The Gray Mask

  CHAPTER XIV

  THE LEVANTINE WHO GUARDED A CURTAIN

  Garth, in spite of Nora's fears, went confidently enough to thehospital. If he could learn all Brown knew the case should be easysailing.

  In Brown's room the blinds were down. The greenish light scarcely foundthe upturned face. It sought rather the bandage, ghastly and white,wound thickly about the head. From time to time Brown's lips moved witha pitiful futility. Garth, while the nurse cautioned him to silence,bent closer, so that at last he could define the pallid face and theclosed eyelids that trembled. Suddenly the eyes opened. From them intoGarth's brain sprang an impression of immeasurable terror as if theystill secreted the outline of some monstrous vision.

  Garth started back as the injured man, apparently spurred by thatrecollection, struggled to rise, sat bolt upright, his head swayingdrunkenly, while from his wide throat vibrated an accusing anddespairing cry:

  "The veiled woman! Oh, my God! The veiled woman!"

  Garth's nerves tightened. Again that incredible feature of the casestartled him. Here was proof he needed. The figure that had frightenedAlsop and Marvin was probably involved in the attack on Brown. Theinspector was right. She was the brains of the affair. Brown must tellhim all he knew. He urged the man desperately.

  "Take hold of yourself! You've seen this woman! You've got to talk tome!"

  But Brown screamed incoherently with a diminishing power. The nurse hadrun into the hall. Through the open doorway her voice tore anxiously,summoning a house physician.

  Garth's feeling of a desperate helplessness increased. Before him wasthe knowledge that would safeguard Alsop and his friends, that wouldinsure Garth's own life, that would destroy, perhaps, a dangerousforeign influence, and the man couldn't speak.

  At last the nurse's calls seemed to seep through the bandage into thattortured brain, suggesting the necessity for caution. In a whispercoherent words came again from the trembling lips.

  "For God's sake, don't look behind the white veil! No! No! I have.That's madness!"

  The doctor slipped in and hurried to the bedside. In response to histouch Brown lay down.

  "Don't dope him," Garth begged. "That man knows things on which manylives depend. He must tell them to me before night. When will he be ableto talk straight?"

  The doctor smiled tolerantly.

  "You don't seem to understand. A frightful fracture at the base of thebrain. He seems inclined to be quiet enough now."

  The doctor turned away. Garth followed him to the door, urging him touse his skill to make Brown talk. The nurse had remained by the bed.Garth heard her sharp cry through his own pleading. The sound puzzledhim because it was a trifle strangled. The doctor, however, turned likea flash and hurried back to the bed. Garth looked. The nurse bent overthe bandaged head. The doctor fumbled quickly beneath the bed clothes.He arose, glanced at Garth, and spread his hands. Garth picked at hishat, unwilling to believe.

  "You mean," he whispered, "that he's--gone?"

  The doctor nodded. The nurse sobbed once. Garth had not noticed howyoung her face was.

  * * * * * *

  The block where the murdered man had been found was flanked by long rowsof similar houses. Its cobblestones, unfriendly to traffic, made it anideal place for the brutal deception which had been attempted.

  Opposite the spot where Brown had been picked up Garth paused and lookedcuriously across the street. The dreary house line was broken there by anumber of basement and first-story shops. His eyes, alert for theunusual, had found it. A basement window displayed intricately patternedrugs, lamps of the Orient, unfamiliar and barbaric jewelry. The factthat he had not noticed the window sooner testified to a significantdiscretion in its arrangement. It was, he fancied, designed less toattract curiosity than to satisfy it once it was aroused. Probably itwas that idea that suggested a fantastic connection between what he hadheard at the flat and the hospital and what he saw now. Half derisivelyhe recalled that Oriental women went veiled--customarily secreted theirfaces behind white veils.

  He had intended entering all these shops and houses in search of awitness of the attack on Brown. He determined now to proceed rather morewarily. Suppose Brown spying, or about to spy, had been assaulted in oneof these basements--for instance, in the Oriental shop which hadstraightway aroused his interest?

