CHAPTER LVI.
AT THE RIGHT TIME.
"Ye see," explains Franz, glancing toward Leslie, "the lady's kind o'hesitatin'. We'll give her a minute or two ter make up her mind." And hegoes over and takes his stand beside her.
In the moment of silence that follows, Leslie can hear her heart beat,then--
What is it that breaks that strange stillness, that startles sodifferently every occupant of that dingy room?
Only a voice, sweet, clear, pitiful; a child's voice, uplifted inprayer:
"_Dear God, please take care of a little girl whose Mamma has gone toHeaven--_"
The rest is drowned in the shriek which bursts from Leslie's lips; inthe sudden bound made by Mamma; and the quick counter movement of Franz.
Then Leslie's hands are beating wildly against the closet-door. Mamma,forcibly hurled back by Franz, is sprawling upon the floor, and theescaped convict is pressing against the rickety timbers.
As they yield to his onslaught, he stoops down, catches up the littlecrouching figure within, and turns to Leslie, who receives it withoutstretched arms.
"Oh, Daisy! _Daisy!_ DAISY!"
Sobbing wildly, she is down upon her knees, the little one tightlyclasped to her bosom.
"Oh, Daisy, my darling!"
"Git out!" commands Franz, as Mamma, scrambling up, approaches withglaring eyes. "Stand back, old un. This is a new deal."
And he places himself as a barricade before Leslie and the child, wavingback the infuriated old woman with a gesture of menace.
And then heavy feet come trampling across the threshold. Men in policeuniform fill up the doorway, and the foremost of them says, as heapproaches the Prodigal:
"Franz Francoise, I arrest you in the name of the law!"
The priest and his two witnesses start perceptibly, and turn theirfaces toward Franz. Papa and Mamma slink back toward the inner room.Leslie lifts her head and looks wonderingly at the new-comers.
Only Franz remains undisturbed. With a swift movement, he whisks out apair of revolvers and presents them, muzzle foremost, to the speaker.
"Not just yet!" he says coolly; "I ain't quite ready. Ye've interruptedme, and ye'll have to wait."
One of his hands is slightly uplifted and, for just an instant, his headturns toward the inner room.
The two witnesses, making way for the police, lounge nearer to Papa andMamma.
"You had better not resist, Franz Francoise," says the leader once more."You can't escape us now."
"No; I s'pose not," assents Franz. "Oh, I know I'm cornered, but wait."
He moves aside and looks down upon Leslie.
"This lady," he says quietly, "and her little gal, are here by accident,and they ain't to be mixed up in this business o' mine. Look here, Mr.Preach--"
The Priest comes forward, and glances at him inquiringly.
"Ye can't afford to lose yer time altogether, I s'pose, and I'll give yea new contract. Ye see this lady and the little gal are being scared bythese cops. I want you to take 'em away. The lady'll tell ye where togo, and don't ye leave 'em till ye've seen 'em safe home."
Without a word of comment, the Priest moves toward Leslie.
At the same instant, and with a howl of rage, Mamma rushes forward.
"Stop her!" says Franz; and one of the two witnesses lays a strong handupon Mamma's shoulder.
"Not just yet; I ain't quite ready!"--page 410.]
Then the Prodigal turns to Leslie, who, with the child in her arms, hasrisen to her feet.
"Go," he says gently; "you are free and safe. Go at once. That old womanwill harm you if she can."
With a start and a sudden bounding of her pulses, Leslie looks into theface of the Prodigal, only an instant, for he turns it away. And allbewildered, pallid and trembling, she yields to the gentle force bywhich the Priest compels her to move, mechanically, almost blindly, fromthe room.
The officers step back to let her pass. And as she reaches the outerair, she has a shadowy vision of Franz Francoise, with pistols in hand,standing at bay; of Mamma struggling in the grasp of the humble citizen,and uttering yells of impotent rage.
She feels the cool air upon her brow, and clasps the child closer in herarms, believing herself to be moving in a dream. Then the voice of thePriest assures her.
"Give me the child, Mrs. Warburton," he says respectfully, "and lean onmy arm. We have a carriage near."
When Leslie had disappeared beyond the doorway, Franz Francoise throwsdown his pistols.
"Now then, boys," he says quietly, "you can come and take me."
With a yell of rage, Mamma hurls herself upon her captor.
"Let me go!" she shrieks. "Ah, ye brute, let me get at him! Let me killthe sneakin' coward! Ah," kicking viciously, and gnashing her teeth asshe struggles to reach the Prodigal, "that I should have to own such achicken-hearted son!"
