The Lone Wolf by Louis Joseph Vance (ebook reader browser txt) š
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each tight-fisted but quivering as they rested on the table, as though
their mistress struggled to suppress the manifestation of some emotion
as powerful as unfathomable to him.
āBut why?ā she demanded in bewilderment. āBut why do you say that? What
can have happened to make youā?ā
āNot fear of that Pack!ā he laughedāānot that, I promise you.ā
āOh, I know!ā she said impatientlyāāI know that very well. But still I
donāt understandā¦.ā
āIf it wonāt bore you, Iāll try to explain.ā He drew up his chair and
sat down again, facing her across the littered table. āI donāt suppose
youāve ever stopped to consider what an essentially stupid animal a
crook must be. Most of them are stupid because they practise clumsily
one of the most difficult professions imaginable, and inevitably fail
at it, yet persist. They wouldnāt think of undertaking a job of civil
engineering with no sort of preparation, but theyāll tackle a
dangerous proposition in burglary without a thought, and pay for
failure with years of imprisonment, and once out try it again. Thatās
one kind of criminalāthe ninety-nine percent classāincurably stupid!
Thereās another class, men whose imagination forewarns them of dangers
and whose mental training, technical equipment and sheer manual
dexterity enable them to attack a formidable proposition like a modern
safeāby way of illustrationāand force its secret. Theyāre the
successful criminals, like myselfābut theyāre no less stupid, no less
failures, than the other ninety-nine in our every hundred, because they
never stop to think. It never occurs to them that the same
intelligence, applied to any one of the trades they must be masters of,
would not only pay them better, but leave them their self-respect and
rid them forever of the dread of arrest that haunts us all like the
memory of some shameful actā¦. All of which is much more of a lecture
than I meant to inflict upon you, Miss Shannon, and sums up to just
this: Iāve stopped to thinkā¦.ā
With this he stopped for breath as well, and momentarily was silent,
his faint, twisted smile testifying to self-consciousness; but
presently, seeing that she didnāt offer to interrupt, but continued to
give him her attention so exclusively that it had the effect of
fascination, he stumbled on, at first less confidently. āWhen I woke up
it was as if, without my will, I had been thinking all this out in my
sleep. I saw myself for the first time clearly, as I have been ever
since I can rememberāa crook, thoughtless, vain, rapacious, ruthless,
skulking in shadows and thinking myself an amazingly fine fellow
because, between coups, I would play the gentleman a bit, venture into
the light and swagger in the haunts of the gratin! In my poor,
perverted brain I thought there was something fine and thrilling and
romantic in the career of a great criminal and myself a wonderful
figureāan enemy of society!ā
āWhy do you say this to me?ā she demanded abruptly, out of a phase of
profound thoughtfulness.
He lifted an apologetic shoulder. āBecause, I fancy, Iām no longer
self-sufficient. I was all of that, twenty-four hours ago; but now
Iām as lonesome as a lost child in a dark forest. I havenāt a friend in
the world. Iām like a stray pup, grovelling for sympathy. And you are
unfortunate enough to be the only person I can declare myself to.
Itās going to be a fightāI know that too well!āand without something
outside myself to struggle toward, Iāll be heavily handicapped. But
if ā¦ā He faltered, with a look of wistful earnestness. āIf I thought
that you, perhaps, were a little interested, that I had your faith to
respect and cherish ā¦ if I dared hope that youād be glad to know I
had won out against odds, it would mean a great deal to me, it might
mean my salvation!ā
Watching her narrowly, hanging upon her decision with the anxiety of a
man proscribed and hoping against hope for pardon, he saw her eyes
cloud and shift from his, her lips parted but hesitant; and before she
could speak, hastily interposed:
āPlease donāt say anything yet. First let me demonstrate my sincerity.
So far Iāve done nothing to persuade you butātalk and talk and talk!
Give me a chance to prove I mean what I say.ā
āHowāāshe enunciated only with visible effort and no longer met his
appeal with an open countenanceāāhow can you do that?ā
āIn the long run, by establishing myself in some honest way of life,
however modest; but now, and principally, by making reparation for at
least one crime Iāve committed thatās not irreparable.ā
He caught her quick glance of enquiry, and met it with a confident nod
as he placed between them the morocco-bound jewel-case.
āIn London, yesterday,ā he said quietly, āI brought off two big coups.
One was deliberate, the other the inspiration of a moment. The one Iād
planned for months was the theft of the Omber jewelsāhere.ā
He tapped the case and resumed in the same manner: āThe other job needs
a diagram: Not long ago a Frenchman named Huysman, living in Tours, was
mysteriously murderedāa poor inventor, who had starved himself to
perfect a stabilizator, an attachment to render aeroplanes practically
fool-proof. His final trials created a sensation and he was on the eve
of selling his invention to the Government when he was killed and his
plans stolen. Circumstantial evidence pointed to an international spy
named EkstromāAdolph Ekstrom, once Chief of the Aviation Corps of the
German Army, cashiered for general blackguardism with a suspicion of
treason to boot. However, Ekstrom kept out of sight; and presently the
plans turned up in the German War Office. That was a big thing for
Germany; already supreme with her dirigibles, the acquisition of the
Huysman stabilizator promised her ten yearsā lead over the world in the
field of aeroplanesā¦. Now yesterday Ekstrom came to the surface in
London with those self-same plans to sell to England. Chance threw him
my way, and he mistook me for the man heād expected to meetāDowning
Streetās secret agent. Wellāno matter howāI got the plans from him
and brought them over with me, meaning to turn them over to France, to
whom by rights they belong.ā
āWithout consideration?ā the girl enquired shrewdly.
