“What’s it to be?” asked Bert, who looked as if he had grown from seed in one of the nearby fields, his face was so darkly weathered and his hair so much like wind-withered com.
“Two pints of your 3 XXX,” said M.M.M., “and how’s lunch today? Got any steak and kidney pudding?”
“No luck, duck,” said Mildred. “Steak pie do?”
“Next best thing. Does the cooking herself, Mildred does,” M.M.M. confided, and then nudged Rollison, for the city type at the other end of the bar was gulping at the remains of his pie, and showing obvious signs of haste. He washed the pie down with a long draught of beer, then turned towards the door.
“Good-day, sir,” said Mildred.
He nodded.
“ ‘Day,” conceded Bert.
The city type hardly nodded goodbye, but went outside. M.M.M.’s elbow became as a thorn in Rollison’s flesh, but Rollison sipped his beer as if testing its quality, and looked back into Mildred’s bold blue eyes. Mildred in her brash, bright way was quite a piece of homework.
Outside, a car started up.
Rollison snapped his fingers, and looked ludicrously dismayed.
“Monty, I’m half-witted,” he declared. “I left my wallet back at the cottage. Remember I took it out for that card? I put it down while I scribbled, and “
“It’ll be there for a hundred years,” Mildred said. “You needn’t worry.”
“Sorry,” said Rollison, “I couldn’t enjoy your steak pie if I had that on my mind. I’d better have a snack, and nip back. Almost as quick across the fields, isn’t it?” he asked, and then picked up a pork pie and bit into it. It was so luscious that the jelly spilled out, and he dodged back, to keep it off his tie. “Mmmmmmm,” he said, and finished his beer. “Now I know why you said this was the place for food, Monty. I’m coming back. Can you manage to drive the car.’’
“I will not be insulted,” said M.M.M. with dignity.
Rollison went out by a door and a passage leading to the yard. He could see the trees which ringed Selby Farm, but neither the cottage nor the buildings from here. He hurried across the inn yard, climbed a fence, and went as fast as hillcocks and mole-hills would allow him, casting a glance towards the road as he did so. He saw a car making its way, reflecting the sun brightly, and was not surprised when it turned off towards the farm.
“There’s the city type,” he mused, and slackened pace a little, for it was warm and he was perspiring, and it would not help if he twisted his ankle. In his simple way, he was happy this morning. Here was mystery not marred by tragedy, a pretty girl in need of help, and Montagu Montmorency Morne, who probably did not know it but needed a course of therapeutic treatment, for he had not really conditioned himself to the fact that he had lost a leg. M.M.M. was far from his usual sunny self; he had to fight for his self control and his high spirits.
“This might see him through,” Rollison mused. Slowing down, for him, he made speed which surprised a man and a boy who were spreading muck over a meadow. He vaulted a five-barred gate, and was then near enough to the cottage to hear the engine of the car; and to notice the moment when it stopped. He was perhaps half a mile away, and he could not see the car. Now, he ran along the side of the field, which was fairly firm and much flatter than the one behind him, until he reached a spot where he could see beyond the trees to the cottage, the farmhouse, the city type’s black Humber car and the city type himself. He was at the front door, which was not yet open. Rollison took cover behind the trees again, was aware that the man and boy were watching him, but did not pay them the same compliment.
Next time he looked, the door was closed again, and the man was out of sight.
Unlike the man who called himself Lodwin, the city type had not turned the car round for an immediate getaway, and Rollison gave a contented smile when he noticed this. He went to the back of the cottage, to approach through the kitchen, the way that Lodwin had disappeared. He stepped over a low beech hedge which divided the garden from a meadow, and reached the back door in a matter of seconds.
It was not locked.
He stepped inside, making no sound.
He heard Gillian say in an angry voice: “If you don’t let him come home at once, I’ll send for the police.”
“That wouldn’t do you or Alan any good,” said the city type; and he sounded more like a city slicker. There was an overtone of Oxford and an undertone of Cockney in his voice, and that exasperating air of absolute confidence which had ended many a friendship. “You’ve got to be reasonable, my dear, you don’t know how much trouble your brother’s in.”
Gillian didn’t answer.
“You see,” went on the city slicker, “all you have to do is listen to Charlie, and everything will work out all right. You are the legal owner of Selby Farm, and only you can sell it. The market price is four thousand five hundred, and here is an agreement to buy for five thousand. I can’t say fairer than that. Why, it’s a positive bargain.”
Paper rustled.
