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TEST BANK
FOR
Psychology Themes and Variations

10th Edition
By Weiten
ISBN13-9781305498204
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1 : The scientific approach assumes that
A : events are governed by some lawful order.
B : each event is completely unique.
C : there are few general laws or principles that apply to human behavior.
D : the search for absolute truth is the ultimate goal.

Correct Answer : A

2 : Which of the following is a major assumption of science?

A : Events occur in a relatively orderly or predictable manner.
B : Cause and effect is indicated by correlational relationships.
C : In contrast to the behavior of lower animals, human behavior is in part a function of free will.
D : Events are largely randomly determined.

Correct Answer : A

3 : The approach assumes that events are governed by some lawful order.
A : philosophical
B : mechanical
C : scientific
D : cognitive

Correct Answer : C

4 : Answering the question of how some phenomenon can be studied is MOST closely
associated with which of the following goals of science?
A : The search for truth
B : Application and control
C : Measurement and description
D : Understanding and prediction

Correct Answer : C

5 : Which of the following is NOT among the goals of scientific psychology?

A : The development of measurement techniques for describing behavior precisely and
accurately
B : Understanding why certain behaviors occur
C : Applications of research findings to solve everyday problems
D : Searching for absolute truths about behavior

Correct Answer : D

6 : Answering the question of why something happens is MOST closely associated with which of
the following goals of science?
A : The search for truth
B : Application and control
C : Measurement and description
D : Understanding and prediction

Correct Answer : D

1 / 36
7 : In a study, IQ score, age, weight, grade point average, and income would all be considered
A : constants.
B : variables.
C : correlations.
D : statistics.

Correct Answer : B

8 : Any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviors that are controlled or

observed in a study are called
A : hypotheses.
B : correlations.
C : variables.
D : confounds.

Correct Answer : C

9 : The use of reinforcement principles to modify a childs unruly behavior reflects the goal of
science that deals with
A : understanding and prediction.
B : measurement and description.
C : determinism and teleologic.
D : application and control.

Correct Answer : D

10 : A psychologists hope that his or her research will help to solve some practical problem
reflects which of the following goals of science?
A : Application and control
B : Construction and revision
C : Understanding and prediction
D : Measurement and description

Correct Answer : A

11 : A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables is a(n)
A : variable.
B : hypothesis.
C : theory.
D : operational definition.

Correct Answer : B

12 : Theories permit researchers to move from

A : understanding to application.
B : concept to description.
C : application to control.
D : description to understanding.

Correct Answer : D

13 : A scientific theory has to be

2 / 36
A : true.
B : accepted by others.
C : testable.
D : well established and not disputed.

Correct Answer : C

14 : Theory construction is a
A : gradual iterative process that is always subject to revision.
B : standard step-like process that quickly moves toward the truth.
C : circular process that typically leads nowhere.
D : process that results in concrete findings that are accepted by other scientists.

Correct Answer : A

15 : Dr. Marqueta believes that misery loves company. Based on this belief, Dr. Marqueta
predicts that people who have received bad news will seek out other people. Dr. Marquetas
belief is an example of a , and her prediction is an example of a(n) .
A : hypothesis; theory
B : theory; hypothesis
C : variable; application
D : hypothesis; variable

Correct Answer : B

16 : Mrs. Smith, an elementary school teacher, believes that girls are smarter than boys. She
predicts that the girls in her class will learn more than the boys during the school year. Her
prediction is a(n)
A : hypothesis.
B : opinion.
C : fact.
D : theory.

Correct Answer : A

17 : A theory is
A : an objective description of behavior.
B : a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations.
C : the application of research to practical problems.
D : a statement about the relationship between two or more variables.

Correct Answer : B

18 : Scientific theories are MOST directly associated with which of the following goals of
science?
A : Application and control
B : Construction and revision
C : Measurement and description
D : Understanding and prediction

Correct Answer : D

19 : A clinical psychologist notes that an unusually large number of obese people are depressed
3 / 36
or anxious, and she offers an explanation that excess weight causes emotional disorders. Her
explanation is an example of a(n)
A : hypothesis.
B : theory.
C : opinion.
D : fact.

Correct Answer : B

20 : While theories are MOST closely associated with the scientific goal of , hypotheses
are MOST closely associated with the goal of .
A : application; description
B : description; application
C : understanding; prediction
D : prediction; understanding

Correct Answer : C

21 : Hypotheses are typically expressed as

A : theories.
B : variables.
C : predictions.
D : statistics.

Correct Answer : C

22 : Dr. Licciardi predicts that people who are observed while they perform a complex task will
make more errors. Dr. Licciardis prediction is an example of
A : a hypothesis.
B : an operational definition.
C : a theory.
D : inferential statistics.

Correct Answer : A

23 : Dr. Malm predicts that if teachers ignore students who act up in class, fewer students will
act up in class. Dr. Malms prediction is an example of
A : an operational definition.
B : a theory.
C : inferential statistics.
D : a hypothesis.

Correct Answer : D

24 : A researcher is measuring the heart rate of subjects as an index of anxiety. In this study,
heart rate is
A : a confounded variable.
B : negatively correlated with anxiety.
C : an independent variable.
D : an operational definition of anxiety.

Correct Answer : D

4 / 36
25 : Dr. Dobbins wants to study attachment patterns in single-parent families. The first step in
her scientific investigation would be to
A : design the study and select the research method.
B : analyze the data.
C : formulate a testable hypothesis.
D : collect the data.

Correct Answer : C

26 : In scientific investigations, researchers must clearly define the variables under study by
precisely describing how they will be measured or controlled. These definitions are referred to
as definitions.
A : objective
B : precise
C : operational
D : dictionary

Correct Answer : C

27 : Dr. Critell is studying aggression in children and plans to define aggression as the number
of times one child pushes or strikes another child. Defining aggression in this way would
A : be an example of a hypothesis.
B : violate ethical guidelines for psychological research.
C : represent an operational definition.
D : require a double-blind research design.

Correct Answer : C

28 : A psychologist measures blood alcohol level to determine intoxication. In this example,

blood alcohol level is the definition of intoxication.
A : operational
B : dictionary
C : objective
D : precise

Correct Answer : A

29 : A psychologist monitors changes in the subjects heart rate as the subject watches a violent
movie. The data collection technique being used is
A : direct observation.
B : psychological testing.
C : physiological recording.
D : archival records.

Correct Answer : C

30 : A standardized measure used to obtain a sample of a persons behavior is called a(n)

A : psychological test.
B : case study.
C : experiment.
D : survey.

Correct Answer : A
5 / 36
31 : Jackson is helping a company develop more effective training programs for its employees.
He has spent a great deal of time reviewing all the companys documentation about previous
training opportunities it has provided for its employees. Up to this point in time, Jackson has
been engaged in
A : psychological testing.
B : archival research.
C : direct observation.
D : meta-analysis.

Correct Answer : B

32 : Laura answered a series of written questions that asked about her attitudes and opinions
on a number of current issues. The method of data collection used in this case was
A : a standardized psychological test.
B : archival research.
C : direct observation.
D : a questionnaire.

Correct Answer : D

33 : The final step in a scientific investigation is to

A : conduct the study.
B : analyze the data.
C : decide whether or not the hypothesis was supported.
D : report the findings.

Correct Answer : D

34 : A scientific journal is a
A : personal diary kept by a scientist.
B : periodical that publishes technical and scholarly articles.
C : detailed record of the daily procedures followed in conducting a study.
D : collection of biographies of famous scientists.

Correct Answer : B

35 : Publication of research findings is extremely important to the scientific method because

A : it allows for critique and self-correction.
B : it brings recognition to the research worker.
C : it forces the writer to be clear.
D : the royalties help the researcher pay for the research.

Correct Answer : A

36 : Which of the following data collection techniques is BEST suited for studying attitudes?
A : Questionnaires
B : Direct observations
C : Psychological tests
D : Physiological recordings

Correct Answer : A

6 / 36
37 : Statistical procedures are used during which of the following steps in conducting a scientific
investigation?
A : Collect the data
B : Select a research method and design the study
C : Report the findings
D : Analyze the data and draw conclusions

Correct Answer : D

38 : Researchers typically report their findings

A : by holding a press conference.
B : in a book.
C : in a scientific magazine.
D : in a journal.

