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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41790 ***
+
+                           Quintus Oakes
+
+                        _A Detective Story_
+
+                                 BY
+
+                        CHARLES ROSS JACKSON
+
+                    AUTHOR OF "THE THIRD DEGREE"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+                      G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY
+
+                     PUBLISHERS        NEW YORK
+
+
+                        COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY
+
+                     G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY
+
+                     [_All rights reserved._]
+
+
+         _Quintus Oakes_              _Issued March, 1904_
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+   CHAPTER                           PAGE
+
+      I. The Rescue                    5
+
+     II.  Quintus Oakes at Home       19
+
+    III.  Oakes's Experiences         31
+
+     IV.  The Departure               41
+
+      V.  The Letter                  50
+
+     VI.  The Murder                  56
+
+    VII.  The Inquest                 69
+
+   VIII.  The Mansion                 89
+
+     IX.  Distrust and Suspicion     100
+
+      X.  The Cellar                 108
+
+     XI. The Night Walk              123
+
+    XII.  The Witness                141
+
+   XIII.  The Plan of Campaign       148
+
+    XIV.  Clues                      159
+
+     XV. The Ruse                    171
+
+    XVI. The Negro's Story           191
+
+   XVII.  Checkmated                 209
+
+  XVIII.  Misadventures              221
+
+    XIX.  A Faulty Story             240
+
+     XX.  A Man's Confession         253
+
+    XXI.  The Attack                 267
+
+   XXII.  The Insane Root            278
+
+  XXIII.  The Test                   287
+
+   XXIV.  Across the Bridge          298
+
+    XXV.  The Man of the Hour        311
+
+
+
+
+                           QUINTUS OAKES
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER I_
+
+  _The Rescue_
+
+
+It was a warm summer evening; the air was stifling and still. I, Rodney
+Stone, attorney-at-law, left my apartment to stroll along Broadway,
+seeking a roof garden wherein to spend a few hours of change from the
+atmosphere of the pavements, and to kill the ennui that comes to all of
+us whom business compels to accept such circumstances.
+
+As I walked down a side street, I noticed ahead of me a colored man rush
+out from an apartment house, shouting something that I did not
+understand. His actions seemed peculiar for a moment, but a curl of
+smoke from one of the third-story windows made known the cause. It was
+fire. I found myself among the first to reach the spot. From Broadway a
+crowd was coming, such as collects readily under these circumstances. I
+was soon mingling with it, watching the police in their endeavors to
+rouse the tenants and to spread the alarm on all the floors. The
+numerous dwellers were soon rushing out, and I saw several deeds
+deserving of mention. As the crowd looked up at the apartment in which
+the flames were showing and from which smoke was pouring, a window was
+raised--evidently in a separate room--and a young girl appeared standing
+at the sill. The effort of raising the sash had been a severe one for
+her, for she was not over ten. Looking back into the room, she saw the
+smoke filling it, and quickly scrambled out on the window frame. The
+engines had not yet arrived, but I could hear them shrieking in the
+distance, and we all knew that help was coming.
+
+"Don't jump! Don't jump!" was the cry from us all. I advanced
+instinctively, as did many, to be nearer, for we saw that fear had taken
+possession of the child and that she seemed about to slide outward and
+drop--to almost certain disaster.
+
+A tall, handsome, well-built man in the crowd behind us spoke in a voice
+of confidence and assurance.
+
+"Hold tight, little girl. You're all right!"
+
+I noticed that he was breathing hard; he had just arrived in haste.
+
+Even as he spoke, the little one's head moved from one side to the
+other, and she seemed in distress. Then something like an avalanche came
+from back of me, tearing the crowd asunder. A hand fell upon my
+shoulder, and I reeled to one side as the tall stranger sprang forward,
+saying: "She is going to faint." Quick wit and quick eye had detected
+what none other realized, that nature was being overcome and that the
+fall was inevitable.
+
+The limp little body slid a second, then pitched forward. A groan went
+up at what seemed sure death. But the stranger's rush was timed to the
+instant, and as the child's body curved head downward in its flight, his
+strong figure reached the spot and his arms caught the child. The man
+braced as they swung downward to his side, depositing the unconscious
+girl in my hands and those of a policeman. She did not touch the
+sidewalk, but the young giant came to his knees by the force of the
+impact. It was a marvellous piece of work and the crowd cheered and
+closed in upon the rescuer and our burden. The child was taken away by
+those who had escaped. Then all hands looked at the man, and somebody
+started to speak to him, and to ask him his name.
+
+He turned to me. "Sorry to have smashed into you that way, sir," he
+said. I answered, saying something about I was glad he did--and upon
+looking up, I saw he was gone. We watched him, and saw him turn into
+Broadway, bound on avoiding further notice.
+
+"Who was he?" cried many.
+
+A thick-set, tough-looking character spoke up: "Oh, he's de gazabo wot
+did the turn on de----" At this instant a policeman pushed toward us,
+and, shoving a club into the fellow's ribs, shouted: "Come, now, get out
+o' this, or I'll----"
+
+The fellow was off, and with him our chance of identifying the stranger
+vanished. The police had been too busy with other matters to secure his
+name. Another good act to be credited to an unknown!
+
+The fire was soon under control and I renewed my walk, emerging on
+Broadway as the shadows of night were coming on, and the street was
+awakening to its characteristic summer life.
+
+Suddenly I saw him--the identical man--walking across the thoroughfare.
+I quickened my pace, although going rapidly at the time. It was my
+intention to get closer to him and notice him better, as I was
+interested. He turned up-town, and I saw that, although he was walking
+easily, his pace was quicker than mine. What impressed me more than
+anything else was his graceful carriage and the fine cut of his clothes.
+He was dressed in a dark suit without waistcoat, and one of those soft,
+white summer shirts which have become popular of late years. On his head
+was a plain but expensive Panama. As he passed up the street ahead of
+me, gaining all the while with his easy stride, he saluted a few
+gentlemen, and the policemen seemed to know him. He evidently was a
+striking figure to other eyes than mine, for I noticed several men stop
+and half turn to look after him--a thing that one sees on Broadway but
+seldom. He turned into a side street, and again I lost him. I fancied he
+disappeared into one of the bachelor apartment houses of that section.
+
+During the rest of the evening I regretted not having made stronger
+efforts to learn his name; then I laughed at myself for being so
+impressed by a stranger's appearance. The fact was, that the man's
+action and personality had affected me so strongly that for days I
+frequently found myself thinking of the fire and the rescue. I often
+looked along the street when walking, in a vague hope of seeing the
+handsome, clear-cut face of the man who had acted so promptly, but so
+unostentatiously.
+
+Little did I then know how great a factor that man was to be in the
+moulding of my future--how circumstances were shaping, to link his
+active nature with my career, and to lead me into one of the most
+peculiar experiences that ever came to any one.
+
+Over a month passed, and the first signs of fall were upon us. The
+streets were assuming the appearance of activity, and familiar faces
+reappeared in the public places, all invigorated and refreshed by the
+summer's outings.
+
+Early in October I found myself with my friend, Dr. Moore, a well-known
+physician, standing in one of the popular theatres. We had dropped in
+for one act or so, and, like many others, were unable to secure seats
+owing to the hour and the popularity of the play. At first, engrossed
+with the performance, we paid no attention to the audience; but when the
+act closed and the lights were turned up, we glanced around as we
+prepared to leave for a stroll. My attention was called to some ladies
+in one of the lower boxes--two fair-haired and strikingly attractive
+young women, and an older one, evidently a relative, for there was a
+resemblance in features that was noticeable. The younger ones were
+certainly sisters; their similarity of complexion, face and figure
+rendered such an assumption a certainty.
+
+My friend noticed them, and a change came over his face; he began to
+beam as one does who has seen a friend. We were far off, and in a
+position where we could admire, without impoliteness.
+
+"Those are charming ladies," I said. "You seem to know them, Moore?"
+
+"Yes, I have not seen them for quite a while; they are old patients of
+mine. Do you see any one with them? If I mistake not, he is somewhere
+in the box," continued Moore.
+
+"He!" "Who?" As I spoke I noticed a gentleman--a tall, clear-cut
+fellow--lean forward and speak to one of the sisters. As he moved, his
+face came full in the light and I recognized him.
+
+"It's he!" I cried. "I've found him at last!"
+
+"Found whom?" exclaimed Moore.
+
+"Him, that man!"
+
+"Great Scott!" said Moore, "you must be sick. What ails you, anyway?
+Have you been dining at the Club?"
+
+I turned to my friend and said: "Doctor, I've found him at last--that
+man in the box."
+
+"Well, did not I tell you he ought to be there?" said Moore. "Because
+you found him, do you think you have accomplished a wonderful piece of
+work? Of course he was there."
+
+"What do you mean? Whom are you talking about, anyway?" I asked.
+
+Doctor Moore looked at me as though wondering if I were in my right
+mind, then said: "Stone, I am talking about the gentleman in the box; I
+said he should be there; he usually is with those ladies."
+
+"Yes," I replied, "it is he!"
+
+"Stone, what's the matter? Come and take something, old man"--and
+seizing me by the arm, my companion led me away to the nearest café,
+where he watched me closely as he poured out a bracer.
+
+I seized it and said: "Here's to the man in the box! I've found him."
+
+"Of course you found him, old man. I don't see what you are making such
+a fuss over that fact for; it's not a question of priority."
+
+"No," I said, "it's a question of identity."
+
+"Explain."
+
+"Well, I want to know who _he_ is. He has worried my mind for a month."
+
+"Oh, is that all?" and Moore heaved a sigh of relief; he had been
+genuinely anxious about me, that was plain.
+
+"Have you run up against him anywhere?" he asked.
+
+"No, he ran up against me," I answered.
+
+"Here, sit down," said Moore. "What, in heaven's name, has got into
+you?"
+
+"Nothing. Only I desire to know that man's name. I have had an
+experience with him."
+
+"Indeed! You're not the first, then; have you been up to anything shady,
+Stone?" said Moore, laughingly.
+
+"No, only smoky--a fire. This man saved a child's life in a magnificent
+manner. What's his name?"
+
+"Oh! I see. His name is Oakes. You should know that. He left college
+just a year or so after you and I entered. Don't you remember the fellow
+who saved those boys from drowning in the harbor that day?"
+
+"You don't tell me! Is that Quintus Oakes? I never met him, but of
+course I knew him; everybody at college did, after that."
+
+"Yes, that's the same fellow."
+
+"Well, I certainly did not recognize his face. Only saw it a moment, but
+there was something about him that seemed familiar--that _walk_ of
+his--I remember it now."
+
+As the memories of youth crowded upon me I recalled him well, and
+realized that the years had filled out his figure and face; but it was
+the same man, the same walk and carriage--I had seen them hundreds of
+times. The quick, easy stride, erect figure and commanding bearing that
+had marked him so in his youth were as noticeable now, in his full
+manhood, as in those years of the long ago.
+
+My companion and I did not return for the last act of the play, but
+strolled out in the street, where I told him of the episode of the fire
+and the part that Oakes had played in it.
+
+"His actions, both at the time and afterwards when he tried to avoid
+notice, are characteristic," said Moore. "He is reputed as doing things
+vigorously and opportunely. His presence of mind is marvellous, I am
+told. You remember, he had that gift years back in college. Now, it
+seems to have developed greatly, until everybody who knows him well
+speaks of it."
+
+"Are you well acquainted with him? You seem to know all about him."
+
+"Yes, indeed," answered my friend. "I met him one night several years
+back, and I became so attracted to him that I cultivated his
+acquaintance wherever possible."
+
+"Then you will understand how I was glad to identify him," was my
+rejoinder.
+
+"Yes, indeed; if you like, you can easily manage to meet him."
+
+I expressed my earnest desire, and Dr. Moore promised to arrange it so
+that we could meet some evening at the Club.
+
+"By the way," said my companion, "he is probably the best informed,
+all-round man you have ever met. He did not cease learning at college."
+
+"Lucky for him," I exclaimed laughingly.
+
+"Well, don't be surprised if he starts in to discuss law with you, and
+holds you up at your own profession; he is a surprise party, sometimes."
+
+"All right, but what is his business?"
+
+Moore looked at me, and said: "He is one of the most original detectives
+in the country."
+
+"Oh, a detective. Along what lines? He surely is no ordinary one at that
+business."
+
+"No. He used to work alone on unusual occurrences, but his success was
+so great that now he has a large number of subordinates who do the
+ordinary details, and he limits his work to the important points on
+select cases. He is not heard of much, and is seen very little, but his
+work is in great demand."
+
+I was interested, and asked if he had ever done any special work of
+prominence.
+
+"Yes," said Moore. "He solved the matter of the 'Red Rose of Trieste.'
+Do you remember hearing of that?"
+
+I exclaimed in amazement: "He! Is _he_ the man who solved that affair?
+You must be mistaken. That occurred, or began, in Europe."
+
+"Exactly," said Moore. "Quintus Oakes works there, as well as here. He
+speaks German, French, Italian, and perhaps more languages, fluently,
+and can secure evidence anywhere. He has travelled over the world
+several times. One year he was away ten months on a case, and secured
+the necessary evidence for conviction in Sydney."
+
+"I see. He is something decidedly out of the ordinary, as his appearance
+suggests."
+
+"He is on a new case just now, and he has promised to let me go, if I
+want to. It's a very short affair, and perhaps I will take a vacation
+that way. I have not been away yet this year," continued Moore.
+
+We now parted for the evening, and as he started to go, I called out
+after him: "Say, Moore, get me into it, if it's exciting. I have had no
+vacation yet myself. Introduce me to Mr. Oakes as soon as you can,
+anyway."
+
+"All right. I'll arrange for a night at the Club, provided Oakes is not
+too busy."
+
+I returned to my rooms, little knowing how things were shaping, from an
+entirely independent direction, to throw me, willingly I confess, for a
+few brief weeks into a vortex of turmoil, to fight through it side by
+side with my friend Moore and vigorous, cool, quick-witted Quintus
+Oakes.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER II_
+
+  _Quintus Oakes at Home_
+
+
+It was, therefore, a great deal in the nature of a surprise when, a few
+days after parting with Moore, I received a note at my apartments by
+messenger requesting me to call on Mr. Quintus Oakes that evening on
+professional business. It was written in a brisk, courteous style, but
+made no mention of Dr. Moore. Was it possible that I was to meet Oakes
+through other channels? I realized that my profession of the law might
+give many opportunities for such an interview with him, so I ceased to
+wonder, and started up Broadway just before the hour appointed. I turned
+into the long, dimly lighted side street near Long Acre Square, and
+found that the number designated was a bachelor apartment house. It was
+where I had lost him the day of the fire.
+
+Taking the elevator to the third floor, I was directed to the door and
+admitted by a Japanese servant, a bright-eyed fellow of about twenty.
+He was dressed in our fashion and spoke English well--the kind of a chap
+that one sees not infrequently nowadays in the service of men who have
+seen the world, know how to live, and how to choose for personal
+comfort. It was evident that I was expected, for I was at once led into
+the front room and there met by Oakes himself. The instant he saw me, a
+look of recognition and mild surprise came over his face, and as he
+shook hands he said: "We have met before, at the fire the other day, Mr.
+Stone! Won't you please step into my sanctum? We can be more comfortable
+there."
+
+He led me through a short hall, into a large airy room, furnished as
+half-lounging room, half office. There was a large flat-top mahogany
+desk in the centre, with a sofa and several upholstered chairs,
+evidently for use as well as ornament. On the walls were pictures of
+value, views of foreign places, and oil paintings that a mere novice
+could see were works of art. There was that in the room which suggested
+education and refinement.
+
+A telephone was on the desk, and loose papers partly written upon bore
+evidence that the detective had been busy at work when I arrived.
+
+At a motion from my host I seated myself in one of the large arm chairs
+facing him, while he remained standing.
+
+I saw that he was a man about thirty-eight or forty years old, straight
+as an arrow and splendidly proportioned. He was dressed in a
+well-fitting gray suit.
+
+The light was from above, and Oakes's face showed well--the clear-cut
+nose and generous mouth of the energetic American.
+
+He looked at me critically with deep-set, steady blue eyes, then smiled
+slightly in a well-controlled, dignified manner.
+
+"Mr. Stone, I am very glad that you were able to come tonight. Make
+yourself at home," he said.
+
+I made an appropriate answer of some kind, and then Oakes took the seat
+near me and began, without further ceremony:
+
+"I have arranged that our friend Dr. Moore shall come here this evening;
+meanwhile, I will inform you briefly of the subject in hand."
+
+"A few months ago Mandel & Sturgeon the attorneys, whom you doubtless
+know, consulted me regarding the unpleasant happenings at the mansion of
+one Odell Mark, up-State, in the town of Mona.
+
+"Now, Mandel & Sturgeon suggested, also, that you might care to help
+unravel the matter, acting as their legal representative.
+
+"I have completed my arrangements for starting on the case, and am
+particularly glad to find that you are a friend of Dr. Moore and that
+you had expressed to him a desire to enter into some such affair. I
+assure you, however, that Mandel & Sturgeon had previously spoken of you
+and that this offer was coming as a business proposition. The fact that
+you and Dr. Moore had spoken of such a trip is merely a coincidence."
+
+He spoke with a well-modulated voice, and a fluency that told of the
+intelligence of the man. His eyes fixed me, but not in an embarrassing
+manner; it was the habit of observation that prompted their
+concentration--that was obvious.
+
+His forehead was high and slightly furrowed with two vertical wrinkles
+between the eyebrows. His face was mobile and expressive at times, then
+suddenly calm. In my very brief observation I knew that he was able to
+govern its expression well.
+
+In the days that were coming, I learned that in the presence of danger
+or possible trickery that face became stony and immovable, a mask that
+talked and commanded, while hiding the suppressed energy of the man.
+
+The bell rang before Oakes could proceed with his statement, and Dr.
+Moore was shown in. His coming enlivened us both, and after a few words
+of greeting I found the opportunity, and said:
+
+"Mr. Oakes, it is not exactly clear to me why Mandel & Sturgeon
+recommended me as their representative. They have so many men in their
+office whom they might use in that capacity."
+
+"Doubtless you will hear from them yourself before we go, Mr. Stone.
+Meantime, I may explain. You were in their employ at one time, I
+believe?"
+
+"Yes, a great many years ago."
+
+"They think that some legal matters might arise, where a man on the spot
+would be of value, and it seems best that their representative with me
+should be one not easily identified as working with them. You know, Mr.
+Stone, we are not advertising our mission."
+
+"I have been in Mona as Mr. Clark, their agent, looking after the
+Mansion and other property, and if I return there, it must be under some
+business pretext, or people will suspect me. You, being an independent
+party, not known as connected with the firm in any way, can accompany me
+in the rôle of a friend on an outing, or as a possible purchaser. You
+see, we are trying to solve a mystery, so the less attention we attract
+the better."
+
+"I see. So you have been there already, Mr. Oakes?"
+
+"Yes, gentlemen. I will tell you about this affair very briefly now. You
+will learn more later, if you enter upon its solution with me.
+
+"The Mansion was originally the property of George Mark, who died some
+years ago, leaving it to his two sons, Winthrop and Odell. Both were
+single men at that time, but Odell married a couple of years ago and
+persuaded his brother to sell his share of the property to him.
+Winthrop, who was the older, did not care to part with it, but finally
+disposed of his interest to his brother, who immediately moved into the
+place with his bride. The old servants were still in charge, and
+everything had been kept up to a high standard of excellence, although
+no one had lived there since the old man died.
+
+"Odell had travelled some, and lived mostly in the city, while Winthrop
+had been engrossed in amassing a large fortune in speculation. He had
+resided in Mona, keeping his own place, saying he did not care for the
+Mansion as a home after his father died."
+
+"Then why did he not care to give up his interest to his brother?" asked
+Moore.
+
+"That is as yet a mystery. But, as he was a great business man, it is
+supposed by some that he saw opportunities to convert the vast grounds
+into town lots, and sell at a great advance some day when Mona should
+boom, as the town will sooner or later, owing to its natural advantages.
+He told many, however, that it was merely a sentiment with him, the
+place having belonged in Colonial times to the family. Be that as it
+may, however, he finally sold, and never would buy it back again, even
+after the mystery had made it practically valueless.
+
+"His brother offered to sell it back for next to nothing, but Winthrop
+only laughed, and refused. This conduct seemed to dispose of the
+supposition that he was in any way responsible for the occurrences there
+which had such a depressing effect in the value of the property."
+
+"Then, if mixed up, he had a deeper motive," said I.
+
+"Yes--if he has really been involved in the mystery at all. You must
+remember, however," said Oakes, "that his story may be true. Having
+disposed of his share of the property, he may have seen no reason for
+bothering with it again, at least until it was clear of the depressing
+occurrences which had lowered its value from half a million to
+practically nothing."
+
+"Goodness! What were these mysteries?" said Moore, with a feigned
+shudder. "Evidently, they are unpopular."
+
+Oakes proceeded slowly.
+
+"They consist of a series of assaults on those who have occupied the
+house, and they are conducted in such a way that detection has been
+impossible.
+
+"One evening Mrs. Mark was heard to shriek in her bedroom, and when
+found by her husband was insane from fright. In her ravings she spoke of
+a terrible thing choking her, and of a swishing sound. She never
+regained her reason, and is now in an insane asylum. Alienists at first
+thought that she had an experience common to those going mad--that she
+had been subject to a delusion. But evidences were against this, as she
+had in no way shown any signs of mental trouble before. While she was
+being cared for at the Mansion, the two nurses in charge had similar
+experiences. They reported hearing a tread on the stairs one night and
+of seeing a figure disappear into the dining-room. One stated up and
+down that it was a woman.
+
+"The patient was removed from the place. Then Mr. Odell Mark received
+such a scare one night that he packed up and left the Mansion for good.
+He was assaulted by an invisible party from behind, and only escaped
+after a severe struggle. Whoever, or whatever, assaulted him
+disappeared in an instant, and he swore that he heard the closing of a
+door somewhere downstairs.
+
+"Everything was done to keep the truth quiet, but of course it leaked
+out and the place has been regarded as haunted ever since. The servants
+left, save a few of the oldest, who live away from the Mansion under a
+separate roof, and have never seen anything unusual."
+
+"That sounds very thrilling," I said; "but the affair may all be founded
+on nervous dread and hysteria."
+
+"So I thought," said Oakes. "I went up there alone recently, however,
+and am glad to say that I got back alive."
+
+"What! Did you see it?"
+
+"No, gentlemen, I did not. There was nothing to see; but I learned
+enough to know that murder stalks there in the Mansion--that the mystery
+is a deep one, and my conduct nearly cost me my life.
+
+"I have faced danger often, but I never faced an invisible violence, or
+had such a fight for my life as I had at the Mansion about three weeks
+ago."
+
+Quintus Oakes was speaking earnestly, and we both were deeply
+interested. That the celebrated detective should have met such an
+experience placed the tale outside the realm of fiction. He was a calm
+man, used to facing danger, and not one to be easily deceived or
+frightened.
+
+"Great Scott!" said Moore, "you must have had a fine time. Tell us about
+it. It must have been what the boys call a 'lalapazooza' of a time."
+
+I had to smile at my friend, able and successful, and already a
+professional man of reputation, but ever fond of an occasional slang
+expression as a relief from the care with which he was usually burdened.
+He was well to do, but had been no idler, and knew the meaning of hard
+work.
+
+"Yes," said Oakes, "I had a fine time."
+
+At this moment the telephone on the desk rang, and Oakes reached forward
+and placed the receiver to his ear. After a few words of business he
+replaced it, but I felt a curious sensation of something missing,
+something unusual.
+
+His hand had shot forward toward the hook and deposited the receiver
+thereon in one quick, instantaneous movement. The action had been so
+exact that the contact had given rise to no sound save the after-tinkle
+of the bell. Moore noticed it too, and looked at me, as much as to say:
+"How was that, for measuring distance?"
+
+Then Oakes wheeled so as to face us again.
+
+"Excuse me for the interruption. Now I will tell you my story in a few
+words."
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER III_
+
+  _Oakes's Experience_
+
+
+Oakes began:
+
+"Mandel & Sturgeon gave me a letter to the chief care-taker, Cook, and I
+went to Mona as Clark, their agent, giving as an excuse for my presence
+there that Mr. Odell Mark contemplated making radical alterations in the
+Mansion before returning to it. Cook and his wife opened that portion of
+the Mansion which I thought best adapted for my temporary
+residence--about half of the place, I should say. I spent a few quiet
+days looking around the estate and the house. I was always on guard,
+however, lest I appear too inquisitive and thereby betray my true
+mission.
+
+"There was an old maid-servant, Annie by name, and several gardeners
+about. These latter, I found, were never admitted to the Mansion. My
+meals were served in the dining-room, and this room was the one in which
+I spent most of my time. The servants gave me but little information
+regarding the mysterious doings that had so frightened their employers.
+I could tell by their action that they were genuinely afraid to be alone
+in the place, and they all cautioned me repeatedly. They seemed anxious
+that the affair should be investigated, and said that Mr. Odell should
+have had detectives at work on the mystery. It was evident they were
+afraid that they would lose their positions if no one returned to live
+at the Mansion soon.
+
+"I noticed a strong under-current of contempt for Mr. Odell; they seemed
+to think he was a cowardly fellow, none too anxious to remain, or he
+would have investigated the affair. In fact, they behaved sometimes as
+though they thought that he might have been at the bottom of the
+mystery. Occasionally, Cook and his wife and Annie had stayed in the
+Mansion, cleaning up, and had never seen anything unusual. Nothing had
+occurred since Mr. Odell Mark had left--which certainly was peculiar.
+
+"I could see that my true identity was not suspected. My presence seemed
+to have inspired confidence in them all. I called Cook and his wife, or
+Annie, into my rooms for a talk quite frequently. Nothing happened, and
+I began to feel that there was exaggeration somewhere; but,
+nevertheless, I moved with caution and slept in the back room over the
+dining-room with the doors carefully locked. I insisted that Mr. and
+Mrs. Cook sleep in the front room. The servants at first demurred, but
+finally consented when I told them that if they did not do so I would
+not remain, and would report unfavorably as regards the remodeling of
+the Mansion. I noticed that they bolted their doors carefully every
+night and kept a light burning in their room. This I knew, as its rays
+shone through under their door into the hall.
+
+"This satisfied me that they were on guard and afraid, and consequently
+unaware of the real nature of the mystery.
+
+"Late one night, after about a week, I was looking out of one of the
+windows in the dining-room, watching a boat passing. The lights upon her
+and the throbbing of her engines, half a mile away, were plunging me
+into a reverie, when suddenly I felt a peculiar sensation of uneasiness.
+I glanced along the porch, and at the windows; everything seemed all
+right. I turned, and saw Annie some distance up the hall attending to a
+lamp at the foot of the stairs. The afternoon paper lay on the table. I
+walked over to it and picked it up, stationing myself a few feet away
+from the hall door, where I commanded a view of the entire room, the
+windows and the balcony. I heard, or fancied I heard, a step or shuffle,
+and then instantly something closed around my throat and I was pulled
+backward and downward. I heard a rush in the hall and saw Annie's
+terrified face looking into the room, but she did not see me. I tried to
+cry out for help, but was unable to raise my voice. Realizing that I was
+being killed without aid, I struggled with all my power. I have an
+indistinct recollection of a shriek in the hall, then a rustling sound,
+as of garments, near me. The next I knew, Annie, Cook and his wife, with
+two gardeners, were working over me. One of the gardeners had opened my
+shirt and thrown water upon my throat. I was unconscious for some
+minutes, they said; but when I recovered my senses I ordered all hands
+to keep their mouths closed, under pain of instant dismissal. Inquiries
+instituted by me revealed that Annie had first heard my struggles, and
+the shriek that had been given was hers. Response had been quick, but
+when Cook first entered the room, backed up by the wife and old Annie, I
+was lying limp and unconscious, face downward on the floor, as though I
+had been thrown violently forward."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The recital of this narrative had been given in a quiet, dignified
+manner--one of absolute conviction. It was an impartial statement of
+fact, and we were profoundly impressed.
+
+Dr. Moore turned to me and said: "Well, do you feel like joining us?"
+
+"Ah! Then you are in this too?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Oakes is going to let me have my vacation in his company."
+
+"I certainly shall go," I said; "it appears to me that this matter is a
+serious one."
+
+"It is very serious," Oakes repeated. "There is a deep mystery at the
+Mansion, and its solution may be a dangerous one. There is murder in
+that method of attack, and terrible strength behind it."
+
+"What is it? A man?" asked Moore.
+
+"That is conjecture as yet," said Oakes. "I certainly beard the sound
+made by a woman's skirts, or something of that sort, but the strength
+was too great for most women hereabouts."
+
+"Yes, if you were overcome by it," I remarked.
+
+"The servants are firmly convinced that the whole business is
+supernatural. That is hardly worth discussing. I have no doubt that you
+two gentlemen, as possible purchasers of the Mansion, will have
+opportunities to settle the question for yourselves."
+
+There was just the shadow of a smile on Oakes's face as he spoke.
+
+"Did you notice anything peculiar about the people at the Mansion--the
+care-takers?" I asked.
+
+"No, I thought their actions were natural, especially when I was
+assaulted. One of the gardeners, who did not do very much to help me,
+seemed preoccupied and made advances for a better acquaintance before I
+left. I think he will bear watching closely; he knows something."
+
+"How long did you remain at the Mansion after the assault?"
+
+"Only a few days," said Oakes. "I could learn nothing alone. It was too
+dangerous. When we return, it will be in greater numbers. If our mission
+is suspected we will be obliged to work through other channels, but I
+think we can fool the care-takers; they will say nothing to you about
+the mystery, and they will think that I am more anxious than ever to
+dispose of the place. Should our work be suspected, however," continued
+the detective, "we will be face to face with complications. We may have
+to be reënforced by men from my agency, but they will probably not be
+known even to you."
+
+"The reward for the solution of this mystery is a large one, and the
+prosperity of the town depends upon it. This matter at the Mansion has
+not only affected its own value, as I said, but has helped greatly to
+depreciate the worth of the surrounding properties."
+
+Then, turning to Moore:
+
+"I think your professional knowledge may come in handy in several ways,
+so you may consider that your time will be well paid for, and your
+vacation a profitable one--that is, of course, if you return alive."
+
+This was so seriously said as to cause me a momentary feeling of
+discomfort.
+
+We now discussed details and arrangements for our start, for we had
+decided to go. Oakes and I were to leave first, while Doctor Moore was
+to come a few days later, owing to his inability to get away at once.
+
+Having finished with his story and the necessary details of instruction,
+Oakes changed his manner and offered us cigars. The Jap brought in a few
+glasses and a bottle, which opened up the social side of our interview.
+
+Noticing that our host had not lighted a cigar, I ventured the remark
+that he was not a heavy smoker.
+
+"No," said he. "I very rarely use tobacco during business; it is a
+peculiarity of mine, I am told."
+
+His face was quite smiling now.
+
+He continued: "With some it acts as a concentrator of ideas--at least,
+so claim its devotees. With me, it dissipates them; I use it simply as a
+pleasure when work is done."
+
+While he spoke, I was again impressed with that peculiar celerity of
+movement in small actions which I had noticed before.
+
+He passed the cigars in an ordinary, deliberate manner, conversing the
+while; but when he reached for a match, I was amazed at the
+lightning-like rapidity of the movement. His hand shot out, selected it
+from the stand on the table, lighted it and the cigar, and returned the
+burned stick to the tray with a rapidity and evenness which made of it
+almost a continuous act.
+
+It reminded me forcibly of the movement with the telephone receiver. I
+felt that, given the necessity and the occasion, his general action
+would be roused to quickness of the same kind--sure and instantaneous.
+He impressed me as a man with a tremendous reserve of strength and
+vitality.
+
+When we left for the evening, Oakes shook my hand with a stout, firm
+grasp, the kind that means friendliness and inspires confidence. When
+outside, I asked of my companion what he privately thought of the affair
+at the Mark Mansion.
+
+"There is something extraordinary there, surely," answered the
+physician. "Knowing Oakes as I do, Stone, I am fully convinced that he
+is deeply worried over the matter. He would never think of having us in
+such an affair unless he desired our company. He is as brave as any
+man--his record shows that; but he is also noted for caution. He sees,
+or thinks he sees, a dangerous game here--a plot, perhaps--where our
+presence will be a support. He has often told me in conversation, that
+he regards the legal and medical minds as particularly adapted to pass
+judgment on certain problems of a peculiar nature. He has an idea that
+our training will perhaps help him in the matter, I think."
+
+With this remark, we parted at Broadway and Forty-second Street, and
+went to our respective homes.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER IV_
+
+  _The Departure_
+
+
+Next morning, while at breakfast, I received a letter from Mandel &
+Sturgeon which was satisfactory to me, and I went down to my office and
+notified my partner, Hart, that I was about to take a vacation.
+
+Fortunately, we had just successfully finished a long legal fight in the
+courts, and my excuse was a natural one.
+
+I then went out and bought a good revolver, such as Oakes had told me to
+get when we discussed details the night before. He had insisted upon our
+being armed all alike, and furnished with the same kind of cartridges.
+We could then exchange weapons in an emergency, and still be supplied
+with ammunition.
+
+Having completed my purchase, I went to the Club, where Oakes was
+awaiting me. We lunched together, and during the conversation he told me
+to express my baggage to the Mansion that afternoon, and to meet him at
+the Central Station at eight o'clock P.M.
+
+"And be cautious in your movements," he said. "Here is your ticket. Wear
+serviceable clothes and a heavy dark overcoat, such as you had on last
+night, with a black Fedora hat. Don't notice me, but enter the same car
+as I do on the train. I will contrive to be with you before we arrive at
+our destination."
+
+"Why all this?" I asked.
+
+"Well, I wish to be able to identify you easily in a crowd. If I know
+how you are dressed, it might be valuable in several other ways also. We
+may have to change our plans, in which event it will be easier for me if
+I know how you look."
+
+"I do not exactly understand," said I, "but I presume you do."
+
+"Precisely. You may learn in time."
+
+As we emerged from the Club a newsboy came up to Oakes, from whom he
+bought a paper, and as he did so, the boy said:
+
+"Martin says you are followed, sir."
+
+Oakes turned to me: "Meet me as I said; and do as I do afterwards in
+everything. I shall be forced to change my plans."
+
+The boy had gone after another customer, and Oakes continued: "Martin is
+my aide; he has posted me. Good-by! See you later. Explain some other
+time."
+
+We parted, and I went about my preparations for departure with that
+exhilaration that men feel when about to enter into some strange
+undertaking. It was to be a novel experience for me, and I frankly
+confess that certain misgivings haunted me. That I was entering,
+willingly, to be sure, upon a journey of many possibilities I did not
+for one moment doubt; that I should need the weapon already purchased,
+and the utmost coolness that I could muster, seemed to me more than
+likely. At this date I felt nothing akin to fear, and the knowledge that
+Quintus Oakes was to be our leader prevented a too serious estimate of
+the possible consequences.
+
+Later on I did feel some regrets at having hurled myself into the
+episodes that followed, but this feeling vanished soon in the excitement
+of the events that transpired at Mona.
