two years after the events just described, t. x. journeying up tolondon from bath was attracted by a paragraph in the morning post.
it told him briefly that mr. remington kara, the influentialleader of the greek colony, had been the guest of honor at adinner of the hellenic society.
t. x. had only seen kara for a brief space of time following thattragic morning, when he had discovered not only that his bestfriend had escaped from dartmoor prison and disappeared, as itwere, from the world at a moment when his pardon had been signed,but that that friend's wife had also vanished from the face of theearth.
at the same time - it might, as even t. x. admitted, have been theveriest coincidence that kara had also cleared out of london toreappear at the end of six months. any question addressed to him,concerning the whereabouts of the two unhappy people, was met witha bland expression of ignorance as to their whereabouts.
john lexman was somewhere in the world, hiding as he believed fromjustice, and with him was his wife. t. x. had no doubt in hismind as to this solution of the puzzle. he had caused to bepublished the story of the pardon and the circumstances underwhich that pardon had been secured, and he had, moreover, arrangedfor an advertisement to be inserted in the principal papers ofevery european country.
it was a moot question amongst the departmental lawyers as towhether john lexman was not guilty of a technical and punishableoffence for prison breaking, but this possibility did not keep t.
x. awake at nights. the circumstances of the escape had beencarefully examined. the warder responsible had been dischargedfrom the service, and had almost immediately purchased for himselfa beer house in falmouth, for a sum which left no doubt in theofficial mind that he had been the recipient of a heavy bribe.
who had been the guiding spirit in that escape - mrs. lexman, orkarat?
it was impossible to connect kara with the event. the motor carhad been traced to exeter, where it had been hired by a"foreign-looking gentleman," but the chauffeur, whoever he was,had made good his escape. an inspection of kara's hangars atwembley showed that his two monoplanes had not been removed, andt. x. failed entirely to trace the owner of the machine he hadseen flying over dartmoor on the fatal morning.
t. x. was somewhat baffled and a little amused by thedisinclination of the authorities to believe that the escape hadbeen effected by this method at all. all the events of the trialcame back to him, as he watched the landscape spinning past.
he set down the newspaper with a little sigh, put his feet on thecushions of the opposite seat and gave himself up to reverie.
presently he returned to his journals and searched them idly forsomething to interest him in the final stretch of journey betweennewbury and paddington.
presently he found it in a two column article with the uninspiringtitle, "the mineral wealth of tierra del fuego." it was writtenbrightly with a style which was at once easy and informative. ittold of adventures in the marshes behind st. sebastian bay andjourneys up the guarez celman river, of nights spent in primevalforests and ended in a geological survey, wherein the commercialvalue of syenite, porphyry, trachite and dialite were severallycanvassed.
the article was signed "g. g." it is said of t. x. that hisgreatest virtue was his curiosity. he had at the tip of hisfingers the names of all the big explorers and author-travellers,and for some reason he could not place "g. g." to hissatisfaction, in fact he had an absurd desire to interpret theinitials into "george grossmith." his inability to identify thewriter irritated him, and his first act on reaching his office wasto telephone to one of the literary editors of the times whom heknew.
"not my department," was the chilly reply, "and besides we nevergive away the names of our contributors. speaking as a personoutside the office i should say that "g. g." was 'georgegathercole' the explorer you know, the fellow who had an armchewed off by a lion or something.""george gathercole!" repeated t. x. "what an ass i am.""yes," said the voice at the other end the wire, and he had rungoff before t. x. could think of something suitable to say.
having elucidated this little side-line of mystery, the matterpassed from the young commissioner's mind. it happened thatmorning that his work consisted of dealing with john lexman'sestate.
with the disappearance of the couple he had taken over control oftheir belongings. it had not embarrassed him to discover that hewas an executor under lexman's will, for he had already acted astrustee to the wife's small estate, and had been one of theparties to the ante-nuptial contract which john lexman had madebefore his marriage.
the estate revenues had increased very considerably. all thevanished author's books were selling as they had never soldbefore, and the executor's work was made the heavier by the factthat grace lexman had possessed an aunt who had most ininconsiderately died, leaving a considerable fortune to her"unhappy niece.""i will keep the trusteeship another year," he told the solicitorwho came to consult him that morning. "at the end of that time ishall go to the court for relief.""do you think they will ever turn up?" asked the solicitor, anelderly and unimaginative man.
