June 9, 2025 • 20 mins
In The Just Men of Cordova (1917), a series of European financiers from London to Cordova are dying under mysterious circumstances, falling victim to an unidentified poison. Edgar Wallace, in his previous novel, introduced us to a group of vigilantes known as the Four Just Men, who are renowned for their ingenuity, persistence, lock breaking skills, and mastery of disguise. They operate in the shadowy realm beyond the law, their lethal justice instilling terror in their targets. But who are these men and who supports their cause? Edgar Wallace, a prolific author from the golden age of detective fiction, penned over 170 novels, including King Kong. With over 160 films based on his work, and a publishers claim that a quarter of all books read in England at the time were his, Wallaces influence is undeniable. - Summary by ASharma
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter ten of The Just Men of Cordoba by Edgar Wallace.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by
A Toolsharma, Winnipeg, Canada, Chapter ten, A Policeman's business. There
was living at somers Town at that time a little
man named Jacobs. He was a man of some character,
(00:22):
albeit an unfortunate person with something behind him. The something
behind him, however, had come short of a lagging carpets.
Three months hard labor, almost innumerable had fallen to his share,
but a lagging had never come his way. A little
wizened faced man with sharp black eyes, very alert in
(00:42):
his manner, very neatly dressed, he conveyed the impression that
he was enjoying a day off. But so far as
honest work was concerned, Jacob's day was an everlasting one.
Mister Jacobs had been a pensioner of Colonel Black's for
some years. During that period of time, Willie Jacobs had
lived the life of a gentleman. That is to say,
(01:04):
he lived in the manner which he thought conformed more
readily to the ideal than that which was generally accepted
by the wealthier classes. There were moments when he lived
like a lord. Again he had his own standard. But
these periods occurred at rare intervals because Willie was naturally abstemious.
But he certainly lived like a gentleman, as all somers
(01:26):
Town agreed. For he went to bed at whatsoever hour,
he chose a rose with such larks as were abroad
at the moment, or stayed in bed reading his favorite journal.
A fortunate man was. He never short of a copper
for a half pint of ale, thought no more of
spending a shilling on a race than when you or
I was even suspected of taking his breakfast in bed.
(01:49):
A veritable hall mark of luxury and affluence by all standards.
To him, every Saturday morning came postal orders to the
value of two pounds sterling from a benefit actor who
asked no more than that the recipient should be happy.
And forget that he ever saw a respected dealer in
stocks and shares in the act of rifling a dead
man's pockets. For this William Jacobs had seen. Willie was
(02:14):
a thief, born so, and not without pride in his
skillful fingered ancestry. He had joined the firm of Black
and Company less with the object of qualifying for a
pension twenty years. Hence than on the off chance of
obtaining an immediate dividend, he was guarded by the very
principles which animated the head of his firm. There was
(02:35):
an obnoxious member of the board, obnoxious to the genial
Colonel Black, who had died suddenly. A subsequent inquisition came
to the conclusion that he died from syncabe. Even Willie
knew no better. He had stolen quietly into the managing
Director's office one day in the ordinary course of business
for Master Jacob stole quietly, but literally and figuratively. He
(02:59):
was in search of unconsidered stamps and such loose coinage
as might be found in the office of a man
notoriously careless in the matter of small change. He had
expected to find the room empty, and was momentarily paralyzed
to see the Great Black himself bending over the recumbent
figure of a man busily searching the pockets of a
(03:20):
dead man for a letter. For the silent man on
the floor had come with his resignation in his pocket,
and had indiscreetly embodied in this letter his reasons for
taking the step. Greatest indiscretion of all, he had revealed
the existence of this very compromising document to Colonel Black.
Willie Jacobs knew nothing about the letter, had no subtle
(03:42):
explanation for the disordered pocket book. To his primitive mind,
Colonel Black was making a search for money. It was
in fact a stamp hunt on a large scale, and
in his agitation he blurted this belief. At the subsequent inquest,
mister Jacobs did not give evidence officially, he knew nothing
(04:02):
concerning the matter. Instead, he retired to his home in Summerstown,
a life pensioner, subject to a continuation of his reticence.