“Nothing in this world would make me sign that,” said Gillian, tensely.
There was a kind of mocking laughter in the voice of the man who called himself Charlie.
“Come again,” he said. “If you’re obstinate, I’ll reduce the offer by five hundred pounds. Charlie knows how to handle a job like this.”
“I’ve been offered fifteen thousand pounds this mom-ing!”
“I daresay you have, but I’m offering you five thousand plus your precious brother.”
“You’d never dare to hurt him.”
“Wouldn’t I?” asked the man called Charlie, and a different, dangerous note sounded in his voice. “Don’t make any mistake, Gillian my pet. Your Alan would get hurt, and so would you if it were necessary. Now stop arguing, and sign that contract. Then you only have to sit back for a week or two, until the deeds have changed hands. After that your precious brother will come back as good as ever.”
Rollison was now very near the door. He could hear Gillian’s breathing, and knew that she was very agitated. He peered inside the room, and saw Charlie’s profile. Charlie was a good-looking man in the middle-forties, with a very thin mouth, the lips set tightly at this moment, and his eyes narrowed and commanding. They stood by the table, and a document lay on it.
Charlie thrust a fountain pen into Gillian’s hand. “Sign,” he ordered. Gillian took the pen.
Charlie’s lips relaxed a little, and there was a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes. For a moment, he looked almost likeable.
Then Gillian hurtled the pen at the open window, and missed the opening; it cracked against a pane of glass. She snatched up the document and ripped it across, and when Charlie grabbed her wrist, she freed herself and slapped him across the face so heavily that he staggered to one side. She backed swiftly towards the fireplace, and Rollison was overjoyed to see her bend down and pick up a long brass poker. She didn’t spoil it by threatening Charlie, just stood with the poker in her hand, defying him. Rollison could see the man better, now. He no longer looked likeable; he looked devilish. His eyes were narrowed so that all Rollison could see were silvery slits, and his lips were set tightly together, his nostrils were nipped.
“You—little—bitch,” he said, slowly and viciously at the same time. “You and your brother will wish you’d never been born before this is over. Go and pick up the pen.”
“Get out of this house,” ordered Gillian.
“Go and pick up the pen,” Charlie repeated, and put his right hand to his pocket. He drew out another document, and went on: “I brought a duplicate, in case you went all temperamental, but don’t go temperamental on me again. Pick up that pen.”
Rollison was ready to move on the instant, but kept back, hoping that Charlie might give something away while he thought that only the girl was here.
Gillian did not move, and her grip on the poker seemed to tighten. She did not speak, and her gaze was unwavering. Rollison had the impression that she meant to reserve all her strength and all her will-power for a supreme effort when this man tried to get the poker away.
Obviously she was sure that he would try; as obviously she was right.
He took a step forward, putting his right hand in his pocket. He drew out an automatic, and came towards her menacingly. This was the precise moment for Rollison to intervene; Gillian could not last much longer by herself.
Rollison was about to step forward when a man spoke from the front of the house in a rich American accent.
“Hi, there. Having yourself a good time?” he inquired brightly.
6
TEX AND CHARLIE
So much happened so swiftly that any man but the Toff would probably have missed some of it, but he missed nothing at all. There was the Texan at the window, Charlie swivelling round with the automatic, Gillian screaming : ‘‘Mind his gun!” and Charlie, firing. But before his finger squeezed the trigger, Tex had vanished, and the bullet winged into the sunlit air, soon lost to sound.
That was Gillian’s moment of greatness.
She leaped forward and struck at Charlie’s gun. She was far too nervous and missed by a yard, but the attempt gave the Texan time to thrust the door open and come in again; Rollison’s eyes glowed at his speed and efficiency. Charlie had a chance to fire once more, but only wasted his bullet in the floorboards; and next moment he was lying on his back, and his gun was in Tex’s hand.
“No movie heroine could have done that better,” applauded Tex. Rollison saw that he was tall and good-looking, and realised that he spoke with that slow drawl which was only partly assumed; his smile suggested that he was the calmest man in the world. “Did he hurt you, honey?”
“No, I’m all right.”
“Next time you have a fight with a man with a gun, do whatever he tells you, you can always undo it afterwards,” said Tex. “This makes three people who want Selby Farm mighty bad, you ought to be able to get yourself quite a pile of money for it.”
“I just don’t understand any of it,” Gillian said, and her voice was a little unsteady. “I think I ought to sit down.”