Correct Answer : D

39 : Which of the following is NOT true regarding common sense analyses of behavior?
A : They tend to be vague and ambiguous.
B : They often tolerate contradictory generalizations.
C : They usually involve little effort to verify ideas or detect errors.
D : They are typically based on precise definitions and hypotheses.

Correct Answer : D

40 : The scientific approach requires that people specify exactly what they are talking about
when they formulate hypotheses. Which of the following advantages of scientific investigation
does this illustrate?
A : Precision
B : Acceptance of a degree of error
C : Skepticism
D : Operational definitions

Correct Answer : A

41 : Operational definitions are MOST closely associated with which of the following major
advantages of the scientific approach?
A : Common sense approach
B : Clarity and precision
C : Intolerance of error
D : Logical analysis

Correct Answer : B

42 : The different general strategies for conducting scientific investigations are referred to as
A : data collection techniques.
B : operational definitions.
C : research methods.
D : hypotheses.

Correct Answer : C

43 : The two main types of research methods used in psychology are the
7 / 36
A : experimental and descriptive/correlational research methods.
B : experimental and case study research methods.
C : descriptive and correlational research methods.
D : descriptive/correlational and case study research methods.

Correct Answer : A

44 : In order to determine whether lack of sleep causes anxiety, a scientist will

A : publish in a journal.
B : request a peer review.
C : conduct an experiment.
D : use common sense.

Correct Answer : C

45 : The research method in which the investigator manipulates a variable under carefully
controlled conditions and observes whether any changes occur in a second variable as a result
is the method.
A : scientific
B : correlational
C : descriptive
D : experimental

Correct Answer : D

46 : A group of researchers wants to determine if people are more likely to follow directions if
the person giving the directions is wearing a uniform. Half the participants are directed to a
parking spot by a uniformed security guard; the other half are directed to a parking spot by an
individual wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt. In this study, the dependent variable would be the
A : number of participants who park in the spot they are directed to.
B : type of clothing worn by the person giving the directions.
C : gender of the person driving into the parking lot.
D : distance between the parking spot and the entrance.

Correct Answer : A

47 : Conclusions concerning cause-and-effect relationships are only possible when the

method is used.
A : survey
B : experimental
C : correlational
D : descriptive

Correct Answer : B

48 : A researcher wants to see if a protein-enriched diet will enhance the maze-running

performance of rats. One group of rats is fed the high-protein diet for the duration of the study;
the other group continues to receive ordinary rat chow. In this experiment, the rats maze-
running performance is the variable.
A : correlated
B : control
C : dependent
D : independent
8 / 36
Correct Answer : C

49 : An experimenter tests the hypothesis that physical exercise improves mood. Subjects in the
experimental group participate on Monday and Tuesday and those in the control group on
Wednesday and Thursday. Which of the following is the independent variable?
A : Hypothesis
B : Day of the week
C : Exercise
D : Mood (degree of happiness)

Correct Answer : C

50 : An experimenter tests the hypothesis that physical exercise improves mood. Subjects in the
experimental group participate on Monday and Tuesday and those in the control group on
Wednesday and Thursday. Which of the following is the dependent variable?
A : Hypothesis
B : Day of the week
C : Exercise
D : Mood (degree of happiness)

Correct Answer : D

51 : In an experiment, the variable that is controlled or manipulated by the researcher is called

the variable.
A : dependent
B : independent
C : control
D : stimulus

Correct Answer : B

52 : An independent variable in an experiment refers to

A : the variable that is held constant across experimental conditions.
B : the variable that affects the subjects behavior.
C : the variable that the experimenter believes will change in value because of systematic
correlations that exist in the experiment.
D : the variable that provides an alternative explanation for the results of the experiment.

Correct Answer : B

53 : A group of researchers wanted to determine if people will eat more food in a room with red
paint than in a room that is decorated blue. Half the participants in this study ate in a red room
and half ate in a blue room. The researchers then measured how much food was consumed in
each of the two rooms. In this study, the independent variable was
A : the type of food available during the study.
B : the amount of food consumed.
C : the color of the room.
D : how hungry the participants were at the end of the study.

Correct Answer : C

54 : Researchers who were studying plant growth raised plants in two separate rooms. One
9 / 36
room had taped conversations playing 24 hours a day; the other room was silent. The
researchers found that the plants grew better in the room that had the conversations playing. In
this study, the type of room (conversation or silence) would be
A : the dependent variable.
B : an extraneous variable.
C : a placebo.
D : the independent variable.

Correct Answer : D

55 : A dependent variable in an experiment refers to the variable

A : held constant across the experimental conditions.
B : deliberately manipulated by the experimenter.
C : thought to be affected by manipulation of another variable.
D : that the experimenter is depending on to cause something to happen in the experiment.

Correct Answer : C

56 : In experimental research, the researcher manipulates the variable in order to

measures its effect on the variable.
A : dependent; independent
B : dependent; extraneous
C : independent; dependent
D : independent; extraneous

Correct Answer : C

57 : In experimental research, the variable that is free to be varied by the experimenter is the
variable.
A : extraneous
B : dependent
C : independent
D : controlled

Correct Answer : C

58 : Researchers studying the effects of sleep deprivation tested the physical coordination skills
of 25-year-old males who had been sleep deprived for 24, 36, or 48 hours. In this study, the
dependent variable would be the
A : age of the research participants.
B : physical coordination skills of the men in the study.
C : length of time the participants had been sleep deprived.
D : type of physical coordination task the researchers use.

Correct Answer : B

59 : An industrial designer wants to determine if the new design for a piece of office equipment
will result in fewer errors. The designer sets up a machine with the old design in one room and a
machine with the new design in a second room. He counts how many errors are made using
each of the two machines. In this study, the number of errors that are made would be
A : a control variable.
B : the dependent variable.
C : the independent variable.
10 / 36
D : an extraneous variable.

Correct Answer : B

60 : If a researcher varies the loudness of music in a factory to observe its effect on employee
productivity, the dependent variable is
A : the factory setting.
B : employee productivity.
C : the style of music being used.
D : the loudness of music being used.

Correct Answer : B

61 : If we view an experiment as an attempt to establish a cause-and-effect relationship, the

variable would be the cause, and the variable would be the effect.
A : dependent; independent
B : independent; dependent
C : control; experimental
D : independent; confounded

Correct Answer : B

62 : A researcher found that clients who were randomly assigned to same-sex groups
participated more in group therapy sessions than clients who were randomly assigned to coed
groups. In this experiment, the independent variable was
A : the amount of participation in the group therapy sessions.
B : whether or not the group was coed.
C : the clients attitudes toward group therapy.
D : how much the clients mental health improved.

Correct Answer : B

63 : A researcher is investigating the effects of caffeine consumption on student writing

performance. Because the researcher will evaluate both the speed of assignment completion
and the number of grammatical errors, she will need to include more than one variable in
her study.
A : independent
B : dependent
C : confounding
D : extraneous

Correct Answer : B

64 : The experimental group

A : consists of the subjects who receive some special treatment with regard to the independent
variable.
B : consists of the subjects who receive some special treatment with regard to the dependent
variable.
C : consists of the subjects who do not receive the special treatment.
D : must be chosen so as to be as different from the control group as possible.

Correct Answer : A

11 / 36
65 : In an experiment designed to test memory processes, one group was given special
instructions and asked to group the items on a list into categories while they tried to memorize
them. A second group of participants was given the same list, but they did not receive any
special instructions. In this study, the experimental group is
A : the group in which the participants remember the least items from the list.
B : the group that did not receive any special instructions.
C : the group that received the special instructions.
D : the group in which the participants remember the most items from the list.

Correct Answer : C

66 : In a study designed to test the effects of a new drug developed to treat Alzheimers disease,
half the patients were given the actual drug while the other half were given a placebo (sugar
pill). In this study, the experimental group is
A : the patients who show evidence of an improvement in their memory.
B : the group that received the actual drug.
C : the group that received the placebo.
D : the patients who were not included in the study.

Correct Answer : B

67 : David and Alexandra both take part in a research study that is investigating the effects of
sleep deprivation on reaction time. David is kept awake for 24 hours straight, while Alexandra
follows her normal sleep routine. In this study, David is part of the group.
A : hypothesis
B : experimental
C : control
D : dependent variable

Correct Answer : B

68 : The purpose of the control group is to

A : make the experiment more complex.
B : isolate the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable.
C : make statistical significance more likely.
D : isolate the effect of the dependent variable on the independent variable.