Two years later, one Christmas morning, mister Jacobs received a
very beautiful box of chocolates by post with every good
wish from somebody who did not trouble to send his
(04:23):
or her name. Mister Jacob's, being no lover or chocolate drops,
wondered what it had cost and wished the kindly donor
had sent beer. High spot catch, said mister Jacobs, and
tossed a specimen of the confectioner's art to his dog,
who possessed a sweet tooth. The dog ate it, wagging
his tail. Then he stopped wagging his tail and lay
(04:45):
down with a shiver dead. It was some time before
Willie Jacobs realized the connection between the stiff little dog
and this bland and ornate Christmas gift. He tried to
chalklate on his landlord's dog, and it died. Experimented on
a fellow lodger's canary, and it died too. He might
have destroyed the whole of Somerstown's domestic menagerie, but for
(05:09):
the timely intervention of his landlord, who gave him in
charge for his initial murder. Then the truth came out.
The chocolates were poisoned. Willie Jacobs found his photograph in
the public press as the hero of a poisoning mystery,
an embarrassment for Willie, who was promptly recognized by a
Canning Town tradesman he had once victimized, and was arrested
(05:30):
for the second time in a week. Willie came out
of jail it was a carpet, expecting to find an
accumulation of one pound postal orders awaiting him. Instead, he
found one five pound note and a typewritten letter on
perfectly plain, uncompromising paper, to the effect that the sender
regretted that further supplies need not be expected. Willie wrote
(05:54):
to Colonel Black and received in reply a letter in
which Colonel Black could not grasp the content of your
of the fourth He has never sent money, and fails
to understand why the writer should have expected, et cetera,
et cetera. Willie, furious and heard at the basing gratitude
and duplicity of his patron, carried the letter and a
(06:15):
story to a solicitor, and the solicitor said one word blackmail.
Here then was a disgruntled Willie Jacobs, forced to work
to depend upon Chan's bookings and precarious liftings. Fortunately, his
right hand had not lost his cunning, nor for that matter,
had his left. He clicked to good stuff, fenced it
(06:38):
with the new Man and Eveswell Road. He was lagged
eventually because he was only an amateur and gave too
much for the stuff, and did well, so well indeed,
that he was inclined to take a mild view of
Black's offenses on the evening of Lord Verland's dinner party.
Though to do him justice, it must be confessed that
Jacobs knew nothing of his lordship's plans. He sallied forth
(07:01):
on business intent. He made his way through the tiny
court and narrow streets which separated him from Stibbington Street. There,
turning southwards to the Euston Road, and taking matters leisurely,
he made his way to Tottenham Court Road en route
to Oxford Street. Tottenham Court Road on that particular night
was filled with interested people. They were interested in shop windows,
(07:25):
interested in one another, interested in boarding and alighting from buses.
It was an ideal crowd from Jacob's point of view.
He liked people who concentrated, who fixed their minds on
one thing and had no thought for any other. In
a sense, he was something of a psychologist, and he
looked sound to find some opulent person whose powers of
(07:47):
concentration might be of service to himself. Gathered round the
steps of an omnibus, impatiently waiting for other passengers to disembark,
was a little crowd of people, and Jacob, with his quick,
keen eye, spotted a likely client. He was a stout
man of middle age. His hat was placed at such
(08:09):
an angle on his head that the somers towner diagnosed
him as canned. He may or may not have been
right in his surmise. It is sufficient that he appeared
comfortably off, and that not only was his coat of
good material, but he had various indications of an ostentatious character,
testifying to his present affluence. Willie Jacobs had no intention
(08:30):
of taking a bus ride. I doubt very much whether
he changed his plans even now, but certain it is
that he began to elbow his way into the little
throng which surrounded the bus by this time surging forward
to board it. He elbowed his way with good effect.
For suddenly ceasing his efforts as though he had remembered
some very important engagement, he began to back out. He
(08:54):
reached the outskirts of the little knaught, then turned to
walk briskly away. At that moment, a firm hand dropped
on his shoulder in quite a friendly way. He looked
round quickly. A tall young man in civilian dress stood
behind him. Hullo said the young man kindly enough. Aren't
you going on? No, mister fellow, he said, I was
(09:15):
going down for a blow, But I remember I left
the gas burning at home. Let's go back and put
it out, said Constable Fellow, who was on a very
special duty that night. On second thoughts, said Jacobs reflectively,
I don't think it's worth while. After all, it's one
of those penny in the slot machines, and it can
only burn itself out. Then come along and see if
(09:36):
my gas is burning, said Frank humorously. He held the
other's arm lightly, but when Jacob's attempted to disengage himself,
he found the pressure on his arm increased. What's the game,
he asked, innocently, The same old game, said Frank, with
a little smile. Hullo, Willie, you've dropped something. He stooped quickly,
without releasing his hold, and picked up a pocket book.
