THE GREAT CHARITY SWINDLE by Lewis Carlton

Author:Lewis Carlton [ComicRack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sexton Blake
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

At Victoria Station Plummer alighted, paid the man, and went quickly into the main station. It was not there that he stopped, however, for he hurried down into the Underground and booked to the Monument, again only with the intention of getting out of the danger zone.

At that hour of the night the long carriage was practically deserted, but for all that it was with a sigh of relief that Plummer alighted at the end of his journey. Close by was a public-house, the windows bright with lights, which the escaped convict entered and ordered a drink, which he gulped down at once. Another and another followed, and as he sipped at the third the spirits brought back all his old confidence, and his brain worked rapidly.

One thing he knew, and that was that he would have to keep out of the way of Sexton Blake until the latter was on the trail of the despatches, and that he must make sure that his alibi was sound. The latter would be easy enough, for on the morrow he could really cross to France, and by wiring to Sir George Tanland from there any suspicion would be killed. Not that there was the likelihood of any being roused, but, with such a big enterprise in hand, Plummer meant to be on the safe side.

But the despatch-case?. Where to hide it, that was the question that exercised the escaped convict’s brain most. He dared not take it across with him to France, for there would not be an official who would not be on the look-out for it; and if the despatches were of great importance, it was possible that any man unable to give a very satisfactory acount of himself would be searched.

It was past eleven o’clock—an awkward hour for a man without luggage to look for a lodging, and at that time of night it was impossible for Plummer even to buy a bag. He thought of the advisability of stopping out all night in the rain, and joining the poor outcasts who snatched what shelter they could in doorways or under arches; but his luxury-loving soul shrank from the hardship of it.

Still uneertain what to do, Plummer left the public-house, and, scarcely knowing where he was going, walked across London Bridge and into the Borough. He swung away to the right, in the direction of the trams, then turned again, to find himself in one of those quiet side-streets that seem to have been left almost in the heart of London by accident.

Small strips of garden ran up to the front doors of the houses, and the wall of the corner house showed that there was also a small garden at the back.

Plummer walked up the road, but even at that pace he gained upon an old woman who was shambling on ahead, a jug in her hand. Plummer was close upon her, and as she turned into one of the gardens he saw that in the window of the house was an "Apartment" card.

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