Berry and Co Part 56

"Talk of the devil.... Look at the cove on the right. _It's Dunkelsbaum himself._"

A lightning glance showed me the truth of his words. The original of the photograph over which we had pored that morning was standing before us in all the grossness of flesh.

Almost before I had recovered from the shock, the other--a long sallow creature with a false grin and a cringing air--was at my elbow.

"You mutht eckthcuthe me," he lisped, uncovering, "but could you pothibly give uth a lift ath far ath Brooch? Thith gentleman"--he indicated Mr. Dunkelsbaum--"hath a motht important engagement there at half-patht two, and, ath you thee, we have been unfortunate. Tho, if you could thee your way to accommodating uth, we thould be greatly obliged."

Before I could reply--

"We can get there by half-past two," said Berry, speaking slowly and distinctly, "if--_if we go through Ramilly._"

Now, Ramilly was a great enclosure, and could be entered from the by-road down which the trolley had come. _But it was not on the way to Brooch._

With the greatest difficulty I repressed a start. Then I leaned forward as if to examine the dash, but in reality to conceal my excitement....

_Apparently guileless, my brother-in-law's protasis was nothing less than a deliberate direction to me to postpone Mr. Dunkelsbaum's arrival at Brooch until Merry Down was no longer in the market._

My heart began to beat violently....

Berry was speaking again.

"Wait half a minute, and we'll change over." He turned to Adele. "Will you sit in front with Boy?"

As the change was being made, Mr. Dunkelsbaum advanced.

I have seldom set eyes upon a less prepossessing man. To liken him to a vicious over-fed pug is more than charitable. Smug, purse-proud and evil, his bloated countenance was most suggestive. There was no pity about the coa.r.s.e mouth, which he had twisted into a smile, two deep sneer lines cut into the unwholesome pallor of his cheeks, from under drooping lids two beady eyes shifted their keen appraising glance from me to Berry and, for a short second, to Adele. There was about him not a single redeeming feature, and for the brute's pompous carriage alone I could have kicked him heartily.

The clothes were like unto the man.

From beneath a silk-faced overcoat, which he wore unb.u.t.toned, the rich contour of a white waistcoat thrust its outrageous way, spurning the decent shelter of a black tail-coat and making the thick striped legs look shorter than ever. A diamond pin winked in the satin tie, and a black bowler hat and patent-leather boots mercifully covered, the one his crown, and the others his short fat feet.

My gentleman raised his hat and removed a cigar from his mouth before speaking in a thick voice and with a strong foreign accent.

"My segretary 'as tol' you of my agsident, yes. I voz much oblige' vor a lif' to Brrrrooch. These gattle"--contemptuously he pointed to the waggoner and his great beasts, to whose common sagacity he owed his life--"should not allowed be on der roats, no. Ach, so. It voz all wrong."

"Quite so," said Berry. "I think they're worse than pedestrians. If I had my way, nothing but high-powered cars would be allowed on any high road. If people can't afford cars, let them keep to the lanes."

"So 'ave I say often. What vor are der baths an' lanes else? Bah!"

By now Adele had taken her seat in front, and my brother-in-law, who had descended, was ushering Mr. Dunkelsbaum into the place she had left.

With a grunt the fellow made to hoist himself in, when n.o.bby took a flying leap from the front seat and planted himself in the intruder's path, barking furiously.

Immediately withdrawing the foot which he had set upon the carpet, Mr.

Dunkelsbaum descended anyhow on to his secretary, who was not expecting him and so too late to recede. The scream of agony which the unfortunate creature emitted, no less than the convulsive way in which he clung to the wing, while standing upon one leg and protesting with a horrible leer that he was unhurt, gave the lie to his words.

His employer spoke at once and to the point.

"Den, if you 'ave no 'urt, what vor 'ave you yell in mine ear-'ole?

Bah!" He turned to me. "You vill blease gondrol der 'ound."

