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diff --git a/29331.txt b/29331.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5a10680 --- /dev/null +++ b/29331.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10743 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Crevice, by William John Burns and Isabel +Ostrander, Illustrated by Will Grefe + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Crevice + + +Author: William John Burns and Isabel Ostrander + + + +Release Date: July 6, 2009 [eBook #29331] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CREVICE*** + + +E-text prepared by Roger Frank, Darleen Dove, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 29331-h.htm or 29331-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29331/29331-h/29331-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29331/29331-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed between equal signs indicates bold face (=bold=). + + A detailed transcriber's note is at the end of the e-book. + + + + + +THE CREVICE + +by + + +WILLIAM J. BURNS and ISABEL OSTRANDER + +Illustrations by Will Grefe + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "I supposed that father was working late over some papers +and I knew that I must not disturb him."] + + + +New York +Grosset & Dunlap +Publishers + +Copyright, 1915, by +W. J. Watt & Company + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I PENNINGTON LAWTON AND THE GRIM REAPER 1 + II REVELATIONS 16 + III HENRY BLAINE TAKES A HAND 29 + IV THE SEARCH 38 + V THE WILL 53 + VI THE FIRST COUNTER-MOVE 66 + VII THE LETTER 78 + VIII GUY MORROW FACES A PROBLEM 98 + IX GONE! 104 + X MARGARET HEFFERMAN'S FAILURE 116 + XI THE CONFIDENCE OF EMILY 134 + XII THE CIPHER 154 + XIII THE EMPTY HOUSE 171 + XIV IN THE OPEN 192 + XV CHECKMATE! 207 + XVI THE LIBRARY CHAIR 224 + XVII THE RESCUE 240 + XVIII THE TRAP 255 + XIX THE UNSEEN LISTENER 272 + XX THE CREVICE 290 + XXI CLEARED SKIES 308 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + PAGE + + "I supposed that father was working late over some + papers and I knew that I must not disturb him." Frontispiece + + With the cunning of a Jimmy Valentine he manipulated + the tumblers. Ramon Hamilton, his discomfiture + forgotten, watched with breathless interest. 94 + + Her head was thrown back, her eyes blazing: and as she + faced him, she slowly raised her arm and pointed a + steady finger at the recoiling figure. 262 + + + + +THE CREVICE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +PENNINGTON LAWTON AND THE GRIM REAPER + + +Had New Illington been part of an empire instead of one of the most +important cities in the greatest republic in the world, the cry "The +King is dead! Long live the King!" might well have resounded through +its streets on that bleak November morning when Pennington Lawton was +found dead, seated quietly in his arm-chair by the hearth in the +library, where so many vast deals of national import had been first +conceived, and the details arranged which had carried them on and on +to brilliant consummation. + +Lawton, the magnate, the supreme power in the financial world of the +whole country, had been suddenly cut down in his prime. + +The news of his passing traveled more quickly than the extras which +rolled damp from the presses could convey it through the avenues and +alleys of the city, whose wealthiest citizen he had been, and through +the highways and byways of the country, which his marvelous mentality +and finesse had so manifestly strengthened in its position as a world +power. + +At the banks and trust companies there were hurriedly-called +directors' meetings, where men sat about long mahogany tables, and +talked constrainedly about the immediate future and the vast changes +which the death of this great man would necessarily bring. In the +political clubs, his passing was discussed with bated breath. + +At the hospitals and charitable institutions which he had so +generously helped to maintain, in the art clubs and museums, in the +Cosmopolitan Opera House--in the founding of which he had been leading +spirit and unfailingly thereafter, its most generous contributor--he +was mourned with a sincerity no less deep because of its admixture of +self-interest. + +In aristocratic drawing-rooms, there were whispers over the tea-cups; +the luck of Ramon Hamilton, the rising young lawyer, whose engagement +to Anita Lawton, daughter and sole heiress of the dead financier, had +just been announced, was remarked upon with the frankness of envy, +left momentarily unguarded by the sudden shock. + +For three days Pennington Lawton lay in simple, but veritable state. +Telegrams poured in from the highest representatives of State, clergy +and finance. Then, while the banks and charitable institutions +momentarily closed their doors, and flags throughout the city were +lowered in respect to the man who had gone, the funeral procession +wound its solemn way from the aristocratic church of St. James, to the +graveyard. The last extras were issued, detailing the service; the +last obituaries printed, the final paeans of praise were sung, and the +world went on its way. + +During the two days thereafter, multitudinous affairs of more +imperative public import were brought to light; a celebrated murder +was committed; a notorious band of criminals was rounded up; a +political boss toppled and fell from his self-made pedestal; a +diplomatic scandal of far-reaching effect was unearthed, and in the +press of passing events, the fact that Lawton had been eliminated from +the scheme of things faded into comparative insignificance, from the +point of view of the general public. + +In the great house on Belleair Avenue, which the man who was gone had +called home, a tall, slender young girl sat listlessly conversing with +a pompous little man, whose clerical garb proclaimed the reason for +his coming. The girl's sable garments pathetically betrayed her youth, +and in her soft eyes was the pained and wounded look of a child face +to face with its first comprehended sorrow. + +The Rev. Dr. Franklin laid an obsequious hand upon her arm. + +"The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of +the Lord." + +Anita Lawton shivered slightly, and raised a trembling, protesting +hand. + +"Please," she said, softly, "I know--I heard you say that at St. +James' two days ago. I try to believe, to think, that in some +inscrutable way, God meant it for the best when he took my father so +ruthlessly from me, with no premonition, no sign of warning. It is +hard, Dr. Franklin. I cannot coordinate my thoughts just yet. You must +give me a little time." + +The minister bent his short body still lower before her. + +"My dear child, do you remember, also, a later prayer in the same +service?"--unconsciously he assumed the full rich, rounded, pulpit +tones, which were habitual with him. "'Lord, Thou hast been our refuge +from one generation to another; before the mountains were brought +forth or ever the earth and world were made--'" + +A low knocking upon the door interrupted him, and the butler +appeared. + +"Mr. Rockamore and Mr. Mallowe," Anita Lawton read aloud from the +cards he presented. "Oh, I can't see them now. Tell them, Wilkes, that +my minister is with me, and they must forgive me for denying myself to +them." + +The butler retired, and the Rev. Dr. Franklin, at the mention of two +of the most prominent and influential men in the city since the death +of Lawton, turned bulging, inquiring eyes upon the girl. + +"My dear child, is it wise for you to refuse to see two of your +father's best friends? You will need their help, their kindness--a +woman alone in the world, no matter how exalted her position, needs +friends. Mr. Mallowe is not one of my parishioners, but I understand +that as president of the Street Railways, he was closely associated +with your dear father in many affairs of finance. Mr. Rockamore I know +to be a man of almost unlimited power in the world in which Mr. Lawton +moved. Should you not see them? Remember that you are under my +protection in every way, of course, but since our Heavenly Father has +seen fit to take unto Himself your dear one, I feel that it would be +advisable for you to place yourself under the temporal guidance of +those whom he trusted, at any rate for the time being." + +"Oh, I feel that they were my father's friends, but not mine. Since +mother and my little sister and brother were lost at sea, so many +years ago, I have learned to depend wholly upon my father, who was +more comrade than parent. Then, as you know, I met Ramon--Mr. +Hamilton, and of course I trust him as implicitly as I must trust you. +But although, on many occasions, I assisted my father to receive his +financial confreres on a social basis, I cannot feel at a time like +this that I care to talk with any except those who are nearest and +dearest to me." + +"But suppose they have come, not wholly to offer you consolation, but +to confer with you upon some business matters upon which it would be +advantageous for you to inform yourself? Your grief and desire for +seclusion are most natural, under the circumstances, but one must +sometimes consider earthly things also." The minister's evidently +eager desire to be present at an interview with the great men and to +place himself on a more familiar footing with them was so obvious that +Anita's gesture of dissent held also something of repugnance. + +"I could not, Dr. Franklin. Perhaps later, when the first shock has +passed, but not yet. You understand that I like them both most +cordially. Those whom father trusted must be men of sterling worth, +but just now I feel as must an animal which has been beaten. I want to +creep off into a dark and silent place until my misery dulls a +little." + +"You have borne up wonderfully well, dear child, under the severe +shock of this tragedy. Mrs. Franklin and I have remarked upon it. You +have exhibited the same self-mastery and strength of character which +made your father the man he was." Dr. Franklin arose from his chair +with a sigh which was not altogether perfunctory. "Think well over +what I have said. Try to realize that your only consolation and +strength in this hour of your deepest sorrow come from on High, and +believe that if you take your poor, crushed heart to the Throne of +Grace it shall be healed. That has been promised us. Think, also, of +what I have just said to you concerning your father's associates, and +when next they call, as they will, of course, do very shortly, try to +receive them with your usual gracious charms, and should they offer +you any advice upon worldly matters, which we must not permit +ourselves to neglect, send for me. I will leave you now. Mrs. +Franklin will call upon you to-morrow. Try to be brave and calm, and +pray for the guidance which will be vouchsafed you, should you ask it, +frankly and freely." + +Anita Lawton gave him her hand and accompanied him in silence to the +door. There, with a few gentle words, she dismissed him, and when the +sound of his measured footsteps had diminished, she closed the door +with a little gasp of half relief, and turned to the window. It had +been an effort to her to see and talk with her spiritual adviser, +whose hypocrisy she had vaguely felt. + +If only Ramon had come--Ramon, whose wife she would be in so short a +time, and who must now be father as well as husband to her. She +glanced at the little French clock on the mantel. He was late--he had +promised to be there at four. As she parted the heavy curtains, the +telephone upon her father's desk, in the corner, shrilled sharply. +When she took the receiver off the hook, the voice of her lover came +to the girl as clearly, tenderly, as if he, himself, stood beside +her. + +"Anita, dear, may I come to you now?" + +"Oh, please do, Ramon; I have been waiting for you. Dr. Franklin +called this afternoon, and while he was here with me Mr. Rockamore and +Mr. Mallowe came, but I could not see them. There is something I feel +I must talk over with you." + +She hung up the receiver with a little sigh, and for the first time in +days a faint suspicion of a smile lightened her face. As she turned +away, however, her eyes fell upon the great leather chair by the +hearth, and her expression changed as she gave an uncontrollable +shudder. It was in that chair her father had been found on that +fateful morning, about a week ago, clad still in the dinner-clothes of +the previous evening, a faint, introspective smile upon his keen, +inscrutable face; his eyes wide, with a politely inquiring stare, as +if he had looked upon things which until then had been withheld from +his vision. She walked over to the chair, and laid her hand where his +head had rested. Then, all at once, the tension within her seemed to +snap and she flung herself within its capacious, wide-reaching arms, +in a torrent of tears--the first she had shed. + +It was thus that Ramon Hamilton found her, on his arrival twenty +minutes later, and without ado, he gathered her up, carried her to the +window-seat, and made her cry out her heart upon his shoulder. + +When she was somewhat quieted he said to her gently, "Dearest, why +will you insist upon coming to this room, of all others, at least +just for a little time? The memories here will only add to your +suffering." + +"I don't know; I can't explain it. That chair there in which poor +father was found has a peculiar, dreadful fascination for me. I have +heard that murderers invariably return sooner or later to the scene of +their crime. May we not also have the same desire to stay close to the +place whence some one we love has departed?" + +"You are morbid, dear. Bring your maid and come to my mother's house +for a little, as she has repeatedly asked you to do. It will make it +so much easier for you." + +"Perhaps it would. Your mother has been so very kind, and yet I feel +that I must remain here, that there is something for me to do." + +"I don't understand. What do you mean, dearest?" + +She turned swiftly and placed her hands upon his broad shoulders. Her +childish eyes were steely with an intensity of purpose hitherto +foreign to them. + +"Ramon, there is something I have not told you or any one; but I feel +that the time has come for me to speak. It is not nervousness, or +imagination; it is a fact which occurred on the night of my father's +death." + +"Why speak of it, Anita?" He took her hands from his shoulders, and +pressed them gently, but with quiet strength. "It is all over now, you +know. We must not dwell too much upon what is past; I shall have to +help you to put it all from your mind--not to forget, but to make your +memories tender and beautiful." + +"But I must speak of it. It will be on my mind day and night until I +have told you. Ramon, you dined with us that night--the night before. +Did my father seem ill to you?" + +"Of course not. I had never known him to be in better health and +spirits." Ramon glanced at her in involuntary surprise. + +"Are you sure?" + +"Why do you ask me that? You know that heart-disease may attack one at +any time without warning." + +Anita sank upon the window-seat again, and leaned forward pensively, +her hands clasped over her knees. + +"You will remember that after you and father had your coffee and +cigars together in the dining-room, you both joined me?" + +"Of course. You were playing the piano, ramblingly, as if your +thoughts were far away, and you seemed nervous, ill at ease. I +wondered about it at the time." + +"It was because of father. To you he appeared in the best of spirits, +as you say, but I, who knew him better than any one else on earth, +realized that he was forcing himself to be genial, to take an interest +in what we were saying. For days he had been overwrought and +depressed. As you know, he has confided in me, absolutely, since I +have been old enough to be a real companion to him. I thought that I +knew all his business affairs--those of the last two or three years at +least--but latterly his manner has puzzled and distressed me. Then, +while you were in the dining-room, the telephone rang twice." + +"Yes; the calls were for your father. When he was summoned to the wire +he immediately had the connection given to him on his private line, +here in the library. After he returned to the dining-room he did seem +slightly absent-minded, now that I think of it; but it did not occur +to me that there could have been any serious trouble. You know, +dearest, ever since the evening when he promised to give you to me, he +has consulted me, also, to a great extent about his financial +interests, and I think if any difficulty had arisen he would have +mentioned it." + +"Still, I am convinced that something was on his mind. I tried to +approach him concerning it, but he was evasive, and put me off, +laughingly. You know that father was not the sort of man whose +confidence could be forced even by those dearest to him. I had been so +worried about him, though, that I had a nervous headache, and after +you left, Ramon, I retired at once. An hour or two later, father had a +visitor--that fact as you know, the coroner elicited from the +servants, but it had, of course, no bearing on his death, since the +caller was Mr. Rockamore. I heard his voice when I opened the door of +my room, after ringing for my maid to get some lavender salts. I could +not sleep, my headache grew worse; and while I was struggling against +it, I heard Mr. Rockamore depart, and my father's voice in the hall, +after the slamming of the front door, telling Wilkes to retire, that +he would need him no more that night. I heard the butler's footsteps +pass down the hall, and then I rose and opened my door again. I don't +know why, but I felt that I wanted to speak to father when he came up +on his way to bed." + +Anita paused, and Ramon, in spite of himself, felt a thrill of puzzled +wonder at her expression, upon which a dawning look, almost of horror, +spread and grew. + +"But he did not come, and after a while I stole to the head of the +stairs and looked down. There was a low light in the hall and a +brighter one from the library, the door of which was ajar. I supposed +that father was working late over some papers, and I knew that I must +not disturb him. I crept back to bed at last, with a sigh, but left my +own door slightly open, so that if I should happen to be awake when he +passed, I might call to him. + +"Presently, however, I dozed off. I don't know how long I slept, but I +awakened to hear voices--angry voices, my father's and another, which +I did not recognize. I got up and by the night-light I saw that the +hands of the little clock on my dresser pointed to nearly three +o'clock. I could not imagine who would call on father so very late at +night, and I feared at first it might be a burglar, but my common +sense assured me that father would not stop to parley with a burglar. +While I stood wondering, father raised his voice slightly, and I +caught one word which he uttered. Ramon, that word sounded to me like +'blackmail!' Why, what is it? Why do you look at me so strangely?" she +added hastily, at his uncontrollable start. + +"I? I am not looking at you strangely, dear; it is not possible that +you could have heard aright. It must have been simply a fancy of +yours, born of the state of your nerves. You could not really have +understood." But Ramon Hamilton looked away from her as he spoke, with +a peculiarly significant gleam in his candid eyes. After a slight +pause he went on: "No one in the world could have attempted to +blackmail your father. He was the soul of honor and integrity, as no +one knows better than you. Why, his opinion was sought on every public +question. You remember hearing of some of the political honors which +he repeatedly refused, but he could, had he wished, have held the +highest office at the disposal of the people. You must have been +mistaken, Anita. There has never been a reason for the word +'blackmail' to cross your father's lips." + +"I know that I was not mistaken, for I heard more--enough to convince +me that I had been right in my surmise! Father was keeping something +from me!" + +"Dear little girl, suppose he had been? Nothing, of course, that could +possibly reflect upon his integrity,--don't misunderstand me--but you +are only twenty, you know. It is not to be expected that you could +quite comprehend the details of all the varied business interests of a +man who had virtually led the finances of his country for more than +twenty years. Perhaps it was a purely business matter." + +"I tell you, Ramon, that that man, whoever he was, actually dared to +threaten father. When I heard that word 'blackmail' in the angriest +tones which I had ever heard my father use, I did something mean, +despicable, which only my culminating anxiety could have induced me to +do. I slipped on my robe and slippers, stole half-way downstairs and +listened deliberately." + +"Anita, you should not have done that! It was not like you to do so. +If your father had wished you to know of this interview, don't you +think he would have told you?" + +"Perhaps he would have, but what opportunity was he given? A few hours +later, he was found dead in that chair over there; the chair in which +he sat while he was talking with his unknown visitor." + +The young man sprang to his feet. "You can't realize what you are +saying; what you are hinting! It is unthinkable! If you let these +morbid fancies prey upon your mind, you will be really ill." His tones +were full of horror. "Your father died of heart-disease. The doctors +and the coroner established that beyond the shadow of a doubt, you +know. Any other supposition is beyond the bounds of possibility." + +"Of heart-disease, yes. But might not the sudden attack have been +brought on by his altercation with this man? His sudden rage, +controlled as it was, at the insults hurled at him?" + +"What insults, Anita? Tell me what you heard when you crept down the +stairs. You know you can trust me, dear--you must trust me." + +"The man was saying: 'Come, Lawton, be sensible; half a loaf is better +than no bread. There is no blackmail about this, even if you choose to +call it so. It is an ordinary business proposition, as you have been +told a hundred times!'" + +"'It's a damnable crooked scheme, as I have told you a hundred times, +and I shall have nothing to do with it! This is final!' Father's tones +rang out clearly and distinctly, quivering with suppressed fury. 'My +hands are clean, my financial operations have been open and +above-board; there is no stain upon my life or character, and I can +look every man in the face and tell him to go where you may go now!' + +"'Oh, is that so!' sneered the other man loudly. Then his voice became +insinuatingly low. 'How about poor Herbert--' His tones were so +indistinct that I could not catch the name. Then he went on more +defiantly, 'His wife--' He didn't finish the sentence, Ramon, for +father groaned suddenly, terribly, as if he were in swift pain; the +man gave a little sneering laugh, and I could hear him moving about in +the library, whistling half under his breath in sheer bravado. I could +not bear to hear any more. I put my hands over my ears and fled back +to my room. What could it mean, Ramon? What is this about father and +some other man and his wife which the stranger dared to insinuate! +reflected upon father's integrity? Why should he have groaned as if +the very mention of these people hurt him inexpressibly?" + +"I don't know, dear." Ramon Hamilton sat with his honest eyes still +turned from her. "You must have been mistaken; perhaps you even +dreamed it all." Anita Lawton gave an impatient gesture. + +"I am not quite the child you think me, Ramon. Could that man have +meant to insinuate that father in his own advancement had trod upon +and ruined some one else, as financiers have always done? Could he +have meant that father had driven this man and his wife to despair? I +cannot bear to think of it. I try to thrust it from my thoughts a +dozen times a day, but that groan from father's lips sounded so much +like one of remorse that hideous ideas come beating in on my brain. +Was my father like other rich men, Ramon? He did not live for money, +although the successful manipulation of it was almost a passion with +him. He lived for me, always for me, and the good that he would be +able to do in this world." + +"Of course he did, darling. No one who knew him could imagine +otherwise for a moment." He hesitated, and then added, "No one else +discovered this man's presence in the house that night? You have told +no one? Not the doctor, or the coroner, or Dr. Franklin?" + +"Oh, no; if I had it would have been necessary for me to have told +what I overheard. Besides, it could have had no direct bearing on +daddy's death; that was caused by heart-disease, as you say. But I +believe, and I always will believe, that that man killed father, as +surely, as inevitably, as if he had stabbed or shot or poisoned him! +Why did he come like a thief in the night? Father's integrity, his +honor, were known to all the world. Why did that reference to this +Herbert and his wife cause him such pain?" + +"I don't know, dear; I have no more idea than you. If you really, +really overheard that conversation, as you seem convinced you did, you +did well in keeping it to yourself. Let that hour remain buried in +your thoughts, as in your father's grave. Only rest assured that +whatever it is, it casts no stain upon your father's good name or his +memory." He rose and gathered her into his arms. "I must go now, +Anita; I'll come again to-morrow. You are quite sure that you will not +accept my mother's invitation? I really think it would be better for +you." + +She looked deeply into his eyes, then drew herself gently from his +clasp. "Not yet. Thank her for me, Ramon, with all my heart, but I +will not leave my father's house just yet, even for a few days. I am +sure that I shall be happier here." He kissed her, and left the room. +She stood where he had left her until she heard the heavy thud of the +front door. Then, turning to the window, she thrust her slim little +hand between the sedately drawn curtains, and waved him a tender +good-by; then with a little sigh, she dropped among the pillows of the +couch, lost in thought. + +"Whatever was meant by that conversation which I overheard," she +murmured to herself, "Ramon knows. I read it in his eyes." + +The young man, as he made his way down the crowded avenue, was turning +over in his mind the extraordinary story which the girl he loved had +told him. + +"What could it mean? Who could the man have been? Surely not Herbert +himself, and yet--oh! why will they not let sleeping dogs lie; why +must that old scandal, that one stain on Pennington Lawton's past have +been brought again to light, and at such a time? I pray God that Anita +never mentions it to anyone else, never learns the truth. By Jove, if +any complications arise from this, there will be only one thing for me +to do. I must call upon the Master Mind." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +REVELATIONS + + +For two days Anita wandered wraithlike about the great darkened house. +The thought that Ramon was keeping something from her--that he and her +dead father together had kept a secret which, for some reason, must +not be revealed to her, weighed upon her spirits. Conjectures as to +the unknown intruder on the night of her father's death, and his +possible purpose, flooded her mind to the exclusion of all else. + +In the dusk of the winter afternoon she was lying on the couch in her +dressing-room, lost in thought, when Ellen, tapping lightly at the +door, interrupted her reverie. + +"The minister, Miss Anita--the Rev. Dr. Franklin--he is in the +drawing-room." + +"Oh!" Anita gave a little movement of dismay. "Tell him that I am +suffering from a very severe headache, and gave orders that I was not +to be disturbed by anyone. He means well, Ellen, of course, but he +always depresses me horribly, lately. I don't feel like talking to him +this afternoon." + +The maid retired, but returned again almost immediately with a +surprised, half-frightened expression on her usually stolid face. + +"Please, Miss Anita, Dr. Franklin says he must see you and at once. He +seems to be excited and he won't take no for an answer." + +"Ramon!" Anita cried, springing from the couch with swift apprehension. +"Something has happened to Ramon, and Dr. Franklin has come to tell me. +He may be injured, dead! Ah, God would not do that; He would not take +him from me, too!" + +"Don't take on so, Miss Anita, dear," the faithful Ellen murmured, as +she deftly smoothed the girl's hair and rearranged her gown; "the +little man acts more as if he had a fine piece of gossip to pass +on--fidgeting about like an old woman, he is. Begging your pardon, +Miss, I know he is the minister, of course, and I ought to show him +more respect, but he forever reminds me of a fat black pigeon." + +The remarks of the privileged old servant fell upon deaf, unheeding +ears. Anita, sobbing softly beneath her breath, flew down to the +drawing-room, where the pompous black-cloaked figure rose at her +entrance. But--was it purely Anita's fancy or had some indefinable +change actually taken place in the manner of her spiritual adviser? +The rather close-set eyes seemed to the girl to gleam somewhat coldly +upon her, and although he took both her hands in his in quick, +fatherly greeting, his hand-clasp appeared all at once to be lacking +in warmth. + +"My poor child, my poor Anita!" he began unctuously, but she +interrupted him. + +"What is it, Dr. Franklin? Has something happened to Ramon?" she asked +swiftly. "Please tell me! Now, without delay! Don't keep me in +suspense. I can tell by your face, your manner, that a new misfortune +has come to me! Does it concern Ramon?" + +"Oh, no; it is not Mr. Hamilton. You need have no fears for him, +Anita. I have come upon a business matter--a matter connected with +your dear father's estate." + +Anita motioned him to a chair. Seating herself opposite, she gazed at +him inquiringly. + +"The settlement of the estate? Oh, the lawyers are attending to that, +I believe." Anita spoke a little coldly. Had Dr. Franklin come already +to inquire about a possible legacy for St. James'? + +She was ashamed of the thought the next moment, when he said gently, +"Yes, but there is something which I must tell you. It has been +requested that I do so. It is a delicate matter to discuss with you, +but surely no one is more fitted to speak to you than I." + +"Certainly, Doctor, I understand." She leaned forward eagerly. + +"My dear, you know the whole country, the whole world at large, has +always considered your father to have been a man of great wealth." + +"Yes. My father's charities alone, as you are aware, unostentatiously +as they were conducted, would have tended to give that impression. +Then his tremendous business interests--" + +"Anita, at the moment of your father's death he was far from being the +King of Finance, which the world judged him to be. It is hard for me +to tell you this, but you must know, and you must try to believe that +your Heavenly Father is sending you this added trial for some sure +purpose of His own. Your father died a poor man, Anita. In fact, a +bankrupt." The girl looked up with an incredulous smile. + +"Dr. Franklin, who could ever have asked you to come to me with such +an incredible assertion? Surely, you must know how preposterous the +very idea is! I do not boast or brag, but it is common knowledge that +my father was the richest man in the city, in this entire part of the +country, in fact. The thought of such a thing is absurd. Who could +have attempted to perpetrate such a senseless hoax, a ridiculous +insult to your intelligence and mine?" + +The minister shook his head slowly. + +"'Common knowledge' is, alas, not always trustworthy. It is only too +true that your father stood on the verge of bankruptcy. His entire +fortune has been swept away." + +"Impossible!" + +Anita started from her chair, impressed in spite of herself. "How +could that be? Who has told you this terrible thing?" + +"The unfortunate news was disclosed to me confidentially by your late +father's truest friends and closest associates. Having your best +interests at heart, they feel that you should know the state of +affairs at once, and came to me as the one best fitted to inform +you." + +"I cannot believe it!" Anita Lawton sank back with white, strained +face. "I cannot believe that it is true. How could such a thing have +happened? They must be mistaken--those who gave you such information. +Father was worth millions, at least. That I know, for he told me much +of his business affairs and up to the last day of his life he was +engaged in tremendous deals of almost national importance." + +"Might he not have become so deeply involved in one of them that he +could not extricate himself, and ruin came?" Dr. Franklin insinuated. +"I know little of finance, of course; and those who wished you to know +gave me none of the details beyond the one paramount fact." + +"I know, of course, who were your informants," Anita said. "No one +except my father's three closest associates had any possible +conception of how much he possessed, even approximately, for he was +always secretive and conservative in his dealings. Only to Mr. +Mallowe, Mr. Rockamore and Mr. Carlis did he ever divulge his plans to +the slightest extent. A bankrupt! My father a bankrupt? The very words +seem meaningless to me. Dr. Franklin, there must be some hideous +mistake." + +"Unfortunately, it is no mistake, my poor child. These gentlemen you +mention, I may admit to you in confidence, were my informants." + +"You say they gave you no details beyond the paramount fact of my +father's ruin? But surely they must have told you something more. I +have a right to know, Dr. Franklin, and I shall not rest until I do. +How did such a catastrophe come to him? There have been no gigantic +failures lately, no panics which could have swept him down. What +terrible mistake could he have made, he whose judgment was almost +infallible?" + +The minister hesitated visibly, and when he spoke at last, it was as +if with a conscious effort he chose his words. + +"I do not think it was any sudden collapse of some project in which he +was engaged, Anita, but a--a general series of misfortunes which +culminated by forcing him, just before his death, to the brink of +bankruptcy. You are a mere child, my dear, and could not be supposed +to understand matters of finance. If you will be guided by me you will +accept the assurance of your friends who truly have your best +interests at heart. Their statements will be confirmed, I know, by the +lawyers who are engaged in settling up the estate of your father. Do +not, I beg of you, inquire too closely into the details of your +father's insolvency." + +Anita rose slowly, her eyes fixed upon the face of the minister, and +with her hands resting upon the chair-back, as if to steady herself, +she asked quietly: + +"Why should I not? What is there which I, his daughter, should not +know? Dr. Franklin, there is something behind all this which you are +trying to conceal from me. I knew my father to be a multi-millionaire. +You come and tell me he was a pauper instead, a bankrupt; and I am not +to ask how this state of affairs came about? You have known me since I +was a little girl--surely you understand me well enough to realize +that I shall not rest under such a condition until the whole truth is +revealed to me!" + +"I am your friend." The resonance in the minister's voice deepened. +"You will believe me when I tell you that it would be best for your +future, for the honor of your father's memory, to place yourself +without question in the hands of your true friends, and to ask no +details which are not voluntarily given you." + +"'Best for my future!'" she repeated, aghast. "'For the honor of my +father's memory.' What do you mean, Dr. Franklin? You have gone too +far not to speak plainly. Do you dare--are you insinuating, that there +was something disgraceful, dishonorable about my father's insolvency? +You have been my spiritual adviser nearly all my life, and when you +tell me that my father was a bankrupt, that the knowledge comes to you +from his best friends and will be corroborated by his attorneys, I am +forced to believe you. But if you attempt to convince me that my +father's honor--his good name--is involved, then I tell you that it is +not true! Either a terrible mistake has been made or a deliberate +conspiracy is on foot--the blackest sort of conspiracy, to defame the +dead!" + +"My dear!" The minister raised his hands in shocked amazement. "You +are beside yourself, you don't know what you are saying! I have +repeated to you only that which was told to me, and in practically the +same words. As to the possibility of a conspiracy, you will realize +the absurdity of such an idea when I deliver to you the message with +which I was charged. Your father's partner in many enterprises, the +Honorable Bertie Rockamore, together with President Mallowe, of the +Street Railways, and Mr. Carlis, the great politician, promised some +little time ago that they would stand in _loco parentis_ toward you +should your natural protector be removed. They desire me to tell you +that you need have no anxiety for the immediate future. You will be +cared for and provided with all that you have been accustomed to, just +as if your father were alive." + +"Indeed? They are most kind--" Anita spoke quietly enough, but with a +curiously dry, controlled note in her voice which reminded the +minister of her father's tones, and for some inexplicable reason he +felt vaguely uncomfortable. "Please say to them that I do sincerely +appreciate their magnanimity, their charity, toward one who has no +right, legal or moral, to claim protection or care from them. But now, +Dr. Franklin, may I beg that you will forgive me if I retire? The news +you have brought me of course has been a terrible shock. I must have +time to collect my thoughts, to realize the sudden, terrible change +this revelation has made in my whole life. I am deeply grateful to +you, to my father's three associates, but I can say no more now." + +"Of course, dear child." Dr. Franklin patted her hand perfunctorily +and arose with ill-concealed relief that the interview was at an end. +He could not understand her attitude of the last few moments and it +troubled him vaguely. She had received the news of her father's +bankruptcy with a girlish horror and incredulousness--which had been +only natural under the circumstances; but when it was borne in upon +her, in as delicate a way as he could convey it, that dishonor was +involved in the matter, she had, after the first outburst, maintained +a stony, ashen self-poise and control that were far from what he had +expected. It was the most disagreeable task he had performed in many a +day and he was heartily glad that it was over. Only his very great +desire to ingratiate himself with these kings of finance, who had +commissioned him to do their bidding, as well as the inclination to be +of real service to his young and orphaned parishioner, had induced him +to undertake the mission. + +"You must rest and have an opportunity to adjust yourself to this new, +unfortunate state of affairs," he continued. "I will call again +to-morrow. If I can be of the slightest service to you, do not +hesitate to let me know. It is a sad trial, but our Heavenly Father +has tempered the wind to the shorn lamb; He has provided you with a +protector in young Mr. Hamilton, and with kind, true friends who will +see that no harm or deprivation comes to you. Try to feel that this +added grief and trouble will, in the end, be for the best." + +The alacrity with which he took his departure was painfully obvious, +but Anita scarcely noticed it. Her mind was busy with the new, hideous +thought, which had assailed her at that first hint of dishonesty on +the part of her father--the thought that she was being made the victim +of a gigantic conspiracy. + +As soon as she found herself alone, she flew to the telephone. "Main, +2785," she demanded.... "Mr. Hamilton, please.... Is that you, +Ramon?... Can you come to me at once? I need your advice and help. +Something has happened--something terrible! No, I cannot tell you over +the 'phone. You will come at once? Yes, good-by, Ramon dear." + +She hung up the receiver and paced the floor restlessly. Almost +inconceivable as it had appeared to her consciousness under the first +shock of the announcement, she might in time have come to accept the +astounding fact of her father's insolvency, but that disgrace, +dishonor, could have attached itself to his name--that he, the model +of uprightness, of integrity could have been guilty of crooked +dealing, of something which must for the honor of his memory be kept +secret from the ears of his fellow-men, she could never bring herself +to believe. Every instinct of her nature revolted, and underlying all +her girlish unsophistication, a native shrewdness, inherited perhaps +from her father, bade her distrust alike the worldly, self-interested +pastor of the Church of St. James and the three so-called friends, +who, although her father's associates, had been his rivals, and who +had offered with such astounding magnanimity to stand by her. + +Why had they offered to help her? Was it really through tenderness and +affection for her father's daughter, or was it to stay her hand and +close her mouth to all queries? + +Why did not Ramon come? Surely he should have been there before this. +What could be detaining him? She tried to be patient, to calm her +seething brain while she waited, but it was no use. Hours passed while +she paced the floor, restlessly, and the dusk settled into the +darkness of early winter. Wilkes came to turn on the lights, but she +refused them--she could think better in the dark. The dinner-hour came +and went and twice Ellen knocked anxiously upon the door, but Anita, +torn with anxiety, would pay no heed. She had telephoned to Ramon's +office, only to find that he had left there immediately upon receiving +her message; to his home--he had not returned. + +Nine o'clock sounded in silvery chimes from the clock upon the mantel; +then ten and eleven and at length, just when she felt that she could +endure no more, the front door-bell rang. A well-known step sounded +upon the stairs, and Ramon entered. + +With a little gasp of joy and relief she flung herself upon him in the +darkness, but at an involuntary groan from him she recoiled. + +"What is it, Ramon? What has happened to you?" + +Without waiting for a reply she switched on the light. + +Ramon stood before her, his face pale, his eyes dark with pain. One +arm was in a sling and the thick hair upon his forehead barely +concealed a long strip of plaster. + +"Nothing really serious, dear. I had a slight accident--run down by a +motor-car, just after leaving the office. My head was cut and I was +rather knocked out, so they took me to a hospital. I would have come +before, but they would not allow me to leave. I knew that you would be +anxious because of my delay in coming, but I feared to add to your +apprehension by telephoning to you from the hospital." + +"But your arm--is it sprained?" + +"Broken. I had a nasty crash--can't imagine how it was that I didn't +see the car coming in time to avoid it. It was a big limousine with +several men inside, all singing and shouting riotously, and the +chauffeur, I think, must have been drunk, for he swerved the car +directly across the road in my path. They never stopped after they +had bowled me over, and no one seemed to know where they went." + +"Then the police did not get their number?" + +"No, but they will, of course. Not that I care, particularly; I'm +lucky to have got off as lightly as I did. I might have been killed." + +"It was a miracle that you were not, Ramon. Do you know what I +believe? I don't think it was any accident, but a deliberate attempt +to assassinate you; to keep you from coming to me." + +"What nonsense, dear! They were a wild, hilarious party, careless and +irresponsible. Such accidents happen every day." + +"I am convinced that it was no accident. Ramon, I feel that I am to be +the victim of a conspiracy; that you are the only human being who +stands in the way of my being absolutely in the power of those who +would defraud me and defame father's name." + +"Anita, what do you mean?" + +"Dr. Franklin called upon me this afternoon; he left just before I +telephoned to you. He told me an astonishing piece of news. Ramon, +would you have considered my father a rich man?" + +"What an absurd question, dear! Of course. One of the richest men in +the whole country, as you know." + +"You say that he consulted you about his business affairs, and that +you knew of no trouble or difficulty which could have caused him +anxiety? His securities in stocks and bonds, his assets were all +sound?" + +"Certainly. What do you mean?" + +"I mean that my father died a pauper! That on the word of Mr. +Rockamore, Mr. Mallowe, Mr. Carlis and Dr. Franklin, he was on the +verge of dishonorable bankruptcy, into which I may not inquire." + +"Good Heavens, they must be mad! I am sure that your father was at the +zenith of his successful career, and as for dishonor, surely, Anita, +no one who knew him could credit that!" + +"Mr. Rockamore and the other two who were so closely associated with +him made a solemn promise to my father shortly before his death, it +seems, that they would care for and provide for me. They sent Dr. +Franklin to me this afternoon to explain the circumstances to me, and +to assure me of their protection. Save for you, they consider me +absolutely in their hands; and when I sent for you, you were almost +killed in the attempt to come to me. Ramon, don't you see, don't you +understand, there is some mystery on foot, some terrible conspiracy? +That unknown visitor, my father's death so soon after, and now this +sudden revelation of his bankruptcy, together with this accident to +you? Ramon, we must have advice and help. I do not believe that my +father was a pauper. I know that he has done nothing dishonorable; I +am convinced that the accident to you was a premeditated attempt at +murder." + +"My God! I can't believe it, Anita; I don't know what to think. If it +turns out that there really is something crooked about it all, and +Rockamore and the others are concerned in it, it will be the biggest +conspiracy that was ever hatched in the world of high finance. You +were right, dear, bless your woman's intuition; we must have help. +This matter must be thoroughly investigated. There is only one man in +America to-day, who is capable of carrying it through, successfully. I +shall send at once for the Master Mind." + +"The Master Mind?" + +"Yes, dear--Henry Blaine, the most eminent detective the English-speaking +world has produced." + +"I have heard of him, of course. I think father knew him, did he +not?" + +"Yes, on one occasion he was of inestimable service to your father. I +will summon him at once." + +Ramon went to the telephone and by good luck found the detective free +for the moment and at his service. + +He returned to the girl. She noticed that he reeled slightly in his +walk; that his lips were white and set with pain. + +"Ramon, you are ill, suffering. That cut on your head and your poor +arm--" + +"It is nothing. I don't mind, Anita darling; it will soon pass. Thank +Heavens, I found Mr. Blaine free. He will get to the truth of this +matter for us even if no one else on earth could. He has brought more +notorious malefactors to justice than any detective of modern times; +fearlessly, he has unearthed political scandals which lay dangerously +close to the highest executives of the land. He cannot be cajoled, +bribed or intimidated; you will be safe in his hands from the +machinations of every scoundrel who ever lived." + +"I have read of some of his marvelous exploits, but; what service was +it that he rendered to my father?" + +"I--I cannot tell you, dearest. It was very long ago, and a matter +which affected your father solely. Perhaps some time you may learn the +truth of it." + +"I may not know! I may not know! Why must I be so hedged in? Why must +everything be kept from me? I feel as if I were living in a maze of +mystery. I must know the truth." + +She wrung her hands hysterically, but he soothed her and they talked +in low tones until Wilkes suddenly appeared in the doorway and +announced: + +"Mr. Henry Blaine!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HENRY BLAINE TAKES A HAND + + +A man stood upon the threshold: a man of medium height, with sandy +hair and mustache slightly tinged with gray. His face was alert and +keenly intelligent. His eyes shrewd, but kindly, the brows sloping +downward toward the nose, with the peculiar look of concentration of +one given to quick decisions and instant, fearless action. + +His eyes traveled quickly from the young girl's face to Ramon +Hamilton, as the latter advanced with outstretched hand. + +"Mr. Blaine, it was fortunate that we found you at liberty and able to +assist us in a matter which is of vital importance to us both. This is +Miss Anita Lawton, daughter of the late Pennington Lawton, who desires +your aid on a most urgent matter." + +"Miss Lawton." Mr. Elaine bowed over her hand. + +When they were seated she said, shyly: "I understand from Ramon--Mr. +Hamilton--that you were at one time of great service to my father. I +trust that you will be able to help me now, for I feel that I am in +the meshes of a conspiracy. You know that my father died suddenly, +almost a week ago." + +"Yes, of course. His death was a great loss to the whole country, Miss +Lawton." + +"Something occurred a few hours before his death, of which even the +coroner is unaware, Mr. Blaine. I told Mr. Hamilton what I knew, but +he advised me to say nothing of it, unless further developments +ensued." + +"And they have ensued?" the detective asked quietly. + +"Yes." + +Anita then detailed to Mr. Blaine the incident of her father's +nocturnal visitor. As she told him the conversation she had overheard, +it seemed to her that the eyes of the detective narrowed slightly, but +no other change of expression betrayed the fact that the incident +might have held a significance in his mind. + +"The voice was entirely strange to you?" he asked. + +"Yes; I have never heard it before, but it made such an impression +upon me that I think I would recognize it instantly whenever or +wherever I might happen to hear it." + +"You caught no glimpse of the man through the half-opened door?" + +"No, I was not far enough downstairs to see into the room." + +"And when you fled, after hearing your father groan, you returned +immediately to your room?" + +"Yes. I closed my door and buried my face deeply in the pillows on my +bed. I did not want to hear or know any more. I was frightened; I did +not know what to think. After a time I must have drifted off into an +uneasy sort of sleep, for I knew nothing more until my maid came to +tell me that Wilkes, the butler, wished to speak to me. My father had +been found dead in his chair. No one in the household seemed to know +of my father's late visitor, for they made no mention of his coming. I +would have told no one, except Ramon, but for the fact that this +afternoon my minister informed me that my father, instead of being the +multi-millionaire we had all supposed him, had in reality died a +bankrupt." + +The detective received this information with inscrutable calm. Only by +a thoughtful pursing of his lips did he give indication that the news +had any visible effect upon him. + +Anita continued, giving him all the details of the minister's visit, +and the magnanimous promise of her father's three associates to stand +in _loco parentis_ toward her. + +It was only when she told of summoning her lover, and the accident +which befell him on his way to her, that that peculiar gleam returned +again to the eyes of Mr. Blaine, and they glanced narrowly at the +young man opposite him. + +"As I told Ramon, I cannot help but feel that it is not true. My +father could not have become a pauper, much less could he, the soul of +honor, have been guilty of anything derogatory to his good name. Until +a few days prior to his death, he had been in his usual excellent +spirits, and surely had there been any financial difficulties in his +path he would have retrenched, in some measure. He made no effort to +do so, however, and in the last few weeks has given even more +generously than usual to the various philanthropic projects in which +he was so interested. Does that look as if he was on the verge of +bankruptcy? He bought me a string of pearls on my birthday, two months +ago, which for their size are considered by experts to be the most +perfectly matched in America. A fortnight ago, he presented me with a +new car. Only three days before his death he spoke of an ancient +chateau in France which he had desired to purchase. Oh, the whole +affair is utterly inexplicable to me!" + +"We will take the matter up at once, Miss Lawton. The main thing that +I must impress upon you for the present is to acquiesce with the +utmost docility and unsuspicion in every proposition made to you by +the three men, Carlis, Mallowe and Rockamore; in other words, place +yourself absolutely in their hands, but keep me informed of every move +they make. You understand that the most important factor in this case +is to keep them absolutely unsuspecting of your distrust, or that you +have called me to your assistance. I must not be seen coming here or +to Mr. Hamilton's office, nor must you come to mine. I will have a +private wire installed for you to-morrow morning, by means of which +you can communicate with me, or one of my operatives, at any hour of +the day or night, in the presence of anyone. This telephone will +connect only with my office, but the number will be, supposedly, that +of your dressmaker, and if you require aid, advice, or the presence of +one of my operatives, you have merely to call up the number and say: +'Is my gown ready? If it is, please send it around immediately.' Let +me know through this medium whatever occurs, and take absolutely no +one into your confidence." + +"I understand, Mr. Blaine; and I will try to follow your instructions +to the letter. Oh, by the way, there is something I wish to tell you, +which no one, not even Mr. Hamilton, knows, much less my father's +friends, or my minister. Four years ago, my father financed a +philanthropic venture of mine, the Anita Lawton Club for Working +Girls. It is not a purely charitable institution, but a home club, +where worthy young women could live by paying a nominal sum--merely to +preserve their self-respect--and be aided in obtaining positions. +Stenographers, telephone and telegraph operators, clerks, all find +homes there. No one knew, however, that under my management, the club +grew in less than a year not only to have paid for itself, but to have +yielded a small income, over and above expenses. I did not tell my +father--I don't know why, perhaps it was because I inherited a little +of his business acumen, but I manipulated the net income in various +minor undertakings, even in time buying small plots of unimproved +real-estate, meaning after a year or two more to surprise my father +with the result of my venture, but his death intervened before I could +tell him about it." + +"Your father's associates, then, believe you to be without funds or +private income of your own?" the detective asked. + +"Yes, Mr. Blaine. And whatever money is necessary for the investigation, +will, of course, be forthcoming from this source." + +"Let me strongly advise you to make no mention of it to anyone +else; let these men believe you to be utterly within their power +financially. And now, Miss Lawton, I will leave you, for I have work +to do." The detective rose. "The private wire will be installed +to-morrow morning. Remember to be absolutely unsuspicious, to appear +deeply grateful for the kindness offered you; receive these men +and your spiritual adviser whenever they call, and above all, keep me +informed of everything that occurs, no matter how insignificant or +irrelevant it may seem to you to be. Keep me advised on even the +smallest details--anything, everything concerning you and them." + +Thus it was, that when two days later, President Mallowe of the +Street Railways, called upon his new ward, she received him with +downcast eyes, and a charmingly deferential manner. His long-nosed, +heavy-jowled face, with the bristling gray side-whiskers, flushed +darkly when she placed her trembling little hand in his and shyly +voiced her gratitude for his great kindness to her. + +"My dear young lady, this has been a most sad and unfortunate affair, +but I have come to assure you again of the sentiments of myself and my +associates toward you. We come, your self-appointed guardians; we will +see that no financial worriments shall come to you. Remember, my dear, +that I have three married daughters of my own, and I could not permit +the child of my old friend to want for anything. You may remain on +here in this house, which has been your home, indefinitely, and it +will be maintained for you in the manner to which you have always been +accustomed." + +"Remain here in my home?" Anita stammered. "Why it--it is my home, +isn't it?" + +"You must consider it as such. I do not like to tell you this, but it +is necessary that you should know. I hold a mortgage of eighty +thousand dollars on the house, but I have never recorded it, because +of my friendship and close affiliation with your father. I shall not +have it recorded now, of course, but there is a slight condition, +purely a matter of business, which in view of the fact that through +your coming marriage you will have a home of your own, Mr. Rockamore, +Mr. Carlis and myself, feel that we should agree upon. Your father has +a shadowy interest in some old bonds which have for years been +unremunerative. Should they prove of ultimate value, we feel that they +should be transferred to us as our reimbursement for the present large +sum which we shall lay out for you." + +"Of course, Mr. Mallowe. That would only be just. I am glad that I may +perhaps have an opportunity to repay some of the kindness which in +your great-hearted charity, you are now bestowing upon me. I will see +that my father's attorneys attend to the matter, as soon as possible. +It may be some little time before the estate is settled, as of course +it must be horribly complicated and involved, but I will bring this to +their immediate attention." + +"You are a very brave young woman, Miss Lawton, and I am glad that you +are taking such a clear-sighted view of this double catastrophe which +has come upon you. Ah, I had almost forgotten; here is a duplicate of +the mortgage which I hold upon this house, which your father made out +to me some months ago." + +Anita scarcely glanced at it, but laid it quietly by upon the table, +as though it were of small interest to her. + +"Mr. Mallowe, although I understand that Mr. Rockamore, being a +promoter, was more closely associated with my father in various +projects than you, I believe that he always considered you his best +friend. Can you tell me what it was which brought my father's affairs +to such a pass as this?" + +"Dear young lady, do not ask me. It is a painful subject to discuss, +and as you are a mere child, you cannot be supposed to understand the +financial manoeuvres of a man of your father's passion for gigantic +operations. Years of success had possibly made him overconfident; and +then you know, we are none of us infallible; we are liable to make +mistakes, at one time or another. Your father interested himself +daringly in many schemes which we more conservative ones would have +hesitated to enter; indeed, we not only hesitated, but repeatedly +declined when your father placed the propositions before us. As you +know, unfortunately, he was a man who would have resented any attempt +at advice, and although for a long time we have seen his approaching +financial downfall, and have helped him in every way we could to avert +it, he would not relinquish his plans while there was yet time. Do not +ask me to go into any further details. It is really most distressing. +Your father's attorneys will understand the matter fully when the +estate is finally settled." + +"I cannot understand it," Anita murmured. "I thought my father's +judgment almost infallible. However, Mr. Mallowe, I cannot express my +gratitude to you and my father's other associates for your great +kindness toward me. Believe me, I am deeply affected by it. I shall +never forget what you have done." + +"Do not speak of it, dear Miss Lawton. I only wish for your sake that +your poor father had heeded poorer heads than his, but it is too late +to speak of that now. We will do all in our power to aid you, rest +assured of that. Should you require anything, you have only to call +upon Mr. Rockamore, Mr. Carlis or myself." + +When he had bowed himself out, Anita flew to the table, seized the +duplicate of the mortgage which he had given her, and slipped it +between the pages of a book lying there. Then she went directly to her +dressing-room where on a little stand near her bed reposed a telephone +instrument which had not been there three days previously. + +"Grosvenor 0760," she demanded, and when a voice replied to her at the +other end of the wire, she asked querulously, "Is not my new gown +ready yet? If it is, will you kindly send it over at once? I have also +found your last quarterly bill, and I think there is something wrong +with it. I will send it back by the messenger, who brings my gown. +Thank you; good-by." + +She took an envelope from the desk and returning to the drawing-room +slipped the duplicate mortgage within it and sealed it carefully. + +When, a few minutes later, a tall, dark, stolid-faced young man +appeared, with a large dressmaker's box, she placed the envelope in +his hand. + +"For Mr. Blaine," she whispered. "See that it reaches him immediately." + +A half hour afterward, Ramon Hamilton went to the telephone in his +office, and heard the detective's voice over the wire. + +"Mr. Hamilton, have you among the letters and documents at your office +the signature of the person we were discussing the other day?" + +"Why, yes, I think so. I will look and see. If I have do you wish me +to send it around to you?" + +"No, thank you. A messenger boy will call for it in a few minutes." + +Wondering, Ramon Hamilton shuffled hastily through the paper in the +pigeon-holes of his desk until he came to a letter from Pennington +Lawton. He carefully tore off the signature, and when the messenger +boy appeared, gave it to him. He would not have been so puzzled, had +he seen the great Henry Blaine, when a few minutes had elapsed, seated +before the desk in his office, comparing the signature of the torn +slip which he had sent with that affixed to the duplicate mortgage. + +A long, close, breathless scrutiny, with the most powerful magnifying +glasses, and the detective jumped to his feet. + +"That's no signature of Pennington Lawton," he exulted to himself. "I +thought I knew that fine hand, perfectly as the forgery has been done. +That's the work of James Brunell, by the Lord!