“Don’t be surprised if you don’t feel so good,” the Texan reassured her. “That could happen to a lot of people. You’ve gotten a lot on your mind.” He watched Gillian sit down, then turned towards the city type, who was trying to get up while watching the Texan with a mixture of fury and fear. “I don’t like the way you treated this lady,” Tex declared gravely, “I’m going to teach you better manners.”
“Keep away from me !” Charlie scrambled to his feet.
“And while I’m teaching you manners, I’m going to ask you where Mr. Selby is,” Tex went on. “It had better be the right place, because after that I’m going to look for him.”
‘“‘Keep away!”
Now Rollison leaned against the wall, able to see all he needed to see without being seen himself. It was a change and a pleasure to watch his work done for him, and he admired the slick way in which the American moved; this man had confidence above everything else. Gillian, sitting out of sight, was breathing heavily; Rollison knew she would not miss a great deal.
Charlie darted to one side.
Tex slipped the gun into his pocket, and grabbed the man.
Gillian screamed, for there was a flash as a knife appeared in Charlie’s hand. On the instant, Rollison’s automatic appeared in his, but even before that Tex had moved his tall, lithe body, there was a swift struggle, and the knife went flying towards a comer and clattered to the floor. As it curved its arc Charlie fell back under a series of swift, savage blows, and had no time to defend himself or even to shout or cry. He thumped against the wall, and there was terror in his eyes.
Tex stepped back.
“If it wasn’t for the lady’s presence, I’d finish the job on you,” he said, drawling more than ever.
Gillian appeared, and stood by his side, sideways to Rollison. Unexpectedly, Tex’s hand moved and took hers; and they stood hand-in-hand looking at Charlie, whose right eye was beginning to close, whose lips were split, and whose City clothes were not immaculate any longer.
“Where’s Mr. Selby?” Tex asked, conversationally.
Charlie didn’t answer.
“I don’t want to hurt you again,” said Tex, and then corrected himself. “Not while Gillian’s present, I mean. But I will if you won’t answer. Where is Selby?”
“He—he—he’s in Brighton, 51, Norton Street. It’s a boarding house. He’s not hurt.” Charlie couldn’t get the words out fast enough, once he had decided to talk. “Don’t tell anyone who told you, they’ll kill me !”
“What number of what street ?” demanded Tex.
“51, Norton Street, Brighton.”
“Thanks a million,” drawled Tex, and went on in a way which made Rollison think that he was smiling : “Why do you want to buy this farm so badly ?”
Now terror flared in Charlie’s eyes.
“I don’t know.”
“Come again.”
“I tell you I don’t know. I was told what to do, told how to handle it, I don’t know why.”
“You’d better find out why pretty fast.”
“It’s no use trying to make me tell you, I don’t know why,” denied Charlie, and he almost sobbed; it was a pathetic and degrading thing that a man could break down so completely. “Alan Selby was taken to 51, Norton Street, Brighton, that’s all I can tell you. That’s everything”
“You’ll find out why, brother,” said Tex, and released the girl’s hand and stepped forward.
“I don’t know why!” Charlie gasped.
“Someone knows, I guess. Who is it?”
When Charlie did not answer, partly because he was shivering so much, Tex . . .
“There—there’s a box-room,” Gillian told him huskily. She didn’t move. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to thank you.”
“Just sell me the farm for fifteen thousand pounds,” said Tex. “I went to the telephone and arranged to step up my offer. That’s all the thanks I want.” He hesitated, and as he looked at her, his expression changed. “At least, that’s all I thought I wanted, but I could change my mind. Did anyone tell you how beautiful you are ?”
Gillian said, still huskily: “I’ll get those sandwiches,” and turned away. But she quickly looked back. “We can go in your car to Brighton, can’t we?”
“You bet,” said Tex, as if that was the thing he wanted to hear more than anything else in the world.
Suddenly, Gillian exclaimed: “Oh, it’s crazy! I don’t even know your name.”
“William T. Brandt, of Dallas, Texas,” the American answered promptly. “Hence the Tex. I’ll see you,” he added, and smiled with obvious delight.
Gillian was on the way to the kitchen.
There was no way of judging what she meant to do, or whether she would be prepared to go to Brighton with the American. More likely, she expected him, Rollison, to appear at any moment; Gillian had already proved that she had a head on her shoulders.
Rollison backed into the kitchen, and stood behind the door. Gillian hurried in, and something she was wearing rustled. She made a bee-line for the back door, and Rollison then felt sure that she was going to look for him. She glanced out and up and down the garden, and he stepped after her, whispering :