+
+Shortly before the appointed time I arrived at the station and strolled
+about the rotunda in search of Oakes.
+
+I espied him at the paper stand, dressed in a dark heavy overcoat and a
+hat like mine. His recognition of me was instantaneous, but he made no
+movement until, after buying a paper, he walked past me to the door.
+
+Looking at me with a glance that warned me, he stepped out and into a
+car that was approaching. I jumped on the same car, and in a very few
+moments he and I were going up the Sixth Avenue Elevated stairway, but
+acting as strangers to one another.
+
+There were many persons boarding the Harlem train with us. It was a
+tiresome ride to the terminus, but when Oakes and I stepped out and down
+to the street, he jumped into a carriage in waiting, drawn by a pair of
+horses, and beckoned to me. I stepped in also, and sat by his side on
+the back seat.
+
+The driver started at a quick pace across the bridge and into Jerome
+Avenue.
+
+Oakes turned to me: "It seems that my movements are watched by men in a
+rival agency. I have detected no followers, but time will tell if they
+exist. I saw a fellow watching me at the station, and we may have easily
+been followed on the elevated train; in such a crowd one cannot detect."
+
+"Why do they watch you, Mr. Oakes? Are they suspicious that we are going
+to Mona?"
+
+"No, not at all," answered Oakes. "They are watching to see _where_ I am
+going. You see," he continued, "I am working on several other cases, and
+perhaps they are, too. You realize there are times when men of my
+profession cross each other's paths, and it is advantageous to know what
+the other fellow is doing."
+
+"I see. Keeping tab on one another!" I said. "Rather expensive work, is
+it not?"
+
+Oakes smiled. "Yes, but it is business. I like to know when a rival
+leaves town. I keep a pretty close watch myself on some of them."
+
+We drove rapidly, and soon pulled up at an out-of-the-way roadhouse.
+
+"Come," said Oakes, alighting.
+
+A portly German was behind the bar, evidently the proprietor.
+
+Oakes made a sudden movement of his hand, and the door was locked. We
+two were then shown into a rear room where two other men were
+seated--both tall, well-built fellows, and both dressed as we were, in
+dark overcoats and black Fedora hats.
+
+They saluted Oakes, and after a word or two stepped into the bar-room,
+where the German served them with drinks. In a minute they were in our
+carriage and driving away toward Yonkers.
+
+"I see now why you were particular as to my dress."
+
+"Yes, a substitution like this is useful sometimes. I thought I might be
+forced to make one. Much better than nonsensical disguises. We will soon
+know if any one is coming after us," he continued. "This is really the
+last place before the fork of the road, and anyone following us would
+have to be in sight all the time, or else stop here for information."
+
+The proprietor motioned us upstairs to a front room, and Oakes said to
+him: "Remember, we have gone to Yonkers." But the good-natured German
+evidently knew his business, for he only smiled and went off muttering
+something to himself about a "damned good mix-up."
+
+In a few minutes two men drew up in a buggy, and were admitted below by
+the obsequious old fellow.
+
+Then we heard the question: "Have you seen two tall gentlemen in black
+coats and soft hats hereabouts, Dutchy?"
+
+The German thought a moment: "Yah, yah; dare vas two big fellers just
+here; dey vas took some viskey and got away quick."
+
+"Which way?" asked the men.
+
+"Dey vas gone up dar Yonkers Road."
+
+Oakes chuckled. "The old fellow is all right; an old friend of mine."
+
+Then we heard the men say: "Here, Dutchy, here's something for you," and
+we knew they had given him a tip.
+
+In a moment they were gone, and the old fellow was to be heard chuckling
+audibly to himself: "Five dollar for von great big mix-up."
+
+Oakes watched the team turn up the Yonkers Road after our decoy, and
+then he said:
+
+"Come, Stone, move quickly." He led the way downstairs to the back
+entrance, and to the stable, where we found a man with a team. He
+saluted us. It was the carriage in which Oakes's men had come out.
+
+"Drive hard for the Harlem Station; we can catch the 10:30 train," was
+the order.
+
+Our driver evidently knew what to do, and we soon passed out of the
+carriage-way.
+
+At the side of the door we halted a moment, and I saw Oakes give the
+German a twenty-dollar bill.
+
+"Remember," he said, "not a word."
+
+We caught our train after a long drive to the east, and back over the
+Harlem River. When we seated ourselves in the sleeper, Oakes turned to
+me quietly. "Please remember, Stone, that you are a possible buyer, and
+that I am Charles Clark, agent for the owner of the Mark Mansion. We
+have had a pleasant evening together so far, have we not?"
+
+He smiled in his quiet, unruffled manner as he spoke.
+
+"Yes--rather active," I said. "I presume those other fellows are
+thinking so too, probably."
+
+"Only the last two," said Oakes; "my men are home by this time."
+
+Shortly after midnight we arrived at the station at the foot of the hill
+which hid the beautiful town of Mona.
+
+"Keep your senses alert," said Oakes as we left the train, "for we are
+now in the region of uncertainty. We had better not walk to the hotel,
+although it is only about a mile. The hour is too late."
+
+The solitary hackman, seeing us approach, roused himself from his sleepy
+lethargy and soon we were slowly ascending the hill. The well-kept road
+was lighted here and there by electricity, an agreeable witness to the
+civilization around us.
+
+I saw Oakes place his weapon in his outside overcoat pocket--as he said,
+the most convenient place for it to rest, clad as we were.
+
+The action was a vivid reminder of the experiences of his last visit,
+and of the caution of the man.
+
+Without further adventure of any kind we arrived at the little hotel,
+with its sleepy night clerk and its gloomy office. This opened right on
+the sidewalk by means of a large wooden door, hung a low step above the
+pavement, and fitting so poorly in its frame that the rays of the light
+from within sought exit beneath it.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER V_
+
+  _The Letter_
+
+
+While Oakes and I were in the first stages of our journey, Dr. Moore
+stood in his back office at the close of business hours, wondering if
+the adventure that Oakes had so well described to us could in any way
+have been originated by other than physical forces. Moore was a deep
+student of mental phenomena. He had on more than one occasion heard
+histories of terrible tragedies, so real in their wording that the
+picture conveyed was the practical guarantee of their origin at human
+hands; but, nevertheless, these histories had been proved to be but the
+imaginings of a diseased mind--products of a delusion.
+
+In every other respect the narrators had been, in appearance at least,
+perfectly sane individuals. While he hesitated to think that Oakes might
+have been suffering from an overworked brain at the time, still he knew
+that it was not impossible.
+
+The struggles that the servants had heard had been those of Oakes; the
+actual evidences so far of assault were vague. Oakes was in a partially
+unconscious condition, to be sure; but what evidence of violence was
+that?
+
+Moore's cool professional judgment told him that queer sensations are
+common after a severe shock, whether delusional in origin or not.
+
+He had known Oakes for years, and the good judgment and coolness that he
+had always shown spoke greatly against a recently developed mental
+disorder.
+
+Still, Moore was uneasy; he longed for more evidence of physical force
+from without--something more positive.
+
+Of course, Oakes was not alone in his experience--there had been
+others--but it was possible that the mere contagion of terror might be
+in part responsible for some of these. There had been no witnesses. The
+statement of violence rested on the word of the victims alone. Dr. Moore
+knew that men thinking constantly of the same thing, to the exclusion of
+all else, might develop similar delusions. The physician had seen many
+strange things, and was not a man to be easily deceived. Could it be
+that Quintus Oakes was the victim of a mental process?
+
+It was this very power which Moore possessed--of thinking along such
+lines--that made him, in Oakes's opinion, a particularly desirable
+addition to the party. Little, however, did the detective imagine that
+the trained mind of the physician would first weigh the possibilities of
+Oakes's own mental instability.
+
+While Moore was deep in thought, he was suddenly interrupted by the
+bell, and the receipt of a note which had been delivered by the postman.
+
+He glanced at the postmark, and saw that it was from Station O and was
+mailed at 4:30.
+
+Somehow, he felt an instinctive dread of its contents. Of course, he as
+yet had no adequate cause for misgivings; but there was that in the
+subject of which he had been thinking that seemed to forecast evil and
+dread. His mind was in a state of unrest at the very thought of the
+possibilities. He tore the letter open, and read:
+
+"DEAR DR. MOORE: You may not deem it wise to pay attention to an
+anonymous communication, but let me assure you that, if you value a
+life, you will pay attention in this case.
+
+"It has come within my province to know that a great tragedy may be
+averted by you.
+
+"Some short while ago a man, tall, straight as an arrow, and with blue
+eyes, went to the town of Mona and stopped at the Mansion. There he came
+near being murdered, and if he ever goes back, I personally know that he
+will be killed in short order.
+
+"His business was said to be that of an agent for the owners. I saw him
+in New York several years ago, and he was pointed out to me as a
+celebrated detective, but I cannot remember his name, or that of the
+person who informed me.
+
+"At Mona he was known by another name. I cannot go there, however, or
+learn any more particulars. The reason I address this to you is that I
+know that you are acquainted with him, as years ago I used to see him
+often in your company.
+
+"Now please communicate with this man; you are the only thread that I
+have to his identity.
+
+"_Reach him, if possible, at once._ Warn him. Tell him to turn back--to
+abandon his quest, for death to him is the only alternative.
+
+"Do not attempt to trace my identity. _Act_, and _act quickly_, if you
+wish to prevent a great horror."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The letter terminated abruptly. Dr. Moore realized in an instant that
+Oakes's movements were known to some outsider already--someone who had
+either been in Manhattan that day, or who had sent the letter there to
+one who had mailed it.
+
+He saw the whole matter in a most serious light. Oakes was in danger
+from forces he did not suspect, perhaps, and the assault he had
+described had been known to others besides the immediate household of
+servants. For who, of that household, could have written such a letter?
+
+Moore thought of his plans gone astray, of his business engagements, but
+they all paled into insignificance in the face of the danger to Oakes.
+
+He decided to follow up Oakes by the very next train. Finding he had
+time for one or two calls, he rushed in his carriage to make them, and
+as he entered his office upon his return he found an energetic young man
+awaiting him. He knew him as Martin, one of Oakes's aides.
+
+"Good evening, Doctor! You're on the rush tonight. My! but I had to
+hustle."
+
+"Good evening! But how did you know so much of my movements--how, why,
+did you have to hustle?"
+
+"I just arrived here a few seconds ago. I have been watching you this
+evening. Mr. Oakes told me to take care of you and keep you out of
+mischief. You see, he feared trouble of some kind. I was told to report
+to you once in a while--and here I am."
+
+The physician understood, and then they discussed the recent
+development. It was agreed that Dr. Moore should leave for Mona; and
+this, after arranging his business by telephone and hastily making
+ready, he succeeded in doing.
+
+As he boarded the train he asked of Martin, who was with him, if he was
+to go to Mona also.
+
+"That depends upon who enters after you. If I think you are followed, I
+go too." And Moore realized that Oakes's hand of caution had been shown
+once more.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER VI_
+
+  _The Murder_
+
+
+The rising sun was invisible from the little station hidden in the gloom
+of the hill, but away out on the river its rays reached the water and
+marked out sharply the shadow of the high ground.
+
+Further down the stream the rugged outlines of the Mansion were cut in
+silhouette on the surface of the river, which was, as yet, smooth as a
+mill-pond, but which soon would be moved by those thousands of ripples
+advancing from the opposite shore.
+
+As the sun shot his beams clearer and sharper, the mist of the distance
+unfolded and the rays struck the ragged granite cliffs of the shore, and
+revealed them yellow and gray in the bluish haze of the morn.
+
+Away up, miles beyond, the river broadened and the mountains of both
+sides rose abruptly and ruggedly, apparently from the water's edge,
+causing the effect of a wide, placid lake.
+
+All was quiet, lonely and dark on this side of the shore under the hill,
+but beyond, where the rays of the sun had reached, was beginning life
+and activity.
+
+A schooner, becalmed until now, began to move with the breeze that
+greeted the waking of day.
+
+The train had but just left the little station, and again had two
+strangers alighted. One, the older, trudged up the hill covered with a
+great-coat, and with hands in his pockets. He walked rather rapidly,
+looking sharply around once or twice. As he neared the top, where the
+country rolls off into the plain, he turned to admire the spectacle of
+the breaking day. His glance followed the road, and he saw below the
+second figure walking along in a hurry, as though to make up for lost
+time.
+
+He smiled and said to himself: "That fellow Martin is a persistent
+youngster, anyway."
+
+A few yards more brought him to the crest of the hill; then he suddenly
+stopped, for before him was unfolded a stretch of rolling ground, well
+filled with trees in autumnal foliage, and beyond, the spires and the
+sky-line of a sleeping town. To his right he beheld a large wooded tract
+extending for at least a mile down the river, and in the dim distance
+the shaded outlines of an old mansion. Over all was the glorious yellow
+sun. The new fresh rays caught the leaves on the trees and on the
+ground, and kissed away the frost of the October morning. The traveller
+drew a long breath.
+
+"I have been over the world, almost, but never did I know such splendor
+was so near my office," said he, half aloud. He had discovered what some
+few had already known, that here at our doors, if one is not too
+indifferent, can be found the scenery one seeks in a month's journey.
+
+While walking along, Moore, for he was the man, was overtaken by a
+milk-wagon which rattled by with its two horses; the driver, lashing his
+whip, seemed to mark the actual awakening to life of this rural
+community.
+
+"Say, how far to the hotel and which way?" asked Moore.
+
+"Down the road a piece. Come, get in. I'll drive ye."
+
+Moore jumped up alongside, and was thankful for the lift.
+
+As they sped along, he started at a sound in the distance like the faint
+crack of a whip, but duller.
+
+"What was that--a shot?" he said.
+
+"Yes; rather early, but poachers like to get on to the Mark place 'most
+any time. Didn't sound like much of a gun, though."
+
+They were now at the hotel, and Moore registered in the old dilapidated
+book, and went to his room before his breakfast. As he lay down for a
+moment to rest, all of the vivid experiences of the last twenty-four
+hours coursed through his brain. He followed the events of the evening
+before, and congratulated himself on being now relieved from anxiety,
+for a time at least.
+
+He had seen my name and that of "Clark," whom he knew to be Oakes, on
+the register, and had located our rooms as right opposite his own.
+Perhaps he had better communicate with Oakes and myself, now it was six
+o'clock, he thought. He looked into the corridor and saw no one about,
+for no attendant watches in these little hotels in the country. He
+locked his door, and knocked at Oakes's. In a moment he heard the key
+click, and Oakes looked carefully through the partially opened door.
+The recognition was quick and Moore was admitted.
+
+In another moment I had joined them, for Oakes's room and mine
+communicated; he had thought it best that we should have access to each
+other at all times, if possible.
+
+We two hastily dressed, and Dr. Moore presented the cause of his visit
+as briefly as possible.
+
+"Let me see the letter," said Oakes.
+
+He read it carefully. "One thing is certain--it is written by a person
+of some education. That proves nothing, however. It may have been
+dictated originally by a very illiterate person."
+
+"It was sent from New York."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Oakes wearily, "but it may simply have been written
+there. It may have gone under cover in different language--from any
+place almost--and been copied or put into shape by an accomplice."
+
+"Hard to trace it," said Moore.
+
+"Yes, practically impossible, along those lines. But in any event it was
+written on a woman's paper; see the texture."
+
+We all noticed its fineness and agreed.
+
+"And the odor of musk is not a man's favorite, either," remarked Oakes,
+as we noticed the scent. He was standing erect, with a slightly
+abstracted air. He was thinking.
+
+"Well," said Moore, "we cannot find out much then."
+
+"Oh, yes, you can."
+
+"The letter speaks of the color of my eyes. The originator has seen me
+many times at close range. This is an unintentional clue. The style of
+the writing, the paper and the perfume point to a woman, but the wording
+is a man's, as is the description of myself, I judge."
+
+"Well, what do you think?"
+
+"I hazard a guess that the letter was written or dictated by a man of
+some education, and rewritten by a woman as a disguise."
+
+"Ah! And where was it written?"
+
+"That it is impossible to say. Perhaps in New York--but it may have been
+here in Mona. As I said, the originator is a man, probably, who knows me
+by sight, and knows Mona and its affairs very well, but who also knows
+New York and your city address, Moore; for the letter went there. By his
+knowledge of late events in Mona I should imagine that he perhaps lives
+here, but has recently been to New York, or else has an accomplice
+there--a woman--who rewrote and remailed the letter for him."
+
+At breakfast we contrived to keep the waitress busy filling orders, for
+we wished to discuss our affairs and had no mind to be overheard. Oakes
+had prepared the proprietor for Moore's arrival, saying he expected him
+at any time; so his coming excited no particular attention. While the
+girl was out, the doctor narrated his morning's experience as far as the
+walk up the hill. We addressed Oakes as Clark, as had been previously
+agreed.
+
+"Did Martin follow you?" asked the detective.
+
+"Yes, I saw him ascending the hill after me."
+
+Our leader thought a moment. "Curious! Why has he not made himself
+visible here? The chances are you were mistaken, Moore."
+
+"Oh, no. I feel confident it was Martin."
+
+We left the cheerless, low-ceiled dining-room and walked out into the
+corridor, where the porter was mopping the floor, and the cigar-stand
+opening for business.
+
+I went over and bought something to smoke. Moore took one, but Oakes
+refused. That meant he was worried, and not at his ease. Presently the
+doctor remarked: "Seems to be shooting around here."
+
+"How? What do you mean?" asked Oakes.
+
+"Yes, I heard a shot when I was in the wagon. The milkman said it was
+poachers on the Mark property."
+
+Oakes wheeled and regarded Moore austerely.
+
+"You heard shooting on the Mark grounds? Why did you not say so? You
+tell a poor story."
+
+At this moment we heard a commotion outside, and the cry: "A runaway!"
+
+We all stepped to the sidewalk, where a few early risers had gathered,
+and looked down the road. Coming over the crest of the hill from the
+station was a milk-wagon, rushing along at a terrific rate. The horses
+were leaping, with heads hung low. The smashing of cans was audible,
+even at the distance.
+
+"That is no runaway," said Oakes. "Look at the horses' heads--they are
+low. Those animals are not scared."
+
+We all looked, and beheld what Oakes had already noticed.
+
+"Look at the driver," said a by-stander.
+
+He was standing up on the dashboard plying his whip without mercy. By
+his side was a boy, hanging on for all he was worth.
+
+In the quiet, self-possessed way that marks a leader in all emergencies,
+Oakes spoke up: "That is a race for help, boys, not a runaway."
+
+Down the long road came the wagon--a heavy affair. Milk-cans were
+falling out and the roadway seemed scarcely enough for the swaying team.
+The driver, a strapping fellow, balanced himself as best he could,
+holding the reins with one hand and using the whip with the other. The
+intelligent animals were straining to their limit in dumb, intense brute
+desire to get there, or die. A murmur of applause arose from the crowd,
+and the country apathy gave way to subdued excitement. Never did Roman
+charioteer drive better! Never did artillery horses pull harder!
+
+In a minute or so the team came abreast of us, and the driver, by a
+wonderful control of his animals, pulled up abruptly. He dropped his
+whip and held up his hand.
+
+"There is a gentleman dying on the road by the top of the hill!"
+
+"Who? Who?"
+
+"I don't know, but he's on his face--with blood all over his back. He's
+been shot!"
+
+Oakes turned to Moore. His arm made that quick, silent movement so
+peculiarly his own and rested lightly on the physician's shoulder.
+
+"The shooting you heard," he remarked.
+
+Moore turned pale and seemed almost to stagger. "Meant for me!" he
+blurted out.
+
+"Yes, and Martin got it instead," said Oakes. "Come!" and in an instant
+he was off down the road.
+
+We followed, and the crowd of about thirty closed in. It was a quick
+dash down that turnpike. Never had early-riser in Mona had such an
+experience before. The terrific flight of the milk-wagon and its
+dramatic ending had inspired life in the crowd. Hotel porters, barmen
+and milkman, gentlemen and loafers, all went down that road with one
+object in view--the succoring of a fellow being. As we ran, the
+strongest forged ahead. Moore and myself came abreast in the rear of
+the leaders, but near to the bunch.
+
+"Terrible! Poor Martin!" said Moore.
+
+"Keep quiet," I said between breaths.
+
+A murmur arose in the crowd. "Look at that fellow," said a runner near
+us.
+
+We looked. It was Quintus; he was steadily distancing all. "Gosh! Ain't
+he a beaut?" said another.
+
+"Look at Oakes," said I.
+
+"Shut up," said Moore. "Call him Clark, now."
+
+The heavy breathing around us became noticeable; men were tiring now. It
+was a hard run. Away up in the lead was the solitary figure of our
+friend, running with body pitched a little forward and the long, even
+stride of the athlete. My mind now recalled that Oakes was a runner in
+college--a noted one in his day. Swish, swish! thump, thump! went the
+feet of those around us--and always that tall figure in the lead, taking
+the ground like a thoroughbred, and steadily increasing the distance
+between us.
+
+As we reached the crest of the hill to turn down, the milk-wagons were
+beginning to rumble behind us and the sounds of the approaching crowd of
+vehicles and belated citizens became distinct. We dashed down the slope
+and beheld Oakes--in the lead--halt, and bend over a figure. He seemed
+to be speaking to the injured man. As we drew near, we saw the blood and
+heard the sighing breathing.
+
+"Dying!" said Moore, by my side.
+
+We all encircled the victim, and Dr. Moore bent over him. Then he and
+Oakes straightened up suddenly, and removed their hats. We all knew what
+had taken place. The motley crowd uncovered, panting and pale-faced.
+
+"Dead!" said Oakes, and turned to Moore, who had joined me in the crowd.
+
+"Be careful," he said. "The murdered man is _not_ Martin."
+
+The rougher of the followers started to move the body, so as to see the
+face.
+
+Again Oakes showed his power to lead. "Stop, men; this is a crime. Don't
+touch the body. Wait for the police and the coroner."
+
+They obeyed. The first official now arrived on a wagon. He hesitated as
+he saw the bloody back; and then turned the face so that all could see
+it.
+
+Several stepped forward, and a cry of consternation arose: "_It's
+Winthrop Mark!_"
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER VII_
+
+  _The Inquest_
+
+
+At the suggestion of Oakes, we mingled with the crowd for a short time
+and then returned to the town with some of the hotel employees, leaving
+the others in their excitement to await the action of the authorities.
+
+"This man Winthrop Mark seems to have been very well known?" Oakes
+inquired of the hotel porter by his side.
+
+The latter, anxious to identify himself with the town and its people,
+and also to please the stranger beside him who had made himself so
+prominent during the last few moments, gave much information.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Clark, the murdered man has lived hereabouts for a long time;
+his brother owns the Mark Mansion over yonder; the town has been very
+proud of it, you know."
+
+"Yes, a beautiful old place."
+
+"It is, sir. But no place to live in; there has been something dangerous
+about it, sir."
+
+"Seems to me I heard something of it when I was last in Mona," said
+Oakes.
+
+"Did you have any experience, sir?"
+
+"Experience! What do you mean?"
+
+"I do not know, sir, but _it_ always appears. Something that scares
+people."
+
+"Hurts the town, doesn't it?"
+
+"Yes, indeed, sir; and this murder will spoil everything here now."
+
+"I cannot quite follow you."
+
+"Oh, sir, you don't know how good Mr. Mark was: Always improving the
+roads; always giving the town money; forever clearing up jealousies,"
+said the porter.
+
+Oakes looked at him: "Say, my man, how long have you been a porter? You
+don't speak like a man brought up in such work."
+
+"I was not, sir. I used to be a merchant, years ago; burned out; no
+insurance; broke; went to work as a porter; nothing else to do. The old
+story, Mr. Clark; I am not the first one!"
+
+We knew Oakes was seeking some information, so we remained quiet.
+
+"Sad enough," said he; "perhaps times will improve for you."
+
+The porter, Reilly by name, smiled and looked at Oakes with that
+expression of hopeful despair we have all seen, we who rub the world in
+our continuous efforts.
+
+"Who could have shot Mr. Mark?" asked our companion, "did he have many
+enemies?"
+
+"No, Mr. Clark. I know of none. But----" and the man paused.
+
+"Well, what?" said the detective in an off-hand way.
+
+"Well, it's peculiar," said Reilly, "very peculiar to me. Two or three
+years ago, sir, Smith, the leading man of the town, was shot at the very
+same spot in the road."
+
+"What!" I cried; but a look from Oakes silenced me. "Indeed! quite a
+coincidence," said he. "Who shot him?"
+
+"Nobody knows. I was just going to work when it happened."
+
+"Early in the day, then?"
+
+"Just about six o'clock, sir--and he was shot right through the chest,"
+volunteered our informant. "Well, I hope they catch this fellow," said
+Oakes. "You have a good police chief here."
+
+"Yes, sir, very. He came up here first for his health; but he was once
+chief in some large city."
+
+"Ah, then he will get the murderer surely. Mona is fortunate in having
+such a man."
+
+Reilly looked pleased at the compliment, and it seemed as though Oakes
+had won another follower.
+
+Before we reached the hotel, we saw that the town was now wide awake.
+There were groups of men talking excitedly before nearly every business
+place--the bank, the dry-goods stores, drug-stores and newspaper
+offices. It was about their opening hour, and rumor had travelled fast.
+
+On the main street, Oakes left us with a word of caution. "Be careful
+what you say. There may be a connection between this affair and the
+Mansion mystery, but--we know nothing of either. The inquest may tell us
+something. Meantime, you two find out what you can by mingling with the
+crowd. Learn all about Reilly; and anything you can pick up of the
+Smith murder he mentioned. I am going to see the Chief of Police; and,
+if possible, telephone to my office in New York."
+
+Moore and I walked around in the fast-increasing crowd, and talked with
+those who were returning from the scene of the murder.
+
+The people were settling down into a dull, sullen silence, as people
+will, after a great tragedy. This was a blow to the inhabitants here.
+The death of Mr. Mark was the loss of a friend to many, and of a leading
+citizen to all. Those engaged in business in what had been until
+recently a most prosperous little town foresaw the probable after-effect
+on confidence and the town's future.
+
+The demon of vengeance was rising in many hearts. The report of the
+coroner's jury was awaited with anxiety. The murderer would probably
+have escaped by that time--but better so--if once his identity could be
+discovered, than have another mysterious horror in the community.
+
+The police headquarters, a trim little brick building facing the square
+and the hotel, was the centre of real activity.
+
+Oakes made his appearance alone at the top of the steps coming out from
+the corridor that led to the Chief's room. As he stood at the door
+glancing calmly around at the crowd, I thought what a magnificent man he
+was. He stood erect and composed, as though inviting scrutiny. His long
+overcoat was not carefully closed--its collar was turned partly up. He
+had put it on like the rest of us, after our return from the run, and he
+had done it quickly. His left hand was hanging down in a natural
+position; his right was in his overcoat pocket. The Fedora hat was
+slightly tilted back. He looked a half-careless, indifferent fellow, but
+the keen eyes missed nothing; they rested on me, on Moore and then on
+the crowd. He was the embodiment of searching coolness. The crowd
+recognized him and knew that he had seen the Chief of Police. They
+reasoned as one man that something important had been done. The tall
+city fellow had been first at the side of the victim; they had seen
+that. What did he know? And then they thought of that run and the
+exhibition of physical perfection that his powers had shown; and like a
+gentle ripple on the brook came a murmur of admiration. Oakes stepped
+down and was the centre of much questioning. All the time the right hand
+remained in the coat pocket. I knew that it held death at command; that
+the revolver lay well in his grasp; that Quintus Oakes was now on guard,
+and the field was one with which he was well acquainted.
+
+Soon he entered the hotel, and we followed him to his room. "You must be
+at the inquest--both of you. Dr. Moore, you are well known as a surgeon
+and will view the body with the local doctors. They wish you to do so.
+They say you are known to them by reputation. You will be required as an
+expert witness. I have made my identity known to the Chief of Police."
+
+"Indeed," I said; "then everybody will know it."
+
+"No, they won't," said Oakes. "The Chief knows me by name. I know all
+about him; he is a good, shrewd man. I have explained our mission here,
+and have disclaimed any desire to have anything to do with this mystery,
+unless--unless it touches the other. The Chief, Hallen, wants my
+evidence, and he knows enough to see that we can all stand in together."
+
+
+"He may help in the Mansion affair later," said Moore.
+
+"Yes," said Oakes. "I thought I might need him. Anyway, this murder is
+for the police at present. I succeeded in getting long-distance
+telephone, and found that Martin did not come here at all. He returned
+to the office after seeing Dr. Moore off on the train."
+
+"Good!" we exclaimed. "And what did you learn from the dying man? He
+spoke to you, we thought."
+
+"I learned something that has great possibilities," said Oakes. "Wait
+for the inquest. What have _you_ learned?"
+
+I answered for us both: "Reilly is well known here and reliable. We
+could learn nothing of the Smith murder save that it had occurred about
+as this one, and was never solved. The old Chief of Police resigned on
+account of public opinion of his incompetency; the new Chief, Hallen,
+came in here a year or so ago."
+
+"Well," said Oakes, "so far--so good; but it looks to me as though there
+is some connection between these murders. I do not envy the local
+officials a bit; the people won't stand much more mystery up here.
+Suspicion of one's neighbors is a terrible thing in a small community.
+By the way, when I give my evidence, watch me but little--watch the
+audience more. The criminal might be there!"
+
+"Yes," said Moore, turning to me; "they often seek the court under such
+circumstances, don't they?"
+
+"I believe it has been recorded," I rejoined. Then seeing Oakes move
+away, I asked where he was going.
+
+"I am going to look around for a while."
+
+"Better be cautious; you may be the next to get a bullet, for the
+criminal probably knows that you saw Mark alive. He may be anybody in
+town," I said.
+
+"Anybody! Nonsense. You may clear the women and children at least. That
+wound was made by a heavy-calibre weapon; it takes strength to handle
+such."
+
+Then he walked away.
+
+The coroner empanelled the jury that afternoon. It was composed of
+milkmen, porters and farmers, and some men of more substantial
+condition; for instance, the leading banker and the secretary of the
+Young Men's Christian Association. They were all alert to the importance
+of their position, and anxious to appear well in this drama that was
+opening in Mona.
+
+The jury viewed the body in the anteroom, and the wound was examined
+carefully. They marched into the court-room next to the apartments of
+the Chief of Police, and were seated before the bench. The large room
+was filled to its utmost with the representative men of the place. To my
+eyes, the scene was novel indeed. My practice had been in the courts of
+the metropolis, and the methods here interested me. They were simple,
+straight-forward people. The intensity of their faces, the hush of the
+crowd, was awesome. I obtained a seat facing most of the people, and Dr.
+Moore was by my side.
+
+The room looked on a lawn which extended to the next street, and
+opposite to me were three windows, the centre one of which was open. At
+the open window was a young negro, handsome and well built. He leaned
+on the sill with folded arms, and, judging by the height of the window
+from the ground, I knew he was standing on a box or a barrel. A couple
+of other faces were visible outside the closed windows. The crowd within
+was uneasy, but quiet--a volcano in its period of inactivity.
+
+Then the milkman who discovered the body related his story. He had come
+up the hill from the station and saw the body near the top of the hill.
+He saw the wound from his seat on the wagon, for, realizing what had
+happened, he did not alight. Fear had seized him. He knew he was perhaps
+watched by the assassin, so he had lashed his horses and rushed for the
+town and aid. The little boy who had ridden by his side was brave and
+cool in the court-room; the Chief of Police had his arm on his shoulder
+in a fatherly way. He corroborated the milkman's story, and said he was
+scared even more than his uncle, the driver.
+
+One or two others certified to the finding of the body and spoke of the
+stranger, Mr. Clark, who had reached the place first, and of the wild
+run from the town.
+
+Then came the coroner's physician, who certified to the nature of the
+bullet, a large one undoubtedly. Then he said in a courteous,
+professional way: "Gentlemen, we have by accident among us Dr. Moore
+from New York, who witnessed the finding of the body, and who has viewed
+the injury. Dr. Moore is a well-known surgeon, and perhaps he will favor
+us with an opinion--only an opinion--of the nature of the weapon used."
+
+The coroner bowed and motioned to Dr. Moore, by my side. The physician
+hesitated a moment, then advanced before the crowd of strangers. He was
+a surgical lecturer, but this was an unusual audience.
+
+"Dr. Moore, you have seen many wounds from firearms, have you not?
+Please state where."
+
+Dr. Moore answered in his pleasant voice: "I have seen quite a number in
+hospital service in the last ten years, and very many in Cuba during the
+Spanish War."
+
+A murmur arose--the crowd hung on every word.
+
+"State what your opinion is, please," said the coroner.
+
+"To begin with," said Moore, "the bullet entered the breast; the point
+of entrance is large, about the size of a 44-bullet. I know it entered
+there, because a part of the coat was carried into the wound. It came
+out at the back under the right shoulder-blade and pierced that bone,
+tearing it partly away from its muscles. In piercing the bone it also
+fractured it, and made a large hole of exit, as was to be expected."
+
+"Explain, please."
+
+"Under some circumstances a bullet losing its speed pushes the tissues
+before it and makes a larger hole of exit than entrance, especially if
+it shatters the bone."
+
+"What do you think of the nature of the weapon used?"
+
+"In my opinion it was certainly no modern pistol or rifle; they are of
+smaller calibre and the powder used gives greater velocity, and less
+tearing is evidenced."
+
+"How is that?"
+
+"Well, a small bullet going at great speed makes a clean hole usually,
+at ordinary range. This was a large bullet, going only at moderate
+speed."
+
+"Could a rifle have done it?"
+
+"Yes, if fired at a long distance, so that the speed was slackening."
+
+"What seems the probable weapon to you?"
+
+"A revolver, because a rifle of large calibre, to have produced such a
+wound, must have been discharged at considerable distance, for the
+bullet was losing its velocity when it found the victim. Now, to have
+seen the victim from afar was impossible, the banks on each side of the
+road and the incline of the hill would prevent it. That, to my mind,
+excludes a rifle.
+
+"The assassin could not have seen Mr. Mark much more than one hundred
+and fifty feet away, owing to the configuration of the ground. Had he
+been _much_ nearer than that distance, the bullet would have travelled
+with greater speed than it did, and would probably have pierced the
+shoulder-bone without so much crushing and pushing effect.
+
+"Thus we see that a rifle in this case could not have been used far
+enough away to cause such a wound. A heavy revolver discharged at good
+distance for such a weapon would have met the requirements, however; and
+I believe such a one was used. The assassin could not have been farther
+off than the configuration of the ground permitted--about one hundred
+and fifty feet--and judging from the wound, he was not very much
+nearer."
+
+The crowd shifted and a deep sigh of emotion arose.
+
+"Now, Dr. Moore, you arrived in town this morning! Please tell us what
+you know about the events that transpired," asked the coroner.
+
+"Well, I arrived at six o'clock A.M. and walked up the hill. As I
+reached the top, I noticed a man coming up behind. A milkman came along
+and offered me a ride to the hotel--there he is," and he pointed to the
+fellow. "As we rode along, we both heard a shot, and I remarked upon it.