āNot exactly. I had meant to make no profit of the affairāIām a bit
squeamish about tainted money!ābut under present conditions, if France
insists on rewarding me with safe conduct out of the country, I shanāt
refuse itā¦. Do you approve?ā
She nodded earnestly: āIt would be worse than criminal to return them
to Ekstromā¦.ā
āThatās my view of the matter.ā
āBut these?ā The girl rested her hand upon the jewel-case.
āThose go back to Madame Omber. She has a home here in Paris that I
know very well. In fact, the sole reason why I didnāt steal them here
was that she left for England unexpectedly, just as I was all set to
strike. Now I purpose making use of my knowledge to restore the jewels
without risk of falling into the hands of the police. That will be an
easy matterā¦. And that brings me to a great favour I would beg of
you.ā
She gave him a look so unexpectedly kind that it staggered him. But he
had himself well in hand.
āYou canāt now leave Paris before morningāthanks to my having
overslept,ā he explained. āThereās no honest way I know to raise money
before the pawn-shops open. But Iām hoping that wonāt be necessary; Iām
hoping I can arrange matters without going to that extreme. Meanwhile,
you agree that these jewels must be returned?ā
āOf course,ā she affirmed gently.
āThen ā¦ will you accompany me when I replace them? There wonāt be any
danger: I promise you that. Indeed, it would be more hazardous for you
to wait for me elsewhere while I attended to the matter alone. And Iād
like you to be convinced of my good faith.ā
āDonāt you think you can trust me for that as well?ā she asked, with a
flash of humour.
āTrust you!ā
āTo believe ā¦ Mr. Lanyard,ā she told him gently but earnestly, āI do
believe.ā
āYou make me very happy,ā he said ā¦ ābut Iād like you to see for
yourselfā¦. And Iād be glad not to have to fret about your safety in
my absence. As a bureau of espionage, Popinotās brigade of Apaches is
without a peer in Europe. I am positively afraid to leave you
aloneā¦.ā
She was silent.
āWill you come with me, Miss Shannon?ā āThat is your sole reason for
asking this of me?ā she insisted, eyeing him steadily.
āThat I wish you to believe in meāyes.ā
āWhy?ā she pursued, inexorable.
āBecause ā¦ Iāve already told you.ā
āThat you want someoneās good opinion to cherishā¦. But why, of all
people, meāwhom you hardly know, of whom what little you do know is
hardly reassuring?ā
He coloured, and boggled his answerā¦. āI canāt tell you,ā he
confessed in the end.
āWhy canāt you tell me?ā
He stared at her miserablyā¦. āIāve no rightā¦.ā
āIn spite of all Iāve said, in spite of the faith you so generously
promise me, in your eyes I must still figure as a thief, a liar, an
impostorāself-confessed. Men arenāt made over by mere protestations,
nor even by their own efforts, in an hour, or a day, or a week. But
give me a year: if I can live a year in honesty, and earn my bread,
and so prove my strengthāthen, perhaps, I might find the courage,
theāthe effrontery to tell you why I want your good opinionā¦. Now
Iāve said far more than I meant or had any right to. I hope,ā he
ventured pleadinglyāāyouāre not offended.ā
Only an instant longer could she maintain her direct and unflinching
look. Then, his meaning would no more be ignored. Her lashes fell; a
tide of crimson flooded her face; and with a quick movement, pushing
her chair a little from the table, she turned aside. But she said
nothing.
He remained as he had been, bending eagerly toward her. And in the long
minute that elapsed before either spoke again, both became oddly
conscious of the silence brooding in that lonely little house, of their
isolation from the world, of their common peril and mutual dependence.
āIām afraid,ā Lanyard said, after a timeāāIām afraid I know what you
must be thinking. One canāt do your intelligence the injustice to
imagine that you havenāt understood meāread all that was in my mind
andāāhis voice fellāāin my heart. I own I was wrong to speak so
transparently, to suggest my regard for you, at such a time, under
such conditions. I am truly sorry, and beg you to consider unsaid all
that I should not have saidā¦. After all, what earthly difference can
it make to you if one thief more decides suddenly to reform?ā
That brought her abruptly to her feet, to show him a face of glowing
loveliness and eyes distractingly dimmed and softened.
āNo!ā she implored him breathlesslyāāpleaseāyou mustnāt spoil it!
Youāve paid me the finest of compliments, and one Iām glad and grateful
for ā¦ and would I might think I deserved! ā¦ You say you need a year
to prove yourself? ThenāIāve no right to say thisāand you must
please not ask me what I meanāthen I grant you that year. A year I
shall wait to hear from you from the day we part, here in Parisā¦. And
tonight, I will go with you, too, and gladly, since you wish it!ā
And then as he, having risen, stood at loss, thrilled,
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