that as official?"
"Naturally not. But you can take it from me that it can be arranged on the side."
"Thanks," said the Saint. "I don't feel impressed with your balance sheet. Taken by and large, the dividend don't seem fat enough to tempt this investor. Now try this one: come in with me, and I'll promise you one third. Think it over, Detective Inspector Carn."
"Dr.Carn."
The Saint smiled.
"Need we keep it up?" he asked smoothly. "What on earth, dear lamb, did you think you were getting away with?"
Carn wrinkled his nose.
"Just as you like," he agreed. "You have the advantage of me, though. I'm hanged if I can place , you."
"That's the best news I've heard for some time,"
said the Saint cheerfully.
Carn rose to go after a couple of pints of beer
had vanished, and Templar rose also.
"Better let me see you home," said the Saint. “I’ll feel safer."
"If you think I need nursing," began Carn with some heat, but Simon linked his arm in that of the detective with his most charming smile.
"Not a bit. I'd enjoy the stroll."
Carn was living in a miniature house the grounds of which backed on the larger grounds of the Manor. Templar had already noticed the house, and wondered to whom it belonged; and for some unaccountable reason, which he could only blame on his melodramatic imagination, he felt relieved at the news that Patricia had a real live detective within call.
On the walk, the Saint learned that Carn had been on the spot for three months. Carn was prepared to be loquacious up to a point: but beyond that limit he could not be lured. Carn was also prepared to talk about the Saint — a fact which pleased Simon's egotism without hypnotizing his caution.
"I think it should be an interesting duel," Carn said.
"I hope so," agreed Templar politely?
"The more so because you are the second most confident crook I've ever met.'
The Saint's white teeth flashed.
"You're premature," he protested. "My crime is not yet committed. Already an idea is sizzling in my brain which might easily save me the trouble of running against the law at all. I'll write my solicitor to-morrow and let you know."
He declined Carn's invitation to come in for a doch-an-dorris, and, saying good-bye at the door, set off briskly in the general direction of the Pill Box.
This expedition, however, lasted only for so long as he judged that Carn, if he were curious, would have been able to hear the departing footsteps. At that point the Saint stepped neatly off the road on to the grass at the side and retraced his steps, moving like a lean gray shadow. A short distance away he could see the gaunt lines of Sir John Bittle's home, and it had occurred to him that his investigations might very well include that wealthy upstart. It was just after ten o'clock, but the thought that the household would still be awake never gave the Saint a moment's pause: his was a superbly reckless bravado.
The house was surrounded by a high stone wall that increased its sinister and secretive air, making it look like a converted prison. The Saint worked round the wall with the noiseless surefootedness of a Red Indian. He found only two openings. There was a back entrance which looked more like a mediaeval postern gate, and which could not have been penetrated without certain essential tools that were not included in Templar's travelling equipment. At the front there was a large double door a few yards back from the road, but this also was set into the wall, which would have formed a kind of archway at that spot if the doors had been opened.
It was left for the Saint to scale the wall itself. Fortunately he was tall, and he found that by standing on tiptoe and straining upward he was able to hook his fingers over the top. Satisfied, he took off his coat and held it with the tab between his teeth; then, reaching up, he got a grip and hauled himself to the full contraction of his muscles. Holding on with one hand, he flung his coat over the broken glass set into the top of the wall, and so scrambled over, dropping to the ground on the other side like a cat.
The Saint moved swiftly along the wall to the back entrance which he had observed, conducted a light-fingered search for burglar alarms, and found one which he disconnected. Then he unbarred the door and left it slightly ajar in readiness for his retreat.
That done, he went down on his knees and crawled toward the house. If the light had been strong enough to make him visible, his method of progress would have seemed to border on the antics of a lunatic, for he wriggled forward six inches at a time, his hands waving and weaving about gently in front of him. In this way he evaded two fine alarm wires, one stretched a few inches off the ground and the other at the level of his shoulder. He rose under the wall of the house, chuckling in" audibly, but he was taking no chances.
"Now let's take a look at the warrior who looks after himself so carefully," said the Saint, but he said it to himself.
The side of the house on which he found himself was in darkness, and after a second's thought he worked rapidly round to the south. As soon as he rounded the angle of th
e building he saw two patches of light on the grass, and crept along till he reached the French windows from which they were thrown. The curtains were half drawn, but he was able to peer through a gap between the hangings and the frames.
He was looking into the library — a large, lofty, oak-panelled room, luxuriously furnished. It was quite evident that Sir John Bittle's parsimony did not interfere with his indulgence of his personal tastes. The carpet was a rich Turk with fully a four-inch pile; the chairs were huge and inviting, upholstered in brown leather; a costly bronze stood in one corner, and the walls were lined with bookshelves.
These things the Saint noticed in one glance, before anything human caught his eye. A moment later he saw the man who could only have been Bittle himself. The late wholesale grocer was stout: the Saint could only guess at height, since Bittle was hunched up in one of the enormous chairs, but the millionaire's pink neck overflowed his collar in all directions. Sir John Bittle was in dinner dress, and he was smoking a cigar.
"Charming sketch of home life of Captain of Canning Industry," murmured the Saint, again to his secret soul. "Unconventional portraits of the Great. Picture on Back Page."
The Saint had thought Bittle was atone, but just as he was about to move along he heard the millionaire's fat voice remark:
"And that, my dear young lady, is the position.
The Saint stood like a man turned to granite.
Presently a familiar voice answered, "I can't believe it."
The Saint edged away from the wall so that he could see into the room through the space between the half-drawn curtains. Patricia was in the chair opposite Bittle, tight-lipped, her handkerchief twisted to a rag between her fingers.
Bittle laughed — a throaty chuckle that did not disturb the comfortable impassiveness of his florid features. Templar also chuckled. If that chuckle could have been heard, it would have been found to have an unpleasant timbre.
"Even documents — bonds — receipts — won't convince you, I suppose?" asked the millionaire. He pulled a sheaf of papers from the pocket of his dinner jacket and tossed them into the girl's lap. "I’ve been very patient, but I'm getting tired of this hanky-panky. I suppose just seeing you made me silly and Sentimental — but I'm not such a sentimental fool that I'm going to take another mortgage on an estate that isn’t worth one half of what I've lent your aunt already."
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