+The man in the wagon with me said it probably was a poacher. I have no
+doubt, sir, it was the murderer at work."
+
+This was getting near the horror, and the court-room seemed to echo the
+deep breathing of the listeners.
+
+Then the milkman, who had picked the doctor up, gave his testimony. He
+had entered the highway at the Corners and had seen a man coming up the
+hill. He drove in toward Mona, and picked up Dr. Moore, as related.
+
+He corroborated Moore in his statements, and ended by saying that he
+went about his business after leaving Moore at the hotel, and knew
+nothing of the finding of the body by the other milkman and the boy,
+until about eight o'clock.
+
+"I remember the shot; it was short and dull. We said it didn't seem like
+much of a gun."
+
+"When did you hear the shot?"
+
+"About 6.30, sir," was the answer.
+
+"And, gentlemen of the jury," said the coroner, "Mr. Mark lived until
+seven, when he was found."
+
+"If that shot was the one, he lived a long time. I believe he might have
+done so, however. The hemorrhage was not very severe. He may have lain
+unconscious for a while. As you know, the autopsy showed that the bullet
+entered in front and, striking a rib, followed that around and came out
+behind. It followed a superficial deflected course, as bullets
+frequently do. Men sometimes live a long time with such wounds."
+
+More evidence, of an unimportant nature, was given. The station-master
+remembered the man getting off the train and following Moore. He knew
+him well; he was Mr. Mark, and had lagged behind and spoken to him.
+
+The body was undiscovered before, because most milk-wagons entered the
+town at the Corners, and no one had alighted from the seven o'clock
+train to climb the hill.
+
+Charles Clark was now called, and the spectators made room for Oakes, as
+he walked down and faced the audience. Watching the crowd, I saw its
+excited expectancy. Here and there was a man, pale as death, nearly
+overcome by the strain of the evidence. Everyone in that room knew that
+the important part was at hand. Many expected the name of the assassin.
+A man behind me sighed and said: "Gosh! why don't you hurry?" I knew
+that he was nearly ready to collapse.
+
+Oakes, or, as Mona knew him, Clark, crossed his hands behind him and
+inclined his body a little. He glanced coldly around, then at the clock,
+and instinctively the audience followed the movement. I noticed that the
+time was four, and that the ticking was very heavy and noisy. Then I
+remembered Oakes's orders, and watched the crowd. The coroner went
+through the usual formalities, and Oakes began his testimony.
+
+He spoke in that fluent style of his: "I reached the man ahead of the
+others; he was breathing. Realizing that his name was important, I asked
+him for it. He was conscious; he opened his eyes and looked at me. 'Mark
+is my name; all Mona is my friend,' he answered. At mention of those
+words I heard a sob and then another outbreak; the audience was going to
+pieces."
+
+Oakes resumed: "I then asked him, 'Who did this deed?' He seemed to be
+losing consciousness. I repeated the question. This time he answered, in
+an almost inaudible voice: 'The man--the man--with the great arms.'" As
+Oakes uttered this sentence, he did it in a strong whisper--heard
+clearly all over the court-room. He paused. Moore and I noticed that
+one-half the men in sight mechanically put their hands to their
+arms--curious is the effect of such scenes.
+
+Others, seeing the actions of their comrades, glanced at them harshly
+and suspiciously, but instantly began to smile.
+
+Just then the fat grocer thought it was funny, and laughed outright in a
+paroxysm of hysteria. The crowd began to titter, and then a roar, short,
+sharp, of pent-up emotion--a laugh of suppressed excitement--pealed
+forth like a thunder-clap; then all again was intensity.
+
+Oakes now continued: "He did not say more, so I again asked quickly,
+'Who did it? Speak, man! Speak!' Then he answered distinctly--it was a
+last effort."
+
+The audience leaned forward in awed expectancy. The faces of some were
+hard and set, and the eyes of all were riveted on Oakes.
+
+Moore whispered to me: "Watch the negro." I looked and saw him leaning
+forward over the window-sill, his face ashen gray; one arm held on to
+the sill, the other hung limply into the room.
+
+"Mr. Clark, what did Mr. Mark say to you then, just before he died?"
+asked the coroner.
+
+"He said: 'It was the fellow--the man with the blue cross on his left
+arm.'" As Oakes spoke, his voice became metallic and incisive, while
+his quick eyes suddenly swept the audience.
+
+There was a shuffling of feet, a turning of bodies, and a man of weak
+nerves cried out: "The blue cross on the left arm!"
+
+The negro made a lunge forward, swung both arms into the room, and cried
+out: "Oh, Gawd! Oh, Gawd!" then dropped on the other side of the wall.
+
+The Chief of Police stood up and pointed to the window.
+
+"Catch that coon," he cried.
+
+The tumult which followed was a relief, but the crowd lost sight of the
+negro. No one had ever seen him before, and he escaped--at least for the
+time being.
+
+The jury brought in a verdict "that Mr. Mark came to his death at the
+hands of a party or parties unknown."
+
+As Dr. Moore and I discussed matters later, we could but agree that the
+identity of Quintus Oakes had apparently been well hidden in that of
+Charles Clark, the agent, and that our first day in Mona had been a
+memorable one.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER VIII_
+
+  _The Mansion_
+
+
+Mona was situated on a plateau terminating rather abruptly at the river
+on the west, and elevated well above its waters. In the neighborhood of
+the station it was high, and a long climb. A mile farther down stream,
+where the Mansion sat on the edge of the cliff, the elevation was not so
+great--perhaps a hundred feet or more above the railroad tracks by the
+river. The Mansion end of the plateau was lower, therefore, than the
+town. Beyond, up the river, the land lay at the same elevation as Mona.
+The beautiful place itself was some distance back from the crest of the
+plateau and was approached from the river by the highway we had known so
+well that day. This was intersected at right angles on the plain above
+by River Road, which ran parallel to the waters below.
+
+The junction of these two roads was known as "The Corners." Upon
+following River Road for nearly a mile toward the south one would
+arrive at the Mansion gate.
+
+The other road--the Highway, as it was called--led directly to Mona, in
+the centre of the plateau which gradually terminated to the north, south
+and east in the rolling hills of that region.
+
+Never was town site better selected; never was place more hopeful until
+recently, when the blackness and gloom of the unoccupied Mansion, with
+its tale of dread, seemed to have extended to men's minds and laid its
+grasp of uncanniness and uneasiness on business and pleasure. And now,
+to make the slough of despond deeper, had come the sharp, quick act of a
+murderer--above all, an unknown assassin--and a crime similar to one
+scarce forgotten.
+
+The Mansion gate opened directly from River Road, and a walk of about
+two hundred yards brought the visitor to the front door. The back of the
+Mansion faced the river directly to the west, the balcony of the back
+parlor and dining-room half-circled the south and west sides of the
+house, and had evidently been much used. The woodwork was old and the
+flooring quite worn. The front of the place was pillared in old
+Colonial style, and was of stone, hewn in the rough and built in a
+permanent fashion.
+
+Across River Road, right in front of the gate, came an uneven roll of
+the country, or break in the plateau. The ground billowed deeply for at
+least a quarter of a mile, parallel to the road. The slope from the road
+was gradual to a little pond of considerable depth at the bottom of the
+depression. On the farther side the ground rose more abruptly, but not
+so high as on the Mansion side. The pond itself was about one hundred
+feet in width; and one standing by the Mansion exit could see both the
+pond and the ascent beyond, and, over the crest of the billowy ground,
+the distant woods and the country to the east.
+
+Down from the road a little path dipped, and at its foot a frail bridge
+crossed the pond; for here the two shores were quite close. Either shore
+projected into a point, and about fifty feet of bridge had been built
+with logs, resting half-way on a rude pillar of stones in the water.
+This bridge continued the path up the far slope and over the crest
+beyond. It was a short cut to the country and the southern suburb of
+Mona.
+
+Within the grounds of the Mansion, extending northward to the Highway
+and the scene of the murder, and southward into the uninhabited country,
+was a forest of oak and of elm, interspersed with an occasional fir. One
+could easily wander between the trunks of these trees, but having
+entered a few rods, all traces would be lost of the outside world. It
+afforded an excellent shelter for anyone desiring to escape detection.
+
+We noticed all these points as we drove to the Mansion next morning. We
+found the care-takers awaiting us, and more than glad to again see Mr.
+Clark, as they knew Oakes.
+
+The events of the day before had crowded fast upon us, and had left us
+well known in the town. The name of Clark was on every tongue. Oakes
+remarked that morning, before we started for the Mansion, that he hoped
+the people would not identify him. "If they do, we cannot help it,
+however," he said; "we cannot control events like these." Then he
+suddenly asked me: "How about that negro? He was handsome, you say?"
+
+"Yes, rather black, with remarkably clear-cut features."
+
+"Indeed! Then he may be traced through his good looks."
+
+"Do you think he is the murderer?"
+
+"That's difficult," said Oakes; "but I should think not. Had the deed
+been done by a negro boy, the victim would have remembered it; they are
+uncommon here. He would have said, 'A negro, good-looking,' or something
+of that sort. His color would have impressed the dying man."
+
+"Well, why was the negro so scared?" I asked.
+
+"Probably recognized the description as that of someone he knew."
+
+"Perhaps not," said Moore. "He may have been just emotional; the race is
+very superstitious."
+
+"If I make no mistake," continued Oakes, "Mona is going to see queer
+doings. The people's minds are at a great tension. In any event, this
+affair is not ours. That is--not as we see it now."
+
+Our welcome from the servants seemed genuine in its sincerity, and Cook
+and his wife ushered us up to our rooms. The hall from the front door
+was a long one, and the stairs leading to the upper floor was broad and
+well carpeted. Our rooms, two in number, were over the parlor and the
+dining-room, the latter the scene of the occurrences so frequently
+described. Oakes was given the back room looking on the river, and over
+the balcony; Moore and I occupied the front room, over the parlor. On
+the other side of the hall were two large rooms--guest chambers, we were
+told. They formed the roof of the dance or reception hall below--to the
+right of the door as we entered--and always kept locked, as Annie told
+us. In fact, the dance hall and the two large chambers overhead formed
+the north side of the house and had not been used for many years.
+According to tradition, the hall had been a gay centre in the years gone
+by, when the Mansion was the leading house in the village. It had now
+lost its prestige to new and magnificent residences of the rich New York
+men of affairs, who had recently come into the town to make it their
+home and to transform all its social conditions and to add life and new
+energy to the country around.
+
+During the forenoon we examined the downstairs rooms pretty
+thoroughly. We did it in an unostentatious manner. The rooms had several
+windows, and the front one facing the road in the distance had a large
+fireplace. Oakes examined this carefully and shook his head in a
+negative manner.
+
+The back room facing the river on the west, the lawn and the estate on
+the south, was the dining-room. Its four large windows, two on each
+side, extended down, in the old style, to within a foot of the
+encircling porch. Again there was a large fireplace, and I looked over
+it closely; but it was solidly built and seemed to have been undisturbed
+for years. The entire room was paneled in oak, and this appeared to be
+new.
+
+"It was right here that I had my experience," said the detective, as he
+stood by the windows to the west.
+
+I was near the centre of the room, leaning upon the table, and Moore was
+farther along on the other side of the fireplace, near the eastern wall.
+We were quite interested in the place, and I am sure I felt anything but
+secure.
+
+Dr. Moore laughed in his careless way. "Look out, old fellow," said he,
+"it will catch you again."
+
+Oakes and I stepped out on the balcony, through the low-silled window,
+and looked across the river. I heard a rustle, I thought--a half-muffled
+tread; a swish, a peculiar noise--and Oakes jumped to the centre of the
+balcony.
+
+"Look out! That's the noise," cried the detective.
+
+We both glanced toward Moore, and saw a terrible sight. The strong man
+was unsteady on his feet, his knees were bent, and his head thrown
+forward. Great drops of perspiration were rolling off his pale face. He
+looked like a man about to fall. "Help, for God's sake, help!" he cried,
+and clutched at his neck.
+
+That instant the physician came across the room, hurled by terrific
+force. I caught him as he fell, and saved him from an injury against the
+table. He was overcome completely; he held his neck in a pained position
+and groaned.
+
+Oakes, weapon in hand, advanced to the hall. We all heard a distant
+muffled noise, preceded by a slam. At that instant our attention was
+called to the balcony. A figure jumped on the porch from the west side
+and dashed past the windows, leaving the balcony near its southern end,
+and disappearing in the trees beyond.
+
+"A man!" said Oakes, "and he was hiding behind the porch."
+
+"Yes, but _he_ did not do it; how could he have run there so quickly?" I
+answered.
+
+"Better take Moore upstairs," saying which, Oakes jumped from the room,
+and instead of going out of the front door, he sprang to the west end of
+the hall near the dining-room, and opened a door I had not noticed.
+
+"Where are you going?" said I.
+
+"Into the cellar. Don't follow, unless I shoot." He was gone.
+
+I partly carried, partly helped Dr. Moore up to his room and placed him
+on the bed. He was pale, and I realized he was shocked. I found my
+flask, and gave him a good drink, and then saw that the back of his neck
+was bleeding. I bathed it, and tied it up in a clean towel.
+
+As I worked, he held his revolver in his hand and watched the door,
+talking quickly and earnestly. He told me about how he had wondered if
+Oakes were insane, then of the assault on himself; how he had heard the
+noise and had certainly been attacked by some living being, and was
+satisfied that his suspicions could not be correct. He had been
+thoroughly converted. All this took some time, and now we were wondering
+what had become of our friend. The minutes passed, and I decided to
+descend and see what the servants were doing, and raise an alarm.
+
+Just as I was setting off we heard two pistol cracks, muffled, but the
+noise from cartridges such as we carried, nevertheless. I grasped my
+weapon and started downstairs. As I reached the top of the landing, I
+heard the cellar door close with a bang on the floor below, and heard a
+slow tread ascending the stairs. I retreated, so as to aid my wounded
+companion.
+
+The tread advanced along the hall. It was that of a man, limping. The
+next instant we recognized Oakes's voice: "Where are you, anyway?"
+
+We spoke, and the next instant he appeared on our threshold, revolver in
+hand, with his face pale and drawn, and his figure less erect, less
+self-reliant than usual.
+
+He was bloody from a wound on his head, and his clothes were torn in
+shreds. He steadied himself with his left hand against the door frame.
+
+"Great goodness, Oakes, what is wrong?" said Dr. Moore, rising to help
+his friend.
+
+"What the devil!" I exclaimed. "Where have you been?"
+
+"In the cellar," said Oakes.
+
+"What have you been doing?" said Moore, in a most excitable way.
+
+Back came the answer in a feeble tone: "Really, I don't know. Having a
+little practice, I guess."
+
+"Catch him, Stone," cried Moore.
+
+I jumped forward, and the stalwart figure dropped vertically--collapsing
+at the knees, then pitched headlong into the room.
+
+I saved the face before it struck the floor.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER IX_
+
+  _Distrust and Suspicion_
+
+
+The day following the murder of Winthrop Mark was one of uneasiness and
+dejection for the towns-people of Mona. The court scenes of the day
+before and the great excitement caused by the discovery of the crime had
+left their stamp. Disquietude was bred and nurtured by the crime itself,
+and the absence of clues save those of the arm. It was rumored and
+reiterated that Chief Hallen had failed to discover the slightest
+evidence as to the perpetrator, and that the bullet even had remained
+unfound, as was most natural; but people look at things in a narrow
+light sometimes, and this was an occasion of deep trouble and much
+gossip for the town.
+
+The peculiar action of the negro, whom few had seen but all had heard,
+and who was pronounced a total stranger by those who had seen him,
+pointed strongly to him as the possible assassin. With his escape had
+come mutterings against Chief Hallen. Why had the court-house not been
+watched? Where were the local authorities? Why had he been allowed to
+get away so easily? All these questions remained unanswered, for few
+stopped to think that there were _no_ local detectives, and only a few
+local policemen.
+
+Then in the midst of these disgruntled thoughts and assertions appeared
+the mental picture of Clark, known in the town before, and now the most
+conspicuous man in it, towering above all in his active personality, as
+in his figure and sayings. Talk is cheap in such a place, and talk has
+made or unmade many a man. The great run of Clark to the victim's side
+and the dramatic and terrible evidence he gave at the inquest was spoken
+of--at first with awe, and then with alarm. And to think he had gone to
+the Mansion to spend a short time again, gone to the place of all others
+that one should avoid at this time--gone to the house where terror dwelt
+and at the end of whose grounds the murder had been committed! Hallen,
+whose word was known to be "law," had vouched for this. The personality
+of Clark--stood silhouetted on the sky of lowering discontent.
+
+The only clue worth having was that one relating to the arms of the
+murderer, and, given to the public as it purposely had been by Clark in
+a moment of suspense, it had found deep rooting place in all minds. Who
+was the man with the great arms, and with the "blue cross" on one of
+them--the left?
+
+Here was a small town--perhaps one thousand grown men. Who had the
+cross--who? Might it be _anyone_? Yes, almost _anyone_! Did anyone know
+of such a scar? No, but who knew of his neighbor's arms? Who could vouch
+for his friend? Some few had been associated, one with another, as boys.
+What of that? It was years ago.
+
+Suspicion was growing like a prairie fire, first a light that goes out,
+then flickers again and smoulders, anon meeting resistance and
+apparently dying; but all the while treacherously gaining and advancing
+in the roots and the dry stubble below, then suddenly bursting into
+flame. With the first flame comes the inrush of air; then come the heat
+and the smoke and the low wall of fire; then the glare, the roar and
+the conflagration sweeping all before it.
+
+So came suspicion to Mona. And friendship, respect and brotherly love
+fled at its breath, as wild animals of the prairie flee before the
+advancing destruction.
+
+By evening of the second day the far-sighted and most influential
+citizens detected the condition of affairs. The older residents had
+noticed the peculiar similarity of this murder to that of Smith. The
+coincidence of time and place was another factor. Could it be the same
+assassin? Had he dwelt with them all the while since? The most respected
+and wealthy of the inhabitants shared the unenviable position of being
+under suspicion; there was no relief for anyone.
+
+The two local newspapers published "extras," and could scarcely supply
+the demand. The murders of Smith and Winthrop were reviewed carefully,
+and their similarity much written about. The hotel and the two leading
+business streets were filled with suspicious, muttering groups.
+
+Nothing had been found missing from the dead man; his watch and money
+were untouched. His arrival by such an early train was not unusual. He
+frequently went to New York for an outing, and returned before breakfast
+to his magnificent place on the hill to the east of the town, where he
+lived with two old maiden aunts--his mother's sisters.
+
+Now all this uneasiness and suspicion had been noted--by Hallen, the
+Chief. He was a man who, after living in the country for many years, had
+finally pushed himself to the top of a large police force in a city of
+importance. The physical strain had told on him, however, and now he
+found himself back in a small town, recovered in health, but shut in as
+to future prospects. The murder of Mark had come to him as a thunderbolt
+from a clear sky, but he saw opportunities in it. When Oakes had visited
+him and made himself known, he had at first been jealous; but the
+former, with his wonderful insight, had made a friend of him.
+
+"Hallen, if you manage this affair well, you will be famous. They are
+looking for good men in New York all the while. My work is in the
+Mansion; if our paths cross, let us work together."
+
+So had suggested Oakes. He had known about Hallen, as he knew the
+history of all police officers, and had thus given hope to the man who
+had been used to better things. Instantly Hallen had seen that to
+antagonize Oakes would be foolish; to aid him, and perhaps obtain his
+advice and friendship, would ultimately redound to his own future credit
+and, possibly, advancement. For Oakes's work had brought him in contact
+with police heads in all the large cities. His boldness and genius for
+ferreting out mysteries were known to them all, and they had paid him
+the compliment of studying his methods carefully.
+
+Hallen had agreed to have Oakes's testimony at the inquest taken at just
+the proper moment for effect, and had agreed to call Dr. Moore as an
+expert.
+
+Of course, the coroner did what the Chief asked.
+
+As Oakes had said: "If you want expert evidence, get it from Moore; if
+you don't ask him, you won't get it in Mona."
+
+The idea of Oakes bringing in his testimony as he did was part of the
+plan to watch the audience. The planning of the Chief and himself had
+accounted for the somewhat informal presentation of the evidence that I
+had noticed. In rural courts, affairs are not conducted as they are in
+the city, and I had observed a quick swing to affairs, hardly accounted
+for on the ground of practice. I recognized the hand of Quintus Oakes,
+and knew that the scene had been carefully manoeuvred.
+
+Hallen sat in his office on the evening of the day after the inquest,
+reviewing the happenings that had crowded so fast in Mona, and thinking,
+not without misgivings, of the wave of suspicion that was rising to
+interfere with the affairs of the town.
+
+At this moment the editor of the "Mona Mirror" entered--a whole-souled,
+fat individual, breezy and decidedly agreeable. He was one of the
+natives, a man of growing popularity and decided education. Dowd was his
+name, and he hated _that fellow Skinner_, who edited the rival
+newspaper, the "Daily News."
+
+Skinner had "bossed" things in a free-handed fashion until Dowd (a clerk
+in the post-office until middle life) had decided to enter the field of
+journalism--less than two years before. Dowd was inexperienced, but he
+was bright, and he wielded a pen that cut like a two-edged sword; and
+the love that was lost between the two editors was not worth mentioning.
+
+As Dowd entered and found Hallen alone, he took off his hat and
+overcoat, and laughed sarcastically. He really liked Hallen, and was on
+intimate terms with him. Hallen looked up. "Well, what's ailing you
+now?" he said.
+
+"Oh, nothing. Only this town is going loony, sure as fate, Hallen. What
+are you going to do?"
+
+Hallen chewed the end of a cigar viciously. "I am going to do the best I
+can to solve the mystery; if I cannot do that, I can at least keep order
+here. Give me a few 'specials' and the necessity, and I will make these
+half-crazy people do a turn or two."
+
+The burly chief turned the conversation into other channels, but Dowd
+was satisfied. He knew the speaker well.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER X_
+
+  _The Cellar_
+
+
+Meantime our first experience at the Mansion, previously recorded, bade
+fair to be a serious one. When Oakes had collapsed on his return from
+the cellar Dr. Moore fortunately was sufficiently recovered to reach his
+side in a few seconds.
+
+"Elevate his feet, Stone. He'll be all right in a few minutes; he has
+fainted."
+
+I did as directed, and Moore threw the half of a pitcher of water on the
+unconscious man's neck and face. Gravity sent the blood back to his
+head, and when the water touched him, he gasped and presently opened his
+eyes. Then we carried him to the bed.
+
+In an instant he attempted to rise, but the Doctor refused to allow it,
+giving him instead an enviable drink from his flask. "Keep your guns by
+you," said Oakes, "and give me mine."
+
+The tension had told on me, and Moore was now by far the best man. He
+smiled and ordered me to take a drink also, and to sit down. I obeyed,
+for I felt, after the excitement, as limp as a boy after his first
+cigar.
+
+Dr. Moore was examining Oakes's head. "Fine scalp wound," said he, and
+proceeded to sew it up and dress it. His pocket case came in handy. He
+had been wise to bring it. "Hurt anywhere else, old fellow?" asked he.
+
+"No; sore as the devil all over, that's all," and Oakes arose, took off
+his coat, and began to bathe his face. "Keep an eye on that door," said
+he.
+
+I was myself now, and took my chair to the hall door, sitting where I
+could command the head of the stairs and could also hear anyone who
+might approach from below.
+
+"What happened?" asked Moore.
+
+"Well, nothing very much," said Oakes; "only I guess I got a mighty good
+licking."
+
+"You look it," said I. "Did you shoot for help?"
+
+"Yes, I did. I could not _shout_. The shots saved my life."
+
+"How? Did you kill anyone?"
+
+"Don't know, only the other party kindly quit killing me when I began to
+shoot. I heard something drop, however, and there may be a dead body
+somewhere."
+
+The shots had aroused the household, and we heard shouting and cries
+from the Cooks and from Annie. Soon they appeared, hunting for us, all
+distraught and frightened. They said they were in the kitchen when they
+heard the shots, and did not know whence they came. This was probable,
+as the cellar was away from their section. Annie cried when she saw
+Oakes, and ran out to bring in more help. One of the gardeners returned
+with her, and as he came into the room I received the impression of a
+silent, stern-looking man, past forty and rather strong in appearance,
+although not large. He had seen better days.
+
+"Ah!" said he; "ye have run up aginst it agin, sorr. It's nerve ye have,
+to go nigh that room after what ye got last time." Oakes looked at me
+and at Moore, and we saw he wished us to keep silent.
+
+"Yes! I shan't try it again in a hurry. What's your name?" he asked.
+
+The question came quick as a flash. I knew he was trying to disconcert
+the fellow.
+
+"My name is Mike O'Brien, sorr, gardener; you remimber, 'twas me that
+helped you last time, sorr."
+
+"You mean you stood by and let the others help me, Mike."
+
+We knew now that this was the indifferent gardener of whom Oakes had
+spoken.
+
+"Thrue for ye, sorr; 'twas little enough I did, and that's a fact; I'm
+not used to being scared to death like ye be, sorr." Was that an
+unintentional shot, or was it a "feeler"?
+
+Oakes had a sharp customer before him, and he knew it.
+
+"Where were you when you heard the shots, Mike?"
+
+"In the woods at the front of the house. I was raking up the leaves, be
+the same token."
+
+"What did you see?" Oakes spoke in a commanding voice and fingered the
+breech of his revolver in a suggestive way.
+
+"I seen a shadow come out av the cellar door."
+
+"What door?"
+
+"The _only_ cellar door; near the side av the house, sorr."
+
+"What sort of a shadow?"
+
+"'Twas the shadow av a man, and a big one. The sun cast it on the side
+av the house, sorr."
+
+Oakes thought a moment, then arose and said: "Step here, Mike, and point
+out the side of the house you mean."
+
+Mike hesitated. The other servants withdrew at Oakes's suggestion that
+he wished to talk with the gardener. The latter advanced. We felt that
+Oakes was trying to spring a trap.
+
+"The side of the house where the cellar door is," reiterated Mike.
+
+"Nonsense, O'Brien. Your story is impossible. The sun was then in the
+east and the shadow would have been thrown on the east wall. There is no
+door on that side; it is on the west side of the house."
+
+O'Brien looked at Oakes defiantly.
+
+"Yer intirely wrong, sorr. _There is_ the cellar door to the east." He
+pointed to a hatch, opening about forty feet from the house, near the
+well. "The door _ye_ saw on the west is niver opened--'tis nailed up."
+
+The tables were turned. Oakes was disconcerted.
+
+"If what you say is true, you have my apology. I have not investigated
+closely."
+
+"So I thought, sorr," was the answer. And we all wondered at the amazing
+coolness and self-possession of the man. It was one against three, and
+he had held his own.
+
+"Sit down, Mike," said Oakes. "How long have you been here?"
+
+"Only a matter av six weeks. I came from New York and tried for a job.
+Maloney, the head man, giv me wan."
+
+"Where is Maloney?"
+
+"He was in the tool-house whin I come by, sorr. He didn't hear the
+commotion, being sort o' deef."
+
+"All right, Mike! Stay where you are a moment." Then Oakes turned to us.
+
+"Just after Moore was attacked I heard a sound like a quick footstep,
+and having certain suspicions of my own, made a dash for the cellar. I
+found there was no cellar under the north wing; but toward the west, and
+directly beneath the dining-room, was a door. As I opened it all was
+dark; but my eyes soon accustomed themselves to the light, and I made
+out a good-sized chamber--and what I took for a man near the farther
+end. I remained silent, pretending I had seen nothing, and, closing the
+door, made a movement back up the cellar stairs. There I waited for
+about five minutes. The ruse worked. The door of the chamber opened, and
+a man, dressed in a dark cloak and a mask, partly emerged, and, I
+_thought_, started for the other stairs at the west end of the cellar. I
+jumped and grappled with him, but he struck me with the butt end of a
+revolver, and I was dazed; in another minute, he was punishing me
+severely. I fired two shots, then he threw me away from him and
+disappeared. He was stronger than anyone I ever met," said Oakes,
+apologetically, "a regular demon, and he got in the first blow. I think
+I wounded him, however."
+
+"What shall we do?" said Moore.
+
+"Go quickly and investigate," was the answer. "Here, Mike, you lead the
+way."
+
+Mike did not hesitate. If playing a game, he did it well.
+
+"Want a gun?" said Oakes.
+
+"No, sorr, not if youse all are armed. Guess we can give him all the
+scrap he wants."
+
+We descended the stairs, Oakes last, as became his condition. He touched
+Moore and myself, and pointed to Mike. "Watch him; he may be already
+armed," he whispered.
+
+The cellar was lighted by one window at the western end. A door at the
+same end, which evidently led to some stairs, was padlocked, and, as
+Oakes said, had not been recently opened. The dust lay upon it
+undisturbed and the padlock was very rusty. This corroborated Mike's
+story. The door above that opened on the ground. It was boarded up, he
+said.
+
+No means was found of passing beneath the dance hall, as Oakes had said.
+From the lay of the ground, we concluded that the cellar was very low
+there and not bottomed--a shut-in affair such as one finds in old
+buildings of the Colonial epoch. Across the cellar, to the other
+side--the south--the same thing pertained except at the western
+extremity under the dining-room; there a door opened into a cellar room
+or chamber.
+
+"Here! take this," said Oakes, handing Mike a small pocket taper. "Light
+it."
+
+Mike did as told, and stepped into the room, I after him. Oakes held the
+cellar door open, and I, happening to look at him, saw that he was
+watching Mike as a cat watches a mouse. He had dropped a match at the
+moment, and, with his eye still on the gardener, stooped to pick it up.
+His hand made a swift, double movement, he had the match and something
+else besides; but Mike had not observed, and I, of course, said nothing.
+
+The room was low and without windows, but the air was remarkably clean
+and fresh. "Plenty of ventilation in here," said I.
+
+"Yes, and blood too," said the gardener.
+
+Sure enough, the floor was spattered with it.
+
+"Mine, I guess," said Oakes. "Moore, kindly fetch a lamp from upstairs.
+Ask Annie for one."
+
+Moore went, and soon brought down a small lantern. We could hear Cook's
+voice at the head of the stairs; also his wife's and Annie's. It was the
+long-expected hunt that no one had ever before made, and which might
+clear up the mystery at any time.
+
+By the better light we saw evidences of the struggle that had taken
+place--a strip of Oakes's coat, and a piece of glazed red paper an inch
+or so long, and perhaps half as broad--white on one side, red on the
+other.
+
+"Piece of a mask," said I; and Oakes placed it in his pocket.
+
+Dr. Moore walked to the east side of the room, where he and I saw a door
+in the wall, and some plastering on the floor under it. Mike was busy
+examining a heap of rubbish at the other end. His conduct had been most
+exemplary. Moore turned the light on the door, and we three observed it
+for a moment. Mike had not seen it distinctly, if at all.
+
+"Moore, come here," said the detective, retreating; and the Doctor
+followed with the light.
+
+"Come on, Stone." I left the room with them.
+
+"Curious!" he heard Mike say behind us.
+
+"What is curious?" asked Oakes.
+
+The smart hired man answered. "Mr. Clark, the air is good in here. Where
+does it come from?"
+
+"I guess we have learned all we need this time, Mike," was the reply,
+and the gardener came out reluctantly.
+
+Oakes had seen the door in the wall: it was all he wanted to know. He
+closed the outer entrance of the room, and called to Cook for hammer and
+nails. The man brought them quickly; then the leader took a board that
+was standing against the wall, and Mike and Cook nailed it across the
+door from frame to frame.
+
+"Mr. Clark, ye will _have_ the devil now, sorr," said Mike.
+
+Oakes took a pencil out of his pocket and wrote "Clark" on one end of
+the board; then with a single movement continued his hand over its edge
+carefully, and on to the frame, where the line terminated in a second
+signature--"Clark."
+
+"Anyone removing that board has got to put it back to match that line,"
+said Oakes, "and that with a board is practically impossible where
+nailing has been done. Now for the exit that opens near the well."
+
+We went back through the cellar hall and found at the east end a door
+ajar. It did not lock, and was hung on rusty hinges. Beyond was a dark
+passage.
+
+"Where does this lead, Mike?"
+
+"To the opening by the well, sorr."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"I don't know, myself, but Maloney said the outside opening by the well
+led into the cellar; Cook says so, too. 'Tis a passage they used in wet
+weather, sorr."
+
+"Mike, you and Cook go round and guard that outer door by the well. Open
+it. I'm going through."
+
+"Mr. Clark, don't go in there alone!"
+
+"I'll attend to that," said Oakes. "You go with Cook."
+
+The two went to the well and lifted the hatch door. As they did so,
+Oakes held a lighted match inside one end of the tunnel. It blew
+strongly toward us; the air was rushing in, and we knew the passage led
+to the opening. We heard their voices calling to us. Dr. Moore spoke.
+
+"Oakes, you shall _not_ go in there; you have done enough to-day; you
+are a wounded man." I caught up the lantern and my revolver, and Moore
+followed.
+
+"Hold on!" said Oakes. "You are in the most dangerous part; don't be
+rash. Here, Stone, you go first--and Moore, you follow about ten feet
+behind, without a light, in order that you may be undetected. Take
+matches. I'll stay here with the taper, and watch. When you get to the
+other end, don't go up the steps leading to the ground until both Mike
+and Cook show themselves. We know nothing about them, you know. Be
+cautious. The man we want went out this way, whoever he is."
+
+I threw the light ahead and advanced some ten feet. I heard Moore
+following. "Careful!" said he in a whisper.
+
+Again I threw the light ahead, and beheld only the walls of the square
+tunnel. I could hear the breathing of Moore behind me. I knocked on the
+wall here and there with my revolver; it rang true and solid. We
+gradually advanced until we beheld the daylight and saw the men waiting
+at the head of the stone steps.
+
+I ascended. Moore took the lantern and called back to Oakes, addressing
+him as Clark. In a moment he came.
+
+"Stay where you are, Stone," said he to me. "Come here, Mike."
+
+Mike descended willingly enough. I watched Cook and looked all around.
+
+"Open that door." Oakes pointed to a little wooden opening in the side
+of the stairs. Mike obeyed, but instantly closed it again with a bang.
+
+"A man!" said he.
+
+Oakes and Moore levelled their revolvers.
+
+"Come out," said the detective, "or take the consequences. I shall
+shoot."
+
+Mike opened the door again, hiding his figure behind it for protection
+as it swung out. I expected to see some one shot, but Moore threw the
+light in, and instantly Oakes dived forward into the alcove of stone. We
+could hear him chuckle. Cook, at my side, was standing on one leg in his
+excitement. Then Dr. Moore burst into laughter.
+
+"What is it? What's the matter?" I cried. I could not see very well, and
+ran half-way down. Oakes was standing beside Moore, trying to look
+grave. In his hand was a red paper mask and a long black robe!
+
+O'Brien looked on, his eyes twinkling, but his face serious. "I'm
+thinking it's lucky, Mr. Clark, sorr, that ye saved yer ammunition,"
+said he.
