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meaning to

drug and leave me insensible to be found by the police. Fortunatelyā€”I

was beforehand with him. I had just left him drugged, insensible in my

place, when I met you in the corridorā€¦. You didnā€™t know?ā€

 

ā€œHow can you ask?ā€ the girl moaned.

 

Bending forward, an elbow on the table, she worked her hands together

until their knuckles shone white through the skinā€”but not as white as

the face from which her eyes sought his with a look of dumb horror,

dazed, pitiful, imploring.

 

ā€œYouā€™re not deceiving me? But noā€”why should you?ā€ she faltered. ā€œBut

how terrible, how unspeakably awful! ā€¦ā€

 

ā€œIā€™m sorry,ā€ Lanyard mumbledā€”ā€œIā€™d have held my tongue if I hadnā€™t

thought you knewā€”ā€

 

ā€œYou thought I knewā€”and didnā€™t lift a finger to save the man?ā€ She

jumped up with a blazing face. ā€œOh, how could you?ā€

 

ā€œNoā€”not thatā€”I never thought that. But, meeting you then and there,

so opportunelyā€”I couldnā€™t ignore the coincidence; and when you

admitted you were running away from your father, considering all the

circumstances, I was surely justified in thinking it was realization,

in part at least, of what had happened that was driving you away.ā€

She shook her head slowly, her indignation ebbing as quickly as it had

risen. ā€œI understand,ā€ she said; ā€œyou had some excuse, but you were

mistaken. I ran awayā€”yesā€”but not because of that. I never

dreamed ā€¦ā€

 

She fell silent, sitting with bowed head and twisting her hands

together in a manner he found it painful to watch.

 

ā€œBut please,ā€ he implored, ā€œdonā€™t take it so much to heart, Miss

Bannon. If you knew nothing, you couldnā€™t have prevented it.ā€

 

ā€œNo,ā€ she said brokenlyā€”ā€œI could have done nothing ā€¦ But I

didnā€™t know. It isnā€™t thatā€”itā€™s the horror and pity of it. And that

you could thinkā€”!ā€

 

ā€œBut I didnā€™t!ā€ he protestedā€”ā€œtruly I did not. And for what I did

think, for the injustice I did do you, believe me, Iā€™m truly sorry.ā€

 

ā€œYou were quite justified,ā€ she saidā€”ā€œnot only by circumstantial

evidence but to a degree in fact. You must know ā€¦ now I must tell

you ā€¦ā€

 

ā€œNothing you donā€™t wish to!ā€ he interrupted. ā€œThe fact that I

practically kidnapped you under pretence of doing you a service, and

suspected you of being in the pay of that Pack, gives me no title to

your confidence.ā€

 

ā€œCan I blame you for thinking what you did?ā€ She went on slowly,

without looking upā€”gaze steadfast to her interlaced fingers: ā€œNow for

my own sake I want you to know what otherwise, perhaps, I shouldnā€™t

have told youā€”not yet, at all events. Iā€™m no more Bannonā€™s daughter

than youā€™re his son. Our names sound alikeā€”people frequently make

the same mistake. My name is Shannonā€”Lucy Shannon. Mr. Bannon

called me Lucia because he knew I didnā€™t like it, to tease me; for

the same reason he always kept up the pretence that I was his daughter

when people misunderstood.ā€

 

ā€œButā€”if that is soā€”then whatā€”?ā€

 

ā€œWhyā€”itā€™s very simple.ā€ Still she didnā€™t look up. ā€œIā€™m a trained

nurse. Mr. Bannon is consumptiveā€”so far gone, itā€™s a wonder he

didnā€™t die years ago: for months Iā€™ve been haunted by the thought that

itā€™s only the evil in him keeps him alive. It wasnā€™t long after I took

the assignment to nurse him that I found out something about himā€¦.