Correct Answer : B

69 : A group of researchers wanted to determine whether children would behave more

aggressively after watching violent television programming. Half the children in the study
watched a violent television show; the other children watched a nonviolent program. In this
study, the control group is the children who
A : behave the most aggressively at the end of the study.
B : watch the nonviolent program.
C : watch the violent show.
D : behave the least aggressively at the end of the study.

Correct Answer : B

70 : Dr. Prutherow believes that people who are under stress will develop more colds than
people who are not under stress. When he randomly selects ten participants and exposes them
to high levels of stress, he finds that nine of the participants develop colds. Based on these
12 / 36
results, he concludes that stress causes an increase in colds. Dr. Prutherows reasoning may be
flawed because
A : there was no dependent variable in his study.
B : there was no control group for comparison.
C : he didnt formulate a hypothesis before he collected his data.
D : he didnt measure the independent variable when the study ended.

Correct Answer : B

71 : In experimental research, subjects who receive some special treatment with regard to the
independent variable are in the group.
A : experimental
B : control
C : observational
D : correlational

Correct Answer : A

72 : In experimental research, subjects in the group receive some special treatment with
regard to the independent variable while subjects in the group do not.
A : control; experimental
B : experimental; control
C : primary; secondary
D : secondary; primary

Correct Answer : B

73 : Subjects in the control group should be subjects in the experimental groups in all
respects except for the treatment they receive with regard to the .
A : very different from; independent variable
B : very different from; dependent variable
C : very similar to; independent variable
D : very similar to; dependent variable

Correct Answer : C

74 : A researcher is studying the effects of room temperature on ability to quickly solve math
problems. She first has participants solve ten math problems in a room with the temperature set
at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Then she has the same participants solve ten new math problems
with the room temperature set at 90 degrees. In this case, the group of participants is serving as
its own group.
A : experimental
B : control
C : extraneous
D : operational

Correct Answer : B

75 : An experimenter tests the hypothesis that physical exercise improves mood. Subjects in the
experimental group participate on Monday and Tuesday and those in the control group on
Wednesday and Thursday. Which of the following is the extraneous variable?
A : Hypothesis
B : Day of the week
13 / 36
C : Exercise
D : Mood (degree of happiness)

Correct Answer : B

76 : A variable, other than the independent variable, that appears to have influenced the
dependent variable in a study is referred to as a(n)
A : covariate.
B : extraneous variable.
C : redundant variable.
D : inverse bias.

Correct Answer : B

77 : When two variables are linked and their individual effects cannot be isolated, we speak of
the variables as being
A : independent.
B : dependent.
C : confounded.
D : codependent.

Correct Answer : C

78 : Placing subjects in experimental groups such that each subject has an equal probability of
ending up in any group is referred to as
A : random selection.
B : random sampling.
C : random forecasting.
D : random assignment.

Correct Answer : D

79 : Dr. Kalmagura plans to introduce a new exam review procedure in his chemistry classes.
To check the effectiveness of the new procedure, half his students will try the new technique for
one semester, while the remaining students will review in the same way they have always done.
Each student will decide whether they like the new technique or the standard technique. This
example illustrates
A : the use of non-random assignment.
B : a correlational research design.
C : a double-blind research design.
D : what is meant by informed consent in research.

Correct Answer : A

80 : Bill received a poor performance evaluation in his job last year. Since then, Bill has started
working through his lunch hour, taken on four special projects, and enrolled in night classes to
upgrade his computer skills. If Bill receives a better evaluation at his next performance, it will be
hard for him to figure out why because
A : he failed to use a double-blind procedure to test his hypothesis.
B : he didnt formulate a research hypothesis before implementing the changes.
C : none of the actions he took are likely to be related to his overall job performance.
D : the three actions he took are confounded with each other.

