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diff --git a/29670-8.txt b/29670-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a9f083 --- /dev/null +++ b/29670-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11997 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Against Odds, by Lawrence L. Lynch + +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: Against Odds + A Detective Story + +Author: Lawrence L. Lynch + +Release Date: August 11, 2009 [EBook #29670] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AGAINST ODDS *** + + + + +Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Suzanne Shell, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + AGAINST ODDS + + A Detective Story + + + + BY + + LAWRENCE L. LYNCH + (E. MURDOCH VAN DEVENTER), + + AUTHOR OF + + 'SHADOWED BY THREE,' 'A SLENDER CLUE,' 'A DEAD MAN'S STEP,' + 'MOINA,' ETC. + + + + + _COPYRIGHT._ + + + + + + LONDON: + + WARD, LOCK & BOWDEN, LIMITED, + + WARWICK HOUSE, SALISBURY SQUARE, E.C. + + NEW YORK AND MELBOURNE. + + 1894. + + * * * * * + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. 'CHICARGO GITS MY MONEY' 1 + + II. 'I TOLD MY TALE OF WOE' 12 + + III. A CONUNDRUM 25 + + IV. 'I CAN'T MAKE MYSELF LIKE HIM' 35 + + V. 'IT'S ALL A MIRACLE' 44 + + VI. 'A CRIMINAL HUNT' 54 + + VII. 'IT WAS GREENBACK BOB' 63 + + VIII. 'STRAIGHT FROM THE SHOULDER' 75 + + IX. IN DISGUISE 82 + + X. CARL MASTERS 92 + + XI. 'I DISLIKE A MYSTERY' 101 + + XII. 'MORE DANGEROUS THAN HATE' 111 + + XIII. FACE TO FACE WITH DELBRAS 122 + + XIV. MISSING--CARTE BLANCHE 131 + + XV. THE KING OF CONFIDENCE MEN 142 + + XVI. THAT LITTLE DECOY 150 + + XVII. 'THOSE TWO WOMEN' 155 + + XVIII. 'IF YOU'LL FIND ONE, I'LL FIND THE OTHER' 166 + + XIX. 'STRANGE! MISTAKEN! HEARTLESS!' 172 + + XX. 'WE MUST UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER' 178 + + XXI. 'LET ME LAUGH!' 191 + + XXII. 'THERE IS DANGER--NEAR!' 202 + + XXIII. 'YOU ARE SUFFERING IN MY STEAD' 215 + + XXIV. 'IT IS OUR FIRST CLUE' 222 + + XXV. 'IT'S A SNARE' 228 + + XXVI. A COLUMBIAN GUARD 234 + + XXVII. 'I'D SWEAR TO THEM HANDS ANYWHERE' 238 + + XXVIII. 'NOW DOWN!' 249 + + XXIX. 'FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!' 257 + + XXX. 'IT SHALL NOT BE ALL SUSPENSE' 263 + + XXXI. SIR CARROLL RAE 267 + + XXXII. FOUND DEAD 272 + + XXXIII. 'A MERCYFUL DISPENSAYSHUN' 281 + + XXXIV. 'EUREKA!' 293 + + XXXV. AFTER ALL 302 + + * * * * * + + + + +AGAINST ODDS: + +_A DETECTIVE STORY OF THE WORLD'S FAIR_ + +CHAPTER I. + +'CHICARGO GITS MY MONEY.' + + +'Eureka!' + +It was I, Carl Masters, of the secret service, so called, who uttered +this exclamation, although not a person of the exclamatory school; and +small wonder, for I was standing beneath the dome of the +Administration Building, and I had but that hour arrived at the +World's Fair. + +I was not there as a sight-seer, not on pleasure bent, and even those +first moments of arrival, I knew well, were not to be wasted. + +I had come hither straight from the Terminal Station, seeking this +stately keystone to the great Fair, not to steep my senses and fill my +eyes with beauty in myriad forms, but to seek out the great man whose +masterful hand was to create for me the passport which was to be my +'open sesame' to all within this fair White City's walls; but when I +stood beneath that lofty double dome and looked about me, I forgot all +but the beauty all around, and gazed upon the noble rotunda through +the western entrance, where 'Earth,' majestic but untamed, a +masterpiece of giant statuary, guards one massive pillar; and the same +'Earth,' yet not the same, conquered yet conquering, adds her beauty +to the strength of the column opposite--to the east, where Neptune +sports, classic as of old, around about the octagonal interior with +its splendid arches, its frescoes and gilding, its medallions and +plates of bronze, wherein gleamed, golden and fair, the names of the +world's greatest countries at its gilded panels, supported by winged +figures, and bearing engraven upon each shining surface the record of +some great event. Its medallions and graceful groups, allegorical or +symbolic, all mounting high, and higher, until illuminated by the +opal-like circle of light at the summit, Dodge's great picture crowns +the whole, with its circling procession of arts and sciences, gods and +muses, nymphs and graces, and Apollos radiant in the midst. + +Small wonder that, forgetting all but the scene before me, my lips +shot out the single word 'Eureka!' and smaller wonder that, having +vented my admiration in sound, I became aware of the fact at once, and +remembered not only who I was, but what I was, and why I was there. + +It was scarcely ten a.m., but there were people all about me, and my +exclamation caused more than one eye, inquiring, amused, cynical, or +simply stupid, to turn toward me where I stood, near the centre of the +great rotunda. + +'Big thing, ain't it?' + +I turned my head, a little rattled at the notice I had thus brought +upon myself, and saw standing close beside me a man whose garb, no +less than his nasal utterance, proclaimed him a Yankee, and a son of +the soil. I had seen him upon my entrance, standing beneath the dome, +with his head thrown back at a painful angle in an effort to read one +of the brazen plates above him, one hand tightly grasping a +half-inflated umbrella--long past its palmy days--and the other +fiercely gripped about the handle of a shawl-strap drawn tight around +a handleless basket, by no means small, and bristling at the top with +knobby protuberances which told but too plainly of the luncheon under +the pictorial newspaper tied down with abundant lashings of blue +'Shaker' yarn. + +'Big thing, indeed!' Evidently my burst of enthusiasm had brought upon +me this overture, no doubt meant to pave the way to further +conversation; and I answered, after a single quick glance at my +neighbour, as blandly as Ah Sin himself. + +'Yes, sir,' resumed the man, with a brisk nod, 'it's a big thing! When +'twas first talked up I was a good deal sot on havin' it in Noo York +State. I'd been there, ye see, twenty years ago on my weddin' trip; I +was livin' in Pennsylvany then. But, Lor! Noo York couldn't 'a' done +this here! No, sir, she couldn't. Chicargo gits my money--not that +I've got much on it,' with a nervous start and a shrugging movement as +if he were trying to draw in his pockets and obliterate all traces of +them. 'I don't never believe in carryin' money to sech places.' Then, +as if anxious to get away from a dangerous subject, he asked, 'Been +here long, stranger?' + +'About half an hour.' + +'M--um! I've done better than that; been here two hull hours. Come in +on one of them Village Grove cable cars, and come plum through +Middleway Pleasants. M--um! but they're some, them furren fellers; +only it seems to me they ain't no need of so many of them niggers of +all shades, dressed up like Callathumpians on Fourth of July, and +standin' round in everybody's way.' + +I was not there to impart information, and I let the honest soul +babble on. He had brawny shoulders and an ingenuous face, but I felt +sure he had brought with him more money than was wise or needful, and +that he would come to grief if he continued to deny the possession of +money, with his tell-tale face flatly contradicting his words. + +But I was now recalled to myself and my own affairs; and dropping a +few politely meaningless words, I left my first acquaintance and made +my way toward the pavilion at the corner, where I had been told I +should find the 'man in authority' whom I sought. + +Putting my question to a guard in the ante-room, I was told that the +man in authority was absent--would be absent two hours, perhaps; and, +not much loth to pass a little time in that splendid rotunda, stood +gazing about the beautiful Court of Honour, with its fountains, +statues, glittering and fair façades, rippling lagoons, and snowy and +superb peristyle, statue-crowned and gleaming, with blue Lake +Michigan, sun-kissed and breeze-tossed, stretching away to the horizon +in pulsating perspective. + +Fairer than any dream it looked that fair May day, with Justice, +golden and glorious, rising from out the waves, splendid as a sun +goddess, and dominating all the rest. + +As I turned away, having looked and looked again, I saw my first White +City acquaintance seated upon a settle in the shadow of one of the +mammoth arches, his basket between his knees and his umbrella between +his two clasped hands. He was talking just as amiably and frankly as +before, and this time he had for audience a dapper man with a thin +face that might have been old or young, and which I disliked at sight. +He was exceedingly well dressed; he looked very respectable, but he +also looked smug and sophisticated--too sophisticated, I thought, to +be really so well entertained as he seemed to be with my rustic +friend's confidences. + +For a few moments I watched the two, to the exclusion of the golden +Justice, the peristyle, everything; and then, the settle being long, +and the two being its sole occupants, I moved around, going in and out +unobserved among the crowd, and seated myself upon the end of the +bench, unseen by my friend, who sat with his broad shoulders and back +squarely toward me, and affording an ample screen between myself and +his companion. + +I have wondered since just what actuated me to do what I did; but I +only recall now a vague remembrance of a small black book, seen in +memory as in a vision, and a fluttering page which seemed to blazon +forth the question, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' The book?--it was +buried in dead hands long ago; and the words?--they had not been +printed in the book more indelibly than upon my memory. + +Why should the sight of this homely, honest rustic bring back these +things? I did not know; but I seated myself in the shelter of his +broad back, and affected to be absorbed in a notebook and the bronzed +plates upon the walls about me, keeping meanwhile, with one ear, +sufficiently close note upon their conversation, and letting my mind +wander. + +What a strange scene! Out upon the lagoon swift electric launches +swept by, and gondolas, slower, but graceful and picturesque, glided +to and fro, their lithe boatmen swaying to the sweep of the single +oar. + +Why did the sharp-eyed little woman opposite, on the bench in the +shadow of the goddess of Air, eye me so keenly and so long, dividing +her attention, in fact, between myself and a young mother with two +tired children, scarce more than infants both? + +Yonder went two Turks, bearing between them, swaying betwixt two long +poles, a genuine Turkish palanquin, and crying, 'Hi! hi!' to those who +obstructed their direct line of march. + +Where was the man of authority? I looked at my watch, and my thoughts +came back to myself and my own affairs. + +'An hour and a half to wait! I wonder if Brainerd is on the ground, +and what he will say of our joint undertaking when we meet; for you +can by no means establish a precedent by which to judge of Brainerd's +thoughts and deeds to come. How will our work prosper? Shall we find +it easy? and shall we succeed?' + +For Dave Brainerd and I, both professional detectives, 'man-hunters,' +if you will, were sent to this White City on a twofold mission. + +It was not our first work together, and at first we did not enter into +it with enthusiasm. + +'Masters, Brainerd,' our chief said to us one morning, 'they are going +to want a lot of good men at that World's Fair; I think I'd better put +you both on the list.' And this was all that was said then, but when +we were out of his presence Dave exploded. + +'Wants to send us to watch little boys, look after ladies' kerchiefs, +and hunt up lost babies, does he?' he began, in a fume. 'It's not +meself that'll do it; d'ye hear, Masters? I'll go like the biggest +gentleman of all, or like the sleuth I am, but no child-rescuing and +kid-copping for me! Let his honour give us,' with a theatrical +gesture, 'a foeman worthy of our steel.' + +Nothing came of this whimsical tirade, and a week had passed before +the chief spoke again upon the subject. Then we were both called into +his private office, and he said: + +'Boys, we have just found out to a certainty that Greenback Bob and +his pals are going to operate at the World's Fair. I've already +promised them more good men than I like to spare, but we can't let Bob +and his crowd slip. I did not really mean to send you, either of you, +with the others; but this is something worth while.' + +'I should say!' broke in Dave, who was no respecter of persons, unless +perhaps it might have been of Dave Brainerd. 'Do you mean to tell us, +Cap, that the dandy Frenchman is in it?' + +'He is very much in it. He crossed from Calais on the last boat in hot +haste, and I'm much mistaken if the whole gang is not already on its +way to the White City, though he only reached this side the night +before last; and there's another party who may give us some trouble. +We don't know him, but he is said to be an all-round bad one, just +come over from Calais with this Delbras. I wish I could give you even +a description of him.' + +Greenback Bob was a counterfeiter, or so it was believed, for he was +so bold, so shrewd, and so generally successful, that no one as yet +had been able to entangle him in the meshes of the law; though samples +of what was believed to be his handiwork had been passed from hand to +hand, and travelled far before they had been challenged, and their +journeys summarily ended in the cabinet of our chief. Bob was known as +a gambler, too, and more than once had he been watched and shadowed +because of some ill deed connected with his name; we had seen his +face, and his picture adorned the rogues' gallery. Delbras, however, +was likely to give us some trouble; we had seen him, it is true, but +it was only a fleeting glimpse, with the possibility that he was at +the moment cleverly disguised. + +Of Delbras we knew, first, that he was and had been for years the +occasional partner or confederate of the counterfeiter, and presumably +a counterfeiter also; next, that he was set down in the records of the +London police as 'dangerous'; and last, that he had crossed the ocean, +leaving Paris, which had grown 'too hot to hold him,' and was avowedly +_en route_ for the World's Fair, it was thought upon mischief intent. + +This last item came to our chief direct from the French police, +together with the information that two or three diamond robberies +which had occurred in the French capital during the previous winter +were laid at his door, although it had been thus far impossible to +bring the thefts home to him. + +Concerning Greenback Bob--the fellow was known to us by no other +name--we felt quite sanguine; we had seen him, we had his photograph +and his full description according to the Bertillon system, and, once +seen, he would hardly be lost to sight again, or so we flattered +ourselves. Delbras we must identify through Bob, or as we best could; +and the third member of the 'gang'--well, a great deal must be left to +chance, as usual. + +This much we knew of Delbras: he was 'handsome, educated, familiar +with the ways of good society, and not an easy bird to catch.' This +from the French police _commissaire_. + +'A pinchbeck gentleman, eh!' had been Dave Brainerd's scornful comment +upon hearing this. 'The worst set to deal with; I'd rather tackle a +straight out-and-outer any day.' + +Recalling this speech of Dave's brought my thoughts back to the old +question, 'Where was he?' And then the dialogue at my elbow aroused my +flagging attention, and brought it back to my rustic acquaintance and +the smug personage at his side. + +'Wal, now, I hadn't thought of that, but now't you mention it, 'twas a +good idee; and they wouldn't change it to the eatin'-house?' + +'Not there.' The smug man's tones were low and cautious. 'Pardon me, +but--don't speak too loud, my friend--the mere mention of money is +likely to attract some sharper to you. No, they refused me there. You +see, I anticipated some difficulty inside the gates, so I had tried +just before entering; but the man at the desk refused, and very +curtly, too. I wanted to enter at once in order to meet half a dozen +young men from my town who are sort of under my care.' + +'Orphans?' + +'Not quite. They belong to my Bible class, you see,' Mr. Smug +explained modestly; 'and I had promised to be at the Terminal Station +in case they arrived by the early train.' + +'Whar from, d'ye say?' with awakening interest. 'I'm a Sunday-school +teacher myself, when I'm to hum.' + +'Indeed! It's a very interesting and useful work--labouring for souls. +Ah, they come from Marshall, in Iowa.' + +'Don't say! Why, I----' + +'But they did not arrive; their train had been delayed. But, as I was +about to tell you, if I had not chanced to have in my possession a +roll of bills, put in my care by the father of one of the younger +lads, I might have been kept outside for some time longer.' + +'How's that?' + +I had been a little puzzled at this dialogue, and was losing my +interest somewhat when it reached this point, and I pricked up my ears +anew, while I continued to copy inscriptions and jot down memoranda. + +'It seems almost like confessing to a breach of trust; but there +seemed no other way, and so, stepping to one side, I took out the +package of money belonging to my young friend. I had counted it in his +father's presence, and knew that it contained on the very outside of +the roll a two dollar bill. I took this and procured my ticket. Of +course I shall explain to him and replace it at once.' + +'In course! but--you was a-saying----' + +'I began to tell you how I learned where to go to get money changed. I +had entered, you must know, at the Cottage Grove gate opening upon +Midway, and walking toward the east I soon met a guard.' He had drawn +a cigar from his pocket while speaking, and he now turned toward me. I +had lighted a weed upon seating myself near them, and as he uttered a +polite 'Pardon me, sir,' I smoked calmly on, while I copied upon a +fresh page of my notebook the legend, 'Jenner discovered the principle +of vaccination in 1796,' putting an elaborate final flourish after +the date. + +'Sir! Your pardon; may I trouble you for a light?' A light touch of +his hand accompanied the words, and I turned slowly, favoured him with +a look of as well-managed stupidity and inquiry as I could muster, +drew from my pocket a little ear-tube, and, adjusting it to my right +ear, said, 'Hey?' + +Again the fellow made known his want, and then, apparently convinced +that I had not been a listener, he resumed, somewhat hurriedly, I +thought: + +'As I was saying, I met a guard and asked him where to go to get a +bill exchanged; he mentioned one or two places a long way off, and +then, happening to think of the arrangement made for the accommodation +of foreigners, he courteously directed me to one of the agents quite +near at hand.' He allowed a big puff of smoke to escape his lips very +slowly, and added, as if it were the final word, 'Those agencies for +home and foreign exchange are a great convenience to travellers.' + +'What air they?' demanded my rustic. 'Never heerd on 'em.' + +'Really! Why, the administration has arranged a system of agencies +which are supplied with a certain sum in small bank-notes, greenbacks, +which they are authorized to exchange for foreign currency; and, for +the convenience of Midway Plaisance, one of these agents is +established in Midway, near the Turkish Village. One may know him by a +small blue badge with a silver stamp in the form of a half-dollar +souvenir upon his coat.' + +'Oh!' + +'He proved very affable--the guard assured me I would find him so; and +as the other agencies were so far away, I took advantage of his good +nature, and instead of exchanging ten dollars, I got him to put a +hundred-dollar bill into fifty crisp new two-dollar bills, fresh, like +all this exchange money from the Government treasury--a part, in +fact, of that great output of two-dollar greenbacks issued by the +Government at the same time as the souvenir coins, as you no doubt +remember.' + +No, the rustic did not remember, but neither did he doubt. He was full +of exclamations of wonder and admiration at the workings of so +wonderful and generous a Government; and then came the climax. Would +Mr. Smug direct him to this affable agent upon Midway? etc. + +'As I was saying at first, I don't lug much money around with me to +sech places as this here, but what little I've got ain't quite divided +up enough to be handy; I don't mind gettin' a fifty into new +Gover'ment greenbacks myself. My wife 'n' me are countin' on stayin' +on here a consid'able of a spell, maybe, an' small change is +handiest.' + +'It's positively necessary,' declared Smug, getting up quickly. 'I'll +show you the place, and the man; and then I must be looking for my +young men again.' + +I had not looked for this conclusion, but as the rustic arose I closed +my notebook and made ready to follow them. I was all agog to see this +amiable dealer in brand-new Government notes. + +As the countryman turned toward his guide, the small sharp-faced +woman, who had eyed us so long and often from her bench almost +opposite, arose with a movement suggestive of steel springs, and made +her way toward us, waving her umbrella to attract attention. I moved +rapidly aside, in anticipation of the sweeping gesture of arm and +umbrella, which dislodged a tall man's hat and sent it rolling to the +feet of a frisky maiden, from whence it was rescued by Smug, who +restored it, with a placating word, and so averted an unpleasantness. +Meanwhile the woman had reached her husband's side, and a few quick +words had passed between the two. Then a gesture, and another word or +two, evidently meant for an introduction, brought the smug stranger +to her notice, and the three turned their faces toward the Plaisance; +but not until I had heard her say to her better-half as she clung to +his arm, while Smug opened a way ahead, 'I tell you he's a confidence +man, and I know it. I've been a-watchin' him!' + +Following the three at a little distance, and discreetly, I smiled at +the woman's rustic cleverness; and never did man smile more +mistakenly. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +'I TOLD MY TALE OF WOE.' + + +I followed the trio as they went rapidly past the Terminal Station, +and halted, laughing inwardly, while Mr. Smug, as I had mentally named +the man whose game I was watching so intently, stood fidgeting before +the great golden door of the Transportation Building waiting for the +sharp-eyed woman to exhaust her ecstasies, and for her more stolid +husband to close his wide-opened mouth and remember his errand to +Midway Plaisance. + +As for myself, I could have gazed at this marvel of doorways and have +forgotten all else; and I was not sorry that the small farmeress had a +will of her own, and that this will elected to stay. + +Oh, that superb eastern façade! Never before has its like been seen. +Never in such a setting and in such gigantic proportions will we see +it again. + +But we left it at last and made a slow and halting progress past +Horticultural Hall on one side and the sunlit lagoon on the other; and +here, overcome by the grandeur of it all, the woman of the party sat +down, with her face toward the water. + +''Tain't no kind of use, pa!' she declared loudly. 'I'm goin' to set +down by the lake for a minit; I guess there'll be some two-dollar +bills left in Midway yet when we get there. I've heard tell of them +lovely laggoonses till I'm achin' to see one; and I'm jest goin' to +set right here till one goes by. Land! just see them stone anymals, +and all them old-fashioned stone figgers of folks! 'Pears to me they's +people enough alive and frisky, 'thout stickin' all them stone men +around so dretful lib'ral; though they look well 'nough, fur's I +know.' She cast her eyes all about her, and then beckoned to Smug, +standing uneasily in the rear: 'Say, can't you show me one single +laggoon?' + +Smug came nearer, and waved his hand comprehensively toward the +shining waters below them, and southward where a red-sailed Chinese +junk lay at anchor opposite the Transportation Building. + +'That is a lagoon, madam,' he said, affably but low. + +'Umph! It's no better-lookin' than our old mud scow! Come on, father.' +And they resumed their line of march, but not until in turning to take +a last look at the belittled 'laggoon' her snapping small eyes +encountered mine frowningly, and I said to myself, 'She saw me in the +rotunda; can she suspect that I am following them?' + +Contrary to my expectation, she did not call a halt upon entering +Midway, but went straight on, still clutching her spouse by the arm, +while the smug one walked sedately at her farther side; she passed the +divers' exhibit, the beauty congress, the glass displays, and paced +steadily on, her eyes riveted upon a palanquin borne by two waddling +Turks; and when this ancient conveyance had paused before the Turkish +Bazaar, then, and only then, did she pause or take further heed. + +As the bearers gently lowered the chair, and stood beside it at ease, +she snatched her hand from her husband's arm, and hurrying towards +the front, peered within the curtained box. + +'Land of gracious!' she ejaculated, 'and I s'posed they was carrying +one of them harums, no less, in the outlandish thing!' Then, stooping +to read with near-sighted eyes the legend, 'One hour 75 cents, +one-half hour 50 cents, ten minutes 15 cents,' she turned again to her +better-half: 'Come, pa, let's get that change right quick; I'm goin' +to ride in that thing if I drop out through the bottom.' + +There was a crowd in the Turkish Bazaar, but our smug friend led the +way to an angle of the building where the hawkers were unusually busy, +and I drew near enough to see that he was now looking covertly all +about him, and for a little seemed at a loss. + +'Kum-all-ong! Kume-mol-o-ng! Ku-m-m-m!' + +The shrill long-drawn-out cry caused him to turn suddenly, and to +elbow his way, with his prey at his heels, toward a small railed-in +space, wherein, seated on a Turkish ottoman, a little higher than the +genuine, was a swarthy man with beetling brows, big rolling black +eyes, and a fierce moustache bristling underneath a hooked nose. He +wore a red fez, much askew, and his American trousers and waistcoat +were enlivened by a tennis-sash of orange and red and a smoking-coat +faced with vivid green. He was smoking a decorated Turkish +pipe--'Toor-kaish,' he called it--and a low table and sundry decorated +boxes and packages were his sole stock-in-trade. + +'Kum-all-ong! he reiterated. 'Kum-e see-e me-e-e smoke! Easy--so--no +noise; so! Soo-vy-nee-yra; Toor-kaish soo-vy-nee-yr matches!' At every +pause a 'soo-vy-nee-yr match' was struck, deftly and without noise, +and a big puff of smoke was sent circling above his head. + +'Bah!' exclaimed Mrs. Rustic, turning away, 'if you've brought me here +just to see a Turkey man smoke a big pipe, Adam Camp, you may jest +take me home ag'in.' + +A shout of laughter followed this sally, and as she turned away I +fancied that I saw a quick look exchanged between the man of the pipe +and our smug guide. Whether this were true or not, I observed that +Smug no longer seemed eager to hasten them onward, and I saw another +thing--the woman, in turning from the man of the souvenir matches, had +once more fixed her eye, through a sudden opening in the crowd, upon +myself; and immediately after she had whispered something in the ear +of her spouse, which something he soon after repeated, or so I +fancied, to his kind friend Smug. + +I had followed them, trusting to the crowd and my skill as an 'artful +dodger,' up to this moment quite closely; but I now fell back, and +withdrew myself a little distance from the aisle where all three were +now loitering, the woman examining with wondering eyes marvellous +Turkish slippers with turned-up toes, and olive-wood beads and +bracelets, proffered by fierce Mohammedans in baggy trousers and +tasselled fez, or by swarthy, oily-skinned girls with bushy hair and +garments of Oriental colouring, or in tailor-made gowns, and with the +ubiquitous fez as a badge of their office--or servitude; rugs and +draperies, attar of roses in gilded vials, souvenir spoons, filigree +in gilt and silver, toys of unknown form and name, cloying Turkish +sweets, foreign stamps, coins, relics, all came under her +unsophisticated eyes, while her spouse gazed upon Moorish daggers, +swords of strange workmanship, saddles and stirrups of singular form, +and much strange gear and gay trappings, the use of which he could +never have guessed but for the learned explanations of his now +carelessly amiable guide. + +They had gazed so long that I had begun to grow impatient and to +wonder how this tame chase would end, when the trio drew up at a point +where the long arcade turns sharply to right and left, and where at +one of the intersections a vendor of singularly-carved canes and +sticks was mounted upon a stool draped with Oriental rugs, and so +high and slender that one looked to see the occupant topple and fall +from moment to moment. He was a brown-faced fellow of small stature +and as lithe as an Indian, and he was juggling recklessly with a pair +of grotesque carven sticks, crying the while: + +'He-ur you-ur ur! He-ur you-ur-ur! Soo-vy-neer! Soo-vy-neer! Gen-oo-ine +Teer-keesh--gen-oo-ine! Come-mon! come-mon! Teerkeesh--gen-oo-ine; only +tree doll-yeer!' + +A smart young man, breathing of opulence in air and attire, came +briskly forward and held up his hand to receive both sticks, with a +harlequin bow from the dark-eyed Oriental, who wore a spruce black +broadcloth suit, in honour of America, and a red fez, in loyalty, +doubtless, to the land of the Sultan; and then my interest became +suddenly and widely awake. + +The youth chose between the two canes, and handed up in payment a worn +five-dollar bill, and after a feint at searching for the correct +amount the man of the fez bent down and placed in his hand a crisp new +two-dollar banknote; at the same moment, almost, friend Smug touched +the arm of Farmer Camp, and I saw the two turn their heads toward the +southern wing. I had made my way so near them that I could hear the +words of the farmer, who evidently had no subdued tones, and after a +long look toward the south entrance I heard him say: + +'That him? Why, he looks like one of these fellers!' + +And then I saw his guide's lips moving, and caught the final words, +'an educated Oriental.' In another moment he had moved hurriedly +forward and put out his hand to stop the man who, with head very +erect, and crowned with a black and gold embroidered fez, was coming +toward him, but with eyes levelled upon the active young man upon the +lofty stool. He wore a severe suit of black, relieved upon the breast +of the close-buttoned Prince Albert coat by a blue satin badge, +bearing upon its upper half a silver-gilt souvenir half-dollar, and +upon the lower portion a tiny fac-simile of a Government banknote. + +He paused as the smug young man addressed him, and looked into his +face, at first with indifference, almost amounting to annoyance, then +with growing recognition, and finally with a bland and condescending +smile. He wore a long and flowing beard, and the black cloth fez, +unlike the red one, was not rakishly set on; but I recognised him at +once. + +It was the man with the 'soo-vy-neer matches,' quickly and deftly +metamorphosed to escape the unobservant or untrained eye, but the +same, notwithstanding. And now my interest grew apace. I knew that at +last we were in the presence of that powerful official who dispensed +virgin two-dollar notes to the unwitting foreigner or native; and Adam +Camp was about to be mulcted. + +I had formed no plan of action. I had been interested, first, in the +welfare of Adam Camp, and then the mention of these new Government +two-dollar bills had aroused in me the desire, stronger for the moment +than any other, to see this 'agent' whose duty it was to make easy the +path of the stranger and alien in our midst. + +And now our smug friend demonstrated his ability to do quick work when +occasion required. + +Throwing caution to the winds, I drew close behind the woman, and +heard the introduction of Camp and the case stated briefly. + +Smug had ventured to bring this chance acquaintance, etc., who desired +a like favour to that conferred upon himself not long since. Mr. Camp +desired to exchange a banknote, say ten or twenty dollars, perhaps, +for smaller bills, for convenience at the Fair, etc. + +The man of the badge looked closely at Farmer Camp, who was bowing +like a mandarin, and then back at his spouse. + +'You can vouch for this person?' he asked with a touch of severity, +and in excellent English. + +'Pardon me; we are mere passing acquaintances, but I should think----' + +He of the badge drew himself up with a stately gesture. + +'We are not permitted to judge for ourselves,' he said; 'our +Government require some sort of voucher, as, for instance, a bank +certificate, cheque-book, even a receipt or letter.' + +Before Farmer Camp could pull himself together and reply, his wife +interfered, taking a swift step forward. + +'If you want dockyments, mister,' she said tartly, 'I guess I kin +supply 'em. I've brought our weddin' stiffykit, and our letters from +the church to Neeponsit, and our fire insurance papers.' She laid a +suggestive satin-gloved hand upon her bosom and tossed her head. 'I +didn't count on nobody's takin' us to be anybody else when I brung +'em, but I didn't want 'em lost, case of fire or anything.' + +The 'agent' put up a remonstrant hand, and Camp hastened to produce a +letter from his brother in Nebraska, which was gracefully accepted; +and so overpowered was Camp at so much condescension that he opened a +plump wallet--carried in a breast pocket high up, and evidently of +home manufacture--and drew from it, after some deliberation and a +whispered word with his wife, a one hundred dollar bill. + +'I guess we might jest as well break that.' He was extending the bill, +and the hand of the now eager agent was outstretched to grasp it, when +I stepped quickly to his side. + +'Pardon me, sir,' I said, with my best air. 'Could you tell me where +the bank is located? I am told that there is one on the grounds.' The +four pairs of eyes were full upon me, and I knew that by three of +them I was recognised. 'I am anxious to get some money changed,' I +went on glibly, but with a meaning glance at the 'agent,' 'to buy some +souvenir matches down here, and I'm told there's counterfeit money +circulating here.' + +I was playing a bluff game, and I knew it, for as yet I had not +secured my credentials; but when I saw the swart face of the sham +agent change to a sickly yellow, and Smug begin to draw back and look +anxiously from left to right, I was inwardly triumphant; but, alack! +it is only in fiction that the clever detective always has the best of +it, and at this moment there came an unexpected diversion. + +Camp still stood with the bill in his hand, open-mouthed and evidently +puzzled; and now his wife, who had drawn closer and was peering into +my face, turned upon him quickly. + +'Adam Camp, put up that money!' she cried. 'I know this feller; I seen +him talkin' to you back there by the Administration Buildin'; and he's +been watchin' and follerin' us ever sence. I know him! In another +minute he would 'a' grabbed your money and run for it.' + +There was a sudden movement, a shifting of positions, a mingling of +exclamations and accusations, with the woman's tongue still wagging +shrilly, and heard through all. People crowded about us and a brace of +Columbian guards came hurrying up. + +'What is it?' + +'Anyone been robbed?' + +Instantly the hands of Smug and his confederate began to slap and dig +into their pockets, while the woman answered eagerly: + +'All on us, like enough! He's a pickpocket or a confidence man. I seen +him follerin' us. I've kep' an eye on him.' And then came a cry from +Smug. + +'My wallet!' + +He turned upon me, calling wildly to the guards, 'Search him!' + +Into my nearest pocket went a gloved hand, and when it came out, +there, sure enough, was a brown leather wallet. + +'Here it is!' cried one. + +'Lord-a-massy!' + +'I told you so!' + +'Run him in!' + +I was the centre of a small bedlam, and I shut my lips tightly and +inwardly cursed my interest in all rustics, and particularly the +Camps. I was fairly trapped. I saw my position, and held my peace, +while the two rascals told their tale, making sure by their volubility +that the Camps did not tell theirs. Only as the two guards, one on +either side, turned to lead me away, I said to Smug, 'We shall meet +again, my fine decoy;' and to the sham agent as I passed him, 'Better +stick to your matches, my friend.' + +Inwardly chafing, I marched through the crowd between my two captors, +bringing them to a momentary halt as we came abreast of the place +where the souvenir matches were hawked, and seeing there, as I had +anticipated, a new face beneath the red fez. + +Then I spoke to my captors: + +'Men, you have made a mistake for which I can't blame you. Take me +before your chief at once, and I will not only prove this, but make it +worth your while to be civil.' + +For answer the two merely exchanged glances, and hurried me on, and, +convinced of the uselessness of further remonstrance until I had +reached someone in authority, I strode on silently. + +At the entrance to the great animal show there was a dense crowd, and +for a moment we were brought to a halt. Standing upon the edge of the +mass of bobbing bonnets and heaving shoulders, I could see in the +midst of the throng two Turkish-fezzed heads wildly dodging and +struggling toward us, and a moment later a full bass voice called +impatiently: + +'Go ahead! Get out of this, can't you?' + +I started at the sound of the big, impatient voice, and stood with my +eyes riveted upon the spot from whence it seemed to come. A moment +later the two red heads had emerged from the crowd, and with them a +sedan-chair, which, evidently, they found no easy load. As they +shuffled past me I started again, so violently that my two captors +caught at me with restraining hands. + +At the same instant there was a quick exclamation from the swinging +chair and a peremptory order to halt. + +'Masters, I say! Stop, you infernal heathens! Stop, I say! Open this +old chicken-coop and let me out!' + +As the astonished Turks slowly and with seeming reluctance set down +their chair and liberated their prisoner, my guards made a forward +movement. + +'Stop, you fellows!' called the newcomer, in the same peremptory tone. +'Where are you going with that man?' + +As he flung himself from the chair he tossed a coin to the bearers, +and promptly placed himself squarely in the way of my two guards. + +'Masters,' he began, 'what in the name of wonder----' + +'He's our prisoner,' broke in one of my captors; and at the word Dave +Brainerd threw back his head and laughed as only Dave could, seeing +which my indignant escort made another forward movement. + +'Stop, you young--donkeys!' Dave threw back his coat, and at sight of +the symbol upon his inner lapel the two young men became suddenly and +respectfully stationary. 'Now,' panted Dave, still shaken with +merriment, 'w-what has he done?' + +I stood silent, enjoying somewhat my guards' evident doubt, and +willing to let Dave enjoy to the full this joke at my expense, and +after a moment's hesitation one of the guards replied: + +'He picked a pocket, they say.' + +'Oh, they do? Well, my young friends, I can't blame you much; he is a +suspicious-looking chap, but really he's quite harmless. You can turn +him over to me with a clear conscience. I'll run him in.' And he +laughed again, and tapped his coat-lapel. 'Really, boys, you've made a +regular blunder. This pal of mine is entitled to wear this same badge +of _aristocracy_, only he seems to have wandered out for once without +his credentials. How did it happen, Carl?' + +But now my impatience broke out afresh, and I turned to the guards. + +'Look here,' I said hurriedly, 'those two fellows who called you up +and pretended to be robbed are fine workers, and I believe +counterfeiters. I was watching them while they were roping that old +countryman. If you want to repair a blunder, go back, see if you can +trace the men, or the old man and his wife, and report to your chief.' + +They were very willing to go; and when we were free from them my +friend indulged in another long and hearty laugh at my expense. + +'Jove! Carl, but it's the richest thing out--that you, a crack +detective, coming here with extraordinary rights and privileges, +should be nabbed by a couple of these young college lads at the very +beginning; it's too funny. How did it happen? Who caused your arrest?' + +'An old woman,' said I shortly, feeling that the fun was quite too +one-sided. But seeing the absurdity of it all, and knowing that Dave +would have it all out of me sooner or later, I drew him out of the +crowd, and under the shadow of the viaduct just behind us, and +standing as much as possible aloof from the throng, I told my 'tale of +woe.' + +Before I had reached the end Dave was his serious self once more--a +detective alert and keen. + +'You are sure,' he began eagerly, 'that the old farmer was not one of +them?' + +I smiled, thinking of Mrs. Camp and the 'laggoons.' + +'Perfectly sure. It was the old woman's quick eyes that did for me,' I +replied; 'she had seen me once too often, and her suspicions were on +the alert. I dare say she saw a "confidence man" in every person who +came suspiciously near them, but a woman pal could not have played one +whit better into their hands.' + +Dave made a sudden start. 'Look here,' he said, 'I'm going to try for +a look at those fellows! I've got a sort of feeling that they may +belong to our gang, some of them--that match-vender now; the other, +your smug friend, is too short, as you describe him, to be either of +our men; but the agent, and that fellow with the canes--describe them +a little more in detail, but be quick, too; and the old folks--of +course they're taken in and done for before now; but I'd like to meet +that old woman, just on your account. I'm going straight to that +Turkish village; and you?' He began to laugh again. + +'Oh, I'm going back to the Administration Building,' I said with a +grimace, 'as soon as I've described your men for you. I don't feel +inclined to wander about this mysterious and dangerous White City any +more until I am fitted out with a trade-mark. It is not safe--for me.' + +Five minutes later Dave was on his way to the scene of my absurd +escapade, and I was hastening back to the place which I never should +have left until I had made my bow before the 'man in authority,' and +had been duly provided with the voucher which would open for me all +doors and command the aid or obedience of guards, guides, etc.; until, +in fact, I had been duly enrolled, and had taken rank as one of the +'specials,' who went and came at will and reported at pleasure or at +need. + +On my way I soundly berated myself for my folly in venturing so +recklessly and without authority to interfere in behalf of a sheep, +when besieged by wolves, and in danger of losing no more than his +fleece. + +I had lost all interest in Farmer Camp, and felt not a spark of +philanthropy in my whole being. + +But the White City was a place of surprises, and Farmer Camp and I +were destined to meet again. + +As I approached the viaduct which separated the Midway Plaisance from +the World's Fair proper, with my mind thus out of tune, and was about +to pass under, a sharp guttural cry close beside me caused me to turn +quickly about. + +'Ta-ka ca-ar-h! La-dee, la-dee!' + +'Ah--h--h!' + +The first cry, or warning, came from the throat of a grinning Turk, +one of a number of palanquin-bearers, and the last from the lips of a +tall golden-haired girl who had been walking somewhat slowly, and +quite alone, just before them, in the path she had chosen to take and +to keep without swerving. There were half a dozen of them pattering +along in line between their vacant swinging palanquins, and they had +evidently learned that, being a 'part of the show,' they might claim +and keep the right of way. + +The rascally Turk had uttered his cry of warning without in the least +slackening his shuffling trot, and as the lady uttered the single +frightened syllable, I saw that one of the poles in the bearer's hands +had struck her with such force as to send her reeling toward me. + +Throwing out one hand for her support, I thrust back the now surly +bearer with the other with such force as to throw him back upon his +poles and bring the whole cavalcade to a momentary halt. At the same +time a guard came up and ordered a turn to the right. + +'You fellows are not running in a tramway, Mr. Morocco, and you'll +find yourselves switched on to a side-track if you try the monopoly +business on free American citizens--see!' The last word, emphasized +with a sharp shove to the right, was easily comprehended by the +glowering sons of Allah, and they moved on, silent, but darting black +glances from under their heavy brows. + +Meanwhile the fair one had recovered her poise and dignity, and +thanked me, in the sweetest of voices, for my slight assistance, and I +had found time to note that she was more than a merely pretty blonde. + +At that moment I was sure that I had never seen a more charming face, +though she gave me only a glimpse of it; and when she turned away, and +the crowd about us, attracted for the moment, separated again into its +various elements, I stood gazing after her for a moment as stupidly as +the veriest schoolboy smitten at sight of his first love, and then, +turning to go my way, and letting my eyes fall to the ground, I saw +just at my feet a small leather bag, or what is called by the ladies a +'reticule.' It lay upon the very spot where the young lady had been so +rudely jostled, and I picked it up and turned to look after her. She +had disappeared in the crowd, and after following the way she had +taken for two or three blocks, and finding the crowd more dense and +the trail hopelessly lost, I turned at last and went back, bestowing +the little reticule in my largest pocket, and gradually bringing my +thoughts back to my own affairs, and those of Greenback Bob and the +rascal Delbras. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A CONUNDRUM. + + +I had not gone far on my way after deciding that the lovely blonde had +quite escaped me--in fact, I was once more about to pass under the +viaduct opposite the Woman's Building and which separated Midway from +the grounds proper--when a tall figure in blue appeared at my elbow, +and fell easily into my somewhat hasty stride while saying: + +'You will pardon me, I hope, for intruding, and let me say how much I +appreciated and enjoyed the sudden way in which you halted that Turk +just now. It was scientifically done.' + +I turned to look at the speaker. His words were courteously uttered, +and I knew him at once by his blue uniform for one of those +college-bred guards who have helped so much to make the great Fair a +success to question-asking visitors. He was a tall, handsome fellow, +with an eye as brown as his hair, and as honest and direct as the +sun's rays at that very moment, and I recognised him almost at once as +the guard who had hastened to lend his aid, and had sent the Turks to +the right-about, there being nothing else to do. A churl could not +have resisted that pleasant half-smile. + +'It was nothing,' I said carelessly; 'the fellow was wantonly +heedless.' + +'It was a very pretty and scientific turn of the wrist,' he insisted, +'and--yes, those fellows at first were obsequious enough; now, some of +them, having found out how ill-mannered the Americans dare be without +being beaten, are aping our manners. I--I trust the young lady was not +hurt?' + +The big brown eyes turned from me as he put the question, for that it +was, and I saw a dull-red flush rise from his throat and dye his face +to the very tip of his jaunty visor. I detected, too, a note of +anxiety in the mellow voice that he could not quite suppress. + +'I don't know, but fancy not--not much, at any rate.' We had come out +from the shadow of the viaduct, and he halted as I spoke. I checked my +steps also, and I checked my speech too. The anxiety in the voice was +reflected now in the face. I was smiling slightly, and through my mind +flitted a fragment of doggerel: + + 'Oh, there's nothing so flirtatious + As the bowld soldier boy!' + +Suddenly the brown eyes came back to my face, open and clear as day. + +'I owe it to myself,' he said, with sudden dignity, 'to explain. At +the moment when she turned away, I recognised the young lady as an +acquaintance, and was naturally interested to know if she had received +any hurt--the blow seemed a severe one. I saw you pick up her bag and +start in pursuit, and when you came back I ventured to address you. I +could not follow far; this is my beat.' + +'I see!' I was quite won by the young fellow's frank and manly air and +his handsome face; 'and I'm sorry I can't enlighten you. I did not +find the lady.' + +'Oh!' There was a world of disappointment in this one syllable, and +before he could utter another a new voice broke into the dialogue. + +'Pardon me, please! But'--a little pant--'but I saw you pick up my +friend's bag, and--and she was so fatigued after the shock that I ran +back.' + +The speaker stopped here, and for several seconds seemed occupied in +recovering her breath. She was a small and plump brunette, well +dressed, and wearing a dashing sailor-hat of black, wide-brimmed and +adorned with two aggressive-looking scarlet wings; this and the red +veil dotted with black which partially concealed the face was all that +I had time to note before she spoke again, coming closer to me and +altogether ignoring the good-looking guard. + +'She was so startled and nervous after the shock that she sat down +near the Java Village, and I came back the moment I could leave her.' +She shot a glance over her shoulder, and turned her look squarely +upon the guard, who had drawn back a pace. 'A chair-boy,' she hurried +on, 'waiting near the Libbey Glass Works saw you pick up the bag, and +told us the way you had gone. Will you please give me the bag?' + +I had been studying the little brunette while she talked, and I now +said: + +'I am very sorry your friend did not come in person. She did not seem +much hurt.' + +'She was not, and she would have come with me, only----' Again she +cast her eyes in the direction of the guard, who still stood looking +both anxious and ill at ease, and for a moment she seemed to hesitate. +In that moment the guard's fine face flushed again, and then set +itself in cold, resolute lines. He lifted his hand in salute to me, +and, without a second glance at the little brunette, strode back +toward the viaduct. + +The face of the girl showed instant relief, and she put out her hand. + +'The bag, please!' + +'Excuse me,' I answered, 'but really I can't let the lady's property +out of my hands without something to prove your right to it. Since the +lady is so near, if you will permit, I will go back with you.' + +'How dare'--she threw back her head, and her black eyes darted +annihilation--'how dare you, sir! Because I condescend to address you, +to oblige an acquaintance, do you fancy I will accept your escort and +pocket your insult? Not for ten thousand leather bags!' She turned +upon her heel and went swiftly back towards Midway, and after watching +her for a moment I resumed my often-interrupted march, smiling as I +went to think how the clever little brunette had been thwarted. That +she was an adventuress I did not for a moment doubt. She had seen the +dropped bag, of course, and had noted my pursuit of its owner, and +its failure, and she had counted upon making me an easy dupe with that +assured little demand of hers. But I was not quite a stranger to her +kind. Perhaps if the good-looking guard had not been so suddenly put +to rout I might have turned the young lady over to him; such offenders +were his legitimate care. But as I thought of her easy, +self-possessed, good society air, and the black eyes so keen and +sophisticated, and then of his frank, ingenuous face, I almost laughed +aloud. She would have laughed at his authority, and slipped through +his fingers easily. + +How quickly he had turned away at the first hint that she found his +presence at our brief interview undesirable, flushing like a boy, too! + +Of course I readily saw why she should prefer to make her little +attempt without witnesses, especially those clothed with a measure of +authority; and yet he had seemed to go away reluctantly. + +And then I remembered his explanation or excuse in having followed and +addressed me. He had known the young lady--owner of the bag. Why, of +course--he wanted to hear of her further, from the lips of this +supposed girl friend. + +'Poor fellow!' I thought, beginning to imagine a little romance there +in the White City; and then I turned myself about with a sudden jerk. + +Truly, my wits were wool-gathering. Confound that little adventuress! +He had turned away so suddenly, and he knew the owner of the bag. I +would find him at once--he was not far away--and I would wash my hands +of that little black bag. + +But it was not to be. I had expected to find my handsome guard easily, +and I did not find him at all. After a half-hour spent in prowling up +and down, I encountered a file of guards marching briskly. I caught at +my watch, and then scoffed at myself. Of course my guard had gone to +dinner; I would do likewise, and then, when my other and more personal +duties had been discharged, I would look up the guard. It would be +quite easy. + +The arrangements for our comfort during our stay in the White City had +been completed in advance of our coming, and Dave and I had been +quartered together in a cosy little apartment, which we could reach +easily and as quietly as if it were an isolated dwelling, instead of +being in the very centre of all the beauty and bustle of the Fair. + +Having paid my respects to the 'man in authority,' and after he had +made me familiar with the inner workings of the splendid system by +which the White City was to be watched over and protected, and +acquainted with some of my co-workers, I was ready for a hearty +luncheon, and then I found myself my own master for the remainder of +the day, or until four o'clock, when Dave and I were to meet by +appointment at the Ferris Wheel and tempt its dangers together. + +Of course my first attempt, after luncheon, was to find my handsome +guard; but while good-looking young fellows and polite young fellows +in blue uniforms were to be seen on every hand, the one face for which +I looked was nowhere visible. I still had the lost bag in my outer +pocket, which I watched jealously, for its bulk could be but too +plainly seen; and when Dave and I found ourselves moving slowly upward +at the tip of one of those giant spokes of the big wheel, he fixed his +eye upon this pocket, and asked with a grin: + +'Got an extra luncheon in case we are stranded in mid-air until past +the Christian dinner-hour?' + +Of course I told him the story of the find--but briefly, for my eyes +were busy watching the people in the grounds below grow less and less +in size, until they seemed like flies moving about eccentrically, the +legs of the men seeming to jerk about convulsively, and looking +automatic from that height. + +There was much to amuse us in Midway, or on it; for at first the +street, with its strange population, was spectacle enough, and we did +not think of the black bag again until we found ourselves occupying +isolated places upon the lofty seats in Hagenbeck's great animal show, +and being serenaded by an excellent band, while we watched the entry +of the happy family. + +We had entered at a time midway between the closing of one performance +and the beginning of another, and we found it a comfortable place in +which to exchange experiences and compare notes. + +My first question had been of the Camps and their swindling friends, +but Dave's report was scant. He had seen the man of the canes, but the +seller of 'soo-vy-neer' matches was no longer he of the big moustache +and goodly height, but a small elderly Turk, who piped weakly and +plied his calling listlessly. The Camps, Smug, the gentlemanly agent, +all had disappeared from off Midway. I was not surprised at this, +neither was I disappointed; and having said as much, I took up the +parable of my latest adventure upon Midway, telling of my encounter +with the guard and the little brunette, and letting my fun-loving +friend enjoy another good laugh at my expense. + +'I must say, Carl, old fellow, that so far as I have traced your +career this first day at the Fair, you have not shone out brilliantly. +But never mind, partner: "a bad beginning"--you know the rest. Oh, are +we to have a look at the bag?' + +I had drawn it forth and placed it upon my knee. It was a small +receptacle of finest alligator-skin, with an outside pocket, and +having attached to it the tiny chain and hook by which it had been +secured to the young lady's girdle. It closed with a silver clasp, and +in the open outside pocket was a fine white handkerchief with some +initials embroidered in one corner. + +'J. J.,' read Dave slowly. 'That don't tell us much, does it, old +man?' + +I looked about me. There was no one near us, and on the opposite side +of the big pavilion the band was playing 'After the Ball.' I pressed +the silver clasp, and the bag lay open in my hand. + +'Gad!' exclaimed Dave. 'The woman who owns that is as dainty as a +princess.' + +He was quite right. The little bag contained only a small +silver-handled penknife, a dainty tablet and pencil, a glove-buttoner, +a second little handkerchief, fine and smoothly folded, and two +letters. + +When I had taken out these articles one by one and laid them on my +knee, Dave took the bag from my hand and turned it upside down. + +'Nothing more,' he said, shaking his head sagely. 'Not a bit of candy; +not a powder-puff or perfume sachet. Well, well! Carl, the owner of +this little article, whoever she is, besides being dainty and without +vanity, is a very clever little woman, and I'll wager she's pretty, +too.' + +This outbreak was so like Dave that I only smiled, while I unfolded +the handkerchief and shook it out over my unoccupied knee. In one +corner, in exquisitely dainty embroidery, were the two initials 'J. +J.,' and when Dave had shut the bag and looked again at the closed +clasp, he discovered, finely cut on the metal, the same initials. + +'J. J.,' mused Dave; 'that suggests any number of charming +personalities--Juliet, Juno, Jessica.' + +'Jane, or Jemima,' I supplemented, taking up one of the letters. + +It was post-marked Boston, and bore date three days before, but it +gave us no further information. + +Through the name, across the middle of the square envelope, half a +dozen heavy lines had been pencilled, and these in turn checked +through with little vertical dashes; below were the sketchily-drawn +supports, which indicated a bridge, and upon this bridge a procession +of people vaguely outlined as to body, but elaborated as to face to +such a degree of artistic cleverness that Dave uttered an exclamation +of delight. + +'An artist, upon my soul! Look at those faces! Gad! but that is well +done! There are types for you, and hardly more than thumb-nail +portraits at that. But it's spoiled the address; we can't get J. J.'s +name out of that.' + +It was quite true; under the crossed lines forming the platform of a +bridge, evidently a sketch of one of the structures spanning the +lagoons, the name was quite concealed, but below, through the waving +water-lines and the curves of the arch, we could read and guess the +remainder of the address, thus: + + '---- ---- ---- ---- ----, + 'Chicago, + 'Illinois. + 'Massachusetts Building, World's Fair.' + +I put this letter down and took up the other envelope. Upon this was +written a woman's name, nothing more, neither town, county, nor state. + +'Conundrum?' commented Dave over my shoulder. Just then there was a +sudden blare from the band, and a roar that almost startled my +sophisticated nerves. + +I turned my eyes toward the arena, where a splendid white horse now +stood, caparisoned in a sort of armour upon back and neck, and pawing +impatiently, while he waited opposite a sort of portable platform +higher than the horse's back, and gaily cushioned and decorated. A +great tawny male lion was in the act of leaping from the ground to +this high perch. I had seen many exhibitions of animal intelligence +and training, but when this king of lions, uttering a second mighty +roar, leaped to the back of the waiting horse and rode about the ring +like a trained rider, leaped through a hoop held in the mouth of a big +spotted boarhound, and otherwise acquitted himself like an +accomplished rider, I forgot the conundrum of the little black bag, +and my mission at the World's Fair, and looked and applauded, and was +simply one of five hundred sight-seers. + +It was useless to contend; the charm was upon us; the first day at the +Fair had us at last in thrall, and we watched the trained lions, +tigers, bears, and pumas, admired the ponies, applauded the dogs, and +wondered at the plucky woman trainer, without a thought beyond the +passing moment. + +The fever lasted until night had fallen, until we had trundled from +end to end of Midway in a pair of wheeled chairs, visited the Dahomey +Village, the Ostrich Farm, the Chinese Theatre, and the little +community of quaint, shy, industrious Javanese, leaving it still in +the spirit of adventure, and sauntering, after a dinner in Old Vienna, +here and there through a veritable fairyland, glittering, glistening, +shining, radiant from the splendid dome of the Administration +Building, with its girdles of fire, its great statues shining under +the golden glow, and the lagoons with their lights and shadows, their +gondolas gliding to and fro between flowering banks or illuminated +façades, with fountains playing, music filling the air, and everywhere +laughter, merry voices, and gay throngs of enchanted pleasure seekers. +What wonder that we lingered long, and that it was only when we were +shut between four walls, the lights out, the White City asleep, that I +thought again of J. J. and her lost letters; and now, as I thought, +the fair blond face seemed to rise before me, and I saw again the slim +figure flit past me on Midway. + +Brainerd lay sleeping near me, and I thought of his comment, 'A +conundrum?' Why not search for the answer in these white billets, and, +finding it, take the little black bag to the bureau of the 'lost or +found'? + +I took up the bag, opened it, hesitated, and put it down. Why should I +read those letters from a stranger, and to a stranger? I leaned out of +the window and drank in the loveliness all about me, illuminated by a +faint young moon. + +'A conundrum?' I took up the letter post-marked Boston, and slowly +drew out--ah, it was more than a mere letter that my hand touched that +night. I had put my finger upon a thread in the web of fate! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +'I CAN'T MAKE MYSELF LIKE HIM.' + + +I am not superstitious, and I certainly had no intimation then of the +part these letters would soon play in my World's Fair adventures, nor +of the use I should make of them; but I opened that letter with an +uncomfortable feeling of curiosity and interest, and without even +pausing to look again at the tiny grotesque faces of that little +bridge procession so artistically sketched upon the envelope. + +The letter, like its cover, was dated from Boston, and was just four +days old. + +'Just received,' I said to myself, as I took up the wrapper to look at +the Chicago postmark. 'Yes, came last night. She must have read it +this very morning, sitting upon some one of those shaded seats on +Wooded Island, and after reading it she must have amused herself by +copying the people passing over the nearest bridge. Ergo, she must +have been alone.' My detective instincts were rousing themselves; +already I was half unconsciously handling that unread letter as if it +were a 'feature' in a 'case.' + +She was alone, too, when we met on Midway; that is, I saw no +companion. Could it be possible that the young lady was really alone +in this densely populated place? How absurd! I looked at the letter +again. + +It was written in a beautiful flowing hand, and I said, after a +moment's scrutiny, 'Written in haste and under excitement.' There were +eight closely written pages, and having begun their perusal, I read to +the end without a pause. The letter was signed 'Hilda O'Neil,' and +there was no street number nor post-office box, only the name of the +city from whence it came, Boston. + +Hilda O'Neil was the name written on the second letter, this and +nothing more; but this no longer surprised me. Miss O'Neil was a New +York girl, and a guest, at the time of writing, of the sister of her +affianced, in Boston. This young man was already in Chicago, making +arrangements for his family, who were to come as soon as informed by +him that apartments in the already crowded city were in waiting. They +were 'all ready for the flitting,' and were now wondering why 'Gerry' +did not wire them. He had written that his plans 'were near +completion,' and that he should telegraph them in two or three days at +the latest, at the time of writing. The three days were just about to +expire, hence the excitement visible in the penmanship of Miss O'Neil. +Betwixt impatience and anxiety she confessed herself 'growing really +fidgety,' especially as 'Gerry' was always so prompt, 'and then--don't +think me silly, dear--but, really, Chicago is such a wicked, dangerous +place, especially now.' + +I smiled as I read this paragraph, and thought of Master 'Gerry' +doubtless giving himself a last day or two of freedom from escort +duty, and of fun, perhaps, on Midway. Decidedly, detectives are not +seers. + +And the second letter. Since the first did not tell me how or where to +find the owner of the little bag, this letter must. And her +name--would that be revealed? I opened the missive and read it +through, with some surprise and a great deal of admiration. + +I had been right in my conjectures of the writer. I found her name +signed in full at the bottom of her last thick sheet of creamy +note-paper; she had penned the letter in her own room that very +morning, and had held it unsealed and only half addressed until she +had applied at her State post-office for the expected letter from her +friend, and this having been received, she had thrust the +newly-written missive into the little bag, hoping, doubtless, soon to +meet her correspondent, who might now be on the way, and to tell her +story--for the letter contained a story--which, doubtless, she would +much prefer to do. + +And now, so much can a few written pages do, I almost felt that I knew +June Jenrys, for that was her name, and her friend Hilda O'Neil. + +Miss O'Neil's letter had told me first something about herself: that +she was a petted and somewhat spoiled only daughter; something of an +heiress, too, if one might judge from her prattle about charming and +costly costumes and a rather reckless expenditure of pin-money; and +that she was betrothed to Gerald Trent, of the great Boston firm of +Trent and Sons, with the full consent and approval of all concerned. +What life could be more serene? Young, fair, rich; a lover and many +friends; and now _en route_ for the World's Fair, to enjoy it in her +lover's society. Happy girl! the only little speck upon her fair +horizon when she penned that letter was the fact that her dearest +friend and schoolmate was not quite so happy. + +And June Jenrys? The two letters taken together had told me this: She +was an orphan, and wealthy, left in her teens to the guardianship of +an aunt, her father's widowed sister, a woman of fashion _par +excellence_. During her niece's minority this lady had tyrannized all +she would, and now, Miss Jenrys having recently come of age, she yet +tyrannized all she could. The aunt was eager to mate her niece to a +man of her own selection and a heavy purse. The niece until recently +had looked with some favour upon a young man, handsome enough--even +Miss O'Neil admitted that--and a gentleman beyond question, but with +no visible fortune. A short time before--but I will let Miss Jenrys +tell this much of her own story, quoting from the fourth page of her +letter: + +'I did not mean it so, really, Hilda dear, although it has seemed so +to you. You see, I expected to meet you in Boston ere this, and that +is so much better than writing; and now I must write after all, and +instead of its being from me in Boston to you in New York, it is from +me here in the "White City"--such a city, Hilda!