"of course, they'll turn up!" said t. x. impatiently; "all theheroes of lexman's books turn up sooner or later. he willdiscover himself to us at a suitable moment, and we shall beproperly thrilled."that lexman would return he was sure. it was a faith from whichhe did not swerve.
he had as implicit a confidence that one day or other kara, themagnificent, would play into his hands.
there were some queer stories in circulation concerning the greek,but on the whole they were stories and rumours which weredifficult to separate from the malicious gossip which invariablyattaches itself to the rich and to the successful.
one of these was that kara desired something more than an albanianchieftainship, which he undoubtedly enjoyed. there were whispersof wider and higher ambitions. though his father had been born agreek, he had indubitably descended in a direct line from one ofthose old mprets of albania, who had exercised their briefauthority over that turbulent land.
the man's passion was for power. to this end he did not sparehimself. it was said that he utilized his vast wealth for thisreason, and none other, and that whatever might have been theirregularities of his youth - and there were adduced concreteinstances - he was working toward an end with a singleness ofpurpose, from which it was difficult to withhold admiration.
t. x. kept in his locked desk a little red book, steel bound andtriple locked, which he called his "scandalaria." in this heinscribed in his own irregular writing the titbits which might notbe published, and which often helped an investigator to light uponthe missing threads of a problem. in truth he scorned no sourceof information, and was conscienceless in the compilation of thissomewhat chaotic record.
the affairs of john lexman recalled kara, and kara's greatreception. mansus would have made arrangements to secure averbatim report of the speeches which were made, and these wouldbe in his hands by the night. mansus did not tell him that karawas financing some very influential people indeed, that a certainunder-secretary of state with a great number of very influentialrelations had been saved from bankruptcy by the timely advanceswhich kara had made. this t. x. had obtained through sourceswhich might be hastily described as discreditable. mansus knew ofthe baccarat establishment in albemarle street, but he did notknow that the neurotic wife of a very great man indeed, no lessthan the minister of justice, was a frequent visitor to thatestablishment, and that she had lost in one night some 6,000pounds. in these circumstances it was remarkable, thought t. x.,that she should report to the police so small a matter as thepetty pilfering of servants. this, however, she had done andwhilst the lesser officers of scotland yard were interrogatingpawnbrokers, the men higher up were genuinely worried by thelady's own lapses from grace.
it was all sordid but, unfortunately, conventional, because highlyplaced people will always do underbred things, where money orwomen are concerned, but it was necessary, for the proper conductof the department which t. x. directed, that, however sordid andhowever conventional might' be the errors which the great ones ofthe earth committed, they should be filed for reference.
the motto which t. x. went upon in life was, "you never know."the minister of justice was a very important person, for he was apersonal friend of half the monarchs of europe. a poor man, withtwo or three thousand a year of his own, with no very definitepolitical views and uncommitted to the more violent policies ofeither party, he succeeded in serving both, with profit tohimself, and without earning the obloquy of either. though he didnot pursue the blatant policy of the vicar of bray, yet it is factwhich may be confirmed from the reader's own knowledge, that heserved in four different administrations, drawing the pay andemoluments of his office from each, though the fundamentalpolicies of those four governments were distinct.
lady bartholomew, the wife of this adaptable minister, hadrecently departed for san remo. the newspapers announced the factand spoke vaguely of a breakdown which prevented the lady fromfulfilling her social engagements.
t. x., ever a doubting thomas, could trace no visit of nervespecialist, nor yet of the family practitioner, to the officialresidence in downing street, and therefore he drew conclusions.
in his own "who's who" t. x. noted the hobbies of his victimswhich, by the way, did not always coincide with the innocentoccupations set against their names in the more pretentiousvolume. their follies and their weaknesses found a place and wererecorded at a length (as it might seem to the uninformed observer)beyond the limit which charity allowed.
lady mary bartholomew's name appeared not once, but many times, inthe erratic records which t. x. kept. there was a plainmatter-of-fact and wholly unobjectionable statement that she wasborn in 1874, that she was the seventh daughter of the earl ofbalmorey, that she had one daughter who rejoiced in the somewhatunpromising name of belinda mary, and such further information asa man might get without going to a great deal of trouble.
t. x.,refreshing his memory from the little red book, wonderedwhat unexpected tragedy had sent lady bartholomew out of london inthe middle of the season. the information was that the lady wasfairly well off at this moment, and this fact made matters all themore puzzling and almost induced him to believe that, after all,the story was true, and a nervous breakdown really was the causeof her sudden departure. he sent for mansus.
