ANNEX LIB,




















Captain Shannon
By
COULSON KERNAHAN

New York
Dodd, Mead and Company
i898


Copyright, 1896,
BY
DODDf MEAD & COMPANY.

*


CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I Who is "Captain Shannon "? . . i
II Captain Shannon's Manifesto . . 9
III The "Daily Record" to the Res-
cue 20
IV The Murder in Fleet Street . . 25
V The Identity of Captain Shannon
disclosed at last 34
VI I make up my Mind to find Cap-
tain Shannon ....... 44
VII My First Meeting with James
Mullen 52
VIII The Dynamite Hulk 66
IX I take up my Quarters at Canvey 74
X I board the "Cuban Queen" . . 81
XI Pf.rsonal Explanations .... 94
XII How Captain Shannon's Autograph
came into my Possession . . . ioi
XIII I possess Myself of the Secret
of James Bakewell Green . . . 113
XIV One of the Documents which cost
my Inquiry Agent his Life . . 120
XV A Document of Importance ... 127
DEC 101914 322398
1ECAP)


CONTENTS
Chapter Pagh
XVI Henry Jeanes, alias James Mullen i36
XVII On the Heels of James Mullen . 142
XVIII I become a Hairdresser's Assis-
tant 160
XIX "Are there any Letters for Henry
Jeanes, please?" 166
XX How James Mullen and Myself
almost met 171
XXI How I struck James Mullen's
Track 180
XXII The Artfulness of James Mullen 193
XXIII How I got wedged in a Window,
and left behind 200
XXIV A Pretty Kettle of Fish! . . . 213
XXV James Mullen and I meet at last 219
XXVI After the Explosion 226
XXVII I play a Game of "Bluff" with
Hughes 241
XXVIII I board the "Cuban Queen" for
the Second Time 254
XXIX I try a Fall with James Mullen . 259
XXX More Devilry 274
XXXI The Arrest of Captain Shannon . 281
vi


Captain Shannon
CHAPTER I
WHO IS "CAPTAIN SHANNON "?
'I "HE year i8— will be memorable for the
perpetration in England and in Ireland
of a series of infamously diabolical outrages.
On the scene of each crime was found — some-
times scrawled in plain rough capitals upon a
piece of paper which was pinned to the body of
a victim, sometimes rudely chalked in the same
lettering upon a door or wall — this inscription
— "By order. — Captain Shannon."
Who Captain Shannon was the police failed
entirely to discover, although the counties in
which the crimes occurred were scoured from
end to end, and every person who was known
to have been in the neighbourhood was subjected
to the severest examination. That some who
were so examined knew more than they would
tell, there was reason to believe; but so dreaded
i


CAPTAIN SHANNON
was the miscreant's name, and so swift and ter-
rible had been the fate of those who in the past
had incurred his vengeance, that neither offers
of reward nor threats of punishment could elicit
anything but dogged denials.
But when the conspirators carried the war into
the enemy's country, and successfully accom-
plished the peculiarly daring crime which
wrecked the police headquarters at New Scot-
land Yard, the indignation of the public knew
no bounds. If the emissaries of Captain Shan-
non could succeed in conveying an infernal
machine into New Scotland Yard itself, the
whole community was — so it was argued — at
the mercy of a band of murderers.
The scene in the House of Commons on the
night following the outrage was one of great
excitement. The Chief Secretary for Ireland
declared, in a memorable speech, that the pur-
pose of the crime was to terrorise and to intimi-
date. No loyal English or Irish citizen would, he
was sure, be deterred from doing his duty by such
infamous acts; but that they had to deal with
murderers of the most determined type could
not be doubted. The whole conspiracy was,
in his opinion, the work of some half dozen
a


WHO IS "CAPTAIN SHANNON"?
assassins, who were probably the tools of the
monster calling himself " Captain Shannon," in
whose too fertile brain the crimes had, he be-
lieved, originated, and under whose devilishly
planned directions they had been carried out.
The police had reason to suppose that the
headquarters of the conspirators were in Ire-
land, in which country the majority of the
crimes — at all events of the earlier crimes —
had been committed.
He regretted to say, but it was his duty to
say, that but for the disloyal attitude of a sec-
tion of the Irish people — who, from dastardly
and contemptible cowardice, or from sympathy
with the assassins, had not only withheld the
evidence, without which it was impossible to
trace the various outrages to their cause, but
had on more than one occasion actually sought
to hinder the police in the execution of their
duty—the conspirators would long since have
been brought to book.
The Secretary then went on to denounce in
the strongest language what he called the in-
famous conduct of the disloyal Irish. He de-
clared, amid ringing cheers, that the man or
woman who sought to shield such a monster as
3


CAPTAIN SHANNON
Captain Shannon, or to protect him and his
confederates from justice, was nothing less than
a murderer in the eyes of God and of man.
He informed the House that although the Gov-
ernment had actually framed several important
measures which would go far to remove the
grievances of which Irishmen were complaining,
he for one would, in view of what had taken
place, strenuously oppose the consideration at
that moment of any measures which had even
the appearance of a concession to Irish de-
mands. It was repression, not concession,
which must be meted out to traitors and mur-
derers.
Within a month after the delivery of this
speech all England was horrified by the news
of a crime more wantonly wicked than any out-
rage which had preceded it, a crime which re-
sulted — as its perpetrators must have known
it would result — in the wholesale murder of
hundreds of inoffensive people against whom —
excepting for the fact that they happened to be
law-abiding citizens — the followers of Captain
Shannon could have no grievance.
All that was known was that a respectably
dressed young man, carrying what appeared to
4


WHO IS "CAPTAIN SHANNON"?
be about a dozen well-worn volumes from
Mudie's, or some other circulating library, had
entered an empty first-class carriage at Aldgate
station. These books were held together by a
strap — as is usual when sending or taking vol-
umes for exchange to the libraries — and it had
occurred to no one to ask to examine them,
although the officials at all railway stations had,
in view of the recent outrages, been instructed
to challenge every passenger carrying a suspi-
cious-looking parcel.
The theory which was afterwards put forward
was that what appeared to be a parcel of vol-
umes from a circulating library was in reality a
case cunningly covered with the backs, bind-
ings, and edges of books, and that this case
contained an infernal machine of the most
deadly description. It was supposed that the
wretch in charge of it had purposely entered an
empty carriage that he might the better carry
out his infamous plan, and that after setting fire
to the fuse he had left the train at the next
station.
That this theory afforded the most likely ex-
planation of what subsequently took place was
generally agreed, although one well-known
5


CAPTAIN SHANNON
authority on explosives expressed himself as of
opinion that no infernal machine capable of
causing what had happened could be concealed
in so small a compass as that suggested. But
it was pointed out in reply that from arrests and
discoveries which had been made in America
and on the Continent, it was evident that the
manufacture of infernal machines and investiga-
tions into the qualities of explosives were being
scientifically and systematically carried on.
Though no connection had as yet been traced
between the persons who had been arrested and
the perpetrators of the recent outrages, the
probabilities were that such connection existed,
and it was asked whether it might not be possi-
ble that some one who was thus engaged in ex-
perimenting with explosives had discovered a
new explosive, or a new combination of explo-
sives, which was different from and more deadly
than anything known to the authorities.
Into the probability or improbability of this
and other theories which were put forward it
would be idle here to enter. All that is known
is that the train had only just entered the tunnel
immediately to the west of Blackfriars station
when there occurred the most awful explosion
6


WHO IS "CAPTAIN SHANNON"?
of the sort within the memory of man. The
passengers, as well as the guard, driver, and
stoker, not only of the train in which the ex-
plosion took place, but also of a train which was
proceeding in the opposite direction and hap-
pened to be passing at the time, were killed to
a man, and with the exception of one of Smith's
bookstall boys, whose escape seemed almost
miraculous, every soul in the station — ticket-
collectors, porters, station-master, and the un-
fortunate people who were waiting on the plat-
form — shared the same fate.
Nor was this all, for at the moment when the
outrage occurred the train was passing under
one of the busiest crossings in London — that
where New Bridge Street, Blackfriars Bridge,
Queen Victoria Street, and the Thames Embank-
ment converge — and so terrific was the explo-
sion that the space between these converging
thoroughfares was blown away as a man's hand
is blown away by the bursting of a gun.
The buildings in the immediate neighbour-
hood, including parts of St. Paul's station on
the London, Chatham, and Dover railway, the
offices over Blackfriars station, and De Keyser's
Hotel on the opposite side of the way, were
7


CAPTAIN SHANNON
wrecked, and the long arm of Blackfriars Bridge
lay idle across the river like a limb which has
been rudely hacked from a body.
But it is not my intention to attempt any real-
istic description of the scene, or of the awful
sights which were witnessed when, after the first
paralysing moment of panic was over, the search
for the injured, the dying, and the dead was
commenced. The number of lives lost, includ-
ing those who perished in Blackfriars station,
in the two trains, in the street, and in the sur-
rounding buildings, was enormous. Several
columns of the papers next morning were filled
with lists of the missing and the dead. One
name on the list had a terrible significance.
It was the name of the man to achieve whose
murder the lives of so many innotent men and
women had been ruthlessly sacrificed; the name
of a man whose remains were never found, but
whose funeral pyre was built of the broken
bodies of hundreds of his fellow creatures,—
the name of the Chief Secretary for Ireland.
8


CHAPTER II
CAPTAIN SHANNON'S MANIFESTO
,N the day of the outrage upon the Metro-
politan railway a manifesto from Captain
Shannon, of which the following is a copy, was
received by the Prime Minister at his official
residence in Downing Street. It was written
as usual in roughly printed capitals, and, as it
bore the Dublin postmark of the preceding
day, must have been posted before the explosion
had taken place.
"To the People of Great Britain and Ireland:
"Fellow countrymen and countrywomen, —
The Anarchistic, Nihilistic, Fenian, and similar
movements of the past have all been failures.
That fact there is no denying. I do not mean
to say that there have been no results to the
glorious war which has been waged upon a
society which is content to stand by heedless
and unconcerned while Russia's many millions
of starving and suffering fellow-creatures are
the slaves of a system by which the honour,

9


CAPTAIN SHANNON
liberty, and life of every man, woman, and child
are at the mercy of a tyrant's whim and the
whims of his myrmidons, — a society which looks
on smiling while Ireland is groaning under the
heel of English oppression, and while capital-
ists, who yawn as they seek to devise some
new vice on which to squander the wealth which
has become a burden to them, grind down and
sweat the poor, setting one starving man to
compete against another for a wage which can
scarce find him and his in dry bread.
"A society which, calling itself Christian, and
having it in its power to mend matters, can, un-
concerned, endure such iniquities, is blood guilty,
and so long as these things last, upon society
shall its crimes be visited, — with society must
all just men and true wage deadly war.
"What has been done hitherto has not been
without results.
"But for the justice which was executed
upon the arch-tyrant, Alexander of Russia; the
blow which was struck at English tyranny by
the destruction of Clerkenwell prison; the right-
eous punishment which befell those servants of
tyrants and enemies of freedom, Burke and Cav-
endish,— but for these and other glorious deeds,
10


CAPTAIN SHANNON
of the world have combined into one common
and supreme organisation, with one common
enemy and one common purpose.
"That purpose is to rid mankind of the mon-
sters of Monarchy and Imperialism, and with
them of the whole vampire brood of Peers,
Nobles, and Capitalists who, in order that they
may live in idleness and sensuality, grind the
face of the poor, and drain, drop by drop, the
hearts'-blood of toiling millions.
"Its object is to declare that all things are
the property of the people. To wrench from
the greedy maw of landowners and capitalists
their ill-gotten gains, and to restore them to the
rightful possessors. To sweep from the face of
the earth the fat priests, ministers, and clergy
who batten and fatten on the carrion of dead
and decaying religions. To preach the gospel
of the happiness of man in place of the worship
of God, and to declare the day of the great
republic, when the many millions who have
hitherto been ruled shall become the rulers.
"That this glorious consummation can be
attained all at once the Federation is not so
sanguine as to expect. Its members know that
though they have a lever strong enough to
12


CAPTAIN SHANNON'S MANIFESTO
move the world they must be content to work
slowly. Mankind is a chained giant. Their
aim is to set him free; but to do this they must
be content to knock off his fetters one by one;
and at the last meeting of the World Federation
of Freedom it was unanimously agreed to in-
augurate the great struggle for personal liberty,
firstly, by emancipating Ireland from the Eng-
lish rule, and, secondly, by the overthrowing of
Imperialism in Russia.
"The council of the Federation has* two
reasons for deciding to commence the plan of
campaign by freeing Ireland.
"The first is that the members know well
that the greatest enemy with which they have
to contend — the last country to be convinced
of the righteousness of their cause — will be
England, that prince-ridden, priest-ridden, peer-
ridden nation of flunkeys and enemies of freedom
which shed the blood of her own children in
America rather than grant them their rightful
independence, and now seeks in a similar way
to keep Ireland, India, Canada, and Australia
under her cruel heel. At England, then, it is
right and fitting the first blow should be
struck.
13


CAPTAIN SHANNON
"The other reason is that Ireland, when she
is once set free, and in the hands of the Federa-
tion, is to be made the basis of future opera-
tions. It is very necessary that the Federation
should have some such headquarters, and in re-
gard to size (too large a centre is not de-
sirable), shape, situation, and compactness,
Ireland possesses peculiar natural advantages
for the purpose. An island, surrounded on
all sides as by sentries, by the sea, no hostile
force can steal upon her under cover and una-
wares. She is practically the key to Europe,
and as a vantage-ground from which to com-
mence operations upon England her position
cannot be bettered.
"Is there a single thinking man or woman
who cannot see that monarchy and imperialism,
peers, clergy, and class distinctions are doomed,
and that their utter downfall is only a matter of
time? Germany, Russia, Austria, Italy, France,
and England are undermined to the very cores
by Socialism and Anarchy. The mines which
are to destroy society, as society now exists,
are laid though they are out of sight, and at
any moment the opportunity may come to fire
the train. Such an opportunity once occurred
14


CAPTAIN SHANNON'S MANIFESTO
in France; but what happened then, though it
served to show what hatred of its rulers was
seething unsuspected in the lowest stratum of
society, was a mere accident. But if an acci-
dental outbreak like the French Revolution
could set rivers of blood running in France,
what may we not expect from the Great Revo-
lution which, when it comes — as come it must
— will be the result, not of chance, but of long
years of systematic propagation of socialistic
principles among the masses, which will be the
outcome of the most subtly-planned and gigan-
tic scheme for the liberation of mankind which
the world has ever known!
"There are people who will say that what
happened on the other side of the Channel
can never happen on this. But those who
know what is going on in London, Manches-
ter, Birmingham, and all the largest towns,
know that we are living on the edge of a vol-
cano; that England is riper for revolution to-
day than France was in i789, though the danger
is as little suspected now as it was then, and
that what happened then, and worse, may hap-
pen at any time in England unless her coun-
cillors have the foresight and the wisdom to


CAPTAIN SHANNON
give to the people what the people will assur-
edly otherwise take.
"It must be remembered that in England we
have had for more than half a century a Queen
who does not forget that during that time a
complete revolution has taken place in many
previously existing beliefs and systems, a Queen
who knows that England will never tolerate
another George IV., who recognises that what
was patiently borne sixty, forty, and twenty
years ago, will not be endured for a moment
to-day, and has wisely avoided everything which
can put royalty on its trial or the temper of the
people to the test. Hence, though Englishmen
know that a day of reckoning between royalty
and the people is nigh, they have tacitly con-
sented to put off that day so long as she lives,
and to call upon some other and less fortunate
sovereign to settle the account. But the ac-
count, too long overdue, will soon have to be
settled. As well might one man hope to stand
against an incoming sea, as well might the cour-
tiers of old King Canute think by their chiding
to stay the rude waves from wetting the feet of
their royal master, as the rich few think that
they can withstand the million of the poor
16


CAPTAIN SHANNON'S MANIFESTO
when the poor shall arise in their might and
their right to claim as their own the riches
which their labours have accumulated. In
whose hands are those riches now?
"For answer let them look to the words which
are written in the very heart of their seething,
starving London, over the portico of the Royal
Exchange, 'The earth is the Lord's and the ful-
ness thereof.' Yes, the lords', — this duke's,
that earl's, — but not God's — if a God there
be — or the people's.
"But it is to restore the earth and the fulness
thereof to the people that the World Federation
of Freedom is fighting. Its cause is the cause
of the poor, and it is sacred. Long years of
toiling for the bare necessities of life have so
broken the spirit of the poor that they have
become almost like beasts of burden that wince
before a whip in the hands of a child, and bow
themselves to the yoke at the bidding of a mas-
ter whose puny life they could crush out at a
blow. It is time that the poor should be made
to see the terrible power which, if only by vir-
tue of their swarming millions, lies at their
command.
"It is for the people of Great Britain to make
a 17


CAPTAIN SHANNON
choice whether they will throw in their lot with
the winning side while yet there is time to make
terms, or whether they will sacrifice their lives
and the lives of their wives and children to sup-
port a system by the destruction of which they
will be the first to profit. And in making such
choice, it must be remembered that they have
no longer against them for the purpose of free-
ing Ireland and of emancipating Russia a hand-
ful of patriots, struggling hopelessly against
overwhelming odds, but the whole of the secret
societies of the world. They have against them
the most gigantic and far-reaching organisation
which has been formed within the history of
man, — an organisation, the wealth and power
of which are practically unlimited, — which
counts among its members statesmen in every
Court in Europe; statesmen who, although
they hold the highest offices of trust in their
country's councils, are secretly working in con-
nection with the Federation, — an organisation
which has spies and eyes in every place, and
will spare neither man, woman, nor child in the
terrible vengeance which will be visited upon
its enemies.
"The people of England, and especially of
18


CAPTAIN SHANNON'S MANIFESTO
London, will know before the morrow how
far-reaching is the arm of the Federation and
how pitiless its vengeance. Let them be warned
by what will occur this day on the Underground
railway, and let them beware lest, by hindering
either actively or passively the work of the Fed-
eration, they incur that vengeance. — By order.
Captain Shannon."
»9


CHAPTER III
THE "DAILY RECORD" TO THE RESCUE
r I "HREE days after the explosion, the
■*- "Daily Record," which had from the
first given exceptional prominence to every-
thing connected with the outrages, issued a
special supplement, in which, in a letter to the
people of England, the editor said that in view
of the infamous conspiracy which had been
formed against the welfare of the British Em-
pire, and against the lives of British citizens,
the proprietors of the "Daily Record" had
some months ago decided to bring all their
resources, capital, and energy to bear upon
the discovery of the promoters of the con-
spiracy. In the carrying out of this investi-
gation, the services of the very ablest English
and foreign detectives had been engaged, their
instructions being that, so long as absolute
secrecy was observed and ultimate success at-
tained, the question of expense was to remain
20


TO THE RESCUE
entirely unconsidered. As a result, he was
now able to supply the names and, in three
cases, personal descriptions and portraits of
seven men who were beyond all question the
leaders of the movement, and one of whom —
though which he regretted he was at present
unable to say — the notorious Captain Shannon
himself. The proprietors of the " Record" had
not intended, he said, to make known their
discoveries until the investigation had reached
a more forward and satisfactory stage, but in
view of what had recently occurred they had de-
cided that it would not be right to withhold any
information which might assist in bringing the
perpetrators of the diabolical outrage to justice.
In conclusion, he announced that the proprie-
tors of the "Daily Record" were prepared to
offer the following rewards: —
First, they would pay to any person, by
means of whose information the capture had
been effected, a reward of £3,000 per head
for the arrest of any of the seven men whose
names appeared on the list.
Secondly, to any person who would give
such information as would lead to the arrest
of Captain Shannon, and at the same time
21


CAPTAIN SHANNON
furnish proof of his identity, they would pay
a reward of £20,000.
And in offering these rewards they made no
exception in regard to the persons who were
eligible to claim them. So long as the person
claiming the reward or rewards had supplied
the information which led to the arrest or ar-
rests of the individuals indicated, the money
should be faithfully paid without question or
reservation.
Needless to say the publication of this letter,
with the names, and in three cases with por-
traits, of the men who were asserted to be
the leaders of the conspiracy, and the offer of
such large rewards, created a profound sensa-
tion not only in England and Ireland, but in
America and on the Continent.
One or two of the "Daily Record's" con-
temporaries did not hesitate to censure the
action which had been taken as an advertising
dodge, and a well-known Conservative organ
declared that such a direct insult to the au-
thorities was calculated seriously to injure the
national prestige of England; that the Gov-
ernment had made every possible effort to
protect society and to bring the perpetrators
22


TO THE RESCUE
of the recent outrages to book, and that the
result of the "Record's" rash and ill-advised
procedures would be to stultify the action of
the police and to defeat the ends of justice.
On the other hand, the public generally —
especially in view of the fact that the " Record"
had succeeded in discovering who were the
leaders of the conspiracy (which the police
had apparently failed to do) —was inclined
to give the editor and the proprietors credit
for the patriotism they claimed, and it was
confidently believed that the offer of so large a
reward would tempt some one to turn informer
and to give up his confederates to justice.
What the '' Daily Record" did for England
the "Dublin News " — which had been con-
sistently loyal throughout, and the most fear-
lessly outspoken of all the Irish Press in its
denunciation of Captain Shannon — did for
Ireland. It hailed the proprietors and editor
of the "Record" as patriots, declaring that, in
view of the inefficiency which the Government
had displayed in their efforts to protect the
public, it was high time that the public should
bestir itself and take the matter into its own
hand. It reprinted — by the permission of the
23


CAPTAIN SHANNON
"Record " — the descriptions and portraits of
the " suspects," and distributed them broadcast
over the country, and it announced that it
would add to the amount which was offered
by the " Daily Record" for information which
would lead to the arrest of Captain Shannon
the sum of £5,000.
»4


CHAPTER IV
THE MURDER IN FLEET STREET
'TT'EN a. M. is a comparatively quiet hour
in Fleet Street. The sale of morning
papers has practically dropped, and as the
second edition of those afternoon journals, of
which no one ever sees a first, has not yet
been served out to the clamouring and hust-
ling mob at the distributing centres, no vocif-
erating newsboys, aproned with placards of
"Sun," "News," "Echo" or "Star," have as
yet taken possession of the street corners and
pavement kerbs.
On the morning of which I am writing, the
newspaper world was sadly in want of a sensa-
tion. A royal personage had, it is true, put
off the crown corruptible for one which would
press less heavily on his brow; but he had,
as a pressman phrased it, "given away the
entire situation" by allowing himself for a fort-
night to be announced as "dying." This,
25


CAPTAIN SHANNON
Fleet Street resented as unartistic, and partak-
ing of the nature of an anti-climax. Better
things, it considered, might have been ex-
pected from so eminent an individual; and as
such a way of making an end was not to be
encouraged, the Press had, as a warning to
other royal personages, passed by the event as
comparatively unimportant.
It was true, too, that the Heir Apparent had
on the previous evening entered a carriage on
the Underground Railway as it was on the
point of starting, and that the placards of the
"special" editions had in consequence an-
nounced an " Alarming Accident to the Prince
of Wales," which, when H. R. H. had con-
temptuously remarked that there never had
been an approach to danger, was changed in
the " extra specials" to " The Prince describes
his Narrow Escape."
The incident had, however, been severely com-
mented on as "sensation-mongering" by the
morning papers (badly in want of a sensation
themselves), and was now practically closed,
so that the alliterative artist of the " Morning
Advertiser's" placards had nothing better upon
which to exercise his ingenuity than a " Con-
26


THE MURDER IN FLEET STREET
flict among County Councillors," and the
"Daily Chronicle's" most exciting contents
were a poem by Mr. Richard le Gallienne and
a letter from Mr. Bernard Shaw. Nor was
anything doing in the aristocratic world. Not
a single duke, marquis, earl, viscount, or baron
was appearing as respondent or co-respondent
in a divorce case, or as actor in any turf or
society scandal, and there was a widespread
feeling that the aristocracy, as a whole, was
not doing its duty to the country.
As a matter of fact, one among many results
of the sudden cessation, three months since, of
every sort of Anarchistic outrage, had been
that the daily papers could not seem other
than flat reading to a public which had pre-
viously opened these same prints each morning
with apprehension and anxiety. Though the
vigorous action taken by the editor of the
"Daily Record," in London, and of the "Dub-
lin News," in Dublin, had not, as had been
expected, led to the arrest of Captain Shannon
or his colleagues, it had apparently so alarmed
the conspirators as to cause them to abandon
their plan of campaign. The general opinion
was that Captain Shannon, finding so much
27


CAPTAIN SHANNON
was known, and that, though his own identity
had not been fixed, the personality of the lead-
ers of the conspiracy was no longer a secret,
had deemed it advisable to flee the country,
lest the offer of so large a reward as ^25,000
should tempt the cupidity of some of his
colleagues. And as it always had been be-
lieved that he was the prime source and
author of the whole diabolical conspiracy, the
cessation of the outrages was regarded as a
natural consequence of his defalcation.
I was thinking of Captain Shannon and of
the suddenness with which he had dropped out
of public notice while I walked up Fleet Street
on this particular morning. As I passed the
"Daily Chronicle" buildings and glanced at
the placards displayed in the window I could
not help contrasting in my mind the unimpor-
tant occurrences which were there in small
type set forth, with the news of the terrible
outrage which had leapt to meet the eye from
the same window three months since. Just as I
approached the office of the "Daily Record"
I heard the sound of the sudden and hurried
flinging open of a door, and the next moment
a man, wild-eyed, white-faced, and hatless, rushed
28