(10:00):
The bus was on the point of moving off as
Frank swung round and with a signal stopped the conductor.
I think some one who has just boarded your bus
has lost a pocket book. I think it is that
stoutest gentleman who has just gone inside. The stoutest gentleman
hastily descended to make a public examination of his wardrobe.
He discovered himself minus several articles which should, by all
(10:23):
laws affecting the right of property, have been upon his person. Thereafter,
the matter became a fairly commonplace incident. It's a cop
said Willie philosophically. I didn't see you around, mister fellow.
I don't suppose you did yet. I'm big enough and
ugly enough, added Willie, impartially Frank smiled. You're not much
(10:45):
of an authority on beauty, Willie, are you, he asked jocussly,
as they threaded their way through the streets which separated
them from the nearest police station. Oh I don't know,
said Willie. Ansome is as ansome does, say mister fellow,
why don't the police go after a man like olar off?
What are they worrying about a little hook like me
for getting my living at great inconvenience? In a manner
(11:07):
of speaking, he is a fellow who makes his thousands
and has ruined his hundreds. Can you get him a
legging in time? I hope we shall, said Frank. There's
a fellow, said Willie. He bits the poor little clerk,
gets him to put up a fiver to buy a
million pounds worth of gold mines. Clerk puts it, pinches
the money from the till, not meaning to be dishonest
(11:30):
in a manner of speaking, but expecting one day to
walk into his boss covered with fame and diamonds and say,
look at your long lost horse. See what I mean,
Frank nodded, Look at your prodigal cashier. Jacobs continued, carried
away by his imagination. Put your lamps over my shiners,
run your hooks over me. Astrakhan, callar master, It is
(11:52):
I thy servant. It was not curious that they should
speak of Black. There had been a case in court
that day in which two credulous client of Blacks, who
had suffered as a result of that credulity, had sued
the colonel for the return of his money, and the
case had not been defended. I used to work for him,
said mister Jacobs, reminiscently messenger at twenty nine shillings a week,
(12:16):
like being messenger at a mortuary. He looked up at
Frank Ever, count up the number of Black's friends who've died. Suddenly,
he asked, Ever, reckon that up. He's a regular jujub tree,
he is. APIs is the word you want? Said Frank gently.
You wait till the four get 'em, warned mister Jacobs cheerfully.
(12:37):
They won't half put his light out. He said no
more for a while than he turned suddenly to Frank.
Come to think of it, fellow he said, with the
gross familiarity of the habitue in dealing with his captor.
This is the third time you've pinched me. Come to
think of it, admitted Frank cheerfully. It is harfrom O.
(12:57):
Mister Jacobs halted and surveyed the other with a puzzled air.
He took me in the Tottenham Court Road, he took
me in the Charing Cross Road, and he appery a
handed me in the cheap side. You've a wonderful memory,
smiled the young man. Never on his beat, said mister
Jacobs to himself, always in playing clothes and generally watching me. Now,
(13:19):
why Frank thought a moment, Come and have a cup
of tea, Willy, he said, and I will tell you
a fairy story. I think we shall be getting at
facts very soon, said Willy, in his best judicial manner.
I am going to be perfectly frank with you, my friend,
said fellow, when they were seated in a neighboring coffee shop.
If you don't mind, begged Willie, I'd rather call you
(13:42):
by your surname. I don't want it to get about
that I'm a pal of yours. Frank smiled again. Willie
had ever been a source of amusement. You've been taken
by me three times, he said, And this is the
first time you've mentioned our friend Black. I think I
can say that if you had mentioned him before, it
might have made a lot of difference to you, Willie.
(14:04):
Mister Jacobs addressed the ceiling. Come to think of it,
he said, he inted at this once before. I int
at it once again, said Frank. Will you tell me
why Black pays you two pounds a week? Because he don't,
said Willy promptly. Because he's a sneaking hook, and because
he's a twister, because he's a liar. If there's any
(14:25):
reason you haven't mentioned, give it a run, said constable
fellow in the vernacular. Willie hesitated, what's the good of
my telling you? He asked, Sure as death, you'll tell me.
