Edgar Wallace

“ Jimmy heard the study door close on Delia and her father, and strolled into the garden. He was there half an hour. When he went back to the study it was empty. He met Mrs. Smith coming downstairs.
“The young lady has gone to her room with a bad headache,” she said, “and she did not wish to be disturbed.”
“Isn't she coming down again, to-night?” asked Jimmy, in dismay.
“I don't think so, sir,” said the housekeeper, and the young man cursed his luck under his breath. He went in search of Ferdie and repeated to him the warning which Sennett had given. ”

“ Jimmy made a little face.
“It doesn't sound pretty, does it? But it seems to me a very likely ending to this lark,” said Ferdie. “I was saying—if they came and pinched you and found I had gone, they'd be after me like a shot. Our only chance is to stick together.” He turned to go. “I say, you don't feel like another visit to the Warden's Lodge, to-night?” he suggested.
“No, thank you,” said Jimmy fervently. “I have no desire to monkey with a gang which includes a prime minister and a bishop, to say nothing of an eminent scientist.”
Ferdie turned back. ”

“ Do you think that Chapelle has gone off his head?”
“No, and I don't think the bishop has, either,” said Jimmy. “I should say the Bishop of Fleet was too shrewd and tough a man to be led into an adventure of this kind by an obvious lunatic. Ferdie, you were boasting the other day that you had a couple of Mills bombs. Take your car and go up to your flat and get them like a good fellow.”
“Why?” asked the astonished Ferdie. “Are you thinking of bombing the old boy?” ”

“ The people who were taken into custody and immediately hurried off to some unknown prison or camp, since they have not been brought up before the magistrates of the districts in which they live, are quite inoffensive, and in some cases, eminent persons whose lives are chiefly distinguished by their absolute blamelessness. Among the arrests are those of Professor Mortlake, of Durham University, Sir John Gilgin, the Vicar of Troyston, and scores of other gentlemen who have no strong political views and who certainly are not criminals. ”

“ The member nodded.
“I don't know what the dickens is happening to this country,” he said irritably. “For some reason or other Chapelle has made himself a sort of dictator, and has introduced all kinds of regulations without the consent of Parliament. Do you know that foreign newspapers are not admitted into this country?” ”