Mr. Drummond

“ Drummond? You see, we are awfully fond of him and he has been very good to all of us, especially to Jack. Sometimes I have wondered if he could think you and Jack look a little bit alike? Olive and I think you do. But we don’t know anything about Mr. Drummond except that he is terribly rich and terribly good looking and very kind. Can’t you tell us something more?”
Jessica shook her head gravely. “I am afraid that is all I can tell you about Peter, I mean Mr. Drummond, that is of any importance. Just that he is rich and good looking and kind. ”

“ Drummond shrugged his shoulders resignedly. “There is something about you, Mr. Peterson,” he murmured, “which I like. You strike me as being the type of man to whom a young girl would turn and pour out her maidenly secrets. So masterful, so compelling, so unruffled. I feel sure—when you have finally disabused your mind of this absurd hallucination—that we shall become real friends.”
Peterson still sat motionless save for a ceaseless tapping with his hand on his knee.
“Tell me,” continued Hugh, “why did you allow this scoundrel to treat you in such an offhand manner? ”

“ Drummond says, with a smile of the most brilliant vacuity.
“Are you to be there, too? Why, it will be quite a reunion. Au revoir.”
The crowd swallows Mrs. Gray, and at the same [137] moment Mr. Drummond is seized upon by a sharp-looking elderly female, who drags him off as if she were conveying him into some sly corner where she may devour him undisturbed. Mrs. Jones turns to move toward the other parlor. ”

“ A tall, clean-shaven man stopped beside the table, throwing a keen glance at Drummond.
"The world is full of such surprises, isn't it?" answered the girl lightly. " I don't suppose you know Captain Drummond, do you? Mr. Lakington—art connoisseur and—er—collector."
The two men bowed slightly, and Mr. Lakington smiled. "I do not remember ever having heard my harmless pastimes more concisely described," he remarked suavely. "Are you interested in such matters?"
"Not very, I'm afraid," answered Drummond. "Just recently I have been rather too busy to pay much attention to art." ”

“ Drummond.
It may be thought strange that our hero should have been willing to enter the employment of such a mean man; but he thought it wisest to remain in the neighborhood until he could learn something definite about his father's affairs. He prepared to go to work at once, partly because he didn't wish to be dependent, partly because he foresaw that he should be happier if employed.
[Pg 87]
When Mr. Drummond and Walter came out of the parlor, Joshua was waiting in the next room, and looked up eagerly to see how his father bore the communication. ”

“ Drummond.
“Some one else only comes out in the evening,” he rejoined, rather pointedly. “Who told you I kept in-doors in the daylight? Oh, I know!” the frown passing from his face, for he had spoken quickly and in annoyed fashion. “This sounds like a parson’s prating: I know the language of old. By the bye, did you set the clergy on my track?” turning the blue spectacles full on the embarrassed Phillis.
“I?—no indeed!” and then she went on frankly: “Mr. Drummond was at our house, and he told us that he always called on Mrs. Williams’s lodgers.”
“True, Miss Challoner ”

“ And in the general excitement Hugh Drummond crept closer to the open window. It was the Duchess he was concerned with and her pearls, and the arrival of the Indian was not going to put him off his guard.... Then suddenly his jaw tightened: Irma Peterson had entered the room with young Laidley.
“Do you want anything done, Mr. Ram Dar?” asked the Duchess—“the lights down or the window shut?”
“No, I thank you,” returned the Indian. “The night is still; there is no wind. ”

“ Then he turned to Drummond. “Say now, Captain, we’ve got a lorry load of the boys outside; your friend here thought we’d better bring ’em along. So it’s up to you to get busy.”
“Mullings and his crowd,” said Darrell, seeing the look of mystification on Hugh’s face. “When Mr. Green got back and told me you’d shoved your great mutton-head in it again, I thought I’d better bring the whole outfit.”
“Oh, you daisy!” cried Hugh, rubbing his hands together, “you pair of priceless beans! The Philistines are delivered into our hands, even up to the neck.” ”

