Mysterious Doctor Toke

CHAPTER I. A Minor Clash

Help!” the cry came a second time in the shrill voice of a frightened woman, and still again: “Help!” and Doctor Toke sat up quickly in his chair and blinked his little eyes rapidly.

“Help!” There it was for the fourth time, as strong and appealing as before, with a note of terror in it.

Doctor Toke deliberately put the magazine he had been reading down upon the table that stood at his elbow, removed his spectacles and put them into their proper case, put the case into his coat pocket, sighed, and stood upon his feet. A sudden sparkle in his eyes showed that he was mildly excited.

“Ah!” Doctor Toke said to himself, speaking aloud but in very low tones. “Something tells me that this is the moment for which I long have waited!”

Now he crossed the room with short, swift strides, and reached the door that opened into the hall. Doctor Toke was a nervous-appearing man of medium size—bald and stoop-shouldered; a man who looked to be smaller than he was really—the sort of man who exhibits sudden and unexpected strength at times. The sparkle in his eyes had grown, and now there was the faint suspicion of a smile upon his thin lips—one would have said a smile of anticipation.

Doctor Toke knew from where that cry for help had come—that little apartment directly across the court from his own two rooms and bath. He had been observing the occupants and visitors of that apartment for some time, and he had heard high words there often before. But this was a downright, not to be misunderstood, shriek for help, and so Doctor Toke felt that he had every right to answer the appeal in person.

He opened his door and stepped into the hall, stopping to close the door after him carefully. Answering a woman's shriek for assistance did not seem to fluster Doctor Toke in the slightest degree. There was no haste in his movements.

The hall was narrow, half dark, and there were evil odors in it at times, as is likely to be the case in an apartment building where the tenants for the most part have questionable means of support, and often questionable characters or characters about which there is no question at all.

Doctor Toke hesitated for a moment outside the door, and then he stepped along the hall briskly as though with sudden determination, came to a turning, and so found himself on the other side of the court. There he stopped for an instant to listen.

There were no more shrieks for help, but there were more high words, and Doctor Toke decided that it was some man rebuking some woman in a vigorous manner.

None of the other tenants on the floor seemed to be showing the slightest interest in the proceeding. Doctor Toke was not surprised at that, for this was an apartment house where nearly everybody attended strictly to his or her own business, and expected all others to do the same.

Doctor Toke hurried on, and when he came to the apartment for which he was bound he found that the front door was open for half a dozen inches or so. Doctor Toke glanced through this opening and saw a woman crouching in a corner of the room, and a man standing in front of her in a threatening attitude.

“And you don't ever want to forget that!” the man was saying, in raucous, angry tones, as he shook a fist at the frightened woman before him. “And the next time2”

He ceased speaking, sprang forward suddenly, and grasped the woman cruelly by the shoulders to lift her from the floor. She gave a little cry of mingled pain and fear and struggled in an effort to get free.

Doctor Toke opened the door wider and stepped deliberately into the room. His little eyes were glittering now, and the suspicion of a smile had fled from his lips. Three quick steps he took, and came to a stop within six feet of the pair.

“I say, this won't do!” Doctor Toke declared in his thin voice, bending forward slightly as he spoke, as though to hurl the words at the man in the corner,

The man whirled, startled, gave Doctor Toke a swift glance, and then regarded him in scorn. He did not release the woman, and she continued her futile efforts to get free.

Doctor Toke had an instant picture of a brute face distorted with rage, but he did not take a step backward, did not recoil or flinch, did not show in any degree that he was startled or afraid.

“It won't ever do!” Doctor Toke continued, snapping out the words. “We can't have women mistreated, my man, you know! It won't do at all!”

“Run along, little one,” the other advised in sneering tones. “Run along—and, if you don't, I may have to break you in two!”

“Why, you confounded bully!” Doctor Toke exclaimed. “Release that woman instantly!”

“This ain't any business of yours,” the other told him. “You must be some kind of a nut, buttin' in on other people's private affairs.”

