The Talisman Ring

At this moment Ludovic strolled into the room. “Well, of all the shambles!” he remarked, glancing around. “I’d give a monkey to see the Beau’s face when he comes home! What brought you here, Tristram?”

“Clem fetched me,” replied Shield. “How did you get out of the priest’s hole, and what the devil have you been doing all this while?”

“There’s another way out of the hole,” explained Ludovic. “I thought there might be. It leads up to Basil’s bedchamber. It seemed to me I might as well hunt for the ring since you had the affair so well in hand down here. Then I heard Bob Kettering’s voice, and gave him a whistle—”

“Gave him a whistle?” echoed Sir Tristram. “With the whole household looking for you, you whistled!”

“Yes, why not? I knew he’d recognize it. It’s a signal we used when we were boys. Bob hadn’t a notion he’d been set on to hunt for me. Lord, we used to go bird’s nesting together!”

“I thought you’d met a friend,” nodded Bundy. “Did you happen to find that ring o’ yourn?”

Ludovic’s face clouded over. “No. Bob helped me to ransack Basil’s room, but it’s not there, and it wasn’t in the priest’s hole.”

“Did young Kettering chance to remember that he is in Basil’s service?” inquired Sir Tristram.

Ludovic looked at him. “Yes, but this was for me, my dear fellow!”

Sir Tristram smiled faintly. “I suppose he is as shameless as you are. Do you feel that you have done enough damage for one night, or is there anything else you’d care to set your hand to before you go?”

“Damage!” said Ludovic. “If that don’t beat everything! Who smashed all this furniture, I should like to know? I

didn’t!”

The groom came back into the library as he spoke, and said urgently: “Mr Ludo, you’d best go while you may. We’ll have Jenkyns down again afore we know where we are!”

“Have you ever thought to go into the prize-ring, young fellow,” interrupted Bundy, who was leaning in at the window with his arms folded on the sill, after the fashion of one who was prepared to remain there indefinitely. “You’ve a sizeable bunch of fives, and you display none so bad.”

Kettering grinned rather deprecatingly, and said in an apologetic tone to Sir Tristram: “I didn’t know it was Mr Ludo, sir. Nor I didn’t know it was you neither. I’m proud, surely, to have had a turn-up with you, even if it were in the dark.”

“Well, it’s more than I’d care to do,” remarked Ludovic. “To hell with you, Bob! Don’t keep on pushing me to the window! I’ll go all in good time, but I’ve mislaid that damn lantern.”

Sir Tristram grasped him by his sound shoulder, and propelled him to the window. “Take him away, Bundy. Kettering can find the lantern when you’ve gone. If you don’t go you’ll find yourself in difficulties again, and I warn you I won’t get you out of any more tight corners.”

Ludovic, astride the windowsill, said: “You don’t call this a tight corner, do you? I was as safe as be damned!”

“Just about, you were,” growled Bundy, trying to haul him through the window, “playing your silly rat-in-the-wall tricks, with a whole pack of gurt fools fighting who was to find you first! And you saying you wasn’t going to take no risks! Now, come out of it, master!”

“I can’t help it if you disobey my orders!” said Ludovic indignantly. “Didn’t I tell you to save yourself? Instead of doing anything of the kind you blazed off your pistol (and a damned bad shot it must have been) and started a mill, so that my cousin had to make a wreck of the place to bring you off! What’s more, that’s not the sort of thing he likes. He’s a cautious man—aren’t you, Tristram?”

“I am,” replied Sir Tristram, thrusting him through the window into Bundy’s arms, “but my love of caution isn’t going to stop me knocking you on the head and carrying you away if you don’t go immediately. Wait for me by your horses. I shan’t be many moments.”

He saw Ludovic go off under Bundy’s escort, and turned back to Kettering. His level gaze seemed to measure the younger man. He said: “I take it you can keep your mouth shut?”

The groom nodded. “Ay, sir, I can that. Me to help trap Mr Ludo! Begging your pardon, sir, but it do fair rile me to think of it!”

“Well, if you get turned off for this night’s work come to me,” said Sir Tristram. “Now where’s that butler?” He went out into the hall, and called to Jenkyns, who presently came hurrying down the stairs. “Here are your keys,” said Sir Tristram, holding them out to him. “Now let me out!”

The butler took the keys, but said in a blank voice: “Are—are you going now, sir?”

“Certainly, I am going,” replied Shield, with one of his coldest glances. “Do you imagine that I propose to remain here all night to keep watch for a housebreaker who, if he ever entered the priest’s hole (which I take leave to doubt), must have escaped half an hour ago?”

“No, sir. Oh no, sir!” said the butler very chapfallen.

“You are, for once, quite right,” said Shield.