  He crossed the street and darted quickly down the steps from one side,so that he was sure he had taken by surprise whoever was in the place.What he saw was sufficient proof of his success, and his specialdetective sense was immediately impressed by much that was ominous inthe shadowed room. The echoes of such an attack as Brown had sufferedcould have been easily smothered here.

  Rugs were draped against the walls or flung at haphazard on the floor.Carved tables supported lacquer work. From a glass case jewelry gleamedwith a dull beauty. But it was on the rear of the shop that Garth's eyesrested, while a cold fear grasped him.

  A long, low divan sprawled there against a tapestry hanging of acolorful and grotesque design. On this divan, seated cross-legged, wasthe figure of a man, at first quite motionless, like an image in asomber and guarded temple. He wore a fez, set formally on his head. Onehand clasped the sinuous stem of a water pipe.

  The round, flaccid, repulsive face defied classification. Garth couldnot be sure whether it was Egyptian, Turkish, Arabian, or Semitic. Heonly knew that it was evil and accustomed to perfect control, for hesuspected that his rapid entrance had made the concealment of the fezand the alteration of that ritual attitude impossible. In amatter-of-fact tone Garth spoke of examining the rugs and antiques.

  The figure did not stir. The sallow face remained as if carved. The onlymotion in the room was a lazy curling from the water pipe of white smokewhich faded in the darkened, perfumed air. Then the curtain movedstealthily at one end, disclosing a dark face of a Levantine cast. Thisman came through, carefully replacing the curtain behind him, strokedhis bony hands, and demanded Garth's desires. The immobility of thecross-legged creature ceased. The stem of the water pipe as he raised itto his mouth writhed in sinuous curves. He commenced to puff. The waterbubbled unevenly.

  Garth examined the rugs with growing excitement. He was prepared tobelieve that he had stumbled on a meeting place. And after all wasn'tthis an ideal rendezvous? The shop had probably been here for years. Thetown was full of such stores. At any rate his impression of a calculatedevil increased. He felt himself the object of suspicion. It wasconceivable to him that he might suffer a fate similar toBrown's--perhaps behind that hideous curtain which the Levantine and thecross-legged figure seemed to guard.

  Garth started. The unequal bubbling of the pipe had accompanied all histhoughts. Constantly it would pause, then recommence. The idea which hadbeen struggling unconsciously in the detective's brain took shape. Thatuneven bubbling possessed a significance beyond the pleasures ofnicotine. It suggested a means of communication, a code.

  While he bargained with the Levantine his confidence in this eccentricexplanation increased. It condemned the occupants of the shop. Whetheror not the men were connected with the plot Brown had feared againstAlsop, they were decidedly objects of interest to the police. Still, ifBrown had spied here, the danger was obvious. The Levantine and the manin the fez were sinister opponents. Yet Garth wanted to see behind thatgrotesque curtain.

  For a time, listening to the bubbling, he wondered if they would let himleave the shop at all. He was in no hurry to go until he had made sureof one or two things. While fingering a rug he managed stealthily toexamine the wall. It was about what he had hoped, what he had expected.The house was very old. It was one of a row built simultaneously beforethe fire laws had amounted to much. He was sure that the dividing wallsbetween these basements were not fireproof. As nearly as he could tellfrom the surface he examined, they would probably be lath-and-plaster,with, perhaps, rubble in the space between. His next step was to measureas accurately as he could with his eye the distance between the entranceand the curtai
n, which was like a ceremonial background for the man inthe fez. Stooping to inspect one of the rugs, he struck the flooringwith his fist, as if by accident. He was satisfied. There was no cellarbeneath this basement. He dared hope that he would see what lay behindthe curtain.

  Approximating as nearly as he could the subtleties of a buyer, hepromised to make up his mind and return with his decision the nextmorning. He knew that sharp and angry eyes followed him from the shop.

  He had a feeling that the darkened place had become active as soon as hehad turned his back.

  He walked slowly to the corner, studying the houses on either side ofthe shop. The one to the right was a cheap boarding house. The one onthe other side was evidently a private dwelling.

