anstruther lay there to all appearances quite dead. so swift and dramatic had the whole thing been, that nobody moved for a moment; indeed, a greater portion of the excited audience did not seem to grasp what had happened. rigby turned and looked at benin, who was frowning in the direction of the dock, and breathing hard as if he had run fast and far. then one of the warders in the court moved to the assistance of his colleague, and between them they raised the prisoner so that his haggard face appeared over the edge of the rail. with an assumption of indifference, the frenchman dropped back into his seat again.
"surely he is not afraid of you," jack whispered. "and yet i feel quite certain that your appearance frightened him terribly."
"he has good need to be afraid of me," benin growled. "i could hang that man--i could prove him guilty of murder. for, look: that man and myself have met in paris. you have little notion of the extent of his crime. but he is not dead--men of that type do not die so easily. see, he is opening his eyes again."
anstruther had struggled into an upright position, and was feebly gasping for water. he gave one half-frightened glance in the direction of the frenchman, who shrugged his shoulders, as if to say the whole affair was no business of his.
"i shall not betray him," he whispered to rigby. "it is a painful case, which will be no better for being dragged into the light of day. besides, that man will be punished enough; a long term of imprisonment will be worse to him than hanging. he understands, now, that i am not going to betray him."
anstruther was himself again at last. he stood rigid and erect; there was the faint suggestion of a smile upon his face.
"merely a passing weakness," he murmured. "i have to apologize to the court for the trouble i am giving. may i be allowed to make a statement?"
"it would have been far better if the statement had come through your counsel," the judge said. "i warned you from the first that you were imperiling your position by refusing to accept legal aid. if the jury find you guilty----"
"the jury may find me guilty or not," anstruther said. "i am sufficiently strong a man to know when i am beaten. therefore i do not propose to waste the time of the court by carrying my defense any further. i have assisted the police on many occasions; indeed, i have been a great help in bringing a number of notorious criminals to justice. but i pay the prosecution this compliment--never once in the whole course of my career have i worked out anything neater than the scheme which has placed me in my present position. i desire to plead guilty to the whole thing. i did conspire with mr. carrington over that bank business, and with my own hands i removed the cellini plate to the custody of carrington's private safe. i am not in the least penitent. i am not in the least sorry for myself. in the circumstances, i would act precisely the same again. you may do what you like with me, and pass any sentence you think fit. i don't think there is any need for me to say more."
the speaker bowed gravely to the judge and resumed his seat, which he had asked for as a favor. failing any reply on the part of the crown attorney, the judge began to sum up the case. he made no comment, but curtly and drily sentenced the prisoner to fourteen years' penal servitude. the latter rose to his feet, and intimated that he was ready. with a firm step and the faint shadow of a cynical smile on his lips, he walked down the steps and thus disappeared forever from the society of his fellow men. the whole thing was over now, and the dramatic trial was finished. it was, perhaps, a fitting ending to a sensational case, which had been full of surprises from beginning to end. in spite of it all, jack looked grave and somewhat anxious. now that the affair was over, he could find it in his heart to have a little pity for anstruther.
"why so grave and silent?" rigby asked.
"i think you understand," jack said quietly. "it always seems to me a sad thing to see a man of such brilliant talents in so degraded a situation. anstruther might have done anything. with an intellect like his he might have climbed to the highest places. and yet he prefers deliberately to remain a criminal."
"the criminal instinct must have been always there," benin said. "there are some men who cannot go straight, and your brilliant anstruther is one of them."
the audience was pouring out of the court now, talking eagerly and excitedly of the events of the morning. only a few people remained now, and, glancing indifferently over them, jack noted the pale, anxious features of carrington. the man lingered behind, as if afraid to face the open air. he shrank back shaking and despairing as bates walked over in his direction.
"very sorry, mr. carrington," said the latter, "but my duty is quite clear before me. we had our own reasons for not placing you in the dock along with your friend, because we might have had to call you as a witness. as i promised you, i will do all i can to let you down as easily as possible, but i hold a warrant for your arrest on the grounds of theft and conspiracy, and i am bound to execute it. you will be good enough to come this way, please."
the wretched man whined and whimpered. but there was nothing for it now but to follow the detective, and, so far as carrington was concerned, the story is finished. by this time jack and his companions were in the street. they lingered there chatting together, uncertain as to what to do next, when benin proceeded to solve the problem. he suggested the advisability of his having an interview with lord barmouth without delay.
"you tell me his lordship has already heard of me," he said. "after my own experiences, i can imagine what his feelings have been the last few years. i want to see him at once, and convince him that within a month he will be free to stand before his fellow men, as ferris will be within the next few days."
barmouth had lost no time in leaving the court directly he discovered that there would be no occasion for him to enter the witness-box.
when jack and the others reached belgrave square, barmouth had already removed the strips of plaster from his face, and was walking up and down his study with the restless air of one whose mind is ill at ease. all the same, he seemed to divine the cause of benin's presence, for he held out his hand and smiled gratefully.
"i know you come to me in the guise of a friend, doctor benin," he said. "is it too much to hope that you can cure me as you cured my friend ferris?"