Mastering a desire to do the man violence, I leaned out and over the back of my seat and, taking n.o.bby by the scruff of his neck, hauled him struggling and growling across the barrier. Adele received him tenderly and endeavoured to soothe him. But the Sealyham was mourning a lost opportunity and would not be comforted.

Bluntly commanding his creature to stay with the car and arrange for its salvage, Mr. Dunkelsbaum once more heaved himself into the Rolls and sank upon the back seat. Berry followed, and a moment later I had let in the clutch and turned up the by-road.

By the time we had reached the entrance to the enclosure it was ten minutes past two, and, as Berry got out to open and hold the gate, I saw our pa.s.senger bring out a handsome timepiece and, after a glance at the dial, replace it in some uneasiness.

"Your dime voz der same as London?" he inquired.

"Five minutes ahead," I replied maliciously.

"Ach!"

"We shall do it all right," I said airily, "Your appointment's at three, isn't it?"

Mr. Dunkelsbaum went a rich green colour, half rose from his seat, and clawed at the air before replying.

"Three?" he raved. "Three? No, no! Alf-pas' doo, man, 'alf-pas' doo! 'Oo 'as say it voz three? In a quarder of an hour ve mus' be dere. It is fital, yes."

Adele began to shake with laughter.

"Right oh," I said casually. "I dare say we can manage it." The gate was open, and I let in the clutch with a bang. With a startled grunt, Mr.

Dunkelsbaum was projected violently on to the seat he had left. As I slowed up for Berry to rejoin us, "But I may have to go rather fast," I added.

"Like der devil," was the reply.

The going was good, and the road was unfrequented, so I let the car out.

We tore down an avenue of firs, great rugged banks of rhododendrons sprawling on either side, scudded into a beechwood--pillars all silver-grey, set in a ruffled ma.s.s of whispering green, swam through a sea of bracken, rippling and feathery. And all the time I was racking my brain....

To the best of my recollection, we had another three miles to cover before we should emerge from Ramilly on to the King's highway. But at the very point at which we should leave the enclosure there were crossroads and, I was sure, a finger-post announcing the way to Brooch in a plain manner which there was no mistaking.

In the face of this direction, which our pa.s.senger would be certain to see, it would be impossible to take another road, and, though we should undoubtedly reach _The Fountain_ after the appointed hour, it was quite possible that the proceedings might not be punctually conducted, and that the essential business of the sale would not have been completed before our arrival.

Of course, there was nothing to prevent us from throwing off the mask, stopping the car, and politely intimating our inability to carry Mr.

Dunkelsbaum any further. But his reception of such an open declaration of war was certain to be unsuitable for Adele's eyes and ears, and the subsequent action which a man of his calibre would undoubtedly take might prove troublesome, if profitless.

Again, our eventual arrival at Brooch, however belated, would be better avoided. Berry and I were well known in the town, as was also our close friendship with Sir Anthony. Our identification, therefore, would be only a matter of time, and since, in the absence of a burst or a puncture, our progress to Brooch could only be delayed by pretended engine trouble, the suspicions which this would be sure to arouse in our pa.s.senger's mind would very soon be confirmed.

Sooner or later the fellow would gather that he had been befooled, but, provided that we preserved our incognitos, that did not matter. If we could possibly leave him uncertain whether we were as cunning as serpents or as simple as doves, so much the better.

In no sort of order all these reflections elbowed and jostled one another before my mind's eye, which was itself searching feverishly for a solution. Then we floated round a long curve, and I saw the splash.

We were at the top of a short steep hill in the midst of a dense wood of tender years. At the foot of the hill our road was overrun by a fair-sized stream, so that while there was a little foot-bridge, vehicles that were wishing to pa.s.s this way must do so by way of the ford. Beyond the water the ground rose sharply again, making the whole place a bottom or hollow, such as was commonly encountered in this part of England.

I slowed up, and we slid down the hill at a reduced speed.

With the utmost caution I put the Rolls at the splash, making no attempt to disguise my uneasiness. Mr. Dunkelsbaum would naturally conclude that I was anxious lest the water was deep. As a matter of fact, I was fearful lest the ford should prove shallow.

But luck was with us.