--to you in Boston, +and at Nellie Trent's. + +'Well, you must know this, that it was just after Aunt Charl had +"washed her hands of me," matrimonially speaking, for the--well, for +the last time; and I was feeling very high and mighty, and Aunt Charl +quite subdued, for her, that we gave a reception, the last before +Lent. Of course he was there, and I had made up my mind that day that +I would be honest with my own heart in spite of Aunt Charl. "I'm sure +he cares for me," I said to myself, and--well, I knew I liked him a +little. I knew he only waited for the opportunity to speak, and while +I would have died rather than help him make it, I said, "If he does +find the chance--if he does speak, or when he does--well!" + +'I shall never forget that night! Aunt was good enough to say that I +was looking my very best. I am sure I felt so. But of course aunt +spoiled it all--her pretty speech, I mean. + +'"June," she wheedled, "that handsome Maurice Voisin will be here, and +I happen to know that he admires you very much. Charlie Wiltby says he +is no end of a swell in Paris, and that he is really a rich man, who +prefers to be modest, and avoids fortune-hunting girls. You are old +enough to settle down, and with your fortune and his you might be a +leader in Parisian society. There's no place in the world where money +and good looks together will do so much for one as they will in +Paris." Think of it, Hilda! If I had not felt so at peace with all the +world just then, there would have been an--occurrence then and there. +But I held my tongue, and was even inclined to be a little sorry that +aunt's silly talk was making me feel a genuine antipathy for M. +Maurice Voisin of Paris renown; and really at that time I hardly knew +the man. He is certainly rather good-looking, in a dark, Spanish +fashion, and he is taller and somehow more muscular-looking than the +typical Frenchman. He is certainly polished, shines almost too much +for my liking; but that may be, really, Aunt Charl's fault rather than +Mr. V.'s. That night, at least before supper, I had no word or thought +against him. + +'But I must get on about him, and I'll make it very short. You know +how our conservatory is arranged, and that little nook just at the +entrance to the library, where the palms are grouped? Well, I had +danced with them both, and he had just asked me to go with him into +the conservatory, "to sit out a waltz," when M. Voisin came to claim +it. I had for the moment forgotten it, and he had only time to say +just one word--"after." + +'Well, I'll be candid, if it does humiliate me; after that waltz I +eluded M. Voisin, leaving him with Aunt Charl, and went into the +conservatory. + +'It was so early, and the dancers still so fresh, that no one was +there as yet. I had been stopped once or twice on my way, and when I +entered the conservatory by way of the drawing-room, I fancied for a +moment that someone was standing in the shadow of the palms, just +inside the library door; but I went on, and reached the nook without +being observed. I sat down, quite out of sight, thinking that if he +entered from the ball-room the most direct way I should see him first. +Imagine my surprise, then, when almost instantly I heard a movement on +the other side of the mound of fairy palms, and then at the very first +word came my own name. There! I will not repeat the shameful words, +but it was his voice that owned to an intention to "honour" me with a +proposal, because his finances were getting low, and he must choose +matrimony as the least of two evils, etc. While I sat there, unable to +move, and half stunned by this awful insult, suddenly there was a +quick rustling, a half-stifled laugh, some whispered words, and then +another voice which I did not at first recognise, said, very near me, +"Ah, good-evening, Mr.--a--Lossing! Charming spot, really." Then there +was another movement, some low muttered words, and the sound of +footsteps going across the marble toward the library. Then suddenly, +right before me, appeared M. Voisin. I could not conceal my agitation, +and gave the same old hackneyed reason--heat, fatigue, sudden +faintness. M. Voisin hastened in search of water, and I dropped my +face upon my hands, to be aroused the next moment by _his_ voice, +agitated, hurried, making me a proposal. Then something seemed to +nerve me to fury. I sprang up, and, standing erect before him, said: + +'"Mr. Lossing, as I am unfortunately not in the matrimonial market, I +fear I cannot be of assistance to you, much as I regret that the low +state of your finances is driving you to so painful a step. Allow me +to pass!" Before he could reply I had swept past him, and meeting M. +Voisin just beyond the palms, I took his arm and went back to the +ball-room. Hilda, pride and anger held me up then, for I fully +believed him the most perfidious of men. But since, much as I hate +myself for it, there are times when I doubt the evidence of my own +senses, and cannot believe that he ever said those words. The next +morning, while my anger still blazed, he sent me a letter, which I +returned unopened. That is all, Hilda. He left town the same day, I +have been told. + +'And now you understand, doubtless, why I am here. M. Voisin, of +course, was not to blame, but I could not disconnect him from the rest +of the hateful experience; and so at the beginning of Lent I packed my +trunks and set out for the country and Aunt Ann's at Greenwood. Dear +Aunt Ann, who is so unlike Aunt Charl!' + +Then followed some details of their arrival at the World's Fair and an +amusing account of the good lady's first impressions, which were so +large and so astounding that she was obliged to '"remain at home and +take the entire day to think things over in." Think of it, Hilda, shut +up like a hermit just two blocks from the gate! Is not that like +nobody on earth but sweet, slow, obstinate, countrified Aunt Ann?--of +whom, thank heaven, I am not one bit ashamed, in spite of her Shaker +bonnet. But I can't lose a day of this wonder, and fortunately dear +Aunt Ann never dreams of tabooing my sight-seeing. When I proposed to +come alone this morning, the dear soul said: + +'"Well, I should hope thee could. Only two straight blocks between +here and the gate at Fifty-seventh Street, and if thee can manage to +get lost with all those guards and guides, to say nothing of the maps +and pictures, thee is a stupid niece, and thee may just go back to thy +Aunt Charlotte Havermeyer." If Aunt Charl could only hear that! Well, +dear, I have promised myself a happy time here with Aunt Ann when she +is not occupied with her meditations, and yourself soon, and without +Aunt C.; but, alas! everybody will visit the Fair; and yesterday, +upon Midway, whom should I see but M. Voisin! He was attired as I have +never seen him before, quite _négligée_, you know, and wearing a +Turkish fez. It was very becoming. He did not see me, and for this I +was thankful. I did not come to the World's Fair to see M. Voisin, and +even to please Aunt Charl I can't make myself like him.' + +I put down this letter and smiled over its sweet ingenuousness, and +singularly enough I joined the fair writer in heartily disliking M. +Voisin. + +'He was altogether too conveniently near at the scene of that unlucky +proposal,' I muttered to myself, and then I turned to the other +letter. I wanted to see what I could make, between the two, out of +young Lossing. + +'I have asked you twice,' Miss O'Neil wrote, 'about your affair with +young Mr. Lossing. Your aunt is entirely at a loss, only she declares +she is sure that you have refused him, and that in some way he has +offended you; and I thought him almost perfect, a knight _sans +reproche_, etc.; and he is so handsome, and frank, and manly. What +happened, dear? It is so strange that he should vanish so utterly from +society where he was made so much of; and no one seems to know where +he went, or when, or why, or how. Gerry says he was a perfect +companion, "and as honourable as the sun." There, I'll say no more.' + +My reading was broken in upon at this point by a prolonged chuckle, +and I looked up to see Brainerd wideawake and staring at me. + +'Well,' he queried promptly, 'have you found out her name?' + +'Yes; it is June Jenrys.' As I spoke I returned Miss O'Neil's letter +to its decorated envelope, and replaced the two in the bag. 'I'll tell +you about them,' I said, as I put it aside. Somehow I felt a sudden +reluctance at the thought of seeing those two letters in the hands and +under the eyes of an inveterate joker like Dave. 'I'm no wiser in the +matter of address, however.' And then I told him the purport of the +letters in the fewest words possible. + +'Do you know,' said Dave, when I had finished my recital, 'I don't +like that Voisin, not even a little bit. I think he's a bad lot.' + +I smiled at this. There was not a jot of romance in Dave Brainerd's +make-up, and not a great depth of imagination; but he was the keenest +man on a trail, and the clearest reasoner among a large number of +picked and tried detectives. It amused me to think that both had been +similarly impressed by this man as he had been set before us; but I +made no comment, and to draw away from a subject which I felt it +beyond our province to discuss I asked: + +'Dave, what did you mean this afternoon, when we opened that bag, by +saying that the owner was a clever woman? Upon what did you found that +remark?' + +'Why, upon the fact that she did not put her purse in that convenient, +but conspicuous, little bag; in consequence of which she is, or was, +only slightly annoyed, instead of being seriously troubled at its +loss. By the way, or rather to go out of the way, do you know that +they have in the French Government Building a very fine and complete +exhibition of the Bertillon identification system? I want to get to it +bright and early in the morning.' + +I moved to his side and sat down upon the bed. We were both admirers +of this fine system, and for some moments we discussed it eagerly, as +we had done more than once before; and when I put my head upon my +pillow at last, it was with J. J. and her interests consigned to a +secondary place in my mind, the first being given over to this +wonderful French system, the pride of the Paris police and terror of +the French criminal. + +But we little know what a day, or a night, may bring forth. + +Someone rapped at our door at an unpleasantly early hour, and the +summons brought Dave out of bed with a bound, and in another moment +had put all thought of the previous night out of our heads. + +'Will you come to the captain's office at once, gentlemen?' said a +voice outside, and I caught a glimpse of a guard's blue uniform +through the half opened door. 'There's been a big diamond robbery +right under our noses, and they're calling out the whole force.' + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +'IT'S ALL A MIRACLE.' + + +It was even as the summoning guard had said, and the Secret Service +Bureau was in a very active condition when Brainerd and myself +arrived. + +Already telephone messages were flying, or had flown, to the various +districts, and at every gate, thanks to the almost perfect system +instituted by Superintendent Bonfield, shrewd and keen-eyed men were +on the alert for any and all suspicious personages, and woe to those +whose descriptions were written down in the books of the secret +service men. They must be able to give good account of themselves, or +their liberty would be brief. + +It was not difficult to guess why my friend and myself had been so +promptly summoned, in spite of the fact that already more than three +hundred men, trained detectives, from our own large cities and from +abroad, were upon duty here. + +It was because they were on duty, every man at his post, whatever +that might be, and because Brainerd and myself--having newly arrived +and being for the moment unoccupied--were both near and available. +Because, too, we were specials, that is, not subject to routine +orders. + +The robbery had really been a large one, and a bold one. + +A collection of gems, cut and uncut, belonging to a foreign exhibit, +and placed almost in the centre of one of those great well-guarded +buildings, must be, one would think, proof against attack. Carefully +secured in their trays and boxes, shut and locked behind heavy plates +of glass in bronzed iron frames, guarded by day by trusted employés +always under the eye of manager or exhibitor, and by night by a guard +of drilled watchmen, what collection could be safer? + +Nevertheless, at night there sparkled in those crystal prisms a little +silver leaf with slightly curved edges, holding what looked like a +tiny heap of water-drops, congealed and sparkling, shot through by a +winter sunbeam; several larger diamonds, uncut, but brilliant and of +great value; some exquisite specimens of pink topaz, and one great +limpid, gleaming emerald, the pride of the fine collection. This at +night. In the morning--they were not. + +We sat down, a small group, for we did not hold council in the outer +office, nor with one superfluous member, and began to find or make for +ourselves a starting-point. + +The work had been done very deftly. One of the glass plates had been +cut out close to the bronze frame, and the gems removed; but that was +not the strange part of the affair. In their places counterfeit gems +had been put, careful imitations of the originals, and the glass plate +had been deftly put in its place again. + +'Ah!' said the fussy and half-distracted little man who represented +the great foreign house so neatly defrauded, 'Ah! if I had not come +down this morning, not one othair would haf know. I am the one only +expairt. See! I am praisant wen the plaice is un-cloase. I stant near, +wen soomsing make a beeg chock'--he meant shock or jar--'ant richt +town falls out the klass. Wen I haf zeen it, I go queek ant look at +doze shems. Ach! I know it awal--'tis fawlze awal--effery stonzes!' + +That was the story. They had found the glass cut, and false gems in +place of the true. + +When we had stemmed the tide of this foreign eloquence, which was not +for some time, I asked: + +'How many know of this?' + +'Nopotty at all onlee----' + +'Not more than half a dozen,' broke in the chief of the bureau. 'Of +course it wouldn't do! These are not the things that we like to let +the public into. It wouldn't harmonize.' + +'Ah-h-h!' aspirated the little man. 'It would trive away awal the +tiamont mershants togetheer! U-u-og!' + +'Right you are,' murmured Dave; and then in a louder tone, 'Can you +trust your people to keep silent?' + +'Ah! neffear fe-ur; tay know it is for tare goo-et.' + +'Where are they?' + +'The attendants?' queried the captain. 'Two are in charge of the +pavilion, which remains closed. Lausch here was very clever; he sent +for me at once, meantime keeping everything under cover; and when I +saw how the land lay, I ordered close mouths all around, and put up a +card "Closed for repairs." Then I sent for you, and we came back here. +Of course you will want to see the place.' + +'The place and the people,' I said, somewhat impatiently; 'and we +can't get it over too quick.' + +We spent three of the long morning hours in viewing, first the case +where the real gems had been, and next the shams that had taken their +place; then the surroundings, and last, and one by one, the people +engaged about the Lausch pavilion. They were all Viennese, speaking +the English language fairly well, far better than Mr. Lausch himself; +and after we had questioned them closely and carefully, we closeted +ourselves together and discussed the few 'points' so far gathered, if +points, upon investigation, they proved to be. + +'Carl,' chuckled my friend when we were at last alone, 'one of our +missions here at the great Columbian Exposition was to hunt diamond +thieves--eh!' + +Of course his meaning was plain to me, but I chose to differ with him; +there was no better way of rousing his wits. + +'Of all the expert thieves on the two continents, the only ones who +will not come here will be those whose faces are in every rogues' +gallery in the land,' I replied. 'It would be too much good luck to +find Bob and Delbras mixed up in this deal.' + +'And yet,' declared he, 'I am willing to wager that it's the work of +Delbras _et al_. Who but he would have prepared himself with a full +assortment of paste jewels. Honestly, old man, don't you agree with +me?' + +'Yesterday,' I replied, 'I was ready to swear that Greenback Bob and +his friend Delbras were circulating, perhaps issuing, those two-dollar +Government notes.' + +'And what's to hinder you thinking so still, eh?' + +'Only that it would be too much of a fairy story to find our work cut +out for us in such a way.' + +Dave threw one sturdy leg across the chair nearest him, and settled +himself in his favourite attitude for an argumentative discourse. + +'Young man,' he began, 'if you can find anything connected with this +White City that has sprung out of the lake and the prairie that has +not a touch of the Arabian Nights about it, I want to know where it +is. Can you show me anything more fairylike than this fairy city, +built, as it has been, in the teeth of time?' + +'Oh----' + +'I tell you it's all a miracle, a nineteenth-century miracle! To come +down to facts, now, you and I came here expecting to find Greenback +Bob, didn't we?' + +'Yes, of course.' + +'And we have good reason to believe that Delbras is also here. Not +much miracle about that, you'll admit.' + +'No,' I assented, knowing that he must reach his climax in his own +way. + +'No; I should say so! But here is a miracle, a regular White City +miracle. I wonder if Delbras and company know that--leaving a couple +of thousand of blue-coated Columbian guards out of the question, and +they're bright fellows, let me tell you--there are here three hundred +and odd picked detectives, a squad at every gate, and every gate and +every district connected by telephone with the main office here. Let a +suspicious character appear, click goes the nearest telephone, sending +the man's description to headquarters, and then, click, click, click, +to every district, every gate, every man, goes this same description. +Oh, the crooks whose faces are known will find a warm welcome here! +It's only the fine workers, who have been so successful that they are +not well known, who can make hay in this place.' + +'All the same,' I here submitted, 'for such fellows as Delbras and his +ilk, who know the world on both continents, this is a promising field, +in spite of the telephone system and the detectives in plain clothes +at every gate.' + +'As how?' + +'To the man who can speak several tongues, and is an adept at +disguise, this Fair, with its citizens from every clime, will be a +better place for concealment than London, Paris, and New York rolled +into one.' + +Dave gave utterance to a long, low whistle, and jerked himself to an +upright position. + +'You're right again!' he cried. 'Come, let's get down to business. +What's your idea about this robbery?' + +'About the same as yours, I fancy.' + +'And what's that?' + +I took out my notebook, wherein I had jotted down the most important +items of testimony elicited from the Lausch attendants, saying: + +'Get out your notes, Dave; let's see how they agree.' Dave produced +his own briefer notes, and I began running my finger slowly down the +pages. + +'It was done during the day.' + +'Of course!' impatiently. + +'And slowly--that is, a little at a time.' + +'How slowly?' + +'Well, for instance, Lausch himself told of a young woman who was much +taken with the pink topaz display--you remember?' + +'Yes;' beginning to smile behind his book. + +'He said that she wore a coat with a deep cape, and that she rested +one arm upon the case.' + +'Well, I did wonder what the woman's dress had to do with it. 'Gad, +but you questioned those people until I began to feel sorry for them. +What figure, now, is the dress likely to cut?' + +I laughed. + +'In this case let us suppose that the young woman is one of the gang.' + +'Oh!' + +'And let us fancy that while she peered at the pink topaz--you +remember Lausch told us that she excused her nearness by saying that +she was very near-sighted?' + +'That's so.' + +'Well, while looking at the gems, with her face bent over the case, +one arm upon the edge, and with the voluminous cape outspread, what is +to prevent her using the other hand and arm to draw a diamond point +slowly and heavily along the glass, close to the metal?' + +'By Jove! what indeed?' + +'And why may not this act be repeated, three or four times, say, by +the same woman, slightly changed as to dress, as she could have been? +Lausch, you recall, accosted her.' + +'Yes.' + +When Dave grew laconic I knew him to be almost convinced. + +'You will recall how each of the attendants remembered one or more +instances of persons lingering long near the gems, or crowding so +close as to attract the attention of some of them.' + +'Umph!' + +'And Lausch distinctly remembered how a good-natured guard came to his +aid just as he was about to close his exhibits, and stood with his +back to the case, and his arms carelessly outspread upon the edge +chaffing with a group of late sight-seers, and keeping them from +annoying him (Lausch) while he made things secure. Now I don't say +that it was done, but I can see how that guard might have played into +the hands of the gang, who might have been at hand three or four +strong. Observe, the cases were high at the inner sides and shallow at +the front, and while the top sheet of glass, for purposes of display, +was a large one, those forming the outer side were small and set into +stout bronzed squares not to exceed seven inches in depth and ten in +length. Now, we will note that the back of the case, besides being +higher than the front, is not of glass, but of wood, to admit of the +use of a mirror for lining, and to double the show and glitter of the +gems.' + +'Upon--my--word!' + +'Now let us suppose our guard as standing before the case and +directly in front of the diamonds. He is facing outward, and before +him, hovering close, are some others, two or three, or more. On the +other sides of the octagonal pavilion the other assistants are busy +"closing up." Lausch in person presides at the small safe in the +centre of the place. Now, while he is busy, with his eyes averted for +a moment, a hand thrust under the outstretched arm of the guard may +gently press something adhesive against the already cut glass and pull +it out, and soon, when Lausch bends down to open the safe, or to place +some article therein, the hand draws out the little tray of gems; it +was small, and could have been concealed under one of those wraps +thrown conveniently across the arm. Now, a little ruse to substitute +the false gems and replace the glass under the guard's concealing arm, +and the thing is done. If it all happened at the closing hour, when +the big building was shadowy and one could see clearly only a short +distance, when every exhibitor was occupied with his own, and +visitors, for the most part, were intent upon reaching the nearest +exit--it was bound to succeed. Of course this is all theory, but----' + +'It's the explanation of that theft, or I'm a sinner!' cried Dave, +jumping up and beginning to pace the floor nervously. 'Carl, old man, +I'll never chaff your "bump of imagination," after to-day. I'm ready +to begin work on just that theory.' + +'Steady, steady, Dave.' + +'All right, sir; at least we can make a beginning--we can find that +guard.' + +'How?' + +'Take his description from Lausch--find out who was detailed here----' + +I put up my hand, and he stopped--staring. + +'Dave, there is not a Columbian guard on the force who would, or +could, have played that part--if it was played. It was simply one of +the band wearing a guard's uniform.' + +My friend sat down opposite me, and for some time not a word passed +between us. Then he took up his notebook, and, drawing a small table +toward us, said: + +'Let's go over the ground slowly, and see if there is anything here to +corroborate your theory, or to point to any other conclusion.' + +And now I knew that Dave was fixed, so far as his opinions were +concerned, and that while he might declare himself convinced by my +wisdom, he had been all the time simply establishing his own +convictions, and that he was now ready for earnest work. + +It was some time before we came out from the superintendent's little +inner sanctum, but we were now quite ready to begin our campaign; and +when we were given _carte blanche_ as to methods, and were promised as +many men as we might need for the work, we could ask for nothing more, +or better. + +Our first demand was peremptory. There must be no publicity; no word +of the robbery must reach the vigilant reporters who were everywhere +in search of news. + +Next, we caused an accurate description of Greenback Bob to be sent to +all the gates and different districts, with orders for an instant +report of the fact should he be seen, and that once seen he must be +constantly shadowed. + +Before we left the place we had arranged with Lausch to put a man of +our own choosing into the pavilion, whose business it would be to keep +constant watch over his people. For while he was ready to vouch for +their honesty, we were not; rather, we were not willing to let any +possibility of a clue escape us. A second man was placed where he +could cultivate these people, and as much as possible outside of +business hours. Not that we expected much from this, for we had seen +no slightest sign of dishonesty among these people, who seemed to +shun all society and to have no acquaintances outside their own +pavilion. + +After considering long, we decided not to bring the name of Delbras +into the case, or to attempt to set any watch upon him in the regular +way. To 'locate' Delbras should be our own especial work, and to +freshen our memories we reviewed the information furnished our chief +by the French commissaire. + +So far as was known there was no picture of him extant, and the French +report described him about as follows: + +'Nationality, French; age, probably about thirty to thirty-three +years; height, six feet, or nearly; weight, one hundred and +seventy-five pounds, approximate; figure good; square shoulders, +military air; features, regular; thin lipped; chin sharply pointed; +wears at times heavy beard, at others moustache and goatee; eyes dark, +called black; hair same, heavy, and sometimes worn quite long; hands +well kept, with long slender fingers; speaks English perfectly, +accomplished, etc.; a small triangular scar upon temple close to roots +of hair. Known to have been in Paris and London in early winter, and +to have crossed to New York about January 1st. Returned to Paris some +time in March, and crossed last to New York in early May by steamer +_Normandie_.' + +'Well,' had been Dave's comment as we reperused this summary of M. +Delbras, 'he may disguise himself in many ways, but he can't change +his height very much, nor the colour of his eyes, nor his "regular +features"'--Dave's features were not strictly regular, and it was a +weakness of his always to resent this descriptive phrase--'nor his +slim fingers, nor the scar on his temple close to the roots of the +hair.' + +We had spent a long morning in the rooms of the Secret Service Bureau, +and as we were about to take leave, with but a step between us and the +outer door, it was hastily opened and a guard entered, followed by +two people whom I recognised as Farmer and Mrs. Camp. With a backward +step and a quick glance at Dave, I turned and deliberately seated +myself. + +The only occupants of the outer office at the moment of their entry +were the officer in command, who had just accompanied us from the +inner office, and the subordinate who was in charge of this outer +office, where complaints were received and first hearings granted. + +I had drawn back quickly, but the eye of Mrs. Camp was still keen, +though she looked a trifle subdued. + +'The good land!' she ejaculated, catching at her husband's arm. +'Here's one of 'em now, Camp! They've caught him, anyhow!' + +The words furnished Dave with a clue to the situation, and he dropped +into a chair beside me, and, after one droll look in my direction, +gave himself up to a fit of silent mirth. + +Meantime the guard had advanced with dignity and announced to the +officer at the desk: + +'This man has a complaint to bring, sir.' + +'Wait!' It was Mrs. Camp, standing determinedly near the door of +entrance, who spoke. 'Afore you make a complaint, Adam Camp, about a +raskil that ain't here, s'pose you jest make sure that this here one +that is here in our midst don't git away.' + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A CRIMINAL HUNT. + + +Now, I had told the officer in command my belief and suspicions +concerning the counterfeit business which I believed was going on +about us, and had been told that two of the counterfeit bills had +already been brought to his notice and captured within the week; and +Dave had insisted upon his hearing the story of my absurd arrest by +the guards, and now it only needed a look from me, and the sight of +Dave's convulsed face, to make the situation plain to him. He stepped +forward, but before he could speak a new thought had darted into Dame +Camp's active mind. + +'La!' she finished, 'I s'pose, come to think, he's been brought here +now to be tried, ain't he?' + +With the shadow of a smile upon his face, the officer turned toward +the farmer. + +'What is your complaint?' he asked courteously; and he shot me a +glance which I knew meant, 'Let him tell his own story.' And now, +being authorized to speak, Farmer Camp began to tell, in his own +homely way, the story of the 'greenback swindle,' as he termed it. +When he had reached the point in the narrative where I made my unlucky +attempt to rout the swindlers, he turned toward me. + +'I've had an idee sence, though my wife didn't agree with me +much'--here came an audible sniff from Mrs. Camp--'that this here +young man might 'a' meant well, after all, and we wus a little mite +hasty; but, ye see, he'd been a-lookin' at us so long, an' my wife'd +been a-noticin' it, havin' her mind kind o' sot like on confidence +people and sech, that she felt kind o' oneasy at his sharp looks--they +wus so keen, she said, an' so quick to look away, she got nervous, and +said she felt as if he wus a-lookin' right inter my pockets.' + +'There now, Camp, you needn't be a-excusin' me! I stick ter my idee. +Anyone can see that the young feller ain't innocent, else somebody'd +'a' spoke fur him, fust off----' + +Here Dave exploded audibly, and the officer checked her with a motion +of his hand. + +'Let me settle this point at once by telling you, madam, that the +gentleman you have accused is an officer high in his profession, and +sent here to protect the public and look after criminals. He had but +just arrived, and it was because of this that he was without his +officer's badge, which would at once have put those men to rout had it +been worn and displayed to them. Let me tell you now, to prevent +further mistakes, that the detectives upon whom we rely in greatest +emergencies are always to be found in citizen's clothes, and they are +not likely to display a badge, except when necessary.' + +Long before the end of this speech consternation was written all over +the face of Adam Camp, but his wife was made of sterner stuff, and +when her better half had stuttered and floundered half through a +sufficiently humble apology, directed, of course, toward myself, she +broke in upon his effort, no whit abashed: + +'There, Camp, it's easy enough ter see how we came ter make sech a +mistake, and I'm sure the young man will bear no malice to'ard a +couple of folks old enough ter be his parients. 'Twas them +sharp-lookin' eyes that set me ter noticin' ye, when you was lookin' +over Camp fust off, down to the Administration Building, and when you +went an' sot down on the settee by him, an' then got up an' followed +us so fur, what was I to think? You was a-watchin' us sure enough, +only you meant well by it. But, land sakes! in sech a place, where +everybody is tryin' to look out fur number one, I did what looked my +dooty. I'm willin' to ask yer pardon, though, and I ain't goin' ter +bear no malice.' + +Overwhelmed by this magnanimity, I murmured my thanks and complete +satisfaction with her _amende honorable_, and tried to turn the +occasion to such profit as might be by questioning the man a little. + +'You were saying that you changed a bill, or were about to do so. Did +the man make any difficulty after I left you?' + +'No, sir. He seemed in a kind of a hurry, and made out to be onsartin +whether he could spare so much small money, as he called it. But +finally he counted out a roll of bills, and had me count them after +him.' + +'There--in the crowd where you stood?' + +'Wal, no. He took us to one side a little--right in behind the place +where the little man was a-sellin' canes--sort of up ag'inst a +partition, and there we made the dicker.' + +'And he left you right away?' queried the officer in charge. + +'Yes--jest about as quick as he could.' + +'And the other,' I asked, 'the man who took you to this agent--the man +with the large Sabbath-school class?' + +'Oh! he asked us to go to the terminus station with him and see his +young men; but my wife wanted to see things, and we jest went as fur +as the door, out of perliteness.' + +'And when did you discover that you had been swindled?' + +'Wal, M'riar wanted to ride in one of them coopy things with a +man-hoss behind and before; and when she got ready to get out, which +was purty soon, I give one of them fellers a two-dollar soovyneer +bill, but they made a great jabbering about it, and M'riar says, says +she, "I guess they ain't got the change;" so I fished out some +pennies, and a dime and two postage stamps, and after a bit they tuk +'em and waddled off. Then we got to lookin' up and down, and we didn't +have no more 'casion to use money--M'riar was so busy seein' the folks +and their clo's--till we got hungry, and then come the rumpus. When I +come to pay the bill, they was a reg'lar howl, an' we come mighty near +bein' marched off to the calaboose, same's you was. They said the bill +I offered 'em first off, an' all the rest, was counterfeit.' + +Until now Brainerd had taken no part in the dialogue; but now, with a +quick glance in my direction, he asked; + +'Will you describe the man who gave you the money--the supposed +agent?' + +Camp pondered. 'Wal,' he began, 'he was tall, 's much as six foot, I +should say, an' his eyes were black an' big. His hair was consid'able +long, and he had a good deal of it on his face in a big bushy +moustache. He had a slim nose--and he wore a big di'mond on his little +finger.' + +'Did you notice his hands?' + +'M--no.' + +'Wal, I did!' interposed his wife. 'I seen the di'mond, ef 'twas a +di'mond. His hands was white--real white, 'long side of his face, and +they looked like reg'lar claws; sech long fingers and pointed nails.' + +'Ah!' Dave shot me a glance full of meaning. 'Now, Mrs. Camp, you seem +a very observing woman. Will you describe the other man--the gentleman +with the Sabbath-school class?' + +The woman's head became even more erect, and her look more firm and +confident than before. 'Yes,' she said at once; 'I can.' She cast her +eyes about her, and, seeing a vacant chair near her interlocutor--the +one lately vacated by myself--she seated herself deliberately, and +began: + +'He wasn't much to look at; about as big as you, mebbe, and about the +same complected as that gentleman,' pointing to the sergeant at the +desk, 'only his nose was longer, and sort of big and nobby at the end, +an' a leetle red. I remember he had bigger ears than common, too; they +sort of set straight out. His eyes were little, and a sort of watery +gray, and his hair was kind of thin and sandy-like. He had some little +mutton-chop whiskers, and a little hair, a'most tan-colour, on his +upper lip. His mouth was quite big, and I noticed he had two front +teeth with gold fillin' into 'em. He had gloves on his hands when we +see him first, but when we met him afterward they was off.' + +'Afterward, you say--did you meet him after you had discovered that +you had been swindled?' I broke in. + +'Yes--we----' + +'You see,' broke in Adam Camp, 'it was this way: we was comin' out of +Midway, for we'd been out a'most to the end a-seein' the sights, an' +when we got hungry we went into a place a blue-coat said was good, the +Vienny Caffy, he called it. Well, it was there we had the fuss about +the money, and they told us to come here right away and make a +complaint. We started, and was jest comin' past that menagerie place, +when M'riar wanted to stop jest afore the place and look at the big +lion over the door.' + +'A live one,' interpolated M'riar. + +'Yes, a live one. Well, standin' there, all to once I see that +Sunday-school feller come out o' the door a pickin' his teeth. He was +right in front of me, and at first he seemed not to see me, and was +hurryin' off dretful fast, but I caught on to his arm and says, +quick-like: "Look here; I want to tell you somethin' fer your own good +and to swap favers." Then he sort of slowed up, and axed me to pardin +him--he was in haste, an' gettin' orful anxious about them boys. Then +I says right out, "My friend, I'm anxious too, and you've got cause to +be: you an' me's been swindled;" and then he most jumped, and asked, +"How swindled?" "Hev you broke one of them two-dollar bills yit?" says +I. "No," says he; an' then I up an' told him the hull story.' + +'Did you tell him you were coming here?' I asked, as he paused a +moment. + +'No, because he got so excited and talked so fast; I declare, he put +it all out of my head.' + +Again he stopped, as if loth to continue, but again Mrs. Camp took up +the parable. + +'Now, father, yer may jest as well out with it! Ye see, this chap flew +all to pieces, so to speak, an' he was goin' to have a officer right +away. He had a letter of interducshun from his minister to home to the +capt'in of the Columbine perleece--they was related somehow--and he +would jest have them men arrested; an' then he happened ter think that +'twas gittin' late and time a'most for that train with them +Sunday-school children to come, and it put him out awfully; but he +said that he'd make it his bizness to see to that, and then he made a +'p'intment with Camp to meet him at half-past ten ter-day, an' they'd +go tergether ter see the Columbine perleeceman.' She paused, and +uttered a cackling laugh. 'Wal,' she concluded, 'Camp see that 'twas +gittin' purty late, so he 'greed to it; an' I didn't say nothin', but +arter he'd gone ter meet them boys ag'in I put my foot down ter come +here fust, an' not to wait till mebbe the feller'd git away, and +finally Camp reckoned 'twould be best, and so we came. Someway that +feller sort o' went ag'in' me, to'rds the last. I don't want to be +hasty ag'in, but I sort o' feel as if he might be kind o' tricky, 's +well's the rest.' + +It did not take us long to convince the Camps that they had been duped +all round, and while we had little faith in their ever seeing the +'Sunday-school feller' again, we obtained their promise to keep their +appointment with him; and here Dave Brainerd suddenly muttered an +excuse to the two officers, and said in my ear, 'If I am not back in +fifteen minutes meet me at the Administration at four sharp.' And with +a nod to the Camps he went hastily out. I felt very sure of his +errand. He had fancied, like myself, that 'Smug,' fearing lest the +Camps might prove too clever for his wiles--perhaps suspecting the +keen-eyed old woman--had followed them in order to assure himself +whether it would be safe to keep his latest appointment with them, and +this indeed proved to be the case. + +Before the Camps left the place we had easily convinced them that +their 'Sunday-school friend' and not I, had been the 'confidence +man,' and that if he kept this last appointment with them it would +only be to lure them into another trap, and a worse one, for it would +have for its aim the suppression of any and all evidence they might +have been inclined to give to the 'perleece.' + +In convincing the gentle old man, and shattering his faith in my +friend Smug, I could see that we had dealt his simple, kindly nature a +real blow, but Mother Camp was of sterner stuff. + +'You needn't worrit about me, not now,' she assured me, with a +vigorous nod. 'After gitten' into one trap I ain't a-goin' to tumble +into any more, an' I ain't goin' ter let him, neither, not when I'm on +hand. I've told that man, more times 'n I've got fingers an' toes, +that he was too soft-hearted; allus feedin' tramps 'n' stray dawgs, +an' swallerin' all the beggars' yarns.' + +'I guess ye needn't worrit, M'riar,' the old man said, with a faint +show of spirit. 'Things might 'a' been worst. I didn't aim ter +squander a hundred dollars to one lick, but I've got'n nuff left yit +ter see the Fair an' git home on, so I guess we may as well be +a-seein' it; a body hes to live, live an' larn.' + +And with this sentiment the pair took their departure, a little the +wiser, and more wary, perhaps, for the words of warning and advice +given them by the officer in charge, who had taken their names and +address, and made a memorandum of their 'complaint.' + +He had smiled slightly when told their street and number, and had +remarked that at least Stony Island Avenue had the merit of nearness, +adding the friendly caution, 'Don't make boarding-house acquaintances, +good people, and keep on the bright side of the way in going home +late.' Whereupon I made a mental note to investigate this same +hardly-named avenue. + +Long before the end of the Fair I had cause to thank myself for this +mental note, and that it was held in remembrance. + +Brainerd did not appear at the stipulated time, and I was too eager to +be out in full sight of that wonder city to remain at the bureau; so +taking the Intramural Railway at the nearest station I began to circle +in and out among those marvels of genius, skill, and nineteenth +century enterprise which, combined, had placed, in a time so short as +to seem a miracle, this city of beauty beside the blue Lake Michigan. + +And now I began to ask myself why the visitor who had nothing to do +but to see this wonder of wonders, and had no need to keep one eye +upon the passing faces, did not see it, at least until it grew +familiar from that point of view, from a seat in an Intramural. + +What a kaleidoscopic panorama! In taking my place I had not even +noticed the direction in which I was moving. I had been seeing such a +marvel of glimpses, domes, roofs, the lagoon in the distance, a +flashing glimpse of the lake through glittering, airy turrets, trees, +statues, flags--beauty and charm everywhere. I had taken a round-trip +ticket, and I whirled on and on, until somehow I saw the great glass +dome of the Horticultural Building, and a moment later a fleeting view +of Midway recalled to my mind my own personality and interests. As I +gazed at it, stretching away westward, a veritable Joseph's coat of a +street, it was gone, and I saw the tall dome of Illinois, the Art +Gallery in the distance, with the lagoon again gleaming through trees, +to be lost again, while roofs, windows, vistas of streets surrounded +me, and I could peep in at the windows we were passing; and then I +heard the cry of the guard, and noted the name as we slacked speed at +Mount Vernon Station, almost upon the roof of the Old Virginia +Building. I peered out as we drew up to this station in the air, and +drew back a little as a second train, moving in the opposite +direction, dashed by. I am in the rear car, and as we move away from +Mount Vernon, suddenly I have a vision of someone who must have flung +himself from the forward car at the last moment, and who is running +along the platform, and in the direction of the passing train, in +breathless haste, his head bare, his hat clutched in his swinging +hand. + +It is Dave Brainerd, and as we tear around a curve and he is lost to +my sight, I am brought back to thoughts of business. Dave has +evidently 'struck a trail.' Wondering much, I stop at the north loop, +and standing with the Government Building to my right and the +Fisheries with its curving colonnades on my left, I gaze off upon the +blue and shining waters of the lake, and realize fully for the first +time the awful incongruity between all this stateliness and beauty and +our mission in its midst--a criminal hunt! + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +'IT WAS GREENBACK BOB.' + + +Our chief had arranged for us, and in advance of our arrival, that our +letters should be received at the bureau, where a desk was always at +our disposal; and a little before four o'clock I dropped in once more +to look for letters and ask if Dave had made a second appearance. The +letters were in waiting for both of us, but there was no news of Dave, +and, stowing the letters in my pocket, I sought once more the Court of +Honour; seating myself near the great MacMonnies Fountain, in the +shade of the Administration Building, where Dave could not fail to +find me, to read my letters and wait for him. + +I was in no haste, with that magnificent court spread out before me, +and the blue dancing waves of Lake Michigan in the distance, Nature's +background for the great Peristyle, surmounted by that novel and +beautiful Columbus quadriga, in itself a work of art such as is seldom +seen, and with golden Justice, dominant and serene, commanding and +overlooking all. + +Forgetting my letters, I let my eyes wander slowly from point to point +of beauty, letting the moments pass unheeded. + +'Fine figure of a woman, eh?' + +I started, and came suddenly down to earth, at the sound of one of my +friend's characteristic speeches. He was standing beside me, as +imperturbable of countenance as usual, but looking somewhat blown; and +he dropped upon the bench, and stretched his legs, and pulled off his +hat, like a weary man who means to enjoy a little well-earned rest. + +I knew him too well to display any curiosity, and I merely sorted out +from the bundle of letters still unopened in my hand those bearing his +name, and laid them upon his knee, and with merely a nod and smile, by +way of greeting, addressed myself to my own. + +The first was a brief business document; the next a schoolboy's +letter, short, of course, from a young brother, my sole living tie and +charge. The third was from our chief, and I saw, upon opening it, that +it was addressed, within, to both of us. + +'Dave,' I ventured, 'may I interrupt?' + +'You can't,' he replied. 'I've done. They're of no consequence,' and +he thrust the two missives I had given him into his loose side-pocket. +'Blaze away, boy.' + +The letter was not long, and, after some minor instructions and some +suggestions, came this passage: + +'"I wonder if either of you remembers the case of the Englishman who +wrote us at much length some six months ago concerning his son, 'lost +or missing'--we did not succeed in finding him in New York----"' + +'And small wonder,' chuckled Dave, whose memory was a storehouse. 'We +hadn't even the skeleton of a description.' + +'"In New York, you remember,"' I read on, '"and it has seemed to me +that you may as well look out for him in your intervals of leisure, if +there are such."' + +'Old man's growing sarcastic,' grumbled my friend. + +'"It's a good thing, if successful,"' I continued; '"and the Fair is +the best place in the world for a 'hide out.' If the young fellow's +above-ground I'll wager something he's in Chicago now; that is, if he +really did come to America a year ago, as his fond father (?) writes. +I enclose for your further information his letter; and I would be +proud of the fact if you two fellows could unearth him at the +Columbian City. I give you _carte blanche_ for the case."' + +'Umph! That means roll up your sleeves and go in.' + +I took up the copy of the Englishman's letter. 'Shall I read it?' I +asked, 'or is it----' + +'Don't say "engraven on your memory,"' implored Dave. 'Yes--go ahead.' + + '"DUNDALK HOUSE, + '"_January 3, 1893_. + + '"MESSRS. ----. + + '"GENTLEMEN,--On November 6th, in the year 1892, Carroll L. + Rae, Esq., of Dundalk House, left his home, ostensibly for a + few days in London. He was never seen again at Dundalk, and + we have been accurately informed that he sailed for America + in that same month. Being of age, he drew from his bankers + while in London one thousand pounds, the full amount + deposited to his credit; since that time no trace of him has + been found. + + '"Carroll L. Rae is twenty-six years of age, and tall, + lacking one-half inch of being six feet in height. He is + slender, broad-shouldered, upright; fair skin, blue eyes, + brown hair; features regular and refined; hair worn very + short, but inclined to curl close to skull; strong in + athletic sports; a graduate of Queen's College; has small, + aristocratic feet and hands; a skilled horseman; sings a fine + and unusually high tenor; has a singularly strong control + over all animals. We have no portrait of him since childhood. + Has strong leaning toward military life and somewhat literary + tendencies. Am prepared to send blank cheque for the payment + of expenses of thorough search, and add as reward when found + two thousand pounds. Address all correspondence to + + '"SIR HUGO RAE, + '"Dundalk House, Egham, + '"Surrey."' + +'Umph!' broke out Brainerd, when I had read the last word. 'Typical +old English paterfamilias! Tyrannical, I'll be bound. I'll bet +something the young fellow ran away from parental tyranny. How did the +thing come out at the first attempt? I don't seem to recall it.' + +'And for a good reason. You were in Canada, and I was occupied with +that Rockville murder. I think they put Sturgis on the case. English +himself, you know.' + +'Yes--well?' + +'Well, as nearly as I remember, Sturgis advertised, to begin, +"something to his advantage," etc.' + +'Of course!' contemptuously. + +'This failed, and he made the tour of the hotels, swell places first, +then going down in the scale, hunted the registers; haunted the places +most affected by the English tourist; halted good-looking, or +English-looking, blond young men until they turned on him. In fact, +tried all the dodges--and failed.' + +'Of course! It's one thing to find a person who has been hidden, and +quite another to search for one who hides himself. What do you think +has set the chief to looking this lost son up here, and through us?' + +'Why, you know his ways--he seldom stops to explain; but I fancy he +may have heard again from Sir Hugo Rae.' + +I took up the two sheets, and was about to thrust them into their +envelope, when Brainerd suddenly said: + +'Hold on, boy! there's something written across the back of that +copied letter.' + +I turned it over and read the half-dozen lines written thereon: + +'"Carroll Rae, if found, is to be told at once that his brother, Sir +Hugo, is dead."' + +'Oh!' ejaculated Brainerd; 'so it's not his father. Well, that alters +things. We may be able to find a Sir Carroll Rae, especially as he +must have about exhausted that thousand pounds if he has been doing +the States in true English style.' + +'At any rate,' I added, 'it's on our books. I suppose one may keep an +eye out for a swell young Englishman here as well as elsewhere. It's +only one more face in the crowd.' + +'And that reminds me,' said my friend. 'This business almost put it +out of my head. I took a turn on that Intramural road this afternoon.' + +'Yes?' I knew better than to interrupt at this point. + +'And I saw, I am sure I saw--whom do you think?' + +'Dave, that's like a woman! I'm surprised at you. You saw Delbras.' + +'Wrong! I saw, I'm certain of it, Greenback Bob.' + +'Good!' + +'He was dressed very swell--you might have mistaken him for one of the +board of directors; but it was Bob.' + +'And you piped him home, of course?' I queried. + +'Of course I didn't. He was going one way, and I the other, each on an +Intramural car.' + +'Oh! and you were running to stop the car, and Bob, when I saw you at +Mount Vernon Station,' I said wickedly; 'did you overtake it?' + +'I did--just.' + +'And Bob?' eagerly. + +'Well,' with a grin, 'I'm sorry to disappoint you, but when I jumped +on board, at the last moment, I found that Bob had got off while I got +on. In fact, I saw him going downstairs as I was borne away to +Fifty-seventh Street. There, boy, don't look so mournful; it's all in +the game. I couldn't find a trace of him; but we know he's here.' + + * * * * * + +I had decided on the night of my arrival, after pondering late the +adventure of the black bag, or, as I now described it to myself, Miss +Jenrys' bag, upon my course of action concerning it. + +In her letter to her friend she had mentioned the entrance at +Fifty-seventh Street as being near their place of abode, and I had +promised myself that I would be early at that gate to watch for the +coming of Miss Jenrys, and to restore her property--what else? + +But I had not counted upon a diamond robbery at the very beginning of +my World's Fair adventures, and as I wished to go unaccompanied, I did +not attempt to stand guard at evening. + +But the second morning saw me at an early hour alone, and so near the +gate at Fifty-seventh Street that I could in no possible way miss the +lady should she appear. + +I had not needed to avoid Dave. He had been prompt to tell me that he +meant to put in the day looking for Greenback Bob, and that he should +'do his looking' upon Midway. + +'And why Midway?' I had asked him. + +'Because, if there's a place that is better than all other places in +which to hide one's self, that place is the Midway.' + +It was quite true; and as I made my way toward the northern entrance, +I turned over in my mind an idea suggested, or revived, by Dave's last +words. + +As I passed toward the entrance between the unique little house of +South Dakota on one side and hospitable and home-like Nebraska State +Building on the other, my gaze was caught by the restfulness and charm +of the western façade of the latter, with its broad portico and the +little lawn lying between the broad steps facing the western boundary +of the grounds, the little stream flowing under overhanging trees of +nature's own planting, and past the little natural arbour of climbing +vines draping themselves among the branches, making shade and coolness +for the groups loitering underneath upon the rustic seats scattered +freely and inviting all. + +While I gazed, a voice close behind me said, in a wheedling drawl: + +'Dew come in! You never saw sech a place! Why, upstairs beats this all +out of sight. Sech parlours, with velvet chairs, and sofys, and a +pianer; I tell ye Nebrasky beats some o' them stuck-up Eastern +States!' + +I turned, to see a fat, rosy-faced and eager woman, in the defiant +bonnet I have learned to know as from 'out west,' piloting a lean and +reluctant woman, quite as typical as a rural New Englander, through +the gate of the inclosure; and, prompted doubtless by the words I had +just heard, I took another and more extended survey of the building so +justly extolled, this time lifting my eyes to the upper window and the +balcony overhanging the stream. + +Was it a mere passing resemblance, or a fancied one, or was the face I +saw for just an instant at one of those upper windows the face of the +little brunette adventuress who had laid claim to Miss Jenrys' bag? If +so, she had been scanning the increasing crowd through an opera-glass, +and had dropped this in seeming haste, and vanished, before I could +prolong my glance. + +'It's hardly likely,' I said to myself, and turned toward the bridge +spanning the little stream, and lying between me and the entrance I +sought. + +As I stepped upon the bridge I saw, on the other side, just coming out +from the shadow of the elevated tracks above the entrance, the lithe +form and rare blond face, not to be mistaken anywhere, with its fine +clear contour, its dark eyes, and fine healthful pallor. + +She came forward leisurely, and stopped by the railing at the edge of +the platform to look down at the white-hooded Laplander who constantly +paddled up and down in the little stream, between the bridge and the +Lapland Village behind the inclosure, a few rods to the north. + +Just then there was a cry from beyond the gates, followed by the +rat-tat-tat of a drum, and one of those perpetually arriving +'processions' came filing down the platform and across the bridge. I +was in no haste to accost Miss Jenrys at the very entrance, and +possibly in the face of one or more of my ever-present brethren of the +watchful eye, and so, while she waited unhurried upon one side of the +bridge, I stopped also, looking down upon the little stream and +feigning interest in the white-robed canoeist paddling, and doubtless +perspiring, in the mild June air. The procession was not a long one, +and was formed of boys, half-grown, and wholly effervescent, wearing +what was evidently an extemporized uniform, and carrying a banner +which informed me that it was a boys' school, sent from an outlying +town through the liberality of an 'Honorable' somebody whose name I +did not hear; for the fact of the sending was not emblazoned upon the +red-silk banner they carried, but was announced, often and willingly, +in reply to numerous queries all along the line. + +They were a healthy and wholesome lot of fellows, and while I gazed at +them, not without a feeling of interest in and sympathy with their +day's pleasure, a little figure flitted past me, through the tiniest +of spaces between the marching lads and myself, pressed close against +the rail, and I saw again the little brunette hastening toward the +platform at the gate. Wondering a little, I kept my post. + +There was the usual rabble of all sorts and conditions swelling the +ranks in the rear, and when these had crowded across the bridge, there +was another throng of more leisurely moving visitors. But Miss Jenrys +was not in this throng; and when they had passed and the stream of +travel had somewhat thinned I moved forward, only a few steps, +however, for just beyond me, advancing slowly, with a smile upon her +lips, and her eyes turned toward a companion, came Miss Jenrys. + +She had entered the grounds alone--of that I had been ocularly +convinced; and that she should find a companion so soon had never +entered my thoughts. + +But she had a companion, and I almost gnashed my teeth as I saw +tripping along at her side the little brunette. + +She was talking volubly, in the low, quiet manner that I knew, and if +she saw me in passing she disguised the fact skilfully. + +I waited until they were a few paces ahead, and then followed them +slowly, chewing the cud of bitter reflection. + +Could it be that I was losing my skill in reading and judging +faces--I, upon whom the men of our force relied for a rapid, and +usually correct, guess at a strange face? Was I mistaken in this +little brunette, then? Or had I been mistaken in my judgment of Miss +Jenrys? + +No, never! I had set her down at once for a lady, in the sweet +old-fashioned meaning of the word--womanly, refined, good and true; +and had not her letters confirmed this? But this dark-haired, +quick-speaking little person by her side--was she, after all, a +friend? And had I committed a _faux pas_ in refusing to deliver up the +little bag? And if so, had I the courage to approach these two and +commit myself? Could I tell Miss Jenrys how, failing to think of a +better way of finding her, I had read her letters? I had meant, of +course, to do this; but could I, with those pert, mocking eyes upon +me? No; in my heart I knew that it was not that which vexed me. Could +I bear the scrutiny of those clear, straightforward brown eyes in that +other presence, which would put me at so sore a disadvantage? + +Then I shook myself and my senses together. After all she came alone. +Might they not separate soon? How could I tell that there was not a +friend, several friends perhaps, waiting for that troublesome brunette +back in the Nebraska Building? + +They were walking straight down the street toward the lake, with a row +of State buildings upon one side and the great spreading Art Gallery +on the other. It was a perfect June morning, and the sight of the blue +lake at the end of that splendid promenade, and the fresh breeze +blowing off it, were inspiriting. There was to be some State function +that day, and the crowd was thickening. Made bold by numbers, I came +close behind them. Miss Jenrys had unfurled a big blue umbrella, and +the two walked in the shade of it; and in order to screen myself, in +part at least, should the brunette, whom I was beginning to detest +heartily, turn and look suddenly back, I shook out the closely-rolled +folds of my own umbrella and poised it carefully between my face and +the sun. + +And now, made bold by my canopy, and frankly bent upon hearing what I +could, I drew daringly near, and when they stopped and stood to gaze +at the ornate New York State Building, I halted also. + +'By no means,' I heard the soft voice of the lovely blonde say, as she +moved back a pace to look up at the façade. 'That would be quite too +enterprising. I am chaperoned by my aunt, who is not so good a +sight-seer as myself, and for two days I have ventured----' Here the +sharp call of some hurrying chair-boys drowned her words, and I next +heard the brunette's voice. + +'Things do happen so strangely'--it was impossible to catch all of her +words--'mamma is sick so often--and papa--I do dislike being alone, +though--in the Art Gallery--acquaintances. That is all--I do wish----' + +They moved on, Miss Jenrys increasing her speed perceptibly, and +seeking, it seemed to me, to walk a little aloof from her companion, +which caused me to wonder if she could be expecting or hoping to meet +anyone. I was no longer able to hear their conversation, but they +again paused and gazed long at the fine colonial building of the State +of Massachusetts. + +I had hardly looked to see Miss Jenrys enter the placid New York +halls, but when she turned away from Massachusetts without entering or +so much as climbing the terrace steps, I wondered; and then, as the +pair turned away, and after a moment of seeming hesitation moved on +toward the lake, a man, tall and well dressed, passed me so closely +and at such a rapid pace as to attract my attention to himself. He +walked well, with a quick, swinging stride, and I think I never saw a +man's clothes fit better. His hands were gloved, and in one of them he +carried a natty umbrella, using it as a cane. I had not seen his face, +for he turned it neither to right nor left; and his splendid disregard +for the beauties all about him was explained when I saw him halt +beside Miss Jenrys and hold out a hand with the assured air of an old +friend. I was near enough to see the smile on her face when she turned +to greet him, but the few quick words they exchanged were of course +unheard. Then I saw her turn toward the brunette on the other side; +but that brisk little person had already drawn back, and now she said +a word or two, nodded airily, and, turning, went quickly away. + +A moment later Miss Jenrys and her companion turned about and went +toward the Massachusetts Building, and I saw his face. It was dark and +handsome; and as they mounted the terrace side by side I pressed +boldly forward, under the shadow of my umbrella, and thanking my lucky +stars that I had it with me, and that--because it was on the cards +that at ten o'clock I was to go to the rendezvous where Farmer Camp +was to meet, or await, Mr. Smug, for he knew him by no other name--I +was lightly but sufficiently disguised in a wig slightly sprinkled +with gray, and long about my neck and ears, and a very respectable +looking short and light set of moustaches and whiskers, the whole +finished with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. + +Wearing these, I ventured so close that I heard, while toiling behind +them up the broad old-fashioned stairway, a few fragmentary words from +the lips of Miss Jenrys, who seemed replying to some question. + +'I cannot, indeed--the best of reasons. My aunt is not here, Mr. +Voisin.' + +'Mr. Voisin!' I fell back and meditated. So this was the handsome +Frenchman, the rival of 'him'! I did not again attempt to overhear +their conversation, but I followed them about the building as they +moved slowly from room to room, and now I did not follow with my eyes +upon the graceful and stately movements, the lovely profiles and turns +of the head, of the fair woman moving on before me, but I noted +carefully every gesture, every pose and turn, the gait, carriage, and +as correctly as possible the height, weight, and length of limb of +Mr. Maurice Voisin of France, and I felt that I was doing well. + +When at last they turned from the building, which neither had seemed +in haste to leave, I looked at my watch, and knew that I had barely +time to reach the southern end of the grounds even aided by the +Intramural. As I came out upon the street once more, and was passing +hurriedly by the eastern portico of the New York Building, I chanced +to lift my eyes toward it. The great curtains between the fluted +columns were swaying in the breeze, and from between two, which she +seemed to be trying to hold together with unsteady hands, the face of +the little brunette, dark and frowning, looked cautiously out. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +'STRAIGHT FROM THE SHOULDER.' + + +When Farmer Camp had presented himself at the rendezvous after his +visit to the bureau, he had found Smug awaiting him, but in company +with a muscular stranger, with whom he represented himself to have +important business; and after a few 'leading questions,' which Camp +answered quite naively, the two excused themselves, Smug making a +second appointment for the following day. + +Again the farmer was prompt, and this time Mrs. Camp also. I did not +make my presence known to them, and Smug did not appear, so I left +them to digest this clear case of perfidy, while they viewed the +wonders of the Transportation Building and the great golden doorway; +and, believing, like Brainerd, that the Midway was a mine likely to +yield us at least a clue, I turned my steps westward, my thoughts a +singular medley, in which the Camps, Miss Jenrys, Delbras, Greenback +Bob, the little brunette, and Monsieur Voisin were strangely +intermingled; and--I am obliged to admit it--the young fellow who had +accosted me upon Midway, and avowed a knowledge of Miss Jenrys, was +also in my thoughts. + +If it was true that he knew the owner of the black bag, why not +question him--carelessly, of course? Perhaps--well, perhaps he knew +Monsieur Voisin also. + +I could hardly have given myself a reason for this sudden anxiety, but +it was there, and it sent me straight down Midway Plaisance, as nearly +in my former tracks as was possible. It was too late for breakfast, I +assured myself, and far too early for luncheon, ergo, if my friend the +guard was still upon his beat, I must surely see him, sooner or later. + +And so it proved. As I emerged from the shadow of the viaduct, over +which the Intramural rattled and rolled, I saw him, not far ahead and +coming toward me, his hands clasped behind him, his chin-strap down, +his face absorbed, and seemingly oblivious of all about him. + +When we were but a few feet apart, he turned upon his heel and began +his backward march, with the same air of indifference to all about +him. + +As he neared the long low cottage opposite the village of the little +Javanese, and having 'Java or Home Restaurant' over its door in big +letters, and as I was nearing him, I saw him suddenly throw up his +head and spring forward. At the same moment I noted a man--hatless, +coatless, and wearing upon his waistcoat the badge which indicated his +position as 'head waiter'--come running from the direction of the Home +Restaurant, pointing as he ran, breathlessly, toward a man and woman +who were walking rather briskly eastward. + +As the guard came opposite this couple I saw him halt just a +perceptible instant, his eye upon the hurrying waiter; then he stepped +quickly before the coming couple and made a courteous but positive +gesture, clearly an order to halt. The man did not halt, but brushed +past the polite guard with a scowling face. He was a big fellow, +flashily dressed, and with a countenance at once coarse and +dissipated; and as he made a second forward movement I could +distinctly see his hand drop, with a significant gesture, toward his +right hip. + +'Stop him!' cried the almost breathless head-waiter. 