[Cleek: the Man of the Forty Faces by Thomas W. Hanshew]@TWC D-Link bookCleek: the Man of the Forty Faces CHAPTER XIV 2/11
"Come on, come on, for God's sake! Someone has touched the door of the steel room; and yet the place was left empty--empty!" But it was no longer empty, as they found out when they reached it, for the doors had been flung open, the men who had been left on guard outside the stables were now inside it, the electric lights were in full blaze, the shotgun still hanging where Sharpless had left it, the impromptu bed was tumbled and tossed in a man's death agony, and at the foot of the steel door Logan lay, curled up in a heap and stone dead! "He would get in, Sir Henry, he'd have shot one or the other of us if we hadn't let him," said one of the outer guards as Sir Henry and Cleek appeared.
"He would lie before the door and watch, sir--he simply would; and God have mercy on him, poor chap; he was faithful to the last!" "And the last might not have come for years, the fool, if he had only obeyed," said Cleek; then lapsed into silence and stood staring at a dust of white flour on the red-tiled floor and at a thin wavering line that broke the even surface of it. It was perhaps two minutes later when the entire household--mistress, guests, and servants alike--came trooping across the open space between the hall and the stables in a state of semi-deshabille, but in that brief space of time friendly hands had reverently lifted the body of the dead man from its place before the steel door, and Sir Henry was nervously fitting the key to the lock in a frantic effort to get in and see if Black Riot was safe. "Dios! what is it? What has happened ?" cried Lady Wilding as she came hurrying in, followed closely by Sharpless and the Rev.Ambrose Smeer. Then, catching sight of Logan's body, she gave a little scream and covered her eyes.
"The trainer, Andrew, the trainer now!" she went on half hysterically.
"Another death--another! Surely they have got the wretch at last ?" "The mare! The mare, Henry! Is she safe ?" exclaimed Sharpless excitedly as he whirled away from his cousin's side and bore down upon the baronet.
"Give me the key--you're too nervous." And, taking it from him, unlocked the steel room and passed swiftly into it. In another instant Black Riot was led out--uninjured, untouched, in the very pink of condition--and, in spite of the tragedy and the dead man's presence, one or two of the guards were so carried away that they essayed a cheer. "Stop that! Stop it instantly!" rapped out Sir Henry, facing round upon them.
<<Back Index Next>> D-Link book Top TWC mobile books
|