Yet--was it a strange voice? As it went on to ask: "Is this Mr.
Peterson?" Clo had a strong impression that she had heard the voice
before. Assuredly it was not the one which had talked to "Kit," but it
sounded astonishingly familiar. Though she could not yet identify the
tones recognition was only a question of instants.
"This is Mr. Peterson's room," she replied. "He is--here. He wishes me
to speak for him."
"I had better tell you before we go further, then, that I'm talking for
Mr. John Heron. When you have explained that, Mr. Peterson will decide
whether he'd rather come to the 'phone and attend to the business
himself."
Clo was glad of the pause. "John Heron!" That was the man Peterson had
mentioned during her second conversation with him. He had said that
Roger Sands was "working for John Heron" when Roger and Beverley met in
the train; and she--Clo--had heard the name with a queer thrill which
she could not understand. So far as she knew, it was strange to her: yet
she seemed to have heard it in dreams--sad dreams, where someone had
sobbed in the dark. Through the strenuous adventures which had kept body
and brain busy the girl had recalled it again and again, since the
moment when the name had fallen from Peterson's lips. She had wondered
if she would ever have the "cheek" to ask Angel who was John Heron.
Whoever he might be, John Heron was in some way concerned with
Beverley's secret, or Peterson would not have spoken his name in that
connection.
She answered quietly: "Mr. Peterson allows me to go on speaking for
him."
"Very well," returned the voice. "Mr. Peterson called Mr. Heron up not
long ago, to say he could sell him a rope of fine pearls for Mrs. Heron,
at a low price. He'd heard, it appears, that Mr. Heron wished to buy
pearls, and he suggested an appointment for to-night. Mr. Heron did not
receive this message himself; he was indisposed at the time it came, and
Mrs. Heron took it, but was unable to answer for her husband. He asks me
to say, in his name, that if Mr. Peterson has some particularly fine
pearls to dispose of, he'll be pleased to look at them, not to-night,
but to-morrow morning about ten o'clock, at his hotel, the Dietz."
"The Dietz!" cried Clo. "Now I know who's speaking to me. You're Justin
O'Reilly!"
Inadvertently she had kept her lips at the receiver. The cry had flown
to the man who held the line.
"And you're my girl burglar! By Jove, I thought I knew that voice! Are
you in the pearl business, too? Has Mrs. Sands commissioned you and some
fellow called Peterson to sell her pearls to Mrs. Heron? Now I begin to
see light! She tried to make a bargain with me over those pearls. I
refused in Heron's name and my own. What's her game now, when there's
nothing left to bargain for, and you've sent the papers back?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account