'A beat.' + +At the word the woman made a little forward spring, and the man made a +movement to follow. + +'Halt!' commanded the guard, at the same time clapping a hand upon the +man's shoulder, and then---- + +It was only the work of a moment. + +There was a quick movement on the man's part, and I saw the butt of a +big revolver, and called out in warning: 'Take care!' I might have +saved my breath. The tall guard stood moveless until the weapon was +actually in sight, and then the arm in the blue coat shot out, strong, +swift, straight from the shoulder, and the pistol-arm dropped, the +weapon fell to the ground, and the man staggered back, to be received +in the unwilling arms of the head-waiter, to struggle there for a +moment, and then to submit, quite as much to the fire in the young +guard's eye as to the strength of his arm. The woman at the first sign +of struggle had drawn away from her companion, slipped into the crowd +about them, and was making off in haste, when I said, addressing the +waiter: + +'Must she be stopped?' + +The fellow shook his head. 'Let her go,' he said; 'they were dodging +their breakfast-bill.' + +It was the common trick of a common sharper. Having ordered and eaten +a late breakfast, they had called for something additional, and in the +absence of the waiter had left their places near the door and slipped +away. + +It was over in a moment. The man, forced into honesty by strength +superior to his own, sulkily paid the bill, while denying the claim, +and then, like his companion, he slipped through the crowd and was +soon out of sight. + +Meantime, my friend the guard, with a look of disgust and weariness +upon his face, had turned away the moment his duty was done, and I +followed him, smiling a little over this reversal of our positions. + +'Well,' I said, as I reached his side, 'I see there is good reason for +your ability to judge a "straight-from-the-shoulder" knock-out blow.' + +He turned quickly, and with a shade of haughtiness upon his face, +which was lost in a smile as he recognised me. + +'Ah,' he said courteously, 'good-morning! So you witnessed that +pitiful affair. It does not fall to my lot to serve ladies.' He +hesitated slightly, and then asked, 'Did you deliver up your find?' + +I laughed and shook my head. I had fallen into step with him, and we +were now moving slowly along his beat. + +'If you refer to the lady with the dark eyes, who had the poor taste +to ignore your presence,' I said, 'I did not. I may have committed a +blunder, but my judgment condemned the little person.' + +He turned toward me a quick look of interest. + +'Then you thought----' He stopped, and the red blood dyed his face as +on that first day. + +'I thought,' I instantly took up the word, 'that she was an +adventuress, not a companion or friend to the owner of the little +bag.' + +'And you were right,' he exclaimed. 'The lady who--who dropped the bag +you found was alone when those foreign brutes with their palanquin ran +against her. I was not near enough to reach her promptly; but I +saw--and the other--the brunette, it is a strange fancy, perhaps, but +I have thought that she had been following Miss--the lady, though for +what purpose----' He stopped. 'It is no affair of mine. I--I am glad +that the lady has her property.' + +'But she has not got her property.' + +'No? Pardon me, I did not understand.' + +He had turned his face to the front, but I could see that he was +agitated, and was holding himself under with a strong hand. As I +walked beside him and noted his fine physique, the well-set head and +clear-cut features, I felt genuinely attracted toward the manly +fellow, and wondered what was the secret of his interest in that +lovely girl, whom he had yet shunned; for, looking back upon the +events of the previous day, I could see that he had purposely held +aloof from the moment when he saw that a champion and protector was at +hand. + +'I had thought,' he said after a little, 'that is, I fancied there +might be something--some clue to her whereabouts in the bag.' + +'It was not complete,' I answered. 'When I could not overtake her, and +the brunette did not recommend herself to my confidence, I opened the +bag, after some hesitation.' + +'Yes?' The syllable was a direct and eager question. + +'I found nothing by way of identification save two letters, both +unsealed, and these, after some reluctance, I opened.' + +'Ah!' A trifle stiffly. + +'The first was from a lady in Boston to a lady here at the World's +Fair.' + +'Indeed!' A freer tone, almost a sigh of relief. + +'This gave me so little information that I was obliged to open the +second letter, which was written, I suppose, by the owner of the bag, +and not as yet posted; even this did not give me her address.' + +'How strange!' + +We had reached the end of his beat, and now I turned with him, and we +sauntered slowly toward the Ferris Wheel. I felt that he was worthy +of a grain of comfort, if I were able to give it, and I said: + +'It was like this. The letter from Boston was written on the eve of a +start for this place. The other letter, if posted, would have passed +the lady for whom it was intended upon the road. This last letter, +written supposedly by the owner of the bag, states that she, having +left her New York home some time since, is now in the World's Fair +City in company with an aunt, whom she describes as rustic, but +delightful, and that because they are stopping very near the Fair she +feels safe in coming alone on such days as her aunt elects to pass in +the quiet of her own apartment; and the only clue to an address is the +statement that she enters the grounds by the Fifty-seventh Street +gate.' + +'Ah!' It is a sigh of genuine relief. At last he has a clue, if a +slight one. But what does he want of a clue? Having gotten thus far, I +relate briefly my experience of this morning, omitting description and +the name of Monsieur Voisin, whom I describe as a tall dark-haired +gentleman, evidently a foreigner, and then I play my card. + +I am here upon business of an important nature; my time is limited; I +do not know the lady; and having committed the folly of holding back +first because of the brunette, and last--well, because I had an +especial reason for not coming under the notice of this strange +man--in short, had I found the lady alone I should have returned her +property; in the presence of a third party I did not wish to do so; +and then I put my question. + +He had said that he knew this young lady, and, being here day after +day, he would be likely to see her again. She would be sure to revisit +the Midway; and what could be more easy than for him to return her +lost property, explaining as he chose? It would relieve me much; it +would be to me a genuine favour. + +The guard was silent for a time; then he paused in his measured walk +and turned to face me. + +'If I have not misunderstood,' he said slowly, 'you set out this +morning for the purpose of restoring to the lady her lost property?' + +'True.' + +'And--do you mean to tell me that because of the presence of this +brunette first, and then of the man, you gave up the idea?' + +'Quite so.' + +'I confess,' he said, 'that I cannot understand why those people +should be a hindrance; nevertheless, I am ready to believe that your +reason is good and sufficient.' + +'Thank you.' + +'I trust,' he hastened to add, 'that you will judge me as generously +when I say that I cannot oblige you. I know the name of the lady, it +is true; but, much as I may desire to serve you, I cannot do so. My +desire to avoid the lady, to remain unrecognised by her, is as strong +as is yours to hold aloof from her escort. It's an odd position,' he +added, with a slow half-smile. 'I trust the contents of Miss--of the +bag were not of too great value--not indispensable to her?' + +'By no means--quite the contrary; and this being the case, we will +trouble ourselves no more about it. Of course I can't urge my request +under the circumstances.' I could not repress a smile at the absurdity +of the situation. 'And to say that I don't bear malice, as they say in +making up a quarrel, let us exchange cards.' I produced my card, a +simple pasteboard of the size known as the visiting-card, and with +only my name engraved across it. + +The guard drew back a step, and again that ready flush dyed his face. + +'Pardon me. You are addressing me as one gentleman to another, and if +I were to give you the name by which I am known here it would not be +my true one. I will not give you a fictitious name, and--I can give no +other.' + +I was silent a moment, then--'I will not urge you,' I said; 'but at +least, as man and man, equals, we can shake bands.' And I held out my +own. + +His face cleared instantly, and he promptly placed his palm upon mine. + +'I can do that,' he said, 'as man to man, as an equal, and'--he threw +back his handsome head--'I shall never, I trust, have reason to +hesitate before giving my hand as an honest man to an honest man; and +now----' He paused, and I with him. + +'And now,' I supplemented, 'we are neither of us idlers. This is your +beat?' + +'For the present.' + +'Then--I hope we shall meet again. Success to you.' + +'And to you.' He lifted his hat as I turned away, and looking back a +moment after, I saw him once more a Columbian Guard on duty, piloting +an old woman across the street and away from a sprinkling-cart. + +'Handsome enough to be a prince,' I thought. 'An American prince, and +poor, doubtless. Honest, I'll wager; and with a mystery. I wonder if +the world is pouring all its mysteries into this White City of the +world.' + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +IN DISGUISE. + + +Two days had passed since my talk with my friend the guard, and +although Brainerd, myself, and others had thoroughly searched Midway +Plaisance, hoping to obtain a glimpse of our quarry or a hint of their +presence, we had been unsuccessful. We found many things in Midway, +but neither Greenback Bob nor his friend Delbras. + +'I tell you,' Dave had said on the previous night, when we were +discussing our failure and its probable reasons--'I tell you, Carl, +these men began their business in Midway--I'm sure of it; and I +solemnly believe that you're the fellow that scared them away.' + +'I, indeed--how?' + +'Simply by springing upon them in that Camp affair. I believe they +spotted you.' + +I felt chapfallen, for I was more than half inclined to believe that +Dave's notion was the correct one, and I wondered that I had not +thought of this myself. + +'And if they did,' went on Dave, 'it would be the most natural thing +in the world for them to "fold up their tents like the Arabs," etc. +Don't you think so?' + +'Granting your first premises,' I conceded grudgingly, 'your second, +of course, are tenable. Perhaps you have an idea where their "tents" +are now spread?' + +'Oh, you always try the sarcastic dodge when you are beaten a bit,' +grinned Dave good-humouredly; 'but that's all right. I think we may as +well give the Midway a rest, at any rate.' + +'I suppose you have noted that the Woman's Building has had more than +its share of stealing of late?' said I. + +''M--no.' + +'Well, you should read the papers, and look in at the bureau, once a +day at least. They've had an attack upon the exhibits--failed, I +believe--and a number of pockets picked.' + +'Do you suggest the Woman's Building?' + +'To-morrow I suggest the vicinity of the Court of Honour and the +Administration Building. It's the Princess Eulalia's day, you +remember; or had you failed to note that?' + +'Go on, boy; wound me where I'm weakest,' scoffed Dave. + +But I chose to ignore Dave's chaff. + +'I suggest that we join the crowd early, and stay with it late.' + +'Done!' cried he. + +'It's hard to tell where they will elect to work. There will be a +thinning out inside the buildings, but a crowd outside, and such a +crowd as this will be--all with necks craned and attention fixed; +ladies in gay attire, the cream of the city's visitors as well as the +other side; and there will be at least half a dozen false cries of +"There she comes!" and somebody's pocket will suffer at each cry.' + +'Right you are!' agreed Dave. 'It'll be a swell crowd, and it's my +opinion that our men will be in the thick of it.' + + * * * * * + +Early the next morning I went to see if anything had been reported +concerning the diamond robbery, for as yet little had been +accomplished. There was one of the attendants, a young woman, whom I +had felt uncertain about. She was pretty, and I thought artful and +vain; and I had learned from another employé of the Lausch Pavilion +that she had formed the acquaintance of a rather flashily dressed +person wearing much jewellery, and that just before the robbery she +had been seen to receive two or three slyly-delivered _billets-doux_. +The girl was being closely watched, and one of the guards, who was +stationed near, and who was said to have been seen loitering near the +pavilion oftener and longer than was needful, was likewise under close +surveillance. + +But this morning there was something to report. It did not come +through any of the men at work upon the case, nor was it in the nature +of a discovery. It was an anonymous letter, and it came through the +United States mail, having been posted in Chicago, at the up-town +post-office. + +It was addressed 'To whom it may concern,' at the bureau, and was +brief and to the point. + +'If you do not want to waste time,' the letter began, 'turn your +attention to the men in charge of the robbed jewellery exhibit; and if +you also keep an eye upon a certain up-town man who keeps a place +advertised as a "jewellery-store," and with rather a shady +reputation--a man not above doing a little business in uncut gems, +say, in a very quiet way--you may find some of the lost gems between +the two.' + +There was no signature, and I saw at a glance that the writing was +carefully disguised. + +I was not inclined to treat this document seriously, though I could +see that it had created quite a sensation at the office, and when +asked my opinion concerning it I said: + +'If this letter means anything but to mislead, it can mean but one of +two things; either it is written by one of the thieves to draw us away +from the right track, or it is written by someone who belongs to a +gang, and who means, if possible and safe, to sell out his comrades +for all he can get and a promise of safety. I've seen this done.' + +'And what is your opinion?' + +'I'm more than half inclined to think it is a hoax.' + +'As how?' + +'It may be the work of a crank or a practical joker,' I replied; and I +thought it possible, though hardly probable. + +'If we had advertised this thing,' said the officer slowly, 'I should +think little of this letter, but it has not been made public.' + +'It is known,' I reminded him, 'to some three hundred men here in the +grounds, and it has been told to--how many sellers of jewellery up in +the city, not to mention their employés? Half a dozen picked men have +been detailed to work upon the case. I don't think it likely, but +some officer who covets a bit of special work might have thought it +worth while to muddle the job for us; or some revengeful clerk up-town +may be trying to get even with some enemy. However, the thing can't be +ignored, and my advice would be, trace the letter to its author, if +possible.' + +There were no letters for us that morning, and I left the place soon, +certain that the machinery of the bureau was quite equal to the task +of looking after the anonymous letter, which, after all, did not +occupy a large place in my mind. + +Since my talk with my mysterious guard, I had made next day another +effort to see Miss Jenrys. I had waited at the gate at Fifty-seventh +Street for three long and precious morning hours, and then I had +turned away anathematizing myself, and vowing that hereafter I would +attend to my own legitimate business, and not prowl about after an +evasive beauty, who, no doubt, had already purchased a new bag and +forgotten her loss. But in my heart I knew it was not to restore the +bag alone that I so earnestly looked for Miss Jenrys. I had not fallen +in love, not at all; but yet somehow I had a singular anxiety to see +again the face of this sweet blonde, and to hear her mellow, musical +voice, if only in the two words, 'Thank you.' + +Even as I turned away after my long and fruitless waiting, I did not +promise myself to forget her, nor altogether to quit the chase. I +hypocritically said, 'Now I will trust a little to chance.' How Dave +would have laughed could he have known my thoughts! + + * * * * * + +By nine o'clock that morning there were thousands of people thronging +the Court of Honour, drifting out and in under the arches of the +Administration Building, and up and down upon the streets on either +side of it. Everywhere there was a look of expectancy, and no +apparent desire to move on. + +As the morning advanced, and the active guards began to stretch ropes +at either side of the entrance through which the procession would +pass, the throng drew together from various directions and massed +themselves, as many of them as could drawing close to the rope +outside; some with the narrow comfortless-looking red chairs seating +themselves with the great rope actually resting upon their knees, to +be hemmed in and pressed upon at once by row after row of crowding, +pushing humanity, while others swarmed boldly between the ropes and +filled the smooth gravelled space reserved for the honoured guests and +the city magnates attendant upon them. + +It was a good-humoured crowd, but it held its place until, from the +entrance of the building, a line of guards in full uniform came slowly +out, while from the east a second company came forward, two by two, +and these spreading into a line, single file, and facing about, united +with the others in forming an L, and thus slowly, quietly, but none +the less surely, they advanced, while just as slowly and almost as +composedly the crowd fell back, and outward, until the roped-in space +was cleared, only to partially fill, and to be again cleared, once and +again. + +Brainerd and I had separated upon reaching the place, and I had not +seen him since, although I had moved about from point to point almost +ceaselessly. + +As eleven o'clock approached the crowd began to grow restless, and +questions to be bandied about from one to another, while guards, as +ignorant for the most part as their questioners, were interviewed +endlessly. + +'When is she coming?' + +'Is she coming soon?' + +'Are you sure she will come here?' + +'Is it eleven o'clock?' etc. + +It was eleven o'clock when I drew out from the throng that had pressed +within the ropes, only to be slowly driven out again, and passed +through an aisle of fans and parasols, which had been opened and kept +open, the width of three men, shoulder to shoulder, by a constant +passing of its length; and I was skirting one side of the building +slowly and with my eyes searching the crowd of faces, when I heard a +familiar voice near me speaking in impatient tones. + +'Law, pa, it's no use! I ain't a-goin' to set on that tottlin' thing +one minit longer--not for all the infanties in Ameriky! What more's a +furrin infanty than a home-born one, anyhow?' There was a stir next +the rope and a break in the wall of humanity about it, and then Mrs. +Camp emerged, her bonnet very much awry, and her husband bringing up +the rear, puffing and worried, with a little red chair hanging from +one shoulder and the faded umbrella clutched in one hand. + +They saw me at the same moment. + +'Wal,' began the lady, 'I'm glad I ain't the only simpleton in the +world! If here you ain't! I can't get over thinkin' what a ridickerlus +thing it is fur half of Ameriky, a'most, to turn out jest to see a +baby that's brought acrost from where Columbus used to live! Jest as +if a Spanish baby was a-goin' to enjoy sech a crowd as this! One +thing's certain, I ain't goin' to wait; if the pore leetle creetur is +half as tired's I be, it'll want a nap fust thing! Come on, pa!' + +A shout of laughter drowned her last words, and after explaining to +Mr. Camp that I was 'looking for a friend,' I got away from the absurd +old woman, who, with her husband at her heels, was marching toward the +lake--'Where there was enough water, maybe, to make a ripple and where +one wouldn't get stepped on if one happened to tumble down.' + +As I found myself upon the outskirts of the crowd, someone set up a +cry of 'There she comes!' and there was a movement toward the west end +of the Administration Building. + +Two or three carriages had drawn up inside the roped-in space, and +several smiling gentlemen with _boutonnières_ upon their immaculate +coats stood in waiting near. I turned the corner to the north, where +the crowd was less dense, and had begun to deliberate upon the wisdom +of moving on, when, straight across my path, half running and +evidently in pursuit of some one, I saw the little brunette. I had +made a quick step in pursuit, when a gloved hand was thrust out before +me. 'Stand back!' was the order. There was a rush from the south end, +a sudden prancing of hoofs upon the gravel, and a carriage drawn by +four fine bay horses came into view around the corner of the Mines +Building. + +'Here she comes!' is again the cry. I am pressed back against the +wall, and close beside me the soft-rolling carriage is drawn up; a +gentleman alights, and, waving aside the obsequious footman, assists a +lady to descend. In a moment they are gone, swallowed up by the big +arched entrance, and a murmur runs through the crowd. If not the +'infanty,' they have seen one as fair and as gracious, the first lady +of the White City, the able and beloved president of the Woman's +Board. + +When she has passed within I replace my uplifted hat and seek an +egress through the crowd, past the restive four-in-hand and down the +street which leads to Wooded Island, in pursuit of the little +brunette, who had vanished in that direction. And now there seemed a +breaking up of the crowd, strains of music could be heard in the +distance, and rumours of an approaching parade are rife. Wooded +Island, at the south end, seems quite alive with moving forms; and I +saunter over the first bridge, cross the tiny island of the hunters' +camp and Australian squatters' hut, cross a second picturesque +bridge, and begin to examine the faces moving about the +flower-bordered paths, thronging the rhododendron exhibit, and resting +upon the scattered benches. + +I pass some time in this way, and have turned my face toward the +mainland once more, when a burst of music, near at hand, draws my eyes +to the opposite bank, where, between the west façade of the great +Manufactures Building and the lagoon, the 'wild riders' led by Buffalo +Bill, prince of show-men, are defiling past, with their fine horses +curvetting and restless under their gorgeous trappings and the weight +of their fantastic and variously costumed riders; their banners are +fluttering and their weapons glisten in the breeze and the sunshine. + +There is a grand rush toward the two bridges, and as I hasten on with +the rest I catch a glimpse once more, as she comes down a side-path, +of the elusive brunette. + +She is close in the wake of two women, who are running hand in hand, +and I hasten to place myself as near her as possible, but discreetly +in the rear. + +And now, from the opposite side of the lagoon, we hear another burst +of music and a cry, 'The princess! the princess!' We cross the first +bridge and dash upon the next, which, being high and arched in the +centre, is at once filled with spectators, while the more venturesome +hurry over and line the banks of the lagoon and the sides of the two +opposite roads, by which, from the east and west, the two cavalcades +will approach--that of the 'Wild West' coming from the east, filing +past the north end of the Electricity Building, and turning opposite +the bridge to file southward, straight down from our coigne of vantage +to the entrance to the Administration Building opposite us. + +I had followed the brunette closely, and when she arrived at the end +of the bridge, where the head of the 'Wild West' column was just +turning southward, the crowd upon the sloping south end was dense, and +some hardy spirits were scaling the five-foot pedestals of the great +deer upon either side. + +Upon these pedestals, straight-sided and square, there was +'standing-room at the top,' as some wag observed, and I pressed +forward, meaning to mount with the aid of the iron handrail; as I +reached the pedestal on the left, near which the brunette had halted +beside the two women before mentioned, and who I began to think were +in her company, the wag at the top bent down and put out an inviting +hand. + +'Help you up, ladies; good view up here, and nobody to make us get +down in this crowd. It's quite easy; just step on that rail.' + +One of the two women stepped forward, put out her hand, paused, +measured the distance with her eye, put a foot upon the rail, and +uttered a little squeak. + +'O-w! I ca-an't, pos-sibly!' + +Without a word the little brunette, at least six inches shorter, +stepped forward, put out her hand, set one foot upon the rail, and +went to the top of the big block with an agility that was amazing in a +woman. + +As for me, I had been quite near her, and it almost took away my +breath. + +I kept my eyes upon her like one fascinated, until the beautiful +princess, preceded by the white-plumed hussars and escorted by the +mayor and city council, came from the west, and passed us so close +that her charming face, aglow with smiles and bright looks of +interest, was distinctly seen and roundly cheered. + +We watched her drive slowly down the avenue formed by open ranks of +her escort, and then the crowd was ready to follow her and surround +the Administration Building, watching wondering--an American throng +attendant upon, and admiring, not royalty alone, but royalty, beauty, +and gracious womanhood combined in one charming whole. + +When the cheer which announced the infanta's descent from her carriage +had died away, I turned to see what my brunette, safely bestowed upon +her pedestal, would elect to do next. + +I was soon enlightened, for she turned at the first movement of the +crowd about her, and, seating herself upon the edge of the pedestal, +dropped lightly to the ground and walked briskly away. + +I followed, of course, determined not to be easily left behind again; +and as I went, my mind was occupied with an entirely new thought. I +had made a discovery, and it might be an important one. I had found +that the brunette, like myself, was in disguise. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CARL MASTERS. + + +When Brainerd and I compared notes that night, we came to the mutual +conclusion that the Camps were ordained to mingle their destiny with +ours in some measure, we chanced upon them so often; and they seemed, +since our encounter at the bureau, to take it for granted that we were +to continue the acquaintance, now set, in their opinion, upon an +official basis, and that it would be a mutual pleasure. + +After leaving me, or, rather, after I had separated myself from them +at the Administration Building, they had wandered down the Grand Plaza +and made their way to the Peristyle, where, after some time, they had +encountered Brainerd; and in the course of their amiable converse they +had given him some valuable information, or so he thought it. + +'You see,' he said, 'to begin at the beginning, I had mingled all the +morning with crowds here and there, and as it was nearing noon I +wandered across the Plaza and came to that handsome bridge spanning +the canal at the north-west corner of the Liberal Arts. As I crossed +this bridge I saw a launch slip out from the landing at the further +end, and in that launch two men, one of whom I was sure was Greenback +Bob, and the other, from your description, I'll wager was your friend +Smug.' + +'Are you sure?' I demanded. + +'Morally certain, yes. Well, as you may guess, I scurried across the +little bridge and jumped into the next launch, for they were not easy +to follow by the land route, with always the chance that they might go +ashore on the wrong side of the lagoon. Well, I kept them in sight +until we had made the round of the basin, and they made no offer to +land, although the launch filled and emptied before we were back at +the bridge from which we started. As we passed under the bridge my +heart was in my mouth, for the boat was out of sight for some moments, +but when we shot out into the sunlight there they were, not so far +ahead of us, and about to run underneath the bridge at the end of the +south canal. I wondered a little at their going away from the crowd +just then, but that was their affair, so I just shifted my position in +order to keep a better watch upon their boat as we came abreast of the +bridge, and then, as the mischief would have it, a launch coming from +the other way pushed through and under the bridge and struck us such a +blow that the women screamed, and one of them let her parasol fall +into the water. Then, of course, there was an exchange of compliments +between the two crews, and a scramble and delay in securing the +parasol: and when at last we were out on the other side the boat ahead +was so far away from the landing, where she had of course made her +stop, that I could just make out that the two men had left her and +she was almost empty. To add to my agony, two boats had passed us +while we floundered after that parasol and exchanged compliments with +the other boat, and as we lay there waiting I looked wildly about me, +and saw at last, on the bridge almost over my head, my two men, +standing close by the railing and talking with a little dark woman, +who----' + +'Describe her!' I broke in. + +'Well, now----' + +'Was she something under five feet?' + +'Yes.' + +'Dark eyes and hair?' + +'Exact.' + +'A broad black hat with plumes, a red veil, and four-in-hand tie?' + +'Upon my word, she had 'em all.' + +'I knew it; but go on.' + +'I can't, not very far at least. I just kept myself from swearing +while I sat and saw those three so sociable up there, and I not in it. +Before I got to the landing I had seen the woman trip away.' + +'Toward the Plaza?' + +'Precisely. Everybody seemed going that way. It was almost time for +the infanta to appear. When I set foot on shore I made for that +bridge. I had seen them start slowly on after the woman; but when I +got upon the bridge I could just see the hat of your friend Smug in a +jam some distance ahead, near the Electricity Building, and Bob, the +eel, had vanished once more.' + +'At what time was this?' + +He named the time, and then I told him how I had encountered the +little brunette, lost her, and found her again, and of her agile leap +at the bridge. + +'Lively girl!' Dave commented. I had told him the story of her +agility with some _empressement_, but he did not seem to see my drift. +'You're sure it's the same who tried to claim the young woman's bag?' + +'Quite sure--from your description.' + +'Umph! Mine? And she's the one who met the lady at the gate, and left +her when the man appeared?' + +'The same.' + +'Um-m! She tries to secure the young lady's bag; she meets her as +though by appointment; and she meets our quarry, too. She seems to +know them all. Query: Does she, by any chance, know--well, say you? +Who is she? What is she?' + +'Who she is I don't know, what she is I can tell you,' said I. + +'Well?' + +'She, as we have called her, is a man.' + +I had nothing to add to this, and Dave was not willing to accept my +statement, based as it was upon that leap at the bridge. 'No woman +ever made that jump; I knew it. It showed practice, and that not of +the sort that is taken by women.' This had been my argument, and after +some discussion and difference of opinions Dave got back to the Camps. + +He had met them wandering about the Peristyle, and gazing across the +grand basin at the splendid MacMonnies Fountain. + +'Which ort,' Mrs. Camp had declared, 'to sail out, leastwise, the boat +with that white woman settin' up there on top, and come across to +serlute that big gold goddiss. For my part,' she added, 'I've seen one +thing that was as it ort to be. They took an' set a woman up in the +midst of their court, and made her bigger and brighter and handsomer +than anything else. But if they was bent on calling her Justice, why,' +she opined, 'that there court ought to be called a court of justice.' + +The two old people had evidently grown lonely and sated with grandeur, +and when she had aired her views concerning the golden goddess, Mrs. +Camp began to talk about our adventure with the counterfeiters. + +'That friend of yours was right,' she said. 'That Sunday-school chap +didn't come to time; and we ain't seen him sence not to speak to.' And +then she related how, on coming away from their rooms on Stony Island +Avenue that morning, they had seen, just across the street from them, +the man Smug in earnest conversation with a tall man whose back was +turned toward them, and who after a few words had turned and walked +away southward, while Smug had entered a café close at hand, doubtless +to breakfast. + +Dave had questioned them closely, hoping to learn more; but beyond the +facts as first stated little was added. + +The men had met at a point 'a few squares' from the Camps' +'boarding-house'--possibly four or five. The man in conversation with +Smug was tall, and very straight, 'sort of stiff like,' and well +dressed. They were quite sure, also, that he was dark, and that he +wore a beard. Incidentally they gave Dave the number of their Stony +Island residence. + +'We shan't have much trouble to find the Camps,' Dave said in +concluding his narration. 'The old lady has taken a great fancy for +the Liberal Arts Building, and she generally spends her time sitting +upon a chair in the centre of Columbia Avenue and admiring at her +leisure. She says she "'d ruther see things in the lump, sort of." And +I believe they take a walk every morning around the Plaza, the Court, +the Peristyle, and then up the lake shore from Victoria House, which +she won't enter--because she "hates old England and all the +Englishers"--to the point where Fifty-seventh Street drops into Lake +Michigan. And every afternoon, I verily believe, they walk arm-in-arm +up and down the length of Midway, without stopping or entering +anywhere.' + +In our summing up we found we had accomplished very little legitimate +business. We had established the fact that Greenback Bob was at the +Fair, and the presumption was strong, amounting almost to a certainty, +that Delbras was also there. We had connected the man Smug with one, +if not both, for Dave was sure that the man's companion on Stony +Island Avenue was Delbras, and now this brunette, whom I believed to +be a man in woman's attire, seemed to be identifying herself, or +himself, with the 'gang.' + +'If you can prove that the brunette's a man or boy,' said Dave, 'then +I'll say don't look farther for the third party who came with Delbras +from France; and if that should prove the case, tell me, what designs +have this gang upon Miss--what do you call her?' + +I started. It was Dave who was growing imaginative now. And yet---- + +'I had only thought of the brunette as having seen the bag fall, and +hoping for a find,' I said doubtfully. + +'Then how did you account for her being at the entrance gate two days +after?' queried Dave scornfully. + +'Supposing it to have been an accidental meeting, I fancied she might +have thought of telling Miss Jenrys what she knew of her loss, hoping +for a reward, perhaps.' + +'Carl, you are growing stupid! You have thought too much of the blonde +and not enough of the brunette! Think! In the first instance both are +alone; Miss J. drops her bag; why does this particular--well, say +woman for the present--why does this woman see it? She must have been +some paces behind, or you would have seen her; or if not you, the +guard, or even the young lady herself. That brunette was shadowing +Miss J.' + +I was silent before his arguments. I began to think I had been +one-sided in my thoughts of the two; and now how simple it all seemed! + +'The girl, you say, was watching the gate through a glass, and from a +protected and safe point of view. She rushes to meet the young lady, +perhaps introduces herself, perhaps is known, and she leaves her when +the good-looking man appears. Carl, what use do you intend to make of +that black bag?' + +'Hitherto,' I replied, 'it has been a side issue; now it seems to me +that we may serve both its owner and ourselves by restoring the bag, +and keeping an eye upon all concerned.' + + * * * * * + +The next day I was early at the Fifty-seventh Street gate, and I +waited long, but no Miss Jenrys came through; and after loitering near +until almost noon, I took a light luncheon at the nearest point +possible, and at noon went back to my post. But if Miss Jenrys entered +the grounds that day, it was through some other entrance. + +On the next morning she came at an early hour, her fair face radiant +as the June weather, and beside her was a small-faced little woman who +might have seen forty years or sixty; except for her snowy hair, time +seemed to have forgotten her. Her dress was a near approach to the +Quaker garb of the followers of Penn. Everything about her was of +softest gray; but the face, framed by the prim Quaker bonnet, was as +fair as an infant's, and with a child's soft colouring in the cheeks +that had not yet lost the charming curves of young womanhood. She +looked like a creature whom Life had loved so well that Time had not +been permitted to touch or tarry near her, so gentle, and sweet, and +good. + +But there was no weakness in the placid, fair face, nor in the smooth, +even step, neither swift nor slow, with which she moved on beside the +fair young woman at her side. + +I had watched for this arrival while I sauntered about, now on one +side of the bridge, now on the other, and vibrating between the +buildings of Nebraska and South Dakota, on either side the broad +promenade beginning at the bridge. The west windows of both these +hospitable houses overlooked the little stream, proffering a welcome +to the visitor at the very outset; and when the two ladies crossed the +arching bridge on the side nearest the Nebraska Building I was not +surprised to see them halt, look for a moment upon the shady bit of +greensward with the inviting rustic seats beneath the vine-draped +trees close to the water's edge, and then enter. I was very near them, +meaning this time to make a prompt and bold approach, and as I turned +to enter I heard the elder say: + +'No, June, my child. Thee must let me go my way.' She halted and laid +her hand upon the girl's arm. 'I must take these beauties in slowly, +else they will not take lodgment in my memory; besides, this place is +too tempting.' + +They moved on towards the shaded seats, and I took from my pocket a +map of the grounds, and, standing on the lowest step of the portico, +affected to study it, while the talk went on. + +'Thee can go through this house while I look at the place and the +people, child, and hear the music. Where is that music?' + +'Oh, aunty! That horrid Esquimaux band! They've never happened to be +in tune before when we came in, fortunately.' + +'Fie, June! I'm sure it's very good. Now go. You know I care little +for fine furnishings, but if there is anything that you think I shall +like to see, you may show it to me when you have seen your fill, and I +mine. There, go, child! I am going to knit.' + +The Quakeress took out her knitting, and her niece, uttering a soft +laugh, and giving the shoulder of the other an affectionate pat, +turned away, saying over her shoulder: + +'You're a wilful auntie, and you shall have your way. I'll not be +long, so look and listen your fill.' + +This was the chance for which I had waited, and I took advantage of it +by closing my map and following her into the building and up the +stairs. + +I did not accost her at once, but waited until she had looked about +the larger room facing the south and west, where the case of minerals, +the great deer, and other western treasures and trophies were +displayed, and had sauntered about the cosy and tasteful parlours, +looking at the pictures and bits of decorative work; and when she had +re-entered the big sunny south room again, and after a little more +loitering among the exhibits went to one of the windows and stood +looking down into the street, I, who had been standing near an +opposite window, was about to cross the room and accost her, when a +sudden shout from the street caused me to look out once more. + +My window faced the bridge, and I saw that a chair-boy, coming too +hastily over the bridge with his freight, and perhaps unaccustomed to +his wheeled steed, had let slip his hold upon the handle at the back +of the chair just as he had reached the downward slope of the bridge, +and chair and occupant, a burly man looking quite able to walk, went +whirling down the slope, charging into a couple of young men dressed +in killing style and wearing big yellow _boutonnières_, and +overturning itself and all concerned. + +They were gathering themselves up in much disorder, and I could not +resist a smile at the ludicrous scene; but the smile soon left my face +when I saw, passing the scene of distress with rapid steps and without +a glance toward it, and coming straight toward the entrance below, the +little brunette. + +With rapid steps I crossed to the opposite window, and, taking off my +hat, bowed before the surprised and now somewhat haughty-looking +blonde. + +'Miss Jenrys?' I said interrogatively. + +She bowed assent. + +'May I speak with you a moment?' + +She did not answer promptly, and I put my hand to my pocket and drew +out my card--the same that I had proffered to the guard a few days +before. + +She took it and read the name aloud, and in a tone of polite inquiry: + +'Carl Masters?' + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +'I DISLIKE A MYSTERY.' + + +I had not meant to do it, but while I stood there with her clear brown +eyes, not repellent but fearless and full of dignity, fixed upon my +face in polite but guarded inquiry, the determination suddenly seized +me to be as frank and truthful in dealing with this frank and truthful +woman as I had a right to be. + +I had meant to return the bag, ask her pardon for tampering with its +contents, and say no more; only keeping as much as possible an eye to +her welfare and safety if I saw it menaced. Now I meant something +more; and so, while she held my card in daintily gloved fingers and +looked at me with level, questioning eyes, I said, with the thought of +the approaching brunette underlying my words: + +'Miss Jenrys, I am the person who was of some small assistance a few +days ago when you came near incurring serious injury at the hands of a +pair of Turks and a sedan-chair.' I saw a look of remembrance, if not +of recognition, flash into her face, and I hurried on. 'I do not +mention this as entitling me to your notice, but I ask you to accept +my word as that of one having no personal motive save the desire to +serve you, and to listen to me for a few moments.' + +She was scanning my face nervously, and now she said: + +'I do not recall your face, though I remember the circumstance to +which you refer. If you are the gentleman who held back that reckless +foreigner with a strong arm, and so saved me from something more +serious than a little pain in the shoulder, I am certainly your +debtor, and I am glad of this opportunity to thank you.' + +A little back of the place where she stood, in a corner, hemmed in on +one side by a long glass case of exhibits of various sorts, was an +armchair, placed there, doubtless, for the ease of the person in +charge of said case and its contents. There was no such person +present, however, at that hour, and I pointed toward the chair, and +said: + +'If you will kindly take that seat, so that I may not feel that I am +compelling you to stand, I will not detain you long.' + +She turned toward the seat, looked at it, at me, and finally beyond me +and across the room, as if debating, and half inclined to pass me and +escape; and then I saw a sudden withdrawal of the eyes and a +compression of the lips, slight but perceptible. She turned as if in +haste, almost, and seated herself in the chair, first turning it +toward the windows so that her back would be toward the interior of +the room, and then, to my surprise, she beckoned me, with a +half-smile, to a place upon the window-seat, which would narrowly +serve this purpose. + +I had not once looked back or about me, but I did not flatter myself +that my words alone had won for me this graciousness; she had seen +the little brunette, and desired to avoid her. + +'Thank you,' I said, when we were both seated. 'I will now come to the +point at once. You must know, then, that after you had passed on and +out of sight in the crowd I discovered at my very feet--so close that +no one had ventured to pick it up, if anyone had seen it in that +crowd--a black leather bag--a chatelaine, I think you ladies call it.' + +'Oh! you found my bag?' The look of reserve was lost in a quick and +charming smile. 'I am very glad!' + +'I found it, and I tried to follow you and restore it, but you had +disappeared.' + +'I had indeed; in at the first gate, which happened to be the Javanese +Village.' + +'That explains my failure. I had given up my search, and was about to +go on my way, when I was approached by a young lady, a small person +with dark eyes and wearing a large plumed sailor-hat, who explained +that she was a friend to the lady whose bag I had in my hand, that she +had seen me pick it up, and would now restore it to her.' + +'And you gave it to her?' + +'Was it not right?' + +'The person was an impostor.' + +'Is it possible? And yet two days after, as you were entering the +grounds, and I was about to approach you, I saw this same person greet +you, seemingly, and walk on in your company. It made a coward of me. I +dared not approach in the face of a friend of yours whom I had treated +as an impostor.' + +'How do you mean?' + +'I mean that I doubted the person, and refused to give her the bag.' +And I hurriedly made confession, telling her how at last I was forced +to read first her friend's letter and then her own, in order to learn +her name, and that then her address was still a mystery. 'I had but +one chance of finding you,' I concluded. 'You had informed your friend +that your apartments were conveniently near the Fifty-seventh Street +entrance.' + +'Oh! Indeed!' I had seen the quick colour flash into her face at my +mention of the letters, and of having read them, and the restraint was +once more evident in face and voice when she said: + +'I thank you, sir; but the contents of the bag--it was hardly worth +the trouble you have taken to restore it--that is----' + +'I have it with me, Miss Jenrys, and when I am sure that we are not +under surveillance I will place it in your hands; and now I owe it to +myself to make my own conduct in this affair and my present position +clearer. At first it was with me a simple matter of returning a lost +article to a lady. Failing to overtake you, I might perhaps have +turned it over to some guard but for the interference of the brunette, +who at once put me on the defensive and aroused my suspicion. It +somehow seemed to me that the young person was more than commonly +anxious to possess your bag, and then it occurred to me that the bag +might contain something or some information that she especially wished +to possess. My interest was aroused, and then I took the liberty of +examining your bag, and having done so, I determined at least to +attempt to return it to you, and to ask you to pardon the liberty I +had taken with your correspondence.' + +'I suppose anyone would have done the same,' she said, rather coldly. +'What I do not comprehend is why you did not return the bag to me in +the presence of this person, of whom you might have warned me.' + +'It is that which I am about to explain,' I replied gravely. 'And I +must, for the sake of others whose interests I represent, ask you to +regard what I am now about to tell you as a confidence made necessary +because of the circumstances. Miss Jenrys, the card in your hand bears +my real name, but few know me by it, because I so often bear others, +as one of the necessities of my profession. I am known here to those +who know me at all as one of those secret service men you have no +doubt heard or read of. In other words----' + +'A detective?' She bent forward and scanned my face narrowly. + +'When I saw you in company with the little brunette, as I have since +called her for want of a better title, I was at first amazed and +inclined to doubt my own sagacity; but when--I am making a clean +breast of it, Miss Jenrys--when I followed you, doubtful what course +to pursue, I saw you joined by a gentleman, and I saw the brunette +slip away from you as she would hardly have done, as you would hardly +have allowed her to do, had she been friend or acquaintance. I am +enrolled here as a "special," but I came, in company with another, +with a definite object in view. Within these grounds are several +persons under suspicion, and whom we are hoping to capture and +convict, and when I tell you that only yesterday I learned that this +same little brunette who claimed your property and friendship was seen +in company with two suspected persons, you will hardly wonder that +what I had attempted to do from purest courtesy from one stranger to +another, and that other a lady, I felt impelled to do from a sense of +duty, as well as desire to save one whom I had seen to be alone, and +who might, for aught I could tell, be menaced by some unsuspected +danger.' + +There was no fear on her face, only a slightly troubled look, as she +asked: + +'What do you mean?' + +'Simply that it is my duty to warn you, and to ask you if you know of +any reason why you should be followed, or watched, or menaced by any +manner of danger?' + +'No'--she slowly shook her fair head--'no reason whatever.' + +'And may I ask you about this person, this brunette? I would not say +'this woman.'' + +She started slightly, and leaned toward me. + +'Is she here still?' she whispered. + +I turned my head and cast a deliberate glance around the room. + +'I do not see her,' I said; 'but she may be below, with an eye on the +staircase.' + +'It's more than likely. It's little I can tell you,' she said. 'She +ran up to me that morning at the gate, her face beaming and her hand +held out, and when she was close to me, and I drew away from her, she +began the most profuse apologies: she was very near-sighted, and she +had mistaken me for an old acquaintance she had not seen for some +time; then she kept on by my side, prattling about her "mamma," who +had not been able to leave the hotel since they came; of her dread of +being alone, and her eagerness to see the Fair. She had hoped, when +she saw me, that she had found someone who would let her "just follow +along, so that she would not feel so much alone," etc. I did not like +her volubility, yet I could see no way, short of absolute rudeness, of +shaking her off. When I met a New York acquaintance, down near the +lake shore, she quite surprised me by quietly slipping away. Do you +think----' She paused, and arose with a quick, easy grace which seemed +inherent. 'Will you come down and be introduced to my aunt?' she +asked. 'I have great confidence in her judgment of--gentlemen, and she +ought to know this; that is, if you can give me the time.' + +'My time is entirely yours,' I declared recklessly, 'and nothing would +give me more pleasure than to pay my entirely sincere respects to +that lovely woman I saw in your company, and who, I am almost certain, +saw me playing the spy upon her niece.' + +She smiled as she moved toward the stairway, at the head of which she +turned and paused a moment. + +'Do you think she will approach us?' she asked. + +'I can't imagine what she will do.' + +'But she will see you, and----' + +I think the smile on my face stopped her. + +'You did not recognise me,' I said. 'She may not.' + +She looked into my face keenly, and then a quick look of intelligence +flashed into her eyes. + +'Oh!' It was all she said, but it meant much. She took a step +downward, and turned again. 'Of course I must not enlighten my aunt?' + +'If you are willing to let it lie between us two--at first?' + +'Certainly,' she said gravely, and went on down the stairs. + +At the landing, half-way down, where the staircase turned to right and +left, I saw, over her shoulder, a little dark figure standing in the +west doorway. + +'Turn to the right,' I said, over her shoulder. '"The longest way +round," you know.' + +She nodded, and without a glance in the other direction went down the +east side, turned at the foot to wait for me with the air of one quite +absorbed in an agreeable companion, and we went out at the door facing +the Minnesota Building and the morning sun. As we stepped outside I +paused in my turn. + +'One word, if you will allow it. I may have to learn more of this +person. It may make difficulties for me, and--who knows?--perhaps for +you, if she imagines that you know her for--what she is. Or guesses, +as she might----' + +'What you are?' she interposed. 'You may trust me.' + +We turned at the corner, and came once more to the west side and the +little arbour. As we rounded the corner my companion suddenly slipped +her little hand beneath my elbow, giving it at the same time a +significant little pressure. The brunette, having doubtless watched +our progress through the window, was coming down the steps and +straight toward us. + +For just a passing moment I knew how Miss Jenrys looked to the friends +who knew her, and whom she knew best. She was smiling and preoccupied +as we stepped within the inclosure. + +'See,' she said, hastening her own steps and mine, with a bright look +toward the benches, 'there is auntie.' + +The little brunette was almost abreast of us, and my companion's +smiling gaze was still fixed upon the figure under the vines; then she +turned her head, and, just at the place where we could turn from the +walk, let her eyes turn toward the figure just opposite us. + +It was charmingly done. Just as she made a step in the direction of +the arbour her eyes fell quite naturally upon the face of the +brunette. 'Good-morning,' she said smilingly, and with a little nod of +her head. But there was no slackening of her steps; with the words on +her lips we were off the walk, and crossing the grass to the place, +not ten paces away, where the sweet-faced Quakeress sat, knitting and +looking her surprise. + +'Auntie, I have brought you a new acquaintance,' Miss Jenrys said, in +a voice slightly raised; and then, looking after the retreating figure +of the brunette and seeing that she was quite out of hearing, she +added, 'and I have found my bag.' + +I took the bag from my pocket, where it had grown to seem a quite +familiar bulk, and laid it in her lap, and she began at once to +narrate to the wondering Quakeress the adventures of the little bag. +She heard it through, with here and there a soft little exclamation of +wonder, and I saw that she was slightly deaf, and quite given to +misunderstanding and miscalling words and phrases. + +'Thee has been very lucky, my dear,' the good soul said when Miss +Jenrys had done, 'and the young man has been at great pains to restore +thy reticule. It was hardly worth so much trouble, do you think?' + +'Not in actual value perhaps, auntie, but it contained one or two +little keepsakes that I valued'--she breathed a little fluttering +sigh--'for the sake of the giver.' + +'Is that why thee has mourned the loss of the little bag so much, and +said so many unkind things about those poor benighted men of Turkey? +Then, indeed, I must add my thanks to thine.' And she turned and +extended to me a soft slim hand, ungloved and delicately veined; and +then she began to question me about the Fair and the things I had +seen, showing in her questions and comments a singular mixture of +innocent unworldliness, and native shrewdness, and mother wit. + +In the midst of our talk Miss Jenrys broke in with a low, quick +exclamation, which caused us to cease and turn toward her. + +'Mr. Masters,' she said, in a low tone, 'our friend the brunette is +looking over from the gallery windows of the Dakota Building--see! the +one next the corner, toward the bridge. She does not make herself +needlessly conspicuous, and it was only by the peculiar shade her +figure threw, as she stood at one side--the eastern side--that I was +drawn to observe her. My eyes are very strong--I am sure I am not +mistaken.' + +'It is only what I expected,' I replied. 'She will wait, no doubt, +until she gets an opportunity to speak with you. Evidently she has +some object in view, something to learn from you, or something to tell +you. I would give something to know what it is.' + +She looked at me a moment with thoughtful eyes. I had purposely +spoken in a guarded tone, and when she answered it was in the same +manner. + +'Would it help you to learn her object?' + +'It might, and it might give us a hint as to their reasons for +following you.' + +'Their reasons? Do you think----' She stopped abruptly. + +'I don't know what to think, Miss Jenrys. It looked as if this person +were following you on the day you lost your bag, and I am convinced +that she is in some way connected with two or more men who are more +than suspected of being offenders against the law. Miss Jenrys, do you +know of any reason why you should be watched--followed? Have you an +enemy? Are you in anyone's way?' + +Instead of answering, she turned to the elder lady, who had been +listening like one who but half comprehends. + +'Auntie, you heard me say that Mr. Masters has strong reasons for +thinking that the young woman who just passed us, and who has forced +herself upon my notice, and tried to claim my bag, is loitering about +now for the purpose of speaking to me?' + +'I heard thee: yes, June, surely I did, and I cannot understand the +thing at all.' + +'Nor do we, Aunt Ann.' She turned to me again. 'I am getting the fever +for investigation,' she said, slightly smiling. 'I am not alarmed at +what you have told me, but I do not doubt it, and if you think it +best, if it will help you, I will give that young woman a chance to +ease her mind to me. I will leave you here with Aunt Ann, and go, +under her eyes, to the building next to this, on to the Washington +House, and give her a chance to follow.' + +I waited for the elder lady to speak, and my own surprise was great at +her brave proposition--for it was brave, braver than she knew; and I +was asking myself if I had the right to let her go to meet--an +adventuress at the least, a criminal possibly. But her aunt gave the +decisive word. + +'My dear June, thee knows I do not like a mystery. If anything is to +be learned concerning this person's strange conduct, we should find it +out, and end the following and spying, else it will not be safe for +thee to come here alone, even by day.' + +'Fie! Aunt Ann--with all these guards and half the world looking on? +Then I had better go, Mr. Masters.' + +'If you will.' + +'Have you any advice or instructions to give me?' + +'I think you will know how to proceed. Only it might be well to let +her talk, if she will.' + +'Certainly.' + +'And, Miss Jenrys, let me beg of you, do not go away from this +immediate vicinity, and do not walk upon the streets with this person +if it can be avoided. Above all, do not make a further appointment +with her.' + +'I will be discreet. Good-bye for a short time, Aunt Ann.' She dropped +the newly-returned bag into her aunt's lap and went away, as lithe and +careless-seeming as the veriest pleasure-seeker. + +She looked up and down at the windows of the South Dakota House and +then walked deliberately in. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +'MORE DANGEROUS THAN HATE.' + + +When we had watched her vanish within the walls of the opposite +building, Miss Ross--for 'Aunt Ann' was a spinster--deliberately arose +and took the place beside me. + +'We can talk better so,' she said placidly, 'and I want to talk with +thee.' And she began to roll up her knitting with care. + +As we sat there I was almost hidden from view from the streets, +because of the thick vine tendrils that fell like a curtain between me +and the passers-by, while it did not prevent my looking through the +green drapery at my pleasure. But Aunt Ann had placed herself where +she was plainly visible to all who passed. + +'Now,' she began, having put away her knitting, 'I ask thee honestly, +sir, does thee think my niece in real danger of any sort? I cannot +understand this strangeness.' + +'Truly, Miss Ross,' I answered, 'I know no more than you have heard; +but I could do no less than warn the young lady, knowing what I did.' + +She bent toward me and scrutinized my face closely, keenly. + +'Thy face is a good face,' she said then, 'and I like thy voice; but, +young man, I am only a woman, and I have no right to do rashly. My +niece trusts thee, but she is but a girl, with all her self-reliance. +Forgive an old woman's caution, and--tell me what is thy reason for +the interest thee takes in my niece? Cannot thee give me some +credential, some voucher for thy good faith, before I say to thee what +I wish to say?' + +Again I found myself forced to a sudden decision. In my experience as +a detective I had found myself in many strange situations, but never +before had I felt that I must speak the truth, or not at all, in a +position like this. I answered, with scarce a moment's hesitation: + +'You are right and wise, madam, and I am sure that I can confide to +you the truth concerning my business at the Fair--only asking, because +others are concerned with myself, that you regard my information as +confidential.' + +'Surely,' she said quietly. 'Thee may trust a Friend. We are not given +to overmuch speaking. Of course thee has my promise.' + +'Then I may tell you that my business here is to watch for and guard +against just such people as this person, this brunette, seems to be. I +am a member of the Secret Service Bureau.' + +We were alone in the little arbour, and I showed her first my badge, +sewn inside my coat, and then my photographic pass. + +'I thank thee; and may I ask now does my niece know this?' + +'I should have found extreme difficulty in gaining her ear or her +confidence otherwise,' I answered. + +'Ah! I felt sure--I know the child so well--that somehow she had found +a reason for her faith in you. There is no prouder or more womanly +girl living than my niece, June Jenrys; and now tell me frankly, what +does thee fear or anticipate for her?' + +'If I knew your niece, Miss Ross, her friends, her foes, her history, +I might venture an opinion. As it is, cannot you help me?' + +She pondered a little, then: + +'Tell me again,' she said, 'all about the bag and this woman.' + +Now, I wanted to learn one or two things from this interview, and I +realized that our time was short, so I rehearsed the story again, and +quite fully, but as briefly as possible. When I had finished, the +clear-headed Quakeress was thoughtful again, then she said: + +'I don't like this, not in the least; and I feel that thee has been +right. I fear my girl is, in some way, in danger. Will you advise me?' +she asked, with sudden energy. + +'To the best of my ability, willingly.' And then I risked a first +repulse. 'If I might ask you to tell me something of your niece--her +position--your plans----' + +'Of course. My niece there is an orphan and an heiress.' + +'Oh!' She gave me a quick glance and went on. + +'Her home has been in New York City, with an aunt, formerly her +guardian. June is now of age and her own mistress. Of late she has +been with me in my little home, less than one hundred miles from this +city. She came of her own accord, and was most welcome, and we came +here together a little more than a week ago, June declaring that she +meant to stay all summer, and I nothing loth.' She stopped and smiled. +'This is all very barren,' she said. 'I think thee will have to +question me.' + +'Then I think we must be brief. First, are you stopping near the +grounds?' + +'Very near; on Washington Avenue, little more than two blocks away;' +and she mentioned the number. + +'Is it a boarding-house, a--pardon me, what I wish to know is if you +have made any acquaintances there; if anyone has learned, for +instance, that you are ladies of independent fortune, meaning to make +a long stay, and consequently likely to have with you more or less +money.' + +'Ah! I was sure thee could get on. We are in a private house, found +for us by the Public Comfort Bureau, and we have taken their only +suite; there are no others.' + +'And the family?' + +Just the two, man and wife, and a servant. It's a cottage, but very +cosy.' + +'Has your niece an enemy?' + +'An enemy? Oh, I trust not! I do trust not! I can't think so. Still, +June is a society girl; I know little of that side of her life.' + +'Then do you know if she has a friend who is, or may be, a +fortune-hunter, one whom you distrust?' + +I saw the quick colour flush her sweet face and leave it pale again, +and again for a moment she seemed to hesitate. + +'I don't quite like to say it,' she began then; 'but since we have +been here I have seen a person who, I think, would be a suitor for my +niece if she would permit it. I am not versed in the world's ways, but +I have seldom found myself deceived in my judgment of man or woman, +though I ought not to boast it. But of this man I think three things. +He is madly in love with my niece, and his sort of love is not the +true sort. It is not lasting, and it is more dangerous than hate. He +is a foreigner, with the soft, insincere ways that I cannot like nor +trust. He has a strong will and a cruel eye, and--he likes me not at +all. Mind thee, I do not accuse him--only he is the one person we have +met here and spoken with except thyself; and----' She broke off and +shook her head. + +'Do you think----' The question did not fall from my lips, but she +interpreted it. + +'Thee means does she care for him? I do not think it. She is courteous +to him, nothing more. Out of his sight I do not think she gives him a +thought. But he is here, and she is young. I am poor company for a +young girl.' + +'I wish all young girls could enjoy such society as yours, Miss Ross. +Do you think this business has disturbed Miss Jenrys?' + +'Disturbed? June Jenrys has not one drop of coward blood in her veins! +I have thought, since she has been with me--I am almost certain, +indeed--that something has saddened my girl just a little; she seems +quieter than she used, and is almost listless at times, which is not +like her. Sometimes she seems quite herself, and that is a very bright +self, then at times she is quite preoccupied. I think this affair has +aroused her interest, perhaps--ah----' + +She was facing the street, and the little quietly-uttered syllable +caused me to look through the leaves in the same direction. Miss +Jenrys was approaching, on the opposite side, in the shadow of the +Dakota Building, and with her, walking slowly and talking volubly, was +the little brunette. I was watching her narrowly, and as the two +crossed to the side nearest us I saw her start, stop suddenly, and +turn toward her companion; as she thus stood, her back was toward the +bridge, and a glance in that direction showed me a tall, well-dressed +man, who carried a bunch of long-stemmed La France roses, and whose +brisk steps brought him in a moment face to face with Miss Jenrys. +There was a brief pantomime of greeting between the newcomer and Miss +Jenrys, and then she turned toward the brunette, and there was a short +exchange of words. Then the man lifted his hat, the brunette bowed and +turned away, going toward the entrance, while Miss Jenrys and her +companion, whom I had recognised as Monsieur Voisin, came toward us. + +He was not aware of my presence, I know, until he had passed the point +where the arbour opened opposite the west door of the Nebraska House, +but he acknowledged Miss Jenrys' introduction with a perfect bow and +an amiable speech, intended for my companions as well as for myself. + +He had taken the liberty of calling at their cottage, he informed us, +to ask if he might not serve them as escort, but had been told that +they were already at the grounds. He considered himself very fortunate +to have met them at the very gate, as it were; and then he presented +the roses to Miss Jenrys. + +She received them with a smile, and a word of praise for their beauty, +and then, in that charming way a clever woman has when she chooses to +employ it, she made him aware that his kindly offer of escort service +must be declined, since, with a nod in my direction, they 'were +already provided with an escort.' + +I took my cue at once, and after a few more words, addressed to each +in turn, and a short exchange of courtesies between him and myself, +Monsieur Voisin lifted his hat, saying that since he was so much a +laggard as to have lost some charming companions he would endeavour to +recover his lost time by travelling to the Convent of La Rabida _viâ_ +the Intramural Railway; and so, smiling and bowing, he went back over +the bridge to the station above the entrance. + +When he had gone Miss Jenrys turned to me. + +'I must ask your pardon for that little implied fib, Mr. Masters; and, +auntie, don't look too much shocked. I could not allow Mr. Masters to +lose his time, which is no doubt of value, or to go away perhaps +before he had heard my experience.' And then, before the elder lady +could utter her gentle reproof or I could reply to her speech, she +began to tell her story. + +'I thought,' she began, 'that I would take the shortest way to my +object, so I went in, as you saw, to view South Dakota. It was so +small that I was soon upstairs, walking around the little gallery +under the dome. Of course I came upon our friend the brunette almost +at once, and greeted her so amiably that she joined my promenade +without hesitation. Of course you don't care to know all that we said. +I let her take the initiative, only keeping an amiable and fairly +interested countenance and following her lead. She began by telling me +how she "happened to meet me again." She had entered early, and had +passed the time looking at some of the State buildings, in order to be +near the entrance, where her "mamma" had partly promised to meet her +in an hour or so. She did not want to miss her "mamma," and so had +loitered, after a little time spent in some of the buildings opposite, +in these two houses, where she could overlook the entrance and the +bridge. It was not "nice" to be alone so much, and her "mamma" did not +like her to be alone, but she could not bear to lose the Fair, any of +it. Did I like going about alone? They were stopping at a hotel quite +near. Did I like a hotel? etc. In short, one of her objects, I am +sure, was to learn how long we mean to stay here in Chicago; and +another, who were in the house with us, if it were large, and if there +were other rooms to let----' + +'One moment,' I broke in. 