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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..124a849 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64125 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64125) diff --git a/old/64125-0.txt b/old/64125-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index adc7702..0000000 --- a/old/64125-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7724 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Joe Leslie's Wife, by Alexander Robertson - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Joe Leslie's Wife - or, a Skeleton in the Closet - - -Author: Alexander Robertson - - - -Release Date: December 24, 2020 [eBook #64125] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE LESLIE'S WIFE*** - - -Transcribed from Henneberry Company edition by an anonymous UK volunteer. - - - - - - JOE LESLIE’S WIFE - - - OR - - A SKELETON IN THE CLOSET - - * * * * * - - BY - - ALEXANDER ROBERTSON, M.D. - - * * * * * - - _Author of_ “_Gold-Maker of Lisbon_,” “_Little Sweetheart_,” - “_Phantom Smuggler_,” “_Diana Thorpe_,” “_Frozen_ - _Hearts_,” “_Nora’s Legacy_,” _etc._ - - * * * * * - - CHICAGO - THE HENNEBERRY COMPANY - 554 WABASH AVENUE - - - - -CONTENTS - - CHAPTER PAGE - I The Office of a New York Detective 17 - II Two of a Kind 28 - III The Tell-tale Scrap of Paper 39 - IV The House on Twenty-seventh Street 50 - V The Man Dressed as a Bull-fighter 61 - VI Marian 73 - VII A Brand from the Burning 83 - VIII The Jehu Adds to the Mystery 94 - IX Joe’s Secret 105 - X That Meerschaum Pipe 116 - XI All is Forgiven 127 - XII The Opium Joint 138 - XIII A Terrible Doom 149 - XIV Another Link in the Chain 160 - XV Comparing Notes 171 - XVI The Locked Saratoga 182 - XVII The Artist is Defiant 193 - XVIII Fortune’s Favors 204 - XIX The Time Draws Near 215 - XX For Plunder 226 - XXI The Cottage Beyond the Harlem 237 - XXII Almost 248 - XXIII The Messenger with Good News 259 - XXIV Conclusion 268 - - - - -CHAPTER I -THE OFFICE OF A NEW YORK DETECTIVE - - -The little clock in the dingy office of Eric Darrell was just pointing -out the hour of four when there came a rap on the door. Within the -proprietor sat alone, his feet elevated upon the top of a desk, and from -his position it was evident that his thoughts were far away, for although -he took an occasional whiff at his cigar, it was in an absent-minded way. - -At this summons, his interest was at once aroused—his feet came down from -their elevated position, and an expression appeared on his face that -might have been a smile. - -“A woman, by Jove!” he muttered, giving his handkerchief a flirt over the -desk where his feet had been so recently deposited. - -There was no guess-work about this, neither had the detective been able -to distinguish anything feminine about the knock. - -Over the door was a peculiar little contrivance, which by means of -several small mirrors would tell the occupant of the office who summoned -him—a useful affair under the circumstances, as the detective might at -some time have a visitor bent on taking his life, and under such -circumstances he would be warned. - -Jumping to his feet he approached the door—had it been a man he probably -would have sung out: “Come in,” and been done with it. - -A lady stood there. - -She was deeply veiled, and yet there was that about her dress that -bespoke the lady. - -Darrell saw this at the first glance, and also judged from her figure -that she was young. - -“Is this the office of Mr. Darrell?” she asked, in low, pleasing tones. - -“Yes, madam,” replied the other, respectfully. - -“Is he in?” - -“I am Eric Darrell, at your service. If you wish to see me on business -will you come in?” - -He stepped aside as he spoke. - -“Thank you, I will.” - -As the lady entered the room, the detective closed the door, and with the -pressure of his thumb secured it so that no one could enter without -knocking. It was not his intention to be rudely interrupted in his -interview—he had from time to time all sorts of visitors, and did not -mean that one of the men he employed should come in upon them while they -were engaged in talking. - -The lady had already seated herself, and seemed to be looking around the -room, through her veil, with considerable interest. - -Perhaps it was her first visit to the office of a detective, and she was -taken with the strange assortment of mementoes that hung around the room. - -Eric Darrell swept his eyes about him, and something akin to a smile came -over his face as he viewed his curiosity shop—there were scores and -scores of murderous tools and ingenious contrivances, each of which was -connected with some crime or criminal in the past history of New York, -and in the pursuit of his chosen business he had been brought into -connection with the affair or the individual. - -The detective was a little proud of his collection, as well as the -Rogue’s Gallery over the desk, where some hundreds of faces were -represented, many extremely brutal and some good-looking, while the -pictures of women were not infrequent. - -“My clerk is out this afternoon, madam—we are quite alone, so that you -may speak without any fear of being overheard,” he said, as he took a -chair, and sat down facing his unknown client. - -“I am glad of that, Mr. Darrell, for what I have to say to you must be -kept a dead secret.” - -The detective was more than ever convinced that he had to deal with a -young woman—her figure was exceedingly pleasing, and her voice a -sympathetic one. - -“Madam, I am daily entrusted with secrets by all manner of persons. You -can rely upon it that anything you tell me in confidence will be as safe -as though whispered in the ear of a father confessor. That is my -business—we detectives rival the family doctors in being made the -repository of secrets.” - -This was well put and quite reassuring, as he had intended it should be. - -The lady must have confidence in him now. - -“Mr. Darrell, I want your assistance in a little domestic matter. I am a -young married woman—have been married a year, and my husband is a man you -would call one in a thousand—a truthful, honorable gentleman, a favorite -with every one he knows. - -“I love him deeply, esteem his noble qualities, and believe we could be -happy through life, but there is a canker sore eating my heart—Joe has a -secret, a terrible secret, and the knowledge of it is making me -miserable.” - -She seemed a little overcome, and Darrell waited; meantime he grimly -thought to himself how many Joes here in this wicked city of New York -kept terrible secrets from their wives—yes, and the boot was on the other -leg too. - -His business had brought him into contact with many such scenes. - -“Pardon my feeling so badly, Mr. Darrell. These things are an old story -to you, but with me it means the wrecking of my whole life, and I am weak -enough to be troubled by it.” - -He hastened to reassure her that he fully sympathized with her feelings. - -Thus encouraged she went on: - -“If ever a woman had reason to trust her husband I have—and yet, as I -said, Joe has a secret from me, the knowledge of which is making me -miserable. - -“I would not have him ever suspect that I came to consult you about it, -but I am determined to know the truth—I am his wife—if he is gambling in -secret, connected with any secret society or going to see some other -woman I am resolved to know the worst. - -“It is hard for me to explain my position, Mr. Darrell—I believe in and -trust my husband as much as nearly any woman could, but I know he is -keeping something from me, which excites my curiosity greatly.” - -This was an old story with Darrell. - -He had seen other Joes before. - -In his own mind he was immediately convinced that the man was guilty. - -He believed Joe to be an unmitigated scoundrel to treat his young and -pretty wife in this way—for the detective had already decided this -question and believed the owner of this voice and figure must also be -handsome. - -So he began to dig for facts, a little ruthlessly perhaps, because it was -business. - -Your professor of anatomy does not waste time when getting down to a -certain nerve or muscle which he wishes to expose to his class—the knife -is applied without stint. - -So the detective asked questions in order to expose as much of the game -as possible. “You have no hint of the truth, madam?” - -“None.” - -“Before marriage, was your husband a man of the world?” - -“He was always steady and quiet. I have never heard that my Joe ever had -an entangling alliance before we were married.” - -Even this did not reassure Darrell—he was a little skeptical with regard -to such a man, being inclined to reflect that still water runs deep. - -His daily business brought him in contact with so much of the evil of -life that he had a rather poor opinion of mankind in general—though ready -to bow before woman’s goodness, even after having had experience with -numerous confidence women and others, who were more difficult to manage -than male criminals. - -For instance, here was a case in point—a confiding, loving wife—a cruel, -deceiving husband. - -“I understand, madam. How long have these strange visits been going on?” - -“I do not know.” - -“How long have you been aware of them?” - -“For two weeks. By accident I discovered that Joe was in the habit of -leaving his office at half-past four, and he never reaches home until an -hour and a half later. - -“Even this did not do more than pique me a little to think he dallied so -long, when he should have hurried home to me—but three days later, again -by accident, I saw him enter a house on Twenty-seventh Street. - -“At first I could not believe my eyes and I felt as though I would swoon. -It was just five o’clock, and he seemed in a dreadful hurry. - -“What impressed me as being the strangest part of the business, was the -fact that he did not ring or even knock on the door, but with a key let -himself in as though he belonged there!” - -Of course—Darrell’s eyebrows went up, but he made no remark—he could see -through a millstone with a hole in it. - -“I don’t know why I hurried home but I did so with a trembling heart. -Joe came in at his usual time, and I endeavored to be myself so that he -might suspect nothing. - -“On the next day, however, something impelled me to go to Twenty-seventh -Street again. - -“Opposite to this house was a French restaurant, and about ten minutes to -five I entered here and ordered supper, sitting at the window and yet far -enough back not to be seen. - -“It lacked but one minute to five when Joe came down the street from the -elevated station, walking very fast, and went in that house. - -“I sat there until twenty minutes of six, when he came out again, and -walked more slowly down the street. - -“Mr. Darrell, I shall say nothing about my feelings—you can understand -them well enough. What I want you to do is to discover who lives in that -house, and why Joe Leslie spends the better part of an hour there every -day.” - -“Who—Joe Leslie—good heavens! it can’t be the Joe Leslie I know!” - -The lady seemed surprised at his words, and swept her veil aside. - -Then Darrell saw he had made no mistake in believing her to be pretty—she -was more than that, really handsome. - -“My husband is Joseph Gregory Leslie.” - -“Then he is the man I know—a man whom I have always believed the best of -men, liked by every one acquainted with him. It seems incredible that he -should be engaged in anything of this character.” - -“Because you know him, will you refuse to take my case?” she faltered. - -“Not at all, Mrs. Leslie—in fact, I shall do the work all the more -eagerly, hoping it may all prove to be a mistake.” - -“I too hope so, but my heart is filled with fears. I seem to have lived -years since making this discovery. At first I meant to ask my husband -plainly to explain it, but something held my tongue—for my life I could -not—and only as a last resort have I come to you.” - -“Kindly write the number of the house here—you know it, of course.” - -“Indeed it is burned on my brain as with letters of fire,” and she obeyed -him. - -“Now, Mrs. Leslie, you are to leave this matter in my hands and think of -it as little as you can. At home appear as natural as you may, and -believe that I will serve your interests faithfully, first, last and all -the time. - -“Joe is a friend of mine, and yet if he is a villain—which I cannot -believe—I will discover the proofs of it and hand them to you.” - -“Mr. Darrell, I thank you,” she said, with tears in her eyes. - -“There is no occasion for it, madam—this is business with me, leaving -sentiment aside—I shall charge you my regular price for such work; but at -the same time I honestly hope your husband will be able to prove his -innocence.” - -“Amen!” she said, solemnly. - -At this moment there came a loud rap on the door—Mrs. Leslie uttered a -little scream, which was pretty well muffled by the cobweb of a -handkerchief she thrust up to her mouth. - -As for Eric Darrell, the detective, he glanced up at the small tell-tale -mirror just inside the transom over the door—his face was screwed up into -a pucker, and pressing his finger on his lips he said in a low voice: - -“Here’s a pretty kettle of fish! The man who knocks is your husband, -Mrs. Leslie.” - - - - -CHAPTER II -TWO OF A KIND - - -The pretty little lady came very near swooning when she heard this. - -Darrell arose from his chair. - -“Come with me through the inner office,” he said in low tones. - -She followed him, trembling like a leaf, and looking back as though she -expected the door to be broken in, and an angry husband to make his -appearance on the scene. - -“He must have followed me—he will be so angry—oh! what shall I do—how -shall I look him in the face again?” she moaned. - -“He need not see you now—here is a door that lets you out into the -passage around the corner, and you can descend the stairs without being -discovered. As for looking him in the face again, you have no reason to -shun him, my dear madam—you are innocent of wrong-doing at any rate, and -if anybody is going to be ashamed let it be him. Good-bye, madam, trust -me to the utmost.” - -She gave him one pitiful look that haunted the old bachelor for many -days, and then, allowing her veil to fall over her pretty face, passed on -toward the stairs. - -Meanwhile, the knock on the other door had been twice repeated—the man -without was evidently growing impatient. - -Mr. Darrell walked over to the door and opened it. - -“What! you, Leslie, my boy? It’s good for sore eyes to see your face.” - -They shook hands warmly. - -Leslie walked in. - -The detective had seen on the instant that his old-time friend was -disturbed—Joe’s countenance had a gloomy look, totally at variance to the -cheerful expression that generally marked it. - -Of course Eric Darrell wondered to what he owed this visit. - -Was it brought about by the fact that Joe’s wife had just been seated in -the very chair he now threw his long form upon? - -Since Joe’s marriage he had seen very little of him—their lines ran apart -and seldom crossed, yet they had once been pretty good friends. Again -the detective closed the door and fastened it against interruption. - -Whatever the cause of Leslie’s visit, he meant to have a quiet chat with -him. - -If the husband of the pretty lady who had just quitted his office -demanded to know why Lillian Leslie had visited him, he would have to -confess the truth, but he knew enough to keep a close tongue until the -lay of the land was made manifest. - -Before sitting down himself he took up a box of cigars and offered it to -Joe. - -The other looked at it rather sheepishly and then declined with a wave of -the hand. - -“Ah! sworn off, eh? Something I never expected such an old smoker as you -to do; but every man to his taste. Now, old fellow, to what am I -indebted for this visit—a desire to talk over old times, or business?” - -Leslie seemed to swallow a lump in his throat, and playing nervously with -the paper-cutter on the desk—which was a dagger taken from a notorious -assassin whom Darrell had assisted to the gallows years before, said -huskily: - -“Eric, you are the only man in the world I would come to with domestic -troubles. What I am about to confide in you now I do as to a friend. At -the same time I ask for your assistance in a professional way.” - -Then he seemed lost in deep thought for a minute, and was no doubt -collecting his energies to speak to the point. - -As for Eric Darrell, he surveyed the other in deepest surprise. - -What was coming? - -Was Joe Leslie deep in the mire, and had he come to have his old friend -extricate him? - -One thing seemed certain—he did not appear to know that his pretty wife -had been in this very room less than five minutes before. - -Believing this, the detective considered it a peculiar freak of fate that -these two should visit him on the same day and almost the same hour, each -without the knowledge of the other. - -At length Joe had recruited his energies to equal the occasion. - -He looked up. - -The detective was leaning back in his chair and calmly observing him, -wreaths of blue white smoke curling up from his Havana. - -“Eric, you never met my wife?” he said. - -The other did not by any start betray himself. - -“That is your fault, old man. You were married in Chicago, and after -settling down here you never invited us old bachelors to visit you,” he -replied, quietly. - -“Forgive me. But see, here is her photograph. Take a look at the girl -who captured the man who used to laugh at all Benedicts.” - -Darrell took the picture. - -It was the same face he had so recently sat _vis-a-vis_ with in this very -office, with one particular difference—the photograph was of a happy, -loving girl, while the other had been the face of an anxious woman. - -Mentally he noted this fact, while looking long and earnestly at the -photograph. - -“Well, what do you think of her?” asked Leslie. - -He was a tall man, perhaps thirty-five years of age, not handsome, but -with a face that won him friends everywhere, for Joe Leslie had a warm -heart and was ready to champion the cause of any poor devil in distress. - -“She’s handsome, Joe—a beauty.” - -“Anyone can see that—look deeper, man.” - -“I can see qualities there such as might make her a wife to be proud of, -and whom any man might well hesitate to offend.” - -At this Joe groaned. - -The shrewd detective thought he had driven one nail home—that his -allusion must have hit Leslie in a tender spot—but for once he made a -mistake. - -Just then he was not thinking of his own shortcomings—that groan was the -result of mental agony brought about by something else. - -“Eric, I am in trouble,” he said. - -The other knew it before he spoke. - -To himself he was saying: - -“Now, here’s a surprising thing—I am already retained by the wife, and -the husband has come to confess his sins. Shall I listen—he must not -bind me to a promise not to tell.” - -Aloud, he said: - -“I’m sorry for that, Joe. Tell me all about it and heaven knows I will -aid you all I can.” - -“Thank you, old friend—I knew it before you spoke—that was why I finally -determined to come here and unbosom myself.” - -“It’s coming,” muttered Darrell, smiling grimly. - -He fully expected to learn the secret of that mysterious house on -Twenty-seventh Street. - -“To think,” said Joe, looking around him at the walls and ceiling, “that -here in this den where I spent so many careless, happy bachelor hours -with you, I should now be detailing the tribulations of married life.” - -“Singular—of course,” nodded Eric, apparently observing the ashes on the -end of his cigar, but all the while watching Joe’s face. - -“For of course,” Joe continued, “what I have to say to you concerns—my -wife.” - -“Yes.” - -The detective was wondering how Joe meant to bring out his confession. - -He did not dream of anything else. - -“You have seen that face, Eric”—tapping the photograph—“would you say -there was any deceit there?” - -This was something of a staggerer—the other had not expected the electric -fluid to strike in such a quarter at all. - -“Deceit—in that little woman—well, I’m an old bachelor, Joe, but my -judgment is generally conceded sound, and I tell you your wife is a woman -of a thousand. Her face speaks of purity and charity—one could not look -into the depths of those eyes and not read truth there.” - -“Good heavens, man! you describe Lillian as I have believed her—one would -think you had met her,” cried Leslie, starting out of his moody fit. - -“A good photograph can be easily read nowadays, my boy,” replied Darrell, -quietly; at the same time conscious that he had made a break that had -better not be repeated. - -Joe gave a great sigh, and resumed his despondent attitude, nervously -playing with the paper-cutter. - -“Eric, perhaps there are men who love their wives better than I do mine, -but I am completely wrapped up in Lillian, and if I lost her I’d go to -the dogs devilish quick. - -“You know my nature—I’m not a suspicious fool, nor am I constitutionally -jealous, but I suppose I have a certain amount of the latter in my -disposition—every man but an idiot has.” - -“That’s so. Remember Othello’s declaration about keeping a corner in the -object of his love for other people’s uses. I reckon that’s the first -corner we have any record of.” - -Joe’s face had flushed at the reference made by his companion. - -Quietly he went on: - -“As heaven is my judge I do not wish to harbor any unjust suspicion -toward my wife—I would shield her with my life from the folly of her -imprudence, if such it prove to be—but I am a man, and I cannot shut my -eyes to certain facts set before me. I have done everything in my power -to explain the matter to myself, offering all sorts of excuses for her, -but it is useless, and I feel now that I must know the truth or go -crazy.” - -“My dear fellow, this is indeed serious.” - -“Serious, Eric—may you never know the awful feeling that has pressed upon -my heart during the last few weeks.” - -“Has it been that long?” - -“Yes, for two weeks I have noticed a difference in Lillian—she has hardly -looked me in the face at all. Poor child, she is not accustomed to -deceit, and a secret weighs upon her.” - -Darrell came near laughing, as he believed he had the key to the puzzle. -Unaccustomed to deceit, forsooth—when it was his own mysterious actions -that had disturbed Lillian. - -“Two weeks, you say, Joe?” - -“Well, I knew something about it before then. Accident revealed it to -me. I will tell you all, and you can judge for yourself. - -“You know we live in a comfortable little house up on Eighty-sixth -Street. I generally spend my days down-town at business, but I had a -call up-town one morning, and my cabman drove me past my own house—I took -a cab because the party I wished to see lived at a point inconvenient to -the elevated, and besides I had a bushel of papers, more or less, to take -him. - -“While passing my house I naturally looked in. - -“At that moment Lillian was opening the door and a fine-looking man -entered whom she seemed to greet cordially. I wondered who he was, but -forgot all about him until I came home in the evening. Somehow his face -came up again before me—I waited to see if she would speak, and even made -an opportunity for her to tell me of her visitor—she said nothing and I -thought looked a trifle confused. - -“Eric, believe me, I dropped the matter then and there—who could look -into those eyes—well-springs of truth as you have just observed—and -believe deceit rested there? - -“The next day I again found it necessary to use the cab in going to the -house of my client, and, as I passed my own dwelling, I was somewhat -nettled to see the same military-looking gentleman ascending the steps. - -“I looked at the time—it was ten exactly, the same hour as on the -preceding day. - -“Again, that evening, I gave Lillian the opportunity to tell me of her -visitor, but she made no mention of it. - -“Eric, the demon of jealousy had his birth in my heart in that bitter -hour—my wife had a secret from me—she was receiving clandestinely a -gentleman whom I did not even know. - -“I battled with the fever, heaven knows how terribly, but it conquered -me, and although I despised myself for doing so despicable an act I set -about watching Lillian.” - -The large man buried his face in his hands and groaned aloud in his -suffering. - - - - -CHAPTER III -THE TELL-TALE SCRAP OF PAPER - - -Darrell had by this time come to the conclusion that he was entering upon -one of the oddest cases in his experience. - -He had his sympathies aroused also, and while he generally worked for -conviction, in this instance it would be otherwise, his desire being to -prove the parties innocent. - -Presently Leslie went on: - -“I pretended to go to my office, but, instead, hovered in the -neighborhood, sometimes in the drug-store on the corner. - -“Thus I have discovered that regularly every morning at ten o’clock, -Saturday omitted, this fine-looking foreign gentleman enters my house, -and the door closes behind him. - -“At eleven he appears again—it is always my wife who lets him in and sees -him to the door. - -“Eric, this thing is killing me—sooner than believe Lillian could be -false to me I would discredit my own mother; and yet here is something -very, very strange—something that must be explained before my peace of -mind comes back to me again. In a few words, I want you to find out who -this man is, and why he calls to see my wife invariably at ten o’clock -when I am supposed to be down-town money-making, and why she has never -breathed one syllable of all this to me.” - -“I will do it, Joe, for old friendship’s sake, and I most heartily pray -it may turn out all right.” - -“Oh! I haven’t any doubt of that. My dear fellow, don’t imagine for an -instant that I suspect my wife of anything wrong, but—well, you see—hang -it, Eric, I must know the truth, and if my thoughts have wronged Lillian -I shall go down on my knees before the little woman.” - -On his part, Mr. Darrell had, while Joe was speaking, conceived a sudden -idea that would possibly explain the matter. - -He did not mention it, because the explanation hinged upon his other -client’s case, but he kept it in mind all the same. - -It was to this effect: - -Perhaps Lillian had sought the advice of some other detective before -coming to him, and it was this party calling at a certain hour every day -to deliver his report, whom Joe had seen. - -Possibly little or no progress had been made, and hence she had finally -determined to change, just as a patient, becoming dissatisfied with his -doctor, calls in another physician. - -Luck alone had brought her to his office—perhaps it was the sweet little -cherub that watches over the affairs of lovers. - -At any rate it was a piece of good fortune for all parties concerned. - -He proceeded to question Joe, desiring to learn all he could of the case. - -“You say you had never seen the gentleman before?” - -“Never.” - -“Not in your wife’s album?” - -“You mean that he might be one of her old beaux—no, not even there. He -is a stranger to me.” - -“But if you met him you would know him?” - -“Well, rather.” - -“Can you describe him to me?” - -“I can do better—show you a picture of him just as he leaves my front -door.” With that he held out a card, upon which was a round photograph, -or rather picture, which Eric saw had been taken with a Kodak camera, -just coming into general use at that time. - -The scene was a door-step with a number over the door—a man was -descending—the lower part of his body could not be seen, but his body and -head were well taken. He carried something under his arm like a flat -book. - -Eric Darrell studied the face as well as he could upon such a small -surface—he wanted to know it again. - -Then he looked further. - -Just above, a lady stood outside the door, as if seeing the gentleman -depart. It was Lillian Leslie without a doubt. - -“How in the deuce did you get this?” he asked in some surprise, “it’s as -clever a piece of business as I know of.” - -“I hired a young fellow to do it for me. He took this man several times -afterward. See, there is one that shows his face better, because there -is little else—it was taken close.” - -Darrell examined this picture also. - -“Seems to me I’ve seen this man on the street or somewhere—I can’t just -place him though,” he muttered. - -“Is there anything more you wish to tell me, Joe,” he asked aloud. - -“Unfortunately—yes.” - -“Proceed.” - -“It seemed as though fate had been pleased to conspire against my peace -of mind. I picked up a piece of paper from the floor to toss into the -grate in the library when certain words caught my eye, and instead I put -it in my pocket.” - -“When was this?” - -“Last evening.” - -“Have you the paper still?” - -“Yes.” - -“Let me see it, if you have no objection.” - -“Certainly not. I want everything to be placed before you now.” - -“Everything but your own secret,” thought the detective, as he took the -paper. - -It was evidently a portion of a torn note and had been twisted around. - -Darrell smoothed it flat and then read in a woman’s fine chirography: - - “—we will hope for the best. At any rate, fair Lillian, your secret - shall never be betrayed by your sincere friend, BARBARA. - - “P.S. Be sure and burn this. B.” - -“What do you think of that?” asked Joe. “It has a peculiar look. One -thing is certain—Lillian made a mistake—she did not burn it up.” - -“But tore it to pieces instead.” - -“You found it in your library?” - -“Yes.” - -“Is there a waste paper basket there?” - -“Yes, but we throw