The Ruby in the Smoke Read Online Free PDF Page B

little tent, consulting an instrument of some sort. She looked back—the little black figure was hidden by the end of the terrace of seafront houses. She ran up to the photographer, who looked up in surprise, and then grinned with pleasure.
    "It's you," he said.
    "Please," she said, "can you help me?"
    "Of course. Glad to. What can I do.^"
    "I'm being followed. That old woman—she's after me. She's dangerous. I don't know what to do."
    His eyes sparkled with pleasure.
    "In the tent," he said, lifting the flap. "Don't move, or you'll knock things over. Never mind the smell."
    She did as he said, and he dropped the flap and laced it up. The smell was fierce—something like smelling salts. It was completely dark.
    "Don't speak," he said quietly. "I'll tell you when she's gone. My word, here she comes now. She's crossing the road. Coming toward us ..."
    Sally stood motionless, listening to the crying of the gulls, the clip-clop of horses and trundle of wheels as a carriage went along the road, and then the sharp, swift tread of a pair of nailed boots. It stopped only a yard or so away.
    "Excuse me, sir," said a voice, an old voice that seemed to wheeze and click in an odd way.
    "Mmm? What is it?" Garland's voice was muffled. "Wait a moment. I'm composing a picture. Can't come out from under the cloth till it's ready. . . . There," he said more clearly. "Well, ma'am?"

    "Have you seen a young girl come this way, sir? A girl dressed in black?"
    "Yes, I have. Devil of a hurry. Remarkably pretty girl—blond—would that be the one?"
    "Trust a handsome gentleman like you to notice that, sir! Yes, she's the one, bless her. Did you see which way she went?"
    "As a matter of fact, she asked me the way to the Swan. Said she wanted the Ramsgate coach. I told her she had ten minutes to catch it."
    "The Swan, sir? Where might that be?"
    He gave directions, and the old woman thanked him and set off.
    "Don't move," he said in a low voice. "She hasn't turned the corner yet. 'Fraid you'll have to stay among the stinks for a while."
    "Thank you," she said formally. "Though you need not have tried to flatter me."
    "Oh, dear. All right, I take it back. You're almost as ugly as she is. Lx)ok, what is going on?"
    "I just don't know. I'm all mixed up in something horrible. I can't tell you what it is—"
    "Shhh!"
    Footsteps approached slowly, passed the tent, and faded away.
    "Fat man with a dog," he said. "Gone now."
    "Is she out of sight?"
    "Yes, she's vanished. To Ramsgate, with any luck."
    "May I come out?"
    He unlaced the flap and held it open.
    "Thank you," she said. "May I pay you for the use of your tent?"
    His eyes opened wide. For a moment she thought he

    was going to laugh, but he poHtely decHned. She felt herself beginning to blush; she should not have offered money. She turned away swiftly.
    "Don't go," he said. "I don't even know your name. That payment I will exact."
    "Sally Lockhart," she said, staring out to sea. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. But—"
    "I'm not insulted at all. But you can't expect to pay for everything, you know. What are you going to do now?"
    She felt like a child. It was not a sensation she enjoyed.
    "I'm going back to London," she said. "I expect I shall manage to avoid her. Good-bye."
    "Would you like a companion? I've nearly finished here in any case, and if that old weasel is dangerous—"
    "No, thank you. I must be going."
    She walked away. She would have loved his company, but she would never have admitted it. She felt somehow that the pretense of helplessness, which worked so well with other men, would not take him in for a moment. That was why she had offered to pay him: she wanted to meet him on equal terms. But that had gone wrong too. She felt as if she knew nothing and could do nothing correctly, and she felt quite alone.

    The Mutiny
    There was no sign of the old woman at the sta-tion. The only other passengers were a parson and his wife, three or four soldiers, and a mother with two