On the other side of the hedge the peddler lay flat, the constable bending over him. The face of the latter was flushed and the collar of his tunic torn. He saluted mechanically when Derrick ran up but said nothing till Burke arrived, breathing like a leaky bellows.
“I don’t know what to make of this, sergeant. The fellow ran practically into my arms before he knew where he was and put up no end of a fight. He got his finger into my throat and would have done me in if I hadn’t thrown him. Then he got up and went for me again like a wild animal. I got this thing away from him, and he spun round on his toes, put something in his mouth, and crumpled up. Now he looks as though he were dead, but I haven’t used any unnecessary force.”
“All right, Peters; he’s not dead. It’s only bluff. You can make your charge now, Mr. Derrick, and we’ll run him in.”
“Charge? I’ve nothing to charge him with.”
Burke grinned. “Do I take it that he attempted burglary and smashed that door by your request?”
Derrick laughed outright. “I’d clean forgotten that already.” What he did not tell the sergeant was that somehow he felt immeasurably younger and happier.
“Well, it’s plenty to hold him for a while till we get at the real thing. This will be theft and damage to property. Pick him up, Peters!”
“One minute,” interrupted Derrick. “Did he say anything to you?”
“Not a word, sir.”
The young man did not answer but knelt quickly beside the prone figure. A sickly color, half gray, half blue, was stealing slowly over the peddler’s features. His eyes, partly open, were glazed and sightless. His body, so lately animated by amazing vigor, had crumpled like a wet leaf. Derrick, feeling himself queerly numb, slid a hand under the torn shirt. No pulse of life was discernible. Close by lay the jade god, its tiny malignant face sneering up from the wet grass. The master of Beech Lodge saw it and shuddered. Was this the next man appointed to die, and had he been the prophet of his own passing? Then Burke knelt beside him, stared hard in his turn, and gave the white beard a strong and sudden jerk.