papers in the grate and when they accumulate touch a -match to them.” - -“Perhaps you might find the balance of this letter.” - -“In the grate?” - -“Yes.” - -“That would be impossible.” - -“Why so?” - -“Unfortunately, one of the first things I did upon arriving home -yesterday evening was to apply a match to the papers in the grate, and -they have all been consumed.” - -Eric shrugged his shoulders. - -“That’s hard luck, I take it, but men of my line never cry over spilt -milk. What’s the use? Now, regarding this scrap—it is signed Barbara. -Have you any idea who the author is?” - -“Yes, certainly—a young married lady who lives back of us. I have always -entertained much respect for Mrs. Goodwin, and am surprised to think she -would enter into a conspiracy with Lillian to deceive me.” - -The detective hardly knew what to think. - -Here was a man whom he had known and considered a first-rate fellow in -the past, grieving over the fact that his wife was keeping something from -him, when, all the time, he was nursing a secret within his guilty heart. - -What was Darrell to make of it? - -Those who live in glass houses should be careful how they throw stones. - -“It’s pretty hard, Joe, I admit, but when it comes to secrets, who among -us is above reproach?” - -“Eh?” - -Joe Leslie seems to color up in a manner altogether unnecessary. - -“You, for instance, old man—I warrant you do lots of little things that -you would hardly care for your wife to know. But”—seeing the other’s -evident confusion—“let that pass. I will undertake to clear up this -mystery for you, Joe, as speedily as possible.” - -“What shall I do?” - -“Try and act as though your suspicions were not aroused—do everything -just as you would under ordinary circumstances. Even treat this false -friend Barbara warmly—anything but to give our game away in the start.” - -“I presume I can go on in the same old rut, provided it is not for long.” - -“I’ll promise you that the whole thing will soon be cleared up. There is -a screw loose somewhere, and I’m going to find it.” - -Again Joe blushed at the emphasis laid on that word, though Eric was not -looking at him, and it did not seem as though he meant any personal -reflection. - -A guilty conscience, Darrell concluded, needs no accuser, and this man -feels the finger of suspicion pointed at him, though he cannot tell from -whom it comes. - -Used to reading human nature, the detective knows guilt when he sees it. - -Although he refrains from making any remark upon the subject, he is in -reality quite out o£ patience with his friend who has thus early betrayed -his trust—he could never have believed it of Joe Leslie—he ought to be -ashamed of himself, doing anything to make such a sweet woman unhappy, -and if it turns out to be so the detective is determined that he shall -eat the husks of remorse, drinking the bitter cup to the very dregs. - -“Let me keep these, Joe?” holding up the pictures and the scrap of paper. - -“Certainly, and I most earnestly pray they may be the means of proving -Lillian’s innocence. My life will be wrecked if she proves false.” - -He did not seem to think of what a position his own secret action placed -him in. - -“We will hope for the best, Joe.” - -“Whatever you discover must be a secret between myself and you. I shall -in my own way decide what must be done.” - -Darrell looked at his face while he spoke. He found nothing vindictive -there—instead, he saw a look of deep pain. - -To himself he thought: - -“If I had done anything wrong, I would like to be tried by a judge like -Joe Leslie—he would be merciful. If his wife has erred, he is not the -man to shoot her down—he would fight like a tiger in her defense—but I -believe under such painful circumstances Joe would cry like a baby—and -forgive her.” - -That was his estimate of the man he had known so long—he forgot just then -that Joe was also under a cloud, and that there was something in his life -that needed the calcium light of an investigation thrown upon it. - -Thus the detective’s opinion went up and down like a shuttle-cock—he -hardly knew how to take this good-natured giant. - -The latter was plainly ill at ease, and having said all he desired, -picked up his hat to go. - -“Sure you won’t smoke, Joe?” - -Another wistful glance and a shake of the head. - -“I promised Lillian I would never smoke another cigar until she gave me -voluntary permission; and as she hates tobacco smoke I presume I must -keep my promise always. That is one of the little penalties a man -sometimes has to pay when he captures a darling. You can’t have your -pudding and eat it too—so some of our bachelor freedom must go.” - -“Well, the chains are golden ones, forged by love, and if ever I meet a -little woman like your wife, by Jove! I’ll be tempted to have her forge -some.” - -“You talk as though Lillian and you were old friends. You must meet her, -Eric—I’ll be proud to have you know her—when this thing is settled.” - -“All right, my boy, I’ll keep you to your word. Perhaps she may have a -sister, you see.” - -“She has that, and very much like Lillian.” - -“Consider the thing fixed and invite me when her sister is on from -Chicago.” - -“I certainly will—what did I do with my hat—ah, here it is on the desk—I -will see you again to-morrow, Eric—” - -He ceased talking in the middle of a sentence, bent his head down, for -the light was gradually fading in the detective’s office, and then -turning suddenly, said: - -“Hello! Darrell, old man, where did you get that—who’s been writing down -the number of my Twenty-seventh Street house?” - -Darrell had forgotten to remove the paper upon which Lillian had written -the address, with her gloves on, and Joe Leslie now held it in his hand. - - - - -CHAPTER IV -THE HOUSE ON TWENTY-SEVENTH STREET - - -This was what might with considerable propriety be called a -_contretemps_. - -If Joe Leslie recognized the writing as that of his wife, the game was -up. - -He had no doubt had many letters from her during their courtship days, -and knew the style of the chirography well. - -One thing favored Darrell. - -Any one who has endeavored to write with gloves on will bear witness to -the fact that as a general rule they could not swear to their own hand -when cold. - -So the chances were about ten to one that Joe could not recognize the -hand. - -The detective was ready to accept the chances. He maintained his cool -demeanor through the emergency. - -That was the result of education in his business. Raising his eyebrows -with an expression of surprise, he said: - -“You don’t mean to say that house is yours, friend Joe?” - -“That’s just what I do!” - -The detective was looking for signs of suspicion about the other. - -Surprise and curiosity he plainly saw, but it was not so easy to discover -the other. - -“Come, now, what have you been looking up my house for?” - -“On my honor, Joe, I’ve never set eyes on the building and don’t know -whether it’s stone or brick, three story or two.” - -“Then what in the deuce—?” - -“Patience! Is your house in the market?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then perhaps it is one of a number given me by a real estate agent to -look up for a friend of mine. I’ll preserve the slip,” taking it from -Joe and folding it up. - -“It looks like a woman’s writing.” - -“Yes, all writing does after a man has fallen into the habit of looking -for letters day by day—letters that are delayed—Come, you married men are -very suspicious.” - -With that he dexterously whipped the subject around and began talking -about something of decided interest, so that Joe, completely hoodwinked, -speedily forgot about the singular little coincidence that had brought -this address under the eyes of the owner of the house. - -He was not quite done with Joe yet. - -“You must own a good deal of property in and around the city, Joe?” - -“I do—property left to me by my mother.” - -“You have no need to work.” - -“Well, perhaps not. Some day when I take the notion I mean to figure up -my income from this property, and if it’s a good sum, by Jove! I’ll fling -business to the winds and take my little wife to Europe for a year—that -is, if—” - -Darrell did not let him finish. - -“Why, man alive, you talk as though you didn’t hardly know what property -you owned, yourself.” - -“Neither do I—it’s all come to me since I married, and I’ve been so much -taken up with my wife that I haven’t found time to attend to it as I -should.” - -Darrell winked hard. - -He knew certain facts that would seem to indicate that Joe found time to -spend an hour every afternoon with some one besides Lillian. If so then -this was rank perjury. - -What was he to think of a hypocrite? - -“Jove! that’s a queer case. I don’t suppose your wife has any idea of -where your property lies—never saw such places as this Twenty-seventh -Street house, for instance?” - -“Heavens! no. That house is an eyesore to me. The neighborhood is not a -good one and I will only let it to decent tenants. No, Lillian will -never know I own a house there.” - -Darrell was satisfied. - -He had made his point. - -Soon after Joe bade him good evening, and hurried away. - -It was not far from five o’clock. - -Darrell snatched a disguise from a hook and changed his appearance in one -minute. - -All he wanted was to effect such a change that Joe might not recognize -him. - -Then he left the office and bolted down stairs after his friend. - -Joe was discovered in the crowd, making his way toward the elevated -station, and knowing his destination Darrell arrived there first. - -They got in the same car. - -At this time in the evening it was pretty crowded and both had to stand -up. - -At Twenty-seventh Street a number left the train and those we follow with -the rest. - -Darrell observed Joe eagerly consult his watch. - -“He’s late this evening and no doubt expects a scolding,” was his mental -comment upon seeing the frown upon Joe’s usually good-natured face. - -The giant walked along so fast that Eric could hardly keep his place -behind him. - -They approached the fatal number. - -Truly Joe acted like a guilty wretch—he glanced up and down the street as -if to make sure no acquaintance was passing. - -Deception was a novelty to him—this was the first time Darrell had ever -seen his friend acting in a mean role. - -When they reached the steps Joe ascended them, took a key out of his -pocket and deliberately opened the front door. - -The detective was passing at the time, but his quick glance failed to -reveal anything of interest. - -Evening was coming on, and the shadows of the approaching night had -evidently gathered in the hall of the house—he could just see the glass -globe of the hanging gas jet in the hall, but it was not lighted. - -For that matter there was no light about the house at all, though the -neighbors were beginning to illuminate their houses. - -Passing down the street a little distance, Eric Darrell crossed over, and -came up the other side. - -He now noticed that there was a light in the second story front room, -though almost ready to swear it had not been there previous to the -entrance of the proprietor. - -The inside blinds were closed in such a way that Darrell could see -nothing. - -He was deeply interested. - -Whatever this strange mystery attached to Joe’s daily visit here might -mean, Darrell could not forget that the other was his friend. - -He would act as a surgeon might when one whom he regarded highly was -brought before him for attention—his fingers would be very tender, but -the cruel knife must do its duty. - -He was walking slowly along when he almost ran into a female who stood on -the edge of the pavement opposite the house. - -Her black attire and the veil she wore attracted his attention -immediately. - -Besides, she was looking upward toward the windows where the glimmer of -light could be seen. - -A suspicion flashed into his mind. - -He touched the arm of the lady in black. “Lillian—Mrs. Leslie,” he said -in a low voice. A cry came from under the veil. - -“Who speaks to me?” gasped the lady. - -“It is I—Eric Darrell. This is no place for a lady, especially at such -an hour. You may be insulted here.” - -“But he is here—Joe, my husband, and where he is his wife should not be -afraid to go,” she said with some bitterness. - -“Theoretically true, madam, but there are lots of places in this wicked -city where men daily pass and ladies dare not go. You promised to leave -this to me and you must keep your word. Take my arm and let me see you -to the elevated station.” - -She might have rebelled, but there was a touch of gentle but firm -authority in his tone, and being a woman she yielded, knowing he was -right. - -On the way to the elevated station she was silent, but finally, upon -reaching the steps, she turned to her companion. - -“Mr. Darrell, does my husband know that I have sought your advice?” - -So intensely interested was she in the answer, that she even held her -breath. - -“To my knowledge, Mrs. Leslie, Joe does not even suspect you of ever -having seen me.” - -“Thank heaven,” she almost gasped, a world of relief showing itself upon -her face, for, the better to look at her companion when expecting his -answer, she had brushed her veil aside. - -“You need not borrow trouble on that score. Act naturally, as though you -suspected nothing and had no reason to evade his eye.” - -She moved uneasily at his words. - -Darrell had spoken them with a purpose, just as the surgeon probes for -the bullet before making any attempt to extract it. - -He believed he had met with a certain share of success too. - -“What did he want with you?” she asked, as if to cover her own confusion. - -“Merely a matter of business.” - -“Did he mention me?” - -“He said I must come up and meet you sometime—whatever this may turn out, -Mrs. Leslie, I know Joe fairly worships you—never doubt that fact. Some -things seem hard to put together, but when the truth shines upon them -they will be found very simple.” - -“Like Columbus and the egg, for example.” - -“Yes, indeed. Now, if at any time you and I should meet in Joe’s -presence, don’t forget to treat me as a stranger.” - -“I will not.” - -“Then I shall say good evening, and as a last word, advise you to leave -this to me.” - -“I shall, Mr. Darrell.” - -She flitted up the station stairs and Darrell, with a long sigh, turned -down the street again. - -Somehow the pretty wife of his friend quite fascinated him, and he found -himself wishing the sister would be like her. - -Walking down the street, he soon reached his old stamping ground. - -The light burned in the second story room and he believed Joe had not -left the house. - -For perhaps ten minutes things went on this way. - -Then the light suddenly vanished. - -A minute later Joe Leslie came out. - -Darrell listened intently to see if he spoke to any one at the door but a -wagon rattling by prevented his making sure. - -Then Joe descended the steps and set briskly off for the elevated -station. - -The detective did not follow him. - -He desired to do a little work around that region, and knew Joe was bound -for home. - -The house seemed to be dark and deserted, but others were in the same -condition, the shades being drawn and shutters closed. - -New York people, many of them, act as though their houses were meant to -be dungeons, being hermetically sealed to shut out the light. - -Darrell surveyed the building a few minutes, crossed over, looked at it -more closely, started up the steps, then shook his head negatively. - -“Not yet—I’ll wait a little,” he muttered. - -Glancing up and down the street he saw a small grocery store on the -corner. - -People must eat, and these venders of daily provisions generally know -more about those who live in the neighborhood than any other class. - -The gossip and small talk of the street passes current here, and the -proprietor hears all. - -So Darrell made for the grocery. - -It was not a very extensive establishment—the owner and his clerk were -not busy, and Darrell, picking out the former, asked: - -“Can you tell me who lives at No—?” - -The man looked at him with a smile. - -“A young woman named Mrs. Lester, whose husband I believe is in -California—she was in here once or twice—quite a fine-looking lady,” -returned the groceryman. - -“Thanks,” replied the detective, turning and leaving the store as -suddenly as he entered. - -“Jacob, what number did he ask about?” said the proprietor, turning to -his clerk. - -The boy gave it, at which the other whistled. - -“That’s what they call a bull on me. I was five numbers out of the way. -But let it pass. He didn’t want to buy nothing.” - -The blunder was destined to give Darrell trouble however. - - - - -CHAPTER V -THE MAN DRESSED AS A BULL FIGHTER - - -When Eric Darrell left the little grocery on the corner, it was with a -bad feeling at his heart. - -It seemed as though a cold, clammy hand had suddenly come in contact with -that member of his anatomy, and chilled it. - -Could this thing be? - -If Joe Leslie turned out to be that moral leper, a bigamist, Darrell -believed he would never put any trust in human nature again. - -Did it not look like it? - -Nothing was lacking. - -Good heavens! even the names were almost alike—Leslie and Lester. - -He was horrified—dazed—dumfounded. - -Then his teeth came together with a snap, and he swore he would solve -this mystery—the man might be living two lives—others had done it -before—perhaps many in New York are doing it to-day. - -In his time Darrell had met with just such cases as this, and he believed -his experience justified him in solving the puzzle. - -So her husband was in California. - -It was a likely story. - -California must be very near by if he could drop in six times a week. - -He passed the house again and found that there were still no signs of -light. - -Evidently those who lived there, perhaps enjoying the luxuries of the -season, knew how to hide their light under a bushel. - -Darrell remembered what Joe had said—he had long since despaired of -renting the house, and probably did not try very hard. - -Then again about his income—no wonder he did not know how he stood if he -had to keep two separate establishments running. - -They might do that economically out in Salt Lake City among the Mormons -but it is quite an expensive luxury in New York. - -So the detective made his way down to Twenty-third Street and entering a -dairy kitchen where a thousand were being served to the music of an -orchestra, had his dinner. - -He took his time over it, read the evening paper, and when he finally -passed out it was well on to eight o’clock. - -Then he smoked a cigar and watched the passers by for half an hour more. - -Then he sauntered away. - -At nine o’clock he found himself one of a little crowd gathered at the -door of a hall. - -A masquerade was to take place here, and as carriage after carriage drove -up, depositing nymphs and devils, cavaliers and knights, upon the -pavement, the crowd laughed in a good-natured way. - -Some of the rougher element might have indulged in jeers or remarks that -would have brought on trouble, but for their fear of the law, which was -represented by two stalwart policemen, armed with their long night sticks -which are a dread to the heathen of the slums. - -Darrell was interested too, and stood with the rest, looking on. - -While thus engaged, a gentleman and lady left a hack and walked toward -the entrance. - -He represented a Spanish bull fighter, and with his splendid figure made -a remarkably good _matador_, while his companion, as a lady of cards, -caused a ripple of admiration among the lookers-on. - -Both were fully masked, and, having wraps over their costumes, only a -portion of the latter were seen; but it was evident that the lady was -possessed of a lovely figure, her arms were rounded and perfect, while -her neck, glimpses of which could be seen, was dazzlingly white, and -royally built. - -Darrell looked at her with interest. - -Then his eyes fell on her escort. - -He started. - -Surely that figure was owned by none other than Joe Leslie. - -What was he doing at the ball? - -Was this his wife? - -Of course it must be—the figure and beautiful neck corresponded with what -Darrell remembered of Mrs. Leslie. - -Still, he could not help but think it odd, even at that brief moment, for -Joe to bring his lovely wife here to this ball. - -True, it was a respectable affair, and many good people attended it, but -none of the first families in New York would dream of being seen at the -public masquerade—at least if they came they went away without unmasking. - -As the couple passed him he could not resist saying aloud: - -“Hallo! Joe!” - -The man seemed to start, and muttered something to his companion, at -which she laughed, but he did not look around to see who had spoken. - -Others were following them. - -Darrell stood a while longer, and then left the scene. - -Somehow or other he was troubled—he knew not exactly why. - -If that was Lillian with her husband, it was all well and good—although -surprised at Joe taking his wife to such a carnival, so long as her -husband was with her it was all right. - -But was it Lillian? - -This thought kept crowding into his brain. He could not expel it. - -After a little he became angry with himself for brooding over the matter -so. - -“Hang it, I can settle the matter easily,” he muttered, as he found -himself at the foot of the stairs leading to the elevated station. - -So up he ran. - -It was not a great while later when he found himself walking along the -street on which the Leslies lived. - -He had never seen their house before, but having the number speedily -found it. - -Of course it was one of a row. How neat and clean everything looked up -in this region when compared with the neighborhood of the Twenty-seventh -Street house. - -His sympathies naturally ran in favor of Lillian—he seemed to believe she -was the more innocent of Joe’s dupes—provided the case was really as bad -as it seemed. - -Making sure he had the right number, as the houses were built pretty much -alike, he ran up the steps and pulled the bell. - -A minute later a girl came to the door. “I wish to see Mr. Leslie.” - -“He is out, sir.” - -“Ah!” - -Darrell’s suspicions took firmer ground. - -The girl held the door open a crack, as though it were secured by a chain -bolt. - -“Mrs. Leslie will do—can I see her?” - -He almost held his breath waiting for the answer—it seemed as though the -fate of a seemingly happy household depended upon it—whether Joe Leslie -were saint or sinner. - -“Mrs. Leslie is in—what name, please?” - -“You may say—stay, here is my card,” believing the girl would have no -chance to read it on the way. - -He handed her a calling card which simply bore his name. - -In a minute she came back. - -“Mrs. Leslie will see you, sir.” - -The door opened. - -Eric Darrell found himself under the roof of Joe Leslie’s little “bird’s -nest,” as the latter was fond of styling it. - -Everything around him showed evidences of good taste and plenty of money. - -Poor bachelor Eric heaved a sigh as he noted the comfortable air of the -cozy house. - -“What a fool,” he muttered, “but some men never know when they’re well -off. With a wife and a home like his, Joe ought to be the happiest man -in New York. Seems to me these things generally go to the ones least -capable of appreciating them.” - -By this time the philosopher, in following the servant along the hall, -came to the open library door, through which she motioned him to enter. - -He did so. - -Here his old bachelor soul was worse rattled than ever—such a dream of -bliss may have come to him over his post-prandial cigar, but he had never -believed it could be realized to a human being here below. - -The soft lights, the cases of books, the cheery fire in the large grate, -and, chief of all, the pretty little lady seated at the table engaged in -some delicate fancy work—it all took poor Eric’s breath away. - -He had sense enough to walk up and shake hands. - -“You see the plight I am in—you will forgive my not rising, Mr. Darrell,” -she said, referring to her lap full of silk threads and such odds and -ends. - -“Certainly, Mrs. Leslie, don’t move, I beg. I will find a seat near by,” -he returned. - -She was looking at him eagerly. - -“Mr. Darrell, it is not accident that brings you up here to-night?” she -said, and there was a question in her eyes as well as in her voice. - -He cannot get out of this. - -“I came on a little business.” - -“You asked to see Mr. Leslie?” - -“In reality I expected to see you.” - -“Ah! you have already solved our terrible mystery—tell me the worst—does -Joe visit that awful house to play cards?” - -It is hard work dealing with a woman—she is apt to ask so many questions -and demand an answer—then, if important facts are told her she may in a -fit of pique or anger disclose them to the very one who should not know. - -Darrell knows all this. - -He understands how to manage the gentler sex, and in the present instance -does not mean to tell one whit more than is necessary. - -“I am sorry to say, Mrs. Leslie, that the case is not yet closed—indeed, -the complications are growing more serious—but,” as he observes the look -of pain on her sweet face, “I expect and hope to soon clear it all up.” - -“Heaven grant it,” she replied. - -Luckily Lillian had considerable reserve force in her nature, and now -that this was brought into play, she gave promise of rising to meet the -exigencies of the occasion. - -Darrell admired her courage. - -He found it harder to believe evil of her than he did of Joe, for he had -great respect for the gentler sex, and believed all men had a good share -of the old Adam in them—some fought the good fight and conquered—others -lay down their arms and surrendered, while many ran to meet the evil half -way, so misshapen were their souls. - -Alone, when speculating upon this strange double case, he might figure -out this thing or that by force of logic; but when looking upon that -truthful, lovely face, and into those calm eyes, he was ready to exclaim: - -“Shame upon you, Eric Darrell, for ever even thinking this little woman -and wrong could have anything in common. She’s an angel if ever there -was one on earth, and I hope her sister is built upon the same pattern.” - -“Where is Joe?” he asked, suddenly. - -“You haven’t seen him then?” - -“I—no, indeed, not to speak to since he was in my office this afternoon.” - -“I—thought he had gone to you—he spoke your name in connection with the -matter.” - -“What matter, may I ask?” - -“The sad affair that took him from me to-night.” - -Sad affair! - -As Darrell saw again in imagination the gay surroundings of the hall -where the grand _bal masque_ was being held, he ground his teeth in -silent rage, but knowing that a pair of sharp eyes were upon him he did -not allow his fury to find a vent. - -“Indeed! I am just as much in the dark as ever, Mrs. Leslie—enlighten -me.” - -“I presume it’s the same sad business he went to see you about to-day.” - -Darrell thought not. - -“You know he has a young clerk and cashier in his employ, Georgie -Kingsley, of whom Joe is very fond. Of late he has been led to believe -the boy is getting a little wild—reports have been reaching Joe of little -things, showing that Georgie is keeping bad company, and gambling. I -know this has worried Joe of late.” - -Darrell thought something else might be giving him a nervous spell too—no -man can live a double life except at a great mental strain, for the risk -of sudden exposure must be terrible. - -“So he’s gone to try and save poor Georgie to-night, has he? -Noble-hearted old Joe.” - -She could not help but catch something of the sneer under his words, and -trembled as she realized that the detective had grave doubts. - -“He said he would probably go to your room and get your company.” - -“He changed his mind, no doubt,” muttered the detective—indignation was -apt to make him tell more than discretion warranted. - -“What do you mean—you know something that you do not want to tell me. I -insist on your speaking. Have you seen my husband?” - -“I believe I have.” - -“Where was it?” - -“Entering the hall where a _bal masque_ was being held—quite a large -affair.” - -“Alone?” breathlessly. - -“No—with a lady. Good heavens! Mrs. Leslie, take it calmly, I beg of -you!” - - - - -CHAPTER VI -MARIAN - - -He need not have been so alarmed. - -True, the blood seemed to leave Lillian’s face, and she gasped for -breath, but a moment later she appeared so calm that even the detective -was amazed. - -His admiration increased, for he saw this woman was no pretty doll, to -faint at the first breath of adversity. - -“Do you know this as a fact, Mr. Darrell?” she asked in steady tones. - -“I do not, positively, and I think we ought to give Joe the benefit of -the doubt.” - -“I shall do more than that. Until with his own lips he acknowledges such -a thing to me, I will believe him innocent—I will trust him as I have -always done, as the best and truest man on earth. And yet it cuts home -to even have such suspicions aroused—oh, if Marian were only here!” - -“Your sister?” - -“Yes, the sister I love so dearly, and who would be such a comfort to me. -She always believed in Joe. It would be a great shock to her.” - -Eric was struck by a sudden thought. - -They always came with a rush, and at times might fall under the name of -an inspiration. - -“Have you your sister’s photograph handy, Mrs. Leslie? Your husband -spoke of her so much and said I must meet her some day. I am quite -interested, and would like to see her picture.” - -“That is it on the mantel.” - -She did not evidently