THE MURDER IN FLEET STREET
out into the road shouting, " Murder! murder!
police! murder!" at the top of his voice.
In an instant the restless, hurrying human
streams that ebb and flow ceaselessly in the
narrow channel of Fleet Street — like contend-
ing rivers running between lofty banks — had
surged up in a huge wave around him. In the
next a policeman, pushing back the crowd with
his right hand and his left, had forced a way
to the man's side, inquiring gruffly, " Now then,
what's up? And where?"
"Murder! The editor's just been stabbed in
his room by Captain Shannon or one of his
agents. Don't let any one out. The assassin
may not have had time to get away," was the
rejoinder.
There are no police officers more efficient
and prompt to act than those of the City of
London, and on this occasion they acquitted
themselves admirably. Other constables had
now hurried up, and at once proceeded to clear
a space in front of the " Record" office, form-
ing a cordon on each side of the road, and
allowing no one to pass in or out.
A messenger was despatched in haste for the
nearest doctor, and when guards had been set
29


CAPTAIN SHANNON
at every entrance to, and possible exit from,
the "Record" office, two policemen passed
within the building to pursue inquiries, and
the doors were shut and locked. Among the
crowd outside the wildest rumours and,specu-
lations were rife.
"The editor of the ' Record' had been mur-
dered by Captain Shannon himself, who had
come on purpose to wreak vengeance for the
attitude the paper had taken up in regajd to
the conspiracy."
"The murderer had been caught red-handed
and was now in custody of the police."
"The murderer was concealed somewhere on
the premises, and had in his possession an in-
fernal machine with which it would be possible
to wreck half Fleet Street."
(This last report had the effect of causing
a temporary diversion in favour of the side
streets.)
"The murderers had got clean away and the
whole staff of the ' Record' had been arrested
on suspicion." These and many other rumours
were passed from mouth to mouth and repeated
with astonishing variations until the arrival of
the doctor, who was by various well-informed
30


THE MURDER IN FLEET STREET
persons promptly recognised as, and authorita-
tively pronounced to be, Captain Shaw, the
Chief Commissioner of Police, the Lord Mayor,
and Sir Augustus Harris.
Every door, window, and letter-box became
an object of fearsome curiosity. People were
half inclined to wonder how they could so many
times have passed the "Record" office without
recognising something of impending tragedy
about the building — something of historic in-
terest in the shape of the very window-panes
and key-holes. One man among the crowd
attained enviable celebrity by announcing that
he "see the editor go up that passage and
through that door — the very door where he'd
gone through that morning afore he was mur-
dered— scores of times, and did tit think noth-
ink of it" which last admission seemed to
impress the crowd with the fact that here at
least was a fellow whose praiseworthy modesty
deserved encouragement.
Meanwhile no sign of anything having trans-
pired was to be seen within the building, and
people were beginning to get impatient when,
from somewhere in the neighbourhood of the
Thames Embankment, came that sound so
3i


CAPTAIN SHANNON
familiar to Cockney ears — a sound which no
true Londoner can hear with indifference —
the hoarse vociferation of the newsvendors pro-
claiming some sensational news. At first it
was nothing but a distant babel, like the husky
barking of dogs, but as it drew nearer the
shouts became more distinguishable, and I
caught the words, "'Ere yer are, sir!' Sun,'
sir! Murder of a heditor this mornin'! 'Ere
yer are, sir!"
"That's smart, that is!" said a fellow who
was standing next to me in the crowd. "T. P.
O'Connor don't let no grass grow under his
feet, 'e don't. Why, the murdered man ain't
'ardly cold, and 'ere it is all in the ' Sun !'"
"Shut yer jaw," said a woman near him.
"'Tain't this murder at all —can't yer 'ear?"
And then as the moving babel, like a slowly
travelling storm-cloud, drew nearer and nearer
and finally burst upon Fleet Street, we could
make out what the newsvendors were hoarsely
vociferating.
"'Ere yer are, sir! 'Sun,' sir! Murder o'
the heditor o' the ' Dublin News' this mornin'.
Capture o' the hassassin, who turns hinformer.
Captain Shannon's name and hidentity disclosed.
32


THE MURDER IN FLEET STREET
The 'ole 'ideous plot laid bare. 'Ere yer are,
sir!"
Elbowing my way as best I could through
the crowd, I succeeded at last in getting within
a yard or two of a newsboy, and, by offering
him a shilling and telling him not to mind the
change, possessed myself of a " Sun." This is
what I read at the top of the centre page: —
"The editor of the 'Dublin News * was stabbed in
the street at an early hour this morning. The mur-
derer was captured and has now turned informer.
The police refuse to give any information in regard
to what has been divulged, but there is no doubt that
Captain Shannon's name and identity have at last
been disclosed, and that the whole hideous conspiracy
is now laid bare. Further particulars in our next
edition."
3
33


CHAPTER V
THE IDENTITY OF CAPTAIN SHANNON DIS-
CLOSED AT LAST
HE news that the captured conspirator had
turned informer and divulged the name
and identity of Captain Shannon created, as
may be supposed, the wildest excitement. Con-
trary to general expectation, the authorities
seemed willing to accord information instead
of withholding it, though whether this was not
as much due to gratification at finding them-
selves in the novel position of having any infor-
mation to accord, as to their desire to allay
public anxiety, may be questioned.
The editor of the "Dublin News" had, it
seemed, been speaking at a public dinner and
was returning between twelve and one o'clock
from the gathering. As it was a close night
and the room had been hot, he mentioned to a
friend that he thought he should walk home
instead of driving. This he had apparently
done, for a police constable who was standing

34


IDENTITY OF CAPTAIN SHANNON
in the shadow of a doorway near the editor's
residence saw him turn the corner of the street
closely followed by another man who was pre-
sumably begging. The editor stopped and put
his hand in his pocket as if to search for a coin,
and as he did so the supposed beggar struck at
him, apparently with a knife. The unfortunate
gentleman fell without a cry, and the assassin
then stooped over him to repeat the blow, after
which he started to run at full speed in the
direction of the constable, who drew back
within the doorway until the runner was almost
upon him, when he promptly tripped his man
up and held him down until assistance arrived.
When taken to the station the prisoner at first
denied, with much bluster, all knowledge of the
crime; but when he learned, with evident dis-
may, that the murder had been witnessed, and
saw the damning evidence of guilt in the shape
of blood-spattering upon his right sleeve, his
bluster gave place to the most grovelling terror,
and though he refused to give any account of
himself he was removed to a cell in a state of
complete collapse.
The next morning his condition was even
more abject. The result of his self-commun-
35


CAPTAIN SHANNON
ings had apparently been to convince him that
the hangman's hand was already upon him, and
that his only chance of saving his neck lay in
turning informer and throwing himself upon the
mercy of the authorities. The wretched creature
implored the police to believe that he was no
assassin by his own choice, and that the murder
would never have been committed had he not
gone in fear of his life from the spies and agents
of Captain Shannon, whose instructions he dared
not disobey. He expressed his readiness to
reveal all he knew of the conspiracy, and de-
clared that he was not only aware who Captain
Shannon was, but actually had a portrait of the
arch-conspirator which he was prepared to hand
over to the police. He then went on to say
that the murder of the editor of the "Dublin
News" was to be companioned in London by
the murder of the editor of the " Daily Record."
On hearing this last startling piece of news
the Dublin police wired immediately to New
Scotland Yard and to the London office of the
"Daily Record," but the warning arrived at the
latter place a few minutes too late, for when
the telegram was taken to the editor's room
he was found lying stabbed through the heart.
36


IDENTITY OF CAPTAIN SHANNON
An alarm was raised as already described, the
doors locked, and every one within the building
subjected to the severest examination, but all
that could be discovered was that a well-groomed
and young-looking man, dressed and speaking
like a gentleman, had called some ten minutes
before, saying that he had an appointment with
the editor. He had sent up the name of Mr.
Hyram B. Todd, of Boston, and the editor's
reply had been, "Show the gentleman in."
Why this unknown stranger was allowed access
to an editor who is generally supposed to be
entirely inaccessible to outsiders, there was not
a particle of evidence to show. All that was
known was that a minute or two before the
murder had been discovered, the supposed Mr.
Todd came out from the editor's room, turning
back to nod "Good-morning; and thank you
very much" at the door, after closing which
he left the building. No cry or noise of
scuffling had been heard, but, from the fact that
the editor was lying face downwards over
a table upon which papers were generally
kept, it was supposed that he had risen
from his chair and walked across the room
to this table to look for a manuscript or mem-
37


CAPTAIN SHANNON
orandum. To do so he must have turned his
back upon the visitor, who had apparently
seized the opportunity to stab his victim to
the heart, and had then left the office just in
time to escape detection.
The importance of the arrest which had been
made was fully realized when, two days after its
occurrence, the name, personal description, and
portrait of Captain Shannon were posted up on
every police-station in the kingdom, with the
announcement that the Government would pay
a reward of £5,000 for information which should
lead to his arrest.
He was, it seemed, the fourth man on the " Daily
Record's" list, his name being James Mullen,
an Irish-American, and was described as between
forty and fifty years of age, short, and slightly
lame. In complexion he was stated to be dark,
with brown hair and bushy beard, but his most
distinguishable feature was said to be his eyes,
which were described as particularly full and
fine, with heavy lids.
Then came the portrait, which, the instant I
looked at it, startled me strangely. The face as
I saw it there was unknown to me; but that
somewhere and sometime in my life I had seen
38


IDENTITY OF CAPTAIN SHANNON
the face — not of some one resembling this man,
but of the very man himself— I was positive,
though under what circumstances I could not,
for the life of me, remember. I have as a rule
an excellent memory, and I attribute this very
largely to the fact that I never allow myself to
forget. Memory, like the lamp which came into
the possession of Aladdin, can summon magi-
cians to aid us at call. But memory is a
lamp which must be kept bright by constant
usage, or it ceases to retain its power. The
slave-sprites serve mortals none too willingly,
and if, when you rub the lamp, the atten-
dant sprite come not readily to your call, and
you, through indolence, allow him to slip back
into the blue, be sure that when next you seek
his offices he will again be mutinous. And if
on that occasion you compel him not, he will
become more and ever more slack in his service,
and finally will shake off his allegiance and cease
to do your bidding at all.
Hence, as I have said, I never allow myself to
forget, though when I stumble upon a stubborn
matter I go like a dog with a thorn in his foot
till the thing be found. Such a matter was it to
remember where and when I had seen the face
39


CAPTAIN SHANNON
that so reminded me of Captain Shannon. Day
after day went by, and yet, cudgel my brains as
I would, I could get no nearer to tracing the
connection, and but for sheer obstinacy had
pitched the whole concern out of my mind and
gone about my business. Sometimes I was
nigh persuaded that the thing I sought was sen-
tient and alive, and was dodging me of pure
devilry and set purpose. Once it tweaked me,
as it were, by the ear, as if to whisper therein
the words I was wanting, but when I turned to
attend it, lo! it was gone at a bound and was
making mouths at me round a corner. It
seemed as if — as sportsmen tell us of the fox —
the creature rather enjoyed being hunted than
otherwise, and entered into the sport with as much
zest as the sportsman. Sometimes it cast in my
way a colour, a sound, or an odour (I noticed
that when I smelt tobacco I seemed, as the
children say, to be getting "warmer") which
set me off again in wild pursuit and with some
promise of success. And then when I had for
the fiftieth time abandoned the profitless chase,
and, so to speak, returned home and shut myself
up within my own walls, it doubled back to give
a runaway knock at my door, only to mock me
40


IDENTITY OF CAPTAIN SHANNON
when I rushed out by the nutter of a garment
in the act of vanishing.
But I was resolved that not all its freaks
should avail it ultimately to escape me, for
though I had to hunt it through every by-way
and convolution of my brain, I was determined
to give myself no rest till I had laid it by the
heels, — and lay it by the heels I eventually did,
as you shall shortly hear.
Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes is of opinion that
"Memory, imagination, old sentiments and as-
sociations, are more readily reached through
the sense of smell than by almost any other
channel." The probable reason for this strange
connection between the sense of smell and the
mind is, he tells us, " because the olfactory nerve
is the only one directly connected with the
hemispheres of the brain — the part in which
we have every reason to believe the intellectual
processes are carried on. To speak more
truly," he continues, " the olfactory nerve is not
a nerve at all, but a part of the brain in intimate
connection with its anterior lobes. Contrast the
sense of taste as a source of suggestive impres-
sions with that of smell. Now the nerve of
taste has no immediate connection with the
4i


CAPTAIN SHANNON
brain proper, but only with the prolongation of
the spinal cord."
Curiously enough, it was in connection with a
scent that I ultimately succeeded in recalling
where and under what circumstances I had seen
the face of which I was in search, and but for
the fact of my having smelt a particular odour
in a particular place this narrative would never
have been written.
I have said that when I smelt tobacco I felt
that I was, as the children say, "getting
warmer." But, unfortunately, tobacco in the
shape of pipe, cigar, or cigarette is in my mouth
whenever I have an excuse for the indulgence,
and often when I have none. Hence, though
the face F sought seemed more than once to
loom out at me through tobacco smoke, I had
watched too many faces through that pleasing
mist to be able to recall the particular circum-
stances under which I had seen the one in
question. Nevertheless, it was tobacco which
ultimately gave me my clue.
The morning was very windy, and I had three
times unsuccessfully essayed to light my cigar
with an ordinary match. In despair — for in a
general way I hate fusees like poison— I bought
42


IDENTITY OF CAPTAIN SHANNON
a box of vesuvians which an observant and en-
terprising match-vendor promptly thrust under
my nose. As I struck the vile thing and the
pestilent smell assailed my nostrils, the scene I
was seeking to recall came back to me. I was
sitting in a third-class smoking carriage on the
London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway, and
opposite to me was a little talkative man who
had previously lit his pipe with a fusee. I saw
him take out the box evidently with the inten-
tion of striking another, and then I heard a
voice say, " For heaven's sake, sir, don't stink
the carriage out again with that filthy thing!
Pray allow me to give you a match."
The speaker was sitting directly in front of
me, and as I recalled his face while I stood
there in the street with the still unlighted cigar
between my lips, the open box in one hand and
the now burnt-out fusee arrested half-way toward
the cigar-tip in the other, I knew that his face
was the face of Captain Shannon.
43


CHAPTER VI
I MAKE UP MY MIND TO FIND CAPTAIK
SHANNON
HE striking of that fusee was a critical
moment in my life, for before the thing
had hissed itself into a black and crackling cin-
der I had decided to follow up the clue which
had been so strangely thrown in my way. My
principal reason for so deciding was that I
wanted a rest — the rest of a change of occupa-
tion, not the rest of inaction. I am by profes-
sion what George Borrow would have called
"one of the writing fellows." But, much as I
love my craft, and generous and large-hearted
as I have always found literary men—at all
events, large-brained literary men — to be, I
cannot profess much admiration for the fussy
folk who seem to imagine that God made our
world and the infinite worlds around it, life and
death, and the human heart, with its joys and
sorrows and hope of immortality, for no other
reason than that they should have something to
write about.

44


FINDING CAPTAIN SHANNON
Instead of recognising that it is only life and
the unintelligible mystery of life which make
literature of any consequence, they seem to
fancy that literature is the chief concern and
end of man's being. As a matter of fact, litera-
ture is to life what a dog's tail is to his body —
a very valuable appendage; but the dog must
wag the tail, not the tail the dog, as some of
these gentry would have us to believe. The
dog could, at a pinch, make shift to do without
the tail, but the tail could under no circum-
stances do without the dog.
You may screw a pencil into one end of a
pair of compasses and draw as many circles of
different sizes as you please, but it is from the
other end that you must take your centres, and
what the pivot end is to the pencil, life must be
to literature.
Hence it is my habit every now and then to
put away from me all that is connected with
books and the making of books, and to seek
only to live my life, and to possess my own soul
and this wonderful world about us.
At the particular date of which I am writing,
the restlessness which is so often associated
with the literary temperament was upon me.
45


CAPTAIN SHANNON
I craved change, excitement, and adventures,
and these the following up of the clue which I
held to the identity of Captain Shannon prom-
ised in abundance.
As everything depended upon the assumption
that James Mullen was, as was stated, Captain
Shannon, the first question which I felt it neces-
sary seriously to consider was whether the in-
former's evidence was to be credited; and I did
not lose sight of the fact that his confessions, so
far from being entitled to be regarded as bona
fide evidence, were to be received with very
grave suspicion. At the best they might be
nothing more than the invention of one who
had no information to give, but who hoped by
means of them either to prevent, or at least to
stave off for a time, the otherwise inevitable
death sentence which was hanging over his
head.
At the worst it was possible that the pre-
tended Queen's evidence had been carefully
prepared beforehand by Captain Shannon, and
communicated by him to his agents, to be used
in the event of any of them falling into the
hands of the police. In that case the state-
ments which might thus be put forward, so far
46


FINDING CAPTAIN SHANNON
from being of assistance to the authorities,
would be deliberately constructed with a view
to confuse and mislead.
The one thing which I found it utterly impos-
sible to reconcile with the theories I had pre-
viously formed about Captain Shannon was
that the informer should have in his possession
a portrait of his chief.
Was it likely, I asked myself, that so cunning
a criminal would, by allowing his portrait to get
into the possession of his agents, place himself
at the mercy of any scoundrel who, for the sake
of an offered reward, would be ready to betray
his leader, or of some coward who, on falling
into the hands of the police, might offer to turn
Queen's evidence? Was it not far more likely,
on the contrary, that the explanation of Cap-
tain Shannon's having so successfully eluded the
police and kept the authorities in ignorance of
his very identity was that he had carefully
concealed that identity even from his own
colleagues?
The more I thought about it the more
assured I became that so crafty a man — a
man who was not only an artist but a genius
in crime — would trust absolutely no one with
47


CAPTAIN SHANNON
a secret that concerned his own safety. On the
few occasions when he would have to come
into personal relation with his confederates, it
seemed more than probable to me that he
would assume some definite and consistent dis-
guise which would mislead even them in regard
to his appearance and individuality.
On being asked how the portrait got into his
possession, and whether it was a good likeness,
the informer had replied that he had only seen
Captain Shannon on a single occasion, when he
met him one night by appointment at Euston
Station. The portrait had been sent home to
him beforehand, so that he might have no diffi-
culty in recognizing the person to whom he was
to deliver a certain package, and he added that,
so far as he could see, it was an excellent
likeness.
Some such explanation as this was just what
I had expected, for if the portrait were in-
tended, as I supposed, to mislead the police,
I was sure that Captain Shannon would invent
some plausible story to account for its being
in the possession of one of his colleagues.
Otherwise the fact of a man, for whose arrest
a large reward had been offered, having, for no
48


FINDING CAPTAIN SHANNON
apparent reason, presented his photograph to a
fellow-conspirator, might arouse suspicion of
the portrait's genuineness.
That the portrait represented not the real
but the disguised Captain Shannon, I was
equally confident. I thought it more than pos-
sible that the man I had to find would be the
exact opposite of the man who was there por-
trayed, and of the informer's description. For
instance, as the pictured Captain Shannon was
evidently dark, and was said to be dark by the
informer, the real Captain Shannon would prob-
ably be fair, as the more dissimilar was the real
Captain Shannon from the Captain Shannon for
whom the police were searching, the less likely
would they be to find him.
Then, again, it had been particularly stated
by the informer that James Mullen was slightly
lame, and to this the police attached the great-
est importance. The fact that the man they
wanted had an infirmity so easily recognised
and so difficult to conceal was considered to
narrow down the field of their investigations to
the smallest compass and to render the fugi-
tive's ultimate capture nothing less than a
certainty.
4 49


CAPTAIN SHANNON
For myself, I was not at all sure that this
supposed lameness was not part and parcel of
Captain Shannon's disguise. A sound man
could easily simulate lameness, but a lame man
could not so simulate soundness of limb, and
I could not help thinking that if Captain
Shannon were, as had been asserted, lame, he
would have taken care to conceal the fact from
his confederates.
If the police could be induced to believe that
the man they wanted was lame, they would not,
in all probability, be inconveniently suspicious
about the movements of a stranger evidently
of sound and equal limb, who might otherwise
be called on to give an account of himself.
Being curious to know what course they were
pursuing, I made it my business within the next
few days to scrape an acquaintance with one of
the ticket-collectors at Euston. After propitiat-
ing him in the usual way by a judicious appli-
cation of "palm-oil," I ventured to put the
question whether he had at any time noticed
a short, dark, lame man on the platform where
the Irish mail started.
A broad grin came over the fellow's face in
reply.
5°


FINDING CAPTAIN SHANNON
"What, are they on that lay still!" he said,
derisively. "I knew you was after something,
but I should n't have took you for a detective."
I assured him that I was not a detective, and
asked him to explain, whereupon he told me
that immediately after the publication of the
portrait of Captain Shannon, instructions had
been sent to all railway stations that a keen
look-out was to be kept for a short, dark, lame
man, whether clean-shaven or bearded, and
that if a person in any way resembling James
Mullen (whose portrait was placed in the hands
of every ticket-collector), was noticed, the police
should instantly be communicated with.
"Why, if you was to know, sir," said the
collector, "'ow many short, dark, respectable
gents, what 'appens to be lame, have been took
up lately on suspicion, you'd larf, you would.
It's bad enough to be lame at hany time, but
when you 're going to be harrested for a han-
archist as well, it makes your life a perfect
misery, it do."
5*


MEETING WITH JAMES MULLEN
fancy a part of the dilatable cuticle on each
side had been cut away. The finely-moulded
chin was like the upper lip and cheek, clean-
shaven, and the lips were full and voluptuous.
Thick but fine and straight, straw-coloured
hair was carefully brushed over a well-formed
forehead, and the face, taken altogether, was
decidedly distinguished, if not aristocratic, in
the firmness of outline and the shaping of the
features.
After the train had started, Mullen sank back
into his seat and appeared to be thinking
intently. I noticed that his eyes were never
still a moment, but darted restlessly from object
to object in a way which seemed to indicate
great brain excitability. That he was excitable
was clear from his vehement outburst about the
fusee; but almost the next minute he had, so
to speak, made amends for his apparent rude-
ness by explaining that he was peculiarly sensi-
tive to smell, and had an especial dislike to
fusees.
Nevertheless the sudden change in the ex-
pression of his face at the moment of the out-
break was remarkable. The previously smooth
and unpuckered brows gathered themselves
S3


CAPTAIN SHANNON
together into two diagonal wrinkles that met
above the nose, which had in the meantime be-
come beak-like, and the effect recalled in some
curious way a bird of prey. He was soon all
smiles again; but once or twice throughout the
journey, when his thoughts were presumably
unpleasant, I caught the same expression, and it
was the fact of my seeing in the photograph this
same unmistakable expression on the face of a
man who was apparently a different person
which had set me fumbling with such uncertain
hand among the dog's-eared pages of the past.
The eyes, the hawk-like wrinkling of the brows,
and the nose and nostrils were of course the
same, but the addition of the beard, the evident
swarthiness of the skin, and darkening of the
hair led to my failing at first to connect the
portrait with my fellow-passenger to Southend.
But the missing link was no sooner found and
the connection established than I felt that the
identity of Mullen with the man I had seen in
the train admitted of no uncertainty, especially
as, after examining under a powerful lens, the
photograph which the informer had given to
the police, I satisfied myself that the beard was
false.
54


MEETING WITH JAMES MULLEN
My next step was to set on foot an inquiry
into Mullen's family history and antecedents.
I hoped, and in fact believed, that the clue
which I held to his identity would in itself enable
me to trace him, but at the same time I fully
recognised that circumstances might arise which
would render that clue useless and throw me
back upon such information as could be ascer-
tained apart from it. That I should not be un-
prepared for such a contingency was very
necessary, and I therefore commissioned a
private detective named Green, whom I knew to
be able and trustworthy, to ferret out for me all
that could be discovered of Mullen's past.
Having wished him good-bye and good luck,
I started for Southend, whither I intended
journeying in the company of the little talkative
man with whom Mullen had had the brush
about the fusees. I thought it more than likely
that he was a commercial traveller, partly be-
cause of the deferential stress and frequency
with which he interpolated the word "sir" into
any remarks he chanced to make, and partly
because of the insinuating politeness with which
he addressed Mullen and myself — politeness
which seemed to suggest that he had accus-
SS


CAPTAIN SHANNON
tomed himself to look upon every one with whom
he came into contact as a possible customer,
under whose notice he would one day have
occasion to bring the excellence of his wares,
and with whom, therefore, he was anxious to be
on good terms.
That he lived at Southend I knew from an
observation he had let fall; and after watching
the barrier at Fenchurch Street station for a
couple of hours, I saw him enter an empty third-
class smoking compartment five minutes before
the departure of an evening train. Half-a-
crown slipped into the guard's hand, with
a request that he would put me into the same
carriage and reserve it, effected the desired
result, and when the train moved out of the
station the little man and myself had the com-
partment to ourselves.
I knew from what I had heard of my com-
panion's remarks on the occasion when I had
journeyed to Southend with him that, though
talkative and inquisitive, he was also shrewd and
observant, as men of his occupation generally
are, and as it would be necessary to ask him two
or three pertinent questions, I thought it advis-
able to let the first advance come from him.
56


MEETING WITH JAMES MULLEN
That he was already eyeing me in order to
ascertain whether an overture towards sociability
was likely to meet with a welcome, I could see.
The result was apparently satisfactory, for after
an introductory cough he inquired whether I
would like the window up or down.
Always beware on a railway journey, when you
wish to be left to the company of your news-
paper, of the man who is unduly anxious for
your comfort. 'T were wise to roar him at once
into silence, for your gentle answer, instead
of turning away wrath, is often too apt to
beget it. Speak him civilly, and you deliver
yourself bound into his hands; for you have
scarce made your bow of acknowledgment,
sunk back into your place and taken up your
paper again, before his tongue is hammering
banalities about the weather at the thick end of
the wedge he has inserted.
In the present instance, as the little man sat
facing the engine and with the wind blowing
directly in his face, whereas I was on the oppo-
site and sheltered side, the window rights were,
according to the unwritten laws of the road,
entirely at his disposal. But as it suited my
purpose to show a friendly front to his advances,
57