“The lady called for help, and I heard her,” Doctor Toke explained. “I responded to her call—and I am here now to be of assistance to her, if she wishes it.”

“You're a hot one to be of assistance to anybody,” the other said, looking Doctor Toke over carefully from head to heels.

“Are you attempting to make fun of me?” Doctor Toke asked. “My heavens, what a low character! I think, my man, that you had better clear out of here.”

“Who are you to be givin' orders?”

“I am a tenant in this building. And it is evident that the lady does not desire your presence.”

“If I don't get out, I suppose you'll call the cops?' the other asked, sneering again and bending forward, as though ready to spring upon his victim.

“Certainly not! I shall not go to all that trouble!” Doctor Toke replied promptly. “If you don't clear out, my man, I shall jolly well put you out myself!”

“You put me out?” the other cried.

He released the woman now, and she crouched quickly against the wall once more. Doctor Toke stood his ground.

A close observer might have noticed that Doctor Toke's body was balanced nicely on the balls of his feet, and that his hands were at his sides in such a position that they could become fists instantly and swing up and over. But the angry man before him was not a close observer.

“You put me out?” he said again scornfully.

Suddenly he hurled himself forward with such violence that the woman crouching against the wall gave a screech of fear and for an instant covered her face with her hands.

Forward he hurled himself, his hands reaching out—but he found that Doctor Toke was not there. In some unaccountable manner Doctor Toke now was behind him. He turned and charged back, and again he found that he had been eluded, and now his rage got the better of him as he gathered himself for another rush.

“You had better go without an attempt at violence,” Doctor Toke told him quietly.

“Yeh? I'll show you how to walk into somethin' that don't happen to concern you!”

“I warn you that I am—er—a handy man with my fists,' said Doctor Toke.

“You poor worm! I can break you in two—and I'm goin' to do it!”

“Very well, my man,” Doctor Toke replied. “If you simply must be taught a lesson, far be it from me to refuse to give it to you. Another example of mere brawn pitted against brains and skill combined! Tish, tush!”

Doctor Toke darted forward suddenly as he finished speaking, and the other man received a blow that rocked his head and made it ring. Once more he lowered his head, and rushed, his arms beating the air in blows that would have rendered Doctor Toke unconscious had they landed.

Doctor Toke merely did some light footwork and avoided those heavy blows, and in return he delivered many that found their target. Neither man was speaking now. Doctor Toke's antagonist was breathing heavily. The woman crouching against the wall was watching the combat through bulging eyes.

And suddenly, as they clashed again, she was upon her feet and at them.

“Stop it!” she cried wildly. “Do you want to have the police run in on us?”

Mention of the police did not seem to disconcert Doctor Toke at all, but it attracted the instant attention of the man with whom he had been fighting. He backed away, and when Doctor Toke made no effort to follow him he dropped his hands to his sides as a sign that the battle was at an end.

“I—I'll get out,” he said, speaking to the woman. “I'll come back later, but now I'll get out.”

“You jolly well know that you'll get out!” Doctor Toke told him. “You'll get out at once, my man, and no more words about it, or I'll put you out as I promised.”

“You and who else?”

“All by myself, I assure you. I'll not need the slightest assistance.”

“No?”

“No!” said Doctor Toke. “Heavens, what a ruffian! You jolly well need a good lesson! Terrifying a woman—fancy! My word! Gad, what a brute!”

“I'll see you later!” the other retorted.

“I always leave the building by the front entrance,” Doctor Toke told him.

“I'll be waitin'!”

“Beg pardon?”

“I'll be waitin' for you, I said.”

“There is no need for you to waste your valuable time waiting, my man,” replied Doctor Toke. “I am going out to breakfast at eight in the morning, to luncheon at one o'clock in the afternoon, and to dinner at six in the evening. Just be around the front entrance at one of those hours and you'll see me.”

“And I'll show you a thing or two!”

“We live and learn,” said Doctor Toke. “Tish, tush!”