Heā€™d had a haemorrhage at his desk; and while he lay in coma, and I

was waiting for the doctor, I happened to notice one of the papers heā€™d

been working over when he fell. And then, just as I began to appreciate

the sort of man I was employed by, he came to, and sawā€”and knew. I

found him watching me with those dreadful eyes of his, and though he

was unable to speak, knew my life wasnā€™t safe if ever I breathed a word

of what I had read. I would have left him then, but he was too cunning

for me, and when in time I found a chance to escapeā€”I was afraid Iā€™d

not live long if ever I left him. He went about it deliberately; to

keep me frightened, and though he never mentioned the matter directly,

let me know plainly, in a hundred ways, what his power was and what

would happen if I whispered a word of what I knew. Itā€™s nearly a year

nowā€”nearly a year of endless terror andā€¦ā€

 

Her voice fell; she was trembling with the recrudescent suffering of

that year-long servitude. And for a little Lanyard felt too profoundly

moved to trust himself to speak; he stood aghast, staring down at this

woman, so intrinsically and gently feminine, so strangely strong and

courageous; and vaguely envisaging what anguish must have been hers in

enforced association with a creature of Bannonā€™s ruthless stamp, he was

rent with compassion and swore to himself heā€™d stand by her and see her

through and free and happy if he died for itā€”or ended in the Santļæ½!

 

ā€œPoor child!ā€ he heard himself murmuringā€”ā€œpoor child!ā€

 

ā€œDonā€™t pity me!ā€ she insisted, still with face averted. ā€œI donā€™t

deserve it. If I had the spirit of a mouse, Iā€™d have defied him; it

needed only courage enough to say one word to the policeā€”ā€

 

ā€œBut who is he, then?ā€ Lanyard demanded. ā€œWhat is he, I mean?ā€

 

ā€œI hardly know how to tell you. And I hardly dare: I feel as if these

walls would betray me if I didā€¦. But to me heā€™s the incarnation of

all things evilā€¦.ā€ She shook herself with a nervous laugh. ā€œBut why

be silly about it? I donā€™t really know what or who he is: I only

suspect and believe that he is a man whose life is devoted to planning

evil and ordering its execution through his lieutenants. When the

papers at home speak of ā€˜The Man Higher Upā€™ they mean Archer Bannon,

though they donā€™t know itā€”or else Iā€™m merely a hysterical woman

exaggerating the impressions of a morbid imaginationā€¦. And thatā€™s all

I know of him that matters.ā€

 

ā€œBut why, if you believe all thisā€”how did you at length find

courageā€”?ā€

 

ā€œBecause I no longer had courage to endure; because I was more afraid

to stay than to goā€”afraid that my own soul would be forfeit. And then,

last night, he ordered me to go to your room and search it for evidence

that you were the Lone Wolf. It was the first time heā€™d ever asked

anything like that of me. I was afraid, and though I obeyed, I was glad

when you interruptedā€”glad even though I had to lie the way I didā€¦.

And all that worked on me, after Iā€™d gone back to my room, until I felt

I could stand it no longer; and after a long time, when the house

seemed all still, I got up, dressed quietly and ā€¦ That is how I came

to meet youā€”quite by accident.ā€

 

ā€œBut you seemed so frightened at first when you saw meā€”ā€

 

ā€œI was,ā€ she confessed simply; ā€œI thought you were

Mr. Greggs.ā€

 

ā€œGreggs?ā€

 

ā€œMr. Bannonā€™s private secretaryā€”his right-hand man. Heā€™s about your

height and has a suit like the one you wear, and in that poor lightā€”at

the distance I didnā€™t notice you were clean-shavenā€”Greggs wears a

moustacheā€”ā€

 

ā€œThen it was Greggs murdered Roddy and tried to drug me! ā€¦ By George,

Iā€™d like to know whether the police got there before Bannon, or

somebody else, discovered the substitution. It was a telegram to the

police, you know, I sent from the Bourse last night!ā€

 

In his excitement Lanyard began to pace the floor rapidly; and now that

he was no longer staring at her, the girl lifted her head and watched

him closely as he moved to and fro, talking aloudā€”more to himself than

to her.