  At the nearest hardware store he bought an auger and a screwdriver. Thenhe entered the alley that bisected the block, and, counting the houses,knocked at the kitchen door of the one to the right of the Orientalshop. The servant who admitted him verified his hazard. At this hour theoccupants were at work. She was, for the present, alone in the house.

  Garth showed her his badge, warned her to make no noise, and to stayclose to him. The girl, frightened and unable to comprehend, followedhim into the basement. He paced from the front of the house along thewall to a point which, according to his calculations, was opposite thehidden portion of the shop. He glanced up then with satisfaction.Against a thin and antiquated partition was suspended one of those heavyand unwieldy gas meters which are found only in very old buildings.

  Garth drew up a table, climbed upon it, and examined the thick screwswhich held the contrivance in place. With his screwdriver he commencednoiselessly to remove one of these. He thought it likely that the screwhole would go all the way through. If it did not, his auger wouldcomplete the journey. He instructed the girl to draw the blinds andclose the door so that the room would be darker. He pulled the screwfrom the rotten wall. The aperture was sufficiently large. It admittedthe repellent odor he had noticed in the shop; so he put his eye to thehole and waited for his brain to accustom itself to these newconditions.

  The drone of voices reached him, but at first he could see verylittle--shadowy outlines circling a dull, glowing thing close to thefloor--a brazier, he decided, about which men sat. Then he started, forhe thought he saw something long and white, like a woman. But the smokefrom the aperture hurt his eye. He had to close it. When he opened itagain there was nothing white, but out of the droning voices came wordsin English with a foreign accent, and he crouched against the wall,listening.

  He marveled that he should hear just these words at this particularmoment.

  "The police are suspicious," he heard, "so it's been put ahead. At nineo'clock to-night. Two raps on the west door at Alsop's. The veiled womanwill open the door and take the bomb, and then, by God, we'll showthem!"

  A sibilant demand for caution reached Garth. The droning recommenced.Garth fancied that it continued in the guttural accents of some easterndialect.

  He replaced the screw. He got down from the table, able to plandefinitely. Against her protests, he took the girl to headquarters andwarned the matron to let her communicate with no one before nine-thirty.He hurried to the flat then, and told the inspector and Nora of Brown'sdeath and of his experience at the shop.

  "That's where Brown was struck," he ended, "and Brown was right. Theyare after Alsop and his crowd to-night with dynamite, and the veiledwoman's the figure of chief danger. Do you know, chief, I'm going to letthem hand her that bomb, then I'll try to handle her."

  The inspector shook his head.

  "It's taking too big chances to let them get as far as the house withthe thing."

  "It's the veiled woman I'm thinking of," Garth answered. "Grab thesepeople before her share commences, and you'll probably never see her.She'll bob up here and there, causing infinite trouble, becauseeverything she does has the marks of a fiendish cleverness. Let me takethe risk and land her."

  "It's utter madness your way," Nora said quietly. "How could you controlher with a thing like that in her hands?"

  "I think I can take care of her and the bomb, too," Garth said quietly.

  The inspector thought for a long time. It was clear the idea temptedhim. If Garth could ambush the mysterious creature at the proper moment,her capture would be certain. His own share in the night's work wassimple. He had arranged to surround the Alsop place quietly with hisbest detectives. They would keep themselves hidden. They would permitthe conspirators to enter the grounds. Garth, at the house, would usehis own judgment. When he blew his whistle this small army would closein and make the arrests. Meantime the Oriental shop would be raided. Thedictaphone, which undoubtedly carried the signaling of the pipe, wouldprobably lead the police to another rendezvous.

  "It looks like a big haul," the inspector said. "We can't let Alsop'sghost slip us."

  With a grumbled oath the inspector tossed his blankets aside andlumbered to his feet. He stood for a moment swaying against the chair.His pudgy fingers tore at the bandage about his throat. Nora ran to himand grasped his arm.

  "What are you doing, father?"

  "Haven't you any eyes?" he roared. "Getting well. I'm tired being sick.I want to get on this job. Working, I can cough my head off ascomfortably as I can sitting here."

  Nora spread her hands.

  "You are both mad," she said. "You both want to take too greatrisks--impossible risks."