"you saw lady bartholomew off at charing cross, i suppose?"mansus nodded.
"she went alone?""she took her maid, but otherwise she was alone. i thought shelooked ill.""she has been looking ill for months past," said t. x., withoutany visible expression of sympathy.
"did she take belinda mary?"mansus was puzzled. "belinda mary?" he repeated slowly. "oh, youmean the daughter. no, she's at a school somewhere in france."t. x. whistled a snatch of a popular song, closed the little redbook with a snap and replaced it in his desk.
"i wonder where on earth people dig up names like belinda mary?"he mused. "belinda mary must be rather a weird little animal -the lord forgive me for speaking so about my betters! if hereditycounts for anything she ought to be something between a headwaiter and a pack of cards. have you lost anything'?"mansus was searching his pockets.
"i made a few notes, some questions i wanted to ask you about andlady bartholomew was the subject of one of them. i have had herunder observation for six months; do you want it kept up?"t. x. thought awhile, then shook his head.
"i am only interested in lady bartholomew in so far as kara isinterested in her. there is a criminal for you, my friend!" headded, admiringly.
mansus busily engaged in going through the bundles of letters,slips of paper and little notebooks he had taken from his pocket,sniffed audibly.
"have you a cold?" asked t. x. politely.
"no, sir," was the reply, "only i haven't much opinion of kara asa criminal. besides, what has he got to be a criminal about? hehas all that he requires in the money department, he's one of themost popular people in london, and certainly one of thebest-looking men i've ever seen in my life. he needs nothing."t. x. regarded him scornfully.
"you're a poor blind brute," he said, shaking his head; don't youknow that great criminals are never influenced by materialdesires, or by the prospect of concrete gains? the man, who robshis employer's till in order to give the girl of his heart the25-pearl and ruby brooch her soul desires, gains nothing but theglow of satisfaction which comes to the man who is thought wellof. the majority of crimes in the world are committed by peoplefor the same reason - they want to be thought well of. here isdoctor x. who murdered his wife because she was a drunkard and aslut, and he dared not leave her for fear the neighbours wouldhave doubts as to his respectability. here is another gentlemanwho murders his wives in their baths in order that he should keepup some sort of position and earn the respect of his friends andhis associates. nothing roused him more quickly to a frenzy ofpassion than the suggestion that he was not respectable. here isthe great financier, who has embezzled a million and a quarter,not because he needed money, but because people looked up to him.
therefore, he must build great mansions, submarine pleasure courtsand must lay out huge estates - because he wished that he shouldbe thought well of.
mansus sniffed again.
"what about the man who half murders his wife, does he do that tobe well thought of?" he asked, with a tinge of sarcasm.
t. x. looked at him pityingly.
"the low-brow who beats his wife, my poor mansus," he said, "doesso because she doesn't think well of him. that is our rulingpassion, our national characteristic, the primary cause of mostcrimes, big or little. that is why kara is a bad criminal andwill, as i say, end his life very violently."he took down his glossy silk hat from the peg and slipped into hisovercoat.
"i am going down to see my friend kara," he said. "i have afeeling that i should like to talk with him. he might tell mesomething."his acquaintance with kara's menage had been mere hearsay. he hadinterviewed the greek once after his return, but since all hisefforts to secure information concerning the whereabouts of johnlexman and his wife - the main reason for his visit been in vain,he had not repeated his visit.
the house in cadogan square was a large one, occupying a cornersite. it was peculiarly english in appearance with its windowboxes, its discreet curtains, its polished brass and enamelleddoorway. it had been the town house of lord henry gratham, thateccentric connoisseur of wine and follower of witless pleasure.
it had been built by him "round a bottle of port," as his friendssaid, meaning thereby that his first consideration had been thecellarage of the house, and that when those cellars had been builtand provision made for the safe storage of his priceless wines,the house had been built without the architect's being greatlytroubled by his lordship. the double cellars of gratham househad, in their time, been one of the sights of london. whenhenry gratham lay under eight feet of congo earth (he was killedby an elephant whilst on a hunting trip) his executors had beensingularly fortunate in finding an immediate purchaser. rumourhad it that kara, who was no lover of wine, had bricked up thecellars, and their very existence passed into domestic legendary.
the door was opened by a well-dressed and deferential man-servantand t. x. was ushered into the hall. a fire burnt cheerily in abronze grate and t. x. had a glimpse of a big oil painting of karaabove the marble mantle-piece.
