The Silent Seven by Maxwell Grant & Walter Gibson

Author:Maxwell Grant & Walter Gibson [Grant, Maxwell & Gibson, Walter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Espionage, Fiction, Thrillers
ISBN: 9780515039665
Amazon: 0515039667
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1932-02-15T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XIII. VISITOR AT NIGHT

IT was one o'clock in the morning. Two men were sitting in the library of Wilbur Blake's home. One was Rodney Paget; the other was the man who looked like Wilbur Blake.

Paget was deep in thought. He lacked his customary indifference. Blake's double was eyeing him curiously. At length he spoke to Paget.

"About time we called it a night, eh, Rodney?" he asked.

Paget looked up suddenly.

"Not yet, Wilbur," he said, speaking as though to Blake himself. "I want to think a while."

The other man rose and leaned close to Paget.

"Listen," came his voice. "If you're worrying about this business, you're wasting your time. Look at me. Who am I?"

"You look like Wilbur Blake," replied Paget in a low voice.

"You're right," was the answer. "I am Wilbur Blake–so far as the world is concerned. We've been playing the game a week, now, and there hasn't been a slip. It's getting better every day.

"Look at me. I'm confident. A few days more, and we're going to swing a sale that will bring in three million. You're fixing the percentage to suit yourself. So why worry?"

Paget shook his head dubiously.

"Look at this." Blake picked up a pen and scrawled a name across a sheet of paper. "Whose signature is that?"

Paget looked at the writing. A trace of admiration appeared on his face.

"It's the duplicate of Blake's," he said.

"You're right," answered the other man. "Practice makes perfect. Remember that phony signature I had the first time you met me? Good enough to fool the average man; but this one will fool the best."

Paget nodded.

"I've played square with you," said the false Blake, in a low tone. "You hold all the trump cards. You've got Blake tucked away somewhere so you can bring him back if you want. I can't make a move without your say-so.

"But I don't object. I'm sitting pretty and I expect to get a decent cut, with all these millions to play with. You're not worried about me, are you?"

"No."

"Then give me the low-down. Something's the matter. Tell me part of it, if you don't want to spill it all. Maybe I can help you out."

PAGET deliberated. Blake took a chair opposite and watched as the clubman gradually regained his composure. When he saw Paget produce a cigarette and the ivory holder, Blake smiled.

"I'm going to let you in on something," said Paget quietly. "It goes back to that night–the last night before we pulled the job.

"You remember that I thought some one was looking in the window?"

Blake nodded.

"All I saw," continued Paget, "was a shadow on the floor. It moved away when I approached. Then it disappeared. I forgot about it until a few nights ago; then I saw it–again."

"Where?"

"On the lawn outside this house."

"Maybe you were mistaken."

"I thought so myself," admitted Paget. "But I saw it afterward– two nights later.

"I had a dream that same night–a dream that something was threatening me. I woke up and thought some one was in the room. But I could find no one there.

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