CAPTAIN SHANNON
I protested with many thanks that I had no
choice in the matter, and awaited with compos-
ure the inevitable observation about the proba-
bility of rain before morning. From the weather
and the crops we got to the results of a wet
summer to seaside places generally, and thence
to Southend. I remarked that I thought of
taking a house there, and asked him about the
residents.
"Oh, Southend is very much like other places
of the sort," he answered. "It's got a great
many pleasant and a few objectionable folks.
There are the local celebrities (eminent nobodies
I call them), who, it is true, are very important
personages indeed, their importance in South-
end being only equalled by their utter insignifi-
cance and total extinction outside that locality.
And there's a good sprinkling of gentlemen
with ' sporting' tendencies. I must tell you, by
the bye, that the qualities which constitute a
man a sportsman in Southend are decided pro-
clivities towards cards, billiards, and whisky —
especially whisky. But take the Southend folk
all round they 're the pleasantest of people, and
a chummier little place I never knew:"
I made a great show of laughing at the little
58


MEETING WITH JAMES MULLEN
man's description, which, as he evidently laid
himself out to be a wit, put him in the best of
humours with himself and with me, and I then
went on to say that I thought he and I had
travelled down together on another occasion,
and reminded him of the fusee incident.
He replied that he did not recollect me,
which was not to be wondered at, for I had sat
well back in the darkest corner, and had taken
no part in the conversation. "But I remember
the man who objected so to the fusee," he went
on with a smile. "He did get excited over it,
didn't he?"
I said that he certainly had done so, and
asked with apparent unconcern whether the man
in question was a friend.
"No, I can't say that he's a friend," was the
answer; "but I've travelled down with him
several times, and always found him very pleas-
ant company."
I was glad to hear this, for it satisfied me that
the fact of my having seen Mullen in the South-
end train was not due to a chance visit which
might never have been repeated. Had it been
so the difficulty of my undertaking would have
been enormously increased, for I should then
59


CAPTAIN SHANNON
have held a clue only to his identity, whereas I
had now a clue to his whereabouts as well.
"But now you mention it" (which, as I had
nothing to mention, was not the case), my
companion went on, "now that you mention it
— though it had never struck me before—it is
rather strange that, though I've seen our friend
several times in the train, I have never once
seen him anywhere in Southend. In a place
like that you are bound to see any one staying
there, and in fact I've often knocked up against
the same people half a dozen times in an even-
ing, first on the cliffs, then on the pier, and after
that in the town. But I can't recall ever once
seeing our fusee friend anywhere. It seems as if
when he got to Southend he vanished into space."
I looked closely at my companion, lest the
remark had been made with intentional signi-
ficance and indicated that he himself enter-
tained suspicions of Mullen's object in visiting
Southend. Such was apparently not the case,
however, for after two or three irrelevant obser-
vations he got upon the subject of politics, and
continued to bore me with his own very posi-
tive ideas upon the matter for the rest of the
journey.
60


CAPTAIN SHANNON
fidence would have been ill-advised, for had we
succeeded in laying hands upon that arch-con-
spirator, no one could have prevented Muir
from then and there pounding the monster into
a pulp. Personally I had no objection to such
a proceeding, but as I considered that the ends
of justice would be better served by the hand-
ing over to the authorities of Captain Shannon's
person in the whole, rather than in pieces,
I decided to withhold from my impetuous
friend the exact reason for my being in South-
end.
As a matter of fact, it was not his assistance
that I needed, but that of a very quiet-tongued,
shrewd, and reliable man named Quickly, who
was employed by Muir as skipper of his yacht.
It occurred to me that Quickly would be the
very person to find out what I wanted to know
about the boats, concerning which I was un-
able to satisfy myself. Men of his class gossip
among themselves very freely, and inquiries
made by him would seem as natural as the
curiosity of the servants' hall about the affairs
of masters and mistresses, whereas the same in-
quiries made by me, a stranger, would be cer-
tain to arouse suspicion, and might even reach
62


MEETING WITH JAMES MULLEN
the ears of Mullen himself were he in the neigh-
bourhood.
"All serene, my boy," said Muir, when I told
him that I wanted Quickly's help for a few days
on a matter about which I was not at liberty to
speak for the present. "You 're just in time.
Quickly was going out with me in the boat, but
I 'll call him in."
"Quickly," he said, when the skipper pre-
sented himself, "this is my friend Mr. Max
Rissler, whom you know. Well, Mr. Rissler's
a very particular friend of mine, and by obliging
him you 'll be obliging me. He's to be your
master for the next day or two, and I want you
to do just as he tells you, and to keep your
mouth shut about it. Now Mr. Rissler's going
to have some lunch with me. In the meantime,
you go into the kitchen and play " Rule Britan-
nia" on the cold beef and beer, and be ready to
go into Southend with him by the next train, as
he's in a hurry and wants to set to work this
afternoon."
And set to work we did that very afternoon,
the plan pursued being to make out a list of all
the vessels lying off the neighbourhood, and to
ascertain the owners, and whether there was
63


CAPTAIN SHANNON
any one else on board. The task was not diffi-
cult, as Quickly seemed to know the name and
history of almost every craft afloat, but the
result was disappointing, for not all our in-
quiries could discover any one answering to
Mullen's description, or indeed any one whose
presence was not satisfactorily accounted for.
Even the Nore lightship, which lies several
miles out to sea, was not forgotten, for the very
first idea which occurred to me in connection
with Southend and Mullen was, what a snug
and out-of-the-world hiding-place the vessel
would make, were it possible to obtain shelter
there.
Had there been only one man in charge, it
was not inconceivable that he might — like
the jailer who assisted the head centre, James
Stephen, to escape from Dublin jail in i865 —
have been a secret sympathizer with the con-
spirators, or at all events in their pay, and that
a fugitive who could offer a sufficiently tempt-
ing bribe might succeed in obtaining shelter
and the promise of silence.
I found on inquiry, however, that there was
quite a crew on board, and that the lightship is
frequently visited by the Trinity House boats,
64


MEETING WITH JAMES MULLEN
so the chance of any one being concealed there
was out of the question. But though I dis-
missed the lightship from my consideration, I
could not help asking myself if there might not
be some similar place in the neighbourhood of
Southend to which the objection which ren-
dered the Nore lightship impossible as a hiding
place would not apply, and even as I did so
the thought of the dynamite hulks off Canvey
Island occurred to me.
5
65


CHAPTER VIII
THE DYNAMITE HULK
O one who has not visited Canvey would
~ believe that so lonely and out-of-the-world
a spot could exist within thirty miles of Lon-
don. Just as we sometimes find, within half-a-
dozen paces of a great central city thorough-
fare, where the black and pursuing streams
of passengers who throng its pavements never
cease to flow, and the roar of traffic is never
still, some silent and unsuspected alley or court
into which no stranger turns aside, and where
any sound but that of a slinking footstep is
seldom heard, — so, bordering the great world-
thoroughfare of the Thames, is to be found a
spot where life seems stagnant, and where
scarcely one of the thousands who pass within
a stone's throw has ever set foot.
Where the Thames swings round within sight
of the sea, there lies, well out of the sweep of
the current, a pear-shaped island, some six

66


THE DYNAMITE HULK
miles long and three miles broad, which is
known as Canvey.
Three hundred years ago it was practically
uninhabitable, for at high tide the marshes were
flooded by the sea, and it was not until i623
that James I. invited a Dutchman named Joas
Croppenburg and his friends to settle there,
offering them a third for themselves if they
could reclaim the island from the sea. This
offer the enterprising Dutchman accepted, and
immediately set to work to build a sea-wall,
which so effectually protects the low-lying
marsh-land, that, standing inside it, one seems to
be at a lower level than the water, and can
see only the topmost spars and sails of the
apparently bodiless barges and boats which
glide ghost-like by.
But the most noticeable features in the scenery
of Canvey are the evil-looking dynamite hulks
which lie scowling on the water like huge black
and red-barred coffins. Upwards of a dozen of
these nests of devilry are moored off the island,
and they are the first objects to catch the eye as
one looks out from the sea wall.
In view of the fact that the position of Can-
vey in regard to one of the greatest water high-
67


CAPTAIN SHANNON
ways in the world is like that of a house which
lies only a few yards back from a main road,
one wonders at first that such a locality should
have been selected as the storage place of so
vast a quantity of a deadly explosive. That it
was so selected only after the matter had re-
ceived the most careful and serious considera-
tion of the authorities is certain; and though
very nearly the whole of the shipping which
enters the Thames must necessarily pass almost
within hail of the island, the spot is so remote
and out of the world that it is doubtful if any
safer or securer place could have been found.
The dynamite magazines consist, as the name
indicates, of the dismantled hulks of old mer-
chant vessels, which, though long past active
service, are still water-tight. One man only is
in charge of each hulk, which he is not sup-
posed to leave, everything that he needs be-
ing obtained for him by the boatman, whose
sole duty it is to fetch and carry for the hulk-
keepers. ,
Not only is a hulk-keeper who happens to be
married forbidden to have his children with
him, but even the presence of his wife is dis-
allowed, his instructions being that no one but
68


THE DYNAMITE HULK
himself is under any circumstances to come on
board.
These rules are not, however, very rigidly
complied with. A hulk-keeper is only human,
and as his life is lonely it often happens that
when visitors row out to the ship he is by no
means displeased to see them, and half-a-crown
will frequently procure admittance, not only to
his own quarters, but to the hold where the ex-
plosive itself is stored in small oblong wooden
boxes, each containing fifty pounds. Nor are
instances unknown where the solitude of a
married hulk-keeper's life has been cheered by
the presence of his wife, the good lady joining
her husband immediately after an inspection and
remaining with him until such time as another
visit may be looked for. Even if the fact of
her presence on board becomes known on the
island the matter is considered as nobody's
business but the inspector's, and the love of
an officer of the Crown is not so great among
watermen and villagers as to lead them to go
out of their way to assist him in the execution
of his duty.
Had I not had reason to suppose that Mullen
was somewhere in the neighbourhood of South-
69


CAPTAIN SHANNON
end, the possibility of his being on one of these
hulks would never have occurred to me. But
the more I thought of it the more I was im-
pressed with the facilities which such a place
afforded for a fugitive to lie in hiding, and I
promptly decided that before I dismissed the
hulks from my consideration I must first satisfy
myself that the man I was looking for was on
none of them.
A point which I did not lose sight of was that
it was quite possible for a hulk-keeper who was
taciturn by nature, and not prone to encourage
gossip, to remain in entire ignorance of what
was taking place throughout the country, and
of the reward which had been offered for the
apprehension of Captain Shannon. In fact
there is at this moment in charge of one of the
hulks off Canvey a man who is never known to
go ashore, to receive visitors, or to enter into
conversation. Whether he is unable to read
I cannot say, but at all events he never asks
for a newspaper, so that it is conceivable that
he may not know — happy, man! — whether the
Conservatives or Liberals are in power, or
whether England is ruled by Queen Victoria
or by Edward the Seventh.
70


THE DYNAMITE HULK
The first thing to be done was to make out
a list of the dynamite hulks—just as I had
made a list of the boats off Southend — and
then to take the vessels one by one and satisfy
myself that no one was there in hiding. I need
not more fully describe the details of the various
inquiries than to say that, in order to avoid at-
tracting attention, they were made as at South-
end by the waterman Quickly.
Most of the hulks are moored in the creek
within sight of Hole Haven, where the principal
inn of the island is situated, and all these we
were soon able to dismiss from our calculation.
But there was one hulk, the " Cuban Queen," ly-
ing, not in the shelter of the creek, but in a
much more lonely spot directly off Canvey, in
regard to which I was not able to come to a
conclusion. It lay in deeper water, nearly a
mile out, and no one seemed to know much
about the man in charge except that he was
named Hughes and was married. He very
rarely came on shore, but when he did so, re-
turned immediately to his ship without speaking
to anybody, and it was generally believed on
the island that he often had his wife with him.
That he had some one, — wife or otherwise, —
7*


CAPTAIN SHANNON
on board I soon satisfied myself, and that by
very simple means.
The man whose duty it was to wait upon the
hulk-keepers was, I found, a methodical sort of
fellow and kept a memorandum book in which
he wrote down the different articles he was in-
structed to obtain. This book Quickly man-
aged to get hold of for me, and on looking
over it I saw that from a certain time, — dating
some months back, — the supply of provisions
ordered by Hughes had doubled in quantity.
This might, of course, be due to the fact that
his wife was on board; and, indeed, Quickly re-
ported that the hulk attendant had remarked to
him, "Hughes have got his old woman on the
'Cuban Queen.' I see her a-rowing about one
night in the dinghy." But I had made another
and much more significant discovery when look-
ing over the book, — a discovery which the
presence of Hughes' wife did not altogether
explain. This was that not only had the quan-
tity of food supplied to Hughes been largely in-
creased, but that the quality too was vastly
superior.
The man in attendance on the hulk had prob-
ably failed to notice this fact, and I did not
72


THE DYNAMITE HULK
deem it advisable to arouse his suspicion by
making further inquiries. But I at once de-
cided that before I put against the name of the
"Cuban Queen " the little tick which signified
that I might henceforth dismiss it from con-
sideration, I should have to make the personal
acquaintance of " Mrs. Hughes."
73


CHAPTER IX
I TAKE UP MY QUARTERS AT CANVEY
T TP to this point I had, as far as possible,
avoided visiting the island myself, but
I now came to the conclusion that the time
had come when it would be necessary to carry
on my investigations in person. Fortunately
there was not wanting an excuse by which I
could do so without arousing suspicion. My
friend Muir, who is an ardent sportsman, rents
a part of Canvey to shoot over. Hence he is a
very familiar figure there, and is known and
loved by every man, woman, child, and dog.
To go as his friend would, I knew, insure me
'a ready welcome, so I got him to row me over
once or twice in his boat, and then, when we
had been seen frequently in each other's com-
pany, to ask the landlord of the inn at Hole
Haven to find me a bed for a week or two, as
I was a friend of his who had come to Canvey
for some shooting. By this means I was able to
74


QUARTERS AT CANVEY
keep a constant watch upon the " Cuban Queen"
without being noticed by Hughes, for the sea-
wall, as I have elsewhere said, was so high that,
standing outside, one is invisible from the water,
but anybody inside, who wishes to look out to
sea, can walk up the sloping bank on the inner
side of the wall until his eyes are level with the
top, and then can peer through the long weedy
grasses without attracting attention.
A week passed uneventfully, and then Muir
came over, accompanied by Quickly, for an
afternoon's shooting. After a late lunch we
made our way on foot, and inside the sea-wall,
towards the eastern end of the island. My in-
terest in the sport was not very keen, for I was
keeping half an eye meanwhile upon the hulk;
but by the time we started to retrace our steps
it was becoming dark. Just as we reached the
point off which the " Cuban Queen " was lying I
fancied I heard the stealthy dip of oars, and
asking Muir and Quickly to wait a moment, I
peered over the sea-wall. Some one was coming
on shore from the " Cuban Queen" under cover
of twilight, and instead of making for the usual
"hard" at Hole Haven, the oarsman, whoever
he might be, clearly intended effecting a land-
75


CAPTAIN SHANNON
ing in some more secluded spot. I stole softly
back to Muir and Quickly, telling them what I
had seen, and asking them to crouch down with
me under cover of some bushes to wait events.
That there were two persons in the boat was
evident, lor in another minute we heard the
grinding of the keel upon the shingle, followed
by a few whispered words. A low voice said,
"Pass me out the parcel and I 'll push her off."
Again we heard the stones scrunch as the boat
was slid back into the water. "Good-nights " were
exchanged, and receding oar-dips told us that
the boat was returning to the hulk. Then some-
body climbed the sea-wall, and stood still for
half a minute as if looking around to make sure
that no one was in sight. Our hiding-place was
fortunately well in shadow, and wc ran very
little risk of discovery, but it was not until the
person who had landed had turned and taken
some steps in the opposite direction that I ven-
tured to lift my head. Night was fast closing
in, but standing as the new-comer was upon the
sea-wall, silhouetted against the darkening sky,
I could distinctly see that the figure was a
woman's. "Hughes' old woman, zur," Quickly
whispered in my ear; but I motioned to him
76


QUARTERS AT CANVEY
to be silent, and so we remained for a few
seconds.
Then Muir spoke, with evident disgust, and
not in a whisper either: "Look here, Master
Max Rissler, eaves-dropping and foxing about
after women is n't in my line. You have n't told
me what your little game is, and I have n't asked
you. I've a great respect for you, as you know,
but if you 're playing tricks with that poor
devil's wife, why, damme, man, I'd as soon
knock your jib amidships as look at you."
I could have strangled the big-hearted blun-
dering Briton, but had to content myself with
shaking a fist at him and grinding my teeth with
vexation until I grinned, for " Mrs. Hughes " was
still within earshot. It did not lessen my annoy-
ance to know, from the approving grimace which
I could feel, rather than see, on the generally
expressionless face of Quickly, that he also cred-
ited me with evil designs upon " Mrs. Hughes,"
and shared his master's sentiments.
Him too I was strongly moved to strangle;
and that I resisted the temptation was due
chiefly to the fact that I had present need of
his services.
"Look here, old man!" I said to Muir when
77


CAPTAIN SHANNON
I thought it safe to speak. "Did you ever know
me do a dirty action?"
"Never, my boy," he responded promptly.
"Well I can't tell you my purpose in this
business just now, except to say that if you knew
it you'd be with me heart and soul, and that if
my surmise is right the person we have just seen
dressed like a woman is n't a woman at all but
a man. He is n't going to Hole Haven, for he's
just turned down the path that leads to the ferry
at Benfleet It looks as if he meant catching the
nine o'clock train for London from Southend.
He must be followed, but not by me, and for
two reasons: the first is that while he's away I
must get by hook or by crook upon the " Cuban
Queen; " the second is that I don't want him to
see me, as in that case he'd know me again. Will
you trust me that all's square until I can tell you
the whole story, and in the meantime will you let
Quickly follow that man and try to find out for
me where he goes? It is most important that
I should know."
"All serene, my boy," said Muir, slapping his
great hand into mine too vigorously to be alto-
gether pleasant, and too loudly to be discreet
under the circumstances. "All serene; I 'll trust
78


QUARTERS AT CANVEY
you up to the hilt; and I'm sorry I spoke. Do
what you like about the skipper, and I 'll never
ask a question."
I turned to Quickly: "Can you get round to
the station without being seen, before that per-
son gets there, so that he shan't suppose he's
followed?"
"Ees zur," said Quickly, "if I go through
the churchyard and cross yon field."
"Off you go, then," I said. "Here are three
pounds for expenses. Get to the station before
he does and keep an eye for him from the win-
dow of the men's waiting-room, where he can't
see you. If he goes into any waiting-room
it will have to be into the ladies', while he has
that dress on. So you go into the general
room. But take tickets before he gets there,
one to Shoeburyness, which is as far as the line
goes one way, and the other to London, which
is as far as it goes in the opposite direction. If
he waits for the next down train, you wait too,
and go where he goes, but if he takes the up
train to London, slip out and into the same
train when his back is turned. Wherever he
goes, up or down, you 're to go too, and when
he gets out, shadow him, without being seen
79


CAPTAIN SHANNON
yourself, and make a note of any place he calls
at. Then when you've run him to earth, tele-
graph to Mr. Muir at the inn here — not to me
— saying where you are, and I 'll join you next
train. But keep your eyes open at all the sta-
tions the train stops at to see he does n't get out
and give you the slip. Do this job well and
carry it through and there 'll be a couple of ten-
pound notes for you when you get back. And
now be off."
80


CHAPTER X
I BOARD THE "CUBAN QUEEN"
'HE opportunity to pay a surprise visit to
the " Cuban Queen " in the absence of" Mrs.
Hughes " had come at last, and as I had already
hit upon a plan by which I might carry out my
purpose, without giving Hughes cause to suspect
that my happening upon him was other than acci-
dental, I proceeded at once to put it into effect.
Telling Muir that I would rejoin him at the
inn before long, I slipped off my clothes, tossed
them together in a heap on the beach with a big
stone atop to keep them from being blown
away, and plunged into the water. I am a
strong swimmer, and the tide was running out so
swiftly that when I reached the " Cuban Queen,"
which was moored about a mile from shore, I
was not in the least " winded," and indeed felt
more than fit to fight my way back against the
current. But, in order that the game should
work out as I had planned, it was necessary for
me to assume the appearance of being extremely

6 81


CAPTAIN SHANNON
exhausted. Hence when I found myself ap-
proaching the hulk I began to make a pretence
of swimming feebly, panting noisily meanwhile,
and sending up the most pitiful cries for help.
As I had expected and intended, Hughes
came on deck, and looking over the ship's side
inquired loudly, " Wot's the row?"
Hughes, I may here remark, was, as I soon
discovered (you could not be in his company
for half a minute without doing so), a man of
painfully limited vocabulary. Perhaps I should
say that his colour sense had been developed
at the expense of his vocabulary, for if he did
not see everything in a rose-coloured light, he
certainly applied one adjective, vividly sugges-
tive of crimson, to every object which he found
it necessary to particularise.
"Wot's the row?" he repeated, when
there was no immediate reply to his question.
"Help!" I gasped faintly, pretending to
make frantic clutches at a mooring chain, and
clinging to it as if half dead with exhaustion
and fear.
"Who are yer?" he inquired suspiciously,
"an' how'd yer get 'ere?"
I was anxious to play my part so as not to
82


I BOARD THE "CUBAN QUEEN"
arouse his suspicion, hence I did not reply for
at least a minute, but continued to pant, gasp,
and cough, until my breath might reasonably
be supposed to have returned, and then I said
faintly, "Help me to get on board and I 'll
tell you."
"You can't coom aboord," he answered
surlily. "No one ain't allowed aboord these
ships."
"I must" I said, with as much appearance
of resolution as was consistent with the half-
drowned condition which I had assumed. i
"Must yer?" he said. "We 'll soon see
about that," and then for the second time he
put the question, "Who are yer, and 'ow'd yer
get out 'ere?"
I replied, in sentences suitably abbreviated
to telegraphic terseness, that my name was
Max Rissler. Was a friend of Mr. Hardy
Muir. Was staying at Canvey for shooting.
Had thought would like a swim. Had got on
all right till I had tried to turn, and then had
found current too strong. Had become ex-
hausted, and must have been drowned if had
not fortunately been carried past hulk.
Hughes evidently considered the explanation
83


CAPTAIN SHANNON
satisfactory, for his next question was not about
myself but about my intentions.
"And what are you going to do now?"
"Come on board," I answered promptly.
"Yer can't do that," he said. "No one ain't
allowed aboord these boats."
"I must," I replied. "This is a case where
you'd get into trouble for keeping the rules,
not for breaking them. You can't talk about
rules to a half-drowned man. It would be man-
slaughter. Help me on board and get me some
brandy — I suppose you've some by you — and
I 'll pay you well and not say a word to any one.
And be quick about it for I can't hold on here
much longer. You 'll be half-a-sovereign the
richer for this night's job, and if you're quick
I 'If make it a sovereign."
Grumbling audibly about it being "a
fine lay this — making a poor man run the risk
of getting the sack because fools choose
to play the monkey," he unlashed the
dinghy, and having brought her round to
where I was clinging, he assisted me in, and
with a few dexterous strokes took us to the
side of the hulk over which a rope ladder was
hanging. "Afore you go aboord," he growled,
84


CAPTAIN SHANNON
it none too warm going back in the dinghy with
nothing on."
"I'm not going back in the dinghy with
nothing on, my good fellow," I replied calmly.
"You've got a fire or a stove of some sort
below, I suppose, and I'm going down to sit
by it while you row back and get my clothes for
me. Then you can put me ashore, and I shall
have much pleasure in handing you over the
sovereign I've promised you, on condition you
give me your word not to speak of this fool's
game of mine. I don't want to be made the
laughing-stock of the island. I told them I
was a good swimmer, and if they heard that
I had to sing out for help and had to be taken
back to shore like a drowned kitten I should
never hear the last of it, especially from that
big brute of a Muir who's always bragging
about his own swimming."
Something like a grin stole over the fellow's
forbidding face.
"Muster Muir 'e don't like no soft-plucked
uns, 'e don't; and you did sing out loud,
and no mistake. You told un you could swim,
did ye? Why, Muster Muir, I seen him swim
out two mile and more, and then —"
86


I BOARD THE "CUBAN QUEEN"
"Confound Mr. Muir," I interrupted angrily.
"Do you think I'm going to stay here all night
while you stand there jawing and grinning. Be
off with you and get my clothes for me or you
won't see a halfpenny of the pound I promised
you."
"It was two poun' as you promised me," said
the fellow, lying insolently, now that he had —
as he thought he had — me in his power.
"And little too for a man wot's running the
risk of getting the billet by lettin' strangers on
boord, dead against the rools. But I don't
leave my ship for no two pounds, I don't.
You 'll 'ave to come along wi' me in the
dinghy; an' mind I 'as the money afore you
'as the clothes. None of your monkey tricks
with me, I tell yer. Come, wot's it to be?
Are you going back wi' me, or will you wait
for Mr. Muir to come and fetch yer? I can
let 'im know in the morning (this with an
impudent grin) as you've been rescooed."
"I don't go ashore without my clothes if I
stop here all night," I said firmly; "it's inhu-
man to ask me. What harm could I do to the
confounded ship for the few minutes you 're
away? I don't want to stay here any longer
87