I'm only lyin' try me, said Frank. And for an
hour they sat talking policeman and thief. At the end
of that time they went different ways, Frank to the
(14:46):
police station, where he found an irate owner of property
awaiting him, and mister Jacobs thankfully and apprehensively to his
Somerstown home. His business completed at the station in a
station sergeant, alternately annoyed and mystified by the erratic behavior
of a plain closed constable who gave orders with the
(15:06):
assurance of an assistant commissioner. Frank found a taxi and
drove first to the house of Black, and later, with
instructions to the driver to break all the rules laid
down for the regulation of traffic, to Hampstead. May Sandford
was expecting the colonel. She stood by the drawing room fire,
buttoning her glove and endeavoring to disguise her pleasure that
(15:30):
her sometimes friend had called. Where are you going? Was
his first blunt greeting, and the girl stiffened. You have
no right to ask in that tone, she said quietly,
But I will tell you I am going to dinner
with whom. The color came to her face, for she
was really annoyed with Colonel Black, she said, with an
(15:51):
effort to restrain her rising anger. He nodded. I am
afraid I cannot allow you to go, he said coolly.
The girl stared once and for all, mister fellow, she said,
with quiet dignity. You will understand that I am my
own mistress. I shall do as I please. You have
no right to dictate to me. You have no right whatever.
(16:14):
She stamped her foot angrily to say. What I may
do and what I may not do. I shall go
where and with whom I choose. You will not go
out to night at any rate, said Frank grimly. An
angry flush came to her cheeks. If I chose to
go to night, I should go to night, she said. Indeed,
(16:34):
you will do nothing of the sort. He was quite
cool now, master of himself, completely under control. I shall
be outside this house, he said, for the rest of
the night. If you go out with this man, I
shall arrest you. She started and took a step back.
I shall arrest you, he went on determinedly. I don't
care what happens to me afterward. I will trump up
(16:56):
any charge against you. I will take you to the station,
through the streets and put you in the iron dock,
as though you were a common thief. I'll do it
because I love you, he said, passionately, Because you are
the biggest thing in the world to me. Because I
love you better than life, better than you can love yourself,
better than any man could love you. And you know why,
(17:17):
I will take you to the police station. He went on, earnestly,
because you will be safe there, and the women who
look after you will allow no dog like this fellow
to have communication with you, because he dare not follow
you there, whatever else he dare as for him, he
turned savagely about as a resplendent Black entered the room.
(17:38):
Black stopped at the sight of the other man's face
and dropped his hand to his pocket. You look out
for me, said Frank, and Black's face blanched. The girl
had recovered her speech. How dare you? How dare you?
She whispered. You tell me that you will arrest me?
How dare you? And you say you love me, she said, scornfully.
(17:58):
He nodded slowly, yes, he said, quietly enough. I love you.
I love you enough to make you hate me. Can
I love you any more than that? His voice was bitter,
and there was something of helplessness in it too, but
the determination that underlay his words could not be mistaken.
He did not leave her until Black had taken his leave,
(18:20):
and in his pardonable perturbation, he forgot that he intended
searching the colonel for a certain green bottle with a
glass stopper. Colonel Black returned to his flat that night
to find unmistakable evidence that the apartment had been most
systematically searched. There existed, however, no evidence as to how
his visitors had gained admission. The doors had been opened,
(18:41):
despite the fact that they were fastened by a key
which had no duplicate and with locks that were apparently unpickable.
The windows were intact, and no attempt had been made
to remove money and valuables from the desk which had
been ransacked. The only proof of identity they had left
behind was the seal, which he found attached to the
bloody pad on his desk. They had gone methodically to work,
(19:04):
dropped a neat round splash of sealing wax, and had
as neatly pressed the seal of the organization upon it.
There was no other communication, But in its very simplicity,
this plain foe was a little terrifying. It seemed that
the members of the four defied all his efforts at security,
laughed to scorn his patent locks, knew more about his
(19:27):
movements than his most intimate friends, and chose their own
time for their visitations. This would have been disconcerting to
a man of less character than Black, but Black was
one who had lived through a score of years, each
year punctuated at regular intervals with threats of the most
terrible character he had ever lived, in the shadow of reprisal.