'Did she ask for your street or number, or +both? and how did you reply to her?' + +'My answers were politely vague. She did not ask for our address, and +I thought it rather strange. She knows that there are "several people +at our house, but no room for more," and that our stay depends upon +circumstances; but she had one important request to make, and she made +it very adroitly. Seeing that I, like herself, was alone, at least +sometimes, she had wondered, if it were possible, if I would not like +to see the grounds by night. Her "mamma" did not care to come out +after six o'clock, she feared the lake breezes; and she did so long to +explore the grounds at night. Would it be possible--would I be willing +to accompany her, when I had no better companion, of course, for an +hour or so, some evening soon, to see the grounds and buildings +illuminated? Her "mamma" had told her she might ask, provided of +course she was sure, which of course she was, that I was "quite nice +and proper." As for herself, she was quite prepared with her cards and +references.' + +She stopped here, and challenged my opinion with a piquant, +questioning look. + +'My child!' ejaculated Aunt Ann, 'thee did not accept?' + +'Was that all?' I asked. + +'It was quite enough,' she replied, quite gravely now. 'She gave me a +card with a written address upon it, and I told her I would let her +know to-morrow morning by mail.' + +'June, thee must not go!' + +She turned to me, without replying to her aunt's exclamation. + +'What do you think of it?' she asked calmly, but quite earnestly now, +in contrast to her light manner of telling her story. + +'I think you have done well, both in going to meet this person and in +your manner of meeting her modest requests, but I think it has gone +far enough.' + +'You think, then, that there is a plot--something serious?' + +'I can see no other explanation; and now, Miss Jenrys, before another +word is said, will you promise me not to allow this person to approach +or address you again?' + +She looked at me in some surprise. 'You think her so dangerous?' she +questioned. + +'Yes; you have used the right word.' + +Again she watched my face intently, but she did not give the asked-for +promise, and her aunt broke in anxiously. + +'Mr. Masters, does thee think we would be safer, and wiser, if we went +away quickly and quietly?' + +'Auntie!' exclaimed the young lady, 'how can you! I thought you were +braver. Don't speak of going away. I will not hear of it. I am willing +to be advised, within reason, but I would rather risk something than +go away from this beautiful place before I have seen all of its +wonders, or as many as I can. I am not afraid, and I will not run +away. You do not advise such extreme precautionary measures, Mr. +Masters, surely?' + +'Not since I have heard your wishes so strongly expressed. No, Miss +Ross, I think there is no need of going away, now that you are warned +and will use caution; but, Miss Jenrys, you will be cautious about +going out alone, and especially at evening--you should have an escort, +a protector.' + +'One might as well be a prisoner at once as be compelled to remain +indoors on these lovely nights,' said the girl rebelliously. 'Auntie, +I will carry my little revolver. Oh,' in answer to my glance of too +plain inquiry, 'I can shoot very well.' + +'I shall feel much safer without it, my child,' said Aunt Ann +uneasily. 'Mr. Masters, is there not some way--these guards in +uniform, or are there not guides who could be employed--in the +evening, that is?' + +'Auntie dear, I have a better thought still--the chairs. We can secure +two reliable men for them, and do our sight-seeing by night in comfort +and safety in that way.' She turned a smiling face toward me. 'Don't +you think that a simple and sensible arrangement?' + +'I do; that is, if you will permit me to choose the men who are to +guide the chairs and see that they understand their duty.' + +'Why, to be sure. Mr. Masters, we are very stupid, auntie and I. If +you could----' + +She hesitated, and glanced from her aunt's face to mine. + +'June, child, I think I know what is in thy mind; I know the nature of +this young man's business in this place, and you are right. If he can +spare the time, it is right that we should know, if possible, what we +have to guard against, to fear or avoid. Is it thy pleasure, sir, to +undertake this for us?' + +I turned silently toward Miss Jenrys. + +'Aunt Ann is right,' she said, with decision. 'Can you take this +matter in hand?' + +'I will take it in hand,' I replied. 'But tell me just what you wish. +Do you simply want insured protection against annoyance, or do you +want this brunette followed up until we learn why she has singled you +out for her peculiar attentions?' + +'I have heard it said,' Miss Jenrys replied, 'that the detective fever +is contagious, and I feel now as if I must have this little mystery +unravelled. I dare say it will end in something stupid and +commonplace. Still, let us unravel it if possible. What say you, Aunt +Ann?' + +'I have already told thee that I detest mysteries. Yes, we must know +what it means.' + +'And know you shall,' I declared, 'if it rests within my power.' + +The sun was fast travelling toward the zenith, and I had promised Dave +a rendezvous at noon. + +It was not difficult to impress upon these two clever women the need +for perfect secrecy, and that no one must guess at the truth +concerning myself. I had observed that Monsieur Voisin addressed me as +Mr. Masseys, and that Miss Jenrys had spoken my name in performing the +introduction very indistinctly, and before I left she spoke of this. + +'Perhaps you noticed the mistake of Monsieur Voisin in addressing +you,' she said. 'It occurred to me, just as I was about to speak your +name, that I might be making a blunder, so I mumbled your name, and +was glad to hear him call you by another.' + +'Your tact was a kindness. Let me remain Mr. Masseys to him and to +anyone I may chance to meet in your company. I may be obliged to call +upon you, and should we meet, Monsieur Voisin and I, it will be best +that he knows me for a visitor like himself.' + +When we parted it was with a very thorough understanding, and I went +toward my meeting-place wondering what new thing would turn up in this +city of surprises, and what Dave would think of all this. I had +determined to put a shadow upon the heels of the brunette when she +should appear to get the note from Miss Jenrys, which was to be +couched in diplomatic language, and take the form of an indefinite +postponement rather than a refusal. + +When Dave and I met, I gave him, as usual, ample time to say the +things of no moment first, in his usual manner; but I did not mention +my own affair of the morning, leaving this to be told later and at a +time of more leisure, for Dave and I had no secrets from each other +when we were together. + +And this was the part of wisdom as well as for friendship's sake. I +knew always just how his work stood, and should disaster or delay +overtake him, I knew just how to report or to go on with his work, as +he with mine. + +When he joined me, I saw at once that he was more than usually +animated, and, contrary to his usual custom, he came straight to the +business upon his mind: + +'Old man, I have seen Delbras.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +FACE TO FACE WITH DELBRAS. + + +'You have found Delbras?' I echoed. This was news indeed, and I waited +eagerly for further information. + +'Yes, sir. I'm sure of it. I don't doubt it; and it was in Midway +Plaisance.' + +'Go on, Dave.' + +'Well, it's a short story. I had been lounging around the big wheel +for some time--that monster has a sort of fascination for me; it makes +me feel like a small boy, unable to gape enough. I was looking at the +people coming and going, and I almost forgot that it was noon, until I +heard someone say close beside me, "Almost noon, Jack. Let's get out +of this." That startled me. I had not thought it was so late, and I +took a look at old Sol and started on. I was walking pretty brisk, and +all at once I came up behind a couple that made me start. One of them +was Greenback Bob, past doubt, and the other was, or so I first +thought, an Arab dressed in American trousers and coat and wearing a +fez; but when I came closer and looked him well over I was sure it +was Delbras--there were all the points, everything; and I followed +them, feeling as pleased as if I had them already in bracelets; and +then, just as I was wondering where they were going, they brought up +in a crowd before one of those Turkish theatres. The hustler was +hustling in his last crowd before dinner, and when the two pushed +their way to the ticket booth I kept close behind them. + +'Well, sir, they were close by the place, but they bought no tickets, +that I'll swear; nevertheless, before I could take in the situation +they were walking past the man at the entrance and into the show, and +I made all haste to buy a ticket and follow them. + +'Of course I felt sure that I was following, for I had seen them pass +through the inner door; but when I got inside, and began to look +around me, they were not there, neither of them. I looked through the +audience, it was a very thin one; made my way down to the stage to +look for the door by which they had escaped me, and I did some mental +profanity that'll be forgiven me, I know, and then I gave it up and +went outside to reconnoitre the old barrack. + +'On one side its windows overlooked a lane open straight from the +street, and there was a small door in the rear corner, while in the +other a door that must have opened behind the scenes inside gave upon +a sort of court-like quarters where a lot of fellows where lounging, +and a few cooking, at an open fire. I made this discovery through a +crack in the high fence in the rear, and I prowled about until I +assured myself that my gentlemen were not there. + +'I suppose I had hung about that rear inclosure some twenty minutes, +or perhaps more, when I suddenly bethought me of the other Turkish +booth and the big bazaar, and I came around to take a final look at +the front and then move on. When I reached the front, one of the +dancing-girls was posturing before the entrance, and a new voice was +calling the crowd to "come and see and admire the only original," etc; +and, sir, there upon the upper step, exhorting the public, +was--Delbras himself.' + +'The clever rascal!' I exclaimed. + +'You may well say so. Well, sir, it did not take me long to do my +thinking. It was almost noon, a quarter to twelve in fact, and I said +to myself, "This fellow is playing Turk, and he has turned showman. He +has just relieved the other fellow, and will be likely to be here all +the afternoon." I couldn't have stayed there if I would without being +spotted, for the moment I got myself a little nearer to him he spied +me, and began a pantomime of roping me in hand over fist with an +imaginary cable. He would have known my face if I had tried to keep +near enough to be safe in case of a sudden move, so I took the chance +of keeping my appointment with you, getting up a different mug, and +hurrying back.' + +'And you expect to find him there?' + +'I hope to find him there. It would never have done to have stayed. He +would have spotted me at once. The fellow is a long remove from a +fool. Carl, what do you think of this deal? What, in your opinion, is +their little game?' + +'Precisely the same that you and I would play in their places. What +could a man ask better if he wants to dodge arrest, or evade +surveillance, than such a chance as Midway affords him? All he needs +is a "pull" with some of these Orientals, and they are here for the +most part for the "backsheesh." Besides, you remember, Delbras is said +to have crossed at the time many of these fellows were coming over, +and he had plenty of chance to make himself solid on the way, or even +before they crossed the water. Who knows how much fine work he has +done among these Turks, Syrians, Algerians, Egyptians, Japs, and so +on?' + +'Jove! you're right enough.' + +'And then, Delbras has just the face and figure to disguise well; as a +Turk, for instance'--Dave made a wry face--'or as an Arab, and even +Bob could manage to transform himself into a passable Algerian. Your +discovery of this morning, Dave, simply means that, from this moment, +in addition to the task of watching all the European faces in search +of our men, we shall have the added perplexity of peering under the +hoods, turbans, fezes, etc., of all Midway.' + +Dave's face was very grave, and he was silent for some moments. + +'The very fact,' he finally resumed, 'of finding Delbras in a Turk's +fez and playing the "jay" for one of their theatres shows that you're +right, Carl. Well'--getting up suddenly and catching his hat from off +the floor--'we didn't exactly come here to play; and as for +disguises--why, we've played at that game ourselves.' + +We took a hasty and somewhat meagre lunch at the nearest 'stand,' and +prepared for an afternoon upon the Plaisance. But I saw clearly that +some other way must be devised to entrap our quarry; that, given the +open sesame of the temples and pagodas, the booths and pavilions, the +villages, with their ins and outs, and our tricky and elusive trio +would have an advantage against which it would be difficult to +contend. + +And in this I was right. We found Delbras, or the man we believed to +be Delbras, still occupying the 'lecturer's' place at the entrance to +the theatre. He was disguised to the extent of a pair of black +whiskers and some slightly smoked gold-rimmed nose-glasses, just as he +had been in the morning; and he did not labour continuously. Instead, +he exchanged often with a second person, who took up the strain of +flowery superlatives at about every other half-hour, during which +relief the disguised Delbras gave some portion of his time to the +box-office and making of change, and the remainder to puffing +innumerable cigarettes. But in spite of our combined vigilance, +before the afternoon was over, and while the crowds were thickest and +rapid movement impossible, the man escaped our vigilance. It did not +surprise me. Those Midway throngs made veritable sanctuary for a +fleeing criminal, but it made me more than ever determined to find +some other and quicker way of getting our hands upon this gang. + +All that week we haunted Midway to little purpose. Once in the very +centre of the big Turkish bazaar--where everything was sold, and which +was extended from time to time out of all proportion to its original +size--where, too, I had been arrested and ignominiously marched away, +to be rescued by Dave Brainerd--I caught a glimpse of Delbras, this +time in full Turkish costume, and minus the beard and smoked glasses. + +I followed him recklessly, thrusting aside those who obstructed my way +with an impatient and ruthless hand, until I came to a spot, almost at +the southern exit of the long and narrow L, where a crowd was packed +from side to side of the eight-foot aisle, with mouths agape listening +to the exhortations of a boyish-looking fellow, wearing a Turkish fez +and a sort of smoking-jacket, and looking, in spite of this, far more +like a Jew than a follower of Mahomet. He stood at one side, close to +the entrance, and a curtain framed and partially concealed him. Behind +him, towering above him by a head and shoulders, was a tall Soudanese, +his face black, and shining, and round, and his white robe and turban +emphasizing the arm, bare, black, and massive, that waved a continuous +accompaniment to the words half spoken, half shouted, by the other: + +'Buy your tickets! Buy your tickets now, now, now! Come and see how to +get married! Come to see how to get divorced! Come to see how the +ladies quarrel with their husbands! Come and see how the ladies +quarrel with each other! Buy your tickets now, now, now!' + +In this singular combination of the modern fakir plying his trade and +the huge black steadily and systematically beckoning toward a stairway +partially concealed beyond the curtain, and looking like some giant +eunuch of ancient romance, there seemed something which caught and +held the public eye and the public wonder; and they crowded about the +improvised entrance, and formed an impassable wall between me and the +man so short a distance ahead, yet so utterly out of reach. + +It was vain to struggle. That Turkish fez had been to Delbras an open +sesame through the packed mass of humanity, and for a time I saw it +nodding above the lesser heads half-way between the door of exit and +that half-concealing curtain. Then, presto! it was gone; and though I +went wildly around to the farther entrance, pushing and jostling to +right and left, and bringing down upon myself anathemas without +number; though I reached the south end of the building in a moment, +seemingly, and gazed in every direction, Delbras had vanished. + +It was while making this wild rush that I brought upon myself the +attention of one of the very guards who had led me ignominiously away +from the presence of Smug and the Camps. + +He had seen my hasty rush from the building, and, without at first +recognising me, had followed me to inquire the cause of my haste. + +I knew him at the first moment; and when I had answered his inquiry, +he knew me. + +'The matter? Oh, I was trying to overtake a--a person whom I +particularly wished to see,' I replied; and I saw on his countenance +the dawning look of recognition. 'Seems to me you and I have met +before. You don't want to arrest me again, do you?' I added testily; +and then I pulled myself together and asked more amiably, 'Did you +think I was running away with another wallet?' + +The young fellow's face brightened. Dave's words had told him and his +companions who I was, and he answered, very respectfully: + +'No, sir, not this time; though I had not recognised you at first. Can +I help you in any way, sir?' + +'N--no, I'm afraid there's no help for me this time. By the way, did +you happen to see any of those parties again after you marched me off +so cruelly?' + +He knitted his brows to assist his memory, and finally replied: + +'Come to think, sir, I did see one of them; at least one of the +persons who had been swindled like yourself.' + +'Swindled?' + +'Yes, sir. You see, we didn't quite catch on at the time; it was all +done so quick, and I got the idea that it was a sort of pocket-game; +but it happened that I met the other gentleman, the next day, if I +remember, and I spoke to him, for I knew his face at once.' + +'Describe him.' + +'Why, not very tall, and--well, not very light nor very dark, I should +say; not much hair on his face, and dressed in a sort of gray suit.' + +'Yes, I see.' I recognised the description as that of Smug, and +determined to hear more. 'And what did he say?' + +'Why, nothing at first; but when I saw him looking at me sort of +sharp, I just stepped up and asked him how the row finished after the +other guard and I had hustled you off; and then I told him how we had +found out our mistake, and how your friend had let us off easy, +although both were on the detective force. And then he explained how, +as you and he were trying to keep the old man and his wife from being +fleeced, one of the gang had set up the cry of "Pickpocket!" and had +pointed at you; and then, you know, when we fished that wallet out of +your pocket it looked a----' + +'Yes,' I replied gravely; 'it certainly did.' + +'He said,' went on the guard, 'that he had tried to make us understand +that it was all a mistake about you, you know, but we didn't hear +him.' + +'So you told him that my friend and I were upon the S.S.?' I said. + +'Why, yes; was that----' + +'Never mind. What did he say about the others--the tall man with the +fez, for instance? He had a notebook and some bills in his hand, you +may remember.' + +'Yes, sir, I do. Yes, he told me about him. Jumbo! but didn't you all +get into a muddle. He had a narrow escape, too--the tall man, you +know. Did you know who he was?' + +I shook my head. + +'Well, sir, he came very near being fleeced too. He wanted to change a +bill, it seems, and the old farmer and the other fellow--the one that +told me, you know, had both been getting some change from a man that +claimed to make a business of changing foreign paper and large bills, +to accommodate people.' + +'Oh!' I ejaculated. + +'Yes, sir; and this gentleman--he was a big man, you know; one of them +foreign managers, and couldn't speak very good English--was just going +to change with them, a hundred, I think he said, when somebody sets up +the cry of pickpocket, you know.' + +'Yes, I know; go on.' + +'Well, sir, after you was gone, of course in the crowd the real +pickpocket got off scot-free. It turned out that the farmer and him +that told me had been "done" by some sharper, and that they was just +ready to pass off on this foreigner a lot of counterfeit money.' + +'Great Cæsar!' I ejaculated, and then checked my hasty speech. After +all, why should I expend my breath or wrath upon this guileless guard, +who, after all, was doing me a service? and how cleverly Smug had +twisted the story, and made it serve his turn! But it must not be +repeated--if it had not been already. + +'Look here,' I said in a more amiable tone, 'have you told this +affair, all or any of it, to anyone?' + +'Who--me? No. Haven't had the chance. The fellow that was with me that +day was taken off next day, and I've not seen a soul I know since. I +did want to tell him.' + +'It's well you did not. Look here, if you want to keep out of trouble, +you must keep perfectly dark about this matter. It's being sifted on +the quiet, and they'd take it very ill at headquarters if one of the +guards was to "leak" on them, and maybe spoil their game. And if you +should chance to meet this party again, remember, mum's the word.' + +'I'll keep mum, sir. I don't want to lose my job, not yet, before I've +seen half the Fair.' + +'Very good. Now, how long have you been on duty about this place?' + +'Two weeks, sir--ever since I was put on the force.' + +'And this foreigner--manager as you call him--did you have a good look +at him?' + +'Oh yes, sir.' + +'Ever seen him before?' + +'Now that you ask, I'm quite sure I have, but not knowing who he was. +Yes, I'm sure I've seen him about the village among the Turks more +than once.' + +'Describe him.' + +'Why, he's good-looking, and tall, and dark; got a sort of proud gait, +and square shoulders; always dresses swell.' + +'Thank you.' I had squeezed my orange dry, and was anxious to leave +him. I had suspected it before, and was now convinced that +unwittingly, in my attempt to play the guardian angel to Adam Camp and +his wife, I had come face to face with Delbras. + +When I compared notes with Dave that night he was quite of my opinion. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +MISSING--CARTE BLANCHE. + + +It had been decided between Miss Jenrys and myself that the little +brunette should not be altogether ignored, at least for a time; and I +had taken it upon myself to provide the letter which was to put off +until a more convenient season the proposed survey of the White City +by night. + +After some thought I had written the following, and posted it +according to directions, in care of a certain café on Fifty-seventh +Street: + + 'DEAR MISS B----, + + 'I find that I can hardly evade the duties one owes to + courteous friends, and must for a few evenings devote myself + to these. It is very likely that some of the friends of my + chaperon will visit the Fair, perhaps this week, in which + case she will perhaps be able to dispense with me for one + evening; therefore please inform me if you should, as you + suggested, change your address, so that I may drop you a + note when the right time comes. + + 'Yours, etc., + 'J. E. J.' + +This letter was submitted to Miss Jenrys, and then posted, but not +until the superintendent had secured for me the services of a +half-grown boy who had won a reputation as a keen and tenacious +'shadow.' Him I set to await the coming of our brunette; and, lest he +should mistake or miss her, I waited in attendance with him until she +came, which was at an early hour and in haste. + +I had also placed a man upon Stony Island Avenue, armed with minute +descriptions of Smug, Greenback Bob, Delbras, and the brunette, and +with instructions to watch the cafés and houses upon a line with the +Fair-grounds, and especially within a certain radius within which we +knew parties of their peculiar sort were received 'and no questions +asked.' + +As for Brainerd and myself, we had laid out a new system, and upon it +we founded a strong hope for ultimate success; though we recognised +more and more the fact that we had to cope with men who were more than +ordinarily keen, clever, and skilled in the fine art of dodging and +baffling pursuit. In fact, I was now thoroughly convinced that they +were living and working upon the supposition that they were constantly +watched and pursued, and that they governed their movements and +shifted their abode accordingly. + +There was one thing which weighed upon my mind--I had almost said +conscience--and troubled me uncomfortably, and that was the attitude I +was permitting the disguised brunette to maintain toward Miss Jenrys. + +Since she had entered so earnestly into the work of ferreting out the +motive for the brunette's persistent attentions, she had manifested +such a willingness to aid me by allowing that personage to continue +the acquaintance already begun, that, while I appreciated it as an +earnest of her trust in me, it was, nevertheless, embarrassing. + +I was not yet ready to tell her that I believed the brunette to be a +man in masquerade--I must be able to prove my charge first; and yet I +had determined that they should not meet again if I could stand +between them. + +It was to speak an additional word of caution, and to tell the two +ladies that two stalwart and trusty chair-pushers were engaged for +their evening sight-seeing, that I set out one morning to make my +first call upon them at their apartment on Washington Avenue. It had +been decided that, even in such a throng as that of the White City, it +would not be wise to meet within the grounds too often, or too openly. +We were sure of more or less surveillance from one source; and I was +quite ready to believe that from more than one direction interested +eyes were watching the coming and going of Miss Jenrys, if not of +myself. + +Already I had tested the cooking and service of a variety of the +restaurants, cafés, and _tables d'hôte_ within the gates, and I had +also found that outside, and especially within easy reach from the +northern or Fifty-seventh Street gate, were to be found a number of +most cleanly and inviting little places, more or less pretentious, and +under various names, but all ready, willing, and able to serve one a +breakfast, dinner, or luncheon such as would tempt even chronic +grumblers to smile, feast, and come again. + +I had breakfasted that morning at one of these comforting places, and +upon leaving it had crossed the street to purchase a cigar from the +stand on the corner, and having lighted it had kept on upon the same +side. + +I had meant to recross at the next corner, for half-way between two +streets, stationed beneath some trees upon a vacant lot, was a +bootblack's open-air establishment which I had a mind to patronize. As +I neared the scene, however, and glanced across, I saw that both of +the bootblack's chairs were occupied, and upon a second glance I noted +that one of the occupants was my recent acquaintance, Monsieur Voisin, +Miss Jenrys' friend. + +He was busy with a newspaper, or seemed to be, and glancing down at my +feet to make sure they were not too shabby for a morning call, I kept +straight on and turned down Washington Avenue upon its farther or +western side. + +I had bought a paper along with my cigar, and as I ran up the steps of +the pretty modern cottage where the two ladies had established +themselves I threw away the one and put the other in my pocket, +wondering as I did so if Monsieur Voisin was also on his way to this +place, and smiling a little, because I had at least the advantage of +being first. + +It was so early that the ladies had not yet returned from breakfast, +which they took at a café "aroond the corner joost," so the servant +informed me. But I was expected, and I was asked to wait in their +little reception-room, where a sunshade and a pair of dainty gloves +upon a chair, and a shawl of soft gray precisely folded and lying upon +a small table, not to mention the books, papers, and little feminine +knicknacks, gave to the room a look of occupancy and ownership. + +I had just unfolded my paper, and was glancing over the headlines upon +the first page, when the two ladies entered, and I dropped my paper +while rising to salute them. + +In anticipation of or to forestall a possible call from Monsieur +Voisin, I made haste to get through with the little business in hand, +and obtained from Miss Jenrys, without question or demur, her promise +not to hold communication with the brunette, at least by letter, and +to avoid if possible a meeting until I should be able to enlighten her +more fully. + +'I do not want to lose sight of her,' I said, in scant explanation, +'and it seems that we can best keep our hold through her pursuit of +you; but I would rather lose sight of her altogether and begin it all +over again than let one line in your handwriting go into such +hands'--I avoided those false pronouns 'her' and 'she' when I +could--'and hope and trust you may be spared another interview. +Please take this upon trust, Miss Jenrys, and you too, Miss Ross, and +believe that I will not keep you in the dark one moment longer than is +needful.' + +They assured me of their willingness to wait, even in the face of what +Miss Jenrys laughingly described as a devouring curiosity; and then, +while she turned the talk upon the Fair and some of its wonders, Miss +Ross, murmuring a word of polite excuse, took up my paper from the +place where it had fallen from my hands. + +'Thee will allow me--I have not seen our morning paper.' + +'Oh, Aunt Ann, I had entirely forgotten it!' cried her niece +contritely. + +'It is not important, child,' replied the smiling Quakeress. 'There is +very little in it now except the Fair, and that we can better read at +first hand.' + +Nevertheless, she began to turn the pages and to scan here and there +through her dainty gold-framed spectacles, while Miss Jenrys began to +interrogate me concerning the mysteries of Midway Plaisance. + +'We hear such very contradictory stories, and I do not want to miss +any feature of the foreign show worth seeing,' she said, with an arch +little nod and smile across to her aunt, 'nor does Aunt Ann; and I +don't quite feel like bearding all those Midway lions unguarded, +unguided, and--unadvised.' + +I was not slow to offer my own individual services, in such an earnest +manner that, after a little hesitation and the assurance that it would +not only not conflict with my 'business engagements,' but would afford +an especial pleasure, inasmuch as I had not yet 'done' the Plaisance +in any thorough manner, she finally accepted my proffered services for +her aunt and herself, adding at last: + +'To be perfectly honest, Mr. Masters, I know Aunt Ann will never enter +that alarming, fascinating Ferris Wheel without an escort whom she can +trust should we lose our heads and want to jump out one hundred feet +above terra firma; and I am quite sure I shall want to jump. I always +am tempted to jump from any great height. Do you believe in these +sensations? I have heard people say that they could hardly restrain +themselves from jumping into the water whenever they ride in a boat or +cross a bridge.' + +'I have heard of such cases,' I replied. And so we talked on, +discussing this singular and seldom met with, but still existing fact, +of single insane freaks in the otherwise perfectly sane, when the +gentle Quakeress, uttering a little shocked exclamation and suddenly +lowering her paper, turned toward us. + +'Pardon me! but, June, child, what did you tell me was the name of the +young man to whom thy friend Hilda O'Neil is betrothed?' + +'Trent, auntie--Gerald Trent.' + +'Of Boston?' + +'Of Boston; yes. Why, Aunt Ann?' + +'I--I fear, then, that there is sorrow in store for thy young friend. +Gerald Trent is missing.' + +'Missing?' + +The Quakeress held the paper toward me, I being nearest her, and +pointing with a finger to some headlines half-way down the page, said: + +'Perhaps thee would better read it.' + +I took the paper and read aloud these lines: + + '"ANOTHER WORLD'S FAIR MYSTERY.--GERALD TRENT AMONG THE + MISSING. + + '"_Another Young Man swallowed up by the Maelstrom._ + + '"Yesterday we chronicled the disappearance of Harvey Parker + who was traced by his friends to this city, where he had + arrived to visit the Exposition for a week or more. He is + known to have arrived at the Rock Island Depot and to have + set out for the Van Buren Street Viaduct _en route_ for the + Fair. This was on Monday last, five days ago, since which + time, as was stated in our yesterday's issue, he has not been + seen or heard from by his friends or by the police, who are + searching for him. + + '"Nearly two weeks ago, Gerald Trent, only son of Abner + Trent, one of Boston's millionaire merchants, came to this + city to see the Exposition and to secure accommodations for + his family, who were to come later. He stopped at an up-town + hotel for some days, visited the Fair, and secured apartments + for his friends, which were to have been vacated for their + use in a few days. + + '"He had written to his family, telling them to await his + telegram, which they would receive in three or four days. + When this time had expired and no telegram came, they waited + another day, and then sent him a message of inquiry. This + being unanswered, they made inquiry at his up-town hotel, and + then began a search, which ended in the conviction that young + Trent had met with misfortune, if not foul play. On Monday + last he left the hotel, saying to one of the inmates of the + house that he should have possession of a fine suite of + rooms, within three blocks of the north entrance, which + presumably means Fifty-seventh Street, within three days, and + that he meant to send for his friends that day by telegraph. + No message was received at his home, as has been said, and + nothing has been heard of him since that day. + + '"Young Trent wore, rather unwisely, a couple of valuable + diamonds, one in a solitaire ring, the other in a scarf-pin; + he also carried a fine watch, and was well supplied with + money. The police are working hard upon the case. The list of + the missing seems to be increasing."' + + * * * * * + +I put the paper down and looked across at Miss Jenrys. I had +recognised the name Hilda O'Neil as that of her Boston correspondent +whose letter I had found in the little black bag, and by association +the name of Gerald Trent also. Miss Jenrys was looking pale and +startled. + +'Oh!' she exclaimed. 'That is what Hilda's telegram meant.' + +'You have had a telegram from Boston?' I ventured. + +'Yes. You perhaps remember the letter in my bag?' + +I nodded. + +'In that letter Hilda--Miss O'Neil--spoke of Mr. Trent's delay, and of +her anxiety. I did not reply to her letter at first, expecting to hear +from or see her, for she had my address. It was only a freak my +telling her to write me through the World's Fair post-office; but when +she did not come--on the day before I met you, in fact--I wrote just a +few lines of inquiry. In reply to this I received a telegram last +evening. I will get it.' She crossed the room and opened a little +traveller's writing-case, coming back with a yellow envelope in her +hand. 'There it is,' she said, holding it out to me. + +I took it and read the words: + +'Have you seen Gerald? Hilda.' + +'Did you reply to this?' I asked, as I gave it back to her. + +'At once--just the one word, "No."' + +'Do you know this young man?' I asked. + +'I have never even seen him, but I know that he bears a splendid +reputation for manliness, sobriety, and studiousness. He was something +of a bookworm at college, I believe, and has developed a taste for +literature. You see, I have heard much of him. Oh, I am sure something +has happened to him, some misfortune! You see, she had asked him to +call upon me, and he would never have left Hilda--not to mention his +parents and sister--five days in suspense if able to communicate with +them.' + +'If he is the person you describe him, surely not.' + +She gazed at me a moment, as if about to reproach me for the doubt my +words implied, and dropped her eyes. Then she answered quietly: + +'The simple fact that John O'Neil, Hilda's father, has accepted him as +his daughter's _fiancé_ is sufficient for me. Mr. O'Neil is an astute +lawyer and a shrewd judge of character; he has known the Trents for +many years, and he already looks upon Gerald Trent as a son.' + +'And Mr. O'Neil--where is he?' + +'Abroad at present; it is to be regretted now.' + +I took up the paper and re-read the account of young Trent's +disappearance; and Miss Jenrys dropped her head upon her hand, and +seemed to be studying the case. After a moment of silence, Miss Ross, +who had been a listener from the beginning, leaned toward her niece +and said, in her gentlest tone: + +'June, my child, ought we not to try and do something? What does thee +think? Should we wait, and perhaps lose valuable time, while the +Trents are on their way?' + +Miss Jenrys lifted her head suddenly. + +'Auntie,' she exclaimed, 'you are worth a dozen of me! You are right! +We must do something. Mr. Masters, what would you do first if you were +to begin at once upon the case?' + +'Get, from the chief of police if necessary, the name of the up-town +hotel where young Trent was last seen.' + +'And then?' she urged, in a prompt, imperious manner quite new in my +acquaintance with her. + +'Obtain a description of him from some of the people there, and learn +all that can be learned about him.' + +'And what next?' she urged still. + +'Next, I would seek among the houses within two or three blocks from +the north entrance for the rooms which he engaged, and which are +perhaps still held for him.' + +'Mr. Masters, can you do this for me?' She was sitting erect before +me, the very incarnation of repressed activity, and I knew, as well as +if she had said it, that she would never permit my refusal to weaken +the determination just taking shape in her mind to do for Hilda O'Neil +what she could not have done for herself, and to do it boldly, +promptly, openly. She saw my hesitation, and went on hurriedly: + +'I know how busy you must be, how much I am asking, but you have +undertaken to follow up that brunette and find out the reason for her +interest in me, and surely this is far, far more important--a man's +life, the happiness of a family, my friend's happiness at stake, +perhaps; for I am sure that no common cause, nothing but danger, +illness, or death, could keep Gerald Trent from communicating with his +parents and his promised wife. Drop the brunette and all connected +with her, Mr. Masters, and give such time as you would have given to +my affairs, and more if possible, to this search, I beg of you. At +least, promise me that you will conduct the search, and employ as many +helpers as you need. I'll give you carte-blanche. Deal with me as you +would with a man, and if I can aid in any other way than with my +purse, let me do it.' + +As she paused, with her eyes eagerly fixed upon my face, the sweet +Quakeress leaned toward me, and put out her white slender hand in +earnest appeal. + +'"Thy brother's keeper;" remember that a deed of mercy is beyond and +above all works of vengeance. What is the capture of a criminal, of +many of them, compared to the rescue, the saving, perchance, of an +honest man's life? I beg of thee, consent, help us!' + +There may be men who could have resisted that appeal. I could not, and +did not. I did not throw my other responsibilities to the winds; I +simply did not think of them at the moment, when I took the soft hand +of the elder woman in my own, and, looking across at the younger, +said: + +'I will do my best, Miss Jenrys, and, that not one moment may be lost, +tell me, can you describe young Trent?' + +'Not very well, I fear.' + +'And his picture? Your friend must have that?' + +'Of course,' half smiling. + +'Telegraph her to forward it to you at once. And has your friend at +any time mentioned the hotel where young Trent would stop? Most of our +Eastern visitors have a favourite stopping-place.' + +'I know.' She had made a movement toward her desk, but paused and +turned toward me. 'I think it is safe to say that the two families +would share the same house. They did in visiting the summer resorts, +always; and I know where Mr. O'Neil and Mr. Trent went when they +attended the great convention in this city.' She named the place, and +I promptly arose. + +'I will go there at once; but you may as well give me the Trents' +address, and permit me the use of your name. If I am wrong I will +telegraph from up-town for the name of his hotel.' + +As I turned my face cityward that morning I was not only fully +committed to the search for missing Gerald Trent, but I was determined +to convert my friend and partner to the same undertaking. + +And having now found time for sober, second thought, I had also +determined not to relinquish my search for the little brunette and her +secret, nor for Messrs. Bob Delbras and company. Had I not +carte-blanche? + +As I left the house, intent upon my new errand, I was not surprised to +see approaching it, almost at the door, in fact, Monsieur Voisin. We +exchanged greetings at the entrance, and I had walked some distance +before it occurred to me to wonder how it came about that Monsieur +Voisin, whom I had last seen at the bootblack's stand, two blocks +north and east, happened to be approaching Miss Jenrys' residence from +the south. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE KING OF CONFIDENCE MEN. + + +I found a number of people at the big up-town hotel who could tell me +a little of Gerald Trent, as he appeared to them after a few days' +acquaintance; and these were unanimous in saying and believing that +young Trent was not absent by his own will. + +'It's a case of foul play, I'm sure of it,' declared the clerk, to +whom I had represented myself as 'acting for one of Mr. Trent's +friends.' 'Cowles saw him at the viaduct, he told me, just before he +left; that was five days ago now, and Trent was then going down to +secure those rooms and see that they were put in order. He went by the +Suburban, because he wanted to go over to the avenues, and Cowles went +down by the Whaleback.' + +There was no more to be learned up-town. Gerald Trent had been last +seen at the viaduct at the foot of Van Buren Street, where the 'cattle +cars,' the 'Suburban,' and numerous boats left the Lake Front and the +wharf beyond _en route_ for the Fair City. This was at ten o'clock +a.m., or near it. + +I went back to the Fair City, as Trent had last gone, upon the +Suburban train; and before noon had begun an exploration, in the +vicinity of the north entrance, for the rooms engaged by him. + +Bounding the Fair City on the west was the street known as Stony +Island Avenue, and after a short survey of such near portions of this +street as I had not seen, I satisfied myself that young Trent would +not have selected it as a place of abode for his lady mother, his +sister, and his sweetheart. One block westward, running south from +Fifty-seventh, was a short street called Rosalie Court, and after +exploring this I pushed on to Washington Avenue, and then to Madison, +running respectively one and two blocks parallel with Rosalie Court. + +Something impelled me to pass by Washington Avenue, upon which Miss +Jenrys and her aunt were lodged, and to explore the farther avenue +first. + +'If the rooms are within two or three blocks of the north entrance,' I +said to myself, 'and if they are upon this street, I shall find them +within one block north or south from this corner,' meaning +Fifty-seventh Street, and I turned southward and began my search in +earnest. + +Not long since this part of the city had been a beautiful suburb, and +the pretty cottages and more stately villas were, for the most part, +isolated in the midst of their own grounds. Every other house it +seemed, and some of the most pretentious, bore upon paling, piazza, or +door-post the legend 'Rooms to Let,' and I applied and entered at a +number of handsome and home-like portals, first upon the east side and +then upon the west, crossing at Fifty-eighth Street to turn my face +northward. + +At Fifty-seventh I paused. 'It is something more than two blocks from +the Fair entrance to this point,' I mused, 'and therefore I ought to +go but one block in this direction.' But when I had traversed the +block to Fifty-sixth Street, with no success, I crossed the street and +went on, saying, 'It's easy for a stranger to be mistaken in a matter +of distance.' At the north end of this square stood a large +old-fashioned mansion, of a decidedly Southern type. It stood upon +terraced grounds, and was a dignified reminder of better days, with +its stained and time-roughened stuccos, and the worn paint about the +ornate cornices. 'Rooms to Let' was the sign upon a tree-trunk, and +after some doubt and hesitation, I went up the terraced steps, crossed +the lawn, and rang a bell much newer than its surroundings. + +Once admitted to the wide, inviting hall, with its glimpse of cheerful +dining-room beyond, and a large cool parlour opening at the side, I +felt that Trent might well have sought quarters in this roomy, airy +house; and when the 'lady of the house,' a woman small, elderly, +delicate, and refined, appeared before me, I put my question +hopefully. + +'Madam, have you among the inmates of your house a Mr. Gerald Trent?' +I saw by her sudden change of countenance that the name was not +strange to her, and was not surprised when she informed me that a Mr. +Trent had engaged her best suite of rooms for himself and four others; +that he had called upon her on the Monday previous, paid her an +advance upon the rooms, and informed her that his friends would arrive +in three days, if not sooner. + +'They should have been here,' she concluded, 'the day before +yesterday, but they have not appeared, and we have had no word from +them. It is very inconvenient for me. Of course, the rooms are secured +until Monday, but I have no means of knowing if they will come then; +or when I may consider them at my disposal.' + +It was evident she had not seen the papers, and I at once put the +notice in her hand, and told her the nature of my business. + +There seemed but one opinion of Gerald Trent. When she had read the +paper and heard my statement, she said, at once, what the inmates of +the hotel had said before her: + +'Something has happened him. He never went away like this of his own +accord. I never saw a more simple and sincere young man.' And then, as +if by an afterthought, 'He had too much money about him; he was too +well dressed, and--I don't think he was of a suspicious nature.' + +I learned from her very little to help my further search. Trent had +met none of the guests of the house upon either of his visits there. +In reply to a question, she had said: + +'He seemed in the best of spirits when he paid the advance money and +went away; and he said that he meant to spend the day in the +Plaisance. I remember that he laughed when he said this, and added +something to the effect that he wanted to decide, before the ladies +came, where it would pay to go on the Plaisance, and what were the +things they would not care for. He had a rather frank and boyish way +of expressing himself.' + +'And you think he went from here to the Fair?' + +'I believe he went from here to Midway Plaisance. There is an entrance +on this street, three blocks south, and I walked to the door with him +and pointed the way to it.' + +And this was all. Of course I took from her lips, as from the people +up-town, a minute description of Trent's dress and appearance on the +day of his disappearance, and then I went back to the Fair by the +Midway gate, and wished impatiently for the time to come when I should +meet Brainerd and consult with him. This I knew would not be until a +late hour, and as I lounged down the Plaisance I began to look about +for the handsome guard, in whom I had taken a decided interest. + +I found him easily--as erect, soldierly, attentive to duty as +usual--and we spent the greater part of two hours chatting, while we +paced up and down Midway. He was a bright talker, and he entertained +me with a number of amusing incidents, graphically related, and +illustrative of the life of the Plaisance. + +During the two hours, however, I broke the monotony of a continuous +tramp by an excursion, now on one side and then on the other; now to +see the glass-blowers; now the submarine exhibit; and, lastly, to the +Irish village that clustered about Blarney Castle. + +It was on my return from this that, as I approached him, I saw, with +some surprise, that he was in earnest conversation with a woman, and +as I came nearer and he shifted his position slightly, I saw that the +woman was none other than that _ignis fatuus_ the brunette. Her back +was toward me, and she was squarely facing him, so that, as I came +nearer and directly toward them, I caught his eye, and, nodding with a +gesture which I think he understood, I turned away and watched the +manoeuvres of 'the little mystery,' as Brainerd so often called the +brunette, wondering if this unknown guard was also to be enmeshed in +the plot she seemed to be weaving. And then there flashed into my mind +that first meeting with the guard, and his avowed acquaintance with +Miss Jenrys. Was this interview in any way connected with or +concerning her? + +The brunette had not seen me; of that I was quite assured, and even so +I had small fear of recognition, for while I had not, on the occasion +of our two meetings face to face, worn any disguise, I was confident +that the widely different garments worn on the two occasions, together +with my ability to elongate, twist, and change my features, and to +alter the pitch of my voice, was masquerade sufficient. But I did not +desire to become known to this anomalous personage, and I lingered +here and there, within sight and at a safe distance, until I saw her +nod airily and trip away, flinging a smile over her shoulder. + +In the time spent in waiting the end of this little dialogue I had +decided that I must know this young man--so reticent, yet so +frank--better, and that I must win his confidence, and to do this +perfect frankness, I knew, would be my best aid. + +When the 'mystery' was safely out of sight, and on this occasion I had +no desire to follow her, I rejoined the guard, and I was sure that I +surprised upon his face a look of perplexity and annoyance, which +vanished when I put my hand upon his arm, and, falling into step with +him, began: + +'I hope you understood my meaning when I went into ambush so suddenly? +I really did not care to encounter your friend.' + +'That is hardly the right name, seeing that the lady is a stranger to +me,' he replied, slightly smiling. + +'Indeed!' I retorted. 'Then may I wager that I know what she had to +say to you?' I saw him flush, and his lips compress themselves as if +to hold back some hasty speech, but I went lightly on: 'That is the +young person who claimed the bag belonging to your acquaintance--you +remember the circumstance--and if she is still as angry at me as she +was on that day she was doubtless imploring you to "run me in," and +put me in more irons than Christopher Columbus ever wore. Honestly +now, am I not right?' + +He was silent and seemed perplexed again, and I promptly changed my +tone. 'If I am mistaken, and if the young woman is someone you know, I +beg your pardon; but, remembering how she turned her look upon you on +the occasion of that first meeting----' + +'One moment,' he broke in. 'It is possible that we have been unjust in +this case, and I think I may tell you, without a breach of confidence, +what this young lady'--I thought he emphasized the 'lady' +somewhat--'who by-the-by is a stranger to me, had to say just now.' + +I bowed my assent, lest speech might cause a discussion, and he went +on: + +'The young lady, after excusing herself for doing what she termed an +unconventional thing in addressing me, asked at once after you.' + +'After me? But--go on.' + +'She spoke of you as "the person" I was talking with on the day when +her friend lost her bag and she tried to reclaim it, and when I +disclaimed all knowledge of you, she told me how "cavalierly"--that is +also her word--you refused to yield up the bag, and how anxiously her +friend was hoping to secure that bag--even yet.' + +'Ah! Indeed!' + +'You will pardon me,' he went on, not heeding my interjection, and +speaking with marked courtesy, 'but I almost fear you have mistaken +this young lady.' + +'Why?' + +'Because she not only gave me the name of the owner of the bag, but +she assured me that the lady recognised me in passing, a thing which I +regret, and she called me by my name.' + +Here was a coil indeed. My head was a nest of queer thoughts and +suspicions, but I kept to the subject by asking: + +'And may I ask how you replied to all this?' + +'In the only way I could. You were a stranger, who was anxious, I felt +sure, to restore the bag to its owner. You had assured me of this +much. As to your address, I could not give it, and your name I did not +know; but I added the promise that should I chance to meet you, as I +might, I would ask you to send the bag to the lady's address.' + +'Pardon--was this the lady's proposition?' + +'No. She asked me to get it from you--the bag.' + +'And to restore it through her?' + +'Yes.' + +'And the address? Did she give you the young lady's address, the +owner's, or her own?' + +'She gave the owner's address.' + +'Then if you will give it to me I can promise that to-morrow will see +the little bag in its owner's possession.' + +He took from his pocket a visiting card, upon which was engraved the +name June E. Jenrys, and underneath in pencil the address. + +I had seen just such a card, minus the pencilled address, in Miss +Jenrys' card-tray on Washington Avenue; and that pencilled address! It +was that of the café to which Miss Jenrys was to send her note +concerning the evening excursion. + +I had not spoken of the adventure of the bag during the afternoon, and +I had not meant to do so. Since our last meeting my position in +relation to Miss Jenrys had been changed. I was now in some degree the +guardian of her interests, and while I believed in and admired this +handsome and secretive stranger guard, and might have entrusted him +with a secret all my own, perhaps, my mouth was closed concerning the +young lady whom he professed to know yet was unwilling to meet. + +As I looked at the tall, lithe figure, the erect head and handsome +face, I wondered what this mystery could be which caused him to +withhold his name from those who might be his friends; to shun a +lovely girl whom he knew and in whom he was evidently interested; and, +above all, which linked him, as was now fairly proven, through the +wily brunette, with the strange pursuit of Miss Jenrys. Was it +possible, I asked myself, that this medley of mysterious happenings +could reach back through the brunette to Greenback Bob, the +counterfeiter, and Delbras, the king of confidence men? + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THAT LITTLE DECOY. + + +I stowed the false address in my waistcoat pocket, and after promising +to see the guard again on the next day, a promise which I fully +intended to keep, and exchanging a few friendly but important +sentences with him, we shook hands and separated. We had grown almost +friendly in our manner each toward each, in spite of the fact that +neither knew the name of the other. He had told me where he lodged, +among the number who were housed within the grounds; and we had agreed +to dine together at an early date at a place which he had recommended +in reply to my inquiry after a satisfactory place to dine within the +walls of the Fair. He had dined there regularly, he assured me, and I +was glad to know this, for I foresaw that I might need his help in the +defence of Miss Jenrys and her interests, and I could not know too +much of his whereabouts. + +'Till we meet and wine and dine,' I said flippantly, upon leaving him, +little dreaming how soon and in what manner we were to meet again. + +As I left the Plaisance the handsome guard was still the subject of my +thoughts. That he had told me the truth concerning his interview with +the brunette I did not doubt, but was it the whole truth? + +All that he had rehearsed to me could have been said in much less than +half the time she had spent in brisk conversation with the guard, +whose part seemed to have been that of listener. + +Not that I had any right to demand or expect his full confidence; +still, why had he withheld it; and what was it that the brunette had +slipped into his hand at parting? + +Another thing, we had planned to dine together soon, and he knew that +I was, or seemed to be, quite at leisure, while he would be relieved +from duty very soon, and yet--well, he had certainly not grasped at +the opportunity. + +I did not expect to meet Brainerd until a late hour, and I had decided +to do nothing further in the matter of the Trent disappearance until +we could talk it over. In fact, there was little to be done until I +had seen Miss Jenrys and her aunt, and reported to them, as I had +engaged to do at seven o'clock. At this hour I called and made my +meagre report, which, however, was better than nothing, as the ladies +were good enough to declare. + +They had remained at home all day, and late in the afternoon received +a message from Miss O'Neil. The picture, it assured her, would be sent +at once. + +A little to my surprise, I found that the ladies were prepared to go +to town in company with Monsieur Voisin, to hear a famous monologue +artist. He had persuaded them, Miss Jenrys said, rather against their +wishes, but they had at last decided that this would be better than to +pass the evening as they had already passed the day, in useless +speculation, discussion, and anxiety. + +Of course I agreed with them; but I came away early, not caring to +encounter the handsome Frenchman again, and I re-entered the gates of +the Fair City a little out of tune, and wandered about the +brightly-illuminated and beautiful Court of Honour, finding, for the +first time in this place, that time was dragging, and wishing it were +time to meet Dave, and begin what I knew would be a lively and +two-sided discussion. + +At eight o'clock there was music upon the Grand Plaza, and the +band-stand was surrounded by a merry, happy crowd. At nine the band +was playing popular airs, and a picked chorus that had been singing in +Choral Hall in the afternoon was filling the great space with vocal +melody, in which from time to time the crowd joined with enthusiasm. + +Coming nearer this centre of attraction, I saw, seated near the +water's edge, and quite close to the great Fountain, the little +brunette and a companion. It was impossible to mistake the brunette, +for she wore the costume of the afternoon--a somewhat conspicuous +costume, as I afterward remembered; but her companion puzzled me. She +was tall and slight, and quietly well dressed, and her face could not +well be seen under the drooping hat which she wore. There seemed, at +the very first, something familiar about this hat. It was +broad-brimmed, slightly curved upward at the sides, and bent to shade +the face and fall over the hair at the back; but long dark plumes fell +at one side, and a third stood serenely erect in front; and suddenly I +remembered that I had seen Miss Jenrys wear such a hat upon the day of +our first meeting. But Miss Jenrys, in a dainty white theatre bonnet, +had gone up town; and there was no monopoly of drooping hats and +feathers--so I told myself. + +But I wondered what mischief, new or old, the brunette was bent upon, +and I decided to give her the benefit of my unoccupied attention. + +From time to time the two changed their positions, but I noted that +they kept upon the outskirts of the throng, and seemed to avoid the +well-lighted spaces, sitting or standing in the shadow of the great +statues, the columns, and angles. + +For nearly an hour the music continued, vocal for the most part, and +the crowd kept in place, singing and applauding by turns. I had been +standing near the east façade of the Administration Building for some +time, having followed the brunette and her companion to that side of +the Plaza, when I saw a group of Columbian Guards, evidently off duty, +place themselves against the wall quite near me. They were strolling +gaily, and after a little, as the singers began a national anthem, +some of them joined in the chorus or refrain. It was amateurish +singing enough, until suddenly a new voice lifted itself among +them--a tenor voice--sweet, strong, high, and thoroughly cultured. I +turned to look closer, and saw that the singer was my friend, the +handsome guard. He was standing slightly aloof from the others, and +when he saw that his music was causing many heads to turn, he suddenly +ceased singing, and in spite of the remonstrances of his companions, +moved away from them, slowly at first, and then with more decision of +movement, until he was out of their sight in the crowd. + +'He wants to avoid them,' I said to myself, 'and he seems to be +looking for someone.' And then I turned my attention to the brunette +once more. + +At ten o'clock the music had ceased, and the people were scattered +upon the Plaza. The electric fountains had ceased to send up +multi-coloured spray, and some of the lights in the glittering chains +about the Grand Basin were fading out. On the streets and avenues +leading away from the Plaza there was still sufficient light, but the +Wooded Island, which as yet had not participated in the great +illuminations, was not brilliantly lighted. In fact, under the trees, +and among the winding shrub-bordered paths, there were many shadowed +nooks and gloomy recesses. + +And yet it was towards the Wooded Island that the brunette and her +companion led me, wondering much, and keeping at a distance to avoid +the glances often sent back by the little adventuress. + +I had just stepped off the path to avoid the gleam of light that fell +across it from the light just at the curve, when a quick step sounded +close by, and a tall figure passed me in haste, going the way the two +had taken--the form of the handsome guard. + +I had followed them past the east front of the Electricity Building, +and between it and the canal, and then across the bridge opposite, and +midway between the north front of the Electricity and Mines +Buildings, across the little island of the Hunters' Camp, and across +the second bridge, and it was near this last spot that the guard had +passed me. + +A few paces beyond me he seemed at a loss, and paused to look about +him; and as he did so, the two women, who had made a short-cut across +the forbidden grass, came out into the path directly between us, and +retraced their steps toward the bridge. + +It was past ten o'clock now, and very quiet just here, and the lamps +at the ends of the bridge, the only lights just here, seemed to me +less brilliant than usual. As the two women came toward me, somewhat +slowly, I drew back into the shelter of the bushes, and they passed +me, speaking low. I remember that, at the moment, the thought of our +singular isolation in this spot crossed my mind, and I wondered why we +did not see somewhere a second Columbian Guard on duty. + +And now my guard passed me hurriedly, looking neither to right nor +left, and I crept forward across the grass and under the trees. I +could now see that the women had stopped upon the bridge nearest the +island, and on the side facing eastward, and looking over the face of +the lagoon at its widest, and across to the silent and now almost +utterly darkened Manufactures Building, and that the guard had joined +them. Rather, that he was speaking with the brunette, while the other, +with bent head, stood a little aloof. + +And then, as I looked and wondered, two figures arose suddenly, or so +it seemed, from the base of the statue at the end of the bridge, just +behind the guard, and as he bent his head toward the little decoy +there was a silent, forward spring, a sudden heaving movement, and a +splash. With a shout for help I bounded forward, tearing off my coat +as I ran. I was conscious of four flying figures that passed me, +hastening islandward, but my thoughts were all for that figure that +had gone over into the lagoon silently and without a struggle. + +As I tore down the bank at the side of the pier, I heard low voices, +and could see a boat in the shadow of the bridge; and as I was about +to plunge into the water, a voice said sharply: + +'Keep out, mate, we've got him!' And in a moment the boat came out, +and I saw two men were supporting the guard, half in and half out of +the water, and the other pushing the skiff to shore. + +As I stepped into the water to their assistance, I saw at one glance +that my friend had fallen into the able hands of two of the emergency +crew, whose duty it was to patrol the lagoons by night, and that he +was insensible. + +'He struck our boat in falling,' one of them said to me, 'and I'm +afraid he's got a hurt head. Too bad; if he hadn't fainted we'd 'a' +winged one of that crowd, sure.