Unable to resist superior force Dan ceased to struggle, thinking it was best to play a waiting game, until chance afforded him the opportunity of escape. Hitherto his good fortune had saved him from grave perils, and he trusted that finally it would prove strong enough to extricate him from this last difficulty. He was taken down a short flight of damp steps and thrust into what he took to be a disused coal-cellar. Here the two big men released him from his bonds and retired, locking the door behind them. Once or twice he asked questions, but receiving no reply he asked no more. They left a lantern for his use, and the light, although only that of a candle, was very acceptable in the cimmerian darkness of this underground dungeon. When left alone the prisoner stretched himself, swung his arms and stamped with his feet to get warm, after which he made an examination of his surroundings.
Halliday found that the cellar was small with stone floor, stone roof, and stone walls, all more or less humid. Light and air came through a shaft on the right of the entrance, which was too narrow to permit of escape. Evidently the place had been used before as a prison, and no doubt for refractory members of the society, since there was some spare furniture. In one corner was a low bed, in another a deal table, in a third a wash-stand, and finally there was one kitchen chair on which Dan took his seat to think over matters. He had eaten, so did not feel hungry, and solaced himself with his pipe, a luxury for which he felt very grateful. It could not be said that his thoughts were pleasant; they could scarcely be so, under the circumstances, as there was no denying he was in a most uncomfortable plight.
So Miss Armour, the delicate maiden lady, was Queen Beelzebub, and the imposing Mrs. Jarsell was only her tool. Dan was surprised when he reflected on this, and could not help admiring the infernal cunning of the woman who had arranged matters. Miss Armour was without doubt a born criminal, who much preferred doing evil to doing good. As Mrs. Jarsell’s companion, she could have led a blameless existence, surrounded by attention and comfort and luxury, but her craving for power had led her into dark paths. For all her care, she might have guessed that in a law-abiding country the truth of her murderous association would come to the notice of the authorities sooner or later. And when the knowledge had become public, with all her cunning she was unable to cope with the situation. Like the fox in the fable, her many wiles had proved useless, and here she was driven into a corner. What she intended to do Dan could not think. He did not see in what way she could escape punishment.
Of course the young man was perfectly satisfied that Freddy was moving in the matter down south. According to instructions he must have gone to Lord Curberry’s house at Blackheath when he failed to receive news of his friend, and what he discovered there would assure him that it was time to take public action and inform the police of what was going on. The servants would be questioned and Curberry’s body would be examined, while the visit of the veiled woman and her flight in the aeroplane would be explained. Laurance would guess at once that the unknown lady was Queen Beelzebub attending to her iniquitous business, and an inquiry at the shed would soon inform him of the pursuit. Halliday believed that on the morrow Laurance, together with the police, would arrive at Sheepeak, and then the end would come. Meanwhile he was in great danger unless Freddy appeared in time to rescue him, for Miss Armour was very spiteful and her last act of power would undoubtedly be to murder him for the action he had taken in bringing about her downfall. But this had to be faced, and if death was certain, he hoped that it would be immediate, since even his brave nature quailed at the idea of suffering ingenious Chinese tortures. As to Lillian, Dan was quite sure she would not be harmed, because Queen Beelzebub had her hands full and would not have time to kill her. Indeed, if she decided to do so, it would not be easy for her to find anyone to execute her commands, for every member of the Society of Flies must by this time have become aware of the danger which threatened their organisation. Halliday believed that the telegrams alluded to by Miss Armour and which were to be sent by Mrs. Jarsell were intended to summon the members to a conference. Yet what use such a meeting would be, the young man could not think. The net of the law would capture the entire gang without doubt. And yet Queen Beelzebub was so infernally cunning that Dan could not be sure she would not find some means of saving herself and her subjects, even at the eleventh hour.
In thoughts such as these the night passed slowly and the hours seemed interminable. The candle in the lantern burned itself out, and he found himself in complete darkness, while the silence was only broken by the drip of water from the walls, or by his own breathing and restless movements. Dan felt as though he were in a tomb, and his lively imagination conjured up all kinds of horrors until, worn out, physically and mentally, he fell into a profound slumber. When he opened his eyes again it was dawn, for he saw the cold light streaming down through the air shaft. A glance at his watch assured him that it was seven o’clock, and he wondered if food would be brought to him shortly. As he had only eaten a sandwich and drank a glass of port wine since yesterday morning’s breakfast, he felt most uncommonly hungry, and in spite of the peril in which he stood he longed ardently for food. In the meantime, for comfort, he lighted his pipe again, sat on his bed, and watched the thin beam of sunlight move slowly across the stone floor of his cell. This was an unexpected adventure sure enough, and unpleasant as it was now, it promised to be still more unpleasant before it was concluded. All that Halliday could hope for was that Laurance with the police would arrive in time to save his life, and deliver him from imprisonment.
At ten o’clock — Dan looked again at his watch when the door opened — Mrs. Jarsell entered with a tray, on which were two boiled eggs, bread and butter, and coffee. Placing this on the table she was about to leave, as she had entered, in silence, when Dan caught her dress. At once with a shiver she drew back and displayed the lancet tipped with the serpent-poison.
“If you try to escape, I shall kill you,” she said in her heavy voice.
Dan looked at her curiously, and saw that she was less imposing than ever for all her massive looks. All her self-restraint was gone, her eyes were red; her face was disfigured with tears; and her big body looked flabby and inert. A greater collapse or a more pitiful spectacle can scarcely be imagined, and Dan felt quite sorry for her, even though he knew she was banded against him with others to bring him to a cruel death. “I shall not try to escape,” he said, slowly; “that is, I shan’t try just now.”
