CHAPTER 24 THE GRINNING GARGOYLE

By the time Jerry, Penny and Mr. Rhett unlocked the pressroom door and reached the loading dock, the truck bearing Celeste was far down the street.

“Hey, where’d that truck go?” the reporter shouted to another workman at the far end of the drive.

“Docks at the end of Basset Street,” he answered. “A batch o’ papers go aboard the Monclove for shipment to Presque Isle.”

Jerry’s car stood close by. He sprang in, making room for Penny and Mr. Rhett.

The newspaper truck had disappeared by the time they drove out on the street. Jerry took a short-cut route to the Basset Street docks. Signs and debris of all description cluttered the roadway. Rain had ceased, but the ominous quiet, the heaviness of the air, was even more frightening than the wind had been.

In a distant section of the city they heard the high-pitched whistle of a police siren; otherwise, the streets were as silent as the tomb.

The car turned a corner, and directly ahead Penny glimpsed the newspaper truck.

“There it is!” she cried, but Jerry also had seen the vehicle.

He put on speed, and was close behind as the truck pulled up with a jerk at Dock 12. Green water whipped to foam, crashed with heavy impact against the dock posts and flooded out on the slippery planking.

“We won’t have much time!” Mr. Rhett exclaimed. “When the next phase of the storm comes—and it’s close now—the wind will be terrific!”

The men, with Penny close behind, leaped from the car. Quick as they were, Celeste was out of the truck before they could reach its door.

She stopped short as she saw the trio, then like a trapped animal, turned and fled in the opposite direction.

“Celeste!” Mr. Rhett shouted. “Wait!”

The woman paid no attention. Splashing ankle-deep through water that washed the dock planks, she ran precariously close to the river’s edge.

A hoarse shout from behind caused Penny to turn. The driver of the truck was gesturing and pointing first to the dark sky and then to an open shed. For a moment she did not understand, but as he ran for the shelter, she heard the deep-throated roar of the hurricane as it returned for its final onslaught.

“Quick!” cried Mr. Rhett who also recognized the danger. “Inside!”

The three ran back to the shed where the truck-driver had taken shelter. Although they shouted again and again to Celeste, she ignored their warnings.

As the wind struck, they saw her at the very edge of the dock. She half turned toward the shed as if debating whether or not to seek its shelter, then took a step or two in the opposite direction.

A great gust lifted off a section of the shed roof and whirled it away. As the full impact of the wind swept around the building, Celeste clung to a dock post for an instant; then her fingers lost their grip, and with a scream, she toppled over the edge into the churning water.

Jerry started toward the door, but Mr. Rhett seized his arm, dragging him back.

“Don’t be a fool! Celeste is beyond help! You’ll only lose your own life if you venture out there now!”

Already Celeste had disappeared beneath the turbulent waters, leaving no trace. Anxiously those in the shed watched but her head never appeared above the surface.

“Poor Celeste,” said Mr. Rhett sadly. “She meant well, but she was superstitious and misguided. However, she would have pined away in captivity. Perhaps she went the best way.”

The servant’s startling death placed a pall upon the four who huddled in the shed. Close together, they flattened themselves against the wall, expecting at any moment that the entire building would be lifted from its foundation and hurled into the river. The force of the wind was almost unbelievable.

After nearly a half hour, the gusts lost their strength and Mr. Rhett declared that the greatest danger had been passed.

“Tell me everything that happened while I was away,” he requested Penny and Jerry.

“We will,” promised Penny, “but first, suppose you explain why you went away.”

“I thought I did tell you.” Mr. Rhett drew a deep sigh. “For many months I considered retiring from the bank. I discussed it with my wife, but she failed to see my viewpoint and insisted that I remain. We became deadlocked, so to speak.

“I tried for her sake to force myself to like bank work, but it was utterly impossible. Each day I found myself longing for the old carefree adventurous days.”

“So you quietly walked out?” Jerry supplied.

“Something like that. My actions weren’t premeditated. One thing led to another. I had a quarrel with my wife over neglect of bank duties. As I sat thinking it over at my desk, it struck me that Lorinda and her mother probably would be happier if I removed myself from the picture.”

“Did you write anything as you sat there?” Penny interposed eagerly.

“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“Did you draw a picture of a plumed serpent?”

“Yes, I believe so, though it was only absent-minded doodling.”

“And beneath the drawing you wrote, ‘This shall be the end.’”

“Why, yes, I did,” the man acknowledged. “I had decided to walk out and those words expressed the conclusion I reached. I wrote the thought absent-mindedly and never intended it to fall into anyone’s hands. Did I leave the paper in the desk?”

“The police found it there.”

“I must have been quite upset,” Mr. Rhett said, frowning. “At any rate, I walked out with less than three dollars in my pocket, and didn’t realize until later that I was without funds.”

“So you took lodging in a cheap flop house on Cherry Street?” Jerry interposed.

“Yes, you seem to have followed my actions very closely. Although the lodgings were hardly deluxe, I did not mind the experience. I frequently have slept on the ground or in native huts.”

“You stayed there only one night?” Penny inquired.

“Another lodger told me two persons had come to ask questions about a man who wore a serpent ring,” Mr. Rhett said. “Not wishing to be found, I removed the ring from my finger, and found another lodging place. When my money ran out, I picked up a little work as a laborer at one of the mills.”

