Edgar Wallace

“ Bartholomew had very little time to decide upon his course of action. He was unarmed; but he knew instinctively that there would be no shooting. It was the knife he had to fear and he grasped the back of a chair. If he could keep them at a distance he might reach the door and get safely away. He cursed his folly that he had delayed making the coup that would have so effectively laid Starque by the heels.
“You have betrayed us to the Four Just Men—but that we might never have known, for the Four have no servants to talk. ”

“ There was a revolver in the hand that hung at his side.
“I am one,” repeated the stranger calmly; “there are two others waiting outside the building.”
“How did you get here—what do you want?” demanded the editor, and stretched his hand to an open drawer in his desk.
“Take your hand away”—and the thin barrel of the revolver rose with a jerk. “How I came here your doorkeeper will explain, when he recovers consciousness. Why I am here is because I wish to save my life—not an unreasonable wish. If Thery speaks I may be a dead man—I am about to prevent him speaking. ”

“ Below, in the basement, the machines were thundering as they flung out the first numbers of the morning news.
“Now”—the editor turned to Thery, who had stood, uneasily shifting from foot to foot whilst the order was being given—”now, tell me all you know.”
Thery did not answer; his eyes were fixed on the floor. “There is a reward and a pardon,” he muttered doggedly.
“Hasten!” cried Welby. “You will receive your reward and the pardon also. Tell us, who are the Four Just Men? Who are the other three? Where are they to be found?” ”

“ In the editor’s mind a struggle was going on; here in his hand was the greatest story of the century; another minute and he would have extracted from Thery the secret of the Four.
Even now a bold dash might save everything—and the printers were waiting ... but the hand that held the revolver was the hand of a resolute man, and the chief yielded.
“I agree, but under protest,” he said. “I warn you that your arrest and punishment is inevitable.”
“I regret,” said the masked man with a slight bow, “that I cannot agree with you—nothing is inevitable save death. ”

“ There is no power on earth that can save Sir Philip Ramon from destruction, and we ask you, as the directing force of a great medium, to throw your weight into the scale in the cause of justice, to call upon your Government to withdraw an unjust measure, and save not only the lives of many inoffensive persons who have found an asylum in your country, but also the life of a Minister of the Crown whose only fault in our eyes is his zealousness in an unrighteous cause. ”

“ He made no reply, and she heard the soft rustle of his fingers on the wall.
“You are seeking the light—as we all seek it,” she said, unmoved, and she switched on the light.
He saw her standing near the body of the man she had lured to his death, scornful, defiant, and strangely aloof from the sordidness of the tragedy she had all but instigated. ”

“ The revolver turned on him.
“Sir,” said the unknown—and his voice sank almost to a whisper—”for God’s sake do not force me to kill you.”
“You shall not commit a cold-blooded murder,” cried the editor in a white heat of anger, and moved forward, but Welby held him back.
“What is the use?” said Welby in an undertone; “he means it—we can do nothing.”
“You can do something,” said the stranger, and his revolver dropped to his side.
Before the editor could answer there was a knock at the door.
“Say you are busy”; and the revolver covered Thery, who was a whimpering, huddled heap by the wall. ”

“ The exquisite agony of the shock that met them paralysed them for the moment. The sprayed threads of the “live” wire the man held before him like a shield jerked the knife from Starque”s hands, and he heard Francois groan as he fell.
“You are foolish,” said the voice again, “and you, madame, do not move, I beg—tell me what has become of Bartholomew.”
A silence, then:
“He is dead,” said the Woman of Gratz.
She heard the man move.
“He was a traitor—so we killed him,” she continued calmly enough. “What will you do—you, who stand as a self-constituted judge?” ”

“ For a moment he stood over her, glowering down at her upturned face.
“Work!—Comrades!” he grated with a laugh. “D’ye think I’m going to risk my precious neck any further?”
He did not hear the door open softly, nor the footfall of the two men who entered.
“Are you blind as well as mad?” he went on brutally. “Don’t you see that the thing is finished? The Four Just Men have us all in the hollow of their hands! They’ve got us like that!” He snapped his fingers contemptuously. “They know everything—even to the attempt that is to be made on the Prince of the Escorials! Ha! ”

“ It was a great story—yet another Megaphone scoop, headlined half down the page with “The ‘Just four’ again—Outrage at the office of the Megaphone—Devilish Ingenuity—Another Threatening Letter— The Four Will Keep Their Promise—Remarkable Document—Will the Police Save Sir Philip Ramon?
“A very good story,” said the chief complacently, reading the proofs. He was preparing to leave, and was speaking to Welby by the door.
“Not bad,” said the discriminating Welby. “What I think—hullo!”
The last was addressed to a messenger who appeared with a stranger. ”

“ The chief looked suspicious.
“I am the editor,” he said.
The man looked over his shoulder, then leant forward.
“I am one of The Four Just Men,” he said hesitatingly. Welby took a step towards him and scrutinised him closely.
“What is your name?” he asked quickly.
“Miguel Thery of Jerez,” replied the man.
It was half-past ten when, returning from a concert, the cab that bore Poiccart and Manfred westward passed through Hanover Square and turned off to Oxford Street.
“You ask to see the editor,” Manfred was explaining; “they take you up to the offices—you explain your business to somebody ”

“ The detective who came to receive a report of the circumstances endorsed this opinion.
“The man who wrote this letter must have left your room not longer than a minute before you arrived,” he concluded, and took charge of the letter. ”