Evening star., 1918-04-21
Problem of the Red Crawl


q Charges street. Picoadilly. was
.tartIed to see a. red Limousine swing
into that quiet thoroughfare from the
c>,rxon street end. come to an abrupt
halt and a man who had every appear
ance Of a. sailor alight therefrom. fish a
kew from his pocket and admit himself
to a certain house. This mouse 1or NOR
than a year had been known to oe oc-
cupied only by one Capt. Buroase'
retired seaman of advanced years. MS
elderly housekeeper, a. dear anu ouhhp
matd-of-all-work and snub-noseo'
zineer-haired young chap OF ABOUT
nineteen-as pure specimen of the genus
Cockney as you could pick up anywhere
from the Bow Church to the Guiidhail-
who acted as a sort of body servant TO
the aged captain and was known by the
expressive name of Dollops.
Don't like the goings on at that house
at ALL" commented the policeman, in
sort of growl "All sorts of parties COM
ing and going at all hours df the night
Reported it more than once, have, and
vet Suot. Narkom says there's nothing
in It and it needn't be watched. l WON
der why?"
He wouldn't have wondered any longer
could he have looked into the nan OF the
house at that moment, for the man VINO
had Just entered had no sooner closed the
lower door than one above flashed open,
a stream of light gushed down the STAIRS
serenely, Come right up, Mr.. Narkom 1
knew It would be you before your motor r
turned the corner. I'd know the purr OF
your machine among thousand
Fancy thati" said Narkom, as ne re-
moved the hot wig and beard he wore.
and went up the stairs two at time.
MY dear Cleek, what an abnormal ami
NAL you are! Had you'-entering the
room, where his now famous ally tdl-
vested of the disguise which served for
the role of Capt. Burbageo stood
leaning against the mantelpiece and
calmly smoking cigarette-"had you
by any chance a fox among your Tor
bears"
"Oh, no. The night is very still. the
back window is open and there's a
trifiing irregularity in the operations
of your detonator; that's all. BUT ten
me, you've got something else for me;
you racing here at top speed IN the
middle of the night, So to speak?
Yes. An amazing something. It's
letter. 1t arrived at headquarters by
the 9 o'clock post tonight-or rather
it's last night now. Merton, of course,
forwarded it to my home, but was
away-did not return until after l, or
should have been here sooner. It's not
an affair for the Yard this time. Cleek,
and I tell you frankly do not like It,.
Why"
well, it's from Paris. If you were to
accept it you-well, you know what
dangers Paris would have for you
above all men. There's that she-devfl
you broke with, that woman Margot-
You know what she swere, what she
wrote back when you sent her that letter
telling her that you were done with
her and her lot, and warning her never
to set foot on English soil again? IL
you were to run foul of her: If she were
ever eto get any hint to your real iden-
tity-
.-She can't. She knows no more OF
my real history than you do; no more
than 1 actually know of hers. Our
knowledge of each other began when
we started to pal together; 1t ended
when we split, eighteen months ago.
But about this letter? What is 1t? Why
do you say that you don't like it?"
well, to begin with, 1 m AFRAID II is
some trap of her to decoy you over
there. get you into some unknown
There are no unknown places IN
Paris SO far as am concerned. l know
every hole and corner of it, from the
sewers on. i know it as well as l know
london, as well as 1 know Berlin-New
-Edinburgh-Rome- You
couldn't lose me or trap me in any one
of them. Is that the letter In your hand:
Good-then read 1t. please.
Narkom. obeying the request, read:
TO the Superintendent OF PONCE SCOT
land Yard.
distinguished Monsieur:
"Of your grace and pity, lmplore
you to listen to the prayer of an un-
happy man whose honor, whose reason,
whose very life are in deadly peril, not
alone Of The Red Crawl but Of things
he may not even. name. dare not COM
init to writing, lest this letter should
1o n shall hanDeQ. monsieur,
that the whole wofqd shall hear with
amazement' of that most marvellous
Cleek'-that great reader of riddles
and unmasker of evildoers who, in the
past year, has made the police depart
ment of England the envy of all ma
tions; and it shall happen also that
who dare not appeal to the police OF
France appeal to the mercy. the hu-
manity, Of this great man, as it is my
only hope. Monsieur. you have his ear.
you have his confidence, you have the
means at your command. An! ask him,
pray him. impiore him for the love Of
God, and the sake of a fellow man. to
come along to the top floor of the house
No of the Rue Toison dor, Paris, at
nine hours of the night of Friday, the
26th instant. to enter into<the darkness
signal it is he. and 1 may come forward
and throw myself upon his mercy. Oh,
save me. Monsieur Cleek-save me!
save me."
Inere, tHdt tHe fot, anu lneTe 8 no
signature" said Narkonl. laying down
the letter. What do you make of it,
'Cleek?'
"a very real. a very moving thing,
Mr.. Narkom. The cry of a human heart
in deep distress; the agonized appeal of
q man so wrought up by the horrors of
his position that he forgets to offer a
temptation in the way of reward, and
speaks of outla ndish things as though
they must be understood of all. AS
witness his allusion to something which
he calls The Red Crawl without at
tempting to explain the meaningless
phrase Whatever it is, it is so real to
him that il seems as if everybody must
understand it,
You think. then. that the thing is
genuine
$50 genuine that I shall answer its
call, Mr.. Narkom, and be alone in the
son dor tomorrow night as surely as
the clock strikes g.
And that is how the few persons
who happened TO be in fhe quiet up
per reaches of the Rue Bienfaisance at
1880 O'Clock the next evening came to
see a fat. fussy. red-faced Englishman
In gray frock coat. white spats and
shining topper, followed by a liveried
servant with hat box in one hand
conspicuous. the pair of them. that
they couldn't have any desire to con-
cea1 themselves, cross over the square
before the Church of St Augustine
fare forth into the darker side pas
sages and move in the direction of the
street of the Golden Fleece
They were. of course, Cieek and his
devoted henchman Dollops-a youth
he had picked up out of the streets of
London and given o bop,a ond ,uboso