Mannister

“ Yet it is certain that if Dunster, with whom he was walking, had not called attention to him, Mannister would have passed him by without recognition. Sinclair was old and bent. His face was haggard, and he walked with tottering footsteps, leaning upon the arm of a servant. He recognized Mannister quickly enough, and there was a flash in his eyes which bespoke other things than the mere meeting again of two men who had once been friends. Dunster, who saw that the meeting of these two was no ordinary encounter, passed on. Mannister and Sinclair stood face to face. ”

“ Mannister answered, "I come out of no kindness to you. I come because the man Stevens is my enemy, and because I know that it will give him no pleasure to find you dining at the next table to-night when he parades his new conquest."
"What do you mean?" she asked sullenly.
"That if you will give me the honour of being my guest at dinner to-night," Mannister said, "the table which I have engaged at the Café des Ambassadeurs is curiously enough next to the one where Colin Stevens and Mademoiselle de Fleurier will sit." ”

“ Mannister laid down his hat and stick, and followed her into a small reception-room. A woman, typically French—or was there, perhaps, some dash of Spanish blood in her veins which accounted for the pale cheeks and blue-black hair—half rose from a couch and looked towards him inquiringly. Mannister bowed, and waited till the servant who had admitted him had left the room.
"Madame de Modina," he said, "my name is Mannister. It is doubtless unknown to you." ”

“ Mannister said politely, as they walked thither, "to see you in such indifferent health."
Sinclair answered him with a look of hatred, but he did not speak a word until the servant had gone.
"Don't tell lies, Mannister," he said then. "I am what you made me. I have never been myself for a single day since you chased me half over the world. Don't tell lies about being sorry for me. You are sorry for no one who stands in your way, or who does you ill. ”

“ I am fit for nothing but the scrap-heap. If you have anything planned in your mind against me, Mannister, go on with it, go on with it quickly. You may try your hardest, but I doubt whether you can do me any further evil.
Mannister sipped his wine thoughtfully. His eyes lingered upon the man who sat on the other side of the table; there was no sympathy in his face, only a great contempt.
"Your temperament is too elastic, Hambledon," he said drily. "If the fear of me were removed from you to-night, you would blossom out to-morrow a new man. I am not disposed to let you off so cheaply." ”

“ Mannister did not reply, for they were still in the suburbs of London, and the great car which he was driving needed all his attention. But soon the tramway lines came to an end, the road broadened, they were passing from suburbanism to the country proper. Mrs. De la Mere leaned back amongst the cushions and half closed her eyes.
"After all," she murmured, "I am sure that there is nothing more beautiful than the simple pleasures of life. What is it in the hedges that smells so sweet?"
The west wind blew in their faces. Mannister took off his cap and threw it behind to the chauffeur. ”

“ Nevertheless Mannister felt that she was only the wreck of some other woman whose identity might well be lost.
"Mrs. Hambledon," Mannister said, "I have known your husband for a great many years. Lately I have made some inquiries concerning his habits and the manner of his life. It is because I am convinced that he is not behaving fairly to you and to his family that I have determined to intervene. I have some influence over your husband—we will call it influence, at any rate. May I ask if you know what his income is?" ”

“ There was only one left. If he should ask for her and no one else, they would know that it was war. They would know that their danger was no fancied one.
"And last, but not least," Mannister asked, looking intently into the contents of his glass, "la belle Sophy, Mrs. De la Mere, unless she has changed her name?"
"She is dining here to-night," Hambledon answered. "She is sitting immediately behind you."
Mannister smiled.
"Presently," he said, "I must pay my respects to her. It is very interesting to hear about so many old friends." ”

“ Mannister's voice was slower and more deliberate.
"Sinclair," he said, "you see there your life. You have done me, as a man, the greatest injury which one man has learnt in nineteen hundred years to inflict upon another. In leaving you alive upon the earth, I make no pretence at forgiving you. To kick you into eternity would be, however, only the caprice of a child. The vengeance of God and man strikes deeper. The woman is yours by right of theft. I leave you together, and I leave you the care of her a charge upon your life. ”

