"Bonds that I was taking to my agent in Ma.r.s.eilles--over sixty thousand pounds' worth! My kitbag has been opened and the dispatch-box has been opened also while I've been asleep. The thief has evidently had the conductor's key or he couldn't have got into my compartment!

The bonds must be still in the possession of one of the pa.s.sengers,"

he added. "Our last stop was at Macon and I was awake then."

Together we woke up Rayne, who at once busied himself in great alarm.

"Possibly the bonds have been thrown from the train to an accomplice,"

he suggested, exchanging glances with me.

"No. I'm sure they are still here--in the car. When next we stop I will prevent anyone leaving, and have all the pa.s.sengers searched. The one thing that puzzles me is how the thief got to work without waking me, as I always place a little electric alarm on my bag when travelling with securities--and secondly, how did he manage to open both the bag and the dispatch-box it contained?"

"Well," said Rayne. "Don't let us raise any alarm, but just wait till we get to Lyons. Then we'll see that n.o.body alights before we call the police." Then, turning to me, he said: "You'll keep one door, Hargreave, and I'll keep the other, while Mr. Blumenfeld gives information."

Thus we waited. But I was sorely puzzled as to the whereabouts of the stolen bonds. If Duperre had taken them, how had he got rid of them?

That he had done so was quite plain by Rayne's open att.i.tude.

Presently, in the dawn, we ran slowly into Lyons, whereupon, with Rayne, I mounted guard, allowing no one to leave. Two men wanted to descend to obtain some _cafe au lait_, as is customary, and were surprised when prevented.

The commissary of police, with several plain-clothes officers, were quickly upon the spot, and to them Mr. Blumenfeld related his story--declaring that while lying awake he smelt a very strong odor of roses which caused him to become drowsy, and he slept. On awakening he saw that his dispatch-box had been rifled.

When the millionaire explained who he was and the extent of his loss, the commissary was at once upon the alert, and ordered every pa.s.senger to be closely searched. In consequence, everyone was turned out and searched, a woman searching the female pa.s.sengers, Signorina Lacava waxing highly indignant. Rayne, Duperre and myself were also very closely searched, while every nook and cranny of the compartments and baggage were rummaged during the transit of the train from Lyons down to Ma.r.s.eilles. The missing bonds could not be discovered, nor did any suspicion attach to anyone.

I confess myself entirely puzzled as to what had actually occurred.

The well-arranged plan to drop them from the train beyond Dijon had failed, I knew, because old Mr. Blumenfeld was still awake; but what alternative plan had been put into action?

It was only when we arrived in Ma.r.s.eilles that the bewildered conductor, a most reliable servant of the _wagon-lit_ company, recovered from his lethargy and could not in the least account for his long heavy sleep. He had, it appeared, smelt the same pleasant perfume of roses as Mr. Blumenfeld. At Ma.r.s.eilles there was still more excitement and inquiry, but at last we moved off to Toulon and along the beautiful Cote d'Azur, with its grey-green olives and glimpses of sapphire sea.

We were pa.s.sing along by the seash.o.r.e, when I ventured to slip into Duperre's compartment, old Blumenfeld and his wife being then in the luncheon-car adjoining.

I inquired in a whisper what had happened.

For answer he crossed to one of the windows and drew down the brown cloth blind used at night, when upon the inside I saw, to my astonishment, some bonds spread out and pinned to the fabric!

He touched the spring, the blind rolled up and they disappeared within.

Each of the four blinds in his compartment contained their valuable doc.u.ments which, in due course, he removed and placed in his pockets before he stepped out upon the platform at Hyeres. He was, of course, an entire stranger to Rudolph and me, and we continued our journey with the victimized millionaire to Cannes, where we were compelled to remain for a week lest our abrupt return should excite anybody's suspicion. Meanwhile, of course, Duperre was already back in London with the spoils.

In the whole affair Rayne, whose master-brain was responsible for the ingenious _coup_, remained with clean hands and ready at any moment to prove his own innocence.

The original plan of tossing out the sixty thousand pounds' worth of bonds to Tracy, who was waiting with his three warning lights, failed because of old Blumenfeld's sleeplessness, but it was subst.i.tuted by a far more secretive yet simple plan--one never even dreamed of by the astute police attached to the Paris, Lyons and Mediterranean Railway.

It being daylight at Lyons, the blinds were up!

CHAPTER VII

LITTLE LADY LYDBROOK

From the very first I felt that, owing to my pa.s.sionate love for Lola, I was treading upon very thin ice.

As the cat's-paw of her father I was being drawn into such subtle devilish schemes that I felt to draw back must only bring upon my head the vengeance, through fear, of a man who was so entirely unscrupulous and so elusive that the police could never trace him.