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE SEARCH + + +Henry Blaine, the man of decision, wasted no time in vain thought. +Instantly, upon his discovery that the signature of Pennington Lawton +had been forged, and that it had been done by an old and well-known +offender, he touched the bell on his desk, which brought his +confidential secretary. + +"Has Guy Morrow returned yet from that blackmail case in Denver?" + +"Yes, sir. He's in his private office now, making out his report to +you." + +A moment later, there entered a tall, dark young man, strong and +muscular in build, but not apparently heavy, with a smooth face and +firm-set jaw. + +"I haven't finished my report yet, sir--" + +"The report can wait. You remember James Brunell, the forger?" + +"James Brunell?" Morrow repeated. "He was before my time, of course, +but I've heard of him and his exploits. Pretty slick article, wasn't +he! I understand he has been dead for years--at least nothing has been +heard of his activities since I have been in the sleuth game." + +"Did you ever hear of any of his associates?" + +"I can't say that I have, sir, except Crimmins and Dolan; Crimmins +died in San Quentin before his time was up; Dolan after his release +went to Japan." + +"I want to find Brunell. His closest associate was Walter Pennold. I +think Pennold is living somewhere in Brooklyn, and through him you may +be able to locate Brunell--" + +Morrow shrugged his shoulders. + +"A retired crook in the suburbs. That's going to take time." + +"Not the way we'll work it. Listen." + +The next morning, a tall, dark young man, strong and muscular in +build, with a smooth face and firm-set jaw, appeared at the Bank of +Brooklyn & Queens, and was immediately installed as a clerk, after a +private interview with the vice-president. + +His fellow clerks looked at him askance at first, for they knew there +had been no vacancy, and there was a long waiting list ahead of him, +but the young man bore himself with such a quiet, modest air of +_camaraderie_ about him that by the noon hour they had quite accepted +him as one of themselves. + +During the morning a package came to the bank and a letter which read +in part: + + ... I am returning these securities to you in the hope that + you may be able to place them in the possession of Jimmy + Brunell. They belong to him, and my conscience is responsible + for their return. I don't know where to find him. I do know + that at one time he did some banking at the Brooklyn & Queens + Institution. If he does not do so now, kindly hold these + securities for Jimmy Brunell until called for, and in the + meantime see Walter Pennold of Brooklyn. + +With the package and letter came a request from Henry Blaine which +those in power at the Brooklyn & Queens Bank were only too glad to +accede to, in order to ingratiate themselves with the great +investigator. + +In accordance with this request, therefore, the affair was made known +by the bank-officials to the clerks as a matter of long standing +which had only just been rediscovered in an old vault, and the +subordinates discussed it among themselves with the gusto of those +whose lives were bounded by gilt cages, and circumscribed by rules of +silence. It was not unusual, therefore, that the new clerk, Alfred +Hicks, should have heard of it, but it was unusual that he should find +it expedient to make a detour on his way to work the next morning +which would take him to the gate of Walter Pennold's modest home. +Perhaps the fact that Alfred Hicks' real name was Guy Morrow and that +a letter received early that morning from Henry Blaine's office, +giving Pennold's address and a single line of instruction may have had +much to do with his matutinal visit. + +Be that as it may, Morrow, the dapper young bank-clerk, found in the +Pennold household a grizzled, middle-aged man, with shifty, +suspicious eyes and a moist hand-clasp; behind him appeared a +shrewish, thin-haired wife who eyed the intruder from the first +with ill-concealed animosity. + +He smiled--that frank, winning smile which had helped to land more men +behind the bars than the astuteness of many of his seniors--and said: +"I'm a clerk in the Brooklyn & Queens Bank, Mr. Pennold, and we have a +box of securities there evidently belonging to one Jimmy Brunell. No +one knows anything about it and no note came with it except a line +which read: 'Hold for Jim Brunell. See Walter Pennold of Brooklyn.' +Now you're the only Walter Pennold who banks with the B. & Q. and I +thought you might like to know about it. There are over two hundred +thousand dollars in securities and they have evidently been left there +by somebody as conscience-money. You can go to the bank and see the +people about it, of course. In fact, I understand they are going to +write you a letter concerning it, but I thought you might like to know +of it in advance. In case this Mr. Brunell is alive, they will pay him +the money on demand, or if dead, to his heirs after him." + +The middle-aged man with the shifty eyes spat cautiously, and then, +rubbing his stubby chin with a hairy, freckled hand, observed: + +"Well, young man, I'm Pennold, all right. I do some business with the +Brooklyn & Queens people--small business, of course, for we poor +honest folk haven't the money to put in finance that the big +stock-holders have. I don't know where you can find this man Brunell, +haven't heard of him in years, but I understand he went wrong. Ain't +that so, Mame?" + +The hatchet-faced woman nodded her head in slow and non-committal +thought. + +Pennold edged a little nearer his unknown guest and asked in a tone of +would-be heartiness. "And what might your name be? You're a +bright-looking feller to be a bank-clerk--not the stolid, plodding +kind." + +Morrow chuckled again. + +"My name is Hicks. I live at 46 Jefferson Place. It's only a little +way from here, you know." He swung his lunch-box nonchalantly. "Of +course, bank-clerking don't get you anywhere, but it's steady, such as +it is, and I go out with the boys a lot." He added confidentially: +"The ponies are still running, you know, even if the betting-ring is +closed--and there are other ways--" He paused significantly. + +"I see, a sport, eh?" Pennold darted a quick glance at his wife. +"Well, don't let it get the best of you, young feller. Remember what I +told you about Jimmy Brunell--at least, what the report of him was. If +I hear anything of where he is, I'll let the bank know." + +"I'll be getting on; I'm late now--" Morrow paused on the bottom step +of the little porch and turned. "See you again, Mr. Pennold, and your +wife, if you'll let me. I pass by here often--I've been boarding with +Mrs. Lindsay, on Jefferson Place, for some time now. By the way, have +you seen the sporting page of the _Gazette_ this morning? Al Goetz +edits it, you know, and he gives you the straight dope. There'll be +nothing to that fight they're pulling off Saturday night at the Zucker +Athletic Club--Hennessey'll put it all over Schnabel in the first +round. Good-by! If you hear anything of this Brunell, be sure you let +me or the bank know!" + +For a long moment after his buoyant stride had carried him out of +sight around the corner, Walter Pennold and his wife sat in thoughtful +silence. Then the woman spoke. + +"What d'ye think of it all, Wally?" + +"Dunno." The gentleman addressed drew from his pocket a blackened, +odoriferous pipe and sucked upon it. "Must be some lay, of course. +I'll go up to the bank and find out what I can, but I don't think that +young feller, Hicks, is in on it. I've been in the game for forty +years, and if I'm a judge, he's no 'tec. Fool kid spendin' more'n he +earns and out for what coin he can grab. I'll look up that landlady of +his, too, Mame; and if he's on the level there, and at the bank--" + +"And if those securities are at the bank, he ought to be willin' to +come in with us on a share," the wife supplemented shrewdly. "But it +seems like some kind of a gag to me. You knew all Jimmy Brunell's jobs +till he got religion or somethin', and turned honest--I can't think of +any old crook who'd turn over that money to him, two hundred thousand +cold, because his conscience hurt him, can you? You know, too, how +decent and respectable Jimmy's been livin' all these years, putting up +a front for the sake of that daughter of his; suppose this was a +put-up game to catch him--what do the bulls want him for?" + +"I ain't no mind-reader. I'll look up this business of securities, and +then if the young feller's talked straight, we'll try to work it +through him, if we can get to him, and I guess we can, so long as I +ain't lost the gift of the gab in twenty years. We'll be as good, +sorrowing heirs as ever Jimmy Brunell could find anywheres." + +Before Walter Pennold could reach the bank, however, an unimpeachably +official letter arrived from that institution, confirming the news +imparted by the bank-clerk concerning the securities left for James +Brunell. Pennold, going to the bank ostensibly to assure those in +authority there of his cordial willingness to assist in the search for +the heir, incidentally assured himself of Alfred Hicks' seemingly +legitimate occupation. A later visit to Mrs. Lindsay of 46 Jefferson +Place convinced him that the young man had lived there for some months +and was as generous, open-handed, easy-going a boarder as that +excellent woman had ever taken into her house. Just what price was +paid by Henry Blaine to Mrs. Lindsay for that statement is immaterial +to this narrative, but it suffices that Walter Pennold returned to the +sharp-tongued wife of his bosom with only one obstacle in his thoughts +between himself and a goodly share of the coveted two hundred thousand +dollars. + +That obstacle was an extremely healthy fear of Jimmy Brunell. It was +true that there had been no connection between them in years, but he +remembered Jimmy's attitude toward the "snitcher," as well as toward +the man who "held out" on his pals; and behind his cupidity was a +lurking caution which was made manifest when he walked into the +kitchen and found Mrs. Pennold with her shriveled arms immersed in the +washtub. + +"Say, Mame, the young feller, Hicks, is all right, and so is the bank; +but how about Jimmy himself? If I can fix the young feller, and we can +pull it off with the bank, that's all well and good. But s'pose Jimmy +should hear of it? Know what would happen to us, don't you?" + +"If he ain't heard of them securities all this time they've been lyin' +forgotten in the bank, it's safe he won't hear of 'em now unless you +tell him," retorted his shrewder half, dryly. "Of course, if he's +lived straight, as he has for near twenty years as far as we know, and +he finds it out, he'll grab everything for himself. Why shouldn't he? +But s'pose the bulls are after him for somethin', and the bank's +hood-winked as well as us, where are we if we mix up in this? Tell me +that!" + +"There's another side of it, too, Mame." + +Pennold walked to the window, and regarded the sordid lines of washed +clothes contemplatively. "What if Jimmy has been up to somethin' on +the quiet, that the bulls ain't on to, and this bunch of securities is +on the level? If I went to him on the square, and offered him a +percentage to play dead, wouldn't he be ready and willin' to divide?" + +"Of course he would; he's no fool," returned Mrs. Pennold shortly. +"But let me tell you, Wally, I don't like the look of that 'See Walter +Pennold of Brooklyn,' on the note in the bank. S'pose they was trying +to trace him through us?" + +"You're talkin' like a blame' fool, Mame. Them securities has been +there for years, forgotten. Everybody knows that me and Brunell was +pals in the old days, but no one's got nothin' on us now, and he give +up the game years ago." + +"How d'you know he did?" persisted his wife doggedly. "That's what you +better find out, but you've gotter be careful about it, in case this +whole thing should be a plant." + +"You don't have to tell me!" Pennold grumbled. "I'll write him first +and then wait a few days, and if anyone's tailing me in the meantime, +they'll have a run for their money." + +"Write him!" + +"Of course. You may have forgotten the old cipher, but I haven't. You +know yourself we invented it, Jimmy and me, and the police tried their +level best to get on to it, but failed." + +"You can't address it in cipher, and if you're tailed you won't get a +chance to mail it, Wally. Better wait and try to see him without +writing." + +For answer Pennold opened a drawer in the table, drew forth a grimy +sheet of paper and an envelope, and bent laboriously to his task. It +was long past dusk when he had finished, and tossed the paper across +the table for his wife's perusal. This is what she saw: + +[Illustration: An image of a coded message is shown here in the text.] + +When she had gazed long at the characters, she shook her head at him, +and a slow smile came over her face. + +"You've forgotten a little yourself, Wally. You made a mistake in the +_k_." + +He glanced half-incredulously at it, and then laid his huge, rough +hand on her thin hair in the first caress he had given her in years. + +"By God, old girl, you're a smart one! You're right. Now listen. +You've got to do the rest for me, the hardest part. Mail it." + +"How? If we're tailed--" + +"There'll be only one on the job, if we are, and I'll keep him busy +to-morrow morning. You go to the market as usual, then go into that +big department store, Ahearn & McManus'. There's a mail chute there, +next the notion counter on the ground floor. Buy a spool of thread or +somethin', and while you're waitin' for change, drop the letter in the +box. You used to be pretty slick in department stores, Mame--" + +"Smoothest shoplifter in New York until I got palsy!" she interrupted +proudly, an unaccustomed glow on her sallow face. "I'll do it, Wally; +I know I can!" + +The next morning Alfred Hicks was a little late in getting to his work +at the bank--so late, in fact, that he had only time to wave a cordial +greeting to his new friends in their cages as he passed. He paused, +however, that evening, with a pot of flowering bloom for Mrs. +Pennold's dingy, not over-clean window-sill, and a packet of tobacco +which he shared generously with his host. He talked much, with the +garrulous self-confidence of youth, but did not mention the matter of +the securities, and left the crafty couple completely disarmed. + +Neither on entering nor leaving did Hicks appear to notice a short, +swarthy figure loitering in the shadow of a dejected-looking ailanthus +tree near the corner. It would have appeared curious, therefore, that +the lurking figure followed the bank-clerk almost to his lodgings, had +it not been for the fact that just before Jefferson Place was reached +the figure sidled up to Hicks' side and whispered: + +"No news yet, Morrow. Pennold went this morning to old Loui the +Grabber and tried to borrow money from him, but didn't get it. I heard +the whole talk. Then he went to Tanbark Pete's and got a ten-spot. +After that, he divided his time between two saloons, where he played +dominoes and pinochle, and his own house. I've got to report to H. B. +when I'm sure the subject is safe for the night. Have you found +anything yet?" + +"Only that I've got him on the run. If he knows where our man is, +Suraci, he'll go after him in a day or two. Meantime, tell H. B., in +case I don't get a chance to let him know, that the securities stunt +went, all right, and my end of it is O. K." + +The next day, and the following, Pennold did indeed set for the young +Italian detective a swift pace. He departed upon long rambles, which +started briskly and ended aimlessly; he called upon harmless and +tedious acquaintances, from Jamaica to Fordham; he went--apparently +and ostentatiously to look for a position as janitor--to many +office-buildings in lower Manhattan, which he invariably entered and +left by different doors. In the evenings he sat blandly upon his own +stoop, smoking and chatting amiably if monosyllabically with his wife +and their new-found friend, Alfred Hicks, while his indefatigable +shadow glowered apparently unnoticed from the gloom of the ailanthus +tree. + +On Thursday morning, however, Pennold betook himself leisurely to the +nearest subway station, and there the real trial of strength between +him and his unseen antagonist began. From the Brooklyn Bridge station +he rode to the Grand Central; then with a speed which belied his +physical appearance, he raced across the bridge to the downtown +platform, and caught a train for Fourteenth Street. There he swiftly +turned north to Seventy-second Street--then to the Grand Central, +again to Ninety-sixth, and so on, doubling from station to station +until finally he felt that he must be entirely secure from pursuit. + +He alighted at length at a station far up in the Bronx, and after +looking carefully about he started off toward the west, where the +mushroom growth of the new city sprang up in rows of rococo brick and +stone houses with oases of green fields and open lots between. He +turned up a little lane of tiny frame houses, each set in its trim +garden, and stopped at the fourth cottage. + +With a last furtive backward glance, Pennold mounted the steps and +rang the bell nervously. The door was opened from within so suddenly +that it seemed as if the man who faced his visitor on the threshold +must have been awaiting the summons. He stepped quickly out, shutting +the door behind him, and for a short space the two stood talking in +low tones--Pennold eagerly, insistently, the other man evasively, +slowly, as if choosing his words with care. He was as erect as Pennold +was shambling and stoop-shouldered, and although gray and lined of +features, his eyes were clear and more steady, his chin more firm, his +whole bearing more elastic and forceful. + +He did not invite his visitor to enter, and the colloquy between them +was brief. It was significant that they did not shake hands, but +parted with a brief though not unfriendly nod. The tall man turned and +re-entered his house, closing the door again behind him, while +Pennold scuttled away, without a farewell glance. It might have been +well had he looked once more over his shoulder, for there, crouching +against the veranda rail where he had managed to overhear the last of +the conversation, was that short, swarthy figure which had followed so +indefatigably on his trail for three days--which had clung to him, +closely but unseen, through all his devious journey of that morning. +Suraci had not failed. + +He tailed Pennold to his home, then went in person with his report to +the great Blaine himself, who heard him through in silence, and then +brought his mighty fist down upon his desk with a blow which made the +massive bronze ink-well quiver. + +"That's our man! You've got him, Suraci. Good work! Now wait a little; +I want you to take some instructions yourself over to Morrow." + +The next day the Pennolds missed the cheery greeting of their new +friend, the bank-clerk. Since the acquaintanceship had been so +recently formed, it was odd that they should have been as deeply +concerned over his defection as they were. They said little that +evening, but when his absence continued the second day, Pennold +himself ambled down to the Brooklyn & Queens Bank and reluctantly +deposited twenty dollars, merely for the pleasure of a chat with young +Hicks. The latter's cheery face failed to greet him, however, within +its portals, and a craftily worded inquiry merely elicited the +information that he was no longer connected with that institution. + +"What do you make of it, Mame?" he asked anxiously of his wife when he +reached home. His step was more shambling than ever, and his hands, +clutching his hat-brim, trembled more than her gnarled, palsied ones. + +"I'll tell you what I think when I've been around to Mrs. Lindsay's +this afternoon--to 46 Jefferson Place." + +"What're you goin' to do there? You can't ask for him, very well," +objected her spouse. + +"Do?" she retorted tartly. "What would I do in a boarding-house? Look +for rooms for us, of course, and inquire about the other lodgers to be +sure it's respectable for a decent, middle-aged, married couple. Do +you think I'm goin' lookin' for a long-lost son? The life must be +gettin' you at last, Wally! Your head ain't what it used to be." + +But Mrs. Pennold's vaunted astuteness gained her little knowledge +which could be of value to her in their late acquaintance. Mrs. +Lindsay was a beetle-browed, enormously stout old lady, with a stern +eye and commanding presence, who looked as if in her younger days she +might well have been a police-matron--as indeed she had been. She had +two double rooms and a single hall bedroom to show for inspection, and +she waxed surprisingly voluble concerning the vacancy of the latter, +at the first tentative mention of her other lodgers, by her visitor. + +"As nice a young man as ever you'd wish to see, ma'am. I don't have +none but the most refined people in my house. Lived with me a year and +a half, Mr. Hicks did, except for his vacation--regular as clockwork +in his bills, and free and open-handed with his tips to Delia. Of +course, he wasn't just what you might call steady in his goings-out +and comings-in, but there never was nothin' objectionable in his +habits. You know what young men is! He had a fine position in a bank +here in Brooklyn, but I don't think the company he kep' was all that +it might have been. Kind of flashy and sporty, his friends was, and I +guess that's what got him into trouble. For trouble he was in, ma'am, +when he paid me yesterday in full even to the shavin' mug which I'd +bought for his dresser, and meant him to keep for a present--and +picked up bag and baggage and left. I always did think Friday was an +unlucky day! He stood in the vestibule and shook both my hands, and +there wasn't a dry eye in his head or mine! + +"'Mis' Lindsay!' he says to me, just like I'm tellin' it to you. 'Mis' +Lindsay, I can't stay here no longer. I wisht to heavings I could, for +you've given me a real home,' he says, 'but I'm not at the bank no +more, and I'm going away. I'm in trouble!' he says. 'I needn't tell +you where I'm goin' for I ain't got a friend who'll ask after me or +care, but I just want to thank you for all your kindness to me, an' to +ask you to accept this present, and give this dollar-bill to Delia, +when she comes in from the fish-store.' + +"This is what he give me as a present, ma'am!" Mrs. Lindsay pointed +dramatically to a German silver brooch set with a doubtful garnet, at +her throat. "And I was so broke up over it all, that I forgot and give +Delia the whole dollar, instead of just a quarter, like I should've +done. I s'pose I'd ought to write to his folks, but I don't know where +they are. He comes from up-State somewheres, and I never was one to +pry in a boarder's letters or bureau-drawers. I'm just worried sick +about it all!" + +Mrs. Lindsay would have made a superb actress. + +When the interview was at an end and Mrs. Pennold had rejoined her +husband, they discussed the disappearance of Alfred Hicks from every +standpoint and came finally to the conclusion that the young +bank-clerk's sporting proclivities had brought him to ruin. + +Meanwhile, in a modest cottage in Meadow Lane, in the Bronx, a small +card reading "Room to Let" had been removed from the bay window, and +just behind its curtains a young man sat, his eyes fastened upon the +house across the way--the fourth from the end of the line. He was a +tall, dark young man with a smooth face and firm-set jaw, and his new +land-lady knew him as Guy Morrow. + +All at once, as he sat watching, the door of the cottage opened, and a +girl came out. There was nothing remarkable about her; she was quite a +common type of girl: slender, not too tall, with a wealth of red-brown +hair and soft hazel eyes; yet there was something about her which made +Guy Morrow catch his breath; and throwing caution to the winds, he +parted the curtains and leaned forward, looking down upon her. As she +reached the gate, his gaze drew hers, and she lifted her gentle eyes +and looked into his. + +Then her lids drooped swiftly; a faint flush tinged her delicate face, +and with lowered head she walked quickly on. + +Guy Morrow sank back in his chair, and after the warm glow which had +surged up so suddenly within him, a chill crept about his heart. What +could that slender, brown-haired, clear-eyed girl be to the man he had +been sent to spy upon--to Jimmy Brunell, the forger? + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WILL + + +Henry Blaine sat in his office, leisurely turning over the pages of a +morning newspaper; his attitude was one of apparent idleness, but the +occasional swift glances he darted at the clock and a slight lifting +of his eyebrows at the least sound from without betokened the fact +that he was waiting for some one or something. + +His eyes scanned the columns of each page with seeming carelessness, +yet their keen glances missed not one significant phrase. And suddenly +his gaze was transfixed by a paragraph tucked away in a corner of the +second page. + +It was merely an account of trouble between capital and labor in a +distant manufacturing city, and a hint of an organized strike which +threatened for the immediate future. The great detective was not at +all a politician, and the social and economic conditions of the day +held no greater import for him than for any other conscientious, +far-seeing citizen of the country, yet he sat for a long moment with +wrinkled brow and pursed lips, musing, while the newspaper dropped +unheeded upon the desk. + +His reverie was suddenly interrupted by the sharp, insistent tinkling +of the telephone; a clear, girlish voice came to him over the wire: + +"Is this Grosvenor 0760? This is Miss Lawton speaking. An alteration +must be made at once in that last gown you sent me, and it is +imperative that I see you in person concerning it. It will be +inconvenient for me to have you come here this morning. Where shall I +see you? At your establishment or--" + +She paused suggestively, and he replied with a hurried question. + +"It is absolutely necessary, Miss Lawton, that you see me in person? +You are quite sure?" + +"Absolutely." Her voice held a ring of earnestness and something more +which caused him to jump to a lightning-like decision. + +"Very well. I will meet you in twenty minutes at your Working Girls' +Club. I am an architect, remember, and you wish to build a new and +more improved institution of the same order on another site. +Therefore, you have met me there to show me over the old building and +suggest changes in its plans for the new one. You understand, Miss +Lawton? My name is Banks, remember, and--be a few minutes late." + +"I understand perfectly. Thank you. Good-by." + +The receiver at the other end of the line clicked abruptly, and the +detective sprang to his feet. + +A quarter of an hour later Blaine presented himself at the Anita +Lawton Club, where a trim maid ushered him into a tiny office. There, +behind the desk, sat a girl, and at sight of her, the detective, +master of himself as he was, gave an imperceptible start. + +There was nothing remarkable about her; she was quite a common type of +girl: slender, not too tall, with a wealth of red-brown hair, and soft +hazel eyes; yet she reminded Blaine vaguely but insistently of some +one else--some one whom he had encountered in the past. + +He recovered himself at once, and presented the card which announced +him as the senior member of the firm of Banks and Frost, architects. + +"Whom did you wish to see, sir?" The girl turned slowly about in her +swivel chair and regarded him respectfully but coolly. Her voice was +low and gentle and distinctly feminine, yet it brought to him again +that haunting sense of resemblance which the first vision of her had +caused. + +"Miss Lawton," he replied, quietly. + +"But Miss Lawton is not here." The girl's surprise was unfeigned. + +"I have an appointment to meet her here at this time. She may perhaps +have been detained. She has arranged to go over the club building with +me. As you see by my card, I am an architect and she is planning more +extensive work, I believe, along the lines instituted here--at least +that is the impression she has given my firm. I will wait a short +time, if I may. You are connected with the official work of the +club?" + +"I am the secretary." The girl paused and then added, "I understand +perfectly, sir. Will you be seated, please? Miss Lawton had not told +me of her appointment here with you. She will without doubt arrive +shortly." + +Henry Blaine seated himself, and as she started to turn back to her +desk, he asked quickly: + +"You must find the work here very interesting, do you not? We--our +firm--have erected several philanthropic institutions of learning and +recreation, but none precisely on this order. Miss Lawton has shown us +the plans of this present club and we consider the arrangement of the +dormitories particularly ingenious, with regard to economy of space +and the requisite sunlight and air." + +"Oh, yes!" The girl turned toward him swiftly, her face suffused with +interest. "Miss Lawton drew all the plans herself, and they were not +changed in the least. I don't see how they could possibly be improved +upon. Miss Lawton has done splendid work here, sir; the club has been +a wonderful success since it was first opened." + +"It must have been." The detective paused, then added easily, "I know +that her late father was very proud of her executive ability. +You--er--you educate young women here, do you not, and train them for +positions?" + +"We not only train the members of the club, but obtain positions for +them, with reputable business firms," the girl answered. + +"Indeed?" Blaine asked, with apparent surprise. "What sort of +positions do the members of your club fill?" + +"Whatever they are capable of acquiring a working knowledge of. +Filing clerks, stenographers, secretaries, switchboard operators, +telegraphers, even governesses. We have never had a failure, and I +think it is because Miss Lawton gives not only her personal +attention, but real love and faith to each girl. She is--wonderful." + +The face of the young woman was rapt as she spoke, and Blaine could +guess without further explanation that she herself was a protegee of +Miss Lawton's, and a grateful one--unless she were playing a part. If +so, she was an actress of transcendent ability. + +"You say that you have never had a failure. That must, indeed, be +encouraging," Blaine remarked, tentatively. "Perhaps we might arrange +later with you or Miss Lawton to place one or two of your clerks or +stenographers. We are enlarging our offices--" + +"Good morning!" a fresh young voice interrupted him, and Anita Lawton +stood upon the threshold. "Did Mr. Banks come yet?--ah, yes, I see. +How do you do?" + +Blaine arose, and Anita gave him her hand cordially. His quick eyes +observed that in passing she patted the shoulder of her secretary +affectionately, and the girl looked up at her quickly, with eyes +aglow. The truth was no longer concealed from his discernment. The +girl was staunch in every fiber of her being. + +"Miss Lawton, I am sorry, but I have really not any too much time this +morning. If we could proceed to business at once." + +"Certainly. If you will come this way, Mr. Banks--" At the door she +paused, and turned to the secretary: "I will see you later, dear." + +Anita led the detective swiftly through the wide, clean halls and up +the stairs, explaining in clear, distinct tones the floor-plan. On the +second floor she opened the door leading into a little ante-room at +the front of the house just over the office, and when they were +seated, she said quickly, with rising excitement, although her voice +was carefully hushed. + +"Mr. Bl--Banks, I have something to show you--my father's will! It was +discovered, or rather, produced, yesterday. The lawyers who have +charge of the estate--Anderson & Wallace, you know--seem to me to be +perfectly disinterested, and honest, but I am so hedged in on every +hand by a stifling feeling of deceit and treachery that I feel I can +trust no one save you and Mr. Hamilton--not even poor old Ellen, my +maid, who has been with me since I was born!" + +"I quite understand, Miss Lawton, and I realize how difficult the +situation is for you, but I want you to trust no one--at least, to +the extent of giving them your confidence. Now about the will; it was +produced by your late father's attorneys?" + +"No, by President Mallowe, of the Street Railways. It appears that +Father left it in his charge. Mr. Anderson drew it; his partner, Mr. +Wallace, witnessed it; and they both assure me that it is absolutely +authentic. Here it is." + +She opened her bag and handed a long envelope to him, but at first his +attention was held by what she had said, and he frowned as he repeated +quickly: + +"'Authentic?' I trust you did not show any suspicion that you doubted +for a moment that it was genuine?" + +"Oh, by no means! It was Mr. Anderson himself who took especial pains +to assure me of its authenticity." + +Blaine regarded the envelope reflectively for a moment before he +raised the flap. Why had the attorney considered it necessary to +assure his late client's daughter that the will which he had himself +drawn was genuine? + +The will was short and to the point. In it Pennington Lawton left +everything of which he died possessed to his daughter, unconditionally +and without reservation. + +"Of course, Miss Lawton, since you are only twenty, and your father +has named no guardian or trustee, the courts will at once appoint one, +and I have no hesitation in saying that I believe the guardian so +appointed will be one of your father's three associates, presumably +Mr. Mallowe. However, that will make little difference in our +investigation, and, since it is claimed that all your father's huge +fortune is lost, the matter of a guardian cannot tie our hands in any +way. Now, just a moment, please." + +He drew from his pocket a small but powerful magnifying glass and the +slip of paper which Ramon Hamilton had sent him, on which was the +signature of the late Pennington Lawton. Through the microscope he +carefully compared it with that affixed to the will and then looked up +reassuringly. + +"It is quite all right, Miss Lawton. In my estimation the will is +authentic and your father's signature genuine." He folded the paper, +slipped it in its envelope and returned it to her. "There is one thing +now which I must most earnestly caution you against. Do not sign any +paper, no matter who wishes it or orders it--no matter if it is the +most trivial household receipt. Do not write any letters yourself, or +notes to any one, even to Mr. Hamilton; you understand they might be +intercepted. If anyone wishes you to sign a paper relating to the +matter of your father's estate, say you cannot do so until you have +shown it in private to Mr. Hamilton--that you have promised you will +not do so. Any other papers you can easily evade signing. As for your +private correspondence, obtain a social secretary, and permit her to +sign everything--one whom you can trust--say, one of your girls from +here, that girl downstairs, for instance. What is her name?" + +Anita Lawton rose, and a peculiar pained expression passed over her +features. + +"I am sorry, Mr. Blaine--really, really I am sorry. I cannot tell you +her name. That was one of the conditions under which she came to us +here--that is why I have given her an official position here in the +Club. She is staunch and faithful and true; I know it, I feel it; and +she is too high-principled to pass under any name not her own. I know +and am heartily in sympathy with the reason for her secretiveness. You +know that I trust you implicitly, but I know you would not have me go +back on my word when once it has been given." + +"Certainly not, Miss Lawton. I realize that many of your protegees +here may come of unfortunate antecedents. If you feel that you can +trust her, use her. Do you feel equally sure of the other members of +your Club?" + +"Absolutely. I feel that they all really love me; that they would do +anything for me they could in the world, and yet I have done so little +for them--only given them the little help which I was able to bestow, +which we should all do for those less fortunate than ourselves.... Why +did you ask me, Mr. Blaine, if I felt that I could trust the girls who +have placed themselves under my care?" + +"Because we may have need of them in the future. They may be of the +most vital assistance to us in this investigation, should events turn +out as I anticipate and they prove worthy of the charge it may be +necessary for me to impose on them. But enough of that for now. If at +any time you wish to see me, personally, telephone me as you did this +morning and I will meet you here." + +The detective left her in the office of the secretary, and as he made +his adieus to them both he cast a last quick, penetrating glance at +the girl behind the desk. Again that vague sense of resemblance +possessed him. With whom was she connected? Why was her name so +significantly withheld? + +In the meantime Guy Morrow, from his post of observation in the window +of the little cottage on Meadow Lane, had watched the object of his +espionage for several fruitless days--fruitless, because the actions +of the man Brunell had been so obviously those of one who felt +himself utterly beyond suspicion. + +The erect, gray-haired, clear-eyed man had come and gone about his +business, without the slightest attempt at concealment. A few of the +simplest inquiries of his land-lady had elicited the fact that the +gentleman opposite, old Mr. Brunell, was a map-maker, and worked at +his trade in a little shop in the nearest row of brick buildings +just around the corner--that he had lived in the little cottage since +it had first been erected, six years before, alone with his +daughter Emily, and before that, they had for many years occupied a +small apartment near by--in fact, the girl had grown up in that +neighborhood. He was a quiet man, not very talkative, but well liked +by his neighbors, and his daughter was devoted to him. According +to Mrs. Quinlan, Guy Morrow's aforesaid land-lady, Emily Brunell was a +dear, sweet girl, very popular among the young people in the +neighborhood, but she kept strictly at home in her leisure hours and +preferred her father's companionship to that of anyone else. She +was employed in some business capacity downtown, from nine until +six; just what it was Mrs. Quinlan did not know. + +Morrow kept well in the background, in case Mr. Pennold should put in +an appearance again, but he did not. Evidently that conversation +overheard by Suraci had been a final one, concerning the securities at +least, and no one else called at the little cottage door over the way, +except a vapid-faced young man to whom Morrow took an instant and +inexplicable dislike. + +Morrow made it a point to visit and investigate the little shop at an +hour when he knew Brunell would not be there, and found in the cursory +examination possible at that time that its purpose seemed to be +strictly legitimate. A shock-headed boy of fifteen or thereabout was +in charge, and the operative easily succeeded in engaging his stolid +attention elsewhere while, with a bit of soft wax carefully palmed in +his left hand, he succeeded in gaining an impression of the lock on +the flimsy door. From this he had a key made in anticipation of orders +from his chief, requiring a thorough search of the little shop--orders +which for the first time in his career, he shrank from. + +He made no effort to scrape an acquaintance with Brunell himself, but +frequently encountered, as if by accident, the daughter Emily, on her +way to and from the subway station. If she recognized in him the young +lodger across the street, she made no sign, and as the days passed, +Morrow, the man, despaired of gaining her friendship, save through her +father, whom Morrow--the operative--had received orders not to +approach personally. + +Before he had seen her, had he known that the old forger possessed a +daughter, he would have laid his plans to worm himself into the +confidence of the little family through the girl, but having once laid +eyes upon her face in all its gentle, trusting purity, every manly +instinct in him revolted at the thought of making her a tool of her +father's probable downfall. + +There was a third member of the Brunell household whom Morrow had +observed frequently seated upon the doorstep, or on one of the lower +window sills--a small, scraggly black kitten, with stiff outstanding +fur, and an absurdly belligerent attitude whenever a dog chanced to +pass through the lane. It waited in the doorway each night for the +return of its mistress, and in the soft glow of the lamplight which +streamed from within, he had seen her catch the little creature up +affectionately and cuddle it up against her neck before the door +closed upon them. + +One afternoon in the early November twilight, as Morrow was returning +to his own door after shadowing Brunell on an aimless and chilly walk, +he saw the kitten lying curled up just outside its own gate, and an +inspiration sprang to his ingenious mind. He seated himself upon the +steps of Mrs. Quinlan's front porch and waited until the darkness had +deepened sufficiently to cloak his nefarious scheme. Then, with soft +beguiling tone--and a few _sotto voce_ remarks, for he hated +cats--Morrow began a deliberate attempt to entice the kitten across to +him. + +"Come here, kitty, kitty," he called softly. "Come, pussy dear! Come +here, you mangy, rat-tailed little beast! Come cattykins." + +At his first words the kitten raised its head and regarded him with +yellow eyes gleaming through the dusk, in unconcealed antagonism. But, +at the soft, purring flattery of his voice, the gleam softened to a +glow of pleased interest, and the little creature rose lazily, +stretched itself, and tripped lightly over to him, its tail erect in +optimistic confidence. + +Morrow picked it up gingerly by the neck and tucked it beneath his +coat, stroking its head with a reluctant thumb, while it purred loudly +in sleepy content, at the warmth of its welcome. The hour was +approaching when Emily Brunell usually made her appearance, and he +trusted to luck to keep the little animal quiet until she had entered +her home and discovered its loss, but the fickle goddess failed him. + +The kitten grew suddenly uneasy, as if some intuition warned it of +treachery, and tried valiantly to escape from his grasp, and never did +Spartan boy with wolf concealed beneath his tunic suffer more +tortures than Morrow with the wretched little creature clawing at his +hands. + +Would Emily Brunell never come? What could be keeping her to-night, of +all nights? Morrow gripped the soft, elusive bundle of fur with +desperate firmness and looked across the street. Evidently he was not +the only one impatient for her arrival. The doorway opposite had +opened, and Jimmy Brunell stood peering anxiously forth into the +darkness. + +At that moment the kitten emitted a fearsome yowl, which Morrow +smothered hastily with his coat. He fancied that the old man turned +his head quickly and glanced in his direction, and never had the +operative felt guiltier. + +Brunell, however, retired within, closing the door after him, and the +kitten's struggles gradually grew weaker and finally ceased. + +Morrow felt a horrible fear surging up within him that he had +strangled the little beast, and his grasp gradually relaxed. Then he +opened his overcoat cautiously and peered within. The kitten was +sleeping peacefully, and he heaved a sigh of relief, glancing up just +in time to see Emily Brunell pass quickly through her own gate and up +to the door. + +He sat motionless on the steps of Mrs. Quinlan's, and his patience was +rewarded when after a few moments the Brunell's door re-opened and he +heard the girl's voice calling anxiously: "Kitty! Kitty!" + +Morrow rose with unfeigned alacrity and crossing the road, opened the +little gate without ceremony and mounted the steps of the porch. + +"I beg your pardon," he said blandly. "Is this your kitten? +It--er--wandered across the street to me and fell asleep under my +coat. I board just over the way, you know, with Mrs. Quinlan. My name +is Morrow." + +The girl gave a little cry of relieved anxiety, and caught the kitten +in her arms. + +"Oh, I am so glad! I was afraid it was lost, and it is so tiny and +defenseless to be out all alone in the cold and darkness. Thank you so +much, Mr. Morrow. I suppose it was waiting for me, as it usually does, +and grew restless at my delay, poor little thing! It was kind of you +to comfort it!" + +Feeling like an utter brute, Morrow stammered a humble disclaimer of +her undeserved gratitude, and moved toward the steps. + +"Oh, but it was really kind of you; most men hate cats, although my +father loves them. I should have been home much earlier but I was +detained by some extra work at the club where I am employed." + +"The club?" he repeated stupidly. + +"Yes," replied the girl, quietly, cuddling the kitten beneath her +chin. "The Anita Lawton Club for Working Girls." + +She caught herself up sharply, even as she spoke, and a look almost of +apprehension crossed her ingenuous face for a moment, and was gone. + +"Thank you again for protecting my kitten for me," she said softly. +"Good-night." + +Guy Morrow walked down the steps and across to his own lodgings with +his brain awhirl. The investigation, through the medium of a small +black kitten, had indeed taken an amazing turn. Jimmy Brunell's +daughter was a protegee of the daughter of Pennington Lawton! + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE FIRST COUNTER-MOVE + + +The little paragraph in the newspaper, which, irrelevant as it +would seem, had caught the keenly discerning eye of Henry Blaine, +grew in length and importance from day to day until it reached a +position on the first page, and then spread in huge headlines over +the entire sheet. Instead of relating merely the incidents of a +labor strike in a manufacturing city--and that city a far-distant +one--it became speedily a sociological question of almost national +import. The yellow journals were quick to seize upon it at the +psychological moment of civic unrest, and throw out hints, vague +but vast in their significance, of the mighty interests behind the +mere fact of the strike, the great financial question involved, the +crisis between capital and labor, the trusts and the common people, +the workers and the wasters, in the land of the free. + +Henry Blaine, seated in his office, read the scare-heads and smiled +his slow, inscrutable, illuminating smile--the smile which, +without menace or rancor, had struck terror to the hearts of the +greatest malefactors of his generation--which, without flattery or +ingratiation, had won for him the friendship of the greatest men in +the country. He knew every move in the gigantic game which was being +played solely for his attention, long before a pawn was lifted from +its place, a single counter changed; he had known it, from the moment +that the seemingly unimportant paragraph had met his eyes; and he +also knew the men who sat in the game, whose hands passed over the +great chessboard of current events, whose brains directed the moves. +And the stakes? Not the welfare of the workingmen in that distant +city, not the lifting of the grinding heel of temporal power from +the supine bodies of the humble--but the peace of mind, the +honorable, untarnished name, the earthly riches of the slender +girl who sat in that great darkened house on Belleair Avenue. + +Hence Blaine sat back quietly, and waited for the decisive move which +he knew to be forthcoming--waited, and not in vain. The spectacular +play to the gallery of one was dramatically accomplished; it was +heralded by extras bawled through the midnight streets, and full-page +display headlines in the papers the next morning. + +Promptly on the stroke of nine, Henry Blaine arrived at his office, +and as he expected, found awaiting him an urgent telegram from the +chief of police of the city where the strike had assumed such colossal +importance, earnestly asking him for his immediate presence and +assistance. He sent a tentative refusal--and waited. Still more +insistent messages followed in rapid succession, from the mayor of +that city, the governor of that state, even its representative in the +Senate at Washington, to all of which he replied in the same emphatic, +negative strain. Then, late in the afternoon, there eventuated that +which he had anticipated. Mohammed came to the mountain. + +Blaine read the card which his confidential secretary presented, and +laid it down upon the desk before him. + +"Show him in," he directed, shortly. He did not rise from his chair, +nor indeed change his position an iota, but merely glanced up from +beneath slightly raised eyebrows, when the door opened again and a +bulky, pompous figure stood almost obsequiously before him. + +"Come in, Mr. Carlis," he invited coolly. "Take this chair. What can I +do for you?" + +It was significant that neither man made any move toward shaking +hands, although it was obvious that they were acquainted, at least. +The great detective's tone when he greeted his visitor was as +distinctly ironical as the latter's was uneasy, although he replied +with a mirthless chuckle, which was intended to be airily nonchalant. + +"Nothing for me, Mr. Blaine--that is, not to-day. One can never tell +in this period of sudden changes and revolt, when our city may be +stricken as another was just a few hours ago. There is no better, +cleaner, more honestly prosperous metropolis in these United States +to-day, than Illington, but--" Mr. Carlis, the political boss who had +ruled for more than a decade in almost undisputed sway, paused and +gulped, as if his oratorical eloquence stuck suddenly in his throat. + +The detective watched him passively, a disconcerting look of inquiring +interest on his mobile face. "It is because of our stricken sister +city that I am here," went on the visitor. "I know I will not be in +great favor with you as an advocate, Mr. Blaine. We have had our +little tilts in the past, when you--er--disapproved of my methods of +conducting my civic office and I distrusted your motives, but that is +forgotten now, and I come to you merely as one public-spirited citizen +to another. The mayor of Grafton has wired me, as has the chief of +police, to urge you to proceed there at once and take charge of the +investigation into last night's bomb outrages in connection with the +great strike. They inform me that you have repeatedly refused to-day +to come to their assistance." + +Blaine nodded. + +"That is quite true, Mr. Carlis. I did decline the offers extended to +me." + +"But surely you cannot refuse! Good heavens, man, do you realize what +it means if you do? It isn't only that there is a fortune in it for +you, your reputation stands or falls on your decision! This is a +public charge! The people rely upon you! If you won't, for some reason +of your own, come to the rescue now, when you are publicly called +upon, you'll be a ruined man!" The voice of the Boss ascended in a +shrill falsetto of remonstrance. + +"There may be two opinions as to that, Mr. Carlis," Blaine returned +quietly. "As far as the financial argument goes, I think you +discovered long ago that its appeal to me is based upon a different +point of view than your own. You forget that I am not a servant of the +public, but a private citizen, free to accept or decline such offers +as are made to me in my line of business, as I choose. This affair is +not a public charge, but a business proposition, which I decline. As +to my reputation depending upon it, I differ with you. My reputation +will stand, I think, upon my record in the past, even if every yellow +newspaper in the city is paid to revile me." + +Carlis rested his plump hands upon his widespread knees, and leaned as +far forward, in his eager anxiety, as his obese figure would permit. + +"But why?" he fairly wailed, his carefully rounded, oratorical tones +forgotten. "Why on earth do you decline this offer, Blaine? You've +nothing big on hand now--nothing your operatives can't attend to. +There isn't a case big enough for your attention on the calendar! You +know as well as I do that Illington is clean and that the lid is on +for keeps! The police are taking care of the petty crimes, and +there's absolutely nothing doing in your line here at the moment. This +is the chance of your career! Why on earth do you refuse it?" + +"Well, Mr. Carlis, let us say, for instance, that my health is not +quite as good as it was, and I find the air of Illington agrees with +it better just now than that of Grafton." Blaine leaned back easily in +his chair, and after a slight pause he added speculatively, with +deliberate intent, "I didn't know you had interests there!" + +The Boss purpled. + +"Look here, Blaine!" he bellowed. "What d'you mean by that?" + +"Merely following a train of thought, Mr. Carlis," returned the +detective imperturbably. "I was trying to figure out why you were so +desperately anxious to have me go to Grafton--" + +"I tell you I am here at the urgent request of the mayor and the chief +of police!" the fat man protested, but faintly, as if the unexpected +attack had temporarily winded him. "Why in h--ll should I want you to +go to Grafton?" + +"Presumably because Grafton is some fourteen hundred miles from +Illington," remarked Blaine, his quietly unemotional tones hardening +suddenly like tempered steel. "Going to try to pull off something here +in town which you think could be more easily done if I were away? +Cards on the table, Mr. Carlis! You tried to bribe me in a case once, +and you failed. Then you tried bullying me and you found that didn't +work, either. Now you've come again with your hook baited with +patriotism, public spirit, the cry of the people and all the rest of +the guff the newspapers you control have been handing out to their +readers since you took them over. What's the idea?" + +The Boss rose, with what was intended for an air of injured dignity, +but his fat face all at once seemed sagged and wrinkled, like a +pricked balloon. + +"I did not come here to be insulted!" he announced in his most +impressive manner. "I came, as I told you, as a public-spirited +citizen, because the officials of another city called upon me to urge +you to aid them. I have failed in my mission, and I will go. I am +surprised, Blaine, at your attitude; I thought you were too big a man +to permit your personal antagonism to me to interfere with your +duty--" + +For the first time during their interview Blaine smiled slightly. + +"Have you ever known me, Mr. Carlis, to permit my personal antagonism +to you or any other man to interfere with what I conceive to be my +duty?" + +Before he replied, the politician produced a voluminous silk +handkerchief, and mopped his brow. For some reason he did not feel +called upon to make a direct answer. + +"Well, what reason am I to give to the Mayor of Grafton and its +political leaders, for your refusal? That talk about me trying to get +you out of Illington, Blaine, is all bosh, and you know it. _I'm_ +running Illington just as I've run it for the last ten years, in spite +of your interference or any other man's, and I'm going to stay right +on the job! If you won't give any other reason for declining the call +to Grafton, than your preference for the air of Illington, then the +bets go as they lay!" + +He jammed his hat upon his head, and strode from the room with all +the ferocity his rotund figure could express. The first decisive move +in the game had failed. + +The door was scarcely closed behind him, when Blaine turned to the +telephone and called up Anita Lawton on the private wire. + +"Can you arrange to meet me at once, at your Working Girls' Club?" he +asked. "I wish to suggest a plan to be put into immediate operation." + +"Very well. I can be there in fifteen minutes." + +When the detective arrived at the club, he was ushered immediately to +the small ante-room on the second floor, where he found Anita +anxiously awaiting him. + +"Miss Lawton," he began, without further greeting than a quick +handclasp, "you told me, the other day, that your girls here were all +staunch and faithful to you. Your secretary downstairs had previously +informed me that they were trained to hold positions of trust, and +that you obtained such positions for them. I want you to obtain four +positions for four of the girls in whom you place the most implicit +confidence." + +"Why, certainly, Mr. Blaine, if I can. Do you mean that they are to +have something to do with your investigation into my father's +affairs?" + +"I want them to play detective for me, Miss Lawton. Have you four +girls unemployed at the moment?--Say, for instance, a filing clerk, a +stenographer, a governess and a switchboard operator, who are +sufficiently intelligent and proficient in their various occupations, +to assume such a trust?" + +"Why, yes, I--I think we have. I can find out, of course. Where do you +wish to place them?" + +"That is the most difficult part of all, Miss Lawton. You must obtain +the positions for them. These three men who stand in _loco parentis_ +toward you, as you say, and your spiritual adviser, Dr. Franklin, who +so obviously wishes to ingratiate himself with them, would none of +them refuse a request of this sort from you at this stage of the game, +particularly if they are really engaged in a conspiracy against you. +Go to these four men--Mr. Mallowe first--and tell them that because of +the sudden, complete loss of your fortune, your club must be +disorganized, and beg them each to give one of your girls, special +protegees of yours, a position. Send your filing clerk to Mr. Mallowe, +your most expert stenographer to Mr. Rockamore, your switchboard +operator to Mr. Carlis, and your governess into the household of your +minister. I have learned that he has three small children, and his +wife applied only yesterday at an agency for a nursery governess. The +last proposition may be the most difficult for you to handle, but I +think if you manage to convey to the Reverend Dr. Franklin the fact +that your three self-appointed guardians have each taken one of your +girls into their employ, in order to help them, and that his following +their benevolent example would bring him into closer _rapport_ with +them, no objection will be made--provided, of course, the young woman +is suitable." + +"I will try, Mr. Blaine, but of course I can do nothing about that +until to-morrow, as it is so late in the afternoon. However, I can +have a talk with the girls, if they are in now--or would you prefer to +interview them?" + +"No, you talk with them first, Miss Lawton, and to-morrow morning +while you are arranging for their positions I will interview them and +instruct them in their primary duties. I will leave you now. Remember +that the girls must be absolutely trustworthy, and the stenographer +who will be placed in the office of Mr. Rockamore must be particularly +expert." + +After the detective had taken his departure, Anita Lawton descended +quickly to the office of the secretary. + +"Emily," she asked, "is Loretta Murfree in, or Fifine Dechaussee?" + +"I think they both are, Miss Lawton. Shall I ring for them?" + +"Yes, please, Emily; send them to me one at a time, in the ante-room, +and let me know when Agnes Olson and Margaret Hefferman come in. I +wish to talk with all four of them, but separately." + +Loretta Murfree was the first to put in an appearance. She was a +short, dumpy, black-haired girl of twenty, and she bounced into the +room with a flashing, wide-mouthed smile. + +"How are you, dear Miss Lawton? We have missed you around here so much +lately, but of course we knew that you must be very much occupied--" + +She stopped and a little embarrassed flush spread over her face. + +"I have been, Loretta. Thank you so much for your kind note, and for +your share in the beautiful wreath you girls sent in memory of my dear +father." + +"Sure, we're all of us your friends, Miss Lawton; why wouldn't we be, +after all you've done for us?" + +"It is because I feel that, that I wanted to have a talk with you this +afternoon. Loretta, if a position were offered to you as filing clerk +in the office of a great financier of this city, at a suitable salary, +would you accept it, if you could be doing me a great personal service +at the same time?" + +"Would I, Miss Lawton? Just try me! I'd take it for the experience +alone, without the salary, and jump at the chance, even if you +weren't concerned in it at all, but if it would be doing you a service +at the same time, I'm more than glad." + +"Thank you, Loretta. The position will be with an associate of my +father's, I think, President Mallowe of the Street Railways. You must +attend faithfully to your duties, if I am able to obtain this place +for you, but I think the main part of your service to me will consist +of keeping your eyes open. To-morrow morning a man will come here and +interview you--a man in whom you must place implicit confidence and +trust, and whose directions you must follow to the letter. He will +tell you just what to do for me. This man is my friend; he is working +in my interests, and if you care for me you must not fail him." + +"Indeed I won't, Miss Lawton! I'll do whatever he tells me.... You +said that I was to keep my eyes open. Does that mean that there is +something you wish me to find out for you?" she asked shrewdly. + +"I cannot tell you exactly what you are to do for me, Loretta. The +gentleman whom you are to meet to-morrow morning will give you all the +details." Anita Lawton approached the girl and laid her hand on her +shoulder. "I can surely trust you? You will not fail me?" + +The quick tears sprang to the Irish girl's eyes, and for a moment +softened their rather hard brilliance. + +"You know that you can trust me, Miss Lawton! I'd do anything in the +world for you!" + +Anita Lawton held a similar conversation with each of the three girls, +with a like result. To Fifine Dechaussee, a tall, refined girl, with +the colorless, devout face of a religieuse, the probability of +entering a minister's home, as governess for his children, was most +welcome. The young French girl, homesick and alone in a strange land, +had found in Anita Lawton her one friend, and her gratitude for this +first opportunity given her, seemed overwhelming. Margaret Hefferman +rejoiced at the possible opportunity of becoming a stenographer to the +great promoter, Mr. Rockamore; and demure, fair-haired little Agnes +Olson was equally pleased with the prospect of operating a switchboard +in the office of Timothy Carlis, the politician. + +Meantime, back in his office, Henry Blaine was receiving the personal +report of Guy Morrow. + +"The old man seems to be strictly on the level," he was saying. "He +attends to his own affairs and seems to be running a legitimate +business in his little shop, where he prints and sells maps. I went +there, of course, to look it over, but I couldn't see anything crooked +about it. However, when I left, I took a wax impression of the lock, +in case you wanted me to have a key made and institute a more thorough +investigation, at a time when I would not be disturbed." + +"That's good, Morrow. We may need to do that later. At present I want +you merely to keep an eye on them, and note who their visitors are. +You've been talking with the girl you say--the daughter?" + +"Yes, sir--" The young man paused in sudden confusion. "She's a very +quiet, respectable, proud sort of young woman, Mr. Blaine--not at all +the kind you would expect to find the daughter of an old crook like +Jimmy Brunell. And by the way, here's a funny coincidence! She's a +protegee of Miss Lawton's, employed in some philanthropic home or +club, as she calls it, which Pennington Lawton's daughter runs." + +"By Jove!" Blaine exclaimed, "I might have known it! I thought there +was something familiar about her appearance when I first saw her! No +wonder Miss Lawton had promised not to divulge her name. It's a small +world, Morrow. I'll have to look into this. Go back now and keep your +eye on Jimmy." + +"Very well, sir." Guy Morrow paused at the door and turned toward his +chief. "Have you seen the late editions of the evening papers, Mr. +Blaine? They're all slamming you, for refusing to accept the call to +Grafton, to investigate those bomb outrages last night." + +Henry Blaine smiled. + +"There won't be any more of them," he remarked quietly. "That strike +will die down as quickly as it arose, Morrow; the whole thing was a +plant, and the labor leaders and factory owners themselves were merely +tools in the hands of the politicians. That strike was arranged by our +friend Timothy Carlis, to get me away from Illington on a false +mission." + +"You don't think, sir, that they suspect--" + +"No, but they are taking no chances on my getting into the game. They +don't suspect yet, but they will soon--because the time has come for +us to get busy." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE LETTER + + +The next morning, when Ramon Hamilton presented himself at Henry +Blaine's office in answer to the latter's summons, he found the great +detective in a mood more nearly bordering upon excitability than he +could remember having witnessed before. Instead of being seated calmly +at his desk, his thoughts masked with his usual inscrutable +imperturbability, Blaine was pacing restlessly back and forth with the +disquietude, not of agitation, but of concentrated, ebullient energy. + +"I sent for you, Mr. Hamilton," he began, after greeting his visitor +cordially and waving him to a chair, "because we must proceed actively +with the investigation into the alleged bankruptcy of Pennington +Lawton. We have been passive long enough for me to have gathered some +significant facts, but we now must make a salient move. The time +hasn't yet come for me to step out into the open. When I do, it will +be a tooth-and-nail fight, and I must be equipped with facts, not +theories. I want some particulars about Mr. Lawton's insolvency, and +there is no one who could more naturally inquire into this without +arousing suspicion than you." + +"I don't need to tell you, Mr. Blaine, how anxious I am to do anything +I can to help you, for Miss Lawton's sake," Ramon Hamilton replied +eagerly. "I should like to have looked into the matter long +ago--indeed, I felt that suspicion must have been aroused in the +minds of Mallowe and his associates by the fact that I accepted the +astounding news of the bankruptcy as unquestioningly as Miss Lawton +herself, unless they thought me an addlepated fool--but I didn't want +to go ahead without direct instructions from you." + +"I did not so direct you, Mr. Hamilton, for a distinct purpose. I +wished the men we believe to be responsible for the present conditions +to be slightly puzzled by your attitude, so that when the time came +for you to begin your investigation, they would be more completely +reassured. In order to make your questioning absolutely bona fide, I +want you to go first this morning to the office of Anderson & Wallace, +the late Mr. Lawton's attorneys, and question them as if having come +with Miss Lawton's authority. Don't suggest any suspicion of there +being any crookedness at work, but merely inquire as fully as possible +into the details of Mr. Lawton's business affairs. They will, in their +replies, undoubtedly bring in Mr. Mallowe, Mr. Rockamore and Mr. +Carlis, which will give you a cue to go quite openly and frankly to +one of the three--preferably Mallowe--for corroboration. Knowing that +you come direct from the late Mr. Lawton's attorneys, he will be only +too glad to give you whatever information he may possess or may have +concocted--and so lay open to you his plan of defense." + +"Defense? You think, then, Mr. Blaine, that they anticipate possible +trouble--exposure, even? Surely such astute, far-seeing men as Mallowe +and Rockamore are, at least, would not have attempted such a gigantic +fraud if they'd anticipated the possibility of being discovered! +Carlis has weathered so many storms, so many attacks upon his +reputation and civic honor, that he may have felt cocksure of his +position and gone into this thing without thought for the future, but +the other two are men of different caliber, men with everything in the +world to lose." + +"And colossal, unearned wealth to gain--don't forget that, Mr. +Hamilton. Men of different caliber, I grant you, but all three in the +same whirlpool of crime, bound by thieves' law to sink or swim +together. It is because they are astute and far-seeing that they must +inevitably have considered the possibility of exposure and safeguarded +themselves against it with bogus corroborative proof. If that proof is +in tangible form, and we can lay our hands on it, we shall have them +where we want them. Now go back to your office, Mr. Hamilton, and +dictate this letter to your stenographer, having it left open on your +desk for your signature. Don't wait for the letter to be typed, but +proceed at once to the office of Anderson & Wallace. You, as a lawyer, +will of course know the form of inquiry to use." + +The detective handed Ramon Hamilton a typewritten sheet of paper from +his desk; and the young man, after hastily perusing it, gazed with a +blank stare of amazement into Blaine's eyes. + +"I can't make this out," he objected. "Who on earth is Alexander +Gibbs, and what has he to do with Miss Lawton's case? This letter +seems to inform one Alexander Gibbs that I have retained you to +recover for us the last will and testament of his aunt, Mrs. Dorothea +Gibbs. I have no such client, and I know no one in--what's the +address?--Ellenville, Sullivan County." + +Blaine smiled. + +"Of course you don't, Mr. Hamilton. Nevertheless, you will sign that +letter and your secretary will mail it--that is, after it has lain +open upon your desk for casual inspection for a considerable length +of time. One of my operatives will receive it in Ellenville." + +"But what has it to do with the matter in hand?" Ramon asked. + +"Everything. I understand that you employ quite an office force, for +an attorney who has so recently been admitted to the bar, and who has +necessarily had little time yet to build up an extensive practice. +There may be a spy in your office--remember that as Miss Lawton's +fiance and her only protector in this crisis, you are the one whom +they would safeguard themselves against primarily. When I called you +up this morning, to ask you to come here, you very indiscreetly +mentioned my name over the telephone. Your entire office force will +know that you have been to consult me--this letter will throw them off +the track should there be a spy among them, and will also give you a +legitimate excuse to call upon me frequently in the immediate future. +You realize that we also must safeguard ourselves, Mr. Hamilton." + +The young man reddened. + +"Of course. I did not think--I called you by name inadvertently," he +stammered. "I'll be more discreet in the future, Mr. Blaine." + +"Memorize the gist of the letter on your way to your office--particularly +the name and address--and place it securely in your vest pocket. When +you have left your office to go to Anderson & Wallace, destroy it +carefully. You had best, perhaps, stop in the lavatory of some +restaurant or public bar and burn it, or tear it into infinitesimal +pieces. Remember that everything depends upon you now--upon your +discretion and diplomacy." + +Hamilton followed Blaine's instructions to the letter, and an hour +after he had left the detective he was closeted with the senior member +of the firm of Anderson & Wallace. + +"My dear Mr. Hamilton, we have had so little time," Mr. Anderson +expostulated. "Remember that Mr. Lawton's death occurred little more +than a fortnight ago, and even the most cursory examination has shown +us that his affairs were in a most chaotic condition. It will take us +weeks, months, to settle up so involved an estate. + +"At present we can give you little information. It is by no means +certain that Mr. Lawton was an absolute bankrupt--we have not yet +assured ourselves that nothing can be saved from the wreckage. You +cannot imagine how aghast, thunderstruck, we were, when this present +state of affairs was made known to us. We have been Mr. Lawton's +attorneys for more than twenty years, and we thought that we knew +every detail of his multifarious transactions, but for some reason +which we cannot fathom he saw fit, within the last two years, to +change his investments without taking us into his confidence--and with +disastrous results." + +"Mr. Lawton was always conservative. He took no one fully into his +confidence," Ramon Hamilton replied guardedly. + +"You knew, of course, that he had ideas about the disposal of his vast +wealth which many other financiers would consider peculiar. He would +never invest in real estate, to our knowledge. His millions were +placed entirely in stocks and bonds, and for years he had stated that +his object was, in the event of his death, to save his daughter and +the trustees from unnecessary trouble over real-estate matters. This +makes his later conduct all the more inexplicable. Mr. Mallowe has +told me that Mr. Lawton made several suggestions to him and to his +associates, Mr. Rockamore and Mr. Carlis, to go with him into the +unfortunate speculations which ultimately caused his ruin. They were +far-seeing enough to refuse." + +"Just what were these speculations, Mr. Anderson?" + +"I can't tell you at this moment. You'll understand that we don't wish +to make any statement until we can do so definitely, and we are still, +as I said, quite at sea. We'll try to straighten everything out as +soon as possible, and give you and Miss Lawton a full report. In the +meantime, why not consult Mr. Mallowe? He can give you more explicit +information concerning the late Mr. Lawton's speculation and final +insolvency than we shall be able to do for some time; or possibly, Mr. +Rockamore, or even Mr. Carlis might enlighten you. All three seem to +have been more conversant with Mr. Lawton's affairs than we, his +attorneys." + +The dignified old gentleman's voice held a note of pained resentment, +with which Ramon Hamilton could not help but sympathize. + +"I will adopt your suggestion, Mr. Anderson, and call upon Mr. Mallowe +at once. I can no more understand than you can how it happens that Mr. +Lawton should have confided to such an extent in his business +associates, to the exclusion of you and Mr. Wallace--to say nothing of +his own daughter; but doubtless there were financial reasons which +we'll learn. I will take up no more of your valuable time, but will +try to see Mr. Mallowe immediately. If I learn any facts you're not +now in possession of, I'll let you know at once." + +Mr. Mallowe, when approached over the telephone, welcomed most +cordially the proposed interview with Miss Lawton's fiance. When the +latter arrived, he was greeted with a warm, limp hand-clasp, and +seated confidentially close to the president of the Street Railways. + +"Mr. Anderson did well to suggest your coming to me, Mr. Hamilton," +the magnate remarked unctuously. "I believe I am in a position to give +you a more comprehensive idea of the circumstances which brought about +my esteemed friend's unfortunate financial collapse at the time of his +death than my colleagues, because I was closer to him in many ways, +and I am confident that he regarded me as his best friend. However, I +don't feel that I can, in honor, violate the confidence of the dead by +giving any details just now--even to you and Miss Lawton--of matters +which have not yet been fully substantiated by the attorneys. I know +only from Mr. Lawton's own private statements that he was interested, +to the point one might almost say of mania, in a gigantic scheme from +which we, his friends, tried in vain to dissuade him. He urged me +especially to go in on it with him, but because of the very position I +hold, it would have been impossible for me to consider it, even if my +better judgment hadn't warned me against it." + +"Can't you give me some idea of the nature of this scheme?" Ramon +asked. "I can't believe, any more easily than Miss Lawton can, that +there could have been anything that was not thoroughly open and +above-board about her father's dealings. Surely, there can be no +reason for this extraordinary secrecy, particularly as the newspapers +had given to the world at large the unauthorized statement, from a +source unknown to Miss Lawton or myself, that Pennington Lawton died a +bankrupt!" + +The young man drew himself up sharply, as if fearful of having said +too much, and for a moment there was silence. Then Mr. Mallowe leaned +back easily in his chair and, removing his tortoise-shell rimmed +eyeglasses, tapped the desk thoughtfully with them as he replied: + +"That was regrettable, of course, Mr. Hamilton. It must have been +distressing in the extreme to Miss Lawton, coming just at this time, +but it would have had to be revealed sooner or later, you know--such a +stupendous fact could not be hidden. There is no extraordinary secrecy +about the matter. When the attorneys have completed their settlement +of the estate, everything will be clear to you and Miss Lawton. I must +naturally decline to give you any explanation which would be, just +now, merely an uncorroborated opinion. I appreciate your feelings in +this sudden, almost overwhelming trouble which has come to Miss +Lawton, and I sympathize with both of you most heartily; but one must +have patience. You will pardon me, but you are both very young, and +that is the hardest lesson of all for you to learn." + +His watery eyes beamed in fatherly benevolence upon Ramon, and Anita's +fiance felt his gorge rising. The older man reminded him irresistibly +of a cat licking its chops before a canary's cage, and it was with +difficulty he restrained himself to remark coldly: + +"You told me at the beginning of this interview, Mr. Mallowe, that +I did well in coming to you, since you could give me a more +comprehensive idea of the circumstances than anyone else, yet you +have disclosed nothing beyond a few vague suggestions--to any other +man I should have said, insinuations--and generalities which we +were already familiar with. Can't you give me any real information?" + +"My dear boy, I intend to tell you all that I know and can verify." +The silky smoothness of the magnate's tones had deepened in spite of +himself, with a steely undernote. + +"I don't know when the project which spelled his ruin was first +conceived by Mr. Lawton, but I believe that he started to put it into +active operation over three years ago. He went into it with his usual +cold nerve, and then, when the pendulum did not swing his way he kept +heaping more and more of his securities on the pyre of his ambition +and pride in himself, until he was forced to obtain large loans. That +he did seek and obtain such loans I can prove to you at the present +moment, in one instance at least, for it was through me the affair was +negotiated. I think he fully realized his enormous error, but refused +to admit it even to himself, and strove by sheer force of will-power +to carry a hopeless scheme to success." + +"Sought loans! He--Pennington Lawton required loans and obtained them +through you?" Ramon almost started from his chair. "Mr. Mallowe, you +will forgive me, but I can scarcely credit it. I know, of course, that +financiers, even those who conduct their operations on a far lesser +scale than Mr. Lawton, frequently seek loans, but your manner and your +speech just now led me to believe that you had some other motive in +doing what you did for Mr. Lawton. From what you have told me I gather +that it was owing more to your friendship for him, than to your +financial relations, that he called upon you at that time." + +"And it was to my friendship at that time that he appealed, Mr. +Hamilton." + +"Appealed? I cannot imagine Pennington Lawton appealing to any man. +Why should he appeal to you?" + +"Because, my dear boy, he was in a mighty bad fix when he had need to +call upon me. Oh, by the way, I have the letter here in my safe--I +found it only the other day." + +"The letter? What letter?" + +"The letter Mr. Lawton wrote me from Long Bay asking me to get Mr. +Moore's help in the matter--here it is." + +Mallowe went to his safe, and opening it, withdrew from an inner +drawer a paper which he presented to the young lawyer. After a cursory +examination Ramon placed it upon the desk before him, and turning to +Mr. Mallowe said: + +"I am awfully sorry to have annoyed you with this matter, but you +understand exactly how Miss Lawton and I feel about it--" + +"Of course, Mr. Hamilton, I realize the situation fully. I am glad to +have had this opportunity to explain to you how the matter stood as +far as I personally was concerned. You know I will do anything that I +can for Miss Lawton and I trust that you will call upon me." + +He rose with ponderous significance as if to state tacitly that the +interview was at an end, but the younger man did not stir from his +chair. + +"This letter came to you--when did you say, Mr. Mallowe?" + +"When Pennington Lawton and his daughter were at The Breakers at Long +Bay, about two years ago last August, as nearly as I can remember." + +"If you still had the envelope, we could obtain the exact date from +the postmark," Ramon suggested significantly. "The letter I see is +only headed 'Saturday.'" + +"Yes, it is unfortunate that I did not keep it," the magnate retorted +a little drily. "It was by the merest, most fortunate chance that the +letter itself came to light. However, I cannot see at this late date +what difference it could possibly make when the letter was mailed, +since it establishes beyond any possibility of doubt the fact that it +_was_ mailed. As to the matter of the negotiation of the loan, I would +prefer that you apply to Mr. Moore himself for the particulars +concerning it. I am sure that he will be quite as glad as I have been +to give you such definite information as he possesses." + +This time the dismissal could not be ignored, and Ramon Hamilton took +his departure, but not before he had marked well the particular drawer +within the safe from which the letter had been taken. + +As he went down the corridor, a saucy, red-cheeked young woman with +business briskness in her manner came from an inner office and smiled +boldly at him. She was Loretta Murfree, the new filing clerk who had +been installed only that morning in Mr. Mallowe's office. + +Had Ramon known her to be the protegee of Anita Lawton and the spy of +Henry Blaine, he might have glanced at her a second time. + +The young man proceeded straight to the offices of Charlton Moore, +the banker, and found that an interview was readily granted him. +Mr. Moore remembered the incident of the loan, and his private +accounts showed that it had been made on the sixteenth of August two +years previously. + +"Mr. Mallowe arranged the matter with you for Mr. Lawton, did he not?" +Ramon asked. + +"Yes, it was a purely confidential affair. Mr. Carlis came with +him to interview me. They did not at first tell me that Mr. Lawton +positively desired the loan, but they made tentative arrangements +asking if I would be in a position to give it to him should he desire +it, and they said they came to me at this early date desiring to make +no definite statement. Mr. Lawton had told them that once before I had +accommodated him by carrying a note confidentially at his request. +Of course I did not care to commit myself, as you can readily +understand, Mr. Hamilton, until I was assured the proposition was +bona fide. + +"Mr. Mallowe and Mr. Carlis suggested that I call Mr. Lawton up on the +private wire in his office, but the matter was so delicate that as +long as he had not come to me in person I did not care to telephone +him. Mr. Mallowe showed me a letter which he had recently received +from Pennington Lawton corroborating his statement. But in the matter +of the amount desired we could not definitely distinguish the figures. +Mr. Mallowe was sure that it was three hundred and fifty thousand +dollars. Mr. Carlis was equally certain that it was three hundred and +eighty-five thousand. To make certain of the matter they called Mr. +Lawton up from my office here in my presence, and he stated that the +sum desired was three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. There was +only one odd thing about the entire transaction, and that was a remark +Mr. Mallowe made as he was leaving. After the negotiations had been +completed he turned and said, 'You understand, Mr. Moore, that Mr. +Lawton is so careful, so secretive, that he does not wish this matter +ever mentioned to him personally, even if you think yourself +absolutely alone with him.'" + +"Mr. Lawton was a very peculiar man in many ways," Ramon said +meditatively. "His methods of conducting his affairs were not always +easily understood. The negotiations were then completed shortly +thereafter?" + +"Yes, within a few days. I turned the amount required over to Mr. +Mallowe and Mr. Carlis, and accepted Mr. Lawton's note. I will show it +to you if you care to see it." + +"That will not be necessary, Mr. Moore, but I am going to make a +request that may seem very strange to you. Should it be necessary, +would you be willing to show that note to some one whom I may bring +here to you--some one who may prefer not to see you personally, but +merely to be permitted to examine the note in the presence of some +responsible people of your own choosing?" + +"Certainly, Mr. Hamilton. I think I can safely promise that. But what +does it mean--is there anything wrong with Pennington Lawton's note?" + +"Not that I am aware of, Mr. Moore," Ramon answered, laughing rather +shortly. "I am unable to explain just now, but I think the name of +Pennington Lawton carries with it a sufficient guarantee that the note +will be honored when it is presented." + +An hour later, at the close of the busiest day he had experienced +since his graduation from the law school, young Hamilton presented +himself at Henry Blaine's office. The detective listened in silence to +his story, and at its conclusion remarked quietly: "You did well, Mr. +Hamilton. I am going to call one of my operatives and ask you to +repeat to him in detail the location of that safe in Mallowe's office +and the drawer which contains Mr. Lawton's letter from Long Bay." + +"Anyone would think you meant to steal it, Mr. Blaine." + +Young Hamilton's laugh was now unrestrained. "There couldn't possibly +be anything wrong with the note or the entire transaction. Mr. Moore +proved that when he told me how Mr. Mallowe and Carlis called up Mr. +Lawton in his presence on his private wire and discussed the +negotiations." + +"Are you sure that they did, Mr. Hamilton?" The detective suddenly +leaned forward across his desk, his body tense, his eyes alight with +fervid animation. "Are you sure Pennington Lawton ever received that +message?" + +"He must have. According to Mr. Moore, the two men used Mr. Lawton's +private wire, the number of which was known only to a few of his +closest intimates and which of course was not listed." + +"But some one who knew that the telephone message was coming might +readily have been in Lawton's office seated at his desk, alone, and +replied to it in the financier's name. Do you understand, Mr. +Hamilton? The note may be a forgery, the letter may be a forgery; that +we shall soon know. If it is, and the money so obtained from Moore has +been converted to the use of the three confederates whom we suspect to +have formed a conspiracy to ruin Miss Lawton, then her father's entire +fortune might have been seized upon in virtually the same way." + +Henry Blaine rose and paced back and forth as if almost oblivious of +the other's presence. "The mortgage of his was forged--we have proved +that," he continued. "Why, then, should not every other available +security have been stolen in practically the same way?" he continued. + +"But how would anyone dare? The whole thing is too bare-faced," Ramon +expostulated. "A man like Mr. Moore could not have been imposed upon +by a mere forgery." + +"But if that note proves to be a forgery, Mr. Hamilton, and the +letter as well--we shall have picked up a tangible clue at last. I +think I am beginning to see daylight." + +Late that night in the huge suite of offices of President Mallowe of +the Street Railways, a very curious scene took place. The stolid +watchman who had been on uneventful duty there for twenty years had +made his rounds for the last time. With superb nonchalance, he settled +himself for his accustomed nap in his employer's chair. From the +stillness and gloom of the semi-deserted office-building two stealthy +figures descended swiftly upon him, their feet sinking noiselessly +into the rich pile of the rugs. A short, silent struggle, a cloth +saturated with chloroform pressed heavily over his face, and the +guardian of the premises lay inert. The shorter, more stocky of the +two nocturnal visitors, without more ado switched on a pocket electric +light and made a hasty but thorough survey of the room. The taller one +shrank back inadvertently from the drug-stilled body in the chair, +then resolutely turned and knelt beside his companion before the safe. +He dreaded to think of what discovery might mean. If he, Ramon +Hamilton, were to be caught in the act of burglarizing, his career as +a rising young lawyer would be at an end. The risk indeed was great, +but he had promised Henry Blaine every aid in his power to help the +girl he loved. + +After a minute examination, the operative proceeded to work upon the +massive safe door. With the cunning of a _Jimmy Valentine_ he +manipulated the tumblers. Ramon Hamilton, his discomfiture forgotten, +watched with breathless interest while the keen, sensitive fingers +performed their task. Soon the great doors swung noiselessly back and +the manifold compartments within were revealed. + +The young lawyer pointed out the drawer from which he had seen +President Mallowe remove the letter that morning, and it, too, yielded +quickly to the master-touch of the expert. There, on the very top of a +pile of papers, lay the written page they sought. + +"He'll be all right. We haven't done for him, have we?" Ramon Hamilton +whispered anxiously, pointing to the watchman's unconscious form, as, +their mission accomplished, they stole from the room. + +"Surest thing you know. He'll come to in half an hour, none the +worse," the operative responded. "We made a good clean job of it." + +Henry Blaine could hardly suppress his elation when they laid the +letter before him on their return to his office. + +"It's a forgery, just as I suspected," he exclaimed, with supreme +satisfaction. "Look, Hamilton; I'll show you how it was done." + +"It is incredible. I can scarcely believe it. I know Pennington +Lawton's handwriting as well as I know my own, and I could swear that +his fingers guided the pen. His writing was as distinctive as his +character." + +"It's that very fact," the detective returned, "which would have made +it easier to copy; but, as it happens, you are partially right. This +was not a forgery in the ordinary sense. Those are Pennington Lawton's +own words before you, in his own handwriting." + +"Then how--" the young lawyer inquired, in a bewildered tone. + +Henry Blaine smiled. + +"You do not intend to specialize in criminal law, do you, Mr. +Hamilton?" he remarked whimsically. "If you do, you will have to be +up in the latest tricks of the trade. The man who forged this +letter--the same man, by the way, forged the signature on that +mortgage--accomplished it like this: He took a bundle of Mr. Lawton's +old letters, cut out the actual words he desired, and pasted 'em +in their proper order on the letter paper. Then he photographed this +composite, and electrotyped it--that is, transferred it to a +copperplate, and etched it. Then he re-photographed it, and in +this way got an actual photograph of a supposedly authentic +communication. There is only one man in this country who is capable +of such perfect work. I know who that man is and where to find him." + +"Then if you can locate him before he skips, and make him talk, you +will have won the victory," Ramon exclaimed, jubilantly. + +But the detective shook his head. + +"The time is not yet ripe for that. The man is, in my estimation, a +mere tool in the hands of the men higher up. He may not be able to +give us any actual proof against them, and our exposure of him will +only tip them off--put 'em on their guard. We needn't show our hand +just yet." + +"What's the next move to be, then?" the young lawyer asked. "I don't +mean, of course, that I wish to inquire into your methods of handling +the case--but have you any further commissions for me?" + +"Only to accompany me to-morrow morning to the office of Charlton +Moore and let me examine that note which Mr. Lawton presumably gave +two years ago. Afterward, I have four little amateur detectives of +mine to interview--then I think we'll be able to proceed straight to +our goal." + +The note also, as Henry Blaine had predicted, proved to be a forgery +and to have been executed by the same hand as the letter. + +[Illustration: With the cunning of a Jimmy Valentine he manipulated the +tumblers. Ramon Hamilton, his discomfiture forgotten, watched with +breathless interest.] + +The detective betrayed to the unsuspecting banker no sign of his +elation at the discovery, but following their interview he returned to +his office and sent for the four young girls whom he had taken from +the Anita Lawton Club and installed in the offices of the men he +suspected. + +The first to respond was Margaret Hefferman, who had been sent as +stenographer to Rockamore, the promoter. + +"You followed my instructions, Miss Hefferman," asked Blaine. "You +kept a list for me of Mr. Rockamore's visitors?" + +"Yes, sir. I have it here in my bag. I also brought carbon copies of +two letters which Mr. Rockamore dictated and which I thought might +have some bearing on the matter in which you are interested--although +I could not quite understand them myself." + +"Let me see them, please." + +Blaine took the documents and list of names, scanning them quickly and +sharply with a practised eye. The names were those of the biggest men +in the city--bankers, brokers, financiers and promoters. Among them, +that of President Mallowe and Timothy Carlis appeared frequently. At +only one did Henry Blaine pause--at that of Mark Paddington. He had +known the man as an employee of a somewhat shady private detective +agency several years before and had heard that he had later been +connected in some capacity with the city police, but had never come +into actual contact with him. + +What business could a detective of his caliber have to do with +Bertrand Rockamore? + +The letters were short and cryptic in their meaning, and significant +only when connected with those to whom they were addressed. The first +was to Timothy Carlis; it read: + + Your communication received. We must proceed with the utmost + care in this matter. Keep me advised of any further + contingencies which may arise. P. should know or be able to + find out. The affair is to his interests as much as ours. + + B. R. + +The second was addressed to Paddington: + + Have learned from C. that your assistants are under espionage. + What does it mean? Learn all particulars at once and advise. + + R. + +"You have done well, Miss Hefferman," said Blaine as he looked up from +the last of the letters. "I will keep these carbon copies and the +list. Let me know how often Mr. Mallowe and Timothy Carlis call, and +try particularly to overhear as much as possible of the man +Paddington's conversation when he appears." + +When the young stenographer had departed, Fifine Dechaussee +appeared. She was the governess who had been sent to the home of +Doctor Franklin, ostensibly to care for his children, but in reality +to find, if possible, what connection existed between Carlis, +Mallowe, Rockamore and himself. The young Frenchwoman's report was +disappointingly lacking in any definite result--save one fact. The +man Paddington had called twice upon the minister, remaining the +second time closeted with him in his study for more than an hour. +Later, he had intercepted her when she was out with the children in +the park; but she had eluded his attentions. + +"I wish you hadn't done so. If he makes any further attempt to talk +with you, Mademoiselle Dechaussee, encourage him, draw him out. If he +tries to question you about yourself and where you came from, don't +mention the Anita Lawton Club, but remember his questions carefully +and come and tell me." + +"Certainly, m'sieur, I shall remember." + +Agnes Olson and Laurette Murfree, the switchboard operator to Carlis +and filing clerk to Mallowe, respectively, added practically the same +information as had the two preceding girls. Mark Paddington, the +detective, had been in frequent communication with each of their +employers. When the young women had concluded their reports and +gone, Blaine telephoned at once to Guy Morrow, his right-hand +operative, and instructed him to watch for Paddington's appearance +in the neighborhood of the little house in the Bronx, where they had +located Brunell, the one-time forger. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +GUY MORROW FACES A PROBLEM + + +Morrow, meanwhile, had slowly become aware that he had a problem of +his own to face, the biggest of his life. Should he go on with his +work? In the event that James Brunell proved, indeed, to be guilty of +the forgeries of which he was suspected by the Master Mind, it would +mean that he, Morrow, would have betrayed the father of the girl he +felt himself beginning to care for. Dared he face such a tremendous +issue? + +His acquaintance with Emily Brunell had progressed rapidly in the few +days since his subterfuge had permitted him to speak to her. He had +met her father and found himself liking the tall, silent man who went +about the simple affairs of his life with such compelling dignity and +courteous aloofness. Brunell had even invited him to his little shop +and shown him with unsuspecting enthusiasm his process for making the +maps which were sold to the public schools. + +Morrow had seen no evidence of anything wrong, either in the little +shop or the home life of the father and daughter; nor had he observed +Paddington--who was well known to him--in the neighborhood. + +Even in these few mornings it had become a habit with him to watch for +Emily and walk with her to her subway station, and as frequently as he +dared, he would await her arrival in the evening. After his last +telephone conversation with Blaine, he called upon the two in the +little house across the way, determined to find out, if possible, if +the man Paddington had come into their lives. He felt instinctively +that James Brunell would prove a difficult subject to cross-examine. +The man seemed to be complete master of himself, and were he guilty, +could never be led into an admission, unless some influence more +powerful than force could be brought to bear upon him. + +But the girl, with her clear eyes and unsuspecting, inexperienced +mind, could easily be led to disclose whatever knowledge she +possessed, particularly if her interest or affections were aroused. It +seemed cowardly, in view of his newly awakened feelings toward her, +but he had committed far more unscrupulous acts without a qualm, in +the course of his professional work. + +Brunell was out when he called, but Emily led him into the little +sitting-room, and for a time they talked in a desultory fashion. +Morrow, who had brought so many malefactors to justice by the winning +snare of his personality, felt for once at a loss as to how to +commence his questioning. + +But the girl herself, guilelessly, gave him a lead by beginning, quite +of her own accord, to talk of her early life. + +"It seems so strange," she remarked, confidingly, "to have been so +completely alone all of my life--except for Daddy, of course." + +"You have no brothers or sisters, Miss Brunell?" asked the detective. + +"None--and I never knew my mother. She died when I was born." + +Morrow sighed, and involuntarily his hand reached forward in an +expression of complete sympathy. + +"Daddy has been mother and father to me," the girl went on +impulsively. "We have always lived in this neighborhood, ever since I +can remember, and of course we know everyone around here. But with my +downtown position and Father's work in the shop, we've had no time to +make real friends and we haven't even cared to--before." + +"Before when?" he asked with a kindly intonation not at all in keeping +with the purpose which had actuated him in seeking her friendship. + +"Before you brought my kitten back to me." She paused, suddenly +confused and shy, then added hurriedly, "We have so few guests, you +know. Daddy, somehow, doesn't care for people--as a rule, that is. I'm +awfully glad that he has made an exception with you." + +"But surely you have other friends--for instance, that young fellow +I've noticed now and again when he called upon you." + +Morrow's thoughts had suddenly turned to that unknown visitor toward +whom he had taken such an unaccountable dislike. + +"Young fellow--what young fellow?" Emily Brunell's voice had changed, +slightly, and a reserved little note intruded itself which reminded +Morrow all at once of her father. + +"I don't know who he is--I'm such a newcomer in the neighborhood, you +know; but I happened to see him from my window across the way--a +short, dapper-looking young chap with a small, dark mustache." + +"Oh! _that_ man." Her lip curled disdainfully. "That's Charley +Pennold. He's no friend of mine. He just comes to see Father now and +again on business. I don't bother to talk to him. I don't think Daddy +likes him very much, either." + +She caught her breath in sharply as she spoke, and looked away from +Morrow in sudden reserve. He felt a quick start of suspicion, and +searched her averted face with a keen, penetrating glance. + +If this Charley Pennold, whoever he might be, wished to see James +Brunell on legitimate business, why did he not go to his shop openly +and above-board in the day-time? Could he be an emissary from some one +whom the old forger had reason to evade? If he were, did Emily know +for what purpose he came, and was she annoyed at her own error in +involuntarily disclosing his name? + +"He is a map-maker, too?" leaped from Morrow's lips. + +"He is interested in maps--he gives Daddy large orders for them, I +believe." + +Emily spoke too hurriedly, and her tones lacked the ring of sincerity +which was habitual with them. + +The trained ear of the detective instantly sensed the difference, and +his heart sank. + +So she had lied to him deliberately, and her womanly instinct told her +that he knew it. + +She began to talk confusedly of trivialities; and Morrow, seeing that +it would be hopeless to attempt to draw her back to her unguarded +mood, left her soon after--heartsick and dejected. + +Should he continue with his investigations, or go to Henry Blaine and +confess that he had failed him? Was this girl, charming and innocent +as she appeared, worth the price of his career--this girl with the +blood of criminals in her veins, who would stoop to lies and deceit to +protect them? Yet had not he been seeking deliberately to betray her +and those she loved, under the guise of friendship? Was he any better +than she or her father? + +Then, too, another thought came to him. Might she not be the tool, +consciously or unconsciously, of a nefarious plot? + +He felt that he could not rest until he had brought his investigations +to a conclusion which would be satisfactory to himself, even if he +decided in the end, for her sake, never to divulge to Henry Blaine the +discoveries he might make. + +A few days later, however, Morrow received instructions from Blaine +himself, which forced his hand. The time had come for him to use the +skeleton-key which he had had made. He must proceed that night to +investigate the little shop of the map-maker and look there for +the evidence which would incriminate him--the photographic and +electrotyping apparatus. + +Early in the evening he heard Emily's soft voice as she called across +the street in pleasant greeting to Miss Quinlan, but he could not +bring himself to go out upon the little porch and speak to her, +although he did not doubt his welcome. + +He waited until all was dark and still before he started upon his +distasteful errand. It was very cold, and the streets were deserted. A +fine dry snow was falling, which obliterated his footprints almost as +soon as he made them, and he reached the now familiar door of the +little shop without meeting a soul abroad save a lonely policeman +dozing in a doorway. He let himself into the shop with his key and +flashed his pocket lamp about. All appeared the same as in the +day-time. The maps were rolled in neat cases or fastened upon the +wall. The table, the press, the binder were each in their proper +place. + +Morrow went carefully over every inch of the room and the curtained +recess back of it, but could find no evidence such as he sought. At +length, however, just before the little desk in the corner where James +Brunell kept his modest accounts, the detective's foot touched a metal +ring in the floor. Stepping back from it, he seized the ring and +pulled it. A small square section of the flooring yielded, and the +raising of the narrow trap-door disclosed a worn, sanded stone +stairway leading down into the cellar beneath. + +Blaine's operative listened carefully but no sound came from the +depths below him; so after a time, with his light carefully shielded, +he essayed a gingerly descent. On the bottom step he paused. There was +small need for him to go further. He had found what he sought. Emily +Brunell's father was a forger indeed! + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GONE! + + +Guy Morrow, after a sleepless night, presented himself at Henry +Blaine's office the next morning. The great detective, observing his +young subordinate with shrewd, kindly eyes, noted in one swift glance +his changed demeanor: his pallor, and the new lines graven about the +firm mouth, which added strength and maturity to his face. If he +guessed the reason for the metamorphosis, Blaine gave no sign, but +listened without comment until Morrow had completed his report. + +"You obeyed my instructions?" he asked at length. "When you discovered +the forgery outfit in the cellar of Brunell's shop, you left +everything just as it had been--left no possible trace of your +presence?" + +"Yes, sir. There's not a sign left to show any one had disturbed the +place. I am sure of that." + +"Not a foot-print in the earth of the cellar steps?" + +"No, sir." + +"And the outfit--was there any evidence it had been used lately?" + +"No--everything was dust-covered, and even rusty, as if it had not +even been touched in months, perhaps years. The whole thing might be +merely a relic of Jimmy Brunell's past performances, in the life he +gave up long ago." + +Morrow spoke almost eagerly, as if momentarily off his guard, but +Blaine shook his head. + +"Rather too dangerous a relic to keep in one's possession, Guy, simply +as a souvenir--a reminder of things the man is trying to forget, to +live down. You can depend on it: the outfit was there for some more +practical purpose. You say Paddington has not appeared in the +neighborhood, but another man has--a man Brunell's daughter seems to +dislike and fear?" + +"Yes, sir. There's one significant fact about him, too--his name. He's +Charley Pennold. It didn't occur to me for some time after Miss +Brunell let that slip, that the name is the same as that of the +precious pair of old crooks over in Brooklyn, the ones Suraci and I +traced Brunell by." + +"Charley Pennold!" Blaine repeated thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought of +him. He's old Walter Pennold's nephew. The boy was running straight +the last I heard of him, but you never can tell. Guy, I'm going to +take you off the Brunell trail for a while, and put you on this man +Paddington. I'll have Suraci look up Charley Pennold and get a line on +him. In the meantime, leave your key to the map-making shop with me. I +may want to have a look at that forgery outfit myself." + +"You're going to take me off the Brunell trail!" Morrow's astonishment +and obvious distaste for the change of program confronting him was +all-revealing. "But I'll have to go back and make some sort of +explanation for leaving so abruptly, won't I? Will it pay to arouse +their suspicions--that is, sir, unless you've got some special reason +for doing so?" + +Blaine's slow smile was very kindly and sympathetic as he eyed the +anxious young man before him. + +"No. You will go back, of course, and explain that you have obtained +a clerkship which necessitates your moving downtown. Make your peace +with Miss Brunell if you like, but remember, Guy, don't mix sentiment +and business. It won't do. I may have to put you back on the job there +in a few days, and I know I can depend on you not to lose your head. +She's a young girl and a pretty one; but don't forget she's the +daughter of Jimmy Brunell, the man we're trying to get! Pennington +Lawton had a daughter, too; remember that--and she's been defrauded of +everything in the world but her lover and her faith in her father's +memory." His voice had gradually grown deeper and more stern, and he +added in brisk, businesslike tones, far removed from the personal +element. "Now get back to the Bronx. Come to me to-morrow morning, and +I'll have the data in the Paddington matter ready for you." + +The young detective had scarcely taken his departure, when Ramon +Hamilton appeared. He was in some excitement, and glanced nervously +behind him as he entered, as if almost in fear of possible pursuit. + +"Mr. Blaine," he began, "I'm confident that we're suspected. Here's a +note that came to me from President Mallowe this morning. He asks if I +inadvertently carried away with me that letter of Pennington Lawton's +written from Long Bay two years ago, in which I had shown such an +interest during our interview the other day. He has been unable to +find it since my departure. That's a rather broad hint, it seems to +me." + +"I should not consider it as such," the detective responded. "Guilty +conscience, Mr. Hamilton!" + +"That's not all!" the young lawyer went on. "He says that a curious +burglary was committed at his offices the night after my interview +with him--his watchman was chloroformed, and the safe in his private +office opened and rifled, yet nothing was taken, with the possible +exception of that letter. Mallowe asks me, openly, if I knew of an +ulterior motive which any one might have possessed in acquiring it, +and even remarks that he is thinking of putting you, Mr. Blaine, on +the mysterious attempt at robbery. That would be a joke, wouldn't it, +if it wasn't really, in my estimation at least, a covert threat. Why +should he, Mallowe, take me into his confidence about an affair which +took place in his private office? He did not make the excuse of +pretending to retain me as his attorney. I think he was merely warning +me that he was suspicious of me." + +"Probably a mere coincidence," Blaine observed easily. + +"I wonder if you'll think so when I tell you that twice since +yesterday my life has been attempted." Ramon spoke quietly enough, but +there was a slight trembling in his tones. + +"What!" Blaine started forward in his chair, then sank back with an +incredulous smile, which none but he could have known was forced. +"Surely you imagine it, Mr. Hamilton. Since your automobile accident, +when you were run down and so nearly killed on the evening you sent +for me to undertake Miss Lawton's case, you may well be nervous." + +As he spoke he glanced at the other's broken arm, which was still +swathed in bandages. + +"But these were no accidents, Mr. Blaine, and I have always doubted +that the first one was, as you know. Yesterday afternoon, a new +client's case called me down to the sixth ward, at four o'clock. In +order to reach my client's address it was necessary to pass through +the street in which that shooting affray occurred which filled the +papers last evening. Two men darted out of a house, shot presumably +at each other, then turned and ran in opposite directions without +waiting to see if either of the shots took effect. You know that isn't +usual with the members of rival gangs down there. Remember, too, Mr. +Blaine, that it was prearranged for me to walk alone through that +street at just that psychological moment. It seemed to me that neither +man shot at the other, but both fired point-blank at me. I dismissed +the idea from my mind as absurd, the next minute, and would have +thought no more about it, beyond congratulating myself on my fortunate +escape, had not the second attempt been made." + +"The sixth ward--" Blaine remarked, meditatively. "That's Timothy +Carlis' stamping ground, of course. But go on, Mr. Hamilton. What was +the second incident?" + +"Late last night, I had a telephone message from my club that my best +friend, Gordon Brooke, had been taken suddenly ill with a serious +attack of heart-trouble, and wanted me. Brooke has heart-disease and +he might go off with it at any time, so I posted over immediately. The +club is only a few blocks away from my home, so I didn't wait to call +my machine or a taxi, but started over. Just a little way from the +club, three men sprang upon me and attempted to hold me up. I fought +them off, and when they came at me again, three to one, the idea +flashed upon me that this was a fresh attempt to assassinate me. + +"I shouted for help, and then ran. When I reached the club I found +Brooke there, sitting in a poker game and quite as well as usual. No +telephone message had been sent to me from him. I tried this morning, +before I came to you, to have the number traced, but without success. +Do you blame me now, Mr. Blaine, for believing, after these three +manifestations, that my life is in actual danger?" + +"I do not." The detective touched an electric button on his desk. "I +think it will be advisable for you to have a guard, for the next few +days, at least." + +"A guard!" Ramon repeated, indignantly. "I'm not a coward. Any man +would be disturbed, to put it mildly, over the conviction that his +life was threatened every hour, but it was of her I was thinking--of +Anita! I could not bear to think of leaving her alone to face the +world, penniless and hedged in on all sides by enemies. But I want no +guard! I can take care of myself as well as the next man. Look at the +perils and dangers you have faced in your unceasing warfare against +malefactors of every grade. It is common knowledge that you have +invariably refused to be guarded." + +"The years during which I have been constantly face to face with +sudden death have made me disregard the possibility of it. But I shall +not insist in your case, Mr. Hamilton, if you do not wish it; and +allow me to tell you that I admire your spirit. However, I should like +to have you leave town for a few days, if your clients can spare +you." + +"Leave town? Run away?" Ramon started indignantly from his chair, but +Blaine waved him back with a fatherly hand. + +"Not at all. On a commission for me, in Miss Lawton's interests. Mr. +Hamilton, you have known the Lawtons for several years, have you +not?" + +"Ever since I can remember," the young lawyer said with renewed +eagerness. + +"Two years ago, in August, Pennington Lawton and his daughter were at +'The Breakers,' at Long Bay, were they not?" + +"Yes. Anita and I were engaged then, and I ran out myself for the +week-end." + +"I want you to run out there for me now. The hotel will be closed at +this time of year, of course, but a letter which I will give you to +the proprietor, who lives close at hand, will enable you to look over +the register for an hour or two in private. Turn to the arrivals for +August of that year, and trace the names and home addresses on each +page; then bring it back to me." + +"Is it something in connection with that forged letter to Mallowe?" +asked Ramon quickly. + +"Perhaps," the detective admitted. He shrugged, then added leniently, +"I think, before proceeding any further with that branch of the +investigation, it would be well to know who obtained the notepaper +with the hotel letterhead, and if the paper itself was genuine. Bring +me back some of the hotel stationery, also, that I may compare it with +that used for the letter." + +A discreet knock upon the door heralded the coming of an operative, in +response to Blaine's touch upon the bell. + +"There has been a slight disturbance in the outer office, sir," he +announced. "A man, who appears to be demented, insists upon seeing +you. He isn't one of the ordinary cranks, or we would have dealt with +him ourselves. He says that if you will read this, you will be glad to +assent to an interview with him." + +He presented a card, which Blaine read with every manifestation of +surprised interest. + +"Tell him I will see him in five minutes," he said. When the operative +had withdrawn, the detective turned to Ramon. + +"Who do you think is waiting outside? The man who threatened +Pennington Lawton's life ten years ago, the man whose name was +mentioned by the unknown visitor to the library on the night Lawton +met his death: Herbert Armstrong!" + +"Good heavens!" Ramon exclaimed. "What brings him here now? I thought +he had disappeared utterly. Do you think it could have been he in the +library that night, come to take revenge for that fancied wrong, at +last?" + +"That is what I'm going to find out," the detective responded, with a +touch of grimness in his tones. + +"But you don't mean--it isn't possible that Mr. Lawton was murdered! +That he didn't die of heart-disease, after all!" + +"I traced Armstrong to the town where he was living in obscurity, and +followed his movements." Blaine's reply seemed to be purposely +irrelevant. "I could not, however, find where he had been on the night +of Mr. Lawton's death. Now that he has come to me voluntarily, we +shall discover if the voice Miss Lawton overheard in that moment when +she listened on the stairs, was his or not.... Come back this +afternoon, Mr. Hamilton, and I will give you full information and +instructions about that Long Bay errand. In the meantime, guard +yourself well from a possible attack, although I do not think another +attempt upon your life will be made so soon. Take this, and if you +have need of it, do not hesitate to use it. We can afford no +half-measures now. Shoot, and shoot to kill!" + +He opened a lower drawer in his massive desk and, drawing from it a +business-like looking revolver of large caliber, presented it to the +lawyer. With a warm hand-clasp he dismissed him, and, going to the +telephone, called up Anita Lawton's home. + +"I want you to attend carefully, Miss Lawton. I am speaking from my +office. A man will be here with me in a few minutes, and I shall seat +him close to the transmitter of my 'phone, leaving the receiver off +the hook. Please listen carefully to his voice. I only wish you to +hear a phrase or two, when I will hang up the receiver, and call you +up later. Try to concentrate with all your powers, and tell me +afterward if you have ever heard that voice until now; if it is the +voice of the man you did not see, who was in the library with your +father just before he died." + +He heard her give a quick gasp, and then her voice came to him, low +and sweet and steady. + +"I will listen carefully, Mr. Blaine, and do my best to tell you the +truth." + +The detective pulled a large leather chair close to the telephone, and +Herbert Armstrong was ushered in. + +The man was pitiful in appearance, but scarcely demented, as the +operative had described him. He was tall and shabbily clothed, gaunt +almost to the point of emaciation, but with no sign of dissipation. +His eyes, though sunken, were clear, and they gazed levelly with those +of the detective. + +"Come in, Mr. Armstrong." Blaine waved genially toward the arm-chair. +"What can I do for you?" + +The man did not offer to shake hands, but sank wearily into the chair +assigned him. + +"Do? You can stop hounding me, Henry Blaine! You and Pennington Lawton +brought my tragedy upon me as surely as I brought it upon myself, and +now you will not leave me alone with my grief and ruin, to drag my +miserable life out to the end, but you or your men must dog my every +foot-step, spy upon me, hunt me down like a pack of wolves! And why? +Why?" + +The man's voice had run its gamut, in the emotion which consumed him, +and from a menacing growl of protest, it had risen to a shrill wail of +weakness and despair. + +Henry Blaine was satisfied. + +"Excuse me, Mr. Armstrong," he said gently. "The receiver is off my +telephone, here at your elbow. It would be unfortunate if we were +overheard. If you will allow me--" + +But he got no further. Quick as he was, the other man was quicker. He +sprang up furiously, and dashed the telephone off the desk. + +"Is this another of your d--d tricks?" he shouted. "If it is, whoever +was listening may hear the rest. You and Pennington Lawton between +you, drove my wife to suicide, but you'll not drive _me_ there! I'm +ruined, and broken, and hopeless, but I'll live on, live till I'm +even, do you hear? Live till I'm square with the game!" + +His violence died out as swiftly as it had arisen, and he sank down in +the chair, his face buried in his bony hands, his thin shoulders +shaken with sobs. + +Blaine quietly replaced the telephone and receiver, and seated +himself. + +"Come, man, pull yourself together!" he said, not unkindly. "I'm not +hounding you; Lawton never harmed you, and now he is dead. He was my +client and I was bound to protect his interests, but as man to man, +the fault was yours and you know it. I tried to keep you from making a +fool of yourself and wrecking three lives, but I only succeeded in +saving one." + +"But your men are hounding me, following me, shadowing me! I have come +to find out why!" + +"And I would like to find out where you were on a certain night last +month--the ninth, to be exact," responded Blaine quietly. + +"What affair is it of yours?" the other man asked wearily, adding: +"How should I know, now? One night is like another, to me." + +"If you hate Pennington Lawton's memory as you seem to, the ninth of +November should stand out in your thoughts in letters of fire," the +detective went on, in even, quiet tone. "That was the night on which +Lawton died." + +"Lawton?" Herbert Armstrong raised his haggard face. The meaning of +Blaine's remark utterly failed to pierce his consciousness. "The date +doesn't mean anything to me, but I remember the night, if that's what +you want to know about, although I'm hanged if I can see what it's got +to do with me! I'll never forget that night, because of the news which +reached me in the morning, that my worst enemy on earth had passed +away." + +"Were you in Illington the evening before?" asked Blaine. + +"I was not. I was in New Harbor, where I live, playing pinochle all +night long with two other down-and-outs like myself, in a cheap hall +bed-room--I, Herbert Armstrong, who used to play for thousands a game, +in the best clubs in Illington! And I never knew that the man who had +brought me to that pass was gasping his life away! Think of it! We +played until dawn, when the extras, cried in the street below, gave us +the news!" + +"If you will give me the address of this boarding-house you mention, +and the names of your two friends, I can promise that you will be +under no further espionage, Mr. Armstrong." + +"I don't care whether you know it or not, if that's all you want!" The +gaunt man shrugged wearily. "I'm tired of being hounded, and I'm too +weak and too tired to oppose you, even if it did matter." + +He gave the required names and addresses, and slouched away, his +animosity gone, and only a dull, miserable lethargy sagging upon his +worn body. + +When the outer door of the offices had closed upon him, Henry Blaine +again called up Anita Lawton. This time her voice came to him +sharpened by acute distress. + +"I did not recognize the tones of the person's voice, Mr. Blaine, only +I am quite, quite sure that he was not the man in the library with my +father the night of his death. But oh, what did he mean by the +terrible things he said? It could not be that my father brought ruin +and tragedy upon any one, much less drove them to suicide. Won't you +tell me, Mr. Blaine? Ramon won't, although I am convinced he knows all +about it. I must know." + +"You shall, Miss Lawton. I think the time has come when you should no +longer be left in the dark. I will tell Mr. Hamilton when he comes to +me this afternoon for the interview we have arranged that you must +know the whole story." + +But Ramon Hamilton failed to appear for the promised interview. Henry +Blaine called up his office and his home, but was unable to locate +him. Then Miss Lawton began making anxious inquiries, and finally the +mother of the young lawyer appealed to the detective, but in vain. +Late that night the truth was established beyond peradventure of a +doubt. Ramon Hamilton had disappeared as if the earth had opened and +engulfed him. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MARGARET HEFFERMAN'S FAILURE + + +The disappearance of Ramon Hamilton, coming so soon after the sudden +death of his prospective father-in-law, caused a profound sensation. +In the small hours of the night, before the press had been apprised of +the event and when every probable or possible place where the young +lawyer might be had been communicated with in vain, Henry Blaine set +the perfect machinery of his forces at work to trace him. + +It was dawn before he could spare a precious moment to go to Anita +Lawton. On his arrival he found her pacing the floor, wringing her +slim hands in anguish. + +"He is dead." She spoke with the dull hopelessness of utter +conviction. "I shall never see him again. I feel it! I know it!" + +"My dear child!" Blaine put his hands upon her shoulders in fatherly +compassion. "You must put all such morbid fancies from your mind. He +is not dead and we shall find him. It may be all a mistake--perhaps +some important matter concerning a client made it necessary for him to +leave the city over night." + +She shook her head despairingly. + +"No, Mr. Blaine. You know as well as I that Ramon is just starting in +his profession. He has no clients of any prominence, and my father's +influence was really all that his rising reputation was being built +upon. Besides, nothing but a serious accident or--or death would keep +him from me!" + +"If he had met with any accident his identity would have been +discovered and we would be notified, unless, as in the case when he +was run down by that motor-car, he did not wish them to let you know +for fear of worrying you." + +Blaine watched the young girl narrowly as he spoke. Was she aware of +the two additional attempts only the day before on the life of the man +she loved? + +"He merely followed a dear, unselfish impulse because he knew that in +a few hours at most he would be with me; but now it is morning! The +dawn of a new day, and no word from him! Those terrible people who +tried to kill him that other time to keep him from coming to me in my +trouble have made away with him. I am sure of it now." + +The detective breathed more freely. Evidently Ramon Hamilton had had +the good sense to keep from her his recent danger. + +"You can be sure of nothing, Miss Lawton, save the fact that Mr. +Hamilton is _not_ dead," Henry Blaine said earnestly. "You do not +realize, perhaps, the one salient fact that criminal experts who deal +with cases of disappearance have long since recognized--the most +difficult of all things to conceal or do away with in a large city is +a dead body." + +Anita shivered and clasped her hands convulsively, but she did not +speak, and after a scarcely perceptible pause, the detective went on: + +"You must not let your mind dwell on the possibilities; it will only +entail useless, needless suffering on your part. My experiences have +been many and varied in just such cases as this, and in not one in +fifty does serious harm come to the subject of the investigation. In +fact, in this instance, I think it quite probable that Mr. Hamilton +has left the city of his own accord, and in your interests." + +"In my interests?" Anita repeated, roused from her lethargy of sorrow +by his words, as he had intended that she should be. "Left the city? +But why?" + +"When he called upon me yesterday morning I told him of a commission +which I wished him to execute for me in connection with your +investigation. I gave him some preliminary instructions and he was to +return to me in the afternoon for a letter of introduction and to +learn some minor details of the matter involved. He did not appear at +the hour of our appointment and I concluded that he had taken the +affair into his own hands and had gone immediately upon leaving my +office to fulfill his mission." + +"Oh, perhaps he did!" The young girl started from her chair, her dull, +tearless eyes suddenly bright with hope. "That would be like Ramon; he +is so impulsive, so anxious to help me in every way! Where did you +send him, Mr. Blaine? Can't we telephone, or wire and find out if he +really has gone to this place? Please, please do! I cannot endure this +agony of uncertainty, of suspense, much longer!" + +"Unfortunately, we cannot do that!" Blaine responded, gravely. "To +attempt to communicate with him where I have sent him would be to show +our hand irretrievably to the men we are fighting and undo much of the +work which has been accomplished. He may communicate with you or +possibly with me, if he finds that he can contrive to accomplish it +safely." + +"Safely? Then if he has gone to this place, wherever it is, he is in +danger?" Anita faltered, tremblingly. + +"By no means. The only danger is that his identity and purpose may be +disclosed and our plans jeopardized," the detective reassured her +smoothly. "I know it is hard to wait for news, but one must school +oneself to patience under circumstances such as this. It may be +several days before you hear from Mr. Hamilton and you must try not to +distress yourself with idle fears in the meantime." + +"But it is not certain--we have no assurance that he really did go +upon that mission." The light of hope died in her eyes as she spoke, +and a little sob rose in her throat. "Oh, Mr. Blaine, promise me that +you will leave no stone unturned to find him!" + +"My dear child, you must trust in me and have faith in my long years +of experience. I have already, as a precautionary measure, started a +thorough investigation into Mr. Hamilton's movements yesterday, and in +the event that he has not gone on the errand I spoke of, it can only +be a question of hours before he will be located. You did not see him +yesterday?" + +"No. He promised to lunch with me, but he never came nor did he +telephone or send me any word. Surely, if he had meant to leave town +he would have let me know!" + +"Not necessarily, Miss Lawton." Blaine's voice deepened persuasively. +"He was very much excited when he left my office, interested heart and +soul in the mission I had entrusted to him. Remember, too, that it was +all for you, for your sake alone." + +"And I may not know where he has gone?" Anita asked, wistfully. + +"I think, perhaps, that is why Mr. Hamilton did not communicate with +you before leaving town," the detective replied, significantly. "He +agreed with me that it would be best for you not to know, in your own +interests, where he was going. You must try to believe that I am +doing all in my power to help you, and that my judgment is in such +matters better than yours." + +"I do, Mr. Blaine. Indeed I do trust you absolutely; you must believe +that." She reached out an impulsive hand toward him, and his own +closed over it paternally for a moment. Then he gently released it. + +Anita sighed and sank back resignedly in her chair. There was a +moment's pause before she added: + +"It is hard to be quiescent when one is so hedged in on all sides by +falsehood and deceit and the very air breathes conspiracy and +intrigue. I have no tangible reason to fear for my own life, of +course, but sometimes I cannot help wondering why it has not been +imperiled. Surely it would be easier for my father's enemies to do +away with me altogether than to have conceived and carried out such an +elaborate scheme to rob me and defame my father's memory. But I will +try not to entertain such thoughts. I am nervous and overwrought, but +I will regain my self-control. In the meantime, I shall do my best to +be patient and wait for Ramon's return." + +Henry Blaine felt a glow of pardonable elation, but his usually +expressive face did not betray by a single flicker of an eyelash +that he had gained his point. He knew that Ramon Hamilton had never +started on that mission to Long Bay, but if the young girl's +health and reason were to be spared, her anxiety must be allayed. +Courageous and self-controlled as she had been through all the grief +and added trouble which besieged her on every hand, the keen +insight of the detective warned him that she was nearing the +breaking-point. If she fully realized the blow which threatened +her in the sudden disappearance of her lover, together with the +sinister events which had immediately preceded it, she would be +crushed to the earth. + +"You must try to rest." Blaine rose and motioned toward the window +through which the cold rays of the wintry sun were stealing and +putting the orange glow of the electric lights to shame. "See. It is +morning and you have had no sleep." + +"But you must not go just yet, Mr. Blaine! I cannot rest until I know +who that man was whose voice I heard over your telephone this morning. +What did he mean? He said that his wife committed suicide; that he +himself had been ruined! And all through my father and you! It cannot +be true, of course; but I must know to what he referred!" + +"I will tell you. It is best that you should know the truth. Your +father was absolutely innocent in the matter, but his enemies and +yours might find it expedient to spread fake reports which would only +add to your sorrow. You know, you must remember since your earliest +childhood, how every one came to your father with their perplexities +and troubles and how benevolently they were received, how wisely +advised, how generously aided. Not only bankers and financiers in the +throes of a panic, but men and women in all walks of life came to him +for counsel and relief." + +"I know. I know!" Anita whispered with bowed head, the quick tears of +tender memory starting in her eyes. + +"Such a one who came to him for advice in her distress was the wife of +Herbert Armstrong. She was a good woman, but through sheer ignorance +of evil she had committed a slight indiscretion, nothing more than the +best of women might be led into at any time. We need not go into +details. It is enough to tell you that certain unscrupulous persons +had her in their power and were blackmailing her. She fell their +victim through the terror of being misunderstood, and when she could +no longer accede to their demands she came to your father, her +husband's friend, for advice. Herbert Armstrong was insanely jealous +of his wife, and in your father's efforts to help her he unfortunately +incurred the unjust suspicions of the man. Armstrong brought suit for +divorce, intending to name Mr. Lawton as corespondent." + +"Oh, how could he!" Anita cried, indignantly. "The man must have +been mad! My father was the soul of honor. Every one--the whole +world--knows that! Besides, his heart was buried, all that he did +not give to me, deep, deep in the sea where Mother and my little +brother and sister are lying! He never even looked at another +woman, save perhaps in kindness, to help and comfort those who +were in trouble. But when did you come into the case, Mr. Blaine? +That man whose voice I heard to-day must have been Herbert Armstrong +himself, of course. Why did he say that you, as well as my father, +were responsible for his tragedy?" + +"Because when Mr. Lawton became aware of Armstrong's ungovernable +jealousy and the terrible length to which he meant to go in his effort +to revenge himself, he--your father--came to me to establish Mrs. +Armstrong's innocence, and his, in the eyes of the world. Armstrong's +case, although totally wrong from every standpoint, was a very strong +one, but fortunately I was able to verify the truth and was fully +prepared to prove it. Just on the eve of the date set for the trial, +however, a tragedy occurred which brought the affair to an abrupt and +pathetic end." + +"A tragedy? Mrs. Armstrong's suicide, you mean?" asked Anita, in +hushed tones. "How awful!" + +"She was deeply in love with her husband. His unjust accusations and +the public shame he was so undeservedly bringing upon her broke her +heart. I assured her that she would be vindicated, that Armstrong +would be on his knees to her at the trial's end. Your father tried to +infuse her with courage, to gird her for the coming struggle to defend +her own good name, but it was all of no use. She was too broken in +spirit. Life held nothing more for her. On the night before the case +was to have been called, she shot herself." + +"Poor thing!" Anita murmured, with a sob running through her soft +voice. "Poor, persecuted woman. Why did she not wait! Knowing her own +innocence and loving her husband as she did, she could have forgiven +him for his cruel suspicion when it was all over! But surely Herbert +Armstrong knows the truth now. How can he blame you and my father for +the wreck which he made of his own life?" + +"Because his mind has become unhinged. He was always excitable and +erratic, and his weeks of jealous wrath, culminating in the shock of +the sudden tragedy, and the realization that he had brought it all on +himself, were too much for him. He was a broker and one of the most +prominent financiers in the city, but with the divorce fiasco and the +death of Mrs. Armstrong, he began to brood. He shunned the friends who +were left to him, neglected his business and ultimately failed. +Sinking lower and lower in the scale of things, he finally disappeared +from Illington. You can understand now why I thought it best when you +told me of the conversation you had overheard in the library here a +few hours before your father's death, and of the mention of Herbert +Armstrong's name, to trace him and find out if it was he who had come +in the heart of the night and attempted to blackmail Mr. Lawton." + +"I understand. That was why you wanted me to hear his voice yesterday +and see if I recognized it. But it was not at all like that of the man +in the library on the night of my father's death. And do you know, Mr. +Blaine"--she leaned forward and spoke in still lower tones--"when I +recall that voice, it seems to me, sometimes, that I have heard it +before. There was a certain timbre in it which was oddly familiar. It +is as if some one I knew had spoken, but in tones disguised by rage +and passion. I shall recognize that voice when I hear it again, if it +holds that same note; and when I do--" + +Blaine darted a swift glance at her from under narrowed brows. "But +why attribute so much importance to it?" he asked. "To be sure, it may +have some bearing upon our investigation, although at present I can +see no connecting link. You feel, perhaps, that the violent emotions +superinduced by that secret interview, added to your father's +heart-trouble, indirectly caused his death?" + +Anita again sank back in her chair. + +"I don't know, Mr. Blaine. I cannot explain it, even to myself, but I +feel instinctively that that interview was of greater significance +than any one has considered, as yet." + +"That we must leave to the future." The detective took her hand, and +this time Anita rose and walked slowly with him toward the door. +"There are matters of greater moment to be investigated now. Remember +my advice. Try to be patient. Yours is the hardest task of all, to sit +idly by and wait for events to shape themselves, or for me to shape +them, but it must be. If you can calm your nerves and obtain a few +hours' sleep you will feel your own brave self again when I report to +you, as I shall do, later to-day." + +Despite his night of ceaseless work, Henry Blaine, clear-eyed and +alert of brain, was seated at his desk at the stroke of nine when +Suraci was ushered in--the young detective who had trailed Walter +Pennold from Brooklyn to the quiet backwater where Jimmy Brunell had +sought in vain for disassociation from his past shadowy environment. + +"It has become necessary, through an incident which occurred +yesterday, for me to change my plans," Blaine announced. "I had +intended to put you on the trail of a young crook, a relative of +Pennold, but I find I must send you instead to Long Bay to look up a +hotel register for me and obtain some writing paper with the engraved +letter-head from that hotel. You can get a train in an hour, if you +look sharp. Try to get back to-night or to-morrow morning at the +latest. Find out anything you can regarding the visit there two years +ago last August of Pennington Lawton and his daughter and of other +guests who arrived during their stay. Here are your instructions." + +Twenty minutes' low-voiced conversation ensued, and Suraci took his +departure. He was followed almost immediately by Guy Morrow. + +"What is the dope, sir?" the latter asked eagerly, as he entered. +"There's an extra out about the Hamilton disappearance. Do you think +Paddington's had a hand in that?" + +"I want you to tail him," Blaine replied, non-committally. "Find out +anything you can of his movements for the past few weeks, but don't +lose sight of him for a minute until to-morrow morning. He's supposed +to be working up the evidence now for the Snedecker divorce, so it +won't be difficult for you to locate him. You know what he looks +like." + +"Yes, sir. I know the man himself--if you call such a little rat a +man. We had a run-in once, and it isn't likely I'd forget him." + +"Then be careful to keep out of his sight. He may be a rat, but he's +as keen-eyed as a ferret. I'd rather put some one on him whom he +didn't know, but we'll have to chance it. I wouldn't trust this to +anyone but you, Guy." + +The young operative flushed with pride at this tribute from his chief, +and after a few more instructions he went upon his way with alacrity. + +Once more alone, Henry Blaine sat for a long time lost in thought. An +idea had come to him, engendered by a few vague words uttered by Anita +Lawton in the early hours of that morning: an idea so startling, so +tremendous in its import, that even he scarcely dared give it +credence. To put it to the test, to prove or disprove it, would be +irretrievably to show his hand in the game, and that would be suicidal +to his investigation should his swift suspicion chance to be +groundless. + +The sharp ring of the telephone put an end to his cogitations. He put +the receiver to his ear with a preoccupied frown, but at the first +words which came to him over the wire his expression changed to one of +keenest concentration. + +"Am I speaking to the gentleman who talked with me at the working +girls' club?" a clear, fresh young voice asked. "This is Margaret +Hefferman, Mr. Rockamore's stenographer--that is, I was until ten +minutes ago, but I have been discharged." + +"Discharged!" Blaine's voice was eager and crisp as he reiterated her +last word. "On what pretext?" + +"It was not exactly a pretext," the girl replied. "The office boy +accused me of taking shorthand notes of a private conversation between +my employer and a visitor, and I could not convince Mr. Rockamore of +my innocence. I--I must have been clumsy, I'm afraid." + +"You have the notes with you?" + +"Yes." + +"The visitor's name was Paddington?" + +"Yes, sir." + +Blaine considered for a moment; then, his decision made, he spoke +rapidly in a clear undertone. + +"You know the department store of Mead & Rathbun? Meet me there in the +ladies' writing-room in half an hour. Where are you now?" + +"In a booth in the drug-store just around the corner from the building +where Mr. Rockamore's offices are located." + +"Very good. Take as round-about a route as you can to reach Mead & +Rathbun's, and see if you are followed. If you are and you find it +impossible to shake off your shadow, do not try to meet me, but go +directly to the club and I will communicate with you there later." + +"Oh, I don't think I've been followed, but I'll be very careful. If +everything is all right, I will meet you at the place you named in +half an hour. Good-by." + +Henry Blaine paced the floor for a time in undisguised perturbation. +His move in placing inexperienced girls from Anita Lawton's club in +responsible positions, instead of using his own trained operatives, +had been based not upon impulse but on mature reflection. The girls +were unknown, whereas his operatives would assuredly have been +recognized, sooner or later, especially in the offices of Carlis and +Rockamore. Moreover, the ruse adopted to obtain positions for Miss +Lawton's protegees had appeared on the surface to be a flawlessly +legitimate one. He had counted upon their loyalty and zeal to outweigh +their possible incompetence and lack of discretion, but the stolid +German girl had apparently been so clumsy at her task as to bring +failure upon his plan. + +"So much for amateurs!" he murmured to himself, disgustedly. "The +other three will be discharged as soon as excuses for their dismissal +can be manufactured now. My only hope from any of them is that French +governess. If she will only land Paddington I don't care what +suspicions the other three arouse." + +Margaret Hefferman's placid face was a little pale when she greeted +him in the ladies' room of the department store a short time later. + +"I'm so sorry, Mr. Blaine!" she exclaimed, but in carefully lowered +tones. "I could have cut my right hand off before I would hurt Miss +Lawton after all she has done for me, and already the first thing she +asks, I must fail to do!" + +"You are sure you were not followed?" asked the detective, disregarding +her lamentations with purposeful brusqueness, for the tears stood in +her soft, bovine eyes, and he feared an emotional outburst which would +draw down upon them the attention of the whole room. + +"Oh, no! I made sure of that. I rode uptown and half-way down again to +be certain, and then changed to the east-side line." + +"Very well." He drew her to a secluded window-seat where, themselves +almost unseen, they could obtain an unobstructed view of the entrance +door and of their immediate neighbors. + +"Now tell me all about it, Miss Hefferman." + +"It was that office boy, Billy," she began. "Such sharp eyes and soft +walk, like a cat! Always he is yawning and sleepy--who would think he +was a spy?" + +Her tone was filled with such contempt that involuntarily the +detective's mobile lips twitched. The girl had evidently quite lost +sight of the fact that she herself had occupied the very position in +the pseudo employ of Bertrand Rockamore which she derided in his +office boy. + +He did not attempt to guide her in her narrative of the morning's +events, observing that she was too much agitated to give him a +coherent account. Instead, he waited patiently for her to vent her +indignation and tell him in her own way the substance of what had +occurred. + +"I had no thought of being watched, else I should have been more +careful," she went on, resentfully. "This morning, only, he was +late--that Billy--and I did not report him. I was busy, too, for there +was more correspondence than usual to attend to, and Mr. Rockamore was +irritable and short-tempered. In the midst of his dictation Mr. +Paddington came, and I was bundled out of the room with the letters +and my shorthand book. They talked together behind the closed door for +several minutes and I had no opportunity to hear a word, but presently +Mr. Rockamore called Billy and sent him out on an errand. Billy left +the door of the inner office open just a little and that was my +chance. I seated myself at a desk close beside it and took down in +shorthand every word which reached my ears. I was so much occupied +with the notes that I did not hear Billy's footsteps until he stopped +just behind me and whistled right in my ear. I jumped and he laughed +at me and went in to Mr. Rockamore. When he came out he shut the door +tight behind him and grinned as if he knew just what I had been up to. +I did not dare open the door again, and so I heard no more of the +conversation, but I have enough, Mr. Blaine, to interest you, I +think." + +She fumbled with her bag, but the detective laid a detaining hand on +her arm. + +"Never mind the notes now. Go on with your story. What happened after +the interview was over?" + +"That boy Billy went to Mr. Rockamore and told him. Already I have +said he was irritable this morning. He had seemed nervous and excited, +as if he were angry or worried about something, but when he sent for +me to discharge me he was white-hot with rage. Never have I been so +insulted or abused, but that would be nothing if only I had not failed +Miss Lawton. For her sake I tried to lie, to deny, but it was of no +use. My people were good Lutherans, but that does not help one in a +business career; it is much more a nuisance. He could read in my face +that I was guilty, and he demanded my shorthand note-book. I had to +give it to him; there was nothing else to be done." + +"But I understood that you had the notes with you," Blaine commented, +then paused as a faint smile broke over her face and a demure dimple +appeared in either cheek. + +"I gave to him a note-book," she explained naively. "He was quite +pleased, I think, to get possession of it. No one can read my +shorthand but me, anyway, so one book did him as much good as another. +He tried to make me tell him why I had done that--why I had taken down +the words of a private conference of his with a visitor. I could not +think what I should say, so I kept silent. For an hour he bullied and +questioned me, but he could find out nothing and so at last he let me +go. If now I could get my hands on that Billy--" + +"Never mind him," Blaine interrupted. "Rockamore didn't threaten you, +did he?" + +"He said he would fix it so that I obtained no more positions in +Illington," the girl responded, sullenly. "He will tell Miss Lawton +that I am deceitful and treacherous and I should no longer be welcome +at the club! He said--but I will not take up your so valuable time by +repeating his stupid threats. Miss Lawton will understand. Shall not I +read the notes to you? I have had no opportunity to transcribe them +and indeed they are safer as they are." + +"Yes. Read them by all means, Miss Hefferman, if you have nothing more +to tell me. I do not think we are being overheard by anyone, but +remember to keep your voice lowered." + +"I will, Mr. Blaine." + +The girl produced the note-book from her bag and swept a practised eye +down its cryptic pages. + +"Here it is. These are the first words I heard through the opened +door. They were spoken by Mr. Rockamore, and the other, Paddington, +replied. This is what I heard: + +"'I don't know what the devil you're driving at, I tell you.' + +"'Oh, don't you, Rockamore? Want me to explain? I'll go into details +if you like.' + +"'I'm hanged if I'm interested. My share in our little business deal +with you was concluded some time ago. There's an end of that. You're a +clever enough man to know the people you're doing business with, +Paddington. You can't put anything over on us.' + +"'I'm not trying to. The deal you spoke of is over and done with and +I guess nobody'll squeal. We're all tarred with the same brush. But +this is something quite different. We were pretty good pals, +Rockamore, so naturally, when I heard something about you which might +take a lot of explaining to smooth over, if it got about, I kept my +mouth shut. I think a good turn deserves another, at least among +friends, and when I got in a hole I remembered what I did for you, and +I thought you'd be glad of a chance to give me a leg up.' + +"'In other words you come here with a vague threat and try to +blackmail me. That's it, isn't it?' + +"'_Blackmail_ is not a very pleasant term, Rockamore, and yet it is +something which even you might attempt. Get me? Of course the others +would be glad to help me out, but I thought I'd come to you first, +since I--well, I know you better.' + +"'How much do you want?' + +"'Only ten thousand. I've got a tip on the market and if I can raise +the coin before the stock soars and buy on margin, I'll make a fine +little _coup_. Want to come in on it, Rockamore?' + +"'Go to the devil! Here's your check--you can get it certified at the +bank. Now get out and don't bother me again or you'll find out I'm not +the weak-minded fool you take me for. Stick to the small fry, +Paddington. They're your game, but don't fish for salmon with a +trout-fly.' + +"'Thanks, old man. I always knew I could call on you in an emergency. +I only hope my tip is a straight one and I don't go short on the +market. If I do--' + +"'Don't come to me! I tell you, Paddington, you can't play me for a +sucker. That's the last cent you'll ever get out of me. It suits me +now to pay for your silence because, as you very well know, I don't +care to inform my colleagues or have them informed that I acted +independently of them; but I've paid all that your knowledge is worth, +and more.' + +"'It might have been worth even more to others than to you or your +colleagues. For instance--' + +"Then Billy came up behind me and whistled," concluded Miss Hefferman, +as she closed her note-book. "Shall I transcribe this for you, Mr. +Blaine? We have a typewriter at the club." + +"No, I will take the note-book with me as it is and lock it in my safe +at the office. Please hold yourself in readiness to come down and +transcribe it whenever it may be necessary for me to send for you. You +have done splendidly, Miss Hefferman. You must not feel badly over +having been discovered and dismissed. You have rendered Miss Lawton a +valuable service for which she will be the first to thank you. +Telephone me if anyone attempts to approach you about this affair, or +if anything unusual should occur." + +Scarcely an hour later, when Henry Blaine placed the receiver at his +ear in response to the insistent summons of the 'phone, her voice came +to him again over the wire. + +"Mr. Blaine, I am at the club, but I thought you should know that +after all, I was--what is that you say--shadowed this morning. Just a +little way from Mead & Rathbun's my hand-bag was cut from my arm. It +was lucky, _hein_, that you took the note-book with you? As for me, I +go out no more for any positions. I go back soon as ever I can, by +Germany." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CONFIDENCE OF EMILY + + +All during that day and the night which followed it, the search for +Ramon Hamilton continued, but without result. With the announcement of +his disappearance, in the press, the police had started a spectacular +investigation, but had been as unsuccessful as Henry Blaine's own +operatives, who had been working unostentatiously but tirelessly since +the news of the young lawyer's evanescence had come. + +No one could be found who had seen him. When he left the offices of +the great detective on the previous morning he seemed to have vanished +into thin air. It was to Blaine the most baffling incident of all that +had occurred since this most complex case had come into his hands. + +He kept his word and called to see Anita in the late afternoon. He +found that she had slept for some hours and was calmer and more +hopeful, which was fortunate, for he had scant comfort to offer her +beyond his vague but forceful reassurances that all would be well. + +Early on the following morning Suraci returned from Long Bay and +presented himself at the office of his chief to report. + +"Here are the tracings from the register of 'The Breakers' which you +desired, sir," he began, spreading some large thin sheets of paper +upon the desk. "The Lawtons spent three weeks there at the time you +designated, and Mr. Hamilton went out each week-end, from Friday to +Monday, as you can see here, and here. They had no other visitors and +kept much to themselves." + +Blaine scanned the papers rapidly, pausing here and there to +scrutinize more closely a signature which appeared to interest him. At +length he pushed them aside with a dissatisfied frown, as if he had +been looking for something which he had failed to find. + +"Anything suspicious about the guests who arrived during the Lawtons' +stay?" he asked. "Was there any incident in connection with them +worthy of note which the proprietor could recall?" + +"No, sir, but I found some of the employees and talked to them. The +hotel is closed now for the winter, of course, but two or three of the +waiters and bell-boys live in the neighborhood. A summer resort is a +hot-bed of gossip, as you know, sir, and since Mr. Lawton's sudden +death the servants have been comparing notes of his visit there two +years ago. I found the waiter who served them, and two bell-boys, and +they each had a curious incident to tell me in connection with the +Lawtons. The stories would have held no significance if it weren't for +the fact that they all happened to concern one person--a man who +arrived on the eighth of August. This man here." + +Suraci ran his finger down the register page until he came to one +name, where he stopped abruptly. + +"Albert Addison, Baltimore, Maryland," read Blaine. Then, with a +sudden exclamation he bent closer over the paper. A prolonged scrutiny +ensued while Suraci watched him curiously. Reaching into a drawer, the +Master Detective drew out a powerful magnifying glass and examined +each stroke of the pen with minute care. At length he swung about in +his chair and pressed the electric button on the corner of the desk. +When his secretary appeared in response to the summons, Blaine said: + +"Ask the filing clerk to look in the drawer marked 'P. 1904,' +and bring me the check drawn on the First National Bank signed +_Paddington_." + +While the secretary was fulfilling his task the two waited in silence, +but with the check before him Henry Blaine gave it one keen, comparing +glance, then turned to the operative. + +"Well, Suraci, what did you learn from the hotel employees?" + +"One of the bell-boys told me that this man, Addison, arrived with +only a bag, announcing that his luggage would be along later and that +he anticipated remaining a week or more. This boy noticed him +particularly because he scanned the hotel register before writing his +own name, and insisted upon having one of two special suites; number +seventy-two or seventy-six. Seventy-four the suite between, was +occupied by Mr. Lawton. They were both engaged, so he was forced to be +content with number seventy-three, just across the hall. The boy +noticed that although the new arrival did not approach Mr. Lawton or +his daughter, he hung about in their immediate vicinity all day and +appeared to be watching them furtively. + +"Late in the afternoon, Mr. Lawton went into the writing-room to +attend to some correspondence. The boy, passing through the room on +an errand, saw him stop in the middle of a page, frown, and tearing +the paper across, throw it in the waste-basket. Glancing about +inadvertently, the bell-boy saw Addison seated near by, staring at Mr. +Lawton from behind a newspaper which he held in front of his face as +if pretending to read. The boy's curiosity was aroused by the eager, +hungry, expectant look on the stranger's face, and he made up his +mind to hang around, too, and see what was doing. + +"He attended to his errand and returned just in time to see Mr. Lawton +seal the flap of his last envelope, rise, and stroll from the room. +Instantly Addison slipped into the seat just vacated, wrote a page, +crumpled it, and threw it in the same waste-basket the other man had +used. Then he started another page, hesitated and finally stopped and +began rummaging in the basket, as if searching for the paper he +himself had just dropped there. The boy made up his mind--he's a sharp +one, sir, he'd be good for this business--that the stranger wasn't +after his own letter, at all, but the one Mr. Lawton had torn across, +and in a spirit of mischief, he walked up to the man and offered to +help. + +"'This is your letter, sir. I saw you crumple it up just now. That +torn sheet of paper belongs to one of the other guests.' + +"According to his story, he forced Addison's own letter on him, and +walked off with the waste-basket to empty it, and if looks could kill, +he'd have been a dead boy after one glance from the stranger. That was +all he had to tell, and he wouldn't have remembered such a trifling +incident for a matter of two years and more, if it hadn't been for +something which happened late that night. He didn't see it, being off +duty, but another boy did, and the next day they compared notes. They +were undecided as to whether they should go to the manager of the +hotel and make a report, or not, but being only kids, they were afraid +of getting into trouble themselves, so they waited. Addison departed +suddenly that morning, however, and as Mr. Lawton never gave any sign +of being aware of what had taken place, they kept silent. I located +the second boy, and got his story at first hand. His name is Johnnie +Bradley and he's as stupid as the other one is sharp. + +"Johnnie was on all night, and about one o'clock he was sent out to +the casino on the pier just in front of the hotel, with a message. +When he was returning, he noticed a tiny, bright light darting quickly +about in Mr. Lawton's rooms, as if some one were carrying a candle +through the suite and moving rapidly. He remembered that Mr. Lawton +and his daughter had motored off somewhere just after dinner to be +gone overnight, so he went upstairs to investigate, without mentioning +the matter to the clerk who was dozing behind the desk in the office. +There was a chambermaid on night duty at the end of the hall, but she +was asleep, and as he reached the head of the stairs, Johnnie observed +that some one had, contrary to the rules, extinguished the lights near +Mr. Lawton's rooms. He went softly down the hall, until he came to the +door of number seventy-four. A man was stooping before it, fumbling +with a key, but whether he was locking or unlocking the door, it did +not occur to Johnnie to question in his own mind until later. As he +approached, the man turned, saw him, and reeled against the door as if +he had been drinking. + +"'Sa-ay, boy!' he drawled. 'Wha's matter with lock? Can't open m' +door.' + +"He put the key in his pocket as he spoke, but that, too, Johnnie did +not think of until afterward. + +"'That isn't your door, sir. Those are Mr. Pennington Lawton's rooms,' +Johnnie told him. 'What is the number on your key?' + +"The man produced a key from his pocket and gave it to Johnnie in a +stupid, dazed sort of way. The key was numbered seventy-three. + +"'That's your suite, just across the hall, sir,' Johnnie said. He +unlocked the door for the newcomer, who muttered thickly about the +hall being d----d confusing to a stranger, and gave him a dollar. +Johnnie waited until the man had lurched into his rooms, then asked if +he wanted ice-water. Receiving no reply but a mumbled curse, he +withdrew, but not before he had seen the light switched on, and the +man cross to the door and shut it. The stranger no longer lurched +about, but walked erectly and his face had lost the sagged, vapid, +drunken look and was surprisingly sober and keen and alert. + +"The two boys decided the next day that Addison had come to 'The +Breakers' with the idea of robbing Mr. Lawton, but, as I said, nothing +came of the incident, so they kept it to themselves and in all +probability it had quite passed from their minds until the news of Mr. +Lawton's death recalled it to them." + +Suraci paused, and after a moment Blaine suggested tentatively: + +"You spoke of a waiter, also, Suraci. Had he anything to add to what +the bell-boys had told you, of this man Addison's peculiar behavior?" + +"Yes, sir. It isn't very important, but it sort of confirms what the +first boy said, about the stranger trying to watch the Lawtons, +without being noticed himself, by them. The waiter, Tim Donohue, says +that on the day of his arrival, Addison was seated by the head waiter +at the next table to that occupied by Mr. Lawton, and directly facing +him. Addison entered the dining-room first, ordered a big luncheon, +and was half-way through it when the Lawtons entered. No sooner were +they seated, than he got up precipitately and left the room. That +night, at dinner, he refused the table he had occupied at the first +meal, and insisted upon being seated at one somewhere back of Mr. +Lawton. + +"This Donohue is a genial, kind-hearted soul, and he was a favorite +with the bell-hops because he used to save sweets and tid-bits for +them from his trays. Johnnie and the other boy told him of their +dilemma concerning number seventy-three, as they designated Addison, +and he in turn related the incident of the dining-room. The boys told +me about him and where he could be found. He's not a waiter any +longer, but married to one of the hotel chamber-maids, and lives in +Long Bay, running a bus service to the depot for a string of the +cheaper boarding houses. He corroborated the bell-hops' story in every +detail, and even gave me a hazy sort of description of Addison. He was +small and thin and dark; clean shaven, with a face like an actor, +narrow shoulders and a sort of caved-in chest. He walked with a slight +limp, and was a little over-dressed for the exclusive, conservative, +high-society crowd that flock to 'The Breakers.'" + +"That's our man, Suraci--that's Paddington, to the life!" Blaine +exclaimed. "I knew it as soon as I compared his signature on this +check with the one in the register, although he has tried to disguise +his hand, as you can see. I'm glad to have it verified, though, by +witnesses on whom we can lay our hands at any time, should it become +necessary. He left the day after his arrival, you say? The morning +after this boy, Johnnie, caught him in front of Mr. Lawton's door?" + +"Yes, sir. The bell-hops don't think he came back, either. They don't +remember seeing him again." + +"Very well. You've done splendidly, Suraci. I couldn't have conducted +the investigation better myself. Do you need any rest, now?" + +"Oh, no, sir! I'm quite ready for another job!" The young operative's +eyes sparkled eagerly as he spoke, and his long, slim, nervous fingers +clasped and unclasped the arms of his chair spasmodically. "What is +it? Something new come up?" + +"Only that disappearance, two days ago, of the young lawyer to whom +Miss Lawton is engaged, Ramon Hamilton. I want you to go out on that +at once, and see what you can do. I've got half a dozen of the best +men on it already, but they haven't accomplished anything. I can't +give you a single clue to go upon, except that when he walked out of +this office at eleven o'clock in the morning, he wore a black suit, +black shoes, black tie, a black derby and a gray overcoat with a +mourning band on the sleeve--for Mr. Lawton, of course. Outside the +door there, he vanished as if a trap had opened and dropped him +through into space. No one has seen him; no one knows where he went. +That's all the help I can offer you. He's not in jail or the morgue or +any of the hospitals, as yet. That isn't much, but it's something. +Here's a personal description of him which the police issued +yesterday. It's as good as any I could give you, and here are two +photographs of him which I got from his mother yesterday afternoon. +Take a good look at him, Suraci, fix his face in your mind, and then +if you should manage, or happen, to locate him, you can't go wrong. I +know your memory for faces." + +The "shadow" departed eagerly upon his quest, and Blaine settled down +to an hour's deep reflection. He held the threads of the major +conspiracy in his hands, but as yet he could not connect them, at +least in any tangible way to present at a court of so-called justice, +where everyone, from the judge to the policeman at the door could, and +inevitably would, be bought over, in advance, to the side of the +criminals. It was a one-man fight, backed only with the slender means +provided by a young girl's insignificant financial ventures, against +the press, the public, a corrupt political machine of great power, the +desperate ingenuity of three clever, unscrupulous minds brought to +bay, and the overwhelming influence of colossal wealth. Henry Blaine +felt that the supreme struggle of his whole career was confronting +him. + +The unheard-of intrepidity of conception, the very daring of the +conspiracy, combined with the prominence of the men involved, +would brand any accusation, even from a man of Henry Blaine's +celebrated international reputation, as totally preposterous, unless +substantiated. And what actual proof had he of their criminal +connection with the alleged bankruptcy of Pennington Lawton? + +He had established, to his own satisfaction, at least, that the +mortgage on the family home on Belleair Avenue had been forged, and by +Jimmy Brunell. The signature on the note held by Moore, the banker, +and the entire letter asking Mallowe to negotiate the loan had been +also fraudulent, and manufactured by the same hand. Paddington, the +private detective with perhaps the most unsavory record of any +operating in the city, was in close and constant communication with +the three men Blaine held under suspicion, and probably also with +Jimmy Brunell. Lastly, Brunell himself was known to be still in +possession of his paraphernalia for the pursuit of his old nefarious +calling. Paddington, on Margaret Hefferman's testimony, had assuredly +succeeded in mulcting the promoter, Rockamore, of a large sum in a +clear case of blackmail, but on the face of it there was no proof that +it was connected with the matter of Pennington Lawton's insolvency. + +The mysterious nocturnal visitor, on the night the magnate met his +death, was still to be accounted for, as was the disappearance of +Ramon Hamilton; and in spite of his utmost efforts, Henry Blaine was +forced to admit to himself that he was scarcely nearer a solution, or +rather, a confirmation of his steadfast convictions, than when he +started upon his investigation. + +Unquestionably, the man Paddington held the key to the situation. But +how could Paddington be approached? How could he be made to speak? +Bribery had sealed his lips, and only greed would open them. He was +shrewd enough to realize that the man who had purchased his services +would pay him far more to remain silent than any client of Blaine's +could, to betray them. Moreover, he was in the same boat, and must of +necessity sink or swim with his confederates. + +Fear might induce him to squeal, where cupidity would fail, but the +one sure means of loosening his tongue was through passion. + +"If only that French girl, Fifine Dechaussee, would lead him on, if +she had less of the saint and more of the coquette in her make-up, we +might land him," the detective murmured to himself. "It's dirty work, +but we've got to use the weapons in our hands. I must have another +talk with her, before she considers herself affronted by his +attentions, and throws him down hard--that is, if he's making any +attempt to follow up his flirtation with her." + +Blaine's soliloquy was interrupted by the entrance of Guy Morrow, +whose face bore the disgusted look of one sent to fish with a bent pin +for a salmon. + +"I found Paddington, all right, sir," he announced. "I tailed him +until a half-hour ago, but I might as well have been asleep for all I +learned, except one fact." + +"Which is--" the detective asked quickly. + +"That he went to Rockamore's office yesterday morning, remained an +hour and came away with a check for ten thousand dollars. He proceeded +to the bank, had it certified, and deposited it at once to his own +account in the Merchants' and Traders'. He evidently split it up, +then, for he went to three other banks and opened accounts under three +different names. Here's the list. I tailed him all the way." + +He handed the Master Detective a slip of paper, which the latter put +carefully aside after a casual glance. + +"Then what did he do?" + +"Wasted his own time and mine," the operative responded in immeasurable +contempt. "Ate and drank and gambled and loafed and philandered." + +"Philandered?" Blaine repeated, sharply. + +"In the park," returned the other. "Spooning with a girl! Rotten +cold it was, too, and me tailing on like a blamed chaperon! After he +made his last deposit at the third bank, he went to lunch at Duyon's. +Ate his head off, and paid from a thick wad of yellowbacks. Then +he dropped in at Wiley's, and played roulette for a couple of +hours--played in luck, too. He drank quite a little, but it only +seemed to heighten his good spirits, without fuddling him to any +extent. When he left Wiley's, about five o'clock, he sauntered +along Court Street, until he came to Fraser's, the jeweler's. He +stopped, looked at the display window for a few minutes, and then, as +if on a sudden impulse, turned and entered the shop. I tailed him +inside, and went to the men's counter, where I bought a tie-clasp, +keeping my eye on him all the time. What do you think he got? A gold +locket and chain--a heart-shaped locket, with a chip diamond in the +center!" + +"The eternal feminine!" Blaine commented; and then he added half under +his breath: "Fifine Dechaussee's on the job!" + +"What, sir?" asked the operative curiously. + +"Nothing, Guy. Merely an idle observation. Go on with your story." + +"Paddington went straight from the jeweler's to the Democratic Club +for an hour, then dined alone at Rossi's. I was on the look-out for +the woman, but none appeared, and he didn't act as if he expected +anybody. After dinner he strolled down Belleair Avenue, past the +Lawton residence, and out to Fairlawn Park. Once inside the gates, he +stopped for a minute near a lamp-post and looked at his watch, then +hurried straight on to Hydrangea Path, as if he had an appointment to +keep. I dropped back in the shadow, but tailed along. She must have +been late, that girl, for he cooled his heels on a bench for twenty +minutes, growing more impatient all the time. Finally she came--a +slender wisp of a girl, but some queen! Plainly dressed, dark hair and +eyes, small hands and feet and a face like a stained-glass window! + +"They walked slowly up and down, talking very confidentially, and once +he started to put his arm about her, but she moved away. I walked up +quickly, and passed them, close enough to hear what she was saying: +'Of course it is lonely for a girl in a strange country, where she has +no friends.' That was all I got, but I noticed that she spoke with a +decidedly foreign accent, French or Spanish, I should say. + +"Around a bend in the path I hid behind a clump of bushes and waited +until they had passed, then tailed them again. I saw him produce the +locket and chain at last, and offer them to her. She protested and +took a lot of persuading; but he prevailed upon her and she let him +clasp it about her neck and kiss her. After that--Good Lord! They +spooned for about two hours and never even noticed the snow which had +begun to fall, while I shivered along behind. About half-past ten they +made a break-away and he left her at the park gates and went on down +to his rooms. I put up for the night at the Hotel Gaythorne, just +across the way, and kept a look-out, but there were no further +developments until early this morning. At a little after seven he left +his apartment house and started up State Street as if he meant +business. Of course I was after him on the jump. + +"He evidently didn't think he was watched, for he never looked around +once, but made straight for a little shop near the corner of Tarleton +Place. It was a stationery and tobacco store, and I was right at his +heels when he entered. He leaned over the counter, and asked in a low, +meaning tone for a box of Cairo cigarettes. The man gave him a long, +searching glance, then turned, and reaching back of a pile of boxes on +the first shelf, drew out a flat one--the size which holds twenty +cigarettes. He passed it quickly over to Paddington, but not before I +observed that it had been opened and rather clumsily resealed. + +"Paddington handed over a quarter and left the shop without another +word. He went directly to a cheap restaurant across the street, and, +ordering a cup of coffee, he tore open the cigarette box. It contained +only a sheet of paper, folded twice. I was at the next table, too far +away to read what was written upon it, but whatever it was, it seemed +to give him immense satisfaction. He finished his coffee, returned to +his rooms, changed his clothes, and went directly to the office of +Snedecker, the man whose divorce case he is trying to trump up. +Evidently he's good for a day's work on that, so I thought I could +safely leave him at it, and report to you." + +"Humph! I'd like to have a glimpse of that communication in the +cigarette box, but it isn't of sufficient importance, on the face of +it, to show our hand by having him waylaid, or searching his rooms," +Blaine cogitated aloud. "I'll put another man on to-morrow morning. +Leave the address of the tobacconist with my secretary on your way +out, and if there is another message to-morrow, he'll get it first. +You needn't do anything more on this Paddington matter; I think the +other end needs your services more; and since you've already broken +ground up there, you'll be able to do better than anyone else. I want +you to return to the Bronx, get back your old room, if you can, and +stick close to the Brunells." + +Back in his old rooms at Mrs. Quinlan's, Guy sat in the window-seat at +dusk, impatiently awaiting the appearance of a slender, well-known +figure. The rain, which had set in early in the afternoon, had turned +to sleet, and as the darkness deepened, the rays from a solitary +street lamp gleamed sharply upon the pavement as upon an unbroken +sheet of ice. + +Presently the spare, long-limbed form of James Brunell emerged from +the gloom and disappeared within the door of this little house +opposite. Morrow observed that the man's step lacked its accustomed +jauntiness and spring, and he plodded along wearily, as if utterly +preoccupied with some depressing meditation. A light sprang up in the +front room on the ground floor, but after a few moments it was +suddenly extinguished, and Brunell appeared again on the porch. He +closed the door softly behind him, and strode quickly down the street. +There was a marked change in his bearing, a furtiveness and eager +haste which ill accorded with his manner of a short time before. + +Scarcely had Brunell vanished into the encroaching gloom, when his +daughter appeared. She, too, approached wearily, and on reaching the +little sagging gate she paused in surprised dismay at the air of +detached emptiness the house seemed to exude. Then a little furry +object scurried around the porch corner and precipitated itself upon +her. She stooped swiftly, gathered up the kitten in her arms and went +slowly into the house. + +Morrow ate his supper in absent-minded haste, and as soon as he +decently could, he made his way across the street. + +Emily opened the door in response to his ring and greeted him with +such undisguised pleasure and surprise that his honest heart quickened +a beat or two, and it was with difficulty that he voiced the plausible +falsehood concerning his loss of position, and return to his former +abode. + +Under the light in the little drawing-room, he noticed that she looked +pale and careworn, and her limpid, childlike eyes were veiled +pathetically with deep, blue shadows. As he looked at her, however, a +warm tint dyed her cheeks and her head drooped, while the little smile +still lingered about her lips. + +"You are tired?" he found himself asking solicitously, after she had +expressed her sympathy for his supposed ill fortune. "You found your +work difficult to-day at the club?" + +"Oh, no,"--she shook her head slowly. "My position is a mere sinecure, +thanks to Miss Lawton's wonderful consideration. I have been a little +depressed--a little worried, that is all." + +"Worried?" Morrow paused, then added in a lower tone, the words coming +swiftly, "Can't you tell me, Emily? Isn't there some way in which I +can help you? What is it that is troubling you?" + +"I--I don't know." A deeper, painful flush spread for a moment over +her face, then ebbed, leaving her paler even than before. "You are +very kind, Mr. Morrow, but I do not think that I should speak of it to +anyone. And indeed, my fears are so intangible, so vague, that when I +try to formulate my thoughts into words, even to myself, they are +unconvincing, almost meaningless. Yet I feel instinctively that +something is wrong." + +"Won't you trust me?" Morrow's hand closed gently but firmly over +the girl's slender one, in a clasp of compelling sympathy, and +unconsciously she responded to it. "I know that I am comparatively +a new friend. You and your father have been kind enough to extend your +hospitality to me, to accept me as a friend. You know very little +about me, yet I want you to believe that I am worthy of trust--that +I want to help you. I do, Emily, more than you realize, more than I +can express to you now!" + +Morrow had forgotten the reason for his presence there, forgotten his +profession, his avowed purpose, everything but the girl beside him. +But her next words brought him swiftly back to a realization of the +present--so swiftly that for a moment he felt as if stunned by an +unexpected blow. + +"Oh, I do believe that you are a friend! I do trust you!" Emily's +voice thrilled with deep sincerity, and in an impetuous outburst of +confidence she added: "It is about my father that I am troubled. +Something has happened which I do not understand; there is something +he is keeping from me, which has changed him. He seems like a +different man, a stranger!" + +"You are sure of it?" Morrow asked, slowly. "You are sure that it +isn't just a nervous fancy? Your father really has changed toward you +lately?" + +"Not only toward me, but to all the world beside!" she responded. "Now +that I look back, I can see that his present state of mind has been +coming on gradually for several months, but it was only a short time +ago that something occurred which seemed to bring the matter, whatever +it is, to a turning-point. I remember that it was just a few days +before you came--I mean, before I happened to see you over at Mrs. +Quinlan's." + +She stopped abruptly, as if an arresting finger had been laid across +her lips, and after waiting a moment for her to continue, Morrow asked +quietly: + +"What was it that occurred?" + +"Father received a letter. It came one afternoon when I had returned +from the club earlier than usual. I took it from the postman myself, +and as father had not come home yet from the shop, I placed it beside +his plate at the supper table. I noticed the postmark--'Brooklyn'--but +it didn't make any particular impression upon me; it was only later, +when I saw how it affected my father, that I remembered, and wondered. +He had scarcely opened the envelope, when he rose, trembling so that +he could hardly stand, and coming into this room, he shut the door +after him. I waited as long as I could, but he did not return, and the +supper was getting cold, so I came to the door here. It was locked! +For the first time in his life, my father had locked himself in, from +me! He would not answer me at first, as I called to him, and I was +nearly frightened to death before he spoke. When he did, his voice +sounded so harsh and strained that I scarcely recognized it. He told +me that he didn't want anything to eat; he had some private business +to attend to, and I was not to wait up for him, but to go to bed when +I wished. + +"I crept away, and went to my room at last, but I could not sleep. It +was nearly morning when Father went to bed, and his step was heavy and +dragging as he passed my door. His room is next to mine, and I heard +him tossing restlessly about--and once or twice I fancied that he +groaned as if in pain. He was up in the morning at his usual time, but +he looked ill and worn, as if he had aged years in that one night. +Neither of us mentioned the letter, then or at any subsequent time, +but he has never been the same man since." + +"And the letter--you never saw it?" Morrow asked eagerly, his +detective instinct now thoroughly aroused. "You don't know what that +envelope postmarked 'Brooklyn' contained?" + +"Oh, but I do!" Emily exclaimed. "Father had thrust it in the stove, +but the fire had gone out, without his noticing it. I found it the +next morning, when I raked down the ashes." + +"You--read it?" Morrow carefully steadied his voice. + +"No," she shook her head, with a faint smile. "That's the queer part +of it all. No one could have read it--no one who did not hold the key +to it, I mean. It was written in some secret code or cipher, with +oddly shaped figures instead of letters; dots and cubes and +triangles. I never saw anything like it before. I couldn't understand +why anyone should send such a funny message to my father, instead of +writing it out properly." + +"What did you do with the letter--did you destroy it?" This time the +detective made no effort to control the eagerness in his tones, but +the girl was so absorbed in her problem that she was oblivious to all +else. + +"I suppose I should have, but I didn't. I knew that it was what my +father had intended, yet somehow I felt that it might prove useful in +the future--that I might even be helping Father by keeping it, against +his own judgment. The envelope was partially scorched by the hot +ashes, but the inside sheet remained untouched. I hid the letter +behind the mirror on my dresser, and sometimes, when I have been quite +alone, I took it out and tried to solve it, but I couldn't. I never +was good at puzzles when I was little, and I suppose I lack that +deductive quality now. I was ashamed, too: it seemed so like prying +into things which didn't concern me, which my father didn't wish me to +know; still, I was only doing it to try to help him." + +Morrow winced, and drew a long breath. Then resolutely he plunged into +the task before him. + +"Emily, don't think that I want to pry, either, but if I am to help +you I must see that letter. If you trust me and believe in my +friendship, let me see it. Perhaps I may be able to discover the key +in the first word or two, and then you can decipher it for yourself. +You understand, I don't wish you to show it to me unless you really +have confidence in me, unless you are sure that there is nothing in it +which one who has your welfare and peace of mind at heart should not +see." + +He waited for her reply with a suffocating feeling as if a hand were +clutching at his throat. A hot wave of shame, of fierce repugnance and +self-contempt at the role he was forced to play, surged up within him, +but he could not go back now. The die was cast. + +She looked at him--a long, searching look, her childlike eyes dark +with troubled indecision. At length they cleared slowly and she +smiled, a faint, pathetic smile, which wrung his heart. Then she rose +without a word, and left the room. + +It seemed to him that an interminable period of time passed before he +heard her light, returning footsteps descending the stairs. A wild +desire to flee assailed him--to efface himself before her innocent +confidence was betrayed. + +Emily Brunell came straight to him, and placed the letter in his +hands. + +"There can be nothing in this letter which could harm my father, if +all the world read it," she said simply. "He is good and true; he +has not an enemy on earth. It can be only a private business +communication, at the most. My father's life is an open book; no +discredit could come to him. Yet if there was anything in the cryptic +message written here which others, not knowing him as I do, might +misjudge, I am not afraid that you will. You see, I do believe in +your friendship, Mr. Morrow; I am proving my faith in you." + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE CIPHER + + +It was a haggard, heavy-eyed young man who presented himself at Henry +Blaine's office, early the next morning, with his report. The +detective made no comment upon his subordinate's changed appearance +and manner, but eyed him keenly as with dogged determination Guy +Morrow told his story through to the end. + +"The letter--the cipher letter!" Blaine demanded, curtly, when the +operative paused at length. "You have it with you?" + +Morrow drew a deep breath and unconsciously he squared his shoulders. + +"No, sir," he responded, his voice significantly steady and +controlled. + +"Where is it?" + +"I gave it back to her--to Miss Brunell." + +"What! Then you solved it?" the detective leaned forward suddenly, the +level gaze from beneath his close-drawn brows seeming to pierce the +younger man's impassivity. + +"No, sir. It was a cryptogram, of course--an arrangement of cabalistic +signs instead of letters, but I could make nothing of it. The message, +whatever it is, would take hours of careful study to decipher; and +even then, without the key, one might fail. I have seen nothing quite +like it, in all my experience." + +"And you gave it back to her!" Blaine exclaimed, with well-simulated +incredulity. "You actually had the letter in your hands, and +relinquished it? In heaven's name, why?" + +"Miss Brunell had shown it to me in confidence. It was her property, +and she trusted me. Since I was unable to aid her in solving it, I +returned it to her. The chances are that it is, as she said, a matter +of private business between her father and another man, and it is +probably entirely dissociated from this investigation." + +"You're not paid, Morrow, to form opinions of your own, or decide the +ethics, social or moral, of a case you're put on; you're paid to obey +instructions, collect data and obtain whatever evidence there may be. +Remember that. Confidence or no confidence, girl or no girl, you go +back and get that letter! I don't care what means you use, short of +actual murder; that cipher's got to be in my hands before midnight. +Understand?" + +"Yes, sir, I understand." Morrow rose slowly, and faced his chief. +"I'm sorry, but I cannot do it." + +"You can't? That's the first time I ever heard that word from your +lips, Guy." Henry Blaine shook his head sadly, affecting not to notice +his operative's rising emotion. + +"I mean that I won't, sir. I'm sorry to appear insubordinate, but +I've got to refuse--I simply must. I've never shirked a duty +before, as I think you will admit, Mr. Blaine. I have always carried +out the missions you entrusted to me to the best of my ability, no +matter what the odds against me, and in this case I have gone ahead +conscientiously up to the present moment, but I won't proceed with it +any further." + +"What are you afraid of--Jimmy Brunell?" asked the detective, +significantly. + +The insult brought a deep flush to Morrow's cheek, but he controlled +himself. + +"No, sir," he responded, quietly. "I'm not going to betray the trust +that girl has reposed in me." + +"How about the trust another girl has placed in me--and through me, in +you?" Henry Blaine rose also, and gazed levelly into his operative's +eyes. "What of Anita Lawton? Have you considered her? I ought to +dismiss you, Guy, at this moment, and I would if it were anyone else, +but I can't allow you to fly off at a tangent, and ruin your whole +career. Why should you put this girl, Emily Brunell, before everything +in the world--your duty to Miss Lawton, to me, to yourself?" + +"She trusted me," returned Morrow, with grim persistence. + +"So did Henrietta Goodwin, in the case of Mrs. Derwenter's diamonds; +so did the little manicure, in the Verdun blackmail affair; so did +Anne Richardson, in the Balazzi kidnaping mystery. You made love to +all of them, and got their confessions, and if your scruples and +remorse kept you awake nights afterward, you certainly didn't show any +effect of it. What difference does it make in this case?" + +"Just this difference, Mr. Blaine"--Morrow's words came with a rush, +as if he was glad, now that the issue had been raised, to meet it +squarely--"I love Emily Brunell. Whatever her father is, or has done, +she is guiltless of any complicity, and I can't stand by and see her +suffer, much less be the one to precipitate her grief by bringing her +father to justice. I told you the truth when I said that the cipher +letter was an enigma to me. I could not solve the cryptogram, nor will +I be the means of bringing it to the hands of those who might solve +it. I don't want any further connection with the case; in fact, sir, I +want to get out of the sleuth game altogether. It's a dirty business, +at best, and it leaves a bad taste in one's mouth, and many a black +spot in one's memory. I realize how petty and sordid and treacherous +and generally despicable the whole game is, and I'm through!" + +"Through?" Henry Blaine smiled his quiet, slow, illuminating smile, +and walking around the table, laid his hand on Morrow's shoulder. +"Why, boy, you haven't even commenced. Detective work is 'petty,' you +said? 'Petty' because we take every case, no matter how insignificant, +if it can right a wrong? You call our profession 'sordid,' because we +accept pay for the work of our brains and bodies! Why should we not? +Are we treacherous, because we meet malefactors, and fight them with +their own weapons? And what is there that is 'generally despicable' +about a calling which betters mankind, which protects the innocent, +and brings the guilty to justice?" + +Morrow shook his head slowly, as if incapable of speech, but it was +evident that he was listening, and Blaine, after a moment's pause, +followed up his advantage. + +"You say that you love Miss Brunell, Guy, and because of that, you +will have nothing further to do with an investigation which points +primarily to her father as an accomplice in the crime. Do you realize +that if you throw over the case now, I shall be compelled to put +another operative on the trail, with all the information at his +disposal which you have detailed to me? You may be sure the man I have +in mind will have no sentimental scruples against pushing the matter +to the end, without regard for the cost to either Jimmy Brunell or +his daughter. Naturally, being in love with the girl, her interests +are paramount with you. I, too, desire heartily to do nothing to cause +her anxiety or grief. Remember that I have daughters of my own. As I +have told you, I firmly believe that the old forger is merely a +helpless tool in this affair, but my duty demands that I obtain the +whole truth. If you repudiate the case now, give up your career, and +go to work single-handed to attempt to protect her and her father by +thwarting my investigation, you will be doing her the greatest injury +in your power. The only way to help them both is to do all that you +can to discover the real facts in the case. When we have succeeded in +that, we shall undoubtedly find a way to shield old Jimmy from the +brunt of the blame. + +"Don't forget the big interests, political and municipal, at work in +this conspiracy. They would not hesitate to try to make the old +offender a scape-goat, and you know what sort of treatment he would +receive in the hands of the police. Play the game, Guy; stick to the +job. I'm not asking this of you for my own investigation. I have a +dozen, a score of operatives who could each handle the branch you are +working up just as well as you. I ask it for the sake of your career, +for the girl herself, and her father. I tell you that instead of +incriminating old Jimmy, you may be the means of ultimately saving +him.