14 / 36
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
limit. But put the question to yourself: is there any real reason, apart
from your infatuation for the girl—herself a married woman, why you
should continue to take a hand in a very perplexing and unprofitable
business. If we knew Audley was dead and you are really fond of the
girl, it would be, I quite admit, a different thing.”
I could not pretend that there was any flaw in his logic. Yet I was
still restless and dissatisfied. I went home with him that night and
dined with his wife and himself in their quaint little cottage home at
Hampton. As I sat in that small low-pitched room—for the house
was composed of two old-world cottages knocked into one—I envied
my partner his domestic happiness.
When I got back to Russell Square I sat down before the big fire old
Mrs. Chapman had left me and for the thousandth time went over
the affair from the beginning seeking to recall any trivial
circumstance that might throw some light upon it. As to the personal
threat, I recklessly made up my mind that I would not allow it to
influence me at all: I would not run the risk of being fooled by a
practical joke on the one hand, or, on the other, weakly run away if
there were any real danger.
I decided that, in any case, I would see Dr. Feng, show him the
letters and, if necessary, ask him bluntly whether he were the
sender.
So at eleven o’clock next morning the maid at the comfortable house
in Barnes showed me into the Doctor’s sitting-room, and a few
seconds later Feng, with a smile of welcome, entered with
outstretched hand.
“Well, Yelverton, so pleased to see you,” he said, inviting me to a
chair. “And how are things going with you?”
“Oh, pretty much as usual,” I replied rather moodily.
I hesitated a moment and then I took from my pocket the second
letter of warning.
“Look, Doctor,” I said, “I’ve received this. What do you think of it?”
As he read it I watched him closely. It was evident he was keenly
interested. It struck me, too, that he was unmistakably surprised
and my suspicion that he might have been the writer faded instantly.
“I wonder who could have sent you that?” he exclaimed. “Somebody
who is jealous of your attentions to little Mrs. Audley.”
His eyes met mine, and I thought I saw a curious look of mystery in
them.
“I thought it possible that you might have been the sender,” I said,
with a laugh.
“Me!” he replied, starting. “Whatever causes you to suspect that?
Ah!” he added a second later. “I notice the postmark is that of
Hammersmith—just across the bridge! No, my dear boy, I assure
you that I am not the sender.”
By his manner it was plain that he was telling the truth.
“I remember your many warnings, Doctor. That is why I suspected,”
I said apologetically.
“Well, I hope you don’t believe that I’m guilty of sending you such
silly nonsense. Personally, if I received such a letter I should take no
notice of it. You’re not alarmed, surely? It’s only some silly joke,
perpetrated, perhaps, by one of Audley’s mysterious and undesirable
associates.”
“I wish I knew whether Audley were alive or dead!” I said bitterly.
“His wife has heard that he is dead, yet I can find no evidence at all
that this is so.”
“She told you that he could never return to her,” Feng remarked.
“Yes; but that is another puzzle upon which she refused to throw
any light,” I replied.
“Oh! by the way,” Feng exclaimed suddenly. “You recollect old
Hartley Humphreys at Mürren? He wrote to me a few days ago and I
went to dine with him at the Carlton. He’s just back from
Constantinople, and do you know, his lameness is quite cured. He’s
been to some German specialist who has put him right. He was
enquiring about you.”
“I’d like to see him again,” I said. “He is quite a pleasant old fellow.”
“Go and call. He’d like to see you, I’m sure. He was interested in
your romance, and asked me how it had ended. I pretended
ignorance, for I did not know how much you would like him to learn.
I never care to obtrude in other people’s affairs.”
“I will certainly go and see him,” I said. “It’s good news that he is
cured.”
“Yes. He walks without a stick and seems rejuvenated.”
Next day I went to the Carlton and sent up my card, after which I
was conducted to a handsome private sitting-room on the second
floor. As I approached the door, I saw disappearing along the
corridor, the back of a man whom I could have sworn was Harold
Ruthen. I recognized him mainly by his walk, his grey felt hat, the
well-cut brown suit and the drab spats. But he had turned the corner
and disappeared before I could make sure.
In the room old Mr. Humphreys rose to meet me.
“Well, Mr. Yelverton! This is indeed a pleasure! I was asking the
Doctor about you only the other day. I had mislaid your address. I’m
so glad you’ve called.”
“The Doctor told me you were here,” I said.
“Excellent! Sit down. Have one of these Turkish cigarettes. They are
real Turkish, for I brought them home with me. You can get no first-
class Turkish cigarettes except in Turkey itself. As you know, the
export of the best tobacco leaves is forbidden. The second quality
only goes to Europe.”
I took one of the thin little rolls of golden tobacco, and lighting it
pronounced it to be exquisite.
“Well, and what you have been doing since I left Mürren—carrying
on in your profession, I suppose? And how about that charming little
bride? Did her husband come back?”
“No,” I replied. “He has not yet returned to her.”
“What!” cried the old man, opening his eyes widely. “Not back! Then
he deserted her and left her upon your hands!” he added. “A rather
dangerous situation for a young man—eh?”
I smiled.
“It is a tragedy,” I said, a few moments later. “The poor broken-
hearted girl is back with her mother at Bexhill.”
“And you see her sometimes, I expect.”
“Very rarely,” I answered. “But I am still seeking for traces of the
missing man.”
“Curious that he didn’t come back. He seemed quite a nice young
fellow and devoted to his wife. There is a mystery somewhere. I
wonder what really happened.”
“It is impossible to conjecture—unless he is keeping out of the way
for some unexplained reason.”
A moment later the door opened and Dr. Feng walked in. I was
rather surprised at his coming up unannounced. When he saw me
he looked annoyed for a moment, but only for a moment. Then he
laughed and said—
“Well, I didn’t expect to find you here, Yelverton!”
“We were discussing little Mrs. Audley and her missing husband,”
Humphreys explained.
“Yes, some silly ass who is jealous has sent Yelverton two letters of
warning, threatening him with death if he continues his search for
Audley or his acquaintanceship with his wife,” the doctor said.
Humphreys laughed, and exclaimed—
“What rubbish! The letters must be a joke.”
“I think they are meant in earnest,” I said.
In the meantime the doctor had taken a chair before the fire, and
proceeded to light his pipe. It struck me suddenly that, so far from
being, as I had believed, mere hotel acquaintances, these two were
great friends.
This surprised me. The doctor had told me that he had made a
formal call in response to a letter, but as we sat there it was plain
they were on terms of close intimacy.
“I’ve had the agent round this morning about that house in
Hampstead I told you about,” Humphreys said. “Ruthen is seeing
after it for me. I fancy I can get it a bit cheaper than they want. As
I’ll be in London for quite a year now, I prefer a house to hotel life.”
Mention of the name of Ruthen caused me to prick up my ears. I
had no idea that the young man who so constantly pestered Thelma
with his questions was acquainted with Humphreys.
“Yes,” agreed the doctor. “I think you will be better off in a house
than in hotels. I always find the latter very wearisome and restless.”
“It’s quite a nice place,” Humphreys remarked. “A bit big perhaps,
but I shall often have some relatives staying with me. Ruthen is
quite of my opinion that it would just suit me.”
“So he told me yesterday,” said the doctor. “I met him at lunch with
Andrews.”
Here was another surprise. I learned that three men whom I had
believed to be practically strangers to each other were on terms of
intimate friendship.
I remained for about an hour and then left the pair together. Old
Humphreys begged me to call upon him again.
Two days later he rang me up at the office and asked me to dine
with him. I accepted and we had dinner together in the Savoy
restaurant, and afterwards watched the dancing in the room below.
The old fellow, always a pleasant companion, had certainly become
rejuvenated since the winter at Mürren.
“Isn’t it splendid!” he remarked when I referred to his cure. “Old
Professor Goltman, in Dresden, has worked a miracle. I can now get
about quite well, and I feel quite twenty years younger.”
“You look it,” I declared, for he certainly seemed an entirely different
man from the decrepit invalid who wheeled himself in his chair, and
had often to be carried upstairs.
Thoughts of Mürren reminded me that Harold Ruthen had been
there for a few days at the same time as the invalid. Evidently they
must have met there and their acquaintance must have been
renewed in London, where Ruthen was now acting on Humphreys’
behalf in regard to the house.
It struck me too, that if I mentioned Ruthen I might be thought too
inquisitive. But I decided to watch closely, for I was beginning to
grow distrustful of both the doctor and his friend: of Ruthen I had
never been anything else. My suspicions were greatly strengthened
by a curious circumstance which occurred about a week later.
Though I had struggled against it I had decided to go down and see
Thelma again, and put to her certain other questions which I hoped
would induce her to give me her entire confidence. The fact was that
I could not keep away from her, try how I would.
I little dreamed of the consequences that visit was to have!
 CHAPTER XIII
SPUME OF THE STORM