“ Drummond."
Mrs. Drummond had just come from the kitchen. She looked with surprise at Walter and her husband, whose presence in the house at that hour was unusual.
"What is the matter?" she asked.
"Conrad is going home a short time on business," explained Mr. Drummond.
"When shall we see you back again, Walter?" asked Mrs. Drummond.
"That is uncertain," said Walter. "It depends upon my plans for the future."
"I have offered him increased pay," said Mr. Drummond, "if he will return to the store. I hope he may decide to do so. Our humble roof will ever be ready to shelter him." ”

“ Lawrence escaped, but Drummond was caught in his hiding-place in the Chickahominy swamp, and brought before Sir William.
[Pg 103]
"Mr. Drummond," said the governor, "you are very welcome! I am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, you shall be hanged in half an hour!" ”

“ Hand him over along with his book, and they’ll sweep up the mess.”
“It would be an outrage to let the scoundrel go,” said the millionaire fiercely. “The man Lakington you say is dead; there’s enough evidence to hang this brute as well. What about my secretary in Belfast?”
But Drummond shook his head.
“I have my doubts, Mr. Potts, if you’d be able to bring that home to him. Still, I can quite understand your feeling rattled with the bird.” He rose and stretched himself; then he glanced at his watch. “It’s time you all retired, boys; the party ought to be starting soon. ”

“ He lit a cigarette thoughtfully. “I have an idea that they feel so absolutely confident in their own power, that they are going to make the fatal mistake of underrating their opponents. We shall see.” He turned to her with a twinkle in his eye. “Anyway, our Mr. Lakington will see that you don’t come to any harm.”
“The brute!” she cried, very low. “How I hate him!” Then with a sudden change of tone, she looked up at Drummond. “I don’t know whether it’s worth mentioning,” she said slowly, “but yesterday afternoon four men came at different times to The Elms. ”

“ The American bit the end off another cigar, and leaned back in his chair. “You say that swell Frenchman with the waiters hovering about like fleas round a dog’s tail is the reason you came to Paris. Is he kind of friendly with Hiram C. Potts?”
Drummond laughed.
“The first time I met Mr. Potts,” he remarked, “that swell Frenchman was just preparing to put a thumbscrew on his second thumb.”
“Second?” The detective looked up quickly.
“The first had been treated earlier in the evening,” answered Drummond quietly. “It was then that I removed your millionaire pal.” ”

“ And I don't want to go without telling you a little about the programme, Captain Drummond. Unfortunately both Mr. Peterson and I have to leave you for to-night; but we shall be returning to-morrow morning—or, at anyrate, I shall. You will be left in charge of Heinrich—you remember the filthy Boche?—with whom you had words the other night. As you may expect, he entertains feelings of great friendship and affection for you, so you should not lack for any bodily comforts; such as may be possible in your present somewhat cramped position. ”

“ With a slight frown he stared at the retreating car; he saw the man lean over and speak to the other man; he saw the other man look round. Then a bend in the road hid them from sight, and, still frowning, Drummond pulled out his case and lit a cigarette. For the man whose eye he had caught as the Rolls went by was Henry Lakington. There was no mistaking that hard-lipped, cruel face.
Presumably, thought Hugh, the other two occupants were Mr. Peterson and the doubtful daughter, Irma ”

“ With an inscrutable look at Hugh, in which thankfulness and apprehension seemed mingled, the girl left the room. There was an unnatural glitter in her father's eyes—a flush on his cheeks hardly to be accounted for by the warmth of the evening; and it struck Drummond that, during the time he had been pretending to look at his car, Mr. Benton had been fortifying himself. It was obvious, even to the soldier's unprofessional eye, that the man's nerves had gone to pieces ”

“ Nearly as absurd, but less subtle and harassing, is the passage in Drummond's "Hymn to the Fairest Fair," wherein we have the following incarnate metaphor of no less shadowy a shape than "Providence!"—
"With faces two, like sisters, sweetly fair,
Whose blossoms no rough autumn can impair,
Stands Providence, and doth her looks disperse
Thro' every corner of the universe."
Nor must it be hastily concluded that Mr. Rossetti's "apples meet for the mouth" simile is quite original. Drummond in one passage calls his mistresses' hearts ”

