H. Bedford-Jones

“ In his years of struggle, Ralph Durant had acquired a point of view which, to most men, would have been extremely perilous. For the law he cared nothing. He had seen so much of the world's injustice and misery, so much of the men who battened upon other folk, the easy schemers who evaded the law and preyed upon less clever men, that it had imbued him with a cynical disregard for the justice of men. In the present instance, he was entirely willing to see Kaparien robbed, and to have Makoff profit at the man's expense—even to share in the work. It would be robbing the vulture to pay the buzzard. ”

“ Durant only smiled. He was quite certain of his ground now, and in his smile was a queer conviction as he gazed at Propotkin—a realization. This man, this human gorilla, was agent for the dope ring in Deauville, a retailer of drugs, another bird of prey who got his claws into the victims of the baccarat tables. Durant felt that he would kill this Propotkin with great pleasure. He would be doing the world a distinct service.
In Deauville now—past the public square, on toward the casino where the “fast” set of Paris, the demi-monde of France, the gullible tourists, gathered to be plucked. ”

“ Fougères promptly tossed his tray overboard. “Go, then!”
Durant made for the smoking-salon.
As he entered the tiny, luxurious, richly appointed little cabin and switched on the lights, a pistol-shot rang out up above. At the same instant, the throbbing turn of the engines ceased abruptly. There were no further shots. He could detect no outcry, no confusion, only dead silence. Beyond a doubt, everything had gone off like clockwork, the faithful men of the crew were taken by surprise, the yacht was captured. ”

“ Here in these moonlit waters, with the green Norman hills blended into the sky behind and the lights of Trouville dim stars along the coast—he was making a fool of himself! And yet the mere resolve to do it had lifted a half-sensed burden from his heart.
He came back to his own cabin, and as he opened the door, Jean Fougères came hurriedly along the passage.
“M'sieur! M'sieur!” The steward spoke softly, swiftly. “It is time. In five minutes I take his coffee up to him—he drinks it, dies quickly. Be ready!”
The man glided away, leaving Durant stupefied. Poison! ”

“ Nothing could so clearly denote the fix in which Boris Makoff found himself as this emergency call upon Durant and Helen Glincka. The Russian was convinced he could trust them both—holding the woman in pawn through fear, the man through grudging respect. Durant knew that his part must be to fetch the loot safely back to Makoff, and for once he found himself quite willing to play the Russian's criminal game. ”

“ It will be thought Kaparien was a note-forger. Since the Hungarian forgeries, the public is wild about such things; the murder and robbery will be quickly forgotten. It will be thought that the Greek syndicate here was behind the forgeries, using the notes at the baccarat tables; the newspapers will play it up, everything else will drop to second place—”
Propotkin leaped to his feet. “Admirable!” he exclaimed. “Here is true genius—it is magnificent! M'sieur, I bow humbly to such a brain!”
“Thank you,” said Durant modestly. ”

“ But you don't know everything! I've won over to my side the dope ring here in Paris, through an American agent of theirs whom I aided. They will give me every assistance against Boris Makoff.”
Ducasse grinned at this. “The dope ring! I congratulate you on your friends, m'sieur. You fight fire with fire, eh?”
“With anything, to win!” exclaimed Durant vibrantly. He came suddenly to his feet. “I play this game, m'sieur, for the sake of a woman. What are you going to do about it? Interfere, and it's war between us. Hands off, and you'll be the gainer in the end. What do you choose?” ”

“ A man who could be merciless as stone, devoid of any sympathy or regard for those in his power. At the present moment, Kaparien was doing his best to make use of the social touch given him by Baroness Glincka—he little dreamed that both the baroness and the supposed American millionaire knew all about the lady he was hoping to meet at Ostend.
Durant was glad when they adjourned to the yacht toward six o'clock. The Elektra lay in the yacht basin between the twin towns, moored against the quay. ”

“ Durant lit a fresh cigarette. “Bring these aboard the yacht yourself. Let us assume there is a safe in the cabin—eh?”
“There is one,” said the other. “I have everything ready for you—to blow it.”
Durant nodded. “You'll come down to the cabin where it is. I'll attend to the safe, to save you time in escaping. The stones I'll keep myself—it wont be dangerous. You'll take everything else out of the safe, and keep it for your trouble; Kaparien will be certain to have a large sum aboard. Put this die and these forged notes in the safe, and go. ”