+
+"Yes," retorted Oakes, "and it's still more fortunate you're a good
+actor."
+
+O'Brien's somewhat insolent manner changed instantly to one of civility,
+and Oakes turned to us.
+
+"No wonder some said there was a woman in this affair."
+
+Then he ordered the hatch door nailed down, and handed the things to me.
+"Please take these upstairs, Stone; we must investigate this more
+fully," and we withdrew to discuss our findings.
+
+"What do you think of O'Brien, Oakes?" I asked. "He seems to be a cool
+sort of a customer."
+
+"Yes, he is no ignoramus. He's a shrewd fellow, and a deep one; but I
+have learned a few things."
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XI_
+
+  _The Night Walk_
+
+
+Events were following each other rapidly at the Mansion. After leaving
+the cellar, Oakes led us back through the grounds, around the south side
+of the house. There was no entrance to the cellar there, apparently.
+
+When we reached our rooms and I had deposited the mask and gown on my
+table, Oakes turned to the care-taker, Cook, who accompanied us: "You
+have been several years here, have you not?"
+
+"Yes, Mr. Clark."
+
+"When did the first trouble begin?"
+
+"About three years ago, sir, following some repairs that were made after
+Mr. Odell Mark bought the place from his brother."
+
+"What do you know of those repairs?"
+
+"Well, sir, as perhaps you have noticed, the door from the dining-room
+to the parlor opens on a short hall about three feet deep. Now, sir, Mr.
+Odell Mark had the wall thickened between the rooms; he thought it was
+weak, and this hall represents the thickness of the wall."
+
+Oakes stood at the window, his hands in his pockets, looking out.
+
+"Did you see that wall being built yourself, Cook?"
+
+"I didn't notice particularly, sir."
+
+"Well, Stone, we'll try the simplest theory first. Will you kindly go
+with Cook up to the roof and look around carefully. I have an idea that
+the wall is double, and that you will find an opening up there
+somewhere."
+
+We went, and, as Oakes had surmised, soon found a small opening like a
+chimney, grated in solidly and protected by a covering, and so reported.
+
+"Good!" said Oakes. "The wall is double--in part at least--and the
+opening was carried into the cellar room and a door placed there."
+
+"What for?" said I.
+
+"Perhaps to ventilate it. We may find some other reason."
+
+"We seem to be solving the mystery," was Moore's comment.
+
+Oakes looked at him quizzically. "Are you satisfied, Doctor, that there
+is a physical agent at work here?"
+
+Moore grew red. "Certainly," he said. And Quintus smiled.
+
+"I thought probably you would be convinced in time. A thorough licking
+is an excellent argument. It is my belief that the escapes were made
+through that double wall, and that we shall find movable panels in the
+dining-room."
+
+"But the motive! We are strangers; we gave no provocation," I cried.
+
+"We have yet to learn the motive; also _why_ a man should wear a robe.
+The mask is sensible enough, but why he impeded himself with a robe is
+beyond us as yet. It would hide his body, to be sure, as the mask would
+hide his face, but it would certainly greatly affect his chances of
+escape, if pursued. Cook, why was no investigation ever made before?"
+
+"I don't know, sir. Mr. Odell was very timid."
+
+"Did you ever go through the tunnel to the well?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I used to go before the mystery began, but never afterward."
+
+"How about the place in the stairs where the robe was found?"
+
+"That was always there, sir, and used for the gardener's tools."
+
+"Then the gardener knew of it?"
+
+"Maloney, the older one, did, I am sure; he has been here a long time."
+
+"Was he here before the mysteries?"
+
+"Yes, sir, he has been five years on the place."
+
+"Cook, what do you think of the murder of Winthrop Mark?"
+
+It was one of those sudden questions that sometimes bring results.
+
+"I don't know, sir--it is terrible, sir, of course."
+
+"Where was Maloney yesterday, Cook?"
+
+The man looked long at us. "He was here when I got up at six o'clock,
+raking the leaves on the front walk."
+
+"Indeed!" said Oakes. We could not tell whether the answer surprised
+him, or not.
+
+"I suppose Mike worked all day?"
+
+"Yes, sir, he was about on the place the entire time."
+
+Oakes made no remark whatever at this, but dismissed Cook.
+
+"We cannot go too far in presence of the servants," said he, "for I am
+only Clark the agent here, you remember. The time is coming when we may
+have to declare ourselves and we may need police help to make arrests,
+but," he smiled, "we have Hallen as a friend, I guess."
+
+Oakes was calmly sanguine, I could see, but of course he did not know
+that collateral events were brewing of grave importance to us all.
+
+"Now for the robe and mask," said he.
+
+I handed over the mask, an old affair and considerably worn from usage.
+A piece of it was missing, which Oakes replaced with the fragment of
+paper picked up in the cellar; it fitted exactly, settling the fact that
+the mask had been worn by the man who fought him in that place.
+
+The detective looked it all over and said: "This is such as was sold in
+New York years ago. It is ordinary, and offers no clue as to the owner
+or the place of purchase. I know the kind."
+
+The robe was fairly long, and made of old velvet lined with satin, quite
+shiny inside and out. The name of its maker had been carefully cut away.
+It was spotted with blood--Oakes's, no doubt--for it was fresh.
+
+"It served a good purpose this time, anyway," said I; "saved the man's
+clothes from being marked."
+
+"Medium chest measure," said Oakes. "Try it on, Stone."
+
+I did so, and it just met around me.
+
+"Good! The fellow who wore it is not a giant in chest measure, at all
+events, though larger than you, probably, since he wore it next to his
+undershirt."
+
+"How in the world do you know that, Oakes?" said the doctor.
+
+"Look at the discoloration of the lining on the shoulders, and also
+across the chest and back. The soil is old, but there is a moisture
+about the front yet, the moisture of fresh perspiration--it has been
+used quite recently. _That_ would not have come through a coat or a
+vest. I should not be surprised if he had worn it over his naked chest."
+
+"Where do you suppose the outfit came from?" I asked.
+
+"Probably a relic of some masquerade ball of many years ago. This house
+used to be a popular place for entertainments."
+
+"What did you pick up in the cellar when you stooped for the match?"
+
+"Oh, you noticed that? See for yourselves," and he showed us an
+old-fashioned heavy-calibre cartridge.
+
+"And how about the closet in the steps, from which you took the robe?" I
+pursued.
+
+"I happened to see the door, although both of you missed it. The person
+who hid the disguise there is quite familiar with that exit, evidently.
+That narrows the search considerably," said Oakes. "But the robe is a
+mystery; it is a senseless thing to use under such circumstances."
+
+"Yes--senseless; that is the word," spoke up Moore.
+
+Oakes's eyes searched the physician's, but the latter made no further
+remark. I thought Oakes was sizing him up as pretty far from "senseless"
+himself.
+
+We now examined the robe more carefully, and saw that it was soiled with
+what appeared to me to be soot. Oakes shook his head. "No, it seems to
+be wood ash of some kind; see how light some of it is," he said.
+
+He ran his hand along the inside of the robe, and found a small,
+well-worn slit--an opening to a deep pocket. Instantly he turned it
+inside out, and a small roll of paper dropped from it. He carefully
+unfolded it and spread it on the table.
+
+"It is a piece of an old newspaper," said he, "and has been read much.
+It has been thumbed till it is ready to fall apart. Read it, Stone. Your
+eyes are best."
+
+I studied a while, and then began:
+
+    "DAILY NEWS, _October 30, 189-_.--The body was found face
+    downward, on the main Highway, just below the crest of the Mona
+    Hill. It was first seen by John Morney, who was going to the
+    reservoir in advance of his gang of laborers. They were in sight
+    when he discovered it; the time was therefore shortly before
+    seven. The men were going to work at 6.30 from Mona. They
+    recognized it instantly as the body of Orlando Smith, our
+    beloved and esteemed citizen. Death had occurred only a short
+    time before, and the murder must have been done about daybreak.
+    It was evident that Mr. Smith was returning from his factory,
+    where he had spent the night, the shift having been doubled
+    recently, owing to the pressure of business. Later examinations
+    showed that the bullet entered the chest and was from a large
+    revolver, a 44 or 45 calibre. The ball was not found.
+
+    "We are unable to give any more particulars now, before the time
+    of going to press."
+
+"That is all," I said.
+
+We remained standing while we thought over the matter. There was a
+satisfied air about the detective that I could not quite fathom, and Dr.
+Moore seemed to be quite pleased also.
+
+"Well, what is it?" I asked.
+
+With a voice that betrayed traces of elation, Oakes answered me: "The
+man in the cellar wore this robe; if he thumbed this paper, the murder
+of Smith interested him. The murder of Mark was similar, and I believe
+our Mansion affair is going to involve us in a peck of unexpected
+trouble. The clues are showing now, and we must know more about the
+Smith murder, as well as the Mark affair."
+
+"Yes," put in Moore, "and all about the suspected motives in the Smith
+affair."
+
+Oakes smiled. "Don't be too previous, my boy. If Hallen looks for our
+help, well and good. Otherwise, remember, I have given my word not to
+interfere with his search at present. Meanwhile, we must get into town
+and look around."
+
+"You must remain here," said Moore. "You cannot go out until that wound
+begins to heal--in a day or so."
+
+"That is so," said Oakes. "But perhaps Stone can find out what is going
+on."
+
+So it was arranged that I should call on Chief Hallen that evening and
+spend a few hours in Mona.
+
+At supper, Oakes said that tomorrow he would have men from the city who
+would make a complete search of the walls, and perhaps tear down some
+partitions. "Masons, and other workmen, you know," said he; and I saw a
+twinkle in his eyes and realized that he was going to surround himself
+with men, in case of an emergency.
+
+"Are you expecting trouble?" I asked.
+
+"No," said he, grave again in a second, "but I believe in being
+forearmed. This matter is capable of developing into a very serious
+affair for all hands, especially if we have a band of conspirators
+against us."
+
+"_A band!_" said I.
+
+"Yes, certainly. Has it never occurred to you that there may be several
+desperate characters in this affair and the murder? This is no boy's
+play; we are facing unknown dangers. Now, Stone, go about town
+carefully, and send this cipher to New York first thing. When you come
+back, tell Chief Hallen that I want you escorted to the Mansion by two
+men. Remember! He will understand, for he spoke to me of the
+advisability of giving me aid."
+
+It all seemed strange to me, but I was not fearful when I left just at
+seven for the town.
+
+I took the short cut over the bridge, and up the hill beyond, and they
+watched me as I crossed the rolling plains to Mona.
+
+It was a clear night, and I could see well over the hills, the
+three-quarters moon giving me excellent light. I could not help thinking
+how careful was this man Oakes, and what a peculiar nature was his;
+alert, severe even to austerity at times; then solicitous, friendly and
+even fond of a joke. I was more than glad that I came, although I
+realized that perhaps it was foolish to interfere in such affairs. Of
+course, that murder of Mark had been cast upon our notice by curious
+circumstances, and unexpectedly.
+
+As I walked over the rolling ground, I kept my eyes well upon my
+surroundings; but not a living thing did I see except myself and the
+night birds until I entered the town.
+
+There was an air of subdued excitement about the place. As I walked to
+the post-office to send my despatches the loungers seemed numerous, and
+some were amiss in their greetings; others, whom I knew, approached in
+an affable manner enough, but there seemed no genuine friendliness.
+
+The telegraph manager took the cipher and smiled when he saw it. Then he
+said to me in a whisper: "Tell Mr. Clark there is trouble coming."
+
+To my look of surprise he answered: "Oh, that's all right; I had a visit
+from your friend before he went to the Mansion."
+
+Again I recognized the work of careful Oakes, and understood why he did
+not hesitate to send the cipher--a thing unusual in a small town.
+
+The indications of impending trouble in town were quite impressed upon
+me. The little hotel was the centre of a lounging crowd, large, and
+composed of representative men as well as the usual hangers-on. There
+were evidences of much interest around the police building also--much
+more than would occur under normal circumstances in a town of this size,
+and even more than was present the night before.
+
+I noticed a couple of brawls, and considerable raising of voices; many
+men were walking about as though watching the others. The prairie fire
+had been lighted; the sparks were burning near the roots of the grass;
+the air was uneasy--ready to rush in as wind, to fan and feed the first
+flame.
+
+I visited the Chief, who was with his subordinates. He invited me into
+the private room, and then said:
+
+"Mr. Stone, I am doing all I can to detect this murderer and to satisfy
+the public demand for his apprehension, but the clues are practically
+worthless. The populace is uneasy and suspicious."
+
+Then he detailed to me all that he knew. I then told him how the
+people's actions had impressed me.
+
+"I am going to have all I can do to keep order. I am going to ask your
+friend Oakes to take a hand."
+
+"He will do it," I said, "for he is greatly interested."
+
+"It is for the welfare of the town which I serve that I ask him to join
+me in this matter. Go to him, and tell him I shall see him in the
+morning if possible."
+
+I was glad that affairs were taking such a turn, for I knew the facts
+in our possession, and that Oakes's counsel would be valuable.
+
+I then requested an escort of two men to accompany me on my return to
+the Mansion, as Oakes had suggested.
+
+"Certainly! I had no intention of letting you go back alone," he said;
+and then he summoned two of his men clad in citizen's clothes and
+introduced them to me. "Now take a walk to the outskirts, and return the
+same way by which you came. My men will follow you at a short distance."
+
+Before I left I noticed my companions--fine-looking fellows both of
+them--and saw the tell-tale pouching of the hip pockets, and knew that
+we were all well armed.
+
+"In order not to attract attention, we will walk some distance behind
+you. We will keep you within sight and hearing. If we fire a shot,
+return to us."
+
+I started across the rolling country, and saw the two figures behind me.
+Why were they so careful? Why did they not accompany me? They separated,
+and we advanced, I myself following the narrow path.
+
+The night was still. I halted occasionally and looked back--a dim figure
+would halt on my left and on my right. It was lonesome, but I felt I had
+company.
+
+I neared the slope to the pond, and looked down; there was nothing
+visible, and I began to descend with an easy stride. Although nearing
+the Mansion, I felt an unaccountable dread. This was the trying part of
+the journey, and my followers were now invisible to me, being on the
+plain above the crest of the hill. I gripped my revolver firmly, and
+stepped rapidly on to the bridge; but as I did so I heard a pistol shot
+from above, and knew instantly that I was in danger--that my companions
+had signalled me to return.
+
+I faced about, and commenced my ascent of the hill.
+
+From somewhere near a voice came to me clearly. "Run for your life," it
+said.
+
+I could see nothing, but retreated hurriedly, and was soon with the
+others at the top of the hill.
+
+"Why did you tell me to run?" I panted.
+
+They looked at me. "We said nothing," was the answer; "we merely
+signalled you to come back."
+
+"Well, someone ordered me to run for my life."
+
+"Ah!" said they. "We thought we heard a voice. We saw a figure at the
+other side of the pond. We came over the crest cautiously, and he did
+not expect us. He was crossing in range of the light from the Mansion
+gate when we detected him. So much for following you!"
+
+"Well, but who spoke to me? He could not have done so; his voice would
+not have sounded so near."
+
+"No, evidently someone near you was watching him; he was about to waylay
+you, and the watcher knew it and warned you."
+
+We heard a commotion and saw a figure dash from the bridge, away toward
+the north end of the pond, and disappear.
+
+Then another figure showed at the crest on the River Road and followed
+him at breakneck speed.
+
+"See--the man on the bridge was the fellow who warned you. The other is
+after him. He won't catch him, however."
+
+"Come!" I cried; and we darted down and over the bridge to the road
+above, but nothing was visible. Suddenly a couple of figures emerged
+from the darkness by the Mansion gate. We recognized Oakes and Moore,
+who had been awaiting us.
+
+We related the circumstances of our return to the Mansion to them.
+
+"Yes," said Oakes, "we were watching the man near the road. He had a
+gun, and was evidently waiting for you. We were just going to make a
+rush at him when we saw you run back at the signal."
+
+"Who was he?" asked I.
+
+"I will answer the question by asking: Who was the man who warned you?"
+
+"I haven't the least idea," said I.
+
+"You see, you were in great danger, and only that man's foresight saved
+your life. But there are _two_ unknowns now--the friend and the enemy."
+
+We watched my escorts descend and cross the bridge, mount the ascent and
+disappear over the crest toward Mona. Then the moonlight silhouetted
+their figures for an instant, as they turned and waved a farewell.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XII_
+
+  _The Witness_
+
+
+Mr. George Elliott, aristocratic, well-to-do club-man and all-round
+agreeable fellow, lived in bachelor apartments on the upper West side of
+New York.
+
+He was engaged now in the brokerage business, but, times having been
+dull, he found it rather difficult to occupy himself and was
+anticipating taking a vacation--but where, he had not yet decided.
+
+Events were shaping themselves, however, to bring him into the
+happenings at Mona as one of our party.
+
+On the corner, near the apartment, was a boot-blacking stand, presided
+over by one Joe, an intelligent and wide-awake colored youngster, whose
+general good-nature and honesty had made him popular with many. Among
+his patrons and general well-wishers was Mr. Elliott, to whom Joe had
+taken a particular liking, and whose opinions the young negro had often
+sought in an off-hand way; for, despite his general air of reserve and
+hauteur, Elliott was kindness itself at heart, and a man who could be
+easily approached by those who were suffering from worry and hardship.
+
+At about the time of the beginning of this story, Joe's mother had been
+taken sick and had died in Troy, and the boy had gone up there for a few
+days.
+
+Then he had gone to Lorona, a little town farther south, and from thence
+to Mona on his way home to New York. At Mona he had seen a terrible
+thing--a murder.
+
+Bewildered, frightened, overawed by his fateful knowledge, he had
+managed, however, to reach New York, where he sought out Mr. Elliott for
+counsel; he knew the latter was kind and good and would tell him what to
+do. Joe realized that he needed advice--that he was in a terrible fix,
+being the only witness, so far as he knew, of a crime of the worst kind.
+
+As Joe told Mr. Elliott the things he had witnessed, that gentleman
+realized the tremendous value of the evidence being told him.
+
+By adroit questioning, he determined that the celebrated Quintus Oakes
+was in Mona. The boy said he recognized him, for he had frequently
+"shined" Mr. Oakes's shoes in times past on Broadway. Elliott realized
+that as he was called Clark at the inquest--according to Joe--the people
+in Mona did not know him as Oakes; he must be travelling under an
+_alias_, on important business probably. Elliott also grasped the fact
+that Oakes was there at the time of the murder by coincidence only. He
+had read of the affair in the evening paper, but only in a careless
+manner. It was all of deep interest now.
+
+What should he do with Joe?
+
+If he allowed the boy to think that he was in a tight place, he might
+run away, and that would defeat justice. There was the alternative of
+telling the police; _that_ would mix himself up in an unpleasant affair,
+and Joe might not be believed--might be falsely accused of the murder.
+
+Again, he knew Mr. Oakes. He had seen him at the Club, and he did not
+desire to frustrate whatever investigations the detective might be
+making.
+
+The best solution would be to find Quintus Oakes and tell him. He
+certainly would be able to give some attention to the murder, even if
+not in Mona for that purpose. Meanwhile, he himself would hold the boy
+at all hazards.
+
+With skill scarcely to be expected from one of his easy-going type, he
+told Joe to remain and sleep in his flat that night and that he would
+fix things for him. The terror-stricken negro was only too glad of
+sympathy and protection from one of Mr. Elliott's standing, and
+complied; for he was at the mercy of his friends. What could he, a
+colored boy, do alone?
+
+After tired nature had asserted herself and Joe had fallen asleep in a
+room which had been given him, Elliott called up Oakes's office by
+telephone. In less than an hour a dapper young man sought admission to
+the apartment, and was met by Elliott. He introduced himself as
+"Martin--from Oakes's place." In a few words Elliott explained matters,
+and Martin said:
+
+"Let Joe go to his boot-blacking stand in the morning. Get your shoes
+shined, and place your hand on his shoulder in conversation, so that he
+can be identified before you leave. Our men will be in sight. Then meet
+me at the elevated station, and we will go to Mona together, if you care
+to do so."
+
+"Good!" said Elliott. "I am willing; I will take my vacation that way."
+
+And that was how, several hours later, Joe went to his boot-blacking
+stand, feeling secure in being near friends, and oblivious of the fact
+that strange eyes were watching all his movements.
+
+A little later Elliott patronized the stand, and in leaving placed his
+hand on Joe's shoulder and said: "Nobody will trouble you, old fellow.
+Don't say a word; it will all come out right. I will back you to the
+limit."
+
+And after that several pairs of eyes watched every movement of the
+boot-black. Several affable strangers gave him quarters for ten-cent
+shines. Joe was not in the police net, but he was in the vision of those
+silent men whom one cannot detect--those experts employed by men like
+Oakes. Escape was impossible for the negro.
+
+Joe remained in good spirits, for had not Mr. Elliott befriended him? He
+was ignorant of the doings of those brief hours when he slept.
+
+Elliott's going to Mona was perhaps unnecessary, but he felt a natural
+curiosity to know Oakes better, as well as to see the outcome of the
+case and the effect of the evidence the negro possessed. He was also
+actuated by a desire to do all he could to establish the accuracy of the
+boy's statement, and to see that he obtained as good treatment as was
+consistent with the ends of justice.
+
+He and Martin arrived at Mona the day after the murder--our first one at
+the Mansion. The two stayed at the hotel and studied the town, finding
+it impossible to go to the Mansion without creating talk.
+
+As Martin said: "We must go slowly and not appear too interested in
+Oakes, or rather Clark, as he is known up here--so the office informed
+me. So far as we know he has nothing to do with the murder case, and we,
+being strangers and consequently subject to comment, must be guarded in
+our actions. I have seen and heard enough to realize that there is much
+suppressed excitement among the people. We must communicate with Oakes
+quietly, and find whether it is wise to see him. He may not desire our
+presence at the Mark place."
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XIII_
+
+  _The Plan of Campaign_
+
+
+Next day, as we were at breakfast at the Mansion, the masons and
+carpenters came. Curiously enough, one of them brought a note from
+Martin, asking if it would be convenient for him to bring a stranger,
+with valuable information, to see Mr. Oakes that morning; and the man
+found it convenient to drop into town a little later and incidentally to
+meet Martin and let him know that Oakes expected him. Then he went to
+the hardware store and bought a few trifling things, as any carpenter or
+mason might do.
+
+"Looks as though I am going to hold a reception this morning," said
+Oakes: "The Chief of Police making an engagement last night for an
+interview this morning, and now Martin asking for another."
+
+"What is Martin doing up here?" asked Moore.
+
+"Well, don't get impatient. He has something important, anyway. Just
+wait." I think Moore felt aggravated at Oakes's apparent indifference.
+Of course it was simulated, but he seemed so calm and oblivious of the
+mass of happenings that had put Moore and myself in a state of extreme
+excitement.
+
+It was not long before Martin and Mr. Elliott were with us. Oakes
+received Elliott in a most agreeable manner, which placed us all at
+ease. He said he knew Mr. Elliott by sight, and esteemed it greatly that
+he should extend information to him. Also he was sure it must be of
+great value, since the gentleman had travelled all the way from New York
+to place him in possession of it. And this was said before any
+information was given. We saw that our friend was a diplomat.
+
+Quickly Mr. Elliott gave all the particulars of the negro's confession,
+and the detective said: "If I am called into the case by Chief Hallen, I
+shall want to see the boy; if not, the information should be given to
+the Chief, as the matter belongs to his jurisdiction."
+
+Looking out of the window at that moment, I espied Hallen coming up the
+walk.
+
+"Good!" said Oakes. "Now, Mr. Elliott, will you kindly retire with Dr.
+Moore, while Stone, Martin and I hear what the Chief has to say."
+
+When Hallen came up, he seemed very cordial, but worried, and made no
+attempt to disguise the fact that he anticipated trouble with the unruly
+element in Mona by Saturday night.
+
+"You see," he said, "we are few here, and I have been kept busy with the
+brewing uneasiness in town and cannot handle the murder affair
+satisfactorily. I have come to ask you to help me, if you are
+sufficiently at leisure. We cannot get any clues at all, save that the
+man was killed by a bullet of large calibre in the hands of a good shot,
+as the distance from which it was fired would seem to show. The road has
+been searched but nothing found, and the crowd that went with you to the
+dying man's side trampled away all clues on the ground.
+
+"My men have reported to me the curious affair of last night," continued
+the Chief. "I suppose you have a explanation for it; in any event, it
+must be followed up. The people must be diverted, and more must be done
+at once than I can do. Will you help me?"
+
+"Yes," said Oakes. "Of course!"
+
+"Hello, what ails your head?" said the Chief, after thanking him.
+
+And then Oakes told him as much as was necessary of the events of the
+day before.
+
+"I am very glad your _carpenters_ have arrived," said the Chief; "they
+may help." He smiled, as did Oakes. They understood one another--they
+were in similar lines of business.
+
+"Now that I have a hand in this thing, let's all get acquainted," said
+Oakes; and he called in Moore and Elliott, and the discussion became
+general.
+
+Elliott was admitted unreservedly to our councils, especially as Oakes
+knew that he held the keys to the conviction of the assassin--the
+witness.
+
+Oakes, in his fluent style, acquainted the Chief with the fact that the
+negro was already under surveillance and that, in his opinion, he should
+be brought to Mona for further examination.
+
+"Yes, but we must smuggle him in. It would be unwise to let the populace
+know we have him now; they might infer he was the murderer and violence
+would certainly be done him. At present, I have all I can do to keep
+order in the town," said Hallen.
+
+Then he gave a lucid account of the wave of suspicion and of the
+evidences of nervous tension the citizens were showing.
+
+"Why," said he, "almost every man suspects his neighbor. Life-long
+friends are suspicious of one another and business is nearly at a
+standstill. One man looked at another in an absent-minded sort of a way
+to-day, and the other retaliated with a blow and an oath, and asked him
+if he would look at his own arms--not his neighbor's."
+
+"Yes," said Oakes, "we have here a great mental emotion--_suspicion_--to
+deal with, which may amount to a public calamity unless checked. One
+must always take account of the actions and reasonings of communities.
+Emotional waves rush through them as through individuals sometimes. Look
+at history, and consider the waves of religion, emotional in character,
+that have occurred. Look at the unreasonableness developed in our own
+country from ignorance and fear, when witches were burned at the stake!"
+
+"Oakes," said Moore with a smile, "you seem to make mental processes and
+conditions as much of a study as the physician does."
+
+"Certainly," Oakes replied. "It is most important. Did we not study the
+workings of a criminal's mind, for instance, we would often be baffled.
+You see, the determination of the probable condition of such a one's
+mind is often paramount, especially in such a case as this. In other
+words, was the _motive_ one that would naturally sway an ordinary
+healthy individual under the conditions appertaining to the crime--the
+so-called _sane_ motive? Or was it in any way dependent upon
+peculiarities of the criminal's reasoning--a motive built up of
+something unreal, a _delusion_ in the mind of one not in his right
+senses?"
+
+I myself had frequently had cause to study such mental processes in the
+practice of my profession, but I was amazed at the knowledge shown by
+Oakes, and stated in such a broad, untechnical manner. The man was no
+ordinary one, to be sure, but I had scarcely expected him to show such
+education in these matters.
+
+I now recalled what Moore had once told me of Oakes's all-round
+attainments.
+
+Dr. Moore broke the silence.
+
+"You are a lalapazooza, Oakes."
+
+Oakes did not notice the remark, but said: "I don't know what other men
+do, but I have tried to bear in mind such things."
+
+"Yes," said Hallen, "and consequently there is only _one_ Quintus
+Oakes."
+
+"It seems to me," continued Hallen, "that your work here at the Mansion
+will soon lead to results, and I trust that you will find time to
+consider the murder also."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Oakes very seriously, "from what I saw after the Mark
+murder in town and from what you report, I feel that Mona is in a very
+serious plight. I shall make time, Hallen, to do what little I can."
+
+And thus Quintus Oakes became the leader in the unravelling of the Mark
+murder mystery.
+
+After a few remarks of no particular consequence and a more or less
+general conversation, he resumed:
+
+"Suppose, Chief, that we now smuggle the negro into Mona as soon as
+possible, and bring him here. I believe that if Mr. Elliott goes back
+with Martin and they explain things to the boy, he will come without
+much trouble. It must be impressed upon him that he is regarded in the
+light of a _hero_: appeal to the innate weakness of the race--desire for
+flattery."
+
+"I believe we can bring him here easily," said Elliott, "for he has
+confidence in me."
+
+"If he refuses to come," said Hallen, "we can get him here in plenty of
+ways."
+
+"Yes," said Oakes, "Martin knows how; leave it to him. Only, we must
+have him soon, and he must come here by way of another station,
+incognito, lest the people become too excited."
+
+This being agreed upon, the conversation became more general, and in
+answer to questions we found that Oakes had not as yet formulated any
+solution to the mystery of the identity of the murderer. As he said, the
+affair of downstairs might be connected with the murder, indirectly or
+directly, but as yet we had not had sufficient opportunities for
+studying the surroundings of the house or the life of its attachés to
+venture an opinion. He laid particular stress upon the fact that
+opinions should never be formed on poor evidence, since a biased mind
+was incapable of appreciating new discoveries or new clues. To theorize
+too much was very easy, but sometimes fatal to detection of crime. He
+preferred to work along several lines of investigation before
+concentration on any one idea.
+
+"The affair of last night, in my estimation," said he, "is one of very
+grave import. Unquestionably, from what you saw, Stone, and from the
+evidence of us all, there were two men near the place you were going to
+pass. That the first one warned you and was, in a sense, a friend, is
+mysterious enough--it needs solution; but that the man who warned you
+should have run away and been pursued by the other is peculiar, to say
+the least. The signals of your companions were heard by the man at the
+bridge undoubtedly, and he ran to escape detection himself. The
+other--the one on this side, who was a probable assassin--would under
+ordinary circumstances have run away when he saw you were warned. He
+did run, but it was after the man who warned you."
+
+"To my mind, the explanation is this," continued the detective. "The man
+at the bridge is friendly, but cannot expose his identity or risk
+capture. The would-be assassin was convinced that the man who warned you
+knew of his purpose. He therefore pursued him--to finish him in
+self-protection."
+
+"I don't see why," said Moore; "he could have escaped instead."
+
+"Exactly," said Oakes. "He could have done so, but he did not wish it.
+He has not completed what he wants to do around here. He wished to come
+back, and to do so with safety he must rid himself of the one who knew
+of his doings."
+
+"Looks as though he was planning more trouble. He may have been the man
+of the robe, or the man with the arms," I ventured.
+
+"Or both," said Oakes.
+
+"At all events," said Hallen, "I wish that we could divert the minds of
+the people in town; the tension is great--too great for safety."
+
+"Perhaps, Chief," said Oakes, "that you and I can arrange a little
+matter that will distract their attention and which will tend to make
+them believe that progress is being made."
+
+He laughed as he spoke, and we knew that he was thinking over some
+little scheme to help Hallen back into popular favor.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XIV_
+
+  _Clues_
+
+
+The carpenters and masons came and went in a very business-like way all
+that morning, while we were closeted upstairs with our companion and
+Chief Hallen.
+
+After he left us, Moore and I walked down to the gate and around the
+grounds, leaving Oakes to attend to details with Martin. Carpenters were
+very busy around the dining-room, carrying in boards and implements, and
+examining the woodwork and the balcony.
+
+A few of the masons were about the grounds, engaged on small details,
+and all seemed to be on good terms with Cook and his wife, and Annie.
+Mike was busy at one end of the garden, and Maloney was not far off.
+
+"This, Stone, is to be a day of events here. But things are being done
+very quietly, are they not? You would suspect nothing out of the
+way--far less a hunt for a murderer or the investigation of a mystery,
+would you?"
+
+"No; were I not informed, I should think that Oakes had merely a gang of
+laborers at work."
+
+"He has that; but he has also a body of the best detectives, for the
+purpose, to be had. Maloney and Mike are puzzling him considerably,
+Stone; they are very close to one another always, and seem quite
+intimate."
+
+"Yes," I replied. "I have noticed it. They both show a great deal of
+interest in these alterations. Have you noticed how Maloney is watching
+O'Brien? He keeps him continually in sight."
+
+We had approached the front door of the Mansion as we spoke. Oakes was
+standing just outside, his eyes likewise upon the two gardeners. Our
+last remarks were made in his presence, and he entered the conversation
+with a quiet observation to the effect that Maloney seemed to fear that
+Mike might not attend to his business, but that Mike _would_,
+nevertheless.
+
+I was obliged to acknowledge that I did not quite understand.
+
+"Oh, Mike is a good laborer," he explained; "he needs no such watching,"
+and there seemed to be a peculiar significance in his words. They were
+stated in a slow, indifferent manner that caused me to look at the
+speaker, but his face wore the inscrutable expression which I had
+frequently seen before, and I learned nothing. I knew him well enough by
+this time, however, to realize that something was taking shape in his
+thoughts.
+
+"Now, let us go inside," said he. "After lunch we will attack the final
+solution of the manner in which these mysterious assaults were
+performed. Like all such things, it will be simple enough, I know, and
+the point remaining to determine will be not _how_ it was done, but _by
+whom_.
+
+"I feel confident that that door in the cellar room leads upward to an
+interspace which communicates with the dining-room through panels in the
+walls. The peculiar noise--the swish--that I heard, resembled the sudden
+sliding of a board, and it was the conviction that the person who
+assaulted Moore disappeared into the wall which made me run downstairs.
+I felt sure there would be some explanation of it below."
+
+That afternoon a systematic search of the entire house was made. The
+cellar room in which the assault upon Oakes had occurred was thoroughly
+lighted and examined. The heap of rubbish which Mike had been
+investigating at our previous visit proved to be composed of plaster and
+bricks.
+
+The wall in which the door was cut was found to be about three feet
+thick, and one of the foundations of the house. It was solid, save for a
+chimney-like opening which had been trapped with the door. Above, at the
+level of the dining-room floor, the great wall ceased. From one edge was
+continued upwards the original partition between that room and the
+next--the parlor; but it was thin, and had evidently been recently
+strengthened by another wall, slightly thicker, and built from the
+opposite edge of the foundation, leaving a space between the two. Into
+this space entered, at a certain point, the opening from the cellar room
+below.
+
+It was a peculiar arrangement. As Oakes remarked, the new wall had been
+made with no regard to the economizing of space; for, had it been built
+immediately back of the old, considerable room would have been saved
+for the parlor. One of the "carpenters" thought that the original idea
+had been to utilize the space for closets. The only other possible use
+for it, so far as we could discover, was the one which Oakes had
+surmised--ventilation for the cellar. Still, to our ordinary minds, a
+chimney would have answered that purpose quite as well.
+
+A little further investigation, however, showed the top of the
+foundation wall to be covered with cement well smoothed, and the walls
+themselves were plastered. It was generally conceded, therefore, that
+the first idea had been to use it as closet room, which could easily
+have been done by cutting doors through the walls. As Oakes said, the
+notion had evidently met with opposition and been abandoned, so
+communication had been made with the cellar instead, and the roof opened
+to afford ventilation.