CHAPTER II. The League of Taurus

Dr. Toke's late antagonist sneered at him again and then went through the door and out into the hall. Doctor Toke stepped to the doorway and watched the other turn to the left, going toward the rear stairs of the apartment house. Toke smiled when he noticed that, and then his face assumed a blank expression, and he turned to face the woman again.

“I am happy if I have been of assistance to you, madam,” Doctor Toke said. “It always grieves me to find a lady in distress. I am glad that I heard your call for assistance. If there is nothing more than I can do, I'll go.”

“Please wait a moment,” she said, stepping closer to him. “Close the door.”

Doctor Toke complied with her request, and then turned toward her questioningly, blinking his eyes again, rubbing at the bald spot on the back of his head. Doctor Toke did not have a heroic appearance, but then many heroes do not.

“My name is Mary Gibson,” said the woman. “I—I want to thank you.”

“No thanks necessary, my dear Miss Gibson. Or, is it Mrs. Gibson?”

“It is Miss Gibson. And I feel that I want you to understand what happened. You see, that man is Ben Stacker, a half brother of mine. He—he seems to have the idea that I should keep him in money all the time.”

“Why, the low scoundrel!” said Doctor Toke.

“He always has abused me, since I Was a little girl,” she continued. “I am afraid he is what you would call worthless. I used to admire him and think that he was quite a man, but I have changed my mind in the last few months. He came here to-day to demand more money from me, and when I told him that I did not care to give him any more, that I needed what I had, he grew angry and started to abuse me. Perhaps I should not have called for help, but I was frightened.”

“You did perfectly right, my dear Miss Gibson,” Doctor Toke assured her. “I am glad to have been within call.”

“He is a very vindictive man. You had better watch out for him, Doctor Toke.”

“You know my name?” Toke asked in surprise.

“I know that you are known here as Doctor Toke,” she replied with a faint smile. “You have been living in the little apartment just across the court for about a month. I have seen you there often, always reading.”

“I—er—I love to read,” Toke replied.

“I have noticed that you do not go out much,” she said, and once more there was a peculiar expression in her face.

“That is true, I do not,” Toke said. “I have—er—what you would call retired.”

“Then you must have been very fortunate in your youth,” Mary Gibson told him. “I should take you to be no more than forty now—and you have retired. But I am surprised that a man with money would live in a place like this.”

Doctor Toke seemed to be bewildered for a moment, and then he smiled at her.

“I am far from being a wealthy man,” he said. “I did not mean that I have retired because I have all the money I want.”

“You are a physician?” she asked.

“A doctor of philosophy, my dear Miss Gibson, not a physician. Tish, tush!”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Tish, tush! Merely a meaningless phrase for use when one wants to make talk and has nothing to say. As for this apartment house—it is quiet here, save at rare intervals, and nobody concerns himself or herself too much with the business of another person, if you gather my meaning.”

“I think that I understand,” she replied. “Many of us dislike to have other persons bother about our business.”

She emphasized the last word of her speech in a peculiar manner, but Doctor Toke did not seem to notice it at all. They had seated themselves beside the table in the middle of the room, and the woman was watching him in an unusual manner, but Doctor Toke did not seem to notice that, either.

“Now and then,” he said, “you will find a man of middle age who seeks seclusion.”

“Yes.”

“Tired of the world momentarily, he wishes to—er—take it easy for a time, as the saying is, and he jolly well knows that the only way to do it is to get off by himself, where he is not known to everybody.”

“Exactly!” said Mary Gibson. “Often a man wishes to go some place where he is not known.”

“Where he cannot be found by his friends2”

“Or the police!” she added.

“Beg pardon?”

“Where he cannot be found by the police,” she repeated, bending over the table and regarding him closely.

“I am afraid that I do not quite understand. Tired of the busy world and2”

“And a bit afraid.”

“Beg pardon?” said Doctor Toke again.

“You are English, are you not? You look English, and you speak like an Englishman.”

“Yes, I am English,” Doctor Toke admitted.

“Ever hear of Scotland Yard?”

“Scotland Yard? Rather! Naturally! What Londoner has not heard of Scotland Yard? Rather a silly question, if you'll be kind enough to pardon me for saying so.”