CAPTAIN SHANNON
than I can help, I assure you. It was a sover-
eign I promised you; but if you 'll row ashore
as fast as you can and get my clothes, and
promise to keep your mouth shut, you shall
have two pounds. Will that please you?"
"Make it three," said he, "and I 'll say
done."
"Very well," I answered, " only be as quick as
you can, for the sooner I'm out of this thieves'
den and have seen the last of your hangman
face the better. And now I 'll go down out of
the cold; and perhaps you won't grudge me
another dram of that rum of yours, considering
how you've bled me to-night."
Motioning me to follow, he led the way to the
stern of the ship, where, as I knew, the hulk-
keeper's quarters were situated, the dynamite
being stored, as I have already said, in the
hold.
A cockpit, from which there shot up into the
night an inverted pyramid of yellow light,
marked the entrance to the cabin, and into this
Hughes, disdainful of stairs, shuffled feet fore-
most, swinging a moment with his palm rest-
ing on either ledge and his body pillared by
rigid arms before he dropped out of sight, like
88


I BOARD THE "CUBAN QUEEN"
a stage Mephistopheles returning to his native
hell. Not being familiar with the place, I de-
cided to content myself with a less dramatic
entrance, and picked my way accordingly down
the steep stairs and into the little cabin which
gerved as kitchen, sitting-room, and dormitory.
A lighted oil-stove stood in the centre, beside
which Hughes placed a wooden chair.
"You've got very comfortable quarters here,"
I said, looking round approvingly after I had
seated myself. "If one does n't mind a lonely
life (it is lonely I suppose?), one might do
worse than turn hulk-keeper."
Hughes grunted by way of reply, but whether
this was to be taken as signifying acquiescence
or dissent I was unable to say, his face being at
the moment hidden in a corner locker, whence
he presently emerged with a bottle of Old Tom
and a glass.
"There's the rum, and there's the
glass; and now don't you stir out of that
chair," he said, with a liberal use of his favourite
adjective. Then, much to my relief, he betook
himself up the stairs and on to the deck, where I
could hear him muttering and swearing to him-
self as he unlashed the dinghy.
89


CAPTAIN SHANNON
That I was excited and eager, the reader may
believe; but though, the moment Hughes' back
was turned, my eyes were swivelling in their
sockets and sweeping the sides of the cabin with
the intentness of a search-light, I did not think
it advisable to leave my seat and set about the
search in earnest until he had actually left the
hulk. But no sooner was he well out of the
way than I was at work, with every sense as
poised and ready to pounce as a hovering
hawk.
Not often in my life have I experienced so
bitter a disappointment. I had hoped great
things of this visit to the " Cuban Queen;" but
though I searched every part of the hulk, in-
cluding the hold, which, as there happened at
that moment to be no dynamite on board, was
not secured, I found no evidence as to the sex
of Hughes' visitor. To describe the fruitless
search in detail is unnecessary. Whoever " Mrs.
Hughes" might be, she had evidently taken
pains to insure that every trace of her presence
should be removed. I could not even tell
whether she had shared the sleeping bunk with
Hughes, for the coverings had been stripped
off, leaving the bare boards without so much as
90


I BOARD THE "CUBAN QUEEN"
a pillow, and the entire cabin had apparently
been turned out and scrubbed from end to end
immediately before or after her departure.
The visit from which I hoped so much had
proved a lamentable failure. I was not one
penny the wiser and three pounds poorer for
my trouble, not to speak of having got a chill,
of which I should think myself cheaply rid if
it ended in nothing worse than a cold.
"The scheming rascal," I said to myself. "I
might have known he would n't have let me
down here if he had n't been aware that every sign
of his having a companion on board had been
cleared away. I suppose the secret of it all is
that he has got word that the inspector's coming
to pay the hulks a visit shortly, and he's packed
off Mrs. Hughes until it's all over. Very likely
she set things straight herself before she went.
All his pretended reluctance to go for my
clothes and to leave me here was put on that
he might bleed me to the tune of another pound.
I should only be serving him out in his own
coin if I gave information that he's had a
woman on board.
"If it was a woman? It's very odd, though,
that she has n't left some little sign of her sex
91 -


CAPTAIN SHANNON
behind her — a hairpin, a button, or a bonnet-
pin. There are only short hairs (Hughes' evi-
dently) on the brush and comb, but she may
have had her own and have taken them with
her. But anyhow I might have expected to
find, if not some hair-combings, at least a stray
hair or two which would have let me into the
secret, and the neighbourhood of the mirror's
the most likely place to find them."
But, search as I would, not a single hair could
I find, and in another half-minute the near dip
of oars announced Hughes' return. As I heard
him jerk the sculls from the rowlocks, and the
grinding of the dinghy against the ship's side,
I took another despairing look around in the
hopes of lighting on something that had hitherto
escaped my notice. One object after another
was hastily lifted, investigated, and as hastily
put down, but always with the same result. As
I heard Hughes' step upon the deck my eyes
fell upon a little square of soap which had
fallen to the floor and had escaped the notice —
probably of Hughes as well as of myself— on
account of its being hidden by the corner of an
oilskin which was hanging from the wall. This
oilskin I had taken down to overhaul, and it
92


I BOARD THE "CUBAN QUEEN"
was when replacing it that I found the soap,
which I saw, when I lifted it, was of better
quality than one would expect to find in such
a place. It was still damp from recent usage,
and as I turned it over two or three hairs came
off from the under side and adhered to my hand.
As I looked at them I gave a low, long, but
almost silent, whistle. They were beyond ques-
tion the bristles of a shaving brush which was
fast going to pieces from long service. And
that I was not mistaken in so thinking was
proved by the fact that the under side of the
soap still bore the marks made by the sweep
of the brush over the surface, and that the lather
upon it was damp.
Some one had been shaving, and that quite
recently, on the "Cuban Queen." It could not
be Hughes, for he wore a thick, full beard. If
the person who passed as " Mrs. Hughes" really
was a woman she was not likely to have recourse
to a razor to enhance her charms. If, on the
other hand, that person was a man, who was
personating a woman for purposes of disguise,
a razor would be an absolute necessity among
his toilet requisites.
93


CHAPTER XI
PERSONAL EXPLANATIONS
E often read of a novelist "taking the
'* reader into his confidence," but at this
point of my narrative I should like to reverse
the process, and ask my readers to take me into
theirs. Were I telling my story by word of
mouth instead of by pen, I should lay a respect-
ful hand, my dear madam, upon your arm, or
hook a detaining forefinger, my dear sir, into
your button-hole, and, leading you aside for a few
minutes, should put the matter to you some-
what in this way: "From the fact of your fol-
lowing my record thus far, you are presumably
interested in detective stories, and have no
doubt read many narratives of the sort. You
know the detectives who have been drawn — or
rather created — by Edgar Allan Poe, and in
more recent times by Dr. Conan Doyle and Mr.
Arthur Morrison — detectives who unravel for
us, link by link, in the most astounding and

94


CAPTAIN SHANNON
cover of twilight, and proceed in the direction
of Benfleet, whence he could take train either
to London or to Southend. Would you in that
case have acted as I did, and instructed Quickly
to shadow him, so that you might get an oppor-
tunity of paying a surprise visit to the ' Cuban
Queen' in Mullen's absence? or would you have
abandoned your proposed visit to the hulk and
decided to follow him yourself?"
Let me sum up briefly the arguments for and
against either course as they presented them-
selves to me when I had so hastily to make
choice. In the first place, I had to recognise
that in intrusting the task to Quickly I had one
or two very ugly possibilities to face. Though
a sensible fellow enough for ordinary purposes,
he was hardly the sort of man one would select
for so delicate a piece of work as that of
shadowing a suspect. He might prove him-
self sufficiently clever to carry it through suc-
cessfully, but it was much more likely that he
would fail, and it was even conceivable that he
might so bungle it as to attract the attention of
Mullen, and thus to frighten away the very bird
for whom I was spreading a net. But what
weighed with me even more than this was that
96


PERSONAL EXPLANATIONS
in deputing Quickly to follow Mullen I was
losing sight — at all events for a time — of the
central figure of my investigations, as they then
stood — of the person whom, rightly or wrongly,
I suspected to be the object of my search —
and this was a course which no one placed
as I was could adopt without the gravest
misgiving.
On the other hand, the reasons which most
influenced me in deciding to intrust the task of
shadower to Quickly were equally weighty. If
the person who was secreted on the "Cuban
Queen" were James Mullen, he was not likely,
in view of the hue and cry that had been raised,
and of the vigorous search which was being
made, to venture far from so secure a hiding-
place, and the probability was that he had
gone to some station up or down the line —
probably to Southend — to post some package
in order that it might not bear the Canvey
postmark.
Another reason was that I could not ask for
an arrest merely upon suspicion, and it was
quite possible that to obtain the necessary evi-
dence I might have to keep an eye upon Mullen
for some time to come. By shadowing him
7 97


CAPTAIN SHANNON
upon the present occasion, I ran the risk of
being seen and recognised, which would not so
much matter in the case of Quickly. Then,
again, it was highly desirable I should pay my
surprise visit to the " Cuban Queen" in the ab-
sence of the suspected party, and if I neglected
to do so on the present occasion I might not
get another opportunity.
If I could satisfy myself by a visit to the hulk
that the person who had been concealed there
was really a woman, I need trouble myself no
further about the vessel and its occupants.
But if, on the other hand, I found evidence
which went to prove that the supposed Mrs.
Hughes was of the male sex, I should have
good cause to believe that I had indeed dis-
covered the hiding-place of the redoubtable
James Mullen.
My last reason was that at the moment when
I was called upon to make my decision, I was
wearing a Norfolk shooting jacket and knicker-
bockers. This costume, especially in the streets
of London, would render me conspicuous, and
in fact would be the worst possible attire for so
ticklish a job as that of shadowing a suspect,
98


PERSONAL EXPLANATIONS
whereas Quickly's dress would attract no atten-
tion either in town or country.
I have asked my readers to take me into their
confidence and to face with me the dilemma in
which I was placed, because I am in hopes that
most of them will admit that under the circum-
stances, and especially in view of the con-
spicuous dress I happened to be wearing, I
acted rightly. Those who so decide will not
be too hard upon me when I confess that, in
allowing myself to lose sight of the person who
had been in hiding on the hulk, I made, as
events proved, a fatal and, but for other cir-
cumstances, an irretrievable mistake. That I
am but a bungler at the best is, I fear, already
only too evident, though I make bold to say
that it is not often that I bungle so badly as I
did on this occasion. The results of that bungle
— results big with consequences to others and
to myself—were twofold. The first was that
Quickly never returned from the quest upon
which I had despatched him, nor from that day
to this has any word of him been received. He
simply disappeared as completely as if the earth
had opened and swallowed him. The second
was that he was companioned in his disappear-
99


CAPTAIN SHANNON
ance by the person whom I had instructed him
to follow. James Mullen, if James Mullen it
were, did not come back to the hulk, and I had
after a time to admit to myself that, so far as
Canvey Island and the " Cuban Queen" were
concerned, "the game was up."
IOO


CHAPTER XII
HOW CAPTAIN SHANNON'S AUTOGRAPH CAME
INTO MY POSSESSION
HE set-back I had received, so far from
causing me to abandon my search for
Mullen, only nerved me to fresh endeavour,
though how to go to work I could not for some
time determine. To threaten Hughes that I
would report him to the authorities unless he
made terms for himself by telling me all he
knew about his mysterious visitor, was not a
course which commended itself to me. I might,
as a last resource, and in the event of everything
else failing, be compelled to so bold a step, but
for the present I felt that the wisest thing I
could do would be to trace Quickly's movements
after he had started to shadow the person who
had come ashore from the hulk. This would,
however, necessitate my leaving Canvey, and in
the meantime it was of the highest importance
that an eye should be kept upon the "Cuban
Queen."

IOI


CAPTAIN SHANNON
It was quite within the bounds of possibility
that Mullen might yet return, in which case he
would probably do so by night. Hence it was
at night that I kept my keenest watch upon the
hulk, and in order to do this I thought it advis-
able to leave the inn and instal myself in a small
furnished cottage, which, by an unexpected
stroke of luck, I was able to rent very cheaply.
But, as I could not pursue my inquiries in regard
to the fate of Quickly and keep an eye at the
same time upon the " Cuban Queen," I decided
to send for a friend of mine, named Grant, whom
I could trust implicitly.
Grant took the next train to Benfleet — the
nearest station to Canvey — on receiving my
telegram, and, after hearing my story, assured
me of his readiness and willingness to co-operate
in the search for Mullen. He promised to keep
an unwinking eye upon the "Cuban Queen"
while I was away, and to let me know should
any suspicious stranger come upon the scene.
The matter being thus satisfactorily arranged, I
started off to see what I could learn about the
ill-fated Quickly.
My theory was that that luckless wight had so
clumsily performed the work of shadowing as to
102


CAPTAIN SHANNON'S AUTpGRAPH
bring himself under the notice of the person
shadowed, who would then have reason to
believe that the secret of his hiding-place was
known, at all events to one person. Under such
circumstances Mullen would in all probability
decide that, in order to insure the return of the
secret to his own keeping, Quickly must be
despatched to the limbo of the "dead folk"
who " tell no tales; " and I felt tolerably certain
that, on discovering he was being shadowed, he
had led the way to some secluded spot where
he or his accomplices had made an end of the
shadower.
How I set to work to collect and to sift my
evidence I need not here describe in detail, but
will sum up briefly the result of my inquiries.
Quickly had reached the station some minutes
before the arrival of any other passenger, and in
accordance with my instructions had gone at
once to the general waiting-room, where he
remained until the train started. Some few
minutes afterwards a woman carrying a bag had
entered the booking-office and taken a third-class
single ticket to Stepney. When the train drew
up at the platform she had seated herself in an
empty carriage near the centre, and Quickly
103


CAPTAIN SHANNON
had entered a smoking carriage at the end.
When the train reached Stepney she passed
through the barrier, followed at some distance
by a man answering to the description of
Quickly.
The woman had then bought an evening
paper from a newsboy, and crossing the road
slowly had turned down a by-street which led to
the river. The man, after looking in a tobacco-
nist's window for half a minute, had taken the
same turning, but upon the other side of the
road.
There I came to a dead stop, for not one jot
of evidence as to the subsequent movements of
either of the two could I discover, and, reluctant
though I am to admit myself beaten, the fact
could no longer he disguised that in that direc-
tion too I was checkmated.
"Another throw back, Grant," I said, when I
entered the cottage at Canvey after this fresh
reverse.
"Well, what are you going to do now ?" in-
quired my friend and collaborator when he had
heard my story. "Give it up, as we did the
other riddles of our school-boy days?"
"Give it up! What do you take me for?
104


CAPTAIN SHANNON'S AUTOGRAPH
But, hollo! For whom is that letter?" I said,
pointing to an envelope which was lying on the
table.
"For you. Hardy Muir brought it over. It
was sent under cover to him from London."
"At last!" I said, breaking the seal. "It's
from Green, the detective whom I put on to
ferret out Mullen's past. I told him that if he
wanted to write he was to slip the letter into an
envelope addressed to Muir at the Hogarth Club
in Dover Street. He's been long enough finding
anything out. Let's hear what he has to say,
now he does condescend to write. It is dated
from Baxenham, near Yarby. I knew the place
well years ago — used to yacht round there
as a lad. Nasty coast, too, with some curious
currents and very dangerous sands. Here's his
letter."
"Max Rissler, Esq.,
"Dear Sir, — When you asked me to see what I
could find out about James Mullen I did not expect
to turn up anything much in the way of trumps. But,
sir, I always act honourable, and I have found some-
thing which I think is valuable. Sir, it is so valuable,
and the reward offered for the capture of James
Mullen is so big, that I cannot afford to part with the
*°5


CAPTAIN SHANNON
information to any one else. So I ask you, sir, as
man to man, to let me withdraw from your service.
The man that finds Mullen has got his fortune made,
and what I have discovered ought to be worth twenty-
five thousand pounds to me. Sir, I could have gone
on taking your money as you allow for exs. and kept
my mouth shut, but I want to act honourable, be-
lieving as you have always acted honourable by me.
So, sir, I beg to give notice that I withdraw from your
service as regards the aforesaid James Mullen, and
hope you will not take offence. My exs. up to the
present as I have drawn in your pay are thirty-one
pound. Sir, if you will take my i o u, and I find
Mullen, I will pay you back double money. But if
you say you must have the money, I can get it. I
hope you will take the i o u, as I want my money
just now, and oblige. Sir, I am on the track. — Your
obedient servant,
"James Bakewell Green.
"P. S. — My address is c/o Mrs. Brand, Elm
Cottage, Baxenham."
"What a rascal," said Grant, when I had
finished this letter. "He ought to say he's on
the make as well as on the track."
"I don't think he's a rascal," I answered. "I
have always found him above board and square.
If he is really on Mullen's heels the temptation
106


CAPTAIN SHANNON'S AUTOGRAPH
to turn his discovery to his own account is pretty
strong. Twenty-five thousand pounds, not to
speak of the kudos, is n't made every day, my
boy. "It's rather like shaking an apple-tree in
order that somebody else may pick up the fruit, —
to do the work and then see another man go off
with the money-bags. No, I think he's acted
honourably in giving me due notice that he's
going to run the show himself, and in offering
to return the "exs." as he calls them. Many men
would have gone on taking the coin while work-
ing on their own account."
"What are you going to do? " queried Grant.
"Run down to Baxenham to-morrow. I don't
suppose I shall get any change out of Green, but
I may hear something that will help me to put
two and two together in regard to our late visitor
on the "Cuban Queen." As Green has been
working on my money and in my service I shan't
feel any qualm of conscience in finding out his
wonderful secret — if I can — and of making use
of it if I do find it."
Next morning I was up betimes to catch an
early train to town and thence to Yarby, where
I arrived late in the afternoon. Baxenham is a
little village on the coast, some five miles distant,
107


CAPTAIN SHANNON
and the shortest way there from Yarby is by a
footpath across the fields.
A lovelier walk I have seldom had. The sun-
set was glorious, so glorious that for a while I sat
like one rapt, dreaming myself back into the days
of my childhood, and forgetful of everything but
the beauty that lay before me.
I remembered the fair-haired little boy who
day after day, as the afternoon was waning,
would climb the stairs which led to a tiny garret
under the roof. There was only one window in
this garret, a window which faced the west and
was cut in the roof itself. Looking down, one
saw the red tiles running away so steeply beneath
that the little boy could never glance at them
without a catching of breath, and without fancy-
ing what it would be like to find oneself slipping
down, down the steep descent until one reached
that awful place — the world's edge, it seemed
to him—where the roof ended in a sheer and
terrible abyss.
But it was to see the sunset that the little
boy would climb the stairs each day, and as he
dreamed himself out into that sunset it seemed
a part of himself— not merely a thing at which
to look.
108


CAPTAIN SHANNON'S AUTOGRAPH
It seemed to draw him to itself and into itself.
It seemed to him as if, as he gazed, two little
doors opened somewhere in his breast and his
soul flew out like a white bird into the distant
west. He knew that his body was still standing
by the window, but he himself was away there
among the purple and crimson and gold. He
was walking yonder sunlit shining shore that bent
round to form a bay for a golden sea. He was
climbing yonder range of mountain peaks —
peaks which, though built of unsubstantial cloud,
were more beautiful than any show-place of the
tourist's seeking — peaks upon whose shining
summit the soul might stand and look out upon
the infinite — peaks which might be climbed by
the fancy of those whose fortune it might never
be to see an Alpine height. And when the
purple and crimson had faded into citron, and
the citron into gray; when the gold had paled
to silver and darkened to lead; and the bird had
fluttered back like a frightened thing to his
breast — then the little boy would creep down-
stairs again, dry-eyed, but sad at heart with a
strange sense of loneliness and loss.
As I sat there watching the last of the sunset,
that little boy seemed to look out at me with
109


CAPTAIN SHANNON'S AUTOGRAPH
In front, about a couple of miles away, I could
see the church tower of Baxenham, over which
red Mars burned large and lurid among a score
of tiny stars that quivered near him, like arrow-
heads shot wide of the mark; and low in the
south the slender moon was like a finger laid to
command silence on the lip of night. The
beauty of the scene so possessed me that I stood
still an instant with face turned seaward and
bared head, and then — almost at my feet — I
saw lying in the water a dark body that stirred
and rocked, and stretched forth swaying arms
like a creature at play. For one moment I
thought it was alive, that it was some strange
sea-beast come ashore, which was now seeking
to regain its native element, but in the next I
knew it for the body of a man, lying face down-
ward and evidently dead.
There is horror enough in the silent and stone-
cold stillness of death, but to see death put on
the semblance of life, to see dead arms reach
and the dead body stir and sway, as they did
that night, when the incoming tide seemed to
mock at death and to sport, cruel and cat-like,
with its victim, is surely more horrible still.
With hands scarcely warmer than his 1 drew


CHAPTER XIII
I POSSESS MYSELF OF THE SECRET OF JAMES
BAKEWELL GREEN
\I THEN I look back upon that moment I
v" find myself wondering at the singular
effect which the discovery of the dead man's
identity had upon my nerves. It turned them
in a second's space from quivering and twitching
strings to cords of iron. It acted upon the
brain as a cold douche acts upon the body. It
was as if a man had staggered heavy with drink
to a pump, and after once dipping his head
under the tap had come up perfectly sober.
And the mental effect was equally curious. I
do not think I am in the general way unsym-
pathetic, or indifferent to the misfortunes of
others, but on this occasion I found myself as
coldly calculating the possible advantages and
disadvantages to myself of Green's untimely end
as if I had been a housewife reckoning up what
she had made or lost by the sale of eggs.

8 113


CAPTAIN SHANNON
My first procedure was to secure the piece
of paper which I had found in the bottle. "I
may want Captain Shannon's autograph one
of these days," I said to myself, "and even
were it not so I should be unwise to leave this
document upon the scene. If, when the body
is found, it is believed that Green was drowned
by misadventure there is less chance of awk-
ward questions being asked and inconvenient
inquiries made. Such inquiries might bring
to light the fact that he was engaged, by my
directions, in investigating Mullen's antecedents,
and the matter might come to the ears of Mullen
himself.
"And now another thing. I'm afraid Green's
papers have been taken by the murderer, other-
wise I ought to secure them. They might con-
tain a clue to the secret to which the poor man
attached such importance. Ah! I thought so;
they've gone, for the pocket-book which I know
he carried is missing, although his watch, chain,
money, and other belongings are left. But stop
a minute. When I gave Green my address I
remember he took out his cigar-case, removed
the cigars, and showed me that the case had a
secret pocket for papers. He said that he never
114


SECRET OF JAMES B. GREEN
carried important papers in a pocket-book,
which is the first thing a thief or a rogue
who wishes to abstract a document goes for,
and that he had had his taken from him
twice — once by force and once by a cunning
theft.
"But Mullen would not know that Green
kept documents in his cigar-case, and prob-
ably would n't trouble to take it. Let me see.
Yes, here it is, in the breast pocket, and I think
I can feel papers inside the silk lining. We 'll
look at them by-and-bye. Anything else in
his pockets that I might require? No. Then
I 'll slide the body back into the water. He's
evidently been dead many hours, and it can
make no difference to him, poor fellow. That's
it. He's just as he was when I found him.
Now I 'll be off. Good night, Mr. James
Bakewell Green. I won't press you for that
I o u."
Still wondering at my heartlessness, I turned
and walked in the direction of Yarby. But I
had more important matters than my own mental
attitude to consider, for the first thing which I
had to ask myself was, "By whose hand did
Green meet his end?" It was, of course, pos-
"5


CAPTAIN SHANNON
sible either that he had committed suicide, or
that the paper bearing the signature of " Captain
Shannon" had been placed where I found it
by some one who, for reasons of his own, had
taken Green's life, and hoped by attributing the
crime to Captain Shannon to divert suspicion
from himself. But I soon decided that neither
of these alternatives was worth consideration.
For the motive of the crime one had not far to
look. Green had, on his own showing, discov-
ered something which might lead to Captain
Shannon's arrest, and there could be no doubt
that, should the fugitive get wind of this, his
first step would be to rid himself of so dangerous
an enemy.
From the circumstance under which I dis-
covered the body of my unfortunate agent, I
came to the conclusion that he was on board
a yacht when the crime was effected.
Having often yachted off Yarby I was toler-
ably familiar with the coast, and knew that the
place where I found the body was the very spot
towards which, with every incoming tide, a
strong current sets. And as matters stood it
looked as if the corpse had been carried thither
from the open sea. That it had not been placed
116


SECRET OF JAMES B. GREEN
where it was by any one on the shore — at all
events since the outgoing tide — was evident
from the fact that my own were the only foot-
marks on the soft smooth stretch of sandy mud
which led down to the water's edge. But what
struck me as especially strange was that, though
Green was otherwise fully dressed, he was wear-
ing no boots. It was very unlikely that he had
walked two miles along a rocky beach with un-
protected feet. But if he had, for any reason,
been persuaded to go upon a yacht, it was
quite possible that he might take his boots off
— firstly, because no yacht owner who prides
himself upon the trimness of his craft and the
whiteness of her decks cares to have a visitor
tramping about in heavy and perhaps muddy
boots; and secondly, because a landsman who
is so shod would find it difficult to get a safe
foothold upon the slippery decks of a small
vessel. My theory was that Green had been
decoyed upon a yacht under some pretext, or
that he had been foolhardy enough to go on
board of his own accord, perhaps in the hope
of obtaining further and final evidence of Mul-
len's identity, or, it may be, with the idea of
achieving the fugitive's arrest. Once on board,
117


CAPTAIN SHANNON
he had in all probability been the victim of foul
play. Very likely he had been rendered insen-
sible by a blow on the head given from behind,
after which he had been carried out to sea,
where he could be despatched at leisure, and
without any risk of his cries being heard or
the act witnessed, as might be the case on land.
After that the bottle containing the paper in-
scribed "By order. — Captain Shannon," had
been fastened to his wrist and the body cast
adrift, to serve as a warning to others like him
who might elect to enter the lists against the
arch-assassin. But apart from the question of
how Green met his end, I had to recognise that
if the body were found while I was in the neigh-
bourhood, and foul play were suspected, I, as
a stranger, might be called on to give an account
of myself, and might even be arrested on sus-
picion. Hence I decided to return to town at
once, but as the crime might at any moment
be discovered and an alarm raised, I thought it
highly inadvisable to carry about with me any-
thing which could be identified as the dead
man's property, and that I should do well to
investigate the cigar-case at once and get it out
of my possession.
118