+
+The opening into the cellar was large. A man could easily enter it, and,
+standing, reach the top of the foundation wall; then, by a little
+exertion, he could raise himself into the intermural space. Oakes, Moore
+and I proved this by actual experiment and found that the passage was
+quite wide enough to accommodate a man of average proportions.
+
+I have said that the dining-room was finished in oak panels. These had
+been reached from our side of the wall by removing the bricks and
+mortar--the same stuff evidently which helped to form the rubbish heap
+in the room below. One of the larger panels had been made to slide
+vertically. It had been neatly done and had escaped detection from the
+dining-room because of the overlapping of the other panels. Some débris
+still remained between the walls.
+
+"The fellow we are after knew of the space between the walls and worked
+at the panel after the repairs were completed," was Oakes's remark.
+
+"How do you know that?" asked Moore.
+
+Oakes looked at him and smiled, then said: "Moore, where is your
+reasoning ability? Do you think, if the panel had been tampered with at
+the time the repairs were made, that the débris would have been left
+behind? No! It would have been removed with the rest of the dirt."
+
+We had gone to our rooms upstairs while the men were hunting through
+the tunnel to the well. They found nothing; everything was as we had
+left it after our adventures there.
+
+It seemed to us that, all things considered, the work on the panel must
+have been done by someone within the household, or, at least, that some
+of its members must have been involved in the matter.
+
+"It may have been accomplished at night, however, and by an outsider,"
+said Oakes. "The servants' quarters are separate from the house. Anyone
+might easily have entered the cellar by the tunnel route. Still, there
+may have been collusion also."
+
+"It seems a nonsensical idea to leave the débris in the cellar," I said.
+
+"No, I think not," was the answer. "The care-takers are afraid even to
+enter that place. The miscreant knew that detection would be probable at
+the hands of strangers only."
+
+That evening Elliott and Martin left for New York. They were to bring
+the negro boy, Joe, to Mona. Late at night, before we retired, Oakes
+asked us to go with him into the parlor.
+
+"What for?" said I.
+
+"To forge another link in the chain--the strongest yet," he said.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Do you remember the cartridge I found in the cellar?"
+
+"Yes, yes; but you did not pay much attention to it, I thought."
+
+He looked gravely at me. "Stone, that cartridge probably corresponds in
+calibre to the one which was used in the murder of Mark."
+
+"Ah!" said Moore. "I had a notion of that myself. Why did you not tell
+us your opinion before?"
+
+"Because, when I found it, we were working on the Mansion affair only. I
+divined the value of the find; but why should I have mentioned it? I was
+not hunting the Mark murderer then."
+
+"Quintus, you consummate fox--you worked Hallen well!"
+
+"Not at all; business is business. What is the use of gossiping? There
+are no ladies to be entertained in _my_ profession, Doctor."
+
+He led the way to the parlor--we meekly following--to where a cluster
+of arms hung upon the wall: one of those ornaments of crossed swords,
+guns and a shield, so common in old houses.
+
+He remarked that he had noticed these arms on his previous visit. He
+looked at a revolver hanging across the shield, with a pouch beneath it,
+and then suddenly, in surprise, said: "Last time I was here, a few weeks
+ago, there was a large old-fashioned revolver here of 44 or 45 calibre.
+I remember it well, being interested in firearms.
+
+"This one now here is of a similar pattern and appearance, but of
+smaller calibre, and newer. Look! The cartridges in this pouch are of
+about 45 size; they belong to the old weapon and cannot be used with
+this one."
+
+"Again, some of them are missing; there were at least a dozen before,
+now there are only three or four. The old revolver and some cartridges
+have been taken away, and a newer weapon substituted."
+
+"Indeed! But why?" said Moore sceptically.
+
+"Partly because"--and Oakes was decisive, curt, master of the
+situation--"because this one cannot be loaded. See!" He then tried to
+turn the chamber and showed us that the mechanism was faulty.
+
+"The old revolver," said he in a low tone, "and some cartridges were
+taken away, and in order that its absence should be less noticeable,
+this one was left here--it being useless.
+
+"Now, boys, the cartridge I found downstairs on the cellar floor is a
+45-calibre and belongs to those of the pouch and the original revolver,
+as you see."
+
+He took it from his pocket and showed us that it did _not_ fit the
+weapon in his hand but matched the cartridges in the pouch. It belonged
+to the _old_ weapon.
+
+"We are closing in," said I.
+
+"Yes--the man of the robe has the old revolver and cartridges; he took
+them within the last few days, finding his own weapon out of order. It
+is he who is responsible for the mystery in this house--and in all
+probability it is he who shot Winthrop Mark. You remember, the evidence
+at the inquest showed that a heavy revolver had been used--a 44 or 45
+calibre--exactly such an one as the old weapon which I saw here."
+
+"Excellent, Oakes," remarked Moore. "There's only one objection."
+
+"Yes, I know," said Oakes. "You were going to ask why the fellow did not
+take all these cartridges and put his own in the pouch to match the
+weapon he left here."
+
+"Exactly," said Moore.
+
+"Well," said the detective, "he either had no cartridges of his own
+handy, or else, like all criminals, however smart, he tripped--the brain
+of no man is capable of adjusting his actions precisely in every
+detail."
+
+"Guess you're right. No man can be perfect in his reasoning, and, no
+matter how clever the criminal, he is almost certain to make an error
+sooner or later," said Moore.
+
+"Yes, but it takes peculiar power to discover it," I chirped. The events
+of the day had tired me, and my mind was growing confused. I desired to
+go to bed.
+
+Oakes smiled slightly. "No, Stone; it takes study, worry and patient
+reasoning to discover the faulty link in a clever criminal's
+logic--that is why there is a profession like mine."
+
+I was half asleep, but I heard him continue: "We may consider we have
+excellent cause to look for a man who has in his possession an ancient
+revolver and some very old dirty cartridges covered with verdigris, like
+these here."
+
+"Murder will out," I interpolated.
+
+"Yes, eventually, sometimes. However, it is easy to say, 'he who had
+that revolver did the murder,' but as it may have been destroyed since
+then, or thrown into the river, it is another thing to find the _man_."
+
+We were crestfallen. Oakes himself looked wearied.
+
+"I wish the whole Mansion was in the river, and there were a decent café
+round here," protested Moore.
+
+"You're a vigorous pair of assistants, I must say," said Quintus. "I
+have some samples in my room. Come!" and we all adjourned.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XV_
+
+  _The Ruse_
+
+
+After all, however, the doctor and I decided to spend the night at the
+hotel and acquire any information that we could as to occurrences in
+town.
+
+We chose to walk along the River Road to the Corners, keeping ourselves
+on the alert for any treachery. The night was cool and bracing and the
+sky cloudless. As we journeyed, the moon rose, throwing its rays athwart
+the tangled outline of the wood. The great high trees were just
+beginning to drop their leaves. Occasionally a woody giant, separated
+from the rest, would fix our attention, standing silhouetted against the
+background of forest--majestic, alone, like a sentinel guarding the
+thousands in column behind. An occasional flutter of a night bird or the
+falling and rustling of the dead leaves was all that we heard as we
+walked rapidly the mile to the Corners.
+
+As we were about to round into the Highway and leave the forest of the
+estate behind us, Moore grasped my arm, and led me to the deep shadow of
+a tree by the roadside.
+
+"Hark! That sounds peculiar," he said. We listened, and heard a thumping
+sound, repeated at intervals.
+
+"An uneasy horse standing somewhere in the woods hereabouts," said I.
+
+"Yes. What is he doing there at this time of night--and in _these
+particular_ woods?"
+
+We consulted together and waited. Then, having satisfied ourselves that
+the noise came from the woods of the estate near the crest of the hill,
+we decided to investigate as quickly as possible, and entered the forest
+stealthily and with but little noise. Unused to the life of the woods,
+we doubtless made more rustling than was necessary, but we were favored
+by the fact that the trees were not very close together, and in
+consequence the carpet of dead leaves was not thick.
+
+Halting behind the trunks of trees occasionally, we listened for the
+sound which came from further within the wood. Soon we came to an
+opening--a glade--perhaps two hundred feet from the road. The moonlight
+fell upon the far side, but on the side next us all was shadow--dark and
+sombre. We stood well within it among the trees. I fancied I heard a
+horse whinny. The animal was certainly restive. I saw the doctor take
+out his revolver and lie carefully down behind a tree; I remained
+standing. We both waited; we were within a few feet of one another, but
+did not speak.
+
+Suddenly, on the far side we saw a figure walking towards the shade and
+heard him say a few words to the horse. Quickly he led the animal away
+into what appeared to be a path. Moore whispered to me: "Watch the road;
+he is going there."
+
+We retraced our steps and soon saw the horse appear on the edge of the
+wood. He was a large, powerful animal, and seemed to act as though he
+understood what was expected of him. The man was still leading the
+horse, but was now also speaking in a low voice to someone else, who
+disappeared toward the town and came out on the Highway further down,
+walking rapidly toward the village, as any belated citizen might.
+
+"See!" said Moore. "He brought the horse and is going back. Watch the
+rider."
+
+The latter had been standing in the shade looking after the man who had
+gone, when suddenly, seeming satisfied that he was not watched, he
+vaulted into the saddle. He came out into the moonlight in a second or
+two and rode rapidly up River Road, past the Corners and northward away
+from the town. We had managed to get near the road, and as he dashed
+into the open we saw that he held the reins with the left hand, his
+right resting on the horse's neck, and in it, as we both recognized, a
+revolver.
+
+"A splendid rider," was my remark.
+
+"Yes," said Moore. "Did you recognize him? It was Mike, I thought."
+
+"Yes, Mike it was, and acting in a very suspicious manner. He has done
+this before, evidently--knew the road and the horse, and was on the
+lookout for trouble, for he was armed."
+
+We decided to follow the first man, it being useless to attempt to
+overtake the rider. Taking the darkest side of the road, we walked on
+after the figure in the distance.
+
+Soon my companion's spirits began to rise and he laughed at our
+_adventure_, as he called it.
+
+"Stone, I cannot help thinking that you and I are destined to become
+great sleuths. We have been away from the Mansion only a short
+half-hour, and already have detected a man on horseback who is carrying
+a revolver--and have identified him as Mike."
+
+"Yes, we're improving--but why did you lie down behind that tree?
+Afraid?"
+
+"No!" answered Moore, with a laugh. "I have been studying caution. I
+want to see Broadway again." Then he continued: "Stone, this adventure
+is becoming more and more complicated, and occasionally I wonder if I
+was not foolish in coming here. It is so different from practising
+surgery--this being assaulted by invisible foes--seeing victims of
+murder and things like that, to say nothing of men chasing one another
+by moonlight."
+
+He was half-serious, and I acknowledged that the affair _was_ rather
+nerve wearing. Then we looked ahead, and suddenly realized that the
+figure we were following had vanished.
+
+Moore gasped in astonishment. "Hang it all! we certainly are a pair of
+apes to let that fellow get away. Won't Oakes be disgusted?"
+
+"Yes, and he will have good cause."
+
+The lesson was a needful but costly one. Thenceforth when on business we
+ceased to discuss our feelings and endeavored to use our eyes and ears
+more, and our tongues less.
+
+We received a cordial welcome from the people at the hotel and gossiped
+around the corridor for some time. The crowd outside was sullen, but
+within the atmosphere seemed less strained. We learned that Chief Hallen
+had made several arrests that afternoon, a measure which had had a
+sobering effect. The saloons had been warned not to abuse their
+privileges. Many persons spoke of the work done by Hallen as excellent;
+indeed, we were both impressed by the fact that the sentiment toward
+him, of the better citizens, was friendly. Considerable disgust was
+expressed, however--privately, of course--at the lack of evidence, so
+far, bearing upon the murder itself. In the course of the evening we
+managed to see Reilly the porter, and he pointed out several men to us.
+
+"These fellows are new in town--they must be detectives. If they
+discover things, well and good; but if they don't, the people here won't
+stand it--they will resent what they call 'outside' work."
+
+"Hallen must have gone in for business," said I.
+
+Reilly grew confidential. "No, it ain't Hallen, they say. There's a lot
+of talk about some New York man coming up here to run things."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Oh, they say that Quintus Oakes--you've heard of him, of course--is
+coming soon, and these are some of his men."
+
+"Indeed!" And Moore and I exchanged glances.
+
+"But, say," continued the porter, "that is confidential; only we fellows
+round here know it."
+
+We parted from Reilly. Moore said: "If they know about it in here, of
+course half of the town has heard already."
+
+"Yes. The tale was doubtless started by Hallen as a great secret; he
+knew it would spread."
+
+"Evidently Oakes has not been recognized by the people as yet."
+
+"No," I rejoined, "but the fact that the rumor is out shows to my mind
+that Hallen and Oakes have some little scheme on hand. At any rate, we
+must know nothing of Oakes; remember that he is _Clark_ to all but a
+select few."
+
+We decided to go to one of the newspaper offices, after a brief call on
+Chief Hallen, who gave us no news of value, but was nevertheless very
+agreeable. He advised us to see Dowd, and gave us a note to him. We
+found the newspaper man at his office, just finishing his night's work.
+He was very attentive in furnishing us back copies of his rival's paper,
+the "Daily News." He said he kept them filed as samples of "daring
+journalism." "I have only been a couple of years in this business, but I
+have the pedigree of the town in these newspapers. I got them from
+people who had saved them--as country people will. Skinner would not
+sell me any--the rascal. Whenever he grows fresh and criticises things
+improperly, I investigate what he has previously said on the subject and
+then publish a deadly parallel column. He has a rather poor memory--and
+I worry him once in a while," he remarked with a laugh.
+
+We found the paper which corresponded in date to the piece we had taken
+from the robe. There was a full account of the murder of Smith, which we
+read, but nothing that seemed to us of any value. On that occasion no
+clues whatever had been found. _Only_, again the local physicians had
+thought the wound was made by a large ball.
+
+The old chief of that time had been succeeded by Hallen, who had never
+been able to gain any definite clue to the murderer. The interest had
+then died out, and the mystery became a thing of the past.
+
+Dowd discussed the similarity of the recent murder to that of Smith, and
+hinted, moreover, that he knew the identity of our friend Clark. He said
+Hallen had made a confidant of him, as he might want to make use of his
+newspaper.
+
+"By the way, speaking of the old murder, there is something that has
+never been published, but which some of the old codgers about here have
+cherished as perhaps relating to it."
+
+"What is it?" asked the doctor.
+
+"Well, a couple of old men who have since died, both milkmen, used to
+say that once or twice they had seen a woman near the scene of the
+murder at that hour in the morning. Also, that she always ran into the
+woods, and was dressed in black."
+
+"Who were those old men?"
+
+"Well, they were both reliable fellows. Their tales were laughed at, so
+they refused to discuss the matter any more. They both claimed to have
+seen her at a distance, however; and since they were on different
+wagons, their stories seemed to corroborate each other."
+
+We expressed our great interest in the news, and Dowd advised us to see
+Reilly the porter, who had heard the story of the woman from the men
+themselves.
+
+We returned to the hotel, feeling much elated at the courtesy of Dowd
+and at the prospect of learning something not generally known, and
+bearing upon the murder.
+
+Soon we managed to find Reilly. He came to our rooms on the excuse that
+we had some orders to give concerning baggage that had not yet arrived
+from New York.
+
+The porter was decidedly intelligent, having been reduced to his
+present position through adversity, as we already knew. It took only a
+little questioning to elicit his story, which he told about as follows:
+
+"You see, gentlemen, about the time of Smith's murder the milkmen were
+in the habit of watering their horses at an old fountain just by our
+curb, but since done away with.
+
+"Well, about two weeks before Smith was murdered, one of the milkmen,
+Moses Inkelman, a driver for a large farm north of here, told me that he
+had that morning seen a very large woman on the crest of the hill as he
+was driving to town. She was seemingly anxious to avoid notice and
+stepped into the woods as he passed by. Moses asked me if I thought she
+was anyone from Mona. He seemed so curious about the matter that several
+who had heard his story laughed at him. He was very sensitive and did
+not mention the episode again until after the murder--long after, I
+remember--and then only to me, when he said: 'If these people would only
+stop making fun of a Jew, and believe me, they might learn something.'
+He disappeared a little while afterward, and we learned from his
+successor that he had suddenly died of heart disease, on the farm.
+
+"The other milkman never told his story save to a few--one night around
+the stove in a grocery store. The others were inclined to scoff at him;
+but I remembered what Moses had told me, and saw this fellow, Sullivan,
+alone.
+
+"It was about a year after the affair. He said that he had seen a
+woman's figure lurking around the crest of the hill on two different
+occasions before the murder."
+
+"Did he say anything about her appearance?" I asked.
+
+"No. He said he never came very near to her, but he saw that she always
+wore black, and ran very heavily. He thought she was one of the drunken
+creatures that sometimes infest the water front on Saturday nights.
+
+"You see, gentlemen, there were more factories here then, and the town
+was tougher than it is now, especially along the railroad and shore
+where the canal-boats came in. The new piers farther down the river have
+changed all that. Sullivan told his story to the police, but they saw
+nothing in it, or pretended they didn't; so Sullivan shut up."
+
+"What became of him?" Moore asked.
+
+"Well, sir, that's the curious part of it, to my mind. He was found dead
+only a short time ago on River Road, 'way down near Lorona, and there
+were marks on his throat and blood in his mouth. The examiner said he
+had had a hemorrhage and had choked to death, scratching himself in his
+dying struggles. But----"
+
+"Well, continue," commanded Moore.
+
+"Gentlemen, I believe he was murdered."
+
+"Why, what makes you think so?" I asked.
+
+"I saw the body at the undertaker's in Lorona, gentlemen, and the marks
+on the neck were not only scratches, but black and blue patches. The
+examiner was a drunkard himself and not a good reasoner. I always had
+the idea that the milkman was choked to death by the woman because he
+had seen her.
+
+"And the other fellow, Moses--I think he was done away with likewise,"
+continued Reilly. "I tell you, gentlemen, there is more to all this than
+is perhaps wise to know, unless one keeps pretty quiet."
+
+We tipped Reilly a good fee and then turned in for the night in a most
+uncomfortable frame of mind. As Moore said: "things are coming up so
+rapidly here that we will all be twisted before long."
+
+Our visit to the town had so far proved more valuable than we had hoped
+for, and we both wished that Oakes could have been with us. Several
+times in the night I awoke, and each time heard footsteps passing to and
+fro, and subdued voices in the corridor downstairs, and could but
+reflect how very different this was from the usual quietude of such a
+place.
+
+When we arose in the morning, Moore remarked that he never knew of such
+a noisy hotel in a small town.
+
+"Guess the place is going to give me nervous prostration pretty soon, if
+things keep up like this," said he.
+
+While we were at breakfast, Chief Hallen walked in and sat down beside
+us in a rather pompous manner, I thought. He seemed desirous of calling
+attention to himself. "Well, gentlemen," he said in a quiet enough way,
+"don't be taken aback at anything you may witness to-day. You may have
+a surprise. I want you to meet me in the hotel corridor soon and see who
+comes on the nine o'clock train."
+
+He bade us adieu, and walked out in an unnaturally aggressive manner.
+
+"He's showing off like a schoolboy," said I.
+
+"Or else acting," corrected Moore.
+
+We sat down in the corridor by and by. Hallen was talking with the clerk
+at the desk. The hangers-on were numerous and wore an air of expectancy;
+they were waiting for some one.
+
+The rickety old carriage from the station arrived at this moment, and
+the man on the box opened the door with more than usual courtesy. Out
+stepped a medium-sized man of good figure and a most remarkable face. It
+was bronzed like that of a seafaring man; the eyes were black as jet and
+piercing; the nose hooked and rather long. He wore a thick, short
+moustache, which matched his hair and eyes in blackness; otherwise, his
+face was smooth-shaven, and his attire was in the perfection of good
+taste for a business man. When he spoke, one noticed particularly his
+strong white, even teeth.
+
+"He looks like a pirate from the Spanish Main, dressed up," said Moore.
+
+"A remarkably attractive fellow, anyway."
+
+"Yes," I said; "he has the air of a celebrated man of some kind."
+
+As he walked to the desk, the by-standers spoke in subdued tones,
+watching him the while. I heard one lounger say: "Sure, that is the
+fellow. I've seen him before. Ain't he a wonder in looks?"
+
+Chief Hallen advanced and spoke a few words to the stranger, and then
+shook hands with him. He registered, and the clerk thumped the bell for
+Reilly with an air of tremendous importance.
+
+As though by accident, Chief Hallen espied us and, taking the stranger
+by the arm, walked over to us.
+
+We arose and bowed as the Chief repeated our names, saying, so that
+those near could hear: "Gentlemen, you are from the city. Let me make
+you acquainted with one of your fellow citizens--Mr. Quintus Oakes, of
+New York."
+
+Moore calmly shook hands and mumbled something, and then, in a side
+whisper to me, said: "It's up to you, Stone; say something."
+
+Although I was nearly as surprised as he, I managed to make a few
+audible remarks about how glad the town would be to know that Quintus
+Oakes was here. I saw a merry twinkle in Hallen's eyes, but the stranger
+made a suitable reply, and left us with that peculiar business-like air
+of his.
+
+I turned to Moore and half-gasped: "What does this mean, old man?"
+
+"A decoy," said he. "Just keep your nerve. Hallen has been giving us
+practice in acting."
+
+The by-standers and the groups in the street were discussing the
+stranger with peculiar, suppressed excitement. Many of the smart ones
+claimed to have seen him before and to know all about him; already,
+"Quintus Oakes" rang familiarly from their lips.
+
+We presently returned to the Mansion and related to our leader the facts
+we had learned from Reilly regarding "the woman's" appearances before
+the murder, the sudden ending of both the milkmen who had seen her, and
+Reilly's own suspicions in the matter. Oakes was thoughtful for quite a
+while.
+
+"You have done more than I thought you could in so brief a time," said
+he at last. "Have you any theories regarding the identity of the woman?"
+
+We had none to offer, and he began to smile ever so slightly. "Well, it
+seems to me your woman is a mistake--there was no woman. The assassin
+was a man in a black robe. He ran heavily, of course. You have drawn the
+murderer of Smith nearer to that of Mark. As regards the sudden deaths
+of the milkmen, probably both were killed; the examinations after death,
+conducted as these were, amount to nothing. The murderer of Smith, the
+two milkmen and of Mark is probably one and the same. Stone, you nearly
+fell a victim at the bridge the other night, too."
+
+I did not reply, but a cold perspiration broke out over me. The chain of
+events seemed clearer now in the light of Oakes's reasoning. Then he
+turned to Moore.
+
+"Doctor, loan me your cigar-cutter, will you?"
+
+The physician reached for it, but it was gone.
+
+"I think this must be it," said Oakes, holding out the missing article.
+"Next time you hide on your stomach behind a tree, do it properly."
+
+Moore was dumfounded.
+
+"What!" I cried, "you know that too? We did not tell you."
+
+"No, you did not. You began your narration at the wrong end--or perhaps
+you _forgot_," and his eyes twinkled.
+
+"But how did you learn of it?" demanded Moore, recovering. And Quintus
+smiled outright.
+
+"My man was behind another tree only ten feet away from you the whole
+time. When you left, he picked up this as a memento of your brilliant
+detective work."
+
+Moore and I smarted a little under the sarcasm, and I asked what the man
+was doing there.
+
+"Oh, he was watching Mike and, incidentally, keeping you two from
+mischief. You need a guardian. You never even suspected his presence,
+and--suppose he had been the assassin!"
+
+"Well," I said, "I suppose that you know all about your namesake in
+town, and don't need any of our information."
+
+He heard the chagrin in my voice and smiled as he replied:
+
+"Don't mind those little things; they happen to all of us. I am glad
+'Quintus Oakes' has arrived. Chief Hallen and I concluded that the
+sudden arrival of such a man as our decoy would have a salutary effect
+on the citizens. An appearance of action on Hallen's part would tend to
+quiet their restlessness; and, now that public attention is focused upon
+_him_, Mr. Clark and his friends can work more freely."
+
+During the discussion that followed, he told us that Mike's errand on
+horseback was as yet unknown, but that the man whom we followed and lost
+on the way was from a stable in Lorona.
+
+"You see," continued he, "Mike has been doing this before. The horse is
+brought from Lorona in a roundabout way. Doubtless, on his return, he
+leaves it at some spot where it is met and returned to the stable."
+
+"Mike is a mystery. What is he up to?" said Moore. "Can he be the
+murderer?"
+
+"Wait and see," replied Oakes enigmatically, as he ended the
+conversation.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XVI_
+
+  _The Negro's Story_
+
+
+Saturday came and went without event. So far, at least, Hallen's
+arrangements for the preservation of order had been effective. Or was it
+that the eyes and hopes of the people were centred upon the new arrival
+in town, the great detective--as they were led to believe--who had grown
+famous through his skill in ferreting out just such mysteries. In any
+case, the Chief's forebodings of a lawless outbreak were unfulfilled.
+
+The real Oakes spent most of his time in the Mansion while we remained
+in town; but our little party came and went as it pleased. Our movements
+had ceased to attract that attention which Oakes found so undesirable.
+As he said, in the well-known phrase of the sleight-of-hand operators:
+"the more you look, the less you see." The eyes of Mona were focused on
+the _false_ Oakes--the wrong hand; we ourselves--the hand doing the
+trick--were over-looked. And the more absorbed they became in the
+movements of the decoy, the more oblivious were they of the fact that
+keen eyes were studying them deeply. The criminal, unless very educated
+and clever, would be fooled with the multitude and caught off his guard.
+
+A rather curious fact was that, while Dowd's newspaper published an
+article in its personal column about the great detective's arrival and
+all that he was expected to accomplish, Skinner's journal remained
+absolutely silent. Dowd said he could not understand it, unless the ruse
+had failed to deceive Skinner, in which case we might hear from him
+soon. We knew that our friend Quintus Oakes held the same idea. As he
+said, if the cheat were discovered it would lead to trouble, which must
+be met as it arose.
+
+Moore and I became daily more imbued with the spirit of the adventure;
+besides which, we were keenly alive to Oakes's feelings and his desire
+to succeed. The newspapers far and near were following the case
+carefully, and we knew that his reputation and financial success
+depended largely on the outcome of this case.
+
+A few evenings later Moore and I were standing in the square, discussing
+the very apparent change in the temper of the crowd since their
+attention had been directed by the arrival of the man they believed to
+be Quintus Oakes.
+
+"Yes," said Moore, in answer to a remark of mine, "it is a clever scheme
+and makes the people think that Hallen is doing something; but how will
+they take it if they discover the trick?"
+
+"Well, perhaps by that time the real Oakes, our friend, will be in
+position to reveal his identity--that would calm any bad feeling--they
+would realize that work had been done quietly all the while."
+
+Moore shook his head doubtfully. "I don't like Skinner's attitude," he
+said, "he knows something."
+
+Reilly approached us at this moment to say that Clark wanted us at the
+Mansion immediately, and that a conveyance was waiting for us at the
+hotel. We went at once and found it, a four-seated affair, with Hallen
+and Dowd on the back seat. We two sat in front with the driver--one of
+Oakes's men; and after we had left the town I turned to the Chief and
+asked him if he knew what Oakes wanted of us.
+
+"Yes," said he; "the _negro_ is here."
+
+Oakes was awaiting us upstairs, with Martin and Elliott. The first thing
+we learned was that Oakes had recognized the negro "Joe" as a former
+boot-black on Broadway. Joe's identification of _him_ during the court
+scene had placed the negro in a state of less fear than would otherwise
+have been the case.
+
+"He came readily enough," said Martin; "he was threatened with arrest if
+he did not; but he is acting peculiarly. Seems more worried than an
+innocent man should be."
+
+"He naturally dreads the ordeal; innocent men frequently appear guilty
+to the onlooker. The really guilty ones are prepared and go through more
+coolly," said Oakes.
+
+"Yes, sir, I know that; but this one is different. I should hardly say
+he is guilty; still, his actions are peculiar--I cannot explain _how_."
+
+"Think a little, Martin," said Oakes. It was the tone of the superior,
+firm but kindly.
+
+Martin thought a few seconds, then he said: "Well, sir, he seems anxious
+to describe what he saw, and seems to think that you are his friend and
+will believe him; but he appears to be actually fearful of punishment."
+
+"Rather ambiguous," said Oakes. "Perhaps he is hiding some vital point,
+Martin. Is he not?"
+
+"Yes, sir; and that point is against himself."
+
+"Of course it is, or he would not hide it; against himself, or one dear
+to him."
+
+Oakes's correction was without malice, polite and patient. He was the
+clear reasoner, the leader, instructing a trusty subordinate--the kindly
+Chief and his young, but able lieutenant.
+
+We ranged ourselves round the centre-table--we four who had come in the
+carriage, besides Elliott and Martin, who had brought Joe from New York.
+Oakes stood near a chair, away from the table and the group. After a
+moment the negro entered, ushered to the door by one of the men. We must
+have looked a formidable conclave to the poor fellow, for he halted just
+inside the door at sight of us all. He was a negro of that type seen in
+the North--strong, lithe, with a clear-cut face whose features showed
+the admixture of white blood. He advanced to the chair besides Oakes,
+and sat down at a sign from the latter.
+
+He was nervous, but a pitiful effort at bravery showed in his carriage
+and manner. Bravery was necessary. A lone negro boy facing such a
+gathering, and--worst of all to him--that mysterious, awe-inspiring
+person, Quintus Oakes!
+
+With consummate tact Quintus won the boy's confidence. Elliott spoke to
+him, kindly and reassuringly; and Hallen walked over and shook his hand
+with a protecting air. Joe brightened visibly. It was plain that the men
+who hunted crime were going to try kindness and sympathy first. It has
+always seemed to me a pity that such tactics are not more in vogue,
+especially toward witnesses. The master detective can throw a sympathy
+into his every act which will win secrets actually barred from other
+methods of attack.
+
+Reassured, Joe presently began his story. In a clear, remarkably able
+way (for he had been to school), and with the peculiar, dramatic power
+possessed by some negroes, he brought vividly before us the scenes he
+had witnessed. As he warmed to his subject, Oakes and Hallen watched him
+carefully, but without emotion, occasionally questioning him adroitly to
+develop points which seemed to them valuable. Dowd took notes, at
+Oakes's suggestion, for future use.
+
+When Joe's mother died in Troy, he went up to attend the funeral. On his
+return he stayed a few days in Lorona--a little place already mentioned.
+It was without railway connections and lay to the east of Mona, along
+the Highway. He had passed through the latter place afoot, late at
+night, and had walked the ten miles to Lorona. His sister lived there in
+service, also his sweetheart Jennie. Naturally, he did not pass it by.
+
+He had left very early one morning to go back to New York and had cut
+across country from the Highway on the east of Mona, coming around by
+the hill and the pond, in front of the Mansion, to River Road. He had
+arrived at the Corners in time to see a milkman pick up a gentleman on
+the road and drive with him into the town. Joe wanted to get back to
+New York early and begin work, for he had been absent a week. He was to
+catch the seven o'clock train, so he had abundance of time, as he could
+tell by the sun.
+
+He started down the hill slowly, but took the woods along the north side
+of the Highway; he was fond of the woods and he knew the way--he had
+travelled it on previous visits. Just after he entered among the trees
+he heard a shot, followed by a groan--on the road, he thought--a little
+way above him. He trembled and stood still, then his courage manifested
+itself, and he crept cautiously to the roadside, which was hidden
+below by a few feet of embankment. What he saw paralyzed him! A man was
+lying in the road, and a little lower down on this side, not a hundred
+feet from himself, stood another in full view, with a smoking revolver
+in his hand. Instantly the negro understood. A murder--and _he_ was a
+_witness_! He did nothing--waited. To have shouted would have been to
+invite death. But he kept his eyes open.
+
+"I'se the only witness. I must look at him good," he thought. The man's
+back was partly turned, but Joe took in all that he could at that
+distance, and saw him retreat after a moment into the woods. Then he
+grew frightened. The assassin was not far from him, but, fortunately,
+going deeper into the woods, and down toward the stony glade below.
+
+Did the negro run? No. He gathered a couple of good-sized stones and
+followed. He thought the man on the road was dead; and he saw the other
+one going down into the gully to cross the small stream at the bottom.
+"Good!" he thought; "I'll follow him. If he sees me now, and comes after
+me, I can run a long way before he can climb that hill."
+
+The assassin was picking his way--carefully--until he came to the rocky
+bottom. He wanted to cross the stream where a large flat rock gave an
+invitation for stepping. He had followed the stony formation carefully,
+avoiding the earth; he did not wish to leave marks to be traced.
+
+Now, at this moment the negro became conscious of a new danger; he was
+near the scene of the crime alone, and if found, he would be suspected
+of having done it. So he looked about for a moment, and then decided to
+run back to Lorona and his people. He was growing scared. Who could
+blame him? He saw the murderer stoop down right below him, deep in the
+gully; and the negro, obeying a sudden impulse, swung one arm and hurled
+a stone straight at him. It struck the fugitive on the shoulder, turning
+him half around; and he broke into a run, full tilt, for the brook and
+the stepping-stone. Joe had not seen the murderer's face, but he told us
+that the man's chest was protected only by an undershirt. It was a
+chilly morning, and the fact had impressed him afterward as curious. He
+watched, and saw the assassin take the brook like a frightened stag,
+landing first on the rock in the centre, then on the other side. As he
+stepped on the rock in the middle of the stream, the boy saw something
+fall from his waist--something red. It fell into the water.
+
+"I'd like to know what that is," he thought; "but I'd better _skip_."
+Then horror took possession of him; he crossed the road quickly and
+dashed into the Mark property. Then he ran to River Road and the bridge,
+up the incline on the other side of the pond, and into the fields
+beyond. On he went until Mona was passed; then he sat down in a little
+patch of wood and thought.
+
+He was sure nobody had seen him except a farmer in the distance, too far
+away to know he was a negro. He was innocent, and perhaps he had better
+wait and see the police. Had he done so then and there, all would have
+been solved sooner than it was; but, poor boy, he had no one to advise
+him and he was alone with a terrible secret. He had done well; he could
+identify the murderer perhaps; his was a great responsibility.
+
+He stayed around, and from afar witnessed the crowds of the morning. In
+the afternoon he sneaked into town, hungry and worn and terribly cold.
+When he saw the people gathering in the court-room, curiosity conquered.
+He listened with all his soul, and made up his mind to go in and tell
+what he knew.
+
+He saw Oakes come forward to give his testimony, and his heart beat fast
+and furious. He felt ill--the cold sweat poured from him as he heard;
+but he remained, entranced. He was going to tell all, for surely that
+tall fellow--Clark, they were calling him,--was the great detective
+Oakes; he had shined his shoes many times at the stand on Broadway
+before he went up-town. How peculiar that they didn't seem to know him!
+Then intelligence came, and he said to himself: "These people don't know
+him because he does not want them to." Joe did not understand all that
+had been said, but he knew things were uncanny and that this man Oakes
+was playing a game.
+
+Suddenly had come the statement of Oakes about the arms, and the tension
+became too great. He cried out and ran, like the fleet-footed boy that
+he was, for Lorona.
