The Sins of Séverac Bablon | Page 4

shuffling and murmuring
which all but drowned the strains of the celebrated orchestra. But lining
the wall around was a rank of immaculately groomed gentlemen who
seemed to assume a closer formation as Haredale, from behind the
palms, observed them.
In two particulars this rank excited his curiosity.
The individuals comprising it were, as Rohscheimer had pointed out,
remarkably alike, being all of a conventional Army type; and they were
unobtrusively entering, one behind the other, and methodically taking
up their places around the room!

Even as he watched, the last man entered, and the big double doors
were closed behind him!
"What's this, Haredale?" came a hoarse whisper from Rohscheimer.
"Where are these Johnnies comin' from? Does Mrs. R. know they're
here?"
"Couldn't say," was the reply. "But it would be a simple matter for a
number of impostors to gain access to the house whilst dancing was in
progress, provided they came in small parties and looked the part."
"Impostors!" growled Rohscheimer uneasily. "Don't you think they've
been invited, then?"
"Well, who shut those doors?" muttered Haredale, leaning across the
little table the better to observe what was going forward.
"You don't mean----" began Rohscheimer, and broke off, as the
orchestra dashed through the coda of the waltz and ceased.
For stark amazement froze the words upon his tongue.
Coincident with the last pair of dancers performing their final gyration
and the hum of voices assuming a louder tone, each of the men
standing around the walls produced a brace of revolvers and covered
the particular group nearest to him!
The conversational hum rose to a momentary roar, and ceased abruptly.
The horns of taxi-cabs passing below could be plainly heard, and the
drone and rattle of motor-buses. Men who had done good work in other
emergencies looked down the gleaming barrels, back to the crowds of
women--and had no inspiration, but merely wondered. Nobody moved.
Nobody fainted.
"Held up!" came, in pronounced Kansas, from somewhere amongst the
crush.
"Quick!" whispered Haredale. "We're overlooked! Through the

conservatory, and----"
"Pardon me!"
Rohscheimer and Haredale turned, together, and each found himself
looking directly into the little ring of a revolver's muzzle. A tall, slim
figure in faultless evening dress stood behind them, half in the shadows.
This mysterious stranger had jet black hair, and wore a black silk
half-mask.
The melodramatic absurdity of the thing came home strongly to
Haredale. But its harsh reality was equally obvious.
"Perhaps," continued the masked speaker, in a low, refined voice, and
with a faint, elusive accent, "you will oblige me, Mr. Rohscheimer, by
stepping forward so that your guests can see you? Sir Richard
Haredale--may I trouble you?"
Rohscheimer, his heavy features slightly pale, rose unsteadily. Haredale,
after a rapid glance about him, rose also, with tightened lips; and the
trio moved forward into full view of the assembled company.
"The gentlemen surrounding you," said the man in the mask, slightly
raising his voice, "are all sworn to the Cause which I represent. You
would, perhaps, term them anarchists!"
An audible shudder passed through the assemblage.
"They are desperate men," he continued, "indifferent to death, and
would, without compunction, shoot down everyone present--if I merely
raised my hand! Each of them is a social pariah, with a price upon his
head. Let no man think this is a jest! Any movement made without my
permission will be instantly fatal."
Dzing! went the bell of a bus below. Grr-r-r! went the motor in
re-starting. OO-oo! OO-oo! came from the horn of a taxi-cab. And
around the wall stood the silent rank with the raised revolvers.

"I shall call upon those gentlemen whom I consider most
philanthropic," resumed the musical voice, "to subscribe to my Cause!
Mr. Rohscheimer, your host, will head the list with a diamond stud,
valued at one thousand guineas, and two rings, representing, together,
three thousand pounds! Place them on that pedestal, Mr. Rohscheimer!"
"I won't do it!" cried the financier, in rising cadence. "I defy you! I----"
"Cut it!" snapped Haredale roughly. "Don't be such a cad as to expose
women----" He had caught sight of a pretty, pale face in the throng, that
made the idea of these mysterious robbers opening fire doubly, trebly
horrible. "It goes against the grain, but hand them over. We can do
nothing--yet!"
"Thank you, Sir Richard!" said the masked spokesman, and waved
aside the hand with which Haredale proffered his own signet ring. "I
have not called upon you, sir! Mr. Hohsmann, your daughters would
feel affronted did you not give them an opportunity of appearing upon
the subscription list! The necklace and the aigrette will do! I shall post,
of course, a formal receipt to Hamilton Place!"
And so the incredible comedy proceeded--until thousands of pounds'
worth of jewellery lay upon the pedestal at the