THE CASE OF THE EXILED KING by Norman Goddard

Author:Norman Goddard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

"Of a certainty you will find him there," he muttered, "and I shall have seen to it before that he cannot escape."

*

Sexton Blake looked distinctly pleased with himself as he sat in his private room at the Continental Hotel mid-day on the Sunday. Everything had worked far better than he had dared to hope, and it seemed certain to him now that he would be able to get King Manoel away from Portugal before the fighting began. Of Garcia de Lara he had no particular fear, though he intended, if possible, to lay him by the heels so soon as the more important part of his task was completed.

The satisfaction was reflected upon the face of Mr. Spearing, for that worthy was thinking what a magnificent advertisement he would get when the truth of the saving of the young king came to be known. He, too, had no intention of leaving Garcia de Lara at liberty for long, though on what charge he could be arrested he did not at present know.

As Tinker entered the. room his master looked up quickly. The detective had deemed it advisable not to appear too active and in consequence he had left certain of his preparations to Tinker, knowing that the boy could be trusted to carry them out to the letter.

"Everything all right, my lad?" he inquired.

"Yes, sir." Tinker answered. "The car will be ready at the time you mention, and I’ve been down to the launch to make sure that all is right. It is ready to sail at any moment."

"Good!" Sexton Blake said.

Mr. Spearing was looking out of the window; but he turned suddenly, a worried look on his face.

"There’s a party of soldiers entered the hotel," he said gruffly—"part of General d’Alvarez’s crowd."

The smile left Sexton Blake’s face, and he rose to his feet.

"It cannot be anything to do with us," he answered; but there was no conviction in his tone. "Most probably they—"

There was a knock at the door, and an officer in the uniform of the Artillery entered. It was possible to see a file of men waiting in the passage.

"The Señors Sexton Blake and Spearing?" the officer demanded brusquely.

"At your service." Sexton Blake assured him; but his face was cold and hard.

The officer drew further into the room, motioning his men to follow hin, and his fingers rested suggestively on the hilt of his sword, for there was something about the expression of Sexton Blake’s face that suggested trouble.

"I have orders to arrest you!" the officer said sharply.

Mr. Spearing had little knowledge of Portuguese, but he understood what the soldier was saying and his face went positively purple with anger.

"Get out!" he jerked, advancing threateningly.

"Don’t be a fool!" Sexton Blake put in quietly. "Resistance cannot help us."

Mr. Spearing controlled himself, though still choking with anger; and Sexton Blake turned once more to the officer of Artillery.

"May I ask on what charge General d’Alvarez is having us arrested?" he asked.

"Spies," the officer answered shortly. "The information was lodged by a certain Garcia de Lara.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.