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +'THOSE TWO WOMEN.' + + +My friend the guard had received a blow upon the head, painful but not +fatal. He would be about in a few days, the hospital surgeon said. But +in spite of the fact that I visited the hospital every day, five days +passed before I was allowed to speak to him or he was allowed to talk. + +I was very anxious for this opportunity, for I had now a new reason +for my growing interest in the young fellow who so stubbornly refused +to give me a name by which to call him. He was enrolled among the +guards as L. Carr, and I at once adopted this name in speaking to or +of him. + +I had determined at the first moment possible to have a confidential +talk with him, confidential upon my part, at least, and I meant to win +his confidence if possible. + +In the meantime I had laid all the story of this day's adventures +before Dave Brainerd, beginning with the discovery in the newspaper, +and my search up-town and down for trace of missing Gerald Trent, and +I ended by adding to all the rest a few ideas and opinions of my own, +which caused Dave, in spite of his lately expressed lofty opinion of +my imaginative qualities, first to open his eyes, and then to roar +with laughter. + +But he was my hearty second at the last, even to the point of agreeing +with me that, if we could accomplish but the one end, it were better +to find and rescue Gerald Trent, if he were living and in duress, +which we both doubted, or to solve the mystery of his fate if dead, +than to arrest a pair, or a trio, of counterfeiters, or possible +diamond robbers. As to Miss Jenrys and the mysterious guard, he would +no more have given up the thought of solving the problem of the +brunette's pursuit of these two than would I at that moment. But we +needed all the light possible, and we agreed at once that to obtain +this it would be wise, at this point, to make certain confidences to +the two persons most interested. + + * * * * * + +As to the elusive brunette, her 'shadow' had followed her for days +more faithfully and at closer quarters than we could have done, +because of his small stature and his easily managed 'lightning +changes,' managed by the aid of a reversible jacket, three or four +varicoloured silk handkerchiefs, and two or three hats or caps, all +stuffed into convenient pockets. But his report was, after all, far +from complete or conclusive. + +'I've follered her,' he declared, 'till my laigs ached, an' I never +seen a woman 'at c'ud git over the ground like her. Ever sence that +first trip my laigs 'a' bin stiff!' + +The boy had followed her on the first day by devious ways, and until +after mid-day, without losing sight of her; and had lost her at last, +as Dave and myself had lost our quarry, in the intricacies of the +Plaisance. + +'Ye see,' Billy had said, ''twas this way. She'd stopped afore one of +them Arab places'--he meant Turkish--'where there wuz a pay show, an' +she must 'a' got her ticket ahead, fer she jest sort o' held out a +card or somethin' afore his eyes and went right in, an' I had ter wait +till two or three fellers got tickets 'fore 'twas my turn, an' when I +got in she wa'n't nowhere.' A look of boyish disgust emphasized the +emphasis here. 'But wherever she was, she stayed a good while,' Bill +went on, 'an' then, all at once, out she come ag'in, an' went into +another big place clos' by, an' I went in too that time. She went +round behind a big table, where they had piles o' jimcracks, an' +popped behind a curtain, an' jest as I was gittin' scared for fear she +wuz gone agi'n, out she come an' took the place of a tired-lookin' +woman that set on a high stool sellin' the jimcracks. She had took off +her hat an' things, an' she had on a little red jacket all spangled +up, an' a red cap, like the Turks all wear, with a big gold tassel on +it, an' she'd made herself blacker round the eyes, an' redder in the +cheeks, an' she looked jest sassy.' + +At least it was something to have our theories in regard to the +lurking places of this trio verified. It was something to feel sure, +as we now did, that these people were quartered in the Plaisance; but +I felt very sure that they had more than one hiding-place, probably +each of them a separate one, as well as a general rendezvous. + +I questioned the lad closely regarding the 'tired-lookin' woman,' whom +he described as 'tallish, an' slim, an' not much on looks,' but +dressed in Turkish fez, and Zouave jacket, and 'painted thick.' + +He had watched her till evening came, and then the tallish woman had +returned and the brunette had stepped behind the curtain once more. + +'I watched that doggoned curtain,' Bill declared, 'till 'twas time to +shut up shop, but she didn't come out, an' I couldn't git in.' + +'Did anyone come out from behind that curtain while you waited, Bill?' +I asked him carelessly. + +'Yes, there was; pretty soon after she went in a young Turk came out, +smallish, with a little dudey moustache. He had a pitcher in his hand, +an' he smacked the tired woman on the back, an' stuck the pitcher +under her nose an' went out.' + +'Did he come back?' + +'Come to think, I guess he didn't; I know he didn't.' + +'Well, Bill,' I said, 'I can't blame you; I only blame myself; but if +you should see that woman go behind a curtain or door again, and +presently see a man come out, if he is the same in size and looks +anything like the one you saw to-night, you just follow him, and +you'll be on the right track.' + +'Jim-mi-netti!' + +'And, Bill, I want you to be on the Plaisance in the morning early, +and if the brunette starts out, don't lose her. If she has not +appeared by noon you may go down to the Plaza and look about there, +but get back to Midway by three o'clock; she'll show herself there +sooner or later.' + +The next day Bill had nothing to report. The day following he had +followed her, late in the afternoon, when she had emerged from the +Turkish bazaar down Midway, and had seen her stop and speak to one of +the guards, then she had left the grounds by a Midway gate 'opposite +Hagenbeck's lion circus, ye know.' + +'And I followed her,' he continued, 'till she come to that rest'runt +where you an' me see her git the letter; she turned off right by the +Midway gate, and went acrost to Wash'n'ton Avenue, an' down that till +she turned to come to the rest'runt. 'Twas most supper-time, and she +didn't come out no more, I'm sure, for I watched till most midnight, +an' there wa'n't no back way, I know, for I looked.' + +I could well believe that she had taken a room as near the grounds as +possible, where she might rest when rest was required, and she was off +duty, and I did not doubt but that Delbras and Greenback Bob had each +a similar lair outside the White City, but conveniently near it. + +This last report had been made to us on the morning of my visit to +Miss Jenrys, Bill having appeared at our quarters at an early hour, +and I had been studying the expediency of letting Miss Jenrys into the +history of her brunette acquaintance, as far as I myself knew it, +before visiting the two ladies, at last deciding that I would wait a +little and be guided by circumstances, the episode of Gerald Trent's +disappearance finally putting it altogether out of my mind. + +On the morning after the attempt to drown the guard, Dave and I waited +for a time in our room, expecting a report from Bill, which might, we +hoped, throw some light upon the events of the night before. But he +did not appear; and after breakfasting together, Dave went back to our +room to await him, while I made haste toward the Emergency Hospital, +where our wounded guard lay, carefully watched, skilfully attended, +and not permitted to talk or receive visitors. + +Assured that his recovery would be only a matter of days, I went back +to find Dave still alone, and this time we both set out, after leaving +a message with the janitor, Dave to look after the men who had been +detailed upon our business in different directions and to hear their +reports, and I to see that more men were at work upon the Trent case +before I ventured, as I was most anxious to do, upon a visit to Miss +Jenrys and her aunt. + +Having done what I could in the Trent case, I found it nearing noon +when I approached their place of residence, but I had little fear of +finding them absent, and was hastening on, only a few paces from their +door, when I saw Monsieur Voisin come hastily out, and after seeming +to hesitate a moment upon the threshold, run down the steps and move +rapidly away southward. I could see that his face wore a sombre look, +and I wondered if he had seen me in the hasty glance he had cast about +him. There were others upon the pavement between him and myself, and I +trusted that he had not; still, I felt a strange reluctance to being +seen by this man so often in the same place, and I slackened my pace +and finally stood still, reading the 'to lets' upon the opposite +houses, until he turned the corner and went, as I was very sure, to +the Midway entrance a little way beyond. + +I found the ladies at home, and eager to hear the little I had to tell +them regarding the Trent case. I had put a good man in the hotel where +Trent had stopped, to find out, if possible, whether the young +Bostonian had been spotted and followed from that place by any swell +adventurer; and I arranged with the mistress of the place where Trent +had secured rooms to hold them until I heard from Boston, whether any +or all would come on and occupy the rooms and assist in the search. +Miss Jenrys felt sure they would come, all of them. + +'Hilda O'Neil will not rest until she is here, as near the place where +he was last seen as possible. You were very thoughtful to secure the +rooms,' she sighed heavily. 'I suppose now we must simply wait until +we receive the picture?' she added. + +'There is little else to do,' I replied. 'Of course I have had other +advertisements inserted in various papers, and have offered a reward, +as you directed.' + +'Ah,' she sighed again, 'we may hear from that.' + +'I doubt it,' I replied. 'If he has been abducted, it is too soon for +that,' and then I turned the conversation by saying: + +'I have some news from your friend, the brunette.' + +'My friend! Mr. Masters!' + +'Pardon me; your satellite, then. She was revolving near you the day +before yesterday.' At this point the door opened and a voice said: + +'Miss Ross, the laundress is here about your washing.' + +Miss Ross rose with alacrity, a benevolent smile upon her sweet face. + +'Mr. Masters,' she said, 'thee must save thy story or tell it twice +over, for I must beg thee to excuse me now. I can't send this poor +woman away, and I ought not to make her wait.' + +'It's one of Aunt Ann's protégées,' explained Miss Jenrys, 'and she +has come by appointment.' + +Mentally thankful for this interruption, I assured Miss Ross that my +story should wait, and when she had left us alone I turned at once to +Miss Jenrys. + +'I am glad of this opportunity,' I began at once, 'for I have +something to tell you which I prefer to make known to you first, +although I should have told my story, even in your aunt's presence, if +necessary, before leaving to-day.' + +And as directly as possible I told of my acquaintance with the +handsome guard. + +Beginning with her encounter with the Turkish palanquin-bearers, I +described my interview with the guard, repeated his words, his +questions concerning her welfare, his statement that she was not a +stranger to him, and then, with her interest and her curiosity well +aroused, I described him. + +'I wonder who it can be?' she had murmured before I began my +description, and I kept a secret watch upon her features, while I +said: + +'He is a tall young fellow, and very straight and square-shouldered, +though somewhat slender. He is blond, with close-cropped hair that is +quite light, almost golden, and inclined to curl where it has attained +an inch of growth. He wears a moustache that is but little darker than +his hair, and is kept close-trimmed. He has a broad, full forehead; +honest, open blue eyes, not pale blue, but a fine deep colour, and +they meet one frankly and fearlessly. His mouth is really too handsome +for a man, but his chin is firm enough to counterbalance that. His +manners are fine, and he has evidently been reared a gentleman. I +chanced to hear him sing last night, and he has a wonderfully high +tenor voice--an unusual voice; clear and sweet, and soft in the +highest notes.' + +Before I had finished my description, I saw clearly that she +recognised the picture. Her colour had changed and changed again, from +red to pale. But I made no pause, telling how I had seen him in +conversation with the little brunette, and what he had told me of that +conversation, and then I described the adventure of the previous +night. + +When I had reached the point where I had offered my card and he had +refused to give me a false name, I saw her eyes glow and her head lift +itself unconsciously; when I described him in converse with the wily +brunette, a slight frown crossed her face, and her little foot tapped +an impatient tattoo quite unconsciously; when I pictured him as +following the two women toward the Wooded Island, her head was lifted +again and her lip curled scornfully. But when I had reached the point +where the two figures, springing suddenly from the darkness behind +him, had hurled him over the parapet into the deepest part of the +lagoon, a low moan burst from her lips, and she put out her hands +entreatingly. + +'Was he----Quick! tell me!' + +'He was rescued, unconscious but living, by two of the emergency crew +who guard the lagoons by night, who, luckily, were lying in their +skiff under the shadow of the bridge engaged in watching the +mysterious movements of the very men who were lurking behind the big +pedestal on the other side of the pier, awaiting the signal from the +women, their confederates. In going over, his head was quite seriously +hurt. At first it was thought that he had struck the edge of the boat +in falling, but the doctor says it was a blow from some blunt +instrument with a rounded end--some manner of club, no doubt.' + +'And now--how--is he?' she faltered. + +'In very good hands, and doing as well as can be expected. I was not +allowed to see him, and he does not seem fully conscious, although the +doctor says he may recover if all goes well.' + +'Where is he?' Her face was very pale, but there was a change in her +voice, a sudden firmness, and a total lack of hesitancy. + +'At the Emergency Hospital in the Fair grounds.' I had purposely made +his case as serious as I consistently could, and I now made the +important plunge. 'Miss Jenrys, I have taken a great interest in this +young man from the first. He is a fine fellow, and now, added to this +personal liking, is the duty I owe this helpless young man, who +evidently has an enemy, and that enemy seemingly the very person who +has been dogging you so persistently and so mysteriously. You see the +strangeness of the complication. Are you willing to help me?' + +'I?' she hesitated. 'How?' + +'This young man knows you. Do you not know him?' + +'I--almost believe so.' + +'And--are you under any vow or promise of secrecy? He lies there, +unknown, friendless; and he has an enemy near at hand. I want to serve +him, but to do this intelligently I must know him.' + +She hesitated a moment, and then, to my surprise, arose quite calmly, +went to her desk, and came back with a photograph in her hand. + +'Look at that,' she said, as she held it out to me. + +It was a group of tennis-players upon a sunlit lawn, one of those +instantaneous pictures in which amateurs delight; but it was clear and +the faces were very distinct. One of them I recognised at once as the +subject of our conversation. He wore in the picture a light tennis +suit, and his handsome head was bare; but I knew the face at once, and +told her so. + +'That,' she said, 'is a picture of a Mr. Lossing, whom I knew quite +well for a season in New York. Shortly before Lent he left the city, +it was said, and I have heard and known nothing of him since.' + +'And--pardon me--it's very unusual for a young man of society to take +up the work he has chosen. Do you know any reason for this?' + +'None whatever. He seemed to be well supplied with money. So far as I +can judge, I confess I never thought before of his fortune or lack of +it.' A sudden flush mantled her face, and her eyes dropped. I wondered +if she was thinking of that letter to Hilda O'Neil. + +'It's a delicate point,' I said musingly. 'If we could learn something +of his situation. He is very proud. Do you think that your friend, +Monsieur Voisin, might possibly know something----' + +She put up her hand quickly, imperiously. + +'If Mr. Lossing has chosen to conceal himself from his friends, we +have no right to make his presence here known to Monsieur Voisin.' She +checked herself and coloured beautifully again. + +'You are right,' I said promptly. I had no real thought of asking +Monsieur Voisin into our councils, and I had now verified the +suspicions I had held from the first--fitting the guard's statement +and his personality into the story her letter told--that he was the +Mr. Lossing from whom she had parted so stormily in the conservatory +on the night of her aunt's reception. + +And now, as I consulted my watch, she leaned toward me, and suddenly +threw aside her reserve. + +'Can you guess,' she asked eagerly, 'how he came to meet those women +in that way? It was a meeting, was it not?' + +'No doubt of that; and it was also a scheme to entrap him.' + +'But--how did they do it? How did they lure him to that bridge--those +two women?' + +I could not suppress a smile. + +'Can you not guess? It must be only a guess on my part, you know, but +I fancy that in her talk with him that afternoon the brunette led him +to think that you would not be unwilling to see him. I particularly +noted that the woman with her was of about your height, and that she +wore a hat much like the one worn by you on the day I first saw you. +Now that I recall their manoeuvres of last night, I remember that +the hat almost concealed her face, and that they kept in the shadow.' + +She did not follow up the subject, but after a moment said: + +'Do--do you think I might be allowed to see him if I went with auntie +to the hospital? I mean now--to-day! Could you not say that I--that we +were--that we knew him?' + +'It is quite important that you should do so,' I declared +unblushingly. 'You are the only one who can identify him; and now if I +am to tell Miss Ross all these things----' + +'Pardon me,' she broke in, 'if it will not matter, I--I would rather +tell Aunt Ann; at least, about Mr. Lossing.' + +I arose hastily. 'In that case I will leave it to you willingly, and +if you will come with your aunt, say at two o'clock, I will meet you +at any place you may choose, and take you to the hospital; or would +you rather go alone?' + +'Oh, no, no!' she exclaimed. 'We shall be glad of your escort. Indeed, +I should fear to venture else.' + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +'IF YOU'LL FIND ONE, I'LL FIND THE OTHER.' + + +It was through the boy Bill that we learned finally how the brunette +and her companions made their escape from Wooded Island after the +attack upon the guard. + +I found the lad waiting upon my return from Washington Avenue, and +full of the excitement of his story. + +He had struck upon her trail not long after she had parted from the +guard, it would seem. He had been watching upon Midway Plaisance until +thoroughly weary, when he caught sight of her going east, and followed +her to the Turkish bazaar as before. This time she did not retire +behind the curtains, much to his relief, but she spoke a few words to +the 'tired-looking woman' behind the bedecked sales-table, and then +left as she came, going straight to the entrance upon Midway which +opened upon Madison Avenue, as on a former occasion, and from thence, +as before, past Miss Jenrys' rooms, and so to her own at the café. + +Here, again, Bill was obliged to loiter three long hours, and then a +woman passed him so close that her face was distinctly visible, and +entered the place. He recognised her at once as the woman of the +'tired' face, though she was now dressed quite smartly and with no +remnant of the Oriental in her costume. This I gathered from his +description of her attire, which, while it failed to give things their +proper names as set down in the books of fashion, was sufficiently +vivid, and enabled me to easily recognise the person who had aided the +little brunette by impersonating Miss Jenrys the night before. She had +entered the café and disappeared again through a side-door, to return, +before long, in company with the brunette. They had then partaken of a +hearty meal at one of the café tables, and had entered the Fair +grounds at dusk. + +'I didn't have no trouble a-trackin' 'em, though I had been dreadin' a +reg'lar bo-peep dance, seein' how late 'twas gettin'. But they jest +sa-auntered along, quite slow, only I noticed they was always careful +not to git into no strong lights; they kept on the shady side of +things, 'specially the tallest one with the big cow-boy hat. So I jest +monkeyed round till I see 'em start to go round the 'Lectricity +B'ildin'. Then I jest slipped over between the 'Lectric an' Mines, ye +know, and come ahead of 'em jest as they turned to'rds the bridges. I +tell ye,' he declared with enthusiasm in a bad cause, they couldn't +'a' struck a better place 'an that there second bridge! First, there's +the t'other bridge, and that little island on one side, and most +everybody goin' round the Mines on t'other side, 'cause 'twas best +lighted; then there was them little bushy islands, an' all that lagoon +on the west of 'em; an' on the east not a speck of light, 'cept a few +clean acrost to the Lib'ral Arts shop, and most all them little lamps +on the island gone out. I tell ye, Mr. Masters, I felt sort o' glad +when I seen ye come acrost an' hide in the bushes.' + +'Oh, you saw me, did you?' I said, to hasten him on. + +'I should say! I was a-layin' flat 'longside of them little shrubs on +the other side the path, right where you turned off.' + +'Well, go on, Bill.' + +'Wal, sir, I was so busy watchin' them women that I didn't notice +nothin' else 'cept you an' the guard--of course I thought he was +tendin' to his biz. When they stopped to talk on the bridge, I begun +to crawl along closte to the bridge, an' then--you know how it was all +comin' so suddin? When I see the feller go over, an' seen you start +to'rds the water, I jest took after the others. Well, sir, 'twas too +slick the way they managed. Right alongside them willers there was one +o' them little skiffs that's stuck round the island for show, or one +jest like 'em. It lay jest where that little woody strip 'ud come +right 'tween the island and the other side, an' 'twas all dark there. +Wal, they all run that way crost the grass, an' me after 'em, close as +'twas safe to git. Two of 'em, the tall woman an' one of the men, got +into the skiff, an' the other two struck off north, keepin' on the +grass an' under the shade. I follered after 'em; they went pretty +fast, too, till they come most to them Hoodoo tea-shops, you know; we +hadn't met a soul so far, but it was lighter there, and I see there +was a guard comin' to'rds 'em, an' what d' ye s'pose they did?' + +'Oh, go on, Billy!' + +'Wal, I had got pretty closte, and I seen them whisperin' together, +an' then it seemed to me that they wasn't so far away as they had been +a minit before. Then flash came a fizz match, an' sure enough there +they was, facin' to'rds me, an' the very way they'd come, an' holdin' +the match to the ground. Jest then the guard come up, an' they told +him they or she had dropped their purse, an' she was lookin' for it; +an' when he asked when, she said, "Oh, an hour ago," when they walked +across the island to see the Hor--horty----' + +'Horticultural?' + +'--'Tyculchural place lighted; an' the guard said he feared they +wouldn't find it, an' went on, tellin' them they'd better hurry out; +an' then he went back the way they'd come, crost the bridge an' all, +an' every little way they'd light a match, an' course I got so close I +heard her say, "It must 'a' been when I fell down." I thought +somebody got a fall when they run from the bridge down into the +bushes.' + +'Well, did you find where they went?' + +'Drat the luck! No! I'd follered them out Midway, and was jest a +little ways behind, when a couple o' guards stopped me, and afore I'd +got out of their grip the two of 'em was out of sight.' + +I was not surprised to hear this. I was quite convinced that the gang +had in some manner secured a safe and secret lurking-place in the +Plaisance. Still, somehow, I had hoped for something more from Billy's +report, and felt somewhat disappointed. But I had yet to learn its +true value. + +During my absence there had come a message from the bureau asking our +presence there. It was the Lausch robbery that 'required our +presence,' so the message read, and Dave had returned an answer +promising our presence at the earliest moment of leisure. + +We did not feel so deeply interested in the Lausch robbery then as in +some other matters, but when we had dismissed our boy shadower we went +at once to the bureau. + +There was considerable excitement at the office, and with good reason. +Some of Monsieur Lausch's jewels had been returned, and in a most +novel manner. + +Early in the morning a guard had appeared with the treasure in his +hand, and a singular story upon his lips. + +Last night, he had said, while crossing the north-east end of the +Wooded Island, at quite a late hour, he had encountered a man and +woman searching for a lost purse. They were quite certain it had been +lost on the island, and he being then on duty and 'unable to delay,' +told them that he would search for it next day, and passed on. Early +in the morning he had entered upon the search at the place where he +had met the two, and, finding no trace of the lost purse, had turned +his search into a stroll about the island. He was quite familiar with +the place, having done guard duty there, and going close to the +water's edge, at a point where a favourite view was to be had, he +observed that one of the skiffs that were moored here and there about +the island was gone. Going closer, he saw that it had been roughly +torn from its moorings, and the soft soil showed that several people +had left traces of their presence. It was in stooping closer, to look +at these footprints, that he had noticed a bit of string trailing +across the grass just beyond; and taking hold of this, he found a +weight upon it, which proved to be a little chamois-skin bag +containing some uncut gems. He had at once reported this find to his +superior officer, being an honest guard, and was ordered to come with +it to the bureau. + +There was no room for doubt or mistake. The chamois bag contained a +portion of the jewels stolen from the pavilion of Monsieur Lausch. +There were some half-dozen of the dew-drop sparklers taken with the +silver-leaf tray, one large topaz and two of the smaller ones, and +there were also two solitaire rings which were not of the Lausch +collection. + +The bag containing these had been securely tied to a stout cord, +nearly a yard in length, and fastened, doubtless, about the body of +some person so securely that the double sailor-knot remained--a very +hard knot indeed; but, alas for human calculations! something, it was +evident, having a fine keen edge, had come in contact with this cord, +and had cut it smoothly in two. + +As Dave Brainerd and I saw these things, the same thought entered both +our minds, and we exchanged one swift glance of mutual meaning, after +which we stood and heard Monsieur Lausch ejaculate, and wonder, and +question the officers, discuss, and theorize, and prophesy, ourselves +saying little, and eager to be away from this place, that we might +take counsel together concerning this new thing. + +Singularly enough, no one seemed to think of connecting this find +with the attack upon the guard at the bridge, and, finally, they +decided to advertise the gems, as if they were still in the hands of +the finder, who only awaited a reward to yield them up; and, as little +more could be done, Dave and myself withdrew from the council, where +we had been little more than lookers-on. + +As we were taking our leave, the mail was brought in by a messenger, +and we were called back from the outer office to hear a letter read. +It was from an up-town jewellery house--at least, it bore the card of +the house--and it reported that an emerald, 'large, fine, and of great +value,' had been purchased by the head of the firm, under somewhat +suspicious circumstances, and from a woman. Further information and a +description of the woman, the letter stated, might be had by +addressing, or appointing a meeting with, the writer. + +And now my interest suddenly awoke, and to such good purpose that I +managed to be chosen as the person to go to the city and interview the +writer, perhaps also the purchaser of the jewel. And this +accomplished, Brainerd and I withdrew in haste. + +There was no doubt in our minds, the story told by the guard fitted +too well in Billy's tale to admit of doubt. The bag of stolen jewels +had been lost by the little brunette, and Dave was fully of my mind. + +'I can't see how it was done,' he said, as we discussed the matter +later. 'But it's plain enough that she had missed the bag, and that +they were searching for it when the guard came up. Of course she +wouldn't say that she had lost a bag of jewels.' + +'Hardly,' I replied. 'As for the how, I can very well see how that +string might have been severed. You know my opinions about this +brunette. A concealed knife may have done the mischief, or one of +those steels that help to give ladies a slender waist, broken perhaps +by the vigorous running, may have cut the string; it would only +require a little rubbing to do the thing. I tell you, Dave, it looks +as if we would have a full account to settle with this individual, and +I begin to feel the ground under my feet. I'd like to know who the men +were who threw the guard over the bridge, though.' + +'Don't you think Greenback Bob capable of it?' + +'Quite.' + +'And--Delbras?' + +'Capable enough, but--he was not in it.' + +'Are you sure, Carl?' + +'I mean to be, shortly,' I replied. 'Dave, old man, don't ask me any +questions yet as to how it's to be done, but I believe that before +this World's Fair closes you and I will have gotten Delbras and Bob +out of mischief's way, settled the brunette problem, and thrown light +on the diamond robbery.' + +'And how about that lost young Englishman, Sir Carroll Rae, and +missing Gerald Trent?' + +I turned and faced him. 'Old man,' I said, 'if you'll find one, I'll +find the other.' + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +'STRANGE! MISTAKEN! HEARTLESS!' + + +I was not disappointed in my interview with the up-town jeweller, who, +being as real as the World's Fair itself, must not be named. + +In order to identify the jewel offered by the strange woman, I took +Monsieur Lausch with me, and he at once declared the description of +the emerald to correspond precisely with the one stolen from him, and +when I had listened to the description of the woman who had offered +the gem, I was quite as confident that this person was the brunette +and no other. + +True, she had assumed a foreign accent and had laid aside her rather +jaunty dress for a more sober and foreign-looking attire; she had made +herself up, in fact, as a German woman, well dressed after the fashion +of the German bourgeois; but she had added nothing to her face save a +pair of gold-framed spectacles; and while I kept my knowledge to +myself, I felt none the less sure that I had another link ready for +the chain I was trying to forge for this troublesome brunette, who was +so busy casting her shadows across my path and disarranging my plans. + +The writer of the anonymous letter, for such it was, turned out to be +a practical jeweller in the employ of a certain jewel merchant, and I +never knew whether he had made his employer's purchase known to us for +the sake of the reward, or to gratify some personal spite or sense of +injury. Whichever it may have been, it concerned us little. We gave +him our word not to use his name in approaching his employer, and our +promise of a suitable reward should we find his story of use upon +further investigation, and then we sought the purchaser of the jewel. + +With him we dealt very cavalierly. We knew, no matter how, that he had +purchased an emerald of value, we told him; and I further added that +he had bought it from an accomplice, knowing that such an accusation +would soonest bring about the desired result, as indeed it did. + +A sight of the jewel sent Monsieur Lausch into raptures and rages. It +was the lost emerald, the finest of them all! + +That he could not at once carry away the gem somewhat modified the +rapture, but we came away quite satisfied on the whole, he that the +emerald would soon be restored to him, and I that I at last knew how +to deal with the brunette--always provided I should find her again +after the events of the day and night previous. + + * * * * * + +On the second day after his plunge into the lagoon I took Miss Jenrys +and her aunt to see the injured guard, who was booked at the hospital +as 'Carr.' + +The blow upon the head had resulted first in unconsciousness, and +later in a mild form of delirium. I had made a preparatory visit to +the hospital, and was able to tell Miss Jenrys that the patient would +not recognise her or any of us. + +I thought that she seemed almost relieved at this intelligence, +especially after I had assured her that the surgeon in charge had +assured me that the delirium was much to be preferred as a less +dangerous symptom than the lethargy of the first twenty-four hours. + +'Mr. Masters,' she had said to me on our way to the hospital, 'there +is one thing which I overlooked in telling you what I could about--Mr. +Lossing. I--I trust you have not told them at the hospital, or +anywhere, that he is not what he has represented himself.' + +I hastened to assure her that this secret rested still between us two, +and she drew a quick breath of relief. + +'If he should die,' I added, watching furtively the sudden paling of +her fair cheek, 'it would become my duty and yours to tell the truth, +all of it. As he seems likely to recover, we may safely let the +disclosure rest with him.' + +'I am glad!' she said. 'So long as he chooses to be--Mr. Carr, I +cannot of course claim his acquaintance. You--you are sure he will not +know me?' + +'Quite sure,' I replied; and she said no more until we had reached the +hospital. + +We were asked to wait for a few moments in the outer office or +reception room. The doctor was occupied for the moment, the attendant +said, but an instant later the same attendant beckoned me outside. + +'Come this way a moment,' he whispered. 'The doctor wishes to speak +with you.' + +I murmured an excuse to the ladies, and went to the doctor in his +little private room near by. + +'When you were here,' he began, putting out his hand to me, 'I was +preoccupied and you were in haste. There is something concerning our +patient that you, as his friend, must know. By the way, has he any +nearer friends than yourself at hand?' + +'I believe not,' I replied briefly. 'I hope he is not worse, doctor?' + +'No, not that, though he's bad enough. But you remember the sailors +who came with you said that he had struck against the boat in falling, +and we decided, rather hastily, that this was the cause of the wound +and swelling. In fact, it was the swelling which misled us. We could +not examine closely until it was somewhat reduced; but this morning, +after the wound was washed and cleansed for the new dressing, I found +that the hurt upon the head was caused, not by contact with a blunt +piece of wood, but by something hard, sharp, and somewhat uneven of +surface; a stone, I should say, or a piece of old iron--a blow, in +fact.' + +'Ah!' the sudden thought that came to me caused me to start; but after +a moment I said: + +'I do not doubt it. The fellows that made the attack are equal to +worse things than that. I think, from what I know and guess at, the +weapon may have been a sling of stones or bits of iron, tied in an old +bandana.' + +I did not tell him that this was said to be one of Greenback Bob's +favourite modes of attack, and of defence, too, when otherwise +unarmed. In fact, I said nothing to further indicate my knowledge of +the assailants of our patient. But I got back to the ladies at once, +after thanking the doctor, telling myself that his information would +make the charge against the miscreants, when captured, stronger and +more serious, if that were needful. + +When Miss Jenrys stood by the cot where the injured man lay, pallid +and weak, with great dark lines beneath his eyes and his head swathed +in bandages, I saw her start and shiver, and the slight colour in an +already unusually pale face fade out, leaving her cheek as white as +that upon the pillow. The small hand clenched itself until the dainty +glove was drawn to the point of bursting; the lips trembled, and the +tears stood in the sweet eyes. She turned to the physician, and drew +back a little as the head upon the pillow moved restlessly. + +'I--I have not seen him for some time. Do--do you think it could +possibly startle him--if--if he should recognise me?' + +'If it were possible, which, I fear, it is not--now--there is nothing +that would benefit him so much.' + +She went close to the cot then, and, bending down, looked into the +restless blue eyes. + +'How do you do?' she said clearly. + +The restless eyes were still for a moment; then the head upon the +pillow moved as if essaying a bow, and the right hand was feebly +lifted. + +She took his hand as if in greeting, and said again, speaking softly +and clearly: + +'Won't you go and speak with my Aunt Charlotte?' + +A startled look came into the eyes; a look of distress crossed the +face. He made a feeble gesture with the right hand; a great sigh +escaped his lips, and then they parted. + +'Strange,' they muttered feebly, 'cruel--mistaken--heartless!' His +hand dropped heavily, and, quick as thought, Miss Jenrys lifted her +head and drew back, her face one rosy glow from temples to chin; and +now the sweet Quakeress interposed with womanly tact: + +'He does not know thee, dear; and perhaps our presence may disturb +him, in this weakened state.' She bent over the sick man for a moment, +scanned the pale, handsome features closely, gently put back a stray +lock of hair that had escaped from beneath the bandage and lay across +the white full temple. Then she turned to the doctor: + +'In the absence of nearer friends, doctor, we will stand in their +stead. Will you give him your best care and let nothing be lacking? +When we can serve him in any manner, thee will inform us through Mr. +Masters, I trust; and, with your permission, I will call to ask after +him each day until he is better.' + +Sweet soul! How plain to me was the whole tender little episode! I +could imagine June Jenrys telling the story of her rupture with young +Lossing as frankly as she had written it to her friend Hilda O'Neil, +and more explicitly, with fuller detail. I could fancy the sweet +sympathy and tender admonitions of the elder woman; and here, before +me, was the visible proof of how she had interpreted the heart of the +girl, at once so proud, so honest, and so fearless in an emergency +like this. + +Had the sweet little Quakeress come to the bedside of this suffering +young stranger because he was a fellow being, friendless, alone, and +in need of help and kindly care, or had she come because she believed +that June Jenrys possessed a heart whose monitions might be trusted, +and that the man she had singled out from among many as the one man in +the world must be a man indeed? + +Be this as it would, and whatever the frame of mind in which she +approached that white cot at her niece's side, I knew, by the +lingering touch upon the pale forehead, the deft, gentle, and quite +unconscious smoothing of the white counterpane across his breast, that +the pale, unknowing face had won its way, and that what she took away +from that hospital ward was not the tenderly carried burden of +another's interest and another's anxiety, but a personal interest and +a personal liking that could be trusted to sustain itself and grow +apace in that tender woman's heart. + +We were a very silent party as we came away from the hospital. June +Jenrys looked as if the word 'heartless' were yet sounding in her +ears. I was assuring myself that it was best not to speak of what the +surgeon had told me, and the little Quakeress was evidently quite lost +to herself in her thoughts of, and for, others. As I took my leave of +them, Miss Ross put out her hand, and, after thanking me for my +escort, said: + +'I will not trouble thee to accompany me to-morrow; I know the way +perfectly, and can go very well by myself. Indeed I prefer to do so. I +shall not even let June here accompany me--at first.' + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +'WE MUST UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER.' + + +The next morning brought a telegram from Boston, in reply to my wire +asking instructions about the rooms on Madison Avenue. It read: + + 'Hold rooms until we come. Short delay. Unavoidable. + + 'TRENT.' + +The second day after our visit to the hospital the photograph of +Gerald Trent was received by Miss Jenrys, and at once turned over to +me, I, in my turn, putting it into the hands of an expert 'artist,' +with orders to turn out several dozen copies as rapidly as possible. + +These I meant to distribute freely among specials, policemen, the +Columbian Guards at the Fair City; and others were to be furnished the +chief of police for use about the city proper, for I meant to have a +thorough search made in the hotels, boarding places, furnished rooms, +and in all the saloons and other haunts of vice and crime, wherever an +officer, armed with one of these pictures and offering a princely +reward, could penetrate. + +On the morning of the third day another telegram came. This read: + + 'Still delayed because of illness. Hold rooms. + + 'TRENT.' + +Accompanying the photograph had come a distracted letter from poor +Hilda O'Neil, in which she had described Mrs. Trent, the mother of the +missing young man, as almost broken down by the shock and suspense; +and we readily guessed that her illness was the cause of the delay. + +Twenty-four hours after receipt of this last message came another: + + 'Mrs. T. too ill to travel. Doctor forbids my leaving. Give + up rooms. For God's sake work. Don't spare money. Letter + follows. + + 'TRENT.' + +In addition to these, every day brought across the wires, from Hilda +O'Neil to her friend, the pitiful little question, 'Any news?' and +took back the only possible reply, 'Not yet.' + +And then came this letter from the father of Gerald Trent: + + 'DEAR SIR,' it began, + + 'I thank you heartily for your kind straightforward letter, + and while I see and realize the many obstacles in the way of + your search, I yet hope--I must hope--for your ultimate + success; first, because Miss Jenrys' letter, so full of + confidence in you, has inspired me with the same confidence; + and, second, because to abandon hope would be worse than + death. The prompt way in which you have taken up this + search, at Miss Jenrys' request, has earned my sincerest + gratitude. Although I had ordered the search begun through + our chief of police here, yours was the first word of hope + or encouragement I have received, although I have since + heard from your city police. + + 'My wife lies in a condition bordering upon insanity, and + much as I long to be where I can, at least, be cognizant of + every step in the search for my son, as it is taken, my duty + to that son's mother holds me at her bedside. For this + reason we must all remain here, and I implore you to work! + Leave no stone unturned! Employ more men; draw upon me for + any sum you may require; offer any reward you may see fit; + do what you will; only find my son, and save his mother from + insanity and his father from a broken heart! Above all keep + me informed, I beg of you. Remember all our moments here are + moments of suspense.' + +The name at the end was written in an uneven, diminishing scrawl, as +if the letter had taxed the strength of the writer almost beyond +endurance, and I heaved a sigh of earnest sympathy for the father, now +doubly afflicted. + +It was impossible now to do more than was being done from day to day, +but every morning I gave an ungrudged fifteen minutes to the writing +of a letter, in which I tried to say each day some new word of hope +and to describe some new feature of our search, that he might feel +that we were indeed leaving no stone unturned. + +Meantime, from the moment when our brunette vanished from Master Billy +in the Plaisance, no trace of her could be found by the lad or by +ourselves. + +For a number of days Dave and I gave ourselves to an untiring search, +by day and night. We haunted the café where she had found lodgings, +but we did not enter, for we did not wish to give the alarm to a young +person already sufficiently shy, and we spent much time in Midway and +upon Stony Island Avenue, near the places where the Camps had seen +Smug, and the saloon wherein he had disappeared one day. + +That the brunette had not entered the café since the night of the +assault upon the guard, we soon assured ourselves. But we did not +relax our vigilance, and for many days the beautiful White City was, +to us, little more than a perplexing labyrinth in which we searched +ceaselessly and knew little rest, stopping only to let another take up +our seemingly fruitless search. + +It was not often now that we sought our rest together or at the same +time, but one night, after a week's fruitless seeking, I came to our +door at a late hour to find Dave there before me, and not yet asleep. +He began to talk while watching me lay aside the rather uninteresting +disguise I had worn all day. + +'Carl, wake up that imagination factory of yours and tell me, or make +a guess at least, why we don't run upon Greenback Bob, Delbras, or +even Smug, to say nothing of that invisible pedestal-climber of yours, +any more?' + +'Easy enough,' I replied wearily. 'They're sticking close to business, +and they don't show, at least by day, in the grounds any more. If +they're here at all, they are lying perdu in Cairo Street or in some +of the Turkish quarters, smoking hasheesh, perhaps, or flirting with +the Nautch dancers, and all disguised in turban, fez, or perhaps a +Chinese pigtail.' + +'Do you believe it?' + +'I certainly do.' + +'Jove! I wonder how they managed to get into those foreign holy of +holies.' + +'Backsheesh,' I answered tartly. + +'Look here, Carl!' Dave jerked himself erect in the middle of his bed. +'Suppose you wanted to get in with those people, how would you do it?' + +'Dave,' I replied, 'why weren't you born with just a little bump of +what you mistakenly call imagination? I'll show you to-morrow how to +do the thing.' + +'How?' Dave stubbornly insisted. + +'Well, if I must talk all night, suppose in the morning we go to +Cairo, and find our way to some one in some small degree an +authority--some one who can talk a little English, and most of them +can. I might offer my man a cigar, and praise his show a bit, and then +tell him how I want to tell the world all about him; how I want to see +how they live, not so briefly, you understand. The circumlocution +office is as much in vogue in the Orient as, according to our mutual +friend Dickens, it is in old England. Well, when he fully understands +that I admire their life and manners, and want to live it as well as +write it, I begin to bid. They're here for money, and they won't let +any pass them--see?' + +'Old man!' cried Dave, smiting his knee with vigour, 'I'm going to try +it on!' + + * * * * * + +It was seven days before our invalid--as we now by mutual consent +called the still nameless guard--recovered his senses fully. There had +been two or three days of the stupor, and then a brief season of +active delirium; and at this stage the surgeon shook his head and +looked very serious; and the little Quakeress, who, true to her first +intention, came alone, carried away with her a face more serious +still. + +'She looks,' said the surgeon to me, 'as much shocked as if he were +one of her own people.' + +'She has a tender heart,' I replied, 'and--he is quite well known, I +believe, to others of her family.' + +'To one, assuredly,' he said, with a dry smile and a quick glance; and +I knew that June Jenrys' interest in the insensible guard had been as +plain to this worldly-wise surgeon as to me. + +Remembering this brief dialogue, I was not surprised, when I made my +brief call in Washington Avenue, to note an added shade of seriousness +on the fair face that, since the disappearance of Gerald +Trent--unknown, but the friend of her friend--had been growing graver +day by day, so that the charms of the great Fair had palled upon her, +and she had made her daily visits in a subdued and preoccupied mood, +and shortened them willingly, to return at an early hour with the more +easily fatigued little Quakeress. + +On the morning of the eighth day I called early, sent by the surgeon +with a message to Miss Ross. + +'She asked me to send her word the first moment when I found our +patient sane enough and strong enough to receive a short call, and to +listen for a few moments, not to talk, "that was not needed," she +said,' he added with one of his quiet smiles, 'and when I told her +that when he came to himself the sight of some friend for whom he +cared would help him more than medicine, and asked her if he had any +such, she said that she could at least tell him a bit of pleasant +news, and asked me to send her word at once.' + +I was very willing to take the message, and when it was delivered the +little Quakeress thanked me in her own quaint sweet manner, and a few +moments later, while I was talking with Miss Jenrys and giving her +some details of our search for a clue to young Trent's disappearance, +she excused herself quietly and left us without once glancing toward +her niece. + +When I visited the hospital in the afternoon, the doctor said: + +'Your little Quakeress is certainly a sorceress as well. She came very +soon after you left us yesterday, and she did not stay long. I had +forbidden my patient to talk, and I heard every word she said. It was +a mere nothing, but she has almost cured him.' + +'If it was so simple,' I said, half ashamed of my curiosity, yet +having a very good motive for it, 'may I not hear the words that so +charmed and healed him?' + +'As nearly as I can repeat them, you may. I had introduced her, as she +bade me, and told him that she had called to see him every day, and I +knew, from the look in those open blue eyes of his, that she was an +utter stranger, and that even her name was unknown to him. He was +pleased though, and small wonder, at sight of the dainty, +white-haired, sweet-voiced little lady; and when she took his hand in +hers and, holding it between both her own, said, in her pretty Quaker +fashion: "I am very glad and thankful to see thee so much better, and +my niece June will be also--I mean Miss Jenrys, who, hearing of thy +adventure and injuries, came at once to see if it were really the +friend she thought she recognised in the description. My niece's +friends are mine, and so I have assumed an old woman's privilege and +paid thee a visit daily, and now that thee seems much better I will, +with thy permission, bring her with me when I come again."' The doctor +stopped short and smiled. + +'Was that all?' I asked, smiling also. 'What did he say?' + +'Well, sir, for a moment I thought the fellow was going to faint, but +it was a pleasurable shock, and he made a feeble clutch at her hand, +and his face was one beam of gratitude as he looked in hers and +whispered, while he clung to her hand, "To-morrow." Then of course +she turned to me, and I, pretending to have been quite unobservant, +ordered her away, and made their next visit contingent upon his good +behaviour during the next twenty-four hours.' + +I saw that the time had now come when the patient and I must +understand each other better, and I began by taking the doctor a +little into my confidence, telling him a little of what I knew and a +part of what I guessed at or suspected. + +'I want now to enlighten him a little concerning this attack upon him, +doctor,' I concluded, 'and if I don't make him talk----' + +'Oh, see him by all means. There's nothing worse for the sick than +suspense. I begin to understand matters. Since his return to +consciousness he has seemed singularly apathetic, but let me tell you +one thing: there were two nights--he was always wildest at night--when +he talked incessantly about that meeting at the bridge, and he fully +believes now that she, whoever that may be, was there. His first +question asked, after being told of his mishap, was this: "Was anyone +else attacked or injured besides myself that night at the bridge?" and +when I answered no, he seemed relieved of a great anxiety.' + +I had not seen him since the full return of his senses, and he seemed +very glad to see me. When the doctor had warned him against much +conversation, and had left us, I drew my chair close beside his cot, +so that I could look into his face and he in mine. + +'My friend,' I began, 'I am doctor enough to know that a mind at ease +is a great help toward recovery, and I am going to set your mind at +ease upon some points at least. Mind,' I added, smiling in spite of +myself, 'I do not say your heart. Now, to do this I may need to put a +few questions; and to obey the doctor and at the same time come to an +understanding with you, I will make my questions direct, and you can +answer them by a nod.' + +At this he nodded and smiled. + +'I dare say,' I went on, 'you wonder how and why you were treated to +that sudden ducking?' + +Again he nodded; this time quite soberly. + +'I am going to enlighten you, in a measure, and I am obliged, in order +to do so, to take you into my confidence, to some extent, and I must +begin with the adventure of the bag--Miss Jenrys' bag, you know.' + +Now I was approaching a delicate topic, and I knew it very well. I had +not, in so many words, asked permission of Miss Jenrys to use her name +in relating my story, but I had said to her during one of the several +calls I had made in Washington Avenue, during the week that had just +passed: + +'When our friend is able to listen, Miss Jenrys, I must tell him, I +think, how he came to be assaulted upon the bridge, as I understand +it, if only to prepare and warn him against future attacks; and, to +make my story clear to him or even reasonable, I shall need to enter +somewhat, in fact considerably, into detail. I can hardly make him +realize that he has a dangerous enemy else.' + +I saw by the flush upon her face and a sudden nervous movement, that +she understood fully what this would involve, and for a moment I +feared that she was about to forbid me. But the start and blush were +quickly controlled, and she pressed her lips together and drew herself +erect, and there was only the slightest tremor in her voice when she +said, slowly: + +'You are right; he ought to know,' and turned at once to another +subject. + +Something in the look the young fellow turned upon me when I spoke of +the episode of the bag reminded me of her face as she gave that tacit +consent; there was the same mingling of pride and eagerness, reticence +and suspense, and I plunged at once into my story, recalling briefly +the encounter between Miss Jenrys and the Turks, the finding of the +bag, my meeting with him, and the appearance of the little brunette, +and here I put a question. + +'I want to ask you,' I said, 'and I have a good reason for asking, as +you will see later, why, when that tricky brunette turned her back +upon you so pertly after making her demand for the bag--why you at +once left us both and without another word? Wait,' as he seemed making +an effort to reply. 'Let me put the question direct. Did you not leave +us because you thought that person was really a friend of Miss Jenrys, +and had, perhaps, been warned not to speak too freely in your +hearing?' + +The blood flew to his pale cheeks, and there was a momentary flash of +haughtiness in his fine eyes, but as they met my own, this look faded +from them and he murmured 'Yes.' + +'Thank you,' I said. 'And now, before going further, let me tell you +that I am violating no confidence; it is not for me to explain more +fully here than this: The young lady of whom I am about to speak knows +that I am telling you these things. I am not speaking against her +will.' + +And now his eyes dropped as he said faintly, 'Thank you.' + +I next told him in as matter-of-fact a manner as possible how I +examined the bag, and how, when all other hope of a clue to the owner +failed, I read Miss Jenrys' letters; how, when the first letter failed +to give me the owner's address, I read the second in full. + +'And now,' I said to him, 'before I go further, let me remind you once +more that I speak by permission, and add, on my own behalf, that, even +thus authorized, I would not utter what I am about to say if I did not +believe that by so doing I can set right a wrong, a worse wrong done +to you than that of attempting your life--a blow at your honour, in +fact.' + +He started, and then, as if remembering his condition, said with +wonderful self-restraint, 'Go on, please.' + +And I did go on. Before I paused again I had told him almost word for +word, as it was implanted upon my memory, the story June Jenrys had +written to her friend, the story of that ante-Lenten party--just the +fact, omitting her expressions of preference. I told the story as I +would have told it of a dear sister whose maidenly pride was precious +to me; told how she had gone, at his request, to speak with him in the +conservatory, and how, there, she had heard, herself unseen, those +flippant, unmanly words, so unlike him, yet from the lips of someone +addressed by his name. + +For a long moment after I had ceased speaking he lay there so +moveless, with his hands tightly clenched and his eyes fixed upon +empty space, that I almost feared he had fainted; then he turned his +face toward me and spoke in stronger tones than I had supposed him +capable of using. + +'That letter--did it name that man?' + +'What man?' I had purposely omitted the name of the man who had come +so opportunely to lead Miss Jenrys away after she had heard the +heartless speech from behind the ferns in the conservatory, and while +I asked the question I knew to whom he referred. + +'The man who came so opportunely after the--after I had gone.' + +I hesitated. Here was a complication, perhaps, for I had hoped he +would not put this question yet, but I could not draw back now, or +what I had meant should result in good to two persons, at least, might +cause further misunderstanding and render the last state worse than +the first. So, after a moment, I answered: + +'Yes. It named the man.' + +'Who? tell me!' This was not a request, it was a command; and he was +off his pillow, resting upon his elbow, and eyeing me keenly. + +I got up and bent over him. + +'I'll tell you fast enough,' I said grimly. 'And it's evident you are +not a dead man yet; but get back on your pillow--he's here in this +very White City, and if you want to take care of your own you'd better +not undo the doctor's good work. Lie down!' + +He dropped back weakly, and the fire died out of his face; he was +deathly pale, but his white lips framed the word, 'Who?' + +'Monsieur Maurice Voisin,' I said. + +'The dastard!' + +'Quite so,' I agreed. 'Did you know he was here?' + +'Yes.' He lay silent a moment, then: 'I see! He saw it was--he----' + +I held up my hand. 'If you talk any more I shall go; and I have more +to say to you. I want you to get well, and there's someone else who is +even more anxious than I am. But you have made one mistake, I think. +You think that Voisin attacked you because you were about to meet Miss +Jenrys, do you not?' + +He stared, but did not answer. + +'When the brunette met you in the afternoon of that day, she gave you +some reason for believing that Miss J. desired to see you, and that if +you joined them that night it would please her.' + +I paused, but again he was mute. + +'My friend,' I went on, 'I believe that Love, besides being himself +blind, is capable of blinding and befooling the wits of the wisest. +That brunette is an impostor. As for knowing Miss Jenrys, she does, if +following her up and down, and trying to force an acquaintance, is +knowing her. Here is the truth: That brunette, as we all call her, for +want of any other appellation, is one of a trio, or perhaps a +quartet, of adventurers, confidence men, counterfeiters, what you +will, so that it is evil. They are here for mischief, and they began +at once, through this brunette decoy, to entrap Miss Jenrys, for what +purpose I am just beginning to learn. It seems, too, that they have +designs upon you, for they decoyed you out the other night, this +brunette and one of their woman companions dressed to resemble Miss +J., and when they had you upon the bridge and you thought you were +about to meet Miss J., two men who had been lying in wait for you +behind a buttress sprang upon you, and while one thrust you over, the +other dealt you a blow which, an inch lower, would have killed you--so +the doctor has said.' + +All the life had gone out of his face as I ceased speaking. His lips +trembled. 'Then--it was not she?' he said brokenly. + +'My dear fellow,' I put my hand upon his, 'listen: Until the next +morning she did not know you were here, but after reading that letter +I could not help believing that you were the man of whom she wrote, +and I went to her, told her of my meeting with you, described you, and +saw at once that she recognised you. Then I told her how you had been +attacked, and the next morning I brought her and her aunt to see you. +I don't want to flatter you, and I can't betray a lady; but while it +was not she that night upon the bridge--and in your own sober senses +and free of Cupid's blindness you would be among the first to know +that it could not be she--she is now very near, and she is only +waiting to be told that she may come to see, with her own eyes, that +you are better, and that you will be glad to see her.' + +'Glad!' How much the one word said, but in a moment he looked up.' +But--these men--how do you know----' + +'About the attack? I saw it. I had been following, watching you and +them.' + +He put his hand to his head as if bewildered. + +'But, my God! those men! If they are following her--and myself--and if +it is not--not Voisin----' He lifted his hand suddenly. 'I tell you, +man, it is Voisin!' + +As his hand dropped, the doctor came up and looked keenly from one to +the other. I got up quickly. + +'Doctor,' I said, 'I fear he has talked too much; but if you will let +me talk to him a little longer--tell him something that will lift a +weight from his mind, once he understands it, I am sure he will +promise not to talk; and I will be brief.' + +The doctor looked at his watch. 'Go on,' he said; 'I give you fifteen +minutes.' + +The guard heaved a long sigh of relief, and I seated myself again +beside his cot. + +'Now,' I said, 'I, on my part at least, am going to be perfectly frank +with you. We must understand and aid each other.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +'LET ME LAUGH!' + + +There were moments, yes, even hours, during the week while our guard +lay upon his hospital cot unconscious or delirious, when I blamed +myself severely for my lack of confidence or frankness that afternoon +of his encounter with the brunette; times when I felt that he should +have been told at least what I believed was the truth concerning her. + +Yet, how was I to have guessed her intent concerning him? + +Knowing her pursuit of Miss Jenrys, I felt so sure that she was only +using him as a means for obtaining information about that young lady, +and that this interview was only the beginning of what was meant to +become an acquaintance more or less confidential. + +As a result of my reticence, the young fellow had barely escaped with +his life; even now, so the doctor said, fever or inflammation might +put it in jeopardy. + +Well, it was not my only blunder, I thought, looking back, with a grim +smile, to my first absurd exploit. But I would try very hard to make +it my last; at least, where 'the gang,' as Dave was wont to call +Delbras and Company, was concerned. And when thinking of 'the gang,' I +could not but note how both Dave and myself had reversed our first +order in naming them, and now spoke, invariably, not of 'Greenback Bob +and the rest,' but of 'Delbras and Company.' Somehow, Delbras seemed +to have taken the foremost place in our thoughts, as I fully believed +he was foremost in all the plots, plans and undertakings of the +mysterious and elusive three. And yet he was the one out of the gang +against whom we had no actual case. + +We could see the hand of Greenback Bob in the counterfeit two-dollar +greenbacks which had started into circulation so briskly, and then so +suddenly dropped out of sight. And his work was also visible in that +attack upon the guard; for who, according to the police records, could +handle a 'slung-shot' as could Bob? And that the guard's wound was the +work of a sling, we--the surgeon and myself--quite believed. + +As for the brunette, we might begin with her little confidence game, +in which she did not secure Miss Jenrys' bag; charge her with the sale +of the stolen emerald, and bring home to her the loss of the +'dew-drops' and other contents of the chamois-bag lost in her flight +across Wooded Island--when we found her again. + +But Delbras! We might believe him to be the originator of, and prime +mover in, the Lausch diamond robbery, but the only shadow of +corroboration was our belief--based upon the fact of Dave's having +seen the three together--that they were 'partners,' and that Delbras +was credited with being an expert diamond thief. Not a promising +outlook, I sometimes said to Dave, in my moments of discouragement, +which my practical friend declared were somehow always synonymous with +my moments of hunger. + +But to return to our guard and his interests. During the fifteen +minutes kindly granted by the doctor, and which somehow ran into half +an hour before he came and ordered me away, I contrived to establish +between myself and the invalid a very sufficient understanding, and I +left him feeling that, so far as lay in my power, he was warned +against his enemies, and knew them, at least, as well as I did. + +Upon one question, however, we differed. As I was about to take leave, +I said: 'There is one thing that I foresee, and that is a renewal of +your social relations with Miss Jenrys and a beginning of the same +with her aunt. I can see reasons why it might be better--might +simplify matters--if you kept up at least an outside appearance of +coolness. You understand?' + +'Yes.' He was silent for a little time, then: 'Will this be of actual +use or help to you?' + +'Only as your meetings may complicate matters by making new trouble +for yourself, or--possibly--her.' + +'Then,' said he, looking me straight in the eye, 'Miss Jenrys must +decide the question.' + +As I came out from the hospital that day I came face to face with +Monsieur Voisin. He paused a moment, as if in doubt, and then came +quickly toward me, one hand extended, a smile upon his face. His +greeting was the perfection of courtesy, and I, of course, responded +in kind. + +After a few remarks of the usual sort, a word regarding the weather, +which was perfect, and praises of the Fair, Monsieur Voisin, who had +seen me emerge from the hospital, said: + +'So it is here that this great Fair cares for its sick and +unfortunate? Have you been inspecting its methods, may I ask?' + +There are times when the truth is best; and I thought I knew my man, +so I replied smilingly: + +'A hospital is not in itself charming. I have been to call upon a +friend.' + +'That, indeed! A patient, I suppose?' + +'A patient, yes.' I felt sure that he was not inclined to tarry, nor +in truth was I; but I let him take the initiative, and after a few +more airy, courteous words he murmured something about an appointment, +and went his way. + +When he was quite out of sight I went back to the guard near the door +of the hospital, who had grown to know me quite well. + +'Did you notice the man who just spoke with me?' I asked him. + +'Yes, sir.' + +'Ever see him before?' + +'I have that. A few days ago he stopped and asked after one of the +patients--feller that fell into the lagoon the other night. Said he'd +heard that a young man fell off a bridge.' + +'And--may I ask how you answered him?' + +The guard looked at me quizzically. 