--Go back to Emily Brunell now, get that letter from her by hook +or crook, and bring it to me." + +The detective paused at length and waited for his answer. It was long +in coming. Guy Morrow stood leaning against his desk, his brows drawn +down in a troubled frown. Blaine watched the outward signs of his +mental struggle warily, but made no further plea. At last the young +operative raised his head, his eyes clear and resolute, and held out +his hand. + +"I will, sir! Thank you for giving me another chance. I do love the +girl, and I want to help her more than anything else in the world, but +I'll play the game fairly. You are right, of course. I can be of more +assistance to her on the inside than working in the dark, and it would +be better for everyone concerned if the truth could be brought to +light. I'll get the letter, and bring it to you to-night." + +Morrow was waiting at the foot of the subway stairs that evening when +Emily appeared. The crisp, cold air had brought a brilliant flush to +her usually pale cheeks, and her sparkling eyes softened with tender +surprise and happiness when they rested on him. He thought that she +had never appeared more lovely, and as they started homeward his hand +tightened upon her arm with an air of unconscious possession and pride +which she did not resent. + +"May I come over after supper?" he asked, softly, as they paused at +her gate. "I have something to tell you--to ask you." + +"Won't you come in and have supper with me?" she suggested shyly. +"Caliban and I will be all alone. My father will not be home until +late to-night. He telephoned to me at the club and told me that he had +closed the shop for the day and gone down-town on business." + +A shadow crossed her face as she spoke, the faint shadow of hidden +trouble which he had noticed before. It was an auspicious moment, and +Morrow seized upon it. + +"I will, gladly, if you will let me wash the dishes," he replied, with +alacrity. + +"We will do them together." The brightness which but an instant +before had been blotted from her face returned in a warm glow, and +side by side they entered the door. + +With Caliban, the black kitten, upon his knees, Morrow watched as she +moved deftly about the cheerful, spotless kitchen preparing the simple +meal. He made no mention of the subject which lay nearest his heart +and mind, and they chattered as gaily and irresponsibly as children. +But when supper was over, and they settled themselves in the little +sitting-room, a curious constraint fell upon them both. She sat +stroking the kitten, which had curled up beside her, while he gazed +absently at the rosy gleam of the glowing coals behind the isinglass +door of the little stove, and for a long time there was silence +between them. + +At length he turned to her and spoke. "Emily," he began, "I told you +out there by your gate to-night that I had something to ask of you, +something to tell you. I want to tell you now, but I don't know how to +begin. It's something I've never told any girl before." + +Her hands paused, resting with sudden tenseness upon Caliban's soft +fur, and slowly she averted her face from him. He swallowed hard, and +then the words came in a swift, tender rush. + +"Dear, I love you! I've loved you from the moment I first saw you +coming down the street! You--you know nothing of me, save the little I +have told you, and I came here a stranger. Some day I will tell you +everything, and you will understand. You and your father admitted me +to your friendship, made me welcome in your home, and I shall never +forget it. It may be that some time I shall be able to be of service +to you, but remember that whatever happens, no matter how you reply to +me now, I shall never forget your goodness to me, and I shall try to +repay it. I love you with all my heart and soul; I want you to be my +wife, dear! I never knew before that such love could exist in the +world! You have your father, I know, but, oh, I want to protect you +and care for you, and keep all harm from you forever." + +"Guy!" Her voice was a mere breathless whisper, and her eyes blurred +with sudden tears, but he slipped his arm about her, and drew her +close. + +"Emily, won't you look at me, dear? Won't you tell me that you care, +too? That at least there is a chance for me? If I have spoken too +soon, I will await patiently and serve you as Jacob served for Rebecca +of old. Only tell me that you will try to care, and there is nothing +on this earth I cannot do for you, nothing I will not do! Oh, my +darling, say that you care just a little!" + +There was a pause and then very softly a warm arm stole about his +neck, and a strand of rippling brown hair brushed his cheek lightly as +her gentle head drooped against his shoulder. + +"I--I do care--now," she whispered. "I knew that I cared when +you--went away!" + +The minutes lengthened into an hour or more while Morrow in the thrall +of his exalted mood forgot for the second time in the girl's sweet +presence his battle between love and duty: forgot the reason for his +coming, the mission he was bound to fulfill--the letter he had +promised his employer to obtain. + +For many minutes Guy Morrow and Emily forgot all else but the +new-found happiness of the love they had just confessed for each +other. Morrow had even forgotten that most-important letter which, +after many misgivings, he had solemnly promised his employer to +obtain from Emily. It was a phrase which fell from her own lips that +recalled him to the stern reality of the situation. + +"My father!" she exclaimed, starting from Morrow's arms in sudden +confusion. "What do you suppose Father will say?" + +"We will tell him when he returns." Morrow spoke with reassuring +confidence, but a swift feeling of apprehension came over him. What +indeed would Jimmy Brunell say? The thought of lying to Emily's father +was repugnant beyond expression, and yet what account could he give of +himself, of his profession and earlier career? What credentials, what +proof of his integrity and clean, honest life could he present to the +man whose daughter he sought to marry? At the first hint of +"detective" the old forger would inevitably suspect his motive and +turn him from the house, forbidding Emily to speak to or even look +upon him again. There was an alternative, and although he shrank from +it as unworthy of her faith and trust in him, Morrow was forced to +accept it as the only practicable solution to the problem confronting +him. + +"Oh, no, don't let us tell him--yet!" Unconsciously Emily smoothed the +way for him. "I don't mean to deceive him, of course, or keep anything +from him which it is really necessary that he know at once, but it +seems too wonderful to discuss, even with Father, just now. It is like +a fairy promise, like moonshine, which would be dispelled if we +breathed a word of it to anyone." + +"Of course, dearest, if it is your wish, we will say nothing now," he +returned slowly. In his heart a fierce wave of self-contempt at his +own hypocrisy surged up once more, but he forced it doggedly down. He +had promised his chief to play the game, and after all it was for the +sake of the girl beside him, that he might be able, when the +inevitable moment of disclosure came, to be of real service to her and +her unfortunate father, and to shield her from the brunt of the blow. +"I should not like your father to think that we deceived him, but +perhaps it would be as well if we kept our secret for a little time. +Later, when I have succeeded in landing a good, permanent position +with a prospect of advancement, I can go to him with greater +assurance, and ask him for you." + +"Poor Father!" sighed Emily, with a wistful, tremulous little smile. +"We have been inseparable ever since I can remember. He has lived only +for me, and I cannot bear to think of leaving him--especially now, +when he seems weighed down with some secret anxiety, which he will +share with no one, not even me. I feel that he needs me, more than +ever before. It wrings my heart, Guy, to see him age before my very +eyes, and to know that he will not confide in me, I may not help him! +He seems to lean upon me, upon my presence near him, as if somehow I +gave him strength. Although he maintains a steadfast silence, his eyes +never leave me, and such a sad, hungry expression comes into them +sometimes, almost as if he were going away from me forever, as if he +were trying to say farewell to me, that I have to turn away to hide my +tears from him." + +"Poor little girl! It must make you terribly unhappy." Morrow paused, +and then added, as if in afterthought: "Perhaps when we tell your +father that we care for each other, that when I have proved myself you +are going to be my wife, he may confide in me--that is, if he is +willing to give you to me. You know, dear, it is easier sometimes for +a man to talk to another of his private worries, than to a woman, +even the one nearest and dearest to him in all the world. I may +possibly be of assistance to him. You told me last night that the +change in him had been coming on gradually for several months. When +did it first occur to you that he was in trouble?" + +"I don't know. I can't remember. You see, I didn't realize it until +that letter came, and then I began to think back, and the significance +of little things which I had not noticed particularly when they +occurred, was borne in upon me. Although I have no reason for +connecting the two happenings beyond the fact that they coincided, I +cannot help feeling that Mr. Pennold--the young man whom you have +observed when he called to see my father--has something to do with the +state of things, for it was with his very first appearance, more than +two years ago, that my father became a changed man." + +"Tell me about it," Morrow urged, gently. "Can you remember, dear, +when he first came?" + +"Oh, yes. We have so few visitors--Father doesn't, as a rule, +encourage new acquaintances, you know, Guy, although he did seem to +like you from the very beginning--that the reception of a perfect +stranger into our home as a constant caller puzzled me. It occurred on +a Sunday afternoon in summer. I was sitting out on the porch reading, +when a strange young man came up the path from the gate, and asked to +see my father. I called to him--he was weeding the flowerbed around +the corner of the house--and when he came, I went up to my room, +leaving them alone together. I didn't go, though, until I had seen +their meeting, and one thing about it seemed strange to me, even then. +The stranger, Mr. Pennold, evidently did not know my father, had +never even seen him before, from the way he greeted him, but when +Father first caught sight of his face, his own went deathly white and +he gripped the porch railing for a moment, as if for support. + +"'You wished to see me?' he said, and his voice sounded queer and +hollow and dazed, like a person awaking from sleep. 'What can I do for +you?' + +"'This is Mr. James Brunell?' the young man asked. 'You are a +map-maker, I understand. I have come to ask for your estimate on a +large contract for wall-maps for suburban schools. If you can spare a +half-hour, we can talk it over now, sir, in private. I have a letter +of introduction to you from an old acquaintance. My name is Pennold.' + +"'I know.' My father smiled as he spoke, an odd, slow smile which +somehow held no mirth or welcome. 'I noted the family resemblance at +once. A relative of yours was at one time associated with me in +business.' + +"The young man laughed shortly. + +"You mean my uncle, I guess. He's retired now. Well, Mr. Brunell, +shall we get to business?' + +"I left them then, and when I came downstairs from my room, the young +man had gone. Father was standing in the window over there, with a +letter crushed in his hand. He turned when I spoke to him, and, oh, +Guy, if you had seen his face at that moment! I almost cried out in +fear! It was like one of the terrible, despairing faces in Dante's +description of the Inferno. He looked at me blankly as if he scarcely +recognized me; then gradually that awful expression was blotted out, +and his old sweet, sunny smile took its place. + +"'Well, little girl!' he said. 'Our Sunday together was spoiled, +wasn't it, by that young fellow's intrusion?' + +"'Not spoiled,' I replied, 'if he brought you work.' + +"The smile faded from Father's face, and he responded very gravely, +with a curious, halting pause between the words: + +"'Yes. He has brought me--work.' + +"I forgot all about that episode, in the weeks and months which +followed. Charley Pennold called irregularly. Sometimes he would come +three or four times a week, then again we would not see him for two or +three months. Father was busier than ever in the shop, and, Charley +Pennold's orders must have been very profitable, for we've had more +money in the last two years than ever before, that I can remember. And +yet Father has been melancholy and morose at times, as if he were +brooding over something, and his disposition has changed steadily for +the worse, although in the last few months the difference in his moods +has become more marked. Then, when that letter came he seemed to give +himself wholly up to whatever it is which has obsessed him." + +"Emily, will you let me see the letter again?" Morrow asked suddenly. +"If you really care for me, and will be my wife some day, your +troubles and vexations are mine. I want you to let me take the letter +home with me to-night. I feel that if I can study it for a few hours +undisturbed, I shall be able to read the cipher. I'll promise, dear, +to bring it back the very first thing in the morning." + +"Of course, you may have it, Guy!" The young girl rose impulsively, +and went to the little desk in the corner. "I hid it last night after +you had gone, among some old receipts; here it is. You need not return +it to-morrow. Keep it for several days, if you like, until you have +studied it thoroughly. I don't see how you or any one could solve it +without possessing the key, but I should feel as if a load were taken +off my shoulders if you will try." + +She gave him the letter, and after a long, tender farewell, he took +his departure. Going straight to his room at Mrs. Quinlan's, he +lighted the lamp, so that if Emily chanced to look over the way, she +would fancy him at work upon the cryptogram. Morrow waited until the +little house opposite was plunged in darkness; then very stealthily he +crept down the stairs and let himself out, the precious letter +carefully tucked into an inside pocket. + +Morrow proceeded at once to Blaine's office and found his chief +awaiting him. + +"Here's the letter, sir," he announced, as he placed the single sheet +of paper on the desk before the detective. "I can't make anything out +of it, but you probably will. It's curious, isn't it! Why, for +instance, are those little dots placed near some of the crazy figures, +and not others?" + +Blaine picked the letter up, and examined it with eager interest. + +"It's comparatively simple," he remarked, as he spread it flat upon +the desk, and taking up pen and paper, copied it rapidly. "Symbolic +cryptograms are usually decipherable, with the expenditure of a little +time and effort. There is a method which is universally followed, and +has been for ages. For instance, the letter _e_ is recognized as being +the most frequently used, in ordinary English, of the whole alphabet; +after that the vowels and consonants in an accepted rotation which I +will not take up our valuable time in discussing with you now, since +we will not even need to use it, in this case.--Here, take this copy, +and see if you can follow me." + +He passed the sheet of paper across to his operative and Morrow gazed +again upon the curiously shaped characters which from close scrutiny +had become familiar, yet still remained maddeningly baffling to him: + +[Illustration: An image of a coded message is shown here in the text.] + +"Now," resumed Blaine, "presupposing that in an ostensibly friendly +message beginning with a word of four letters, that word is _dear_, +and we've two important vowels to start with. We know the letter was +addressed to Brunell, from an old partner in crime. We will assume, +therefore, that the two words of three letters each, following _dear_ +are either _old Jim_, _old man_, or _old boy_. Let us see how it works +out." + +The detective scribbled hastily on a pad for several minutes, then +leaned back in his chair, with a sigh of satisfaction. + +"It can only be _boy_," he announced. "That gives us a working start +of eight letters. Add to that the fact that this character is printed +twice consecutively in three different places"--he pointed to the +figure =[.= as he spoke--"which confirms the supposition that it is +_l_, and you have this result immediately." + +Blaine handed the pad across to Morrow, who read eagerly: + + _Dear Old Boy._ + + _B-- -o-ey -o---- -o yo- -ro- old --ore le-- ---a-d --a- ---y + --are -or -olle----- -or yo--o r--- --ll -all o- yo- ---r-day + a- -o-r -e-._ + +The operative started to speak, but checked himself, and listened +while Henry Blaine went on slowly but steadily. + +"Each letter gained helps us to others, you see, Guy. For instance +_-o-ey_ must be _money_; the character following _yo_ three times in +different places must be _u_; the word _---r-day_ can only be +_Thursday_; _-all_ is _call_; _a-_ is _at_; and _-o-r_ is _four_. That +gives us eight more letters, and makes the message read like this." +Blaine wrote it down and handed the result to Morrow, who read: + + _Dear Old Boy._ + + _B-- money com-n- to you from old score left un-a-d -hat -s my + share for collect-n- for you? No ris- --ll call on you + Thursday at four. -en._ + +"It looks easy, now," admitted Morrow. "But I never should have +thought of going about it that way. I suppose the sixth word is +_coming_. That gives us _i_ and _g_." + +"Right you are," Blaine chuckled. "Knowing, too, that the message came +from Walter Pennold, we can safely assume that _-en_ is _Pen_. Use +your common sense alone, now, and you will find that the message +reads: 'Dear old boy. Big money coming to you from old score left +unpaid. What is my share for collecting for you? No risk. Will call on +you Thursday at four. Pen.' + +"The word _risk_ was misspelled _risl_. Evidently Pennold was a little +bit rusty in the use of the old code. Our bait landed the fish all +right, Guy. The money we planted in the bank of Brooklyn and Queens +certainly brought results. No wonder poor old Jimmy Brunell was all +broken up when he received such a message. More crafty than Pennold, +he realized that it was a trap, and we were on his trail at last. +We've got him cinched now, but he's only a tool, possibly a helpless +one, in the hands of the master workmen. We'll go after them, tooth +and nail, for the happiness and stainless name of two innocent young +girls, who trust in us, and we'll get them, Guy, we'll get them if +there is any justice and honor and truth left in the world!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE EMPTY HOUSE + + +"Don't spare them now. Get the truth at all costs." + +With the last instructions of his chief ringing in his ears, the +following morning Guy Morrow set out for Brooklyn, to interview his +erstwhile friends, the Pennolds, in his true colors. + +Mame Pennold, who was cleaning the dingy front room, heard the click +of the gate, and peered with habitual caution from behind the frayed +curtains of the window. The unexpected reappearance of their young +banking acquaintance sent her scurrying as fast as her palsied legs +could carry her back to the kitchen, where her husband sat luxuriously +smoking and toasting his feet at the roaring little stove. + +"Wally, who d'you think's comin' up the walk? That young feller, +Alfred Hicks, who skipped from the Brooklyn and Queens Bank!" + +"Good Lord!" Walter Pennold took his pipe from his lips and stared at +her. "What d'you s'pose brought him back? Think he's broke, an' wants +a touch?" + +"No-o," his wife responded, somewhat doubtfully. "He looked +prosperous, all right, by the flash I got at him, an' he's walkin' +real brisk and businesslike. Maybe he's back on the job." + +"'Tain't likely, not after the way he left his boarding place, if that +Lindsay woman didn't lie." Pennold laid aside his pipe and frowned +thoughtfully, as steps echoed from the rickety porch and a knock +sounded upon the door. "He's a lightweight, every way you take +him--he'd never stick anywhere." + +"Maybe he's come to try an' get you into somethin'," Mame suggested. +"Don't you go takin' up with a bad penny at your time o' life, Wally. +He might know somethin' an' try blackmail, if he's real up against +it." + +"Well, go ahead an' open the door!" ordered Walter impatiently. "We're +straight with the bank. If he's workin' there again we ain't got +nothin' to worry about, an' if he ain't, we got nothin' against him. +Let him in." + +With obvious reluctance, Mame shuffled through the hall and obeyed. + +"Hello, Mrs. Pennold!" Guy greeted her heartily, but without offering +his hand. He brushed past her half-defensive figure with scant +ceremony, and entered the kitchen. "Hello, Pennold. Thought I might +find you home this cold morning. How goes it?" + +"Same as usual." Pennold rose slowly and looked at his visitor with +swiftly narrowed eyes. There was a new note in the young man's voice +which the other vaguely recognized; it was as if a lantern had +suddenly flashed into his face from the darkness, or an authoritative +hand been laid upon his shoulder. He motioned mechanically toward a +chair on the other side of the stove, and added slowly: "S'prised to +see you, Al. Didn't expect you'd be around here again after your +get-away. Workin' once more?" + +"Oh, I'm right on the job!" responded Guy briskly. He drew the chair +close to the square deal table, so close that he could have reached +out, had he pleased, and touched his host's sleeve. Pennold seated +himself again in his old position, significantly half-turned, so that +when he glanced slyly at his visitor it was over his shoulder, in the +furtive fashion of one on guard. + +"Ain't back with the Brooklyn and Queens, are you?" he asked. + +"No. It got too slow for me there. I found something bigger to do." + +Mame Pennold, who had been hovering in the background, came forward +now and faced him across the table, her shrewd eyes fastened upon +him. + +"Must have easy hours, when you can get off in the morning like this?" +she observed. "Didn't forget your old friends, did you?" + +"No, of course not. I hadn't anything more important to do this +morning, so I thought I'd drop in and see you both." + +His hand traveled to his breast pocket, and at the gesture, Mame's +gaunt body stiffened suddenly. + +"Didn't come to inquire about our health, did you?" she shot at him, +acrimoniously. + +"I came to see you about another matter--" + +"Not on the trail of old Jimmy Brunell still, on that business of the +bonds found at the bank?" Walter's voice was suddenly shrill with +simulated mirth. "Nothin' in that for you, Al; not a nickel, if that's +what you're here for." + +"I'm not on Brunell's trail. I've found him," Morrow returned quietly; +and in the tense pause which ensued he added dryly: "You led me to +him." + +"So that's what it was, a plant!" Walter started from his chair, but +Mame laid a trembling, sinewy hand upon his shoulder and forced him +back. + +"What d'you mean, young man?" she demanded. "What do we know about old +Brunell?" + +"You wrote him a letter--you knew where to find him." + +"I only wish we did!" she ejaculated. "We didn't write him! You must +be crazy!" + +"'Big money coming to you from old score left unpaid. What is my share +for collecting for you?'" quoted Morrow, adding: "I have a friend who +is very much interested in ciphers, and he wanted me to ask you about +the one you use, Pennold. His name is Blaine. Ever hear of him?" + +"Blaine!" Mame's voice shrank to a mere whisper, and her sallow face +whitened. + +"Blaine! Henry Blaine? The guy they call the Master Mind?" Pennold's +shaking voice rose to a breaking cry, but again his wife silenced +him. + +"Suppose we did write such a letter--an' we ain't admittin' we did, +for a minute--what's Blaine got on us?" demanded Mame, coolly. "It's +no crime, as I ever heard, to write a letter any way you want to. Who +are you, young man? You're no bank clerk!" + +"He's a 'tec, of course! Shut up your fool mouth, Mame. An' as for +you, d--n you, get out of this house, an' get out quick, or I'll call +the police myself! We've been leadin' straight, clean, respectable +lives for years, Mame an' me, an' nobody's got nothin' on us! I ain't +goin' to have no private 'tecs snoopin' in an' tryin' to put me +through the third degree. Beat it, now!" + +He rose blusteringly and advanced toward Morrow with upraised fist, +but the other, with the table between them, drew from his pocket a +folded paper. + +"Not so fast, Pennold. I have a warrant here for your arrest!" + +"Don't you believe him, Wally!" shrilled Mame. "It's a fake! Don't you +talk to him! Put him out." + +"The warrant was issued this morning, and I am empowered to arrest +you. You can look at it for yourselves; you've both seen them before." +He opened the paper and spread it out for them to read. "Walter +Pennold, alias William Perry, alias Wally the Scribbler, number 09203 +in the Rogues' Gallery. First term at Joliet, for forgery; second at +Sing Sing for shoving the queer. This warrant only holds you as a +suspicious character, Pennold, but we can dig up plenty of other +things, if it's necessary; there's a forger named Griswold in the +Tombs now awaiting trial, who will snitch about that Rochester check, +for one thing." + +"Don't let him bluff you, Wally." Mame faced Morrow from her husband's +side. "They can't rake up a thing that ain't outlawed by time. You've +lived clean more'n seven years, an' you're free from the bulls. They +can't hold you." + +"I haven't any warrant yet for you, Mrs. Pennold," observed Morrow, +imperturbably. "I admit that it's more than seven years since every +department-store detective was on the look-out for Left-handed Mame. I +believe you specialized in furs and laces, didn't you?" + +"What's it to you? You can't lay a finger on me now!" the woman +stormed, defiantly. + +"Not for shop-lifting or forgery--but how about receiving stolen +goods?" + +The shot found an instant target. Walter Pennold slumped and crumpled +down into his chair, his arms outspread upon the table. He laid his +head upon them, and a single dry, shuddering sob tore its way from his +throat. The woman backed slowly away, and for the first time a shadow +as of approaching terror crossed her hard, challenging face. + +"Stolen goods!" she repeated. "What are you tryin' to put over? Do +you think we're so green at the game that you can plant the goods here +an' get us put away on the strength of a past record? You're a--" + +"Nothing like it!" Morrow leaned forward impressively. "We don't have +to do any planting, Mame. It's a good deal less than seven years since +the Mortimer Chase's silver plate lay in your cellar." + +"Silver plate--in our cellar!" echoed Mame in genuine amazement. + +She stepped forward again, her shrewish chin out-thrust, but Walter +Pennold raised his face, and at sight of it she stopped as if turned +to stone. + +"It's no use!" he cried, brokenly. "They've got me, Mame!" + +"Got you? They'll never get you!" her startled scream rang out. +"Wally, d'you know what the next term means? It's a lifer, on any +count! I don't know what he means about any silver plate, but it's a +bluff! Don't let him get your nerve!" + +"Is it a bluff, Pennold?" asked Morrow, with dominant insistence. + +The broken figure huddled in the chair shuddered uncontrollably. + +"No, it ain't," he muttered. "I--I held out on you, Mame! I knew you +wouldn't risk it, so I didn't say nothin' to you about it, but the +money was too easy to let get by. The old gang offered me five hundred +bucks just to keep it ten days, and pass it on to Jennings. He came +here with a rag-picker's cart, you remember? You wondered what I was +givin' him, an' I told you it was some rolls of old carpet I got from +that place I was night watchman at, in Vandewater Street. I hid the +stuff under the coal--" + +"Shut up!" cried Mame, fiercely. "You don't know what you're sayin'. +Wally, hold your tongue for God's sake! Where's your spirit? Are you +goin' to break down now like a reformatory brat, you that had 'em all +guessin' for twenty years!" + +The gaunt woman had recovered from the sudden shock of her husband's +unexpected revelation and now towered protectingly over his collapsed +form, her palsied hands for once steady and firm upon his shoulders, +while her keen eyes glittered shrewdly at the young operative +confronting them. + +"Look here!" she said, shortly. "If you wanted us for receiving stolen +goods, you wouldn't come around here with a warrant for Wally's arrest +as a suspicious character, an' you wouldn't have worked that Brunell +plant. What's your lay?" + +"Information," responded Morrow, frankly. "The police don't know where +the plate was, for those ten days, and there's no immediate need +that they should. Blaine cleaned up that case eventually, you +know--recovered the plate and caught the butler in Southampton, under +the noses of the Scotland Yard men. I want to know what you can +tell me about Brunell--and about your nephew, Charley Pennold." + +Walter opened his lips, but closed them without speech, and his wife +replied for him. + +"We're no snitchers," she said coldly. "There's nothin' we can tell. +Jimmy Brunell's run straight for near twenty years, so far as we +know." + +"And Charley?" persisted Morrow. + +"It's no use, Mame," Walter Pennold repeated, dully. "If I go up +again, it means the end for me. Charley's got to take his chance, same +as the rest of us. God knows I tried to do the right thing by the boy, +same as Jimmy did by his daughter, but Charley's got the blood in +him. It's hell to peach on your own, but it's worse to hear that iron +door clank behind you, and to know it's for the last time! After all, +there ain't nothin' in what we can tell about Charley that a lot of +other people wouldn't spill, an' nothin' that could land him behind +the bars. I ain't the man I was, or I'd take my medicine without +squealin', but I can't face it again, Mame, I can't! I'm an old man +now, old before my time, perhaps, but it's been so long since I +smelled the prison taint, so long since I had a number instead of a +name, that I'd die now, quick, before I'd rot in a cell!" + +The terrible, droning monotone ceased, and for a moment there was +silence in the squalid little room. The woman's face was as impassive +as Morrow's, as she waited. Only the tightening of her hands upon her +husband's shoulders, until her bony knuckles showed white through the +drawn skin, betrayed the storm of emotion which swept over her, at the +memories evoked by the broken words. + +"I'm not asking you to snitch, Pennold," Morrow said, not unkindly. +"We know all we want to about Brunell's life at present--his home in +the Bronx, and his little map-making shop--and we're not trying to +rake up anything from the past to hold over him now; it is only some +general information I want. As to your nephew, you've got to tell me +all you know about him, or it's all up with you. Blaine won't give you +away, if you'll answer my questions frankly and make a clean breast of +it, and this is your only chance." + +Pennold licked his dry lips. + +"What do you want to know?" he asked, at last. + +"When did Jimmy Brunell turn his last trick?" + +"Years ago; I've forgotten how many. It's no harm speakin' of it now, +for he did his seven years up the river for it--his first and only +conviction. That was the time old Cowperthwaite's name was forged to +five checks amounting to thirty thousand, all told, and Jimmy was +caught on the last." + +"Where was his plant?" + +"In a basement on Dye Street. The bulls never found it. He was running +a little printer's shop in front, as a blind--oh, he was clever, old +Jimmy, the sharpest in his line!" + +"What became of his outfit, when he was sent up?" + +"Dunno. It just disappeared. Some of his old pals cribbed it, I guess, +or Jimmy may have fixed it with them to remove it. He was always +close-mouthed, and he never would tell me. I knew where his plant was, +of course, and I went there myself, after he was sent up and the coast +was clear, to get the outfit, to--to take care of it for him until he +came out. Oh, I ain't afraid to tell now; it's so long ago! I could +take you to the place to-day, but the outfit's gone." + +"And when he had served his term, what happened?" + +"He came out to find that his wife was dead, and Emily, the little +girl that was born just after he went up, was none too well treated by +the people her mother'd had to leave her with. He'd learned in the +pen' to make maps, an' he opened a little shop an' made up his mind to +live straight, an'--an' so far as I know, he has." Pennold faltered, +as if from weakness, and for a moment his voice ceased. Then he went +on: "I ain't seen him for a long time, but we kept track of each +other, an' when you come with that cock-an'-bull story about the +bonds, and the bank backed you up in it, why I--I went to see him." + +"You wrote him first. Why did you send a cipher letter?" + +"Because I suspicioned the whole thing was a plant, just like it +turned out to be, an' I didn't want to get an old pal into no trouble. +The cipher's an old one we used years ago, in the gang, an' I know he +wouldn't forget it. I never thought he'd squeal on me to Blaine!" + +"He didn't. The letter--er--came into Blaine's possession, and he read +it for himself." + +"He did?" Pennold looked up quickly, with a flash of interest on his +sullen face. "He's a wonder, that Blaine! If he'd only got started the +other way, the way we did, what a crook he would have made! As it is, +I guess we ain't afraid of all the organized police on earth combined, +as much as we are of him. It's a queer thing he ain't been shot up or +blown into eternity long ago, an' yet they say he's never guarded. He +must be a cool one! Anyhow, I'm glad Jimmy didn't squeal on me; I'd +hate to think it of him. When I went to see him about the bonds, he +wouldn't have nothin' to do with them. Swore they was a plant, he did, +an' warned me off. He seemed real excited, considerin' he had nothin' +to worry about, but I took his word for it, an' beat it. That's the +last I seen of him." + +"Did you send your nephew to him?" + +"Me?" Pennold's tones quickened in surprise. "I ain't seen him in a +long while, an' I don't believe he even remembers old Jimmy; he was +only a kid when Jimmy went up the river. What would I send Charley +for, when I'd gone myself an' it hadn't worked?" + +It was evident to Morrow that the man he was interrogating was +ignorant of Brunell's connection with the Lawton case, and he changed +his tactics. + +"Tell me about Charley. You say you tried to do right by him." + +"Of course I did! Wasn't he my brother's boy?" Pennold hunched over +the table, and continued eagerly: "Mame kept him clean an' fed, an' we +sent him to public school, just like any other kid. But it wasn't no +use. He had it in him to go wrong, without the wit to get away with +it. He was caught pinchin' lead piping when he was sixteen, an' sent +to Elmira for three years. Them three years was his finish. When he +came out he'd had what you'd call a graduate course in every form of +crookedness under the sun, from fellers harder an' cleverer than he'd +ever thought of bein', an' he was bitter besides, an' desperate. There +wasn't no chance for him then, an' he just drifted on down the line. I +never heard of him turnin' a real trick himself, an' he never got +caught at nothin' again, but he chummed in with the gang, an' he +always seemed to have coin enough. I ain't seen him in more'n a year. +The last I heard of him, he was workin' as a stool-pigeon an' snitcher +for the worst scoundrel of the lot." + +"Who was that?" asked Morrow. + +Pennold hesitated and then replied with dogged reluctance. + +"I dunno what that's got to do with it, but the feller's name is +Paddington, an' he's the worst kind of a crook--a 'tec gone wrong. At +least, that's what they say about him, but I ain't got nothin' on him; +I don't believe I ever seen the man, that I know of. He's worked on a +lot of shady cases; I know that much, an' he's clever. More'n a dozen +crooks are floatin' around town that would be up the river if he told +what he knew about 'em; so naturally, he owns 'em, body an' soul. Not +that Charley's one that'd go up--he's only in it for the coin--but I'd +rather see him get pinched an' do time for pullin' off somethin' on +his own account, than runnin' around doin' dirty work for a man who +ain't in his father's class, or mine. He's a disgrace; that's what +Charley is--a plain disgrace." + +Pennold's voice rang out in highly virtuous indignation. Morrow +forbore to smile at the oblique moral viewpoint of the old crook. + +"What does he look like?" he asked. "Short and slim, isn't he, with a +small dark mustache?" + +"That's him!" ejaculated Pennold disgustedly. "Dresses like a dude, +an' chases after a bunch of skirts! Spreads himself like a ward +politician when he gets a chance! He's my nephew, all right, but as +long as he won't run straight, same as I'm doin' now, I'd rather he'd +crack a crib than play errand boy for a man I wouldn't trust on +look-out!" + +"Where does Charley live?" asked Morrow. + +"How should I know? He hangs out at Lafferty's saloon, down on Sand +Street, when he ain't off on some steer or other--leastways he used +to." + +Morrow folded the warrant slowly, in the pause which ensued, and +returned it to his pocket while the couple watched him tensely. + +"All right, Pennold," he said, at last. "I guess I won't have to use +this now. If you've been square, an' told me all you know, you won't +be bothered about that matter of the Mortimer Chase silver plate. If +you've kept anything back, Blaine will find it out, and then it's +good-night to you." + +"I ain't!" returned Pennold, with tremendous eagerness. "I've told you +everything you asked, an' I don't savvy what you're gettin' at, +anyway. If you're tryin' to mix Jimmy Brunell up in any new case +you're dead wrong; he's out of the game for good. As for Charley, he +wouldn't know enough to pick up a pocket-book if he saw one lyin' on +the sidewalk, unless he was told to!" + +"Well, I may as well warn both of you that you're watched, and if you +try to make a get-away, you'll be taken up--and it won't be on +suspicion, either. Play fair with Blaine, and he'll be square with +you, but don't try to put anything over on him, or it'll be the worse +for you. It can't be done." + +Morrow closed the door behind him, leaving the couple as they had been +almost throughout the interview--the woman erect and stony of face, +the man miserable and shaken, crouched dejectedly over the table. But +scarcely had he descended the steps of the ramshackle little porch +when the voice of Mame Pennold reached him, pitched in a shrill key of +emotional exultation. + +"Oh, Wally, Wally! Thank God you ain't a snitcher! Thank God you +didn't tell!" + +The voice ceased suddenly, as if a hand had been laid across her lips, +and after a moment's hesitation, Morrow swung off down the path, +conscious of at least one pair of eyes watching him from behind the +soiled curtains of the front room. + +What had the woman meant? Pennold obviously had kept something back, +but was it of sufficient importance to warrant his returning and +forcing a confession? Whether it concerned Brunell or their nephew +Charley mattered little, at the moment. He had achieved the object of +his visit; he knew that Pennold himself had no connection with the +Lawton forgeries, nor knowledge of them, and at the same time he had +learned of Charley's affiliation with Paddington. The couple back +there in the little house could tell him scarcely more which would aid +him in his investigation, but the dapper, viciously weak young +stool-pigeon, if he could be located at once, might be made to +disclose enough to place Paddington definitely within the grasp of the +law. + +Guy Morrow boarded a Sand Street car, and behind the sporting page of +a newspaper he kept a sharp look-out for Lafferty's saloon. He came to +it at last--a dingy, down-at-heel resort, with much faded gilt-work +over the door, and fly-specked posters of the latest social function +of the district's political club showing dimly behind its unwashed +windows. + +He rode a block beyond--then, alighting, turned back and entered the +bar. It was deserted at that hour of the morning, save for a +disconsolate-looking individual who leaned upon one ragged elbow, +gazing mournfully into his empty whisky glass at the end of the +narrow, varnished counter. The bartender emerged from a door leading +into the back room, with a tall, empty glass in his hand, and Morrow +asked for a beer. As he stood sipping it, he watched the bartender +replenish the empty unwashed glass he had carried with a generous +drink of doubtful looking absinthe and a squirt from a syphon. + +"Bum drink on a cold morning," he observed tentatively. "Have a whisky +straight, on me?" + +"I will that!" the bartender returned heartily. "This green-eyed fairy +stuff ain't for me; it's for a dame in the back room--one of the +regulars. She's been hittin' it up all the morning, but it don't seem +to affect her--funny, too, for she ain't a boozer, as a general thing. +Her guy's gone back on her, an' she's sore. I'll be with you in a +minute." + +He vanished into the back room with the glass, and before he returned, +the disconsolate individual had slunk out, leaving Morrow in sole +possession. If this place was indeed the rendezvous of the gang of +minor criminals with which Charley Pennold had allied himself, he had +obviously come at the wrong time to obtain any information concerning +him, unless the voluble bartender could be made to talk, and that +would be a difficult matter. + +"Look here!" Morrow decided on a bold move, as the bartender +reappeared and placed a bottle of whisky between them. He leaned +forward, after a quick, furtive glance about him, and spoke rapidly, +with a disarming air of confidential frankness. "I'm in an awful hole. +I'm new at this game, and I've got to find a fellow I never saw, and +find him quick. He hangs out here, and the big guy sent me for him." + +"What big guy?" The cordiality faded from the bartender's ruddy +countenance and he stepped back significantly. + +"You know--Pad!" Morrow shot back on a desperate bluff. "The fellow's +name's Charley Pennold, and Pad wants him right away. He didn't tell +me to ask you about him, but he made it pretty plain to me that he'd +got to get him." + +"Say!" The bartender approached cautiously. He rested one hand upon +the counter, keeping the other well below it, but Morrow did not +flinch. "What's your lay?" + +"Anything there's coin in," returned the operative, with a knowing +leer. "Anything from planting divorce evidence to shoving the queer. +I've been working for a pal of Pad's in St. Louis for three or four +years--that's why I'm strange around here. Pad's up in the air about +something, and wants this Charley-boy right away, and he tells me to +look here for him and not come back without him, see? This is on the +level. If you know where he is, be a good fellow and come across, will +you?" + +The bartender felt under the counter for the shelf, and then raised +his hand, empty, toward the bottle. + +"I guess you're all right," he remarked. "Anyway, I'll take a chance. +What's your moniker?" + +"Guy the Blinker," returned Morrow promptly. "Guess you've heard of +me, all right. I pulled off--but I haven't got time to chin now. I got +to find this boy if I want to keep in with Pad, and there's coin in +it." + +"Sure there is," the bartender affirmed. "But he's a queer one--the +big guy, as you call him. What's his game? Why, only this morning, he +tipped Charley off to beat it, and Charley did. Maybe he thinks the +kid's double-crossed him." + +Morrow's heart leaped in sudden excitement at this astounding news, +but he controlled himself, and replied nonchalantly: + +"Search me. He told me I'd find this Charley-boy here; that's all I +know. He isn't talking for publication--not Pad." + +"You bet not!" The bartender nodded. Then he jerked a grimy thumb in +the direction of the back room. "Why, the dame in there, cryin' into +her absinthe, is Charley's girl. She's a queen--straight as they make +'em, if she does work the shops now and then--and Charley was fixin' +to hook up with her next month, preacher-fashion, and settle down. Now +he gets the office and skips without a word to her, and she's all +broke up over it!" + +The door at the rear opened suddenly, and a girl stood upon the +threshold. She was tall and slender, and her face showed traces of +positive beauty, although it was bloated and distorted with weeping +and dissipation, and her big black eyes glittered feverishly. + +"What's that you're sayin' about Charley?" she demanded half-hysterically. +"He's gone! He's left me! I don't believe Pad gave him the office, and +if he did, Charley's a fool to beat it! They've got nothin' on him--it's +Pad who's got to save his own skin!" + +"Shut up, Annie!" advised the bartender, not unkindly. "Pad's sent +this here feller for him, now!" + +"Then it was a lie--a lie! Pad didn't tell him to beat it--he's gone +on his own account, gone for good! But I'll find him; I'll--" + +The girl suddenly burst into a storm of sobs, and, turning, reeled +back into the inner room. + +"You see!" the bartender observed, confidentially, as the door swung +shut behind her. "She thinks he's gone off with another skirt; that's +the way with women! I knew Pad had given him the office, though. I got +it straight. You're right about Pad bein' up in the air. He must have +bitten off more than he can chew, this time. I heard Reddy Thursby +talkin' to Gil Hennessey about it, right where you're standin', not +two hours ago. They're both Pad's men--met 'em yet?" + +Morrow shook his head, not trusting himself to speak, and the +loquacious bartender went on. + +"It was Reddy brought the word for Charley to skip, and he dropped +somethin' about a raid on some plant up in the Bronx. Know anything +about it?" + +For a moment the rows of bottles on their shelves seemed to reel +before Morrow's eyes, and his heart stood still, but he forced himself +to reply: + +"Oh, that? I know all about it, of course. Wasn't I in on the ground +floor? But that's only a fake steer; this Charley-boy hasn't got +anything to do with it, that I know of. Maybe the big guy thought he +hadn't got out of the way, and sent me to find out. No use my hanging +round here any longer, anyhow. I'll amble back and tell Pad he's gone. +Swell dame, that Annie--some queen, eh? Let's have one more drink and +I'll blow!" + +With assurances of an early return, Morrow contrived to beat a retreat +without arousing the suspicions of the bartender, but he went out into +the pale, wintry, sunlight with his brain awhirl. To his apprehensive +mind a raid on a plant in the Bronx could mean only one place--the +little map-making shop of Jimmy Brunell. Something had happened in his +absence; some one had betrayed the old forger. And Emily--what of +her? + +Morrow sped as fast as elevated and subway could carry him to the +Bronx. Anxious as he was about the girl he loved, he did not go +directly to the house on Meadow Lane, but made a detour to the little +shop a few blocks away. + +Morrow's instinct had not misled him. Before he had approached within +a hundred feet of the shop he knew that his fears had been justified. + +The door swung idly open on its hinges, and the single window gave +forth a vacant stare. Within everything was in the wildest disorder. +The table which served as a counter, the racks of maps, the high +stool, the printing apparatus, all were overturned. The trap door +leading into the cellar was open, and Morrow flung himself wildly down +the sanded steps. The forger's outfit had disappeared. + +What had become of Jimmy Brunell? His purpose served, had Paddington +betrayed him to the police, or had some warning reached him to flee +before it was too late? + +With mingled emotions of fear and dread, Morrow emerged from the +little dismantled shop and made the best of his way to Meadow Lane. +The Brunell cottage appeared much as usual as he neared it, and for +an instant hope surged up within him. Emily would be at the club, of +course. If her father had been arrested, or had succeeded in getting +away safely alone, she would not know of it until she came back in the +evening. He would wait for her, intercept her, and tell her the whole +truth. + +Instead of entering his own lodgings, he crossed the road, and paused +at the Brunells' gate. Something forlorn and desolate in the +atmosphere of the little home seemed to clutch at his heart, and on a +swift impulse he strode up the path, ascended the steps of the porch +and peered in the window of the living-room. Everything in the usually +orderly room was topsy-turvy, and everywhere there was evidence of +hurried flight. From where he stood the desk--her desk--was plainly +visible, its ransacked drawers pulled open, the floor before it strewn +with torn and scattered papers. Its top was bare, amid the surrounding +litter, and even his photograph which he had recently given her, and +which usually stood there in the little frame she had made for it with +her own hands, was gone. + +A chill settled about his heart. Had Brunell been captured, and police +detectives searched the house, his picture could hold no interest for +them. Had the old forger fled alone, he would not have taken so +insignificant an object from among all his household goods and +chattels. Emily alone would have paused to save the photograph of the +man she loved from the wreckage of her home; Emily, too, had gone! + +Scarcely knowing what he was doing, and caring less, Morrow rushed +across the street, and descended upon Mrs. Quinlan, his landlady, at +her post in the kitchen. + +"What's happened to the Brunells?" he demanded breathlessly. + +"Land's sakes, but you scared me, Mr. Morrow!" Mrs. Quinlan turned +from the stove with a hurried start, and wiped her plump, steaming +face on her apron. "I should like to know what's happened myself. All +I do know is that they've gone bag and baggage--or as much of it as +they could carry with them--and never; a word to a soul except what +Emily ran across to say to me." + +"What was it?" he fairly shouted at her. But there were few interests +in Mrs. Quinlan's humdrum existence, and seldom did she have an +exciting incident to relate and an eager audience to hang upon her +words. She sat down ponderously and prepared to make the most of the +present occasion. + +"I thought it was funny to see a man goin' into their yard at five +o'clock this mornin', but my tooth was so bad I forgot all about him +and it never come into my mind again until I seen them goin' away. I +sleep in the room just over yours, you know, Mr. Morrow, an' my tooth +ached so bad I couldn't sleep. It was five by my clock when I got up +to come down here an' get some hot vinegar, an' I don't know what made +me look out my winder, but I did. I seen a man come running down the +lane, keepin' well in the shaders, an' looking back as if he was +afraid he was bein' chased, for all the world like a thief. While I +looked, he turned in the Brunells' yard an' instead of knocking on the +door, he began throwin' pebbles up at the old man's bedroom winder. +Pretty soon it opened and Mr. Brunell looked out. Then he come down +quick an' met the man at the front door. They talked a minute, an' the +feller handed over somethin' that showed white in the light of the +street lamp, like a piece of paper. Mr. Brunell shut the door an' the +man ran off the way he had come. I come down an' got my hot vinegar +an' when I got back to my room I seen there were lights in Mr. +Brunell's room an' Emily's, an' one in the livin'-room, too, but my +tooth was jumpin' so I went straight to bed. About half an hour after +you'd left for business I was shakin' a rug out of the front +sittin'-room winder, when Emily come runnin' across the street. + +"'Oh, Mrs. Quinlan!' she calls to me, an' I see she'd been cryin'. +'Mrs. Quinlan, we're goin' away!' + +"'For good?' I asked. + +"'Forever!' she says. 'Will you give a message to Mr. Morrow for me, +please? Tell him I'm sorry I was mistaken. I'm sorry to have found him +out!' + +"She burst out cryin' again an' ran back as her father called her from +the porch. He was bringin' out a pile of suit-cases and roll-ups, and +pretty soon a taxicab drove up with a man inside. I couldn't see his +face--only his coat-sleeve. They got in an' went off kitin' an' that's +every last thing I know. What d'you s'pose she meant about findin' you +out, Mr. Morrow?" + +He turned away without reply, and went to his room, where he sat for +long sunk in a stupor of misery. She had found out the truth, before +he could tell her. She knew him for what he was, knew his despicable +errand in ingratiating himself into her friendship and that of her +father. She believed that the real love he had professed for her had +been all a mere part of the game he was playing, and now she had gone +away forever! He would never see her again! + +"By God, no!" he cried aloud to himself, in the bitterness of his +sorrow. "I will find her again, if I search the ends of the earth. She +shall know the truth!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +IN THE OPEN + + +Guy Morrow's resolve to find Emily Brunell at all costs, stirred him +from the apathy of despair into which he had fallen, and roused him to +instant action. Leaving the house, he went to the nearest telephone +pay station, where he could converse in comparative privacy, and +called up Henry Blaine's office, only to discover that the master +detective had departed upon some mission of his own, was not expected +to return until the following morning, and had left no instructions +for him. + +This unanticipated set-back left Morrow without definite resource. As +a forlorn hope he telephoned to the Anita Lawton Club, only to learn +that Miss Brunell had sent in her resignation as secretary early that +morning, but told nothing of her future plans, except that she was +leaving town for an indefinite period. + +There was nothing more to be learned by another examination of the +dismantled shop, and the young operative turned his steps reluctantly +homeward. A sudden suspicion had formed itself in his mind that Blaine +himself, and not the police, had been responsible for the raid on the +forger's little establishment--that Blaine had done this without +taking him into his confidence and was now purposely keeping out of +his way. + +When the early winter dusk came, Guy could endure it no longer, but +left the house. Drawn irresistibly by his thoughts, he crossed the +road again, and entering the Brunells' gate, he strolled around the +deserted cottage, to the back. At the kitchen door a faint, piteous +sound made him pause. It was an insistent, wailing cry from within, +the disconsolate meowing of a frightened, lonely kitten. + +Caliban had been left behind, forgotten! Emily's panic and haste must +have been great indeed to cause her to forsake the pet she had so +tenderly loved! Much as he detested the spiteful little creature, he +could not leave it to starve, for her sake. + +Morrow tried the kitchen door, but found it securely bolted from +within. The catch on the pantry window was loose, however, and Morrow +managed to pry it open with his jackknife. With a hasty glance about +to see that he was not observed, he pushed up the window and clambered +in, closing it cautiously after him. He stumbled through the +semi-obscurity and gloom into the kitchen; instantly the piteous cry +ceased and Caliban rose from the cold hearth and bounded gladly to +him, purring and rubbing against his legs. Mechanically he stooped and +stroked it; then, after carefully pulling down the shades, he lighted +the lamp upon the littered table, and looked about him. Everything +bore evidence, as had the living-room, of a hasty exodus. The fire was +extinguished in the range, and it was filled to the brim with flakes +of light ashes. Evidently Brunell or his daughter had paused long +enough in their flight to burn armfuls of old papers--possibly +incriminating ones. + +On the table was the debris of a hasty meal. Morrow poured some milk +from the pitcher into a saucer and placed it on the floor for the +hungry kitten; then, taking the lamp, he started on a tour of +inspection through the house. Everywhere the wildest confusion and +disorder reigned. + +Morrow turned aside from the door of Emily's room, but entered her +father's. There, save for a few articles of old clothing strewn about, +he found comparative order and neatness. The simple toilet articles +were in their places, the narrow bed just as Jimmy Brunell had left it +when he sprang up to admit his nocturnal visitor. + +On the floor near the bureau on which the lamp stood, something white +and crumpled met Morrow's eye; he stooped quickly and picked it up. It +was a large single sheet of paper, and as the operative smoothed it +out, he realized that it must be the message which had been hurriedly +brought to Brunell in the early hour before the dawn. The paper had +lain just where he had dropped it, crushed from his hand after reading +the warning it contained. + +Morrow turned up the wick of his own lamp and stared curiously at the +missive. The sheet of paper was ruled at intervals, the lines and +interstices filled with curious hieroglyphics, and at a first glance +it appeared to the operative's puzzled eyes to be a mere portion of a +page of music. Then he observed that old figures and letters, totally +foreign to the notes of a printed score, were interspersed between the +rest, and moreover only the treble clef had been used. + +"Oh, Lord!" he groaned to himself. "It's another cryptogram, and I +don't believe Blaine himself will be able to solve this one!" + +He stared long and uncomprehendingly at it; then with a sigh of +baffled interest he folded it carefully and placed it in his pocket. +As he did so, there came a sudden sharp report from outside, the +tinkle of a broken window pane, and a bullet, whistling past his ear, +embedded itself in the wall behind him! + +Instinctively Morrow flung himself flat upon the floor, but no second +shot was fired. Instead, he heard the muffled receding of flying +footsteps from the sidewalk, and an excited cry or two as neighboring +windows were raised and curious heads were thrust out. + +Hastily extinguishing the lamp, Morrow felt his way to the kitchen, +where he pocketed Caliban with scant ceremony and departed swiftly the +way he had come, through the pantry window. By scaling a back-yard +wall or two he found an alley leading to the street; and making a +detour of several blocks, he returned to his lodgings, to find Mrs. +Quinlan waiting in great excitement to relate her version of the +revolver shot. + +Morrow listened with what patience he could muster, and then handed +Caliban over to her mercy. + +"It's Miss Brunell's cat," he explained. "You'll take care of it for a +day or two, at least, won't you? I expect to hear from her soon, and +I'd like to be able to restore it to her." + +"Well, I ain't what you would call crazy about cats," the landlady +returned, somewhat dubiously, "but I couldn't let it die in this cold. +I'll keep it, of course, till you hear from Emily. Where did you find +it?" + +"Over in their yard," he responded, with prompt mendacity. "I was in +the neighborhood and heard the shot fired, so I ran in to have a look +around and see if anyone was hurt, and I came across this poor little +chap yowling on the doorstep. I won't want any supper to-night, Mrs. +Quinlan. I'm going out again." + +Within the hour, Morrow presented himself at Henry Blaine's office. +This time he did not wait to be told that the famous investigator +was out, but writing something on a card, he sent it in to the +confidential secretary. + +In a moment he was admitted, to find Blaine seated imperturbably +behind his desk, fingering the card his young operative had sent in to +him. + +"What is it, Guy?" he asked, not unkindly. "You say you have a +communication of great importance." + +"I think it is, sir," returned the other, stiffly. "At least I have +the message which warned Brunell of your raid upon his shop. It's +another cipher, a different one this time." + +"Indeed? That's good work, Guy. But how did you know it was a warning +to old Jimmy of the raid? Could you read it?" + +Morrow shook his head. + +"No, and I don't see how anyone else could! It must have been a +warning of some sort, for it was what caused them both, old Jimmy and +his daughter, to run away. Here it is." + +He passed the cryptogram over to his chief, who studied it for a while +with a meditative frown, then laid it aside and listened in a +non-committal silence to his story. When the incidents of the day had +been narrated, Blaine said: + +"That was a close call, Guy, that shot from the darkness. It must have +come from the opposite side of the street, of course, from before your +own lodgings. The bullet glanced upward in its course, didn't it?" + +"No, sir. That's the funny part of it! The spot where it is embedded +in the wall is very little higher than the hole in the window pane." + +"And Mrs. Quinlan's, where you board, is directly opposite?" + +"Yes. It's the only house on the other side of the street for fifty +feet or more on either side." + +"Then you'd better look out for trouble, Guy. That shot came from your +own house, probably from the window of your own room, if it is the +second floor front, as you say. There's a traitor in camp. Any new +lodgers to-day that you know of?" + +"No, sir," Morrow replied, startled at the theory evolved by his +chief. "But how do you account for the fact that I distinctly heard +some one running away immediately after the shot was fired?" + +"It was probably a look-out, or a decoy to draw investigation away +from the house had a prompt pursuit ensued. Be careful when you go +back, Guy, and don't take any unnecessary chances." + +"I'm not going back, sir," the younger man returned, with quiet +determination. "I'm sorry, but I'm through. I wanted to resign before, +to protect the woman I love from just this trouble which has come upon +her, but you overruled me, and I listened and played the game fairly. +Now I've lost her, and nothing else matters under the sun except that +I must find her again and tell her the truth, and I mean to find her! +Nothing shall stand in my way!" + +"And your duty?" asked Blaine quietly. + +"My duty is to her first, last, and all the time! I know I have no +right, sir, to ask that I should be taken into your confidence in +regard to any plans you make in conducting an investigation, but I +think in view of the exceptional conditions of this case that I might +have been told in advance of the raid you intended, so that I might +have spared Emily much of the trouble which has come upon her, or at +least have told her the truth, and squared myself with her, and known +where she was going. I've got to find her, sir! I cannot rest until I +do!" + +"And you shall find her, Guy. I promise you on my word that if you +are patient all will be well. It is not my custom to explain my +motives to my subordinates, but as you say, this case is exceptional, +and you have been faithful to your trust under peculiarly trying +circumstances. I raided Jimmy's little shop last night and carried +off his forgery outfit because I had received special information of +a confidential nature that Paddington intended to make the same +move and lay it to the work of the police, not only to scare poor +old Jimmy out of town, but to obtain possession of the outfit himself +and destroy the evidence, in case the old forger was caught and +lost his spirit and confessed, implicating him. I did not know the +raid would be discovered and the warning take effect so soon. I had +arranged to have the Brunells watched and tailed later in the day, but +they escaped my espionage. + +"I shall at once set the wheels in motion to discover the number of +the taxicab in which they went away, and I will leave no stone +unturned to find their ultimate destination and see that no harm comes +to either of them; you may depend upon that. I don't mind going a +little further with this subject with you now than I have before, and +I'll tell you confidentially that I believe whatever part Jimmy played +in this conspiracy, in forging the letter, note, and signatures, was a +compulsory one; and in the end we shall be able to clear him. You know +that I am a man of my word, Guy. I want you to go on with this case +under my instructions and leave the search for the Brunells absolutely +in my hands. Will you do this, on my assurance that I will find +them?" + +"If I can have your word, sir, that at the earliest possible moment I +may go to her, to Emily, and tell her the truth," Morrow replied, +earnestly. "You don't know what it means to me, to have her feel that +I have been such a dog as not to mean a word of all that I said to +her, to have her believe that it was all part of a plan to trap her +into betraying her father. It drives me almost mad when I think of it! +This inaction, the suspense of it, is intolerable." + +"Then go home and find out who fired at you from the window of your +own house. Watch the Brunell cottage, too--there will be developments +there, if I'm not mistaken. To-morrow I may want you to go out on +another branch of this investigation--the search for Ramon Hamilton." + +"Very good, sir, I'll try," Morrow promised with obvious reluctance. +"I know how busy you are and how much every day counts in this matter +just now; but for God's sake, do what you can to find the Brunells for +me!" + +Blaine repeated his assurances, and Morrow returned to the Bronx with +considerably lightened spirits. The sight of the little cottage across +the way, dark and deserted, brought a pang to his heart, but it also +served to remind him of the duty which lay before him. He must find +out whose hand had fired that shot at him from the house which had +given him shelter. + +Mrs. Quinlan had not yet retired. He found her reading a newspaper in +the kitchen, with Caliban curled up in drowsy content beside the +stove. + +"Cold out, ain't it?" she observed. "I went round to the store, an' I +like to've froze before I got back. They said they'd send the things, +but they didn't." + +"I'll go get them for you," offered Morrow. "Was it the grocery to +which you went?" + +"No, the drug store. I--I've got a new lodger upstairs at the back--an +old gentleman who's kind of sickly and rheumatic, and he asked me to +get some things for him. Thank you just the same, Mr. Morrow, but +there ain't no hurry for them." Mrs. Quinlan's wide, ingenuous face +flushed, and for a moment she seemed curiously embarrassed. Could she +have guessed that the revolver shot which had created so much +excitement that afternoon had been fired from beneath her roof? + +"A new lodger!" repeated Morrow. "Came to-day, didn't he?" + +"No, yesterday," she responded quickly--too quickly, the operative +fancied. The ruddy flush had deepened on her cheek, and she added, as +if unable to restrain the question rising irresistibly to her lips: +"What made you think he came to-day?" + +"I thought this afternoon that I heard furniture being moved about in +the room directly over mine," he returned, with studied indifference. + +"Oh, you did!" Mrs. Quinlan affirmed. "That's my room, you know. I was +exchanging my bureau for the old gentleman's." + +"Let me see; that makes four lodgers now, doesn't it?" Morrow remarked +thoughtfully, as he toasted his back near the stove. "Peterson, the +shoe clerk; Acker, the photographer; me--and now this old gentleman. +What's his name, by the way?" + +"Mr.