The Great Secret | Page 7

addressed a few
remarks to the lady, who answered him courteously, but with obvious
condescension. Then he came on to me, and his manner was very
different indeed. The dapper little clerk, who had pointed me out,
slipped away.

"Mr. Courage?" he inquired; "you wished to speak to me."
I handed him the typewritten communication which I had received.
"I wish for some explanation of this," I said.
He glanced at it, and shrugged his shoulders. "I cannot permit such
proceedings as took place last night in this hotel," he said. "I can find
no trace of the two persons whom you described as having broken into
your room, and I am not at all satisfied with the explanations which
have been given."
"Indeed," I answered. "I can assure you that I find the situation equally
unsatisfactory. I come here in the ordinary way as a casual guest. My
room is broken into in the middle of the night. I myself am assaulted,
and another man, a stranger to me, is nearly murdered. If any
explanations or apologies are due at all, I consider that they are due to
me."
Mr. Blumentein edged a little away.
"You should consider yourself exceedingly fortunate," he declared, "to
be spared the inconvenience of a police inquiry. My directors dislike
very much any publicity given to brawls of this sort in the hotel, or you
might find yourself in a somewhat awkward position. I have nothing
more to say about it."
He would have moved away, but I stood directly in front of him.
"It happens that I have," I said. "I am not a thief or an adventurer, and
my bona-fides are easily established. I am a magistrate in two counties;
Sir Gilbert Hardross, who is a patron of your restaurant, is my cousin,
and I expect him here to call for me within half an hour. I am up in
town to play for my County against the M.C.C. at Lord's; I am a person
who is perfectly well known, and my word as to what happened last
night will be readily accepted. If you do not alter your tone at once, I
shall take a cab to Scotland Yard, and insist upon a complete
investigation into the affairs of last night."

There was no doubt as to the effect of my words upon Mr. Blumentein.
He was seriously perturbed, and wholly unable to conceal it.
"You can prove what you say, Mr. Courage, I suppose?" he remarked
hesitatingly.
"Absolutely!" I answered; "look in this week's Graphic. You will see a
photograph of me in the Medchestershire Cricket Team. Come into my
room, and I will show you as many letters and papers as you please. Do
you know that gentleman?"
"Certainly!" Mr. Blumentein answered, bowing low. "Good morning,
Sir Charles!"
A young man in a flannel suit and straw hat sauntered up to us. He
nodded condescendingly to the hotel manager, and shook hands with
me.
"How are you, Courage?" he said. "I'm coming down to Lord's this
afternoon to see the match."
He passed on. Mr. Blumentein was distinctly nervous.
"Will you do me the favor to come down to my room for a moment, Mr.
Courage?" he begged. "I should like to speak to you in private."
I followed him down into his office. He closed the door, and set his hat
down upon the desk.
"I have caused the strictest inquiries to be made, and I have been unable
to obtain the slightest trace either of the man whom you say took
shelter in your room, or the two others you spoke of. Under those
circumstances, you will understand that your story did not sound very
probable."
"Perhaps not," I admitted; "but I don't know what your night-porter
could have been about, if he really saw nothing of them. I can give you
a detailed description of all three if you like."

"One moment," Mr. Blumentein said, taking up pen and paper. "Now,
if you please!"
I described the three men to the best of my ability, and Mr. Blumentein
took down carefully all that I said.
"I will have the fullest inquiries made," he promised, "and let you know
the result. In the meantime, I trust that you will consider the letter I
wrote you this morning unwritten. You will doubtless prefer to leave
the hotel after what has happened, but another time, I trust that we may
be honored by your patronage."
I hesitated for a moment. It was clear that the man wanted to get rid of
me. For the first time, the idea of remaining in the hotel occurred to me.
"I will consider the matter," I answered. "In the meantime, I hope you
will have inquiries made at once. The man who took refuge in my