'Well, you see, we've been ordered +not to answer questions about this case, for some reason that you may +know better than I do; and so I couldn't tell him much about it, but I +offered to ask for him. He wouldn't have that; said it was only a +passing inquiry,' and he laughed knowingly. + +He had seen me when I came with the men who bore the guard upon a +stretcher, and felt that he might overstep the rules with safety. + +'How is the fellow, anyhow?' he asked. 'They say he was one of us.' + +'He is one of you,' I replied, 'and we hope to see him about at the +end of a week.' + + * * * * * + +Precisely how Carr or Lossing--I called him 'our guard' in those days, +by preference--precisely how he and June Jenrys met, I learned in +detail, but not until the glorious White City had faded in truth to a +dream city--a lovely vivid memory; but I had imagined the scene, even +before it took place, and I was glad to know that my 'imagination +machine,' to quote Dave, had not gone far wrong. + +Miss Jenrys had accepted my proffered escort that morning, and, a +little to my surprise, I found that her aunt was not prepared to +accompany her. For the first time that little woman gave me a glimpse +of a strong foundation of that good sense that is not held in strictly +orthodox leash, the sturdy independence that accepts convention as a +servant but not as a mistress, that was hidden beneath that gentle, +yielding manner of hers. + +'My niece is not a child,' she said to me, when the young lady had +left us to make ready for the walk to the hospital, 'and it is best +that she should go alone to-day for his sake. Thee must understand?' I +nodded, and she went on: 'June has told me the story, all of it, I +think, and there is something that should be explained; there is +error, at least, somewhere. It seems strange to be talking like this +to thee, but thee seems to have come so intimately into our lives of +late--besides, of course, I know that--having read that letter, which +June has let me read also--thee sees the position----' + +'One moment,' I interrupted her; 'I have wanted to speak upon this +subject and have hesitated. Nine young women out of ten would have +deeply resented my reading of that letter.' + +'But the circumstances----' + +'I know. Still, I might have resisted the temptation to read on after +I had discovered your address, and although she grants the mitigating +circumstances, still she must resent, just a little, my knowledge of +its contents.' + +She put up her hand, with a soft little laugh. + +'I shall be sure to trip myself if I attempt a polite fib, so I will +admit that. At first, for a little time, June did feel quite haughty +when she thought of that letter and thy knowledge of it in the same +moment. But great troubles often swallow up small annoyances, thee +knows; and I can assure thee that my niece now looks upon thee as a +real friend, to be trusted, not quarrelled with; besides--for thee +must know we have talked over this very thing--she realizes that if +thee had not read that letter something unpleasant might have befallen +her, something terrible; who knows? Besides, there are all these later +happenings, all your help to be put in the balance in your favour. No, +Mr. Masters, thee has in June Jenrys a friend, who is grateful to +thee, and who believes in thee, and she is no lukewarm partisan.' + +She put out her slim, white hand, ringless and soft, but firm in its +touch, and I grasped it and was silent for a moment; then, thanking +her for her kindness and confidence, I said hastily, and in momentary +expectation of seeing Miss Jenrys enter the room: + +'Miss Ross, I believe you have saved me from a blunder. As you have +said, your niece is a woman, and a very clever one, and I have been +near treating her like a child.' + +'A child, and how?' + +'There is a word concerning that same letter we have been speaking of, +which I have been longing to speak. It should have been said before +this visit of to-day, I think; and I have near been telling it to you, +when it most concerns Miss Jenrys.' + +She came closer, with a swift step. + +'Does it--does it also concern--him?' + +'Yes.' + +'And--ah--I must ask thee if it is to his hurt?' + +'It is not.' + +'Then tell it to her at once, if it will make their meeting less +embarrassing to either; tell it--hush!' + +Almost as she spoke the door opened and June Jenrys entered the room, +and never had she looked so charming. It was evident in every detail +of her simple toilet that she had dressed with the purpose and the +power to please and charm. + +The gown was simply made, of some soft, creamy-tinted wool, that fell +in long straight folds from her silken belt, and was drawn, soft and +full, like the surplice of our grandmothers' day, about the shapely +shoulders and across the breast; and the hat was black and broad, with +curving brim and drooping plume, the same, in fact, worn by her on the +now memorable day when we--the guard and I--saw her, all unconscious +of the menacing Turks on Midway Plaisance. A soft, black glove with +long, wrinkled wrists, and a long, slim umbrella, tightly furled, +completed a charming picture of a New York girl par excellence. + +As we left the house and I turned at the foot of the steps to lift my +hat to Miss Ross, looking after us from the doorway, she waved her +hand and sent me a significant glance, which I well understood. It +meant, 'Speak, and speak boldly.' + +When we had entered at the Fifty-seventh Street gate, and were +crossing the bridge, I did speak, and boldly too, it seemed to me. + +'Before we enter the hospital, Miss Jenrys,' I began, 'there is +something which I think you ought to know. I have not spoken of it in +your aunt's presence, because it is first and most your affair, to +make known or to withhold for a time. Will you sit in that arbour +where I first talked to yourself and Miss Ross? I see that it is +unoccupied, fortunately.' + +She assented promptly, and when we had entered the Nebraska House +arbour, and were seated side by side upon the shadiest seat, she +turned toward me an expectant look, and silently waited my pleasure. +Her face was grave and somewhat paler than usual, but there rested in +her lovely eyes a look of fixed purpose, a clear, fine light as of +some decision, made after doubt and hesitation, in which she now +rested and felt strong. + +She did not seem eager, as she sat beside me, only waiting, and her +mind evidently was 'far away ahead.' + +I came promptly to the point. + +'What I have to say, Miss Jenrys, concerns our friend whom we are +about to visit, as well as yourself.' She let her lashes droop, and +slightly bent her head. 'And it has been in my mind,' I went on, 'for +some time--in fact ever since I came to the conclusion that our friend +was, in truth, the Mr. Lossing whom you named in the letter I was so +bold as to read;' here she flushed hotly. 'And here permit me to say, +Miss Jenrys, that no man ever read his own mother's letter more +respectfully than I perused that letter of yours, searching through it +for the address of its writer. I hope you will believe me when I say +that I hesitated long, and put down the letter more than once, before +I ventured to give it a second glance, and that no eye save mine read +or saw one word of its contents while it remained in my possession. +When I met you first, and talked with you in this same spot, I wanted +to say this to you, but I saw that you preferred to ignore this part +of the affair----' + +'I did,' she interrupted, with gentle dignity, reminding me of her +aunt. 'I confess that at first I felt sore and sensitive about my poor +letter, but that is over, Mr. Masters; you have made me again and +again your debtor, even by that act, as I now see clearly. Let us not +refer to that letter again.' + +'But I must once more at least, and I beg you to bear with me if I +seem unduly meddling with your affairs; they are our friend's affairs +too, and I believe he has been grievously wronged.' + +'Wronged?' She started, and her face flushed and paled in the same +moment. 'How--how?' + +'I will tell you. You may not be aware how much a few written lines +can sometimes convey to one in my profession, especially when written +by one who speaks frankly, as friend to friend; and when I had read +that portion of your letter which describes the scene in the +conservatory, I seemed to see it all.' I was speaking with my eyes +upon the ripples of the little stream at our feet, into which, from +time to time, I tossed a leaf or twig from the branches just overhead. + +'When I had read that portion of the letter, Miss Jenrys,' I went on, +'before I had seen you or Lossing, I said to myself, "She has been +deceived--tricked!"' + +'Tricked?' she whispered through pale lips, and then she drew herself +erect, and awaited my next words. + +'Miss Jenrys, I believe you know now whom I am about to accuse. +Yesterday I had a talk with Lossing, as long as the doctor would +permit, and I, on my part, took him quite into my confidence. He knows +me for what I am; he knows what I am doing. I told him, after +consulting you, the story of the letter--of the brunette--everything. +Was I wrong?' + +'No,' very slowly. + +'And last I told him that I believed someone had played him a +dastardly trick. Shall I tell you what he said to me?' + +'Yes.' + +'He swore that the words you heard behind the palms were never +uttered by him; that he saw only you and one other in the +conservatory.' + +She clasped her two hands in her lap, and I saw that they trembled +slightly; but her voice was low and calm when she turned to me and +said: + +'If he tells me this, I shall believe him.' And then, after a moment +of silence, 'How was it done?' she asked. + +'Can you not imagine a rival overhearing, perhaps, the appointment in +the conservatory? If he is a good mimic or a ventriloquist, say, it +would be easy to utter a few words behind the palms, impersonating two +people; then, as his victim approaches, he glides behind some other +leafy screen, to appear before you, perhaps, a little later, smiling +and secretly triumphant.' + +'I see!' she said, with sudden energy. 'Tell me what must--what ought +I to do?' + +'Will you take my advice, with a strong reason behind it?' + +'Yes,' promptly. + +'Then, say nothing, do nothing, for the present. Believe me, it will +be best in the end, and an especial favour to me. I will explain more +fully at another time.' I got up and stood before her, watch in hand. +'We are due at the hospital. Do you agree?' + +'To wait?' She arose quickly. 'Will it really be a favour to you?' + +'It will be a great favour. It will disarrange my most cherished plans +for unmasking a villain if you make a sign too soon.' + +'Then I will hold my peace; I will help you, even--can I?' + +'Will you?' + +'I will.' She put out her hand. + +'Thank you. I will not cause you to regret your promise. Shall we go?' + + * * * * * + +Lossing lay eager-eyed and impatient, watching alternately his watch +and the door, when June entered, stately and charming, and came alone +straight to his cot. + +There were no heroics. These were not the lovers of the popular novel, +who meet invariably, after long absence or a deadly quarrel, in an +empty parlour at early twilight; they were young and ardent, but they +were also familiar with _les convenances_, and possessed of the +nineteenth-century horror of a scene. + +When she paused beside him his hand was outstretched to meet hers; and +if the clasp was close and long, what of that? And if, when she sank +gracefully into the seat placed for her by an attendant, there was a +suspicious moisture in her eyes, which she seemed to wipe away, since +her back was turned to the others; and if his lip quivered slightly, +for he was very weak you know, what then? + +At first no word was spoken, but their eyes had met and exchanged +greetings, without the aid of words. + +By-and-by, with his eyes devouring her face, he said feebly: + +'You--have seen--Masters?' + +'Yes, he brought me here.' + +'And--he told--you----?' + +'Everything.' + +He drew a long sigh of relief, and slid his hand along the counterpane +toward hers. + +'June,' appealingly. + +She put her hand in his for a moment, met his eyes for an instant, +turned her own away quickly, and glanced over her shoulder; then +suddenly she began to laugh softly. + +'June!' reproachfully. + +'Let me laugh! Oh, you poor boy! If I don't laugh, I'm afraid--I shall +cry!' + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +'THERE IS DANGER--NEAR!' + + +Women are strange. This has been said before, I know, but it is +doubtful if it is ever said twice with just the same meaning; and it +is always true. + +When Miss Jenrys learned that our guard was quite beyond the danger +line, and that he might leave the hospital in a week, she promptly +declared her second visit, in company with her aunt, her last, +assuring him that, while one might disregard Mrs. Grundy when a friend +was so ill as to be upon debatable ground, it would never do to risk +her favour for a rapidly recovering convalescent. 'Besides,' she said +with a smile that was kinder than her words, 'in a few days you will +begin to pay some of the visits you now owe to Aunt Ann and to me.' +And this he did. + +When he left the hospital his physician forbade him to attempt +anything more severe than a very short promenade once a day, and a +little sight-seeing, if he choose to do it in a wheeled chair; for the +rest, quiet and much sleep. As to his duties as guard, even the +lightest of these were forbidden him for at least a fortnight. + +It is hardly likely that the originators of the Fair City planned to +do just that, or realized at first what they had done, but intentional +or not, the White City was a paradise for lovers. + +Those cosy nooks all about Wooded Island, those quiet corners about +the lagoons, with seats invitingly placed; and what snug recesses, +'too small for numbers, roomy for two,' in the great buildings, among +the pagodas, temples, pavilions and lofty inclosures, hospitably +furnished by generous exhibitors; then there were half a hundred and +more buildings, model dwellings, cottages, castles, villas, mansions, +palaces, edifices, State and national, each with open doors, and many +with cosy parlours, reception-rooms, assembly-rooms, where one or two +could find quiet and seclusion in the midst of multitude; and last and +best, there were the beautiful lake, the lake shore, the lagoons, the +skiffs, launches, and the gondolas. + +On the first day of his freedom from the hospital our guard tried his +strength moderately, and took counsel with Miss Ross. + +On the second day June came 'half-way,' as she expressed it, joining +him upon the Plaza and leaving Miss Ross to my tender mercies, for he +had unblushingly begged an hour of my time--which he stretched to two +hours--that I might 'help him entertain the ladies.' + +Even now I am not certain that Miss Ross was not a party to the plot +by which we first found ourselves alone upon the Plaza; and a moment +later saw our guard and Miss Jenrys afloat upon the Grand Basin, +luxuriously established, because of the invalid, of course, in a +canopied gondola, and looking as innocent as if they did not perfectly +well know that their picturesque gondolier could not understand the +least word of English. + +We watched them until they passed under the bridge of the bears at the +south end of the north canal, and when they came out into the lagoon +and turned westward as if to skirt the island, I turned to my +companion. + +'Does she speak Italian?' + +'June? No; she is a good German scholar, and loves the language. She +speaks French also, and reads Spanish well; but Italian, no, I am sure +not.' + +'Then he does!' I declared, 'and he has set those fellows to paddling +around the island. Miss Ross, let us go and see the cliff dwellers,' +and we went. + +When our two lovers were gliding slowly along the shores of the +island, in the shadows of its western side, our guard turned toward +June, and after a long look into the eyes which she dropped, at last +said, softly and slowly: + +'June--you did not rebuke me when I called you so at the hospital when +I was ill; may I call you June now?' + +'Yes, because now you are an invalid.' There was a little smile +lurking at the corners of her mouth, but he went on gravely: + +'Thank you, June; and now may I begin where I should have begun that +evening when you sent me from you----' + +'Stop, please! I could not speak of that miserable time until you--I +mean since you have approached the matter, let me ask your pardon for +the insult I then offered you. I have felt all the time since those +first hours that there was somehow a hideous blunder, and now my +reason has been enlightened. I should not have doubted. Forgive me!' + +'June, don't! How could I blame you, knowing as I now do how you were +deceived? It is noble of you, but don't ask my pardon when----' + +'But I want your pardon! Do you think it humiliates me to ask pardon +for a wrong I have done? I am too proud not to do it, Mr. Lossing.' + +And so gliding along that fair water-way, isolated, yet with all the +world around them, those two settled the question of questions; and +then, with minds and hearts at ease, and beauty all about them, their +thoughts became less serious, and she began to criticise the uniform +of a guard standing at a boat-landing, with shoulders erect and a +military air. + +'And you, Mr. Lossing, are really one of those superb personages! and +to think that I have never seen you in your panoply of war.' + +'Shall I resume it to-morrow?' he asked earnestly. + +'For duty? You are not able.' + +'But when I am able? When I donned that uniform I was in search of a +new experience; something to take the staleness out of life. I thought +it would give me a view of this great enterprise not to be had by the +cash-paying outsider. But, June, I am willing to dispense with my +panoply of war, and to be a common citizen once more; shall I?' + +'Do you wish to?' + +'Your will in this matter is my law.' + +She laughed musically. '"In this matter?" I am so glad you qualified +that speech. But now, seriously, let me say to you that if you choose +to retain the place you have taken I shall honour you for it. What can +you or any man, in time of peace, do more or better than the work of +these young men? Their work can only be well done by gentlemen. +Courtesy, watchfulness, care for others; help to the old, the weak, +the children; guiding, informing, protecting; making this great +beautiful labyrinth of wonders, that might be so puzzling, so +wearisome, so dangerous, a place of comfort, of safety, of delight. My +friend, when I think what a Babel this place would be without the +Columbian Guard, I am proud of--your uniform.' + +'Then you do believe that "a man's a man for a' that?" Thank you, +June.' + +'I do, assuredly.' + +'And if I tell you that I am a poor man, with only a little money and +just a newly fledged literary knack to stand between me and the sunny +side of life--what then, Princess June?' + +'Don't expect to extract one grain of sympathy from me because of any +tale of poverty you may tell, sir. You don't impress me as a young man +who has been ill-used by the world. But that literary knack--do let me +hear more about that;' and her smile changed to a look of eager +interest. + +'It's a short tale. About a year ago I made my first attempt as a +journalist--newspaper hack would sound more modest--and I am +succeeding fairly.' + +'Then I congratulate you. Anyone can be a millionaire, but a +journalist who succeeds--he wields a power beyond price.' + + * * * * * + +There was one thing that bade fair to grow troublesome, as I found +myself giving some small portion of almost every day to the two +ladies; for Miss Ross as well as her niece had made me feel that my +duty as well as my pleasure lay in those daily reports or interviews, +held sometimes in the dainty rooms upon the avenue, and now and then +in some convenient spot within the Fair City. + +At our first meeting, at the north end of the grounds, I did not +consider the encounter with the Turks in her behalf a meeting, for I +scarcely had a full look at her face, while she did not so much as +glance at mine; but at the other I had appeared before her in _propriâ +personâ_, and my subsequent calls at the house upon the avenue had +been the same. On the other hand, whenever I went about the Exposition +grounds or beyond them in my capacity of 'sleuth,' I went in some +manner of disguise. + +During the first week of my acquaintance with Miss Jenrys I had +encountered Monsieur Voisin twice; first upon the occasion of our +introduction, and afterward at Miss Jenrys' door; and during the first +week of our guard's confinement in the hospital I had narrowly escaped +him twice, going to or coming from the same place. As the days went on +I found that Monsieur Voisin's attentions were growing more marked, +and his visits on the avenue almost constant. + +I did not wish to become too well known to Monsieur Voisin, who was a +keen observer, for I was posing for him as a 'New York newspaper man,' +and so at last I was forced to tell the two ladies that some, if not +all, of my calls, for a time at least, must be made at unconventional +hours, and often in disguise. + +And now the days, while quite uneventful, were growing more and more +busy for Brainerd and myself. + +The matter of the diamond robbery, after considerable discussion and +some reluctance, had been turned over to a clever Chicago expert, and +to help him on, and at the same time free our hands for other matters, +we gave him all the information in our possession; told him our +theories and suspicions, and gave him a description of the brunette, +together, of course, with an account of her transactions with the +emerald, which, by the way, had been restored to Monsieur Lausch, not +freely and not willingly, but because the dealer in precious stones +was not daring enough to risk a threatened exposure in the newspapers. + +To make the expert's way quite clear with reference to the brunette, +we told him also of her pursuit of Miss Jenrys and her connection with +the attack upon our guard, adding that we were fully convinced she was +one of a clique, working always, whether together or separately, in +unison. But we entered into no details where Delbras and his other +confederates were concerned. In fact, we did not name them. + +'We cannot let the Lausch business go out of our hands without letting +the other party into the matter as deep as we ourselves have gone,' +said Dave, 'and the brunette has put her finger into the pie. But +there's no proof of any sort pointing toward the rest of the gang; and +so, old man, before we put another fellow on the track of Delbras, +Bob, Smug and Company, we will satisfy ourselves that we are not smart +enough to run them down alone.' + +These sentiments I echoed in full; and although they were proving +themselves adepts in the art of vanishing and leaving no trace behind, +I felt--for reasons which I had not as yet confided even to +Brainerd--more and more certain every day that we should sooner or +later entrap Delbras, and through him the others. + +But while we could describe the brunette to the satisfaction of the +keen young fellow in whom we felt a brotherly interest and any amount +of faith, we could do little more. I sent him my 'shadow,' Billy, and +the boy went with him to the café where she had been seen to come and +go, and to the places in the Plaisance where she had more than once +disappeared; and having done this we could do no more, save to wish +him success and to wash our hands, for a time, of the Lausch diamond +robbery and the little brunette--or so we thought. + +But now I had upon my mind a new case. Our guard, or Lossing, as, in +imitation of Miss Jenrys and her aunt, I was learning to call him, was +now becoming convalescent, and while he had not yet returned to his +duties as Columbian Guard, which he had assured me he meant soon to +do, he was beginning to go about by night and by day, as his strength +increased, quite regardless, seemingly, of the fact that he had been +attacked once, and had every reason to think the act might be repeated +in some new fashion. + +I had warned him of the risk he might run by going about alone at +night, for I saw that when he was not in the presence of June +Jenrys--as he was now sure to be, for a little time at least, every +day--he was unnaturally restless. + +I had learned to know him too well to suggest a companion for his +evening strolls, but I kept an eye upon him, and, so long as he did +not venture from the grounds, felt tolerably secure of his safety. + +Much of the great inclosure was as light and as safe by night as by +day, but Lossing, while recovering in the hospital, had fallen in love +with the lake, so near at hand, and his first stroll by day was in +this direction, as well as his first evening venture. + +Out across the Government Plaza, along the shore to the brick gunboat, +and on northward where the lights were faint and the risk greatest, or +so it seemed to me, he went that night, and the next, and the next. + +But not alone, when he took his second promenade lake-ward. The boy +Billy was at his heels unseen but watchful, and well knowing how to +act should danger threaten. + + * * * * * + +In the meantime, since the night of the attack upon Lossing, the +brunette, Bob, Delbras, Smug--all had vanished utterly. Neither in +Midway nor elsewhere, as Turks or gentlemen of leisure, were they seen +by Dave, myself, or the boy Billy. + +'But they're here all right!' Dave declared, 'and if we don't find a +new gap in the fence somewhere soon, I don't know the gentry!' + +During Lossing's confinement in the hospital, after he had begun to +mend, I had brought Dave to see him, and after that he had several +times looked in upon the invalid; sometimes at my request, and later +for his own pleasure as well. + +Dave's bluff ways had made for him a friend in our guard, and so one +day, the day following that of Lossing's third lakeside promenade, I +asked Dave, who had declared himself off duty for the night, to go and +see him. + +I had just received a letter from Boston which made me anxious to see +Miss Jenrys; and as I had not called upon nor met her during the day, +I decided to go to Washington Avenue that evening. + +'Go early, Dave,' I said, when he had assured me of his readiness to +go, 'and ask him to put in the evening with you. I don't like these +lakeshore prowls. The fellow's a good one with his fists, but he don't +seem to realize that it's treachery, a blow in the back, that he must +guard against.' + +Dave went his way, and it being rather early for my call, I sat down +to re-read Mr. Trent's letter. + +It was brief and evidently penned under excitement. He had received an +anonymous letter from Chicago, proposing to open negotiations for the +ransom of his son, who, it declared, was at that moment a prisoner in +the hands of desperate men. + + 'In short,' Trent's letter ended, 'it's an alarming letter. + I write this in haste that it may reach you at once, and can + only say that my daughter and Miss O'Neil, in my absence, + opened and read the letter, and have written to Miss Jenrys + in full. I am very anxious to know what they have written. + See Miss J---- at once; it is important. I have no time for + more. + + 'Yours hastily, + + 'TRENT.' + +As I was turning the key in the lock and about to set out at once for +Washington Avenue, Brainerd came puffing up the stairs. + +'He's gone!' he panted, 'and I was afraid you'd be!' + +'Do you mean Lossing?' + +'Of course! He laid off his regimentals, one of the guards told me, +and put on a swell evening suit, and away he went. Want me to follow +him?' + +'Yes,' I answered promptly. 'I can't come home with him, I fear; I +must somehow see the ladies alone. You know the place, Dave, do you +not? He won't stay late, you know.' + +I was not greatly surprised to hear of Lossing in Washington Avenue, +for we knew well enough that his first evening's visit would be to +Miss Jenrys. He had been three or four times taken to the gate in a +rolling chair, and had walked from there to the house for a morning +call; but this was his first evening outside the grounds since his +recovery. + +As I approached the house I saw that someone was before me, already at +the threshold, and ringing the bell. I could not identify the figure, +because of the two trees which stood one on each side of the stone +steps before the door, the one half concealing his figure, the other +the light at the corner below. + +The door opened so promptly that he was admitted before I had left the +pavement, and the visitor, Lossing as I supposed, passed in. + +'Poor fellow,' I said to myself, 'I won't come upon his very heels. +I'll give him a few moments, at least, alone with the lady of his +choice,' and I turned away and walked at a moderate pace around the +block. But I could spare him no further grace, and so upon again +reaching the house I ran up the steps and rang hastily. + +The rooms occupied by the ladies as parlour and reception rooms were +small and cosy, and thrown together by an arch, beneath which a +_portière_ was draped, and Miss Ross came forward to greet me at the +doorway of the first of these. + +I could hear a murmur of conversation from the farther room, but it +was not until I was standing beneath the curtained archway that I saw, +to my amazement, Lossing and Monsieur Voisin at the farther side of +the room, talking amiable nothings, as men of the world will when they +meet. Both were in evening dress, and the Frenchman held in his hand a +splendid bunch of American Beauty roses. + +Voisin greeted me with _empressement_, and Lossing carelessly +acknowledged 'having met me before.' + +Miss Jenrys, her aunt informed me, as she had before informed the +others, was engaged upon a letter of some importance, which must be +sent in the early mail. She would join us soon; and then I learned +from our desultory talk that it was Voisin for whose accommodation I +had been pacing the block, and that Lossing had been the first +arrival. + +These two were still seated at the rear of the inner room, with Miss +Ross at a little table near its centre and myself opposite her, and +with my back to the archway, when there came a sudden sound at the +outer door. It opened and closed quickly, and Miss Jenrys' voice +exclaimed: + +'Oh, Mr. Masters! I have had such a letter! One of those wretches has +written that he will ransom poor lost Gerald Trent for----' + +'June, my dear, come and receive thy visitors before thee tells thy +news.' + +There was just a second of embarrassed silence, and then Miss Jenrys +came forward and greeted her guests, with precisely the same courteous +welcome extended to us each and all. + +But she only referred to her exclamatory first words in reply to +Monsieur Voisin's question: + +'You greeted us with some rather startling words, Miss Jenrys. Pardon +me, but is it true that you have a friend lost in this wonderful +city?' + +But Miss Jenrys was not to be made to commit herself a second time. + +'Not at all; it is simply some news just given me by a correspondent, +who has told me in a former letter about the disappearance of a young +man whom I do not know.' + +'A disappearance! Is it possible? I am interested.' He turned quickly +toward me. 'May I ask from you the details?' + +'You can learn from the daily papers as much as I can tell you,' I +replied, with my most candid smile. 'I read some time since of such a +disappearance, and speaking of it casually to Miss Jenrys, learned +from her that she had the news direct from a young lady correspondent +who chanced to know the young man and his family. Is that reported +correctly, Miss Jenrys?' + +She nodded. + +'And he has been ransomed, you say? That is well indeed,' persisted +Voisin. + +There was a brief moment of silence, during which I knew that her eyes +were fixed upon my face; but other eyes were also keenly watching, and +I did not return her gaze. + +'Not ransomed,' Miss Jenrys said, 'not yet; there has been an offer of +some sort, a proposition, I understand;' and she turned to Lossing and +began to question him about his health, and then, before the Frenchman +could renew his queries, began telling them both of a recent letter +from her New York aunt, full, it would seem, of bits of society news, +and mention of persons known to herself, Lossing, and Voisin; and she +was so well aided by her aunt and Lossing, not to mention myself, that +there was no renewal of the former subject, and after a very short +call Monsieur Voisin made his adieus, expressed 'the keenest pleasure' +at having encountered Mr. Lossing in Chicago, and his determination to +see more of him. + +When the door had closed behind him I arose, and without a word of +explanation crossed the two rooms, and, peering out through the little +bay-window overlooking the street, saw Monsieur Voisin standing upon +the pavement outside, and casting slow glances, first up and then down +the street; after which he walked briskly southward. + +There was no need of an explanation where those three were concerned, +and I made none. No one referred to Monsieur Voisin, his visit, or his +interest in the Trent disappearance, and nothing was said for a time +concerning the letter which was foremost in Miss Jenrys' mind and in +mine. + +For half an hour I conversed with Miss Ross and left the lovers to an +uninterrupted chat; at the end of that time Lossing took his leave. As +yet he had heard but the briefest outlines of the Trent affair; but in +spite of my own request that he would remain and make one at our +councils, he withdrew, declaring himself under orders to keep early +hours. + +I let him go without uneasiness, for was not Dave Brainerd lurking +somewhere very near, and very much to be relied upon? + +He had said good-bye to the little Quakeress in the back parlour, and +then Miss Jenrys and myself had walked with him the length of the two +small rooms, bidding him goodnight at the door. + +As the street-door was heard to close behind him, Miss Jenrys turned +to me, caught my arm, and said quickly, beseechingly: + +'Mr. Masters, won't you follow him home? I--I have a strange feeling +that he is not safe. It is not far, and it is early. Can you not come +back--please? + +There was no hesitation, no blushes; she spoke like a woman forgetful +of self in her anxiety for another; and when I told her that my friend +was doubtless awaiting him, she only wrung her hands. + +'He may not be now. It is so early, and I shall not feel at ease until +I know. Mr. Masters, I am sure there is danger very near us; I feel +it. Won't you go--and come back when all is safe?' + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +'YOU ARE SUFFERING IN MY STEAD.' + + +It was useless to argue, and how could I refuse? For the first time, +and greatly to my amazement, I saw that self-contained and sweetly +reasonable young woman deaf to reason, and in that strange condition +which, for lack of power to understand, we men call 'hysterical.' + +I went, and in spite of myself I left her presence feeling somehow +aroused and watchful--quite prepared, for a little time, to see an +assassin at every corner and beneath every tree. + +'Do not overtake him,' had been her last command. 'It might offend +him. Only see him safe at his own door.' + +I was not five minutes behind Lossing, and he could not, or would not, +I knew, walk rapidly. I expected to come close upon his heels before I +had reached the first corner. + +That he would take the most direct and nearest route, I felt, was a +matter of course. In fact, he knew no other, or so I thought. + +The direct route was straight north to Fifty-seventh Street, and east +to the entrance gate; but though I walked fast, and then almost ran, I +could see nothing of Lossing and nothing of Dave Brainerd. + +What did it mean? When I had reached the end of the first block, +without a sight of Lossing, I hastened across the intersecting street +and hurried on another block, and still no Lossing. I paused, looked +around me, and seeing and hearing nothing, increased my steps almost +to a run. + +At Fifty-seventh Street I paused, before turning, to look about me and +to listen. After the first block, going east, this street became quite +densely shaded by the trees on either side. + +I had now reached the second block on the south side of the street, +that which contained the vacant lots and the overshadowing trees, +beneath which the bootblack's stand was placed by day; and here again +I paused and listened, in the hope that in the quiet about me I might +hear and recognise Lossing's slow, even step. But no step was heard, +and I moved on. + +'It is early yet,' I assured myself; 'so early that thugs and +night-birds are hardly likely to be abroad.' + +I was now opposite the bootblack's stand on the skeleton uprights +which supported his rainy-day awning, and the platform upon which his +patrons sat enthroned in state--and here memory fails me. + +I had turned my gaze upon the gibbet-like uprights, and +simultaneously, as it now seems to me, a voice shouted my name; but +the sound and something else came together--something bringing with it +a sting and the sounds of a rampant engine. I saw a myriad of flashing +lights, heard a tremendous crash, and--that was all. + +I came to myself a little later, outstretched upon a wire cot, and +with a cretonne cushion beneath what felt like a very large and +much-battered prize pumpkin, but what was in reality my head. There +was a glow of electric light all about and above me, and bottles of +all sizes and colours on every side. + +Slowly it dawned upon my dazed senses that I was in the corner +drug-store where I had more than once called, on my return from +Washington Avenue, to buy a cigar. + +I stirred slightly, and then the faces of Dave Brainerd, Lossing, the +druggist, and a big policeman came suddenly into view surrounding my +cot. + +'Hello, old man, glad to see you back,' was Dave's characteristic +greeting, and the druggist, who proved to be a physician as well, +promptly placed a finger on my pulse. + +'Better,' he said laconically, and turning, took from the desk at his +back a glass which he held before me. 'Can you lift your head and +drink this?' he asked. + +I made a feeble effort, and with Dave's assistance got my head high +enough to swallow the medicine. + +'Now,' said the surgeon, 'lie still, and I think before long you will +be all right, except for a sore head, which you will probably keep for +a day or two.' + +For some time longer I lay quiet, and with no desire to think or +speak; then slowly the noise and dizziness wore away, and the strength +came back to my limbs; but when I attempted to rise, I found that my +head was paining me severely, and I contented myself with resting upon +my elbow and asking, with my eyes on Dave: + +'What has happened?' + +'Sandbag,' replied Dave tersely. 'Didn't you feel it?' + +'I feel it now,' I said, trying to smile feebly, for I knew that Dave, +now assured that my hurt was not serious, was giving vent to his +relief in a characteristic bit of chaff. + +'You see, it was this way,' he went on. 'Lossing here and I were +walking along on the north side of the street, just down here, and we +saw you cross the street on the opposite side; the lamp at the corner +showed you plainly. We saw you stop and look, and seem to listen, and +then go on, and repeat the same manoeuvre after you had crossed the +street. We had stopped under a tree, and close against the wall nearly +opposite that bootblack's stand; and we meant to cross and surprise +you, when all at once out from behind that platform sprang someone. I +gave a yell, and we heard you go down. I ran to you, and Lossing ran +and fired after the fellow, who cut across the open ground. I called +him back when I saw that you were insensible, and the next minute this +officer came up. He ran to this place (lucky it is so near), and +brought the cot, and here you are. Can you remember? Did you hear me +call?' + +'Y--yes,' I said slowly, 'I--I think I tried to turn.' + +'And that saved you, no doubt,' declared the druggist. 'The fellow +meant to do you deadly hurt--the weapon shows that. He meant to strike +you lower, across the back of the neck; but, at the call, you turned, +just as he had taken aim, and as a result you received the blow on the +back of the skull, the thickest part; and it struck with less than +half its force, glancing away as your head moved sidewise. It was most +fortunate for you.' + +And now, as I began to think and remember, I knew that Miss Jenrys +would be waiting anxiously, and that delay would mean for her, in the +mood in which I had left her, a time of terrible suspense. + +I brought myself to a sitting posture, and then got upon my feet, +rather weakly. The druggist touched my wrist again. + +'If you'll take my advice,' he said, 'you will stay right here for the +night. I have a comfortable room at the back here, and I think, by +keeping up an application during the night, a cooling and healing +lotion that will keep out inflammation, you will come out in the +morning with nothing worse than a sore and tender skull to show for +your encounter. I am a regular physician--you'll be quite safe with +me.' + +I accepted his courtesy as frankly as he had proffered it, and then, +while he busied himself preparing the cooling lotion, I told Dave how +I had promised to return, and that Miss Jenrys must not be kept longer +in expectation. I did not tell him why I had left the house, to return +again so soon, and Dave was not the man to question. + +'Tell her,' I said, 'that all is right. She will understand; and later +I will explain to you. And tell her I find that I must delay the +reading of that letter until to-morrow morning; that it is a purely +personal matter that detains me, and that I will explain when we +meet.' He got up to go, and I turned to Lossing, who, with the tact so +natural to him, had gone to the front of the long room, and was idly +turning the leaves of a directory. 'Dave is about to do the thing I +failed to do, because of this sore head,' I said to him. 'I wish you +would stay with me until he comes back. He won't be long.' + +He seated himself without a question, and while Dave was gone, and my +host busy in preparing for my comfort, he talked lightly of this and +that, and finally of my unknown assailant. + +'I believe I hit him somewhere,' he said, 'for I heard him drop an +oath as he ran, and, by the way, he dropped something else, too.' + +'What was that?' + +He got up and went to the place where the policeman had been sitting +until, assured that he could do nothing then, he had gone out with +Dave, declaring his intention to 'go and look over the ground,' a +speech which caused Dave to smile behind his hat. From the floor, +close against the wall, Lossing took up something, which he brought +forward and laid beside me upon the cot. + +It was a bar of iron at least four inches in circumference, and +incased in a length of rubber tubing, which was tied tightly over each +end. 'That,' said he, 'is the weapon, and if it had struck you fairly, +it would have been your death.' + +I held it in my hand. A death-dealing weapon indeed, and I shuddered +as I put it down, asking myself meanwhile, 'Was it meant for me?' + +'But for you,' I said aloud, 'you and Brainerd----' + +'Don't!' He put up his hand quickly. 'When I think of what you have +done for me, and--I--I fear you are suffering now in my stead.' + +It was the echo of my own thought, and I was glad to see my host +reappear, thus cutting short the subject, which I was glad to drop +just then. + +The next morning found me somewhat the worse for my adventure, yet +thankful to find that I could go about my day's business, a little +stiffened from my fall, a trifle weaker than usual, and with an aching +and somewhat misshapen head. But a detective learns to bear occasional +hard knocks with fortitude, and I was thankful to be out of the affair +so easily. + +As an evidence of my dazed condition of the night before was the fact +that I had not once thought to ask how Dave and Lossing chanced to be +so near me at my time of need. It was one of my first thoughts and +questions in the morning, however. + +'You see,' explained Dave, 'I had not looked for any one quite so +early, but I had stationed myself very near, on the side of the street +opposite the house, and was pacing up and down, keeping the place in +sight. I had a half-dozen cigars and a pocket full of matches, and +when I wanted to turn, if anyone was in sight, I stopped and wasted a +couple of minutes trying to light my cigar--see?' + +'Distinctly.' + +'Well, of course, I looked to see our friend come out and go north; +and so, while I was just on the turn, I was a little upset to see +someone come out of Miss J.'s door and turn square south. Of course I +went south, too, and to carry out your plan, I, being nearer the south +crossing than he, turned and crossed in order to meet him, and all +ready to be properly surprised at the encounter, you know, according +to orders. Well, sir, we met right at the opposite corner, and instead +of our man, there was a tall, dark, well-dressed person, who hastened +his steps a bit in passing me.' + +He stopped, as if for an explanation. + +'It was Voisin,' I said. 'The Frenchman I told you of.' + +'Um! I thought as much! Well, I stopped to light my cigar, and the +Frenchman turned on the east side of the street and went back the way +he came; I, on my side, did likewise. At the north end of the block he +turned again, this time without crossing, and I did likewise. I didn't +try to keep shady, for I thought it began to look like a game of +freezeout, and I kept the west side of the street. As might have been +expected, after two or three turns he left the field at the south end +of the block, going east; and very soon after your man came out and +turned south, which surprised me a little. He walked very fast, but I +caught up and tackled him, calling him by your name and then +apologizing, and explaining that, knowing you were to call upon Miss +J., I had been on the lay for you, having a matter of business to +impart as promptly as possible.' + +'Do you think he suspected us?' + +'Not then. He told me very delicately that he had left early, feeling +sure that you had some matter of importance to discuss with the +ladies, and added his fear that you would not appear for some time +yet. Of course I gave up all idea of waiting, and went on with him; +and to pass the time and make myself agreeable I told him about the +other fellow--what d'ye call him?' + +'Voisin.' + +'Yes, Voisin. We had reached the south corner where Voisin had turned +east, and Lossing was walking briskly. At the corner he turned to me +and proposed taking the longest route home by going over to Madison +Avenue. In fact, he felt like walking, he said. It was this queer +route that set me to telling him about Voisin's promenade, and I wound +up by wondering if you would take a new route, too. At that he took my +arm and let me know in that polite way of his that he suspected our +little game; that he knew how anxious you were for his safety, and +that he appreciated your interest. "But," says he, "don't you see that +if there is danger abroad to-night, it is Masters who runs the risk?" +I saw that he was really uneasy, and so when he proposed that we +should hasten on to Fifty-seventh Street and go down past Miss Jenrys' +once more, I agreed, thinking, I will admit, that it was a sort of +fool's errand. + +'Well, sir, we had been walking at a brisk pace and were half-way down +the block between the avenues, when we saw a figure start out from the +corner beyond, and run across the street. We were almost at the +corner, and to avoid the light just there we crossed the street and +went along in the shadow of the trees and buildings, past the light +and on to the opposite corner. We had just reached it and had stopped +to look and listen for the skulkers, when we saw you come into the +light, stop, look about, and seem to listen. + +'"He's after that fellow," I whispered to Lossing; "let's keep quiet +and be ready to lend a hand." We could just see the fellow jump out at +you. It's lucky the night was so clear, the shade was so thick just +there.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +'IT IS OUR FIRST CLUE.' + + +Miss Jenrys met me that morning almost at the threshold. She had +passed a restless night, for my message had not wholly allayed her +fear, and she did not conceal the fact. + +'I have been very anxious,' were her first words. 'Perhaps I have been +foolish, but somehow I seem to have got into a new world, and I might +very well pose for a Braddon heroine. I believe I am growing +hysterical. What with my own little mystery, which seems to have +stepped into the background, happily for me, and all the bigger +mysteries--but there,' breaking into a nervous laugh, 'I can hold my +tongue. Now tell me what happened last night. Oh!' catching my look of +surprise, 'something happened, I know. I felt it.' + +She was indeed woefully nervous, but to withhold anything would only +increase the strain; so I told her as briefly as possible the story of +my encounter, and the part played in it by Lossing and Dave. But I did +not speak of Dave's meeting with Monsieur Voisin, and I hardly needed +to tell her how it happened that my friend and Lossing were so +fortunately at hand. + +'I am not surprised,' she said, when I had told my story, 'but I am, +oh, so thankful that you escaped with nothing worse. I felt so sure +there was danger, and I urged you into it. But if you had not gone, I +feel certain it would have been worse.' + +She talked on in this strain for some moments, and it was plain to me, +though she did not put the thought into words, that she believed the +attack was meant for Lossing, and not for myself. + +Suddenly she sprang up. 'I am forgetting poor Gerald Trent!' she +exclaimed, and crossing the room, unlocked her desk, took out the +letter, and placed it in my hands. It was a long letter, full of +lamentations and repetitions; telling the story in a rambling, +exclamatory, hysterical fashion; the letter of a young girl, a +stranger to sorrow and its discipline, who finds herself suddenly +plunged into a labyrinth of fear, terror, suspense; loving much and +tortured through that love; and her story was briefly this: + +Mr. Trent had seized the opportunity afforded by the change in his +wife's condition, which, while neither really better nor worse, was +much quieter. 'In fact,' wrote Miss O'Neil, 'while she does not +recognise any of us, she constantly fancies us all about her, and she +talks to him in such a low, pathetic, pitiful tone, half an hour at a +time, and then drops into a doze, only to wake up and begin over +again. She does not know us, and while in this state, Dr. Lane says, +she is better alone with the nurse.' This being the case, Mr. Trent +had left home for a day to look after some long-neglected business +matter, and in his absence the letter had arrived. It was addressed to +Mr. Trent in a strange hand, a woman's hand it would seem, and it was +from Chicago. They had waited in anxious suspense until, chancing to +think that it might be an important message and a prompt answer +required, Miss Trent had, after some hesitation, opened the letter, a +copy of which was at this point inserted. It ran thus, beginning with +Mr. Trent's full name and correct address: + + 'SIR, + + 'In writing this I am perhaps risking my own life, as your + son's is risked every day that he passes a prisoner in a + place where he is as safely hidden as if he were already out + of the world. + + 'Not only is your boy a prisoner, but he is a sick man. Your + advertised rewards have been read and laughed at. The men who + have him in charge are no common criminals. They mean to + secure a fortune in return for young Trent. They know that + his father is a millionaire, and his sweetheart an heiress in + her own right. + + 'It is in my power, as one of the party in possession, to + release your son. I waste no time in platitudes, but state + frankly here my object in thus addressing you. I wish to + leave the clique for reasons of my own, and to do this I must + have money. This is why I propose to help you for a + consideration. The "clique" will take no less than a modest + fortune, hundreds of thousands of dollars. I will accept ten + thousand. For this sum I will find a way to set your son at + liberty. + + 'This is my plan: You no doubt have in Chicago some friend + who can and will oblige you. Request this friend to insert in + three of the city papers here an advertisement as follows: If + you accept you will say, "Number three, we decline," which I + will read by contraries. You will then send by express, to be + called for, a package containing ten thousand dollars in + bank-notes--none larger than one hundred nor smaller than + ten--and a letter in which you shall bind yourself not to + take advantage in any way of my application for this packet + at the express office; not to set a watch upon me, or in any + way attempt to entrap me. This done, I will agree on my part + to send you, twenty-four hours after receipt of your package, + a letter telling you in detail where your son is and how to + reach him. I will not agree to betray his captors; I would + not be safe anywhere if I did; and it is liberty without a + master, and an easier and a safer life, that I seek. I will + also let your son know that he may expect a rescue. + + 'In proposing this I am running a risk, and in accepting it, + while you will risk your money, I, if you betray me, risk my + life. If you accept this proposal you will see your son + alive, and soon. If you refuse--he is in the hands of + desperate men, who will never give him up except on their own + terms; they will wait until, driven to despair, you will + offer them, through the press, a fortune, and--even then you + may receive, after long waiting, only a corpse. As to the + search you are making, we know your men and their methods, + and they are capable of taking a bribe if it is large enough. + It may interest you to know that they have already held one + amicable meeting with our leaders, and in the end you are + likely to pay them double. As to finding your son, the men + who have him safe and secure will not hesitate to take his + life the moment they know that they are likely to lose the + game. I do not threaten, but I do assure you that your best + chance of seeing your son alive and in his right mind lies + in your sending me the two words, "We decline," with express + to E. Roe. + + 'Yours, + + 'ON THE SQUARE.' + +A horrible letter, indeed! and the awful pictures which poor Hilda +O'Neil's excited imagination drew of the possible situations, in some +one of which her lover might be suffering, lent the last touch of +gloom to the wretched whole. She saw him in some dingy cellar, ill +unto death, neglected, helpless, and heartbroken; she saw him drugged +into insanity, a possibility hinted at by the artful writer of the +anonymous letter, and which I had, more than once, considered as both +possible and probable, and she implored Miss Jenrys to help her and +save her lover. + +'June, my life, my very life is in your hands! I cannot wait for Mr. +Trent; eight long hours almost! I must act. Papa left me _carte +blanche_ at the bank; I was to draw as I needed, and I will go at +once, as soon as this letter is despatched, and see that the money is +secured and sent to you; and the letter--the promise--Mr. Trent must +make it, and he will. But the answer, June, put that in the paper at +once, so that Gerry may soon know that he is to be released. You won't +refuse, I know; and, June, telegraph me the moment it is done,' etc. + +When I had put the letter down, after reading the copied portion +twice, Miss Jenrys asked breathlessly: + +'What must be done?' + +I put into her hand Mr. Trent's letter, received the previous night, +and when she had read it, she looked troubled. + +'He seems to doubt this letter?' + +'And so do I.' + +'But why? how? It sounds plausible.' + +'Too plausible. I must think this matter over. Mind, I do not say the +letter was not written by some dissatisfied member of the band, but +don't you see its weak point? He may wish to leave them, and doubtless +would like to depart with a full pocket; but he would never dare to +release Trent, even if he could. It's simply a trick. They are playing +artfully upon the anxiety, the suspense, the wretched state of fear +and hope and dread in which young Trent's friends are held, to extort +from them a little money, which will keep them in comfort while they +wear out either the father or the son.' + +'How? Tell me how.' + +'I wish I could! I will tell you how it looks to me. Young Trent has +been missing now more than a fortnight----' + +'Three weeks, almost.' + +'You are right. Now, here are three theories: First, he may be dead. +He would hardly submit to capture and imprisonment without resistance, +and may have died while a prisoner. Next, he may have been so drugged +as to have driven him out of his senses. Or, he may be a prisoner in +some secure retreat, while his captors are trying to break his spirit +and force him to write to his friends for a great sum of money by way +of ransom. But we must act now and speculate later upon all these +possibilities. Do you think Miss O'Neil can have secured the money?' + +'I do; yes. Her father's liberality is well known. She could borrow +the amount if need be; she comes into her mother's fortune in a few +months.' + +'Then we must keep a man constantly at the express office on the +look-out for E. Roe.' I got up and caught at my hat. + +'Are you going now?' + +'Miss Jenrys, there is not a moment to lose. That money, if sent, must +be stopped, if it is possible! And I must see my partner. Thank +goodness, we have an actual clue at last!' + +'At last! A clue! What do you mean?' + +I turned at the door. 'Don't you see that this is really the first +hint we have had to indicate that young Trent is still alive and a +prisoner. Up to this moment all has been theory and surmise. If this +letter is not a wretched fraud, a bold scheme to obtain money, hatched +in the brain of some villain who has seen the advertised rewards and +knows nothing about Trent, it is our first clue, and through it we may +find him.' And promising to call upon her again that evening, or +sooner if possible, I hastened to the nearest telegraph-office. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +'IT'S A SNARE.' + + +My first act upon reaching the telegraph-office was to send a message, +at Miss Jenrys' request and in her name, to Hilda O'Neil. + +'Word it as you think best,' Miss Jenrys had said, and accordingly I +had sent this message: + + 'MISS HILDA O'NEIL, + + 'Yours received. Will do my best for you. Have courage. + + 'J.J.' + +This, while indefinite, was at least not discouraging. To Mr. Trent I +wired at some length, as follows: + + 'Has money package been sent? Answer. If sent, order it held + until further notice. Send at once original letter. It may + prove a clue. Letter follows. + + 'MASTERS.' + +This done, I wrote at once to Mr. Trent, setting forth my belief that +the letter was only a scheme to extort money, repeating my message +with explanatory detail, and outlining a plan of action which would +await his approval by telegraph, and then be put into immediate +execution. This I posted with a special delivery stamp, and finding my +head growing large and exceedingly painful, I went to my own quarters, +compelled for a time to give up to the combined pain and fatigue which +seemed suddenly to overcome me. But in spite of the pain in my head I +could not withdraw my thoughts from this singular letter; and after +tossing restlessly for an hour I got up, and having treated my aching +skull to a gentle rubbing with my friend the druggist's soothing +lotion, I sallied forth and wandered about the Exposition grounds +until the time for luncheon and my meeting with Dave came together. + + * * * * * + +Dave was anxious to hear the outcome of my visit to Miss Jenrys, and +we made haste with our luncheon and were soon back in our room, when I +told him the little I had to tell and put into his hand Miss O'Neil's +letter, bidding him read the page containing what she declared to be +an 'exact copy' of the anonymous letter. + +Dave read the singular document, as I had done before him, once and +again; and then, placing it upon his knee, he sat looking at the floor +and biting his under lip, a way he had when puzzled or in doubt. +Finally he looked up. 'What do you think of this?' he asked. + +'It's a snare. Don't you think so?' + +'Yes; but do you swallow this story of the gang?' + +'Old man, supposing young Trent to be alive and in duress somewhere, +do you imagine that one man, or even two, could keep him day and +night?' + +'U-m-m--no.' + +'Well, I said to Miss Jenrys an absurd thing. I said the letter might +have been suggested by seeing those reward notices; but those notices +did not give Mr. Trent's full name, and street, and number. No, sir, +that letter was written by someone who has seen the contents of Gerald +Trent's pockets, and who knows where he is, dead or alive.' + +'But you don't think he means business?' + +'No. And neither do you. If Trent is in the hands of the gang, no one +out of the lot will be permitted to open the doors to him. Besides, do +you think that a party of men who have the daring and the ability to +keep a prisoner three weeks safely hidden will release him for a +paltry ten thousand, knowing his father to be a multi-millionaire?' + +'U-m-m--just so. And how do they keep him?' + +'Well, to me that letter is very suggestive. It hints at a possible +situation. It's hard to imagine how a young man, in possession of his +strength and senses, could be held a prisoner here in Chicago. But let +us say he is ill. Suppose, for instance, he was attacked, those +diamonds he is said to have worn being the bait; he is injured; they +search him and find him a valuable person to have and to hold. If he +is ill they can keep him without much trouble. Or, the letter hints at +insanity; suppose he was lured somewhere and drugged--kept drugged. An +easy way to bring about insanity, eh?' + +'Carl!' exclaimed Dave, with one of his sudden, decisive gestures, +'Carl, old man, I believe you've struck the trail! What's your next +move?' + +'My first move,' I corrected, 'will depend upon Mr. Trent. I can do +nothing until I hear from him.' + +'And then?' urged Dave. + +'I can see no better way to begin than to try and break up the gang.' + +'Before you find it?' he laughed. + +'Before I look for it.' + +'Good Injuns! How?' + +'By making that anonymous letter public--putting it in print.' + +'Jim-me-net-ti!' + + * * * * * + +In spite of the diligence of the watchers they could not regain the +lost trail of the little brunette, nor, indeed, of the others; and +after discussing and discarding many traps and plans, Dave ventured a +suggestion. + +'If that brunette has not given up her pursuit of Miss Jenrys,' he +said, 'why not try to reach her that way? Ask her to make an +appointment. Miss Jenrys will consent.' + +I could think of nothing better, but I did not act upon the suggestion +until evening, when I went, this time in company with Lossing, to call +upon the two ladies and give an account of my day's doings. + +With the perfection of tact Lossing joined Miss Ross in the rear room, +and left Miss Jenrys and myself to discuss our plans. I told her the +little I had done in the Trent affair, and of my plans, contingent +upon Mr. Trent's approval. + +'He will approve, I am sure of it,' she said with decision. 'He has +taken every precaution, and has made himself familiar with your record +through the Boston chief of police. He has every reason, so he writes +me, to have faith in you and in your judgment. I think you know that.' + +I thanked her for the assurance that my plans would be favourably +received, and then told her of my wish to use her name in trying to +draw out the brunette. + +'I see no other way,' I concluded; 'and having once written her over +your initials she may respond. Of course the reply must come to you at +the office in the Government Building.' + +'But you will receive it. I can give you my card, can I not?' + +'Then you do not object?' + +'How can I? Did I not promise you my help? Oh, I am quite enlisted +now; although after such a _faux pas_ as I made last night I cannot +boast of my finesse. I quite excited Monsieur Voisin by my exclamatory +entrance.' + +'And how?' I asked quietly, but inwardly eager. + +'You remember how he questioned me about the "missing person?" Well, +he called this afternoon. Aunt Ann and I had just returned from the +Liberal Arts Building, where we had spent three long hours, and though +his call was brief he did not forget to ask again about that "missing +person." He was almost inquisitive.' + +'And you?' I asked, inwardly anxious. + +'He learned nothing more from me, rest assured. His curiosity seems +quite unlike him.' + +'Possibly,' I hazarded, 'he has some inkling of my true inwardness, +and thinks I have made you my confidant. Do you think it possible?' + +'Possible, perhaps, but not the fact,' she replied, with a little +laugh. 'My dear aunt has, in some way, given him the impression that +you are a friend or protégé of hers. I am quite certain that he +believes this, for he had the audacity to ask me to-day how long my +aunt's acquaintance with you had been; and when I assured him that you +and she were "quite old friends," he asked, with rather a queer +intonation, if auntie knew what your occupation was, and when I +murmured something about journalism, he smiled rather knowingly.' + +'A clear case,' I said, smiling. 'He guesses, at least, at my +business, and perhaps fancies me deceiving your dear aunt. We will let +him continue in that error, if possible.' + +I went home that evening pondering the question, Did Monsieur Voisin +know me for what I was, and, if so, how? Of one thing I was certain. +Since our first meeting he had always affected a most friendly +interest in me; and that he was secretly studying me, I felt quite +assured. + +Another thing furnished me with some food for thought: Not long before +we took our leave, and while Miss Jenrys and Lossing were deep in the +discussion of the latest Spanish novel, Miss Ross said to me, quite +abruptly, and apropos of nothing: + +'Did June tell you that Monsieur Voisin was here to-day?' + +I nodded, and she went on: + +'You know my feeling where he is concerned; at least, I think you do. +He is growing really aggressive, and June is blind to it; she is +preoccupied. But I see all where she is concerned, and he will make +her trouble. He is infatuated and bitterly jealous, and he is a man +who knows no law but his own will. Do I not read him aright?' + + * * * * * + +The next morning I sent a note, written in the same dainty hand as the +first, and signed with the initials J. J., to the little brunette, +sending it as before to the café where she had lodged, and twenty-four +hours later the telegram from Boston came. + +In addition to my own letter, I had sent in the same envelope a copy +of Miss O'Neil's, or as much of it as would help Mr. Trent to +understand all that had been done by the young ladies in his absence. + +His telegram read: + + 'Thanks for all. Carry out plan. Have ordered return of + money. Letter follows. + + 'TRENT.' + +Two days later came Mr. Trent's letter, and with it the original +composition of Mr. E. Roe, 'On the Square.' + +As Miss O'Neil had said, it was written in a small, clear, angular +hand, which had the look of a genuine autograph, without attempt at +disguise. + +In this I quite agreed with her, and I stowed the letter carefully +away for future use. Mr. Trent in his letter assured me that he could +not make E. Roe's letter ring true, and that he had finally convinced +his daughter and Miss O'Neil that they had made a mistake. 'Go on in +your own way,' he concluded; 'and I hope before long to be with you. +My wife has recovered from her delirium--very weak, but quite sane +except upon one point--she believes our son to be ill in a hospital in +Chicago, and the doctor has bidden us humour her in this +hallucination, as it may save her life. He looks now for a gradual +recovery, and when she is a little stronger I shall come to you; +already she has planned for the journey, and assured me that our boy +needs me most. It is sad, inexpressibly so, but it is better, at least +for her. When I can join you in your work, and your waiting, I shall, +I am sure, feel more hopeful, and I trust less impatient of delay.