“ She would have hastened away toward the lodge gates, but Mannister caught her by the wrist. The girl, with a rose basket upon her arm was coming round the side of the house, and seeing them had hesitated for a moment.
"Heronswell," Mannister said, "in the old days you were a little to blame. You have a chance now to prove yourself a man. Take her back. Give the girl her mother. You will never repent it." ”

“ She, perhaps, more than any of them, had suffered from nerves when first she had seen Mannister enter the restaurant, but she had had time to get over it, and she was a woman. So she came up to him with outstretched hands and a brilliant smile. ”

“ She charged me with it that day after you had caught us, and I told her the truth."
Mannister looked at him as one might regard some noxious insect.
"I shall not strike you, Gaston Sinclair," he said. "To be what you are, and to know yourself for what you are, is punishment enough for any one on earth."
Mannister turned on his heel and walked back to the villa where he was staying. A travelling carriage, piled with luggage, was standing there at the door. May Dunster, who had just arrived from Rome, came out to meet him. ”

“ Mannister, however, was prepared, and Dykes went down like a log, felled by one lightning-like blow. Mannister stood quite still, breathing hard. The fallen man's fist had just touched his jaw—there were not many tricks in the prize-fighting ring which Dykes did not know. For a moment the room seemed to spin round. Then he regained his self-control to find the girl standing before him, her eyes like stars, and her hands uplifted.
"You!" she exclaimed. "It is you always who come when I need help." ”

“ His long lean fingers were shaking, his eyes were bright with malicious satisfaction.
"Mannister," he said, "if one comes near to death one sees things clearly. It was a hellish trick those men sought to play upon you. They made only one mistake. They did not think that you would leave me alive. I had some of the money they robbed you of. Do you want it back?"
"No!" Mannister answered. "I am a rich man. It was never the money, Sinclair."
"I came back to England," Sinclair continued, "and I watched them go, broken men, one by one. I am the last of them, Mannister. ”

“ She looked at Mannister as one might look at a ghost. Mannister calmly took the cloak from her arm and held her hand in his.
"Christine," he said, "I have been looking for you for more than two years. It has seemed a very long time that you have been coming. Won't you give your maid that luggage ticket? She can take your things wherever you will. The carriage is waiting for you and for me at the entrance here." ”

“ Mannister nodded and strolled towards the door.
"I think," he said, "that you will do well to take this as a warning. The world isn't full of casual acquaintances who are anxious to stuff money into the pockets of strangers. Good night!"
Mannister was sitting at breakfast the next morning in his rooms at Germain Street. He had finished his coffee and was preparing to light a cigarette, when his servant knocked at the door and announced a visitor.
"There is a gentleman of the name of Polsover here, sir," he announced. "He wishes to see you for a moment on urgent business. ”

“ The liveries of the carriage, dark green, and the small coronet upon the panels, served him as a basis for a restless fire of inquiries directed to the gendarmes, the commissionaire at the famous restaurant in the Bois, wherever there seemed a chance of obtaining information. Late that night Mannister obtained the information he sought, and at mid-day the next morning he was ushered into the presence of Madame la Comtesse de Lanier, in whom he recognized at once the elder of those two women. ”

“ De la Mere was trembling so that movement seemed impossible. Yet they went where they were bidden, and the woman sank upon the seat where they were bidden, and the woman sank upon the seat
"Mr. Heronswell," Mannister said, "I am neither philanthropist nor meddler. I am one of those who by force of circumstances live outside the world, and realize the truth of the most trite of all sayings, that 'Outsiders see most of the game.' You knew me years ago. My name is Mannister. ”

“ Everywhere you are suspected—shunned. Every pair of with a sob of fear. Locked doors are useless. There is a knock! You must open! A waiter perhaps, but the sweat is on your forehead, you are shaking like a leaf. The man thinks you are mad. Everywhere you are suspected—shunned. Every pair of eyes that meets yours seems to carry behind them the knowledge that you are running away. Oh, Hell! It is Hell, Hell!"
"This," Mannister declared, with a pleasant smile, "is most interesting. You have had quite an experience, my dear Sinclair, and you speak of it most eloquently. ”