--Brown." Again there was that obvious hesitation, followed by a +hasty rush of words as if to cover it. "Yes, my house is full now, and +I think I'm mighty lucky, considering the time of year. Just think, +it's most Christmas! The winter's just flyin' along!" + +The next morning, from his bed Morrow heard the clinking of china on a +tray as Mrs. Quinlan laboriously carried breakfast upstairs to her new +boarder. Guy rose quickly and dressed, and when he heard her +descending again he flung open his door and met her face to face, +quite as if by accident. She started violently at the sudden encounter +and nearly dropped the tray. + +"Land sakes, how you scared me, Mr. Morrow!" she exclaimed. "You're up +earlier than usual. I'll have your breakfast ready in the dining-room +in ten minutes." + +She hurried on quickly, but not before the operative's keen eyes had +noted in one lightning glance the contents of the tray. Upon it was a +teapot, as well as one for coffee, and service for two. Peterson and +Acker had both long since gone to their usual day's work. Mrs. Quinlan +had lied, then, after all. She had two new lodgers instead of the +single rheumatic old gentleman she had pictured; two, and one of them +had entered his own room, and from the window fired that shot across +the street at him, as he bent over the lamp in the Brunell cottage. He +had one problematic advantage--it was possible that he had not been +recognized as the intruder in the deserted house. He must contrive by +hook or crook to obtain a glimpse of the mysterious newcomers, and +learn the cause of their interest in the Brunells and their affairs. +They were in all probability emissaries of Paddington's--possibly one +of them was Charley Pennold himself. + +At that same moment Henry Blaine sat in his office, receiving the +report of Ross, one of his minor operatives. + +"I tried the tobacconist's shop yesterday morning, sir, but there +wasn't any message there for Paddington, and although I waited around +a couple of hours he didn't show up," Ross was saying. "This morning, +however, I tried the same stunt, and it worked. I wasn't any too quick +about it, either, for Paddington was just after me. I strolled in, +asked for a package of Cairos and gave the man the office, as you told +me. He handed it over like a lamb, and I walked out with it, straight +to that little cafe across the way. I had four of the boys waiting +there, and my entrance was a signal to them to beat it over and buy +enough tobacco to keep the shopkeeper busy while I made a getaway from +the dairy-lunch place. I only went three doors down, to a barber's, +and while I was waiting my turn there I watched the street from behind +a newspaper. + +"In about ten minutes Paddington came along, walking as if he was in +quite a hurry. He went into the tobacconist's, but he came out quicker +than he had entered, and his face was a study--purple with rage one +minute, and white with fear the next. I don't believe he knows yet +who's tailing him, sir, but he looks as if he realized we had him +coming and going. He went straight over to the little restaurant, with +murder in his eye, but he only stayed a minute or two. I tailed him +home to his rooms, and he stamped along at first as if he was so mad +he didn't care whether he was followed or not. When he got near his +own street, though, he got cautious again, and I had all I could do to +keep him from catching me on his trail--he's a sharp one, when he +wants to be, and he's on his mettle now." + +"I know the breed. He'll turn and fight like any other rat if he's +cornered, but meanwhile he'll try at any cost to get away from us," +Blaine responded. "You have him well covered, Ross?" + +"Thorpe is waiting in a high-powered car a few doors away, Vanner in a +taxi, and Daly is on the job until I get back. He won't take a step +to-day without being tailed," the operative answered, confidently. +"Here's the cigarette box, sir. I opened it as soon as I got in the +restaurant, to see if it was the real goods and not a plant, as you +instructed. It's the straight tip, all right. There were no cigarettes +inside, only this single sheet of paper covered with little +marks--looks like music, only it isn't. I don't know much about +sight-reading, but some of those figures couldn't be played on any +instrument!" + +Henry Blaine opened the little box and drew from it the bit of folded +paper, which he spread out upon the desk before him. A glance was +sufficient to show him that it was another cryptic message, similar to +that which Guy Morrow had found in the Brunells' deserted cottage, and +which he had vainly studied until far into the night. + +"Very good, Ross. Get back on the job, now, and report any developments +as soon as you have an opportunity." + +When the operative had gone, Blaine drew forth the cryptogram received +the previous evening and compared the two. They were identical in +character, although from the formation of the letters and figures, the +message each conveyed was a different one. The first had baffled him, +and he scrutinized the second with freshly awakened interest: + +[Illustration: An image of a coded message is shown here in the text.] + +The three lines fascinated him by their tantalizing problem, and he +could not take his eyes from them. The musical notes could be easily +read in place of letters, of course, with the sign of the treble clef +as a basic guide, but the other figures still puzzled him. + +All at once, a word upon the lowest line which explained itself caught +his eye; then another and another, until the method of deciphering the +whole message burst upon his mind. One swift gesture, a few eagerly +scrawled calculations, and the truth was plain to him. + +Calling his secretary, he hastily dictated a letter. + +"I want a copy of that sent at once, by special delivery, to every +physician and surgeon in town, no matter how obscure. See to it that +not one is overlooked. Even those on the staffs of the different +hospitals must be notified, although they are the least likely to be +called upon. Above all, don't forget the old retired one, those of +shady professional reputation and the fledglings just out of medical +colleges. It's a large order, Marsh, but it's bound to bring some +result in the next forty-eight hours." + +With the closing of the door behind his secretary, Henry Blaine rose +and paced thoughtfully back and forth the length of his spacious +office. The problem before him was the most salient in its importance +of any which had confronted him during his investigation of the Lawton +mystery--probably the weightiest of his entire career. Should he, +dared he, throw caution to the winds and step out into the open, in +his true colors at last? + +It was as if he held within his hands the kernel of the mystery, yet +surrounded still by an invulnerable shield of cunning and duplicity +with which the master criminals had so carefully safe-guarded their +conspiracy. He held it within his hands, and yet he could not break +the shell of the mystery and expose the kernel of truth to justice. +There seemed to be no interstice, no crevice into which he might +insert the keen probe of his marvelous deductive power. And yet his +experience told him that there must be some rift, some hiatus in the +scheme. If only he could discover that rift, could prove beyond a +shadow of a doubt the facts which he had circumstantially established, +he would not hesitate to lay his hands upon the culprits, high in +power and influence throughout the country as they were, and bring +them before any court of so-called justice, however it might be +undermined by bribery and corruption. + +He had accomplished much, working as a mole works, in the dark. Could +he not accomplish more by declaring himself; could he not by one bold +stroke lay bare the heart of the mystery? + +Seating himself again at his desk, he took the telephone receiver from +its hook and called up Anita Lawton at her home--not upon the private +wire he had had installed for her, but on the regular house wire. + +"Oh, Mr. Blaine, what is it! Have you found him? Have you news for me +of Ramon?" Her voice, faint and high-pitched with the hideous suspense +of the days just past, came to him tremulous with eagerness and an +abiding hope. + +"No, Miss Lawton, I am sorry to say that I have not yet found Mr. +Hamilton, but I have definite information that he still lives, at +least," he returned. "I hope that in a few days, at most, I may bring +him to you." + +"Thank heaven for that!" she responded fervently. "I have tried so +hard to believe, to have faith that he will be restored to me, and yet +the hideous doubt will return again and again. These days and nights +have been one long, ceaseless torture!" + +"You have taken my advice in regard to receiving your visitors?" + +"Oh, yes, Mr. Blaine. My three guardians have been unremitting in +their attentions, particularly Mr. Rockamore, who calls daily. He has +just left me." + +"Miss Lawton, I have decided that the time has come for us to declare +ourselves openly--not in regard to the mystery of your father's +insolvency, but concerning the disappearance of Ramon Hamilton. I want +you to call his mother up on the telephone as soon as I ring off, and +tell her that you have resolved to retain me, on your account, to find +him for you. Should she put forward any objections, over-rule her and +refuse to listen. I will be with you in an hour. In the meantime, +should anyone call, you may tell them that you have just retained me +to investigate the disappearance of your fiance. Tell that to anyone +and everyone; the more publicity we give to that fact the better. The +moment has arrived for us to carry war into the enemy's camp, and I +know that we shall win! Keep up your courage, Miss Lawton! We're done +with maneuvering now. You've borne up bravely, but I believe your +period of suspense, in regard to many things, is past. Before this day +is done, they will know that we are in this to fight to the +finish--and to fight to win!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +CHECKMATE! + + +Henry Blaine was allowed scant opportunity for reflection, in the hour +which intervened between his telephone message to Anita and the time +of his appointment with her. Scarcely had he hung up the receiver once +more when his secretary announced the arrival of Fifine Dechaussee. + +Had not Blaine been already aware of her success with Paddington, as +the scene in the park an evening or two previously denoted, he would +have been instantly apprised by her manner that something of vital +import had occurred. There was an indefinable change, a subtle +metamorphosis, which was conveyed even in her appearance. Her +delicate, Madonna-like face had lost its wax-like pallor and was +flushed with a faint, exquisite rose; the wooden, slightly vacant +expression was gone; she walked with a lissome, conscious grace which +he had not before observed, and the slow, enigmatic smile with which +she greeted him held much that was significant behind it. + +"You did not keep your appointment with me yesterday--why, mademoiselle?" +asked Blaine, quietly. + +"Because it was impossible, m'sieu," she returned. "I could not get +away. Madame--the wife of M'sieu Franklin--would not allow me to leave +the children. This is the first opportunity I have had to come." + +"And what have you to report?" he asked, watching her narrowly. + +She shrugged her shoulders. + +"Very little, M'sieu Blaine. Yesterday the president of the Street +Railways, M'sieu Mallowe, called on the minister, and remained for +more than an hour. I could not hear their conversation--they were in +the library; but just as M'sieu Mallowe was taking his departure I +passed through the hall, and heard him say: + +"'You must try to persuade her, Mr. Franklin; you have more influence +over her than anyone else, even I. Miss Lawton must really go away for +a time. It is the only thing that will save her health, her reason! +She can do nothing here to aid in the search for young Hamilton, and +the suspense is killing her. Try to get her to take our advice and go +away, if only for a few days.'" + +"What did Dr. Franklin reply?" + +"I did not hear it all. I could not linger in the hall without +arousing suspicion. Dr. Franklin agreed that Miss Lawton was ill and +should go away, and he said he would try to induce her to go--that +M'sieu Mallowe was undoubtedly right, and he was delighted that he +took such an interest in Miss Lawton." + +She paused, and after a moment Blaine asked: + +"And that is all?" + +"Yes, m'sieu." The French girl half turned as if to take her +departure, but he stayed her by a gesture. + +"You have nothing else to report? How about Paddington?" He shot the +question at her tersely, his eyes never leaving her face, but she did +not flinch. + +"M'sieu Paddington?" she repeated demurely. "I have nothing to tell +you of him." + +"You didn't try, then, to lead him on, as I suggested--to get him to +talk about Miss Lawton, or the people who were employing him? You have +not seen him?" + +"M'sieu Blaine, I could not do that!" she cried, ignoring his last +question. "I would do much, anything that I could for Miss Lawton, but +she would be the last to ask of me that I should lead a man on to--to +make love to me, in order to betray him! I will do anything that is +possible to find out for Miss Lawton and for you, m'sieu, all that I +can by keeping my ears open in the house of the minister, but as to +M'sieu Paddington--I will not play such a role with any man, even to +please Miss Lawton." + +"Yet you have been meeting him in the park." The detective leaned +forward in his chair and spoke gently, as if merely reminding the girl +of some insignificant fact which she had presumably forgotten, yet +there was that in his tone which made her stiffen, and she replied +impulsively, with a warning flash of her eyes: + +"What do you mean, m'sieu? How do you know? I--I told you I had +nothing to report concerning M'sieu Paddington, nothing which could be +of service to Miss Lawton, and it is quite true. I--I did meet M'sieu +Paddington in the park, but it was simply an accident." + +"And was the locket and chain an accident, too? That locket which you +are wearing at the present moment, mademoiselle?" + +"The locket--" Her hand strayed to her neck and convulsively clasped +the bauble of cheap, bright gold hanging there. "What do you know of +my locket, M'sieu Blaine?" + +"I know that Paddington purchased it for you two or three days +ago--that he gave it to you that night in the park, and you allowed +him to take you in his arms and kiss you!" + +"Stop! How can you know that!" she stormed at him, stepping forward +slightly, a deep flush dyeing her face. "He did not tell you! You have +had me watched, followed, spied upon! It is intolerable! To think that +I should be treated as if I were unworthy of trust. I have been +faithful, loyal to Miss Lawton, but this is too much! I have not +questioned M'sieu Paddington; I know nothing of his affairs, but I +like him, I--I admire him very much, and if I desire to meet him, to +receive his attentions, I shall do so. I am not harming Miss Lawton, +who has been my _patronne_, my one friend in this strange, big +country. M'sieu Paddington does not know that I am working at Dr. +Franklin's under your instructions, and I shall never betray to him +the confidence Miss Lawton has reposed in me. But I shall do no more; +it is finished. That I should be suspected--" + +"But you are not, my dear young woman!" interposed Blaine, mildly. "It +was not you who was followed, spied upon, as you call it. For Miss +Lawton's sake, because she is in trouble, we are interested just now +in Paddington's movements, and naturally my operative was not aware +that it was to meet you he went to the park." + +"_N'importe!_" Fifine exclaimed. The color had receded from her face, +and a deathly white pallor had superseded it. She retreated a step or +two, and continued defiantly: "This afternoon I resign from the +service of Dr. Franklin! I do not believe that M'sieu Paddington is an +enemy of Miss Lawton; nothing shall make me believe that he, who is +the soul of honor, of chivalry, would harm her, or cause her any +trouble, and I do not like this work, this spying and treachery and +deceit! That is your profession, m'sieu, not mine; I only consented +because Miss Lawton had been kind to me, and I desired to aid her in +her trouble, if I could. But that he--that I--should be suspected and +watched, and treated like criminals, oh, it is insufferable. To-day, +also, I leave the Anita Lawton Club. You shall find some one else to +play detective for you--you and Miss Lawton!" + +With an indignant swirl of her skirts, she turned and made for the +door, in a tempest of rage; but on the threshold his voice stayed +her. + +"Wait! Miss Lawton has befriended you, and now, because of a man of +whom you know nothing, you desert her cause. Is that loyalty, +mademoiselle? We shall not ask you to remain at Dr. Franklin's any +longer; Miss Lawton does not wish unwilling service from anyone. But +for your own sake, go back to the club, and remain there until a +position is open to you which is to your liking. You are a young girl +in a strange country, as you say, and at least you know the club to be +a safe place for you. Do not trust this man Paddington, or anyone +else; it is not wise." + +"I shall not listen to you!" she cried, her voice rising shrill and +high-pitched in her excitement. "You shall not say such things of +M'sieu Paddington! He is brave and good, while you--you are a spy, an +eavesdropper, a delver into the private affairs of others. I do not +know what this trouble may be, which Miss Lawton is in, and I am sorry +for her, that she should suffer, but I shall have nothing more to do +with the case, nor with you, m'sieu! _Au revoir!_" + +"Whew!" breathed Blaine to himself, as the door closed after her with +a slam. "What a firebrand! She may not have actually betrayed us to +Paddington in so many words, but it isn't necessary to look far for +the one who warned him that he was being watched, and put him on his +guard, all unknowingly, that the whole scheme in which he is so deeply +involved, was in jeopardy. Oh, these women! Let them once lose their +heads over a man, and they upset all one's plans!" + +Blaine arrived promptly within the hour at the house on Belleair +Avenue. Anita Lawton received him as before in the library. He +observed with deep concern that she was a mere shadow of her former +self. The slenderness which had been one of her girlish charms had +become almost emaciation; her eyes were glassily bright, and in the +waxen pallor of her cheeks a feverish red spot burned. + +She smiled wanly as he pressed her hand, and her pale lips trembled, +but no words came. + +"My poor child!" the great detective found himself saying from the +depths of his fatherly heart. "You are positively ill! This will never +do. You are not keeping your promise to me." + +"I am trying hard to, Mr. Blaine." Anita motioned toward a chair and +sank into another with a little gasp of sheer exhaustion. "You have +never failed yet, and you have given me your word that you would bring +Ramon back to me. I try to have faith, but with every hour that +passes, hope dies within me, and I can feel that my strength, my will +to believe, is dying, too. I know that you must be doing your utmost, +exerting every effort, and yet I cannot resist the longing to urge you +on, to try to express to you the torture of uncertainty and dread +which consumes me unceasingly. That my father's fortune is gone means +nothing to me now. Only give me back Ramon alive and well, and I shall +ask no more!" + +"I hope to be able to do that speedily," Blaine returned. "As I told +you over the telephone, I have positive proof that he is alive, and a +definite clue as to his whereabouts. You must ask me nothing further +now--only try to find faith in your heart for just a few days, perhaps +hours, longer. You 'phoned to Mrs. Hamilton, as I suggested?" + +"Yes. She demurred at first, dreading the notoriety, and not--not +appearing to believe in your ability as I do, but I simply refused to +listen to her objections. Mr. Carlis called me up shortly afterward, +and wanted to know if I would be able to receive him this afternoon, +on a matter connected with my finances, but I told him I had retained +you to search for Ramon, and was expecting you at any moment. He +seemed greatly astonished, and warned me of the--he called it +'useless'--expense. He begged me not to be impatient, to wait until I +had time to think the matter over and consult himself and Mr. Mallowe, +saying that they were both doing all that could be done to locate +Ramon, and Mr. Rockamore was, also, but I told him it was too late, +that you were on your way here." + +"That was right. I am glad you told him. The fact that you have +retained me to search for Mr. Hamilton will appear as a scoop in every +evening paper which he controls, now, and the more publicity given to +it, the better. You told me over the 'phone that Mr. Rockamore calls +upon you every day?" + +"Yes. I try to be cordial to him, but for some reason which I can't +explain I dislike him more than either of the others. I don't know why +he comes so often, for he says very little, only sits and stares at +that chair--the chair in which my father died--until I feel that I +should like to scream. It seems to exert the same strange, uncanny +influence over him as it does over me--that chair. More than once, +when he has been announced, I have entered to find him standing close +beside it, looking down at it as if my father were seated there once +more and he was talking to him, I don't in the least know why, but the +thought seems to prey on my mind--perhaps because the chair fascinates +me, too, in a queer way that is half repulsion." + +"You are morbid, Miss Lawton--you must not allow such fancies to grow, +or they will soon take possession of you, in your weakened state, and +become an obsession. Tell me, have you heard anything from the club +girls we established in your guardian's offices?" + +"Oh, yes! I had forgotten completely in my excitement and joy over +your news of Ramon, vague though it is, that there was something +important which I wanted to tell you. Since Margaret Hefferman's +dismissal, all my girls have been sent away from the positions I +obtained for them--all except Fifine Dechaussee." + +"And she resigned not an hour ago," remarked the detective rather +grimly, supplementing the fact, with as many details as he thought +necessary. + +Anita listened in silence until he had finished. + +"Poor girl! Poor Fifine! What a pity that she should fancy herself in +love with such a man as you describe this Paddington to be! She must +be persuaded to remain in the club, of course; we cannot allow her to +leave us now. I feel responsible for her, and especially so since it +was indirectly because of me, or while she was in my service, at any +rate, that she met this man. If she is all that you say, she could +never be happy if she married him." + +"There's small chance of that. He has a wife already. She left him +years ago, and runs a boarding-house somewhere on Hill Street, I +believe," Blaine replied. "I don't fancy he'll add bigamy to the rest +of his nefarious acts. But tell me of the other girls. They did not +report to me." + +"Poor little Agnes Olson was dismissed yesterday. She is a spineless +sort of creature, you know, without much self-assurance, or +initiative, and I believe she had quite a scene with Mr. Carlis +before she left. She was on the switchboard, if you remember, and +as well as I was able to understand from her, he caught her listening +in on his private connection. She reached the club in an hysterical +condition, and I told them to put her to bed and care for her. I +ought to be there myself now, at work, for I have lost my best helper, +but I am too distraught over Ramon to think of anything else. My +secretary--the girl you saw there at the club and asked me about, do +you remember?--did not appear yesterday, but telephoned her +resignation, saying she was leaving town. I cannot understand it, +for I would have counted on her faithfulness before any of the +rest, but so many things have happened lately which I can't +comprehend, so many mysteries and disappointments and anxieties, that +I can scarcely think or feel any more. It seems as if I were really +dead, as if my emotions were all used up. I can't cry, even when I +think of Ramon--I can only suffer." + +"I know. I can imagine what you must be trying to endure just now, +Miss Lawton, but please believe that it will not last much longer. And +don't worry about your secretary; Emily Brunell will be with you again +soon, I think." + +"Emily Brunell!" repeated Anita, in surprise. "You know, then?" + +"Yes. And, strange as it may seem, she is indirectly concerned in the +conspiracy against you, but innocently so. You will understand +everything some day. What about the Irish girl, Loretta Murfree?" + +"President Mallowe's filing clerk? He dismissed her only this morning, +on a trumped-up charge of incompetence. He has been systematically +finding fault with her for several days, as if trying to discover a +pretext for discharging her, so she wasn't unprepared. She's here now, +having some lunch, up in my dressing-room. Would you like to talk with +her?" + +"I would, indeed," he assented, nodding as Anita pressed the bell. +"She seemed the brightest and most wide-awake young woman of the lot. +If anyone could have obtained information of value to us, I fancy she +could. Did she have anything to say to you about Mr. Mallowe?" + +"I would rather she told you herself," Anita replied, hesitatingly, +with the ghost of a smile. "Whatever she said about him was strictly +personal, and of a distinctly uncomplimentary nature. There is nothing +spineless about Loretta!" + +When the young Irish girl appeared in response to Anita's summons, her +eyes and mouth opened wide in amazement at sight of the detective. + +"Oh, sir, it's you!" she exclaimed. "I was going down to your office +this afternoon, to tell you that I had been discharged. Mr. Mallowe +himself turned me off this morning. I'm not saying this to excuse +myself, but it was honestly through no fault of mine. The old +man--gentleman--has been trying for days to get rid of me. I knew it, +so I've been especially careful in my work, and cheerful and smiling +whenever he appeared on the scene--like this!" + +She favored them with a grimace which was more like the impishly +derisive grin of a street urchin than a respectful smile, and +continued: + +"This morning I caught him mixing up the letters in the files with his +own hands, and when he blamed me for it later, I saw that it was no +use. He was bound to get rid of me in some way or another, so I didn't +tell him what I thought of him, but came away peaceably--which is a +lot to ask of anybody with a drop of Irish blood in their veins, in a +case like that! However, I learned enough while I was in that office, +of his manipulations of the street railway stock, to make me glad I've +got a profession and am not sitting around waiting for dividends to be +paid. If the people ever wake up, and the District Attorney indicts +him, I hope to goodness they put me on the stand, that's all." + +"Why has he tried to get rid of you? Do you think he suspected the +motive for your being in his employ?" asked Blaine, when she paused +for breath. + +"No, he couldn't, for I never gave him a chance," she responded. "He's +a sly one, too, padding around the offices like a cat, in his soft +slippers; and he looks for all the world like a cat, with the sleek +white whiskers of him! Excuse me, Miss Lawton, I don't mean to be +disrespectful, but he's trying, the old gentleman is! I think he got +suspicious of me when Margaret Hefferman made such a botch of her job +with Mr. Rockamore, and yesterday afternoon when Mr. Carlis caught +Agnes Olson listening in--oh, I know all about that, too!--he got +desperate. That's why he mixed up the files this morning, for an +excuse to discharge me." + +"How did you know about Agnes Olson?" asked Blaine quickly. "Did she +tell you?" + +"No, I heard it from Mr. Carlis himself!" returned Loretta, with a +reminiscent grin. "He came right straight around to Mr. Mallowe and +told him all about it, and a towering rage he was in, too! 'Do you +think the little devil's sold us?' he asked. Meaning no disrespect to +you, Miss Lawton, it was you he was talking about, for he added: 'She +gets her girls into our offices on a whining plea of charity, and they +all turn out crooked, spying and listening in, and taking notes. +Remember Rockamore's experience with the one he took? Do you suppose +that innocent, big-eyed, mealy-mouthed brat of Pennington Lawton's +suspects us?' + +"'Hold your tongue, for God's sake!' old Mr. Mallowe growled at him. +'I've got one of them in there, a filing clerk.'" + +"'Then you'd better get rid of her before she tries any tricks,' +Mr. Carlis said. 'I believe that girl is deeper than she looks, for +all her trusting way. I always did think she took the news of her +father's bankruptcy too d--n' calmly to be natural, even under the +circumstances. Kick her protegee out, Mallowe, unless you're +looking for more trouble. I'm not.'" + +"What did Mr. Mallowe reply?" Blaine asked. + +"I don't know. His private secretary came into the office where I was +just then, and I had to pretend to be busy to head off any suspicion +from him. Mr. Carlis left soon after, and I could feel his eyes boring +into the back of my neck as he passed through the room. Mr. Mallowe +sent for me almost immediately, to find an old letter for him, from +one of the files of two years ago, and it was funny, the suspicious, +worried way he kept watching me!" + +"There is nothing else you can tell us?" the detective inquired. +"Nothing out of the usual run happened while you were there?" + +"Nothing, except that a couple of days ago, he had an awful row with a +man who called on him. It was about money matters, I think, and the +old gentleman got very much excited. 'Not a cent!' he kept repeating, +louder and louder, until he fairly shouted. 'Not one more cent will +you get from me. This systematic extortion of yours must come to an +end here and now! I've done all I'm going to, and you'd better +understand that clearly.' Then the other man, the visitor, got angry, +too, and they went at it hammer and tongs. At last, Mr. Mallowe must +have lost his head completely, for he accused the other man of robbing +his safe. At that, the visitor got calm and cool as a cucumber, all of +a sudden, and began to question Mr. Mallowe. It seems from what I +heard--I can't recall the exact words--that not very long ago, the +night watchman in the offices was chloroformed and the safe ransacked, +but nothing was taken except a letter. + +"'You're mad!' the strange man said. 'Why in h--l should anybody take +a letter, and leave packets of gilt-edged bonds and other securities +lying about untouched?' + +"'Because the letter happens to be one you would very much like to +have in your possession, Paddington,' the old gentleman said. Oh, I +forgot to tell you that the visitor's name was Paddington, but that +doesn't matter, does it? 'Do you know what it was?' Mr. Mallowe went +on. 'It was a certain letter which Pennington Lawton wrote to me from +Long Bay two years ago. Now do you understand?'" + +"'You fool!' said Paddington. 'You fool, to keep it! You gave your +word that you would destroy it! Why didn't you?' + +"'Because, I thought it might come in useful some day, just as it has +now,' the old gentleman fairly whined. 'It was good circumstantial +evidence.' + +"'Yes--fine!' Paddington said, with a bitter kind of a laugh. 'Fine +evidence, for whoever's got it now!' + +"'You know very well who's got it!' cried Mr. Mallowe. 'You don't pull +the wool over my eyes! And I don't mean to buy it back from you, +either, if that's your game. You can keep it, for all I care; it's +served its purpose now, and you won't get another penny from me!' + +"Well, I wish you could have heard them, then!" Loretta continued, +with gusto. "They carried on terribly; the whole office could hear +them. It was as good as a play--the strange man, Paddington denying +right up to the last that he knew anything about the robbery, and Mr. +Mallowe accusing him, and threatening and bluffing it out for all he +was worth! But in the end, he paid the man some money, for I remember +he insisted on having the check certified, and the secretary himself +took it over to the bank. I don't know for what amount it was drawn." + +"Why didn't you tell me that before, Loretta?" asked Anita, +reproachfully. "I mean, about the--the names Mr. Carlis called me, and +his suspicions. I wish I'd known it half an hour ago, when he +telephoned to me!" + +"That's just why I didn't tell you, Miss Lawton!" responded Loretta, +with a flash of her white teeth. + +"Mr. Blaine told me to report to him this afternoon, and I meant to, +but he didn't tell me to talk to anyone else, even you. When you asked +me to undertake this for you, you said I was to do just what Mr. +Blaine directed, and I've tried to. It was on the tip of my tongue to +tell you, but I thought I'd better not, at least until I had seen Mr. +Blaine. I was sure that if I said anything to you about it, you would +let Mr. Carlis see your resentment the next time he called, and then +he and Old Mr. Mallowe would get their heads together, and find out +that their suspicions of all of us girls were correct. You wouldn't +want that." + +"Miss Murfree is quite right," Blaine interposed. "You must be very +careful, Miss Lawton, not to allow Mr. Carlis to discover that you +know anything whatever of that conversation--at least just yet." + +"I'll try, but it will be difficult, I am afraid," Anita murmured. "I +am not accustomed to--to accepting insults. Ah! if Ramon were only +here!" + +Wilkes, the butler, appeared at the door just then, with a card, and +Anita read it aloud. + +"Mr. Mallowe." + +"Oh, gracious, let me go, Miss Lawton!" exclaimed Loretta. "I've told +you everything that I can think of, and if he sees me, it will spoil +Mr. Blaine's plans, maybe?" + +"Yes, he must not find you here!" the detective agreed hurriedly. +"I'll communicate with you at the club if I need you again, Miss +Murfree. You have been of great service to both Miss Lawton and +myself." + +When they were alone for the moment before the street-railway +president appeared, Blaine turned to Anita. + +"You will try to be very courageous, and follow whatever lead I give +you?" he asked. "This interview may prove trying for you." + +Anita had only time to nod before Mr. Mallowe stood before them. He +paused for a moment, glanced inquiringly at Blaine and then advanced +to Anita with outstretched hand. If he had ever seen the detective +before, he gave no sign. + +"My dear child!" he murmured, unctuously. "I trust you are feeling a +little stronger this afternoon--a little brighter and more hopeful?" + +"Very much more hopeful, thank you, Mr. Mallowe," returned the young +girl, steadily. "I have enlisted in my cause the greatest of all +investigators. Allow me to present Mr. Henry Blaine." + +"Mr. Blaine," Mallowe repeated, bowing with supercilious urbanity. "Do +I understand that this is the private detective of whom I have heard +so much?" + +Blaine returned his salutation coolly, but did not speak, and Anita +replied for him. + +"Yes, Mr. Mallowe, Mr. Blaine is going to find Ramon for me!" + +Mallowe shook his head slowly, with a mournful smile. + +"Ah! my dear!" he sighed. "I do not want to dampen your hopes, heaven +knows, but I very much fear that that will be an impossible task, even +for one of Mr. Blaine's unquestioned renown." + +"Still, it is always possible to try," the detective returned, looking +levelly into Mallowe's eyes. "Personally, I am very sanguine of +success." + +"Everything is being done that can be of any use now," the other man +observed hurriedly. "Do I understand, Mr. Blaine, that Miss Lawton has +definitely retained you on this case?" + +Blaine nodded, and Mallowe turned to Anita. + +"Really, my dear, you should have consulted me, or some other of your +father's old friends, before taking such a step!" he expostulated. "It +will only bring added notoriety and trouble to you. I do not mean to +underestimate Mr. Blaine's marvelous ability, which is recognized +everywhere, but even he can scarcely succeed in locating Mr. Hamilton +where we, with all the resources at our command, have failed. Mark my +words, my dear Anita; if Ramon Hamilton returns, it will be +voluntarily, of his own free will. Until--unless he so decides, you +will never see him. It is too bad to have summoned Mr. Blaine here on +a useless errand, but I am sure he quite understands the situation +now." + +"I do," responded the detective quietly. "I have accepted the case." + +"But surely you will withdraw?" The older man's voice rose cholerically. +"Miss Lawton is a mere girl, a minor, in fact--" + +"I am over eighteen, Mr. Mallowe," interposed Anita quietly. + +"Until your proper guardian is appointed by the courts," Mallowe +cried, "you are nominally under my care, mine and others of your +father's closest associates. This is a delicate matter to discuss now, +Mr. Blaine," he added, in calmer tones, turning to the detective, "but +since this seems to be a business interview, we must touch upon the +question of finances. I know that the fee you naturally require must +be a large one, and I am in duty bound to tell you that Miss Lawton +has absolutely no funds at her disposal to reimburse you for your time +and trouble. Whatever fortune she may be possessed of, she cannot +touch now." + +"Miss Lawton has already fully reimbursed me--in advance," returned +Henry Blaine calmly. "That question need cause you no further concern, +Mr. Mallowe, nor need you have any doubt as to my position in this +matter. I'm on this case, and I'm on it to stay! I'm going to find +Ramon Hamilton!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE LIBRARY CHAIR + + +"Paddington's on the run!" Ross, the operative, announced to Henry +Blaine the next morning, jubilantly. "He left his rooms about an +hour after I got back on the job, and went to Carlis' office. +He only stayed a short time, and came out looking as black +as a thunder-cloud--I guess the interview, whatever it was, +didn't go his way. He went straight from there to Rockamore, the +promoter. I pretended an errand with Rockamore, too, and so got into +the outer office. The heavy glass door was closed between, and I +couldn't hear anything but a muffled growling from within, but they +were both angry enough, all right. Once the stenographer went in and +came out again almost immediately. When the door opened to admit her, +I heard Paddington fairly shout: + +"'It's your own skin you're saving, you fool, as well as mine! If I'm +caught, you all go! Carlis thinks he can bluff it, and Mallowe's a +superannuated, pig-headed old goat. He'll try to stand on his +reputation, and cave in like a pricked balloon when the crash comes. I +know his kind; I've hounded too many of 'em to the finish. But you're +a man of sense, Rockamore, and you know you've got to help me out of +this for your own sake. I tell you, some one's on to the whole game, +and they're just sitting back and waiting for the right moment to nab +us. They not only learn every move we make--they anticipate them! It's +every man for himself, now, and I warn you that if I'm cornered in +this--' + +"'Hold your tongue!' Rockamore ordered. 'Can't you see--' + +"Then the door closed, and I couldn't hear any more. The voices calmed +down to a rumble, and in about twenty minutes I could hear them +approaching the door. I decided I couldn't wait any longer, and got +outside just in time to give Paddington a chance to pass me. He seemed +in good humor, and I guess he got what he was after--money, probably, +for he went to his bank and put through a check. Then he returned to +his rooms, and didn't show up again until late afternoon, when he went +away up Belleair Avenue, to the rectory of the Church of St. James. He +didn't go in--just talked with the sexton in the vestibule, and when +he came down the steps he looked dazed, as if he'd received a hard +jolt of some sort. He couldn't have been trying to blackmail the +minister, too, could he?" + +"Hardly, Ross. Go on," Blaine responded. "What did he do next?" + +"Nothing. Just went back to his rooms and stayed there. It seemed as +if he was afraid to leave--not so much afraid to be found, but as if +he might miss something, if he left. He even had his dinner sent in +from a restaurant near there. Knowing him, I might have known what it +was he was waiting for--he's always chasing after some girl or +other." + +"There was a woman in it, then?" asked the detective, quietly. + +"You can bet there was--very much in it, sir!" the operative chuckled. +"She came along while I watched--a tall, slim girl, plainly dressed in +dark clothes, but with an air to her that would make you look at her +twice, anywhere. She hesitated and looked uncertainly about her, as if +she were unfamiliar with the place and a little scary of her errand, +but at last she made up her mind, and plunged in the vestibule, as if +she was afraid she would lose her courage if she stopped to think. + +"For a few minutes her shadow showed on the window-shades, beside +Paddington's. They stood close together, and from their gestures, he +seemed to be arguing or pleading, while she was drawing back and +refusing, or at least, holding out against him. At last they fell into +a regular third-act clinch--it was as good as a movie! After a moment +she drew herself out of his arms and they moved away from the window. +In a minute or two they came out of the house together, and I tailed +them. They walked slowly, with their heads very close, and I didn't +dare get near enough to try to hear what they were discussing so +earnestly. But where do you suppose he took her? To the Anita Lawton +Club for Working Girls! He left her at the entrance and went back to +his own rooms, and he seemed to be in a queer mood all the way--happy +and up in the air one minute, and down in the dumps the next. + +"He didn't stir out again last night, but early this morning he went +down to the office of the Holland-American line, and purchased two +tickets, first-class to Rotterdam, on the _Brunnhilde_, sailing next +Saturday, so I think we have the straight dope on him now. He means to +skip with the girl." + +"Saturday--two days off!" mused Blaine. "I think it's safe to give him +his head until then, but keep a close watch on him, Ross. The purchase +of those tickets may have been just a subterfuge on his part to throw +any possible shadow off the trail. Did you ascertain what name he took +them under?" + +"J. Padelford and wife." + +"Clever of him, that!" Blaine commented. "If he really intends to fool +this girl with a fake marriage and sail with her for the other side, +he can explain the change of names on the steamer to her by telling +her it was a mistake on the printed sailing-list. Once at sea, without +a chance of escape from him, he can tell her the truth, or as much of +it as he cares to, and she'll have to stick; that type of woman always +does. She might even come in time to take up his line, and become a +cleverer crook than he is, but we're not going to let that happen. +We'll stop him, right enough, before he goes too far with her. What's +he doing now?" + +"Walking in the park with her. She met him at the gates, and Vanner +took the job there of tailing them, while I came on down to report to +you." + +"Good work, Ross. But go back and take up the trail now yourself, if +you're fit. And here, you'd better take this warrant with you; I swore +it out against him several days ago, in case he attempted to bolt. If +he tries to get the girl into a compromising situation, arrest him. +Let me know if anything of importance occurs meanwhile." + +As Ross went out, the secretary, Marsh, appeared. + +"There's an elderly gentleman outside waiting to see you, sir," he +announced. "He does not wish to give his name, but says that he is a +physician, and is here in answer to a letter which he received from +you." + +"Good! They pulled it off, then! We were only just in time with those +letters we sent out yesterday, Marsh. Show him in at once." + +In a few moments a tall, spare figure appeared in the doorway, and +paused an instant before entering. He had a keen, smooth-shaven, +ascetic face, topped with a mass of snow-white hair. + +"Come in, Doctor," invited the detective. "I am Henry Blaine. It was +good of you to come in response to my letter. I take it that you have +something interesting to tell me." + +The doctor entered and seated himself in the chair indicated by +Blaine. He carried with him a worn, old-fashioned black leather +instrument case. + +"I do not know whether what I have to tell you will prove to have any +connection with the matter you referred to in your letter or not, Mr. +Blaine. Indeed, I hesitated about divulging my experience of last +night to you. The ethics of my profession--" + +"My profession has ethics, too, Doctor, although you may not have +conceived it," the detective reminded him, quietly. "Even more than +doctor or priest, a professional investigator must preserve inviolate +the secrets which are imparted to him, whether they take the form of a +light under a bushel or a skeleton in a closet. In the cause of +justice, only, may he open his lips. I hold safely locked away in my +mind the keys to mysteries which, were they laid bare, would disrupt +society, drag great statesmen from their pedestals, provoke +international complications, even bring on wars. If you know anything +pertaining to the matter of which I wrote you, justice and the ethics +of your profession require you to speak." + +"I agree with you, sir. As I said, I am not certain that my +adventure--for it was quite an adventure for a retired man like +myself, I assure you--has anything to do with the case you are +investigating, but we can soon establish that. Do you recognize the +subject of this photograph?" + +The doctor drew from his pocket a small square bit of cardboard, and +Blaine took it eagerly from him. One glance at it was sufficient, and +it was with difficulty that the detective restrained the exclamation +of triumph which rose to his lips. Upon the card was mounted a tiny, +thumbnail photograph of a face--the face of Ramon Hamilton! It was +more like a death-mask than a living countenance, with its rigid +features and closed eyes, but the likeness was indisputable. + +"I recognize it, indeed, Doctor. That is the man for whom I am +searching. How did it come into your possession?" + +"I took it myself, last night." The spare figure of the elderly +physician straightened proudly in his chair. "When your communication +arrived, I did not attach much importance to it because it did not +occur to me for a moment that I should have been selected, from among +all the physicians and surgeons of this city, for such a case. When +the summons came, however, I remembered your warning--but I +anticipate. Since my patient of last night is your subject, I may as +well tell you my experiences from the beginning. My name is +Alwyn--Doctor Horatius Alwyn--and I live at Number Twenty-six Maple +Avenue. Until my retirement seven years ago I was a regular practising +physician and surgeon, but since my break-down--I suffered a slight +stroke--I have devoted myself to my books and my camera--always a +hobby with me. + +"Well--late last night, the front door-bell rang. It was a little +after eleven, and my wife and the maid had retired, but I was +developing some plates in the dark-room, and opened the door myself. +Three men stood there, but I could see scarcely anything of their +faces, for the collars of their shaggy motor coats were turned up, +their caps pulled low over their eyes, and all three wore goggles. + +"'Doctor Alwyn?' asked one of the men, the burliest of the three, +advancing into the hall. 'I want you to come out into the country with +me on a hurry call. It's a matter of life and death, and there's five +thousand dollars in it for you, but the conditions attached to it are +somewhat unusual. May we come into your office, and talk it over?' + +"I led the way, and listened to their proposition. Briefly, it was +this: a young man had fallen and injured his head, and was lying +unconscious in a sanitarium in the suburbs. There were reasons which +could not be explained to me, why the utmost secrecy must be +maintained, not only concerning the young man's identity, but the +location of the retreat where he was in seclusion. They feared that he +had suffered a concussion of the brain, possibly a fractured skull, +and my diagnosis was required. Also, should I deem an operation +necessary, I must be prepared to perform it at once. They would take +me to the patient in the car, but when we reached our destination, I +was to be blindfolded, and led to the sickroom, where the bandage +would be removed from my eyes. I was to return in the same manner. For +this service, and of course my secrecy, they offered me five thousand +dollars. + +"Although that would not have been an exorbitant sum for me to obtain +for such an operation in the days of my activities, it looked very +large to me now, especially since some South American securities in +which I invested had declined, but I did not feel that it would be +compatible with my dignity and standing to accept the conditions which +were imposed. I was, therefore, upon the point of indignantly +declining, when I suddenly remembered your letter, and resolved to see +the affair through. + +"It occurred to me, while I was selecting the instruments to take with +me, that it would not be a bad idea to take also my latest camera, and +if possible obtain a photograph of the patient to show you. I managed +to slip it into my vest pocket, unobserved by my visitors. Here it +is." + +Dr. Alwyn took the instrument case upon his knee and opening it, +produced what looked like a large old-fashioned nickel-plated watch of +the turnip variety. The doctor extended it almost apologetically. + +"You see," he observed, "it is really more a toy than a real camera, +although it served admirably last night. I have had a great deal of +amusement with it, pretending to feel people's pulses, but in reality +snapping their photographs. It takes very small, imperfect pictures, +of course, as you can see from the print there on your desk, and only +one to each loading, but it can be carried in the palm of one's hand, +and it uses a peculiarly sensitive plate that will register a +snap-shot even by electric light. It had fortunately just been +reloaded before the advent of my mysterious visitors, and I resolved +to make use of it if an opportunity offered. + +"The curtains were tightly drawn in the car, and as the interior +lights had been extinguished, we sat in total darkness. I could not, +of course, tell in what direction we were going, although the car had +been pointed south when we left my door. We appeared to be travelling +at a terrific rate of speed and swung around a confusing number of +curves. + +"I tried at first to remember the turns, and their direction, but +there were so many that I very soon lost count. I think they took me +in a round-about way purposely, to confuse me. I have no idea how +long we drove, but it must have been well over two hours. At last we +struck a long up-grade, and one of my companions announced that we +were almost there. + +"They bound my eyes with a dark silk handkerchief, and a moment later +the car swerved and turned abruptly in, evidently at a gateway, for we +curved about up a graveled driveway--I could hear it crunching beneath +the wheels--and came to a grinding stop before the door. They helped +me out of the car, up some shallow stone steps and across the +threshold. + +"I was led down a thickly carpeted hall and up a single long flight of +stairs, to a door just at its head. We entered; the door closed softly +behind us; and the bandage was whipped from my eyes. There was only a +low night-light burning in the room, but I made out the outlines of +the furniture. There was a great bed over in the corner, with a +motionless figure lying upon it. + +"'There's your patient, Doc; go ahead,' my burly friend said, and +accordingly I approached the bed, asking at the same time for more +light. The young man was unconscious, and in answer to a question of +mine the attendant who had sat at the head of the bed as we entered +informed me that he had been in a complete state of coma since he had +been brought there, several days before. + +"I remembered the description in your letter of the subject for whom +you were searching, and I fancied, in spite of the bandages which +swathed his head, that I recognized him in the young man before me. +The lights flashed on full in answer to my request, and on a sudden +decision I drew the watch camera from my pocket, took the patient's +wrist between my thumb and finger as if to ascertain his pulse, and +snapped his picture. The result was a fortunate chance, for I did not +dare focus deliberately, with the eyes of the attendant and the three +men who had accompanied me, all directed at my movements. + +"Then I gave the patient a thorough examination. I found a fracture at +the base of the brain--not necessarily fatal, unless cerebral +meningitis sets in, but quite serious enough. He was still bleeding a +little from the nose and ears. I washed them out, and packed the ears +with sterile gauze, leaving instructions that a specially prepared ice +cap be placed at once upon his head and kept there. That was all which +could be done at that time, but the patient should have constant, +watchful attention. He must either have suffered a severe backward +fall, or received a violent blow at the base of the skull, to have +sustained such an injury. + +"When I had finished, they blindfolded me again, led me from the room, +and conveyed me home in the same manner in which I had come, with the +possible exception that the car in returning seemed to take a +different and more direct route; the journey appeared to be a much +shorter one, with fewer twists and turns. The same three men came back +to the house with me, and entered my office, where the burly one +turned over to me ten five-hundred-dollar bills. They left almost +immediately, and although it was close on to dawn, I went into my dark +room, and developed the negative of the thumbnail photograph I had +taken. + +"The events of the night had been so extraordinary that when I did +retire, it was long before I could sleep. In the morning, I made a +couple of prints from the negative, then took the five thousand +dollars down and deposited it to my account in the bank." + +"When I decided to come here, I ran over in my mind every moment of +the previous night's adventure, to catalogue my impressions. The habit +of years has made me methodical in all things, and I jotted them down +in the order in which they occurred to me, that I might not forget to +relate them to you. Memory plays one sad tricks, sometimes, when one +reaches my age. These notes may be of no assistance to you, sir, but +they are entirely at your service." + +"I am eager to hear them, Doctor. I only wish all witnesses were like +you--my tasks would be lightened by half," Blaine said, heartily. + +The elderly physician drew from his pocket a paper, at which he +peered, painstakingly. + +"I have numbered them. Let me see--oh, yes. First, the burly man walks +with a slight limp in the right leg. Second, of the two men with him, +all I could note was that one spoke with a decided French accent and +had a hollow cough, tuberculous, I think; the other, who scarcely +uttered a word, was short and stocky, and of enormous strength. He +fairly lifted me into and out of the car when I was blindfolded at the +entrance of the place they called a sanitarium. Third, the car had a +peculiar horn; I have never heard one like it before. Its blast was +sharp and wailing, not like a siren, but more like the howl of a +wounded animal. I would know it again, anywhere. Fourth, there is a +railroad bridge very near the house to which I was taken--I distinctly +heard two trains thunder over the trestles while I was attending my +patient. Fifth, I should judge the place to be more of a retreat for +alcoholics or the insane, than for those suffering from accident, or +any form of physical injury. A patient in some remote part of the +house was undoubtedly a maniac or in the throes of an attack of +delirium tremens. I heard his cries at intervals as I worked, until +he quieted down finally. + +"Sixth, the bedroom where my patient is lying is on the second floor, +the windows facing south and east; there was a moon last night, and +one of the curtains was partly raised. His door is just at the head of +the stairs on your right as you go up, and the stairs are on a +straight line with the front door--therefore the house faces south. +Seventh, when we returned to my home, and were in my office, the burly +man had to pull the glove off his right hand to get the wallet from +his pocket in order to pay me my fee, and I saw that two fingers were +missing--they had both been amputated at the middle joint. Also, when +they were leaving, I heard the man who spoke with an accent address +him as 'Mac.'" + +"Mac! It's three-fingered Mac Alarney, by the Lord!" Blaine started +from his chair. "Why did I not think of him before! Doctor, you have +rendered to me and to my client an invaluable service, which shall not +be forgotten. Mac Alarney is a retired prize-fighter, in close touch +with all the political crooks and grafters in the city. He runs a sort +of retreat for alcoholics up near Green Valley, and bears a generally +shady reputation. Are you game to go back with me to-night for another +call on your patient? You will be well guarded and in no possible +danger, now or for the future. I give you my word for that. I may need +you to verify some facts." + +The doctor hesitated visibly. + +"I am not afraid," he replied, at last, "but I scarcely feel that it +is conformable with the ethics of my calling. I was called in, in my +professional capacity--" + +"My dear Doctor," the detective interrupted him with a trace of +impatience in his tones, "your patient is one of the most widely known +young men of this city. He was kidnaped, and the police have been +searching for him for days. The press of the entire country has rung +with the story of his mysterious disappearance. He is Ramon +Hamilton." + +"Good heavens! Can it be possible!" the physician exclaimed. "I assure +you, sir, I had no idea of his identity. He was to have married +Pennington Lawton's daughter, was he not? I have read of his +disappearance, of course; the newspapers have been full of it. And he +was kidnaped, you say? No wonder those ruffians maintained such +secrecy in regard to their destination last night! Mr. Blaine, I will +accompany you, sir, and give you any aid in my power, in rescuing Mr. +Hamilton!" + +"Good! I'll make all the necessary arrangements and call for you +to-night at eight o'clock. Meanwhile, keep a strict guard upon your +tongue, and say nothing to anyone of what has occurred. Have you told +your wife of your adventure?" + +"No, Mr. Blaine; I merely told her I was out on a sudden night +call. I decided to wait until I had seen you before mentioning the +extraordinary features of the case." + +"You are a man of discretion, Doctor! Until eight o'clock, then. You +may expect me, without fail." + +Doctor Alwyn left, and Blaine spent a busy half-hour making his +arrangements for the night's raid. Scarcely had he completed them when +the telephone shrilled. The detective did not at first recognize the +voice which came to him over the wire, so changed was it, so fraught +with horror and a menace of tragedy. + +"It is you, Miss Lawton?" he asked, half unbelievingly. "What is the +matter? What has happened?" + +"I must see you at once, _at once_, Mr. Blaine! I have made a +discovery so unexpected, so terrible, that I am afraid to be alone; I +am afraid of my own thoughts. Please, please come immediately!" + +"I will be with you as soon as my car can reach your door," he +replied. + +What could the young girl have discovered, shut up there in that great +lonely house? What new developments could have arisen, in the case +which until this moment had seemed plain to him to the end? + +He found her awaiting him in the hall, with ashen face and trembling +limbs. She clutched his hand with her small icy one, and whispered: + +"Come into the library, Mr. Blaine. I have something to tell you--to +show you!" + +He followed her into the huge, somber, silent room where only a few +short weeks ago her father had met with his death. Coming from the +brilliant sunshine without, it was a moment or two before his eyes +could penetrate the gloom. When they did so, he saw the great leather +chair by the hearth, which had played so important a part in the +tragedy, had been overturned. + +"Mr. Blaine,"--the girl faced him, her voice steadied and deepened +portentously,--"my father died of heart-disease, did he not?" + +The detective felt a sudden thrill, almost of premonition, at her +unexpected question, but he controlled himself, and replied quietly: + +"That was the diagnosis of the physician, and the coroner's findings +corroborated him." + +"Did it ever occur to you that there might be another and more +terrible explanation of his sudden death?" + +"A detective must consider and analyze a case from every standpoint, +you know, Miss Lawton," he answered. "It did occur to me that perhaps +your father met with foul play, but I put the theory from me for lack +of evidence." + +"Mr. Blaine, my father was murdered!" + +"Murdered! How do you know? What have you discovered?" + +"He was given poison! I have found the bottle which contained it, +hidden deep in the folds of his chair there. It was no morbid fancy of +mine after all; my instinct was right! No wonder that chair has +exerted such a horrible fascination for me ever since my poor father +died in it. See!" + +With indescribable loathing, she extended her left hand, which until +now she had held clenched behind her. Upon the palm lay a tiny flat +vial, with a pale, amber-colored substance dried in the bottom of it. +Blaine took it and drew the cork. Before he had time to place it at +his nostrils, a faint but unmistakable odor of bitter almonds floated +out upon the air and pervaded the room. + +"Prussic acid!" he exclaimed. "It has the same outward effect as an +attack of heart-disease would produce, to a superficial examination. +Miss Lawton, how did you discover this?" + +"By the merest accident. I have a habit of creeping in here, when I am +more deeply despondent than usual, and sitting for a while in my +father's chair. It calms and comforts me, almost as if he were with me +once more. I was sitting there just before I telephoned you, thinking +over all that had occurred in these last weeks, when I broke down and +cried. I felt for my handkerchief, but could not find it, and thinking +that I might perhaps have dropped it in the chair, I ran my hand down +deep in the leather fold between the seat and the side and back. My +fingers encountered something flat and hard which had been jammed away +down inside, and I dug it out. It was this bottle! Mr. Blaine, does it +mean that my father was murdered by that man whose voice I heard--that +man who came to him in the night and threatened him?" + +"I'm afraid it does, Miss Lawton." Henry Blaine said slowly. "When you +hear that voice again and recognize it, we shall be able to lay our +hands upon the murderer of your father." