The Queen's Scarlet Part 61

"I beg pardon, sir," said Lacey; "the man is over-excited. I will be answerable for him, if you will let him come with me."

The colonel nodded his consent.

"What he says is true," continued Lacey, flus.h.i.+ng now. "It must be.

There have been so many things to prove that Smithson--"

"S'Richard, sir," cried Jerry.

"Well, that the young man we are going to see is a gentleman. I believe it all, Colonel; for, to my sorrow, I know Mark Frayne is little better than a sharper and a cheat."

"Mind what you are saying, Mr Lacey," cried the colonel sternly.

"I can prove my words, sir," said Lacey firmly.

"Go on, and see what is the matter," said the colonel. "Gentlemen, will you excuse me? Major, will you come to my quarters? I should like a word."

Lacey, the doctor, and Jerry went off at once, and ten minutes later they were at the bedside of Richard Frayne, who was slowly recovering after the young doctor's bandaging, and was talking wildly, but with sufficient coherence about the scene among the hops to let his hearers grasp the fact that this was no attempt at suicide, but a would-be murderer's deed.

The colonel and major left the barracks some time later, and were driven up to the quarters of the colonel of the 310th, who looked surprised at the visit, but said _en pa.s.sant_--

"I have just heard that your missing bandsman has been found. Suicide, I suppose?"

"Or attempted murder!" said the colonel gravely. "We have come about that."

He related what had taken place, and the colonel of the 310th smiled.

"I have heard of romances," he said quietly. "Excuse me."

He touched the bell, and, upon a servant appearing, said--

"Go to Sir Mark Frayne's quarters, and ask him, with my compliments, to be good enough to step here. _Audi alteram partem_, gentlemen. You have an impostor in your band."

"We shall see."

Five minutes later the servant returned.

"Well?"

"Sir Mark Frayne left the mess-table, sir, when the news came of that man being found in the hop-field, and went to lie down, sir; but his man says he went out about a quarter of an hour after _in mufti_, sir, and with a little Gladstone bag. Sergeant at the station, sir--provost--saw him leave by the up train at eight."

"That will do," said his master, and the colonel and the major rose to go.

"Looks bad, gentlemen," continued the colonel of the 310th. "A nasty scandal to have in one's corps!"

"Yes; but I don't think we want any more confirmation. That Gladstone bag and the train are enough."

"And if he had been a gentleman," said the major hotly, "he would have had the door of his quarters locked."

"How will it all end?" muttered the colonel. "Ah, well! there are black sheep in every flock, even if they hide their wool under our uniform."

CHAPTER FORTY ONE.

"HALT!"

"Why, it was plain enough," said Jerry, one day as he sat by Richard's bed. "He'd made all his plans and led you on out there on purpose."

"Nonsense, man!"

"Ah, you may call it nonsense, if you like, because you don't see through it now no more than you did then."

"Of course I don't. When once you take a dislike to a man, you see nothing but evil in him. You invent things."

"Oh, do I!" cried Jerry. "Never mind. I couldn't invent so much wickedness as he's got in him, if I tried all night. Now, just let me ask you two or three questions."

"Go on then," said d.i.c.k, wearily.

"Here goes then. You know your cousin to be in the habit of going out gra.s.sing and taking walks up Const.i.tootion Hill for training hisself?"

"Well, no, Jerry, I never did."

"Never found him fond o' b.u.t.tercups and daisies, or prospects and views and that sort o' thing?"

"No."

"Nor yet taking six or seven or eight-mile walks to get himself a happet.i.te?"

"Never."

"Then don't it seem a little strange as he should have done it that day and walked on and on, and never once made out that you were close behind him all the time?"

"It did seem strange to me once or twice. In fact, I felt pretty certain that he saw me."

"Oh, no; not likely," said Jerry, with a derisive grin. "He's too nice and innocent a young gentleman as to think that sooner or later you'd be making him give up the t.i.tle and the money. He wasn't likely to say to himself, 'I'll walk right away into the lonesomest place I can find, and coax him on and on till I get him where there's not a soul likely to be about, right down in one of the hop-gardens.' He wouldn't ever dream o'

taking a loaded revolver with him and shoot you, so as to be able to enter to the property and be Sir Mark--not him!"

d.i.c.k remained silent, but his fingers were tearing impatiently at the bed-clothes.

"He wouldn't say to himself, 'I'll delude him down into a place like that and give him one pill.' And no one would ever say he was a likely gentleman to think of sticking the pistol in your hand so as to make it seem, when you were found by the hop-pickers, that you had done it yourself."

d.i.c.k drew a long deep breath, and Jerry went on.

"I'm getting too wicked altogether. Soldiering's pysoning my morals-- there's no mistake about it. You see how I get thinking all kinds of bad about as mild and pleasant a gentleman as ever was born to be a comfort to people."

"Hold your tongue!" said d.i.c.k hoa.r.s.ely. "Look here, Jerry, you don't think it possible that my cousin could have planned all that?"

"Think it possible!" cried Jerry contemptuously; "why, I'm sure of it.