+
+There he told nothing, except that he had missed the train. His friends
+gave him food--the murder story was yet vague in the little village--and
+then he dashed on for New York. He shook the dust from his clothes and,
+catching a train miles down the line, arrived safely in town. He was far
+away from Mona at last, but he must see Mr. Elliott, his good friend,
+and tell him all that he could.
+
+As the negro finished his story he looked around, and partially
+recovered from the state of ecstasy into which the recitation had
+thrown him. His eyes were rolling and shifting, his dark skin had that
+peculiar ashen color that comes to the negro under stress of great
+excitement.
+
+Dr. Moore arose and walked to the boy, and, placing his hands on his
+wrist, said reassuringly: "Good boy, Joe! you are a brave fellow."
+
+Oakes handed him a drink of brandy--he needed it--and then we all joined
+in praising him. He soon recovered himself, and then Oakes took up his
+position beside him again.
+
+"Now, Joe, what did the murderer drop when he jumped over the stream
+from the rock?"
+
+"I dunno, Master Oakes--but it was a banana, I think."
+
+"What!" said Hallen; "a banana?"
+
+The negro looked worried.
+
+"Yes, it did look like one of dose red, white, spotted cloths wat de
+niggers down South wear on their heads."
+
+We all laughed.
+
+"Oh, a bandana handkerchief, Joe."
+
+And Joe laughed also, in relief.
+
+"And now," continued Oakes, "what did it do? Did it float away?"
+
+The boy thought a moment, then his quick brain came to his aid.
+
+"No, no, Master Oakes; it splashed, sure enough it did. It went down--so
+help me Gawd!"
+
+"Good!" said Oakes. "It contained something heavy, then. Now, Joe," he
+continued, slowly and clearly, "tell me, when you heard the evidence
+that the murderer was the man with a mark on his arm, why did you say,
+'Oh, Gawd!' and run away?"
+
+We all felt uneasy--the question was so unexpected, to some of us at
+least.
+
+The negro hesitated, stammered, and lurched forward in his chair. Great
+beads of perspiration stood out on his brow and on the back of his
+hands. Oakes was behind him, and in a caressing way slid his left arm
+across the boy's chest. We divined instantly that that arm was ready to
+shoot up around the boy's neck for a strangle hold.
+
+Joe tried to speak, but could not. I saw Hallen prepare for a spring,
+and Martin edge toward the door. Dr. Moore's breathing came deep and
+fast, and I began to feel like shouting aloud. What did it mean?
+
+"Come! Speak, boy, speak!" said Oakes.
+
+No answer.
+
+Then Oakes stooped forward and said loudly enough for us all to hear,
+but right in the negro's ear: "Boy, you ran because _you_ have a scar on
+your left arm!"
+
+We were on our feet in an instant.
+
+"The murderer," we cried.
+
+The negro made a frantic effort to rise, but the arm closed on his neck
+and Oakes's right hand came down on his right wrist.
+
+Joe's left hand went to the arm at his neck, but he was powerless.
+
+In a voice as firm as a rock, clear and emotionless, Oakes cried out:
+"Don't move, boy! Don't try to run."
+
+And then he said to us: "This boy is _not_ the murderer; he is only a
+scared, unfortunate negro, and I will prove it."
+
+The meaning of the words came to the boy gradually, and he became limp
+in the chair. Oakes relaxed his hold.
+
+"Now, boy, if you try to run, we will bore you," and Chief Hallen drew
+his revolver and put it before him on the table.
+
+"Now, Joe, show us your arm!" commanded Oakes.
+
+The negro arose staggering, and took off his outer garment and his
+shirt. There, on his left arm, was a large irregular birthmark, blue and
+vicious-looking.
+
+Oakes looked at it. "Gentlemen, this boy is a victim of circumstances.
+This is no cross, but the coincidence of a mark on the left arm has
+scared him nearly to death. That, in my opinion, is why he was afraid,
+and why he acted so peculiarly."
+
+This was said deliberately, and with emphasis.
+
+The negro fell on his knees. "Oh, Gawd! Oh, Mr. Oakes! Dat is it. Dat is
+it. I never done any murder. No! no! _no!_" and he burst into racking
+sobs. The strain was terrible. Dowd opened a window.
+
+Hallen spoke. "How are you to prove his innocence, Mr. Oakes, as you
+said?"
+
+There was a slight element of doubt in the question.
+
+"Get up, boy," said Oakes; "get up." And turning to us, the cool man
+looked long at us all, then said: "The evidence showed conclusively that
+the weapon used was a heavy one, of 45-calibre probably--a revolver in
+all likelihood, and fired from a distance of about one hundred and fifty
+feet. That means a good shot. Now, this boy is right-handed, as you have
+noticed, but he could not use his right hand to shoot with, for the
+first two fingers have been amputated near the ends. Plenty of loss to
+preclude good pistol shooting!
+
+"To have used such a weapon with the left hand, and with such accuracy,
+is out of the question save for a fancy shot. If this boy could shoot
+like that, he would not be boot-blacking for a living.
+
+"Again, he has not noticeably strong arms, nor a wrist powerful enough
+to handle a heavy weapon properly. The boy is innocent--in my opinion."
+
+"Oakes, you are a demon," said Hallen.
+
+"Oh, no, I hope not; only I hate to see mistakes made too often. Poor
+devil!"
+
+And Oakes patted the boy on the back.
+
+With a pathetic, dog-like expression, sobbing with joy, the befriended
+negro seized the man's right hand and, kneeling, showered kisses upon
+it.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XVII_
+
+  _Checkmated_
+
+
+The negro was led away. He was in better spirits now, and smiling as
+only a negro can. That extraordinary genius--the mystic Oakes--had, by a
+process of reasoning that Joe himself was able to follow, not only
+cleared him of suspicion, but made a _hero_ of him. The innate vanity of
+the race was reacting on the boy, and coming to the rescue of his
+nervous system, recently so severely strained.
+
+When he had gone, Oakes turned to us and, interrupting our exclamations,
+remarked:
+
+"Now that we are all here together, it would be wise perhaps briefly to
+review what clues we have obtained and their probable significance."
+
+We all assented to this suggestion, and by tacit consent Quintus Oakes
+began:
+
+"First, we have found that the _cartridge picked up_ in the cellar, and
+evidently dropped by the man in the robe, _is of the same pattern as
+the old ones in the pouch upstairs_.
+
+"They all belong to the old revolver which was taken away from its
+place--and for which another was substituted since my first visit here.
+With regard to its calibre (the important point), _that old revolver
+meets the requirements of our deductions about the weapon used to murder
+Mr. Mark_. Therefore we have a chain of evidence connecting my assailant
+in the cellar--the man in the robe--with the assassin.
+
+"We know also that the revolver was fired not far from the
+hundred-and-fifty-foot distance; _the man was an excellent shot_, for
+you must consider the old style of weapon.
+
+"He must have been _large_, or at least _strong in the wrist_, for a
+good shot with such a weapon cannot be made by a weak person."
+
+I interrupted: "The murder of Smith was considered to be due to a pistol
+ball of large calibre. Could the same weapon have been used?"
+
+"It could," said Oakes. "That one has been in the family for years. The
+style of the cartridges is somewhat similar to our modern ones, but
+they are very old, as we know by their appearance.
+
+"Further," he continued, "in my opinion the 'woman story' connected with
+the Smith murder is based on a _man_ in a black _robe_. It may have been
+the same man who is at the bottom of these later mysteries--though we
+are to remember that when Mr. Mark was killed Joe saw no _robe_.
+
+"In the annals of crime we find very few women doing murder in that way;
+it is a man's method.
+
+"We must look then for a _strong-wristed_ man--a man who has also strong
+arms, and a _cross_ on the _left_ one; finally, a man with a knowledge
+of revolvers, and who has in his possession--or has had--a large,
+old-fashioned weapon and cartridges, and also a robe.
+
+"And one thing more strikes me," added Oakes in a slow, deliberate
+voice, "he is a man _with a mania_--_an insane man_--always, or at
+intervals."
+
+"Yes," said the doctor. "I had concluded so too, Oakes. The wearing of a
+robe--especially in a confined place like the wall space--the cutting
+out of a panel and the peculiar method of attack seem nonsensical and
+without proper reason. And the absence of provocation for those
+assaults, and for the murder of good men like Smith and Mark, point
+strongly to an unbalanced mind."
+
+"Probably correct," Oakes replied. "And I should say that the _insanity
+is present at intervals only_."
+
+"Mr. Oakes," said Chief Hallen then, "don't you think it advisable to
+investigate that story of the bandana handkerchief as soon as possible?
+Affairs in town may become pressing at any time, and we may be needed
+there."
+
+"Yes, Chief, certainly. We should lose no time about it," said Oakes.
+Then he spoke to Martin; and the latter retired and presently returned
+with Joe.
+
+The detective asked the boy if he would go and point out the stone from
+which the murderer was leaping when the handkerchief fell into the
+water. "You know it is nearly full moon and several of my men will go
+with you, and so will Mr. Martin."
+
+The negro assented reluctantly, though bravely, for he was not devoid of
+superstition. Oakes called in four of his men and said:
+
+"Go with Mr. Martin and Joe. Take lanterns, and find the handkerchief
+which is at the bottom of the stream if the boy is telling the truth,
+and the murderer has not recovered it. He did not notice it drop, did
+he, Joe?"
+
+"No, Master Oakes; he just flew along and never looked round. He did not
+know where it dropped." The negro was using good English, and standing
+erect with a very important expression. He was innocent, and the central
+figure now. He realized that dignity was becoming. An educated boy of
+his race can show great self-control under such circumstances.
+Vanity--thou Goddess of Transformation!
+
+While the searching party was gone, we spent the time discussing Mike's
+peculiarities--most of all his horseback ride in the moonlight, a
+curious departure for a hired man.
+
+"This whole thing is unusual in the extreme, Stone. Since the night that
+you were escorted to the pond by Chief Hallen's men and there warned of
+impending danger, and your unknown friend was chased by the man lying in
+wait for you, I have had a net around Mike and Maloney and Cook, but
+with negative results," said Oakes.
+
+"You see, Maloney and Cook go about their business in a quiet fashion,
+while Mike cannot be approached very well; the men report him as very
+shrewd and suspicious."
+
+"Did you find out where Mike went on his horseback trip?"
+
+"No, that is another curious thing. The Lorona man who brought him the
+horse says he has done it for a few days and received good pay. The
+horse was always returned promptly, once or twice by a boy; the other
+times by Mike himself."
+
+"To have done that, Mike must have walked back from Lorona," said
+Hallen.
+
+"No, he may have ridden part way. We found a man this evening who saw
+him take a team on the Lorona Highway and ride into Mona after dark."
+
+"Where is Mike now?" I inquired.
+
+"Since the episode of that horseback ride, witnessed by Dr. Moore and
+yourself, he has disappeared."
+
+"Disappeared!"
+
+"Yes, eluded all our men and never returned the horse."
+
+"Skipped! Got away!" we cried in amazement.
+
+"Yes, but he won't stay away long; he will come back."
+
+We did not quite understand Oakes's speech, but there evidently was
+something behind it.
+
+At this point, with his characteristic swiftness of movement, he lighted
+a cigar and began to smoke, offering the box to us all.
+
+That meant that, as far as he was concerned, talking on business had
+ceased for a time. He was now recreating.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Elliott and I walked to a window and looked out upon the front walk and
+the road, conversing upon the manner in which Joe had been brought to
+Mona.
+
+He had resisted the idea at first, but through the efforts of Martin and
+Elliott, and the promise of a reward, he had finally consented to the
+journey. They had explained to him that his refusal would defeat the
+ends of justice, and that escape was impossible; and when he realized
+that he had been unconsciously talking to watchers, and polishing their
+shoes in his innocence, he saw the folly of further remonstrance. Thus
+was the important evidence of the negro secured.
+
+The strain of events was telling on us all. Quintus Oakes showed his
+deep concern by a tendency to leave us and remain alone.
+
+As Elliott and I were talking, he looked at the rolling hills beyond the
+pond and exclaimed:
+
+"Look! Can I be mistaken, Mr. Stone? Look in the direction of Mona--away
+off on the plateau--is not that a horse?"
+
+I followed his pointing and discovered in the moonlight the figure of a
+horse advancing rapidly over the blue-green fields, along the path that
+led to the bridge.
+
+Oakes advanced to the window and gazed intently, shading his eyes with
+his hands. On the crest of the hill that dipped to the pond the horse
+soon stood out clearly against the dark blue of the sky. We could see a
+figure which had lain low on his neck rise and sit straight in the
+saddle, then flash a light.
+
+From near the road, on our side of the pond, came an answering light; a
+man stood there and exchanged signals with the horseman.
+
+The rider was moving his arms rapidly, and with them the light. The
+other was answering in a similar manner.
+
+Oakes remained quiet, and we all gathered at the window about him.
+
+"What is it?" I asked.
+
+He turned and said to me: "Here, write as I read."
+
+I took an envelope and pencil from my pocket and wrote as Oakes
+deciphered the signals.
+
+"A message from Mona," he cried. "Quick!"
+
+Then he read the letters as they appeared:
+
+"Discovered. Skinner has extra out. Pronounces me false; says Hallen has
+tricked the town. Beware of Skinner. Tell Hallen to look out. Am off for
+New York."
+
+Then came a long wave over the head, and the horseman dashed back toward
+Lorona.
+
+We detected another horseman at a little distance, who joined him; they
+rapidly disappeared together.
+
+"Excellent!" exclaimed Oakes. "He has done his duty well."
+
+We saw the man on this side run post haste for the Mansion. As he rushed
+up the steps, Oakes met him. "All right, boy! I saw the signals myself."
+Then to us he said: "Quintus Oakes the false is discovered. That was he;
+he came to warn us."
+
+"Then Skinner has caught on, confound him," said Dowd, and we all
+silently assented.
+
+Oakes paced the room slowly. "Boys, we have been unexpectedly checked.
+The enemy has a strong hand: there is trouble ahead."
+
+"Yes, there is that," retorted the vigorous Hallen. "I must get away to
+headquarters, gentlemen!"
+
+"Correct!" answered Oakes; "and we will go with you, Chief. If trouble
+is coming, we will be useless here."
+
+With one accord we prepared to depart for Mona immediately. The carriage
+was brought to the door and saddle-horses also.
+
+Then we waited anxiously for the return of Martin's party. We were not
+long delayed. A commotion in the hall was heard, and in stepped Joe and
+Martin, followed by the men. Oakes's assistant advanced and laid a red
+handkerchief, dotted with white spots, upon the table. It was wet and
+heavy, and knotted by its four corners so as to form a pouch.
+
+"We found it, sir, in about two feet of water, partly covered with sand.
+Its weight was gradually sinking it into the bottom."
+
+Joe laughed hysterically and lapsed into negro dialect: "See, Mars
+Oakes! see, boss! I dun tole you the truth."
+
+Oakes seized the handkerchief, and we all looked inside. It contained a
+few large cartridges.
+
+"They match the one I found in the cellar, and those of the old
+revolver," said Oakes. "The man of the Mansion mysteries and assaults
+_is_ the murderer of Mr. Mark."
+
+We were intensely excited as we stood there viewing the evidence that
+was so conclusive. Not one of us made a remark, but the deep breathing
+of some and the pale faces of others showed the interest that was felt
+by one and all.
+
+Oakes discovered on one end of the handkerchief the initial "S," and we
+all studied its appearance closely. Then Oakes asked Hallen if such
+handkerchiefs were unusual in Mona.
+
+"No, not at all; there are hundreds of them sold here, especially to the
+laborers on the water-works--the Italians and Poles," answered the
+Chief.
+
+"It is a very peculiar 'S,'" said Oakes, as he folded the handkerchief
+and put it in his pocket, giving the cartridges to Martin. He said
+nothing more, but seemed serious and thoughtful, as usual. And then we
+set out all together on a wild drive to police headquarters.
+
+Despite the lateness of the hour, the crowds were increasing. The
+square, with the hotel on one side and headquarters on the other, was
+the centre of a vicious body of men, pushing, struggling and forcing its
+way along, and pausing now and again to surge around headquarters. We
+could all see that Hallen was to have his hands full.
+
+"I should like to see Skinner very much," remarked Oakes in a sarcastic
+vein.
+
+"I should like to see his arms," said Moore; "they might be
+interesting."
+
+Oakes looked at the speaker with one of his undefinable expressions. We
+could not tell whether the shot had been a true one or not.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XVIII_
+
+  _Misadventures_
+
+
+Toward morning the crowd thinned. The street grew more quiet, although
+the very air still throbbed with action, even as the heart-strokes
+within us. Quickly as events had come, we were yet only in the midst of
+our experiences.
+
+The clock in the Chief's room was striking three, and drowsiness was
+stealing over me, as over the outside world, when a knock came at the
+front door and Hallen admitted a man, weary-eyed and panting. I
+recognized him as one of the men who had been masquerading about the
+Mansion as a carpenter. He was dressed in a heavy jersey without a coat,
+and was evidently suffering from fatigue.
+
+He walked over to Oakes and spoke to him in a low voice. The detective
+asked a question or two, and turning looked at Dr. Moore, asleep in a
+chair, fagged out, then at me. I was wide awake, anticipating more
+trouble. "Stone," said he, "are you good for a ride with me on
+horseback? We have found something important."
+
+"Yes," I answered, "I am ready."
+
+Speaking a word to Hallen and Martin, Oakes drew me aside. "Leave your
+overcoat. Come, we are needed."
+
+We passed out into the night and down a side street, led by the man who
+had summoned us. In a few minutes we reached a stable and found horses,
+and I knew that it had been so arranged. We were mounted and off without
+notice from any but an hostler and the proprietor, who had told me that
+my horse was strong and capable.
+
+We pounded to the east, along the Highway, toward Lorona, for a mile or
+so, then swerved into a narrow road winding across the plateau to the
+south and west. I knew we were making for the River Road below the
+Mansion. I had heard of this lane, which swept in a long curve around
+the southern end of Mona, connecting the Highway with River Road about
+two miles south of the Mansion gate.
+
+As we galloped along, Oakes communicated to me the cause of our trip.
+
+"Two of my men have located a hut deep in the forest at the south end of
+the Mansion grounds. There is something going on there. They think they
+have the murderer. One of the men came for me; the other is watching."
+
+I felt the blood surge to my brain, and the hardships of the night were
+forgotten in the intensity of my anticipations. At last, and I was to be
+at the finish!
+
+Instinctively I felt for my revolver. It was safe, and the assurance
+that it was with me gave relief.
+
+Fortunately, I was a fair horseman and my mount was one of those animals
+that respond to the rider's every command. My two companions were also
+well mounted, and the long ride was soon over. Arriving at River Road,
+we dismounted and left the horses in charge of the man who had
+accompanied us. Another man now came from the darkness--another of
+Oakes's retinue. He was to lead us to the hut.
+
+Then we three entered the fringe of the woods, and cautiously followed
+our guide deep into the denser section. The moon was hidden occasionally
+by fleeting clouds, and as we advanced farther and farther, its rays
+ceased to reach us. All was gloom, deep and almost impenetrable.
+
+Our guide whispered: "He is in the hut, sir, waiting for someone. Follow
+me."
+
+Then he advanced a few paces, and led us through a more open section of
+the forest. Soon he stopped.
+
+"Stay here until you see a light flash ahead; that is his signal. He has
+been here an hour, but his friend is slow in coming."
+
+"Perhaps he knows it is too dangerous," said Oakes.
+
+Our guide went from us to a short distance, to keep separate watch.
+
+The giant trees around were more scattered than elsewhere in the forest
+through which we had passed. Occasionally the sheen of the moonlight was
+visible far above us as the branches swayed in the breeze. Here below,
+the air was quiet and the gloom deep. Our eyes, accustomed to it now,
+could detect the silent army of tree-trunks around us for a considerable
+distance.
+
+The air was chilly, but excitement kept us from feeling the need of our
+great-coats. Beneath our feet the ground was soft but dry, and the
+leaves were scattered about in profusion; for this was the fall of the
+year and the woods had begun to strip at the touch of the frost king.
+
+Quintus Oakes stood by my side behind a tree. We were both gazing
+intently in the direction that had been indicated to us. Nothing was
+visible for a few moments, when suddenly Oakes pressed my shoulder with
+his hand and said in a low, quiet voice: "See--off there, that flash!"
+
+I had noticed nothing, but as I drew breath to answer, I beheld the
+diverging rays of a light--probably a lantern--play up and down a
+tree-trunk at least a hundred feet away. It moved quickly, and then
+jumped to another trunk; in its transit it threw a long, narrow yellow
+streak on the ground between. Then it would be lost suddenly to our
+view. I thought the trees intervened in our line of vision at such
+times, but Oakes explained: "He is waiting and signalling with a dark
+lantern; see how the light is shut off at will. He is surely within a
+hut of some kind; I can see the outlines occasionally."
+
+"What can he be up to?" I whispered. "He is at least a mile from the
+Mansion, and nearly as much from the road."
+
+"That light is a guide," said Oakes. "His confederate cannot find the
+hut without it; the forest is too dense."
+
+We waited in silence, stealing very carefully nearer to the hut, and our
+patience was finally rewarded. We saw the door, which was sidewise to
+us, open with a quick movement and a man enter. Then all was dark within
+and without, save in one little spot where, through the back wall of the
+hut, a few rays found exit in long, narrow streaks of yellow light,
+scarcely visible to us.
+
+"He has turned his bull's eye away from the window and the door, and has
+not shut it. They are using the light for some purpose," said the
+detective, touching my arm and motioning me to follow him.
+
+With utmost caution we advanced until we were near enough to hear
+voices. At first they came to us as a low, indistinct muttering, but as
+we neared the hut we determined that they were raised in argument. At
+our distance, however, we were unable to recognize either.
+
+"Keep away from the front," said Oakes, "lest the door be opened and we
+be discovered."
+
+We stationed ourselves in the shadow near the window, which was low in
+the side of this curious log-cabin--for such we saw it to be. It was
+boarded inside evidently, for the light was kept from without too well.
+
+Through the window we beheld two dim forms bending over a board table.
+One was handling something like paper, in the diverging streak of
+illumination from the bull's eye opening of the lantern, which was on
+the table, facing the back wall of the hut, just as Oakes had said.
+
+The figure could not be distinguished either as to face or form, for the
+light was very indistinct save in the immediate path of the rays. As we
+moved ever so little from our chosen positions, our vision of the table
+and the streak of light upon it was cut off, owing to the small size of
+the window. I knew by the movement of Oakes's arm that he had secured
+his weapon, and I closed my hand about mine, holding it--muzzle down--by
+my side, ready for instant use.
+
+The voices within, became louder, and I distinguished the words: "You
+_must_, man, you MUST get away."
+
+It was answered by a half-mumbled protest, and then we saw one figure
+arise and stoop over the light on the table.
+
+"Here, take this, and go!"
+
+Oakes touched me. "The murderer preparing to get away," he said.
+
+We could see a pair of hands counting what appeared to be money; then
+they extended their contents to the other hands that awaited them. The
+figure who had given the money arose, and with his back to us made as if
+to leave. Suddenly, without an instant's warning, we saw the form of the
+other come partially into view, and an arm steal slowly upward. As the
+first figure moved away, it closed about his neck and a death struggle
+began, revealed to us by the blurred swaying of the two and a deep,
+despairing gasp from the man being strangled.
+
+"Murder!" said Oakes, and we moved toward the door of the hut with one
+thought in mind--the helping of a fellow being meeting his death at the
+hands of what we believed to be the assassin of Mona.
+
+I was excited; it was unquestionably the most trying moment of my life,
+and I met it as we had not foreseen. Advancing two steps hurriedly, my
+feet caught in one another somehow, and with a wild war-whoop of
+distress I fell forward on my face, carrying Oakes with me in a
+crashing, headlong mix-up that must have been heard for a hundred yards
+in that still morning air.
+
+It was all over!
+
+The two in the hut heard us, the strangler released his hold and the
+light was extinguished instantly. Out of the door the figures flew like
+demons. They were both anxious to escape detection--that was evident.
+They must have thought it was the charge of the Light Brigade.
+
+Oakes and I were up and after them. He shouted a word of command, then I
+heard more footsteps, and our guide answered. Instantly came the sounds
+of a struggle, fierce but short, in the darkness beyond. We could see
+nothing, but we heard a heavy fall, and then the rush of an escaping
+man, or men. Oakes and I were quick to reach the spot, and managed to
+find our forest guide groaning on the ground.
+
+At Oakes's suggestion we carried him back to the hut, which I
+ascertained was now quite empty. It was a grewsome experience, this.
+Oakes refused to allow a match to be struck, saying: "Don't draw their
+fire, Stone; we may be in a nest of them." My chagrin was deep as I
+thought of the opportunity that my clumsiness had brought to naught. We
+soon succeeded in reviving our man; he had been felled by a fist blow on
+the face, evidently.
+
+"Did you see the other fellow?" asked my companion.
+
+"Yes, sir, I saw one; he was Skinner. I caught his face in the lantern
+light just as they doused it."
+
+"Indeed!" cried Oakes. "Skinner! You mean the man who runs the
+newspaper--the one I have ordered shadowed."
+
+"Yes, sir; the same. It was he who was counting the money."
+
+"Yes, that agrees. Go on. Who was the other?"
+
+"I did not see him at all, Mr. Oakes, but I ran into him, or rather he
+into me. I have a piece of his shirt here, sir."
+
+The man handed something to Oakes, and together we peered at it in the
+dim morning light. We soon determined that it was a good-sized piece of
+the neck of a shirt.
+
+Then, watching carefully the woods around, I stood on guard, while Oakes
+examined the inside of the hut. It was an old hunter's cabin evidently,
+and had not been recently used. The table was made of rough boards, and
+was supported by two stumps. It might have served as a place to lie upon
+also.
+
+Oakes uttered an exclamation, as the guide handed him a piece of paper
+money that was on the floor. Nothing else was found. The lantern had
+gone with the men.
+
+"One man was giving money to the other to get him away, and nearly lost
+his life in defense of the rest in his possession. This is a piece of a
+bill torn off in the struggle," said Oakes.
+
+"Do you recognize this shirt pattern?" asked he.
+
+"Yes, sir," said our guide; "it is like what O'Brien wears."
+
+"Exactly!" said Oakes. "And you"--he addressed the man--"come with us to
+the road. Can you walk that far?"
+
+"Yes, indeed. I am all right now, but I was finished for a few minutes."
+
+"You were knocked out well," remarked Oakes; "lucky you were not
+killed."
+
+We returned to River Road by the way we had come, arriving there as dawn
+was breaking and the sun beginning to throw his rays across the plateau
+before us. We found our horses and the man who had escorted us from
+Mona.
+
+Oakes spoke to him: "Here, Bob, let Paul ride on your horse; he has had
+a smash. You walk. Both of you go to the Mansion and tell the others to
+find O'Brien, if possible. Paul will explain. Make no arrests, but don't
+let your man get away."
+
+We vaulted into our saddles and galloped ahead. As we were returning to
+headquarters by way of the Corners I felt like a culprit; I was devoured
+by chagrin, and thoroughly ashamed of my awkwardness.
+
+Oakes's face was grave--much more so than usual--but he rode his horse
+with alertness and confidence, and I wondered at the endurance he
+displayed--also at his consideration; for in this hour, when keen
+disappointment must have been his, he did not mention my mishap, which
+had so changed events. He acted as though it were beneath him to notice
+it, and that made me all the more mortified; but at the same time I
+vowed to redeem myself in his eyes.
+
+Dashing toward the Mansion gate, we both pulled up our horses as Oakes
+uttered a sudden exclamation. He rested one hand on the pommel of his
+saddle and pointed with the other at a man inside the Mansion gate. His
+back was toward us, and he had been raking the walk apparently.
+
+"Look--notice!" and the voice of my companion grew sharp and
+significant; "look!"
+
+The man was now reaching upward with one hand, the rake held within its
+grasp, and with a graceful, well-calculated swing he was deftly denuding
+a branch overhead of its dying leaves.
+
+"Well, I see," I answered; "it's Maloney cleaning up."
+
+"Exactly!" came the staccato answer; "but how about the strength of the
+wrist that can handle such a heavy rake with such certainty?"
+
+"Oh, yes, he's strong," I cried. "He's got plenty of muscle,
+apparently."
+
+"He has a strong wrist and a strong arm, and not such an awfully large
+chest," answered Oakes calmly, as though speaking of the weather or of
+something of no importance. Fool that I was, it was only then that his
+meaning suddenly went home to my slow-acting brain. I saw a light in
+Oakes's eyes that I had never seen before--cool, steely, calculating.
+
+"No," I whispered; "_impossible_!--but you are searching for just such a
+person."
+
+"Yes, of course," was the laconic answer; "but let's talk with the
+gentleman of the rake."
+
+Oakes led the way to within a few feet of the gate, then rising in his
+stirrups shouted to Maloney.
+
+The latter turned, and with a look of recognition came quickly toward
+us. "Good morning, sir;--good morning, Mr. Clark. I was going to
+headquarters for you soon, sir; they told me you had gone there with
+Chief Hallen----"
+
+"Yes! Why did you wish to go there, Maloney?"
+
+"Because, sir, there is something wrong--something about the mystery
+here. You know, sir, you left word to report if anything unusual
+happened."
+
+Maloney spoke quietly, and without embarrassment. We had noticed before
+that he was fairly well educated--another victim of unfortunate
+circumstances.
+
+"What has occurred?" There was a hard ring in Oakes's voice. It told me
+to be discreet; I had heard that accent before.
+
+"Mr. Clark, I went down to Lorona last night to see my brother, who is
+sick. When I returned it was late. I was on horseback, and I noticed a
+man on the road lighting a lantern. I spoke to him; he would not answer,
+but started into the timber at the far south end of the grounds."
+
+"Well, what was peculiar?"
+
+"It was Skinner, sir."
+
+"Skinner!"
+
+"Yes, sir; I saw his face by the light. I thought it strange, tied my
+horse and followed him. He went a long way into the woods to a hut, and
+waited a couple of hours with the light. Then another man came, and they
+had a quarrel. There was a terrible noise, and then the light went out
+and they disappeared. I went back to my horse and have just got here."
+
+"Who was with Skinner?"
+
+"I don't know, sir. I was facing the door of the hut, but it was too
+dark to see. They worked with a dark lantern."
+
+We had quietly walked our horses up to the gate while listening to
+Maloney. Oakes's eyes were upon the ground.
+
+Suddenly he looked up. "Thank you very much, Maloney. You have done well
+in reporting to me. I will see Chief Hallen; this is a matter, perhaps,
+for the police, certainly not for me, to work on."
+
+Wheeling our horses, we darted to the Corners and on toward Mona.
+
+Quintus Oakes was very quiet; he seemed annoyed--or nonplussed--and the
+pace that he set was terrific. As we neared the town we slowed up, and I
+asked excitedly of the taciturn man by my side: "Tell me, what's up?"
+
+He turned slightly in his saddle. "Maloney was there; he acknowledged
+it. So far he told the truth; but he _lied_ about returning on
+horseback. There were no hoof-marks going toward the stable--none
+entered the Mansion gate. And he lied also about his brother in Lorona,
+for there is no such relative of his there; Maloney has no brothers or
+sisters hereabouts."
+
+I now remembered Oakes's careful scrutiny of the ground while we were
+talking with Maloney, and I also realized how close was the net he had
+spread about everyone at the Mansion.
+
+"If Maloney was at the hut, how did he get back ahead of us?" I asked.
+
+"Ran, of course--took the inside way through the woods; he knows the
+paths well. He may not only have been _near_ the hut, Stone, he may have
+been _in_ it. If so, he tried to kill Skinner, for the old man had
+money."
+
+Then Oakes continued: "Perhaps it was Maloney who was about to get away,
+if he could. But he can't," the detective added with a sardonic laugh,
+as he closed his jaws firmly.
+
+"But," I exclaimed, "suppose it was Maloney, what of O'Brien? He was
+there; we have his shirt--in part at least."
+
+"Oh, bother O'Brien! he makes me tired," cried Oakes enigmatically; "he
+will get himself into trouble some day."
+
+"Yes, yes," I contended; "but he too has strong arms and a strong wrist
+and could have used the revolver."
+
+"Surely! So could many men. These clues are merely the primary ones.
+Many men answer their requirements. They are worth very little by
+themselves. They simply point to a certain type of man. They are simply
+_links_, as yet unforged into the chain."
+
+"But one thing more, Oakes," I cried, "why should Maloney volunteer the
+information that he was at the place if he had no good excuse for being
+there?"
+
+"That's it exactly. Perhaps he mistrusts he was seen and wants to get in
+his story first. Perhaps he cannot hold his tongue; perhaps his mind is
+weak. We are looking for a mind somewhat unusual, Stone, remember that."
+
+We were now at the Square in front of the little hotel and, dismounting,
+we proceeded to enter the door of the inn. As we did so, I took my
+companion by the arm and drew him aside.
+
+"Say, Oakes," I said, "don't tell Dr. Moore how I involved matters by
+that stumble. I would never hear the end of it."
+
+Oakes looked surprised, then his eyes beamed in merriment. He smiled
+ever so slightly.
+
+"That certainly was a beautiful charge you made over me," said he.
+
+He did not promise not to tell, however; but months afterwards, Dr.
+Moore learned all about it from me, and I then found that Quintus had
+remained silent.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XIX_
+
+  _A Faulty Story_
+
+
+After breakfast, while Oakes gave the doctor a brief résumé of our
+night's adventure, the two rival newspapers came out with "extras" on
+the recent doings. Skinner's comments were sarcastic and bitter, and,
+while not actually inciting to lawlessness, played upon the roused
+feelings of the towns-people by scathing allusions to Hallen's
+inefficiency, and by reiterating the story of the false Quintus Oakes.
+
+Our friend Dowd, on the other hand, came forward with a moderate,
+well-worded article that swayed the minds of the more thoughtful. The
+reading of his words won us more friends. Who does not like to hear two
+sides of an argument, or to read cool words of wisdom from one whose
+career entitles him to respect?
+
+We had learned at breakfast that Hallen had taken hold with a grip of
+iron during the night. Many arrests had followed his activity, and the
+quietude of the forenoon was largely due to his efforts of the night
+before.
+
+As we stood outside the hotel remarking upon the changed appearance of
+the streets, our attention was attracted to a small crowd approaching
+the Square from the direction of the Corners. There were men running
+ahead and shouting; then a close, compact body swaying around a central
+attraction. We thought we detected a man being helped along as though he
+were severely injured, and we clearly distinguished the words "Shot at!"
+"The murderer!" and many expressions of anger and terror.
+
+Oakes looked into the mass of men and scanned the pale face of the
+injured one. "It's Maloney," he said, seizing the doctor and myself by
+the arm. He pushed his way forward as the crowd recognized and opened
+for Mr. Clark.
+
+"Well, Maloney, what is it?" asked Oakes.
+
+"I was shot at, sir," he exclaimed, "shot at, in the very spot where Mr.
+Mark was killed; and then, sir, someone hit me a blow on the head, and I
+fell."
+
+I saw Oakes run his hand over Maloney's scalp.