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE RESCUE + + +Precisely at the hour of eight that night, a huge six-cylinder +limousine drew up at the gate of Number Twenty-six Maple Avenue. +Half-way down the block, well in the shadow of the trees which gave to +the avenue its name, two more cars and a motor ambulance had halted. + +Doctor Alwyn, who had been excitedly awaiting the arrival of the +detective, was out of his door and down the path almost before the car +had pulled up at his gate. Within it were three men--Blaine himself +and two others whom the Doctor did not know. Henry Blaine greeted him, +introduced his operatives, Ross and Suraci, and they started swiftly +upon their journey. + +The doctor was plainly nervous, but something in the grim, silent, +determined air of his companions imparted itself to him. The lights in +the interior of the car had not been turned on, nor the shades +lowered, and after a few tentative remarks which were not encouraged, +Doctor Alwyn turned to the window and watched the brightly lighted +cross streets dart by with ever-increasing speed. Once he glanced +back, and started, casting a perturbed glance at the immovable face of +the detective, as he remarked: + +"Mr. Blaine, are you aware that we are being followed?" + +"Oh, yes. Give yourself no uneasiness on that score, Doctor. They are +two of my machines, filled with my men, and a Walton ambulance for +Mr. Hamilton. We will reach Mac Alarney's retreat in an hour, now. +There will be a show of trouble, of course, and we may have to use +force, but I do not anticipate any very strenuous opposition to our +removal of your patient, when Mac is convinced that the game is up. No +harm will come to you, at any rate; you will be well guarded." + +The Doctor drew himself up with simple dignity, quite free from +bombast or arrogance. + +"I am not afraid," he replied, quietly. "I am armed, and am fully +prepared to help protect my patient." + +"Armed?" the detective asked, sharply. + +For answer, Doctor Alwyn drew from his capacious coat pocket a huge, +old-fashioned pistol, and held it out to Blaine. The latter took it +from him without ceremony. + +"A grave mistake, Doctor. I am glad you told me, in time. Fire-arms +are unnecessary for your own protection, and would be a positive +menace to our plans for getting your patient safely away. Gun-play is +the last thing we must think of; my men will attend to all that, if it +comes to a show-down." + +The Doctor watched him in silence as he slipped the pistol under one +of the side seats. If his confidence in the great man beside him +faltered for the moment, he gave no sign, but turned his attention +again to the window. They were now rapidly traversing the suburbs, +where the houses were widely separated by stretches of vacant lots, +and the streets deserted and but dimly lighted. Soon they rattled over +a narrow railroad bridge, and Doctor Alwyn exclaimed: + +"By George! This is the way we went last night! With all my careful +thought, I forgot about that bridge until this moment!" + +Minutes passed, long minutes which seemed like hours to the +overstrained nerves of the Doctor, while they speeded through the open +country. + +All at once, from just behind them came a hideous, wailing cry, which +swelled in volume to a screech and ended abruptly. + +Doctor Alwyn grasped Blaine's arm. + +"The motor-horn!" he gasped. "The car I was in last night!" + +The detective nodded shortly, without speaking, and leaning forward, +stared fixedly out of the window. A long, low-bodied limousine +appeared, creeping slowly up, inch by inch, until it was fairly +abreast of them. The curtain at the window was lowered, and the +chauffeur sat immovable, with his face turned from them, as the two +cars whirled side by side along the hard, glistening road. Blaine +leaned forward, and pressed the electric bell rapidly twice, and there +began a curious game. The other car put on extra speed and darted +ahead--their own shot forward and kept abreast of it. It slowed +suddenly, and made as if to swerve in behind; Blaine's driver slowed +also, until both cars almost came to a grinding halt. Three times +these maneuvers were repeated, and then there occurred what the +detective had evidently anticipated. + +The curtain in the other car shot up; the window descended with a bang +and a huge, burly figure leaned half-way out. Henry Blaine noiselessly +lowered their own window, and suddenly flashed an electric pocket +light full in the heavy-jowled face, empurpled with inarticulate +rage. + +"Is that your man?" he asked, quickly. + +"The one with the three fingers! Yes! That's the man!" whispered the +Doctor, hoarsely. + +"That's Mac Alarney." Blaine pressed the electric bell again, and +their own car lunged forward in a spurt of speed which left the other +hopelessly behind, although it was manifestly making desperate efforts +to overtake and pass them. + +"Do you suppose he suspected our errand?" the Doctor asked. + +"Suspected? Lord bless you, man, he knows! He had already passed the +two open cars full of my men, and the ambulance. He'd give ten years +of his life to beat us out and reach his place ahead of us to-night, +but he hasn't a chance in the world unless we blow out a tire, and if +we do we'll all go back in the ambulance together, what's left of +us!" + +Even as he spoke, there came a swift change in the even drone of their +engine,--a jarring, discordant note, slight but unmistakable, and a +series of irregular thudding knocks. + +"One of the cylinder's missing, sir." Ross turned to the detective, +and spoke with eager anxiety. + +"We'll make it on five." The quiet confidence in Blaine's voice, with +its underlying note of grim, indomitable determination, seemed to +communicate itself to the other men, and no further word was said, +although they all heard the thunder of the approaching car behind. + +The Doctor restrained with difficulty the impulse to look backward, +and instead kept his eyes sternly fixed upon the trees and hedge-rows +flying past, more sharply defined shadows in the lesser dark. + +Then, all at once, the shriek of a locomotive burst upon his ears, and +the roar and rattle of a train going over a trestle. + +"The railroad bridge!" he cried, excitedly. "We're there, Mr. +Blaine!" + +The noise of the passing train had scarcely died away, when from just +behind them the hideous shriek of Mac Alarney's motor-horn rose +blastingly three times upon the night air, the last fainter than the +others, as if the pursuing car had dropped back. + +"He's beaten! He couldn't keep up the pace, much less better it," +Blaine remarked. "Those three blasts sounded a warning to the guards +of the retreat. It was probably a signal agreed upon in case of +danger. We're in for it now!" + +They swerved abruptly, between two high stone gateposts, and up a +broad sweep of graveled driveway. Lights gleamed suddenly in the +windows of the hitherto darkened house, which loomed up gaunt and +squarely defined against the sullen sky. + +"Your men, in the other cars--" Doctor Alwyn stammered, as they came +to a crunching stop before the door. "Will they arrive in time to be +of service? Mac Alarney will reach here first--" + +"My men will be at his heels," returned Blaine, shortly. "They held +back purposely, acting under my instructions. Come on now." + +He sprang from the car and up the steps, and the Doctor found himself +following, with Ross and Suraci on either side. The driver turned +their car around and ran it upon the lawn, its searchlight trained on +the circling drive, its engine throbbing like the throat of an +impatient horse. + +In response to the detective's vigorous ring, the door was opened by a +short, stocky man, at sight of whom the Doctor gave a start of +surprise, but did not falter. The man was clad in the white coat of a +hospital attendant, beneath which the great, bunchy muscles of his +shoulders and upper arms were plainly visible. + +"Hello, Al!" exclaimed Blaine, briskly. + +The veins on the thick bull neck seemed to swell, but there was no +sign of recognition in the stolid jaw. Only the lower lip protruded as +the man set his jaw, and the little, close-set, porcine eyes +narrowed. + +"You were a rubber at the Hoffmeister Baths the last time I saw you," +went on the detective, smoothly, as he deftly inserted his foot +between the door and jamb. "You remember me, of course. I'm Henry +Blaine. My friends and I have come here to-night on a confidential +errand, and I'd like a word in private with you." + +The man he called "Al" muttered something which sounded like a +disclaimer. Then he caught sight of the Doctor's face over Blaine's +shoulder, and a spasm of black rage seized him. + +"Oh, it's you, is it? You've snitched, d--n you! I'll do for you, for +this!" + +He lunged forward, but Blaine, with a strength of which the Doctor +would not a moment before have thought him possessed, grasped the +ex-rubber and flung him backward, advancing into the hall at the same +time, while his two operatives and the Doctor crowded in behind him. + +"Al" staggered, regained his balance, and came on in a blind rush, +bull neck lowered, long, monkey-like arms taut and rigid for the first +blow. Blaine set himself to meet it, but it was never delivered. At +that instant the whirring roar of a high-powered car, unmuffled, +sounded in all their ears, and a second machine drew up at the steps. + +Its single passenger flung himself out and bounded up to the door. + +"What in h--l does this mean?" he bellowed. "Didn't you hear my +horn?" + +He stopped abruptly in sheer amazement, for Blaine had turned, with +beaming face and outstretched hand. + +"Mac Alarney!" he exclaimed. "Thank the Lord you've come! This +thick-skulled boob wouldn't give me time for a word, and every minute +is precious! Come where I can talk to you, quick!" + +Then, as if catching sight of the car in which Mac Alarney had come, +for the first time his eyes widened and he seemed struggling to +suppress an outburst of mirth. + +"Great guns! Is that _your_ car, yours? Do you mean to tell me it was +you I was playing with, back there on the road? When I flashed the +light in your face I was sure you were Donnelley!" + +As he uttered the name of the Chief of Police, Mac Alarney involuntarily +stepped backward, and a wave of startled apprehension swept the +amazement from his face, to be succeeded in turn by the primitive +craftiness of the brute instinct on guard. + +"And what may you be wanting here, Mr. Blaine?" he demanded, warily. + +"To beat the police to it!" Blaine replied in a gruff whisper, adding +as he jerked his thumb in the direction of the waiting Al. "Get rid of +him! We haven't got a minute, I tell you!" + +"The police!" repeated the other man, sharply. "Sure, I passed two +cars full of plain-clothes bulls, with an ambulance trailing +them!--You can go now, Al." + +Without giving the burly proprietor of the retreat time to discover +him for himself, Blaine pulled the astonished Doctor forward. + +"Here's Doctor Alwyn, whom you brought here last night. The police +trailed you, and got his number, but fortunately when they began to +question him, he smelled a rat in the whole business and came to me. +They told him a man named Paddington had double-crossed you, but of +course I knew that was all rot, the minute I'd doped it out. You've +got a fortune under your roof this minute, and you don't know it, Mac! +That's the best joke of all! You're entertaining an angel unawares!" + +"Say, what're you gettin' at, Mr. Blaine?" Mac Alarney's brows drew +close together, and he stared levelly from beneath them at the +detective's exultant face. + +"That young man with the fractured skull in the corner room +upstairs--the one you brought Doctor Alwyn to attend last night--when +you know who he is you're going up in the air! I don't know who +brought him here, or what flim-flam line of talk they gave you, but +it's a wonder you haven't guessed from the start who he was, with the +papers full of it for days! Of course they must have given you a lot +of money to get him well, and hush it all up, when you were able to +pay the Doctor, here, five thousand dollars, but whatever they paid, +it's a drop in the bucket compared to the reward they expected to get. +Mac, it's Ramon Hamilton you've got upstairs!" + +Blaine stepped back himself, as if the better to observe the effect of +what he manifestly seemed to believe would be astounding news, and +clumsily and cautiously the other tried to play up to his lead. + +"Ramon Hamilton!" he echoed. "You're crazy, Blaine! You don't know +what you're talking about!" + +"You'd better believe I do! See this photograph?" He held the tiny +thumbnail picture before Mac Alarney's amazed eyes. "The Doctor took +it last night, at the bedside of the young man upstairs, when you +thought he was feeling his pulse. That watch of his was in reality a +camera." + +With a roar, the burly man turned upon the erect, unshrinking figure +of the gray-haired doctor, but Blaine halted him. + +"Not so fast, Mac. If it hadn't been for him, you'd be in the hands of +the police now, remember, and they've only been waiting to get +something on you, as you know. You can't blame Doctor Alwyn for being +suspicious, after all the mysterious fuss you made bringing him here. +I know Ramon Hamilton well, and I recognized his face the instant it +was handed to me! I'm on the case, myself--Miss Lawton, the girl he's +going to marry, engaged me. I might have come and tried to take him +away from you, so as to cop all the reward myself, but as it is, we'll +split fifty-fifty--unless the police get here while we're wasting time +talking! Man, don't you see how you've been done?" + +"You can bet your life I do--that is, if the young man I've got +upstairs is the guy you think he is," he added, in an afterthought of +cautious self-protection. The acid of the hint that Paddington had +betrayed him to the police had burned deep, however, as Blaine had +anticipated, and he walked blindly into the snare laid for him. "I'll +tell you all about how he come to be here, later, and I'll fix them +that tried to pull the wool over my eyes! Now, for the love of Heaven, +Mr. Blaine, tell me what to do with him before the bulls come! Thank +God, they can search the rest of the place, and welcome--I've got +nothin' here but a half-dozen souses, and two light-weights, +training." + +"That's all right! You're safe if we can get him away without loss of +time. That ambulance you saw don't belong to the police; it's mine. I +saw them first, away back in the outskirts of the city, and I ordered +it to drop behind and take the short cut up through Wheelbarrow Lane. +It's waiting now under the clump of elms by the brook, up the road a +little--you know the spot! Bring him down and we'll take him there in +my car. You come too, of course, and Al, and help load him into the +ambulance. Then Al can come back, if you don't want to trust him, and +you go on with us, back to the city." + +"Where you goin' to take him?" asked Mac Alarney, warily. "You can't +hide him from them in town." + +"Who's talking about hiding him!" Blaine demanded, with contemptuous +impatience. "Your brain must be taking a rest cure, Mac! We'll go +straight to Miss Lawton, deliver the goods and get the reward, before +they beat us to it! It'll be easy to explain matters to her; she won't +care much about the story as long as she's got him again alive, and at +that you've only got to stick to the truth, and I'm right there to +back you up in it. Any fool could realize that you'd have produced him +and claimed the reward, if you had known who he actually was. Whoever +brought him here gave you the wrong dope and you fell for it, that's +all--For the Lord's sake, hurry!" + +"You're right, Mr. Blaine. It's the only thing to do now. I fell for +their dope, all right, but they'll fall harder before I'm through with +them! Lend me your two men, here. There's no use having any of mine +except Al get wise. You and the Doctor wait in the car, and we'll +bring him out." + +Henry Blaine motioned to his operatives, with a curt wave of his hand, +to follow Mac Alarney, and turning, he went out of the door and down +the steps to his car, with the Doctor at his heels. + +"You don't suppose that he saw through your story, do you, Mr. +Blaine?" the latter queried in an anxious whisper, as they settled +themselves to wait with what patience they could muster. "Could that +suggestion of his have been merely a ruse to separate your assistants +from you?" + +The detective smiled. + +"Hardly, Doctor. It's part of my profession to have made a study of +human nature, and Mac Alarney's type is an open book to me. Added to +that, I've known the man himself for years, in an offhand way. I've +got his confidence, and now that he realizes he is in a hole, he's a +child in my hands, even if he thinks for the moment that as a +detective I'm about the poorest specimen in captivity. Steady now, +here they come!" + +The large double doors had been thrown wide open and Mac Alarney, the +burly Al, and the two operatives appeared, bearing between them a +limp, unconscious, blanket-swathed form. As they eased it into the +back seat of the limousine, Blaine flashed his electric pocket light +upon the sleeping face. + +"I knew I wasn't mistaken!" he whispered exultantly to Mac Alarney and +the Doctor. "It's young Hamilton, all right. Now, let's be off!" + +The others crowded in, and they whirled down the drive and out once +more upon the wide State road, in the opposite direction to that in +which they had come. A bare half-mile away, and they came abruptly +upon the ambulance, screened by the clump of naked elms at the side of +the road. + +"You get in first, Doctor," ordered Blaine, significantly. "You've got +to look after your patient now." + +As the Doctor obeyed, Mac Alarney, with a shrewd gleam in his eyes, +turned to the detective. + +"I think I'd better ride with him, too, Mr. Blaine," he observed. "You +don't know who you can trust these days. Your ambulance driver may +give you the slip." + +"All right, Mac!" Blaine assented, with bluff heartiness. "We'll both +ride with him! Did you think I'd try to double-cross you, too? I can't +blame you, after the rotten deal that's been handed to you, but we +won't waste time arguing. Here's the stretcher. Come on, shove him +in!" + +The Doctor had been wondering when the denouement of this adventure +would be. Now it came without warning, with a startling suddenness +which left him dazed and agape. + +The inert body of his patient was laid carefully beside him, and he +glanced out of the ambulance door in time to see Mac Alarney dismiss +his burly assistant, and turn to enter the vehicle. His foot was +already upon the lowest step, when the Doctor saw Blaine raise his +hand to his lips. A short, sharp blast of a whistle pierced the air, +and in an instant a dozen men had sprung out of the darkness and +leaped upon the two surprised miscreants. Then ensued a struggle, +brief but awful to the onlooker in its silent, grim ferocity, as the +two separate knots of men battled each about their central orbit. The +scuffle of many feet on the hard-packed road, the mutter of curses, +the dull thud of blows, the hoarse, strangulated breathing of men +fighting against odds to the last ounce of their strength, came to the +Doctor's startled ears in a confused babel of half-suppressed sound, +with the purring drone of the two engines as an undertone. + +A minute, and it was all over. The thick-set Al went down like a +felled ox, and Mac Alarney wavered under an avalanche of blows and +crumpled to his knees. Handcuffed and securely bound, the two were +bundled into Blaine's waiting car. + +"Paddington never double-crossed me!" groaned Mac Alarney, before the +door closed upon him. "But you did, Blaine! Just as I meant to get +him, I'll get you! I fell for your d--d scheme, and since you've got +the goods on me, I suppose I'll go up, but God help you when I come +out! I can wait--it'll be the better when it comes!" + +"But the others--" queried the Doctor, as he and Blaine, with the +injured man between them, settled down in the ambulance for the slow, +careful journey back to the city. "That third man who came for me last +night--the one with the French accent and the cough--and the rest who +are in this kidnaping plot? Will you get them, too?" + +"Ross and Suraci are enough to guard Mac Alarney and Al on their way +to the lock-up," the detective responded quietly. "The others will go +on up to the sanitarium and clean the place out. They'll get French +Louis, all right. And as for the rest who are concerned in this, +Doctor Alwyn, be sure that I intend to see that they get their just +deserts." + +"And it is said that you have never lost a case!" the Doctor +remarked. + +"I shall not lose this one." Blaine spoke with quiet confidence, +unmixed with any boastfulness. "I cannot lose; there is too much at +stake." + +Late that night, Anita Lawton was awakened from a tortured, feverish +dream by the violent ringing of the telephone bell at her bedside. The +voice of Henry Blaine, fraught with a latent tension of suppressed +elation, came to her over the wire. + +"Miss Lawton, I shall come to you in twenty minutes. Please be +prepared to go out with me in my car. No, don't ask me any questions +now. I will explain when I reach you." + +His arrival found her dressed and restlessly pacing the floor of the +reception-room, in a fever of mingled hope and anxiety. + +"What is it, Mr. Blaine?" she cried, seizing his hand and pressing it +convulsively in both of hers. "You have news for me! I can read it in +your face! Ramon--" + +"Is safe!" he responded. "Can you bear a sudden shock now, Miss +Lawton? After all that has gone before, can you withstand one more +blow?" + +"Oh, tell me! Tell me quickly! I can endure everything, if only Ramon +is safe!" + +"I found him to-night, and brought him back to the city. I have come +to take you to him." + +"But why--why did he not come with you? Does he not realize what I +have suffered--that every moment of suspense, of waiting for him, is +an added torture?" + +"He realizes nothing." Blaine hesitated, and then went on: "It is best +for you to know the truth at once. Mr. Hamilton has suffered a severe +injury. He is lying almost at the point of death, but the physicians +say he has a chance, a good chance, for recovery, now that he is where +he can receive expert care and attention. How he came by his shattered +skull--he has a fracture at the base of the brain--we shall not know +until he recovers sufficient consciousness to tell us. At present, he +is in a state of coma, recognizing no one, nothing that goes on about +him. He will not rouse to hear your voice; he will not know of your +presence; but I thought that it would comfort you to see him, to feel +that everything is being done for him that can be done." + +"Ah, yes!" she sobbed. "Take me to him, Mr. Blaine! Thank God, thank +God that you have found him! Just to look upon his dear face again, to +touch him, to know that at least he still lives! He must not die, now; +he cannot die! The God who has permitted you to restore him to me, +would not allow that! Take me to him!" + +So it was that a few short minutes later, Henry Blaine tasted the +first real fruit of his victory, as he stood aside in the quiet +hospital room, and with dimmed eyes beheld the scene before him. The +wide, white bed, the silent, motionless, bandage-swathed figure upon +it, the slender, dark-robed, kneeling girl--only that, and the echo of +her low-breathed sob of love and gratitude. His own great, fatherly +heart swelled with the joy of work well done, of the happiness he had +brought to a spirit all but broken, and a sure, triumphant premonition +that the struggle still before him would be crowned with victory. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE TRAP + + +"You are ready, Miss Lawton? Nerves steady enough for the ordeal?" +asked Blaine the following morning. + +"I am ready." Anita's voice was firm and controlled, and there was the +glint of a challenge in her eyes. A wondrous change had come over her +since the previous day. With the rescue of the man she loved, and the +certainty that he would recover, all the latent, indomitable courage +and fighting spirit which had come to her as an heritage from her +father, and which had made of him the ruler of men and arbiter of +events which he had been, arose again within her. The most crushing +weight upon her heart had been lifted; hope and love had revivified +her; and she was indeed ready to face the world again, to meet her +enemies, the murderers and traducers of her father, and to give battle +to them on their own ground. + +"In a few moments, a man will enter this library--a man whom you know +well. You will be stationed behind the curtains at this window here, +and you must summon all your self-control to restrain yourself from +giving any start or uttering a sound of surprise which would betray +your presence. While I talk to him, I want you to try with all your +might to put from your mind the fact that you know him. Do not let his +personality influence you in any way, or his speech. Only listen to +the tones of his voice--listen and try to recall that other voice +which you heard here on the night of your father's death. If in his +tones you recognize that voice, step from behind those curtains and +face him. If not--and you must be absolutely sure that you do +recognize the voice, that you could swear to it under oath in a court +of justice, realizing that it will probably mean swearing away a man's +life--if you are not sure, remain silent." + +"I understand, Mr. Blaine. I will not fail you. I could not be +mistaken; the voice which I heard here that night rings still in my +ears; its echo seems yet to linger in the room." Her gaze wandered to +the great leather chair, which had been replaced in its usual +position. "Now that you have restored Ramon to me, I want only to +avenge my father, and I shall be content. To be murdered, in his own +home! Poisoned like a rat in a trap! I shall not rest until the coward +who killed him has been brought to justice!" + +"He will be, Miss Lawton! The trap has been baited again, and unless I +am greatly mistaken, the murderer will walk straight into it.--There +is the bell! I gave orders that you were to be at home to no one +except the man I expect and that he was to be ushered in here +immediately upon his arrival, without being announced--so take your +place, now, please, behind the curtains. Do not try to watch the +man--only listen with all your ears; and above all do not betray +yourself until the proper moment comes for disclosing your presence." + +Without a word Anita disappeared into the window-seat, and the +curtains fell into place behind her. The detective had only time to +step in the shadow of a dark corner beside one of the tall bookcases, +when the door was thrown open. A man stood upon the threshold--a tall, +fair man of middle age, with a small blond mustache, and a monocle +dangling from a narrow black ribbon about his neck. From the very +correct gardenia in his buttonhole to the very immaculate spats upon +his feet, he was a careful prototype of the Piccadilly exquisite--a +little faded, perhaps, slightly effete, but perfect in detail. He +halted for a moment, as if he, too, were blinded by the swift change +from sunshine to gloom. Then, advancing slowly, his pale, protruding +eyes wandered to the great chair by the fireplace, and lingered as if +fascinated. He approached it, magnetized by some spell of his own +thoughts' weaving, until he could have stretched out his hand and +touched it. A pause, and with a sudden swift revulsion of feeling, he +turned from it in a sort of horror and went to the center-table. There +he stood for a moment, glanced back at the chair, then quickly about +the room, his eyes passing unseeingly over the shadowy figure by the +bookcase. Then he darted back to the chair and thrust his hand deep +into the fold between the back and seat. For a minute he felt about +with frenzied haste, until his fingers touched the object he sought, +and with a profound sigh of relief he drew it forth--a tiny flat +vial. + +He glanced at it casually, his hand already raised toward his +breast-pocket; then he recoiled with a low, involuntary cry. The vial +was filled with a sinister blood-red fluid. + +At that moment Blaine stepped from behind the bookcase and confronted +him. + +"You have succeeded in regaining your bottle, haven't you, Mr. +Rockamore?" he asked, significantly. "Are you surprised to find within +it the blood of an innocent man?" + +Rockamore turned to him slowly, his dazed, horror-stricken eyes +protruding more than ever. + +"Blood?" he repeated, thickly, as if scarcely understanding. Then a +realization of the situation dawned upon him, and he demanded, +hoarsely: "Who are you? What are you doing here?" + +"My name is Blaine, and I am here to arrest the murderer of Pennington +Lawton," the detective replied, his dominant tones ringing through the +room. + +"Blaine--Henry Blaine!" Rockamore stepped back a pace or two, and a +sneer curled his thin lips, although his face had suddenly paled. +"I've heard of you, of course--the international meddler! What sort of +sensation are you trying to work up now, my man, by such a ridiculous +assertion? Pennington Lawton--murdered! Why, all the world knows that +he died of heart-disease!" + +"All the world seldom knows the truth, but it shall, in this +instance," returned Blaine, trenchantly. "Pennington Lawton was +murdered--poisoned by a draught of prussic acid." + +"You're mad!" Rockamore retorted, insolently. He tossed the +incriminating little vial carelessly on the blotter of the writing-desk, +and when he turned again to the detective his face, with its high, +thin, hooked nose and close-drawn brows, was vulture-like in its +malevolent intensity. "You don't deserve serious consideration! If +you make public such a ridiculous statement, you'll only be laughed at +for your pains." + +"I shall prove it. The murderer's midnight visit, his secret +conference with his victim, did not proceed unwitnessed. His motive is +known, but his act was futile. It came too late." + +"This is all very interesting, no doubt, or would be if it could be +credited. However, I cannot understand why you have elected to take me +into your confidence." Rockamore was livid, but he controlled himself +sufficiently to speak with a simulation of contemptuous boredom. "I +came here to see Miss Lawton, in response to an urgent call from her; +I don't know by what authority you are here, but I do know that I do +not propose to be further annoyed by you!" + +"I am afraid that you will find yourself very seriously annoyed before +this affair comes to an end, Mr. Rockamore," said Blaine. "Miss +Lawton's butler summoned you this afternoon by my instructions, and +with gratifying promptness you came and did just what I expected you +would do--betrayed yourself irretrievably in your haste to recover the +evidence which now will hang you!" + +The other man laughed harshly, a discordant, jarring laugh which +jangled on the tense air. + +"Your accusation is too absurd to be resented. I knew that Miss Lawton +herself could not have been a party to this melodramatic hoax!" + +Blaine walked to the desk before replying, and taking up the +crimson-tinged vial, weighed it in his hand. + +"You did not find the poison bottle which you yourself thrust in that +chair the night Pennington Lawton died, Mr. Rockamore, because his +daughter discovered it and communicated with me," he said. "She +anticipated you by less than twenty-four hours. We have known from the +beginning of your nocturnal visit to this room; every word of your +conversation was overheard. It's no use trying to bluff it; we've got +a clear case against you." + +"You and your 'clear case' be d--d!" the other man cried, his tones +shaking with anger. "You're trying to bluff me, my man, but it won't +work! I don't know what the devil you mean about a midnight visit to +Lawton; the last I saw of him was at a directors' meeting the +afternoon before his death." + +"Then why has that chair--the chair in which he died--exerted such a +peculiar, sinister influence over you? Why is it that every time you +have entered this room since, you have been unable to keep away from +it? Why, this very hour, when you thought yourself unobserved, did you +walk straight to this chair and place your hand deliberately upon the +place where the poison bottle was concealed? Why did you recoil? Why +did that cry rise from your lips when you saw what it contained?" + +"I touched the chair inadvertently, while I waited for Miss Lawton's +appearance, and my hand coming accidentally in contact with a hard +substance, mere idle curiosity impelled me to draw it out. Naturally, +I was startled for the moment, when I saw what it was." The man's +voice deepened hoarsely, and he gave vent to another sneering, vicious +laugh. As its echo died in the room, Blaine could have sworn that he +heard a quick gasp from behind the curtains of the window-seat, but it +did not reach the ears of Rockamore. + +The latter continued, his voice breaking suddenly, with a rage at last +uncontrolled: + +"I could not, of course, know that that bottle of red ink was a cheap, +theatrical trick of a mountebank, a creature who is the laughing-stock +of the press and the public, in his idiotic attempts to draw +sensational notoriety upon himself. But I do know that this effort has +failed! You have dared to plant this outrageous, puerile trap to +attempt to ensnare me! You have dared to strike blindly, in your mad +thirst for publicity, at a man infinitely beyond your reach. Your +insolence ceases to be amusing! If you try to push this ridiculous +accusation, I shall ruin you, Henry Blaine!" + +"No man is beyond my reach who has broken the law." The detective's +voice was quietly controlled, yet each word pierced the silence like a +sword-thrust. "I have been threatened with ruin, with death, many +times by criminals of all classes, from defaulting financiers to petty +thieves, but I still live, and my fortunes have not been materially +impaired. I do not court publicity, but I cannot shirk my duty because +it entails that. And in this case my duty is plain. You, Bertrand +Rockamore, came here, secretly, by night, to try to persuade Mr. +Lawton to go in with you on a crooked scheme--to force him to, by +blackmail, if necessary, on an old score. Failing in that, you killed +him, to prevent the nefarious operations of yourself and your +companions from being brought to light!" + +"You're mad, I tell you!" roared Rockamore. "Whoever stuffed you with +such idiotic rot as that is making gammon of you! That conversation is +a chimera of some disordered mind, if it isn't merely part of a +deliberate conspiracy of yours against me! You'll suffer for this, my +man! I'll break you if it is the last act of my life! Such a +conference never took place, and you know it!" + +"'Come, Lawton, be sensible; half a loaf is better than no bread,'" +Blaine quoted slowly. "'There is no blackmail about this--it is an +ordinary business proposition.' + +"'It's a damnable crooked scheme, and I shall have nothing to do with +it. This is final! My hands are clean, and I can look every man in the +face and tell him to go where you can go now!' + +"You remember that, don't you, Rockamore?" Blaine interrupted himself +to ask sharply. "Do you also recall your reply?--'How about poor +Herbert Armstrong? His wife--'" + +"It's a lie! A d--d lie!" cried Rockamore. "I was not in this room +that night! Such a conversation never occurred! Who told you of this? +Who dares accuse me?" + +"I do!" A clear, flute-like voice, resonant in its firmness, rang out +from behind him as he spoke, and he wheeled abruptly, to find Anita +standing with her slender form outlined against the dark, rich velvet +of the curtains. Her head was thrown back, her eyes blazing; and as +she faced him, she slowly raised her arm and pointed a steady finger +at the recoiling figure. "I accuse you, Bertrand Rockamore, of the +murder of my father! It was I who heard your conversation here in this +room; it was I who found the vial which contained the poison you used +when your arguments and threats failed! I am not mistaken--I knew that +I could never be mistaken if I heard that voice again, shaken, as it +was that night, with rage and defiance--and fear! I knew that I should +hear it again some time, and all these weeks I have listened for it, +until this moment. Mr. Blaine, this is the man!" + +[Illustration: Her head was thrown back, her eyes blazing: and as she +faced him, she slowly raised her arm and pointed a steady finger at the +recoiling figure.] + +"Anita, you have lost your mind!" With the shock of the girl's +appearance, a steely calm had come to the Englishman, and although a +tremor ran through his tones, he held them well in leash. "My poor +child, you do not know what you are saying. + +"As for you,"--he turned and looked levelly into Blaine's eyes,--"I am +amazed that a man of your perception and experience should for a +moment entertain the idea that he could make out a case of capital +crime against a person of my standing, solely upon the hysterical +pseudo-testimony of a girl whose brain is overwrought. This midnight +conference, which you so glibly quote, is a figment of her distraught +mind--or, if it actually occurred (a fact of which you have no proof), +Miss Lawton admits, by the words she has just uttered, that she did +not see the mysterious visitor, but is attempting to identify me as +that person merely by the tones of my voice. She has made no +accusation against me until this moment, yet since her father's death +she has heard my voice almost daily for several weeks. Come, Blaine, +listen to reason! Your case has tumbled about your ears! You can only +avoid serious trouble for both Miss Lawton and yourself by dropping +this absurd matter here and now." + +"It is true that I did not recognize your voice before, but I have not +until now heard it raised in anger as it was that night--" began +Anita, but Blaine silenced her with a gesture. + +"And the bottle of prussic acid which was found yesterday hidden in +the chair where just now you searched for it?" he demanded, sternly. +"The incontrovertible evidence, proved late last night by an autopsy +upon the body of Pennington Lawton, which shows that he came to his +death by means of that poison--how do you account for these facts, +Rockamore?" + +"I do not propose to account for them, whether they are facts or +not," returned the other man, coolly. "Since I know nothing +whatever about them, they are beyond my province. Unless you wish +to bring ruin upon yourself, and unwelcome notoriety and possibly an +official inquiry into her sanity upon Miss Lawton, you will not +repeat this incredible accusation. Only my very real sympathy for +her has enabled me to listen with what patience I have to the +unparalleled insolence of this charge, but you are going too far. I +see no necessity for further prolonging this interview, and with +your permission I will withdraw--unless, of course," he added, +sneeringly, "you have a warrant for my arrest?" + +To Anita's astonishment, Henry Blaine stepped back with a slight shrug +and Rockamore, still with that sarcastic leer upon his lips, bowed low +to her and strode from the room. + +"You--you let him go, Mr. Blaine?" she gasped, incredulously. "You let +him escape!" + +"He cannot escape." Blaine smiled a trifle grimly. "I'm giving him +just a little more rope, that is all, to see if he will help us secure +the others. His every move is under strict surveillance--for him there +is no way out, save one." + +"And that way?" asked Anita. + +The detective made no reply. In a few minutes he took leave of her and +proceeded to his office, where he spent a busy day, sending cables in +cipher, detailing operatives to many new assignments and receiving +reports. + +Late in the afternoon replies began to come in to his cablegrams of +the morning. Whatever their import, they quite evidently afforded him +immense satisfaction, and as the early dusk settled down, his eyes +began to glow with the light of battle, which those closest to him in +his marvelous work had learned to recognize when victory was in +sight. + +Suraci noted it when he entered to make his report, and the glint of +enthusiasm in his own eyes brightened like burnished steel. + +"I relieved Ross at noon, as you instructed me, sir," he began, "in +the vestibule of Mr. Rockamore's apartment house. It was a good thing +that I had the six-cylinder car handy, for he surely led me a chase! +Ten minutes after I went on duty, Rockamore came out, jumped into his +automobile, and after circling the park, he turned south, zig-zagging +through side streets as if to cut off pursuit. He reached South-end +Ferry, but hovered about until the gates were on the point of closing. +Then his chauffeur shot the car forward, but before I could reach him, +Creghan stepped up with your warrant. + +"'I'm sorry, sir,' I heard him say as I came up. 'I'm to use this only +in case you insist on attempting to leave the city, sir. Mr. Blaine's +orders.' + +"Rockamore turned on him in a fury, but thought better of it, and +after a minute he leaned forward with a shrug, and directed the +chauffeur north again. This time he tried the Great Western Station, +but Liebler was there, waiting for him; then the North Illington +branch depot--Schmidt was on hand. As a forlorn hope he tried the +Tropic and Oriental steamship line,--one of their ships goes out +to-night,--but Norris intercepted him; at last he speeded down the +boulevard and out on the eastern post-road, but Kearney was on the job +at the toll-gate. + +"He gave it up then, and went back to his rooms, and Ross relieved me +there, just now. The lights are flaring in the windows of his rooms, +and you can see his shadow--he's pacing up and down like a caged +animal!" + +"All right, Suraci. Go back and tell Ross to have one of his men +telephone to me at once if Rockamore leaves his rooms before nine. +That will be all for you to-night. I've got to do the rest of the work +myself." + +At nine o'clock precisely, Henry Blaine presented himself at +Rockamore's door. As he had anticipated he was admitted at once and +ushered into the Englishman's presence as if his coming had been +expected. + +"I say, Blaine, what the devil do you mean by this game you're +playing?" Rockamore demanded, as he stood erect and perfectly poised +upon the hearth, and faced the detective. A faint, sarcastic smile +curved his lips, and in his pale eyes there was no hint of trouble or +fear--merely a look of tolerant, half-contemptuous amusement. +Immaculate in his dinner-coat and fresh boutonniere, his bearing +superb in his ease and condescension, he presented a picture of +elegance. Blaine glanced about the rich, somber den before he +replied. + +"I'm not playing any game, Mr. Rockamore. Why did you try so +desperately to leave the city?" + +The Englishman shrugged. + +"A sudden whim, I suppose. Would it be divulging a secret of your +profession if you informed me why one of your men did not arrest me, +since all had warrants on the ridiculous charge you brought against me +this morning, of murdering my oldest and closest friend?" + +"I merely wanted to assure myself that you would not leave the city +until I had obtained sufficient data with which to approach you," the +detective responded, imperturbably. "I have come to-night for a little +talk with you, Mr. Rockamore. I trust I am not intruding?" + +"Not at all. As a matter of fact, after to-day's incidents I was +rather expecting you." Rockamore waved his unbidden guest to a chair, +and produced a gold cigarette-case. "Smoke? You perhaps prefer +cigars--no? A brandy and soda?" + +"Thank you, no. With your permission, I will get right down to +business. It will simplify matters for both of us if you are willing +to answer some questions I wish to put to you; but, of course, there +is no compulsion about it. On the other hand, it is my duty to warn +you that anything you say may be used against you." + +"Fire away, Mr. Blaine!" Rockamore seated himself and stretched out +his legs luxuriously to the open wood-fire. "I don't fancy that +anything I shall say will militate against me. I was an idiot to lose +my temper this morning, but I hate being made game of. Now the whole +situation merely amuses me, but it may become tiresome. Let's get it +over." + +"Mr. Rockamore, you were born in Staffordshire, England, were you not? +Near a place called Handsworth?" + +The unexpected question brought a meditative frown to the other man's +brow, but he replied readily enough: + +"Yes, at Handsworth Castle, to be exact. But I can't quite gather what +bearing that insignificant fact has upon your amazing charge this +morning." + +"You are the only son of Gerald Cecil Rockamore, third son of the Earl +of Stafford?" The detective did not appear to have heard the protest +of the man he was interrogating. + +"Precisely. But what--" + +"There were, then, four lives between you and the title," Blaine +interrupted, tersely. "But two remain, your father and grandfather. +Your uncles died, both of sudden attacks of heart-disease, and +curiously enough, both deaths occurred while they were visiting at +Handsworth Castle." + +"That is quite true." The cynical banter was gone from Rockamore's +tones, and he spoke with a peculiar, hushed evenness, as if he waited, +on guard, for the next thrust. + +"Lord Ashfrith, your father's oldest brother, and next in line to the +old Earl, was seated in the gun-room of the castle, sipping a brandy +and soda, and carving a peach-stone. Twenty minutes before, you had +brought the peaches in from the garden, and eaten them with him. He +was showing you how, in his boyhood, he had carved a watch-charm from +a peach-stone, and you were close at his side when he suddenly fell +over dead. Two years later, your Uncle Alaric, heir to the earldom +since his older brother was out of the way, dropped dead at a hunt +breakfast. You were seated next him." + +"Are you trying to insinuate that I had anything to do with these +deaths?" Rockamore still spoke quietly, but there was a slight tremor +in his tones, and his face looked suddenly gray and leaden in the glow +of the leaping flames. + +"I am recalling certain facts in your family history. When your Uncle +Alaric died, he had just set down his cordial glass, which had +contained peach brandy. An odd coincidence, wasn't it, that both of +these men died with the odor of peaches about them, an odor which +incidentally you had provided in both cases, for it was you who +suggested the peach brandy as a cordial at the hunt breakfast, and +induced your uncle to partake of it." + +"It was a coincidence, as you say. I had not thought of it before." +The Englishman moistened his lips nervously, as if they suddenly felt +dry. "Uncle Alaric was a heavy, full-blooded man, and he had ridden +hard that morning, contrary to the doctor's orders. I suggested the +brandy as a bracer, I remember." + +"An unfortunate suggestion, wasn't it?" Blaine asked, significantly. +The other man made no reply. + +"There was another coincidence." The detective pursued relentlessly. +"The brandy-and-soda, which Lord Ashfrith was drinking at the moment +of his death, was naturally a pale amber color. So was the brandy +which your Uncle Alaric drank as he died. And prussic acid is +amber-colored, too, Mr. Rockamore! Lord Ashfrith was carving a +peach-stone when the end came, and the odor of peaches clung to his +body. Your Uncle Alaric partook of peach brandy, and the same odor +hovered about him in death. Prussic acid is redolent of the odor of +peaches!" + +Rockamore started from his chair. + +"I understand what you are attempting to establish by the flimsiest of +circumstantial evidence!" he sneered. "But you are away beyond your +depth, my man! May I ask where you obtained this interesting but +scarcely valuable information?" + +"From Scotland Yard, by cable, to-day." Blaine rose also and faced the +other man. "An investigation was started into the second death, upon +the Earl's request, but it was dropped for lack of evidence. About +that time, Mr. Rockamore, you decided rather suddenly, and for no +apparent reason, to come to America, where you have remained ever +since." + +"Mr. Blaine, if I were in the mood to be facetious, I might employ +your American vernacular and ask that you tell me something I don't +know! Come to the point, man; you try my patience." + +"In view of recent developments, I am under the impression that +Scotland Yard would welcome your reappearance on British soil, but I +fear that will be forever impossible," Blaine said slowly. "Just as +you were beside your uncles when each met with his end, so you were +beside Pennington Lawton when death came to him! That has been proved. +Just as brandy and soda, and peach brandy, are amber-colored, so are +Scotch high-balls, which you and Pennington Lawton were drinking. No +odor of peaches lingered about the room, for Miss Lawton had lighted a +handful of joss-sticks in a vase upon the mantel earlier in the +evening, and their pungent perfume filled the air. But the odor of +peaches permeated the room when the tiny bottle which you hid in the +folds of the chair was uncorked--the odor of peaches rose above the +stench of mortifying flesh, when the body of your victim was exhumed +late last night for a belated autopsy! The heart would have revealed +the truth, had there been no corroborative evidence, for it was filled +with arterial blood--incontrovertible proof of death by prussic-acid +poisoning." + +There was a tense pause, and then Rockamore spoke sharply, his voice +strained to the breaking point. + +"If you are so certain of my guilt, Blaine, why have you come to me +secretly here and now? What is your price?" + +"I have no price," the great detective answered, simply. + +"Then why did you not arrest me at once? Why this purposeless +interview?" + +"Because--" Blaine paused, and when he spoke again, a solemn hush, +almost of pity, had crept into his tones. "You come of a fine old +line, Mr. Rockamore, of a splendid race. Your grandfather, the aged +Earl, is living only in the past, proud of the record of his +forebears. Your father is a soldier and statesman, valuable to the +nation; his younger brother, Cedric, has achieved deserved fame and +glory in the Boer War. There remains only you. For the sake of the +innocent who must suffer with you, I have come to you to-night, that +you may have an opportunity to--prepare yourself. In the morning I +must arrest you. My duty is plain." + +As he uttered the words, the craven fear which had struggled +through the malicious sneer on the other man's face faded as if an +obliterating hand had passed across his brow, and a look of +indomitable courage and resignation took its place. There was +something akin to nobility in his expression as he turned to the +detective with head proudly erect and shoulders squared. + +"I thank you, Mr. Blaine," he said, simply. "I understand. I shall not +fail them--the others! You have been far more generous to me than I +deserve. And now--good-night. You will find me here when you come in +the morning." + +But in the morning Henry Blaine did not carry out his expressed +intention. Instead, he sat at his desk, staring at the headlines +in a paper spread out before him. The Honorable Bertrand Rockamore +had been found dead on the floor of his den, with a bullet through +his head. He would never allow his man to touch his guns, and had +been engaged in cleaning one of them, as was his custom, in +preparation for his annual shooting trip to Florida, when in some +fashion it had been accidentally discharged. + +"I wonder if I did the right thing!" mused Blaine. "He had the courage +to do it, after all. Blood will tell, in the end." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE UNSEEN LISTENER + + +"There's a man outside who wishes to speak to you, sir. Says his name +is Hicks, but won't tell his business." + +Blaine looked up from the paper. + +"Never heard of him. What sort of a man, Marsh?" + +"Old, white-haired, carries himself like an old family servant of some +sort. Looks as if he'd been crying. He's trembling so he can scarcely +stand, and seems deeply affected by something. Says he has a message +for you, and must see you personally." + +"Very well. Show him in." + +"Thank you for receiving me, sir." A quavering old voice sounded from +the doorway a moment later, and Blaine turned in his chair to face the +aged, erect, black-clad figure which stood there. + +"Come in, Hicks." The detective's voice was kindly. "Sit down here, +and tell me what I can do for you." + +"I bring you a message, sir." The man tottered to the chair and sank +into it. "A message from the dead." + +Blaine leaned forward suddenly. + +"You were--" + +"Mr. Rockamore's valet, sir, and his father's before him. I loved him +as if he were my own son, if you will pardon the liberty I take in +saying so, and when he came to this country I accompanied him. He was +always good to me, sir, a kind young master and a real friend. It was +I who found him this morning--" + +His voice broke, and he bowed his head upon his wrinkled hands. No +tears came--but the thin shoulders shook, and a dry sob tore its way +from the gaunt throat. + +Blaine waited until the paroxysm had ceased, and then urged, gently: + +"Go on, Hicks. You have something to tell me?" + +"Yes, sir. The coroner and the press call it accidental death, but +I--may God forgive me for saying it--I know better! He left word where +none could find it but me, that you knew the truth, and he bade me +give you--this!" + +He produced a large, square envelope from an inner pocket, and +extended it in his trembling hand to the detective. Without glancing +at it, Blaine laid it on the desk before him. + +"Where did you discover this?" + +"There is a flat, oblong casket of old silver, shaped somewhat like a +humidor--a family relic, sir--which stands upon the center-table in +the den. Whenever Mr. Rockamore had any message to leave for me in +writing, concerning his confidential business, which he did not wish +the other servants to have access to, he always slipped it into the +casket. After the coroner had come and gone this morning, and some of +the excitement had died down, I went back to the den, to straighten +it. I don't know why, but somehow I half suspected the truth. Perhaps +it was the expression of his face--so peaceful and resigned, with all +the hard, sneering lines the years had brought gone from it, so that +he looked almost like a boy again, the bonny boy who used to ride +helter-skelter on his pony through the lanes of Staffordshire, long +ago." + +The aged man spoke half to himself and seemed to have fallen into a +reverie, which Blaine made no attempt to break in upon. At length he +roused himself with a little start, and went on. + +"At any rate, when I had the room in order, and was standing by the +table taking a last look about, my hand rested on the casket, and +quite without thinking, sir, I raised the lid. There within it lay a +sealed envelope with my name on it! Inside was a certified check for +two thousand pounds made out to me--he didn't forget me, even at the +last--and that letter for you, together with a little note asking me +to--to take him home. Is it true, sir, that you do know the whole +truth?" + +"I think I do," Blaine responded gravely. "I did the best I could for +your late master, Hicks, all that I could do which was compatible with +my duty, and now my lips are sealed. I cannot betray his confidence. +You intend to accompany the body to England?" + +"Of course, sir," the old man said simply. "It was his last request of +me, who have never refused him anything in all his life. When I have +seen him laid beside the others of the House of Stafford, I will go +back to the castle, to his father, and end my days there. My course is +nearly run, and this great new country has no place in it for the +aged. I--I will go now, sir. I have much to attend to, and my master +is lying alone." + +When the old servant had taken his departure, Henry Blaine picked up +the envelope. It was addressed in a firm, unshaken hand, and with a +last touch of the sardonic humor characteristic of the dead man, it +had been stamped with the seal of the renowned and honored House of +Stafford. + +The detective broke the seal, and lifting the flap, drew out the +folded letter page and became immediately absorbed in its contents. He +read: + + In view of your magnanimity to-night, I feel that this + explanation--call it a confession, if you will--is your due. + If you consider it your duty to give it to the world at large, + you must do so, but for God's sake be as merciful as you can + to those at home, who will suffer enough, in all conscience, + as the affair now stands. + + Your accusation was justified. I killed Pennington Lawton in + the manner and for the reason which you alleged. I made an + appointment by telephone just after dinner, to call upon him + late that night. I tried by every means in my power to induce + him to go in on a scheme to which, unknown to him, I had + already committed him. He steadfastly refused. His death was + the only way for me to obviate exposure and ruin, and the + disgrace of a prison sentence. I anticipated his attitude and + had come prepared. During a heated period of our discussion, + he walked to the desk and stood for a moment with his shoulder + turned to me, searching for a paper in his private drawer. I + saw my chance, and seized upon it. I was standing before his + chair, I may explain, watching him over its high back. I took + the vial of prussic acid from my pocket, uncorked it and + poured a few drops into his high-ball glass. I had recorked + the vial, and was on the point of returning it to its + hiding-place, when he turned to me. Had I raised my hand to my + pocket he would have noticed the gesture; as it was, the back + of the chair screened me, and on a sudden desperate impulse I + thrust the vial deep in the leather fold between the seat and + back. + + Lawton drank, and died. I left the house, as I thought, + unnoticed and secure from detection. On subsequent visits to + the house I endeavored to regain possession of the vial, but + on each occasion I failed in my purpose, and at length it fell + into the hands of Anita Lawton. I have no more to say. Of + earlier events at home in England, which you and I discussed + to-night, it is better that I remain silent. You, of all men, + will appreciate my motive. + + And now, Blaine, good-night. Please accept my heartfelt thanks + for the manner in which you handled a most difficult situation + to-night. You have beaten me fairly at my own game. It may be + that we shall meet again, somewhere, some time. In all + sincerity, yours, + + ARTHUR BERTRAND ROCKAMORE. + +The detective folded the letter slowly and returned it to its +envelope. Then he sat for long buried in thought. Rockamore had taken +the solitary loophole of escape from overwhelming disgrace left to +him. He had, as far as in him lay, expiated his crimes. What need, +then, to blazon them forth to a gaping world? Pennington Lawton had +died of heart-disease, so said the coroner. The press had echoed him, +and the public accepted that fact. Only two living persons beside the +coroner knew the truth, and Blaine felt sure that the gentle spirit of +Anita Lawton would be merciful--her thirst for vengeance upon her +father's murderer sated by his self-inflicted death--to those of his +blood, who, innocent, must be dragged in the mire by the disclosure of +his infamy. + +When Henry Blaine presented himself an hour later at her home, he +found Anita inexpressibly shocked by the tragic event of the night. + +"He was guilty!" she murmured. "He took his own life to escape falling +into your hands! That gunshot was no accident, Mr. Blaine. He murdered +my father in cold blood, but he has paid. I abhor his memory, and yet +I can find it in my heart to be sorry for him!" + +In silence, the detective placed in her hands the letter of the dead +man, and watched her face as she slowly read it. When she looked up, +her eyes were wet, and a tiny red spot glowed in either cheek. + +"Poor Father!" she moaned. "With all his leadership and knowledge of +men, he was helpless and unsuspecting in the hands of that merciless +fiend! And yet even he thought of his own people at the last, and +wanted to spare them. Oh, how I wish we could! If we might only keep +from them forever the knowledge of his wickedness, his crime!" + +"We can, if you are willing." + +Blaine met her look of startled inquiry, and replied to it with a +brief resume of his interview of the previous evening with Rockamore. +When he added his suggestion that the matter of the way in which her +father came to his death be buried in oblivion, and the public left to +believe the first report, she was silent for a time. + +"But the coroner who performed the autopsy night before last," she +remarked, at length, hesitatingly. "He will make the truth public, +will he not?" + +"Not necessarily. That depends upon you. If you wish it, nothing will +ever be known." + +"I think you are right, Mr. Blaine. Father's death has been avenged; +neither you nor I can do more. The man who killed him has gone to his +last account. Further notoriety and scandal cannot help Father, or +bring him back to me. It would only cause needless suffering to those +who are no more at fault than we ourselves. If the coroner can be +silenced, we will keep our secret, you and I." + +"Unless,"--Blaine's voice was very grave--"unless it becomes necessary +to divulge it in order to get the rest of them within our grasp." + +"The rest?" she looked up as if she had scarcely heard. + +"Mallowe and Carlis and Paddington and the horde of lesser conspirators +in their hire. We must recover your father's immense fortune, and find +out how it was possible for them to divert it to their own channels. +There is Mr. Hamilton to be thought of, too--his injury, his +kidnaping! If we can succeed in unraveling this mysterious tangle of +events without recourse to the fact of our knowledge of the murder, well +and good. If not, we must make use of whatever has come to our hand. +With the rest of the malefactors brought to justice, you can afford to +be magnanimous even to the dead man who has done you the most grievous +wrong of all." + +"It shall be as you say--" + +She broke off suddenly as her eyes, looking beyond Blaine's shoulder, +fell upon a silent figure in the doorway. + +"Mr. Mallowe!" she cried. "When did you come? How is it that Wilkes +failed to announce you?" + +"I arrived just at this moment." The smooth, unctuous tones floated +out upon the strained tension of the air. "I told Wilkes I would come +right up. He told me Mr. Blaine was with you, and I wish to +congratulate him on his marvelous success. Surely you do not mind the +liberty I took in announcing myself, my dear child?" + +"Not at all," Anita responded, coldly. "To which success of Mr. +Blaine's do you refer, Mr. Mallowe?" + +"Why, to his discovery of Ramon, of course." Mr. Mallowe looked from +one to the other of them as if nonplused by Anita's unexpected +attitude. Then he continued hurriedly, with a show of enthusiasm. "It +was wonderful, unprecedented! But how did Ramon come to be in Mac +Alarney's retreat, and so shockingly injured?" + +"The same people who ran him down the day Miss Lawton sent for him to +come to her aid--the day she learned of her father's insolvency." +Blaine spoke quickly, before the girl had an opportunity to reply. +"The same people who on two other separate occasions attempted his +life!" + +"You cannot mean to tell me that there is some conspiracy on foot +against Ramon Hamilton!" Mallowe's face was a picture of shocked +amazement. "But why? He is the most exemplary of young men, quite a +model in these days--" + +"Because he is a man, and prepared to protect and defend to the last +ounce of his strength the thing which he loved better than life +itself--the thing which, but for him, stood helpless and alone, +surrounded by enemies and hopelessly entangled in the meshes of a +gigantic conspiracy!" + +"You speak in riddles, Mr. Blaine." Mallowe's gray brows drew +together. + +"Riddles which will soon be answered, Mr. Mallowe. Miss Lawton's +natural protector--her father--had been ruthlessly removed by--death. +Only Mr. Hamilton stood between her and the machinations of those who +thought they had her in their power. Therefore, Mr. Hamilton was also +removed, temporarily. Do I make myself quite clear now?" + +"It is impossible, incredible! What enemies could this dear child here +have made, and who could wish to harm her? Besides, am I not here? Do +not I and my friends stand in _loco parentis_ to her?" + +"As you doubtless are aware, one of Miss Lawton's pseudo-guardians, at +least, has involuntarily resigned his wardenship," Blaine remarked. + +"You refer to the sudden death last night of my associate, Mr. +Rockamore?" Mallowe shook his head dolorously. "A terrible accident! +The news was an inexpressible shock to me! It was to comfort Miss +Lawton for the blow which the loss of this devoted friend must be to +her that I came to-day." + +"I fancy the loss itself will be consolation enough, Mr. Mallowe. The +accident was tragic, of course. It takes courage to clean a gun, +sometimes--more courage, perhaps, than to spill into a glass an +ingredient not usually included in a Scotch highball, let us say." + +"Mr. Blaine, if you are inclined to be facetious, sir, let me tell +you this is neither the time nor place for an attempt at a jest! When +Miss Lawton called you in, the other day, and engaged you to search +for Mr. Hamilton--" + +"Oh, she didn't call me in then, Mr. Mallowe! I've been on the case +from the start, all this last month, in fact, and in close touch with +Miss Lawton every day." + +Mallowe started back, the light of comprehension dawning swiftly in +his eyes, only instantly to be veiled with a film of craftiness. + +"What case?" he asked. "Ramon Hamilton has not been missing for a +month." + +"The case of the death of Pennington Lawton! The case of his +fraudulently alleged bankruptcy! The case of the whole damnable +conspiracy to crush this girl to the earth, to impoverish her and +tarnish the fair name and honored memory of her father. It's cards on +the table now, Mr. Mallowe, and I'm going to win!" + +"You must be mad!" exclaimed the older man. "This talk of a conspiracy +is ridiculous, absurd!" + +"Mr. Rockamore called me 'mad,' also, yesterday afternoon, standing +just where you stand now, Mr. Mallowe." The detective met the lowering +eyes squarely. "Yet he went home and--accidentally shot himself! A +curiously opportune shot that! Miss Lawton's enemies depended too +confidently upon her credulity in accepting without question the +unsubstantiated assertion of her father's insolvency. They did not +take into account the possibility that their henchman, Paddington, +might fail, or turn traitor; that Mac Alarney might talk to save his +own hide; that Jimmy Brunell's forgeries might be traced to their +source; that the books in the office of the Recorder of Deeds might +divulge interesting items to those sufficiently concerned to delve +into the files of past years! You discharged your clerk on the +flimsiest of excuses, Mr. Mallowe--but you did not discharge her quite +soon enough. Rockamore's stenographer, and the switchboard operator in +Carlis' office,--who, like your filing clerk, came from Miss Lawton's +club,--were also dismissed too late. As I have said, my cards are on +the table now. Are you prepared to play yours?" + +For answer, Mallowe turned slowly to Anita, his face a study of pained +surprise and indignation. + +"My dear girl, I do not understand one word of what this person is +saying, but he is either mad, or intoxicated with his success in +locating Ramon, to the extent that he is endeavoring to build up a +fictitious case on a maze of lies. Any notoriety will bring him +welcome publicity, and that is all he is looking for. I shall take +immediate steps to have his incomprehensible and dangerous allegation +suppressed. Such a man is a menace to the community! In the meantime, +I must beg of you to dismiss him at once. Do not listen to him, do not +allow him to influence you! You are only an impulsive, credulous girl, +and he is using you as a mere tool for his own ends. I cannot imagine +how you happened to fall into his clutches." + +Anita faced him, straight and slim and tall, and her soft eyes seemed +fairly to burn into his. + +"I am not so credulous as you think, Mr. Mallowe. I never for a moment +believed your assertion that my father died a pauper, and I took +immediate steps to disprove it. Doctor Franklin was your tool, when he +came to me with your message, but not I! And I shouldn't advise you to +try, at this late date, to 'suppress' Mr. Blaine. Many other +malefactors have attempted it, I understand, in the past, but I never +heard of any of them meeting with conspicuous success. You and my +other two self-appointed guardians must have been desperate indeed to +have risked trying to hoodwink me with so ridiculous and vague a story +as that of the loss of my father's fortune!" + +"This is too much!" Mallowe stormed. "Young woman, you forget +yourself! Because of the evil suggestions, the malevolent influence of +this man's plausible lies, are you such an ingrate as to turn upon +your only friends, your father's intimate, life-long associates, the +people who have, from disinterested motives of the purest kindness and +affection, provided for you, comforted you, and shielded you from the +world? Anita, I cannot believe it of you! I will leave you, now. I am +positively overcome with this added shock of your ingratitude and +willful deceit, coming so soon after the blow of my poor friend's +death. I trust you will be in a thoroughly repentant frame of mind +when next I see you. + +"As for you, sir!" He turned to the immovable figure of the detective. +"I will soon show you what it means to meddle with matters which do +not concern you--to pit yourself arrogantly against the biggest power +in this country!" + +"The biggest power in this or any other country is the power of +justice." Blaine's voice rang out trenchantly. "When you and your +associates planned this desperate _coup_, it was as a last resort. You +had involved yourselves too deeply; you had gone too far to retrace +your steps. You were forced to go on forward--and now your path is +closed with bars of iron!" + +"I will not remain here any longer to be insulted! Miss Lawton, I +shall never cross the threshold of this house again--this house, which +only by my charity you have been suffered to remain in--until you +apologize for the disgraceful scene here this morning. I can only hope +that you will soon come to your senses!" + +As he strode indignantly from the room, Anita turned anxiously to +Henry Blaine. + +"Oh, what will he do?" she whispered. "He is really a power, a +money-power, you know, Mr. Blaine! Where will he go now?" + +"Straight to his _confrere_ Carlis, and tell him that the game is up." +The detective spoke with brisk confidence. "He'll be tailed by my men, +anyway, so we shall soon have a report. Don't see anyone, on any +pretext whatsoever, and don't leave the house, Miss Lawton. I will +instruct Wilkes on my way out, that you are to be at home to no one. I +must be getting back to my office now. If I am not mistaken, I shall +receive a visit without unnecessary delay from my old friend Timothy +Carlis, and I wouldn't miss it for the world!" + +Blaine's prediction proved to have been well founded. Scarcely an hour +passed, and he was deep in the study of some of his earlier notes on +the case, when all at once a hubbub arose in his outer office. Usually +quiet and well-ordered, its customary stillness was broken by a +confused, expostulatory murmur of voices, above which rose a strident, +angry bellow, like that of a maddened wild beast. Then a chair was +violently overturned; the sudden sharp sound of a scuffle came to the +detective's listening ears; and the door was dashed open with a jar +which made the massive inkstand upon the desk quiver. + +Timothy Carlis stood upon the threshold--Timothy Carlis, his face +empurpled, the great veins upon his low-slanting forehead standing out +like whipcords, his huge, spatulate hands clenched, his narrow, slit +eyes gleaming murderously. + +"So you're here, after all!" he roared. "Those d--d fools out there +tried to give me the wrong steer, but I was wise to 'em. You buffaloed +Rockamore, and that senile old idiot, Mallowe, but you can't bluff me! +I came here to see you, and I usually get what I go after!" + +"Having seen me, Carlis, will you kindly state your business and go? +This promises to be one of my busiest days. What can I do for you?" +Blaine leaned back in his chair, with a bland smile of pleased +expectancy. + +"It ain't what you _can_ do; it's what you're _goin'_ to do, and no +mistake about it!" the other glowered. "You're goin' to keep your +mouth shut as tight as a trap, and your hands off, from now on! Oh, +you know what I mean, right enough. Don't try to work the surprised +gag on me!" + +He added the latter with a coarse sneer which further distorted his +inflamed visage. Blaine, with an expression of sharp inquiry, had +whirled around in his swivel chair to face his excited visitor, and as +he did so, his hand, with seeming inadvertence, had for an instant +come in contact with the under ledge of his desk-top. + +"I'm afraid, much as I desire not to prolong this unexpected +interview, that I must ask you to explain just what it is that I must +keep my hands off of, as you say. We will go into the wherefore of it +later." + +Carlis glanced back of him into the empty hallway, then closed the +door and came forward menacingly. + +"What's the good of beating about the bush?" he demanded, in a fierce +undertone. "You know d--n' well what I mean: you're butting in on the +Lawton affair. You've bitten off more than you can chew, and you'd +better wise yourself up to that, here and now!" + +"Just what is the Lawton affair?" + +"Oh, stow that bluff! You know too much already, and if I followed my +hunch, I'd scrag you now, to play safe. Dead men don't blab, as a +rule--though one may have, last night. I came here to be generous, to +give you a last chance. I've fought tooth and nail, myself, for my +place at the top, and I like a game scrapper, even if he is on the +wrong side. You've tried to get me for years, but as I knew you +couldn't, I didn't bother with you, any more than I would with a +trained flea, and I bear no malice. D--d if I don't like you, +Blaine!" + +"Thank you!" The detective bowed in ironic acknowledgment of the +compliment. "Your friendship would be considered a valuable asset by +many, I have no doubt, but--" + +"Look here!" The great political boss had shed his bulldozing manner, +and a shade of unmistakable earnestness, not unmixed with anxiety, had +crept into his tones. "I'm talking as man to man, and I know I can +trust your word of honor, even if you pretend you won't take mine. Is +anyone listening? Have you got any of your infernal operatives spying +about?" + +Blaine leaned forward and replied with deep seriousness. + +"I give you my word, Carlis, that no human ear is overhearing our +conversation." Then he smiled, and added, with a touch of mockery: +"But what difference can that make? I thought you came here to issue +instructions. At least, you so announced yourself on your arrival!" + +"Because I'm going to make a proposition to you--on my own." Even +Carlis' coarse face flushed darkly at the base self-revelation. +"Pennington Lawton died of heart-disease." + +He paused, and after waiting a full minute, Blaine remarked, quietly, +but with marked significance: + +"Of course. That is self-evident, isn't it?" + +"Well, then--" Carlis stepped back with a satisfied grunt. "He didn't +have a soul on earth dependent on him but his daughter. His great +fortune is swept away, and that daughter left penniless. But ain't +there lots of girls in this world worse off than she? Ain't she got +good friends that's lookin' out for her, and seein' that she don't +want for a thing? Ain't she goin' to marry a young fellow that loves +the ground she walks on--a rich young fellow, that'll give her +everything, all her life? What more could she want? _She's_ all right. +But the big money--the money Lawton made by grinding down the +masses--wouldn't you like a slice of it yourself, Blaine? A nice, fat, +juicy slice?" + +"How?" An interested pucker appeared suddenly between the detective's +expressive brows, and Carlis laughed. + +"Oh, we're all in it--you may as well be! You're on the inside, as it +is! The play got too high for Rockamore, and he cashed in; you've +bluffed old Mallowe till he's looking up sailing dates for Algiers, +but I knew you'd be sensible, when it came to the scratch, and divide +the pot, rather than blow your whistle and have the game pulled!" + +"But it was old Mallowe"--Blaine's tone was puzzled--"who succeeded in +transferring all that worthless land he'd acquired to Lawton, when +Lawton wouldn't come in and help him on that Street-Railways grab, +which would have made him practically sole owner of all the suburban +real estate around Illington, wasn't it?" + +"Sure it was!" laughed Carlis, ponderously. "But who made it possible +for Mallowe to palm off those miles of vacant lots--as improved city +property, of course--on Lawton, without his knowledge, and even have +them recorded in his name, but me? What am I boss for, if I don't own +a little man like the Recorder of Deeds?" + +"I see!" Blaine tapped his finger-tips together and smiled slowly, in +meditative appreciation. "And it was your man, also, Paddington, who +found means to provide the mortgage, letter of appeal for a loan, note +for the loan itself, and so forth. As for Rockamore--" + +"Oh, he fixed up the dividend end, watered the stock and kept the +whole thing going by phony financing while there was a chance of our +hoodwinking Lawton into going into it voluntarily. He was one grand +little promoter, Rockamore was; pity he got cold feet, and promoted +himself into another sphere!" + +"All things considered, it may not be such a pity, after all!" Blaine +rose suddenly, whirling his chair about until it stood before him, and +he faced his amazed visitor from across it. "Now, Carlis, suppose you +promote yourself from my office!" + +"Wh-what!" It was a mere toneless wheeze, but breathing deep of brute +strength. + +"I told you when you first came in that this promised to be one of my +busiest days. You're taking up my time. To be sure, you've cleared up +a few minor points for me, and testified to them, but you haven't +really told me anything I didn't know. The game is up! Now--get out!" + +He braced himself, as he spoke, to meet the mountain of flesh which +hurled itself upon him in a blind rush of Berserk rage--braced +himself, met and countered it. Never had that spacious office--the +scene of so many heartrending appeals, dramatic climaxes, impassioned +confessions and violent altercations--witnessed so terrific a +struggle, brief as it was. + +"I'll kill you!" roared the maddened brute. "You'll never leave your +office, alive, to repeat what I've told! I'll kill you, with my bare +hands, first, d--n you!" + +But even as he spoke, his voice ended in a surprised scream of agony, +which told of strained sinews and ripped tendons, and he fell in a +twisted, crumpled heap of quivering, inert flesh at the detective's +feet, the victim of a scientific hold and throw which had not been +included in his pugilistic education. + +Instantly Blaine's hand found an electric bell in the wall, and almost +simultaneously the door opened and three powerful figures sprang upon +the huge, recumbent form and bound him fast. + +"Take him away," ordered the detective. "I'll have the warrant ready +for him." + +"Warrant for what?" spluttered Carlis, through bruised and bleeding +lips. "I didn't do anything to you! You attacked me because I wouldn't +swear to a false charge. I got a legal right to try to defend +myself!" + +"You've convicted yourself, out of your own mouth," retorted Blaine. + +The other looked into his eyes and quailed, but blustered to the end. + +"Nobody heard, but you, and my word goes, in this town! What d'you +mean--convicted myself?" + +For answer Blaine again touched that little spring in the protruding +under-ledge of his desk, and out upon the trenchant stillness, broken +only by the rapid, stertorous breathing of the manacled man, burst the +strident tones of that same man's voice, just as they had sounded a +few minutes before: + +"'But the big money--the money Lawton made by grinding down the +masses--wouldn't you like a slice of it yourself, Blaine--a nice, fat, +juicy slice.... Oh, we're all in it, you may as well be!... The play +got too high for Rockamore, and he cashed in; you've bluffed old +Mallowe till he's looking up sailing dates for Algiers, but I knew +you'd be sensible, when it came to the scratch, and divide the pot, +rather than blow your whistle and have the game pulled.... Who made it +possible for Mallowe to palm off those miles of vacant lots--as +improved city property, of course--on Lawton without his knowledge, +and even have them recorded in his name, but me? What am I boss for, +if I don't own a little man like the Recorder of Deeds?'" + +"What is it?" gasped the wretched Carlis, in a fearful whisper, when +the voice had ceased. "What is that--infernal thing?" + +"A detectaphone," returned Blaine laconically. "You've heard of them, +haven't you, Carlis? When you asked me if we were alone, if any of my +operatives were spying about, I told you that no human ear overheard +our conversation. But this little concealed instrument--this unseen +listener--recorded and bore witness to your confession; and this is a +Recorder you do not own, and cannot buy!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE CREVICE + + +"But I don't understand"--Guy Morrow's voice was plaintive, and he +eyed his chief reproachfully, as he stood before Blaine's desk, +twisting his hat nervously--"why you didn't nail him! You've got the +goods on him, all right; and now, just because you only had him +arrested on a charge of assault with intent to kill, he's gone and +used his influence, and got himself released under heavy bail. Oh, why +won't you go heeled or guarded? We can't afford to lose you, sir, any +of us, and now he'll do for you, as sure as shooting!" + +"Who--Carlis?" Blaine spoke almost absently, as if the portentous +scene of two hours before had already almost slipped from his memory. +"Oh, he won't get away, and I'm not afraid of him! I let him go for +the same reason that I didn't have Mallowe arrested this morning--for +the same reason why I haven't stopped Paddington's philandering with +the French girl, Fifine: because a link is still missing in the chain; +the shell, the exterior of the whole conspiracy is in the hollow of my +hand, but I can't find the chink, the crevice into which to insert my +lever and split it apart, lay the whole dastardly scheme irrefutably +open to the light of day. I want to complete my case: in other words, +Guy--I want to win!" + +"And you will, sir; you've never failed yet! Only I--I don't have any +luck!" The young man's haggard face grew wistful. "I want Emily +Brunell; I need her--and I seem farther from finding her than ever!" + +"I didn't know that was your job!" the detective objected, with a +brusqueness which was not unkind. "I told you I'd take care of that, +in my own way. I thought I assigned you to the task of finding out who +fired at you, from the darkened window of your own room, when you were +in Brunell's house across the street; also I wanted a line on those +two mysterious boarders of Mrs. Quinlan's." + +"Nothing doing on either count, sir," Morrow returned, ruefully. "I +can't get a glimpse of them, or a line on either of them; and as for +who tried to plug me--well, there isn't an iota of evidence, that I +can discover, beyond the bare fact. I didn't come to report, for +there's nothing to say, except that I'm sticking at it, and if I don't +get a sight of those two before long I'm going to burn a red sulphur +light some fine night, and yell 'fire!' I bet that'll bring the old +codger out, for all his rheumatism!" + +"Not a bad idea," Blaine commented, adding dryly: "What did you come +for, then, Guy?" + +"To find out if you had any news you were willing to tell me yet, +sir--of Emily?" + +"Yes." The detective's slow smile was quizzical. "The most significant +news in the world." + +"You've discovered their destination--hers and her father's?" the +young operative cried eagerly. "You traced their taxi, of course!" + +"No." + +"Then what is it?" + +"Just that, Guy--that I haven't been able to trace the taxicab in +which they left their house. Think it over. Report to me when you've +got anything definite to tell me." + +With a curt nod Blaine dismissed him, but he glanced after the +dejected, retreating figure with a very kindly, affectionate light in +his fatherly eyes. It was dusk when he was aroused from a deep study +of his carefully annotated resume of the case by the excited jangle of +the telephone bell, to hear Guy Morrow's no less excited but joyous +voice at the other end of the wire. + +"I've found her! I've found Emily! She loves me! She does! I made her +listen, and she understands everything! She don't mind a bit about my +hounding her father down, because she sees how it all had to be, and +the old man's a regular brick about it!" + +"Where--" + +"It was the kitten did it--that blessed Caliban! And think of it, sir; +I've always hated cats, ever since I was a kid! Emily says--" + +"But how--" + +"Maybe if the hall had been lighted--but Mrs. Quinlan's got that +parsimony peculiar to all landladies--and I trod on its tail, and it +was all up!" + +"Morrow, are you a driveling idiot, or an operative? Are you +reporting, or exploding? If you called me up to tell me that you trod +on the tail of your landlady's parsimony, you don't need a job in a +detective bureau; you need a lunacy commission!" Blaine's voice was +vexed, but little smiling lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes. + +"I beg your pardon, sir; I am almost crazy, I think--with happiness. +I've found Mr. Jimmy Brunell and his daughter. They are the two +mysterious boarders whom Mrs. Quinlan has been shielding all this +time, and I never even suspected it! It was Jimmy Brunell who fired +at me that night of the day they disappeared. He didn't recognize me, +and thought I was one of his enemies--one of Paddington's men, like +young Charley Pennold. + +"You remember, I told you I found the kitten in the deserted house and +brought it home for Mrs. Quinlan to take care of? Well, she never +lights the gas until the very last minute, and late this afternoon, +about half an hour ago, I was stumbling along the second-floor hallway +to my room in the dark, when I stepped on the kitten. It yelled like +mad, and Emily heard it from her room above. Forgetting caution and +everything else, she opened the door and called it! + +"Of course, when I heard her voice, I was upstairs two steps at a +time, with the cat under my arm clawing like a vixen. She was +perfectly freezing at first--not the cat; it's a he; I mean Emily. But +after I explained that when I'd gotten to care for her I only tried to +help her, she--oh, well, I'm going to let her tell you herself, if +you're willing, sir! I'll bring them both down to you now, if you say +so, she and her father. Jimmy Brunell's more than anxious to see you; +he wants to make a clean breast of the whole affair--tell all he knows +about the case; and I think what he's got to say will astonish you and +finish the whole thing--crack that nut you were talking to me about +this afternoon, provide the link in the chain, the crevice in the +crime cube! May I bring them?" + +Blaine acquiesced, and after issuing his orders to the subordinates +about him, waited in a fever of impatience which he could scarcely +control, and which, had he stopped to think of it, would have +astonished him beyond measure. That he--who had daily, almost hourly, +awaited unmoved the appearance of men famous and infamous, illustrious +and obscure, should so agitatedly view the coming of this old +offender, was incomprehensible. + +Yet although he had really learned little that was conclusive from +Guy's somewhat incoherent account, he felt, in common with his young +operative, that the crux of the matter lay here, to his hand, that +from the lips of this old ex-convict would fall the magic word which +would open to him the inner door of this mystery of mysteries--which +would prove, as the golden key of truth, absolute and unassailable. + +After what seemed an incredibly long period of suspense, the door +opened and Marsh ushered them in--Morrow, his face wreathed in triumph +and smiles; a brown-haired, serene-eyed girl whom Blaine remembered +from his memorable interview with her at the Anita Lawton Club; and a +tall, grizzled, smooth-shaven man, who held himself proudly erect, as +if the weight of years had fallen from his shoulders. + +"Yes, sir, I'm Brunell," the latter announced, when the incidental +salutations were over, "--Jimmy Brunell, the forger. I've lived +straight, and tried to keep the truth from my little girl, for her own +sake, but perhaps it is better as it is. She knows everything now, and +has forgiven much, because she's a woman like her mother, God bless +her! I've come of my own free will, to tell you all you want to know, +and prove it, too!" + +"Sit down, all of you. Brunell, you forged the signature to the +mortgage on Pennington Lawton's home, at Paddington's instigation?" + +"Yes, sir. And the signature on the note given for the loan from +Moore, and the whole letter supposed to be from Mr. Lawton to Mallowe, +asking him to procure that loan for him, and all the other crooked +business which helped sweep Mr. Lawton's fortune away. But I didn't +understand how big the job was, nor just what they were trying to put +over, or I wouldn't have done it. I wish to heaven I hadn't, now, but +it's too late for that; I can only do what's left me to help repair +the damage. I wish I'd taken the consequences Paddington threatened me +with, through Charley Pennold--curse them both! + +"For it wasn't because of the money I did it, sir, although what they +offered me was a small fortune, and would have been a mighty hard +temptation in the old days. It was because if I refused they were +going to strike at me through my little girl, the one thing on earth +I've got left to love! They were going to have me sent up on an old +score which no one else even had suspected I'd been mixed up in. I +didn't know--until just now when this young friend here, Mr. Morrow, +told me--that it had been outlawed long years ago, and I can see that +they counted on my not knowing. How they found out about it, anyway, +is a mystery to me, but that Paddington is the devil himself! However, +if I didn't do the trick for them, they'd have me convicted, and once +out of the way, my little girl would be helpless in their hands. They +talked of sweatshops, and worse--" + +The old man broke down, and shuddering, covered his face with his thin +fingers. But in a moment, before the pitying, outstretched hand of his +daughter could reach his shoulder, he had regained control of himself, +and resumed: + +"I did what they asked of me--all they asked. But I was suspicious, +not only because they didn't take me fully into their confidence, but +because I knew Paddington and his breed; and also, Miss Lawton had +been kind to my little girl. If they meant any harm to Pennington +Lawton's daughter, or if their scheme, whatever kind of a hold-up it +was, failed to pan out as they expected, and they tried to make me the +scape-goat--well, I meant to protect myself and Lawton. My word would +have to be proof against theirs that they forced me into what I did, +but I could fix it so that I could prove to anybody, without any +doubt, that Lawton never wrote that note to Mallowe from Long Bay +about that loan two years ago, and that would sort of substantiate my +word that the signatures weren't his, either." + +"How could you prove such a thing?" Blaine leaned forward tensely. + +"Young Morrow, here, tells me that you've got that note--the note +asking Mallowe to arrange the loan for Lawton. Will you get it, +please, sir? I don't want to see it; I want you to read it to me, and +then I'll tell you something about it. They thought they were clever, +the rascals, but I fooled them at their own game! I cut out the words +from a bundle of Lawton's old letters which they gave me, and I +manufactured the note, all right. I did it, word for word, just like +they wanted me to--but I put my _own private mark_ on it, that they +couldn't discover, so that I could prove anywhere, any time, that it +was a forgery!" + +In a concealed fever of excitement, the detective produced the fateful +note from his private file. + +"That looks like it!" chuckled old Jimmy. "It's dated August +sixteenth, nineteen hundred and twelve, isn't it? Now, sir, will you +read it out loud, please?" + +Blaine unfolded the single sheet of hotel note-paper, and looked once +more at the following message: + + My Dear Mallowe: + + Kindly regard this letter as strictly + confidential. I desire to negotiate a private loan immediately, + for a considerable amount,--three hundred + and fifty thousand dollars, in fact,--but + for obvious reasons, which you, as a man of + discretion and financial astuteness second to + none in this country, will readily understand, a + public assumption of it by me would be disastrous + to a degree, under the prevailing conditions. Ask + Moore if he can arrange the matter for me, but + feel him out tentatively first. If he does not see + his way clear to it, let me know without delay, + and I will come to Illington and confer with + you. + + I am prepared, of course, to give him my personal + note for same, but do not desire any direct + dealings with him. In fact, it would be exceedingly + dangerous to my interests if he ever mentioned + it to me personally, even when he fancied + himself alone with me. Impress this upon him. + I will pay far above the legal rate of interest, of + course. You can arrange this with him. + + I will go into the whole matter of this contingency + confidentially with you when I see you. In + the meantime, I know that I can rely upon you. + + Awaiting the earliest possible reply, and thanking + you for the interest I know you will take + in this affair, + + Sincerely, your friend, + + Pennington Lawton. + +After glancing at it a moment Blaine read the letter aloud in a calm, +unemotional voice which gave no hint of the tumult within him. He had +scarcely finished when Jimmy Brunell, greatly excited, interrupted +triumphantly: + +"That's it! That's the note! Don't see anything phony about it, do +you, sir? Neither did they! Now, leave out the 'My dear Mallowe,' and +beginning with the next as the first line, count down five lines. The +last letter of the last word on that line is _f_, _isn't it_? Omit a +line and take the last letter of the next, and so on for four +letters--that is, the last words of the four alternate lines beginning +with the fifth from the top are: _of_, _a_, _ask_, and _see_, and the +last letters of those four spell a word. That word is _fake_, and so +is the note, and the whole infernal business! _Fake_, from beginning +to end! I put my mark on it, sir, so it could be known for what it is, +in case of need. Now the need has come." + +"By Jove, so it is!" Guy Morrow cried, unable to restrain himself +longer. "You're a wonder, Mr. Brunell!" + +"You have rendered us a greater service than you know," supplemented +Blaine, the while his pulses throbbed in time to his leaping heart. +The crevice! The rift in the criminal's almost perfected scheme, into +which he had succeeded in inserting the little silver probe of his +specialized knowledge, and disclosed to a gaping world the truth! He +had found it at last, and his work was all but done. + +"But what's to happen to me now?" The exultation had died out of his +voice, and Jimmy Brunell looked suddenly pinched and gray and tired, +and very, very old. "I don't care much what happens to me, but my +daughter--Emily--" + +"I'll take care of her, whatever happens!" Guy's heart was in his +buoyant voice. "But you'll be all right. Don't you worry! Haven't you +got Mr. Blaine on your side?" + +"I'll try to see that you don't suffer for your enforced share in the +Lawton conspiracy, Brunell. It seems to me that you've already gone +through trouble enough on that score, great as was the damage you +half-unwittingly wrought," Blaine remarked, reassuringly--adding: +"But why didn't you come forward before, and give your testimony?" + +"There wasn't any court action," the old man returned, hesitatingly. +"And besides, I was afraid to come forward and tell what I knew, +because of Emily. I would have done it, though, as soon as I learned +they had robbed Miss Lawton of everything. I wasn't sure of that, you +see." + +"One thing more!" Blaine pressed the bell which would summon his +secretary. "Why, if you had reformed, did you keep in your possession +all these years your forging apparatus?" + +"I had it taken care of for me while I served my term, meaning to use +it again when I came out. I was bitter and revengeful, and I meant to +do everybody up brown that I could. But when I was free and found +my--my wife had gone and left me Emily, it seemed like a hostage from +her gentle spirit given to the world, that I wouldn't do any more +wrong. I kept the plant because I didn't know how to dispose of it so +no one else could use it, and as the years went by, I got more and +more scared at the thought of it. + +"I was afraid both ways--afraid it would be discovered, but more +afraid I'd be found out if I tried to get rid of it. So I buried it in +the cellar of my little shop and did my level best to forget it. I'd +almost succeeded when, God knows how, Paddington found me. You know +the rest." + +"You rang, sir?" Marsh, the secretary, had entered noiselessly. + +"Yes. Have these two people--this young lady and her father--conducted +in my own limousine to my house, and made comfortable there until I +give you further directions as to what I wish done concerning them." + +Blaine cut short the old forger's broken words of gratitude in his +brusquely kind fashion, but his heart imaged always the light in the +girl's soft eyes as she bent a parting glance upon him, like a +benediction, before the door closed. + +"What are you going to do with them, sir?" young Morrow asked +anxiously when they were alone. + +Henry Blaine paused a moment before replying. + +"I might let him take his chance before the court, on the strength of +his years, and his having turned State's evidence voluntarily, Guy, +but he's an old offender, and Carlis' faction is strong. My racing car +will make ninety miles an hour, easily, and it can do it unmolested, +with my private sign on the hood. It can meet the Canadian express at +Branchtown at dawn. I've a little farm in a nice community in Canada, +not too isolated, and I'm going to make it over to you as part of your +reward for your work on the Lawton case.... + +"No, don't thank me! I'm sworn on the side of law and order, but +Justice is stern and sometimes blind because she will not see. +Remember, the Greatest Jurist Himself recommended mercy!" + +Soon afterward, as they sat discussing the wind-up of the case, the +subject of the second set of cryptograms was broached, and Blaine +smiled at Morrow's utter bewilderment concerning them. + +"Still puzzling about those, Guy? They weren't as simple as the first +one was, that of the system of odd-shaped characters and dots. The +later ones were the more difficult because they were of no set system +at all--I mean no one system, but a primitive conglomeration, +probably evolved by Paddington himself, based on script music and also +the old childish trick of writing letters shaped like figures, which +can be read by reversing the paper, and holding it up to the light. + +"Just a minute, and we'll look at the two notes, the one you found in +Brunell's room in the deserted cottage, and the other which came to me +in the cigarette box meant for Paddington, from Mac Alarney. Then +we'll be able to see how they were worked out. And you'll see that +though they look extremely meaningless and confusing, they are in +reality extremely simple." + +As he spoke, Blaine produced them from his desk drawer, and spread +them out before him. + +"Before you examine them," he went on, "let me explain the musical +script idea on which they are fundamentally based, in case you are +unfamiliar with it. The sign '&' before a bar of music means that +music is written in the treble clef--that is, all the notes following +it are above the central _C_ on the piano keyboard. Thus"--here he +drew rapidly on a scrap of paper and passed a scrawled scale over to +the interested operative. + +[Illustration: An image of a music scale diagram is shown here in the +text.] + +"The dot on the line below the five lines which are joined together by +the sign of the treble clef is _C_. The dot on the space between that +and the first of the five lines is _D_. The dot on the first line is +_E_; on the next space is _F_, and so forth, in their alphabetical +order on the alternating lines and spaces. Do you see how easily, they +could be used as the letters of words in a cryptogram, by any one of +an ingenious turn of mind? Of course, each bar--that is, each section +enclosed by lines running straight up and down--represents a word. Now +for the rest of it: + +"Leaving the script music idea aside, and taking the characters not so +represented in the cryptogram, we find that '3' when viewed from the +under side of the paper will look very much like an English _E_; 7 +like _T_; 9 like _P_; 2 like _S_, and so forth. + +"Try it. Here is the first note, the one you found. Puzzle out the +musical notes by their alphabetical nomenclature from the key I just +gave you on the scrap of paper there; then hold the note up to the +light, and read the other letters from the under side. Try it with +both notes, and tell me what you find." + +Guy took the papers, and wonderingly spelled out the letters +represented by the musical notes, from the scale Blaine had given him. +Then turning the pages over, he held them up to the light, an +exclamation of absorbed interest escaping from him. + +The great detective watched him in silence, until at last, with a +glowing sense of achievement, Guy read: + +"'Beat it at once. You are suspected. Detective on trail. Rite old +address. I am sending funds as usual. If caught you get life sentence. +Pad.'" + +Blaine nodded. + +"Now, the other." + +"'Patient still unconscious. Consultation necessary at once to save +life. Should he die advise Reddy what disposition to make of body. +Mac.'" + +The last cryptogram proved the more easily decipherable, and when the +young operative had read it aloud, he looked up with a glowing face. + +"By George, it's a world-beater! What put you on the right track?" + +"The last one. I realized then that they were afraid the kidnaped man, +Ramon Hamilton, who had been grievously wounded, would die on their +hands, and that rather than face the results of such a contingency +they would attempt to obtain some obscure but experienced medical aid, +and in a way which would give the physician no inkling of his +patient's identity or whereabouts. I therefore sent out that circular +letter to every doctor in Illington, warning each one to come to me in +the event of his having received a mysterious summons. It worked, as +you know, and Doctor Alwyn responded." + +"Well, if you hadn't been able to read the cryptogram, sir, the Lord +knows what would have happened!" + +"And if you hadn't trodden on the cat's tail--" Blaine suggested +dryly. + +[Illustration: An image of a coded message is shown here in the text.] + +Guy glanced at him in sudden, swift comprehension. + +"Why, look here, sir, I believe you knew that Emily and her father +were the two mysterious boarders at Mrs. Quinlan's, all the time! You +said it was significant that you hadn't been able to trace the number +of the taxicab in which they had run away from the neighborhood! There +never was a taxicab in all Illington which couldn't be traced by its +number! You knew, of course, that that story of Mrs. Quinlan's was a +fake, and then when I told you of the two concealed people there, you +had it all doped out! Oh, why didn't you tell me?" + +"Because I didn't want you to precipitate matters just then, Guy," the +detective responded, kindly. "The house was watched--they couldn't get +away." + +"That's a good one!" Young Morrow looked his self-disgust. "Hire +operatives on your staff, sir, and then have to set others to tail +them, and see that they don't get into trouble! Heavens, what an idiot +I am! I've found out one thing, though, from those cryptograms"--he +pointed to the cipher notes on the desk. "Music's a cinch! I can read +it already, and I'm going to start in and learn how to play on +something or other, the first chance I get! There's a fellow next door +to Mrs. Quinlan's with a clarinet--" He paused, and his face sobered +as he added: "But I forgot! I sha'n't be there any more." + +Before Blaine could speak, there was a knock upon the door, and Marsh +entered with hurried circumspection. There was a look of latent, +shocked importance upon his usually impassive face, and he carried in +his hand a newspaper which was still damp from the press. + +"I beg your pardon, sir, but I thought you would want to know at once. +There's been a murder! Paddington, the private detective, was found in +the Rhododendron Alley, just off the Mall in the park, stabbed to the +heart!" + +Henry Blaine took the paper and spread it out upon the desk before +him, as Guy Morrow, with a soft, low whistle, turned away. The "extra" +imparted little more than the secretary's announcement had done. There +was no known motive for the crime, no clue to the murderer. When +found, the man had been dead for some hours. + +"Well, sir," observed Guy at last, when the secretary had withdrawn, +"one by one they're getting away from us--and by the same route. First +Rockamore, now Paddington!" + +Blaine looked up with a grim smile. + +"Putting a woman wise to anything is like lighting a faulty +time-fuse: you never can tell when you're going to get your own +fingers blown off! But tell me something, Guy. What was that tune you +whistled a moment ago, when Marsh came in with the news? It had a +vaguely familiar ring." + +"Oh, that?" asked the operative, with a sheepishly guileless air. "It +was just a bit from an English musical comedy of two or three years +back, I think. It's got a silly-sounding name--something like 'There's +a Boat Sails on Saturday--'" + +Blaine's wry smile broadened to a grin of genuine appreciation, and +rising, he clapped the young man heartily on the shoulder. + +"Right you are, Guy! And it won't be our job to search the sailing +lists. You may not always be able to see what lies under your nose, +but your perspective is not bad. Hell has only one fury worse than a +woman scorned, that I know of, and that is a woman fooled! We'll let +it go at that!" + +The evening had already grown late, but that eventful day was not to +end without one more brief scene of vital import. Marsh presently +reappeared, this time bearing a card. + +"'Mr. Mallowe,'" read Blaine, with a half-smile. "Show him in, Marsh, +and have your men ready. You know what to do. No, Guy, you needn't go. +This interview will not be a private one." + +"Mr. Blaine!" Mallowe entered pompously and then paused, glancing +rather uncertainly from the detective to Morrow. It needed no keen +observer to note the change in the man since the scene of that +morning, at Miss Lawton's. He had become a mere shell of his former +self. The smug unctuousness was gone; the jaunty side-whiskers +drooped; his chalk-like skin fell in flabby folds, and his crafty +eyes shifted like a hunted animal's. + +"Mr. Blaine, I had hoped for a strictly confidential conference with +you, but I presume this person to be one of your trusted assistants, +and it is immaterial now--the matter upon which I have come is too +pressing! Scandal, notoriety must be averted at all costs! I find that +a frightful, a hideous mistake has been made, and I am actually upon +the point of being involved in a conspiracy as terrible as that of +which my poor friend Pennington Lawton was the victim! And I am as +innocent as he! I swear it!" + +"You may as well conserve your strength and your strategic ingenuity +for the immediate future, Mr. Mallowe. You'll need both," Blaine +returned, coolly. "If you've come here to make any appeal--" + +"I've come to assert my innocence!" the broken man cried with a flash +of his old proud dignity. "I only learned this evening of the truth, +and that those scoundrels Carlis and Rockamore had implicated me! How +a man of your discernment and experience could believe for a moment +that I was a party to any fraudulent--" + +Blaine pressed the bell. + +"There is no use in prolonging this interview, Mr. Mallowe!" he said, +curtly. "All the evidence is in my hands." + +"But allow me to explain!" The flabby face grew more deathlike, until +the burning eyes seemed peering from the face of a corpse. + +Two men entered, and at sight of them, the former pompous president of +the Street Railways of Illington plumped to his fat, quaking knees. + +"For God's sake, listen! You must listen, Blaine!" he shrieked. "I am +one of the prominent men of this country! I have three married +daughters, two of them with small children! The disgrace, the infamy +of this, will kill them! I will make restitution; I will--" + +"Pennington Lawton had one daughter, unmarried, unprovided for! Did +you think of _her_?" asked Blaine, grimly. "I'm sorry for the innocent +who must suffer with you, Mr. Mallowe, but in this instance the law +must take its course. Lead him away." + +When the wailing, quavering voice had subsided behind the closing +door, Henry Blaine turned to young Morrow with a weary look of pain, +age-old, in his eyes. + +"Unpleasant, wasn't it?" he asked grimly. "I try to school myself +against it, but with all my experience, a scene like this makes me +sick at heart. I know the wretch deserves what is coming to him, just +as Rockamore knew when he unfalteringly sped that bullet--just as +Carlis knew when he heard his own voice repeated by the dictagraph. +And yet I, who make my living, and shall continue to make it, by +unearthing malefactors; I, who have built my career, made my +reputation, proved myself to be what I am by the detection and +punishment of wrong-doing--I wish with all my heart and soul, before +God, that there was no such thing as crime in all this fair green +world!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +CLEARED SKIES + + +Just as in autumn, the period of Indian summer brings a reminiscent +warmth and sunshine, so sometimes in late winter a day will come now +and then which is a harbinger of the not far-distant springtide, like +a promise, during present storm and stress, of better things to come. + +Such a day, balmy and gloriously bright, found four people seated +together in the spacious, sunny morning-room of a great house on +Belleair Avenue. A young man, pale and wan as from a long illness, but +with a new steadiness and clarity born of suffering in his eyes; a +girl, slender and black-robed, her delicate face flushing with an +exquisite, spring-like color, her eyes soft and misty and spring-like, +too, in their starry fulfillment of love that has been tried and found +all-sufficing; another sable-clad figure, but clerically frocked and +portly; and the last, a keen-faced, kindly-eyed man approaching +middle-age--a man with sandy hair and a mustache just slightly tinged +with gray. He might, from his appearance and bearing, have been a +great teacher, a great philanthropist, a great statesman. But he was +none of these--or rather, let us say, he was all, and more. He was the +greatest factor for good which the age had produced, because he was +the greatest instrument of justice, the crime-detector of the +century. + +The pale young man moved a little in his chair, and the girl laid her +hand caressingly upon his blue-veined one. She was seated close to +him--in fact, Anita was never willing, in these later days, to be so +far from Ramon that she could not reach out and touch him, as if to +assure herself that he was there, that he was safe from the enemies +who had encompassed them both, and that her ministering care might +shield him. + +Doctor Franklin noted the movement, slight as it was, and cleared his +throat, importantly. + +"Of course, my dear children," he began, impressively, "if it is your +earnest desire, I will perform the marriage ceremony for you here in +this room at noon to-morrow. But I trust you have both given the +matter careful thought--not, of course, as to the suitability of your +union, but the--I may say, the manner of it! A ceremony without a +social function, without the customary observances which, although +worldly and filled with pomp and vanity, nevertheless are befitted by +usage, in these mundane days, to those of your station in life, seems +slightly unconventional, almost--er--unseemly." + +"But we don't care for the pomp and vanity, and the social observances, +and all the rest of it, do we, Ramon?" the girl asked. + +Ramon Hamilton smiled, and his eyes met and held hers. + +"We only want each other," he said quietly. + +"But it seems so very precipitate!" the clergyman urged, turning as if +for moral support to the impassive figure of Henry Blaine. "So soon +after the shadow of tragedy has crossed this threshold! What will +people say?" + +A little vagrant breeze, like a lost, unseasonable butterfly, came in +at the open window and stirred the filmy curtain, bearing on its soft +breath the odor of narcissus from the bloom-laden window-box. + +"Oh, Doctor Franklin!" cried the girl, impulsively. "Don't talk of +tragedy just now! Spring is so near, and we love each other so! If +he--my dear, dead father--can hear, he will understand, and wish it to +be so!" + +"As you will." The minister rose. "I gave you your name, Anita. I +consecrated your father's soul to Heaven, and his body to the dust, +and I will give his daughter in marriage to the man he chose for her +protector, whenever it is your will. But, Mr. Blaine, what do you say? +You seem to have more influence over Miss Lawton than I, although I +can scarcely understand it. Don't you agree with me that the world +will talk?" + +"I do!" responded Henry Blaine fervently. "And I say--let it! It can +say of these two children only what I do--bless you, both! Sorrow and +suffering and tragedy have taken their quota of these young lives--now +let a little happiness and joy and sunshine and love in upon the +circumspect gloom you would still cast about them! You ministers are +steeped in the spiritual misery of the world, the doctors in the +physical; but we crime-specialists are forced to drink of it to its +dregs, physical, mental, moral, spiritual! And there is so much in +this tainted, sin-ridden world of ours that is beautiful and pure and +happy and holy, if we will but give it a chance!" + +Doctor Franklin coughed, in a severely condemnatory fashion. + +"Now that I have learned your opinion, in a broad, general way, Mr. +Blaine, I can understand your point of view in regard to that young +criminal, Charles Pennold, when at the time of the trial you used your +influence to have him paroled in your custody, instead of being sent +to prison, where he belonged." + +"Exactly." Blaine's tone was dry. "I firmly believe that there are +many more young boys and men in our prisons, who should in reality be +in hospitals, or in sheltering, uplifting, sympathetic hands, than +there are criminals unpunished. And you, with your broadly, +professionally charitable point of view, Doctor," he added with keen +enjoyment, "will, I am convinced, be delighted to know that Charley +Pennold is doing splendidly. He will develop in time into one of my +most trusted, capable operatives, I have no doubt. He has the +instinct, the real nose, for crime, but circumstances from his birth +and even before that, forced him on the wrong side of the fence. He +was, if you will pardon the vernacular, on the outside, looking in. +Now he's on the inside, looking out!" + +"I sincerely trust so!" the minister responded frigidly and turned to +the others. "I will leave you now. If it is your irrevocable desire to +have the ceremony at noon to-morrow, I will make all the necessary +arrangements. In fact, I will telephone you later, when everything is +settled." + +"Oh, thank you, Dr. Franklin! I knew you wouldn't fail us!" Anita +murmured. "Don't forget to tell Mrs. Franklin that she will hear from +me. She must surely come, you know!" + +When the door had closed on the minister's broad, retreating back, +Ramon Hamilton turned with a suspicion of a flush in his wan cheeks, +to the detective. + +"If I'd gone to any Sunday school he presided over, when I was a +kiddie, I'd have been a train-robber now!" he observed darkly. "I'm +glad you lit into him about young Pennold, Mr. Blaine. He started +it!" + +"But think of the others!" Anita Lawton turned her face for a moment +to the spring-like day outside. "Mr. Mallowe dead in his cell from +apoplexy, Mr. Carlis imprisoned for life, Mac Alarney and all the rest +facing long years behind gray walls and iron bars--oh, I know it is +just; I remember what they did to my father and to me; and yet somehow +in this glorious sunshine and with all the ages and ages just as +bright, spreading before me, I can find charity and mercy in my heart +for all the world!" + +"Charity and mercy," repeated Ramon soberly. "Yes, dearest. But not +liberty to continue their crimes--to do to others what they did to +us!" + +A spasm of pain crossed his face, and she bent over him solicitously. + +"Oh, what is it, Ramon? Speak to me!" + +"Nothing, dear, it's all right now. Just a twinge of the old pain." + +"Those murdering fiends, who made you suffer so!" she cried, and added +with feminine illogicality: "I'm _not_ sorry, after all, that they're +in prison! I'm glad they've got their just deserts. Oh, Ramon, I've +been afraid to distress you by asking you, but did you tell the truth +at the trial--all the truth, I mean? Was that really all you +remember?" + +"Yes, dear," he replied a trifle wearily. "When I left Mr. Blaine's +office that day, I was hurrying along Dalrymple Street, when just +outside the Colossus Building, a boy about fifteen--that one who is in +the reformatory now--collided with me. Then he looked up into my face, +and grasped my arm. + +"'You're Mr. Hamilton, aren't you?' he gasped. 'Oh, come quick, sir! +Mr. Ferrand's had a stroke or something, and I was just running to get +help. You don't remember me, I guess. I'm Mr. Ferrand's new +office-boy, Frankie Allen. You was in to see him about ten days ago, +don't you remember?' + +"Well, as I told you, 'Nita dearest, old Mr. Ferrand was one of my +father's best friends. His offices were in the Colossus Building, and +I _had_ been in to see him about ten days before--so in spite of Mr. +Blaine's warning, I was perfectly unsuspecting. Of course, I didn't +remember his office-boy from Adam, but that fact never occurred to +me, then. I went right along with the boy, and he talked so volubly +that I didn't notice we had gotten into the wrong elevator--the +express--until its first stop, seven floors above Mr. Ferrand's. +They must have staged the whole thing pretty well--Carlis and +Paddington and their crew--for when I stepped out of the express +elevator, there was no one in sight that I remember but the boy who +was with me. I pressed the button of the local, which was just +beside the express--there was a buzz and whirring hum as if the +elevator had ascended, and the door opened. As I stepped over its +threshold, I felt a violent blow and terrific pain on the back of my +head, and seemed to fall into limitless space. That was all I knew +until I woke up in the hospital where Mr. Blaine had taken me +after discovering and rescuing me, to see your dear face bending over +mine!" + +"One of Paddington's men was waiting, and hit you on the head with a +window-pole, as you stepped into the open elevator shaft," Blaine +supplemented. "It was all a plant, of course. You only fell to the +roof of the elevator, which was on a level with the floor below. There +they carried you into the office of a fake company, kept you until +closing time, and got you out of the building as a drunkard, conveying +you to Mac Alarney's retreat in his own machine. Nobody employed in +the building was in their pay but the elevator man, and he's got his, +along with the rest! Paddington's scheme wasn't bad; if he'd only been +on the square, he might have made a very brilliant detective!" + +"How terrible his death was!" Anita shuddered. "And how unexplainable! +No one ever found out who stabbed him, there in the park, did they?" + +Blaine did not reply. He knew that on the day following the discovery +of the murdered man, one Franchette Durand, otherwise Fifine +Dechaussee, had sailed for Havre on the ill-fated _La Tourette_, which +had gone to the bottom in mid-ocean, with all on board. He knew also +that an hour before the French girl's last tragic interview with +Paddington, she had discovered the existence of his wife, for he +himself had seen to it that the knowledge was imparted to her. Further +than that, he preferred not to conjecture. The Madonna-faced girl had +taken her secret with her to her swiftly retributive grave in the +deep. + +Blaine rose, somewhat reluctantly. Work called him, and yet he loved +to be near them in the rose-tinted high noon of their happiness. + +"I'll be on hand to-morrow, indeed I will!" he promised heartily, in +response to their eager request. + +"To-morrow! Just think!" Anita buried her glowing face in her lover's +shoulder for an instant, and then looked up with misty eyes. "Just +think, if it hadn't been for you, Mr. Blaine, there wouldn't be any +to-morrow! I don't mean about your getting my father's money all back +for me--I'm grateful, of course, but it doesn't count beside the +greater thing you have given us! But for you, there would _never_ +have been any--to-morrow." + +"That's true!" The young man's arm encircled the girl's slender waist +as they stood together in the glowing sunlight, but his other hand +gripped the detective's. "We owe life, our happiness, the future, +everything to you!" + +And so Henry Blaine left them. + +At the door he turned and glanced back, and the sight his eyes beheld +was a goodly one for him to carry away with him into the world--a +sight as old as the ages, as new as the hour, as prescient as the +hours and ages to come. Just a man and a maid, sunshine and happiness, +youth and love!--that, and the light of undying gratitude in the eyes +they bent upon him. + + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Archaic and variable spelling, as well as inconsistency in hyphenation, +has been preserved as printed in the original book except as indicated +in the list below. + +Missing and extra quote marks, along with minor punctuation +irregularities, were silently corrected. However, punctuation has not +been changed to comply with modern conventions. + +A List of Illustrations was added and illustrations have been moved, +when necessary, so that they are not in the middle of a paragraph. + +The following changes were made to the text: + + Page 33: Was "insignficant" in the original text (keep me + informed of everything that occurs, no matter how + =insignificant= or irrelevant it may seem to you to be.) + + Page 48: Was "rococco" in the original text (where the + mushroom growth of the new city sprang up in rows of + =rococo= brick and stone houses) + + Page 96: Was "Dechausee" in the original text (When the + young stenographer had departed, Fifine =Dechaussee= + appeared.) + + Page 96: Was "Dechausee" in the original text (If he makes + any further attempt to talk with you, Mademoiselle + =Dechaussee=, encourage him, draw him out.) + + Page 171: Was "d' you" in the original text (What =d'you= + s'pose brought him back?) + + Page 205: Was "Lawnot" in the original text (he took the + telephone receiver from its hook and called up Anita + =Lawton= at her home) + + Page 233: Was "offce" in the original text (three men came + back to the house with me, and entered my =office=, where + the burly one turned over to me ten five-hundred-dollar + bills.) + + Page 261: Was "busines" in the original text (There is no + blackmail about this--it is an ordinary =business= + proposition.) + + Page 279: Was "_in loco parentis_" in the original text + (Do not I and my friends stand =in _loco parentis_= to + her?) + + Page 314: Was "MacAlarney's" in the original text (and got + you out of the building as a drunkard, conveying you to + =Mac Alarney's= retreat in his own machine.) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CREVICE*** + + +******* This file should be named 29331.txt or 29331.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/9/3/3/29331 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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