(19:48):
Yet he had never suffered punishment. It was his most
fervent boast that he never lost his temper, that he
never did anything in a flurry. Now, perhaps for the
first time in his life, he was going to work,
actuated by a greater consideration than self interest, a consideration
of vengeance. It made him less careful than he was
(20:10):
wont to be. He did not look for shadowers that evening.
Yet shadowers there had been, not one, but many. End
of Chapter ten
Chapter ten of The Just Men of Cordoba by Edgar Wallace.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by
A Toolsharma, Winnipeg, Canada, Chapter ten, A Policeman's business. There
was living at somers Town at that time a little
man named Jacobs. He was a man of some character,
(00:22):
albeit an unfortunate person with something behind him. The something
behind him, however, had come short of a lagging carpets.
Three months hard labor, almost innumerable had fallen to his share,
but a lagging had never come his way. A little
wizened faced man with sharp black eyes, very alert in
(00:42):
his manner, very neatly dressed, he conveyed the impression that
he was enjoying a day off. But so far as
honest work was concerned, Jacob's day was an everlasting one.
Mister Jacobs had been a pensioner of Colonel Black's for
some years. During that period of time, Willie Jacobs had
lived the life of a gentleman. That is to say,
(01:04):
he lived in the manner which he thought conformed more
readily to the ideal than that which was generally accepted
by the wealthier classes. There were moments when he lived
like a lord. Again he had his own standard. But
these periods occurred at rare intervals because Willie was naturally abstemious.
But he certainly lived like a gentleman, as all somers
(01:26):
Town agreed. For he went to bed at whatsoever hour,
he chose a rose with such larks as were abroad
at the moment, or stayed in bed reading his favorite journal.
A fortunate man was. He never short of a copper
for a half pint of ale, thought no more of
spending a shilling on a race than when you or
I was even suspected of taking his breakfast in bed.
(01:49):
A veritable hall mark of luxury and affluence by all standards.
To him, every Saturday morning came postal orders to the
value of two pounds sterling from a benefit actor who
asked no more than that the recipient should be happy.
And forget that he ever saw a respected dealer in
stocks and shares in the act of rifling a dead
man's pockets. For this William Jacobs had seen. Willie was
(02:14):
a thief, born so, and not without pride in his
skillful fingered ancestry. He had joined the firm of Black
and Company less with the object of qualifying for a
pension twenty years. Hence than on the off chance of
obtaining an immediate dividend, he was guarded by the very
principles which animated the head of his firm. There was
(02:35):
an obnoxious member of the board, obnoxious to the genial
Colonel Black, who had died suddenly. A subsequent inquisition came
to the conclusion that he died from syncabe. Even Willie
knew no better. He had stolen quietly into the managing
Director's office one day in the ordinary course of business
for Master Jacob stole quietly, but literally and figuratively. He
(02:59):
was in search of unconsidered stamps and such loose coinage
as might be found in the office of a man
notoriously careless in the matter of small change. He had
expected to find the room empty, and was momentarily paralyzed
to see the Great Black himself bending over the recumbent
figure of a man busily searching the pockets of a
(03:20):
dead man for a letter. For the silent man on
the floor had come with his resignation in his pocket,
and had indiscreetly embodied in this letter his reasons for
taking the step. Greatest indiscretion of all, he had revealed
the existence of this very compromising document to Colonel Black.
Willie Jacobs knew nothing about the letter, had no subtle
(03:42):
explanation for the disordered pocket book. To his primitive mind,
Colonel Black was making a search for money. It was
in fact a stamp hunt on a large scale, and
in his agitation he blurted this belief. At the subsequent inquest,
mister Jacobs did not give evidence officially, he knew nothing
(04:02):
concerning the matter. Instead, he retired to his home in Summerstown,
a life pensioner, subject to a continuation of his reticence.
Two years later, one Christmas morning, mister Jacobs received a
very beautiful box of chocolates by post with every good
wish from somebody who did not trouble to send his
(04:23):
or her name. Mister Jacob's, being no lover or chocolate drops,
wondered what it had cost and wished the kindly donor
had sent beer. High spot catch, said mister Jacobs, and
tossed a specimen of the confectioner's art to his dog,
who possessed a sweet tooth. The dog ate it, wagging
his tail. Then he stopped wagging his tail and lay
(04:45):
down with a shiver dead. It was some time before
Willie Jacobs realized the connection between the stiff little dog
and this bland and ornate Christmas gift. He tried to
chalklate on his landlord's dog, and it died. Experimented on
a fellow lodger's canary, and it died too. He might
have destroyed the whole of Somerstown's domestic menagerie, but for
(05:09):
the timely intervention of his landlord, who gave him in
charge for his initial murder. Then the truth came out.