It was evening when I alighted from the train at the clean, spick-and-
span little town of Bexhill, which in summer and autumn is so
animated, yet in spring and winter is practically deserted.
Darkness had already fallen and a rough easterly wind caused the
leafless boughs of the trees to crack and sway. A heavy gale was
blowing in the Channel that night and the boiling surf swept in upon
the shingle.
As I walked towards Bedford Avenue, that quiet select thoroughfare
of detached red-brick houses which lies close to the sea, I noticed,
on the opposite side of the way, two persons—a man and a girl—
walking slowly in the direction which I was taking.
As they passed beneath a street-lamp, I had a good view of them. It
was Thelma walking with old Doctor Feng!
I halted amazed, and instinctively drew back into the shadow of a
hedge which formed the boundary of a garden. They were walking
engrossed in conversation, in the direction of Mrs. Shaylor’s house.
I had no idea that they were on terms of friendship, and their
apparently clandestine meeting was a complete surprise to me. Feng
was bending to her, talking earnestly in an undertone, while she
appeared to be listening attentively.
There flashed across my memory a moment in Mürren when I had
seen the Doctor and Ruthen walking together in secret up a narrow
snow-piled lane, though we all believed they were strangers. What
could it possibly mean?
I allowed the pair to go ahead of me, following them at a distance
and watching.
I thought I heard the girl cry “No! No!” in a distressed tone. But it
might have been merely my fancy.
They walked together very slowly until they reached the corner of
Bedford Avenue. Here they halted, and again I drew back into the
shadow. From where I stood I could see them very plainly, for a
lamp shone full upon them. No other person was in the vicinity. I
could plainly see old Feng’s face and beard as he spoke evidently in
deep earnest, while Thelma, wrapped in her smart squirrel coat and
wearing the little fur toque which I had admired so much, stood
listening.
Suddenly she appeared to utter some appeal. But the old man shook
his head relentlessly. He had apparently told her something which
had staggered her.
I watched, scarcely daring to draw breath, in a mist of uncertainty,
jealousy and dread.
How long they stood there I could not say, but it seemed a long
time. I was utterly amazed at the sight of Thelma keeping what was
clearly a secret appointment with this old fellow who had often
warned me against a dangerous friendship. Were both of them, I
wondered, in some plot to delude and play with me. Was Thelma,
after all, in league with her husband and his mysterious friends. Was
old Feng for some sinister reason a member of the same queer
coterie?
At last he took her hand and held it in his for a long time. Then he
raised his hat and bade her farewell. She seemed glad to get rid of
his presence, for she turned away and flew towards her mother’s
house at the seaward end of the silent road, while he turned on his
heel and strode in the direction of the station.
Rather than go direct to Mrs. Shaylor’s I followed the Doctor at a
distance up the town until I saw him hurry into the station yard.
Here he had unbuttoned his overcoat and glanced at his watch.
Evidently a train was due.
So I turned back, and a little later I opened the garden gate, walked
up the path and rang the bell. “Jock,” Mrs. Shaylor’s Airedale barked
loudly, and in a few moments the neat maid opened the door.
In the artistic little hall Thelma, who had divested herself of coat and
hat, came forward exclaiming gladly—
“Well, Mr. Yelverton! Whoever expected to see you tonight? Come in.
Mother is out at a friend’s playing bridge, I think, and I am all alone.”
She helped me off with my coat, took my hat, and ushered me into
the charming drawing-room overlooking the sea.
She switched on more lights and handed me her cigarette case, then
threw herself into a big chair before the fire opposite me.
“Now, tell me what you’ve been doing,” she asked. “It is a real
surprise to see you tonight.”
She was, of course, ignorant that I knew of her secret meeting with
old Feng, and I felt annoyed and mistrustful.
“Well,” I said, “I have very little news and none of any importance. I
came down hoping that you might have something more to tell me.
My only news is that the other day I met another of our friends—Mr.
Hartley Humphreys. You remember the old invalid at Mürren?”
“Oh yes, of course. He often spoke to me—a charming old boy. I
recollect him perfectly. How is he?”
“Better. His lameness is cured, and he’s quite young again.”
“And you have no other news for me,” she remarked meaningly.
“You mean about Stanley. No—nothing,” I said regretfully.
She sighed, and I saw again that hardening at the corners of her
mouth which seemed to come with every mention of her husband.
As for myself, my brain was in a whirl: my good resolutions, so easy
to make when I was away from her, vanished like smoke. At the
same time the suspicion I had felt when I saw her talking to Feng in
the dark, lonely road, melted like mist before the sun. She was so
frankly innocent and unspoiled; there was about her no trace of
coquetry or desire to provoke admiration. The impression grew
stronger and stronger as we sat chatting freely in that pretty
drawing-room, with the roar of the sea and wind sounding faintly
through the curtained windows that, whatever appearances might
suggest, this child-bride of a few days was actually alone—more
hopelessly alone in her wedded life than if she were in a convent. I
saw myself looking into the depths of a soul unsullied, and for the
first time, I truly believe, I began to understand dimly some of the
feelings and desires that must be tearing at her heart.
“My husband can never return to me!” Over and over again her
significant sentence beat itself upon my brain. I could not
understand it—I had not the key to the riddle it contained. Yet, for
some inexplicable reason it seemed to fill my mind with hope, even
though I knew that, so long as Stanley Audley lived, my love for his
wife could never be more than a tormenting dream. Try to disguise it
how I would, the girl held me, for good or ill; she had fascinated me
utterly and completely, not by the purposeful acts of the courtesan,
but by her own innate sweetness and modesty. What I had seen that
night puzzled me beyond measure, but in the hour I spent with her I
became assured that nothing on earth could shake my conviction
that in every essential she was true and good and sweet. Time, I
felt, would solve the riddle sooner or later.
So I sat there, foolish and fascinated, unable to bring myself to put
any serious question to her for fear of causing her sorrow or anxiety.
I knew, I felt, that I was indeed walking upon thin ice, that my
honor was wearing thin. Yet, I realized that Thelma was not as many
other women are, and I dared not again allow the feelings that ran
riot in my heart and sweep over me and submerge once more my
self-control. So I steeled my heart as best I could.
She said no word of her meeting with the old doctor, who had no
doubt come down from London to consult her, and had caught the
last train back to Victoria.
Presently she asked—
“Can you get back tonight, Mr. Yelverton?”
“No,” I replied, “I sent my bag to the Sackville. But now tell me,
have you heard anything else regarding Stanley?”
She gazed at me through the haze of her cigarette smoke, and, after
a pause, replied—
“No, I’ve heard nothing.”
“But, now, do be frank with me, Thelma. What am I to think? This
affair is growing serious, and I know you are worried more even
than I am.”
“Mr. Yelverton, I’m absolutely bewildered. All I hear or find out only
increases the mystery. But I tell you quite plainly that I begin to
think—more and more—”
“What?” I asked, placing my hand upon her shoulder.
“I—I really can hardly believe it—but from what I have been told, I
think Stanley is dead!”
“Who told you that?” I demanded, for it crossed my mind that Feng
had done no less—that that was the reason for his visit. And yet as I
watched her I saw no signs of distress. Was she merely repeating
something she had been told to say. Did she, in fact, hold the key to
the mystery?
“What proof have you?” I asked quickly, as she had not replied to
my question.
“I have no proof, only what has been told me.”
“By whom?” I demanded.
“By a friend.”
“May I not know his name?”
She hesitated. Then she replied with narrowed brows—
“No. I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you. I am under a promise of secrecy.”
“You seem to have been under some such promise all along,” I
remarked rather petulantly I fear. Yet, as Thelma stood there before
me under the soft shaded glow of the electric lamps she touched
even a softer nerve in me. Something that was all tenderness and
half regret smote me as I gazed upon her lithe graceful figure like a
garden lily standing alone in the glow of a summer sunset. More and
more I realized my love for her and again, insistent and not to be
denied, the thought arose within me that if her husband were
indeed dead, I should be free to offer her my hand! And the thought
of what might be merge into the wish that it should be? Was I,
indeed, a murderer at heart?
I hope that I am neither inhuman nor heartless. Once, in my early
youth I used to be quickly touched by any kind of feeling; but before
I met the pale handsome girl who now stood before me, life had
seemed to me cold and profitless. Thelma Audley was the one
woman in all the world for me.
That is why I hesitated to press her more closely concerning her
informant. She was dry-eyed; could she really believe that Stanley
was dead?
I began to suspect that the clever old Doctor had, all along, for
some reason I could not even guess at, misled me into a belief that
he was antagonistic towards her, while he was, in fact, secretly her
friend. She, who had fondly imagined that the riotous and exuberant
happiness that had commenced in Mürren was permanent, had been
sadly disillusioned by a man’s love that had only blossomed like the
almond or the may.
She handed me her big silver box of cigarettes, for she, like many
modern girls, was an inveterate smoker. I took one and she lit it for
me with a gay expression in her eyes which seemed to belie the
tragic news she had imparted to me.
That well-warmed room was indeed cozy and comfortable, for
outside it was a wild night in the Channel. The heavy roar of the
waves as they beat upon the beach reached us, while through the
window—for the curtains had not been drawn—could be seen the
regular flashes of the Royal Sovereign Lightship warning ships from
the perilous rocks off Beach Head, and here and there in the
blackness were tiny points of light showing that the fishing fleet
were out from Rye and Hastings. The very atmosphere seemed to be
changed with the wild spin-drift of the stormy sea.
I felt that though she was holding back certain facts concerning her
husband—dead or alive. Perhaps she was doing so out of
consideration to us both. Try as I would, I could get no further
information from her. She would tell me no more concerning her
suspicion of Stanley’s death, and later that night as I trudged along
the storm-swept promenade to the hotel close by, I confess that I
felt both baffled by Feng’s visit and annoyed at Thelma’s dogged
persistence in refusing to tell me anything.
Next afternoon, while I was sitting in my office in Bedford Row, the
telephone rang and a woman’s voice asked whether I was Mr.
Yelverton. I took it to be a client and replied in the affirmative,
whereupon the speaker said:
“I’m Marigold Day. Can I come along and see you, Mr. Yelverton?”
“Certainly,” I said. “I’ll be in till five. Is it anything important?”
“Yes. It is rather, I’ll come along in a taxi,” and she rang off hurriedly.
About a quarter of an hour later my clerk showed in the pretty
mannequin from Carille’s, and when she was seated and we were