suspect the awful thought that came into his brain. - -He walked over and looked at the photograph. It attracted him very much. - -The face was very like Lillian’s, only the hair and eyes were dark. - -“I shall expect an invitation here when your sister comes on, Mrs. -Leslie. She is in Chicago now, I believe.” - -“That is her home, but she is now traveling in California with a party of -friends.” - -California! - -The mention of that far-away State sent a cold chill down his back. - -Was it not the grocery man who had said the beautiful Mrs. Lester’s -husband was in California? - -Somehow he made the application, and the effect was a decided chill. - -It was growing blacker for Joe. - -“I shall take a run down and see if I can find Joe—he may be at my room -waiting for me—who knows? Can I trust you to keep this matter from him, -Mrs. Leslie—supposing this is all a mistake and that he is innocent, -would you ever want him to believe that you harbored such suspicions?” - -“No, no, I would not,” she sobbed. - -“Then do your part—you can act it I am sure. Appear natural—show no -unusual coldness or warmth of affection—try not to meet his eye or your -own may betray you. If he insists on finding out what ails you, retreat -in the usual plea of a headache.” - -“I will not fail you, Mr. Darrell. You go about your work with the -prayers of a faithful wife following you.” - -He believed it then—he would have staked his life on her truth—and yet in -the near future such terrible doubts were to arise. - -“Surely that talisman ought to keep any man who is half a man, from -evil—a loving mother and a faithful wife are the lodestones that have -saved many a weak man from the pit of destruction. Good-night, Mrs. -Leslie. Remember, should the worst come, you can depend upon Eric -Darrell as your brother.” - -He had said more than he intended to, but he was not cold-blooded like a -fish, and the evident distress of this angel on earth had wrought up all -his feelings. - -Just then he felt as though he could have pommeled Joe Leslie with the -greatest of pleasure. - -Any man was a brute who would give a woman like this sweet creature, -pain. - -So Eric strode away angry with the wickedness of the world in general, -and this friend of his in particular. - -If Joe Leslie turned out a rascal he could see no palliating circumstance -connected with the case, and according to his ideas the man ought to be -drawn and quartered. - -Hardly knowing where he was going, Darrell brought up at the hall where -the _bal masque_ was in progress. - -It was still early—not later than half past ten, and the affair had only -started. - -Any one could get in on payment of the regular price, two dollars, -although none were allowed on the main floor but masks. - -Darrell went in. - -He had seen these things before, and hence had little interest in the -ball itself. - -Most of the characters were old too, although here and there some genius -had devised something new, and worth looking at. - -Eric had other ideas in view. - -Monks, flower girls, Indians, Chinese, knights, fortune tellers, dames -and the endless chain of historical personages such an event gathers, -passed before him without exciting more than a slight smile or a single -glance of admiration. - -He was looking for the couple upon whom he meant to bestow his interest. - -Soon he sighted them. - -From that time on Eric seldom took his eyes off the pair. - -He imagined he detected certain little peculiarities in the man’s walk -that marked him as Joe Leslie. - -As for the woman, Eric became quite interested trying to make her out—in -figure she certainly resembled Lillian, and this only added to his eager -pursuit. - -Another point he noticed—her hair was dark. - -Was she the one who had entered his mind? - -He noticed that when they danced it was always together—other couples -might separate but the Spanish bull fighter and the Lady of Cards seemed -inseparable. - -Probably they were greeted with more or less lively sallies in the -badinage that passed current among the dancers, but the size of the bull -fighter deterred any envious swains from attempting to relieve him of his -partner. - -Darrell noted the envious actions of some of the male maskers who could -not find partners, and made up his mind there would be trouble yet unless -the couple withdrew early. - -The detective had managed to get below by bribing a keeper. - -He did not go out upon the floor, but remained under the gallery. - -It was not very light here. - -Now and then some promenading couple would pass by, chatting and -laughing, a red clad Mephistopheles fanning a pretty shepherdess, or a -portly friar joking with Queen Elizabeth. - -One thing is always noticeable about these _bal masques_—the ladies never -assume a grotesque costume, always endeavoring to appear charming, -according to their own ideas, and leaving the funny part of the business -to the male sex. - -The couple whom Darrell was anxious to watch had mingled with the crowd -dancing and for some little time he lost sight of them. - -He began to grow a little anxious and was just thinking of changing his -quarters, when all of a sudden they appeared in view close by. - -They were heading for the dark spot under the gallery where, only a few -persons had gathered. - -The lady was holding both hands up to her head, as if to keep her, mask -from falling while her tall escort forced a passage. - -Eric shrank back behind a pillar. - -The two came within ten feet of where he stood, and there halted. - -“Can you fix it?” he heard her ask. - -“I will try, Marian,” was the reply. - -That name—it confirmed the detective’s worst fears—he could believe -anything now. The Lady of Cards handed her mask to her companion, who -immediately endeavored to refasten the string that had broken loose. - -Meanwhile she stood with her face bared, looking out upon the throng. - -What a miserable thing it was that the light was so poor under the -gallery. - -Darrell just then would have given a hundred dollars for one good square -look at her face. - -Oh, for an electric torch to suddenly light up the scene and reveal those -features to his gaze. - -He used his eyes to the utmost, but it was not at all satisfactory, for -her face was in the shadow; but he had an idea she was very like the -picture he had looked at recently—the photograph of Lillian’s sister. - -Presently the bull fighter had succeeded in re-securing the string. - -He tied the mask on for her. - -His manner was very courtly and gentle, but one spectator did not enjoy -it at all. - -This was Eric. - -His thoughts would go, in spite of him, to that heavenly room where he -had left a sweet and faithful wife waiting for her Joe to return. - -Somehow Eric felt savage to-night, and he wondered whether it would not -serve this man just right if he did get into trouble with some of the -envious young beaux who followed him about as though only waiting a good -chance to carry off his partner by force. - -A traitor deserved such punishment. - -“I’ll never believe in a man again,” said Eric to himself, filled with -shame and disgust for his sex; “by Jove! they’re all alike, a miserable -crowd of deceivers, every one.” - -He forgot that he belonged to the same sex, and that his very indignation -proved his words exaggerated, since he could not share in such evil -plottings, and there must be others like him. - -He wandered up and down. - -Now and then he saw the couple, but much of the time they were lost to -his view. - -Darrell remained near the exit. - -It was nearly twelve o’clock, when the order to unmask would be given. - -Some who did not care to remain and be recognized were already flitting. - -He believed those whom he watched would do likewise, and it was his -desire to get outside at the same time to hear the directions given to -the driver if any were uttered. - -Just at this moment, close by, he heard sounds of an uproar. - -These things are generally prevented at public balls by the presence of -the police, but no officers were in sight now—perhaps they had gone into -the refreshment room. - -Darrell instantly had a suspicion of the truth, and his eyes were -immediately directed toward the _melee_. - -Just as he suspected, in the struggling crowd he saw the tall form of the -Spanish bull fighter—the man was dealing blows right and left and had -already sent several audacious assailants rolling in the dust of the hall -floor. - - - - -CHAPTER VII -A BRAND FROM THE BURNING - - -The detective was a man. - -He admired courage and grit, no matter in whom it was found, and when he -saw the Spanish bull fighter holding his own against the number who had -assailed him he could not but express this feeling. - -It seemed as though these young bloods were furious because the other -kept his partner to himself, and allowed her to dance with no one else—it -is always the case that a pack of such hot heads may be found at a public -gathering, and trouble often ensues. - -Perhaps the Lady of Cards, secure behind her mask, had flirted with some -of them, and had driven them wild. - -It is human nature to covet what we cannot have and their anger toward -the giant bull fighter had grown intense. - -As we have seen, it culminated in what threatened to be a riot. - -The woman was frightened now—she trembled, and cowered behind her -protector. - -He stood up like a rock before her. - -Twice his arm had shot out and on each occasion one of his assailants had -gone down. They pressed him hard. - -The bull fighter turned to the right and left and defended himself -gallantly, while he shielded his companion as best he could. - -It was a singular spectacle to be seen at a New York public ball. - -When passion rules men’s minds their surroundings have no effect on them. - -They would fight in a tomb, over the dead. - -Seeing that in all probability the rascals would get the better of the -man, Darrell pushed that way; at this moment one of the men grasped the -lady by the wrist. - -She screamed. - -The bull fighter turned like a mad tiger, saw what was transpiring, threw -the assailants who were clinging to him, and plunged at the man who was -grasping the lady’s arm and endeavoring to drag her away, for the music -still kept up, and many were dancing all unconscious of the _melee_. - -There was a tremendous rush, the bull fighter caught the wretch and -whirled him, spinning like a teetotum, ten feet away. Never did a -dancing dervish spin so merrily. - -Then came an awful crash, as the man struck a swaying column of dancers, -who immediately toppled over upon him. - -By this time the detective was at the side of the bull fighter. - -“Keep back, you young fools! Keep back, I say, or I’ll land the whole of -you in the Tombs!” His words were heard. - -Backed up as they were with the shining barrel of a revolver, they -commanded respect. - -By this time the management had succeeded in getting the officers from -the supper-room to the spot, and upon seeing them come, the young fellows -who had been the cause of the disturbance slunk away, losing themselves -in the crowd. - -The management apologized to the bull fighter when they learned what had -occurred, but his companion seemed to have received a nervous shock—at -any rate they retired for their wraps. - -Darrell moved outside. - -There was something more he desired to learn and the chance must soon -come. - -He waited. - -Just at twelve they came. - -The hour for unmasking had arrived, and there was quite a high time -within. - -This displeased the detective, for he was afraid lest he might not hear -what he desired. - -The couple walked down the pavement in search of the carriage, which was -waiting near by, the driver having received instructions. - -They soon reached it. - -Darrell hovered near. - -The bull fighter assisted his companion in and then entered himself. - -“Where to, sir?” asked the driver, probably not knowing but what they had -another engagement at some private ball. - -A burst of laughter from the house deadened the reply, but Darrell’s keen -ears caught:“—Twenty-seventh Street.” - -It was enough. - -He felt down-spirited. - -In so far as he could see ahead, the case was a settled one—Joe Leslie -was guilty. - -He seemed to feel it as keenly as though it were a brother of his. - -Poor Lillian! that it should come to this in one short year. - -It would have seemed incredible, but he was used to meeting with strange -things, and being of a philosophical train of mind could take things -pretty much as they came. - -So Darrell turned homeward. - -There was nothing more to be done that night. - -He remembered that on the morning he had engaged to watch the house in -which the Leslies lived. - -That strange man would come and must be tracked to discover his identity. - -It was a task Darrell did not like. - -Every time he thought of it he saw the face of Lillian before him, and in -the depth of those liquid eyes there appeared such a world of truth that -the detective was fain to shake his head. - -Experienced man of the world as he was, he could not believe her guilty. - -There must be some mistake. - -So he made his way to his rooms, feeling depressed over the events of the -night. - -He hated the thought of his next meeting with the lady—how could he face -her and tell her what he had seen and heard? - -“Hang the foolish fellow—how could he treat such an angel in that way?” - -Hold on, Mr. Darrell, before twenty-four hours have flown you will -perhaps have changed your mind and concluded that even angels may be of -the earth, earthy. - -When he arrived at his apartments it was about half-past twelve. - -As he opened the door he saw a card below. When he had applied the -burning match to the gas, he picked this up. - -“Hello!” was his exclamation. - -His eyes had fallen upon a name. - -“Joseph Gregory Leslie.” - -Turning the card over he found, scribbled in pencil, the words: - -“Called to see you—may come in later to-night. Some important business.” - -When he had read this the detective scratched his head and mused. - -“How is this—he must have run down here first. Come in later, eh? Well, -who knows but what after he has seen _Marian_ home he may run down?” - -He stopped to listen to a carriage rumbling along the street—at this time -of night they were not very frequent here, and when it stopped in front -of the house he smiled. - -“Ah, he has seen her home and come down to carry out his promise to -Lillian. The story of the erring clerk may not be all moonshine.” - -He put his head out of the window. - -The carriage lamps shone below. - -It was a hack, drawn by dark horses. - -So had the other been. - -Darrell had not the slightest idea but that they were one and the same—he -flattered himself that he could read Joe Leslie like a book, for the man -was a poor plotter. - -Just as he suspected, there were footsteps on the stairs. - -Some one was coming. - -A knock sounded on his door. - -Opening it, who should be standing there but Joe Leslie in the flesh? - -“You are home at last—I have been here twice before and found you out,” -he said. - -Darrell believed once would answer, but of course he made no such remark. - -“Well, come in and sit down.” - -“No, I haven’t time.” - -“What do you want with me?” asked Darrell, just as though he did not -already know. - -“Can you give me an hour or so?” - -“Yes.” - -“I have a favorite clerk—I am afraid he has fallen into bad company. For -his mother’s sake I want to rescue him before it is too late.” - -Darrell admired the motive however much he distrusted the man. - -“Wait a minute and I will go with you.” - -He kicked off his slippers and drew on his shoes. Then a coat and hat -followed. The minute was not yet over when he announced himself in -readiness. - -Truly, Eric Darrell would do for a lightning change artist on the stage. - -They passed down the stairs of the house, which had apartments for -gentlemen only. - -New York is full of these bachelor dens, some of them having suites of -rooms furnished in a gorgeous manner that speaks of the sybarite taste of -the rich young or old owner. The bachelors of to-day live for their own -comfort, surrounded by all the luxuries money can purchase for them. - -No one thinks of pitying them any longer, least of all do they themselves -feel forlorn. - -People who love a home may sigh at such a picture, but it is the truth in -all large cities and New York above the rest. On the way down Joe spoke: - -“You know the places where such a young man is apt to be found, Eric?” - -“Well, I ought to—my business carries me into them every week,” replied -the other. - -“Then let us make the rounds.” - -He spoke wearily. - -Why not? - -When a man has been dancing for several hours, he cannot feel as fresh as -a daisy—it does not stand to reason. - -They entered the hack. - -Darrell gave his first address to Joe who repeated it to the driver. - -Away they went. - -“Hello! what’s wrong with your hand?” asked the detective. The carriage -lamps gave enough light for him to see that Joe had his handkerchief -wrapped around the knuckles of his right hand. - -“Took a tumble up a dark flight of stairs when I was looking awhile back -and bruised my knuckles.” - -Darrell smiled but made no remark. He thought he knew how that hand had -become bruised—it was in a more honorable business than falling up -stairs—in defending a weak and helpless woman against ruffians. - -“You know some of these places then, Joe?” - -“My driver knew of several, but I had hard work getting in.” - -Darrell thought so. - -“Perhaps they did not think I wanted to play, and may have been -suspicious of my intentions.” - -“No doubt. If you rescued some young fellow from their clutches, it -meant less money for their pockets.” - -They lapsed into silence. - -Soon the vehicle stopped. - -They entered a gambling den. - -Joe quickly declared his clerk was not there and they proceeded to -another. - -Four had been visited, and in the last one he discovered the young man at -the green baize, his face flushed with wine and excitement. - -The detective drew him out and brought him to his employer, at sight of -whom he turned white and put his hands to his eyes. - -Joe Leslie talked to him beautifully—even that hard-hearted detective, -Eric Darrell, who had seen so much of the world, had to turn his head -away and wink hard to dry up his tears. - -As for the boy—he was hardly more—what he heard so affected him that he -caught hold of Joe’s arm and sobbed outright. - -“As heaven is my judge, Mr. Leslie, from this hour I will never again -yield to temptation in any shape. What you said about my mother has -taken the scales from my eyes and I see.” - -Even Darrell knew he would stand firm. - -Joe Leslie had saved one soul. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII -THE JEHU ADDS TO THE MYSTERY - - -It gave Eric Darrell a strange feeling to hear Joe talk in the vein he -did. - -Of all men on earth—or women either—he despised a hypocrite. - -Could he believe Joe sincere in what he said about deceit, when such a -load of suspicion was resting over his own head? - -Eric was badly rattled. - -He believed and yet doubted. - -Something must soon come up to decide the question one way or another. - -On the way to his rooms, where Joe was to put him down, the latter fell -asleep in the corner, so no words passed between them. - -When the hack came to a stop Joe woke up. “Hello here, where are we?” - -“At my den;” and Eric got out as the driver opened the door. - -“Then I can have another nap before I reach my home.” - -“Good night, Joe.” - -“Don’t forget to-morrow morning, Eric.” - -“I shan’t, you may depend upon it.” - -As a sudden thought flashed through his mind he turned and looked at the -driver. - -Surely this was not the same man who had driven Joe from the _bal -masque_. - -The detective did not remember the number of the other vehicle, but had -seen the man—both wore the regulation tall stove-pipe hat, without which -no cabby is ever seen in New York, if he has any respect for himself, but -there was a decided difference in the height of the men. - -This again puzzled Eric. - -“What is your name, driver?” he asked, as the other was about to mount -his box. - -“John Mulligan, sor.” - -“German, of course?” smiling. - -“Yis, sor, direct from Cork.” - -“Where can you be found in the morning about ten o’clock?” - -The man gave his stand. - -“Then consider yourself engaged by myself from ten to twelve, and wait -for me.” - -“All right, sor.” - -The hack rattled down the street. - -Darrell looked after it and shook his head—he did not know really what to -think. - -In all the strange cases he had handled in the past, he could not -remember one which had presented such a confusing front as this. - -It faced both ways. - -He was not yet ready to believe either side until stronger proofs were -presented. - -At any rate another day would surely develop new features bearing on the -case, and from these he would be able to get conclusions. - -He retired at a quarter to three. - -It was his intention to rise at eight, and when he jumped out of bed the -clock lacked but a few minutes of the hour. - -Before nine he had breakfasted in a neighboring cafe. - -The other inmates of the bachelor apartment house had no idea of the -occupation the detective followed. - -He was a quiet fellow and did not seek acquaintances—besides, in New -York, people get acquainted only through regular channels—two families -might live next door for several years and their ways and hours are so -different that the members hardly know their neighbors by sight. - -It was now getting on toward the time when he ought to be up town. - -He ran down to his office first, and blossomed out as a first-class -masher, of the type who frequent the matinees—real lady killers. - -Then he next made his way up town on the elevated road, and got off at -Eighty-ninth Street. - -In a short time he was in the drug store near the home of the Leslies. - -The proprietor was talkative and friendly. - -It was just three minutes of ten when a gentleman passed along the -pavement in the direction of the house under surveillance. - -He turned and came into the drug store ostensibly to buy a cigar, but in -reality, as the detective guessed, to pass the time. - -Just as the clock was about striking he hurried out and was soon mounting -the steps leading to the Leslie mansion. - -Eric shrugged his shoulders. - -“There’s no accounting for tastes,” he muttered. - -“Yes,” laughed the druggist, “he picked out the poorest weed in the box.” - -But Darrell was thinking of something else. He had in mind the stalwart -figure and pleasing face of Joe Leslie. - -Between the two he saw no choice. - -Still, this man was in a way distinguished by his poetical appearance—his -face was smooth, all but a wavy mustache, and he wore his hair down upon -his shoulders. - -Eric spent some time talking to the druggist, but he kept watch upon the -Leslie domicile. At eleven the stranger came out. He was given egress -by Mrs. Leslie, and Darrell was put in mind of the photograph Joe had -shown him. - -His business now was to discover who this gentleman was. - -He followed him to the elevated railroad, and went in the car next to -that which the man under surveillance entered. - -Thus, at about eleven twenty-three, he followed the other along -Twenty-third Street and saw him enter a certain building among the -handsome stores. - -Still pursuing his man, carefully keeping him under his eye, he watched -until the other had entered a room on the top floor. - -There was a door-plate in sight. - -Going closer the detective read: - -“Paul Prescott—Artist.” - -He knew the name—the owner had quite a reputation as a painter, but Eric -had never as yet heard of him as a lady killer. - -His next work was to get some information concerning Mr. Prescott. - -There were other offices below, and entering one which seemed to be that -of an ivory carver, he introduced the subject by saying that he had -occasion to make use of an artist at his home, and wished to make certain -inquiries concerning the gentleman above. - -“I do not like to say anything,” remarked the ivory carver. - -“Oh, I’m not going to ask about his work—that stands on its own -merits—but as he would have to be a member of my family for a time if he -undertook the job, I would like to know if he is a perfect gentleman.” - -“I have no occasion to believe otherwise.” - -“Married?” - -“N—no.” - -“You seem to hesitate—am I to infer that you have any reason to believe -otherwise?” - -“I used to think he was, but of late he told me he was a widower.” - -“Oh, that’s it. I suppose he has lots of people visit his studio?” - -“Quite a number.” - -“Ladies and gentlemen?” - -“Ladies particularly—he’s very fond of the gentle sex, and they quite -make a hero of him.” - -Darrell smiled. - -He had seen stage favorites whom the silly women of New York were wont to -rave over, and knew just how foolishly they could act. - -Thank heaven all women are not alike, and yet their weak points are more -or less developed in the whole sex, as with men. - -He sighed as he thought of it, and then he turned again, loyal to the -resolve he had made not to condemn Lillian without the most absolute -proof. - -As he left the building he remembered the hack driver. - -Could he reach his stand before twelve? - -He started off—a street car assisted him up Sixth Avenue, and he arrived -just five minutes before the noon hour. - -John was there. - -He had the same horses as on the previous night, and showed no marks of -his late hours. - -At sight of the detective he made no sign of recognition, which was quite -natural, for the latter’s disguise was complete. - -“Hello, John, I want your vehicle,” Eric said. - -“I’m engaged just now, sor.” - -“Yes, warming your heels. John, I’m the gentleman who engaged you last -night.” - -The man made a peculiar face. - -“Tell that till the marines, sor. Ain’t I got eyes—phat good are they if -I don’t see?” - -“Well, they’re no good if they can’t see that—five dollars, pay for the -two hours you’ve waited.” - -The man looked at the bill and took it. “Faith an’ now I know ye’re the -gentlemon,” he said with a leer. - -It is strange yet true that such a man can always see better with a bank -bill over his eyes. “Did my friend Leslie get home all right?” - -“Yes, sor.” - -“Anybody waiting up for him?” carelessly. - -“His wife I reckon, sor—leastways she let him in directly the kerriage -stopped.” - -This was a point for the detective. - -He made a note of it. - -“Have you driven for Mr. Leslie before?” - -“Several times, sor.” - -“Fine fellow.” - -“That’s where yees are correct—he’s a man I could do lots for.” - -This was not flattery—the true ring could be detected in such praise—it -came from the heart. - -“How did it come he had another driver earlier in the night?” - -“Him—Mr. Joseph Leslie—sure I took him from his house and brought him -back and divil another driver did he have at all. Phat are yees drivin’ -at? I dunno!” - -“I made a mistake, John—I see it now.” - -To himself, however, this hunter of men was saying: - -“Probably Joe has bought this fellow up, body and soul—that would account -for his desire to serve him.” - -Nothing could be more easily done, for the man looked like one who would -be faithful. - -If this were the case it would be love’s labor lost to attempt to get any -intelligence out of such a man. - -Still, Eric Darrell prided himself on his manner of cross questioning, -and he began to work the jehu in a manner that was novel to say the -least. - -Thus he found that to all appearances John had driven down town, and -taken the gentleman to several places besides the apartment house where -he held forth. - -Altogether they had visited three houses where games of chance were going -on but there was so much trouble effecting an entrance to these places -that it had consumed much time. - -If this were true it would make the puzzle darker than ever. - -The question was, could John be trusted? - -He had to watch the man keenly in order to read him at all. - -An Irishman can dissemble about as well as the next one, and this jehu -was a particularly bright boy, from the “ould dart.” - -“Did you meet any one you knew about a quarter of twelve?” asked the -detective. - -“Did I—yes, it was just striking the midnight hour when I spoke to Mike -Crotty, the night police at the corner av Broadway and Worth Street.” - -“I know him—what remarks passed?” - -“We both spoke av the bells—and Mike towld me about a dancing in the -moonlight he saw wanst in ould Ireland, when the fairies came out to -howld their only ball—it was at this hour he seen it and lost his mind. -Whin he found it again the beastly work had stopped and the fairies were -gone.” - -“Well, I guess it’s too late for me to do what I meant to. I won’t need -you to-day, John. Sometime I may want your help.” - -With these words Eric Darrell coolly turned and walked away. The -Irishman looked after him quizzically. - -“He’s an odd genius, but, d’ye know, I rather like the man. Just as if I -don’t know where he’s gone. Hope he finds Mike Crotty on deck this fine -day.