+
+"I was dazed, sir, when these men found me," finished the gardener.
+
+"Yes," said two laborers, "we found him on the ground just waking up,
+and acting queer-like. And here's the revolver; it was lying behind the
+rock, sir."
+
+"How did it happen?" asked Oakes.
+
+"I heard a shot near me," Maloney answered, "a heavy revolver shot. I
+turned, and was then hit with something like a sand-bag, I guess, for
+everything got dim."
+
+Hallen walked him into the headquarters building, to avoid the rapidly
+increasing crowd.
+
+"Shut the doors," he ordered. The command was quickly obeyed, and we who
+had worked together were all within the building now, away from the
+crowd.
+
+"Who was it?" asked Hallen of Maloney.
+
+The man hesitated a while, but upon being pressed for an answer finally
+replied: "I have not dared to mention my suspicions, sir, but the fellow
+looked like Mike O'Brien. At any rate, he was wounded; he was walking
+with a limp, sir, and I saw blood on his trousers leg. He must have
+been in a scrap or an accident."
+
+"When I was coming to," he continued, "I saw him hiding a revolver
+behind a rock. I pointed out the place to the men when they came a few
+moments after, and they found it."
+
+"Why did you not cry out for help?" asked Oakes suddenly, even
+viciously, I thought.
+
+Maloney answered quickly: "Because he thought I was dead, and I let him
+think so. If I had made any noise, sir, he would have finished me. I did
+not move until I knew help was near."
+
+"Good!" said Oakes; "you had presence of mind. Let us see the revolver;
+the men left it here, did they not?"
+
+Hallen stepped forward with the weapon.
+
+Oakes examined it; but his look informed us that it was not the _old_
+one taken from the wall in the Mansion.
+
+Further questioning failed to reveal anything of importance, but it
+seemed clear from what Maloney said that the assaulter escaped on
+horseback after he was seen by his intended victim, for Maloney
+insisted that he had heard a galloping horse afterwards.
+
+"He was wounded, you said?" queried the detective.
+
+"Yes, sir, quite badly, I thought."
+
+Moore examined Maloney's injury and took careful note of his condition;
+then the gardener was told to go, and he was soon joined outside by the
+two laborers--his new found friends. Together they went for the hotel
+bar across the street. As they disappeared, Oakes exchanged glances with
+the doctor, and I knew that something was wrong. There came a long
+silence, which Hallen finally broke.
+
+"This is a queer story, Oakes; I don't understand it. Is it the murderer
+at work again--and O'Brien accused? You say the Mansion mysteries are
+the work of the same hand that shot Mr. Mark, and possibly Mr. Smith.
+But those mysteries are old, and O'Brien is a recent arrival here and
+knows very little of the Mansion. I cannot see his guilt. How do you
+explain it, Oakes?"
+
+The keen man addressed faced the Chief, and we all knew the words that
+were coming were valuable.
+
+"Chief, I have just told you of Mr. Stone's adventures with me this
+morning--of my proof that Maloney lied to us. Well, he has lied again."
+
+"Yes," chimed in Dr. Moore, "the man's a fake. He was not seriously
+injured, if at all."
+
+"I saw through Maloney's story instantly," continued Oakes. "He said he
+was assaulted by O'Brien, who was, according to his own story, a badly
+wounded man. He said O'Brien hid the revolver afterwards, while he,
+Maloney, was shamming death, and that O'Brien sought to escape. It is
+nonsense."
+
+"Why? I fail to see!" I asked excitedly.
+
+Oakes turned to me: "Why, Stone, don't you see the flaws? Would a
+seriously injured man attempt deliberate murder? What show would he have
+to escape? Then, again, if able to get away himself, would he hide the
+revolver near the scene of the crime, behind a rock? No, he would take
+it with him as a defensive weapon, or else hide it where it never could
+be found; in the Hudson, for instance, or the brook--both near at hand."
+
+"True enough," cried Hallen, his face showing his admiration; "but
+what's your idea, then, Oakes?"
+
+"Just this, gentlemen. Maloney _himself_ shot O'Brien, and seeing the
+latter escape knew that his game was up, for he had been identified by
+O'Brien. So he hid the revolver that he himself used, and then pretended
+to have been sand-bagged and shot at. He relied on the weight of his
+word against O'Brien's, not knowing anything of the evidence collected
+against him or that we were anything but agents and workmen about the
+Mansion?"
+
+The Chief looked long and half sceptically at Oakes, then asked: "Does
+Maloney meet your requirements? Does he fill the bill?"
+
+"Well, he has a strong wrist and long arms," answered Oakes--"that
+places him among the _possibles_; he also has a comparatively narrow
+chest, such as the man had who wore the robe--you remember we reasoned
+that out. Those three things cover much ground. Then, again, he is an
+old resident, knows all about the Mansion, was here when Smith was
+murdered."
+
+Elliott now spoke up: "Oakes, you said the murderer was a good shot. Is
+Maloney a good shot with a revolver?"
+
+"Yes, he was; he used to belong to the National Guard years ago. He was
+a splendid shot then, according to evidence procured by my men."
+
+"But the revolver to-day was not the old one?" queried the Chief.
+
+"No," answered Oakes; "but he can easily have two."
+
+"I had better arrest him now as a suspicious person," exclaimed Hallen
+excitedly.
+
+"Not yet. Let us be _sure_ first--remember Skinner has a motive for
+crossing us; he has tried to defeat the aims of justice right through.
+He was dealing money this morning to someone; suppose it was to
+Maloney--what is his reason?"
+
+Hallen thumped the table furiously as though a new thought had come to
+him. "Skinner answers the physical requirements also, Mr. Oakes--he was
+also a guardsman--a good shot."
+
+"Yes," answered Oakes, "but scarcely strong enough to overpower me at
+the Mansion."
+
+"Unless he was acting while in mania, as we presume this criminal acts,"
+said Moore.
+
+I sat spellbound as these men discussed the intricacies of the affair,
+realizing the truth of their reasonings and marvelling at the clues,
+conceptions and brilliant memories revealed, especially by the masterly
+Oakes.
+
+"Too bad you cannot find Skinner, and see what he is up to," I remarked.
+
+"We must let Hallen keep watch on him until we are ready for our final
+move. It would be easy to arrest him on suspicion, but that might defeat
+our object, and, again, I do not believe in making arrests until my case
+is clear," said Oakes.
+
+"Do you not think Skinner might be the murderer?" I asked.
+
+"Not as I see things now. It seems more probable that he is interested
+in someone whom he wants to get out of harm's way. His motive throughout
+this affair has been to hide the guilty, I think."
+
+"And what do you make of that man O'Brien?" queried Dowd; "he seems to
+be a mysterious fellow."
+
+Oakes and Hallen exchanged knowing glances. "He's another possibility;
+he's a little Tartar," said the detective.
+
+"But won't Maloney get away now?" asked Elliott.
+
+"Nit," was the answer from Hallen. "Those two 'laborers' with him are my
+'specials.'"
+
+I was getting entirely tied up now, but, desiring to appear erudite and
+worthy of such company, I blurted forth: "Who is Mike O'Brien, anyway?"
+
+Oakes looked at us all coolly and exasperatingly. "He seems to be a
+little extra thrown in. I'll tell you all about it when you tell me if
+the 'S' on the handkerchief has anything to do with Mr. Skinner."
+
+An exclamation of surprise went up. We had all forgotten _that_. But
+before we could resume, a message arrived for Oakes. It was brought by
+one of the men whom we knew so well by sight around the Mansion. He told
+of the finding of a burned tree, hidden in the forest, near the scene of
+the murder of Mr. Mark. Those who were searching had discovered that the
+tree was recently struck by lightning and that within its burned
+interior was ash.
+
+The man had brought some with him, and also a small, crumpled piece of
+newspaper. Oakes looked carefully at them as we glanced over his
+shoulder.
+
+"At last!" cried he. "Here is wood ash--wet, as was that on the robe;
+and here is paper like that of the 'Daily News,' which we found in the
+robe; is it not?"
+
+"Yes," cried Moore. "It is indeed--can it be?"
+
+"Yes," came the answer from Oakes; "my orders to search for the origin
+of the ash have been crowned with success. The robe was in that tree."
+
+"But," I cried, "of what value is that?"
+
+"Just this--the robe was not worn at the time of the murder. Remember,
+Joe did not see it--it had been hidden, probably. The murderer used it
+to go and to come in, but for some unknown reason discarded it at the
+shooting."
+
+"Excuse me," said the messenger, "excuse me, Mr. Oakes--but that's about
+right. The tree was beyond the stone where he crossed and lost the
+handkerchief. He was running for the robe, sir; the murderer was after
+his disguise."
+
+Oakes looked at his subordinate calmly and smiled ever so slightly. The
+man bowed and retreated, abashed at his own impetuosity.
+
+Hallen turned to our friend Oakes and said: "I never in my life saw
+anything like this--like you."
+
+Oakes, always ready to side-step praise in any form, answered, with one
+of his chilling glances: "Oh, bother! You're young yet, Hallen; you need
+age."
+
+Hallen half resentfully yanked his cap on his head and strode to the
+door.
+
+"Well," he remarked, "here's where I take a look at Maloney's arms--I am
+dead tired of theorizing."
+
+"Stop!" commanded Oakes; "you'll spoil it all."
+
+"I won't spoil the cross on the arm--the cross of indigo--if it's there;
+and if it ain't there, it ain't. Hang it all, anyway." And forthwith
+Hallen strode out the door, down the steps toward the hotel bar-room,
+with Oakes and the rest of us following in a vain endeavor to head him
+off.
+
+When we reached the bar-room, Hallen was already in the side room. We
+rushed toward the little room door, expecting to see Maloney in the
+grasp of Hallen; but instead, we beheld the Chief gazing in stupefaction
+at his two men dead drunk, heads between their hands on the little round
+table.
+
+"------------,----!" cried the Chief in a voice that shook the
+glasses on the shelves in the bar-room and brought the white-coated
+attendant with one bound to the door. "Hell--en--Maloney's escaped."
+
+"Escaped!" cried the bar-keeper. "Escaped!--nit. Why, he paid for the
+drinks and walked out half an hour ago--said he had a job at the
+Mansion. These fellows--gosh!" cried the man as he shook them--"drunk!
+What's up--what does it mean, Chief?"
+
+Then Quintus Oakes spoke in tones of dulcet and ineffable sweetness,
+cooingly, charmingly. "It means that Chief Hallen pays for a round of
+the best you've got. In order to see a cross on a man's arm it becomes
+necessary first to catch the man--something like the bird's tail and the
+salt proposition."
+
+"Mix 'em up quick!" shouted Hallen, advancing to the bar. "Hell--en--be
+damned! Get the two samples of Mona's police out into the air!
+Hell--en----!"
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XX_
+
+  _A Man's Confession_
+
+
+The assault upon Maloney was now the talk of the town. Hallen, who had
+enjoyed a respite from censure, was again furiously blamed for inability
+and incompetence. None but our select few discerned that Maloney was
+lying, for none knew as much of the intricacies of the case as did we.
+All were crying out for the instant arrest of the one who had attempted
+to kill him, but none but the few who had heard Maloney's statement
+within headquarters knew that it was O'Brien he had accused--and only
+those few knew that his story was probably false.
+
+Although the order had gone forth quietly, as we knew, to "find Mike
+O'Brien," still it was not known to any save Hallen's and Oakes's men.
+
+The masses were in ignorance of the strides we had made twards
+the solution of the horrible happenings at Mona, and, of course, Hallen
+was getting more than he deserved in the way of criticism.
+
+Oakes told us that he momentarily expected some new developments in the
+case, as Hallen was endeavoring to find Skinner and bring him to the
+Mansion. His surmises proved true, for it was found an easy matter to
+locate the old man; and early in the evening Hallen arrived at the
+Mansion and joined us in the apartments upstairs, and with him were
+Martin and Skinner.
+
+Dowd, the rival of the old man, was with us, having begged earnestly of
+Oakes to be allowed to follow as close to the action as possible, and
+having stuck by us like a veritable leech since the morning. Dowd was a
+nice fellow, and a newspaper man from start to finish, and he seemed to
+have developed a great liking for Oakes.
+
+We were all upstairs when Martin ushered in the tall, rather slender,
+but powerful old man, Skinner. None of us, save Hallen, had seen him at
+close range before; but I saw a curious expression, half of defiance,
+half of dismay, in his face, that made me watch him most closely. Dr.
+Moore was scanning his features carefully in a way that showed he had
+detected something, but Quintus Oakes, rising from his seat and
+advancing politely to meet the old gentleman, seemed neither to have
+seen anything nor to know anything. He was just the polished gentleman
+we all knew so well; but I noticed that, as he shook hands with Mr.
+Skinner, he cast a quick glance at the man's arm and the wrist, and then
+at the old man's eyes.
+
+Moore whispered: "He has excluded Skinner as the criminal. Look! see him
+take it all in."
+
+Oakes was leading Skinner to a seat, and as he walked, he spoke freely.
+He had discovered that which Dr. Moore had also seen, but which I had
+failed to detect.
+
+"Mr. Skinner, allow me," said he, gracefully. "It's not well lighted
+here; I imagine that little white scar on your right eye--on your
+cornea, just in front of the pupil--interferes somewhat with your
+vision."
+
+"Yes, Mr. Clark, it does interfere just a trifle."
+
+"Just enough to spoil duck-shooting, eh! I understand you used to be
+quite fond of that sort of thing, Mr. Skinner."
+
+Moore and Hallen exchanged glances; and the knowledge was general to
+us--the old man was _not_ the murderer, for the assassin could shoot
+well, and the old scar on the eye prevented that in Skinner's case.
+
+"But to what do I owe the honor of a request to call at the Mansion,
+escorted by such a nice young man, to see Mr. Clark, the agent?" queried
+Skinner.
+
+The old fellow was shrewd--he looked at Hallen and smiled
+half-heartedly. Then he looked at me, and remarked that we had met
+before somewhere, and extending his hand to Moore, he said he guessed he
+was glad to know us all better. Then turning quietly to Chief Hallen, he
+laughed, and gave us a shock from which we were unable to rally for a
+few moments.
+
+"Well, Chief, they're keeping you busy. They tell me you don't like it
+because I exposed that fellow who palmed himself off as Mr. Quintus
+Oakes--that man Rogers, you know."
+
+"No, I did not like it particularly--it interfered with my plans; I am
+trying to catch the murderer of Mr. Mark, you know."
+
+"Suppose you are! you haven't got him yet. You can search me, Chief. I
+think Mr. Quintus Oakes here is entitled to all the credit so
+far--eh--don't you?"
+
+The old fellow turned to Oakes as he spoke the words that showed he was
+not to be fooled into believing Oakes was Clark.
+
+We moved nearer. Skinner knew all, apparently.
+
+Then Oakes arose to meet the occasion, and stood before the old man:
+"Mr. Skinner, I thank you for warning me not to come to Mona--it was
+your letter I received. But why did you warn me? Was it to protect your
+secret?"
+
+Oakes had acted all along as though he had learned some things he had
+not spoken of to us--he and Hallen had seemed to comprehend more than we
+others knew; but I was scarce prepared for such a sudden revelation.
+
+"Stop!" cried the old man, "stop! you have no right--I did warn you to
+keep away from Mona--I knew of the Mansion mysteries--I knew you by
+sight in New York--I recognized you here on your first visit--I did not
+want to see a good man get in trouble."
+
+"Thank you," said Oakes, "thank you. Your kindness was appreciated, but
+you have another motive--you are shielding someone."
+
+"None--no one," came the answer.
+
+"Nonsense!" and Oakes's eyes blazed as he spoke; "you tried to send him
+away this morning. You gave him money at the hut. You were nearly killed
+by the man you are protecting. Can you explain it?"
+
+The old man was shaking violently. He arose, tottered and sat down. Then
+burying his head in his hands, he remained silent for a space of
+seconds. Then shaking his head, he moaned: "No, I can't explain. I had
+given him all. Mr. Oakes, he was not robbing me--he seemed angry--he--I
+could not understand."
+
+"I can," said Oakes. "The man you have befriended these many years, the
+man Maloney who used to work with you in your shop, to whom you gave,
+among many other things, a red bandana handkerchief with your initial
+'S' upon it--one of those handkerchiefs you use about the printing
+office--that man, we think, is a maniac. We surmise that he has the
+killing mania. Did you not suspect it?"
+
+The old man's manner changed to one of terrified inquiry. "Why, I never
+suspected--I--I thought he was peculiar--I mistrusted he was at the
+bottom of the Mansion mysteries--I wanted to send him away to give him a
+show."
+
+Oakes hesitated, then answered evasively, but forcefully: "Maloney is
+probably irresponsible. He is the man of the Mansion--the woman, so
+called, of the Smith murder--the murderer of Mr. Mark--we believe, but
+we are without _proof_ as yet."
+
+The old man's face filled with the blood dammed back from the throbbing
+heart, then paled as the heart-strokes weakened, and the cold sweat of
+collapse appeared in beady drops upon his brow.
+
+Moore was at his side with a drink, and we all placed him on the sofa
+and watched the color return to the yellow-white face, and the
+respirations deepen again.
+
+Oakes bent solicitously above him. "There is something back of all this,
+Skinner. Maloney is more than a friend." Then, as the old man rose, the
+detective, in tones gentle but strong, called Skinner's attention to
+the fact that his conduct in using the influence of his journal against
+Hallen and the discovery of the criminal needed an explanation.
+
+Skinner arose, steadied himself, and turning to Hallen said, in a voice
+scarcely audible: "Chief, I have always been a good citizen till now. I
+wanted Maloney to get away. He would not go. I thought he might be at
+the bottom of the Mansion mysteries, but I had no idea he could be a
+murderer. I did not wish his identity revealed; I tried to discourage
+Mr. Oakes. I tried to save my reputation, Chief--to save a name good as
+the world goes; but this is my punishment. Study my face, Chief--study
+my eyes, my chin. Then imagine a handsome Spanish face--dark-haired,
+dark-skinned. Do you see why Maloney has blue eyes and a square
+chin--with hair black as the Indian's and skin swarthy as night?
+Gentlemen, do you understand? She is dead. Maloney does not know. I
+cared for the lad. He is my son. He always has been eccentric, but
+although perhaps insane, I had no proof. I tried to hide my secret, but
+if Justice demands his capture, Chief, I am at your disposal."
+
+The old man extended his hands, his lips quivering with the words that
+spelled ruin, and advanced to the Chief, as though expecting arrest,
+while we all remained motionless, in pitying silence.
+
+Hallen glanced at him. Then the burly fellow turned suddenly to Martin:
+"Here, you son of a dandy!" said he, as we all smiled and Oakes bit his
+lip in suppressed emotion, "here! you go on down to the stable and tell
+my coachman to drive round to the front door--I am going to have him
+drive home with Mr. Skinner." Then they walked to the door, the old man
+half-leaning on the thick-set, muscular shoulders of Hallen. At the
+threshold the Chief turned quickly: "If any of you ducks say anything,
+you're a lot of dudes," and the two disappeared downstairs to the
+coach.
+
+After Hallen had returned to the room, and as the rumble of the wheels
+died away in the distance, Dowd addressed a question to Oakes. He wanted
+to know how Oakes had secured advance information as to the history of
+Skinner and the handkerchief.
+
+"Well, Dowd, as soon as Skinner began antagonizing our moves, I
+suspected that he was the writer of the letter of warning. Then I
+ordered his history--you know those things are easily obtained. He came
+here years ago it seems, comparatively unknown, and worked his way up,
+employing a young fellow for many years in his office. This young fellow
+went West, but returned later. He was Maloney. He had not the mental
+attainments for his employer's business, but the older man kept in touch
+with the younger, even after he found it necessary to dispense with his
+services. When I saw Skinner, I detected some resemblance between
+them--this seems to have escaped general notice, but Dr. Moore was not
+deceived. A study of the eyes and the ears and the nose confirmed my
+suspicions of the paternity of Maloney; but all that, while interesting,
+was not so valuable as the knowledge that Maloney had several
+handkerchiefs given him by Skinner. You see, Skinner's conduct was so
+suspicious throughout that we have investigated him thoroughly. We found
+he wore such handkerchiefs around his neck in the printing office. We
+found Mrs. Cook was aware that Maloney had some of them--he told her
+that Mr. Skinner gave them to him. He always was proud of Skinner's
+friendship."
+
+"Then you knew all about it this morning, Quintus," I cried, exasperated
+at the man's taciturnity; "you knew when you said you would tell who
+O'Brien was, if I would tell whether the 'S' had anything to do with
+Skinner."
+
+"No, but I mistrusted; the proofs were only more recently secured."
+
+"Then, as you now have the answer regarding the 'S,' it seems only fair
+that you tell us who O'Brien is," I cried.
+
+Oakes became very serious. "I believe O'Brien was the man watching on
+the balcony when Dr. Moore was assaulted; also that he was the man at
+the bridge who warned you, Stone, of danger, but who has kept his
+identity hidden. We had strong proof that he was at the hut watching, as
+were we; he accidentally left a part of his shirt with my man, remember.
+I also believe that he was wounded and is in hiding--wounded by Maloney,
+on the Highway, when he was about to close in upon him."
+
+"What do you mean?" cried Moore. "What curious conduct for a man--to
+keep in hiding!"
+
+"No, not at all," answered Oakes sharply. "Remember how you saw him on
+horseback one night, revolver in hand. Well, he was attending to
+business. _O'Brien is working on the Mansion mysteries._ I believe he
+only knows half of the affair; he does not realize Maloney may be the
+murderer of Mark--his conduct is in accord with that of a brave
+detective working single-handed and desiring to keep his identity
+secret."
+
+"A _detective_!"
+
+"Yes, I fancy so," answered Oakes, with a smile on his face. "Why not?
+We are not the only bees around the honeysuckle."
+
+"By George! I never thought of that," exclaimed Moore.
+
+"Indeed!" retorted Oakes in dulcet tones. "Why should you? You have not
+played this game before--it is new to you."
+
+"And does Hallen know, does he mistrust that O'Brien is a detective?"
+
+Oakes laughed. "Boys, you're slow. Of course he does. He has even found
+out there is a well-known detective by the name of Larkin who is fond of
+the alias O'Brien. This Larkin has a scar under his hair in front. We
+will perhaps be able to identify O'Brien soon."
+
+"What made you first mistrust?" I asked.
+
+"Why, remember how curiously O'Brien acted when we hunted the robe--how
+indifferent he was--how he used dialect!"
+
+"Yes, but why--how?"
+
+"Well," interrupted Oakes, "that dialect was poor--unnatural,
+consequently perhaps assumed. That was the first clue to explain the
+curious actions of Maloney's loving friend, who has stuck to him like
+molasses to a fly's leg."
+
+"Let us go into town and have dinner at the hotel," I cried, disgusted
+at my lack of perspicacity. My invitation was accepted with the usual
+alacrity of hungry men, and we soon were striding along--Hallen, Oakes
+and Moore in front and Dowd, Elliott and myself behind. We walked close
+together, discussing the events and joking at one another in great
+good-natured animal spirits, for things were coming to a head now and
+Broadway was not so far off after all.
+
+As the darkness closed in upon us, relieved only by the faint glimmering
+of the rising moon, we were in a compact body--an excellent target.
+Strong in the presence of each other, we had for a moment forgotten that
+we were in the land where a brain disordered was at liberty. We, the
+criminal hunters, were but human--and this was our error.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XXI_
+
+  _The Attack_
+
+
+We had advanced along River Road to its junction with the Highway, and
+Martin had just closed in from behind as Dr. Moore started to say
+something about the dinner that was coming, when, just as we came into
+the shadows of the great trees to our left, a flame, instantaneous,
+reddish-blue, streaked forth from the side of the road and a deep,
+muffled, crashing sound came to our ears. Everyone recognized it
+instantly--it was not the high crack of a modern weapon such as we
+carried, but the unmistakable guttural of an old-style heavy revolver.
+
+An instant, and the voice of Oakes rang out, cool, but intensely
+earnest, "To cover"--and we covered. Never before had six men melted
+from a close formation so rapidly, so silently, so earnestly.
+
+Dr. Moore, Elliott and I reached the trees on the other side together,
+and lost our identity trying to find a place for our hunted bodies. We
+lay down in a heap behind a burned tree-stump, and said "damn"
+together.
+
+Somewhere around was the fiend of Mona, and somewhere were Oakes, Hallen
+and Dowd, but not with us--we could swear to this, for we were in a
+class by ourselves and we knew one another even in the darkness.
+
+We heard a sudden scuffle in the road, and saw a giant figure rush by
+us, throwing a silhouette on the roadway. It turned, faced about and
+crouched as another figure darted from the woods across the road. Then
+the figure crouching made a spring, and the two swayed to and fro before
+us like great phantoms, and then the figures separated, and one started
+down the Highway followed by the other at breakneck speed. Then we heard
+the voice of Oakes from somewhere:
+
+"Halt! or I'll shoot."
+
+The fugitives stopped, ducked, dashed toward us and by us, into the
+woods, and after them came the report of Oakes's revolver--we knew it by
+the quick, high-pitched note--and then--Oakes himself. It was evident to
+us he had fired in the air, for we all saw the small flame point
+heavenward as his weapon was discharged.
+
+Neither fugitive slackened his speed, but both rushed across the plains
+east by northeast into the face of the moon as it rose off the plateau
+of Mona.
+
+"What is who?" gasped Moore.
+
+"The which?" I answered, as a polar chill chased up my spine.
+
+"Oh, the d----l!" soliloquized Elliott.
+
+"See, the second man limps--he must be O'Brien; he is chasing the first
+one," whispered the doctor as we gazed into the night.
+
+"And Oakes is cavorting after the bunch--I play him straight and place,"
+spoke Elliott; "he is gaining."
+
+We watched Oakes, fleeter than ever, steadier, disappear in the distance
+as the moon entered a passing cloud-bank and all became lonesome and
+dark.
+
+"Let's get on the plain," said Elliott, and we crawled as best we could
+out of the woods toward the place where the three were last seen by us.
+
+"Let's be in at the finish," I cried, and we started in the dim steely
+haze of the obscured moon to follow the chase. Darkness impenetrable
+came on, and suddenly a wild moan of anguish reached us--an awful,
+convulsive cry of terror. It neared us and was in our very
+neighborhood--in our midst--and again away; and with it came the rush of
+feet, heavy and tired, and soon the light tread of the pursuer--the
+athletic, soft tread of Oakes. I shall never forget that cry of terror.
+It was as though the soul had left the body in anguish--it was a cry of
+fear greater than man seemed capable of uttering.
+
+From out of the darkness came the voice of Moore: "A maniac in terror!"
+Then the heavy tread was upon us again, a body darted past me, and the
+heavy revolver spoke again. I felt a stinging sensation in my arm, a
+numbness, a feeling of dread and of fear; then I reeled and recovered,
+and looking around me saw the figure dashing away like mad. The moon was
+uncovering again, and the fighting instinct of the brute was aroused
+within me. I knew I was wounded, but it was a trivial matter. I felt the
+surging of blood to my brain, the pumping of my heart, the warmth and
+glow of the body that comes when one rallies from fear or surprise, and
+the next instant I was off in pursuit.
+
+Always a good runner, I seemed endowed with the speed of the wind;
+slowly I gained. The man before me ran rapidly but heavily; he was
+tired. He glanced around and moved his arms, and I realized that he was
+unarmed. His weapon had fallen. I shut my mouth and saved my breath, and
+loosened joints which had not been oiled since the days of long ago,
+when I played on my college foot-ball team. Slowly I closed in--the
+capture was to be mine--the honor for Stone, yours truly--lawyer. I
+unreefed some more, and the ground went by under me like mad. I was
+dizzy with elation and courage and bull-hearted strength, and then, just
+as I came within talking distance of the fleeing terror, there was a
+report and my right leg dragged, my stride weakened and tied itself into
+bowknots, and I dropped my revolver. I realized I was done for. We all
+know the symptoms--the starboard front pulley of my new Broadway
+suspenders had "busted."
+
+The next instant the "terror" had turned and was upon me. I felt a
+crashing fist in my face and another in my neck, a swinging blow on my
+jaw and a quick upper cut in my solar plexus; and as the moon had just
+again disappeared behind the cloud, I sank to the plain of Mona nearly
+unconscious--overpowered. I felt hands with the power of ten men seize
+my wrists. I felt them being tied together with handkerchiefs; I felt a
+heavy weight on my stomach, and realized that I was being used as a
+sofa. Then I started to call for help, to speak and to struggle; but the
+terror who had murdered and frightened, and held up this part of the
+State, soaked me again with both fists. I thought of home and New York
+and mint juleps, and of the two dollars I spent to railroad it up to
+Mona, and realized that it was cheap for all I was getting. Then I
+started in to die; and the fiend struck a match in my face, and I nearly
+did die. For it was that quiet, aristocratic Elliott. "You're the
+darndest ass I ever saw," said he as he got off; "why didn't you tell
+who you were?"
+
+"Couldn't," I muttered. "I was thinking of----"
+
+I never finished that remark, for the next instant Elliott was borne
+down to the ground by the force of the impact of a great body. He
+rolled about with the unknown, and tore and twisted. I heard the
+deafening blows rain on his head, and was powerless to aid, for my hands
+were tied and I was strangely weak--I was done for.
+
+"You d---- fiend! I've got you. You will murder Stone along with the
+others, will you? You terror, you."
+
+I recognized the voice as I heard the handcuffs click on Elliott, and
+realized it all.
+
+It was too much. "Hallen!" I murmured. "Thank God! Soak him again," and
+I heard the blows descend on Elliott's anatomy. Then I relented.
+
+"Spare him, Chief--it's Mr. Elliott."
+
+Hallen roared in surprise. "Then the murderer has gotten away, with
+Oakes after him. I beg pardon--I--I--ha, ha!" and then the Chief roared
+again as he undid us and called for the others.
+
+Lanterns were now brought from the Mansion, and a crowd of Oakes's men
+collected around us. I noticed that Moore and Hallen were looking at me
+curiously; and then Oakes stepped to my side from somewhere out in the
+darkness.
+
+"You're sick, old fellow!" he said softly.
+
+"Sick!" and then I realized that things were strangely distant, that
+faces seemed far, far away, and that Moore's voice was miles off as he
+rushed to my side.
+
+"Wounded! Look at his arm," he cried.
+
+"Yes," I murmured; "it was that last shot--I forgot it."
+
+I tried to raise the arm and saw that a red-blue stream was running down
+and dripping from my hand upon the ground.
+
+I stepped forward to point to Hallen, and to tell about how he slugged
+Elliott; but as I moved I lurched forward, and a great strong arm closed
+about me and a tender voice whispered--miles--miles away. It was Oakes's
+voice.
+
+"Here, Hallen, give us a hand," and I felt myself lifted tenderly and
+carried across the plateau. I was dimly conscious that Moore was working
+silently, rapidly, at my side, and that the strong, supple arm of Oakes
+was about me, and that Hallen was helping. A great wave of affection
+came over me for these tender, dear fellows--and I talked long and loud
+as Elliott wiped my face; and I told Moore that Elliott was a past
+master at slugging--and all the time the crowd grew. I heard the name of
+Mr. Clark shouted, and then my own; and then, as they bore me in at the
+Mansion gate, I passed away off into the distance and went into a deep,
+dark tunnel where all was quiet and still. And then I again heard
+Moore's voice saying: "He has fainted, Oakes. Get him to bed, or he will
+faint again."
+
+There was such gentle tenderness in the faces around me, such gentle,
+strong words, and such gentle, strong lifting of my body, that I sighed
+at the deliciousness of it all--the splendor, the beauty of my
+journey--and all for two dollars' railroad fare.
+
+I heard some curious statements about great bravery in dashing after the
+unknown, and all that sort of thing--and I knew enough to realize that
+the crowd had things twisted. Oakes was speaking to me like a big
+brother, and Hallen had somehow quit all his bluster, and was quiet and
+grave, and Moore and Elliott seemed foolishly attentive. I appreciated
+their kindness, but did not quite understand, and their attentions
+amused me. I should have laughed outright, but things were becoming
+confused.
+
+Then I realized that they were worried. How peculiar it seemed! The
+angel of friendship was about me. I felt a strange peacefulness as I
+entered the great Mansion. It seemed like a palace with golden walls,
+and the familiar voices of welcome warmed me.
+
+Then I heard a deep, thumping, rhythmic tremor as it was borne through
+the air, and I knew that the boat on the river was passing the Mansion.
+I laughed long and loud at the peculiar words it was saying. I talked to
+it, commanded it to breathe more quietly, or it would disturb those
+asleep on the shore. Then I tried to explain to the judge that I was not
+a brave man--that it was all a mistake; that I had chased Elliott
+instead of the murderer; that the jury had failed to understand--and I
+laughed again.
+
+My merriment grew as I caught sight of Oakes's face; it was so
+nonsensical of him not to have perceived that the steamer was at the
+bottom of the whole mystery. I tried to explain, then I shouted at
+their stupidity, and finally laughed angrily and in despair. I was in
+the grip of delirium.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+During the night they searched for the bullet, and found it--and some
+time next day I awoke in my right mind.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XXII_
+
+  "_The Insane Root_"
+
+
+During the next few days Elliott called frequently and apologetically.
+Although he had suffered considerably at the hands of Hallen, he
+appreciated how much attention he had given me on the plains of Mona
+where was my Waterloo, and he kept me informed of the doings of our
+party in the search for the murderer. But it was several days before he
+brought me the information that both O'Brien and Maloney had been
+found--O'Brien in a farm-house, nursing his leg; Maloney walking about
+town, cool and collected, apparently with nothing to conceal. I was told
+that he was not yet under arrest, but had been coaxed back to the
+Mansion to give evidence against O'Brien, as he was led to believe.
+
+"But why doesn't he suspect? He must realize that suspicion is against
+him."
+
+"Well, Dr. Moore told me recently that the criminal, if insane as we
+surmise, may be oblivious during his lucid intervals of what he has
+been through during his periods of aberration."
+
+"I see," I answered, remembering that such had been often recorded; "and
+as his attacks of mania may be unwitnessed, he escapes detection because
+he carries but little ordinary evidence of these during the interval of
+quiescence."
+
+Before my companion could frame an answer there was a sudden commotion
+below--a hurrying of feet, and the quiet, commanding voice of Oakes
+heard now and then above all. We knew the time had at last arrived for
+the closing scene; we both felt that the hour had come when the final
+settlement was to take place.
+
+Next moment Oakes appeared. I had not seen him for many hours. He was
+changed, haggard, worn. His handsome face showed worry and loss of
+sleep, but his carriage and voice were as usual--vigorous, independent.
+
+Grasping my hand firmly and turning a pleased glance of recognition at
+Elliott, he said, "Come, Stone, you're strong enough"; and next moment
+he had thrown a coat over my shoulders and was helping me down the
+stairs to the dining-room. He seemed to me to have grown more serious,
+more quiet than was his wont; but his actions were, as ever, strong,
+quick, easy of execution, and I knew that it was the steadying of the
+mind and body for the final strain. Oakes's reputation was at stake, and
+he was fully cognizant that an error of judgment, a flaw in his
+reasonings, a mishap in the execution of his well-formulated plans,
+might readily result disastrously, not only to his reputation but to the
+cause of justice.