alone, she said—
“I—I want to tell you something about Mr. Audley. They say the poor
boy is dead!”
“Who says so?” I asked.
“Harold Ruthen. I met him in the Piccadilly Grill Room last night with
a girl friend of mine, and he called me aside and told me.”
“What exactly did he tell you?” I asked eagerly.
“Well, he said that Audley had met with a motor accident
somewhere in Touraine, and had been taken to the hospital at
Saumur, where he had lingered for four days, and died there. He
asked me to keep the matter a secret. Why—I don’t know. But if the
poor boy is dead I really can’t see any object in keeping the matter a
secret, do you?”
“No,” I replied.
“Well, I thought you, being his friend, would like to know,” said the
girl, sadly. She made a pathetic figure, for she had been fond of
Audley, and I knew that under her merry careless Bohemian ways
she was capable of deep feeling.
I took her out to tea and questioned her further about Ruthen, and
the story he had told her.
She had no knowledge of old Mr. Humphreys, or of Doctor Feng, but
she was convinced by Ruthen’s manner that what he had told her
was the truth. Besides, as the young fellow had been in such active
search for his friend there seemed no motive why he should declare
that he had died.
Was it from Harold Ruthen that Thelma had gained the news? Or
had Ruthen told old Mr. Humphreys, who in turn, had told Feng, who
had gone to Bexhill and given her the report?
But was it really true?
I expressed my doubts.
“Well, Mr. Yelverton. I’ve only told you exactly what Harold told me.
He added the words: ‘After all, poor Stanley’s death will prevent a
good deal leaking out. His lips are closed, and it means security to
several persons.’ I wonder what he meant?”
“I wonder! He must have been in possession of some secret which
closely affected certain persons,” I said. “And probably Ruthen is one
of those who now feel secure.”
“Perhaps. Who knows?” the girl remarked reflectively as she crushed
her cigarette-end into the ash tray and rose to leave. “At any rate, I
thought you would like to know, as you seem so interested in
Stanley.”
I thanked her, and left her at the corner of Chancery Lane in order to
return to my office.
Saumur! I knew that it was an old-world town—the center of a wine-
growing country—somewhere on the broad Loire.
I searched among my books, looked it up, and found that it was two
hundred and seventy miles from Paris by the Orleans Railway, and
that if I traveled by the through express, I could go direct by way of
St. Pierre-des-Corps and Savonnières. I resolved to make a swift
journey out there and enquire for myself.
Next morning I left London and in the afternoon of the following day
I entered a small hotel, the Budan, at the end of the long stone
bridge which spans the Loire at Saumur. I lost no time in making my
inquiries in the old Huguenot town, famed for its sparkling wines. At
the Prefecture of Police I saw the Prefect himself, a brisk little man
with a stubble of white hair, most courteous and attentive.
An automobile accident, and fatal? He would have the records
examined, if I would return next morning.
I dined, spent the evening in the Café de la Paix adjoining the Post
Office, and next morning returned to the Prefect.
Again he received me most courteously in his barely furnished office,
and when I was seated he rang his bell, whereupon an inspector in
plain clothes entered with some papers in his hand.
“It is, I find, true, monsieur, that an Englishman named Audley,
christian name Stanley, native of London, was motoring with two
men named Armand Raves and Henry Chest on the road between
Langeais and Cinq-Mars, when, in turning a sharp corner, they ran
into a wall, and the Englishman was injured. He was brought to the
St. Jean Hospital here, put to bed unconscious and died four days
later. In his pocket was found a wallet containing a number of notes
of the Banque d’Angleterre of five pounds and fifty pounds. They
were sent by us to the Banque de France to hold for any claim by
relatives, but curious enough, they were at once recognized as
forgeries!”
“Forgeries!” I gasped, pretending ignorance.
“Yes, Monsieur,” said the Prefect of Police, while the Inspector spread
out his papers on his Chief’s desk.
“This telegram, Monsieur, is from the Bank of England, in London,
sent through Scotland Yard, and says, ‘Numbers of notes reported in
telegram of 5th are part of South American forgeries. Kindly send
them to us for record.’ They have been sent to London,” he added.
“But the men who were in the car with Mr. Audley. Where are they?”
“Ah! Monsieur! We do not know,” replied the shrewd old French
official. “We only know the names and addresses they gave to the
agent of police.”
“The addresses they gave proved false, Monsieur le Prefect,”
remarked the inspector. “But we photographed them all—including
the dead man,—and we have a hue-and-cry out for them.”
“You have a photograph of the dead man!” I cried.
“Yes, Monsieur. It is on file among our photographs.”
“Cannot I see it?” I asked.
“Tomorrow, when we shall have further prints. Ours have been sent
on to Paris.”
“I would very much like to see it,” I said. “I am a lawyer from
London, and my inquiry concerns a strange string of circumstances.
This fact that forged bank-notes were found upon the man who died
is truly amazing.”
“It may be amazing, but it is nevertheless a fact,” declared the old
official.
“But did the injured man make any statement before he died?” I
asked.
The inspector adjusted his pince-nez and searched the dossier.
“I think he did,” he said. “Ah! yes! Here we are,” and he took out a
sheet of paper. “On the morning before he died he spoke to Soeur
Yvonne, and uttered these words in English, ‘I am very sorry for all I
have done. I would never have done the bad turns to Harry or to
George unless it had been to gain money. But I could not resist it.
They made me join in the scheme of printing false bank-notes,
though I warned them of the peril. I know I must die, for the doctor
told me so this morning. My only wish is that little Thelma may be
made happy. That is my only wish. Let her discover the truth!’ Who
‘little Thelma’ may be, monsieur, we have, of course, no means of
knowing.”
“And was that the only statement made by Stanley Audley
immediately before he died,” I asked.
“Yes, monsieur. He died three hours later,” replied the inspector.
“He said nothing else—nothing more concerning Thelma?” I asked
anxiously.
“Those words were the only ones he uttered, monsieur,” replied the
inspector. “It is fortunate that Soeur Yvonne knows English, having
been a nursing sister in London. Of course, there is no doubt that all
three men were making a tour of France distributing spurious
English notes, for, within a few days of the accident, many forged
notes were brought to the notice of the police in Nantes, Orleans,
Marseilles and Bordeaux. All of them had been changed into French
notes, and no doubt in that car was a large sum of money.”
“Was nothing else of interest found in the dead man’s possession?”
“Nothing except a card-case, a silver cigarette case, a wallet
containing 220 francs, the return half of a first-class ticket from
Brussels to Marseilles and a tram-ticket taken in Barcelona.”
I left, promising to call again next day, and wandered out upon the
broad bridge that spans the Loire and affords such a splendid view
up the broad valley. What could the dying man have meant by that
reference to Thelma?
I spent a very anxious day, trying to idle away the time in the little
museum in the Hotel de Ville and inspecting the treasures of the
ancient church of St. Pierre. In the afternoon I watched the training
of a number of cavalry officers on the exercise ground, and after
dinner went to a cinema.
Next morning I returned eagerly to the Prefect and the inspector
appeared with several photographs. One showed the wrecked car at
the scene of the accident and beside it stood two men.
“They are the men Raves and Chester,” remarked the inspector.
“Who is the one leaning against the car. The one with the cap in his
hand?” I asked.
“That is the Englishman, Chester.”
And I had recognized him instantly as Harold Ruthen!
“And the dead man?”
He showed me a picture of a man taken with his head upon a pillow.
But it was not that of Stanley Audley, but of a round-faced man with
a small moustache—evidently the man who, when home in Half
Moon Street had assumed the name of Audley, while the real Audley
lived as Mr. Graydon.
Sight of those photographs staggered me. What message did the
false Audley wish to convey to Thelma? Was it concerning the
whereabouts or movements of her husband?
So Ruthen had been one of the rapidly moving party which had gone
to France in order to pass the spurious notes, and with such
disastrous results. It was true that Stanley Audley had been killed,
but he was not the man of whom I was in such diligent search, not
the man to whom Thelma had been married!
That afternoon I sent a telegram to Thelma at Bexhill, assuring her
that her husband was not dead, and that same evening I left
Saumur for London.
Next evening when I arrived at Russell Square, I saw upon my table
one of those now familiar envelopes. It had been sent by express
messenger from Crouch Hill, and not from Hammersmith. On tearing
it open I read—
“You are still beating the wind! As you will not heed any
warning and are still trying to meddle with affairs that do
not concern you, do not be surprised if you receive a
sudden shock. Your visit to Saumur was a perilous one for
more reasons than one. The truth is too deeply hidden for
you ever to discover it. Why court death as you are daily
doing?”
So my enemies already knew of my rapid journey to the Loire,
though I had not told a soul, except my partner Hensman! Evidently
a close watch was being kept upon my movements.
Ruthen was back in town, glad I suppose to escape from a very
embarrassing position, for it was clear that both men had
immediately made themselves scarce, leaving their friend to his fate.
At the office next day I told Hensman of what I had discovered, and
showed him the note that I had received on the previous night.
“Really, Rex, the puzzle seems to grow more and more complicated
every day, doesn’t it? The change of names, from one man to the
other seems so very curious. And yet, of course, Audley must have
married in his own name.”
“But that remark about Little Thelma,” I said. “The fellow just before
he died expressed a hope that she might be happy and that was his
only wish. ‘Let her discover the truth,’ he said.”
“Which plainly shows that, whatever we may surmise, Thelma does
not know the truth,” my partner remarked, leaning back in his
writing chair.
With that I agreed. Yet our discovery threw no light on the
friendship between the two men who had met at Mürren, the Doctor
and old Humphreys; their friendship with the foppish young fellow
who was a friend of Stanley’s and was now proved to be one of a
gang of forgers, and on Thelma’s secret friendship with old Feng.
I rang up Bexhill half-an-hour later, and over the ’phone told Thelma
that I had ascertained definitely that the man fatally injured in the
motor accident in France was not her husband.
She drew a long sigh of relief.
“It is really awfully good of you, Mr. Yelverton, to take such a keen
interest in me and go to all that trouble.”
“I know the truth as far as the report of Stanley’s accident goes—not
the whole truth, Mrs. Audley,” I said. “I only wish I did. Won’t you
give me the key to the situation.”
I heard her laugh lightly, a strange hollow laugh it was.
“Ah! I only wish—I only wish I dare,” she replied. Then she added,
“Good-bye. What you have told me relieves my mind greatly and
also places a new complexion upon things. Good-bye, Mr. Yelverton
—and a thousand thanks. Mother is here and sends her best
wishes.”
I acknowledged them, and we were then cut off.
 CHAPTER XIV
IN THE NIGHT