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX -JOE’S SECRET - - -Mike Crotty was on deck. Eric readily found him. - -The man was a stranger to him, but there is a mystic tie between the -detectives and police in a great city—they work in harmony. - -Soon the two men were conversing with the greatest freedom. - -Crotty had often heard of Detective Darrell, and was only too glad to -supply any information that lay in his power. He remembered meeting the -hackman and spoke of the bells ringing out the midnight hour. - -There could be no mistake. - -When Eric left the officer, he was a badly puzzled man to be sure. -Instead of having solved the mystery it was assuming even darker -proportions, and the chances seemed equally divided. - -Was Joe guilty or not? - -If, as these men agreed, he was at a certain place just as the solemn -midnight hour rang out, how could he have been at the _bal masque_—it was -at that hour of unmasking the Spanish bull fighter and his consort, the -Lady of Cards, drove away in another vehicle and yet—that man possessed -the stalwart figure of Joe Leslie—Eric believed he would know it -anywhere—he had answered to the name of Joe, while his companion was -Marian. - -The difficulties in the way might have daunted a less persevering officer -than Darrell. - -They only spurred him on to renewed exertions. He gloried in a puzzle. - -To a man of his nature it was the most pleasurable work in the world, -studying the intricacies of a mystery, grasping a thread in the -labyrinthine maze, following it along inch by inch, until the whole thing -resolved itself into a solved problem. - -Then, when the end came, how proud he would be to survey his work. - -He began to give Joe the benefit of the doubt. This was one point -gained. - -It is a rule in American courts never to adjudge a man guilty until he -has been proven so—the law looks upon him as innocent, and all efforts of -the prosecutor are directed toward proving the charges. - -In some other countries the opposite is the case and the accused has to -prove his innocence. - -Eric Darrell was gradually applying this former principle to the case in -question. - -Perhaps Joe might be innocent, and this cloud hanging over him be the -result of circumstantial evidence. - -At any rate the detective hoped so. - -He looked at his watch mechanically. - -Just now the thought came into his head that he must find out all about -Joe before another night had spread its mantle over the city. - -The time dragged along. - -He had some work to do in his office, and this consumed something like an -hour. - -Then he made his way slowly in the direction of Twenty-seventh Street. - -It was about four when he came in sight of the house around which -clustered so much that was mysterious. - -Sauntering along, he kept watch for Joe, feeling almost sure the other -would come. - -Sure enough, at the regular time his tall figure came in view. - -Darrell managed it so that at this moment he was nearly opposite the -house. - -He could see Joe without looking in a particular manner across the -street, and he saw that the other appeared nervous and worried. - -Was his guilty secret wearing on his mind? - -Something undoubtedly disturbed him. - -Any one could see that from the expression on his face. - -As usual, when he came in front of the house, he turned and looked up the -street, as though he were afraid lest some one whom he knew would -recognize him. - -Then he went up the steps. - -There was no ringing the bell. - -With a key he opened the door as though proprietor there. - -Then Darrell, passing on, lost sight of him. The detective crossed the -street beyond, and came on down, intending to pass the house again. - -He changed his mind. - -When just opposite, looking up he saw that fortune beckoned him. - -The door was ajar. - -Joe had been a trifle careless, and made a mistake when he thought he -closed the door. - -What could be better? - -Mr. Darrell was a man quick to make up his mind, and he instantly saw a -chance here to further his plans. - -Without hesitating an instant he advanced up the steps, stood upon the -door-step, and seemed to glance around carelessly, when in reality he was -listening to catch any sound that might come from the interior. - -Another moment and he had entered. - -Perhaps some one saw him, but he had put on an air of proprietorship such -as Joe wore, and curious eyes must have simply reached the conclusion -that his coming was but another link in the chain of mystery surrounding -the house. - -Once in the hall, the detective quietly closed the door, making sure it -was fast. - -Enough light came in through the glass above to show him the stairs. - -There was carpet on the floor. - -Near by were folding doors, and, as they stood ajar, Darrell poked his -head through, not merely out of curiosity, but because he felt that he -had an interest in the matter. - -The parlor was furnished. - -It was no empty house into which he had come thus surreptitiously. - -He listened. - -Not a sound from within. - -How strange it seemed. - -What could it all mean? - -Vague and even terrible ideas flashed into his mind—was Joe connected -with some secret cabal or society that met here every day? - -Perhaps some awful secret was gnawing at his vitals, and daily sapping -his life. - -What was that? - -A door slammed above. - -Eric was glad to hear it, for he realized that the house had something -human about it. - -As near as he could judge the sound came from upstairs. - -Then he would not have to grapple with the demons of the underground -world. - -At times even the oddest fancies will surge through the most prosaic -mind. - -One of the thoughts that had come to him was that possibly Joe had become -connected with some gang of counterfeiters—he had heard of things just as -strange—and although it seemed a preposterous idea in connection with -Joe, still it had already become apparent that there was something very -strange connected with him and why not this as well as any other? - -Lately Eric had been reading Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and his mind was -full of strange fancies concerning the awful change that was wont to come -over that unfortunate being, who lived two lives, each unknown to the -other. - -It did not seem possible that Joe Leslie could be doing this exactly, but -he might be carrying on two characters successfully. - -At his business and his home up-town he was known as Joseph G. Leslie—on -Twenty-seventh Street he might be Mr. Lester. To tear the mask away and -expose the truth was what brought the detective here now. - -In the interest of justice he was bound to do this much. - -Then again he thought of Lillian. - -In his indignation he wished she could be there to face her husband when -his guilty secret was laid bare. - -It might seem cruel—so does the hot iron of the doctor when applied to -the marks left by the teeth of an enraged dog, but it is done with -kindness—heroic treatment saves one from something more terrible beyond. -Perhaps, if faced by Lillian, Joe would break down and receive a shock -that would last him all the rest of his natural life. - -So the detective made up his mind not to betray his presence now if he -could help it, but reserve the _denouement_ to a later date, when it -could be made more dramatic. - -All he meant to do now was to secure certain evidence for future use. - -The stairs, being carpeted, gave forth no sound when he began ascending. - -He felt rather peculiar about this whole business—had this man been a -stranger he would not have experienced this same uneasiness; but Joe -Leslie—to think that he should be upon the track of his old friend, and -with such a purpose in view. - -Once the stairs creaked under his weight and he stood still—the sound was -preternaturally loud in an empty house; but there was no result, so that -he presently continued his course of exploration. - -Vehicles rumbled past the house—he could hear them plainly, as though -some window were open near at hand. - -Just as he reached the top of the stairs a cough reached his ears—it was -a man who gave utterance to it, probably Joe. - -No voices? - -How singular! - -Eric Darrell’s wonder arose with each passing moment—strange to say, he -was trembling all over now with excitement. - -No living soul had ever seen this man in such a condition before, which -fact went to prove how deep his interest was in the game he was now -pursuing. - -Not for worlds would he have stopped, now that his hand was on the plow. - -The end must be near, and Joe’s deep secret could not long remain such—it -must be met and dragged to the light. - -Darrell looked around him, since he was now at the head of the stairs. - -The house seemed to be furnished throughout, and yet there seemed an air -of desertion and loneliness about it, as though it lacked the daily care -of a housekeeper—little things seemed to be lacking that would indicate -the fact of its being a habitation that was occupied—where human beings -lived and moved. - -Somehow this fact impressed itself on the detective’s mind. - -He did not have much time for thought, as action was necessary. - -When the brave soldier finds himself face to face with the enemy, he does -not spend the minutes in reflection, but acts. - -So with Eric—he had looked forward to this period for quite a time, and -now that it had arrived, he was not the one to tarry. - -Where was Joe? - -As nearly as he could place them the sounds had come from the front room. - -He crept silently along in that direction—the door was open, and nothing -prevented his seeing the interior of the apartment. - -It was furnished, but did not contain a single occupant—light crept -through the inside blinds, sufficient to show him this fact, and his -wonder was simply increased to a fever heat. - -In the name of heaven, what did all this strange mystery mean—where was -Joe—what freak induced him to come here, and— - -An odd, crackling sound reached his ears—ah! it proceeded from a small -room used as a dressing-room, the door of which was closed. - -Eric crept over to it and listened—all was as still as death within. - -Baffled in this endeavor, he leaned against the door, pressing his ear -close to the panel, to catch any voices—if conspirators were gathered -there they must talk—this silence could not be long maintained. - -The door must have been on the latch—at any rate it was not fastened, and -as Eric leaned against it this impediment to his vision slowly gave way, -opening a foot or so, and Joe Leslie’s terrible secret was revealed to -the detective’s eyes. - - - - -CHAPTER X -THAT MEERSCHAUM PIPE - - -In his time Eric Darrell had seen many strange sights, and experienced -odd sensations; but the spectacle that now presented itself to his -wondering eyes created a feeling within him such as had never yet come -upon him. - -He gaped in amazement, scarcely able to believe his senses. - -To such a high pitch had his expectations been drawn that he looked for -something of a startling nature. - -The shock was tremendous, and yet it rather proceeded from a sudden -revulsion of feeling, than because the scene exceeded his expectations. - -There was but one occupant in the small apartment, upon the threshold of -which he stood when the door gave way so unceremoniously. - -This was Joe. - -He was dressed differently than when Eric had seen him enter the house, -and seemed to have on an old suit of clothes, while a soft hat was drawn -down upon his head. - -He lay back in an easy chair, from which he started up in wonder and -alarm as the door was thus burst open. - -Darrell noted one thing. - -In his hand Joe held a large meerschaum pipe and the white smoke was -curling upward from the end of it in wreaths. - -Before him was the conspirator, caught in the act, red-handed. - -No wonder Joe turned fiery red. - -The inside blind was closed, but the window appeared to be open. - -Joe had a lamp lighted—doubtless the gas was turned off from the house, -as it generally is from an empty or unoccupied building—and most men -prefer to see when smoking. - -Over Eric Darrell there swept a wave of feeling. All his old regard for -this good-natured giant rushed back to him. - -He held Joe’s secret. - -Thank heaven it was not more serious. - -As for Joe himself, not recognizing the other, he sprang up in a -belligerent way. - -“Hello, here! What’s wanted?” he demanded. - -“Joe!” - -“The deuce take it—who are you?” uneasily. - -“Eric.” - -That was enough. - -Leslie advanced, holding out his hand in a sort of hesitating, shamefaced -way. - -“Ah! old man, glad to see you, but I declare I didn’t know you at first.” - -“Nor I you, Joe,” calmly. - -“That’s so—I do look like a tramp, don’t I?” with a glance at his own -person. - -“It wasn’t that, but I was amazed at finding you engaged in such a -business when you declared to me you had quit smoking.” - -Joe turned still redder in confusion. - -“Darrell, you’re mistaken—I’ve never told a living man that!” he cried. - -“What! didn’t you refuse my cigar?” - -“Yes.” - -“And say—” - -“I had quit smoking cigars at the request of my wife. Well, I have, and -not a cigar has passed my lips since that day.” - -Eric burst out laughing. - -“Ah! Joe, my boy, I see it all. You were unable to keep to the letter -of your promise and you have been maintaining this bachelor’s hall ever -since, where once a day you have crept in to have a good smoke.” - -“Eric, what you say is true—I am a slave to the weed, and I dare not -confess it to my wife. She despises such slaves. My ears have tingled -many a time at the sarcastic way in which she referred to such poor -devils, at the same time thanking heaven that she had a husband with -stamina enough to give up the vile habit when he became civilized.” - -Joe groaned and looked at his meerschaum pipe with a strange mixture of -disgust and veneration. - -He had a sympathetic auditor, for Eric was just as deep in the mud as he -was in the mire, so far as smoking was concerned. - -“What you say may be true, Joe, and yet it would be well for you to drop -on your marrowbones at once and confess all to your wife.” - -“Good heavens! do you mean it?” - -“I do, indeed.” - -“But I can’t—she will despise me. I had better make a determined effort -to throw off this wretched habit, even if it kills me.” - -“You make a mistake in one thing, old man. I believe your wife, instead -of reproaching you, will throw her arms around your neck and tell you to -smoke after this when you please.” - -“Goodness gracious! why should she do this?” - -“Because she will be so delighted to discover that it is no worse.” - -“No worse—it is as bad as it could be in her estimation. I shall feel -like a criminal,” and the good-natured giant shuddered. - -He was not accustomed to deceit. - -“Well, you mark my words—she will reproach you less than you believe.” - -“You speak in riddles—why should she be delighted to know it is no -worse—why are you here—Heavens alive, man, has she employed you to watch -me—does she already know I am engaged in this shameful deceit?” - -He poured these questions out. - -Already a light was beginning to shine before his eyes. - -The detective smiled. - -“Thank your stars, Joe Leslie, that when you face your sweet wife you -have nothing more serious to confess than this fault.” - -“What did you suspect—what does she think?” he asked, almost -breathlessly. - -“That you were false to her.” - -“Darrell, I’d sooner be torn to pieces than be such a wretch,” he -declared, vehemently. - -“I believe you now, Joe, but must confess that up to this very hour -things looked black for you.” - -“How was that?” - -“Circumstances were against you.” - -“Tell me all, Eric—everything.” - -The detective sees no reason why he should not. He believes in this man -thoroughly now, and would trust him through everything. - -So he begins and tells him all. - -Joe’s head rests upon his hand—the detective could not see his face, but -he knew how it worked with feeling, and when he described how Lillian was -dreadfully shocked when she heard of the _bal masque_ and Joe’s apparent -presence there, he was not at all surprised to see a large tear drop upon -the arm of the chair. - -With tears in his eyes Joe looked up. - -“Darrell, you ought to know me better than that. I am not that kind of a -man. My whole life is wrapped up in my wife, and if I should lose her, -either by death or any other means, it would kill me outright.” - -“I believe it, Joe, I do indeed.” - -Then he finished his story. - -Joe was greatly wrought up. - -“I shall go to Lillian at once—she shall hear the truth from my lips -first, not yours. Perhaps she will forgive me. If she says the word I -will break my pipe”—with a sort of sob—“and quit the whole infernal -business if it kills me.” - -“I can arrange it so that she will beg you to smoke, Joe. Depend upon -it, Lillian has learned that there are evils a thousand times worse than -the one habit to which you are addicted.” - -“See here, Eric, you don’t believe this thing of my being at the _bal -masque_?” - -“I do not, and yet just see how circumstantial evidence will hang a man. -The chain of evidence was complete. You went out on an apparent quixotic -errand; I saw a man with your figure escort a lady into that place; his -name, singularly enough was Joe, and I heard some one say she was a Mrs. -Lester or something of that kind, while I heard her tell the driver -Twenty-seventh Street.” - -“Good heavens!” muttered poor Joe, appalled. - -“Worse still, your wife showed me a picture of her sister, at my request. -I pretended to be interested and spoke of your joking me, and my promise -to call when that sister came from California. - -“To my horror I heard that man whom I supposed to be you, call that -dark-haired lady at the masquerade by that name.” - -“Marian?” - -“Yes. You can imagine the awful feelings it aroused within me; the whole -thing seemed so plain that I was appalled. Joe Leslie dropped from the -high place he held in my esteem and at that time I almost hated you.” - -“I don’t wonder at it, old fellow, and think all the more of you for it.” - -“Later on I became vacillating—several things occurred that broke me up -completely, among others the statement made by your driver.” - -“How was that?” - -“He declared you were down town all the evening and to prove it stated -that he had talked with an officer I know just at midnight.” - -“Yes, I remember.” - -“I proved this true, and that aroused my suspicions for the first time. -If you were down town you could not be at the _bal masque_ at the same -minute—for it was a few minutes before midnight that the melee occurred -and the man I thought to be you floored his assailants.” - -“I see. I must hunt up this Joe Lester and discover who and what he is. -Perhaps we have been playing the two Dromios again.” - -Joe had knocked the ashes from his pipe and locked the treasure up in a -closet in the larger front room, where his clothes were hanging. - -The artful villain was wont to change his garments when he entered here, -in order that he might not go home saturated with tobacco smoke. - -Eric saw the whole thing plainly. - -He felt in exuberant spirits. - -So far as Joe was concerned, the whole business had turned out -delightfully. - -Just then the detective’s mind did not turn in any other direction. - -He forgot all about the other side of the case, and seemed to consider -the matter settled. - -Peace would again come upon the disturbed family relations of his friend -Joe, and all be as lovely as of yore. - -Of course Lillian would be only too glad to close up the matter by -forgiving her husband. - -His sin was not a grievous one, and so great would be her relief at -finding him faithful and true that she would gladly forget it all. - -Under these circumstances Darrell watched Joe get into his clothes with -sincere satisfaction. - -He had never been more worried over anything than he was with this, and -now that it had all turned out so well, he felt a satisfaction that -seemed to permeate his whole system. - -When Joe had dressed himself, he seemed to have made up his mind about a -certain thing. - -Taking the beloved meerschaum pipe out of the closet, he laid it in a -case and tucked the whole under his arm. - -“What’s that for?” asked Eric. - -“She shall smash it to pieces—I cannot.” - -“Well, I don’t believe Lillian ever will. Make a clean breast of it, old -fellow.” - -“I intend to.” - -“Then you are safe—she is too gentle not to forgive, and I expect to see -you soon smoking a cigar on the street like other men.” - -“No, no, I can’t do that—I would feel like a wretch to ever do that.” - -“Mark my words, she will insist on it—her scruples must vanish, and I -expect she will really enjoy the flavor of a fine cigar soon, when her -Joe is at the other end of it.” - -Joe smiled dismally—he realized that he had business before him that -would try his nerves, for as a man he had pride and must now humble -himself before the woman he loved! But his mind was made up, and he -actually felt already as though a load had been taken from his -shoulders—just as the prodigal son, as soon as he decided to return to -his father, experienced a new feeling of peace. - -They left the house and parted at the elevated station, one going up, the -other down town. - -As he reached the platform, the detective suddenly felt a cold shiver go -over him at sight of a man. - -It was Paul Prescott, the artist. - -There rushed over Eric the memory of that other half of the mystery, and -he groaned—this time his sympathy was with Joe and not his wife. - - - - -CHAPTER XI -ALL IS FORGIVEN - - -Joe Leslie never felt so mean in all his life as when he approached his -house up town on this evening. - -He knew he had been playing a miserable part in deceiving his wife with -regard to his smoking, but subterfuge was something generally foreign to -Joe’s nature, and this made it seem all the worse to him. - -Still, he did not sneak along in a cringing way. Never had he walked -more uprightly—for he could look people in the face now, at least, and -was determined to make a clean breast of it. - -Lillian was watching from the parlor window, herself hidden from view. - -She thought she had never seen Joe looked so manly, as when he walked up -to the house, and her heart seemed cold to think that it may have been -the smiles of some rival that brought this look of pleasure to his face. - -Thus a man may feel mean, and at the same time appear joyous. - -When Joe entered the house he saw a light back in the library. - -Straight in that direction he walked. - -Lillian was seated there apparently reading—how was he to know she had -hastily flown hither from her lookout? - -Joe softly closed the door. Another minute and he stood before his wife. - -“Lillian, my wife, look up.” - -Somewhat startled, she did so. - -“Why, Joe!” - -“I want you to know what a base man you have for a husband, Lillian.” - -“You mean—” she gasped. - -“That I have a confession to make, and I am determined to make it now.” - -“A confession, Joseph—” and the little woman gained her feet. - -Her face was white with a sudden fear—she even believed Joe was about to -tell her some terrible truth—that he had never loved her—perhaps had been -married ere he knew her. - -At any rate she was dreadfully alarmed. - -“Yes, I have been a villain to treat the best little woman in all the -world so, but this old love was with me long before I knew you—it had -become a part of my very life. I never knew how strong it was until -lately. God knows I have tried to shake it off, and be faithful to my -promise, but I am weak. I have sinned, Lillian, my wife, and I stand -here humbly to ask if you can ever forgive me.” - -He stood there with bowed head, proud even in his humility. - -“But oh, Joe, to think—that woman—” and she burst into a torrent of -tears. - -He seized her hands and took them down from her face. - -“Good heavens, Lillian, I forgot that you believed that. It is no -woman—I have never been unfaithful to you in word or deed—that was not I -whom Darrell saw at the _bal masque_ last night, dear. I am yours, -wretched man that I am, but yours alone, always.” - -“But what—I don’t understand—you say you have sinned and yet that you are -innocent. Oh, Joe, please tell me everything.” - -“I would be a base wretch if I did not. Do you remember making me give a -promise before we were married, Lillian?” - -“Not about your cigars, Joe?” - -“That’s it,” eagerly; “and for a time I suffered terrible torments in -keeping it to the letter; but after a while the devil tempted me. He -said, ‘You promised to give up cigars—nothing was said about your pipe.’ -Lillian, like a weak fool I gave in, and daily almost, for months, I have -gone to the house I own in Twenty-seventh Street, changed my clothes and -enjoyed half an hour’s smoke. - -“It was a cruel deception on you, and I have felt like a sneak in doing -it. Thanks to Darrell my eyes have been opened and I am here to confess -all, asking forgiveness.” - -Lillian could hardly believe her ears—she turned a face illumined upon -her husband. “Joe, dear Joe, is this your dreadful secret?” - -“It is,” solemnly. - -“You are sure you have told me everything?” - -“There is not another thing I have ever kept from you, my darling.” - -“And you love no one else?” - -“Not a living soul but my wife.” - -“Oh! I am so glad.” - -With these words she flew into his arms, and Joe, bending down, gravely -kissed his own. - -“You are sure you can forgive me, dearest?” - -“Forgive you—oh, Joe, I shall _love_ tobacco after this.” - -“See, I have brought my pipe here for you to destroy—I couldn’t quite do -it myself, for I’ve had it many years. But you shall be the -executioner.” - -“Not for worlds—if this is the only rival I have to fear I can share my -place in your heart with it. You shall smoke after dinner, and I myself -will fill your pipe.” - -He kissed her fingers tenderly. - -“Ah! dearest, what a fool I have been all this while, to suffer as I have -when by confession I might have long since been absolved. But I am -sincere in my resolve to stop smoking.” - -“And I am just as firmly resolved that you shall not. I am cured of my -folly. But for that foolish prejudice you would never have been led to -deceive me.” - -They held sweet communion for some little time, and all seemed as lovely -as during the bright days of their courtship. - -Then the dinner bell rang. - -Together they went down, Joe’s arm around his wife, as though they were -lovers. - -After the meal was over they again sought the library, and chatted. - -“Now for your pipe, Joe, dear,” said Lillian. - -He protested. - -It was of no avail—she was determined that he had suffered enough—better -love with a cigar in the house than the absence of both. - -Few men will condemn Joe’s weakness. - -In other respects he could be adamant, but he owned up to being very fond -of a smoke. - -So Lillian took his bag of tobacco out of the case which also held the -pipe, filled the bowl and brought it to him. - -He kissed her on the spot—what else could he do? - -“A match, please, dear, since you insist upon it—I am out of them.” - -“And the holder is also empty—stay, here is a scrap of paper that will -do.” - -She took a piece out of the waste basket and, without looking at it, -twisted a lighter. - -This she held in the gas jet, and, lighted, brought it over to Joe, who -calmly laid it on his pipe, puffed a few times, and then, blowing out the -flame, knocked the red ashes off the lighter, laying it on the table for -possible use again. - -Then he eyed his wife quizzically. - -She was looking at him with a smile. - -“I feel like a brute, Lillian, to inflict such a torment upon you. Say -the word, and the whole thing goes forever.” - -“Not I,” she replied; “I never knew how fragrant the odor was. If you -must smoke, my husband, you shall do it as other gentlemen do, in your -own home, but always smoke the best cigars and few of them.” - -This was charming, Joe thought. - -He had not been so happy for months. - -It often happens that the skies are clearest just before the worst of -storms. - -Joe saw no cloud on the horizon. - -All the same it was there, and ready to blot out the sunshine like magic. - -It came about in a peculiar way. - -Lillian had settled down to read a book she was interested in, and Joe -had his paper. - -While he read he mechanically fingered the lighter with the charred end, -and untwisted it. - -Finally he looked over his paper at his wife and mused. - -How good she was to make his penance so light and how happy he ought to -be in the possession of such a dear little woman. - -Evidently Joe had forgotten something. - -He found his pipe had gone out during his musing, and taking hold of the -paper she had twisted for him, was about to make a lighter out of it -again, when he received what seemed to be an electric shock. - -A name had caught his eye on the paper. He held it up closer. - -Yes, there could be no mistake—it was a note his wife had twisted up—by -some mistake it had come into his waste basket. - -What was left of it after the burning he read: - - “if you can contrive to conceal it from your husband until then, all - will be well. I think I can rely upon your discretion—everything - goes on well, and our secret is, I believe, safe. - - “Faithfully yours, - - “PAUL PRESCOTT.” - -When poor Joe had taken this in he felt as though he had been plunged -into an icy bath. - -The joyous spirit of contentment that had pervaded his whole being was -gone. - -Suspicion, jealousy, unrest, came trooping in with renewed force. - -His own late experience should have been a lesson to him, but it was not. - -The first thing he did was to fold the paper up and put it in his pocket. - -Why he did this he often wondered later on, when the right course would -have been to have handed it to Lillian for explanation. - -He looked at his paper again, but did not see that he had it upside down. - -Thought was busy. - -He was trying to convince himself that it was none of his business -anyhow—that he had had his secret and why not Lillian. - -Then again he remembered that she was his wife—what concerned her -concerned him. - -At any rate Joe’s sudden happiness was overcast—clouds had covered the -sky. - -He began to feel miserable. - -As it was not his design that Lillian should see this, he assumed a -cheerfulness he was far from feeling. - -The evening passed. - -Joe wished to get in a closet at one end of the room, but found it -locked. - -“I wonder where the key of this door is. I’m sure I didn’t take it.” - -Accidentally he chanced to look toward Lillian while speaking, and was -almost startled to see the color fly into her face. - -“I believe I left it up-stairs, Joe. If you really want it I might go up -and see if I can get it.” - -“Oh! no, dear, it doesn’t matter. Another time will do as well,” he said -carelessly. - -At the same time, for the life of him he could not help associating her -action with the letter received from Paul Prescott. - -It worried him. - -He was diverted from this state by Lillian, who asked about the clerk, so -Joe told all that had been done the night before—he had spoken of it ere -now, but had not given particulars. - -Woman-like she was interested, and declared she loved him better because -of the mercy he had shown for the boy. - -Then Lillian retired. - -Joe sat there a long time thinking. - -Finally he got up and went over to the closet as if to effect an -entrance, trying several of the keys on his bunch but with no success. - -Then he walked up and down. - -At times he was dejected and again his face seemed to speak of sudden -passion. - -Human nature is a strange thing. - -A man enters an omnibus and frowns to hear the growls of those -comfortably settled as they make room for him—presently another comes in, -and his growls at being forced to squeeze into a smaller compass exceed -the rest. - -Joe, upstairs, discovered the missing key on the dainty dresser of his -wife’s room—he took it in his hand, started for the door, stopped, made -an impatient gesture, and returned the key to the place where he found -it. - -“Suspect her—never,” he muttered, and yet at the very moment his feelings -had gotten beyond his control—it was pride that kept him from venturing -to pry into her secret and discover what lay hidden in the library -closet. - -Thus Joe had won and lost a victory. - - - - -CHAPTER XII -THE OPIUM JOINT - - -Eric Darrell watched the man whom he had thus met on the platform of the -elevated station. He wondered what magical power Paul Prescott possessed -over Joe Leslie’s wife. - -The man was odd looking, as a genius is ever supposed to be, but there -was nothing about him to indicate that he might be a masher or a -heart-breaker. - -Darrell looked him over, taking a mental measurement of the man, as he -had a dim idea the time might be near at hand when they would be on -opposite sides. - -The other left the train. Darrell followed him. - -Presently he saw a woman join the artist and hand him a note, which he -seemed to read with great eagerness, then he hurried off. - -The keen eyes of the detective had noted something of extreme importance. - -When Prescott believed he put the note away in his pocket, in reality it -fluttered down to the pavement as he hastened away. - -In just five seconds by the watch it was in the possession of Eric -Darrell. - -He then continued on his way to his rooms. - -Reaching his den he changed his appearance, and appeared in his natural -figure. Then he took out the paper just found and eagerly scrutinized -it; not that he was particularly interested in the secrets of Paul -Prescott, but the artist had crossed his path, and hence all that he did -should be scrutinized. - -As he suspected, the writing was in a lady’s chirography—so many ladies -write alike, as though taught by a certain school, that individuality is -lost. - -This is what the detective read, and it opened his eyes in an astonishing -manner: - - “My beloved Paul—I consent at last to your proposition—in flight - alone we can be safe. I shall be ready when you come to take me. - _He_ will be like a tiger let loose—I know his passion. I believe he - would have killed me ere now had he suspected our secret. Carry out - your plan—I understand, and am willing to fly from an uncongenial - home to the one you will make for me. - - With love, your own - - L.” - -That was all. Heaven knows it was enough. Darrell let the paper drop on -the table with a sharp cry of pain. - -“Poor Joe! poor honest old Joe! You thought you were deceiving your wife -past forgiveness because you chose to smoke a pipe in secret, and here -she conspires to leave you in the lurch. Joe is the ogre referred to, -savage as a tiger. Woman—well, I’ll be hanged if I want to know her -sister after all. I never was so deceived in all my life. It is a -shame—an accursed shame, and that villain shall pay dearly for it all.” - -Then he examined the note again, endeavoring to read between the lines. - -His indignation grew apace. - -Joe had proven himself pure gold, and he had more confidence in him than -ever, but there was something here that needed investigation, and the -case looked black for Lillian. - -The note was signed with an L. - -However, Darrell, always cautious, was not ready to condemn without a -hearing—what he had already seen this night taught him the fallacy of -circumstantial evidence. - -First of all he must secure a scrap of Mrs. Leslie’s handwriting and -compare it with that which he held in his hand. - -That could be done in the morning he had no doubt—it would not prove a -formidable task to one of his executive ability. - -There was an ugly look about the business he did not like, and he was -anxious to be at the truth. - -About eight o’clock, having had his supper, and made certain inquiries -that put him into possession of facts he desired to know, Darrell found -himself watching for Paul Prescott at the lodgings of the artist. - -It was the desire of the detective to acquaint himself with some of the -customs of the man whom he meant to investigate. - -This was always his plan when engaged in such a business—he found it paid -to size a man up and see what his habits were. - -When a man was suspected of being a forger, or a check raiser, or a -defaulter, Darrell’s very first action was to discover who his usual -companions were, where he passed his leisure time, and whether he was -addicted to little vices. His secret character always told the story. - -A young man might be a Sunday-school teacher, and apparently as straight -as a die to all outward appearances, but if Darrell on tracking him found -that he secretly frequented gambling houses he knew he had his man. - -What does it avail if the outside of the peach is fair to gaze upon when -all is rotten below? - -So he now desired to learn what this peculiar looking artist really was. - -He had a good reputation among people generally, but then this counted as -little. - -Much dross might be taken for pure gold did not the assayer apply his -tests. - -That was what Darrell did—looked into each man’s private character, -unknown to the individual under the scrutiny. - -He seemed to take it for granted that the artist would come out, and in -this he appeared to make no mistake. Sure enough Prescott appeared. - -He was evidently off for the evening, but did not dress as though he -meant to spend it in fashionable society. - -Darrell followed him to a certain club where artists were wont to -congregate, and here the other seemed quite a favorite. - -At half-past eleven Prescott left this place. He did not head toward -home. - -On the contrary he seemed ill at ease, and looked around him once or -twice as though he were afraid lest some of his fellows at the club -should be near. - -This action in itself was suspicious to Eric—it indicated that the artist -had certain habits which he desired to keep a secret even from those who -would have thought the least of it. - -Darrell’s curiosity was at once aroused. - -He realized that now the game would probably be worth the hunting. - -At any rate, since the opportunity was now given him, he was determined -to learn more about the artist than he had known before. - -Paul Prescott headed down town, boarding a Third Avenue street car near -Fourteenth Street. On the same car, out in front, stood Eric, enjoying -the bracing night air. - -He could see without being seen, and managed to keep an eye on the -artist. When he saw the other finally rise he knew he was about to leave -the car, and the detective forestalled him. - -Once on the pavement he waited for his man and then shadowed him. - -Darrell was not greatly surprised at what he learned—the place he entered -was an opium joint, kept by a Chinaman and an American in partnership, -probably the largest about town. Here a good class of customers were -wont to resort, and among others several actors, a doctor, a well known -jurist, a writer, together with several women, whose attire and jewelry -proved them to belong to the upper circle. - -Many a man’s history received a downward impetus dating from the hour he -first entered this den of iniquity. - -Darrell knew it well. - -He had been in it a number of times in the course of the last year—those -whom he hunted had come here. - -A clerk had robbed his employer for money to pay the opium fiend—once the -habit gains full sway and the victim will do anything on earth in order -to get money to pay for a few pipes and an hour of the peculiar drunken -fancy. - -Knowing the ropes was of assistance to the detective now. - -He went in, and assuming the eager, trembling manner of an habitue -demanded a bunk and a pipe. All the while he used his eyes. - -The room was supplied with lounges and settees—the usual bunks were in -another apartment where the Chinese and cheaper grade of smokers could -indulge their pet vice for a smaller sum. - -This place was furnished with something of Oriental splendor, and the -detective could not but admire the barbaric taste of the proprietor. - -The couches spread around were soft and inviting, Turkish in their -make—some had curtains partly drawn, so that the occupant was half -screened. - -Three of these were occupied by women. This was no uncommon sight. - -That two of them wore veils was evidence that they had not yet been -hardened by the drug; but all this would come in time. - -The third had thrown her veil back, and her set face could be seen, the -eyes staring into vacancy, as though sightless. - -Wretched sinners that they were, drawn onward by the inexorable god at -whose altar they worshiped, there was no escape for them—just ahead lay -the black gulf of despair, toward which they were hurrying so rapidly, -and soon it must close over them. - -Then—eternity! - -Darrell never entered here without a feeling of commiseration for the -poor souls thus linked with the skeleton arms of death. - -Had the opportunity ever offered he would gladly have tried to save one -or more of them; but he was well aware what a difficult and well nigh -impossible task it is to endeavor to save a man against himself. - -Luckily Eric possessed a peculiar disposition—what little opium he smoked -had no effect on him, and he had no longing for the drug as the -generality have. - -On the contrary it almost nauseated him, and he could only have become an -habitual opium fiend by long and persistent practice. - -He glanced around to see where the artist had deposited his frame, and -discovered Prescott on the couch next the second veiled lady. - -Whether this was accident or design the detective was unable to decide as -yet, but he had an idea and steadily nursed it. - -His feeling of mingled disgust and pity was greatest for these women—he -knew the one whose face he saw was a well-to-do widow up on Lexington -Avenue, and perhaps the others were friends who had come here first in a -spirit of bravado and daring curiosity, perhaps upon a wager, and whom -the fascination of the drug had already chained to the chariot wheels of -the ogre Opium. Those wheels revolved slowly but remorselessly—sooner or -later they would crush out the life of all who clung to them. - -Had Prescott anything in common with this rich and brazen widow and her -friends? - -That he knew the former Darrell had already guessed, for her set -expression had momentarily changed at sight of the man, and the detective -caught a look of deep cunning, which was returned with a smile and a nod -from the man. - -Eager to learn all he could of the artist’s private character, the -detective determined to watch for all he was worth. - -He was also ready to find out who the two veiled women were, who set -aside all modesty and came to this public opium joint because they could -not properly prepare and enjoy the drug at their homes. - -At a certain hour no doubt a closed carriage would be waiting to convey -them all home—perhaps the dashing widow had some male friend present who -would serve as an escort. - -Prescott received his pipe, prepared his pill and was soon smoking -quietly. - -Silence rested upon the place—people came not here to converse, but to -dream with open eyes, seeing the beautiful things that danced before -their eyes like a bright _ignis fatuus_, always eluding their grasp, yet -luring them deeper and deeper into the toils. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII -A TERRIBLE DOOM - - -Before Eric Darrell had been in the place ten minutes he made a discovery -that had a strong bearing on the case. - -This was in reference to the artist. - -Paul Prescott had shown all the signs of an opium smoker’s eagerness to -have a draw at the subtle drug when he came in. - -Nevertheless, Eric had already decided that much of this was assumed. - -His own experience showed how such a thing could be; hence, he believed -another might copy the same signs of distress with equal success. - -Then Prescott had a reason for coming here other than the desire to -smoke. - -What could it be? - -Darrell had eyes, and he was able to form conclusions very speedily. - -He knew that the presence of the dark-veiled woman in the bunk adjoining -that taken by the artist, was what had drawn him. - -Circumstances pointed to this fact—their heads were close together, one -resting upon the right, the other upon the left side. - -The detective’s thoughts were busy. - -He remembered the note. - -Could this veiled creature be the party signing that missive? - -According to the conclusions he had already drawn this could not be so, -for he had made up his mind that the writer must be Lillian, and only -waited to prove this fact. - -Who then was the veiled lady? - -Bah! such a man as Paul Prescott might be engaged in half a dozen little -love affairs at one and the same time. - -He would finally abandon all the rest for the charmer who held his fickle -heart most heavily chained, or else whose bank account was the most -promising. - -To a man of Darrell’s steadiness of purpose, there was something almost -revolting about such a character as this, and yet he found certain things -to study in the artist’s face—points that rather puzzled him when -scrutinized. - -The man was worthy of being analyzed. There might be more to him than -even appeared upon the surface. - -Darrell was wide awake, although he pretended to be already under the -magic influence. - -He was soothed by the odor of the opium, without giving way to it, and -watched the couple across the way. - -The hanging curtains partly concealed him, and he was sure a note passed -from one to the other. If the girl thus heavily veiled was in the charge -of the widow, the latter did not seem in a condition to watch over her -ward, for she had given herself up wholly to her dreams. - -In the silence of this den of human misery, where each victim was bound -to his neighbor by the same chains that made him a slave, a long stride -was taken on this night toward the oblivion of death. - -Strange scenes sometimes occur in these places, and one was on the tapis -for this night. - -So interested had the detective been in watching the couple opposite, -that he seldom glanced at any of the others. - -By mere chance his eyes alighted upon the second veiled woman, and at the -same moment he saw that something was wrong. - -She had swept her veil aside, and the light revealed a face at once -handsome and dissipated—she had been a beauty earlier in life. - -Just now this face was distorted. Pain racked it. - -Eric Darrell saw the awful hand of death there—he knew the wretched woman -must have some heart trouble which was aggravated by the opium, and that -she was dying. - -He beckoned to the Yankee who represented the American side of the firm. - -Then he pointed to the struggling woman. The other sprang to her. - -There was a gasp and all was over—death had come to her in the opium den. - -By this time Eric was out on the floor, and it was well he happened to be -there, for the man showed the white feather at once, fearing lest a thing -of this kind would ruin his business. - -Luckily a strong hand was at the helm. - -The orders Eric gave were obeyed—no one was allowed to leave the place. - -Most of those present manifested no interest in the game—their minds were -wholly taken up with heavenly visions—death might come and go without -their notice. - -Eric knew what must be done. - -The woman was elegantly dressed—she was no doubt the wife of a wealthy -citizen, and if it were known that she had expired in this fashionable -opium joint the shame would be terrible. He aroused the widow. - -The other veiled lady was trembling, having gained her feet, but she -would answer no questions, only sob and wring her hands, while the artist -pretended not to notice any one, though eagerly taking it all in. - -When the dashing widow was brought out of her dreams and made to realize -the truth, she too seemed overwhelmed. - -Eric took hold of her. - -His strong mind controlled hers, and he soon made her see how essential -it was that this awful business be kept a dead secret. - -She must confide in him, giving the name and address of the deceased—he -would then see that the body was taken there unknown to a living soul -save the driver, and the secret would be locked in the breast of her -husband. - -The world she moved in would attend her funeral, and never dream that she -had died in any other place than at home. - -This gave the widow hope. - -She whispered the lady’s name and residence to the detective, who wrote -them down. - -He was surprised to discover that her husband was a prominent business -man down town. - -It was an awful business, but he managed it with great circumspection—the -body was placed in a hack, and the driver did not know but what she was -merely sick. - -Eric had also discovered the name and address of the other veiled -lady—the widow had given it upon his assurance of good faith. It was -Mrs. Collingwood. Her address was Lexington Avenue. - -Darrell’s actions were right to the point in a business light. - -His main desire was to save the poor husband all the shame and -mortification possible. - -Leaving the hack at the curb he was presently in the presence of the -gentleman, to whom he broke the awful news as gently as possible. - -At first the other was dreadfully shocked, but upon learning what bold -measures the detective had taken to conceal the actual facts, he -overwhelmed the other with thanks. - -Between them they got the body into the house, Darrell speaking to the -supposed sick lady in a reassuring way. - -The driver was heavily feed and cautioned to hold his tongue under any -and all circumstances. Darrell assisted the stricken husband to get his -dead up into her room. - -Then in the library he heard the full particulars from the detective. - -Afterwards, he insisted on telling his story—how his once lovely and -affectionate wife had secretly taken to the deadly drug from injections -given to make her sleep during a spell of sickness. The harrowing tale -has been often repeated in such a city as New York—her power of -resistance became less and less strong, until he could do nothing with -her. - -Knowing that she had heart trouble he had been expecting such a -catastrophe, but nevertheless, it had fallen with crushing force. - -He was greatly indebted to the detective for his assistance—it was -possible that the real facts might be covered up, and with the help of -his family physician the death be given as simply one from heart disease. - -When Eric felt the gentleman’s grasp at parting, and saw the tears upon -his sad face, he knew that his visit to the opium joint had not been -without its reward, since he was enabled to bring deep satisfaction to -this soul long harrowed by the fear of such a catastrophe. - -Meanwhile, he had the address of the veiled woman with whom the artist -had been in communication at the opium joint. - -At his leisure on the morrow he could look her up and learn all there was -connected with his case. - -Such a scene as the one thus briefly described has occurred at an opium -den in the great metropolis—who the ill-fated lady was no one knew, at -least the facts were never made public, and only a few guessed the truth -by watching the death column in the dailies. - -The opium habit gains strength slowly in our midst, but there are more -people slaves to the vice than the public suspects. - -Knowing the joint would in all probability be closed for the remainder of -the night, Eric made no attempt to go there but sought his apartments to -rest. - -The committee appointed to examine into the strange case of Leslie vs. -Leslie could report progress. - -On the morrow the work would be resumed, and a long stride taken toward -the end. - -This man had a wonderful power over his mind, and could control it at -will. When he was ready to sleep he dismissed all thought and secured -solid rest, so that when he woke up his mind was as clear as a bell. To -such a fact he owed much of his success. - -With the morning he was up and out. - -It was a fair day, and Eric hoped he might look upon this as an emblem of -luck—that his case might prove as clear. - -His first thought was to get some specimen of Mrs. Leslie’s writing. - -To do this he must visit the house but waited until Joe would probably be -on his way down to his business. - -Then he went to the dwelling up town. - -He asked to see Mrs. Leslie and was shown in. Being left alone for a -short time he glanced around as if in hope of seeing an opportunity to -carry out his design. - -A desk caught his eye—if he only had the opportunity to look through it -he felt sure he could find what he wanted, for it was undoubtedly the -property of Lillian Leslie. - -There were several books on the library table. These he examined -hastily. - -He hoped to find one that Lillian might have written her name in, for he -believed that it would be easy to compare the writing and pronounce -sentence from that. - -In this, however, he was disappointed. - -Joe’s name was in several, the books being inscribed, with love, to his -wife. This only proved his great love. - -Eric was ready to swear by it now, and did not mean to let the case drop -until he had sifted it thoroughly—such honest affection as Joe’s should -never be made sport of in a friend of his, even by the prettiest witch -that ever trod the earth—at least not with his approval. - -The rustle of female attire drew his attention, and, turning, he found -himself face to face with the lady of the house. - -He had not sent up his name and she appeared quite surprised at seeing -who it was. “You, Mr. Darrell?” - -“At your service, Mrs. Leslie.” - -“What do you wish this morning, sir?” - -There was something of coldness in her tones. He could not tell whence -it sprung, as there were several things that might cause it. - -Perhaps she felt humiliated in his presence because she had let him see -her weakness, jealousy of her husband’s affection. - -Then, again, if she were guilty she might fear him because he was a -detective and Joe’s friend. - -He suspended judgment and resolved to study this fair creature more -closely than he had as yet had a chance to do. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV -ANOTHER LINK IN THE CHAIN - - -All these things had flashed through Darrell’s mind with a rapidity that -lightning alone could equal, for there is nothing more rapid than -thought. - -He maintained his suave manner. - -“I have come this morning, Mrs. Leslie, for several things. In the first -place I wish to congratulate you on the fact that Joe’s terrible secret, -as I made it out, was after all so simple a thing. Your wifely trust and -devotion had their reward and I can appreciate the feeling of -satisfaction you now possess because of your trust which I could not -wholly beat down, in spite of the proofs I brought, and which must have -appeared ‘strong as holy writ’.” - -This was artful of Eric—he thought to destroy the barrier by a little -flattery, knowing all the while that Lillian had really been jealous. - -It told too. - -The fair lady smiled upon him once more. - -“I am happy because our bugaboo turned out to be only a pipe, and Joe has -gone off this morning with a cigar—he shall smoke when he pleases after -this.” - -“And you?” - -“I find that the odor from a good cigar is rather attractive. At any -rate, Joe has done so much for me that I can afford to give in to one -little vice of his. To think of the poor dear fellow hiding himself away -like that. It makes me almost cry to think how miserably cruel I have -been to him. But I mean to make it up to Joe in the future, Mr. -Darrell.” - -Eric swallowed a lump that seemed to be sticking in his throat. - -This, the woman whom he suspected of being false to her husband—he did -not know how it was, but whenever he came into her presence he seemed to -be in some way charmed. - -She was a siren. - -The same power, exercised by the nymphs of the sea in olden days, causing -the sailors to jump over to their death, is given to certain of the -gentler sex to-day. - -Adam sunk all his manhood and forgot his duty to his Maker when tempted -by Eve, and from that day to this few men there are strong enough to do -the right when a beautiful woman smiles upon them and teaches them the -lesson of love. - -It would be impossible to describe the influence Lillian had upon nearly -all who came in contact with her—her manner was soothing and pleasant, so -that general admiration followed her acquaintance. - -Darrell was a man of strong purposes and he put down with a firm hand any -feeling that interfered with his stern sense of duty. - -In a business way he was here to see whether Lillian was what she -appeared to be, or deceptive by nature. - -Hence he was not to be charmed from his purpose in any way. - -The human feeling of admiration must give way to the professional energy. - -“You spoke of several reasons for calling to see me, Mr. Darrell—will you -kindly state what the others are?” she asked. - -“With pleasure, and I trust you will not feel offended, my dear Mrs. -Leslie. It is a custom on my part in a case like this, to take from the -party with whom I have been engaged, a little note, stating that they -have been well satisfied with my services. I hope you may not think it -out of the way and give me this.” - -She appeared troubled. - -“I do not know that I ought to—such an affair is essentially private.” - -“I only desire the paper for my own satisfaction, and not to show. You -can merely state that you are entirely satisfied with the services of -Eric Darrell, and if you prefer, simply sign your initials.” - -Crafty man—the initial was what he wanted above all else. - -Her face brightened. - -“I do not know that I would object to that, Mr. Darrell, since my -identity is concealed. Do you want it now?” - -“If you please,” humbly, but secretly exulting over his success. - -She went to the desk, opened it and sat down—after a minute’s thought she -wrote something upon a sheet of paper. - -“Will that do, Mr. Darrell?” handing it to him. - -He glanced at it and read: - - “This is to certify that Mr. Eric Darrell has accomplished the work - for which I have employed him, in a thoroughly satisfactory manner, - and that I am well satisfied with his services. - - L. L. - - “New York, October 7, 188–” - -Darrell smiled. - -“A thousand thanks, madam.” - -“It answers your purpose?” quietly. - -“Yes, yes.” - -Although he smiled Eric Darrell felt as though he could have wept just -then. - -The one glance he had taken had revealed the fact that the capital L made -by Mrs. Leslie was very similar to the one which he had seen signed to -the note Paul Prescott had let fall. - -It was a shock to the detective, even though he had in a measure expected -it. - -That point gained he put the matter aside for the present and continued -to appear pleasant, though it was only with an effort he could do so. - -For a little he chatted with the lady, and endeavored to study her. - -Darrell thought that if his suspicions were proven true, Lillian Leslie -must be the perfection of an actress—he had never seen two such extremes -meet in an individual—she was the incarnation of good and evil. - -“By the way, are you acquainted with a Mrs. Collingwood of your street -here?” he asked after a while, in a careless tone. - -“Yes, I know her.” - -She looked surprised, as though wondering where he could have met her. - -“Last night I made her acquaintance. She is accounted a rather handsome -woman, I believe.” - -This was put out as a sort of feeler, for he had not even seen her face. - -Lillian answered in a manner that declared what little