+
+Then I stepped across the threshold of the dining-room, and beheld a
+scene that will always linger in my mind. At the head of the table sat
+Hallen, and to his right was Dr. Moore, whose dress contrasted strangely
+with the Chief's blue uniform and brass buttons. Across the table from
+Moore was Dowd, and here and there about the room were some of Oakes's
+men, and some of Hallen's as well, lounging, looking out of the windows
+carelessly, but comprehensively.
+
+As we entered, a deep guttural of welcome greeted me; and Oakes seated
+me by Moore's side, and Elliott went over and sat with Dowd. Then the
+detective took the chair at the foot of the table, near which was an
+empty one.
+
+It was evident at a glance that Oakes was to be the chief actor, while
+to Hallen had been given the chief position.
+
+There was a moment's silence, then Hallen turned to Dr. Moore: "Are you
+positive," he said, "that Maloney is insane? I see no evidence."
+
+"I am not positive as yet," was the reply. "Some signs indicate that he
+may be in the so-called interval between outbreaks of mental disease;
+but he is clever, as are almost all the insane, and he covers his
+condition well. Still, we can, and will put him to the test; we will
+soon determine if we are dealing with the 'insane root that takes the
+reason prisoner.'"
+
+"But how can it be? He is not violent. I do not comprehend."
+
+Moore glanced at the Chief. "Let Mr. Oakes explain--I should be too
+technical, I fear; he has an easier flow of words."
+
+Hallen looked surprised. "Well, how is it, Oakes? How can you suspect
+such a man? Nobody ever saw him violent. What reason have you?"
+
+Then Oakes turned. He was somewhat nettled, I thought, at Hallen's
+manner, but his voice did not betray him. His words came clearly, even
+curtly; but as he revealed his comprehensive knowledge of the matter in
+plain, every-day language, Hallen's manner changed wonderfully. Never
+before had he had such an opportunity to see the education of the man
+before him. Now it came as an overwhelming surprise.
+
+"A lunatic does not necessarily rave or carry the ordinary signs of
+rending passion," began Oakes as he turned a quiet face of
+acknowledgment toward Dr. Moore. "The one who hears voices, real to him,
+but really arising in the diseased mechanism of his own brain--ordering
+him to be a martyr, a saviour of his country, or to spend the millions
+he imagines he possesses, is usually melancholy, reserved, cautious,
+ever on the watch, deceptive, but doubtful sometimes as to his own
+brain-workings.
+
+"Likewise, the man who possesses the homicidal mania may be cautious
+and quiet--to the ordinary observer a normal citizen. But the aura of
+insanity is around him; he lives and moves and deceives, and hides from
+the outside world the words that come to him day or night--the words
+that arise not in the voice of a living man, but in his own diseased
+mind. The sufferer says nothing of the voices that tell him he is
+persecuted--that the world's hands are against him. By accident, in a
+moment of unwariness, he may reveal that he hears such voices; but it is
+an even chance that he will be laughed at and the warning fall on ears
+that fail to understand. He is considered a 'crank.'
+
+"Then the unfortunate shrinks more into himself, becomes absolutely
+dominated by the ideas and commands generated in his own false mind. He
+may become violent by degrees, may scare and haunt the places where he
+believes himself abused; and all the while the voices tell him he is
+foolish, being put upon, and finally he becomes controlled by the
+delusion that he is being persecuted. Then perhaps suddenly comes the
+incentive, usually a command of false origin within his own brain, that
+makes the worm turn that reveals to the world that he is a maniac--a
+'killer.' He hears the word 'kill,' and his mind, no longer even
+suspicions of its own disease as it was at first, becomes frenzied. He
+sometimes attacks openly, but usually does so secretively, with the
+cunning of the tiger, and kills and slaughters. Then he returns to his
+dreams--quiet, satisfied, spent."
+
+Oakes paused. "You understand, Hallen," he said, "I am no expert; but
+such cases have come to my notice--it is not easy for me to explain more
+fully."
+
+"Go on," was Hallen's answer; "go on, sir. I am deeply interested--it
+amazes me."
+
+The Chief showed his words were those of genuine interest and surprise.
+
+"The insane man leads a dual life," continued Oakes, "perhaps for a long
+time. Such a man is not yet an inmate of an asylum. His case is
+unrecognized--he is a soul battling with madness until some awful
+tragedy occurs, like that of Mona, to reveal his greatest of all
+misfortunes--the loss of reason."
+
+We were all silent when Oakes finished speaking. Not a man there but
+now recognized and realized more fully what we had been fighting
+against. Then Hallen rose and looked at Oakes, then at all of us.
+
+"Boys," he said, "according to custom, being Chief of Police of Mona, I
+am to make the arrest. That I will do, but let me tell you right here it
+is Mr. Oakes who will point out the culprit. I have been unable to get a
+clue, and I am damned if I'll take credit from a man like that." As he
+spoke he thumped the table with his hamlike fist. Hallen was not a
+clever man. He was about the average, perhaps a little above; but he was
+as honest as the day was long--a staunch, vigorous man--and we all
+admired him.
+
+"Sit down," commanded Oakes harshly. "Don't give us any more such
+nonsense," and the Chief sat down, while we all half smiled at the
+discomfiture of both.
+
+"Now, gentlemen," said Oakes, "let us keep our wits about us. First let
+me identify O'Brien, if possible, and let us study Maloney afterward.
+Remember, if O'Brien is not Larkin the detective, my case is _not_
+ready; if he _is_ the man we suspect, then we must turn to Maloney
+regardless of any presence of insanity now, as he maybe in the quiescent
+period, so called, and may succeed in baffling us. Having once excluded
+O'Brien from suspicion, we will be justified in action against Maloney.
+We must prove his knowledge of the heavy revolver, if possible. Then if
+we succeed in forging that link to our chain, we will move quickly; upon
+his arm should be the cross seen by the dying Mr. Mark."
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XXIII_
+
+  _The Test_
+
+
+As Oakes ceased speaking there came a silence. Although we were many
+there, there was not a motion for a space of seconds--not a sound save
+the deep breathing of Hallen and of some of the others upon whom the
+duty of the hour was to fall. Men trained for such scenes--always alive
+to the possibilities, always alert for trickery or treachery--are yet
+but human, and subject to the tension that is felt even by the most
+courageous.
+
+Then, in obedience to a signal from Oakes, Martin appeared, escorting
+O'Brien, who was limping, into the room, and to the chair facing Oakes.
+
+It soon became evident to us that Oakes's real identity was unknown to
+O'Brien. Even if the latter were the detective Larkin, he had failed to
+realize that Mr. Clark was anything but the agent for the property.
+
+"You are wounded, my man! They tell me it happened in the Highway the
+other day, and that afterwards, at night, you chased Maloney on the
+plains of Mona, after he had fired upon us. Tell us about it, O'Brien."
+
+Oakes's voice was calm and strong, but in it I fancied I detected a note
+of pity.
+
+O'Brien hesitated, stammered. "How did you know when I was shot?" he
+exclaimed. "I told no one." Oakes smiled slightly. "Out with your story,
+O'Brien. Did you chase Maloney for revenge, or for revenge and
+business?"
+
+O'Brien straightened in the chair. "Who is this man Clark? How peculiar
+these questions are!" his look plainly said.
+
+"Why, for revenge, of course," he answered.
+
+"Let's see your wound," commanded Oakes.
+
+O'Brien bared his leg: the injury was now nearly healed; but was still
+enough to make the man limp. Then, as he bent down to readjust his
+trousers Oakes, accidentally as it were, brushed against his forehead,
+throwing back the hair from O'Brien's brow.
+
+We all saw a long, white, glistening scar, now exposed to full view at
+the line of the heavy hair. The man before us _was_ Larkin the
+detective.
+
+Oakes with marvelous tranquillity apologized for the "accident," and
+said: "Why should Maloney have shot you? what is behind it all? Speak."
+
+"I do not know." It was evident to us all that O'Brien was avoiding the
+issue.
+
+"I see," exclaimed Oakes. "As O'Brien you know nothing; as Mr. Larkin
+the detective you know more than it suits you to tell."
+
+O'Brien was on his feet in an instant. "Who dares insinuate--who dares
+say I am a detective, sir?"
+
+"Nonsense! Keep cool. The Chief here has satisfied himself. Tell us--why
+should Maloney hate you?"
+
+O'Brien glanced around and fixed his gaze on Hallen. "I am Larkin. He
+hates me because I have been watching him. Maloney is the man
+responsible for the Mansion mysteries, I think," he said.
+
+"Indeed! What else?" queried Hallen suddenly.
+
+"I believe he may be the murderer of Mr. Mark."
+
+"What proofs have you?" asked Oakes, as we all leaned forward intently.
+
+"No proof as yet."
+
+"Exactly! But, Mr. Larkin, you deserve much credit," said Oakes, as he
+led O'Brien to a chair by Hallen's side. "Sit here," he continued. "I am
+going to have Maloney brought in now. He has always been a good
+gardener--a decent sort of fellow. I must hear his story before I give
+him up to the Chief. It has been suggested that Maloney may be mentally
+unbalanced; you will excuse me, Mr. Larkin, if I use you as a foil to
+draw him out while Dr. Moore assists me."
+
+Then, by way of explanation, Oakes, whose identity was still unknown to
+Larkin, went on:
+
+"You see, Chief Hallen wishes to be sure of some little points, and so
+do I. Perhaps Maloney will not resent my questioning; he should have no
+feelings against the agent of this property, whereas he might object to
+Hallen as an interlocutor."
+
+Oakes was now a trifle pale, I thought. There were furrows on his
+forehead; his manner was suave and deliberately slow. But little did I
+dream the true depth of the man, the masterly manner in which he was
+about to test the mental balance of Maloney.
+
+To one who was ignorant of the terrible events this story tells of, and
+the dire necessity of discovering once for all who was responsible for
+them, the efforts of these keen, scientific men to entrap a weakened
+brain would have seemed unfair and cruel.
+
+But for those who knew the story and knew of the murderous deeds done in
+Mona by some unfortunate with a cunning, diabolic, although probably
+unbalanced mind, there remained only one alternative--to uncover and
+catch the criminal at all hazards.
+
+Martin left the room, and returned escorting the suspect, who was
+dressed in his working clothes, his coat covering a gray jersey. His
+face was stolid, but not unprepossessing; his bearing, quiet and
+reserved. His blue eyes shifted quickly. Then, as Oakes stood facing
+him, he respectfully saluted "Mr. Clark."
+
+The detective met him cheerily.
+
+"Good-morning, Maloney; I have asked you as a favor to come here and
+identify the man who shot at you the other day; O'Brien has reached the
+end of his rope now."
+
+As Oakes finished his sentence, Maloney's face changed hue, but he faced
+O'Brien, hesitatingly, as though somewhat at a loss. "There's the man!
+Yes, he shot me," he cried.
+
+Then again Oakes began to speak, and we all knew that he was purposely
+deceiving Maloney, playing with him--waiting for the moment when he
+would make the slip; when, if of diseased mind, he would fail to
+differentiate facts from fiction, when the false paths suggested to him
+would hopelessly entangle him.
+
+"The other night, Maloney, someone fired upon us on the road. We have
+well-nigh proved O'Brien is the guilty one. You chased him across the
+plain. We owe our thanks to you, one and all of us. Had _you_ not been
+so close behind him, he would have killed Mr. Stone here."
+
+Oakes motioned toward me as he spoke. I saw it all. He was twisting the
+facts, drawing Maloney into a false idea that he was unsuspected--that
+he was a hero.
+
+"Yes," I cried, seeing the point instantly. "I owe my life to you, old
+man. I thank you."
+
+A sudden flash of remembrance seemed to cross the suspect's face. Then
+his brow darkened. There was some error here--he was no hero. But what
+was it? Somehow things were wrong, but where?
+
+Dim recollection came to him, then a calmness curious to witness; but
+his eyes were shifting quickly, and the fingers of one hand were moving
+silently over one another, as though rolling a crumb of bread. The man
+was suspicious of something, but clever enough to be apparently calm,
+although not yet able to understand the flaw in the presentation of
+facts.
+
+Then with a supreme effort he seemed to rally to the occasion, and
+cleverly evaded the issue. "I only did a little thing," he said, "you
+need not thank me."
+
+The voice was uncertain; the tone pathetic, groping. Oakes had befuddled
+the poor intellect. Maloney was at sea and sinking.
+
+"Maloney," said Oakes again--there was gentleness in the detective's
+voice; he knew the man before him was going down--"Maloney, when we
+were fired upon you were watching the would-be murderer--this man
+O'Brien. You acted with the promptitude of lightning--O'Brien dropped
+the weapon he had with him. Did you see where it fell? It was a great
+army revolver, a 45-calibre weapon."
+
+Maloney started and straightened up; there, at least, was a familiar
+subject. He remembered _that_, even though his mind failed to remember
+the details of the assault.
+
+But Maloney knew there was some mistake; it was his weapon, not
+O'Brien's, that they were talking about. Suddenly, like a flash, came
+full remembrance--momentarily, only--and he unguardedly blurted out:
+"There is only one in the county like it"; then cunningly ceased
+speaking as though he feared his tongue, but could not exactly reason
+why.
+
+There was a scarcely audible sigh of anxiety around the room--Oakes had
+_proved_ Maloney's knowledge of the old revolver. Dr. Moore was gazing
+intently at the gardener's neck. The carotid arteries were pumping full
+and strong, down deep beneath the tissues, moving the ridges of his neck
+in rhythmic but very rapid undulations--the man was showing great
+excitement.
+
+"Maloney," said Oakes again, quickly returning to the attack, "before we
+were fired upon we fancied we heard a cry over the plain, a curious one
+like someone yelling an oath or an imperious command. Did you hear it?"
+
+"Yes," interpolated Moore. "We thought the words were 'Fire!' or 'Kill!
+kill!'"
+
+We all realized what the clever men were doing--telling imaginary
+things, trying to draw from Maloney an acknowledgment of a delusion.
+They were sounding his mind, playing for its weak spot.
+
+The suspect looked surprised, bewildered, then suddenly fell into the
+trap. His weakened mind had been reached at its point of least
+resistance.
+
+As in nearly all insane individuals, it took but a proper mention of the
+predominant delusion to reveal that which might otherwise have gone
+undetected for a long period.
+
+"Yes," whispered Maloney. "I heard the command. It was 'Kill!' 'Murder!'
+I have heard it before. I am glad you heard it then--that proves that I
+am right. I knew I was right. I can prove it. Surely it is not uncommon.
+Gentlemen, I have heard it before. I know--I believe--it was meant
+for--ha! ha!--O'Brien--ha! ha!--no! no!--for _me_!"
+
+Moore stepped toward the man, whose speech now came thick and fast and
+unintelligible. Hallen closed nearer. Maloney was shaking. His face was
+turning dark, his jugulars were bulging like whip-cords down his neck,
+his eyes sparkling with the unmistakable light of insanity. He stooped.
+"There it is again! 'Kill! kill!'" he cried in thick, mumbling tones,
+and bending low. Then he straightened up suddenly and flung himself
+around, felling Hallen and Martin as though they were wooden men.
+
+He seized a chair and hurled it across the table at Elliott, who dodged
+successfully, allowing it to crash through the opposite window. Quick to
+see this means of escape, Maloney followed through the smashed panes--a
+raving, delirious maniac.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The test, carried out with such consummate skill, had not only proved
+Maloney's knowledge of the revolver and that he was subject to
+delusions, but it had also precipitated an unexpected attack of insane
+excitement--an acute mania.
+
+And now Maloney was gone--escaped.
+
+As Hallen and Martin staggered to their feet, the Chief bellowed forth
+an order in a voice of deepest chagrin and alarm: "Catch him!" he cried.
+"If he escapes, the people will rise in fury."
+
+We all heard a sickening, wild yell of defiance from Maloney as he
+reached the ground--a deep, guttural, maniac cry that struck terror to
+my weakened nerves and which froze our men for an instant in their
+tracks, like marble statues.
+
+Someone broke the awful spell--it was Oakes, crying out: "He is going
+for the pond and the bridge." And next instant he and Hallen were out of
+the front door, the men following in a rushing, compact body.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XXIV_
+
+  _Across the Bridge_
+
+
+As I staggered behind the pursuers I saw the tall, erect figure of
+Quintus glide rapidly across the road and disappear down the decline. In
+the briefest space we were at the crest by the road, looking down upon
+the pond. I saw Moore and O'Brien by my side--the latter swearing like a
+trooper.
+
+"Who is that Mr. Clark, anyway? How did he know who I was? Since
+Hallen's men found me at the farm-house this man Clark--this agent--has
+had a lot to say."
+
+"He is a man by the name of Oakes," I said.
+
+O'Brien, or rather Larkin, looked at me a moment.
+
+"Quintus Oakes?"
+
+"The same."
+
+"The deuce you say! No disgrace to me then. I understand things now. But
+I should have suspected."
+
+The murderer reached the bridge and, hesitating, stooped suddenly at
+its near side. He had evidently picked up something from under one of
+the logs that formed the span. He straightened up and, turning, suddenly
+fired at Oakes, who was rapidly approaching. The deep tones of a heavy
+revolver were unmistakable. Maloney had secured his murderous weapon
+when he stooped; he had had it in hiding under the log. He was armed now
+with a weapon of terrible possibilities. In another instant he was
+across and mounting the green sunlit slope beyond. A hundred feet behind
+was Quintus, untouched by the bullet that had been sent his way. A few
+steps, and he reached the other side, but as he struck the ground, the
+bridge--frail thing that it was--loosened from its centre support and
+went crashing into the pond, leaving Hallen, who was close behind Oakes,
+on this side of the bridge with the rest of us. Oakes was alone,
+pursuing the murderer up the slope of the hill on the other side of the
+water, facing us. We saw him turn, as the bridge fell, and look at us;
+then he made a sweeping gesture toward the north and south, and turned
+again after the murderer, who was just half-way up the slope now; his
+body dotting the surface of the ground with a shadow at his side--a
+shadow of himself--company in the race for freedom.
+
+We all simultaneously interpreted the gestures made by Oakes, and Hallen
+dashed to the north end of the pond to skirt it, while Martin and Moore
+dashed for the southern end, leaving Elliott, Larkin and myself standing
+where we commanded full view of what was coming. We were conscious of
+several other figures dashing by us, and we knew that his men were
+straining every nerve and muscle to reach Oakes in his dangerous
+position.
+
+It was a long run to skirt either end of the pond, and to swing around
+the opposite shore, and thence up the sloping sides to Quintus's aid. We
+three remaining behind were anxious beyond expression. I leaned heavily
+on Elliott, and really prevented him from joining in the chase, where he
+would have been useless; the others were so much fleeter of foot.
+
+"God--that man Oakes is alone with the murderer!" cried Larkin. "He is
+too good a man to lose his life in the fight that is coming. Look!"
+
+We saw Maloney halt and face about. Then came a slight flash, followed
+by the heavy report of the revolver in his hand.
+
+Quintus was running slowly up toward him and was perhaps one hundred
+feet away. At the report he staggered, and dropped upon the green,
+slippery sward.
+
+"He is wounded," cried Elliott.
+
+I felt sick at heart and weak, and sat down, Larkin by my side; we two
+were powerless, being only convalescent.
+
+"An elegant shot! That Maloney is a crack one," cried the detective.
+
+"Yes," said Elliott; "it was determined before that Mark's murderer was
+a good shot."
+
+Then came another report, and we saw that again the murderer had fired.
+Oakes remained quiet. His body showed sprawled on the hill-side.
+
+"Damnation!" cried Elliott. "Is Oakes dead? He does not answer with his
+revolver."
+
+"No," cried Larkin. "I saw him move, and see--he is braced to prevent
+himself slipping down the hill. He knows he is a poor target, and is not
+anxious to move lest he slide into the pond. That grass is frosty and
+very slippery."
+
+Then came the delayed crack of Quintus's weapon, and Maloney sprang into
+the air as he ran. He now went slowly and painfully, lurching forward
+along the crest of the hill.
+
+"Slightly wounded, thank Fate--but Oakes could have killed him had he
+wished," cried Larkin.
+
+We saw Quintus rise and follow Maloney, then drop to his chest again, as
+the latter wheeled and fired three shots rapidly at him in delirious
+excitement.
+
+Oakes remained quiet and huddled, and despite the fact that Maloney was
+now an excellent target, he did not fire.
+
+"Oakes is hit badly," exclaimed Elliott. Then the speaker did an
+unexpected thing. Seizing his revolver, he discharged the weapon again
+and again in the direction of Maloney. "A long shot," he muttered, "but
+I'll keep him guessing."
+
+We could see the bullets hit somewhere near the fugitive, for he seemed
+disconcerted and turned toward the northern end of the pond, to run in
+that direction; he was now outlined on the crest of the hill. We heard
+another shot ring out--a shot sharp, staccato it was; and we then
+emitted a yell, for we knew by it that Oakes was alive. Maloney fired
+again, and again Elliott, by our side, tried two more long shots with
+his revolver.
+
+We heard Oakes's voice, clear and firm it came, wafted across the pond.
+
+"Don't shoot again. He has no more ammunition. I will get him."
+
+And Elliott, in suppressed excitement, exclaimed: "He was drawing
+Maloney's fire all the time. He was not wounded."
+
+"Yes, he knew Maloney had the old six-shooter, and he knows it is empty
+now."
+
+"That Oakes keeps everything in mind," said Larkin. "He is a good one."
+
+Then we saw the figures of the runners skirting the northern end of the
+pond. Hallen was leading. He fired at Maloney, evidently not having
+understood Oakes's word, and again came that clear voice across the
+pond.
+
+"Don't fire, Hallen; remember, he is a lunatic and he can't get away
+now."
+
+We saw Oakes rush to close in on Maloney, but the latter met his attack,
+and the detective was borne to the ground heavily.
+
+"Shoot, Oakes, shoot!" I yelled, as did Hallen; but Quintus responded
+not.
+
+We saw that the fight was furious, but were unable at first to
+distinguish the figures as they remained on the ground. They were locked
+in one another's embrace in a deadly, awe-inspiring struggle. Then
+across one man's neck we saw a forearm--the cuff was shining in the
+sunlight--and Elliott cried out: "That is Oakes."
+
+The two rose to their feet, powerful black objects, and by the outline
+we recognized the tall figure of our friend as they swayed and surged,
+gradually slipping and sliding down the incline, toward the deep waters
+of the pond below.
+
+"Oakes has got him," cried Larkin, "choking him. Look at them!"
+
+We saw the murderer's body arch sideways and backward, with Oakes's
+hands around his neck.
+
+As Maloney's body came down, down to the ground again, Larkin and
+Elliott by my side shouted in admiration at the power and skill
+displayed.
+
+Suddenly like a flash the maniac turned, twisted, and next moment
+encircled Oakes's body with both his arms, and rolled toward the water
+with him.
+
+"He is going to drown Oakes--see!"
+
+The words came in a hurried gasp from Elliott, who was throwing off his
+coat and his shoes in a movement quick as the thought that had come to
+him.
+
+"He's too good a man," he cried, and with a sudden rush Elliott was at
+the water's edge and into the pond--swimming with strong overhanded
+strokes, head low and sideways, toward the opposite shore.
+
+Larkin and I could scarcely believe our eyes. The man was apparently
+gifted with great powers, for he cut through the water steadily, surely,
+with a rapidity that was amazing. Over opposite, the fight was furious,
+always nearing the edge of the pond.
+
+Help for Oakes was no nearer than Hallen, who, we could see, was dashing
+around the northern end of the pond in a desperate race to save him. On
+the other end, moving like the wind, but farther away from the fighting
+men, I distinguished young Martin leading several others in the race for
+life. And down beneath us, quarter way across the pond was the solitary
+swimmer, lifting his shoulders well out of the water each time his
+stroke reached its limit--each moment advancing steadily, surely. I saw
+at a glance that Oakes was doomed--Elliott could not reach him, neither
+could Hallen. Larkin by my side supported me, for my head was reeling
+with weakness. Suddenly he shouted across the pond--"Fight him!--fight
+him! Oakes, strangle him."
+
+I could see now that, somehow, Oakes's arm was around the maniac's neck,
+and that they were on their feet again. Neither had a weapon--they had
+long since been lost in the hand-to-hand fight.
+
+"Oakes can't do it. Why, in the devil's name, did he try to capture him
+alive? Why did he not shoot to kill instead of to wound simply?" cried
+my companion.
+
+Now Maloney was surging, dragging Oakes close to the water's
+edge--closer, ever closer.
+
+Suddenly Oakes weakened and half stepped, half retreated, to the water's
+edge; then as suddenly the two figures swayed up the hill a few feet
+again, and with a quick, cat-like movement Oakes was free. It was his
+one supreme effort, a masterly, wonderfully executed, vigorous shove and
+side-step. It was evident Maloney was dazed. Oakes's strangle-hold had
+told at last.
+
+We heard a mighty shout from Hallen, and another from the swimmer now
+rapidly approaching the bank.
+
+Maloney faced Oakes a moment; his chest heaved once or twice as his
+breath returned; he crouched, then sidled into position for a spring and
+launched himself toward Oakes, who, pale as death, stood swaying, his
+arms by his side, apparently all but done for.
+
+Then we all witnessed that which thrilled us to the heart--the sudden,
+wonderful mastery of science, aided by strength, over sheer brute force.
+Maloney came toward Oakes in a fearful rush that was to take both
+together out into the pond to death.
+
+Instantly Oakes's swaying body tightened and steadied. I knew then, as
+did Larkin, that Oakes had been deceiving Maloney--that the detective
+was still master of himself. As the heavy body closed upon him, Oakes
+stepped suddenly forward. His left arm shot upward with a vicious,
+swinging motion, and as his fist reached the jaw, his body lurched
+forward and sideways, in a terrible muscular effort, carrying fearful
+impetus to the blow.
+
+Then instantly, as Maloney staggered, Oakes swung himself half around,
+and the right arm shot upward and across to the mark, with fearful speed
+and certainty.
+
+The on-rushing maniac was half stopped and twisted in his course. His
+head swung sideways and outward with the last impact upon the jaw; his
+legs failed to lift, and with a wabbling, shuddering tremor the body
+sank to the water's edge. The next instant Hallen came tumbling on to
+the murderer. I heard the click of handcuffs; I saw the white shirt and
+black trousers of Elliott squirm up the bank, and next moment the
+vigorous swimmer, the aristocratic, great-hearted club-man, caught Oakes
+in his arms as the detective lurched forward and fell, momentarily
+overcome by his last supreme effort.
+
+A great, rousing cheer reverberated from bank to bank. We took it up,
+and sent it back in lessened volume, but undiminished spirit.
+
+They now came back from the other side of the pond by the way of the
+north end, the men assisting Oakes carefully up the incline to us, and
+bringing also Maloney.
+
+His eyes were bloodshot--his features squirming in horrible movements;
+and through it all he talked and talked; his brain was working with
+great rapidity; he was shouting, declaiming, laughing, and all the while
+his sentences were without significance, without lucidity.
+
+Oakes pointed to the maniac. "I regret extremely," he said, "that I was
+forced to wound him slightly. I could not let him escape with that
+weapon in his hand."
+
+An approving murmur rose from the men, but Oakes checked them, frowning
+his displeasure. Then he turned to Martin:
+
+"Look at his left arm, boys."
+
+Hallen and Martin ripped off the sleeve, and Dowd, after peering at the
+arm, excitedly exclaimed: "The blue cross! Quintus Oakes, you are
+right."
+
+Yes, surely, there on the left arm, just below the shoulder, was a cross
+done by some skilled tattooer's hand in days long past--a cross of
+indigo.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then in the road a team appeared from the Mansion, and Dowd jumped in
+and waved his hand as he started.
+
+"Where are you going?" cried Hallen.
+
+"To Mona to get out an extra--to tell how Clark, Mr. Clark of the
+Mansion, has captured the murderer, aided by Hallen of Mona."
+
+As the team started, Dowd yelled back again: "And I am going to tell
+Mona that Clark is QUINTUS OAKES."
+
+Hallen waved his arms, while we all again cheered the name of our
+friend, as we bore him in triumph back to the Mansion.
+
+
+
+
+  _CHAPTER XXV_
+
+  _The Man of the Hour_
+
+
+Soon we heard the tones of a bell from far away--one, two, three--then a
+pause, then a few quick strokes, followed by a low, single deep note.
+Hallen answered our looks of astonishment.
+
+"That's the old bell of headquarters. The Mayor promised to ring it, day
+or night, when the mystery was solved, and Dowd has carried the news."
+
+Then again came the deep tones in quicker rhythm, and we knew it was all
+the old bell could do in the way of joy.
+
+We scarce had time to congratulate Oakes on the splendid termination of
+his work before Hallen was away with his men, taking Maloney to town by
+a roundabout way.
+
+Then came the crowd to besiege the Mansion and to call for Oakes, and
+for Hallen; in fact, for us all. The growling and discontent had
+vanished; the past uneasiness was gone. Oakes and Hallen were now the
+heroes of Mona. Oakes spoke a few words of thanks to the crowd and tried
+to dispose of it by saying that Hallen had returned to town with the
+prisoner; but it lingered long before the Mansion, discussing the
+successful termination of Mona's woes.
+
+Now that a master had unravelled the mystery, details were not difficult
+to supply. Many recalled, suddenly, that they had always thought Maloney
+"queer," though they had never considered as significant the points that
+might have been vital. Such is always the case with untrained observers.
+
+We made our farewells that night, for we were to return to New York next
+day; but Quintus kept the hour of our going private, for, as he said to
+us, he had had too much of the kindness of Mona already, and there were
+whispers of an ovation or something of that sort reserved for our
+departure.
+
+"You know, Stone," Oakes said to me, "we really don't deserve all this
+good feeling; these people will never stop. I am going to slip out
+quietly tomorrow, and you and Dr. Moore can come later."
+
+"Nonsense," said I, "stay and let them show their appreciation of what
+you have done. Why, old man, you have changed the course of events in
+Mona--you cannot help being in their minds."
+
+"You don't understand," said he. "I dislike heroics. Mona overestimates
+matters. I am going away unexpectedly."
+
+Here he set his jaws hard and looked determined, self-reliant,
+half-disgusted. I knew that he was in earnest and that his nature was
+calling once more for action and not for praise.
+
+At eleven o'clock next morning Oakes walked over to the police
+headquarters, while Dr. Moore and I remained in the hotel, casually
+watching him. He was going to make a short call on Chief Hallen, as he
+had frequently done before, and it was to be his farewell. He had
+planned to have a horse at the proper moment, and to mount quickly and
+leave for the station alone, thus avoiding notice and any demonstration.
+
+Since we remained at the hotel, he hoped that the people would be misled
+into thinking that he would return to us, and that we would all go
+together.
+
+But for once Quintus Oakes was wrong. Mona was on the lookout for him,
+and he had no sooner gone into headquarters than some one started the
+rumor that the man was going away quietly. In a minute the place was the
+centre of a seething, happy, expectant crowd. When Oakes finally
+appeared at the steps, instead of seeing his horse rounding the corner
+as he had planned, he beheld the crowd in waiting.
+
+He made a step back to enter the headquarters door, but Chief Hallen
+laughingly held him, and Quintus Oakes was cornered.
+
+Moore and I were now with the crowd, and joined in the laugh at his
+expense. A deep flush appeared on his face, but we all noticed a merry
+twinkle in his deep blue eyes, nevertheless.
+
+Somebody cried for a speech. Oakes hesitated and again tried to retreat,
+but at that moment all eyes were turned suddenly to a wagon coming down
+the side street and accompanied by a small crowd.
+
+It turned into the Square and a hush fell over all, for there in the
+vehicle was Maloney--the murderer, and an old gray-haired man--Skinner.
+The murderer of Mr. Mark was handcuffed, and sat heavily guarded; but
+the old man was not a prisoner--his head was bowed in silent grief, as
+he sat by Maloney's side. It was evident to all that the prisoner was
+being removed from headquarters to the court-house for trial, and that
+the father was bearing his burden before the world.
+
+Quintus Oakes gave a glance of pity at the prisoner, and an extremely
+sorrowful expression crossed his strong, handsome face as he recognized
+the old man by Maloney's side.
+
+The populace, recovering from its surprise at sight of the wagon,
+changed its mood, and surrounded it with angry demonstrations, hissing
+and threatening. The face of the prisoner was calm, proud, defiant--the
+face of a man in triumphal entry. He was unconscious of his awful
+position, his awful crimes. He saw only the notoriety.
+
+Dr. Moore turned to me. "See Maloney--see his face; he thinks himself a
+hero--he is too insane to appreciate the truth." But Skinner looked out
+upon the crowd and paled; then glancing up, he caught the eyes of
+Quintus Oakes, and with a harrowing, beseeching expression, bent his
+gray head into his hands.
+
+The populace in fury tried to stop the wagon; but now, at this instant,
+Oakes rose to the occasion, and the _man_ showed the mettle and the
+humanity that was in him.
+
+Rising to his full height, he spoke:
+
+"Stop! This is no time to hiss. Remember, the murderer is irresponsible;
+the other is his father--an _old, old man_!"
+
+As Quintus's voice rang out in its clear, strong notes, with a
+marvelously tender accent, and as the full meaning of his words became
+apparent, a sudden silence seized the crowd--a silence intense, uneasy,
+sympathetic. Quintus Oakes was single-handed, alone, but the master
+mind, the controlling man among us all.
+
+The silence deepened as men glanced about with ill-concealed
+emotion--deep, suppressed.
+
+The wagon moved on, and the stillness was broken only by the crunching
+of the wheels and the occasional sighing, heavy breathing of the
+populace. Over all was the suspense, the quick, awe-inspiring change
+from vicious hatred to pity and grief, blended instantly in the hearts
+of all by that strong, vigorous, quick-minded man of action and of
+justice--OAKES.
+
+Taking advantage of the lull, Quintus stepped into the crowd, and before
+any could foresee his purpose, he threw his coat over the pommel of a
+saddled horse just being led around the corner--his horse--and springing
+lightly, gracefully to the saddle took the reins.
+
+The crowd, divining his intent, closed about him, but with horsemanship
+beautiful to behold he forced the animal to canter to one side, and then
+to rear, making an opening in the crowd. The next moment he darted
+forward--away--as the people, realizing the tenderness of his speech and
+that he was leaving them, perhaps for always, bellowed a reverberating,
+tumultuous _farewell_.
+
+Chief Hallen shouted a hurried command, and the next moment we were all
+electrified to hear the deep tones of the bell of headquarters ringing
+out its ponderous "God-speed."
+
+Oakes turned in his saddle at the first stroke and, with blazing eyes
+and suppressed pride, waved a last vigorous acknowledgment.
+
+
+FINIS.
+
+
+Transcriber's note: A few printer's errors in the punctuation have been
+corrected as has the spelling of 'possibilties' which is now
+'possibilities'. The oe ligature has been expanded.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Quintus Oakes, by Charles Ross Jackson
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41790 ***