The chocolates were poisoned. Willie Jacobs found his photograph in
the public press as the hero of a poisoning mystery,
an embarrassment for Willie, who was promptly recognized by a
Canning Town tradesman he had once victimized, and was arrested
(05:30):
for the second time in a week. Willie came out
of jail it was a carpet, expecting to find an
accumulation of one pound postal orders awaiting him. Instead, he
found one five pound note and a typewritten letter on
perfectly plain, uncompromising paper, to the effect that the sender
regretted that further supplies need not be expected. Willie wrote
(05:54):
to Colonel Black and received in reply a letter in
which Colonel Black could not grasp the content of your
of the fourth He has never sent money, and fails
to understand why the writer should have expected, et cetera,
et cetera. Willie, furious and heard at the basing gratitude
and duplicity of his patron, carried the letter and a
(06:15):
story to a solicitor, and the solicitor said one word blackmail.
Here then was a disgruntled Willie Jacobs, forced to work
to depend upon Chan's bookings and precarious liftings. Fortunately, his
right hand had not lost his cunning, nor for that matter,
had his left. He clicked to good stuff, fenced it
(06:38):
with the new Man and Eveswell Road. He was lagged
eventually because he was only an amateur and gave too
much for the stuff, and did well, so well indeed,
that he was inclined to take a mild view of
Black's offenses on the evening of Lord Verland's dinner party.
Though to do him justice, it must be confessed that
Jacobs knew nothing of his lordship's plans. He sallied forth
(07:01):
on business intent. He made his way through the tiny
court and narrow streets which separated him from Stibbington Street. There,
turning southwards to the Euston Road, and taking matters leisurely,
he made his way to Tottenham Court Road en route
to Oxford Street. Tottenham Court Road on that particular night
was filled with interested people. They were interested in shop windows,
(07:25):
interested in one another, interested in boarding and alighting from buses.
It was an ideal crowd from Jacob's point of view.
He liked people who concentrated, who fixed their minds on
one thing and had no thought for any other. In
a sense, he was something of a psychologist, and he
looked sound to find some opulent person whose powers of
(07:47):
concentration might be of service to himself. Gathered round the
steps of an omnibus, impatiently waiting for other passengers to disembark,
was a little crowd of people, and Jacob, with his quick,
keen eye, spotted a likely client. He was a stout
man of middle age. His hat was placed at such
(08:09):
an angle on his head that the somers towner diagnosed
him as canned. He may or may not have been
right in his surmise. It is sufficient that he appeared
comfortably off, and that not only was his coat of
good material, but he had various indications of an ostentatious character,
testifying to his present affluence. Willie Jacobs had no intention
(08:30):
of taking a bus ride. I doubt very much whether
he changed his plans even now, but certain it is
that he began to elbow his way into the little
throng which surrounded the bus by this time surging forward
to board it. He elbowed his way with good effect.
For suddenly ceasing his efforts as though he had remembered
some very important engagement, he began to back out. He
(08:54):
reached the outskirts of the little knaught, then turned to
walk briskly away. At that moment, a firm hand dropped
on his shoulder in quite a friendly way. He looked
round quickly. A tall young man in civilian dress stood
behind him. Hullo said the young man kindly enough. Aren't
you going on? No, mister fellow, he said, I was
(09:15):
going down for a blow, But I remember I left
the gas burning at home. Let's go back and put
it out, said Constable Fellow, who was on a very
special duty that night. On second thoughts, said Jacobs reflectively,
I don't think it's worth while. After all, it's one
of those penny in the slot machines, and it can
only burn itself out. Then come along and see if
(09:36):
my gas is burning, said Frank humorously. He held the
other's arm lightly, but when Jacob's attempted to disengage himself,
he found the pressure on his arm increased. What's the game,
he asked, innocently, The same old game, said Frank, with
a little smile. Hullo, Willie, you've dropped something. He stooped quickly,
without releasing his hold, and picked up a pocket book.