interest she had -in the lady: - -“I believe so, but we were never friends, and I do not know much about -the lady.” - -That ended it. - -Darrell soon took his leave, having gained the point for which he had -come. - -When he entered a car on the elevated road he found a corner to himself, -and then, unable to wait longer, proceeded to compare the two notes. - -Just as he thought, the writing was of the same order, and there was much -resemblance in the capital letters. - -Still, Eric had seen enough to know that only an expert could decide this -question beyond all cavil. - -Before now he had seen the chirography of two persons resemble each -other, and this was not to be accepted as conclusive evidence. - -At the same time it was a point that would bear upon the final result. - -He kept it in mind. - -Other threads must now be taken up in turn, until the main current was -reached which would sweep him on to the sea. - -He put away the document just received from Mrs. Leslie. - -While still looking at the other, some one sat down beside him. - -Darrell’s thoughts were fixed upon the subject which occupied his -attention, and he did not even know there was some one in the next seat -until a hand clutched his arm. - -“Where did you get that paper?” said a hoarse voice close by his ear. - -Turning his head at this he was surprised to see Paul Prescott beside -him. - -Fortune plays some queer tricks at times, and this was one of them. - -What an odd chance that this man, of all in the great city, should sit -down in the same car, at the very moment Darrell had that fatal paper in -his hand. - -The circumstances were indeed so singular that Eric could not but start; -but his excellent control over his nerves stood him in good stead again. - -He looked in the artist’s face—it was flushed and eager and -angry—evidently he had not missed the letter up to now. - -“My dear sir, does it belong to you?” asked the detective, quietly. - -“It does, sir.” - -“Then take your property.” - -“Very good, sir; but I have a right to ask, yes, demand of you, to -explain under what peculiar circumstances this document chanced to come -into your possession.” - -“I do not question your right to ask that, and I shall readily tell where -and when I picked the letter up.” - -So he gave the time and place to a dot, but did not say anything about -having seen it drop from the pocket of the owner. Prescott remembered -that this was when and where he had received the message, and he had no -doubt of the truth of the story. - -At the same time he looked at the man by his side with a frown. - -“You read this?” he asked. - -“Naturally so—you could not blame me.” - -“And had your curiosity aroused?” - -“Well, yes, but that has nothing to do with it. Let us forget the -circumstance.” - -“Willingly, since it concerns the private affairs of a very dear friend.” - -No more was said. - -Eric read his paper and the artist seemed occupied with his, but every -now and then he turned his eyes toward the detective as though his -curiosity was aroused. - -When the artist arose at Fourteenth Street, to leave the car, Eric handed -him a card he had prepared for such occasions. - -It gave his name and the address of his apartments—nothing more. - -“If you should ever desire to see me, sir, you will find me there by -letter or person,” he said quietly. - -At this Prescott smiled broadly. - -“I hope you don’t think I dream of sending you a challenge for finding my -letter,” he said. - -“Well, you looked as black as a thunder cloud, and I didn’t know but what -you might be meditating something of the sort.” - -“It was rude in me to act that way, and I beg your pardon for it.” - -Frankly said. - -The detective liked him better for it, and there was something about the -other’s face quite attractive after all. - -Somehow Eric did not seem to hate and despise him as he had done before. - -When the artist had gone he fell into a fit of musing again. - -Various theories were built up, only to be discarded again as unequal to -the occasion. - -He remembered that the letter had been given to Prescott by a woman, who -was evidently in the pay of the party signed L. - -Whom could Lillian send? - -He did not know the internal arrangements of the lovely little house up -town, and this was what was now on his mind. - -The office of Joe Leslie was his destination, and he made his way thither -after leaving the elevated road. - -Leslie was in John Street, and carried on a business in precious stones, -of which he was one of the best judges in the city. - -He was a man of considerable wealth, but being of an unostentatious -nature he did not put on much style, preferring to live quietly and well. - -When Eric Darrell ascended the stairs of the large building in which his -friend had his offices, he was forcibly reminded of times gone by when -Joe was a bachelor, and the two had been warm friends, passing through -numerous scenes of pleasure in company. - - - - -CHAPTER XV -COMPARING NOTES - - -Joe was in. - -When the detective sent his card by the same clerk whom he had helped Joe -rescue from the clutches of the gamblers, he was shown to the private -office. - -Here he found his friend seated at his desk, and busily engaged with a -pile of letters that had come in the morning mail. - -Joe greeted him cordially and begged him to wait a few minutes, when he -would be through with his task. - -This suited the detective exactly, since it gave him a chance to watch -the other. - -He was able to read a face pretty thoroughly and he saw very quickly that -Joe was still greatly troubled in his mind. - -He had gotten rid of one burden, but another had come in its stead. - -What could it mean? - -There was little need for Eric to ask that. - -He knew, beyond all doubt, that the old suspicions had arisen again in -Joe’s mind, perhaps strengthened by some circumstance. - -Finally Joe leaned back in his chair and looked at his visitor. - -“Eric, for a short time last night I was really and truly happy—it seemed -to me that the clouds had all rolled by. Then, by a strange -circumstance, they were brought forward again and now I am worse off than -ever.” - -“That is too bad—I am sorry for it.” - -“Before, it was my foolish habit that gave me sorrow—now it is a dreadful -thought that I endeavor to banish from my mind, but which rises up again -and again in all its hideous deformity until I almost feel as though I am -mad. - -“Still I keep my thoughts clear, for I know that this awful question must -be grappled with, and fought to the death. - -“My whole future is concerned in it, and I mean to lay the ghost forever, -or else know the very worst.” - -“Spoken like a true man, Joe. Shake hands on that as a bargain. I am, -in this matter, hoping to prove your wife’s innocence, but I shall take -up any evidence that comes along, and apply it where it belongs.” - -“I want you to, old fellow, no matter what the pain it brings.” - -“To begin with, you know all my hopes are to the end that Lillian may -prove to be as innocent as a babe.” - -“Heaven grant it,” Joe groaned. - -His tone betokened despair. - -The detective judged from this that his friend must have made some -discovery since last they met. - -“At the same time, Joe, you know as it looks at present, things are -decidedly against your wife.” - -“I try to deceive myself, Eric, into the belief that it is not so, but I -cannot, I cannot. She shall have a fair trial—I will give her the -advantage of every doubt, and then—” - -He could not finish the sentence. - -Poor fellow! how Eric pitied him, and in that moment, believing Lillian -guilty, cursed the hour she ever crossed Joe’s path, to blight a life -devoted to her. - -Never mind—the end was not yet. - -“Tell me what you have discovered, Eric,” said Leslie, throwing off the -terrible feeling that almost overcame him. - -“After you, my boy.” - -“How do you know I have anything to tell?” in a surprised tone. - -“Your looks give it away. Proceed.” - -So, being encouraged to speak, Joe gave a brief account of the charming -scene that had taken place in his home on the preceding night. - -Eric was quite interested, and his reflections upon the little woman were -flattering to her. - -Then came the climax. - -The note with the charred edge was produced, and submitted to -examination. - -Eric looked upon it as furnishing quite a link in the chain of -evidence—he believed the secret referred to must indeed mean that which -they were looking up. - -When Joe heard the opinion of his friend, he was not much -encouraged—indeed, his spirits were reduced to a lower ebb; but he shut -his teeth and said nothing. - -“Now I want your opinion, Joe, as a man of some legal acumen. It is a -little question I desire to have settled,” he said. - -With that he took out the document he had received from Lillian. - -“You recognize the handwriting?” - -“I do—it is my wife’s,” with a shiver. - -“I had another paper, but gave it up to the owner; but, as it fortunately -turned out, ere doing so I traced the signature with a piece of tracing -paper—see, here it is.” - -He put the two together. - -“Bend over, Joe.” - -“What do you want me to decide?” nervously, as might a man who feared -lest his words might convict one he loved. - -“Examine these signatures.” - -“I am doing so.” - -“If asked your opinion frankly as an outsider, would you incline to the -belief that one hand had made both of these?” - -“You insist on a reply?” - -“I think you had better give it.” - -“Then, according to my humble opinion, those letters are alike, and the -chances are decidedly in favor of the same party having made both.” - -“My opinion exactly—I would not swear to it but I put the chances in that -way.” - -Then he turned the paper over to Joe. - -“What of this?” asked that worthy. - -“There is nothing out of the way in it. I only had your wife write it -out and sign her initials in order to compare it with the other -document.” - -“Tell me about the other.” - -“I will reproduce it, word for word.” - -Drawing some paper to him he wrote rapidly for a few minutes. - -Then he placed the duplicate of Prescott’s letter in front of Joe. - -“This looks like a deep conspiracy, Eric—you say this was signed that -way?” - -“Yes.” - -“Was it—in—her handwriting?” - -“There were enough points of resemblance to make it striking.” - -“Heavens!” and he beat his fist against his forehead in despair—then -recovered his calmness after an effort. - -“You say you have lost this document?” - -“I had compared them in the elevated coming down here, and was still -looking at that one when a hand was laid on my arm and a man asked me -what I was doing with his property. I saw he was the owner and gave it -over—we had a few words and separated.” - -“Was that man known to me?” - -“By sight, yes.” - -Joe shuddered visibly, as though he understood the suggestive words of -the other. - -“Then it was _he_?” - -“Paul Prescott, the artist.” - -“Curses on him for a meddler! Lillian has a weakness for art, and I have -often jokingly told her she should have married a painter.” - -“That explains his power in a measure—he has fed her on art and won her -regard by posing as a hero.” - -Joe struck the duplicate paper fiercely. - -“Eric, you may think me crazy to doubt it, but unless Lillian declares in -my presence that this is the product of her pen I will never believe it.” - -“Joe, my friend, I honor you for such a feeling, and I hope as I never -hoped before in my life that this thing will prove a false alarm. All -the same I shall do my duty by you every time, as a true friend.” - -“A thousand thanks. I feel fifty years old to-day instead of -thirty-six—it is my birthday, you know, Eric,” with a sad smile. - -“I wish you many happy returns, my dear fellow—just three years younger -than I am. I wish I had a gift to give you.” - -“The best gift this world could give me would be the proof that my wife -is the true and faithful wife I have always believed her. Great heavens! -Eric, when I think of it all, a spasm comes over me—my fingers twitch as -though they would love to encircle the throat of that arch-devil and -choke his life out.” - -Eric was surprised. - -He had not believed this of Joe, looking upon the other as a sort of -good-natured giant whom any one could impose upon. Now he saw him angry -he made up his mind that if ever Paul Prescott and Joe came in contact it -would go hard with the artist. - -“Well, I declare, you will make a modern Othello yet, Joe.” - -“No, no,” with a shudder, “I might kill him, but I would never raise a -finger against her if she deceived me time and again. I couldn’t; I must -love her always.” - -Eric shrugged his shoulders. - -“Every man to his taste. Your character is one in a thousand, Joe. As -for me I confess I have more of the tiger about me, and if a man or woman -foully wrongs me I look forward with pleasure to revenge.” - -“Don’t let us talk about it—the worst I would do to her would be to seek -a separation—but for him,” and his face grew grandly dark and gloomy, but -he did not finish. - -“I wish to ask you a few questions about your home, Joe.” - -“Do so.” - -“In the first place you have a girl.” - -“Yes, two of them.” - -“What positions do they occupy?” - -“One is in the kitchen—the other a sort of upstairs girl, to take care of -the rooms, answer the door, and wait upon the table.” - -“Describe the cook.” - -Joe laughed. - -“She is as fat as she is long, almost, and as good-natured as she is -fat.” - -Eric made a gesture. - -“That point is settled. Now the other.” - -“Nanny is a woman too, but much smaller, and ladylike in her ways. She -came here from Chicago with us.” - -“Ah! a favorite of your wife’s?” - -“Yes. Nanny was in her mother’s employ as a girl. She is faithful to -us.” - -“Ahem! Just the person, in fact, to be entrusted with a message of a -secret nature, that must be handed to a certain party?” - -At this Joe turned red and white by turns. “I presume so,” he admitted, -uneasily. - -“Is Nanny about my height, rather slim, and quick in her actions?” - -“Yes.” - -“Dresses in black?” - -“My soul! man, you seem to drive the nails into my coffin with each -question.” - -“Answer, Joe.” - -“She does dress in black—most maids do in New York now.” - -“Wear a white apron?” - -“No,” with a gleam of hope. - -“Neither did this girl. I knew she was a maid by the courtesy she made -when handing Prescott the letter, and also from the little white cap she -wore.” - -Poor Joe’s last chance seemed gone—the other had knocked away the pins -upon which his house was built. - -“That was probably Nanny, but I can not and will not believe Lillian -wrote that note. Some other party had hired Nanny to give it to that -man.” - -Darrell knew Joe was hugging a phantom to his heart, but he could not -take pleasure in arguing with the deceived husband—besides, Joe’s actions -proved that he believed more than he would admit either to himself or his -confidential adviser, and if the blow did come it would not be such a -terrible shock as if he had received no warning. - -The end was not far away. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI -THE LOCKED SARATOGA - - -The detective was not yet through. - -He wished to find out a few other things connected with the case, through -information which Joe alone could give. - -When the latter had told his story concerning what had happened at his -house on the preceding night, he had touched lightly on the incident of -the closet. - -The keen detective had however made a mental note of the circumstance, -and he was bound to know more of the matter. - -“What sort of a closet is it?” he asked. - -“Quite a roomy affair.” - -“You keep what there?” - -“A number of odds and ends, and I believe a large Saratoga trunk.” - -“Ah! your wife’s?” - -“She brought it from Chicago. On our little trips to Boston and -Washington we used my leather one.” - -“Then this trunk has been there all the while?” - -“Yes.” - -“Think now—have you ever known Lillian to enter that closet for anything -since she came to you?” - -Joe turned white. - -“She might have done so dozens of times.” - -“But have you known her to?” - -“I have not.” - -“Is there anything kept there she would want?” - -“Not that I know of.” - -“Under the circumstances does it not strike you as singular that she -should not only enter the closet but lock it and take the key upstairs?” - -“Eric, I have thought so myself,” sadly. - -“Now, Joe, you are withholding something from me that has a bearing on -this matter.” - -“How do you know it?” quickly. - -“Well, perhaps a little bird told me, or else I read the secret in your -face. At any rate you have no business to keep it from me, I am trying -to do my duty—heaven knows if I could I would have your wife as spotless -as the noonday sky, and if she proves otherwise I shall lose faith in all -womankind forever; but I must be able to weigh every particle of evidence -for and against her.” - -“I beg your pardon, Eric, but I felt so badly over the circumstance that -I hardly had the heart to relate it to you.” - -“Then it is against her?” - -“I am afraid so.” - -“The sky grows very black—poor Joe—poor Lillian—my heart is in sympathy -with you.” - -Joe had buried his face in his hands and seemed quite overcome. - -The detective waited. - -When his friend had in a measure recovered from the shock, he spoke. - -“Now tell me the circumstances.” - -Joe’s voice was a little unsteady, but it gained strength as he -proceeded: - -“When I came down this morning it was late for me, but I had not slept -well, and felt a raging headache. - -“Lillian was in the library, and left me to go down to see if she could -not have a cup of strong tea made, which always acts as a sedative with -me when I have a headache. - -“My thoughts had never gone from that closet and I had already seen that -the key was in the door for Lillian had brought it down. - -“Hardly had she left the room than I was over there and had the door -open. - -“I examined the interior but found it all as I had been in the habit of -seeing it. - -“This surprised me. Could I after all have done her an injustice with my -suspicions? - -“I was beginning to think so, when I suddenly noticed a little thing. - -“The key of her Saratoga trunk was missing. - -“I remembered seeing it in the trunk a few weeks before. - -“Why should Lillian take it? - -“Instinctively I tried the lid—it was fast—the trunk was locked. - -“I left the closet, and was sitting in the library when the breakfast -bell rang, and Lillian came in to go down with me. - -“She was full of spirits, while I felt as though I were about to attend -my own funeral. - -“During the progress of the meal I spoke about there being a chance of -our soon going out to Chicago to pay a visit, and she seemed to be very -quiet over it, unusually so, I believed. - -“‘By the way, I miss the key of your trunk—will you let me see if the -interior is in good condition?’ I said as steadily as I could, although I -felt my face turn red. - -“She looked at me as though surprised. - -“To-morrow you can do so, Joe—to-day you are in poor condition for -anything. Take your mind off everything that excites it. I wish you -would stay at home to-day and nurse your headache.’ - -“I professed to have business of unusual importance down town, and -shortly after left the house for my office. - -“Now, Eric, give me your honest opinion—my mind is hardly in a fit -condition to see and judge for myself.” - -The detective had listened intently. - -He could grasp the threads and draw them into one compact cord. - -The issue was before him. - -“Joe, it is beyond all question that her secret lies in that trunk—if we -knew what it contains, nothing more would be needed.” - -“Yes, I suppose so,” rather wearily. - -“From the tenor of the letter Prescott received I am inclined to believe -some one is about to run away with him, or he with her, rather.” - -Joe groaned dismally. - -“If in that trunk I should find some of her dresses and jewelry—well, I -should be strongly inclined to believe it meant flight.” - -“No, no,” hoarsely, clutching his throbbing brow with both hands, “not -that. Lillian would never be guilty of that. She may have flirted with -the man—women are weak, I know—but that is the worst I will believe of -her—the worst.” - -Darrell shrugged his shoulders. - -“Very good, Joe, but you must permit me to place my own estimation on -things. My eyes are not blinded by love—I can weigh things calmly, and -place their right estimation upon them.” - -“Eric, I said I would leave it all with you and I do, but until it is -proven beyond all doubt, do not ask me to believe in her guilt. It will -kill me if it is so.” - -“Trust in me, Joe, old fellow, I will act for you as though you were my -brother.” - -“And—whatever comes, Eric—be gentle with Lillian—let me be the one to—oh! -my God! I cannot believe it, and yet it seems as though a burning iron -were branding it on my brain.” - -The detective was done for the present. - -From Joe’s offices he went to his own. - -Here he could sit down and review the situation in regular order. - -Darrell generally made notes of his subject, so that he might ever keep -the circumstances before his mind. - -He now jotted down a few more headings, and then surveyed the case as -seen through these spectacles which he had drawn on. - -Looking over his shoulder we can also get a resume of the case by reading -what he filled up a page in his note book with. - -They were arranged under heads in numerical order, beginning at the -start: - -1—Paul Prescott, an artist, makes daily visits to Joe’s house when Joe is -down town. - -2—Lillian Leslie has a secret from her husband. - -3—The paper dropped by Prescott is in her writing, and seems to promise -an elopement. It is also signed L, her initial. - -4—The girl who gave Prescott the letter corresponds with Lillian’s -faithful maid, who has been in the family for many years. - -5—The fact of her having the closet key upstairs is significant in -itself. - -6—Her trunk is locked and the key gone—she says she will produce it when -Joe has leisure to examine the trunk—there is no hurry—the morrow will -do—evidently _something_ is to occur between now and to-morrow. - - * * * * * - -This was the indictment. - -Against it, on the opposite page, he had written the defense—it came -under one head: - -“1—Lillian is my ideal of womanly perfection—if she prove guilty my faith -is gone forever. I have never yet been able to _believe_ her guilty -while in her presence—it is only when away that these terrible facts make -me fear it is so.” - -A peculiar case this. If Lillian could plead her own cause, she would -undoubtedly win it. - -For a long time Eric Darrell sat and looked at his notes. - -They covered about all of the case. - -He could not but see how overwhelming the evidence was against Lillian -and how meager her defense. - -Still he kept hoping for the best, trusting that something would turn up -to send the balance over to the other side. Had it been any one other -than Lillian, the detective must have declared that there could be no -hope—the case would be virtually closed. With such a client, however, he -had hope to the end, because all his sympathies were enlisted in behalf -of Joe and his wife. - -He was not the man to waste time in useless speculation, and when he had -calmly reviewed the situation, he made up his mind what ought to be done. - -Would it be possible to save Lillian even though she were guilty? - -He could not face her—his first thought had been to see her and speak of -the terrible nature of the indictment hanging over her like the sword of -Damocles, suspended by a single hair—perhaps she was influenced by some -strange power the artist possessed—mesmerized, made a slave by some -peculiar phase in a powerful organization—Eric had known of such things, -although he did not pretend to understand them. - -When he came to think it over, however, he concluded that he could not -muster up courage enough to say these things to her face. - -He was certain that, strong-nerved man as he was, he would utterly fail -when he sat opposite those eyes, and felt them upon him. - -Was there any other source to which he might apply? - -He ran over the field. - -What of Paul Prescott? - -The thought seemed absurd at first but presently he began to realize that -there was a chance back of it. - -The man was a character and might not be as bad as appearances indicated. - -Perhaps moral suasion might influence him, and in case that failed a -threat would possibly have the desired effect. - -The more he thought over the matter the better he looked upon the idea. - -At last he determined to try it. - -There could be no harm done. - -At the same time he had a chance to accomplish a great work. - -A new thought had entered Eric’s head. - -Even if Lillian was guilty he might through some work, skillfully -arranged, so manage it that the disturbing element should be removed, and -their lives flow on smoothly again. - -This was his highest hope. - -That he would find Lillian innocent had ceased to enter into his -calculations. - -He only hoped for a half way victory. It was noon when he went out, and -stopping in a restaurant he had dinner. His plan was arranged. - -If he could effect a meeting with the artist, the worst would soon be -known, and he would also discover what sort of man Prescott was. - -He knew where the latter had his studio, and presently was bound for -Fourteenth Street to interview the artist. What would come of that -interview no one could tell, but Eric hoped for a favorable issue. - -At any rate he did not think his case would be destroyed by what he was -now about to undertake. - -At half past one he entered the building where Paul Prescott had his -studio. - -A few minutes later he stood at the door and gave a loud knock. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII -THE ARTIST IS DEFIANT - - -“Come in!” said a voice. - -Eric opened the door. - -An odor of tobacco greeted him. - -Prescott, in his studio dress, was before a painting, putting some -touches here and there. - -So interested was he that he did not turn his head when the door closed. - -Darrell looked at the painting and was charmed—it was a glimpse of the -Delaware Water Gap, and so true to nature that one could almost believe -he was on the spot. - -Finally the artist stepped back a pace. “There! that is done. I beg -your pardon—” and he wheeled around. - -As he saw who his visitor was he uttered an exclamation of surprise. - -“Ah! you, Mr.—Mr.—” - -“Darrell.” - -“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Mr. Darrell?” - -Evidently he was inclined to be a little suspicious of the man who had -had that letter in his possession. - -At the same time his curiosity was aroused. Eric saw this. He was ready -to take advantage of it. - -Coolly seating himself he said: - -“Mr. Prescott, I have called to see you in reference to that paper which -you received from my hands this morning.” - -“Ah! indeed,” with a frown. - -Not at all dismayed the detective went on: “I believe you claimed it as -your property?” - -“I did—have you any reason to doubt my word?” - -“Not at all, sir. If it was your property, then the letter must have -been addressed to you.” - -“It was.” - -“Mr. Prescott, you are looked upon in society as an honorable man—your -name has never yet been tarnished. As a friend I beg of you to pause ere -you cross the Rubicon.” - -“What’s all this about? It seems to me you are interesting yourself in a -business that does not concern you in the least,” coldly. - -“That is where you are mistaken, sir—it does interest me greatly.” - -“In what way?” - -“I know the lady who wrote that note.” - -The artist shrugged his shoulders. - -“Well?” - -Eric was somewhat surprised. - -He had expected that the man would show signs of consternation. - -On the contrary he maintained his self-possession, and even smiled. - -“You contemplate a step that is bound to bring trouble.” - -“It is not my fault,” with a sneer; “some people are so wrapped up in -themselves that they can see no one else. This lady—her name shall not -be mentioned, as I would not have it the subject of a quarrel—prefers my -company to that in which circumstances have thrown her. She is -restrained of her liberty, and I would give it to her. That is all. -Through the interference of some interloper, such as yourself, we may be -prevented from carrying our immediate plans into execution, but the -postponement can only be temporary. We must triumph!” - -Eric was more than ever amazed. - -This man did not appear shamefaced—he even gloried in his foul work. - -Surely this was the acme of villainy. - -How was he to meet it? - -Could he cow the artist? - -Already he had made up his mind that this was impossible, for the man -seemed to be as daring as he was bad. - -What then? - -There was nothing left but to let the game take its course. - -If Joe and this man ever came into personal contact there would be -trouble, for the artist looked like a man who would back up his acts with -blows. - -“You refuse to change your plans, then?” - -“Most decidedly.” - -“Well, you may rue it ere long.” - -“See here, what makes it your business—there was no name attached to this -note—how do you know who wrote it—what in the devil have you got to do -with it, anyhow, and what is to hinder me from giving you a sound -thrashing on account of your confounded impudence in the affair?” - -His manner was threatening. - -Eric did not wince. - -“Mr. Prescott, listen to me, I am a man not acquainted with fear, nor do -I descend to fisticuffs. You see I am armed—now you can keep your -distance and talk reason or else take the consequences.” - -At sight of the revolver the artist started. - -He seemed to suspect for the first time what manner of man he was dealing -with. - -“Are you a—detective?” - -“I am, sir!” - -“In _his_ employ?” - -“Mr.