“ Twenty minutes after you leave Trouville, Kaparien will be killed, my four men in command of the yacht, you and the Baronne presumably prisoners. You will, however, be at work. It's your job to learn where the stones are kept and to blow the safe if you can't get into it. Then pass the stones to one of our men. I'll be alongside with a fast motor-boat, and all get away, to land up the river at Villerville and scatter, unless we go on to Rouen. The yacht will go on to Le Havre or back to Trouville ”

“ He gained his own cabin, opened his bag, dropped the loot into it, then headed back for the smoking-salon. So far, so good—not a hitch anywhere. The Elektra was quietly drifting.
Back to the smoking-salon now—two men had just entered before him. They flung Durant a nod, obviously recognizing him, and plunged at the open safe.
“Where's Fougères?” asked Durant, lighting a cigarette at the table.
“Waiting above,” replied one of them, stuffing bank-notes into his pockets. “That cursed Propotkin is just coming aboard. Lucky thing you warned us.” ”

“ The prefect could not conceal his astonishment here. “What? You are sure? Why, I myself play chess twice a week with M. Propotkin—”
“Permit me to remind you that this is merely a message,” said Durant. “It is established that Propotkin retails drugs. What is far more important, however, is the suspicion that he is connected with an enterprise much more dangerous—the forgery of bank-notes.”
The prefect flung out his hands. “Ah, these Russians!” he exclaimed tragically.
“Exactly,” said Durant. “M. Ducasse requests that you will, during the coming week, have this man watched—very cautiously. ”

“ Her eyes shone, and for an instant her breath came fast. “To be free—but no, you can't manage it. Nobody could. You'll only involve yourself, my friend—”
Durant laughed. “We'll see about that! To business, now. What's the program for today?”
“Kaparien will be here any minute—the casino's open already. There's a try-out this afternoon of that acrobatic dancing act from Stockholm, and I admit I'm interested. Then back to the yacht for dinner. One of Kaparien's partners will be with us, and an English baronet and his wife—one of the impecunious-traveling kind who stay out of England. ”

“ I've always loved you, since those days when you would come into the bank three times a week, and I'd look up and see you—”
She flushed, her eyes tender now.
“Folly! But, my friend, delicious folly—I never thought there was such a man in the world. There's frankness for frankness. ”

“ We must see where M. Kaparien is—and the lady—”
They hastened below, and in the passage encountered Helen Glincka. A cry of relief broke from her at sight of Durant, and she swayed. Durant caught her, murmured a low word in her ear, and with a nod she went to her cabin. Durant followed the captain, the other three men at his heels, to the smoking-salon.
All four of them stood surveying the red scene before them, and the captain crossed himself as he stared. He turned to Durant. “You see, M. Durant? This hairy stranger came aboard in his boat; a gang was at work and had us trussed up. ”

“ If he fails, I'll send aboard a package tomorrow, containing everything from drills to nitroglycerin. You can manage it?”
“At a pinch.”
LESS than a minute later, came the tinkle of a bell—some one had come into the outer shop. Propotkin slipped out, and in the exchange of voices following, Durant heard the clear even tones of Helen Glincka. A thrill ran over him, and he came to his feet. The curtain across the door was pushed away, and she came toward him, hand extended. Wordless, he bowed over it in French fashion, then straightened up and looked into her eyes. ”

“ To the left was Deauville, garish, modem, aswing with life and action. Opposite the station, beyond the grimy coaling port, lay the yacht basin, where a dozen splendid money-wasters were moored against the quays.
Abruptly, Durant found a man at his elbow, heard his name.
“Pardon—this is M. Durant, perhaps?”
[Illustration: Fougères snatched the bottle. “M'sieur, you are generous—" “No,” said Durant, “I am giving orders.” ]
Turning, Durant beheld a queer figure—a short, extremely wide-shouldered man with luxuriant curled whiskers and high boned face, and very long arms ”

“ What need of evidence? The thing speaks for itself. This poor M. Kaparien was brave, but foolish. He should not have attacked these others. See! He put two bullets into Propotkin, killed another man with his third. What valor! If, M. Durant, you will take a message to Paris for me, there is no need of detaining you except to get your statement.”
“Gladly,” said Durant. “The message?”
“Tell M. Ducasse what has happened here. If he wishes to put his men to work on these forged notes, if he wants to get in others of the gang, well and good ”

“ So, ten minutes later, he dropped from the taxicab, which continued its way. Instead of seeking the post office, however, Durant crossed over to the prefecture of police, entered the brick building, and from a lounging gendarme inquired the whereabouts of the prefect. ”