Autumn was approaching. The long vacation had begun, and London
lay sweltering beneath a heat-wave in the early days of August.
Legal business was nearly at a stand-still, and Hensman with his wife
had gone for three weeks to that charming spot amid the Welsh
mountains, the Oakwood Park Hotel, near Conway in North Wales.
Half the clubs were enveloped in holland swathings for their annual
cleaning. Pall Mall and St. James’s Street were deserted, for the
world of the West End seemed to be in flight, northward bound for
the “Twelfth,” or crossing to the French coast.
At the office I was simply “carrying on” with such occasional matters
as demanded immediate attention. But legal business was almost
dead, half the staffs in London, our own included, were away. The
time hung heavily on the heads of those left in town. I found life
insupportably dull and had no energy, when the day’s scant duties
were over, to do more than crawl back to my dull room in Russell
Square and sit sweltering in the torrid heat.
In accordance with the usual arrangement, I had taken my holiday
in the winter and was looking after the office while Hensman was
away. He was one of the “sun-birds”; the delights of snow and frost
had no attraction for him, while to me the hot weather was trying in
the highest degree. Heat for him—cold for me!
Bedford Row in August is indeed a sorry place. The great wheels of
the law machine almost cease their slow remorseless grinding;
lawyers and clients seem able to forget their troubles and worries for
a brief spell. I lounged my days away, heartily wishing myself
elsewhere, but, with the help of the only lady secretary left,
perfunctorily getting through such work as could not be shelved.
Late one afternoon, after an unusually busy day—for I had
instructed counsel to appear for a client who was to be charged with
a serious motoring offence at Brighton—I had risen from my chair
and was about to take my hat and leave, when the telephone rang.
On answering I found a trunk call had come through from a village
called Duddington, near Stamford, in Lincolnshire. The speaker was
a young man who gave his name as Edward Pearson, the son of one
of our oldest clients, a large landowner in the district.
Having told me his name he said:
“I wonder if you could come to Stamford tonight, Mr. Yelverton? My
father is ill and has expressed his wish to add a codicil to the will you
made for him three years ago.”
“Is it a matter of urgency?” I asked. “My partner is away, and it is a
little difficult for me to leave London.”
“Yes. I fear it is urgent,” replied my client’s son. “My father had a
stroke about three days ago on his return from London. The Doctor
declares it to be a serious matter. Of course I won’t ask you to come
over to Duddington tonight, but you could get to Stamford tonight,
and sleep at the Cross Keys. I’ll call for you in the car at nine
tomorrow morning. I’d be so grateful if you can do this. Will you?”
I hesitated.
“You can catch a convenient train from King’s Cross tonight. Change
at Essendine. It takes about three hours,” he added.
“Is your father in grave danger?” I asked.
“He was, but he seems a trifle better now. He is asleep, and the
Doctor says he is not to be awakened. So we’ll see how he is in the
morning.”
“Did he express a wish to make the codicil?” I asked.
“Yes. He wants to leave the Gorselands to my brother Alfred, instead
of to mother,” was the reply.
“Very well,” I said, rather reluctantly, for as a matter of fact I had
been looking forward to dining with old Mr. Humphreys that evening.
“I’ll meet you at the Cross Keys at Stamford in the morning. Good-
bye, Mr. Pearson.”
Having put down the receiver I resolved to ring up Hartley
Humphreys at the Carlton, and did so.
“I’m sorry you’re called away,” the old financier replied. “But in any
case come along now, and have a cocktail. You won’t leave London
till after dinner.”
I took a taxi along to the hotel and found him alone in his private
sitting-room. Together we took dry martinis, and while I smoked one
of his exquisite Turkish cigarettes I explained the reason for my
sudden visit to Lincolnshire.
“Well,” he laughed. “It all means costs to you, I suppose. And after
all I believe you have a dining car to Peterborough, so the journey is
not a very difficult one.”
“No. But I wanted to keep my appointment with you tonight,” I said.
The cheery old fellow laughed, saying:—
“My dear Yelverton, don’t think of that where business is concerned.
Come and dine another night—the night after tomorrow. Feng is
coming. We’ll have dinner at the Ritz for a change, and go to a show
afterwards. Any further news of your little bride?”
“None,” I replied.
“Heard nothing?” he asked, looking at me curiously, as though he
held me in some suspicion I thought. Did he know of my visit to
Saumur and my discovery concerning his factotum, Harold Ruthen?
“Nothing,” was my reply. His attitude was always curious whenever
he made any reference to Thelma.
In reply to a further question as to when I should return, I told him
that I must be back in London by four o’clock on the morrow as I
had an important appointment regarding the transfer of some
London property—a side of the business which Hensman usually
looked after.
I smoked a second cigarette and rose. He gripped my hand warmly
before I left and repeated his invitation.
“Feng is very fond of you,” he added, “and we’ll have a real pleasant
evening together.”
Back again at Russell Square I looked at the time-table, dressed
leisurely and packing a suitcase, took the evening train from King’s
Cross and having had my dinner between London and Peterborough
arrived at the ancient little town of Stamford in the late evening.
It was, I found, a place of quaint crooked streets and old churches,
dim alleyways and a curious square with an ancient Butter Market
close by the old-world hotel, the Cross Keys, once one of the famous
posting-houses on the Great North Road.
Beyond three or four motorists and commercial travelers, I seemed
to be about the only person in the hotel, a roomy comfortable place
with many paneled rooms, and polished floors. About it was that air
of cozy comfort and cheery welcome such as one finds to perfection
in the too few old English posting-inns. The coffee-room was
bounded by huge mahogany buffets laden with silver, and the
drawing-room was devoid of that gimcrack furniture which one finds
in most modern hotels.
My room, too, was big and spacious, with a window looking out
upon the great courtyard into which the stage-coaches on their way
from London to Edinburgh used to lumber before the days of
motors. Yet even there I saw a row of stables and was informed by
the “boots” that in winter a good many London gentlemen stabled
their hunters there.
In the twilight, having nothing better to do, I strolled out of the town
along a path which led through meadows beside the Welland river
where many people seemed to be enjoying the fresh air after the
unusual heat of the day, while many anglers sat patiently upon the
banks.
It was dark when I returned to the hotel, and passing into the
smoking-room I found several men there, unmistakably commercial
travelers. I chatted with one of them, a tall, rugged-faced, sharp-
nose man in tweeds who spoke with a full Yorkshire burr, and whose
business was undoubtedly “woolens.”
“I come here four times a year,” he told me. “This hotel is one of the
best in the Midlands. The Bell at Barnby Moor is excellent, but a bit
out of the way for us. We have to stay in Doncaster. Half our game
is to know where to go, and how to live. A commercial’s life is a
pretty tough one now-a-days, with high prices in traveling and cut
prices in the trade.”
He seemed a particularly affable person, though his manner
possessed that business-like briskness which characterizes all men
“on the road.” I set him down as a man who could sell a tradesman
nearly anything, whether he desired it or not—one of those
particularly “smart” men found as travelers in every trade, shrewd,
clever and far-seeing, yet suave ambassadors of commerce who are
invaluable to wholesalers and manufacturers.
“I’ve had bad luck here today,” he said. “I was kept over-night in
Peterborough and got here at eleven o’clock. Started out and forgot
that it is their early-closing day. So I’m compelled to be here
tomorrow instead of getting on to Bourne. One can work this town
well in a whole day—not less.”
I noticed that his face was scarred and furrowed. He had no doubt
led a hard life, and from his erect bearing I thought that he might
possibly have risen to the rank of sergeant-major during the war. His
keen black eyes seemed to search everywhere, while his nose was
almost hawk-like. His cravat too, attracted me. It was of soft black
silk, neatly tied, but in it was an onyx scarf-pin, oval and dark with a
thin white line around the edge. It reminded me most forcibly of a
miniature human eye.
As we sat together he gossiped about the bad state of trade, the
craze for cheap dress materials and the consequent low prices.
“Things are horribly bad in Bradford,” he declared. “Most of the mills
are only working half-time. In the cotton trade it is just the same.
Oldham has been very hard hit, now that the boom has passed.
Why, when that boom in cotton-mills was at its height, men became
semi-millionaires in a single week. I know a man who was a clerk
living in a seven-room house and keeping no servants who made a
clear profit of a quarter of a million within six weeks, and he made a
further hundred thousand in the same year. He’s just bought a pretty
estate in Devonshire. And now the slump has come and other people
are bearing the burden which the lucky ones unloaded on them.”
He took a cigarette case from his pocket and offered me one. I took
it and for a further quarter of an hour we smoked.
“Yes,” he said. “This is a pretty comfortable place. I’ve known it for
twenty years—and it’s always been the same. Old Brimelow, who
used to be the landlord, was a queer old fellow. He’s dead now. He
used to make us some wonderful rum-punch in the commercial room
at Christmas-time. His father kept the place before him, and he
could remember the stage-coaches, the York coach, the Lincoln
coach, the Birmingham coach and the Edinburgh coach, and tell
tales of all of them.”
“Of highwaymen?” I asked laughing.
“No. Not exactly that,” he said merrily. “But sometimes he told us
tales of hold-ups that he had heard from his father. Why, King
George the Third once got snowed up at the Colly Weston cross-
roads and slept there. Oh! this is a very historic old place.”
After lighting another of his cigarettes I left my entertaining
companion and ascended the broad oak staircase to my room, which
was on the first floor.
It was a fine old apartment, three sides of which were paneled in
dark oak. The floor, on which a few rugs were strewn, was of
polished oak and creaked as I entered, while through the open
window the moon cast a long white beam.
After a glance out upon the silent courtyard I half closed the
window, drew down the blind and lit the gas. Then, having turned
the key in the door, I undressed and retired.
At first I could not sleep because I heard the scuttling of a mouse or
rat behind the paneling. I lay thinking of Thelma. A momentary wish,
wicked as a venomous snake, and swift as fire darted through my
thoughts. I wished that Stanley Audley were dead. With such
thoughts uppermost in my mind I suddenly experienced a heavy
drowsiness and I must have at last dozed off.
I was awakened by feeling something cold upon my mouth. I
struggled, only to find that I was breathless and helpless. I tried to
cry out, but could not. My breath came and went in short quick
gasps. Was it possible that I had left the gas turned on and was
being asphyxiated!
I struggled and fought for life, but the cold Thing, whatever it was,
pressed upon my mouth.
In the darkness I strove to shout for help, but no sound escaped my
lips, while my limbs were so paralyzed that I could not raise my
hands to my face.
I recollect struggling frantically to free myself from the horrible and
mysterious influence that was upon me. I tried frantically to extricate
myself from that deadly embrace, but was helpless as a babe. I
thought I heard the sound of heavy breathing, but was not quite
sure. Was I alone—or was someone in the room?
My lips seemed to burn, my brain was on fire, a wild madness seized
me and then the cold Thing left my lips.
I must have fainted, for all consciousness was suddenly blotted out.
When I came to myself I heard strange faint whisperings around me.
Before my eyes was a blood-red haze and I felt in my mouth and
throat a burning thirst.
I breathed heavily once or twice, I remember, and then I lapsed
again into unconsciousness. How long I remained, I know not. I
must have been inert and helpless through many hours. Then I
became half conscious of some liquid being wafted into my face, as
though by a scent-spray, and once I seemed to hear Thelma’s soft,
sweet voice. But it was faint and indistinct, sounding very far away.
I fell back into a dreamy stupor. Yet before my eyes was always that
scarf-pin like a tiny human eye which had been worn by my
commercial friend. It had attracted me as we had gossiped, and as
is so often the case its impression had remained upon my
subconscious mind.
I lay wondering. Things assumed fantastic shapes. I could still hear
that scuttling of rats behind the old paneling, and I recollected the
narrow streak of moonlight which fell across the room from between
the blind and the window-frame. I recollected too, the sharp brisk
voice of my commercial friend, and moreover I once more saw,
shining before me, that tiny gem like a human eye.
After a lapse of quiet I tried again to rouse myself. The room was
still dark, and I listened again for the scuttling of the rats behind the
paneling, but the only sounds I heard seemed to be faint
whisperings. Then suddenly I seemed to hear drowsy sounds of
bells, like the sweet beautiful carillon that I had heard from the
tower at Antwerp.
I lay there bewildered and alarmed. I thought of Thelma—thoughts
of her obsessed me. I did not know whether to believe in her or not.
Was I a fool? In those dreamy moments I remembered my last visit
to Bexhill when I had questioned her. She had trembled, I
remember, and her lustrous eyes had scanned me with what now
seemed to my tortured brain a remorseless and merciless scrutiny.
I recollected too, her words:—
“I am sorry, but I can’t tell you. I am under the promise of secrecy.”
The whole enigma was beyond me: in my half conscious state, the
pall of a great darkness upon me, I felt my sense strung to breaking
point.
 CHAPTER XV
MORE DISCLOSURES