"mr. kara is very busy, sir," said the man.
"just take in my card," said t. x. "i think he may care to seeme."the man bowed, produced from some mysterious corner a silversalver and glided upstairs in that manner which well-trainedservants have, a manner which seems to call for no bodily effort.
in a minute he returned.
"will you come this way, sir," he said, and led the way up a broadflight of stairs.
at the head of the stairs was a corridor which ran to the left andto the right. from this there gave four rooms. one at theextreme end of the passage on the right, one on the left, and twoat fairly regular intervals in the centre.
when the man's hand was on one of the doors, t. x. asked quietly,"i think i have seen you before somewhere, my friend."the man smiled.
"it is very possible, sir. i was a waiter at the constitutionalfor some time."t. x. nodded.
"that is where it must have been," he said.
the man opened the door and announced the visitor.
t. x. found himself in a large room, very handsomely furnished,but just lacking that sense of cosiness and comfort which is thefeature of the englishman's home.
kara rose from behind a big writing table, and came with a smileand a quick step to greet the visitor.
"this is a most unexpected pleasure," he said, and shook handswarmly.
t. x. had not seen him for a year and found very little change inthis strange young man. he could not be more confident than hehad been, nor bear himself with a more graceful carriage.
whatever social success he had achieved, it had not spoiled him,for his manner was as genial and easy as ever.
"i think that will do, miss holland," he said, turning to the girlwho, with notebook in hand, stood by the desk.
"evidently," thought t. x.,"our hellenic friend has a pretty tastein secretaries."in that one glance he took her all in - from the bronze-brown ofher hair to her neat foot.
t. x. was not readily attracted by members of the opposite sex.
he was self-confessed a predestined bachelor, finding life and itsincidence too absorbing to give his whole mind to the seriousproblem of marriage, or to contract responsibilities and interestswhich might divert his attention from what he believed was thegreater game. yet he must be a man of stone to resist thefreshness, the beauty and the youth of this straight, slendergirl; the pink-and-whiteness of her, the aliveness and buoyancyand the thrilling sense of vitality she carried in her verypresence.
"what is the weirdest name you have ever heard?" asked karalaughingly. "i ask you, because miss holland and i have beendiscussing a begging letter addressed to us by a maggie goomer."the girl smiled slightly and in that smile was paradise, thoughtt. x.
"the weirdest name?" he repeated, "why i think the worst i haveheard for a long time is belinda mary.""that has a familiar ring," said kara.
t. x. was looking at the girl.
she was staring at him with a certain languid insolence which madehim curl up inside. then with a glance at her employer she sweptfrom the room.
"i ought to have introduced you," said kara. "that was mysecretary, miss holland. rather a pretty girl, isn't she?""very," said t. x.,recovering his breath.
"i like pretty things around me," said kara, and somehow thecomplacency of the remark annoyed the detective more than anythingthat kara had ever said to him.
the greek went to the mantlepiece, and taking down a silvercigarette box, opened and offered it to his visitor. kara waswearing a grey lounge suit; and although grey is a very tryingcolour for a foreigner to wear, this suit fitted his splendidfigure and gave him just that bulk which he needed.
"you are a most suspicious man, mr. meredith," he smiled.
"suspicious! i?" asked the innocent t. x.
kara nodded.
"i am sure you want to enquire into the character of all mypresent staff. i am perfectly satisfied that you will never be atrest until you learn the antecedents of my cook, my valet, mysecretary - "t. x. held up his hand with a laugh.
"spare me," he said. "it is one of my failings, i admit, but ihave never gone much farther into your domestic affairs than topry into the antecedents of your very interesting chauffeur."a little cloud passed over kara's face, but it was only momentary.
"oh, brown," he said, airily, with just a perceptible pausebetween the two words.
"it used to be smith," said t. x.,"but no matter. his name isreally poropulos.""oh, poropulos," said kara gravely, "i dismissed him a long timeago.""pensioned hire, too, i understand," said t. x.
the other looked at him awhile, then, "i am very good to my oldservants," he said slowly and, changing the subject; "to what goodfortune do i owe this visit?"t. x. selected a cigarette before he replied.
"i thought you might be of some service to me," he said,apparently giving his whole attention to the cigarette.
"nothing would give me greater pleasure," said kara, a littleeagerly. "i am afraid you have not been very keen on continuingwhat i hoped would have ripened into a valuable friendship, morevaluable to me perhaps," he smiled, "than to you.""i am a very shy man," said the shameless t. x., "difficult to afault, and rather apt to underrate my social attractions. i havecome to you now because you know everybody - by the way, how longhave you had your secretary!" he asked abruptly.
kara looked up at the ceiling for inspiration.