“ Potts,” Drummond assured him over and over again. “Their gang is dispersed, and Lakington is dead. We’re all friends here now. You’re quite safe. This is Mr. Green, who has come over from New York especially to find you and take you back to your family.”
The millionaire stared in silence at the detective, who rolled his cigar round in his mouth.
“That’s right, Mr. Potts. There’s the little old sign.” He threw back his coat, showing the police badge, and the millionaire nodded. ”

“ He passed the sheets of paper across the desk to Mr. Tootem senior.
Illustration: As Drummond leaned forward to take the receiver from the hook, the curtain behind him was pulled back, inch by inch, by a man who held in his right hand a villainous-looking iron bar
“If I don't get outside a pint of beer soon,” he continued, reaching for his hat, “there will be a double event in the funeral line.” ”

“ A poor creature, indeed, in this respect, Dr Drummond thought him--Dr Drummond, who wore an untrammelled surplice which filled like an agitated sail in his quick tacks from right to left. "The man loses half his points," said Dr Drummond. I doubt whether he did, people followed so closely, though Sandy MacQuhot was of the general opinion when he said that it would do nobody any harm if Mr Finlay would lift his head oftener from the book.
Advena Murchison thought him the probable antitype of an Oxford don. She had never. ”

“ Said there were others in it....”
“On that valuation,” interrupted the detective thoughtfully, “it makes one million pounds sterling,” and Drummond nodded. “Yes, Mr. Potts; and then?”
“I told him,” said the millionaire, “that he was an infernal scoundrel, and that I’d have nothing whatever to do with such a villainous scheme. And then—almost the last thing I can remember—I saw Peterson look at Lakington. Then they both sprang on me, and I felt something prick my arm. And after that I can’t remember anything clearly. Your face, sir”—he turned to Drummond—“comes to me out of a kind of dream ”

“ It was late in the night, after supper, when he secured her at last.
'Miss Drummond, you have avoided me all night——'
'I!' cried Norah, 'but that is ridiculous. Why should I avoid you, Mr Rivers? Indeed I am sure I have spoken to you at least a dozen times this evening. It is not one's own fault when one is engaged.'
'And I have been so anxious to see you—to explain to you,' he cried, his eagerness, and the long, tantalizing delay having overcome his wisdom. ”

“ There was no object, he reflected, in unnecessarily alarming the old man; it saves bother to get an animal to walk to the slaughter house rather than having to drag it there. And he was likely to have all the dragging he wanted with Drummond, even though he was insane.
Professor Goodman, only half satisfied, sank back in his chair. Already the perspiration was running down both their faces from the heat of the furnace, but Mr. Robinson had no intention of leaving the room. ”

“ Drummond, you must not think of going," exclaimed Miss Harvey. "You're far too seriously hurt, far too weak, to attempt such a thing. Please lie down again. Surely Mr. Wing will do all that any man could do to recover the safe. All the others are in pursuit. ”

“ On each side of the car was a window covered with a muslin curtain. Two bunks, one on each side, stretched the full length of the car—and a central gangway, which had a little wash basin at the end nearest the engine, separated them.
ON one of these bunks lay Professor Goodman, breathing with the heavy stertorous sounds of the drugged. The men pitched him upon the other, as Mr. Robinson, who had followed them out, appeared at the door.
“You have your orders,” he remarked curtly. “If Drummond makes a sound—gag him. I shall be on board myself in about two hours.” ”

“ Drummond lay back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, with his head almost touching the heavy curtains behind him. Life was undoubtedly good. Except for the murder of Professor Goodman it would have been very good—very good indeed. And at that moment the telephone on the desk in front of him began to ring.
With a jerk Drummond sat up and looked at it—his mind recalled to the circumstances of the moment. Should he let it go on ringing till the operator gave up in despair, or should he take the call? One thing was obvious on the face of it: The call could not be for him. ”

“ And the two bound watchers looked at Hugh’s eyes as he stared at the moaning Boche, and saw that they were hard and merciless.
There was a sharp, whistling hiss, and the splinter flew from the tube into the German’s face. It hung from his cheek, and even the ceaseless movement of his head failed to dislodge it.
“I have broken your arm, Boche,” said Drummond at length, “and now I have killed you. I’m sorry about it: I wasn’t particularly anxious to end your life. But it had to be done.” ”