—the gentleman referred to is an old friend of mine. I have sworn to -see him through this trouble.” - -“Were you following me when this paper fell?” - -“Yes.” - -“You saw it drop?” - -“I did.” - -“And the maid who gave it—perhaps you followed her home.” - -“No matter—I believe I know all there is to be known of this affair, sir. -I am here to advise you to drop it before you get hurt.” - -“Would you like to hear my opinion of you, sir?” - -“It would in no wise alter the one I hold of you, Mr. Prescott. Still it -is not my plan to indulge in personalities. Remember that what I do is -done as a business and from friendship. I wrong no honest man and -deceive no trusting woman.” - -“You make me out a scamp, which I am not, in my own estimation,” he said -hotly. - -“That is another subject which we need not discuss, sir, since our ideas -would be sure to be at variance. You go your way and I go mine; but at -the last I wish to distinctly warn you that we are prepared to give you -your deserts if you persist in your course.” - -“You can go to the man who employs you and tell him for me that Paul -Prescott defies him, and will fight him to the end!” - -This was strange language—there was certainly nothing cringing here. - -“Very good. Your blood be on your own head. You are watched when you -least expect it.” - -“Be careful you don’t go too far and get hurt.” - -“Bah! I was in that opium den last night and saw the tragedy.” - -Prescott started at this, and looked uneasy. “You there?” - -“I was the man who took charge of the remains of that unfortunate lady.” - -“Is it possible—I never suspected I had seen you previous to our meeting -in the car. What did you accomplish?” - -“The thing I desired. The world will never know that lady died anywhere -but in her own house.” - -“Then you have done a good thing, sir.” - -“We detectives are employed to do deeds of mercy as well as those of -justice and duty. I bid you good day, Mr. Prescott.” - -He had nothing more to say. - -The man was not one to argue with, and having made up his mind all the -powers of heaven and earth could not change it. - -This Eric read on his face, and saw in his manner—Prescott was as -stubborn as a mule in all he undertook, which perhaps in a measure -accounted for his success. - -The detective was disappointed. - -He had hoped for much and gained nothing, since the other was so set in -his ways as to be defiant. - -As Darrell had said there was nothing left now but to let matters run -their course. - -The puzzle had become deeper than ever to him, and he now accepted it -without any very strong attempt at solving the enigma. - -He could not understand how Lillian could love such a man as Prescott in -preference to her husband, except on the theory that the artist possessed -some terrible power over her which she was incapable of resisting. - -Sadly he left the building. - -The game must go on now to the inevitable conclusion—some one would get -hurt, but that was to be expected. - -What he regretted most of all was the shock to poor Joe. - -Strange how such an honest, good fellow, making a husband beyond all -reproach, should be thus afflicted. - -It often happens in life. Then men who deserve little are given wives a -thousand times too good for them. - -All are not mated who are married, any more with regard to their -character than in their stature—we often see a little man and a tall -woman going along arm in arm and smile as we think how incongruous it -seems, never reflecting that their natures may be more in harmony than -the well-mated pair ahead. - -The detective believed that the guilty couple had some plan matured, and -that they meant to make their flight that night. - -Indications pointed to it. - -He resolved then, to checkmate them, and make the thing a failure. - -Under no condition should Lillian be allowed to go forth. - -Eric endeavored to picture Joe’s wife in her confusion, when the mask was -torn off. - -Would she prove a firebrand? - -He did not believe it. It seemed utterly impossible for a sweet, -mild-mannered little woman like Lillian to develop into a fury. - -No doubt, when she found that her secret was known, she would collapse in -a heap at the feet of her husband, and he—well, Eric believed Joe was -fool enough to take her in his arms and forgive her. - -How could he learn what their plans were? - -He was thus pondering when he saw a figure in front of him that he -thought he recognized. It was the trim maid who had given Prescott the -note before. - -Of course Eric might be mistaken—there were many other like maids besides -Mrs. Leslie’s particular, but having the subject in his mind he jumped to -the conclusion that this must be the same party he had seen before. - -She was walking along slowly, looking up at the numbers of the great -buildings as if searching for a particular one. - -Undoubtedly she was looking for the building in which the artist had his -studio. - -Quick as a flash a plan came into the detective’s mind. - -What should she be looking for Prescott for but to deliver a note? - -He intercepted her. - -When he saw her face he discovered that she was an exceedingly youthful -looking person to be about thirty years of age, as Joe had declared—had -he been asked to guess it he would have said seventeen. - -Appearances are deceitful, however, especially when women are concerned. - -As he came face to face with the girl, he smiled—she did not look -offended. - -“I beg your pardon, but are you looking for the office of Paul Prescott?” - -She seemed surprised. - -“How did you know, sir?” - -“Because I am a friend of his with authority to receive the note you have -and keep it for him. I presume it is from the same party as the one you -gave him last evening.” - -“You know about that, too?” - -“Of course—I saw it. Give me the note and tell the lady Paul has it, as -he will in half an hour.” - -“But—I—” - -“The note, girl.” - -She met his eyes, placed a note in his hand and turning sped away, while -the detective chuckled to think what a cunning little god Fortune was -after all. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII -FORTUNE’S FAVORS - - -At least luck favored him and Eric could not say anything against the -sudden whirl of the wheel that had left him in such an advantageous -position. - -He was naturally anxious to scan the note he held and learn its contents. - -Looking around he saw a candy and ice cream saloon near by, where many -ladies and few gentlemen passed in. - -He believed, as the fall day was warm, that he could enjoy a plate of -cream, so he entered, selecting a table in a corner that was isolated. - -Here he gave his order, and while enjoying his cream opened the note. - -It was sealed in the envelope, but the gum had stuck poorly, and he could -easily open it with his knife blade. - -Once the contents lay open before him he read: “To-night then it shall -be. We are to have company at our house. I cannot get my trunk out -without arousing his suspicions so I have sent everything to the place -you named in packages by my maid. Have the carriage around the corner. -I will slip out while the gayety is at its height, meet you at the door -and in a minute we will be beyond his reach. He has been cruel to me, I -fear him, and yet I love you, Paul, and will be yours forever.” - -This time no signature. - -The writer was learning caution. - -Even initials might be dangerous. - -As for Eric, he read this note over again with the deepest pain and -surprise. - -“She means to leave him—there is no doubt of that, but what can she have -reference to when she speaks of his cruelty? Joe cruel—Joe, the kindest, -mildest, dearest fellow, I ever knew. He could only be cruel by -kindness. Either he has done too much for her, or else she is not in her -right mind. If that man is cruel then Prescott is a devil, I’m sure. I -would that the writer of this could find out the truth—it would serve her -well if we let her go on and reap as she has sown but for the sake of my -poor friend she must be saved.” - -He took out an old envelope and with a pencil copied the note verbatim. - -Then he enclosed the original in the envelope, sealed it up, saw that the -address was correct, and was ready to have it delivered. - -When he issued forth from the confectionary, he looked about him until he -saw a bright appearing district messenger boy sauntering along in the -manner peculiar to his kind. - -This youth he beckoned to his side. - -“Can you spare five minutes, boy?” - -The other grinned and nodded. - -“Make it up later, mister.” - -“All right. Here is a note, it is to be taken to the top floor of this -number and delivered into the hands of Mr. Prescott, the artist. You can -take the elevator up.” - -“All right, boss.” - -“You are to tell him a girl dressed in black and wearing a little maid’s -cap on her head gave you the note.” - -“Fine looking’ maid you are, mister.” - -“Never mind—do as I say. Here’s fifteen cents. If you come and report -to me the result, I have a quarter more for you.” - -“Hey! I’m off like the limited express.” - -So saying he took note and money and plunged into the building with hot -haste, determined to win the prize offered. - -Eric waited patiently. - -He knew he would see the boy again. - -That silver quarter would serve as a magnet to draw him back to the spot. - -Eric had not studied human nature thus long without being able to guess -certain things, and in this instance his surmise proved correct. - -Before the ten minutes had elapsed he saw the messenger boy come flying -along in a way that must have amazed any person who had grown accustomed -to the usual methods of these lads. - -“Here you are, sir. Right side up with care. Found him in, and -delivered the note.” - -The grin on the boy’s face declared also that he had been paid for his -work by the artist, but this was none of Eric’s business. - -He took out a quarter. - -“See here now, boy, I want you to prove what you say. What did you do?” - -“Knocked on the door—a cove opened it—asked him if Paul Prescott was -in—said as how he was the same—handed him the letter—he opened it, -grinned, and gave me a shiner. Then I vamosed the ranch and came to -you.” - -“Did he ask you where you got it?” - -“I told him the girl in black racket, which was really the worst I ever -heard, but the fellow seemed to swallow it without question.” - -“Describe the gentleman.” - -This was the crucial test. - -The boy obeyed without hesitation, and speedily proved that he must have -seen and conversed with the artist himself. - -After that Eric had no good reason for longer withholding the promised -reward, which was quickly stowed away in the lad’s pocket. - -The artist’s interview had not resulted in all that he expected, but he -could not say it had been barren of profit. Then again what followed had -made up in a measure for his defeat. - -He knew the enemy’s plans. - -Thus it would not be such a tremendous job to defeat them. Should Joe -know? - -He believed it would be policy to put him on his guard, and in that way -the plotting of the enemy would prove less profitable. So it was to end -to-night. - -A carriage was to be in waiting at the corner, and while Joe’s attention -was taken up with entertaining his guests, his wife would slip out and -meet her lover. - -Here was a chance for a little diplomacy. - -For instance, perhaps it could be arranged that the real Prescott be -kidnapped or otherwise kept out of the way, while Joe dressed himself up -to resemble the other. - -Then he could carry off his own wife, and at the proper time reveal his -identity, and teach her a terrible lesson. - -That would all be decidedly picturesque and highly dramatic, but there -were a number of obstacles to it that would have to be overcome ere they -could accomplish the best result. - -These difficulties were of such a nature that it seemed as though they -could not be overcome. - -Darrell cast around him to see whether there was not some other means -handy. - -How would it do to have the artist arrested on some charge when on the -way to the place of meeting? - -He decided against this on the spot, for it was very apt to make the -whole affair public gossip for the newspapers, something Joe would rather -cut off his right hand than have occur. - -Next in order he thought that Lillian might be given something to make -her sleepy or have such a headache that she could never carry out her -part of the arrangement; but this was offensive to his official taste—he -felt as though it was retreating before the attack, and it was not his -intention to do this. - -Finally he decided to see Joe—perhaps the other would suggest something -that might open up a plausible scheme—some little hint dropped in -conversation would give Eric the clew he was looking for. - -Joe was still in his office. - -He looked surprised to see his friend, and yet made no remark. - -In spite of his effort to appear cheerful, the keen eye of the detective -could see the traces of acute suffering in his face. - -“I’ve been to see that man, Joe,” he said. - -“You have?” - -“Yes, I thought it might be best for all concerned if I could shame him -into giving up his design.” - -“That was too bad, Eric, I would have forbidden it had I known your -intention.” - -“I know it. The thought came to me after I had seen you. I am sorry now -I went.” - -“You failed?” - -“I did indeed.” - -“Well, don’t be afraid to tell me. You see I’m calm and collected.” - -Eric could not but notice this, but he did not like it. - -In his mind it seemed like the awful stillness that precedes the -hurricane. - -He had no excuse for withholding anything so he told Joe what had -occurred. “That man is an accomplished scoundrel,” the other said, -quietly. - -“I believe that myself, but don’t be afraid of our not mastering him. I -discovered one of his weak points after leaving him.” - -“Trust you for that—what was it?” - -Eric proceeded to tell of his adventure. “Show me the duplicate,” said -Joe, trembling with emotion. - -When he had hastily read the copy Darrell had made, he uttered a low cry -of despair. “Yes, it is so,” he muttered. - -“What?” - -“We are to have company to-night. It is my birthday, as I told you, and -my wife said she had invited a few relatives and friends in to spend the -evening—an informal affair with a little supper of coffee, cakes and ice -cream. Yes, it is all a deep-laid scheme—and on my birthday too. Oh! -Lillian, my wife, how could you!” - -His arms lay upon the table, and he let his head fall heavily upon them. - -Eric turned to the window and smoked his cigar in silence. - -He had the deepest respect for the grief of his friend—it was the keenest -misery a human soul can meet here below—death causes many pangs, but not -the bitter blank that comes when one is betrayed by the individual he or -she had been ready to die for. - -Yes, from the hour the base Judas betrayed his loving Master, human -misery has never known a lower depth than this. - -For five minutes Joe fought his battle all alone, and then he looked up. - -His face was set and calm, as though he had conquered again. - -It was a bitter struggle and wearing upon him but he must go through to -the end. - -“Eric, I am ready to converse again. Pardon my weakness, old friend, but -this is a cruel business. I did not think I was such a baby. - -“Baby! Great heavens! man, you bear it twice as well as I could. Such a -thing would have murdered me outright.” - -They began talking again. - -Eric spoke of his unformed plans, and between them they began to patch up -a scheme by means of which the end they sought would be attained without -publicity. - -What it was we shall not disclose just now, leaving that for the proper -time. - -At any rate it seemed to give poor Joe some satisfaction to think he was -able to circumvent the villain who had destroyed his peace of mind. - -“After all, it might be better for me to challenge that man, and kill -him,” he said moodily. - -“Yes, or leave Lillian a widow, at the mercy of any adventurer. Besides, -in that way the whole dreadful story would get into the papers, and you -could not live in New York even if that artist failed to murder you. No, -you will find that the plan we have arranged is the best after all.” - -“You are undoubtedly right, Eric—consider it settled, and prepare to -carry it out. We will end this agony this night and that devil shall -learn what he risks in attempting to steal another man’s treasure.” - -“You will not fail me, Joe?” - -“It shall be the effort of my life, Darrell, to succeed. Have no fears -of me—my pride has been aroused. It is not the weak lover but the -outraged husband who speaks now.” - - - - -CHAPTER XIX -THE TIME DRAWS NEAR - - -For once Joe Leslie was thoroughly aroused, and the detective knew he -need have no fears of him again. - -Whatever he was given to do he would carry out to the letter. - -So they noted with something of satisfaction that the day was drawing to -a close, and the night coming on, for their hour could not be reached -until darkness had for some time settled down over the great city. - -Both were anxious to have the thing over. - -It did not give them much pleasure, and all their satisfaction arose in -the thought that justice and right would triumph when the man who had -plotted against the peace of a home went down among his idols of clay. - -In these modern days men have to do strange things when the sanctity of -their house has been invaded by a human serpent. - -Sometimes the stern arm of the law is called upon for assistance. - -Now and then, however, we read of some outraged husband going back to old -time principles and being a law unto himself on such an occasion. - -Long ago they had a means of avenging such wrongs by meeting in the lists -with lance or sword—in short, fighting a duel. - -The modern way is perhaps the best if least chivalric since it is all in -favor of the man who has been wronged, and does not risk his life. - -We have seen that Joe was not modern in his ways. - -The last thing he desired on earth was to make his misery public. - -His love for his wife was wonderful—he only blamed the man who had gained -such power over her mind as to make her irresponsible. Just as though -there were wizards to-day—the times of Salem witchcraft have not returned -to haunt us again, thank heaven. - -Joe really did believe—and the shrewd detective allowed the same idea to -permeate his own mind to a certain extent—that it was a case where a weak -mind was dominated by a masterful one. He had known such cases, and seen -examples of hypnotism that had astonished him. - -Thus he excused Lillian. - -While Eric did not go that far, he believed there were extenuating -circumstances connected with the case, and was willing to look upon it -all in a most lenient way. - -Probably he would have acted in a different manner had it been his own -wife who was concerned in the affair. - -That was a matter that brought the business down to mere speculation, and -when it reached this point it became unprofitable. - -When the detective left his friend he had everything arranged. - -As far as human sight could see beyond, all was ready for the business in -hand. - -Should Paul Prescott attempt to put his little game into practice he -would find himself brought up rather suddenly. - -There was an hour or so of daylight left, and this Eric put to good -advantage, as he had a number of little things to do. - -One cannot engage to carry out a scheme like this without many -accessories being needed, and the wise man looks for these before the -time arrives for their use. - -Gradually the day gave way to evening. Darrell believed all was -arranged. - -He felt satisfied that before another day came around, Joe’s condition -would be changed—this night was the crisis—either his spirits must go -down or else rise suddenly. - -All depended on one person. - -This was Lillian. - -To him she was the one object that could affect his future—the lodestone -that drew him on. - -When he had made his preparations and eaten a light supper down town, -Eric started for the scene of the coming comedy. - -He could not pierce the future any more than any other human, and hence -knew not whether it would remain such or prove to be a tragedy. - -Coming events may often cast their shadows before, but there are times -when the sun is so nearly in the zenith that this shadow does not amount -to very much. - -Besides, what does a shadow amount to anyhow—it is not tangible, and -presents no opportunity for solution. - -For once at least in his life the detective confessed himself unable to -insure the future. - -He knew certain facts, and that others would coalesce, but what the -result would be he did not pretend to be chemist enough to decide. - -Time alone would tell. - -That was the physician who could be depended upon to bind up broken -hearts, to solve the deepest mysteries and set everything right. - -Given time, nothing was impossible. - -As the shades of evening descended, Darrell brought up in the -neighborhood of the building on Fourteenth Street where the artist’s -studio was located. - -He was passing slowly by when a hack drove up and stopped at the curb. - -“Engaged?” he asked the driver. - -“Sorry, sir, but I am,” returned that worthy. A jehu always hates to -lose a fare. - -“Can’t accommodate me up town?” - -“Right away?” - -“Yes.” - -“Where to?” - -“About Eighty-fourth and Third Avenue.” - -The man’s face lighted up—Darrell was answered—he saw a chance of -doubling his fare. “I reckon the other’d make no objection. Pay me -first, and I’ll tell him I was taken by you.” - -“How much?” - -“One, fifty.” - -Without a murmur the detective handed over the amount, submitting to be -robbed in order to carry out his point. - -Of course he was disguised. - -No one would for a moment imagine that this old gentleman was the same -athletic individual who had visited Prescott in his studio, and argued -with him over a revolver. - -The clocks were striking seven as he entered the hack and made himself -comfortable. - -Along the wide pavement hundreds were still hurrying, although the swarms -from all the great stores had long since passed by. - -Presently from out the building the artist came. He looked worried, and -well he might. - -When a man sets out to steal another man’s wife he risks a great deal. - -It must weigh upon his mind, even the personal danger involved, though -his conscience be free. - -Darrell recognized this fact, and did not wonder at the look of anxiety -he saw upon the countenance of the artist. - -The latter looked up and down the street ere catching sight of the hack -at the curb. Then a smile came upon his face. - -He walked up to the driver, spoke a few words, frowned when the other -mentioned having another passenger, saw no other vehicle in sight that he -could engage, glanced in at the seeming old man, and then, grumbling, -entered. - -“I trust I have not inconvenienced you, sir,” remarked the old gentleman, -anxiously. - -“Not at all, not at all,” replied the artist courteously, though his -manner had belied his words. - -They rumbled along. - -Block after block was left behind. - -It is a long distance from Fourteenth Street up to the point where they -were bound, and when half an hour had gone by they had not yet reached -their destination. - -Indeed, it was not far from eight o’clock when the driver pulled up at -the corner. - -The old gentleman got out slowly. - -He bade his traveling companion good night and turning walked away, his -cane beating a lively tattoo upon the stone pavement. - -Darrell was satisfied with his investment thus far—he had been carried up -town, had seen the artist well upon his way, and knew both driver and -vehicle by sight. - -There could not very well be any mistake after this—he believed things -were well laid out, and that all they needed was a chance to execute -their plan. - -He again changed his looks, so that in case the artist saw him he would -not realize that he had met him before. - -With the facilities at his command it was not a difficult thing for him -to do this, and by means of a few deft turns he completely altered his -character, and might defy recognition, even were keener eyes concerned -than those of Paul Prescott, the artist. - -When this had been done Darrell walked up the avenue, and soon came to -the corner where, as he expected, he found the vehicle. - -Prescott was not in sight. - -Some two hours must elapse before the time arranged would pass. - -The driver had also vanished, no doubt being in a liquor store near by, -where he could wet his whistle, lounge at his ease and watch his team at -the same time. - -His horses would have a good chance to rest before they were needed -again, and this was probably one reason why the artist had him on hand at -such an early hour. - -When young Lochinvar carried off his bride he managed to have a good -steed, knowing that everything depended on the swiftness of his flight, -as pursuit would be sudden and furious. - -So Paul Prescott, with an eye to possible emergencies, had chosen a -vehicle that was drawn by a good team of animals. - -He showed his wisdom here. - -In case of pursuit it might be his salvation. - -When the detective sauntered past the house upon which his interest was -centered he saw that it was lighted up. - -Company was expected. - -Lillian had invited a few particular friends in to see them, on account -of its being Joe’s birthday. - -As yet they had not begun to arrive, but would soon appear upon the -scene. - -Darrell heard a vehicle coming, and stopped in a dark spot near by. - -“The first of the guests,” he muttered. - -As the carriage stopped in front of the house he gave a start. - -“Jupiter! guests with trunks—that’s odd.” There was a trunk up beside -the driver, who at once leaped to the ground. - -As he opened the door a vision of jaunty wraps and bonnets sprang out and -flew up the steps to ring the bell, while Darrell held his breath as he -guessed the truth. - -The door opened. - -“Marian!” - -A flutter of feminine apparel, a little shriek of girlish delight, and -the sisters were locked in each others’ arms, to the wonderment of the -man who watched below. - -Then the jehu carried in the trunk, the door closed, the carriage rumbled -away and the street resumed its wonted appearance. - -Eric was puzzled. - -He had not counted on this. - -Had any of the others? - -What effect would it have on the anticipated elopement, he wondered. - -Here was the lover with his vehicle on hand, and such a nature as Paul -Prescott’s would not brook interference. - -The affair became more complicated. - -Darrell would have given something to have had the next two hours over. - -As it was he had to possess his soul in patience and wait. - -Things that he did not dream of were fated to turn up in that time, and -he was bound to have his hands full. - -Guests soon began to arrive. Several came in carriages, while others -were not far enough away to bother with vehicles. - -It was no fashionable gathering, but one of warm friends, of whom Joe -Leslie had many. - -His business and social life was such that he drew people to him, making -many friends and few enemies, which is after all the only true way to go -through this world. - - - - -CHAPTER XX -FOR PLUNDER - - -At about a quarter to nine Darrell once more sauntered past the house. - -He could see into the parlor, as the inside shutters were turned, and -with a number of others he was attracted by the bright scene. - -Although perhaps he would not confess it, the bachelor detective was -eagerly hoping for even a fleeting glimpse of Marian. - -He got it too. - -After having seen the photograph Lillian had shown him, he knew he could -not be mistaken. - -The girl stood for half a minute in direct focus from his place of -observation, and the gas-light fell full upon her face and figure. - -Darrell drew in a long breath. - -“That settles it,” he muttered, “I’ll try—unless this other affair takes -the heart out of me.” - -He had lived between thirty-five and forty years without ever having a -serious love scrape; but an inward monitor told him his time had come at -last. - -The little god plays all manner of pranks with his victims, and although -Eric Darrell had eluded his sway so long, it would all be made up to him -presently. - -As Marian stood there she was joined by a second figure. - -This was Joe. - -Eric scanned his face eagerly, as best he could under the circumstances. - -“Thank heaven! Joe is calm. He has aroused his energies. No danger of -his giving out when the crucial test comes,” he muttered. - -Joe Leslie did appear self-possessed, but it was easy to be seen that he -was not himself this evening. - -His wife accounted for it to the friends about her by stating that Joe -had been overworking himself lately, and that morning he complained of a -severe headache. - -She did not seem to suspect that she had given him cause for his -breakdown. - -None are so blind as those who refuse to see. It might be this or -innocence that caused her to ignore the truth. - -Eric, with a sigh, passed on. - -He had seen Lillian join the others, and the trio gave him a strange -feeling. - -“So fair, and yet so false. How can a man trust a woman when he has such -a terrible example before his eyes—and her sister too.” - -He soon forgot