Ten minutes later I grew conscious of unfamiliar surroundings.

I was no longer in that dark old room at the Cross Keys, but in a
bright airy little room enameled in white. I was lying upon a narrow
iron bedstead and my nostrils were full of the pungent odor of some
disinfectant—I think it was iodoform.
As I looked up I saw four faces peering anxiously down into mine.
The first was that of a grey-bearded man in gold-rimmed spectacles,
the second was that of an elderly nurse in uniform, the third I
recognized as old Feng—and the fourth—I could scarce believe my
eyes—was Thelma herself!
“Thelma!” I cried eagerly, raising my hand towards her.
“No! Keep quiet!” ordered the spectacled man who seemed to be a
doctor. “Listen! Can you understand me. Do you hear what I say?”
he asked in a harsh voice.
“Yes, I—I do,” I faltered.
“Then keep quiet. Sleep, and don’t worry about anything—if you
want to get well. You’re very ill—and you’ve been very foolish. But if
you obey me you will soon be all right again.”
“But—but Thelma—Mrs. Audley,” I asked eagerly.
“She’s here—by your side. Don’t worry, Mr. Yelverton, go to sleep
and you’ll be quite right again soon—quite right!”
I looked at his great gold-rimmed spectacles. They seemed to be
magnified in my abnormal sight.
“But,” I asked boldly. “Who are you?”
“My name is Denbury—Doctor Denbury,” was the old fellow’s reply.
“But why are you here with me in Cross Keys?”
“You’re not in the Cross Keys now. You are in the Burghley Hospital.
The police brought you here, and sent for me.”
“The police!” I gasped, staring at those large round spectacles,
whilst next moment I shifted my gaze upon Feng. “Look here Doctor
Feng,” I said addressing him. “What does all this mean?”
“Well, Yelverton, it is all a puzzle to us. Why did you come here to
Stamford and attempt to commit suicide?”
“What?” I cried in fierce indignation despite my weakness. “What are
you saying? Suicide—why, such a thing never entered my mind!”
Feng’s face wore a strange, cynical smile. Suddenly I felt he was not
my friend; for the moment I hated him.
“Well, the facts are all too apparent,” he said dubiously. “Whatever
could have possessed you? You’ve had a very near squeak of it, I
can tell you.”
“Yes, Mr. Yelverton,” said Thelma, bending over me till I saw her
dear face peering eagerly into mine. “Yes. They thought you were
dead. Why did you do it? Why? Tell us.”
“Do it?” I gasped astounded. “I did nothing. I—I only slept at the
Cross Keys before going out to Duddington to see a client.”
“But why did you come to Stamford,” asked the girl, bending over
me till I could feel her breath upon my cheek.
“No! I forbid any further questions,” exclaimed the bearded old
doctor in the gold spectacles. “Enough! He must rest, Mrs. Audley.”
Then I thought I caught sight of another man—a policeman in
uniform!
A few moments passed when suddenly the doctor pressed a glass to
my lips.