Dangerous Ground Part 18

Only a few paces away, a dark form is hurrying toward a group of carriages standing opposite the mansion, and Stanhope, in an instant, is gliding in the same direction. As the man places a foot upon the step of a carriage that has evidently awaited his coming, Stanhope glides so near that he distinctly hears the order, given in Vernet's low voice:

"To the X--street police station. Drive fast."

A trifle farther away another carriage, its driver very alert and expectant, stands waiting.

Having heard Vernet's order, Stanhope hurries to this carriage, springs within, and whispers to the driver:

"The old place, Jim; and your quickest time!"

Then, as the wheels rattle over the pavement, the horses speeding away from this fas.h.i.+onable quarter of the city, a strange transformation scene goes on within the carriage, which, evidently, has been prepared for this purpose. The G.o.ddess of Liberty is casting her robes, and long before the carriage has reached its destination, she has disappeared, there remaining, in her stead, a personage of fantastic appearance. He is literally clothed in rags, and plentifully smeared with dirt; his tattered garments are decorated with bits of tinsel, and sc.r.a.ps of bright color flutter from his ragged hat, and flaunt upon his breast; there is a monstrous patch over his left eye and a ma.s.s of disfiguring blotches covers his left cheek; a shock of unkempt tow-colored hair bristles upon his head, and his forehead and eyes are half hidden by thick dangling elf-locks.

If this absurd apparition bears not the slightest resemblance to the G.o.ddess of Liberty, it resembles still less our friend, Richard Stanhope.

Suddenly, and in an obscure street, the carriage comes to a halt, and as its fantastically-attired occupant descends to the ground, the first stroke of midnight sounds out upon the air.

CHAPTER XIII.

A CRY IN THE DARK.

One more scene in this night's fateful masquerade remains to be described, and then the seemingly separate threads of our plot unite, and twine about our central figures a chain of Fate.

While Van Vernet is setting snares for the feet of his rival, and while that young man of many resources is actively engaged in disentangling himself therefrom,--while Leslie Warburton, tortured by a secret which she cannot reveal, and dominated by a power she dare not disobey, steals away from her stately home--and while Alan Warburton, soured by suspicion, made unjust by his own false pride, follows like a shadow behind her--a cloud is descending upon the house of Warburton.

Sitting apart from the mirthful crowd, quite un.o.bserved and seemingly wholly engrossed in themselves, are little Daisy Warburton and the quaintly-attired Mother Goose, before mentioned.

It is long past the child's latest bedtime, but her step-mamma has been so entirely preoccupied, and Millie so carelessly absorbed in watching the gayeties of the evening, that the little one has been overlooked, and feels now quite like her own mistress.

"Ha! ha!" she laughs merrily, leaning, much at her ease, upon the knee of Mother Goose; "ha! ha! what nice funny stories you tell; almost as nice as my new mamma's stories. Only," looking up with exquisite frankness, "your voice is not half so nice as my new mamma's."

"Because I'm an old woman, dearie," replies Mother Goose, a shade of something like disapproval in her tone. "Do you really want to see Mother Hubbard's dog, little girl?"

"Old Mother Hubbard--she went to the cupboard," sings Daisy gleefully.

"Of course I do, Mrs. Goose. Does Mother Hubbard look like you?"

"A little."

"And--you said Cinderella's coach was down near my papa's gate?"

"So it is, dearie." Then looking cautiously about her, and lowering her voice to a whisper: "How would you like to ride to see Mother Hubbard in Cinderella's coach, and come right back, you know, before it turns into a pumpkin again?"

The fair child clasps two tiny hands, and utters a cry of delight.

"Oh! _could_ we?" she asks, breathlessly.

"Of course we can, if you are very quiet and do as I bid you, and if you don't get afraid."

"I don't get afraid--not often," replies the child, drawing still closer to Mother Goose, and speaking with hushed gravity. "When I used to be afraid at night, my mamma, my new mamma, you know, taught me to say like this."

Clasping her hands, she sinks upon her knees and lifts her face to that which, behind its grotesque mask, is distorted by some unpleasant emotion. And then the childish voice lisps reverently:

"Dear G.o.d, please take care of a little girl whose mamma has gone to Heaven. Keep her from sin, and sickness, and danger. Make the dark as safe as the day, and don't let her be afraid, for Jesus' sake. Amen."

Something like a smothered imprecation dies away in the throat of the listener, and then she says, in honeyed accents:

"That's a very nice little prayer, and your new mamma is a very fine lady. When you come back from your ride in Cinderella's carriage, you can tell your new mamma all about it."

"Oh! how nice!"

"It will be charming. Come into the conservatory, dearie. I think we can see Cinderella's lamps from there."

With the confidence born of childish innocence, the little one places her hand in that of Mother Goose, and is led away.

The conservatory is all aglow with light and color and rich perfume, and it is almost tenantless. The broad low windows are open, and a narrow balcony, adorned with tall vases and hung with drooping vines, projects from them scarce three feet from the ground.

Out upon this balcony, and close to the railing, the child follows the old woman confidently. Then, as she peers out into the night, she draws back.

"It's--very--dark," she whispers.

"It's the light inside that makes it seem so dark, dearie. Ah! I see a glimmer of Cinderella's lamp now; look, child!"

Stooping quickly, she lifts the little one and seats her upon the railing of the balcony. Then, as the child, shading her eyes with a tiny hand, attempts to peer out into the darkness, something damp and sickening is pressed to her face; there is an odor in the air not born of the flowers within, and Daisy Warburton, limp and unconscious, lies back in the arms of her enemy.

In another moment, the woman in the garb of Mother Goose has dropped from the balcony to the ground beneath, and, bearing her still burden in her arms, disappeared in the darkness.

And as her form vanishes from the balcony, a city clock, far away, tolls out the hour: _midnight_.

At this same hour, with the same strokes sounding in their ears, a party of men sally forth from the X--street Police station, and take their way toward the river.

They are policemen, mostly dressed in plain clothes, and heavily armed, every man. They move away silently like men obeying the will of one master, and presently they separate, dropping off by twos and threes into different by-ways and obscure streets, to meet again at a certain rendezvous.

It is the Raiding Party on its way to the slums, and, contrary to the hopes of the Chief of the detectives and the Captain of the police, it is led, not by d.i.c.k Stanhope, but by Van Vernet.

Contrary to all precedent, and greatly to the surprise of all save Vernet, Richard Stanhope has failed to appear at the time appointed; and so, after many doubts, much hesitation, and some delay, Van Vernet is made leader of the expedition.

"I shall send Stanhope as soon as he reports here," the Chief had said as a last word to Vernet. "His absence to-night is most reprehensible, but his a.s.sistance is too valuable to be dispensed with."

Mentally hoping that Stanhope's coming may be delayed indefinitely, Van Vernet bites his lip and goes on his way, while the Chief sits down to speculate as to Stanhope's absence, and to await his coming.

But he waits in vain. The long night pa.s.ses, and day dawns, and Richard Stanhope does not appear.

Meanwhile, Van Vernet and the two men who accompany him, arrive first of the party at their rendezvous.