Henry C. Rowland

“ After all, my life had been lived at the expense of Society, and Society had a right to collect her debt before taking me back. A curious thing, this life. No act ever seems to go for nothing, good or bad. ”

“ Out I went and jumped into the car and rolled off, leaving Gustave to stare after me, disgusted that I should go without a mécanicien. My mind was working fast as I sped along. Plan after plan went through my head. It struck me that perhaps the best way would be to pass Chu-Chu when he was travelling fast and crowd him into the ditch. This would not be difficult with a big heavy car like mine; and in such an “accident” the driver is usually killed while the man beside him is apt to escape. ”

“ I did not believe that Ivan or Chu-Chu would follow me up if I went to America, though it was possible that Chu-Chu might.
Finally, I decided on this latter plan. After all, my object in killing Chu-Chu was merely self-preservation. If I did succeed in getting the pearls I might even send him back his gems.
Sounds as if I began to weaken as I went along, doesn't it? Well, perhaps I did. The odds against me were too awful heavy, and life is sweet, after all. The strain was beginning to tell, too, and I knew that this would get steadily worse. A fight in the open is all right ”

“ Ivan, too, had been humiliated in a manner impossible for his self-respect as the chief of a big criminal system to endure. Neither one could stomach it, and they had joined forces again to play the game out to the bitter end.
All of this, my friend, had flashed through my mind, even as I went to the office to learn when the Prince's car had gone out. Sooner, in fact. The problem and its possible solution had occurred to me as Chu-Chu rolled out of the garage when I had told the mécanicien to fill up my tank. In the Under-World the odds are heavy on the man who strikes first. ”

“ I determined to pass Chu-Chu at high speed and literally crowd him off the road. This would be dangerous to me, of course, as it's a risky job to mix up the direction of a big car running at a high speed, but I would be prepared and ought to be able to stick to the track. As you know, these French roads are drained by ditches at least a foot deep and a foot wide, running off at right-angles and spaced only ten or a dozen meters apart. Shoved into one of those while running fast, Chu-Chu's chances were all for getting piled up. ”

“ Kharkoff's car was a big, heavy, limousine affair, and not capable of much speed. Kharkoff would probably stop at St. Germain for déjeuner, and this would consume an hour and a half at least, for the Russian was a high-liver. After déjeuner they would take the road to Boulogne, probably stopping at Abbeville for tea, and reaching Boulogne in good time to take the boat which left for Folkestone at seven. Chu-Chu would push right through, and contrive in some way to get a word with Léontine, handing over to her the pearls, with strict instructions from Ivan that she dispose of them. ”

“ If neither was injured, I could always go back and finish Chu-Chu with my pistol. Then I thought of even a better plan. Why not get on ahead, then lay my car across the road so that they would have to stop, and hold Chu-Chu up and go through him for the pearls? Once having got them, I could rush back to Paris, turn over the pearls and the gems to John, with instructions to give the latter to the police, and get out of the country as quick as possible. ”