Colonel Thorndyke's Secret by G. A. Henty (best free e reader .txt) 📕

A considerable number of lookers on had now gathered round. So far Mark, although watching the fingers of the opposite player intently, had seen no sign whatever of unfair play. He now redoubled his attention. Cotter won the first game, his adversary the three next. Mark noticed now that after looking at his hand Emerson looked abstractedly, as if meditating before taking the next step; there was no expression in his face, but Mark fancied that his eyes rested for a moment on the man standing next to himself. He looked at his watch and then, as if finding the hour later than he had expected, moved away from his place, and presently joined Dick, who was standing with Boldero on the other side of the table.

“Who is that man playing with Emerson?” he asked in a whisper.

“He is the son of Cotter, the head of Cotter's Bank, in Lombard Street.”

As the men were standing two or three deep round the table, Mark could not see the table itself, but this mattered little, for his attention was entirely directed towards the man standing behind Cotter's chair. He saw that after glancing down at the young man's hand he looked across as if seeing what Emerson was going to do; sometimes his eyes dropped for an instant, at other times there was no such movement, and after noticing this four or five times, and noticing the course Emerson took, he had no doubt whatever in his own mind that the movement of the man's eyes was an intimation to Emerson of the nature of Cotter's hand. The young man had lost four games in succession; he had grown very pale, but showed no other signs of agitation. Presently he said:

“You have your usual luck again; I will only play one more game tonight, but we may as well make it worth playing. Shall we say five hundred?”

“At your service,” Emerson replied.

This time the face of the man standing behind Cotter's chair was immovable, and Mark, placing himself behind a short man and straining his head forward, saw that Cotter scored four. The next time there was still no sign. Emerson showed a king and scored it, and then won every trick and the game.

“That makes nine hundred pounds,” the young man said quietly, writing an IOU for that amount and handing it to Emerson. There was a general movement of the spectators, and two fresh players took the seats vacated by the late antagonists.

“Who was the man standing behind Cotter's chair?” Mark asked Boldero.

“That is Sir James Flash. He is just going to play, you see; it is sure to be another hot game, and an interesting one.”

“Well, I think I will go,” Mark said; “the heat of the room has given me a bit of a headache. I will see you tomorrow, Dick.”

“Good night, old man,” Chetwynd said; and, shaking hands with Boldero, Mark went downstairs immediately after Cotter. The latter went into the room below, drank off a tumbler of champagne, and then went down, took his hat, and went out. Mark followed him for a short distance, and joined him as soon as he got up into the Strand.

“Mr. Cotter,” he said, “I have not the pleasure of knowing you personally, and I must introduce myself. My name is Mark Thorndyke, and I am the owner of an estate close to Reigate. Would you mind my exchanging a few words with you?”

Cotter looked up, and was about to give a flat refusal, but the expression of Mark's face was so friendly and pleasant that he changed his mind and said in a hard voice:

“I really do not know what you can have to say to me, Mr. Thorndyke, but of course I can hardly refuse to hear you.”

They walked across the road and turned up a quiet street.

“For certain reasons it is not necessary for me to explain,” Mark said, “I went to that place for the first time tonight, and I watched the play between you and Mr. Emerson.”

“It does not matter, sir; I lost, and I am not going there again.”

“I hope, on the contrary, that you will go there again, Mr. Cotter. If I mistake not, from what I heard, you have lost considerable sums to that man.”

“I imagine, sir, that that is no business of a stranger.”

“In no way personally,” Mark replied, not heeding the angry ring in the voice, “but as an honest man it does concern me. I am absolutely convinced, sir, that that money has not been won from you fairly.”

The young man gave a start.

“Impossible!” he said shortly. “Mr. Emerson is a man of good family and a gentleman.”

“He is a man of good family, I admit, but certainly not a gentleman; his antecedents are notorious.”

“I have never heard a word against him; he is intimate with Sir James Flash and other gentlemen of position.”

“I am not surprised, that you have not heard of it; it was probably to the interest of several persons that you should not do so. Nor do I suppose that you are aware that Sir James Flash was himself expelled from White's for cheating at cards.”

“Impossible!” Mr. Cotter replied.

“I can assure you of the fact,” Mark said quietly. “Probably you have among your acquaintances some members of White's. I am sure if you ask them they will confirm the fact. Now, sir, I can assure you that I have no interest in this matter, save to prevent a gentleman from being ruined by blacklegs. May I ask how much you owe to Mr. Emerson and Sir James Flash?”

The young man hesitated. “I believe you, sir,” he said at last. “They hold my IOUs for 29,000 pounds. I need hardly say it is absolute ruin. My intention is to make a clean breast to my father about it tomorrow morning. My father will give me the money, in the first place because he loves me and would save my name from disgrace, and in the second because were I posted as a defaulter it would strike a severe blow at the credit of the bank. So he will give me the money, but he will bid me leave his house forever. That will matter little, for I shall pay the money, and tomorrow night I shall blow out my brains.”

“Well, sir, if you will follow my advice you will neither pay the money nor blow out your brains. I saw enough tonight to feel absolutely certain that you have been cheated. Sir James Flash stood behind you, and was, I am sure, signaling your hand to Emerson. I believe that Emerson played fair otherwise, until the last game, but I am convinced that he then cheated. You had good hands, but he had better; and although I did not see him cheat—for I was on the other side of the table—I am convinced that he did so. Now, sir, I advise you to go in as usual tomorrow evening, and to play, raising your stakes as you did tonight. When the times comes I will expose him. Should I not be able to detect him