Pausing at the door, Mrs. Jarsell, still on guard with the lancet, looked at him sorrowfully. “You can never escape,” she said brokenly, “try as you may, for the house is guarded by four men, who are sworn to obey Miss Armour.”
“Queen Beelzebub, you mean,” said Halliday with a shrug.
“I wish I had never heard the name,” cried Mrs. Jarsell with a sob.
“I quite believe that. I am very sorry for you.”
“You have every need to be. Thanks to you, we are all caught in a trap, and there is no means of escape.”
“Really. I thought that Miss Armour —”
Mrs. Jarsell shuddered. “she has an idea, but I hope it will not be necessary for her to carry out her idea. After all, things may not be so bad as they seem, Mr. Halliday.”
“If you mean the police, I am afraid they are,” he retorted with another shrug and with great emphasis; “by this time my friend Laurance has informed the Scotland Yard authorities of what we know.”
“What do you know?” demanded Mrs. Jarsell, with a gasp, and she was forced to lean against the door for support.
“Everything,” said Dan, briefly, “so with your permission I shall have my breakfast, Mrs. Jarsell,” and he began to eat with a good appetite.
“Oh, how can you; how can you?” cried the big woman, convulsively, “think of the danger you stand in!”
“I shall escape!”
“Escape, and from Queen Beelzebub? Nobody has ever escaped her.”
“I shall, and you will be the means of my escaping.”
“Me!” Mrs. Jarsell used bad grammar in her astonishment, “how can I—”
“That is your affair,” broke in Halliday, pouring out the coffee.
“Why should I help you to escape?”
“Because you are a woman and not a fiend. Miss Armour is one, I admit, but I can see very plainly that you are a most unwilling accomplice.”
“I am, I am,” cried Mrs. Jarsell, vehemently, “years ago I was a decent woman, a good woman. She came into my life again and poisoned my existence. She worked on my jealousy and on my fear and —”
“I know; I know. She enabled you to get rid of your husband.”
“Ah!” Mrs. Jarsell reeled back as though she had been struck, “she told you that, did she?”
“She told me everything.”
“Then you will never escape; she would never let you go free with the knowledge you have of her secrets. You are doomed. As to my husband,” Mrs. Jarsell appeared to be speaking more to herself than to Dan, “he was a wicked and cruel wretch. He starved me, he beat me, he was unfaithful to me, and led me such a life as no woman could endure. Miss Armour showed me how to rid myself of him, when I was distraught with misery and passion. I thought it was sympathy with me that made her help me. It was not. All she desired was to gain some hold over me, and use my money for her own vile ends.”
“You don’t appear to love her,” said Halliday, coolly.
The woman closed the door, placed her back against it and clenched her hands in a cold fury. “I hate her; I loathe her; I detest her!” she cried, in a guttural voice, evidently consumed with rage. “For years and years and years I have been her slave. After I killed my husband, under her directions — although I don’t deny but what he deserved death — there was no retreat for me, as she could have, and would have, informed the police. I should have been hanged. She made use of her power to use my money in order to create this wicked society. It murders and slays and blackmails and —”
“I know; I know,” said Dan soothingly, “she told me all about it.”
“Then you know how evil she is. I have had to commit crimes from which my better self shrank at her command.”
“Such as the murder of Durwin,” put in Dan, quickly.
“That is only one out of many. Deeper and deeper I have sunk into the mire and now the end has come. I am glad of it.”
“Why not turn king’s evidence, and denounce this woman and her gang? Then you would be pardoned.”
“There is no pardon for my wickedness,” said Mrs. Jarsell, in a sombre tone, “I have sown, and I must reap as I have sown. It is too late. I know that your friend will come with the police. They will find the whole wicked lot of criminals here, which constitute the Society of Flies.”
“Ah! those telegrams?”
“Yes. I sent off thirty last night, for now Penn and Curberry are dead there are just thirty members. To-day all will come up since the danger to everyone is so great. I sent the wires last night, and I am confident that the members have started for Sheepeak this morning. This afternoon every one will be under this roof. All the worse for you.”
Dan quailed. “Does she really mean to torture me?” he asked nervously, and it was little to be wondered at that such a prospect did make him feel sick.
“Yes, she does,” rejoined Mrs. Jarsell, gloomily, “when the members find that there is no escape, they will be delighted to see the man who had brought this danger upon them mutilated and done to death by inches.”
“A pleasant set of people,” muttered Dan, bracing himself to meet the worst, “but I think you would not care to see me tortured.”
“No, I wouldn’t. You are brave, and young, and clever, and handsome —”
“And,” added Dan, quickly, thinking of a means to move her to help him, “I am to marry Lillian Moon. Surely you have some sympathy with me and with her?”
“Supposing I have, what can I do?”
“Help me to escape,” said Dan, persuasively.
“It’s impossible,” she growled, and went suddenly away, closing the door after her with a bang that sounded in Dan’s ears like his death-warrant.
All the same, with the courage of a brave nature, and the hopefulness inseparable from youth, he went on with his meal hoping for the best. Mrs. Jarsell was moved by his plight; he saw that, and, deeply stained as she was with compulsory crimes, she might think to atone for them by doing one good act. At the eleventh hour she might set him free, and undoubtedly she would think over what he had said. This woman, unlike the others, was not entirely evil, and the seeds of good in her breast might bring forth repentance and consequent help. Dan knew that he was clinging to a straw, but in his present dilemma there was nothing else to cling to.
After breakfast he lay down again, and again began to smoke. For hours he waited to hear his fate, sometimes stretched on his bed, sometimes seated in the chair and occasionally walking up and down the confined space of his cell. He could not disguise from himself that things were desperate. His sole hope of escape lay with Mrs. Jarsell, and that was but a slight one. Even though her remorse might wish to aid him, her terror of Queen Beelzebub might be too strong to let her move in the matter. Halliday wa............