(10:00):
The bus was on the point of moving off as
Frank swung round and with a signal stopped the conductor.
I think some one who has just boarded your bus
has lost a pocket book. I think it is that
stoutest gentleman who has just gone inside. The stoutest gentleman
hastily descended to make a public examination of his wardrobe.
He discovered himself minus several articles which should, by all
(10:23):
laws affecting the right of property, have been upon his person. Thereafter,
the matter became a fairly commonplace incident. It's a cop
said Willie philosophically. I didn't see you around, mister fellow.
I don't suppose you did yet. I'm big enough and
ugly enough, added Willie, impartially Frank smiled. You're not much
(10:45):
of an authority on beauty, Willie, are you, he asked jocussly,
as they threaded their way through the streets which separated
them from the nearest police station. Oh I don't know,
said Willie. Ansome is as ansome does, say mister fellow,
why don't the police go after a man like olar off?
What are they worrying about a little hook like me
for getting my living at great inconvenience? In a manner
(11:07):
of speaking, he is a fellow who makes his thousands
and has ruined his hundreds. Can you get him a
legging in time? I hope we shall, said Frank. There's
a fellow, said Willie. He bits the poor little clerk,
gets him to put up a fiver to buy a
million pounds worth of gold mines. Clerk puts it, pinches
the money from the till, not meaning to be dishonest
(11:30):
in a manner of speaking, but expecting one day to
walk into his boss covered with fame and diamonds and say,
look at your long lost horse. See what I mean,
Frank nodded, Look at your prodigal cashier. Jacobs continued, carried
away by his imagination. Put your lamps over my shiners,
run your hooks over me. Astrakhan, callar master, It is
(11:52):
I thy servant. It was not curious that they should
speak of Black. There had been a case in court
that day in which two credulous client of Blacks, who
had suffered as a result of that credulity, had sued
the colonel for the return of his money, and the
case had not been defended. I used to work for him,
said mister Jacobs, reminiscently messenger at twenty nine shillings a week,
(12:16):
like being messenger at a mortuary. He looked up at
Frank Ever, count up the number of Black's friends who've died. Suddenly,
he asked, Ever, reckon that up. He's a regular jujub tree,
he is. APIs is the word you want? Said Frank gently.
You wait till the four get 'em, warned mister Jacobs cheerfully.
(12:37):
They won't half put his light out. He said no
more for a while than he turned suddenly to Frank.
Come to think of it, fellow he said, with the
gross familiarity of the habitue in dealing with his captor.
This is the third time you've pinched me. Come to
think of it, admitted Frank cheerfully. It is harfrom O.
(12:57):
Mister Jacobs halted and surveyed the other with a puzzled air.
He took me in the Tottenham Court Road, he took
me in the Charing Cross Road, and he appery a
handed me in the cheap side. You've a wonderful memory,
smiled the young man. Never on his beat, said mister
Jacobs to himself, always in playing clothes and generally watching me. Now,
(13:19):
why Frank thought a moment, Come and have a cup
of tea, Willy, he said, and I will tell you
a fairy story. I think we shall be getting at
facts very soon, said Willy, in his best judicial manner.
I am going to be perfectly frank with you, my friend,
said fellow, when they were seated in a neighboring coffee shop.
If you don't mind, begged Willie, I'd rather call you
(13:42):
by your surname. I don't want it to get about
that I'm a pal of yours. Frank smiled again. Willie
had ever been a source of amusement. You've been taken
by me three times, he said, And this is the
first time you've mentioned our friend Black. I think I
can say that if you had mentioned him before, it
might have made a lot of difference to you, Willie.
(14:04):
Mister Jacobs addressed the ceiling. Come to think of it,
he said, he inted at this once before. I int
at it once again, said Frank. Will you tell me
why Black pays you two pounds a week? Because he don't,
said Willy promptly. Because he's a sneaking hook, and because
he's a twister, because he's a liar. If there's any
(14:25):
reason you haven't mentioned, give it a run, said constable
fellow in the vernacular. Willie hesitated, what's the good of
my telling you? He asked, Sure as death, you'll tell me.
