Shadow of Doom Read Online Free PDF Page A

doubted whether the condition would be accepted.
    â€˜Why wish this on to him?’ Palfrey asked.
    â€˜Or why wish him on to you?’ said Lumsden, ‘It will do him good, Palfrey. He’s a fool in some ways. He’s young—or youngish. Twenty-six. He spent most of the war in the Middle East, behind the lines, and he got soft. He wants hardening. I think the right stuff is in him—I’m talking to you,’ Lumsden added, ‘as a doctor. About Charles.’
    â€˜Of course,’ said Palfrey, ‘but if I take him, my friends must know all there is to know about him. I can’t keep details back. He might be the weak link.’
    â€˜Ay, tell them, but only them,’ said Lumsden. ‘Well?’
    â€˜I’ll have to see him,’ said Palfrey.
    â€˜I’ll tell him to come to you,’ said Lumsden.
    â€˜Does he know what you have in mind?’
    Lumsden gave his deep laugh again. ‘I’ve told him nothing except that you need some young men with time to spare and who can speak several languages,’ he said, ‘and he can talk in a good many. I think he can rough it. I want to know,’ went on the millionaire, ‘what he can stand and whether he has a breaking-point, and I’m prepared to pay all your expenses to find out.’
    â€˜It seems fair,’ said Palfrey. ‘Supposing we find the radium?’
    â€˜Now, watch yourself,’ said Lumsden, growling; ‘I want no return for my money except the truth about Charles. I’m after no interest on outlay or share of profits. You ought to know better than that.’
    â€˜I must be sure,’ said Palfrey.
    â€˜Yes, yes,’ said Lumsden. ‘All right, Palfrey. You won’t have much time to spare. I won’t detain you.’
    â€˜Let’s not go too fast,’ said Palfrey. He took another cigarette, then leaned back in his chair and was lost in it. ‘Your son might be helpful in more ways than one. He will be exposed to danger on the Continent, he might be exposed to some before we start.’
    â€˜Ay,’ said Lumsden, drawing his brows together. ‘How?’
    Palfrey said: ‘If he joins us, then I would like a story put out in the Press. That he’s coming with me on a mysterious special mission. I can get it in tomorrow morning, and for two days he might, like me, be a marked man. Also he might be approached by strangers who are not well disposed towards us. Am I clear?’
    â€˜He’ll not betray you,’ said Lumsden.
    â€˜Will you accept the risk for him?’ asked Palfrey. ‘He isn’t used to this work. If he is looking out for trouble he might betray the fact unwittingly. If he’s approached by other people, innocence will serve a better purpose than knowledge.’
    Lumsden was silent for a long time, and then he said, quietly, with a gentle smile: ‘Do what you will, Palfrey.’
    â€˜Danger notwithstanding ?’
    â€˜Ay.’
    Palfrey said: ‘It’s a pity you’re not able to come yourself, sir.’
    Lumsden was still chuckling when Palfrey left, and Palfrey was smiling. The smile grew set as he walked across Hyde Park Corner. There was a great risk in taking a man who was inexperienced in such affairs. Charles Lumsden might become a burden, might need protecting, might put the brake on them at a time when without him they could move quickly. Yet it had taken Brett some time to find a sponsor; that meant that not many people were willing to risk the money.
    It was not easy to reach a decision.
    He went back to Brierly Place and told Drusilla and Brett. Drusilla was in two minds; Brett turned the scales by saying that if Palfrey received a good impression of the man he should take him.
    Palfrey regarded the Marquis owlishly. ‘That’s fair, I suppose. Or is it? Are you putting something across me, Marquis?’
    â€˜My dear fellow!’ protested Brett.
    The answer was