  Garth was warmed by her concern for him. For the first time since theirquarrel in the house with the hidden door the barrier of reserve whichhad risen between them lost a little its solidity.

  The inspector had gone into his bedroom. From the sounds there Garthgathered that the huge man fought his way into his clothing. Nora staredhelplessly from the door to Garth and back again. Then he saw resolutiontighten the lines of her face. Her eyes flashed. She laughed. Withoutshaking hands she turned and walked to the door of the inspector's room.

  "Good-by, Jim," she called. "I suppose I'll have to look after thisreckless one first."

  * * * * * *

  Garth went. Nora's words and manner had made him a trifle uneasy. Littletime, however, remained for speculation. It was seven o'clock when hehad completed his arrangements. He took the subway to Harlem andcontinued in a taxicab.

  Alsop's great wealth permitted him a rural loneliness even in thisexpensive neighborhood. Garth dismissed the cab at the edge of a wideproperty along the river, made sure he had not been followed, thenclimbed the fence, and entered a thick piece of woods.

  Certainly nature favored the police as thoroughly as it did theconspirators. There was no moon, and sullen clouds hid the stars.

  Suddenly in the dense obscurity of the woods he experienced thatsensation Marvin had described of no longer being alone. He paused andwaited, scarcely breathing, aware of the dangers, perhaps fatal, thatmight lurk for him here. And, as he stood, not knowing what to expect,he wondered if the veiled woman was abroad in the woods. He becamefilled with a passionate desire to learn her identity. The somber,perfumed atmosphere of the shop came back to him. There were odd thingsin the Orient--happenings, apparently occult, for which no explanationhad ever been offered. Marvin was young and imaginative, but Alsop wasnot the type to be frightened by fancies, yet both of these men believedthat the woman could pass through locked doors, that she could appearand disappear as she wished. And Brown had said that to look behind theveil was madness. Was she abroad in these woods? He had waited for sometime. There was nothing. He stepped forward.

  Immediately he knew there was someone. He sprang aside, whipping out hisrevolver, crouching against an expected attack; for a figure blackerthan the night had glided in his path from behind a tree trunk, and thehands carried something round, black--

  "Put that thing down," Garth whispered, "then up with your hands!"

  Her laugh barely reached him.

  "I thought it was you, Jim."

  He dropped his revolver in his pocket and strode forward, angry andanxi
ous.

  "What are you doing here, Nora?"

  He laughed uncomfortably.

  "For a minute I looked for the veiled woman."

  "I've come," she said confidently, "for her, and to see that you don'tthrow your life away, because you won't admit the possibility ofincomprehensible forces."

  "You must go back," he said. "What's in that bundle you're carrying?"

  She held the bundle up, and Garth touched it. It was a soft substancewrapped in a black shawl.

  "What is it?" he repeated.

  "A white gown," she answered simply, "and a white veil, so that I maytake the bomb after I have trapped this queer creature; so that I maytalk to these men and learn how wide the organization is."

  She argued logically enough that there was less risk this way than theother. Once she had the bomb in her hands the great danger would beover. Try as he might, Garth could not move her. She walked on towardsthe house.

  They paused at the edge of the woods. The dark, vague mass of thebuilding frowned at them. The windows, Garth gathered, were heavilycurtained, for no gleam of light escaped.

  "I am going in with you, Jim, to see it through," Nora whispered. "Don'tbe disapproving. I only want to help."

  Impulsively he grasped her hand. For a moment he forgot the restraintshe had forced upon him.

  "Nora," he said hoarsely, "since I lost my temper with Black, you've notbeen kind. You know I want you with all my heart--"

  Through the darkness her voice was filled with wistful regret andsympathy. It reminded him again that her tragic love affair, precedingtheir capture of Slim and George, still touched her with fingers ofsorrow; had not yet given her time to adjust herself to this new ardor.

  "Hush! You were not to speak of that."

  But he would not let her hand go.

  "And you--will you ever speak?" he asked.

  "I don't know," she answered dully.

  She snatched her hand away. Her voice rose.

  "Don't you see? It's because I don't know that I can't let you take suchchances with death. That's why I'm here, Jim."