CHAPTER XIV
ONE OF THE DOCUMENTS WHICH COST MY
INQUIRY AGENT HIS LIFE
AS I could not secure a carriage to myself
*■ in the train by which I returned to town
I had to defer a closer examination of the
papers I had found until I had gained the
seclusion of my own chambers in Buckingham
Street.
The first of the documents contained in
Green's cigar-case was a letter, evidently ad-
dressed to Mullen. It was dated from "Sta-
vanger, Norway," and ran as follows: —
"James, — I know all. I have never tried to spy
into your affairs, but I have known for a long time
that you have been engaged in some secret under-
taking which I felt sure was for no good purpose.
Your sudden disappearances and equally sudden re-
appearances and the large sums of money you have
had, have always been a source of anxiety to me.
That it was some political plot you were engaged in I
was certain, for you were not at such pains to disguise

120


A DANGEROUS DOCUMENT
your real views before me as you were before others.
I remember your wild talk about society having con-
spired to rob you from before your birth, — of your
being denied the right to bear your father's name, and
of your mother's name being a dishonour to you.
That your father was a villain to our mother I know,
and it may be that from him you inherit your evil
tendencies, and that God may not hold you morally
responsible for them. But James, bad as your father
must have been, he was, after all, your father, and
the language you sometimes used about him has made
me, who am used to your violence, shudder and turn
sick.
"James, I promised our dead mother on her death-
bed that I would try to be to you all that she was.
She could do almost as she liked with you — could
soften you and turn you from evil as no other person
in the world could. There was some strange sym-
pathy between you and her. Perhaps your knowledge
of her one and only sin made you tender and chival-
rous to her, just as it sometimes — God forgive me ! —
made me, who am so different from you and her,
hard. And perhaps her memory of her one sinning
made her gentle and tender to you in your many. I
have had children of my own since then, James, and I
think something has thawed in my heart that was cold
as ice before.
"I remember that in those childish days, when you
would come to our mother after some wild and wicked
deed, she would take you in her arms and speak softly
121


CAPTAIN SHANNON
to you, and that you would become another creature
and would seek to undo the evil you had done. But
I used to become impatient. I wished that you should
be punished, and I remember that my words would
turn you to stone again and bring that hard glitter that
I so hated into your eyes. Yes, and when I saw her
caressing you, whom I would have had flogged, I
used to feel — though she was my mother as well as
yours — as if I were a stranger in the house, and
could not be of the same flesh and blood as you
and she.
"That is long ago, James, and we are no longer
boy and girl, but man and woman. But my heart tells
me that I have not kept my promise to her. She said
to me when she was dying, 'Mary, I am afraid for
James. He can be chivalrously generous to those
who appeal to his protection; he can be heartlessly
cruel to those who oppose his will. You remember
how as a boy he fought like a wild cat with two lads
twice his size in defence of the homeless cur that
crawled to his feet when they were stoning it; and
you remember that upon the same day, because
his own dog snarled at him, he beat it about the
head so mercilessly that we had to kill it. Mary,
I am afraid for James; I am the one and only soul in
this world — where, young as he is, he feels himself
an outcast — who understands him. And everything
depends upon his associations. He might be a good
man or he might be criminal. Mary, promise me
you will not be too hard with him — promise me that
123


A DANGEROUS DOCUMENT
you will try to understand him, and to make allow-
ance, and to be gende.'
"I promised her, James, and I meant to keep my
promise, but I know now that I have not done so. I
did not grudge you money. I gave you more of
what my father left me than I kept. But I did not
try to be to you what I promised our mother to be.
I know now, though I did not know it then. I have
reason to know it now, for my little son Stanley
looks up at me with your eyes to reproach me with it.
What you once were he now is in looks and in dis-
position. I fear for him as your mother feared for
you; and his mother knows now that the promise I
made to your mother I did not keep.
"James, if you have done evil I am greatly to
blame. If I had kept my promise, if I had tried to
take our dead mother's place in your life, if I had
aimed at being your companion, and at winning your
confidence, if I had sought to keep evil influences
away and to set good influences at work, you might
never have formed the associations you have formed.
That you have done the things they lay to your charge
I cannot believe. I have seen the ' Daily Record,' and
the portrait, and I know only too well, in spite of
the disguise, that the James Mullen who is accused of
being Captain Shannon is my half-brother James. I
will never believe — nothing will make me believe —
that it is really true, and that you are responsible for
the inhuman crimes which you are said to have com-
mitted or to have caused to be committed. That you
123


CAPTAIN SHANNON
are associated with men who are capable of any
wickedness is, I fear, only too true; men who, by
flattering that fatal vanity of yours, which I know so
well — that constitutional craving to be thought im-
portant and a power, of which I can see traces in the
Manifesto which was published after the explosion —
have made you their tool, and have persuaded you to
accept responsibilities for actions in which you had
no hand, I can readily believe. But that you, whom I
have known to do such chivalrous actions, you whom
I have seen empty your pockets to relieve some beg-
gar whose woe-begone looks had appealed to your
pity, could deliberately plan the murder of hundreds
of inoffensive people, I cannot and never will believe.
"Until I received your letter I did not know where
to write to you, and I feared to send to the old
address lest my note should fall into wrong hands.
You say that you have got into a scrape, and that I
must help you to get out of England, as you cannot
trust your associates — which I can well believe.
You say, too, that you must get right away to America
or Australia, and that I must lend you the steam
yacht, as it would not be safe to go by any ordinary
passenger steamer, all of which are being watched.
You say you would not drag me into such a miserable
business if you could help it, but that you dare not
risk the chance of attracting the attention in which
your chartering yourself a boat big enough to cross to
America might result.
"Well I see the force of all this, and I will do what
124


A DANGEROUS DOCUMENT
I can to help you, but only on one condition. How
heartily my husband and I abhor the acts of those
with whom you are associated you must know. Not
even to save your life, not even to keep our connec-
tion with you from becoming known, not even to save
our children from being branded throughout their
lives as the relatives of a man who was accused of the
blackest murder, would we move hand or foot in any
matter which might even in the smallest detail further
the infamous scheme in which your associates are
engaged.
"But Stanley and I have talked it over, and if you
will absolutely and unconditionally promise to sever
yourself entirely from your associates, and never again
to take part in any political plotting, we will do as you
ask and bring the steam yacht to the place you men-
tion, and remain there until you can make an oppor-
tunity to join us. We will then take you to America
or Australia, or whatever country you think will be
safest, will allow you a certain yearly sum which will
enable you to begin life over again, and if possible to
retrieve your terrible past. I tell you frankly that it is
only after days of entreaty that I have got Stanley to
consent to this. Had it not been that he knows my
life is hanging by a thread, and that for you, my only
brother, to be given up to the police by information
which came through me would kill me, I believe he
would have telegraphed at once to the police after
receiving your letter and told them where you could
be found. It is right to tell you that the terrible
"5


CAPTAIN SHANNON
shock I received when I saw the 'Daily Record,' and
knew that my half-brother was 'Captain Shannon'
brought on hemorrhage of the lungs afresh, and so
badly that my life was at first despaired of.
"But whether I live or die, Stanley has promised
me — and you know he never goes back from his word
— that if you will accept the conditions we impose he
will help you to get out of the country. But he will do
nothing until he has received that promise, so send us
a line at once.
"And now, James, as it is quite possible that I may
die before then and never see you again, I wish to
make one last and perhaps dying request. You know
how nobly my dear father acted when he found out
about you; how, to save our mother's reputation, he
gave out that you were his nephew, whom he intended
to adopt as his son. James, for his sake, for my sake,
for our dead mother's sake, promise me that should
you be arrested you will never let our connection with
you be known. It could do you no good, and it
would mean that our mother's guilty secret would come
out, and my innocent children would be disgraced
and dishonoured throughout their lives by her shame
and your guilt. If you have one spark of natural
affection left you will promise me this. — Your broken-
hearted sister,
"F."
126


CHAPTER XV
A DOCUMENT OF IMPORTANCE
TT was a copy, and not the original, of this
pitiful letter which I found in the cigar-case,
as was evident from the fact that the document
was in Green's handwriting, and to this I at-
tached some importance.
As matters stood it looked as if Green had in
some way contrived to intercept Mullen's cor-
respondence; and it also looked as if, after
making himself acquainted with the contents
of Mullen's letters, Green had carefully resealed
them and let them go on to the person for whom
they were intended. That he must have had
some reason for not retaining in his possession
what might prove so valuable a piece of evi-
dence was very clear, and after thinking the
matter over I came to the following conclusion.
Although Mullen had given an address to
which a letter might be sent to him by his
sister, it was not likely that he himself was
actually to be found at that address. On the
127


CAPTAIN SHANNON
contrary, it was more than probable that he
had arranged some complicated and roundabout
system of reforwarding correspondence, so that
even if the police should find out the address to
which the letter was sent, they would still have
before them the difficult task of tracing the
letter to the address to which it had been re-
forwarded, and perhaps again reforwarded, before
they could come to the actual hiding-place of
the fugitive, who in the meantime would get
wind of what was going on and would promptly
decide that it was high time for him to change
his quarters. And I felt tolerably sure that his
manner of making a change would be like that
of certain sea-fowl who, upon the approach of
an enemy, dive out of sight beneath the water,
where they twist and turn and eventually come
up far out of reach and range, and in any other
direction than that in which they are looked for.
Hence it was possible that though Green had
succeeded, as I say, either in intercepting or
obtaining access to Mullen's correspondence, he
might not be any nearer to discovering the
criminal's actual whereabouts. But if Green
merely took a copy of this letter and then let it
go on to Mullen, the latter would very likely
128


CAPTAIN SHANNON
This Mary Hath-
erwick Coyne
(d. 1880)

Henry Cross
(d. 1886);
and had daughter,
Flora Hatherwick Cross, b. 1865;
m. in 1885 to Stanley Burgoyne, Esq.
The meaning of this document — a document
which affords some interesting data to the stu-
dent of heredity—evidently was that James
Mullen was the illegitimate son of the famous,
and also infamous, Lord Dungannon by a Miss
Mary Coyne, the daughter of an Irish gentle-
man. The fact that Miss Coyne had been
seduced and had given birth to a child had
probably been kept a secret, for if Green's
notes were correct she had afterwards married
a Mr. Henry Cross, by whom she had a
daughter, Flora (now Mrs. Stanley Burgoyne),
who was therefore Mullen's half-sister, and the
writer of the letter a copy of which I had found
in Green's cigar-case.
How Green had contrived to find out the
address to which Mullen was having his letters
sent there was no evidence to show. Whether
it was due to a singularly lucky fluke or to his
own astuteness I could not say, and am not
likely ever to know, but I quite realised and
130


A DOCUMENT OF IMPORTANCE
understood that it was possible for him to have
made such a discovery. And I recognised and
understood also that, after having read the let-
ter which gave him the clue to Mullen's con-
nection with Mrs. Stanley Burgoyne, the other
facts which he had ferreted out in regard to
Mullen's parentage would not be difficult to
arrive at. What I could not understand, how-
ever, was by what means he had succeeded in
intercepting Mullen's letters. If Green had
been an official from Scotland Yard he would
no doubt be allowed to intercept letters which
might be written by or addressed to suspected
persons, but that the postal authorities would
permit a private inquiry agent to tamper with
their mail bags was not to be entertained.
That Green was staying in the same house as
Mullen, and was able in that way to lay hands
on the latter's correspondence, was very un-
likely. Nor was it likely that my late inquiry
agent had succeeded in bribing a postman, for
though it may not be impossible to find dis-
honest postmen, the odds are very much against
finding the dishonest man in the one particular
office with the mails of which one wishes to
tamper.
131


CAPTAIN SHANNON
A far more probable theory was that which
had at first occurred to me, namely, that the
letters had been directed to the care of a tobac-
conist, or, more likely still, of a hairdresser.
It is matter of common knowledge that many
hairdressers add to their business takings
by allowing letters, on each of which a fee
of one penny is charged, to be addressed to
their care. Though generally implying a not
very creditable connection, these letters are, as
a rule, of no more criminal character than
assignations with people to whom the recipient
has thought it unadvisable to give his real
name or address, or whose letters he is anx-
ious should not come under the notice of his
family.
If Green had intercepted the letters at a
tobacconist's shop, the first thing to find out
was where that tobacconist's shop was situated,
and the only way to do so would be to trace
the inquiry agent's recent movements. Hence
I decided that I could not do better than run
down to Yarby again and see what could be
learned about him. But before I could do this
with safety I should have to ascertain whether
the body had been found, and whether sus-
132


A DOCUMENT OF IMPORTANCE
picions of foul play were entertained, as in
that case it would not be advisable to visit the
neighbourhood for the present.
The morning paper of the following day
settled that point satisfactorily, for on open-
ing my "Daily News" I read the following
announcement: —
"Sad Death from Drowning. — Mr. Robert Bake-
well Green, a visitor from London, was accidentally
drowned at Baxenham, near Yarby, yesterday. The
body was discovered late last night on the beach by
the Baxenham rural postman. From the fact that the
unfortunate man was wearing no boots it is supposed
that he had taken them off in order to pursue the
pastime — so popular among Cockney visitors to the
seaside — of paddling among the small pools left by
the last tide. Doctor Ellis, who examined the body,
is of opinion that while so engaged the deceased was
overcome by faintness and was drowned in quite
shallow water, the body being subsequently washed
up upon the beach by the incoming tide. An inquest
will be held."
Five minutes after I had read this paragraph
I was on my way to catch the next train to
Yarby. The reader will remember that Green
had given his address as " Care of Mrs. Brand,
133


CAPTAIN SHANNON
Elm Cottage, Baxenham," and my first step
was to interview this lady, under the pretence
of being a Press representative who had come
down to collect further particulars about her
late lodger. From Mrs. Brand I learned among
other facts that Green had been in the habit of
paying frequent visits to Cotley, a seaside town
some twenty miles inland.
To Cotley I according betook myself, and
curiously enough the very first thing that caught
my eye after leaving the station was the legend,
"Letters Taken," displayed in the window of a
tobacconist's shop immediately fronting the
booking-office entrance. The door was closed,
but as I pushed it open a bell overhead an-
nounced the arrival of a customer.
I found myself in a small shop with another
room beyond, on the swing doors of which were
the words, "To the Hairdressing Saloon."
There was no one behind the counter, nor,
so far as I could see, was there any one in the
haircutting rooms. But on the counter before
me lay half a dozen letters, apparently thrown
there by an impatient postman who could not
wait for the proprietor's return. One of them
was for " Mr. Robert Bakewell Green," the
•34


A DOCUMENT OF IMPORTANCE
inscription being in his own handwriting;
another was addressed in a woman's hand to
"Mr. Henry Jeanes," and I saw that it bore
a Norwegian stamp and the Stavanger post-
mark. Could "Henry Jeanes" be the name
under which James Mullen was having letters
sent to him?
i35


CAPTAIN SHANNON
sir? If so we should be 'appy to accept your
commission."
The only little thing I was minded to do for
him was to kick him, and that right heavily, but
repressing the unregenerate desire of the natu-
ral man, I affected to be thinking the matter
over, and then replied —
"Why, yes, I think you might. My name is
Smithers — Alfred John Smithers, so if any let-
ters addressed to that name come here you 'll
know they are for me, won't you?"
"Certainly," he said. "Only too 'appy to
oblige a customer at hany time. Living 'ere,
sir?"
"Staying for a week or so," I answered,
"and I may perhaps come to live, but am not
sure yet. By-the-bye, do you ever get any let-
ters for my friend Mr. Henry Jeanes?"
"Mr. Henry Jeanes? Oh, yes, sir. And you
are the second gentleman that's harsked me
the same question. Mr. Green 'e harsked me
as well."
"Mr. James BakeweU Green?" I said. "Oh,
yes; he is a friend of mine too."
"Hindeed, sir!" (This with a deprecatory
cough, as if he did not think much of the late
138


CAPTAIN SHANNON
and we was to let 'im know if any one harsked
after 'im."
At that moment the bell over the tobacconist's
shop outside announced the entrance of a cus-
tomer, and two young men pushing open the
swing door of the hairdressing saloon, seated
themselves to await their turn.
Under the circumstances, and especially as I
had learnt all I required, I did not think it wise
to ask further questions, but I had a particular
reason — which the reader shall shortly hear —
for wishing to possess a specimen of the hand-
writing in which the letters for Henry Jeanes,
Esq., that were sent on to the care of Profes-
sor Lawrance's establishment at Stanby, were
directed.
"Can you spare me a second in the outside
shop?" I said to the hairdresser.
"With pleasure, sir," he answered, following
me out. "What can I do for you?"
"Look here," I said, pushing half-a-sovereign
towards him over the counter, "that's for your
trouble in letting me have my letters addressed
here. And now another matter. I've not been
very well to-day, and want to see a doctor.
Who's the best man to go to?"
140


CHAPTER XVII
ON THE HEELS OF JAMES MULLEN
T HAD already decided that my next desti-
■*■ nation must be Stanby, where it would be
necessary to pay a visit to Professor Lawrance's
hair-cutting establishment. But first I had to
read the letters I had secured, so I turned into
a small quiet-looking hotel and, having ordered
dinner, asked that I might have the use of a
bedroom. Then I rang for a jug of boiling
water, and on its arrival I dived into the folds
of my umbrella, and having brought up the
two epistles which were there secreted I pro-
ceeded to hold them over the steam until the
gum was so moist that it was possible to open
them.
The letter for Green was, as I have said,
directed to himself in his own writing. It
contained nothing more important than a sheet
of blank notepaper, which, as the reader will
already have surmised, had evidently been sent
143


ON THE HEELS OF JAMES MULLEN
as a "blind," its purpose being to afford the
inquiry agent an excuse for calling at the shop
where it had been delivered.
The letter addressed to Mr. Henry Jeanes —
that which had attracted my attention from the
fact of its bearing the postmark of the very
town in Norway where I had reason to believe
Mullen's sister was staying — promised to be
more interesting, and it was with no little eager-
ness that I opened it and read as follows: —
"James, — Your letter to hand. I cannot reply at
present, as Stanley has gone to Bergen; but I will
write you again on his return.
« p »
Though short, and unimportant as regards
contents, this letter was of the highest impor-
tance in other respects. Firstly, because it was
evidently from Mrs. Stanley Burgoyne, and in-
tended for the eye of James Mullen, and so in
every way confirmed the genuineness of the
letter I had found in Green's cigar-case; and
secondly, because it disclosed some information
that I might otherwise have had much difficulty
in discovering — the name under which Mullen's
correspondence was being addressed to him.
It was of the highest importance — if Mullen
143


CAPTAIN SHANNON
was to fall into the trap which I was preparing
for him — that he should have no cause to sus-
pect his correspondence was again being tam-
pered with; so, as it was possible that Mrs.
Burgoyne might refer to this epistle in a later
letter, I carefully resealed the note and handed
it to the postman, whom I saw delivering letters
in the street where the shop whence I had ob-
tained it was situated.
"What's this? " he said when he had looked
at it.
"You dropped it when making your last call,"
I answered.
He looked surprised at first, and afterwards
suspicious. "I don't remember seeing that let-
ter when I sorted my delivery," he said; "and
I ain't in the habit of dropping letters in the
street — been at it too long for that. How do I
know this ain't a put-up job?"
"Give it me back at once, you insolent fel-
low," I replied, "and I 'll do what I ought to
have done at first — take it to the head office
and report you to the postmaster for negligence.
I go out of my way to do you a courtesy, and
perhaps save you from getting into trouble
for carelessness in the execution of your duty,
144


ON THE HEELS OF JAMES MULLEN
and I get insulted for my pains. Give it me
back, or come with me to the head office and
we 'll soon put this matter right."
"I humbly ask your pardon, and hope there
is no offence, sir, I am sure," he answered, with
a change of manner which showed that he did
not relish the threat of being reported for negli-
gence. "I 'll see the letter's delivered all right,
and I'm much obliged to you, sir, I am sure,
and hope you won't think no more of it."
"I'm not sure that I oughtn't to take the let-
ter to the office now," I said. "However, I don't
want to get a man into trouble for an accident,
but keep a civil tongue in your head another
time, young man, or you 'll not get off so cheaply
as you have this."
He touched his cap, and promising to profit
by my advice, slipped the letter in with what I
supposed were others bearing the same address;
so wishing him good-day I entered a stationer's
shop and purchased a couple of envelopes and
two sheets of paper. Each sheet of paper I
folded and put into an envelope, which I then
addressed in pencil to myself, at the post-office,
Stanby. Then, after posting them, I made my
way to the station and took a ticket to Stanby.
io i4S


CAPTAIN SHANNON
As I had to wait some time for a train, be-
sides changing twice at junctions, it was late
when I reached that town, and I had some diffi-
culty in finding Professor Lawrance's hair-cutting
establishment, which was in a side street, and
was already closed for the night. On the other
side of the way, and only a few doors down,
was a not very clean-looking temperance hotel
and coffee palace, and here I secured a bed-
room and sitting-room, from the latter of which,
as it faced the street, I should be able to keep
an eye upon every one who entered or left Pro-
fessor Lawrance's establishment.
I then went to bed, but was up early next
morning and called at the post-office, where the
two envelopes which I had posted on the pre-
ceding day at Cotley were awaiting me. These
I took with me to my room at the hotel, and
having bought a piece of india-rubber on the
way I rubbed out the pencilled name and ad-
dress, after which I re-addressed the envelope in
ink to Mr. Henry Jeanes, at Professor Lawrance's
Hair-cutting Rooms, Stanby, imitating as closely
I could the handwriting of the barber at Cotley,
of whose caligraphy I had secured a specimen.
Most of my readers will already have guessed
146


ON THE HEELS OF JAMES MULLEN
why I troubled to post these pencil-addressed
letters to myself at Cotley, and then, after rub-
bing out the direction, re-addressed them in ink
to Jeanes, at Professor Lawrance's establishment
at Stanby, but as some may fail to do so, I had
better perhaps explain myself.
If a letter for Jeanes should be forwarded on
to Professor Lawrance's rooms from Cotley,
that letter it would be my business, by hook or
by crook, to abstract. But to do this without
attracting suspicion, it would be necessary to
have a dummy letter with which to replace it,
and the dummy would have to bear the Cotley
postmark, and be directed in a hand as much
resembling the handwriting on the original let-
ter as possible. How to arrange all this had
puzzled me at first, for though I did not antici-
pate any difficulty in hitting upon a pretext by
which to obtain a specimen of the Cotley bar-
ber's handwriting, or in imitating that hand-
writing when obtained, I could not see how
to get over the difficulty of the postmark. A
postmark is not an easy thing to forge without
specially prepared tools, and until the idea oc-
curred to me of posting at Cotley a letter ad-
dressed in pencil to myself at Stanby, and then
i47


CAPTAIN SHANNON
rubbing out the address and re-addressing it to
Jeanes, I was rather at a loss to know how to
effect my purpose. However, the difficulty was
now satisfactorily surmounted, and armed with
my dummy letters I set out to make the ac-
quaintance of Professor Lawrance.
He was an extremely unprepossessing, not to
say villainous-looking man, and regarded me
with what I could not help thinking was a sus-
picious eye when I entered. I submitted to be
shaved and shampooed, both of which opera-
tions he performed badly, though he regaled me
meanwhile with his views in regard to the win-
ner of the Derby, and also of a prize-fight which
was coming off that day.
"By-the-bye," I said, as I was drawing on my
gloves, " can one have letters addressed here?"
"No," he replied shortly, "yer can't. It
don't pay — on the usual terms."
"I know that," I said, " or I should n't have
asked you. But I'm willing to pay special
terms."
"Is it 'orses?" he inquired gruffly.
"Yes, horses," I said, taking up the cue which
he had given me; "but it's a fool's game, and
I've lost a lot of money over it already."
148


ON THE HEELS OF JAMES MULLEN
"Ah!" with a grin. "And yer've got a
hintroduction, of course. I don't take on cus-
tomers of that sort without a hintroduction. It
ain't safe."
The affair was panning out beyond my reckon-
ing, but from what had transpired I felt sure
that I should be safe in assuming he was more
of a betting agent than a barber, and that the
wisest thing for me to do would be, by bluffing
boldly, to lead him to suppose I knew all about
him; so I nodded assent as airily as possible, and
as if his question had been a mere matter of
course.
"Who is it?" he asked point blank.
"Morrison," I replied, without a moment's
hesitation — " Henry Morrison, of Doncaster.
You recollect him — tall man, clean-shaven and
small eyes. Wears a fawn coat and a brown
billycock. He said any money I put on with
you would be quite safe."
The barber nodded. "Like as not, though I
don't rekerllect him from yer description.
Well, wot d' yer want me to back?"
"Ah, that's what I wish you to tell me," I
said — this time at least with absolute truthful-
ness, for as a matter of fact I did not know as
149


CAPTAIN SHANNON
much as the name of one of the horses, or
what was the race which we were supposed to
be discussing.
"Greased Lightning's the lay," he said.
"It's a dead cert. I can get yer level money
now. It 'll be four to two hon to-morrow. How
much are yer going to spring?"
I replied that he could put a " flimsy " on for
me; and after he had entered the amount and
my name — which I gave as Henry Watson —
in a greasy notebook, I wished him good morn-
ing, promising to call again soon to see if there
were any letters.
The rest of the day I spent for the most part
in my bedroom watching the customers who
patronised Professor Lawrance's saloon; nor
was my vigil without result in assisting me to
form an opinion as to the class of business which
was there carried on. Not more than a dozen
people entered the establishment during the day,
and the majority of them had called neither to
be shaved nor to have their hair cut. My reason
for coming to this conclusion was not that I had
such telescopic and microscopic eyes as to be
able to detect in every case whether the caller
had been under the barber's hand since his en-
15°


