The Girl and The Bill Part 29

The apparition had disappeared between the curtains. But now there was a fresh gasp of wonder, as the figure of a little child stepped out into the room. It did not go far from the cabinet, and it alternately advanced and retreated, turning this way and that, as though looking for someone.

"It wants its mother!" exclaimed one of the women in the circle. "Is your mother here, little one?"

The child stared at the speaker, then withdrew to the curtains.

"They will begin to talk after a while," explained the woman--"when the control gets stronger. I always feel so tender for these little lost spirits that come back to hunt for their loved ones."

Orme moved swiftly around the circle. He pa.s.sed so close to the j.a.panese that he could have touched them. The felt slippers made his steps noiseless; the thick rug absorbed the shock of his weight.

He pa.s.sed through the hangings of the doorway to the next room. There he had no gaslight; the window-shades, however, were not drawn so closely but that a little daylight entered. He removed the robe and stuffed it under the old sofa at one side.

His hat, as Madame Alia had said, was there, and he put it on and went to the hall door. The circle had begun to sing another hymn. Orme got into the hall, shut the door silently, and hurried down the stairs, the long-drawn strains of the song following him and dying away as he neared the street entrance. In the lower hall he removed the felt slippers and tossed them into a corner.

He was amazed at the loudness of the street noises, and the glare of the sunlight as he stepped to the sidewalk. He stood there blinking for a moment, until his eyes became accustomed to the light. The foot-procession of the city streamed by him.

Suddenly a man turned in toward the doorway, and, with a startled exclamation, stopped short. Orme found himself looking into the gleaming eyes of Alcatrante.

CHAPTER XIII

AN OLD MAN OF THE SEA

"Oh, Mr. Orme, you are the man I most wished to see." The minister's voice carried a note of unrestrained eagerness. He extended his hand.

Orme accepted the salutation, mustering the appearance of a casual meeting; he must keep Alcatrante out of the building.

"I was sorry that I could not be at your apartment this morning,"

continued Alcatrante, "and I hope you did not wait too long."

"Oh, no," replied Orme. "I waited for a little while, but concluded that something had called you away. Has Senhor Poritol recovered from his anxiety?"

"Why, no," said Alcatrante. "But the course of events has changed." He linked his arm in Orme's and walked along with him toward the center of the city. "You see," he went on, "my young friend Poritol overestimated the importance of that marked bill. It did give the clue to the hiding place of certain papers which were of great value to him. What he failed to realize was that the papers could be of little importance to others.

And yet, so perturbed is he that he has asked me to offer a considerable reward for the recovery of these papers."

"Indeed?"

"Yes." Alcatrante sent a slanting glance at Orme. "The sum is ridiculously large, but he insists on offering one thousand dollars."

"Quite a sum," said Orme calmly. He was interested in the minister's indirections.

"As for the events of last night"--continued Alcatrante, stopping short, with a significant glance.

"Well?" said Orme indifferently.

"I trust that you did not think me absurd for sending that detective to you. That I did so was a result of poor Poritol's frantic insistence."

"Indeed?"

"My young friend was so afraid that you would be robbed."

"I was robbed," laughed Orme, trying to make light of the situation.

"Why, how was that?" Alcatrante's surprise was well a.s.sumed.

"Oh, after I said good-night to you, the two j.a.panese caught me while I was going through the tunnel to the courtyard."

"My dear Mr. Orme!"

"They are clever, those j.a.panese."

"And afterward you went out again?"

"What makes you think that?"

Alcatrante bit his lip. "Why," he stammered, "the detective reported that you were absent when he arrived."

"And therefore," remarked Orme coolly, "he got access to my apartment and, after rummaging through my things, went sound asleep in my bedroom, where I found him snoring when I returned."

The minister swung his cane viciously at a bit of paper that lay on the sidewalk.

"He was not a clever detective," continued Orme. "And as for Poritol, don't you think he had better offer his reward to the j.a.panese?"

"No," replied Alcatrante. "They may have stolen the clue from you, but I have reason to think that the papers were already gone when they went to look for them. Poritol is really very anxious."

"Doubtless," said Orme.

"Perhaps," added Alcatrante, after a short wait, "he might even go as high as two thousand."

"Indeed? Then there will surely be many answers to his advertis.e.m.e.nt."

"Oh, he will not advertise." Alcatrante laughed. "Already he knows where the papers are. While waiting for the clue of the bill, he discovered what others had already availed themselves of it."

"That is curious." Orme smiled. "How did he discover that?"

"In a roundabout way. I won't take time for the story."

They walked along in silence for a little distance. Orme was figuring on an escape, for the minister's clutch on his arm was like that of a drowning man's. Finally he sought the simplest means of getting away. "I have an engagement," he said. "I shall have to leave you here. Thank you for walking with me thus far." He disengaged his arm.

"My dear Mr. Orme," said Alcatrante, "why should we beat around the bush?"

"Why, indeed?" said Orme.

"Poritol knows that his papers are in your possession. Speaking for him, I offer you five thousand."

"Why do you drag Poritol into this?" said Orme. "You know that he has merely been your agent from the start. You think he has bungled, but I tell you, you are the one who bungled, for you picked him to do the work.