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +A COLUMBIAN GUARD. + + +It was still our theory--Dave's and mine--that, granted our original +quarry was still in the White City, we must sooner or later encounter +it, if we continued to traverse the thickly populated enclosure long +enough, and with an eye single to our search. + +We believed as firmly, yes, more firmly than at first, that Delbras +and his band were still, much of the time, in Midway; and after long +watching we had grown to believe that they had somewhere upon Stony +Island Avenue a retreat where all could find shelter and safety in +time of need. + +'But one thing's certain,' quoth Dave, when we were discussing the +matter, 'wherever the place is, they can approach it from more +directions and more entrances than one. They, some of them, have been +seen to enter saloons, to go upstairs, around corners, and into +basements, and are never seen to come out I can only account for it in +one way.' + +'And what is that?' I questioned. + +'They enter always at the side or rear, and never at the front, and +they only do this when they know, by signal, that the way is clear.' + +'If that is true,' I said, 'we shall find them sooner or later.' + +One of the characters assumed by me when going about the grounds in my +capacity of a detective was that of a Columbian Guard. I had a natty +blue uniform, in which, when donned with the addition of a brown curly +wig, and a luxuriant moustache just light enough to be called blond, I +became a really distinguished guard. And more than once, when thus +attired, I have watched the conscious faces and overburdened shoulders +and heads of the multitudes of uniformed martyrs who, on these +oft-recurring dedication days, State and national, not to mention +receptions to the great--native and foreign--tramped in sun, mud, or +rain, arrayed in all the rainbow hues, beplumed, gilded, and +uncomfortable, and have thanked the good sense and good taste that +evolved for the manly good-looking 'C. G.' a uniform at once tasteful, +soldierly, and subdued, in which one might walk abroad and not feel +shamefacedly aware that he was too brilliantly picturesque for +comfort. + +In this array I had more than once passed my acquaintances of the +bureau and the hospital, Miss Jenrys and her aunt, and even Lossing, +until one day it occurred to me that I might keep him near me, enjoy +his society, and still be on duty, by making myself known; and so, +until he chose to go on duty for a part of the day, we went up and +down Midway, and in and out of the foreign villages together, as Dave +described us, 'keeping step, with our chin-straps up.' + +We had made our first appearance in the Plaisance as a brace of guards +off duty, on the day upon which I posted the decoy letter to the +little brunette. + +I had made this letter as brief as possible, merely asking her to name +a day or evening when she would be at liberty to do the Liberal Arts, +etc., in company with the writer, and upon second thought, I saw that +it would be a great mistake for me to call for the reply, in case the +brunette caught at the bait. She had shown herself a wary opponent, +and she might think it worth while to know who received her answer. + +It was late in the day when we left Midway, and with this new thought +in my mind I dropped Lossing's arm as we approached the Java village, +and skirting the west side of the inclosure, left the grounds by the +Midway exit at Madison Avenue, and hastened on to Washington Avenue. + +As I turned a corner I saw a smart carriage at Miss Jenrys' door, but +before I had reached the house I saw the driver turn his head and +gather up his reins, and the next moment Monsieur Voisin, attired as +if for a visit of ceremony, came down the steps slowly, almost +reluctantly, it seemed to me, entered the carriage, and dashed past me +without a glance to right or left. + +A card brought Miss Jenrys to the little reception-room where I +waited, and when she had inspected my disguise, which she declared +quite perfect, I made known my errand, and, as I fully expected, she +declared my second thought best. + +'I will go to-morrow; there will hardly be an answer before that time; +and--suppose we should meet?' + +Before I could reply, the door opened and Miss Ross came in. + +'A disguised detective is a thing to see!' she declared; and then, +when she had looked me over and marvelled at the fit of my wig, she +turned to her niece: + +'June, child, did thee speak of our dilemma?' + +'Auntie, you must give me time!' her face flushing rosily. + +'Time indeed! did not this young man's card say, 'A moment. In haste'? +And can we entertain this strange young man by the hour? Fie upon +thee, June! Do thy duty, else----' + +June's hand went out in a pretty gesture, and between the two they +made the 'dilemma' clear to me. + +Some time since, when Miss Jenrys had expressed a wish to see the +Plaisance thoroughly, I had offered my services, promising to take +them safely through the strange places, behind the mysterious gates +and doors, where they had not ventured to penetrate alone. Now they +had an especial reason for wishing to make this excursion on the next +day, and--would I be at liberty? + +I assured them that, in any case, I should doubtless pass a part of +the day, at least, in Midway; and if they would allow me to include +Lossing in our party there need be no change save that, instead of +wearing our guards' uniform, we would go as citizen sight-seers; and +instead of a party of two, there would be a quartet, and so it was +arranged. + +Before leaving the house I had been told what I had surmised before +entering. + +Monsieur Voisin had asked Miss Jenrys to drive with him, and when she +had declined, upon a plea of indisposition, he had renewed the +invitation for the following day, whereupon Miss Jenrys, in sheer +desperation, recalled that proposed visit to Midway, and, falling back +upon that, once more declined with thanks. + +Certainly Monsieur Voisin was a persistent wooer! + +He was much in my thoughts, after I had left the ladies, and quite +naturally followed me into dreamland. My head was heavy with pain, and +I went to my room at an early hour. It was long before the lotion did +its work and I fell asleep, and then I dreamed that Monsieur Voisin +had carried off June Jenrys, and had shut her into an old building in +care of the brunette, who locked her in a room at the top of the house +and then set it on fire below. + +I saw the flames shoot forth; I saw June's face, pallid and desperate, +at the window, beyond the reach of the highest ladder; I saw Lossing +dash through the flames; and with a yell I awoke. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +'I'D SWEAR TO THEM HANDS ANYWHERE.' + + +At one o'clock Lossing and I met the ladies at the rendezvous, as we +had grown to call the Nebraska House parlour, and the little arbour +beside the stream. Lossing, quite himself again, was handsome in his +well-fitting light summer suit, and happy in the prospect of an +afternoon with beautiful June Jenrys, as who would not be? and I was +humbly thankful that I was not, for that afternoon at least, obliged +to wear a skin-tight wig upon my sore and tender cranium. + +That they might reserve their strength for the ins and outs of Midway, +we brought to the gate, for the use of the ladies, the two stalwart +chair-pushers, whose work, so far as they had been concerned, had been +a sinecure indeed since the attack upon Lossing, and we went at once, +and without stops by the way, to the post-office. But there was no +letter for Miss Jenrys; and, although I looked about me with a +practised eye, followed Miss Jenrys at a safe distance when she +entered the office, and kept the others waiting while I took a last +long look, I could see no signs of the brunette. + +Midway Plaisance was almost unknown ground to Miss Ross, and her +wonder, amusement, and quaint comments made her an interesting +companion. + +'We must see it all, auntie,' June Jenrys declared, her fair face +glowing with the sweet content with her companion and the moment, that +not even the sorrows of her distant friends, which had weighed so +heavily upon her own kind heart, could for the time overshadow or +abate. + +'I shall be guided by my escort,' was the reply of my companion, 'and +I do feel that we may forget our anxieties for a time, and take in all +this strangeness and charm with our whole hearts.' + +We did not linger long in the Hall of Beauty, the costumes of many +nations being passed by with scarce a glance. But my companions +lingered longest before the queer little person described in the +catalogue as the 'Display of China,' who was a genuine child of the +Flowery Kingdom, and generally fast asleep. + +We turned away from the very wet man in the submarine diving exhibit +with a mutual shiver, and rejoiced anew in the sunlight and free air. + +The glass-works, interesting as they assuredly were, we passed by as +being not sufficiently foreign; and the Irish Industrial Village and +Blarney Castle were voted among the things to be taken seriously, and +not in the spirit of Midway. Miss Ross was full of interest in the +little Javanese, and we entered their enclosure, feeling sure that +here, at least, was something novel. + +We had peered into the primitive little houses upon their stilt-like +posts, and the ladies had spent some time in watching a quaint little +native mother making efforts to at once ply the queer sticks which +helped her in a strange sort of mat-weaving, and keep an eye upon a +preternaturally solemn-faced infant, who, despite his gravity, seemed +capable of quite as much mischief as the average _enfant terrible_ of +civilization. And then---- + +'Les go an' see the orang-outang,' exclaimed someone behind us, and as +they went, a sun-browned rustic and his sweetheart, we silently +followed. + +The orang was of a retiring disposition, and very little of him was +visible from our point of vantage. As I shifted my position in order +to give the ladies a better place, a familiar voice close beside me +cried with evident pleasure: + +'Wal! Lord a-massy, if it ain't you! Come to see the big monkey, like +all the rest of us? Ain't much of a sight yit.' + +It was Mrs. Camp, and she seemed quite alone. She put out her hand +with perfect faith in my pleasure at the meeting; and when I took it +and spoke her name, I felt a soft touch at my elbow. I had told the +ladies of my acquaintance with Mrs. Camp, and they had fully enjoyed +the woman's sharp sallies at my expense. I quite understood the +meaning of Miss Jenrys' hint, but while I hesitated, Mrs. Camp began +again: + +'I've left Camp to home this time. I've tramped and traipsed with him +up and down this here Midway, but I've never once got him inside none +of these places sense he took me to that blue place over there that +they call the Pershun Palis; no more a palis than our new smoke-house. +But Adam seen so much foreign dancin'----' As she talked she ran her +eyes from one of our group to another, and as she uttered the words +'foreign dancin',' her eyes fell full upon Miss Ross, who at once +said, turning to me: + +'Perhaps thee would better introduce thy friend.' + +It was done, and in a moment Mrs. Camp was standing close beside Miss +Jenrys, making note of her beauty, and taking in the points of her +toilet with appreciative eyes, while her tongue wagged on vigorously. +She had taken up her story of her husband's 'quittin' of Midway.' + +'He hadn't never no notion of dancin',' she declared, 'and never took +a step in his life--not to music, that is. But he wanted to learn all +he could about furrin ways, he said, so in we went. Well, you ort to +'a' seen them girls. Mebbe ye have, though?' + +'No,' murmured June. + +'Well, then, you don't want to. Dancin'! I've got an old hen, a'most +ten years old--I've been a-keepin' her to see how long a hen would +live--an' if that hen can't take more honest dancin' steps than the +hull posse of them hourys, as they call 'em. All the dancin' they know +they'd 'a' learnt from snakes and eels, an' sich like wrigglin' +things. Pshaw! I don't b'lieve that ole monkey's goin' to show hisself +to-day, humbly thing!' + +When we turned away from the Java Village Mrs. Camp was one of our +party, and when we entered Hagenbeck's animal show she was still +telling Miss Ross and I how she and 'Adam' had not agreed upon a route +that day, and how she had revolted utterly when he proposed to spend +the afternoon 'down to the odds and ends corner of the Fair, among the +skeletins and old bones, and rooins, and mummies,' and how 'fer once' +they had each 'took their own way.' + +It was Miss Ross who had kindly asked the 'lone woman,' as she +described herself, to join our party; and she bore with sweet patience +and an indulgent half-smile her many remarks, absurd or _outré_, +shrewd or unsophisticated. + +'I'm sick of that feller!' she exclaimed, as the 'Hot-hot-hot!' of the +Turkish vendor of warm cakes was heard. 'The very idea of a +yallow-faced feller like that takin' to cookin' hot waffles for a +livin'! Right in the street, too! I sh'd think he could get enough +cloth out o' them baggy trousers to make him a little tent. 'F I was +the boss here I'd make him do his cookin' quieter; he jest spiles the +street.' + +In the German Village our party rested, and the ladies enjoyed its +quaint and picturesque cottages and castle, and listened with pleasure +to the German band--all but Mrs. Camp. + +'I don't see nothin' very strikin' here,' she candidly observed, 'and +I don't see the need of puttin' up so many queer-lookin' barns. The +house is well enough, but I'll bet them winders come out o' Noah's +ark; an' I can't make so much beer-drinkin' look jest right--for +wimmin.' + +As we passed out she was so rash as to pause a moment to look down +into a huge vessel, full to the brim of the queer-looking compound +which the vendor described in a loud voice as 'bum-bum candy.' + +'Lad-ee! Lad-ee!' he cried, as she turned away. 'Fine bum-bum, +splendid!' But the look she cast over her shoulder silenced his +eloquence. + +'That feller,' she declared, 'has been settin' around here in one +place or another ever sence I've been here with his bum-bum candy. +I've never got closte enough to git a look at the stuff till to-day; +an' I've never saw a soul buyin' it nor eatin' it.' + +It had been agreed that we should take a trip in the Ferris Wheel. +With the ladies it would be a novel experience, but when we were about +to enter the car Mrs. Camp drew back. + +'Tain't no use,' she said. 'I ain't goin' to risk my neck that way. +It's jest a-flyin' in the face of Providence! I couldn't git Adam to +'smuch as look at the thing when 'twas goin' round. No, sir, I ain't +a-going'!' this to the man at the still open door. But when we had +taken our places and the door was about to close, she sprang forward. +'Hold on!' she said. 'I guess I've as good a right to tempt Providence +as anybody! Don't shet that door! I want to git in.' As she sat down +beside me she said, with the air of one who has done a good deed, 'I +hadn't orter 'a' let you git a ticket for me, but I didn't feel so +squeamy till I got right here. Seems safe enough though, don't it?' + +Miss Ross assured her of its safety, and I told her how thoroughly it +had been tested, but suddenly she broke in upon my speech: + +'S-h! Why, we're a-goin'! My, how easy!' She seemed for a moment to +hold her breath, and then I saw her hands clutch at the revolving +seat. 'Land sakes, it's tippin'! Mercy on me, I can't stand this! +Say!' to the man in charge, who was just about to begin his 'story of +the wheel,' 'I want to get out! I can't never go no higher. Jest turn +back; please dew.' + +To my surprise, he arose and moved toward the door; then with his hand +upon it, he turned. + +'It might make you a little dizzy when we reverse the engine, ma'am. +Just close your eyes tight until we stop, and you'll feel all right, +and not so likely to faint when you begin to walk.' + +With a sigh of relief and a shudder of terror, she put her +cotton-gloved hands over her eyes, and sat crouched over in a very +wilted attitude; and I was on the point of speaking rather sharply to +the man, when a look in his eye and a rapid gesture somehow restored +my confidence in his ability to manage the car, and we went on +smoothly and silently up. + +We had reached the topmost curve before Mrs. Camp moved a finger, and +then Miss Jenrys, gazing out over the wonderful landscape outspread so +far below, uttered a quick exclamation of delight. Then the hands +fell, she started up and looked quickly around, and for a moment stood +with mouth agape and hands thrown out as if for support or balance. +Suddenly she drew a long, relieved breath and dropped back into her +seat. Mrs. Camp was herself again. + +'My!' she aspirated; and after another long look all about her, 'Young +man, I declare if I ain't obleged to ye jest as much as if you'd 'a' +minded me.' She ventured near the window, and even put her head out. +'My! they look jest like flies a-walkin'! My! we can't look much to +the angels lookin' down. They go awful jerky.' She said no more until +we were almost at the bottom, then she turned to Miss Ross: 'I've a +good mind to go round ag'in,' she declared, and when she was told that +we were all 'going round ag'in,' she drew close to the window and made +her second circuit in breathless silence. + +As we left the wheel and came out from the gate, where a crowd was +pushing and pressing for entrance, Miss Jenrys, feeling herself +suddenly jostled by some impatient one, uttered a quick exclamation, +and at the sound someone just before me, and whom I had not chanced to +observe in the crowd, turned quickly, shot a hasty glance at Miss +Jenrys, and as suddenly turned back again. + +The face was that of a youth, dark-skinned, and with keen black eyes; +the hair, cropped close to the head, was as black as the thick, long +lashes; the form was slender, and the head scarcely came up to my +shoulders; a slight figure, a youthful face, it caught and riveted my +attention. After the first glance in our direction, the young man +seemed only anxious to extricate himself from the crowd, which he soon +did. + +We were on our way to Cairo Street, and when we entered at the nearest +gateway I saw this same youth just ahead. Lossing and Miss Jenrys went +before, and as they turned into the street proper, and moved slowly +toward the east court where the donkey-boys were gathered, the youth, +who had paused as if in indecision, glanced up and down the street +and then hurried away toward the Temple of Luxor at the western end of +the inclosure. + +There was much of interest in the street, but the ladies soon tired of +watching the donkey-boys and smiling at the awkward feats of the camel +riders, and turned their attention toward the shops and the +architecture; turning finally from mosque and theatre to the more +private apartments--they were hardly houses--with their small, high +balconies, their latticed windows, their dark doorways, their sills +almost level with the street. + +It was Miss Ross who expressed a desire to have a nearer view of one +of these dark and cool-looking interiors, and as we turned our faces +westward I saw across the way, on the inner side of the street, an +open doorway, giving just a glimpse of some dark hangings, a brass +lantern swinging from the roof, and a couple of men in flowing robes +and turbans, lounging upon a divan within. + +Beckoning to the others, I crossed the street, spoke to the men, and, +finding that one could understand a little English, asked permission +to enter with the ladies. + +It was granted, after a moment's hesitation and a quick glance at his +companion, who did not rise from the divan, and who answered the look +with a grunt which, doubtless, meant consent. + +There were no seats in the place, save the rug-covered divan, which +filled one side from corner to corner. The floor was covered with +rugs, and the walls were hung with the same, except where, a little at +one side in the rear wall, was a narrow door, painted almost black, +and having a ponderous and strange-looking latch. + +The wall draperies, to me, looked simply a well-blended pattern in +dull blue and other soft tints; just such as one might see in the +shops anywhere. But the ladies were of a different opinion, and they +at once began a close and exclamatory inspection of each, extolling +their colour, their texture, their quaint designs, their rarity and +costliness. + +They had viewed the rugs upon the rear walls, Lossing seeming not far +behind them in the matter of admiration, and had passed to the side +wall opposite the divan, and quite out of sight from the street, there +being no windows on that side, in fact on no side of the rug-hung +room, which was lighted solely by the door, that, standing wide open, +served as a further screen for those behind it. + +Mrs. Camp, having faithfully tried to admire the rugs for courtesy's +sake, had failed utterly; and to the evident surprise of the silent +Egyptian, who still sat in his place, had coolly seated herself upon +the end of the divan nearest the street, our host, meantime, standing +near the middle of the room, alert, and evidently somewhat curious. + +After a brief glance at the second row of rugs, I had crossed the +small room and seated myself near Mrs. Camp, and a moment later a big +determined-looking woman--American or English, if one might judge from +her face and dress, the latter being full mourning and in the height +of fashion--entered. + +She neither spoke nor looked about her, but went, with the tread of a +tragedy queen, toward that narrow dark door in the rear wall. In an +instant, before the startled Cairene could prevent her, she had her +hand upon the door, and had jerked it half open; but before she could +enter, the tall Oriental had reached her side, and somehow instantly +the door was closed, and the woman staring at it and him as he stood +before it. + +He bent toward her, and uttered some word, respectful it seemed, but +decisive, and she, with a baffled and angry look, turned slowly and +went out. + +But she took my benediction with her. As I sat near Mrs. Camp, I was +in a direct angle with that little door which opened against the inner +wall, and in the moment while that door stood open I saw, not, as I +thought might be the case, the outer world with the usual _débris_ of +a 'back door,' but an inner room, and in that room, his face toward me +as he reclined, his head lifted, startled perhaps from an afternoon +nap, I saw a man--a man whom I knew. + +I could hardly sit there and wait for my friends to sufficiently +admire the remaining rugs; I wanted to get out, and if possible to see +Cairo Street from the rear. For I now remembered that on each side of +Midway, between the houses and villages and the inclosing palings, was +a driveway twenty feet in width, for the convenience of the +inhabitants, who received their marketing at night, and from this rear +avenue. + +But my star was in the ascendant. At the moment when I could hardly +repress my anxiety and impatience, a man entered; slowly at first, +then starting slightly, he threw one hasty glance around him, and +strode quickly toward the narrow door, which the Cairene opened for +and closed after him. + +'My land!' It was Mrs. Camp who had uttered the ejaculation, under her +breath, with her eye upon the man by the door. 'Say,' she went on, +meeting my eye, 'do you know who that was?' + +'Do you?' I counter-questioned. + +'Well! mebbe I'm mistook, but he looks the very moral of the furrin +feller 'at changed that money for Camp and gave him counterfeits!' She +half rose. 'I'm goin' to ask,' she explained. + +'Stop!' I caught her hand. 'You must not! Leave it to me; I'll find +out.' + +I was too full of my own thoughts to enjoy Cairo after that, and was +glad when we set out to visit the Temple of Luxor. I wanted to get +away and to see Dave Brainerd. + +It was half an hour after our experience in the place of rugs, and we +were nearing the Temple, when we were forced to a stand by the +approach of the wedding procession, with its camels and brazen gongs, +its dancers, fighters, musicians, etc. As we stood, pressed close +against a wall, someone came swiftly across the narrow way, dodging +between two camels, and greeted us with effusion. + +It was Monsieur Voisin, and when the parade had passed and we moved +on, he placed himself beside Miss Ross, who at once presented him to +Mrs. Camp. + +In accordance with her notion of strict etiquette, that good woman put +out her hand to him in greeting; and when the formality was over, the +way being narrow and the crowd dense, I fell behind with her at my +side, Miss Ross having been taken possession of by the cool Frenchman. + +For some paces Mrs. Camp, contrary to her custom, was quite silent. +Then as we approached the Temple, the others having already entered, +she stopped and caught me by the arm. + +'Say,' said she, in a tone of mystery, 'I must 'a' been mistaken +before about that feller in that house bein' the counterfeit-money +man.' + +'Why?' I demanded. + +'Because, d'ye remember my tellin' you 'bout that feller havin' sech +long slim hands?' I nodded. 'Well, this feller ahead there with Miss +Ross--he's the one. I'd swear to them hands anywhere.' I stopped just +long enough to speak a few words of caution, and we followed the +others. + +Late that night I said to Dave Brainerd: 'Dave, I have seen the +brunette, Greenback Bob, and Delbras.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +'NOW DOWN!' + + +Miss Jenrys went faithfully to the post-office in the Government +Building the day after our visit to Midway, and the next, and the +next. On the fourth day she was rewarded, and when I appeared at her +door, as I did every day now, by appointment, and at a fixed hour, she +put a square envelope into my hand. It was addressed to 'J. J., +World's Fair P.O.,' and the seal was unbroken. + +I looked at the initials in surprise. 'Is it possible,' I asked, 'that +you two have not exchanged names? Has it always been J. J. and H. A.?' + +'Quite so,' she laughed. 'It was her proposal. It would keep up the +romance of the acquaintance, she said,' and as I held out the envelope +toward her, 'No, that is your letter; I have no interest in it, and +little curiosity concerning it.' + +'Then,' said I, as I broke the seal, 'I shall read it to you because +of that little.' + +But when I had unfolded the sheet, I sat so long staring at it that +she asked lightly: 'Does it contain a scent, after all?' I put the +letter in her hand. 'Read for yourself,' I said, trying to speak +carelessly; and she read aloud: + + '"MY KIND FRIEND, + + '"I much regret that, because of my mamma's illness, I cannot + leave her for the present. But at the first moment of leisure + I shall let you know that I am at your service. How much I + regret the loss of your charming company, and long for a + sight of your charming face, is only known to yours, + + '"H. A.' + +'Bah!' She tossed the letter back to me with a little disdainful +laugh. 'It reads like a love-letter, and is anything but filial.' As I +folded the letter and put it carefully away, she watched me keenly. + +'Mr. Masters,' she said, 'you have been in some unaccountable manner +startled, or shocked, by that letter.' + +I could neither deny nor explain, and I frankly admitted it, assuring +her that she would not remain long in the dark. + +'Oh, I can wait,' she smiled. 'Do not fancy me so unreasonable as to +expect the full confidence of a detective. Only, don't fear for my +"nerves," and let me help in any way that I can. I think,' laughing, +'that I have said this before.' + +I was anxious to go now, and, rising, I took her at her word. 'You can +help me in two ways,' I said, 'but I must ask you not to demand +reasons just yet.' + +'Go on,' she said promptly. + +'First, should this brunette, this "H. A.," write you again, will you +inform me at once, and--I don't think it likely to occur, but if she +should call here, will you refuse to receive her?' + +'Yes to both. But she does not know my address.' + +'You forget; she has been seen to pass this house. Don't be too sure.' + +'I will be on my guard. Is that all?' + +'There is another point--a delicate one. I could not but see that +Monsieur Voisin's company that day in Midway was not entirely welcome +to your aunt and yourself; and--bear with me, please, I am speaking in +the interest of another. Promise me that you will not close your doors +against Monsieur Voisin, or treat him too coldly, for a little while. +Believe me, my reason is one that you will be first to endorse when it +is known to you.' + +She hesitated, and I hurried on: + +'The man is of a fiery disposition, and he recognises a rival in the +field--pardon my intrusion upon delicate ground. He comes from the +land of duellists.' She started. 'A little patience and diplomacy upon +your part, and I think I can promise that he will not annoy you much +longer.' + +'Very well,' she assented, 'I agree. Auntie, strange to say, has urged +the same thing--concerning Monsieur Voisin, that is. At the worst we +can go home. It is now the last of June, and we go, in any case, in +July. Never fear, I shall not forget your admonitions, any of them.' +And she gave me her hand at the door with a reassuring smile. + +Half-way over the threshold I turned back to say: 'By the way, Miss +Jenrys, if I chance to appear here at the same time as Monsieur +Voisin, please be kind to me.' + + * * * * * + +Late that same night Dave Brainerd and I held one of our long, and, in +the past, ofttimes useless and mistaken, symposiums. But this time we +were in perfect accord. We had spread upon the table before us our old +memoranda from the very beginning of our campaign, and also some few +letters and other documents. It had been a long 'session,' according +to Dave, but the conclusion was so satisfactory that, at the last, we +had each lighted a cigar, and celebrated thus what we considered a +fully mapped out campaign at last. + +'Well,' pronounced Dave, with a sigh of content, as he tipped back his +chair, and elevated his feet to the top of the table between us. 'This +looks like business! Let us see! First,' checking off on his fingers, +'we're to keep away from Midway--all but Billy--so that they may not +make another flitting, eh?' + +'Yes,' I assented. + +'And we're to patrol Stony Island Avenue and the surrounding country +by day and by night, with a full force. Ain't that it?' + +'Perfectly. Dave, you are as full of repetitions as an old woman!' + +'Or a young one,' he retorted; 'and you think it is proved that the +brunette's a man, do you?' + +'It was proved, for me, long ago.' + +'And that letter? I can't see why it should not be launched at once.' + +I had written to Mr. Trent, telling him of certain facts and theories, +and among them was the suggestion that we should cause a copy of the +'Roe' letter, with its proposed barter, to be published in the morning +papers, giving him my reasons at length, and requesting his opinion +before taking what might prove a very decisive if not aggressive step. +Dave was delighted with this idea, and, wearied with our 'masterly +inactivity,' he would, as he put it, 'launch the thing at once.' My +reasons, as explained to both Dave and Mr. Trent, were: + +The letter signed 'Roe,' and offering to liberate young Trent, and at +the same time to defraud the comrades of the 'clique,' if genuine, +would, when published, expose the writer, who would then be obliged to +'leave the clique,' as he had expressed it, and with an additional +'reason' for so doing; this would at least lessen their numbers, and +perhaps force them to take into their confidence some new colleague. +Or, possibly, it would result in a quarrel among themselves, which +also might result in some way in our favour. + +On the other hand, if it were a scheme of the clique, it would seem +that at least they were tired of the game and in need of money; and +the advertised letter, if followed up by another advertisement--in +which a correspondence might be proposed or some proffer made--might +draw them out; and in some way this must be done. In the meantime a +warrant must be issued, or rather two, one descriptive of the brunette +as a woman, the other as a man; and since the Lausch people had not +done so, we would, if we could, arrest her or him on the charge of +robbery. + +I had to go over the ground once more to quiet Dave, or to tire him +out; and we ended at last, as usual, in mutual agreement. + +Several days must pass, I knew, before Mr. Trent would arrive. I had +written him daily, and he had replied by telegraph. He would be with +me soon, and would wire me the date of his arrival. In the meanwhile I +was to 'act upon my best judgment' in the matter of delaying the +advertisement. I decided to wait and watch, and so a few more days +passed in routine and quiet. + +On one of these quiet days Lossing and I, in a moment of leisure, went +down to that interesting, and by many neglected, portion of the +Exposition grounds where are situated the cliff-dwellers; the Krupp +gun, giant of its kind; the Department of Ethnology, and the great +Stock Pavilion, where the English military tournaments were held +afternoons and evenings. It seemed to be by mutual consent that we +turned away from the little point of land where La Rabida sat +isolated, as a convent should; and, crossing the bridge that spanned +the inlet between the convent and the stately Agricultural Building, +we passed through its spacious central promenade and, passing by the +Obelisk and under the Colonnade, paused at the military encampment. + +There was no performance at that hour, but men and horses were being +led into the monster pavilion, 'for exercise,' a big trooper explained +to us, 'and a bit of drill for the 'orses.' At which Lossing slipped +his hand through my arm. 'Come on,' he said, and, a little to my +surprise, he led me to a side door, and taking a card from his pocket, +held it an instant before the eyes of the soldier on guard, saying a +word as he passed him, which I did not catch. + +As we entered the great inclosure, a group of officers were standing +near the centre of the arena, in busy converse, and a heavy artillery +team was being put through its paces, while nearer our place of +observation several cavalrymen were leading their horses up and down. +The officers evidently were discussing and arranging some matter of +importance. But while I noted this, I also noted that one of them who +stood facing toward us lifted his hand in salute, and then moved it +toward us in a less formal gesture, and, again to my surprise, my +companion lifted his hand and returned the salute in kind. Before he +could look at me I had turned my eyes away and was watching with +evident interest the manoeuvres of the cavalrymen. + +They had mounted their animals and were beginning to put them through +their paces, and presently they began the drill known as throwing +their horses. + +Galloping the animals to a certain point, they were brought to a short +and sudden stand, and then by a quick tug upon the bit, the animal, if +well trained, allowed itself to fall upon one side, the rider +instantly slipping from the saddle to a position half concealed by the +body of the horse from an imaginary enemy in front, and gun in hand, +ready to take aim across the saddle. + +There was one man who did not at first go through this evolution with +the others, but set his horse near the rest looking on. When the +others had gone through the exercise, this man rode forward, put his +horse at a gallop, stopped him splendidly, and attempted the fall; but +the animal was obstinate or only half broken, and began to show signs +of both fright and fight. + +As his rider turned the excited creature about, and sent him at a mad +gallop across the arena, one of the troopers came at an easy trot +directly toward us, and drawing rein beside us, with a lift of his +hat, said respectfully: + +'Good-morning, sir. I hope you are well, sir.' + +'Good-morning, George,' replied Lossing easily. 'What is the matter +with that horse?' + +''E's a new one, sir, and not quite broke; though I do think, sir, as +he 'asn't the best and kindest of riders, sir, and that makes 'im +worse.' + +'Yes,' said Lossing absently, with his eyes following the horse, which +was a really fine animal, one to attract a horse-lover. + +'Hit's too bad,' went on the trooper. 'Diggs will 'ave to ride 'im +this hafternoon, and it'll bait the cap'n horful; for one of our +'orses come a fluke last hevenin'. I be sorry for Diggs!' + +'I'm sorry for the horse! George, go and ask the captain to send Diggs +and his horse to me.' + +No doubt my face showed my surprise as the trooper rode obediently off +to do his bidding; but Lossing only smiled and moved a step or two +away from the rail where we had been standing. + +'Diggs,' he said, as the man rode up and saluted. 'Will you let me try +your horse?' + +The soldier saluted again, and dismounted without a word; and Lossing +took the bridle from his hand, and for a few moments stood beside the +horse, stroking him, smoothing his mane, and all the time speaking +some low, soothing syllables that seemed to quiet the still quivering +animal. + +After a little of this he examined the saddle, adjusted the stirrups +and bridle, and then, after leading the horse away from us a short +distance, he stepped easily and quietly into the saddle. Instantly the +creature's head was erected, and his ears put back, but Lossing, with +a caressing hand upon his neck, continued his low, soothing syllables, +and let the animal walk the length of the long inclosure. + +Turning then, he sent him back at a gentle trot, which he increased +gradually, until he was careering around the arena in circles, which +became shorter and shorter, until he came to a halt in the centre of +the vast place. Then after a few more gentle words and light pats upon +the sleek neck, he bent over and suddenly drew the rein. Once, twice, +three times he gave that sharp pull, but the horse stood steadfast. +Turning in his saddle, he said something to the troopers who had drawn +near him, and then sat erect in his place, while three of the troopers +turned their horses and went careering around the motionless horse and +rider. Soon, at another word from Lossing, one of the men rode +alongside, while the others drew back. + +When the trooper had ranged himself at the side of Lossing's horse and +only a few feet away, Lossing nodded; and at the first tug at the rein +the trooper's well-trained animal went down and lay supine and +moveless. + +Then Lossing beckoned a second time, and as the fallen horse got up he +was caressed by Lossing, who leaned from his saddle to reach him, and +then led away, as the second trooper came up leading his horse. + +As the animals stood side by side Lossing dismounted, stood a moment +beside his refractory steed, and then, with a gentle pat and a low +word as if of reproof, he turned and, after patting the other animal a +moment, sprang to its back and sent it galloping around the place; +then bringing him back to place, and with a pat or two and a quick +'Now down!' threw him, sprang to his feet, and before the animal could +rise had again mounted the wayward horse. + +Once more he trotted slowly away, caressing and talking to the horse; +and then, suddenly wheeling him, he gave a cheery command and sent the +creature flying back, past his old place, and across the pavilion; +then turning and halting the horse before the group of officers, he +gave him a brisk pat, and said cheerily, 'Now down!' and, almost with +the word, the creature threw up its head and, with scarcely an +instant's hesitation, went over and lay quivering upon the ground. + +A cheer went up from the onlookers. But without loss of time Lossing +had the horse up, turned him about, and, seeing him quite fit and not +too nervous, remounted; and now the horse was obedient to his every +move or word. Twice more he threw him, and then, returning him to +Diggs, he said: + +'Diggs, a horse can be as jealous as a woman, and more easily shamed +than a boy. And if you are skilful, and love your horse, you can +master him; but beware of the first angry word. Anger makes brutes; it +never made an intelligent animal yet.' + +He took my arm, and with a bow and a shake of the head to the +officers, who were moving toward him, and a nod to the troopers, he +hurried me out of the pavilion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +'FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!' + + +June had passed and July had come. Mr. Trent had arrived and was +eating his heart out while the days dragged by. Miss Jenrys waited and +wondered, and wrote to Miss O'Neil letters which she tried to make +cheerful, until one day she received a telegram. Mrs. Trent no longer +needed her, and Hilda O'Neil was coming to Chicago. She would set out +on July 3. + +Of course I was summoned to meet her when she came, and I learned then +something about 'ordeal by question.' She was a pretty, brown-eyed, +gipsy-like, and petite maiden, more child than woman in her ways, but +with a warm, loving, and faithful heart, and a wit as bright and +ready almost as that of June Jenrys, who was, to my mind, the +cleverest as well as the queenliest of girls. + +Miss O'Neil's presence was a boon to the sad-hearted father, for she +would not despair; and nature having blessed her with a strong and +hopeful temperament, and an abounding faith in a final good, she kept +the father's heart from despairing utterly. + +Miss Jenrys, true to her word, had continued to receive Monsieur +Voisin, though she used much diplomacy in the matter, and seldom, if +ever, received him alone. + +Lossing and I often met him there, and as the days wore on I noted +that Lossing was growing melancholy, or at least more serious and +thoughtful than of old, and I attributed a part of this to Voisin's +ever courteous and too frequent presence in Washington Avenue. I was +much with him in these days. Every day almost would find us together +for a longer or less length of time, according to my occupation or +lack of it. + +One day, after a long and learned discussion of the water-crafts of +all countries, we, Lossing and myself, turned our steps toward the +Transportation Building to see a certain African brinba, sent all the +way from Banguella, Africa, and, to my eyes, a most unseaworthy craft. + +It was shortly after the noon hour, and Lossing and I had been +lunching with June Jenrys and her friend, by invitation, in +consequence of which I was not disguised, while Lossing, by command of +Miss Jenrys, had worn and still wore his guard's uniform. + +As we were passing from the main building into the annex I saw Lossing +start, and, looking up, beheld Monsieur Voisin standing alone in the +aisle, and evidently awaiting our approach. + +He was, as usual, smiling and affable, and 'overjoyed to meet with +congenial spirits.' He fell into step with us at once, and so we were +proceeding in the direction of the mammoth locomotive display, when +suddenly the alarm of fire rang out all about us, and the cry, 'Fire! +fire! fire!' seemed sounding everywhere in an instant. + +Following in the wake of a hundred others, we hastened out. + +We were not far from the scene of that awful conflagration, and we +rushed forward, as men do at such times, carried out of themselves +often and reckless of danger. + +Who can paint the story of that awful fire? What need to tell it? It +has passed out of history, and its victims to their rest and +recompense. + +The mourning caused by that hateful death-trap, the Cold Storage +Building, is known to all the world; the recklessness, the heroism, +the strict obedience to orders in the face of death, the horror, the +suffering, the loss of gallant lives, all these are known; and yet +there remains much that has never been told and never will be: tales +of reckless daring, of risks taken for humanity's sake, of kindly, +humane deeds unchronicled, and of cowardice, selfishness, +dishonourable acts that were better left unwritten. + +Among those who stood ready to aid, and who showed in that dreadful +time neither fear nor undue excitement, was Lossing. Where help was +needed his hands were ready, and it was not long, so ill-fitted was +the tindery edifice to resist the flames, before the worst had +happened, the tower had fallen, and the dead and dying, rather than +the burning structure, became the chief, almost the sole care of the +earnest workers, firemen and others. + +With the falling of the tower one end of the building, from top to +base, became enveloped in flames and smoke, and flying timbers borne +that way by the wind made the place especially dangerous. As the +blackened fragments fell, small wonder that, seen through the smoke +and fire, they were sometimes mistaken for human beings by those who +had seen brave men making that fearful leap. + +It was impossible to keep together in such a place, and we did not +attempt it; but as I now and then cast an anxious glance toward +Lossing, I noted that Voisin seemed to be all the time near him. + +It was some moments after the falling of the tower, and while it was +still believed that there were yet men upon the burning roof, that I +moved toward the end of the building, where the smoke was hanging like +a curtain over everything below, while lifting somewhat above, to +look, if possible, toward that part of the roof which might be yet +intact. Lossing and Voisin seemed to be eagerly watching something +perilously near the choking smoke and falling timbers, I thought, and +I shouted a warning to them just as a group of firemen crossed my +path. + +Almost at the instant a voice--it sounded like Voisin's--cried: + +'Look! there's a man!' + +In the hubbub of sounds the cry was not heard beyond me. I could not +have heard it a few feet farther away; but as it struck my ears I saw +Lossing look up, and, following his gaze with my own, I saw something +black and bulky, something that looked like an arm thrust out, as it +fell down and outward and into the thick smoke that obscured that end +of the building altogether. + +Was it a man falling there in the thick of that suffocating smoke? I +saw Lossing spring forward and dash into the midst of it, with Voisin +close behind, and then with a shudder I rushed after them, seeing +nothing, but entering where they had entered the smoke-cloud, and then +for an instant I paused and held my breath. + +The thing that had fallen lay in the thickest of the smoke, and over +it Lossing was just about to bend when I halted, seeing a sudden +movement on Voisin's part which made me clench my hands. + +For the moment, save for my unseen self, they were alone, shut in by +the shifting but never rising smoke, and in that moment, as Lossing +bent over to peer at the thing on the ground at his feet, the man just +behind him drew from his pocket something which I guessed at rather +than recognised, something which caused me to spring forward with my +fist clenched. + +It was the work of a moment to strike down the man who, in an instant, +with a criminal's basest weapon, would have stunned Lossing and left +him there in the choking smoke to be suffocated. + +As Voisin went down I had just enough strength and breath to catch +hold of Lossing and drag him out; and, in a moment, calling some +others to my aid, we went in after Voisin. + +As we lifted him the 'knuckles' dropped from his relaxed hand, and, +unnoticed in the smoke, I picked them up and hastily concealed them. +He was quite insensible, and a little stream of blood was trickling +from one side of his face, where he had struck upon some hard +substance in falling. + +As he lay upon the ground a sudden thought caused me to start; and I +bent down quickly, put my finger solicitously upon his wrist, and then +pushing back the dark hair, which always lay in a curving mass over +his brow, a little to one side, I laid bare a rather high forehead, +upon which, clearly defined, was an oblong scar quite close to the +roots of the concealing lovelock. Calling Lossing's attention to this, +I replaced the lock, smoothed it into place and arose. + +'Come away,' I said to Lossing, and leaving Voisin in the hands of +those about him for a moment, we withdrew to a place where we might +see and be unseen. I told Lossing of the attempt upon his life, and he +was not greatly surprised. + +'I ought to have been on my guard,' he said, 'for I think he caused me +that lagoon dip. But I was carried out of myself by this cursed +holocaust. What shall we do?' + +'Keep out of his sight, and let them take him to the hospital. He's +not seriously hurt. Possibly he's shamming, now; though he was +stunned, as well as half-suffocated.' + +It was as I surmised. Voisin opened his eyes after some time, and made +an effort to rise, but he seemed weak and dazed, and they withdrew him +from the place where he lay and made him comfortable in a sheltered +spot, to await the return of an ambulance, going back for a few +moments to note the progress of the fire. + +They were not long absent, but when they went back to their charge he +was not there, and a bystander had seen him rise, look about him, and +move away, at first slowly and then quite briskly, in the direction of +the Sixty-fourth Street entrance. + +I had persuaded Lossing to remain out of sight, and had myself viewed +Voisin's departure from afar, and when I reported the fact Lossing +exclaimed, 'Masters, this must end! That man must not be permitted to +visit Miss Jenrys after this!' + +'Rest easy,' I answered him. 'The villain will at once take measures +to learn the truth about you, and when he knows that you are not lying +somewhere on a cold slab awaiting recognition, he will know that his +matrimonial game is up,' I took a sidewise glance at Lossing as I +spoke the next words, 'and that one fortune at least has slipped +through his fingers.' + +His eyes, sombre and proud, at once turned slowly toward me as I +spoke. + +'Masters,' he said, 'I wish to heaven June Jenrys were as poor--as +poor as I am!' + +To this I had no answer ready, and we walked on for a short time in +silence. Then suddenly he stopped short. + +'Masters,' he asked, 'what was it that fell when I went into the +smoke, like an idiot?' + +'A piece of timber with a burning rag fluttering from it. A coat +thrown off by one of those poor fellows. Just the bait Voisin wanted,' +I replied. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +'IT SHALL NOT BE ALL SUSPENSE.' + + +Since the coming of Mr. Trent, who had secured rooms next door to the +house occupied by Miss Ross and her niece, it had become my habit to +pass an hour, more or less, in Miss Jenrys' parlours each day in the +afternoon or evening, as was most convenient, and often, besides Mr. +Trent, and of late Miss O'Neil, Lossing made one of the party; for he +had come to know as much, almost, as any one of us concerning Gerald +Trent's strange absence. + +On leaving the scene of the fire it was important that I should have a +few words with Dave Brainerd, and this done I was as ready to set out +for Miss Jenrys' cosy apartment as was Lossing; for I felt with him +that Monsieur Voisin must no longer be permitted to annoy the ladies, +even for the good of the cause in which I was so deeply interested. + +Imagine my surprise, then, when I learned privately, and from the lips +of Miss Ross, that Monsieur Voisin had been there in advance of us and +had gone. + +Seated in the little rear parlour, with the _portières_ drawn, the +clear-headed little Quakeress told me the story of his visit. + +I had observed upon entering that June Jenrys was not quite her usual +tranquil, self-possessed self; that her cheeks wore an unwonted flush, +and that her eyes were very bright and restless, while there seemed +just a shade of nervousness and a certain repressed energy in her +manner. + +Miss Ross had led me, with little ceremony, into the rear room, and +she lost no time, once we were seated. + +'I don't know what thee may have on thy mind this evening,' she began, +'but whatever it is, I will not detain thee long. Monsieur Voisin has +been here. He left, indeed, less than an hour ago. I have had a talk +with June since, and she has allowed me to tell you of his call. The +man came here between four and five o'clock.' + +In spite of myself I started. He had left the grounds with a bleeding +face, little more than an hour earlier. + +'He was pale, and at one side of his face was a small wound, neatly +dressed, and covered with a small strip of surgeon's plaster. He was +labouring, evidently, under some strong mental strain, and I was not +much surprised when he asked June for a private interview, and in such +a supplicating manner that she could hardly refuse. Of course he +proposed to her; and in a fashion that surprised her; his pleading was +so desperate, his manner so almost fierce. He begged her to take time; +he implored her to reconsider; and he went away at last like a man +utterly desperate. At the last he forgot himself and charged her with +caring for an adventurer; a penniless fortune-hunter who might forsake +her at any moment; and then he recounted word for word the things said +in that conservatory episode; the things that were imparted to Mr. +Lossing.' + +'The scoundrel!' + +'Even so. This was too much for June's temper. She ordered him out of +her presence, and in going he uttered some strange words, the purport +of them being that before leaving this place she might find that Mr. +Lossing had vanished out of her life and gone back to a more congenial +career, and that she might be glad to turn to him to beg such favours +as no other man could grant, and he ended by saying that had she put +him in the place of friend and confidant rather than you, he might +have made straight the crooked places that were troubling the peace of +herself and some of her friends.' + +I was fairly aglow with excitement when she paused, and I told her at +once my story of the day's happenings. + +'Tell Miss Jenrys,' I said, 'that I can, at the right time, explain +all the riddles he has astonished her with, and ask her to be patient +yet a little longer.' + +And then I went back to the others, to tell Mr. Trent and Hilda O'Neil +that I had now traced the kidnappers of young Trent so closely that I +had only to sift one block of a certain street to find the gang and, I +believed, their victim; and, in spite of wonder and question, I would +tell them no more. + +One of the next morning's papers contained this interesting item, +followed up by a copy of the letter sent by Mr. 'E. Roe, On the +Square,' to Mr. Trent: + + 'THE TRENT MYSTERY. + + 'There is hope that the mystery of the disappearance of + young Gerald Trent of Boston may soon be cleared up. And + there is reason for thinking that the enemy is weakening. + Not long since a letter, signed by the familiar name of + "Roe," was received by Mr. Trent and promptly handed over to + the officers. This letter we print herewith. Mr. Trent is + now in this city, and there have been singular discoveries + of late. It is quite probable that Mr. Trent even now will + compromise the matter provided his son is returned to him + safe and unharmed. For, strange as it may seem, to expose + and punish the miscreants, it would be necessary to bring + into prominence two ladies of fortune and high social + standing, who innocently and unwittingly have been made to + play a part in this strange affair. For their sakes, + doubtless, a quiet compromise and transfer will end this + most singular affair. The "Roe" letter reads as follows.' + + * * * * * + +Here, of course, came the letter which Miss O'Neil had copied at +length for her friend, and which, in the original, had been sent by +Mr. Trent to me. + +When this notice had been read by the ladies and by Mr. Trent, I was +besieged for an explanation of what seemed to them 'an unwarranted +withdrawal from the battle'; but my purpose once explained, they were +readily appeased and their faith in me restored. + +It was true that I had tracked the 'clique' to very close quarters, +but it was one thing to know that in one house, out of half a dozen, +were lodged all, or a part, of the gang, and it was another thing to +move upon them in such a way as to secure them all, and at the same +time rescue and save young Trent, if he were really in that unknown +house, and really alive. It was this problem that was taxing all my +ingenuity, and which, as yet, I had not quite solved. + +I had called alone on this afternoon, Lossing being on guard, and when +the newspaper sensation had been explained and I was about to go, Miss +Ross, with whom I had grown quite confidential, walked with me to the +outer door. + +'Friend Masters,' she said gently, 'I wish thee could tell me +something about young Mr. Lossing. The words flung out by Monsieur +Voisin were malicious words, and meant to do harm. But are they not +partly true? June is a proud girl, but I am sure she feels this +reserve of his, and he is reserved. I love the lad; he seems the soul +of truth. But there is a strangeness, a part that is untold. My +friend, you whom we call upon for everything, can you not make +straight this crooked place, too?' + +She put out her hand and smiled upon me, but her gentle voice was full +of appeal; and I took the hand and held it between my own while I +answered: + +'I believe I can do it, Miss Ross; and I surely will try, and that at +once. It shall not be all suspense.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +SIR CARROLL RAE. + + +I was tired with thinking and planning and loss of sleep, and that +night I led Lossing away, an easy captive, to the gondola station by +the Art Gallery. He had been in low spirits all day, and had not +presented himself at Washington Avenue since I had told him of +Voisin's visit there, which I did, word for word, just as Miss Ross +had related it to me, and with a purpose. + +He was a reserved fellow, and I quite agreed with Miss Ross it was +time for him to throw off his reserve; so, after I had assured myself +that our gondoliers had made no choice collection of 'pidgin English,' +I began to talk, first of Voisin and then of June Jenrys. Suddenly I +turned toward him. + +'Lossing, pardon the question, but have you ever known Voisin previous +to your meeting in New York?' + +'I?' abstractedly. 'W--why, Masters?' + +'Well, it might easily have been, you know. A man meets so many when +he travels much.' + +'Oh!' with a short laugh; 'and I, you fancy, have travelled much?' + +'Why, Lossing, the fact in your case is evident--in your manner, +speech, everything.' And I went back to Voisin, and his audacity in +addressing Miss Jenrys, finishing by calling him a 'fortune-hunting +adventurer.' + +Lossing pulled off his cap, and perching it upon his knee, turned his +fair head to look up and down the water-way, and then faced me +squarely. + +'Masters, that's precisely what the fellow called me.' + +'Nonsense!' I said sharply. + +'And isn't it true?' + +'Not in my eyes.' + +He was silent for a time, then: + +'Masters,' he began, 'I've been on the point of opening my heart to +you more than once. I am discouraged. I have wooed, yes, and won, June +Jenrys with hardly a thought of how I could care for her or for +myself. Gad! How thoughtless and selfish I have been! And yet you will +think me an ass when I say that, up to this moment, I have never +troubled myself nor been troubled about money matters. So help me +heaven, Masters, I never once thought of her fortune, or my lack of +it, in all my wooing of June Jenrys!' + +'I don't doubt it,' I said easily, 'not in the least. It's not in +nature that you should be, at your age, half man and half financial +machine. It's contrary to your education.' And, smiling inwardly, I +began deliberately to fold a cigarette paper. + +'My education!' He turned upon me sharply. 'What--I beg your pardon, +Masters, but what the deuce do you know about my education?' + +'I'm a very observing person,' I replied amiably; 'haven't you noticed +it?' + +He was silent so long that, when I had finished making my cigarette +and lighted it, I asked, after a puff or two: 'Lossing, is there +anything I can say or do that will help you? I see that you are +troubled. If it's money only, bless me, your talents will stand you in +money's stead. Brains have a money value in this country, you know.' + +It was more than I at first meant to say. I was treading on delicate +ground, and I knew it. + +'Brains! Well, there it is! There's where my "education," as you say, +stands in the way. It's no use, Masters, our points of view are not +the same. To understand mine you must know what my past has been. That +would convince you how little my brain could be relied upon to stand +me in lieu of a fortune in this pushing, rushing, electric America of +yours. And my story--well, if I am to tell it, I must tell it to her +first, and--good heavens!' he groaned, 'when I have told it, I shall +seem to her more like a fortune-hunter than even now.' + +He was in the depths, and if I meant to speak first, now was my time. +I tossed my cigarette into the water, and sat erect and facing him. + +'What would you give,' I asked slowly, 'if I could show you a way +out--a safe and right and happy way?' + +'Give! Man alive! I'd give you my gratitude all my life long, first, +and after that anything you could ask and I could grant. +But--pshaw!--I know you're immensely clever, Masters, and I know +you're my friend, but----' + +'There, don't say anything that you will have to retract; and now, I +won't presume to advise you, sir,' very respectfully, 'but if I were +in your place I would either go to June Jenrys and tell her my whole +story, or else let me tell it to her.' + +'Let you!' + +'And in going, to pave the way, if I were you, I would send in my +card, and that card should read, "Sir Carroll Rae."' + +The murder was out now, and before he could recover from his surprise +I launched into my story, telling of my chief's letter, and of the one +from Sir Hugo Rae which accompanied it, also of the vivid description +which set me to staring at all good-looking blonds. + +'My meeting with you in Midway, when you inquired after Miss Jenrys so +anxiously, was my first clue,' I said. 'On that occasion I noted that +you answered the description very well, also that you were not an +American.' He looked at me surprised. 'Oh, your English is perfect; +but it's neither Yankee nor yet Mason and Dixon's English. It's very +fine and polished, but it's different. Oh, I never mistook you for an +American, Sir Carroll Rae; but I might not have given heed to that +first clue, had I not read Miss Jenrys' letter to Hilda O'Neil; then I +said, "Suppose the good-looking guard is this Mr. Lossing, and that +Lossing is Rae?" And then I began to cultivate you.' + +'Ah! I begin to understand.' + +'Then,' I went on, 'came other tests. Rae was an athlete; Lossing +knocked out a lunch-room beat scientifically, Rae possessed a high and +rich tenor voice; so, I found, did Lossing.' + +'When?' he interposed. + +'On the night you--ahem--fell into the lagoon. I heard you near the +band-stand singing in the chorus.' + +'I see!' + +'Then Rae was a fine rider. Lossing can ride also, even a British +cavalry nag. In fine, I studied you from first to last, supposing you +to be Rae, a member of the English aristocracy.' + +'Oh, I say!' + +'There you go! An American never would say that. Every word of yours, +every act pointed to the same conclusion. You were all that a young +Englishman of good family and fortune should be; and so, Sir +Carroll----' + +'Stop! It gives me actual pleasure to find one flaw in your wonderful +summing-up. I am not Sir Carroll. Sir Hugo, my half-brother, bears the +title, and Sir Hugo and I saw little of each other and were never +warm friends.' + +'One moment, Sir Carroll. Since that first letter from England, my +chief has received another. Sir Hugo is dead.' + + * * * * * + +When he had recovered somewhat from the surprise and shock--for a +shock it was, in truth--he told how, being left to the guardianship of +his elder brother--Sir Hugo was fifteen years the elder--he had yet +seen little of him, Sir Hugo being seldom at home for long. + +'Sir Hugo's mother, the first Lady Rae, died when he was a lad, and +there were no other children by that marriage,' he said. 'My mother +inherited consumption, and three sisters, all my elders, died in +childhood. My mother died when I was a babe, and I was given to the +care of Lady Lossing, my mother's elder and favourite sister. I grew +to manhood in her house at Dulnith Hall, or in London. When Sir Hugo +took possession at last he developed a tyrannical temper. He did not +choose to marry, and so I must do so. He selected a wife for me, an +heiress, of course, and not too young nor pretty, though an English +gentlewoman, and a fit wife for a king, if he loved her, which I did +not. + +'Well, we quarrelled bitterly. I threatened to come to America, and he +bade me go and never to return while he lived. Now, my father had left +me nothing, only commending me to Sir Hugo's generosity, which, so +long as I consulted his wishes, was free enough. Of my own I had a few +hundred pounds left me by my mother. I took that and came to this +country. I was introduced into society by a fellow-countryman, who +thought my change of name a mere lark, and who soon went home, and +then straightway I fell in love with June Jenrys.' + +'Well,' I said, after signalling one of the gondoliers to row us to +shore, 'I have showed you the way out; have I earned my reward, Sir +Carroll Rae?' + +With a swift movement he caught my hand between both his own. + +'Best of friends,' he exclaimed, 'you can never ask of me a favour +that I will not grant, if given the ability to do so; and now----' + +'And now,' I echoed as our boat came to the landing, 'there is yet +time for you to make that delayed call upon the ladies.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +FOUND DEAD. + + +On the morning of the second day after the publication of the letter +signed E. Roe, I awoke at an early hour, after a night passed, for the +most part, in thinking and planning. + +As the small hours began once more to grow long, and I had reached at +last some definite conclusions, I had fallen asleep, but not for long. +Sunrise found me awake and astir. + +Dave had been out all night, and I was eager for his return. I wanted +his co-operation and his encouragement. I wanted to tell him my plans +and to hear the result of his night's reconnaissance in the vicinity +of the suspected houses. + +But whatever his success or lack of it, my morning's programme was +laid out. I should 'let no grass grow beneath my feet' until I had +taken out warrants of arrest for the 'gang.' + +Of charges against them there were enough and to spare; but to make +my final success more sure, it would be best, I knew, not to alarm +them to the extent of letting them see that their deepest and +wickedest game was known. For this purpose it would be well, I knew, +to take them first upon separate charges. + +Greenback Bob, I decided, should be arrested upon the charge of +counterfeiting, with no specified dates or names. Delbras we would +charge with an attempt to pass counterfeit money, or with the attempt +to swindle Farmer Camp. Smug should figure as a confidence man. And +the brunette, whether appearing as man or woman, should be accused of +masquerading. And to complete the list, I would also procure a warrant +which should charge Monsieur Voisin with an assault upon Sir Carroll +Rae. + +Smiling at the thought of the surprise this last name would occasion, +I closed my door and was turning the key in the lock when Brainerd +came hastily up the stairs and toward me. + +'Masters,' he said hurriedly, 'you're wanted at once. Come along!' And +turning, he ran back down the stairs, and awaited me at the foot. + +'What's up?' I asked, when I had reached his side. + +'Dead man,' was his laconic answer as he caught my arm and hurried me +along. 'Found this morning. I want you to take a look at him.' + +'Why must I look at him?' I persisted. + +'See if you know him, of course!' and to prevent any further +inquisitiveness on my part he began to tell me how the body had been +found at early dawn by two 'honest and early-rising Columbian Guards,' +lying in the mouth of an alley upon Stony Island Avenue. + +'Shot?' I ventured. + +'Not much! Strangled!' He glanced over his shoulder and lowered his +voice. 