ON THE HEELS OF JAMES MULLEN
trance, but because most of Professor Lawrance's
customers did not remain inside his shop more
than half a minute, and because, too, I saw a
letter in the hand of more than one of those who
came out. And as the postman never passed
the door without making a delivery, and the
callers were all more or less horsey in dress and
appearance, the evidence seemed to point pretty
clearly to the fact that Professor Lawrance was,
as I had already surmised, more of a betting
agent than a barber.
I looked in next morning, ostensibly to be
shaved, but in reality to try to get sight of
any letters which might have come addressed to
the Professor's care. That worthy forestalled
me by gruffly volunteering the information that
there were no letters; nor could I succeed in
leading the conversation to the subject in which
I was interested.
The morning after, however, I waited until I
saw some one — who looked more like a cus-
tomer in search of a barber than of a betting
agent — enter the shop, and then followed him.
He was at that moment being lathered for shav-
ing, so after wishing the Professor good-morning,
and remarking that I was in no hurry, I took a
I5I


ON THE HEELS OF JAMES MULLEN
Telegraph " — like a yachtsman setting his canvas
close to the wind — so as to keep myself out of
reach of the Professor's too-inquisitive glance,
and switching my eyes from object to object
until they discovered the missing letters placed
upon a rack which hung upon the wall near the
window.
"It's very dark here, or else my sight's get-
ting bad and I shall have to take to glasses.
I'm hanged if I can read this small print," I said
aloud, standing up and moving towards the win-
dow, as if to get a better light. For half a
minute I pretended to read, and then I leisurely
shook out the newspaper to its fullest extent,
in order to reverse the sheet, thus hiding myself
completely from the Professor's eye.
As I did so I took the opportunity to snatch
the packet of letters from the rack. It was no
easy matter to shuffle through them with one
hand and without attracting attention, but I
accomplished the task successfully, and not with-
out result, for the bottom letter of the packet
was for Mr. Henry Jeanes, and was in the hand-
writing of the barber at Cotley.
The reader will remember that I had prepared
two envelopes bearing the Cotley postmark, and
i53


CAPTAIN SHANNON
place you mention within four days and ready to start
again at a few hours' notice. We shall be just off the
boatbuilder's yard where our little yacht is laid up.
"I do not see any necessity for doing as you say in
regard to sending the present crew back to England
under the pretence that we are not likely to be using
the yacht for some time, and then, after getting the
ship's appearance altered by repainting and rechristen-
ing her the name you mention, engaging another crew
of Norwegians.
"This seems to me a very unnecessary precaution.
Your connection with us is never likely to be dis-
covered, unless by your own confession. However, I
suppose you know best, and we will do as you say.
« p »
The other letter was on a half-sheet of note-
paper, and in the handwriting of the barber at
Cotley. Here it is: —
"Respected Sir, — Mr. Green has not called since
I last wrote you. But a person named Smithers came
and asked questions. I did not like the look of him
and would not tell him anything, but said I did not
know any Mr. Jeanes. — Respectfully,
"James Dorley.
"P. S. — Smithers smelt of rum. He had been
drinking. He was a low-looking man, and I did not
like his eye."
156


ON THE HEELS OF JAMES MULLEN
"I'm pained to hear you don't like my eye,
Mr. James — Mr. 'Truthful James,'" I said sar-
castically as I put the letter down, glancing side-
ways all the same at a mirror on the wall to see
if I could detect any sinister expression in my
eye which could account for the unfavourable
opinion Mr. James had formed of that feature.
"And so you did n't tell me anything, did n't
you, you precious rascal? Some day I may
have an opportunity of telling you something,
and then it is possible you may find something
else to dislike about me as well as my eye. In
the meantime I 'll take the liberty of detaining
your letter, as it would put Mullen on the alert
if I let it go on to him. His sister's letter he
must have, for if I fail to set hands on him here,
I can take him when he keeps his appointment
with her on the steam yacht, on board which he
hopes to get out of the country. So I must n't
lose a moment in resealing her letter and getting
it back by hook or by crook to the letter-rack
whence I got it. I'm not easy about the forgery
with which I replaced it. If there had chanced
to be only two or three letters waiting to be
called for this morning, and I had abstracted
one without replacing it with a dummy, the
i57


ON THE HEELS OF JAMES MULLEN
the sooner I get the dummy back into my own
hands the better, for I don't think —"
At this point I broke off my meditations
abruptly. I had been sitting in full view of
Professor Lawrance's door, and just then I saw
him put his head out, look up and down the
street as if to see whether he could safely be
away for a few minutes without the probability
of a customer popping in, and then cross the
road in the direction of the nearest publichouse.
"If I'm to make the exchange, it's now or
never," I said, snatching up the letter from Mrs.
Burgoyne which, after copying, I had put back
into its envelope and resealed. In another
half-minute I had crossed the road and was
ascending the stairs which led to Professor
Lawrance's hair-cutting establishment.
!S9


A HAIRDRESSER'S ASSISTANT
small heyes, wore a fawn coat and a billycock
'at, did he? Ah! I knows 'im —Valker's 'is
name. 'Orses !" — this with scorn too wither-
ing to be expressed by means of pen and ink —
"You know hanythink about 'orses! Why, yer
sneakin' goat, there ain't a knacker in the cats'-
meat yard wot would n't put 'is 'eels in yer face
if 'e 'eard yer talk about a gee-gee!"
He looked me up and down contemptuously
for a moment, and then with a sudden accession
of fury, and with the sneer in his voice changed
to a snarl, said: —
"Yer come 'ere, do yer, a-spying and a-prying,
and takes rooms over the way to keep a watch
upon me and my customers. And yer want to
get yer 'and on them letters there, so as to find
some hevidence to lay hinformation agin me, do
yer? Think I didn't know yer was a-watchin'
me through the korfey palis winder? That's
wot I went out for. I knew as yer'd be slippin'
over 'ere direckly my back was turned. But I
copped yer, yer slinkin' toad! and yer ain't got
nothink to lay hinformation on; and I 'll take
care yer don't!"
"My good man," I replied quite coolly,
"don't distress yourself unnecessarily. I know
ii 161


CAPTAIN SHANNON
very well that you are carrying on illegal trans-
actions, and I could make things uncomfortable
if I chose to give the police a hint. But I'm
not a detective, and I don't concern myself one
way or the other with your doings, legal or illegal.
What I came here to find out is purely a private
family affair, and has nothing in the world to do
with you or your betting business. A man I
know has disappeared, and his family are anxious
to get news of him. I've got an idea that he is
in Stanby, and that he is having letters addressed
to your care under an assumed name. Now
look here. You've got it in your power to
spoil my game, I admit; and I've got it in my
power to give the police a hint that might be
inconvenient to you. But why should you and
I quarrel? Why shouldn't we do a little busi-
ness together to our mutual benefit? I can pay
for any help you give, and if you 'll work with
me I 'll guarantee that your name shan't be
mentioned, and to keep my mouth shut about
any little business transactions of your own
which you 're engaged in. Well, what is it to
be? Will you accept my offer or not? You
get nothing by refusing, and gain a good deal
by accepting. You run this show to make
162


A HAIRDRESSER'S ASSISTANT
money, and not for pleasure, I take it; and I'm
ready to put a good deal more money in your
pocket than you'd make in the general way, and
not to interfere with your usual business either.
I should n't have supposed it wants much think-
ing about."
"Wot d' yer call a good deal more money?"
he asked shortly, but not without signs of com-
ing to terms.
"Five, fifteen, or twenty pounds."
"An' who is it yer after? There's some of
my pals as I would n't give no one the bulge on,
and there's some as I don't care a crab's claw
abawt."
"My man is n't one of your pals, I'm pretty
sure, though I can't tell you his name — anyhow,
not for the present," I answered. "But who are
the pals you won't go back on?"
"Is it George Ray?"
"No."
"'Appy 'Any?"
"No."
"Alf Mason?"
"No."
"Bob the Skinner?"
"No."
4
163


A HAIRDRESSER'S ASSISTANT
pounds down to start with, and I 'll give you
another five for every week I'm here. Is it a
bargain?"
"No, it ain't. Ten pun' down, and ten pun' a
week's my rigger, and no less. I ain't a-going
to injure my business by taking hamitoors to
learn the business on my customers out of
charity. Them's my terms. .Yer can take 'em
or leave 'em, as yer like."
In the end we compounded the matter for ten
pounds down and five pounds weekly, and hav-
ing arrayed myself in a white apron and a can-
vas coat, braided red, which the Professor tossed
me from a drawer, I assumed those badges of
office — the shears, shaving-brush and comb —
and took my place behind the second operating
chair to await customers and developments.
165


CHAPTER XIX
"ARE THERE ANY LETTERS FOR HENRY JEANES,
ERE it not that they have no immediate
*" connection with my story, I should like
to describe here some of the curious and amus-
ing experiences which befell me while I was
acting as assistant to a barber and betting
agent. But in a narrative like the present
it is perhaps best that I should confine my-
self to the incidents and adventures which
have direct bearing upon my search for Captain
Shannon.
That the Professor would betray me to his
clients I did not think at all likely, as to do so
would necessitate his admitting to them that he
had been bribed to allow a spy, if not a detec-
tive, to enter his service under a disguise, and
to have access to the correspondence of the
establishment. At the same time, I did not
think it advisable — at all events for the present
— to take him into my confidence by telling him
PLEASE?

166


CAPTAIN SHANNON
tampering with them in his absence, he again
descended the stairs in search of the desired
refreshment.
He had been gone about a quarter of an hour
when a man, muffled up to the nose with a big
"comforter," and with a soft hat pulled down so
closely over his brows that little more of him was
visible than a pair of blue spectacles, opened the
door and, without coming in, stood coughing and
panting like a consumptive on the mat outside.
As he did not show any disposition to enter, I in-
quired what he wanted, but shaking his head, as
if to indicate that he was unable to answer, he
continued hacking and coughing with stooped
head and bent shoulders for half a minute, and
then in a hollow voice, which seemed strangely
familiar to me, asked if there was a letter for Mr.
Henry Jeanes.
As calmly as if his coming were a thing of
the utmost indifference to me I reached for the
packet of letters in order to select that which
was addressed to Jeanes. To my dismay I
found it gone, but repressing the exclama-
tion of surprise which rose to my lips I turned
to the waiting messenger and shook my head.
He mumbled something that sounded like
168


LETTER FOR HENRY JEANES
"Thank you," and then, closing the door, toiled
painfully downstairs. Scarcely had he reached
the first landing before I had made what is called
in music-hall parlance a "lightning change."
Tearing off my canvas coat and white apron
and tossing them in a heap upon a chair, I shot
into, rather than got into, my reefer jacket, and
snatching at my hat was down the stairs and out
in the street before my visitor was half-way to
the first corner, which led to an unfrequented
side street. The instant he had turned it I was
after him like the wind, and, looking warily round,
saw him making for a narrow lane that ran at
right angles to the direction in which he was
going. No sooner was he hidden by the corner
than I was after him once again, but not so
hurriedly as to forget to stop and peer cautiously
round before exposing my own person to view.
The sight which met my eyes put me, I must
confess, fairly out of countenance, for there, just
round the corner, with the crush hat pushed to
the back of his head, the muffler thrown open
and the blue spectacles in the hand which
he pointed derisively at me, was none other than
the Professor, literally rolling about with uncon-
trollable laughter.
169


CAPTAIN SHANNON
"Oh, my poor korf! it is so bad I ain't able
to speak!" he gasped between his convulsions
of merriment. "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Oh, you
'a'porth o' pigeon's milk wot thought you could
get up early enough in the mornin' to take a rise
out of old Tom Lawrance! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Oh, you feedin'-bottle fool and mug as thought
yer'd got the bulge on Downy Tom! Ha, ha,
ha, ha, ha! Come and laugh at him, sonnies, for
the biggest fool and mammy's-milk Juggins and
Johnny in all Stanby!"
170


CAPTAIN SHANNON
"So it is Jeanes as yer after — as I always
suspected, though you never harsked questions
about him direct, but only as if by haccident and
among the others," he said, as he lit his pipe.
"It 'ud have saved a lot of trouble if yer'd told
me so at fust."
"What do you mean by ' saved trouble ' ?" I
asked.
"Why, if I'd 'ave knowed it was Jeanes for
certain, I'd 'ave 'elped yer — for a consideration,
of course. I only took yer into the shop because
I meant to find out who yer was hafter. Jeanes
ain't nothink to me; but there is some of my
pals as I would n't have no 'arm come to, not for
a pot o' money. And I knew if I 'ad yer there
I could find out who it was yer wanted, and give
'im the tip if it was a pal. Why, I 've been
a-playin' with yer all this time — a-playing hoff
first one name and then another to see if it was
your bloke. Then when I began to suspect it
was Jeanes, I planned the little game I played
yer ter-day — an* didn't yer tumble prettily!
Ha, ha, ha, ha!" and off the Professor went
again into a paroxysm of laughter at my ex-
pense.
It suited my purpose to humour him, so I
172


MULLEN AND I ALMOST MEET
manner, "Look 'ere, Watson, or whatever yer
name is, I think us two can do a deal together.
Yer want to get 'old of 'Enery Jeanes, don't
yer?"
I nodded.
"Supposin' I knew where 'e was to be found
at this very minute, wot 'ud yer give me for the
hinformation?"
"Ten pounds," I answered.
He snorted.
"Can't be done under twenty, ready money.
Give us yer twenty and I 'll tell yer."
"No," I said. "Take me to where Jeanes is
to be found, wherever it is, and I 'll give you,
not twenty, but fifty pounds, as soon as I'm
sure it is the right man. I swear it, so help me
God! and I won't go back on my word."
His eyes sparkled.
"Yer a gentleman, I b'lieve," he said, "and
I 'll trust yer. But yer must keep my name out
of it. Now listen. When I went down the
stairs to get that 'arf-pint I met Jeanes a-comin'
up for 'is letters. I guessed it was 'im yer was
after, and I was n't going to 'ave no harrests nor
rows in my shop. Besides, if yer wanted 'im
bad, I guessed yer'd be willin' to drop money
175


CAPTAIN SHANNON
on it and if there was any money to be dropped
I did n't see why I should n't be the one to pick
it up."
Here was news, indeed! If the Professor was
to be believed — and, notwithstanding my re-
cent experience, I failed to see what motive he
could have for misleading me in this instance —
the man I was in search of had been in the
town, and in that very house, scarcely more
than- two hours ago! And I had been sitting
there idly, when every moment, every second,
was precious!
"Go on! go on!" I said excitedly. "Tell
me the rest as fast as you can. There's not
a moment to spare. I 'll see you don't lose
by it."
He nodded and continued, but still in the
same leisurely way.
"Well, I harsked Jeanes to wait while I fetched
the letter. That's wot I came back to get my
pipe for. Yer remember I took the letters
down and pretended to count 'em? Well, I
sneaked it then and gave it 'im. He gave me
a sovereign, and said there would n't be any
more letters comin' for 'im, and 'e should n't be
calling at the shop no more. Then 'e harsked
176


MULLEN AND I ALMOST MEET
me wot time the next train left for London, and
I told 'im in a quarter of an hour, and 'e said
that would n't do, as 'e 'ad n't 'ad no lunch and
was starvin' 'ungry. So I told 'im there was n't
another for two hours and a 'arf, and 'e said
that would do capital, and where was the best
place to get dinner. I told 'im the Railway
Hotel, and 'e went there, 'cos I followed him
to make sure. Then I whipped back and
played that little game on yer just to make
sure it was Jeanes yer wanted. And now I
guess that fifty pounds is as good as mine.
Jeanes 'll be at the hotel now, or if 'e's left there
we can make sure of 'im at the station when 'e
catches the London express. Wot d' yer want
him for? Looks a 'armless, pleasant kind of
bloke, and very pleasant spoken."
"What's he like? " I said.
"Youngish, fair, and big eyes like a gal's.
Wore a blue serge suit and a white straw 'at."
"Clean shaven?" I asked.
"Yes, clean shaved; or any'ow, 'e'd no 'air
on 'is face."
"That's the man," I said. "Well, come
along, we'll be off to the hotel. Do you
know any one there, by the-bye?"
12 177


HOW I STRUCK MULLEN'S TRACK
As for that precious rascal, I need scarcely
say that I placed no reliance whatever upon
what he said, and had seriously considered
whether the story of his giving Jeanes the
letter on the stairs, and then shadowing his
customer to the hotel might not be an entire
fabrication. I did not for a moment believe
that he knew who Jeanes really was, for had he
done so he would, I felt sure, have lost no time
in securing the reward by handing the fugitive
over to the police. But I quite recognised the
possibility of his being in Jeanes's pay, and had
seriously asked myself whether the statement
that Jeanes would not be having any more let-
ters addressed to the shop, and would not be
visiting Stanby again, might not be a ruse to
get me out of the way. But that the Professor's
surprise and dismay when he found Jeanes gone
from the hotel were genuine, no one who had
witnessed them could have doubted, and as the
circumstances generally tended to confirm his
story, I was forced to the conclusion that he
had, in this instance at all events, told the
truth.
In that case I should be wasting time by
remaining longer at Stanby; so after arranging
181


CAPTAIN SHANNON
with the Professor that if Jeanes called again, or
if any other letters arrived for him, the word
"News" should at once be telegraphed to an
address which I gave, I packed my bag and
caught the next train to town.
Mullen had called "check" at Stanby, it is
true, but I was not without another move, by
means of which I hoped eventually to " mate"
him, and what that move was, the reader who
remembers the contents of the intercepted let-
ters will readily surmise.
In one of those letters the person to whom it
was addressed was told that the steam yacht, by
means of which he was to escape would be
lying just off the boat-builder's yard where the
little yacht was laid up. Any one who did not
know from whom the letter was, or under what
circumstances it had been written, would not be
any the wiser for this piece of information.
But to one who knew, as I did, that the writer
was the wife of Mr. Stanley Burgoyne, it would
not be a difficult thing to ascertain the name of
any small yacht of which that gentleman was
the owner, and the place where it was likely to
be laid up. •
Whether Mullen intended to abandon or to
182


HOW I STRUCK MULLEN'S TRACK
carry out the plan he had formed for making
his escape by the help of his sister, I had no
means of knowing. If he suspected that his
letters had been intercepted, he was tolerably
sure to abandon the arrangement, or at all
events to change the scene of operations. But
if he was unaware of the fact that I had taken
up the thread which poor Green had dropped,
it was possible that he might assume his secret
to be safe now Green was satisfactorily disposed
of, and might carry out his original plan, in
which event he would walk of his own accord
into the trap which I was preparing for him.
In any case I should be doing right in making
inquiries about Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Burgoyne
and their yacht, and with this end in view I
purchased a copy of the current "Yachting
Register."
Turning to the letter B in the list of owners, I
found that Mr. Stanley Scott Burgoyne's club
was the Royal London, and that he had two
boats, one a big steam yacht called the " Fiona,"
and the other a little five-tonner named the "Odd
Trick." It was no doubt in the former that
Mr. and Mrs. Burgoyne had gone to Norway
and by means of which Mullen was to fly the
183


HOW I STRUCK MULLEN'S TRACK
Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Burgoyne, by interview-
ing the waterman Gunnell, that it was quite pos-
sible I might learn something of importance,
but I had not expected to strike the trail red-
hot, and so soon, for "Cross," as the reader
may perhaps remember, was the name by
which Mullen was known to his family. "Mul-
len " had been used only in connection with the
conspiracy.
Lest the man should see by my face how
important was the information he had let drop,
I stooped as if to flick a splash of mud from my
trousers-leg before replying.
"Ah, yes," I said at length, straightening
myself and bending forward indolently to look
at the telegram, which I read aloud.
"To Gunnell, Gravesend. — Get < Odd Trick' ready
and afloat. Mr. Cross will come for her. — Burgoyne.
"Windsor Hotel, Scarborough."
"Of course," I went on, "I had quite for-
gotten Mr. Cross telling me, when I saw him
last, that he was going to ask his brother-in-
law to lend him the ' Odd Trick,' for a cruise.
Whom has he got on board?"
"No one, sir. Mr. Cross was sailing her him-
i85


CAPTAIN SHANNON
self; said he was only going as far as Sheerness,
where he expected a friend to join him who
would help him to handle her."
"He's a good sailor, is n't he?"
"No, sir, that's just what he is n't, and that's
why I wanted him to let me go with him
until his friend turned up. But, bless you, sir,
he got that huffy there was n't no holdin'
him. And him a very pleasant-mannered
gentleman in the usual way, and free with his
money too."
Our conversation was interrupted at this point
by the entrance of another waterman with the
key of the shed where a boat that was for sale
was laid up. The craft in question was a pretty
little cutter, named the "Pastime," and I of
course made a great pretence of inspecting her
narrowly, and was careful to put the usual
questions about her draught, breadth of beam,
findings, and the like, which would be expected
from any intending purchaser.
"Isn't she rather like the 'Odd Trick'?" I
said casually, being desirous of getting a de-
scription of that vessel without appearing to be
unduly inquisitive.
"Lor' bless you no, sir!" answered the hon-
186


HOW I STRUCK MULLEN'S TRACK
est Gunnell. "She's about the same siz right
enough, but the ' Pastime' is cutter-rigged and
the ' Odd Trick''s a yawl. Besides, the ' Pas-
time' is painted chocolate, and the ' Odd Trick'
is white, picked out gold."
This was just the information I required, so
after telling Gunnell that I would let him know
my decision when I had seen another boat
which was in the market, I slipped half-a-
sovereign into his hand, as "conscience money,"
for taking up his time when I had no intention
of becoming a purchaser, and bade him " Good-
day, and thank you."
The result of my inquiries, though by no
means unsatisfactory, had, I must confess, put
me somewhat out of my reckoning. I had all
along been of opinion that Mullen's hiding-
place was on water, as the reader is aware, but
I had not supposed he would be so rash as to
trust himself on a vessel which, if his connec-
tion with the Burgoynes should reach the ears
of the police, would be almost the first object
of their inquiries. I could only account for his
doing so by presuming that he was convinced
that the secret of his relationship to Mr. and
Mrs. Burgoyne — being known only to them
187


CAPTAIN SHANNON
crimes. The circumstances may so vary as to
cause the features of the crime to have a differ-
ent aspect from the feature of any previous
crime, but the methods pursued are generally
the same.
The criminal classes are almost invariably
creatures of habit. The fact that a certain
method — be it adopted for the purpose of
committing a crime, concealing a crime, or of
effecting the criminal's escape—has proved
successful in the past is to them the strongest
possible reason for again adopting the same
method. They associate that method in their
thoughts with what they call their luck, and
shrink from having to depart from it. Hence
the detective-psychologist should be quick to
get what I may—with no sinister meaning in
regard to after events — be allowed to call the
"hang" of the criminal's mind, and to discover
the methods which, though varying circum-
stances may necessitate their being worked out
in varying ways, are common to most of his
crimes. The detective who can do this has his
antagonist at a disadvantage. He is like the
hunter who knows that the hare will double, or
that this or that quarry will try to set the
190


HOW I STRUCK MULLEN'S TRACK
hounds at fault and seek to destroy the scent
by taking to the water. And just as the hun-
ter's acquaintance with the tricks of the quarry
assists him to anticipate and to forestall the poor
beast's efforts to escape, so the detective who
has taken a criminal's measure, and discovered
the methods upon which he works, can often
turn the very means which are intended to
effect an escape into means to effect a capture.
I need not point out to the observant reader
that Mullen's one anxiety in all his movements
was to cover up his traces. He could be daring
and even reckless at times, as witness this fact of
his having gone away in a boat, which, should
his connection with Mrs. Burgoyne leak out,
would, as I have already said, be the very first
object of inquiry. It would seem, in fact, as if,
so long as he had satisfied himself that he had
left no "spoor" behind, he preferred adopting a
bold course to a timid one, as for instance when
he openly proclaimed the murder of Green to be
the handiwork of Captain Shannon by leaving a
declaration to that effect folded up in a bottle
which was attached to the body.
How he had accomplished that particular
crime I did not know, but I had the best of
191


CAPTAIN SHANNON
reasons for knowing that he had left no sign of
himself behind. Carefulness in covering up his
traces was indeed the key-word to his criminal
code, and perhaps was the secret of the success
with which he had hitherto carried out his
designs. Given any fresh move on his part, and
some cunning scheme for obliterating the trail
he had left behind — for cutting the connecting
cord between the past and the present — might
be looked for as surely and inevitably as night
may be looked for after day.
I had — more by luck than by subtlety —
traced Mullen to the boatyard at Gravesend,
but there I lost sight of him completely. He
had taken the " Odd Trick " away with him the
same evening, I was told, and had gone down
the river, but what had become of him after-
wards there was not the slightest evidence to
show. To go down the'river in search of him
seemed the natural and only course, but I was
beginning by this time to get some insight into my
adversary's methods, and felt that before ask-
ing myself, "Where has Mullen gone?" I
should seriously consider the question, "What
method has he adopted for covering up his
traces?"
192