I'm only lyin' try me, said Frank. And for an
hour they sat talking policeman and thief. At the end
of that time they went different ways, Frank to the
(14:46):
police station, where he found an irate owner of property
awaiting him, and mister Jacobs thankfully and apprehensively to his
Somerstown home. His business completed at the station in a
station sergeant, alternately annoyed and mystified by the erratic behavior
of a plain closed constable who gave orders with the
(15:06):
assurance of an assistant commissioner. Frank found a taxi and
drove first to the house of Black, and later, with
instructions to the driver to break all the rules laid
down for the regulation of traffic, to Hampstead. May Sandford
was expecting the colonel. She stood by the drawing room fire,
buttoning her glove and endeavoring to disguise her pleasure that
(15:30):
her sometimes friend had called. Where are you going? Was
his first blunt greeting, and the girl stiffened. You have
no right to ask in that tone, she said quietly,
But I will tell you I am going to dinner
with whom. The color came to her face, for she
was really annoyed with Colonel Black, she said, with an
(15:51):
effort to restrain her rising anger. He nodded. I am
afraid I cannot allow you to go, he said coolly.
The girl stared once and for all, mister fellow, she said,
with quiet dignity. You will understand that I am my
own mistress. I shall do as I please. You have
no right to dictate to me. You have no right whatever.
(16:14):
She stamped her foot angrily to say. What I may
do and what I may not do. I shall go
where and with whom I choose. You will not go
out to night at any rate, said Frank grimly. An
angry flush came to her cheeks. If I chose to
go to night, I should go to night, she said. Indeed,
(16:34):
you will do nothing of the sort. He was quite
cool now, master of himself, completely under control. I shall
be outside this house, he said, for the rest of
the night. If you go out with this man, I
shall arrest you. She started and took a step back.
I shall arrest you, he went on determinedly. I don't
care what happens to me afterward. I will trump up
(16:56):
any charge against you. I will take you to the station,
through the streets and put you in the iron dock,
as though you were a common thief. I'll do it
because I love you, he said, passionately, Because you are
the biggest thing in the world to me. Because I
love you better than life, better than you can love yourself,
better than any man could love you. And you know why,
(17:17):
I will take you to the police station. He went on, earnestly,
because you will be safe there, and the women who
look after you will allow no dog like this fellow
to have communication with you, because he dare not follow
you there, whatever else he dare as for him, he
turned savagely about as a resplendent Black entered the room.
(17:38):
Black stopped at the sight of the other man's face
and dropped his hand to his pocket. You look out
for me, said Frank, and Black's face blanched. The girl
had recovered her speech. How dare you? How dare you?
She whispered. You tell me that you will arrest me?
How dare you? And you say you love me, she said, scornfully.
(17:58):
He nodded slowly, yes, he said, quietly enough. I love you.
I love you enough to make you hate me. Can
I love you any more than that? His voice was bitter,
and there was something of helplessness in it too, but
the determination that underlay his words could not be mistaken.
He did not leave her until Black had taken his leave,
(18:20):
and in his pardonable perturbation, he forgot that he intended
searching the colonel for a certain green bottle with a
glass stopper. Colonel Black returned to his flat that night
to find unmistakable evidence that the apartment had been most
systematically searched. There existed, however, no evidence as to how
his visitors had gained admission. The doors had been opened,
(18:41):
despite the fact that they were fastened by a key
which had no duplicate and with locks that were apparently unpickable.
The windows were intact, and no attempt had been made
to remove money and valuables from the desk which had
been ransacked. The only proof of identity they had left
behind was the seal, which he found attached to the
bloody pad on his desk. They had gone methodically to work,
(19:04):
dropped a neat round splash of sealing wax, and had
as neatly pressed the seal of the organization upon it.
There was no other communication, But in its very simplicity,
this plain foe was a little terrifying. It seemed that
the members of the four defied all his efforts at security,
laughed to scorn his patent locks, knew more about his
(19:27):
movements than his most intimate friends, and chose their own
time for their visitations. This would have been disconcerting to
a man of less character than Black, but Black was
one who had lived through a score of years, each
year punctuated at regular intervals with threats of the most
terrible character he had ever lived, in the shadow of reprisal.
(19:48):
Yet he had never suffered punishment. It was his most
fervent boast that he never lost his temper, that he
never did anything in a flurry. Now, perhaps for the
first time in his life, he was going to work,
actuated by a greater consideration than self interest, a consideration
of vengeance. It made him less careful than he was
(20:10):
wont to be. He did not look for shadowers that evening.
Yet shadowers there had been, not one, but many. End
of Chapter ten
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