"there is no doubt about it whatever," the frenchman said. "it is all a matter of an operation on the muscles of the face. you will be yourself again; even that horrible yellow tinge will disappear from your skin. i should like, if possible, to operate upon seymour and yourself at the same time. i dare say you have some quiet country place that we could go to?"
there was more than one such retreat, as barmouth proceeded to explain. they talked over the matter eagerly and earnestly for some time, until a message arrived that mr. anstruther earnestly desired an interview with lord barmouth. the latter started and shook his head. he had no disposition whatever to see anstruther again. but as he thought the matter over, kindlier thoughts prevailed. after all, the man was past all power of mischief, and despite the way in which he had carried himself off, must have felt his position most keenly. on the whole, barmouth decided to go.
he found anstruther pacing up and down his roomy cell. the man looked haggard and drawn. well as he had himself in hand, anstruther's twitching lips betrayed his emotion.
"i dare say you wonder why i sent for you," he said. "you need not be afraid of me; they have rendered me quite harmless. they have even taken away my watch and chain and money. why they left me this little pearl-headed scarf pin i don't know--probably they overlooked it. it is these little careless things which prevent the force from being quite as efficient as it might be."
anstruther smiled in a peculiar way as he spoke. but barmouth did not appear to notice. anstruther walked up and down the cell, talking freely as he went.
"it was exceedingly good of you to come," he said, "especially as i have done you so grievous a wrong. you will be perhaps pleased to hear that all the sufferings i underwent in mexico were wasted. i never so much as laid my hand upon an ounce of the gold for which i risked my life; indeed, at the end i just contrived to save my mere existence. when i sent for you to-day it was most sincerely to ask you to pardon me for all the harm that i have done to you and others. i was going to tell you in any case the means by which you could be restored to your normal appearance. if the case went against me to-day i had determined to write to you and give you the address of doctor benin. but when i saw him in court to-day i knew perfectly well that you and he had already met, and, therefore, there was no reason for me to say anything. you and i have always been antagonistic; i do not bear you any ill will for that."
"and i can assure you that there is no ill will on my side," barmouth replied. "mind you, i cannot forget all the sufferings that i have undergone at your hands. it is strange what men will do when the greed for gold is upon them, and how little good does it tend to when the gold comes. only a few hours ago i was longing to meet you face to face under such conditions as would render your death a secret. i would have killed you like a dog, i always meant to kill you. when i was paying blackmail to you under a name other than my own i was ever plotting the opportunity which would have betrayed you into my hands. i should have deemed it no crime to have rid the world of a scoundrel like yourself. and yet, as god is my witness, when i see you here like this, an outcast and a felon, when i think of the terrible way in which your great talents have been wasted, i have nothing but pity for your lamentable condition."
anstruther took a step forward, the veins on his forehead knotted, his hands were clenched in a paroxysm of passion.
"don't talk like that," he said hoarsely. "don't begin to pity me, or i shall fly out and strangle you. if there was no chance of you ever being anything but what you are--i mean so far as your personal appearance is concerned--i would willingly change places with you at this moment. and i was a nostalgo myself, and know what the punishment means. but i did not bring you here to talk entirely about myself. i have felt for a long time that jack masefield has viewed me with suspicion. perhaps he thinks i am unaware of his engagement to claire. why, i knew every movement of his. he will be surprised to hear that i knew he was in the cupboard near padini's room the time i was spying about there. what was i after? well, padini had certain papers of mine, and it was not policy to accuse him of the theft then. just as if open-minded people like those could deceive me. i can quite forgive masefield for his caution, but you can tell him that claire's fortune has suffered nothing at my hands. not that i wish to take any credit for that; it is merely that the other trustee, being a shrewd lawyer, was too clever for me. however, claire has her two thousand a year intact, and she is free to marry masefield when she likes.
"there is another matter of which i wish to speak to you--that is, as regards serena. i understand that she is lady barmouth's sister. well, i am glad of that, because the poor woman and her boy will have a happy home in future. i behaved abominably to serena: i lied to her, i tricked and tormented her, so that i might get her in my power, and make use of her wonderful talents as an actress. she believed that i held her life in the hollow of my hand, and therefore she was the veriest slave to my will. but nothing wrong, barmouth; serena is as good and pure as your own wife. i understand that padini has been arrested owing to his having taken a hand in that musical jugglery of mine.
"for serena's sake he must be got rid of. all you have to do is to drop a line to the director of public prosecutions in paris, and say that monsieur lemarque is masquerading in london as padini, the violinist. after that i don't think serena will be troubled with her precious husband any more. and now i will not detain you any longer. if you will accept this pin as a souvenir i shall be glad. you see it is a small pearl on a gold wire. there is one peculiarity about it. the pearl is hollow, and it often occurred to me how useful it would be to conceal a drop or two of some virulent poison inside in case one fell into the hands of the authorities."
filled with a sudden suspicion, barmouth darted forward. the faint mocking smile of anstruther's face told him as plainly as words could tell exactly what was going to happen. he reached forward and clutched anstruther. it was too late.
"for heaven's sake, anstruther," barmouth cried. "think; pause before you do anything so rash, so blasphemous."
"it is very good of you," anstruther said quite coolly. "i know you mean well, but this is the way i prefer myself."
he placed the pearl within his lips, and crushed it with his teeth.