The leader of the officers, handcuffs in hand, has approached Franz, andthe others are closing about him.
As Mamma utters her fierce anathema, he turns upon her suddenly, makingat the same time a swift gesture of impatience.
"Gray," he says sternly, "bring out that old man."
It is not the voice of Franz Francoise; it is not his manner. And as theman addressed as Gray lays a hand upon Papa Francoise, the old womancatches her breath with a hissing sound, and stares blankly.
Struggling and whimpering, Papa is dragged from the inner room, and whenhe stands before the group, the Prodigal says:
"Now, Harvey, make the proper use of your handcuffs. Put them on thisprecious pair."
"What!"
The leader of the arresting party starts forward, and stares at thespeaker, who makes a sudden movement and then faces the officers,holding in his hand a carroty wig and moustache!
Papa's face is ashen. Mamma writhes and gurgles, staring wildly at thissudden transformation. The officers instinctively group themselvestogether, and the handcuffs fall from the leader's grasp, clankingdolefully as they strike the bare floor.
"_Stanhope!_" gasps the officer, starting forward, and then drawingback.
And the two aids instinctively echo the word:
"Stanhope!"
"Stanhope!"
Then the man who has so long masqueraded as Franz Francoise flings asidethe carroty wig and fixes a stern eye upon Mamma Francoise.
"Woman," he says slowly; "let me set your mind at rest. You need neveragain call me your son. Franz Francoise is dead, and before he died hetold me his story, and yours, as he knew it. If for weeks I have livedamong you in his likeness, you know now why it was necessary. Oh, youare a clever pair! Almost too clever, but you are outwitted. Harvey,"turning once more to the officer, "you shall not go back without aprisoner; you shall have two. Put your bracelets on this rascally pair;and see them safely in separate cells. Holt and Drake will go with you."
The two humble citizens glance up, and confirm by a look their leader'sassurance.
"Drake! Holt!" The man addressed as Harvey utters the namesmechanically. Drake and Holt are two efficient detectives, and Harveyknows them as such. "Mr. Stanhope, I--I cannot understand."
"And I cannot explain now." He is actively assisting Drake to put themanacles on Mamma's wrists. "Old woman, it will be policy for you tokeep quiet; or do you want me to gag you?"
Then turning:
"One thing, Harvey; you were sent here by Van Vernet. I know that much.Now, tell me why did not Van make this attempt himself? Don't hesitate.Van has well-nigh led you and these fellows into a scrape; he hascertainly made trouble for himself. Where is he now?"
A moment Harvey hesitates. Then he says:
"I don't know where he is, but he has gone to make another arrest."
"Another! who?"
"A sailor; the fellow who killed the Jew, Siebel."
Richard Stanhope swings himself around and points to Papa Francoise, aswith the finger of fate.
"_Stanhope!_" gasps the officer, starting forward.--page413.]
"The man wh
o killed the Jew, Siebel, is _there_!" he says sternly.
Then snatching up the wig, he readjusts it upon his head, saying, as hedoes it:
"Drake, Holt, look after these people; and Harvey, you may do well toignore Vernet's instructions for the present. He has done mischiefenough already. I must prevent this last blunder."
The carroty moustache has once more resumed its place. "Holt, youunderstand?"
"Perfectly, sir."
As the detective is once more transformed into Franz Francoise, Mammabecomes fairly livid. She makes a final frantic effort to free herselfand howls out:
"Let me go; what have I done? for what am I arrested? Let me go, youimpostor!"
"You will learn in good time, woman," retorts Stanhope. "You may have toanswer to several small charges: blackmail, abduction, theft, murder."
He goes to the door; then turns and looks back at the handcuffed pair:
"Holt," he says impressively, "watch that woman closely, and search themboth at the Jail. You will find upon the woman a belt, which you willtake charge of until I come."
Mamma Francoise yells with rage. She writhes, she curses; her fear andfury are horrible to behold. As Richard Stanhope crosses the threshold,her curses are shrieked after him, and her captors shudder as theylisten.
Papa is abject enough. He has been shivering, quaking, cowardly, fromthe first; but Stanhope's last words have crushed him utterly. Hisknees refuse to support him, his eyes stare glassily, his jaw dropsweakly.
And as they bear them away, the one helpless from fear, the otherresisting with tiger-like fierceness, a distant clock strikes one, two,three!