“Scotland Yard never forgets, it is said—and never quits!” Mary Gibson said.

“Meaning when they are after some poor devil for a crime? Oh, I say! I have known—er—I have heard of instances where Scotland Yard has been jolly well put out to close a case.”

“There are a few such instances,” Mary Gibson said.

“You seem to know a lot about it.”

“I have read widely. I always have been interested in such things,” she replied.

“Fancy that!”

“I believe that I can tell a criminal as quickly as any other human being alive. For instance, a man wanted by the police for something, and hiding out—in some quiet place.”

“Oh, I say!” Doctor Toke exclaimed. “You are not a detective, or anything of that sort?”

“Scarcely,” she replied, smiling again.

“You interest me,” Doctor Toke admitted. “Fancy a woman reading up on that sort of thing! And I am glad that I have found some one who agrees with me that Scotland Yard is not perfection. Now, for instance, take the League of Taurus2 Oh, by Jove! Perhaps I should not have mentioned that.”

“Why not?” she asked sweetly.

Mary Gibson bent back in her chair and raised her hands. She glanced past Doctor Toke at the wall, and for an instant her fingers were crossed in a peculiar manner.

“My word!” Doctor Toke gasped.

And now he grinned, and raised his own hands, and for a moment he manipulated his own fingers in a rapid and rather ridiculous fashion, while she watched.

“So!” she said, laughing merrily. And then she lowered her voice and spoke rapidly and cautiously. “I guessed it, didn't I? So you belong to the League of Taurus! So do I, my friend. So does Ben Stacker, the man you ran out of here. And so do a few others who call here now and then.”

“My word!”

“The American branch, of course,” she continued. “And so you are hiding out, are you?”

“Since you have guessed it, I am,” Doctor Toke responded. “A little occurrence—er—was of such a nature that it was deemed best for me to spend a few quiet months in America. I may say that I—er—got here in a roundabout manner, and without any too much money. I am not to communicate for a certain length of time.”

“I quite understand,” Mary Gibson said.

“I am a doctor of philosophy, as I remarked, my dear Miss Gibson. I also dabble a bit in chemistry.”

“Oh! You are the clever chemist who was mixed up in the Tangley case?”

“Let us not mention specific things, I beg of you,” Doctor Toke said.

“Pardon me, Doctor Toke. However, I am of the opinion that we understand each other.”

“I fancy so.”

“I am worried a great deal about Ben Stacker. He will hold a grudge against you now, and it will not stop him to inform him that you are a member of the League of Taurus.”

“I shall not worry about that.”

“He has been acting peculiarly lately. I think that he is dissatisfied with the way things are going. He always wants money. I am ashamed to say it—but we scarcely can depend upon him any more. He would betray nothing, of course. But he might refuse to play his part when we need him most.”

“The American branch of the league must be very lax in discipline, my dear young lady,” Doctor Toke said. “In England, I assure you, such a man would be given a talking to promptly. He'd jolly well be told on which side his bread was buttered.”

“Perhaps you are right. We work differently over here, Doctor Toke. Our organization is not so nearly perfect, you see. We work in small groups.”

“A great mistake. I shall have to mention it when I—er—return to England.”

“But we have one great advantage—the police are at sea as far as we are concerned. It is doubtful whether they know that the League of Taurus exists.”

“My word! Are they as silly as all that?” Doctor Toke asked.

“Even in England and on the Continent, I have been given to understand, the authorities merely know that there is some sort of an organization in existence, and do not know that it is called the League of Taurus.”

“You are well acquainted with the history of the league?” Doctor Toke asked.

“Partially. The League of the Bull, to speak plainly, founded some twenty years ago by a Parisian criminal known as 'The Bull.' He is dead now.”

“And his followers have perfected the crude plan he formulated,” Doctor Toke added. “Dear, dear! Think of answering a call for help and running into—er—comrades.”

“I believe that you said your funds are low?”

