The Yellow Claw, Sax Rohmer [top 100 novels of all time .TXT] 📗

striving to wrench the latter's fingers from her throat, in the white skin of which they were bloodily embedded. With his left arm about the face and head of the devilish half-caste, and grasping with his right hand her slender right wrist—putting forth all his strength to hold it back—was Gianapolis!

His face was of a grayish pallor and clammy with sweat; his crooked eyes had the glare of madness. The lithe body of the Eurasian writhing in his grasp seemed to possess the strength of two strong men; for palpably the Greek was weakening. His left sleeve was torn to shreds—to bloody shreds beneath the teeth of the wild thing with which he fought; and lower, lower, always nearer to the throat of the victim, the slender, yellow arm forced itself, forced the tiny hand clutching a poniard no larger than a hatpin but sharp as an adder's tooth.

“Hold her!” whispered Gianapolis in a voice barely audible, as Max burst into the room. “She came back for this and... I followed her. She has the strength of... a tigress!”

Max hurled himself into the melee, grasping the wrist of the Eurasian below where it was clutched by Gianapolis. Nodding to the Greek to release his hold, he twisted it smartly upward.

The dagger fell upon the floor, and with an animal shriek of rage, the Eurasian tottered back. Max caught her about the waist and tossed her unceremoniously into a corner of the room.

Helen Cumberly slipped from the bed, and lay very white and still upon the garish carpet, with four tiny red streams trickling from the nail punctures in her throat. Max stooped and raised her shoulders; he glanced at the Greek, who, quivering in all his limbs, and on the verge of collapse, only kept himself upright by dint of clutching at the side of the doorway. Max realized that Gianapolis was past aiding him; his own resources were nearly exhausted, but, stooping, he managed to lift the girl and to carry her out into the corridor.

“Follow me!” he gasped, glancing back at Gianapolis; “Morbleu, make an effort! The keys—the keys!”

Laying Helen Cumberly upon one of the raised divans, with her head resting upon a silken cushion, Max, teeth tightly clenched and dreadfully conscious that his strength was failing him, waited for Gianapolis. Out from the corridor the Greek came staggering, and Max now perceived that he was bleeding profusely from a wound in the breast.

“She came back,” whispered Gianapolis, clutching at the Frenchman for support... “the hellcat!... I did not know... that... Miss Cumberly was here. As God is my witness I did not know! But I followed... HER—Mahara... thank God I did! She has finished me, I think, but”—he lowered the crooked eyes to the form of Helen Cumberly—“never mind... Saints!”

He reeled and sank upon his knees. He clutched at the edge of his coat and raised it to his lips, wherefrom blood was gushing forth. Max stooped eagerly, for as the Greek had collapsed upon the floor, he had heard the rattle of keys.

“She had... the keys,” whispered Gianapolis. “They have... tabs... upon them... Mrs. Leroux... number 3 B. The door to the stair”—very, very slowly, he inclined his head toward the ebony door near which Max was standing—“is marked X. The door... at the top—into garage... B.”

“Tell me,” said Max, his arm about the dying man's shoulders—“try to tell me: who killed Mrs. Vernon and why?”

“MR. KING!” came in a rattling voice. “Because of the... carelessness of someone... Mrs. Vernon wandered into the room ... of Mrs. Leroux. She seems to have had a fit of remorse... or something like it. She begged Mrs. Leroux to pull up... before... too late. Ho-Pin arrived just as she was crying to ... Mrs. Leroux... and asking if she could ever forgive her ... for bringing her here.... It was Mrs. Vernon who... introduced Mrs.... Leroux. Ho-Pin heard her... say that she ... would tell... Leroux the truth... as the only means”...

“Yes, yes, morbleu! I understand! And then?”

“Ho-Pin knows... women... like a book. He thought Mrs. Vernon would... shirk the scandal. We used to send our women ... to Nurse Proctor's, then... to steady up a bit... We let Mrs. Vernon go... as usual. The scene with... Mrs. Leroux had shaken... her and she fainted... in the car... Victoria Street.... I was with her. Nurse Proctor had... God! I am dying!... a time with her;... she got so hysterical that they had to... detain her... and three days later... her husband died; Proctor, the... fool... somehow left a paper containing the news in Mrs. Vernon's room.... They had had to administer an injection that afternoon... and they thought she was... sleeping.”...

“Morbleu! Yes, yes!—a supreme effort, my friend!”

“Directly Ho-Pin heard of Vernon's death, he knew that his hold ... on Mrs. Vernon... was lost.... He... and Mahara... and... MR. KING... drove straight to... Gillingham... Street... to... arrange.... Ah!... she rushed like a mad woman into the street, a moment before... they arrived. A cab was passing, and”...

“I know this! I know this! What happened at Palace Mansions?”

The Greek's voice grew fainter.

“Mr. King followed... her... upstairs. Too late;... but whilst Leroux was in... Cumberly's flat... leaving door open ... Mr. King went... in... Mahara... was watching... gave signal... whistle... of someone's approach. It was thought... Mr. King... had secured ALL the message... Mrs. Vernon... was... writing.... Mr. King opened the door of ... the lift-shaft... lift not working... climbed down that way... and out by door on... ground floor... when Mr.... the Member of Parliament... went upstairs.”...

“Ah! pardieu! one last word! WHO IS MR. KING?”

Gianapolis lurched forward, his eyes glazing, half raised his arm—pointing back into the cave of the dragon—and dropped, face downward, on the floor, with a crimson pool forming slowly about his head.

An unfamiliar sound had begun to disturb the silence of the catacombs. Max glanced at the white face of Helen Cumberly, then directed the ray of the little lamp toward the further end of the apartment. A steady stream of dirty water was pouring into the cave of the dragon through the open door ahead of him.

Into the disc of light, leaped, fantastic, the witch figure of the Eurasian. She turned and faced him, threw up both her arms, and laughed shrilly, insanely. Then she turned and ran like a hare, her yellow silk dress gleaming in the moving ray. Inhaling sibilantly, Max leaped after her. In three strides he found his foot splashing in water. An instant he hesitated. Through the corridor ahead of him sped the yellow figure, and right to the end. The seemingly solid wall opened before her; it was another masked door.

Max crossed the threshold hard upon her heels. Three descending steps were ahead of him, and then a long brick tunnel in which swirled fully three feet of water, which, slowly rising, was gradually flooding the cave of the dragon.

On went the Eurasian, up to her waist in the flood, with Max gaining upon her, now, at every stride. There was a damp freshness in the air of the passage, and a sort of mist seemed to float above the water. This mist had a familiar smell....