"four, no three months," he corrected, "a very efficient younglady who came to me from one of the training establishments.
somewhat uncommunicative, better educated than most girls in herposition - for example, she speaks and writes modern greek fairlywell.""a treasure!" suggested t. x.
"unusually so," said kara. "she lives in marylebone road, 86a isthe address. she has no friends, spends most of her evenings inher room, is eminently respectable and a little chilling in herattitude to her employer."t. x. shot a swift glance at the other.
"why do you tell me all this?" he asked.
"to save you the trouble of finding out," replied the othercoolly. "that insatiable curiosity which is one of the equipmentsof your profession, would, i feel sure, induce you to conductinvestigations for your own satisfaction."t. x. laughed.
"may i sit down?" he said.
the other wheeled an armchair across the room and t. x. sank intoit. he leant back and crossed his legs, and was, in a second, thepersonification of ease.
"i think you are a very clever man, monsieur kara," he said.
the other looked down at him this time without amusement.
"not so clever that i can discover the object of your visit," hesaid pleasantly enough.
"it is very simply explained," said t. x. "you know everybody intown. you know, amongst other people, lady bartholomew.""i know the lady very well indeed," said kara, readily, - tooreadily in fact, for the rapidity with which answer had followedquestion, suggested to t. x. that kara had anticipated the reasonfor the call.
"have you any idea," asked t. x., speaking with deliberation, "asto why lady bartholomew has gone out of town at this particularmoment?"kara laughed.
"what an extraordinary question to ask me - as though ladybartholomew confided her plans to one who is little more than achance acquaintance!""and yet," said t. x., contemplating the burning end of hiscigarette, "you know her well enough to hold her promissory note.""promissory note?" asked the other.
his tone was one of involuntary surprise and t. x. swore softly tohimself for now he saw the faintest shade of relief in kara'sface. the commissioner realized that he had committed an error -he had been far too definite.
"when i say promissory note," he went on easily, as though he hadnoticed nothing, "i mean, of course, the securities which thedebtor invariably gives to one from whom he or she has borrowedlarge sums of money."kara made no answer, but opening a drawer of his desk he took outa key and brought it across to where t. x. was sitting.
"here is the key of my safe," he said quietly. "you are atliberty to go carefully through its contents and discover foryourself any promissory note which i hold from lady bartholomew.
my dear fellow, you don't imagine i'm a moneylender, do you?" hesaid in an injured tone.
"nothing was further from my thoughts," said t. x., untruthfully.
but the other pressed the key upon him.
"i should be awfully glad if you would look for yourself," he saidearnestly. "i feel that in some way you associate ladybartholomew's illness with some horrible act of usury on my part -will you satisfy yourself and in doing so satisfy me?"now any ordinary man, and possibly any ordinary detective, wouldhave made the conventional answer. he would have protested thathe had no intention of doing anything of the sort; he would haveuttered, if he were a man in the position which t. x. occupied,the conventional statement that he had no authority to search theprivate papers, and that he would certainly not avail himself ofthe other's kindness. but t. x. was not an ordinary person. hetook the key and balanced it lightly in the palm of his hand.
"is this the key of the famous bedroom safe?" he said banteringly.
kara was looking down at him with a quizzical smile. "it isn'tthe safe you opened in my absence, on one memorable occasion, mr.
meredith," he said. "as you probably know, i have changed thatsafe, but perhaps you don't feel equal to the task?""on the contrary," said t. x.,calmly, and rising from the chair,"i am going to put your good faith to the test."for answer kara walked to the door and opened it.
"let me show you the way," he said politely.
he passed along the corridor and entered the apartment at the end.
the room was a large one and lighted by one big square windowwhich was protected by steel bars. in the grate which was broadand high a huge fire was burning and the temperature of the roomwas unpleasantly close despite the coldness of the day.
"that is one of the eccentricities which you, as an englishman,will never excuse in me," said kara.
near the foot of the bed, let into, and flush with, the wall, wasa big green door of the safe.
"here you are, mr. meredith," said kara. "all the precioussecrets of remington kara are yours for the seeking.""i am afraid i've had my trouble for nothing," said t. x., makingno attempt to use the key.
"that is an opinion which i share," said kara, with a smile.