CHAPTER XXII
THE ARTFULNESS OF JAMES MULLEN
7 HAT method has Mullen adopted for
covering up his traces?" I asked myself,
and as I did so a passage from the letter which
had been sent to him by Mrs. Burgoyne — the
letter which I had fortunately intercepted —
flashed into my mind.
"I do not see any necessity," she had written,
"for doing as you say in regard to sending the
present crew back to England under the pre-
tence that we are not likely to be using the
yacht for some time, and then, after getting the
ship's appearance altered by repainting and
rechristening her the name you mention, engag-
ing another crew of Norwegians."
If Mullen had considered it necessary to take
such precautions in regard to the steam yacht,
he would beyond all question consider it even
more necessary to his safety that a similar course
should be adopted in regard to the boat which,

r93


CAPTAIN SHANNON
until opportunity came for him to leave the
country, was to carry " Caesar and his fortunes."
That boat had been described to me by Gunnell
as a five-ton yawl, painted white, picked out
with gold. She had by now, no doubt, been
entirely metamorphosed, and before I set out to
continue my search for Mullen it was of vital
importance that I should know something of the
appearance of the boat for which I was to look.
According to the waterman Gunnell, Mullen had
gone down the river when he left Gravesend
that evening, and indeed it was in the highest
degree unlikely that he had gone up the river
towards London in a small sailing vessel. Every
mile traversed in that direction would render
his movements more cramped and more likely
to come under observation, whereas down the
river meant the open sea, with access to the
entire sea-board of the country and, if necessary,
of the Continent.
But should the authorities by any chance dis-
cover Mullen's connection with the Burgoynes
and learn in the course of their subsequent in-
quiries that he had gone down the river in a
five-ton yawl, painted white, belonging to Mr.
Burgoyne, it would in all probability be down
194


CAPTAIN SHANNON
systematically, and missing no boatyard or other
likely place for effecting such a purpose as that
with which I credited Mullen. It was a weari-
some task, for the inquiries had to be made
with tact and caution, and it was not until I had
reached Erith that I learned anything which
promised to repay me for my pains. There I
was told that a small yacht had recently put into
a certain boat-builder's yard for repairs, but what
these repairs had been my informant could not
tell me. The yard in question was higher up
the river, and thither I betook myself to pursue
my inquiries. The man in charge was not a
promising subject, and doggedly denied having
executed any such job as that indicated. Mullen
— if it were he — had no doubt paid him, and
paid him well, to hold his tongue, and I thought
none the worse of the fellow for being faithful
to his promise, especially as I was able to obtain
elsewhere the information I needed. The boat
which had put into the yard for repairs had
come by night and had left by night; but every
waterside place has its loungers, and the less
legitimate work your habitual lounger does
himself, the more incumbent upon him does he
feel it to superintend in person the work which
196


THE ARTFULNESS OF MULLEN
is being done by other people. From some of
the loungers who had witnessed the arrival of
the boat which had been put in for repairs I had
no difficulty in ascertaining that her hulk was
painted white when she entered the yard and
chocolate brown when she left, and that the
time of her arrival coincided exactly with the date
upon which the " Odd Trick " had left Gravesend.
Nor was this all, for two different men who had
seen her come in, and afterwards had watched
her go out, were absolutely sure that, though
she went out a cutter, she came in a yawl. This
was an important difference, and would so alter
the appearance of the boat that the very
skipper who had been sailing her might well
have been pardoned for not knowing his own
craft.
I had played my cards sometimes wisely, but
more often foolishly, while conducting my search
for Captain Shannon, but the wisest and the
luckiest deal I made throughout the business
was my determination to spare no pains in
ascertaining what step the fugitive had taken to
cover up his tracks, before I set out to look for
a five-ton yawl, painted white, picked out with
gold, and bearing the name of the " Odd Trick."
197


CAPTAIN SHANNON
But for that determination and the discoveries
which resulted from it I should in all probability
have passed unnoticed the little brown cutter
that I saw lying at anchor to the west of Southend
as I passed by in the small steam launch which
I hired for the purpose of carrying on my in-
vestigation. And had I passed that cutter un-
noticed Captain Shannon would in all probability
have reached America or Australia in safety,
and it is more than likely that this narrative
would never have been written.
To the comment "And small loss too!"
which may rise — and not unreasonably — to
the lips of some critics, I can only reply that I
undertook my search for Captain Shannon to
please myself, and in search of excitement. It
is the plain story of the adventures which befell
me, and not a literary study, which is here set
forth, and I am quite content to have it written
down as such, and nothing more. The one thing
I can safely assert about it is that it is not a story
dealing with the New Woman. If it has any
peculiarity at all, it is that it tells of one of the
few pieces of mischief which have happened in
this world since the days of Eve, concerning
which it may, without fear of contradiction, be
198


THE ARTFULNESS OF MULLEN
affirmed that no woman had a hand in it; for,
with the exception of the mere mention of Mrs.
Stanley Burgoyne — who never once comes upon
the scene in person — this is a story without a
woman in it.
199


CHAPTER XXIII
HOW I GOT WEDGED IN A WINDOW, AND LEFT
BEHIND
JT was some half-mile or so to the west of
Southend pier that the little brown cutter
referred to in my last chapter was lying, and, as
I had seen no other boat up or down the river
which in any way corresponded with the descrip-
tion of the boat I was looking for, I at once
decided that before extending my researches in
other directions round the coast I must satisfy my-
self that the craft in question was not the "Odd
Trick." In order to do so, and in order also that
the person on board, whoever he might be,
should not give me the slip, I told my man to
anchor the steam launch off the pier-head, where
steam launches are often to be seen lying. It
did not take long to discover, by the aid of field-
glasses, that there were two people on board the
cutter, one of whom was evidently a paid hand
and the other presumably his employer. That
the latter in any way resembled the man for
200


HOW I GOT WEDGED IN A WINDOW
whom I was looking I could not — much as I
should have liked to lay that flattering unction to
my soul — find justification for thinking — at all
events on the evidence of the field-glasses. And
as I observed that he invariably went below if
any other boat passed close to the cutter, it did
not seem worth while to attract his attention, and
perhaps arouse his suspicions, by attempting to
come to close quarters in order to make a nearer
inspection. The fact that he seemed anxious to
keep out of sight was in itself curious, although
no one who was not watching his movements
very narrowly would have noticed it. Some-
what curious too was another circumstance
which happened soon after our arrival. A small
yacht, with three or four young men on board,
dropped anchor about a hundred yards from the
brown cutter. She had not been there long
before I saw that the cutter was getting under
way for a cruise; but that the cruise in question
was taken chiefly as an excuse to change her
quarters I had reason to suspect, for after sailing
a little way out and circling once round a buoy,
as if for the look of the thing, she sailed in again
and brought up a quarter of a mile further west,
at a spot where no other boat was lying.
201


CAPTAIN SHANNON
To any one who had watched this manoeuvre
as closely as I did it must have seemed a little
strange too that the boat was sailed entirely by
the man who was evidently the paid skipper,
his employer neither taking the tiller nor lend-
ing a hand with the sheets. As a rule a yachts-
man who yachts for the love of the thing prefers
to handle his boat himself, and would not give a
"thank you " for a sail in which he plays the
part of passenger. Probably I should not have
noticed this trifling circumstance had I not
learned from Gunnell that " Mr. Cross " was no
sailor. I had from the first believed that Cross's
story about his picking up a friend at Sheerness
who was to help him with the boat was a fab-
rication, and that he had in all probability run
in to shore as soon as he was out of sight of
Gunnell and had secured the services of one of
the many watermen who are on the look-out for
a job.
Anyhow the circumstances in connection with
the brown cutter were sufficiently suspicious to
warrant me in making sure that she was not the
boat I was in search of, and I decided that a
watch must be kept upon her not only by day
but also by night. If Mullen were really on
202


CAPTAIN SHANNON
right hand a note which he had taken from the
lining of his cap, and smearing his forehead with
the back of his left hand, as if to hint that if he
were damp outside he was dry within.
"Give him some beer," I said to my skipper,
as I opened the note.
It was in Grant's writing, and was as
follows: —
'•' Come as fast as you can to Going's Oyster Bar, in
the High Street, exactly opposite the Royal Hotel.
Come ready to go to town if necessary. If I'm gone
when you get to Going's, wait there till you receive
wire from me.
"F. G."
As luck would have it, I was already dressed,
and in a blue-serge suit, which, if somewhat
shabby, would be inconspicuous anywhere. I
did at first think of changing my yachting shoes
— which had tan uppers with gutta-percha
soles — for black boots, but it occurred to me
that the shoes would be extremely convenient
for shadowing, and as the tan uppers made them
look like the now common brown shoe, I decided
to go as I was.
"Can you wait here while one of my men and
I row ashore?" I said to the messenger, tossing
206


HOW I GOT WEDGED IN A WINDOW
my yachting cap into an open locker and put-
ting on the customary hard felt. "He 'll be
fresher than you are, and I don't want to lose
a minute."
"Yes, sir; I 'm in no hurry," the man re-
plied.
"All right. Here's something for yourself.
Jump in, Brown. You take one oar and I 'll take
the other. Make for the beach, just below the
Royal Hotel. The tide is running in fast, and I
shall get there quicker by boat than if you
landed me at the pier and I walked. Put your
back into it, and I ought to be ashore well inside
a quarter of an hour."
Brown bent to with such will that, by means
of our united efforts, I was at Going's Oyster
Bar within twenty minutes from receiving the
message. Grant w.as sitting where he had a full
view of the hotel opposite, but could not himself
be seen from outside. He had his eyes upon
the hotel when I entered, and, except for one
quick glance at me, never took them off again,
but motioned me with his hand to the chair
beside him. No one was in the shop, so, without
further ado, he began his story.
"I came ashore last evening to post a letter,"
207


CAPTAIN SHANNON
he said, " but kept an eye on the cutter all the
same, and, as it was a fine evening, strolled up
and down the Esplanade before going back to
turn in for the night. By-and-bye I saw a boat
coming off from cutter, two men in it, and mak-
ing for shore. Waited to see where they were
going to land, and then hid behind bathing
machine to shadow 'em. A man got out —
looked as if he had reddish hair and beard —
and the other one took dinghy back to cutter.
Man with red beard went to station. It was
past eleven, and there'd be no up train, so I
supposed he'd be going on to Shoebury by.the
last down train just about due, and decided to
go with him. Down train came in, but he
turned as if he'd just come by it, and went to
Royal Hotel. He could n't know me, so I fol-
lowed, bold as brass. Heard him ask for bed,
and I did same. His room was opposite mine,
and I saw him go in. I did n't go to bed all
night lest I should oversleep. Peeped out at
six and saw his boots outside, so he was still
there evidently. Dressed and came down —
boots still outside. Would n't wait for breakfast
— came out — slipped in here — sent note to
you —had breakfast — paid bill, but said would
208


HOW I GOT WEDGED IN A WINDOW
Hornchurch. At the last-named stopping-place
a burly farmer, with a body like a bullock,
leant half out of the window of my carriage to
carry on a conversation with a friend upon the
platform, and in doing so blocked my view
cqmpletely.
"Will you allow me to get a paper, please?"
I said, fuming with impatience at not being able
to obtain a peep outside, although the train was
already moving.
"So I tould 'im I'd give 'im five pun' ten,"
continued the yokel leisurely, but interpolating
a surly " Yer can't get one 'ere," which he threw
at me over his shoulder without turning his
head or attempting to withdraw from the win-
dow; "I tould 'im I'd give 'im five pun' ten " —
this to the friend who was running along the
platform beside the now quickly-moving train
— " and he sez, sez he, ' I'd rather give 'im to
yer.' Ha, ha, ha!"
In despair I thrust my head under his arm
just in time to see the man with the red beard
disappearing, brown bag and all, through the
place where tickets were collected. To get out
and follow him was impossible, for the yokel
drew in his great shoulders almost at the same
211


CAPTAIN SHANNON
moment that I put my head out, and in so do-
ing wedged me into the window like a plug in a
cask, and by the time I could extricate myself
the train had cleared the station and was spank-
ing along toward London.
212


CHAPTER XXIV
A PRETTV KETTLE OF FISH!
TTERE was a pretty kettle of fish! For the
*■ *■ first desperate moment wild thoughts of
pulling the connecting cord and stopping the
train peeped in my brain like the mad faces
seen at the windows of an asylum. But as the
mad faces vanish at the return of the keeper, so in
the next moment wiser counsels prevailed and I
was considering the situation with the serious-
ness which the facts demanded.
And first I had to ask myself what could be
the red-bearded passenger's motive for booking
to London, and then suddenly changing his
plans and getting out at an unimportant country
station? Could it be that he was indeed James
Mullen, and that he was at his old tricks of cov-
ering up his tracks?
If he had reason to believe himself shadowed
from Southend, he could have done nothing
wiser than to alight at Hornchurch. A detec-
tive who suspected the traveller's identity and
213


CAPTAIN SHANNON
had watched him enter the train at one end
would in all probability telegraph to the police
to meet the train at the other end and effect an
arrest. By getting out at Hornchurch, Mullen
would not only dodge this possible danger, but
would, so to speak, force his adversary to come
out into the open, for though shadowing can be
carried on with small risk of detection in Lon-
don, where the person so engaged is only a unit
in a crowd, a shadower cannot possibly hope to
escape notice in a country village.
Altogether I had to admit that, even if I had
seen the red-bearded man get out at Horn-
church in time for me to follow him, I should
have been uncertain how to act. Probably not
more than two passengers would be likely to
leave the train at such a place, and it would be
comparatively easy for a man like Mullen to
decide who had legitimate business in the neigh-
bourhood and who had not. Had I been one of
these passengers I should have brought myself
under his direct notice, and this I was anxious
to avoid, as it was quite possible that, in order
to obtain evidence of his identity, circumstances
might render it necessary for me to come in
personal contact with him.
214


CAPTAIN SHANNON
known to the real Captain Shannon, as well as-
to the public generally, the enterprise upon
which I was engaged.
All things considered, the incident which had
prevented me from seeing the man I was
shadowing leave the train at Hornchurch until it
was too late to follow him was not an unmixed
evil, for it was possible that had I been com-
pelled to act upon the spur of the moment I
might have adopted a course which I should
afterwards have reason to regret.
While I had been coming to this conclusion
the train had been trundling along towards the
next station, and was already slowing off for a
stoppage. If I were to take action I must do so
immediately, and for the moment I found it
difficult to decide whether it would be best to
go on to London or to get out and make my
way back to Hornchurch, in order to pursue
inquiries about the red-bearded man and his
movements.
If he were, as I suspected, James Mullen, the
chances were that he had got out at Hornchurch,
not because he had any business there, but to
put a possible pursuer at fault. In that case he
would go on to London —which was in all
216


CAPTAIN SHANNON
philosophy, for as the clocks were chiming
eight, and evening was beginning to close in,
whom should I see step out upon the platform
from a Romford train but my gentleman of the
red beard and brown bag.
He gave up his ticket and walked out of the
station into Liverpool Street, crossed the road
and went up New Broad Street and so to the
Bank. Then he went into a tobacconist's,
whence he emerged puffing a big cigar, and
proceeded up Cheapside until he reached Foster
Lane, down which he turned. Here I had to
be more cautious, for on Saturday night the
side streets of the City are deserted. Even in
the great thoroughfares, where during the five
preceding days blows have rained thick and
fast, with scarce a moment's interval, upon the
ringing anvils of traffic, there is a perceptible
lull, but in the side streets there is absolute
silence.
When I saw the man with the red beard and
brown bag turn down Foster Lane, which, as
every Londoner knows, is a narrow side street
at the back of the General Post Office, I felt
that it was indeed a happy thought which had
prevented me from changing my shoes when I
220


CAPTAIN SHANNON
Evidently reassured, he put down his bag,
opened it, and lifted out something that, from
the stiff movement of his arms, appeared to be
heavy. This he placed upon the ground, and
so gingerly that I distinctly heard him sigh as he
drew his hands away. Then he stood erect,
puffed fiercely at his cigar until it kindled and
glowed like a live coal, took it from his lips,
turned the lighted end round to look at it, and
stooped with it in his hand over the thing upon
the ground. I saw an answering spark shine
out, flicker for a moment and die away, and
heard Redbeard mutter "Damnation! Hell!"
through his teeth. The next instant I heard
the spurt that told of the striking of a lucifer
match, and saw him stoop again over the thing
on the ground. A little point of light, which
grew in size and brightness, shone out as I
stood looking on half paralysed with horror.
That he had fired the fuse of an infernal ma-
chine I had no doubt, and for one moment my
limbs absolutely refused to move. I tried to
call out, but gave utterance only to a silly inar-
ticulate noise that was more like a bleat than a
cry, and was formed neither by my lips nor
tongue, but seemed to come from the back of
222


MULLEN AND I MEET AT LAST
my throat. The sound reached the ears of the
man with the bag, however, for he came to an
erect posture in an instant, looked quickly to
right and to left, and then walked briskly away
in the opposite direction.
And then the night-stillness was broken by
the most terrible cry I have ever heard — a cry
so terrible and unearthly that it seemed to make
the blood in my veins run cold, although I
knew that it was from my own lips and no other
that the cry had fallen.
That cry broke the spell that bound me.
Even while it was ringing in my ears I leapt
out like a tiger athirst for blood, and, heedless
of the hissing fuse, which burnt the faster and
brighter for the wind which I made as I rushed
by it, I was after him, every drop of blood in
my body boiling with fury, every muscle and
tendon of my fingers twitching to grip the
miscreant's throat.
Had he been as fleet of foot as a greyhound
he should not have escaped me then; and
though he had thrown the bag away, and was
now running for dear life, I was upon him be-
fore he was half-way down Noble Street. When
he heard my steps he stopped and faced round
223


MULLEN AND I MEET AT LAST
and devil. By God in heaven I 'll pound the
damned life out of you!"
And then the solid ground seemed to stagger
and sway beneath me, and from the neighbour-
hood of the General Post Office came a sudden
blaze of light in which I saw a tall chimney
crook inward at the middle, as a leg is bent
at the knee, and then snap in two like a sugar-
stick. There was a low rumble, a roar like the
discharge of artillery, followed by the strangest
ripping, rending din as of the sudden tearing
asunder of innumerable sheets of metal. I was
conscious of the falling of masonry, of a chok-
ing limy dust, and then a red darkness closed
in upon me with a crash, and I remember no
more.
IS 825


CHAPTER XXVI
AFTER THE EXPLOSION.
jy^Y next recollection was that of opening
my eyes to find myself lying at night in
my room at Buckingham Street. I made an
effort to sit up in bed, but my head had sud-
denly become curiously heavy—so heavy that
the effort to raise it was almost too much for
me, and I was glad to fall back upon the pillow,
where I lay a moment feeling more faint and
feeble than I had ever felt before. Then there
glided gently into the room — into my bachelor
room — a pleasant-looking young woman in a
gray dress with white collar and cuffs.
"What's happened, nurse?" I said, recognis-
ing at once what she was — which was more
than could be said of my voice, for it had be-
come so thin and piping that its unfamiliarity
startled me.
"Oh, nothing has happened of any conse-
quence," she replied smilingly, "except that
226


AFTER THE EXPLOSION
you have not been very well. But you 're
mending now, and another day or two will see
you quite yourself."
"What's been the matter with me?" I
asked.
"You got a blow on the head by the fall of a
chimney," she replied. "But I can't let you
talk now. Mr. Grant is coming in to sleep
here to-night, as I've promised to take a turn
sitting up with a patient who is very ill. You
can ask Mr, Grant to tell you anything you wish
to know in the morning, but now you must go
to sleep."
That something had happened, notwithstand-
ing her assurance to the contrary, I felt sure;
but what that something was I did not know,
nor did I very much care, for I felt dull and silly,
and more than inclined to follow her advice.
This I must in the end have done, for when
next I opened my eyes it was broad daylight,
and Grant was standing in his shirt sleeves
before the looking-glass, shaving. My head was
clearer now, and I was able to recall what had
taken place up to the moment when I had lost
my senses after the explosion at the General
Post Office.
227


CAPTAIN SHANNON
"Have they got him, Grant?" I inquired.
He jumped like a " kicking" rifle.
"Good Lord! old man, how you startled me!
You've made me slash myself horribly. Got
whom?" he said.
"Mullen," I answered.
"Mullen? Oh, then you do know all about it?
No, they have n't. But how are you feeling?"
"Like a boiled owl. How long have I been
ill?"
"Three weeks. You got knocked on the
head by a chimney-pot or something, and had
a touch of concussion of the brain."
"Was there much damage done?"
"Damage? I believe you. The top of
Cheapside pretty near blown away, and the
General Post Office half wrecked."
"How did I get here?"
"In fine state, my boy — on a stretcher.
They were taking you to the hospital when I
came along — which I did as soon as I heard
about the explosion — but I said I knew you,
and told them who you were, and had you
brought here instead. And a bad time you've
had of it, I can tell you. But now you must n't
talk any more."
228


AFTER THE EXPLOSION
"Oh, I'm all right! Tell me, were there
many people killed?"
"A good many in the Post Office, but not
many outside. You see, being Saturday, most
of the places were empty, except for caretakers.
And now go to sleep."
"One more question only. Does any one
know I was after Mullen when it happened?"
"No, they thought you were passing by
chance. You see I told them who you were,
but I could n't tell them what had happened, as
I did n't know, and you could n't speak for your-
self, so I thought I'd better say nothing until
you were well enough to tell your own story."
"And Mullen got clean away?"
"Look here, old man, this won't do, you
know. The doctor said you were n't to be
allowed to talk more than could be helped."
"Answer me that, then, and I 'll ask no more
for the present."
"Yes, the ruffian got clean away, and no one
knows to this day how he did it. Do you?"
"Yes. I saw him do it."
"The deuce you did! But there, you shall
tell me all about it to-morrow. Have a drop of
beef-tea and then go to bye-bye."
229


CAPTAIN SHANNON
Which. I did.
My powers of recuperation are great, and a few
days saw me comparatively well in body, though
by no means easy in mind. Up to this point
my search for Captain Shannon had seemed to
me a somewhat public-spirited and deserving
enterprise. To bring such a scoundrel to justice
would be doing a service to the country and
to humanity; and in the wild scene of excite-
ment which I knew would follow the news of
his arrest I liked to picture myself as receiving
the thanks of the community, and in fact
being regarded very much as the hero of the
hour.
But while I had been lying in my room, idle
in body but abnormally active in brain, the matter
had presented itself to me in a very different
light, and I was by no means sure that, were the
facts made public, I should not be looked upon
as a knave rather than as a hero. I had to ask
myself seriously whether the course I had taken
could be justified at all, and whether, by with-
holding from the authorities the suspicion I
entertained about the man with the red beard,
and by taking upon myself the responsibility of
keeping, unaided, an eye upon his movements,
230


AFTER THE EXPLOSION
I was not morally answerable for the lives which
had been lost in the last terrible outrage he had
effected.
It was quite possible that, had I gone to the
authorities before the event and informed them
of my unsupported suspicion, I should have been
laughed at for my pains. But were I to come
forward after the event and admit that before
the outrage occurred, and while yet there was
time to prevent it, I had suspected the man with
the brown bag to be James Mullen, and yet had
withheld my suspicions from the police, I
might be looked upon as less of a fool than a
scoundrel.
My motives for having kept silent would be
open to the worst interpretation, and I should
be everywhere denounced as an enemy of
society whose criminal vanity had made him
think himself capable of coping single-handed
with the greatest artist in crime of the century,
and whose yet more criminal greed and anxiety
to secure the entire reward for himself had led
him to withhold from the proper authorities in-
formation by means of which the capture of the
arch-murderer might have been effected and the
last dreadful outrage prevented.
231


CAPTAIN SHANNON
Knowing, as I did, how uncontrollable was
the feeling of the populace in regard to the out-
rage, I could not disguise from myself that a
man who made such a confession as I had to
make, would — should he be recognised in the
streets — run a very good chance of being
mobbed, if not lynched.
An infuriated mob is not given to make nice
distinctions, and so long as it has a scapegoat
on which to wreak vengeance it does not wait to
inquire too particularly into the question of the
scapegoat's innocence or guilt.
Let the object of its wrath be not forthcoming,
and let some evil or foolish person raise the cry
that this or that luckless passer-by is the offend-
er's relative or friend, or even that he has been
seen coming from the offender's house, or is of
the same nationality, and in nine cases out of
ten the mob will "go" for the luckless wight
en masse.
I have made a study of that wild beast which
we call " a mob " — the one wild beast which
civilisation has given us in exchange for the
many she has driven away — and knowing some-
thing of the creature and its habits, I must con-
fess that I would rather fall into the jaws of the
232


AFTER THE EXPLOSION
wild beast of the jungle, than into the clutches
of the wilder beast of the city and the slum.
One day—one not very distant day — that
wild beast will turn and rend its keepers, and
when once the thing has tasted human blood
it will not be beaten back into its lair with its
thirst for blood unglutted.
To be mobbed or lynched in a noble cause
and in support of a great principle is not with-
out its compensations, but there is no glory in
being subjected to physical violence and per-
sonal insult as a scoundrel and a knave.
Worse, however, than the possibility of being
mobbed was the certainty of being held up in
many quarters as an object for public odium
and private scorn, and the more I thought about
it the less inclined did I feel to face the conse-
quences of confessing the part which I had
played in the recent tragedy. It was upon my
own responsibility, I argued, that I had entered
upon the enterprise, and so long as I kept with-
in the law it was to myself only that I was re-
sponsible for the way in which that enterprise
was carried on. That I had failed meant noth-
ing more than that what had happened to those
whose business and whose duty it was to have
233


AFTER THE EXPLOSION
When that decision was once made, I gave no
further thought to the rights or wrongs of the
matter, but dismissing every such consideration
from my mind I concentrated all my energies
upon the task of finding Captain Shannon.
And first, I decided to pay a visit to South-
end to see if the little brown cutter was still
there, and if not, to discover what had become
of it.
As one walks down the High Street from the
station, the pier lies directly in front, running
out a mile and a quarter to sea on its myriad
slender feet like a giant centipede. To the right
are the shady shrubberies and sunny grass-
crowned cliffs of New Southend, and to the left,
with lips stooped to the water's edge, the Old
Town straggles away seaward, a long line of
picturesque irregular buildings — some cheerful
red, others warm yellow, and a few cool gray —
reminding one not a little of some quaint French
or Belgian port blinking in the morning
sunshine.
And oh! such skies! such cloud-pomp and
pageantry, and, above all, such sunrises and sun-
sets! Such dance and sparkle of moving water
when the tide is in, and, more beautiful still,
23S