Why a few weeks later I had been sent to Biarritz with Vincent was an enigma I failed to solve. At any rate, at Rayne's suggestion, we had gone there and had stayed under a.s.sumed names at the Hotel du Palais, that handsome place standing high upon the rocks with such charming views of the rocky headland of St. Martin and the dozen grey-green islets.

We both lived expensively and enjoyed ourselves at the Casino and elsewhere, but the object of our visit was quite obscure. I knew, however, that Duperre was prospecting new ground, but in what direction I failed to discover. One day we returned to London quite suddenly, but he refused to disclose anything concerning the object of our visit, which, after all, had been for me quite an enjoyable holiday.

About a week after our return Rayne called me into the morning-room.

The keen grey-eyed middle-aged man was smoking a cigar and with him was Madame, whose cleverness as a crook was only equalled by that of her husband.

"Well, Hargreave!" exclaimed Rayne. "I hope you had a nice time at Biarritz, eh? Well, I want you to go on a further little holiday down to Eastbourne. Drive the Rolls down to the Grand Hotel there and stay as a gentleman of leisure."

"I'm always that nowadays," I laughed.

"Stay there under the name of George Cottingham," he went on, "and spend rather freely, so as to give yourself a good appearance. You understand?"

"No, I don't understand," I said. "At least, I don't understand what game is to be played."

"You needn't, George," was his short reply. "You are paid not to understand, and to keep your mouth shut. So please recollect that. Now at the hotel," he went on, "there is staying Lady Lydbrook, wife of the great Sheffield ironmaster. I want you to sc.r.a.pe up acquaintance with her."

"Why?" I asked.

"For reasons best known to myself," he snapped. "It's nice weather just now, and you ought to enjoy yourself at Eastbourne. It's a smart place for an English resort, and there's lots going on there. They will think you such a nice sociable young man. Besides, you will spend money and make pretense of being rich. And let me give you a valuable tip. On the first evening you arrive at the hotel call the valet, give him a pound note and tell him to go out and buy a pound bottle of eau-de-Cologne to put in your bath. There's nothing that gets round an hotel so quickly as wanton extravagance like that. The guests hear of it through the servants, and everyone is impressed by your wealth."

I laughed. Only a man with such a brain as Rudolph Rayne could have thought of such a ruse to inspire confidence.

Two days later I arrived at the smart south coast hotel. Though not the season, Eastbourne was filled by quite a fashionable crowd. The Grand, situated at the far end of the town towards Beachy Head, is the resort of wealthy Londoners. I arrived alone in the showy Rolls just before luncheon, when many of the visitors were seated in the cane chairs outside or on the gla.s.s-covered veranda.

I noticed, too, that the Rolls was well scrutinized, as well as myself. Under my a.s.sumed name, I took one of the most expensive rooms, and later, in the big dining-room, the waiter pointed out to me Lady Lydbrook, a young, blue-eyed, fluffy-haired little lady who, exquisitely dressed, was seated in a corner with another young woman about her own age.

They were chatting merrily, quite unconscious of the fact that I was watching them.

Her companion was dark and exceedingly well dressed. I learnt from the waiter that Sir Owen Lydbrook was not with his wife, and that the name of her companion was Miss Elsie Wallis.

"I fancy she's on the stage, sir," the man added confidently. "Only I don't know her stage name. They've been 'ere nearly a month. Sir Owen is in Paris, I think. They say 'e's a lot older than 'er."

I realized in the c.o.c.kney waiter a man who might be useful, hence I gave him a substantial tip when I signed the bill for my meal.

Why Rayne had ordered me to contrive to make the acquaintance of the fluffy-haired little woman was a problem that was beyond me, save that I knew full well the motive was, without doubt, an evil one.

It goaded me to frenzy to think that Lola should eventually be called upon in all her innocence to become, like myself, an unwilling agent in the carrying out of Rayne's subtle and insidious plots.

I was his paid servant, hence against my will I was forced to obey. My ever-present hope was to be able one day to extricate Lola from that atmosphere of criminality and mystery in which she lived, that environment of stealthy plotting and malice aforethought.

On the evening of my arrival there happened to be a dance in the hotel, and watching, I saw Lady Lydbrook enter the ballroom. She looked very charming in a dance frock of bright orange, with a wreath of silver leaves in her hair. Her gown was certainly the most _chic_ of any in the room, and she wore a beautiful rope of pearls.

Presently I summoned courage, and bowing, invited her to dance with me. She smiled with dignity and accepted. Hence we were soon acquaintances, for she danced beautifully, and I am told that I dance fairly well. After the fox-trot we sat down and chatted. I told her that I had only arrived that day.