"curiously enough," said t. x. "i mean just what you mean."he handed the key to kara.
"won't you open it?" asked the greek.
t. x. shook his head.
"the safe as far as i can see is a magnus, the key which you havebeen kind enough to give me is legibly inscribed upon the handle'chubb.' my experience as a police officer has taught me thatchubb keys very rarely open magnus safes."kara uttered an exclamation of annoyance.
"how stupid of me!" he said, "yet now i remember, i sent the keyto my bankers, before i went out of town - i only came back thismorning, you know. i will send for it at once.""pray don't trouble," murmured t. x. politely. he took from hispocket a little flat leather case and opened it. it contained anumber of steel implements of curious shape which were held inposition by a leather loop along the centre of the case. from oneof these loops he extracted a handle, and deftly fitted somethingthat looked like a steel awl to the socket in the handle. lookingin wonder, and with no little apprehension, kara saw that the awlwas bent at the head.
"what are you going to do?" he asked, a little alarmed.
"i'll show you," said t. x. pleasantly.
very gingerly he inserted the instrument in the small keyhole andturned it cautiously first one way and then the other. there wasa sharp click followed by another. he turned the handle and thedoor of the safe swung open.
"simple, isn't it!" he asked politely.
in that second of time kara's face had undergone a transformation.
the eyes which met t. x. meredith's blazed with an almost insanefury. with a quick stride kara placed himself before the opensafe.
"i think this has gone far enough, mr. meredith," he said harshly.
"if you wish to search my safe you must get a warrant."t. x. shrugged his shoulders, and carefully unscrewing theinstrument he had employed and replacing it in the case, hereturned it to his inside pocket.
"it was at your invitation, my dear monsieur kara," he saidsuavely. "of course i knew that you were putting a bluff up on mewith the key and that you had no more intention of letting me seethe inside of your safe than you had of telling me exactly whathappened to john lexman."the shot went home.
the face which was thrust into the commissioner's was ridged andveined with passion. the lips were turned back to show the bigwhite even teeth, the eyes were narrowed to slits, the jaw thrustout, and almost every semblance of humanity had vanished from hisface.
"you - you - " he hissed, and his clawing hands moved suspiciouslybackward.
"put up your hands," said t. x. sharply, "and be damned quickabout it!"in a flash the hands went up, for the revolver which t. x. heldwas pressed uncomfortably against the third button of the greek'swaistcoat.
"that's not the first time you've been asked to put up your hands,i think," said t. x. pleasantly.
his own left hand slipped round to kara's hip pocket. he foundsomething in the shape of a cylinder and drew it out from thepocket. to his surprise it was not a revolver, not even a knife;it looked like a small electric torch, though instead of a bulband a bull's-eye glass, there was a pepper-box perforation at oneend.
he handled it carefully and was about to press the small nickelknob when a strangled cry of horror broke from kara.
"for god's sake be careful!" he gasped. "you're pointing it atme! do not press that lever, i beg!""will it explode!" asked t. x. curiously.
"no, no!"t. x. pointed the thing downward to the carpet and pressed theknob cautiously. as he did so there was a sharp hiss and thefloor was stained with the liquid which the instrument contained.
just one gush of fluid and no more. t. x. looked down. thebright carpet had already changed colour, and was smoking. theroom was filled with a pungent and disagreeable scent. t. x.
looked from the floor to the white-faced man.
"vitriol, i believe," he said, shaking his head admiringly. "whata dear little fellow you are!"the man, big as he was, was on the point of collapse and mumbledsomething about self-defence, and listened without a word, whilstt. x.,labouring under an emotion which was perfectly pardonable,described kara, his ancestors and the possibilities of his futureestate.
very slowly the greek recovered his self-possession.
"i didn't intend using it on you, i swear i didn't," he pleaded.
"i'm surrounded by enemies, meredith. i had to carry some meansof protection. it is because my enemies know i carry this thatthey fight shy of me. i'll swear i had no intention of using iton you. the idea is too preposterous. i am sorry i fooled youabout the safe.""don't let that worry you," said t. x. "i am afraid i did all thefooling. no, i cannot let you have this back again," he said, asthe greek put out his hand to take the infernal little instrument.
"i must take this back to scotland yard; it's quite a long timesince we had anything new in this shape. compressed air, ipresume."kara nodded solemnly.
"very ingenious indeed," said t. x. "if i had a brain like yours,"he paused, "i should do something with it - with a gun," he added,as he passed out of the room.