'And the queer thing is, Murphy and I were through that same +alley, from end to end, after midnight. He was not there then. There +were four of us within a block of that place all night. Neither he nor +his assailants could have passed by on the street.' + +'Ergo?' I queried. + +'Ergo, being out all night, and so near, Murphy and I were the first +persons the guards met after finding the body. So, while one of them +ran to the station we went to the alley, where the other stood on +guard. The body lay upon ground where ashes had been thrown, and +thickly too. We could see his footprints plainly. Small they were, and +others--two others--one long and slim, the other shorter and broader. +They're covered at this moment with dry-goods boxes, open end down, +with a big policeman sitting upon them. They couldn't take a cast in +those soft ashes.' + +'Has the body been identified?' + +'There was nothing upon the body by which to identify, but it had not +been robbed. There was money and valuables in a pocket, and--a belt.' + +I saw that, for some reason, Dave did not want to give me further +information, even if he possessed it. And knowing him too well to +press my questions, I remained silent until we had reached our +destination. + +When we were in the presence of the dead, and the covering was about +to be lifted from the face, a sudden shock and thrill came over me, +and I hesitated for just an instant, feeling a sudden dread and +reluctance at the thought of what I might see, yet neither knowing nor +guessing. + +Then slowly the officer drew away the covering, and I moved a step +nearer. + +'Good heavens!' There was that natty suit of dark blue, the slight and +short figure, the olive-skin and close-cropped hair that I had seen +often. + +'Do you know him?' asked Dave. + +'Not by name,' I replied, and then I turned away to collect my +thoughts. + +It was the brunette who lay there before me, clad now as when last we +met at the Ferris Wheel, in the garb of a man. + +There he lay, slender and youthful of face and form, with the small, +clean-cut features that had made it so easy to masquerade as a dashing +brunette; the keen black eyes, seen through half-closed lids, were +staring and inscrutable, and the black marks where something had been +drawn so tightly about his neck as almost to cut into the flesh were +horrible to see. + +'I do not know his name,' I again assured the officer in charge. 'I +have seen him several times disguised as a woman, and once only in the +attire in which he now lies dead. I have taken note of him as a +suspected person, and I have believed him to be a man since June 7,' +and I related briefly my reasons for this belief. But I did not make +known my belief in the dead man's connection with a gang of dangerous +criminals. There was time enough for that. Nor did I give voice to the +belief, swiftly taking shape in my mind, that he had met his death at +the hands of his comrades, and because of the letter I had caused to +appear in the morning papers two days before--the letter of 'E. Roe, +On the Square.' + +The body of course must go to the Morgue and the coroner, and I told +the officer where I might be found or heard of, if wanted for the +inquest, and then we withdrew. + +'I was quite sure it was your brunette,' declared Dave, now grown +communicative. 'Not by recognition; you know, I only saw "her" once +and then at some distance, but thanks to the honest guards and +ourselves--Murphy and I, that is--the body was not rifled, and I +myself helped to search the pockets, at the sergeant's orders, and to +examine the belt he wore. That gave me my clue; in it were half a +dozen more of Lausch's dew-drop sparklers, unless I am much mistaken, +and two more of the pink topaz lot. He seemed to vary in his way of +carrying his treasures.' + +'I think I can explain that,' I said. 'When he carried that chamois +bag, while disguised as a woman, he meant, no doubt, before laying +aside the disguise, to negotiate the sale of them, and so had them in +readiness. He carried the emerald, you remember, and the other things +he sold and tried to sell, in a little bag, so the tradesman said.' + +'Well!' said Dave ruefully; 'one of the gang has slipped through our +fingers in a way we did not look for. Have you a theory that will +account for this, Carl?' + +I turned upon him almost fiercely. + +'I have, and so have you, Dave Brainerd. I don't for one moment doubt +that my mistaken policy has brought this murder about, and you can see +how it has complicated things. When I found through the brunette's +note--I can't seem to find any other name for him--that in all +probability we knew the men who had made away with Trent, I thought +the game was almost in our hands, and now----' I dropped my head +dejectedly. + +'And now we're a good deal mixed,' supplemented Dave dryly. 'We're in +a dilemma!' + +It was indeed a dilemma, if no worse. + +When Miss Jenrys had put that note from the 'little brunette' into my +hand, I had opened it with scant interest, for I only desired through +this medium to keep, if possible, some trace of her--or him. When I +opened the letter and saw the small, sharp, and much-slanted +handwriting, I almost exclaimed aloud in my surprise. + +The writing was the counterpart of that of the letter written to Mr. +Trent, and opened by his daughter and Hilda O'Neil--the letter +proposing a way to liberate Gerald Trent! + +I could hardly wait until I could compare the two, and verify my +belief, and then I had at once told my discovery to Brainerd. + +If the brunette were indeed one of the 'clique' who had kidnapped or +murdered Trent, then that clique was composed of the very men we were +hunting down, and we were nearer to the truth concerning Gerald Trent +than we had dared to hope or dream. + +It was a great discovery. It put a new face upon everything. And then +the question arose: How could we best make use of this new knowledge? +How quickest secure the miscreants, fasten this last, worst crime upon +them, and rescue Trent, if he yet lived? + +And then the previously discussed project of making public the +brunette's letter--for the handwritings were identical, and we never +doubted that the brunette and 'E. Roe' were one and the same--was +again canvassed. + +'It's the thing to do!' Dave had declared. 'We are close upon the +scent, and what we now want is a clue, just that. They are so secure +now, they go and come so seldom, and with such system! And if we make +a dash and do go wrong, they are warned; and now that we know our men, +we know that rather than be taken tamely, or be betrayed by the +presence of a prisoner, they would resort to desperate measures. Let's +advertise this Mr. Roe and his letter; it will show them that they +have an enemy at home, it will disturb their fancied security; they +will begin to quarrel among themselves and forget their caution. Some +of them will show themselves and show us the way to the rest.' + +What I had counted on was the clause referring to the young ladies, +which I had published after much hesitation. This, more than all else, +would tell the man I believed to be at the head of this scoundrel +band that he was known. He would understand the meaning of that +particular sentence. He might see in it and the rest an actual bid for +a compromise, and so become less cautious and vigilant. In fact, as +Dave declared, 'the publication of the letter and its attendant +statements was meant for a bait.' + +Having decided upon this course, we had agreed to keep our discovery a +secret until we had made this first experiment; and while awaiting +results we would not discontinue our efforts to locate our party, by +which we meant to make sure that our attack, when made, would find +them all, or at least the chief personages, under one roof; for my +belief that by devious ways this 'clique' came together regularly, if +not nightly, with their headquarters under one roof, and that roof not +far away, was strong. + +The fact that we were about to exploit the Roe letter had in itself +aroused fresh hopes in the hearts of Hilda O'Neil and the father of +Gerald Trent, and we decided to keep the important fact that the +letter had revealed to us between ourselves. + +For a few days it should be known to none but our two selves; +meantime, from those few days we hoped for much. + +We had hoped much; and, after two days of waiting, something had +happened indeed! The little brunette who had been so mysteriously +interested in June Jenrys, who had shown herself, and himself, an +active member of the 'clique,' lay dead at the Morgue, murdered--by +whom? + +'I can't look at it as an unmitigated misfortune,' declared Dave, in +reply to some of my self-condemnatory moralizing. 'Let us admit that +the fellow's letter did cause his death. Wasn't it because he wrote it +quite as much or more than because you printed it? And even grant you +it was your deed, all of it, haven't you been labouring to get that +chap where he could do no more harm? Mark me! if we ever learn who +that lad is, he will prove to be one of the outlaws that the gaol and +the halter were especially meant for.' + +This I could not doubt, and I took such comfort in it as I might. + +Of course the detective who had been in search of the brunette was at +once summoned, through Dave and myself, and the only information +brought out by the inquest was that which, between us, we gave. He was +a 'crook,' and would have been arrested by myself, had he lived, upon +a charge of masquerading in woman's dress while carrying out illegal +schemes. Corey, the only name I shall dare give the clever Chicago +detective, declared the body to be that of a person, name unknown, for +whom he held a warrant upon a charge of robbery; and, lying dead in +the Morgue, the 'little brunette' was arraigned and proven guilty of +participating in the Lausch diamond robbery, of World's Fair fame, and +a portion of the spoil was produced as having been found upon his +person. The jewels were duly turned over to Monsieur Lausch, who had +now recovered nearly, if not quite, half of the jewels he had lost, +these all having been in the possession of the brunette. + +Between the event of the morning and the hour of the inquest I had +been busy, and when it was over I hastened to my room to arm myself +with certain papers and intent upon securing the warrants, all save +one, for which I had so lately planned. + +At the door of my room a tall figure awaited me, and when I recognised +it as that of one of my chief's most trusted 'stand-bys,' who seldom +left New York, I began to wonder. + +He had been directed to my quarters, he said, and finding the +surroundings to his liking, had awaited me there. He was not slow in +making known his business, and he began with the query: + +'Have you got Delbras?' + +I had, of course, sent regular reports to my chief, and a week +previous had informed him that we were on the trail of the Frenchman, +and I answered: + +'Not yet; but I mean to have a warrant out for him within an hour.' + +'Don't waste your time,' advised Jeffrys. 'I have a warrant and all +the necessary extras in my pocket. I have been in Chicago long enough +for that.' And he made haste to tell me how our chief had lately +received from France papers authorizing the arrest of Delbras, +wherever found, upon the charge of murder. The French police had +worked out, at last, a solution to the mysterious murder in the Rue de +Grammont. + +The victim, one Laure Borin, was found in her apartment stabbed in +half a dozen places, and a tall, dark man, name unknown, was searched +for in vain for many weeks. + +At last the crime was traced to Delbras, through the revelations of a +second woman, who, finding that the man she had believed in hiding had +really crossed the ocean and left her behind, had at once avenged +herself by putting into the hands of the police the means by which +they had traced the crime home to Delbras. + +'You must not arrest the fellow,' Jeffrys had said. 'Leave that to me. +I have everything--extradition and all--and in Paris they'll not fail +to execute him.' + +This last argument had its weight. I could not speak with equal +certainty of the formality which we call 'trial by jury,' but I began +to feel that the fate of the 'clique,' in one way or another, was +being rapidly taken out of our hands. + +One thing was assured; Jeffrys must wait and move with us; any effort +of his to secure Delbras alone would endanger our chances for securing +the rest. + +Before going further with Jeffrys I felt that I must consult Dave. He +had left me at noon to go back to Stony Island Avenue, where half a +dozen places, each more or less 'shady,' were being constantly +watched. Leaving Jeffrys to look at the wonders nearest at hand for an +hour, and this he was quite ready to do, I set out in search of my +friend and fellow-worker, wondering a little what he would think and +say of this new turn of affairs. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +'A MERCYFUL DISPENSAYSHUN.' + + +As I left the Exposition grounds and came out upon Stony Island Avenue +I looked at my watch, for I had in mind much that I wished to +accomplish before night came on. It was nearing three o'clock, and I +hastened my steps. + +Glancing about as I put away my watch, in the hope that I might see +Billy or Dave, as they from time to time shifted their place of +observation, I saw, to my annoyance, on the opposite side, but coming +toward me almost directly across the street, Mrs. Camp. Her eyes were +fixed upon me, and when she had reached the middle of the highway she +waved her arm in frantic gesture, which, in spite of my haste, brought +me to an instant standstill, knowing as I did that she was quite +capable of shouting out my name should her signal be ignored. + +As she came nearer I saw that her eyes were staring wildly, and her +face wore a look so strange and excited that for a moment I feared +that the marvels of Chicago and the Fair had unsettled her reason, and +her first words did not altogether reassure me. + +'If this ain't a mercyful dispensayshun,' she panted, stopping +squarely before me, 'then I don't know what is! I was goin' to hunt +ye up jest as fast as feet c'd travel, an' I never spected to be so +thankful for knowin' a perlece officer ez I be ter-day. My!' catching +her breath and hurrying on; 'if I couldn't 'a' seen to gittin' them +wretches arristed afore night, I'd 'a' had a nightmare sure, an' never +slep' a wink!' + +'Mrs. Camp,' I broke in, 'not so loud, please.' + +'Ugh!' The woman suddenly dropped her loud tone and looked nervously +around. She was trembling with excitement, and the colour came and +went in her tanned cheeks. + +And now, to my surprise, I noted dangling from her arm beneath the +loose wrap, which she wore very much askew, a black something, which, +as she lifted her arm to pass her hand across her twitching lips, I +perceived was an ear-trumpet attached to a long black tube such as is +used by the deaf, and my fears for her sanity were increased. + +'Mrs. Camp,' I said, in a soothing tone, 'you seem exhausted; let me +take you to your rooms, if they are not too far, and you can talk +after resting.' + +Something in my tone or look must have enlightened her as to my +thoughts, for she suddenly broke into a short, nervous laugh. + +'Oh, I ain't crazy! Though I don't blame ye if ye thought so,' she +said, with an attempt at composure. 'I was comin' to see ye, and it's +important. I was goin' to that Miss Jenrys, but I forgot the number +her aunt give me, and so I struck right out for that office where Adam +and me met ye that first time when I wanted ye arristed right off, ye +know. But, land! I be actin' like a plum fool. Come right along!' She +caught my arm and turned me about. 'My place ain't fur, and I s'pose +we can't talk in the streets.' + +I began to fear that I should not easily escape her, and moved on +beside her, her hand still gripped upon my arm as if for support. + +'I shan't open my head ag'in,' she said as we went, 'till we git +there.' And she did not, but when we had reached her door and I was +about to make an excuse, and after seeing her safe indoors hasten on +in my search for Dave, she said, much more like her usual self: + +'Come right in now and find out what kind of a detective I'd make if I +had a chance. It's your business, too, I guess;' and then, as I seemed +to hesitate, 'an' it's about that counterfittin' man.' + +Suddenly, somehow, the notion of her insanity vanished from my mind, +and I followed her into the house. + +She opened a door near the entrance, and, after peeping in, threw it +wide. + +'It's the parlour of the hull fambily,' she explained as I entered, +'and I'm thankful it ain't ockerpied jest now, for our room ain't +more'n half as big.' + +It was the tiniest of parlours, but not ill-furnished, and the moment +she had dragged forward a chair for me, after the manner of the +country hostess, and had made sure that the door was close shut, she +drew a small 'rocker' close to my own seat and began eagerly: + +'I've had an adventer to-day, a reg'lar story-book sort of one. It's +made me pretty nervous and excited like, and I hope you'll excuse +that; but I'm going to tell it to you the quickest way, for, 'nless +I'm awful mistook, them folks'll git out quick's they find out who I +be, or who I ain't, one or t'other.' + +'My time----' I began, hoping to hasten her story, but she went on +hurriedly: + +'Ye see, Camp has got so sot and took up with them machines, and +windmills, and dead folks, and dry bones down to'rds that south pond +that he ain't no company for nobody no more; so this afternoon--we +didn't neither one go out this mornin', for we'd been to see Buffaler +Bill las' night, and we was tuckered all out--so this afternoon I +went with Camp down street instead of goin' the t'other way, for he +thought 'twould be a good idee to go in a new gate; but somehow when +we got there I didn't feel much like goin' in, seemed like 'twould be +sich a long tramp, and I jest left him at the gate and sa'ntered back, +thinkin' I'd rest like an' be fresh for a good long day to-morrer.' + +'Yes,' I said, as she seemed waiting for my comment, 'I see.' + +'Wal, I come along slow, and right down by--wall, I'll show you the +place, I'm awful bad 'bout rememberin' names; but when I'd got more'n +half-way home, an' was 'most up to a house that stood close to the +street, I see the door begin to open, real careful at first, an' then +quick; an' then out of the house came a tall man. He didn't look back, +but I c'd see there was some one behind him, an' then the door shet. +The man come down the steps, an' then he seemed to see me, an' a'most +stopped. I tell ye I was glad then that I had on these.' + +She thrust her hand into her pocket and drew out a pair of those +smoked-glass spectacles so much affected by sight-seers at the Fair, +and I was forced to smile at the strange metamorphosis of her face +when she put them on and turned it toward me. With the small, sharp +eyes, her most characteristic feature, concealed, the face became +almost a nonentity. + +'Would you 'a' knowed me?' she demanded. + +'I think not.' + +'Wal, I guess he didn't; anyhow, he give me a sort of inquirin' look +an' started off ahead of me. An' who d'ye s'pose he was?' + +I shook my head, anxious only that she should get on with the story. + +'Wal, as sure as my name's Hanner Camp, 'twas that feller 't changed +the money fer Camp; the furriner one that I see in that Cayrow house; +the one with the hands!' + +'But--you said----' + +'Yes, I know I did; but I studied it all over, an' I wa'n't mistook, +not a mite! That feller jest went through an' out the back door, and +changed his clo's somewhar, an' came back playin' gentleman. But, I +tell ye, I knowed them hands! 'Twas him I seen come out of that door +to-day.' + +'Are you sure?' + +'Sartin sure!' + +'Then--wait one moment. Did you see him go far? Where did you see him +last?' + +'Wal, there--there was an alley next to the house, and acrost that was +another house, and then a saloon. He went into the saloon.' + +'Oh!' This was the answer I had hoped for. 'Pray go on, Mrs. Camp.' + +'I'm goin' to. You know I said there was a man come and shet the door; +wal, I got jest a glimpse of him at the door, and it kind o' started +me, and I came by real slow, a-lookin' at the house. I noticed that +every winder in the front was shet, and the curtains down, all but +one, and that was the front one next the alley; that was open half-way +and the curtain was up. I couldn't see inside, but jest as I came +oppersite the winder a man's face popped right out of it for jest a +minit, lookin' the way the other feller went, and then it popped out +o' sight ag'in; but I had seen it square!' + +'Who was it?' I demanded, now thoroughly aroused. + +'It was that feller that was so perlite to Camp and me the time you +was arristed; the Sunday-school feller.' + +I started to my feet, and sat down again. She had been doing detective +work indeed! I thought I could understand it all. This was the house +we had for days suspected and watched, but the only one ever seen to +enter it had been Greenback Bob. Doubtless the murder of the brunette +made them so uneasy that, contrary to custom, Delbras had ventured out +by day, probably to learn what he could of the movements of the +officers. I turned to Mrs. Camp. + +'Mrs. Camp,' I began earnestly, 'I am going to confide in you. Those +men belong to a gang of robbers and murderers; we have been watching +them for weeks. Fortunately, you have come upon them in such a way as +to locate their hiding-place; you can help us very much if you will +try to recall everything just as you saw it there, and will answer a +few questions, when you have told your story. Or--is this all?' + +'All! I guess it ain't all; an' I guess you won't need to ask many +questions when I get through!' I nodded, and she went on rapidly: + +'When I see that feller dodge back and shet the winder, I remembered +what you had said about him and the others, and 'bout their tellin' +me, to that office, how you was a detective yourself; and I jest sez +to myself, says I, "I'm goin' to try an' git another look at that +house;" so I went on past it till I come to a little store, and I went +in an' bought ten cents' worth of green tea, and when I comes out I +goes back, jest as if I was going home with my shoppin'. By the way, +you ain't seemed to notice these new clo's.' + +I had noted the black gown and cape-like mantle she wore, both plain, +but neat and not an ill fit; and I had also wondered how she had +happened to discard her old straw hat with the lopping green bows for +the simple dark bonnet she wore, but she did not wait for my +criticism. + +'I'll tell you how't come,' she went on. 'I ain't blind, and I'd been +a-noticin' the difference 'twixt my clo's and some of the rest of +'em; and I was specially took with them plain gownds them ladies wore +that you interduced me to that day; an' I jest studied on it, and sort +o' calkalated the expense, and then went up to the stores. I wanted a +gray rig, like that Miss Ross had on, but I couldn't get none to fit, +an' the young lady told me 't black was dredful fash'nable now, so I +got this rig; an' 'twas lucky I did ter-day.' + +What could she mean by this diversion? I was growing uneasy when she +uttered the last words. 'Yes?' I said feebly. + +'I s'pose you wonder what I'm drivin' at?' she queried. 'Well, it's +comin'. Ye see, I was wearin' these clo's, and the goggles, as I call +'em, when I went sa'nterin' past that house; but I hadn't got to it, +nor even to the s'loon yet, when a cab--one of them two-wheeled +things, you know, with the man settin' up behind to drive.' + +I nodded. + +'Wal, it drove up, an' the man opened the door, right in front of that +house, an' out got a woman; she was bigger than me, and all drest in +black, an' she looked sort of familiar, an' jest as I was wonderin' +who she made me think of, an' she was a-paying the driver, up comes +another cab, tearin', and out hopped two fat, red-faced perlecemen, +an' there was a little squabble like, an' the woman flung herself +round so't I could see her face, an' then I knew her.' + +She paused as if for comment, but I was now too much amazed for words. + +'I knew her in a minit,' she resumed, 'an' it was that woman that come +stridin' into that rug place in Cayrow Street that day. She hadn't no +long swingin' veil on this time, and she didn't look nigh so big +'longside them big perlecemen. She had give up quiet enough when she +seen she had to; an' they put her into the cab an' drove away, with +t'other one behind 'em. I walked pretty slow, so as not to come right +into the rumpus, an' I thought, as I come acrost the alley, that I see +somethin' a-layin' by the side-walk on the outside. I looked round, +and seein' that every last winder was as dark as black, I stooped down +to look at the things, an' here they air.' And she shook out with one +hand a long black veil which she had drawn from her pocket, and held +out with the other the snake-like speaking-tube. + +'I c'n see you're in a hurry,' she said, dropping the veil and tube +into her lap, 'an' I'll git to the pint now, right off. I wa'n't never +no coward, and I jest ached to find out what them fellows was up to. +Mebbe if I'd stopped to think I wouldn't have run the risk, but while +I stood there with them things in my hand a idee popped into my mind. +I looked round; there wasn't a soul near me, an' the winders was all +dark, so't nobody could see me from the house, and of course they +hadn't seen the woman git arristed an' took away. We didn't look much +alike, but I thought mebbe they'd let me in, thinkin' 'twas her; and +when I got in I'd tell 'em I'd found the trumpet at their door, and +p'r'aps, if I felt like it, I'd say I'd seen a gentleman to the winder +that I was 'quainted with; that is if he didn't come to the door. +Anyhow, I thought I'd try to make sure it 'twas him I see at the +winder.' + +I shuddered at her cool recital of such a daring venture; and yet I +could see how, with her country training, she would see nothing so +very serious or dangerous in thus thrusting herself into a strange +house, gossip-like, 'to find out what was goin' on.' She took up the +trumpet. + +'I was used to these things,' she said, 'for my aunt on my mother's +side used to live with me; she was a old maid an' she used one. +Stone-deef she was, a'most, but I didn't think then o' usin' this. +When I got onto the top step I felt 'most like runnin' off all of a +sudden, but I set my teeth and give the bell a jerk. 'Twa'n't long +before the door opened jest a crack, and I see an eye lookin' out. I +meant to git inside before I said anything, so I kind o' give the +speakin' trumpet, hangin' over my arm, a shake; it was 'most hid under +the veil, you know; and then the door opened wider, and I see a woman. +My! the palest, woe-begon'dest woman I'd ever see, 'most. "Oh!" she +says, in a shaky, scairt sort o' voice, "come in quick." She looked so +peaked and strange I jest stood starin' at her a minit, and all to +once she reached out her hand and motioned to me; and as I stepped in +she caught hold of the big end of the speakin' trumpet, and then I see +that she thought I was deef; and quick as a wink it come to me to play +deef 's long as I could--deef folks are allus makin' blunders--and +then to 'polergize an' git out. So I stuck the tube to my ear. + +'"You're the nurse?" she says through it, but not very loud, for a +deef person, that is. "Louder," sez I. So she sed it real loud, an' I +nodded. + +'Then she motioned me to come into the room to the front, that I had +seen the man look out of. It was 'most dark there, only there was a +winder on the alley that 'peared to be all boarded up, only jest a +slit to the top to let a little streak of light in. "Set down a +minit," she says; an' when she let go of the trumpet her hand shook +so't I could see it. She opened the door in the back of the room, an' +I see there was a screen on the other side so I couldn't see the room, +but I got up an' tiptoed to the door. The carpet was awful thick there +an' in the hall, though it was old enough too. + +'She hadn't shet the door tight, an' I heard her say, "Wake up, Bob." +An' then a sort of question; an' she says ag'in, "The nurse has come +after all, and you can go and sleep now." Then I heard a man say, +"What made the old gal so late, blast her eyes! I'd go an' give her a +good old blessin' if she wasn't sech a crank-mouthed jade." An' then +he seemed to be stirrin', an' I 'most thought he was comin' in; but +then he says, "Git her in here, an' then git me somethin' ter eat. I +can't sleep when I'm so holler." "Won't you come in an' speak to her, +Bob?" says the woman, "an' tell her 'bout the med'cin'; I'm so tired." + +'Then I was scairt ag'in, though I declare I felt sorry fer that poor +crittur of a woman. + +'But the man snarled at her, and says, "Naw, I won't; I'm tired's you +be. Hustle now, an' bring me the grub mighty quick." + +'I scooted back to my chair then, and in a minit or so she come in an' +motioned me to come into the other room. I see they had mistook me for +some deef nurse, an' I begun to think I'd grabbed more'n I could hold, +an' to wish I was out. But I went in, an' if ever a woman was struck +all of a heap, 'twas me.' + +She paused as if mentally reviewing the scene once more, and I fairly +quivered with anticipation and anxiety for what the next words might +develop. + +'I had noticed that there was three winders on the alley side of the +house,' she resumed, 'an' there bein' only one in the front room, of +course I looked to see one sure in this, an' mebbe two, but there +wasn't a winder; the wall on that side was smooth, only at the winder +place was a kind of cubbard arrangement like, an' the room was lit by +a kerosene lamp. It was furnished quite good, too; but in a corner on +the bed laid a young man, as good-lookin' about as they make 'em; only +he was dretful pale an' thin, an' he 'peared to be sleepin'. + +'"There's yer patient," says the woman, through the tube. "There ain't +nothin' to do now only ter give him drink, an' not let him talk if he +wakes. He sleeps a good deal, an' when he wakes up he's out of his +head, an' 'magines he's somebody else, an' ain't in his own house, an' +all sorts of nonsense." She went to the bed an' stood lookin' at the +sick man in a queer sort of way, an' she give a big long breath, as if +she felt awful bad, an' then went out by a door that I knew went to +the hall, an' I heard noises in a minit more, as if they come from the +kitchin stove. + +'Now I knowed she took me for a nurse and all that, but all the same I +begun to think I'd better git out. I couldn't play nurse an' ask about +that Sunday-school feller too, an' I thought I'd jest made a big +blunder, an' I'd better git out 'thout waitin' for her to come back; +an' jest then I heard a little noise, an' I looked round, an' the sick +man had rolled over an' was lookin' at me straight, an' when he +ketched my eye, he says, "Come here, madam, please." 'Twas a real +pleasant voice, though weak, an' I went right up to the bed. He looked +at me real sharp, an' sort of wishful, and then he says, "You look +like a good woman." + +'I didn't say nothin', an' he kep' right on, sort of hurried like. "I +was not asleep when you entered," he says, "and I heard that poor +woman. I am not insane, and this is not my home. You have come here to +nurse me, but if you want money you can earn a hundred nurses' fees by +going to a telegraph office and telegraphin' to----" + +'Jest then there was a noise in the hall, an' he stopped, an' I picked +up a fan an' stood as if I was a-fannin' away a couple of little moths +that the lamp had drawed. + +'Nobody came in, so I went to the door an' listened. Seemed as if I +heard a door shet upstairs, an' I guessed the woman was taking up the +cross man's dinner. So I went back to the bed. He laid still for a +bit, and seemed listenin'; then he says: + +'"I am a prisoner, and have been half-killed first, an' then drugged +to keep me so. My people are wealthy. They will pay you royally if +you'll help me; if you'll go to the nearest police-station an' give +'em a paper I will give yer, with my father's name, an'----" He +stopped ag'in, an' shet his eyes quick as lightnin'; an' the next +minit the pale woman came in quick, an' lookin' awful anxious. She +went to the bed an' looked at the sick young feller, an' then she took +hold of the trumpet and motioned me to listen. "Can you hear?" she +says into it, not very loud. I nodded, an' looked to'rds the bed. "He +sleeps real sound," she says, "and won't be likely to wake up, anyhow; +I can't leave him alone to talk to you in another room. There's +somethin' I forgot, an' some of them may come in any time now. Will +you do a wretched woman a small kindness?" She looked at me awful +wishful when she said that, an' I nodded my head ag'in. + +'"They told me not to let you in unless you gave me a card, and I--I +am so troubled I forgot to ask you for it at the door. Will you give +me the card now, an' please not give me away to the boys? I can't +stand no more trouble. I--I think it was your being so late made me +forget. Why was it?" + +'For a minit I was stumped, an' then an idee come to me. "Ter tell the +truth," I says, as bold as you please, "I've been in a little trouble, +an' I forgot that card. You see, I had to put off comin' here on +account of a couple of perlecemen that was on the look-out fer me. +I've only jest give 'em the slip." You see I thought when she heard +that she'd make 'lowance fer the card, an' I wanted to talk more with +that sick boy, fer I b'leeved he was tellin' the truth. But, my! she +jumps up, lookin' scairt to pieces, an' she says: + +'"The perlece! Do you think they will follow you? can they? Merciful +goodness! we can't risk it. I'm almost broke down, but I'll call up +Bob, an' you must go right away. Don't you see it won't do?" She +snatched a key out of her pocket. "Come," she says. "Mercy, what a +risk!" I had took off my glasses and laid 'em down on the table by the +bed. I picked up the black veil I had dropped on the chair, and jest +as she went to take the key out of the hall-door--she had to turn her +back to do it--I went to the table and took up my glasses, and tried +to ketch that poor boy's eye and make him a sign; but, my! he laid +there with his eyes shet, an' sech a look of misery upon his poor +face, an' all at once it struck me that I hadn't spoke once, an' that +he hadn't noticed the trumpet till the woman come in, and then he +thought he'd been a-beggin' help of a deef woman. But I hadn't no +chance then, an' as soon as she'd picked out the key, she says, "I'll +have to let yer out front. It won't do to risk your being seen coming +out by any other way." + +'The way was clear when I got out; but I most dreaded meeting one of +them men som'ers, and I jest started straight to find you.' + +'One moment,' I said hurriedly, as she now ceased. 'You spoke of Miss +Jenrys--why did you think of going to her?' + +'Why, she was nearest of anybody, an' I thought you was as likely as +not to be there.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +'EUREKA!' + + +AT twelve o'clock p.m. a party of men had gathered not far from the +house where Mrs. Camp had made her singular discoveries; they came +singly and by twos, from various directions, and their movements were +so quiet as not to have disturbed the lightest of sleepers, however +near, for with one exception all were trained to the business in hand. + +When two of the party had made a careful reconnaissance of the +premises they returned to the waiting group. + +'There's the door and two windows at the front,' said one, 'and three +windows on the alley, the middle one, as we know, boarded on the +inside. At the back is a door opening upon a sort of shed, and a +window in the same; and in the angle formed by the shed and the rear +of the house proper is another window; on the inner side, opposite the +alley, the wall is blank. There's no bed in the front room,' the +speaker went on rapidly, 'though someone may bunk there. Of course +there's a watcher in his room. Two of you must patrol the alley while +Brainerd cuts out a pane or two of that closed-up alley window, to see +if anything can be heard through the cracks of those inside boards, +though it's probable they are padded to deaden sound. As for the upper +rooms, they're sleeping there doubtless, and----' + +'Don't forget,' interposed Brainerd in a low half-whisper, 'about +those iron hooks outside those back windows. They're for something +more than signalling; they're stout enough to support a rope with a +man at the end, and the rope and the man are both inside, no doubt.' + +'Four to the back then,' I said, 'and you, Jeffrys, take the lead; +three to the alley, you and two others, Dave. If the thing's not +accessible, divide to back and front. Lossing, can you and Murphy hold +me on your shoulders while I try that window? Now, all to our places; +and there ought to be a train soon over there; let's do our cutting +under cover of its noise.' + +The Illinois Central Railway was but a little distance from us, and we +took our places to await the sound of its first train. But fortune, +having baffled and hindered us again and again, seemed now to have +relented toward us. + +Before trying the window I crept up the steps to examine the lock of +the door, and judge, if I could, of its security. Lossing, as he still +preferred to be called, and Murphy, the policeman, were standing below +me, one on either side of the steps, and as I stood at the door above +them I turned and looked about me. All seemed quiet up and down that +often unquiet street, and the lights from either direction hardly +served their purpose there, a fact which had been considered, +doubtless, in making choice of this place. + +It was after midnight now, and as I heard, far away yet, the first +faint rumble of the train, I put my hand upon the handle of the door. + +Was it imagination, or did I feel a responsive touch upon the other +side? I let my hand rest lightly upon the knob, and waited; then, +suddenly, as the rumble of the train came nearer, I sprang down the +steps, and, crouching at the side of Lossing, whispered across to +Murphy, 'Lay low and be ready; someone's coming out.' There was no +time for more words, but I never doubted the readiness of my two +helpers, nor their quick comprehension of the situation. + +As the rumble of the train came nearer, the door opened, almost +without noise, and shut again; and softly, slowly, looking up and down +the street, but not below him, almost within reach, a man came down +the steps, paused an instant, and stood upon the pavement, to feel, +before he could turn his head, a hard grip upon either arm, a cold +pressure at the back of his neck, and simultaneously a low whisper: + +'One sound and you are a dead man.' + +It was all the work of an instant, and so quickly and quietly done +that our friends in the alley were not aware of our capture until we +had secured our prisoner and Lossing had gone to summon Dave. + +Then, still in utter silence, we led our first capture across the +alley, and Murphy flashed a dark-lantern in his face. + +It was a pallid and cowardly countenance that the light revealed, and +I was not surprised to recognise the man I had dubbed 'Smug' upon the +day of my arrival at the World's Fair. He was trembling violently, +and thoroughly cowed. + +We had no difficulty in searching his pockets; he did not so much as +remonstrate--perhaps because of the pistol I had now transferred to +the hand of Lossing. By the light of the dark-lantern I selected from +among a number of keys taken from his pocket a slender one, which, as +it only needed the look upon his face to tell me, was the key to the +street-door. + +'Listen!' I said to him, holding the lantern high. 'It will be to your +interest to help us, and you will find it so if you help to make what +we are about to do as easy and quiet as possible. We know who are in +that house, and if we can take them without noise and trouble, so much +the better for them. The place is surrounded; they can't escape alive. +Is anyone in the front room, lower floor?' + +He shook his head sullenly. + +'You were put there on guard--is it not so?' He blinked under the +lantern's rays, and I saw that I was right. 'And you thought it would +be quite safe to slip out for an hour or two; and so it would have +been last night or the one before. Now, is Delbras on the second-floor +front? You had better tell me!' He nodded sullenly. 'And Bob? +Remember, your answers can't injure their case and will benefit yours. +My word is good. Is Greenback Bob there?' Again the sullen fellow +bowed his head. 'And how many more, exclusive of your prisoner?' The +rascal started, and seemed taken with a new panic. 'You had better be +quite frank,' I admonished. 'How many?' + +He held up three fingers as well as the handcuffs would permit, and a +moment later we had left him at the mouth of the alley, guarded by two +officers, while we arranged for our attack. + +One man was left to guard the rear, with full instructions covering +any and all possible emergencies, and one was told off to guard the +front entrance, while the remaining six were paired: Lossing with +myself, at his own request; Dave and one officer, and Jeffrys with +another. Murphy we had left with Smug, and in charge of the party +without. + +'Masters,' Lossing said, 'I want to be with the man that attacks +Delbras. I owe it to him.' When Jeffrys had heard him he declared +Delbras his prey. But I also had my word to say. Jeffrys might serve +his warrant and bear off the captive from the city, but he could only +take him when I had failed; and so it was arranged. + +When all was ready we waited, six of us, upon the steps of the gloomy +house, until after what seemed an hour, and was in reality ten +minutes, had passed, and then a long freight train came rumbling +cityward. As it came near I inserted the key in the lock carefully and +turned it slowly, and without noise; and while the sound still covered +our careful movements, we entered the hall, leaving the officer in +charge of the door. + +Then, when Dave and his companion had entered the front room and stood +ready to move upon the watcher through the door behind the screen, +trusting the other door to the watchful eye of the guard at the front, +we crept upstairs, with that sidewise movement which insures one who +has the patience to try it a silent if slow passage, to the top, in +single file. + +At the top we separated, and while we--Lossing and myself--took our +places at the door near the front, Jeffrys listened at the two rear +doors, to make sure of the location of his prey, and at a signal which +the guard below passed on to Dave we moved, each armed with a +dark-lantern, to the attack. + +I could hear Lossing's breath close beside me as I carefully and +slowly tried the knob of the door and found that it yielded silently. + +The house was an old one, and we saw as we slowly opened the door +that the lock was only a fragmentary one; there was on the other side +only a handle like that without. Holding our lanterns low we glided +in, and were half-way across the room when I raised the lantern and +turned its light carefully toward the bed, from whence long guttural +breathing told of a sleeper unconscious of our nearness. With lantern +in one hand and pistol in the other, I made a forward step as I saw by +the ray thrown across the bed the form and face of Delbras; and then, +suddenly, beneath my foot, something cracked and burst with a sharp +explosion. + +Only a parlour match, but it brought the sleeper to a sitting posture, +and broad awake in a moment. He did not seem to so much as have seen +me, but his eyes and Lossing's appeared to meet and challenge each +other, and quicker than I can tell it he had bounded from his bed, +snatching something from under the pillow as he sprang--something that +glittered in his hand as he hurled himself upon Lossing, and the two +grappled and swayed, with the knife gleaming above their heads, held +thus by the strong hand of the English athlete. + +As I sprang to place my lantern upon the table at the bed's head, that +it might help me to see and to aid Lossing, a shriek rang from the +room at the rear, and the next moment I saw the knife sent flying from +the hand of Delbras, and the two go down, still struggling. A moment I +watched them struggling there, and then somehow the villain wrenched +one hand free and gripped it with an awful clutch upon Lossing's +throat; the next there arose from below a succession of screeches that +might have issued from the throat of a bedlamite. + +Once and again I had tried to interfere in Lossing's behalf, but the +effort seemed useless, until, as the screams from below ceased +suddenly, I sprang past the two, and, turning suddenly, struck at +Delbras with my clubbed pistol. I had aimed at the arm clutching at +my friend's throat, but a sudden movement brought the villain's head +in sharp contact with the butt of the pistol, and his hold suddenly +relaxed, and he lay stunned and at our mercy. + +When Lossing, not much the worse for his tussle but somewhat short of +breath, had risen and shaken himself together, I said: 'He's only +stunned and will soon come to. Shoot him if he stirs before I come +back.' And I ran to the room in the rear. + +What had happened there can be soon told. + +When Jeffrys opened the door of the rear room, which did not boast a +lock, he saw a lamp burning dimly upon a shelf in a corner; upon the +bed opposite a woman and a man, both sleeping, and under the one +window a coil of rope ladder, as if ready for use. + +The face of the woman was ghastly pale, and her sleep must have been +very light, for suddenly she opened her eyes, and seeing the officers, +uttered the cry, which at first only caused her lord and master to +growl out an oath and turn over; whereupon she clutched at him wildly +and cried to the men to leave them; they would give themselves up if +only the officers would withdraw and permit them to rise and dress. + +The man, meantime, seemed to awaken slowly, and to be dazed and +stupid, and he paid little heed to his wife's cries as he dragged +himself to a sitting posture. + +'You'd better get up,' said Jeffrys sternly, 'and give up. You're all +in for it.' + +Possibly the shrieks that came from below at that moment convinced +him, for he answered with a scowling face: 'I guess I know when I'm +beat. If you'll shet the door, or turn yer backs so my wife can get +up, I'll be quiet enough. Shet up, Sue!' + +'All right,' said Jeffrys; and the two officers drew back from the +door, and Jeffrys, drawing it half-shut, said, with his eye upon the +man, 'Now, the lady first,' and pistol in hand he waited. + +The one window was opposite the door and the bed close beside it, so +that the half-closed door concealed from Jeffrys both window and +woman. He heard her spring up, and at the instant, almost, a slight +scraping sound, then suddenly, at the very moment when I stepped from +the farther room, the light went out--there was a bound, an oath, a +shrill whistle, and, as I reached the door, the flash of a bull's eye, +and two pistol-shots came close together. + +As I sprang into the room the light revealed an open window, with the +rope ladder half out, half in, and upon the floor beneath it Greenback +Bob, with Jeffrys kneeling upon his breast, and the attendant officer, +with pistol aimed and bull's-eye in hand, at his head. Upon the bed, +weeping and moaning piteously, lay the woman, her face buried in the +pillow. I went to her and put a hand upon her arm; she lifted toward +me the most woeful face it has ever been my lot to see, and said, with +mournful apathy: + +'Don't fear--I don't want to escape! I knew the end must be near.' And +she dropped back with an air of utter exhaustion upon her pillow. + +I turned to assist Jeffrys in securing Greenback Bob, who, now that +his pretence of stolid apathy had failed him, was an ugly customer to +deal with, and who was resisting with all his strength and filling the +air with blasphemy. It was necessary to secure him hand and foot, and +we had but just completed the task when Dave came bounding up the +stairs. + +'Eureka!' he cried. 'It's a complete catch; and Trent's alive, and the +happiest man in Chicago, or the world. Hello!' + +He had glanced at the prostrate counterfeiter, and his last +exclamation was in answer to a voice from the room where I had left +Lossing guarding the senseless Delbras. + +Following Dave's significant gesture, I went with him to the door of +the room, where, to my surprise, Delbras, his face quite bloodless +with rage and weakness together, was slowly dressing himself under the +sternly watchful eye and steadily aimed pistol of Sir Carroll Rae. + +The latter had gathered the garments together while Delbras lay +unconscious, keeping a watchful eye and ready weapon the while, and +had placed them close at his side, first removing from a pocket a +small sheathed knife. And now, with his own weapon in hand and those +of Delbras collected on the table at his side, he was compelling the +Frenchman to make his toilet at the point of the pistol, and his set +face left in the mind of the enraged and baffled rascal no room to +doubt him when he said: + +'Unless you have put on those garments within a reasonable time I will +call a pair of policemen to dress you; and if you make one sound or +movement other than in obedience I will shoot every bullet in this +weapon into your body, and do it with pleasure.' + +'How was it?' I asked Dave while this toilet was proceeding, and we +stood ready for the trick or attempt at resistance we more than half +expected from the Frenchman. + +'I guess you heard it about all. Trent lay there wide awake, mighty +blue, and too weak to lift his head; and a big negress was half-dozing +in her chair by the bedside, with a pistol at her elbow. She made a +grab for it, and yelled, as you probably heard. Trent was assaulted +and half-killed, nursed back to life for what there was in it, and has +just come to his senses, awfully weak, but game enough to resist their +efforts to make him appeal to his father for a big ransom. That's all +I've had time to hear.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +AFTER ALL. + + +Trent, of course, was not strong enough to be moved, and that and the +late, or rather the early, hour, it being now almost two o'clock a.m., +decided us to camp down in the house until morning. So the men outside +with Smug in charge were called in, and with our prisoners securely +guarded, we passed the few hours before daylight in conversation, +Dave, Jeffrys, Lossing, and myself, in Trent's room. + +I was doctor enough to see that the poor fellow had been sufficiently +startled by our appearance and the events of the night, and so, eager +as we were to hear and he to tell his story, we imposed silence upon +him until he could be seen by a physician--at least comparative +silence; and as he declared himself 'all right' except for his +weakness, and finding that he was, very naturally, unable to sleep, or +even to rest quietly, we told him briefly the story of our search for +him, and in telling it led him slowly to the knowledge of his father's +presence in the city and the nearness of his betrothed. + +More than once his fine eyes filled with tears and his lips trembled +as we told of his sweetheart's telegrams and his father's anxiety; and +when he had heard it all, he lay a long time silent but wakeful, and +evidently thinking, and at last, just as the first faint streak of +gray became tinged with a beam of red in the east, he fell asleep, +with a smile upon his pale lips. + +When the negress had been removed from the room, she had begged to be +taken to her 'dear Missis Susie,' who, she declared, was 'sick enough +to die'; and I led her upstairs to the room where the pale, worn +woman still lay, in the room from which her husband had been removed. + +As the negress entered the room the woman lifted her head, and with an +inarticulate cry threw herself into her servant's arms; there was a +moment of wild sobbing, and then, as I was about to set a guard at the +door and withdraw, the negress uttered a shrill cry, caught the +slender form in her stout arms and laid her upon the bed, and I saw a +thin stream of blood trickle from between the white lips. + +Restoratives were at hand, for this was not the first attack, the +negress said; and when the woman had been cared for, and at last lay +sleeping from exhaustion and, I fancied, the help of an opiate, I +questioned the servant. + +Her mistress, she said, was a southern woman, and she had been her +servant since 'befo' the war,' when that mistress was a child of six. + +An orphan with a small fortune, 'Mistress Susie' had married Greenback +Bob, 'Master Robert,' she called him, and had followed him and clung +to him through all his downward career of crime, as the big, +heavy-featured coloured woman had clung to 'Missis Susie.' When +prosperous, Bob was kind; when unlucky or drunk, he was cruel and +coarse. 'Missis Susie' had inherited consumption, and that and trouble +and danger had 'wo'n her life away,' as the woman said, with big tears +dropping upon her dark cheeks. + +'This las',' she concluded, 'hit's been the wo'st of all. An' that +sick boy! Missis Susie prayed 'em to let him go away to the hospital, +when he was hurt and couldn't give anyone away. But they nuver heard +to Missis Susie--nuver! They wouldn't have been trapped like this if +they had.' + +It was by my proposal to bring the physician--whom at an early morning +hour I had summoned to see Trent--to pass judgment upon 'Missis +Susie' also, that I won the negress to tell me something about Trent; +how at early evening he was brought in by Bob and Delbras, whom she +called Hector, and whom she evidently both feared and hated; how a +physician was called, as the young man was insensible, and how, +fortunately for them, he continued delirious for three weeks and more +while the two wounds on his head, both serious ones, were healing; how +the 'gang' had deliberately taken the risk of keeping him until he had +so far recovered as to be beyond the danger-line, knowing that they +could not safely negotiate the return to his family of a prisoner who +might die perhaps while the negotiations were pending. + +She told how some one of the gang proper was always on guard in the +sick-room by day, and often by night, and that it was only since the +going away of one of the gang, Harry by name, that they had entrusted +the prisoner to her care alone. + +It did not take me long to find out that the person she called Harry +was the brunette, now lying dead at the Morgue, and I saw, too, that +she did not dream of the fate that had overtaken him, although I felt +sure that the woman Susie did. + +At early dawn the three men, Delbras, Bob, and Smug, or Harris, as his +companions called him, were taken away under charge of Dave Brainerd +and Jeffrys, to be locked up and safely kept until Jeffrys should take +Delbras to New York, and thence to France. The others would await our +appearance against them. + +When the physician came, I took him from young Trent's bedside to that +of 'Missis Susie.' + +Of Trent he had spoken only words of cheer. His wounds were healing, +had healed in fact healthily, and with no danger of after-trouble, +mental or other; and now he needed only good nursing, good food, +tonics, stimulants, and for a little longer quiet and not too much +company. He might be moved, he told us, upon a cot, and for a short +distance, that afternoon; and he commended us for our wisdom in not +following up the excitement of the previous hours with an instant +meeting between the invalid and his father and sweetheart. Now, 'after +a light breakfast and good nerve tonic,' he might see his friends, +when they had been prepared and warned against unduly taxing the +patient's nerves and strength. + +Of the sick woman above stairs there was a different tale to tell. She +might linger for weeks, but for her there was no recovery. + +When the negress--Hat, her mistress called her--heard this she was +inconsolable, and when I had promised her that, if possible, she +should remain with her mistress to the end, she was ready to be my +slave; and knowing that nothing could help or hurt her mistress more, +she was willing to tell me what she could about the gang and their +methods. + +She had no love for her mistress's husband, and she seemed to have +remembered against him every unkind deed or word spoken or done to her +'Missis Susie.' Delbras she had ever feared and hated, and Smug she +despised as the coward decoy of the gang. For Harry she expressed a +liking. 'He was bad, that's true,' she declared; 'sharp as you please +and tricky; but he was good to my mistress when the others forgot her. +He was good to her always, and he bought her books and fruit. When he +dressed in woman's clothes she would help him, and he never forgot to +thank her. But they quarrelled, Harry and Bob and the Frenchman, and +he left night before last.' + +I told her of Harry's fate, and she cursed his slayers with oaths like +a man's; and after that her testimony was ready, and it helped us +much. As for Susan Kendricks, for this was the name by which the poor +soul had wedded Greenback Bob, there came a time when she told me her +story, and a sad, sad page it was, with little light anywhere upon it. +She had taken little part in their dangerous enterprises, only now and +then appearing somewhere with Harry when he was masquerading as a +girl, in order to mislead the officers or the neighbours in their +estimate of the number and sex of the gang; or to play a part, as on +the night when she personated June Jenrys in order to entrap Lossing. + + * * * * * + +But when the ship's in port who cares to wait for the furling of the +sails? The journey ended, we go ashore. + +Little need to describe the meeting between Gerald Trent and his +friends, which occurred shortly after the going away of the 'gang' and +the visit of the doctor. + +He told them the story of his 'disappearance,' and the manner of it +was briefly thus: + +At one of the small tables in the Public Comfort Café he had dined +opposite Smug, whose confiding and kindly obliging manner and general +air of being a good but rather slow young man made him an invaluable +decoy for the gang. Here Trent's rather careless display of a +well-filled purse, together with the fine watch he carried and his +valuable diamonds, quietly but mistakenly worn, had no doubt attracted +Smug, who had made himself agreeable, but not obtrusively so, and had +contrived to meet him again and yet again. The last meeting was at +evening, when, while chatting easily, he had expressed a desire to +visit Buffalo Bill, and Smug, claiming to be a near resident, very +modestly offered his escort, and was so unobtrusive and so eminently +proper while confessing to a weakness for 'horse shows,' that Trent +had been quite disarmed. + +At the close of the entertainment, the Elevated trains being +overcrowded, Smug had carelessly recommended the Central, alleging +that one of its suburban stations was little more than two blocks +away, and proffered himself as guide, as an afterthought, and because +he could show him a short cut. + +'He showed me several,' concluded Trent, with a grimace; 'for, having +lured me away from the crowd and into an almost deserted and +ill-lighted street, we were suddenly attacked, and my "short cuts" +were administered upon my crown.' + +Some hazy remembrance caused him to believe that they had taken him to +their lair, half-carrying and half-dragging him, and representing him +to an inquiring policeman as being a victim of too much brandy and +beer. + +Then came his illness, a dream of fever, pain, and delirium, and a +slow return to reason, to find himself a prisoner, too weak to lift +head or tend, and yet fully determined not to help his rapacious +captors to a fortune at his father's cost. + +Since his return to reason he had, as much as possible, rejected what +he believed to be opiates, and had feigned sleep to avoid their +threats and importunities, and to meet cunning with cunning. + +While thus sleeping (?) he had heard some of their whispered plotting, +and he was able to explain how it was that Mrs. Camp had succeeded in +carrying out her wild but successful adventure. + +Among Smug's acquaintances was a certain widow, or a woman who passed +for such, who called herself a nurse, and whose services 'came high.' +However, she was 'one of the right sort,' who 'asked no questions,' +and 'always obeyed orders.' Upon the night of Harry's disappearance +there had been an unusual commotion in the house, and a recklessness +of speech quite uncommon; and before morning it was decided that Smug +should secure the services of this valuable nurse at an early hour, as +they must have 'another hand.' + +Before noon Smug had reported the arrival of the nurse at an early +hour, and the fact that she was 'hard of hearing' was counted in her +favour. Smug had further said, to the satisfaction of Delbras--who +by-the-bye had never entered Trent's room without first assuming the +disguise of an elderly foreigner--that the woman was especially +willing to come because of a little difficulty with 'the cops,' who +were 'too attentive for comfort.' + +Thanks to the successful attention of these same 'cops,' the woman had +left in Mrs. Camp's hands the means whereby she might penetrate this +stronghold of iniquity, and so be enabled to do what we had schemed +and planned to accomplish, and but for her might have made only a +partial success. + +Mrs. Camp was the heroine of the hour, and we bent to her our +diminished heads, and willingly declared her a detective indeed; for, +while we had fathomed the disguises of the gang and tracked them home, +it was her masterly coup that had made of our raid the assured success +which it was. + +To say that Mrs. Camp was made much of by Hilda O'Neil, June Jenrys, +and Miss Ross is to put it mildly, and the good woman cared far more +for the petting and praise of the two pretty girls than for the +gratitude and congratulations of all the rest of us; and the friends +she has found through her singular raid upon Smug and company will be +her friends for all the years to come. + +How I first established a connection between the crook Delbras and the +fine gentleman who had taken New York society by storm as Monsieur +Maurice Voisin was a wonder to many, until I had laid before them the +process of reasoning by which it was done. + +I had entered the classic Fair-grounds intent upon searching among the +many faces for two, one a blond young Englishman, the other a dark and +handsome Frenchman, and a letter picked up in the crowd had given me +a mental photograph of these two, though I knew it not. + +Before I had ever seen Voisin I had said of him, mentally, 'I believe +he has tricked Miss June Jenrys and young Lossing.' Then I saw him in +company with Miss Jenrys that day before our meeting, and I could not +help seeing how perfectly he answered the description of Delbras. Next +we met, and I could not believe in him; and the glimpses of Greenback +Bob's disguised companion in Midway, as agent and fakir, all were +wonderfully like Monsieur Voisin, man of fashion; and so from day to +day I had watched him as he sought to dazzle the eyes of sweet June +Jenrys, hoping for the time when I might unmask him before her. + +Then came the attack upon Lossing at the bridge, in which we both saw +the hand of Voisin. Mrs. Camp, too, added her quota to the solution of +this riddle when she recognised in Voisin the swindler of the Turkish +Bazaar, and identified the hand of Voisin as the hand which had held +out the Spurious bank-notes to Camp; and, finally, there came his +second attempt to destroy Lossing in the Cold Storage fire, ending as +it did in his own disaster and in revealing to me the scar upon the +temple so minutely described in the chiefs letter as belonging to +Delbras. + +The man had maintained a stolid indifference and a stubborn silence +after his arrest, even when he learned how complete was his exposure +both as Voisin and Delbras. + +Before his departure for New York a complete record of his misdeeds, +so far as we knew them, was made and put into the hands of Jeffrys. +The man Smug, or Harris, as might have been expected, was willing to +betray his companions in crime, now that he knew himself safe from +such vengeance as had been meted out to Harry, the brunette, and in +the hope of such measure of immunity as is sometimes bestowed upon the +rascal who 'confesses' the evil deeds of his associates. It was by +his testimony that we fixed the theft of Monsieur Lausch's diamonds +upon the gang, and the attack upon Lossing, or Sir Carroll Rae, upon +Delbras and Bob; and it was through Hat, the negress, first, and then +from Smug, when sharply questioned, that we learned of their last and +vilest plot, which was to obtain the ransom for Trent, if possible, or +to 'put him out of the way' if this failed, and then, with their hands +free, to purchase a small yacht and to kidnap Miss Jenrys, keeping her +out in the lake until she should buy her release by marrying Delbras. + +The only time when Delbras was seen to blench or to appear other than +the stolid, sullen, and silent criminal was when Miss Jenrys, +accompanied by her aunt, was obliged to appear and identify him as the +man who had masqueraded as Monsieur Voisin. + +Then, indeed, his dark face paled, his eyes fell before hers, and he +turned away with bowed head. + +Clearly such love as such a man can feel had been laid at the feet of +queenly June Jenrys, who had learned the truth concerning him with +amazement, horror, and loathing. + +While the body of 'the brunette,' Harry, lay at the Morgue, a tramp, +strange to the police and to the city, viewed it with the many others +who gloat over the horrors of life, and who, having looked long, and +with a startled face, pronounced the body to be that of a professional +thief long wanted by the authorities 'out West.' + +'He wuz a born bad un,' the man declared, 'an' a born thief. He +couldn't stay anywhere long on that ercount. I'll bet he's picked more +pockets than any lag at the Fair. He was a slick one. Liked the women, +and most generally had a lot of friends 'mong 'em wherever he was; but +he most generally left 'em the poorer when he got ready to quit. +"Little Kid," that's what they used ter call him, 'cause he was little +an' good-lookin'; but there wasn't a decent hair in his head.' And +the tramp turned away with a malevolent look at the dead man. + +And that was all we could learn about 'Harry,' for Smug, ready to talk +on all other subjects, would utter no word as to the manner of Harry's +death. 'He had left them,' that was all he would say; and by this we +knew that Smug was doubtless the decoy who had lulled the suspicions +of the victim and made it possible for the bolder spirits to do the +deed of death. + +Delbras was taken to France, and before the closing of the great Fair +had met his fate at the hands of the French executioner. + +Greenback Bob and Smug might have spent all their days in prison if +they had possessed three lives apiece, so many were the counts against +them. Their trials were separate, and came about after weeks of delay. +There were no friends with long purses to 'influence' the jury, and +unless that elastic pardoning power is stretched for their benefit, as +has sometimes happened in similar cases, Greenback Bob and Smug will +employ their future time honestly and for the good of the race. + +Sir Carroll Rae had a very fair reason for remaining in America for a +time; and so, placing the business of his newly acquired estates in +the hands of the London solicitor who had been Sir Hugo's legal +adviser, he remained in the World's Fair City, where, with minds +unburdened, the entire party, with at first the exception of Gerald +Trent, who was rapidly recovering in spite of the overwhelming +attentions of his friends, took up the much-interrupted and pleasant +employment of seeing the World's Fair, with eyes that saw no flaws, +even in the Government Building. + +The Trents did not linger when the invalid was well enough to travel, +but hastened to the home where Mrs. Trent, an invalid still, but a +happy one, awaited her son's return impatiently, after the long weeks +of suspense. + +There are no weddings in this tale of strange happenings, which, +nevertheless, are not more strange than many of the unwritten annals +of the Fair. But when the early autumn came, two pairs of lovers, +chaperoned by a discreet little Quakeress, renewed their acquaintance +with the Court of Honour, loitered in the shadows of the Peristyle, +drifted upon the Lagoon, and, pacing its length, recalled anew the +strange adventures and experiences of that wonderful, impossible, +kaleidoscopic, yet utterly and charmingly real Midway Plaisance. + + +THE END. + + * * * * * + + + + +BY THE SAME AUTHOR. + + +1. Shadowed by Three. +2. The Rival Detectives. +3. The Diamond Coterie. +4. The Detective's Daughter. +5. Out of a Labyrinth. +6. A Mountain Mystery. +7. Moina. +8. A Slender Clue. +9. A Dead Man's Step. +10. The Lost Witness. + + * * * * * + +WARD, LOCK & BOWDEN, LTD. + + * * * * * + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Against Odds, by Lawrence L. 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