“I saw you inquiring at one of the steamship ticket offices,” Penny reminded him. “You remember that, I’m sure.”

“I sought to work my passage on a boat going to South America,” Mr. Rhett explained.

“All this time, didn’t you read the newspapers?” Jerry asked curiously. “Didn’t you know the bonds were missing and that your wife was ill?”

Mr. Rhett shook his head. “I purposely avoided looking at the newspapers. I was afraid if I did I might be tempted to return to my old life.”

“And now?” asked Penny softly.

“I have no future, only the present. Before making any plans, I must return home to see that my wife frees her mind from Celeste’s evil suggestions. I made a great mistake in bringing Celeste and Antón into the household. But once my wife knows Celeste is dead, I am confident she will quickly recover.”

“You still love your wife?”

“I shall always love her,” he returned quietly, “but she has no use for me. I’ve been a drag on her since the day we were married.”

“She doesn’t feel that way, I’m sure,” Penny corrected. “Since you went away, she’s been heartbroken. Lorinda needs you too.”

“I can never return to the bank,” Mr. Rhett repeated. “And there are the stolen bonds to be considered. Why, the police may even arrest me! I’m all mixed up.”

“Matters will straighten out as soon as you see your wife,” Penny declared. “However, I’ll admit recovering the bonds may not be so easy. To my knowledge, the police haven’t a single clue.”

Jerry was peering out the open shed door. “The storm is letting up,” he called. “We’ll soon be able to get out of here.”

Another half hour and the wind died sufficiently so that the party could safely leave the shelter. The truck driver returned to the newspaper office, while Jerry and Penny drove Mr. Rhett to his home.

The mansion yard was cluttered with uprooted trees, boards and debris. Penny ran down the path a short distance and returned to report that the thatched roof cottage had vanished without a trace.

“Perhaps it is just as well,” said Mr. Rhett. “It was a mistake to build the cottage, but Celeste first put the idea in my head. I intended to use it only as a trophy room, but to Celeste it became a living symbol of the life she had left behind.”

“Why did you build the passageway leading to the cave and to Celeste’s room?” Penny inquired.

Mr. Rhett’s blank expression told her that he did not understand. After she had explained, he said grimly: “Antón and Celeste must have dug the tunnel without my knowledge! Oh, they were a cunning pair!”

“And Antón still is on the loose,” Jerry reminded the banker. “We’ll have to notify the police to pick him up.”

Mr. Rhett and the young people entered the house. Lorinda, startled by hearing the front door open, ran to the head of the stairway. Seeing her stepfather, she gave a cry of joy and raced to meet him.

“You’ve come back! Oh, Mother needs you so badly. Do go to her at once.”

Mr. Rhett needed no urging. He was up the steps two at a time. Jerry and Penny, not wishing to intrude, remained in the living room, but a few minutes later, Lorinda called them.

“Oh, everything is wonderful!” she exclaimed. “Mother and Father have adjusted all their differences. And best of all, she’s already half over the idea she is going to die. Why, he just told her Celeste was dead and that she could never do any further harm. Mother snapped right out of it!”

Lorinda insisted that Jerry and Penny go upstairs. Mrs. Rhett was sitting up in bed, and her eyes were shining.

“How silly I’ve been,” she declared. “As I look back, I realize Celeste hated me and kept putting ideas in my mind. Why, I feel much better already.”

“Hungry?” asked Lorinda.

“Indeed, I am. I must have a gigantic dinner tonight.” Mrs. Rhett laughed and added: “With everything well salted!”

“About the bank—” began Mr. Rhett.

“Let’s not talk about it now,” his wife pleaded. “I was wrong about that too. I’ll never ask you to go back there, for it isn’t your type of life. Instead, perhaps we can go away somewhere on a long trip—South America, would that appeal to you, Hamilton?”

“Would it?” he chuckled. “Someone has been putting ideas in your head, and this time it wasn’t Celeste!”

Anxious to return to the newspaper office and to stop at the police station, Jerry and Penny soon took leave of the Rhetts, after receiving urgent invitations to return later that night.

“Well, it appears everything is turning out hunkey dorey for the Rhetts,” Jerry observed as he and Penny drove away from the mansion. “Antón is certain to be caught by the police, and those followers of his will be jailed too if they ever show their faces again.”

“Everything might be fine for the Rhetts except for one thing,” Penny returned. “Mrs. Rhett doesn’t have much ready cash available, and there still remains a little matter of $250,000 in missing bonds.”

“I’d forgotten about that. You’re right, Rhett still is in an awkward spot.”

The car drove into the downtown section where a few vehicles now were moving. Under the glow of the street lights, workmen were clearing the debris away.

As the car approached the First National Bank, Penny chanced to raise her eyes toward the second story balcony fronting the street. The grinning gargoyles stood out in dark relief, and as she gazed at them, she suddenly saw a shadowy figure moving stealthily toward the one nearest the open door leading from Mr. Rhett’s private office.

“Why, that looks like Albert Potts!” she exclaimed.

As she watched in amazement, the man approached the gargoyle. Reaching his hand far in between the open jaws, he removed something which he thrust into his overcoat pocket. Then, with a nervous glance down upon the deserted street, he stepped back into Mr. Rhett’s office, and closed the door.