“I spend as little as possible and be comfortable,” Doctor Toke replied. “But I did not have the time to gather much money before I left, since I was in a—er—rather a bit of a hurry. And I was forced to travel in a roundabout way to dodge certain persistent officers. And traveling takes a deal of money these days. But I am far from being destitute. In another three months or so, I can communicate with—er—certain persons.”

“It is a shame that your talents must go to waste for that length of time,” she said. “I have been watching you since you came to this building. We make a point of watching every new arrival in the immediate neighborhood, of course. I felt convinced at the first that you were a man wanted by the police, though I did not expect to find you a member of the league.”

“I was directed to this place,” Doctor Toke said simply.

“If you feel inclined to do so, why not work with us?” Mary Gibson asked.

“That's a jolly idea. I'd like it.”

“It might be profitable,” she said. “But it is not for me to decide naturally. I am not the leader of this particular group. And we may need you. There is something on the fire now, and we may not be able to depend on Ben Stacker.”

“I'll be glad if I can be of service,” Doctor Toke replied. “I'm glad to get in touch with some comrades of another country. Possibly I may be able to help you out in England some time. I'll have to prove myself first, I take it.”

“Yes. I'll introduce you to the right man as soon as possible. We may have need of a good chemist, you see.”

“Something big, eh?”

“Perhaps you would not call it big, having worked in England and on the Continent, but we think that it is big,” she answered. “It should net us a handsome profit, at least.”

“I'm jolly well glad to hear that,” Doctor Toke told her. “It isn't only the money, though. I like to be active, you understand—hate to grow stale.”

“I quite understand.”

“You have—er—been connected long?”

“For some years,” she replied. “My uncle is the head of our group. His name is Welde.”

“I believe I have heard of him.”

“He will be flattered if you tell him that. But he is a clever man really.”

She sat close to the table once more, and Doctor Toke regarded her carefully. She was about twenty-five years old, he judged, and while not pretty she was attractive in her own peculiar way. She had splendid dark hair, and eyes that flashed. She was of medium size, well formed, and there was a look of refinement about her.

“My dear Miss Gibson, I hope that we are going to be famous friends,” Doctor Toke said. “I regret, of course, that I had a clash with your half brother, Mr. Stacker, but possibly we may be able to put that to rights soon.”

“Don't you trust him, ever,” Mary Gibson warned. “He is mean—and vindictive.”

“Don't fear, my young lady. I shall jolly well keep my eyes peeled. Tish, tush!”

“I shall speak to my uncle about it.”

“Don't go to any trouble. I shall jolly well take care of myself if it is necessary.”

Doctor Toke got up and bowed to her, and started toward the door. Mary Gibson arose and followed him.

“I shall be in my apartment except at meal hours,” he told her. “Should you want me at any time, you have but to call across the court, or signal me if my curtain happens to be raised.”

“I'll arrange everything as soon as possible,” she replied.

Once more Doctor Toke bowed and started to walk toward the hall door. But it was opened suddenly, and another man stepped into the room.

Chapter III

Mr. Welde.

Just inside the door the newcomer stopped as though in astonishment at finding Doctor Toke there. He was a huge man with bushy hair and eyebrows, a florid face, a double chin, broad shoulders, great hands. His eyes were piercing, and there was something about him that seemed to say he was the sort to remove any obstacles in his path, and without taking the trouble to be gentle about it.

In everything he was the contrast of Doctor Toke. He seemed to radiate strength and power and determination. He had a personality, whereas Doctor Toke seemed absolutely colorless until he engaged in conversation.

“This is my uncle, Mr. Welde, Doctor Toke,” Mary Gibson said.

Welde stepped forward and acknowledged the introduction, and then he turned upon Mary Gibson a questioning glance, as though asking why this man was here.

“You are not ill, Mary?” he asked.

“No, uncle. Doctor Toke is a doctor of philosophy, not a doctor of medicine. He lives just across the court. Ben Stacker was here, and he began hurting me, and I called for help before I quite realized what I was doing.”

“And Doctor Toke responded?”

“I was glad to be of service,” Toke put in.