CAPTAIN SHANNON
when the tide is out, such play of light and
shadow, such wonderful wealth of colour on the
marshy flats — here a patch of royal purple or
opalescent green, there a rose-gray or pearly-
pink, with little shining pools changing from
blue to silver and silver to blue with the passing
of every cloud.
Southend is a pretty spot at any time, but
after a month spent on a sick bed in a stuffy
London side-street, the view from the pier-hill
seemed to me exceptionally beautiful.
As I stood there drinking my fill of the sweet,
strong, brackish air, and basking in the sunshine,
I was conscious of being scrutinised quietly but
very keenly by a man who was lounging near
the Royal Hotel.
There was nothing in his appearance or dress
— white flannel trousers and shirt, cricketing
blazer and straw hat — to distinguish him from
the hundreds of holiday makers in like attire
who are to be seen in and about Southend dur-
ing the season, but I recognised him at once,
and with some alarm, as one of the cleverest
officers of the detective force, and one, moreover,
who had been specially told off to effect the
capture of Mullen.
236


AFTER THE EXPLOSION
In detective stories, as in pantomimes — no
doubt for the same reason — the policeman is
too often held up to scorn and ridicule as an in-
competent bungler who is more dangerous to
the hearts of susceptible servant girls than to
law-breakers, and more given to deeds of prowess
in connection with the contents of the pantry
than in protecting the lives or properties of her
Majesty's subjects. The hero of the detective
story is very often a brilliant amateur, of whom
the police are secretly jealous, notwithstanding
the fact that whenever they have a difficult case
they come, hat in hand, to seek his assistance.
This, after a little light banter for the benefit of
the Boswell who is to chronicle his marvellous
doings — and in the course of which, by-the-bye,
the fact that the police are about to arrest the
wrong man is not unfrequently elicited — he
condescends to give, the understanding between
him and them being that he shall do the work
and they take the credit.
Why the amateur detective should be the
victim of a modesty which is not always charac-
teristic of the amateur in other professions does
not transpire, but the arrangement is extremely
convenient to the policeman and to the author,
237


CAPTAIN SHANNON
was a case in which it seemed to me safer to
achieve my purpose by a bold stroke than to
adopt the more cautious course of beating
about the bush. The thing to do would be to
engage Hughes in conversation, and when he
was off his guard to charge him suddenly with
sheltering a fugitive from justice on board the
"Cuban Queen." The cleverest rogue is apt
to betray himself when a surprise is thus sprung
upon him, and such a clumsy rascal as Hughes
should not be difficult to deal with. I did not
doubt that he would deny the impeachment with
much bluster and more bad language, but by
keeping a keen eye upon his face when playing
my game of " bluff" I hoped to be able to come to
some definite conclusion in regard to the theory
I had formed concerning Mullen's whereabouts.
But I had yet to catch the hare which I felt
so competent to cook, and of the two tasks the
former promised to be the more difficult.
Hughes, as the reader already knows, did not
often leave the hulk, and as it was quite out of
the question that I should seek him there, some
plan for making it necessary for him to come
ashore must be devised. After much brain-
cudgelling I hit upon an idea which I immedi-
242


CAPTAIN SHANNON
"Thank you, sir," he said, unburdening him-
self of his load and following me into the inner
room. I had not finished my own breakfast
very long, and a small joint was still on the
table.
"Pull up and help yourself," I said, produc-
ing knife and fork. "What'll you have to
drink? I've got some old rum. How 'll that
suit you?"
"Capital, sir," he replied.
"All right. It's in the other room, I think.
I 'll be back in a moment. You make a start,
meanwhile, on the cold beef."
No sooner was I in the other room with the
closed door between us than I whipped out the
cork from the paraffin can, and seizing a siphon
of soda-water that stood upon the table— it was
the only liquid handy — I slipped the spout into
the mouth of the can and pressed the tap.
"If this is n't pouring oil on the troubled
waters it's at least pouring troubled waters on
the oil," I said to myself, when half a tumbler
of soda had hissed into the can. "There 'll be
some rosy language about when Hughes goes
to light his lamp after filling it up with this
stuff, for he 'll never get it to light, much less
244


GAME OF "BLUFF" WITH HUGHES
to burn. And if he doesn't make the discov-
ery too early the man who^ looks after his re-
quirements will be gone, and Master Hughes
will have to sit in the dark and go to bed with
his supper uncooked, or come into Canvey and
get some more oil. He may, of course, get
filling up his cooking stove in the daytime,
and find the oil won't burn, or he may
have enough left in it to carry him through.
But anyhow, if the thing does n't work
out as I hope, there will be no harm
done, for at the worst they can only suppose
that some water has accidentally got into
the can."
The thing did work out as I had hoped, how-
ever, for as night was beginning to close in I
saw Hughes unlashing the dinghy as if to come
ashore, and judging from the sounds which
broke the evening stillness I had reason to
believe that he was at his old habit of swearing
aloud to himself. This is a habit which is
more soothing to the swearer than to an
enforced listener, especially when the swearer
is rowing a heavy boat against the tide, and
jerks out a fresh and aggressively emphasised
oath with each expulsion of breath. On this
245


CAPTAIN SHANNON
occasion the hopes which were expressed about
the soul, eyes, limbs, and internal organs of
every one who had been connected with the
offending oil, beginning with the individual
who "struck" it, and finishing off with the
shopkeeper who sold it, and the man who
brought it to the hulks, were distinctly un-
charitable.
Nor did Hughes confine himself to human
beings, for the unfortunate can in which the
oil had been carried and the various matches
which had been struck in his unavailing efforts
to light the lamp were with strict impartiality
similarly banned.
"Oil!" he growled as he ran the boat ashore.
"I'll oil 'im and the man wot sold it too!"
(More hopes in regard to the soul, eyes, limbs,
and internal organs of the offender.) "A pretty
fine fool 'e made o' me, standin' there burnin'
my fingers and a box of matches trying to find
out what was wrong. Oil! Call that splut-
terin' stuff oil! Why, I might as well 'ave
tried to set fire to the river."
Still swearing, he made fast the dinghy and
proceeded, can in hand, in the direction of the
village.
246


GAME OF "BLUFF" WITH HUGHES
After a time I started to follow, and overtook
him just as he was passing my cottage.
"Good-night," I called out over my shoulder
in passing, as is the custom in the country.
He replied by bidding me go to a place
which, though it may likely enough have been
his ultimate destination, I sincerely hope may
never be mine nor the reader's.
"I'm sure I know that dulcet voice," I said,
stopping and wheeling round. "It must be, it
is, the genial Hughes. How are you, my
worthy fellow?"
The worthy fellow intimated that his health
was not noticeably affected for the better by
the sight of me.
"Oh, don't say that,'' I said. "You were
most hospitable to me in the matter of drinks
when I had the pleasure of spending a very
delightful hour in your company on board the
'Cuban Queen' one evening. Pray let me
return the compliment. This is my cottage,
and I've got some excellent whisky aboard.
Won't you come in and have a glass?"
This was a temptation not to be withstood,
and he replied a little more civilly that he
"didn't mind," and even unbent so far as to
247


CAPTAIN SHANNON
answer Yes or No to one or two casual remarks
I made.
When he rose to go, some spirit of mischief
prompted me to ask him what he had in the
oilcan, and this, apparently recalling his
grievance, put him in the worst of tempers
again, for he snatched at it, savagely blurting
out, —
"What the dickens 'as that got to do with
you?"
"Keep a civil tongue in your head, you
scoundrel!" I said sharply, taking a step
towards him. "Answer me like that again,
and I 'll give you a lesson you won't forget!"
"You, yer bloomin' monkey!" he snarled,
spitting on the ground in front of me as an out-
ward and visible sign of his contempt. "You
give me a lesson! And where should I be, do
yer think?"
I looked him full in the face and shot my
bolt.
"You would be in prison, my good fellow,
for harbouring a murderer, disguised as a
woman, and you 'd be charged with being an
accessory after the fact."
He stepped back, paling visibly under his
248


GAME OF "BLUFF" WITH HUGHES
bronze complexion, and answered, for once,
without an oath.
"'E ain't a murderer. 'E's a private soldier
wot struck 'is superior officer for comin' be-
tween 'im and 'is wife, and then deserted. I
see it myself in the paper 'e showed me, and
I'd 'a done the same if I'd bin in 'is place.
And so'd you, Mister."
"Ho, ho! my friend," I said to myself. "I
was a ' monkey ' a moment ago — now I'm a
'Mister.' So you are funking it already, are
you?"
And then, aloud, —
"Do you think any jury will believe that you
thought a private soldier could afford to pay
you what that man's paying? Now, look here!
I've got the whip hand of you, but I don't wish
you any harm, personally. If you 'll do exactly
as I tell you, and play me fair, I 'll pay you the
sum that yonder man's paying you, and you
sha'n't get into any trouble if I can help it."
"Wot d' yer want me to do?" he asked.
"Answer me one question first. Supposing
I were to arrange to take your place on the
'Cuban Queen' for a couple of days. In that
case the man who waits on the hulks would
249


GAME OF "BLUFF" WITH HUGHES
persist in going; but after a time you must say
that you have a brother at Southend who could
come and take your place while you are away,
and that you are sure he 'd keep his mouth shut
if he were well paid. Winton will have to
consent if you persist. Then you'll send a
telegram to me, as if I were your brother, ask-
ing me to come over to see you; and when I
come you 'll show me the telegram and ask me
to take charge of the hulk while you go away
to see your wife. I shall come at night, so as
not to be seen, and shall pretend to agree, and
then you can go ashore and put up at my cottage
here until I signal you to return. Do as I tell
you, and play me fair, and I 'll give you fifty
pounds for yourself when it's all over. What
do you say?"
"Can't be done," he answered sullenly.
"Why not?"
"'Cos it can't."
"Very well. Good-night, then. I'm going
straight from this house to the coastguard sta-
tion, and shall send two armed men out to the
hulk to arrest the murderer you've been har-
bouring, and two more to arrest you — you can't
get far away in the meantime — for harbouring
251


GAME OF "BLUFF" WITH HUGHES
your name out of it. If I can't, and you lose
your crib, I 'll make it up to you in some way.
But let me tell you one thing: you'd better
play me fair, or it will be the worse for you.
The "Cuban Queen" is being watched night
and day, and if you tell Winton of your meeting
with me, and he tries to escape or you try to
give us the slip yourself, you 'll be instantly
arrested, and it will go hard with you then.
Play me fair and I 'll play you fair, and no harm
need come to you at all in the matter. Once
more, will you come to my terms? If not, I'm
off to the coastguard station. There's only one
policeman in Canvey, and I shall want two or
three men — armed men — for Winton, and the
same for you. I mean business, I can tell
you. Come, is it Yes or No?"
"Yes," he answered, with a horrible oath.
And then we sat down to arrange the details of
our little conspiracy.
253


CHAPTER XXVIII
I BOARD THE "CUBAN QUEEN" FOR THE
SECOND TIME.
"OUT when you had satisfied yourself that
*-* there was a man in hiding on the 'Cuban
Queen,' " says the reader, "and when you had
every reason for suspecting that man to be
Mullen, why not at once arrest him? Why go
to work like Tom Sawyer in 'Huckleberry
Finn,' who, when he wished to rescue Jim the
nigger from the woodshed, must needs make a
seven days' job of it, and dig the poor wretch
out, when it would have been an easy matter to
abstract the key and let him out through the
door?"
Why? Well, for several reasons, one of
which is that the story would then have been
shorter and perhaps less interesting. Another
is that, though it is true I had good cause to
suppose the man in hiding to be James Mullen,
I had no actual proof of his identity.
The reader must remember that I had seen
him but twice in my life. The first time was
254


THE "CUBAN QUEEN" AGAIN
in the train, going down to Southend, when
my only cause for suspecting him to be Mullen
was a fancied likeness to the published portrait.
The second was on the day of the explosion at
the Post Office, and on that occasion he had
been cleverly disguised, and we had not come
to close quarters until after dark, when the
difficulty of identification is greatly increased.
Were I, as matters then stood, to give infor-
mation to the police, I could only claim to be
the means of accomplishing his arrest, whereas,
if I could once obtain satisfactory proof of his
identity my chain of evidence would be com-
plete, and now that I had spent so much time,
thought and money on the enterprise, I pre-
ferred to carry it through myself rather than
hand it over to some one else at the last moment.
By taking Hughes' place upon the "Cuban
Queen" I hoped to obtain the necessary evi-
dence, and once such evidence was in my pos-
session, I should lose no time in effecting an
arrest.
The morning after my interview with Hughes
I took train to Chelmsford, and thence de-
spatched the pretended telegram from his wife.
When I got back to Southend, the telegram
255


CAPTAIN SHANNON
which Hughes was to send to his supposed
brother was waiting for me at the address we
had arranged between us. Lest the police
should be tampering with letters and telegrams,
I had arranged that Hughes' message should
contain nothing more than a request that Bill
Hughes would come over to see his brother Jim
at Canvey.
To Canvey I accordingly went, calling first
at my cottage, where I arrayed myself in a
well-worn suit of waterman's clothes, which
I had kept there all along lest I should at any
time have to assume a disguise. My next pro-
cedure was to shave off the beard which I had
been wearing on the night of the explosion at
the Post Office. The fact that the night had
been very dark was against Mullen's knowing
me again, for though the bursting of the bomb
had lit up the whole neighbourhood, the street
in which our encounter had taken place was
entirely in shadow, owing to the height of the
buildings on either side.
That it was quite possible he would recognise
me, if only by my voice, I fully realised, and
I knew perfectly well that every moment I spent
in his company my life would be in my own
256


THE "CUBAN QUEEN" AGAIN
hands; but I flattered myself that I was more
than a match for him in a fair fight, and in
regard to foul play, — well, forewarned is fore-
armed, and I was not unprepared.
I waited until it was dark before starting for
the hulk. Hughes came on deck in reply to
my hail, and proved a better actor than might
have been expected. After he had inquired
gruffly, "Is that you, Bill?" and I had re-
sponded, "Bill it is, Jim," and had been bidden
come aboard, he went on — in response to my
question of "Wot's up?" — to speak his part
in the little play which we had rehearsed
together. He informed me he had had a tele-
gram to say that his wife was ill, and that he
wished to go to her, but did not like applying
for relief because he had a cove on board, dis-
guised as a woman (this in a lowered voice,
according to instruction), who had got into a
scrape and wanted to lie low awhile.
My supposed brother then went on to ask
me if I would take charge of the hulk in his
absence, assuring me that the cove was "a
good un to pay," and that the job would be
worth a five-pound note if I promised to keep
my mouth shut.
17 257


CAPTAIN SHANNON
To all this Mullen was no doubt listening,
so I replied — emphasising my remark with the
expectoration and expletives which might be
looked for from a seafaring man — that I was
ready to take over the job and keep my own
counsel. That point being satisfactorily set-
tled, I was invited to step below and make the
acquaintance of the gentleman in the cabin.
258


CAPTAIN SHANNON
succeeded by a blow — a look which, if I read it
aright, was the portent of a terrible vengeance
to the man who had played him false.
I am almost ashamed to write what followed.
Not for the first time in my life — not for the
first time in this enterprise — I acted as only one
could act who was possessed by some spirit of
mischief for his own undoing. Even to myself
the impulse which comes over me at times to
play the fool — to say or do at the critical
moment the one word or thing which ought
to be left unsaid or undone, is altogether un-
accountable.
This uncertainty of character, this tendency
to lose my head and to bring tumbling about
my ears, by the utterance of a word, the entire
edifice which I have perhaps spent laborious
months in building up, has been my stumbling-
block through life, and must inevitably stand in
the way of my ever becoming a good detective.
But a good detective I have, as the reader
knows, never claimed to be. Were it so, I
should undoubtedly suppress the incident I am
about to relate, for it tells very much against
myself without in any way strengthening the
probability of my story.
262


CAPTAIN SHANNON
On the occasion in question, Mullen was in
too much of a hurry to adopt this course, and,
but for the seriousness of the situation, I could
have smiled, as I held him at arm's length, to
see him diving and fumbling among those un-
plumbed depths. When at last he rose, so to
speak, gasping, to the surface, his hand was
clutching a pistol-barrel, but the butt had in
some way caught the lining of the dress, and in
order to extricate it he had to turn the entire
pocket inside out. In doing so, a folded paper
fell, unseen by him, to the floor, and this I
determined at all costs to secure.
Before he could raise his arm to use the
pistol, I laid a hand of iron upon his. As I
gripped the fingers which were grasping the
butt they scrunched sickeningly and relaxed
their hold of the pistol, which I wrenched away
and tossed upon the bunk. Then I closed with
him that we might try a fall together. Twisting
my heel behind his ankle I jerked him back-
wards and had him off his legs in a jiffy. We
fell to the floor — he under and I above — with
a crash, and as we did so my hand closed over
the paper, to secure which I had thrown him.
Crumpling it up in a ball I made as if to rise
266


I TRY A FALL WITH MULLEN
to a sitting posture, and in doing so managed to
slip it into a side pocket. The next moment I
found myself pulled over on my back by
Hughes, who asked excitedly if we were both
mad that we thus courted inquiry by fighting
like a couple of wild cats. If the sound of scuf-
fling or firing were heard to come from the hulk
an alarm would, he said, be raised, the coast-
guardsmen would row out to discover the cause,
and everything would be lost, as Mullen and I
would be called upon to give an account of our-
selves, and he (Hughes) would forfeit his post.
Mullen was evidently of the same opinion, for
though he was livid to the lips, and was trem-
bling with hate and rage until his teeth chinked
in his head like a carelessly-carried tray of
china, he gave no sign of wishing to continue
the contest.
Nor was I inclined to shut my eyes to the
wisdom of Hughes' counsel, for I was already
conscious of the fact that by taunting Mullen
and provoking him to blows I was doing my
best to spoil my own game. There was all the
difference in the world between his presence on
board the hulk being discovered by the police
as a result of a brawl, and his being arrested on
267


CAPTAIN SHANNON
information given by me and supported by
proof of his identity.
Mullen was the first to speak. He was now
no doubt convinced that he had not acted with
his customary discretion, for he had even
stronger reasons than I to wish to avoid a visit
from the police. So long as it was a question
of brains he might hope to hold his own, but
let him once fall into their hands and they
would hold him by the brute force of number,
whereas in me he was pitted against a single foe
whom it might not be difficult to outwit.
"I beg your pardon for what happened just
now," he said, " but before we go any further
tell me where and when I have seen you
before."
"I saw you in the Southend train once. You
'ad a row with a bloke wot stunk the carriage
out with a fusee," I answered, doing my best to
sustain the role I had assumed.
"Ah!" he said, looking very much relieved
and with a wonderfully pleasant smile, "that
explains everything. To tell the honest truth,
my good man, I knew I had seen you before,
the moment I set eyes on you, and the fact is I
thought you were a detective who has been
268


CAPTAIN SHANNON
me, with savage irritability, what I was waiting
for, and what I saw strange in him that I stood
staring in that way.
I replied that I was only waiting to know
whether he had anything else to say to me or
my brother before the latter left the hulk.
He did not answer except to snap out, "You
can go," to Hughes, but when, after a surly
"Good night both," that worthy had taken his
departure, Mullen turned to me again.
"Now listen. I'm a dangerous man to trifle
with, and a desperate one, and there are not
many things I'd stick at to be level with the
man who played me false. But I can be a
good friend to those who play me fair, as well
as a relentless enemy. Act squarely by me
while you are here, and keep your mouth shut
when you leave, and you 'll never have cause to
regret it. But if you play tricks here, or blab
when you 're gone, you 'll do the worst day's
work for yourself you ever did in your life. Do
you understand?"
He waited for a reply, so I nodded and said,
"Fair do is fair do, guv'nor. That's all right."
"Very well," he continued; "now we under-
stand each other, and no more need be said
272


I TRY A FALL WITH MULLEN
about it. I shall sleep in the hold as I've done
before, for if any one came out to the hulk for
any reason it would n't do for them to see me.
You 'll take your nap here as your brother did.
So I bid you good-night."
"Good-night, sir," I answered civilly, holding
the door open for him.
"Now I 'll have a look at the paper that fell
out of your pocket in the tussle, my friend," I
added, as soon as he was out of hearing. "I've
got all the night before me; for I don't intend
to take the nap of which you were speaking
until I've got you safe in custody — otherwise it
might be a nap to which there would come no
waking."
18
2 73


CAPTAIN SHANNON
necessary assistance at the proper moment, the
fugitive could be secured without difficulty or
danger, and I saw no reason why the newspaper
placards of the morning after Hughes's return
should not bear the startling announcement,
"Arrest of Captain Shannon."
280


CAPTAIN SHANNON
saw the quick fluttering of his pulse in the
veins of his wrist.
"What is her name?" I asked.
"' Fiona,' " he said absently, and then pull-
ing himself up sharp, —"what am I thinking
about? I mean the ' Walmer Castle,' of course.
I sailed in her when I went to Peru."
I had all along expected that it was for his
sister's boat "Fiona" that Mullen was watch-
ing, but hardly that he would tell me so him-
self; and that such a man — a man who had
carried out his devilish plots as if his heart
had been of cold stone and his nerves of iron
— should so give himself away, as the phrase
goes, was proof positive of his complete break-
down.
He watched the steam yacht until she was in
front of us, though, of course, a considerable
distance off, — and then, having apparently
satisfied himself of her identity, he laid the
glasses down with a sigh of relief and went
below. As soon as he was out of sight I picked
them up, levelled them at the now receding
vessel, and saw, as I had expected, the word
"Fiona" on her bow.
The plot was thickening, indeed, for it was
286


THE ARREST OF CAPTAIN SHANNON
no doubt by Mullen's directions that she had
come to England (he had probably given in-
structions that she was to enter the Thames by
daylight so that he might not miss her), and he
would scarcely have sent for her until the fit-
ting moment to make his escape had arrived.
I had scarcely time to satisfy myself of the
steam yacht's identity and to lay down the
glasses before Mullen reappeared with a plenti-
ful supply of bread and cheese, — of which he
must have been sorely in need, for he had had
no food since early morning. Every shadow
of his nervousness was now gone, and he was
in the best of spirits.
"Hughes, my boy," he said, slapping me on
the shoulder boisterously, for I was sitting with
my feet in the cockpit, "how are you getting
on? And what are you going to do with all the
fish you have caught, eh?"
I was in no humour to enter into conversa-
tion, and as I had caught no fish — as he very
well knew — I pretended to take the last remark
in high dudgeon, and gave him a sulky answer.
But the reaction from his former anxiety was
so great, and so set was he upon drawing me
into conversation, that in order to escape him
287


CAPTAIN SHANNON
I made an excuse about getting some tea and
went below.
"That's right; make yourself jolly, my good
man. You 're going to do well out of this job,
I can tell you," he said; "and as it's beginning
to get a bit dark, and I don't see any one about,
I 'll go on deck to stretch my legs and get an
airing."
He remained there until night had set in, and
then he came into the cabin.
"I say," he said, "there's a boat coming out
to us. Who can it be, and at this time of the
day?"
"Most likely it's Jim come back," I answered
gruffly. "'E said 'e'd come soon as the missus
was better."
"Of course," Mullen said pleasantly. "How
foolish of me not to think of it. I'm glad the
poor fellow's wife's better. But I shall be
sorry to lose your entertaining companionship,
my genial friend. Can't I persuade you to stay
on and favour us with the pleasure of your
company for a day or two longer, as my
guest?"
"Guest be blowed!" I replied in my surliest
tone. "If that's Jim Hughes, the sooner I
288


THE ARREST OF CAPTAIN SHANNON
cabin, pulling the door to with a bang, and
then we heard the rattle of the outside bolt in
the socket.
Hughes hurled me off and sprang up with
blazing eyes.
"Did ypu take the bolt off and put it out-
side?" he asked.
"No."
"Then 'e 's done it, and 'e means mischief
for both of us! The 's bad enough for
anything. I know 'im; and 'ere we are caught
like rats in a trap."
"That's all right," I said, and hunching my
shoulder to the door and making a pivot of my
right foot, I burst the thing open with a
crash, the screws starting from their sockets
and pattering upon a locker opposite like
spent bullets.
As I did so, Hughes rushed past me and upon
the deck, I after him. Nor were we too soon,
for Mullen was making, as Hughes had evi-
dently feared, for the dynamite hold. When
he heard our footsteps he turned, and whipping
out a revolver, raised it and shot Hughes right
through the heart. The unhappy man flung up
his arms and toppled over the ship's side into
291


THE ARREST OF CAPTAIN SHANNON
Confess, now, was n't it a pretty plan, and
worthy of an artist, friend Rissler?"
I started at the mention of my name, seeing
which he burst into a mocking laugh.
"Is it possible? No, it can't be!" he said.
"Don't, don't tell me that you didn't know I
knew who you were. Why, you refreshing
person, it was only because I did know that I
pretended to fall into your booby trap. I only
let you take Hughes' place on board the hulk
that I might get you into my power and rid
myself of the pair of you at a sweep. And to
think that you did n't know that I knew! Why,
man alive, I've known all about you from the
first, and I could have sent you to join Quickly
and Green long ago if I had minded. But they
were mere bunglers, fit only to put out of the
way, just as one would tread upon a spider or
beetle, — whereas you 're really clever, and
ingenious, and all that sort of thing, don't you
know, and you interested me. I don't say
that if you had had any one you were very fond
of, — a wife, sweetheart, sister, — something
might not have happened to them, just to let
you know that I was keeping you in mind.
"Once or twice you played your cards quite
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