The Council of Justice | Page 5

to her at that moment than any other, for her pale cheeks flushed and a feverish light came to her eyes as she spoke.
'...and now, with all our perfect organization, with the world almost within our grasp--there comes somebody who says "Stop!"--and we who by our acts have terrorized kings and dominated the councils of empires, are ourselves threatened!'
The audience grew deadly silent. They were silent before, but now the silence was painful.
The two men who watched her stirred a little uneasily, as though something in her speech had jarred. Indeed, the suggestion of braggadocio in her assertion of the Red Hundred's power had struck a discordant note.
The girl continued speaking rapidly.
'We have heard--you have heard--we know of these men who have written to us. They say'--her voice rose--'that we shall not do what we do. They threaten us--they threaten me--that we must change our methods, or they will punish as--as we--punish; kill as we kill--'
There was a murmuring in the audience and men looked at one another in amazement. For terror unmistakable and undisguised was written on her pale face and shone from those wondrous eyes of hers.
'But we will defy--'
Loud voices and the sound of scuffling in the little anteroom interrupted her, and a warning word shouted brought the audience to its feet.
'The police!'
A hundred stealthy hands reached for cunning pockets, but somebody leapt upon a bench, near the entrance, and held up an authoritative hand.
'Gentlemen, there is no occasion for alarm--I am Detective-Superintendent Falmouth from Scotland Yard, and I have no quarrel with the Red Hundred.'
Little Peter, transfixed for the moment, pushed his way towards the detective.
'Who do you want--what do you want?' he asked.
The detective stood with his back to the door and answered.
'I want two men who were seen to enter this hall: two members of an organization that is outside the Red Hundred. They--'
'Ha!' The woman who still stood upon the platform leant forward with blazing eyes.
'I know--I know!' she cried breathlessly; 'the men who threatened us--who threatened me--The Four Just Men!'
CHAPTER II.
The Fourth Man
The tall man's hand was in his pocket when the detective spoke.
When he had entered the hall he had thrown a swift glance round the place and taken in every detail. He had seen the beaded strip of unpainted wood which guarded the electric light cables, and had improved the opportunity whilst the prosy brother was speaking to make a further reconnaissance. There was a white porcelain switchboard with half a dozen switches at the left-hand side of the platform. He judged the distance and threw up the hand that held the pistol.
Bang! Bang!
A crash of broken glass, a quick flash of blue flame from the shattered fuses--and the hall was in darkness. It happened before the detective could spring from his form into the yelling, screaming crowd--before the police officer could get a glance at the man who fired the shots.
In an instant the place was a pandemonium.
'Silence!' Falmouth roared above the din; 'silence! Keep quiet, you miserable cowards--show a light here, Brown, Curtis--Inspector, where are your men's lanterns!'
The rays of a dozen bull's-eye lamps waved over the struggling throng.
'Open your lanterns'--and to the seething mob, 'Silence!' Then a bright young officer remembered that he had seen gas-brackets in the room, and struggled through the howling mob till he came to the wall and found the gas-fitting with his lantern. He struck a match and lit the gas, and the panic subsided as suddenly as it had begun.
Falmouth, choked with rage, threw his eye round the hall. 'Guard the door,' he said briefly; 'the hall is surrounded and they cannot possibly escape.' He strode swiftly along the central aisle, followed by two of his men, and with an agile leap, sprang on to the platform and faced the audience. The Woman of Gratz, with a white set face, stood motionless, one hand resting on the little table, the other at her throat. Falmouth raised his hand to enjoin silence and the law-breakers obeyed.
'I have no quarrel with the Red Hundred,' he said. 'By the law of this country it is permissible to hold opinions and propagate doctrines, however objectionable they be--I am here to arrest two men who have broken the laws of this country. Two persons who are part of the organization known as the Four Just Men.'
All the time he was speaking his eyes searched the faces before him. He knew that one-half of the audience could not understand him and that the hum of talk that arose as he finished was his speech in course of translation.
The faces he sought he could not discern. To be exact, he hoped that his scrutiny would induce two men, of whose identity he was ignorant, to betray themselves.
There are little events, unimportant in themselves, which occasionally lead to tremendous