“ Mannister continued to regard his companion with an air of mild wonder.
"Have you taken leave of your senses, Rundermere?" he asked. "Do you realize that you are forty-four or forty-five years old, that your record is about as black as a decently born Englishman's can be, that you have never gone straight at any time in your life, even with women? ”

“ Then Mannister became a wanderer upon the face of the earth. He sought no new lands, nor did he betray the traveller's inters est in unexplored places. He passed from country to country of Europe, he was heard of even in the great cities of America. To all appearance his journeying was the journeying of a restless man. For two years he neither shot nor hunted, sport of no kind seemed able to attract him. ”

“ I have not often seen him as bad as this, sir, but he is never quarrelsome. He will be all right when he wakes up!"
"You say that he is well known down here," Mannister remarked. "Do you mean that he lives in Brighton?"
"He lives at this hotel most of his time," the waiter answered, "although he goes up to London most days."
"I think," Mannister said, regarding the sleeping man, "that I know him by sight. Is his name John Dykes?"
"That is it, sir," the waiter assented, "Mr. John Dykes. I have heard that he is a partner in a book-making firm." ”

“ A rare gleam of humour flashed in Mannister's eyes.
"I am a philanthropist," he declared. "I start out with terribly evil intentions, and in the end I simply induce people to revert to their normal state. Jacobs as a stockbroker and a man about town was a wretched poseur. As a partner in a retail clothing establishment, and husband to Miss Goldberg, he is in the position for which Providence intended him." ”

“ The girl was coming slowly towards them.
"Look," he said, "there is something there which should call to you loudly and sweetly enough to break your heart in the days to come if you should close your ears. Heronswell!"
He passed her hand on to Heronswell, who grasped it in his own and drew it towards him. Mannister, with a faint smile, raised his hat and swung round. The chauffeur was in his place, and with a touch of the handle the engine was started.
"We are not waiting for the lady, sir?"
Mannister shook his head, and the car swept on. . . . ”

“ Mannister, who had found the door, swung the girl out into the corridor. The other three men were already there. They turned on the lights and peered into the room. Dykes lay there a crumpled up mass, the revolver still locked in his hand.
"The man has shot himself," Mannister said calmly. "Quite the best thing he could do. This is your aunt here, is it not, Miss Dunster? You had better go to her." ”

“ His companion, who had sprung into the carriage, aimed one blow at Mannister with his knife, and then ducking his head, ran. The third man, who was wrestling with the coachman, finding himself deserted, leaped to the ground and also tore off. Mannister, whose blood was up, leaped out on to the pavement and would have followed his flying assailants, but the cocher, also descending, grabbed him by the arm.
"They will only lead you into their haunts, monsieur!" he exclaimed. "They will murder you there! Get in, get in! We will drive fast." ”

“ Mademoiselle de Fleurier had fallen backwards, and lay fainting, with her head resting upon the next table. Every one in the restaurant was standing up. One who was a doctor came hurrying from the rear. Mannister went up to the woman who had been his companion and touched her arm. ”

“ Hambledon smiled—an unpleasant smile.
"Until he gets hold of the money. He's got round the girl somehow or other, I suppose. She's very pretty and very pious, and that's all we know about her. He's taken good care to keep her away from all of us? "
Mannister leaned back in his chair and smiled to himself thoughtfully. He glanced across at Traske, and the smile deepened, although there was little of mirth in it.
In the vestibule of the restaurant, Sophy de la Mere drew Mannister on one side. ”

“ One must pay for one's luxuries, you know. Don't you agree with me, Hambledon?"
"One has always to pay, of course," Hambledon muttered, "but it was a great price. They say that he is blind for life, and that he has sworn never to be seen upon the streets."
"The streets will be the purer then," Mannister answered calmly. "I am afraid that I am not a sentimentalist. I have yet to find the man or the woman who knew Colin Stevens and was not the worse for it."
Sophy de la Mere patted her dog's head for a moment, and looked absently up the room to where her two admirers were sitting. ”