report of j. m. no. 17
providence, 1:30 a.m.
when i got to the service gate of fernhurst i found it guarded by two men, detectives unmistakably. this was disconcerting. i passed on. they bored me through with their gimlet eyes and i broke out in a gentle sweat all over. presently, however, i realised it was but their professional manner of looking at anybody who was not well dressed, and i calmed down.
it filled me with a kind of terror to think that i might be prevented from carrying out my part of the evening's entertainment, so you will see i was well worked up to it by this time. i went around the block and prepared to try again. on my way towards the service gate i had the luck to fall in with a crowd of waiters clearly bound for the show and it was no trouble at all to mix in with them. my make-up was of the same general style as theirs. we passed through the gate without question.
once inside i began to lag behind the bunch, and presently slipped away in the darkness. i reached my specified hiding-place in the shrubbery behind the bench without further adventure. the place had been so carefully mapped, there was no possibility of mistaking it.
i had to wait over an hour for foxy. it was not a pleasant time. lorina's plan seemed perfect, but you never can tell. and my inexperience in this line was such that i didn't feel overmuch confidence in myself should an emergency arise. not far behind me i could hear the steady procession of motors bringing guests to the party. in the distance i could hear the music. they had picked their spot well. in all that time no one passed that way.
in the end foxy's coming gave me a great start. creeping through the bushes without the rustle of a leaf, he was beside me before i heard him coming. he was dressed in the height of fashion. i caught a gleam of a monocle dangling against his white waistcoat. i silently passed him over the coat i had brought, and standing in a little open space, he put it on together with the cap and mask. then we crouched down side by side under the leaves, with the back of the bench in plain view before us. foxy laid the nippers on the ground ready to his hand. we did not speak to each other.
bye and bye we heard voices approaching, and my poor heart set up a tremendous how-de-do. on the other hand something told me foxy was enjoying it. mrs. levering and the young man called frank came strolling dimly into view. i was nearly suffocating with excitement.
"this is the place," frank said.
"how cosy!" she sang.
"shall we sit down?" he suggested.
"let's!" said she. "i'll have a cigarette."
they sat. frank presently struck a match. if she had looked over her shoulder she would have seen the glare faintly reflected from our white faces. i stole a look at foxy's ratlike profile. he had shoved up the mask. his teeth were bared. he was amused at the prospect of a little scandalous eavesdropping. merciful heavens! what a face!
i need not report the further conversation of the two on the bench. it was merely silly. frank's voice was trembling. i suppose she ascribed that to the violence of his feelings for her. she is a fool.
foxy gave them a good while to their talk. meanwhile i suffered agonies of suspense, and frank no doubt worse. i at least could see when the blow was going to fall, but he could not. not until mrs. levering said she must go back, but not really meaning it yet, did foxy pull down the mask and creep forward. i held my breath.
it seemed as if it were all accomplished in a single movement. foxy rose to his knees behind the woman, snipped the shining thing around her neck—and there it was lying at my knees. i mechanically dropped it in my pocket.
she did not scream. in that, at least, she showed blood. "my necklace!" she gasped, jumping up, hand to throat. "gone!"
in frank's little choking cry one heard the snapping of the frightful tension he had been under.
foxy, bent almost double, started up from behind the bench, and headed diagonally across the path. another gasping cry, not loud, broke from the woman. "there he is!"
frank flung himself on the back of the runner, and they rolled over on the ground, all exactly as i had seen it rehearsed a dozen times in the hotel room. they sprang up, grappled, swayed and finally frank was flung with apparently great violence to the ground. foxy disappeared.
frank struggled to his feet, seemingly hurt. he attempted to stagger in the direction the fugitive had taken, but mrs. levering clung to him. one may suppose he was not sorry to be prevented.
at this moment the tragic-farce was interrupted by the entrance of an actor not on the bill. this was a man with an electric flash, a detective to all appearances. i suppose they had them posted about the grounds, and this man had heard the disturbance, slight though it was. the flash terrified me. i softly and precipitately retired under the leaves into the thickest of the shrubbery.
"i have been robbed!" i heard mrs. levering gasp. "my diamond necklace! he came from there. he went that way."
the detective threw his light around. fortunately for me i had put a screen of leaves in front of me. i was not disposed to linger in the neighbourhood. i ran along close to the fence where there was a narrow open space. as i passed out of hearing, i heard others come running up. excitement runs like electricity. i had no doubt that foxy in immaculate evening dress, was among the first to reach the scene. i took care to survey the service gate from a discreet distance before presenting myself there. it was well that i did so. i saw that it was closed, and the two men still on guard. not knowing at what instant an alarm might be raised behind me, i dared not apply to them with any tale however ingenious. those diamonds were red hot in my pocket. on the other hand, i would have to retrace my steps nearly a quarter of a mile to reach the main entrance, and i was not suitably dressed to be seen there. i could not climb the fence at any point, for it was a smooth, high iron affair, moreover, the street outside was brightly lighted. i knew nothing about the cliff side of the grounds.
for a moment or two i felt decidedly panicky. before my mind's eye headlines in the next day's papers were vividly emblazoned:
"well-known jeweller steals the
diamonds he sold"
or something like that. finally i recollected that the road to the service entrance of fernhurst ran quite close to the boundary of the next estate. i determined to try that way.
to reach the boundary i was obliged to make a long detour. still there were no sounds behind me to indicate that an alarm had been raised, at any rate a public alarm. the line between the two estates was marked by a thorn hedge and a wire fence. choosing a dark spot i managed to struggle through without receiving any serious damage. i finally gained the street through the service gate of this place.
this brought me out beyond the point where jim was to be stationed with the motor car, and i had to retrace my steps. the car was in the appointed spot. jim was on the front seat with his head craned in the other direction whence he expected me. i gave him a little signal. he was much troubled to see me come from that way thinking the plan had fallen through, but was reassured no doubt by the fall of the necklace on the floor of his car. i was thankful to be rid of the cursed thing.
there were several cars standing across the street, with their chauffeurs chatting together, and i was afraid of attracting attention to myself or to jim by turning back at that moment. i kept on. i was startled half out of my wits when a motor patrol wagon full of police came flying up the street past me. it turned in at the service gate of fernhurst ahead. since i was travelling in that direction i had to keep on.
a man stepped out as i approached. seizing my shoulder he swung me half around so that the light fell on my face. "what are you doing here?" he demanded.
i thought it was all up with me. "i just wanted to have a look at the swells," i stammered.
another man joined him. "hold this guy," said the first. while the second man kept a hand twisted in my collar, the first one frisked me expeditiously. i had taken care, of course, not to have anything on me. but the side pocket of my coat was still hot from the diamonds.
finding nothing the man growled an order for my release. the second man spun me around, and propelled me towards town with a shove. "get the h—— out of here!" said he.
and i did.
j. m.
