Роберт Чамберс - The Dark Star

Summer had not yet burned foliage or flowers; the freshness of spring itself seemed still to reign there.

Three blue–bloused street–sweepers with hose and broom were washing the asphalt as their cab slowed down, sounding its horn to warn them out of the way. And, the spouting hose still in their hands, the street–cleaners stepped out of the gutter before the pretty private hotel of Madame la Princesse.

Already a butler was opening the grille ; already the chauffeur had swung Neeland's steamer trunk and suitcase to the sidewalk; already the Princess and Rue were advancing to the house, while Neeland fumbled in his pocket for the fare.

The butler, bowing, relieved him of the olive–wood box. At the same instant the blue–bloused man with the hose turned the powerful stream of water directly into the butler's face, knocking him flat on the sidewalk; and his two comrades tripped up Neeland, passed a red sash over his head, and hurled him aside, blinded, half strangled, staggering at random, tearing furiously at the wide band of woollen cloth which seemed to suffocate him.

Already the chauffeur had tossed the olive–wood box into the cab; the three blue–bloused men sprang in after it; the chauffeur slipped into his seat, threw in the clutch, and, driving with one hand, turned a pistol on the half drowned butler, who had reeled to his feet and was lurching forward to seize the steering wheel.

The taxicab, gathering speed, was already turning the corner of the rue de la Lune when Neeland managed to free throat and eyes from the swathe of woollen.

The butler, checked by the levelled pistol, stood dripping, still almost blinded by the force of the water from the hose; but he had plenty of pluck, and he followed Neeland on a run to the corner of the street.

The street was absolutely empty, except for the sparrows, and the big, fat, slate–coloured pigeons that strutted and coo–cooed under the shadow of the chestnut trees.

Marotte, the butler, in dry clothes, had served luncheon—a silent, respectable, self–respecting man, calm in his fury at the incredible outrage perpetrated upon his person.

And now luncheon was over; the Princess at the telephone in her boudoir; Rue in the music–room with Neeland, still excited, anxious, confused.

Astonishment, mortification, anger, had left Neeland silent; and the convention known as luncheon had not appealed to him.

But very little was said during that formality; and in the silence the serious nature of the episode which so suddenly had deprived the Princess of the olive–wood box and the papers it contained impressed Neeland more and more deeply.

The utter unexpectedness of the outrage—the helpless figure he had cut—infuriated him. And the more he reflected the madder he grew when he realised that all he had gone through meant nothing now—that every effort had been sterile, every hour wasted, every step he had taken from Brookhollow to Paris—to the very doorstep where his duty ended—had been taken in vain.

It seemed to him in his anger and humiliation that never had any man been so derided, so heartlessly mocked by the gods.

And now, as he sat there behind lowered blinds in the cool half–light of the music–room, he could feel the hot blood of resentment and chagrin in his cheeks.

"Nobody could have foreseen it," repeated Rue Carew in a pretty, bewildered voice. "And if the Princess Naïa had no suspicions, how could I harbour any—or how could you?"

"I've been sufficiently tricked—or I thought I had been—to be on my guard. But it seems not. I ought never to have been caught in such a disgusting trap—such a simple, silly, idiotic cage! But—good Lord! How on earth was a man to suspect anything so—so naturally planned and executed—so simply done. It was an infernal masterpiece, Rue. But—that is no consolation to a man who has been made to appear like a monkey!"

The Princess, entering, overheard; and she seated herself and looked tranquilly at Neeland as he resumed his place on the sofa.

"You were not to blame, Jim," she said. "It was my fault. I had warning enough at the railroad terminal when an accident to my car was reported to me by the control through you." She added, calmly: "There was no accident."

"No accident?" exclaimed Neeland, astonished.

"None at all. My new footman, who followed us to the waiting salon for incoming trains, returned to my chauffeur, Caron, saying that he was to go back to the garage and await orders. I have just called the garage and I had Caron on the wire. There was no accident; he has not been injured; and—the new footman has disappeared!"

"It was a clear case of treachery?" exclaimed Neeland.

"Absolutely a plot. The pretended official at the terminal control was an accomplice of my footman, of the taxicab driver, of the pretended street–cleaners—and of whom else I can, perhaps, imagine."

"Did you call the terminal control?"

"I did. The official in charge and the starter had seen no such accident; had given no such information. Some masquerader in uniform must have intercepted you, Jim."

"I found him coming toward me on the sidewalk not far from the kiosque. He was in uniform; I never dreamed he was not the genuine thing."

"There is no blame attached to you―"

"Naïa, it actually sickens me to discover how little sense I possess. I've been through enough to drive both suspicion and caution into this wooden head of mine―"

"What have you been through, Jim?" asked the Princess calmly.

"I'll tell you. I didn't play a brilliant rôle, I'm sorry to admit. Not common sense but sheer luck pulled me through as far as your own doorstep. And there," he added disgustedly, "the gods no doubt grew tired of such an idiot, and they handed me what was coming to me."

He was so thoroughly and so boyishly ashamed and angry with himself that a faint smile flitted over the Princess Naïa's lips.

"Proceed, James," she said.

"All right. Only first may I ask—who is Ilse Dumont?"

For a moment the Princess sat silent, expressionless, intent on the man whose clear, inquiring eyes still questioned her.

The Princess finally answered with a question:

"Did she cause you any trouble, Jim?"

"Every bit I had was due to her. Also—and here's a paradox—I shouldn't be here now if Ilse Dumont had not played square with me. Who is she?"

The Princess Naïa did not reply immediately. Instead, she dropped one silken knee over the other, lighted a cigarette, and sat for a few moments gazing into space. Then:

"Ilse Dumont," she said, "is a talented and exceedingly pretty young woman who was born in Alsace of one German and one thoroughly Germanised parent.

"She played two seasons in Chicago in light opera under another name. She had much talent, an acceptable voice and she became a local favourite."

The Princess looked at her cigarette; continued speaking as though addressing it:

"She sang at the Opéra Comique here in Paris the year before last and last year. Her rôles were minor ones. Early this spring she abruptly broke her contract with the management and went to New York."

Neeland said bluntly:

"Ilse Dumont is an agent in the service of the Turkish Government."

The Princess nodded.

"Did you know it, Naïa?"

"I began to suspect it recently."

"May I ask how?"

The Princess glanced at Rue and smiled:

"Ruhannah's friend, Colonel Izzet Bey, was very devoted to Minna Minti―"

"To whom !" exclaimed Neeland, astounded.

"To Ilse Dumont. Minna Minti is her stage name," said the Princess.

Neeland turned and looked at Rue, who, conscious of his excitement, flushed brightly, yet never suspecting what he was about to say.