Elusive Isabel, by Jacques Futrelle Unknown (best fiction novels to read TXT) 📖

matter stands he can’t afford to discover himself by using those credentials, and yet, if the Latin compact is signed, he must be free. Remember, too, that he is accredited from three countries—Italy, France and Spain.” He was silent for a moment. “Naturally his escape from prison would preserve his incognito, and at the same time permit him to sign the compact.”

There was silence for a long time.

“I believe the situation is without precedent,” said Mr. Campbell slowly. “The special envoy of three great powers held for attempted—!”

“Officially we are not aware of his purpose, or his identity,” Mr. Grimm reminded him. “If he escaped it would clarify the situation tremendously.”

“If he escaped!” repeated Mr. Campbell musingly.

“But, of course, the compact would not be signed, at least in this country,” Mr. Grimm went on tentatively.

Mr. Campbell gazed straight into the listless eyes of the young man for a minute or more, and gradually full understanding came home to him. Finally he nodded his head.

“Use your own judgment, Mr. Grimm,” he directed.

XVII

A CALL ON THE WARDEN

The restful silence of night lay over the great prison. Here and there in the grim corridors a guard dozed in the glare of an electric light; and in the office, too, a desk light glimmered where the warden sat at his desk, poring over a report. Once he glanced up at the clock—it was five minutes of eleven—and then he went on with his reading.

After a little the silence was broken by the whir of the clock and the first sharp stroke of the hour; and at just that moment the door from the street opened and a man entered. He was rather tall and slender, and a sinister black mask hid his face from the quickly raised eyes of the warden. For a bare fraction of a second the two men stared at each other, then, instinctively, the warden’s right hand moved toward the open drawer of his desk where a revolver lay, and his left toward several electrically connected levers. The intruder noted both gestures, and, unarmed himself, stood silent. The warden was first to speak.

“Well, what is it?”

“You have a prisoner here, Pietro Petrozinni,” was the reply, in a pleasant voice. “I have come to demand his release.”

The warden’s right hand was raised above the desk top, and the revolver in it clicked warningly.

“You have come to demand his release, eh?” he queried. He still sat motionless, with his eyes fixed on the black mask. “How did you pass the outside guard?”

“He was bribed,” was the ready response. “Now, Warden,” the masked intruder continued pacifically, “it would be much more pleasant all around and there would be less personal danger in it for both of us if you would release Signor Petrozinni without question. I may add that no bribe was offered to you because your integrity was beyond question.”

“Thank you,” said the warden grimly, “and it shall remain so as long as I have this.” He tapped on the desk with the revolver.

“Oh, that isn’t loaded,” said the masked man quietly.

One quick glance at the weapon showed the warden that the cartridges had been drawn! His teeth closed with a snap at the treachery of it, and with his left hand he pulled back one of the levers—that which should arouse the jailers, turnkeys and guards. Instead of the insistent clangor which he expected, there was silence.

“That wire has been cut,” the stranger volunteered.

With clenched teeth the warden pulled the police alarm.

“And that wire was cut, too,” the stranger explained.

The warden came to his feet with white face, and nails biting into the palms of his hands. He still held the revolver as he advanced upon the masked man threateningly.

“Not too close, now,” warned the intruder, with a sudden hardening of his voice. “Believe me, it would be best for you to release this man, because it must be done, pleasantly or otherwise. I have no desire to injure you, still less do I intend that you shall injure me; and it would be needless for either of us to make a personal matter of it. I want your prisoner, Signor Petrozinni—you will release him at once! That’s all!”

The warden paused, dazed, incredulous before the audacity of it, while he studied two calm eyes which peered at him through the slits of the mask.

“And if I don’t release him?” he demanded at last, fiercely.

“Then I shall take him,” was the reply. “It has been made impossible for you to give an alarm,” the stranger went on. “The very men on whom you most depended have been bought, and even if they were within sound of your voice now they wouldn’t respond. One of your assistants who has been here for years unloaded the revolver in the desk there, and less than an hour ago cut the prison alarm wire. I, personally, cut the police alarm outside the building. So you see!”

As yet there was no weapon in sight, save the unloaded revolver in the warden’s hand; at no time had the stranger’s voice been raised. His tone was a perfectly normal one.

“Besides yourself there are only five other men employed here who are now awake,” the masked man continued. “These are four inner guards and the outer guard. They have all been bought—the turnkeys at five thousand dollars each, and the outer guard at seven thousand. The receipt of all of this money is conditional upon the release of Signor Petrozinni, therefore it is to their interest to aid me as against you. I am telling you all this, frankly and fully, to make you see how futile any resistance would be.”

“But who—who is this Signor Petrozinni, that such powerful influences should be brought to bear in his behalf?” demanded the bewildered warden.

“He is a man who can command a vast fortune—and Senor Alvarez is at the point of death. That, I think, makes it clear. Now, if you’ll sit down, please!”

“Sit down?” bellowed the warden.

Suddenly he was seized by a