 

ā€œI wish I knew! ā€¦ And what a lucky thing, you did meet me! For if

youā€™d gone on to the Gare du Nord and waited thereā€¦.Well, it isnā€™t

likely Bannon didnā€™t discover your flight before eight oā€™clock this

morning, is it?ā€

 

ā€œIā€™m afraid notā€¦.ā€

 

ā€œAnd theyā€™ve drawn the dead-line for me round every conceivable exit

from Paris: Popinotā€™s Apaches are picketed everywhere. And if Bannon

had found out about you in time, it would have needed only a wordā€¦ā€

 

He paused and shuddered to think what might have ensued had that word

been spoken and the girl been found waiting for her train in the Gare

du Nord.

 

ā€œMercifully, weā€™ve escaped that. And now, with any sort of luck, Bannon

ought to be busy enough, trying to get his precious Mr. Greggs out of

the Santļæ½, to give us a chance. And a fighting chance is all I ask.ā€

 

ā€œMr. Lanyardā€ā€”the girl bent toward him across the table with a gesture

of eager interestā€”ā€œhave you any idea why heā€”why Mr. Bannon hates you

so?ā€

 

ā€œBut does he? I donā€™t know!ā€

 

ā€œIf he doesnā€™t, why should he plot to cast suspicion of murder on you,

and why be so anxious to know whether you were really the Lone Wolf? I

saw his eyes light up when De Morbihan mentioned that name, after

dinner; and if ever I saw hatred in a manā€™s face, it was in his as he

watched you, when you werenā€™t looking.ā€

 

ā€œAs far as I know, I never heard of him before,ā€ Lanyard said

carelessly. ā€œI fancy itā€™s nothing more than the excitement of a

man-hunt. Now that theyā€™ve found me out, De Morbihan and his crew wonā€™t

rest until theyā€™ve got my scalp.ā€

 

ā€œBut why?ā€

 

ā€œProfessional jealousy. Weā€™re all crooks, all in the same boat, only I

wonā€™t row to their stroke. Iā€™ve always played a lone hand successfully;

now they insist on coming into the game and sharing my winnings. And

Iā€™ve told them where they could go.ā€

 

ā€œAnd because of that, theyā€™re willing toā€“-ā€

 

ā€œThereā€™s nothing they wouldnā€™t do, Miss Shannon, to bring me to my

knees or see me put out of the way, where my operations couldnā€™t hurt

their pocketbooks. Well ā€¦ all I ask is a fighting chance, and they

shall have their way!ā€

 

Her brows contracted. ā€œI donā€™t understandā€¦. You want a fighting

chanceā€”to surrenderā€”to give in to their demands?ā€

 

ā€œIn a wayā€”yes. I want a fighting chance to do what Iā€™d never in the

world get them to creditā€”give it all up and leave them a free field.ā€

 

And when still she searched his face with puzzled eyes, he insisted:

ā€œI mean it; I want to get awayā€”clear outā€”chuck the game for good and

all!ā€

 

A little silence greeted this announcement. Lanyard, at pause near the

table, resting a hand on it, bent to the girlā€™s upturned face a grave

but candid regard. And the deeps of her eyes that never swerved from

his were troubled strangely in his vision. He could by no means account

for the light he seemed to see therein, a light that kindled while he

watched like a tiny flame, feeble, fearful, vacillant, then as the

moments passed steadied and grew stronger but ever leaped and danced;

so that he, lost in the wonder of it and forgetful of himself, thought

of it as the ardent face of a happy child dancing in the depths of some

brown autumnal woodlandā€¦.

 

ā€œYou,ā€ she breathed incredulouslyā€”ā€œyou mean, youā€™re going to stopā€”?ā€

 

ā€œI have stopped, Miss Shannon. The Lone Wolf has prowled for the last

time. I didnā€™t know it until I woke up, an hour or so ago, but Iā€™ve

turned my last job.ā€

 

He remarked her hands were small, in keeping with the slightness of her

person, but somehow didnā€™t seem soā€”wore a look of strength and

capability, befitting hands trained to a

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