“You clashed with Ben Stacker?”

“He ordered him out of the room,” Mary explained, smiling. “And he started to put him out, too—but Ben Stacker made up his mind to go.”

“Pardon me,” said Welde to Doctor Toke, “but you do not look to be the sort of man who could handle Stacker.”

“Brawn and skill are not always in evidence until the need arises,” Toke said. “Tish, tush!”

“Let me thank you on behalf of my niece,” said Welde. “As for Ben Stacker, I'll have a little conversation with him, and I'll talk sharp and straight to the point. This sort of thing must cease, Mary, at once.”

Welde bowed to Doctor Toke as though to intimate that, as far as he was concerned, Toke was at liberty to leave the apartment. And Doctor Toke started to do so, after bowing in return and saluting Mary Gibson again. But the girl stopped him.

“Here is an interesting fact, uncle,” she said. “Doctor Toke is one of us.”

“One of us?” Welde reiterated.

“Yes. He accidentally mentioned the League of Taurus, and when I gave him the proper sign he responded at once, and correctly. We have been talking since.”

“You are a new one on me, Doctor Toke,” Welde said with suspicion in his voice and manner.

“That is easily explained, uncle,” Mary Gibson said quickly. “Doctor Toke belongs to the English branch, you see. He is—is hiding at present.”

“I had to make my way almost around the confounded old world,” Doctor Toke put in.

“He is a chemist,” Mary told her uncle. “You remember the Tangley case?”

“Oh, I say!” Toke exclaimed.

“Pardon me, Doctor Toke, for mentioning it,” the girl said. “But I must explain to my uncle, you see.”

“The Tangley case!” Welde exclaimed. “That was something big. We never pulled off anything that big over here. And so they are after you?”

“I managed to dodge them more than a month ago,” Doctor Toke replied. “But I must keep under cover for a couple of months longer to be safe.”

“And why should he not work with us?” Mary asked her uncle. “We cannot depend upon Ben Stacker any longer.”

Welde's eyes flashed. “It appears to me that you have been indiscreet, Mary,” he said. “Haven't you learned yet that it is a good thing sometimes to hold your tongue?”

“It is all right, uncle.”

“I'll see about that! Mary, put on your hat and go out for a walk. Take an hour or more. Doctor Toke, you'll oblige me by remaining here and having a little talk with me.”

“Delighted!” Toke replied. “It has been deuced lonesome, I can tell you. I didn't dare make any friends, of course. I've been doing all sorts of reading. Never go out except for meals.”

“Sit down, doctor, and make yourself at home,” Welde said.

He put his hat on the rack, removed his topcoat and put it there also, and watched while Mary Gibson went into an adjoining room and presently returned ready for the street. She smiled impartially upon her uncle and Doctor Toke, and then hurried through the door and closed it after her.

Welde got up and opened the door and watched the girl disappear. Then he closed the door again—and turned the key in the lock. Removing the key, he slipped it into a pocket of his waistcoat.

He turned and approached Doctor Toke, who was sitting beside the table with a smile upon his lips. Doctor Toke had seen that door locked, but it did not seem to bother him a bit.

Welde sat down on the other side of the table. He took an automatic pistol from his coat pocket and held the muzzle of it just above the top of the table, so that it covered Doctor Toke nicely.

“Now, Doctor Toke, I think that we'll have a little explanation from you,” he said.

“All the explanation you wish, Mr. Welde,” Toke responded instantly. He gave the automatic no attention apparently.

“It seems that you have made my niece talk.”

“On the contrary, I feel that I am the one to be censured,” Toke said. “I mentioned the League of Taurus before I was aware that she belonged to it. She already had guessed, it appears, that I was a fugitive.”

“You belong to the League of Taurus, do you?”

“Try me,” said Doctor Toke.

Welde tried him. Doctor Toke answered properly every sign that was put before him, replied properly to many queer questions, spoke of the efforts of the organization in England and on the Continent, and seemed to be thoroughly acquainted with crimes committed recently. But finally Welde gave him a sign that he could not answer.