all this. Something else attracted his attention, and he -found that there was need of his care. A couple of sinister-looking men -passed the house and looked in. - -He saw them conversing eagerly together a minute or two later just -beyond. - -At first an idea sprang into his head that they might be men hired by -Prescott to create a disturbance and delay pursuit after the latter had -succeeded in reaching his carriage with Lillian. - -If this were so, he must take them into his calculations and watch them -closely. That their conversation concerned the house where the little -gathering was taking place was beyond all doubt, for their motions -attested this. - -Then they moved off. - -Eric did not believe they had gone, and he followed them with his eyes. - -They slipped into a vacant lot near by, and the detective began to get a -new idea. - -Perhaps these fellows were not in the employ of the artist after all, but -skirmishing around on their own hook. - -That meant knavery. - -He was aroused. - -To follow them was his first thought. - -Stealing down to the vacant lot he too vanished amid its blackness. - -At first he could see and hear nothing, but in a few minutes he caught a -clew, and found that the two men had gone to the fence separating the -vacant lot from Joe’s back yard. - -Some old wagons and drays were scattered here and there about the place, -for it presented an admirable wagon yard. - -Such is cosmopolitan New York. - -The palace often touches the hovel. - -Some of the aristocrats up town can look out from their magnificent -houses, and survey the shanty of the squatter built on the rocks, where -the agile goat browses on old shoes and empty cans. - -Some day this will not be, but it is so now, and a source of wonder to -foreigners. - -Darrell began to pick his way through the wagon yard, careful to proceed -without noise, for when men are bent upon an unlawful errand it does not -take much of a sound to cause palpitation of the heart, and he did not -want to have their death on his hands—just yet. - -They seemed to be surveying the scene from the rear. - -It was undoubtedly their intention to make some sort of a haul here. - -The silver might be lying around loose, or even some jewelry in the upper -rooms—men of their trade do not discriminate, so long as what they seize -upon has a specific value. - -First, last and all the time, what they want is the cold cash. - -It was certain that they must be frightened away, and that at once. - -His other business was too important to allow him the pleasure of playing -with these fellows, much as he might have enjoyed it. - -Under these circumstances he worked his way close to where they crouched. - -He could hear them working with a chisel or burglar’s tool of some -sort—they were prying off a board from the fence, so that they might -easily pass through when they desired. - -It would be a good route for flight, also, after their object was -attained. - -So interested were they in the task that they did not have the faintest -suspicion of the presence of any one. - -Darrell could hear their low words. - -“Bill, this here promises to be a lucky strike,” said one, in a low tone. - -Bill muttered a reply. - -“Well, I’m of the opinion, Bill, as we’ll have a good whack at some -valuables. Ye see, the guests are all in there—if we can deceive the gal -below and slip upstairs there ought to be fat pickings for fellers of our -size.” - -“Softly, partner, softly—there’s another in this here game you ain’t -counted on.” - -As these words reached their ears, the two men muttered exclamations of -dismay. - -“Who the deuce is it?” - -“Where in thunder is he?” - -“I’m right here. You fellows are treading on my corns. This is my -pasture—get out.” - -“Not much we won’t. We’ll slit your wizen first, I reckon. We’re in -this here game now for keeps,” growled the man named Bill. - -“Then you must go snacks. I’ll furnish the information, and you do the -work—an equalization of labor—ain’t that fair?” - -“What d’ye know, critter?” - -“Where the silver is kept—it ain’t been brought out yet awhile, and by a -little bold work the hull of it can be spirited away.” - -At this the two men can hardly restrain their delight. - -“Lead us to it, and the third is yourn.” - -“You’re on the steal, then?” - -“Ready to take anything that counts.” - -“This is the steel I deal in.” - -One of the men, the fellow nearest him, felt something like a piece of -ice pressed against his left temple. - -He put up his hand. - -The investigation did not afford him any particular pleasure, for what he -touched sent a shiver through his whole frame. - -It was a cold revolver. - -“Move a hand or a foot and you are a dead man. And you also,” to the -other fellow. - -The board had just come off in this latter chap’s arms, and light from -the house poured through the opening in a stream that was strong enough -to show him the situation. - -He dared not drop the board, and he was also prevented from attacking the -unknown. - -Eric was master of the situation. - -“Now see here, men, listen to me.” - -“Go ahead!” growled one. - -“In mercy’s name don’t press that trigger,” groaned the other. - -Darrell had to smile at the sudden termination to which circumstances had -brought the bold raid of the two sneak thieves. - -They had come after plunder, but found something more awaiting them. - -The little scheme, concocted on the spur of the moment, had been driven -into obscurity. - -“I am a detective, watching this house.” - -Both men groaned. - -“Fools we was.” - -“And although I’m going to let you go this time, if I see either of you -here again you’ll make a bee-line for the Tombs.” - -“Don’t worry, mister—if we get off this time we’ll make ourselves scarce. -It gives me a chill to think of Sing Sing.” - -“You ought to get the chill before you start on such an expedition, and -not after you are caught. You know that when ‘the devil was sick, the -devil a monk would be; but when the devil got well, the devil a monk was -he’.” - -“Kin we go, mister?” - -“Yes—pass out the front door, gentlemen, just as you came in. And, -remember, once goes a long way with me—if you show up here again, down -you go to Centre Street.” - -“Thank ye, boss.” - -The men crept quickly away—indeed, their haste was really ludicrous, for -they seemed to have a deep-rooted fear lest he might be tempted to change -his mind. - -But under the circumstances Eric was quite satisfied to see them safely -off the premises. - -His other work would take up his attention, and he could not expect to -amuse himself with such side-shows as these. - -He once more made his way to the street. - -As before a little knot of curious people stood in front of the house -gazing in. The glimpses they caught of beautiful women and brave men -were a revelation to them. It was like looking into Paradise. Otherwise -the street was quiet. - -A train boomed past on the elevated road below. Eric looked at his -watch. It was a quarter past nine. - -Three-quarters of an hour still remained, and then would come the grand -climax. - -He began to breathe easier, for time was passing, and he felt sure their -plans would come out all right. - -Sauntering to the corner he saw the hack still there as he had left it. - -The driver was sitting inside now. - -He knew his orders and only waited for the proper time to arrive. - -Where was Prescott? - -Eric had expected to see him scouting around the Leslie mansion, but if -the artist was there he had kept his person well concealed. Not yet had -Eric doubted the motives that brought the other here. - -Everything seemed to fit as snugly as though it had been made for it—when -a carpenter makes a neat job he dove-tails the corners, and Darrell -looked upon the many little things that connected so wonderfully, as the -finishing touches of the joiner. - -If a thunder cloud burst upon him it would certainly take him unawares, -while the cool rain might be very acceptable. - -He began to count the minutes. - -Seldom had this man ever felt any such thing as nervousness in his life, -but just now he certainly experienced a spell of it. The minutes seemed -hours. - -People walked along the street—he scrutinized every one as though he -expected to see a ghost appear. - -In reality he was looking for Prescott. - -It worried him to know that the man was somewhere around and yet out of -sight, though he did not doubt but what he would be on hand when needed. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI -THE COTTAGE BEYOND THE HARLEM - - -Sometimes things do not run quite as smoothly as we hope for. - -The best laid plans of mice and men often go wrong—there’s many a slip -‘twixt the cup and the lip. - -So it happened on the present occasion. - -It was all owing to a certain clock which had taken a notion to get ahead -of its fellows and was some ten minutes fast. - -A lamp set Chicago on fire. - -So this unlucky clock upset the beautiful plans of the wily detective, as -he believed, and came near leaving him in the lurch. - -By chance he was down near the corner when suddenly he saw a female -hurrying that way. - -A long cloak concealed her figure, but a handsome dress of white silk -peeped below—a heavy veil had been snatched up to hide her face and serve -in lieu of a hat at the same time. - -Where she came from he hardly knew, but a terrible fear almost palsied -him. - -It was Lillian! - -She had come ahead of time—Joe would not be ready, and as a result -confusion must ensue. - -Luckily the detective was a man able to grasp an emergency. - -He never yet had seen the time when he was so taken by surprise that his -mind refused to do its work. - -Just then there was need of quick thought, and action must follow on its -heels. - -Hardly had the woman paused upon the corner than a dark figure sprang out -of the shadows near by. - -“Paul!” she whispered. - -“Good heavens! you are ten minutes ahead of time, darling. I would have -met you at the place appointed had—” the rush of a train drowned what -else he said. - -Then the detective saw him assist the now shrinking figure toward the -carriage. - -“He will be furious,” he heard her say, as she looked apprehensively -around, as though anticipating the appearance of an enraged husband on -the scene. - -If these were her sensations now, what of the future—remorse must soon -kill her. - -“He had better keep his hands off, or I will teach him a lesson! The -cowardly cur, to bully you so. Enter, darling—you are safe with me.” - -Eric’s first impulse was for blood. - -He felt strongly inclined to spring forward and grapple with this -boaster, who breathed such lies of Joe in his wife’s ears. - -Then another thought came. - -Such a public scene would immediately collect a crowd at the corner, and -Lillian’s name would be dragged in the dust. - -The world has no mercy upon a woman who leaves her husband and runs away -with another man—the latter loses no caste, but she, poor creature, can -never climb up again. - -That is the law of human justice—woman was given a nobler, purer nature -than man, and when she sins it is unpardonable. - -It has been so ever since the world was, and will be the same always. - -While Eric struggled between what he desired to do and what policy -dictated, the choice was taken from him altogether. - -Fate decided. - -Prescott had placed his charge in the hack and entered himself. - -The driver slammed the door, and mounted nimbly to his box. - -If Eric meant to act it must be now, or the chance was gone forever. - -Already the vehicle was moving. - -Now or never! - -Obeying a sudden impulse to make the most of a bad bargain, he ran after -the hack. - -It had not gained much headway as yet, and Eric caught on behind. - -Here he conceived another one of those sudden fancies, and saw an -opportunity to climb up on top of the vehicle. - -Fortunately for his purpose it presented good opportunities for such -gymnastic feats. - -No one but a boy or an exceedingly agile man could have accomplished this -thing; but the detective certainly filled the bill so far as the latter -condition was concerned. - -He pulled himself up—his feet secured a hold upon the springs, and his -hands grasped a clutch above. - -Then he drew himself upon the top. - -A few boys along the pavement noticed this but they only supposed this -was some peculiar way in which a man could gain a seat beside the driver. - -Those inside were too busily engaged in exchanging confidences to notice -anything. - -As for the jehu, he was so much taken up with his horses, avoiding -obstructions for which Third Avenue is notorious, that he never dreamed -of the odd passenger he had picked up, until Eric plumped down on the box -beside him. - -“Great Scott! where did you drop from?” he ejaculated is dismay, looking -up as if he really suspected the unknown had rained down. - -“Don’t worry yourself—I only climbed up over the back,” returned Eric -coolly. - -“Then just you climb down again in a hurry, or I’ll toss you over,” and -the man, firing up after his sudden scare, looked ugly enough to carry -his threat into execution. - -“Some other time, old fellow—just now this place suits me as well as any, -and here I stay.” - -The rattle of the swiftly moving vehicle over the granite blocks would -prevent any one from hearing this interesting dialogue—the parties -interested were shouting in each other’s ears. - -Perhaps there was something about Eric that aroused a spirit of animosity -in the other; but if so there must also have been that which warned him -to be exceedingly careful. - -He showed signs of anger, and yet dared not raise his hand in open -rebellion - -“What d’ye mean stealing a ride this way?” - -“Just because I please. Look down here and you’ll see something.” - -The quarrelsome jehu obeyed. - -He looked—and wilted. - -“Jupiter!” - -This man was not the first who ever felt his courage ooze from his finger -ends at sight of a revolver. - -“Understand me,” said the detective, sternly, “that is for you if you -give me any trouble.” - -“A crazy man escaping—a burglar at large!” - -“No, sir, a detective running down his game. We understand each other, I -hope. I want a ride on your vehicle, and if you give me any trouble I’ll -land you in the Tombs double quick as accessory to a murder.” - -The word was quite enough. - -It blanched the man’s cheeks and from that time on the detective knew he -would not have any trouble with him. - -The horses were doing their prettiest. - -To the surprise of the detective, instead of starting down Third Avenue, -the course was up it. - -Evidently then the artist did not mean to go either to his studio or -lodgings. - -He had other plans in view. - -Now Eric was given a chance to think, and he improved it well. - -So suddenly had this crisis been sprung upon the detective that he had -thus far only acted from impulse. - -He must shape some sort of plan, in order to yet win the game. - -Those inside the hack had not the slightest suspicion of his presence. - -The rattle of the vehicle and their own agitation would prevent their -paying any attention to anything happening outside. - -As the night air was cool, all the openings had the glass in them—this -was another point in the detective’s favor. - -No doubt Paul Prescott was thrilled with the great victory he had won, -and believed nothing could keep him from accomplishing the end toward -which he had planned so long, little suspecting the danger hovering near. - -On went the vehicle. - -Harlem was gained, that new city that has of late years sprung up beside -the river, a part of New York, and yet really distinct from it. - -Darrell had once more become the cool man as of yore, ready to grapple -with this burning question, and throttle the hydra headed monster that -had crossed the track of Joe Leslie’s wife. - -He smiled to think what poor Joe must be doing just then—finding Lillian -really gone and the detective not on hand. Had he given the whole thing -away? Would all his guests know that his wife had deserted him for -another? - -This was a possibility that made Eric grit his teeth and feel angry at -the peculiar chance that had cheated him of his prey. If things had only -worked as they should, the wheels would have gone along nicely. However, -Eric had learned long ago the folly of crying over spilt milk, and when a -disaster occurred he generally set about retrieving his fortunes as well -as possible. - -They were nearing the Harlem. - -Would the vehicle cross the bridge and proceed up into the country -beyond? - -Pursuit—it was folly to think of any one being able to pursue them, at -least for some time to come, and a trail grows cold with waiting. No -wonder then the artist felt jolly. - -He believed his plan had been a complete success, and that the prize was -his own. - -Ah! the Harlem at last. - -Those curved lines of lights indicated the bridge that stretched across. - -The horses’ feet fall upon the planking—their course then was over the -river. - -As for Eric, he was quite indifferent now whither they took him. - -He had made up his mind to see this thing through and to save Lillian for -his friend and it did not matter whether the climax came to pass in the -city or country. - -He meant it should be severe. - -As Joe Leslie’s best friend he would teach this masher a lesson he would -never forget if he survived it. The driver once or twice tried to strike -up a conversation with him, but Eric ordered him to pay no attention to -anything but his horses. Then a thought coming to him, he told the man -that if the gentleman inside should notice his presence and demand to -know who he was, that the driver should claim him as a friend and let it -pass. - -This the man said he would do—he had a horror of being concerned in a -murder trial, and this was what the other threatened him with. - -They crossed the bridge and continued on—houses were plenty, gas lamps -dispelled the darkness at intervals, but at the same time there seemed to -be something of the country about them—the great metropolis with its two -millions of inhabitants, its bustle and electric lights lay behind them. - -For a short time longer the night ride was continued, and then, to the -satisfaction of the detective, it ended. - -They came to a quiet street. - -The artist poked his head out of the window which he had dropped in the -door. - -“To the left—first house you come to.” - -“Ay, ay, sir.” - -“Hello, there! who the deuce have you with you, driver?” as he caught -sight of Eric. - -“A friend, sir. Thought it’d be a lonely ride back, and took him for -company,” replied jehu. - -“All right, I suppose.” - -That was over then, and no damage done. Now for the next. - -The hack drew up in front of a picturesque cottage, just back from the -road—as far as Eric could see it was bowered in vines and just the place -an artist might be supposed to select, if he used his artistic taste at -all. - -Lights were in the rooms. - -They must be expected. - -Down jumped the driver—Eric followed close upon his heels, for he did not -mean to give the fellow any chance to betray him, and he knew it would be -human nature for the jehu to endeavor to warn his liberal patron. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII -ALMOST - - -Again the detective showed his knowledge of the animal—man. - -The driver had been thinking of this very thing, and as the artist came -out of the hack first he made a great ado over helping him. At the same -time he started to say: - -“You’d better be careful, sir—there’s—” - -At this moment came a pinch on his arm from the detective, and he -realized that the other was up to his little game. - -“What’s that?” demanded Prescott. - -By this time Eric had managed to touch one of the jehu’s hands with the -barrel of his revolver. - -The contact sent a shudder through the other. - -“There’s bad step here—the lady might be hurt,” finished the driver. - -“Oh! I’ll look after her, my man.” - -He handed the jehu some bills. “There’s the amount agreed on and ten -dollars more, because you’ve been faithful.” - -“Thanks, your honor,” stammered the man. - -He acted as though he was tempted to blurt out the truth and take the -consequences, but Eric managed to whisper something to him that quieted -this suicidal thought. - -“You’ve got your money—keep quiet, and I’ll put you in the way of ten -more.” - -That was enough. - -The man’s sordid nature was touched—he was mercenary to an unusual -degree. - -After that he was for earning the new fee, even at the expense of -treachery to his former patron. Prescott assisted the lady companion of -his flight out with much solicitude. - -Still Eric did not interfere. - -He was strongly tempted to knock the artist down, seize the lady perhaps -as she swooned, and placing her back in the vehicle, drive to the -desecrated home of his friend. - -Something restrained him. - -He would see more. - -What meant the lights in the house? Something here needed investigation, -and he was the man to look into it. - -He saw the couple enter the yard and proceed in the direction of the -front door. - -It opened. - -A woman’s form stood there. - -“Welcome, Mr. Prescott. We heard the wheels and were sure it was you. -Welcome to your home, Mrs. —” - -The rest died out as they went in, and the detective heard no more. - -He was amazed. How daring the artist was. How openly he carried out his -plans. - -Most men would have taken a train and sped away like the wind, fearing -the terrible vengeance of an outraged husband. - -He did not seem to realize the danger he incurred, or else had a contempt -for it. - -Eric was in doubt whether this man was a fool or a brave fellow. - -Perhaps he was cunning enough to know that in all probability the husband -would seek for him at a distance, and overlook the near places. This -would be wisdom. - -Eric now turned to the man. - -“See here, my fine fellow, I have your number, and if you play me false -I’ll land you behind the bars inside of twelve hours if it takes every -officer on the force to do it. You hear what I am saying. Serve me well -and what I promised is yours. I have already paid you money to-night.” - -“You?” - -“Certainly—I was the old man who rode up from Fourteenth Street with -you.” - -“Jerusalem!” - -The driver saw that he had to deal with a shrewd man—he admired such a -person, and could well afford to fall in behind him. - -After that there would be no kick on his part against what fate had -decided for him, but he would pull in the traces meekly. - -Satisfied that the man would be there when he wanted him, Eric now turned -his attention toward the house. - -He entered the gate. - -As he had supposed from the glance he had obtained, the place was an -ideal one for the full expression of love in a cottage. - -Flowers probably bloomed here from May until bleak November. - -Honeysuckles and wisteria covered the cottage—rose bushes and dozens of -varieties of flowers filled the beds, but just then beautiful -chrysanthemums were taking their rank as the fall flower. - -It was a place to bring a bride, but would these beauties of nature -appeal to a heart that was heavy with sin? - -Eric could not for the life of him see how one could look upon nature -again, after ruining the life of a noble man, but his experience had -taught him to be surprised at nothing. - -He did not speculate now. - -Before him was duty. - -It lay in a direct line, and the path was narrow, but he meant to tread -it. - -That duty covered his professional pride, and the feeling he entertained -for his friend. Straight up to the house he went. Light streamed from -the windows and showed him the way—it also tempted him to look in. He -saw a cozy little room neatly furnished. - -Handsome paintings adorned the walls, rather out of place in a modest -cottage like this, but then it was to be the abode of an artist, whose -pictures commanded large sums, and he could afford to decorate above the -ordinary—these were doubtless favorite subjects of his which he did not -hold for sale. - -No one seemed to be in this room, and he could not see in the other well, -for the lamp was standing directly in the window, so that he could not -look past it. - -He found a path leading around the house and started along it. - -Before he had gone far, the rattle of a chain, followed by a deep growl, -told him he had better retrace his steps again—not wishing to come into -contact with the concealed dog, he did so. - -This time he went to the front door, which was almost concealed under the -bower of vines. - -Feeling around he found the knob. Upon trying it he was pleased to find -that the door was not secured, and answered to his touch. - -He opened it boldly. A hall was before him. Just then it was -unoccupied, and the uninvited guest was able to step in, close the door, -and look around for some place of concealment. This he easily found. - -The hall offered numerous opportunities for hiding if one felt inclined -that way, and Eric speedily ensconced himself in a place where he was not -apt to be seen. He remained here awaiting developments for a few -minutes. - -Nobody seemed to be moving. He heard voices in the room where the lamp -in the window had prevented him from seeing what the room contained. - -One of these was the voice of Prescott. - -The other seemed to belong to a man also, and Eric wondered at this. - -He had not supposed the artist would have a friend awaiting him -here—generally when a man runs off with another’s wife he desires to shun -society of all sort. There was reason enough for this, which made the -action of the transgressor the more peculiar. - -He wondered whether there was not something about this whole affair that -he did not understand. - -Later, he found out that this was so—that a man may see all the surface -indications and yet not get at the real facts in the case. - -He waited in his concealment for a while, and then made up his mind to -push matters. - -Why should he not appear before Paul Prescott and boldly announce his -intention of wresting from his power the victim of his spell? - -There was nothing to prevent him. - -He made his way toward the door that led from the hall into the room, -which as he afterward discovered was the library. - -A _portiere_ hung there in place of the door, and a more excellent -opportunity for hiding and spying could not well have been offered. - -Behind this he could find a small opening and thus see without being -seen. - -When he looked into the room he found there were but two men there. - -One of these was Prescott—the other a small man of severe countenance. - -The first thought of the detective was that the latter had a clerical -look—his clothes seemed on the order of a clergyman, white tie and all. - -Then he concluded that he must be mistaken. Surely, a minister would be -the last one in all the world whom Prescott would desire to have here. - -This must be some friend whom he had asked to greet them at the cottage -in order to encourage Lillian. - -The men were laughing. - -Prescott seemed in unusual spirits. - -Perhaps he had been imbibing—when a man in his sober senses commits such -a sin against society and his Maker he must, generally, fortify himself -with some ardent spirits. - -At any rate he had the appearance of a man who was quite satisfied with -himself. - -The world had abused him, in some respects, but to-night he was in a -humor to bid the whole universe defiance. - -Success had come to him—the best he had ever dreamed of was now at his -hand. - -Others before Paul Prescott had believed themselves on the pinnacle of -hope and power, only to find it all a dream and an illusion. - -So Darrell reflected as he watched the man whom he meant to speedily -humble. - -While the two were yet talking, a door in the back part of the library -opened. - -Through this came three females. The first one was very like -Prescott—indeed, it was easy for the detective to determine that she must -be the artist’s sister. - -After her came a sedate woman, neatly dressed, with her hair parted and -brushed straight back on either side—a model of a housekeeper. - -There was one more. - -At sight of her Eric started, and an exclamation bubbled to his lips. - -She was dressed in white silk—the long cloak had been discarded, and the -heavy black veil that had screened her was now supplanted by a gauzy -white one, through which the faintest glimpses only could be seen of her -face. She was a picture indeed. - -Eric held his breath. - -He saw Prescott rush forward and take her hand with the utmost eagerness. -Then the other led her forward. They stood in front of the second man, -who held a book in his hand. - -“Good heavens!” muttered the detective. - -He rubbed his eyes. - -What mockery was this? A marriage—when she was already another man’s -wife! He could hardly believe his sight. - -The voice of the preacher aroused him, and started him into life. - -This must not be. It was sacrilege. - -Knowing the facts of the case he would be abetting a crime if he allowed -this thing to go on without raising an objection. - -So, while the minister was still talking, Eric suddenly sprang into the -room. - -“I forbid this marriage!” he cried. - -A scene of confusion followed. - -The women fell back—Prescott swore and the minister looked amazed. - -An interruption like this seldom occurs. “Upon what charge do you dare -stop this sacred ceremony?” demanded the preacher. - -“The woman has been married before.” - -“Yes.” - -“Her husband is living!” - -At this there came a shriek from the bride. - -“It is false, false as Hades! I helped to bury her husband myself,” -shouted the artist. - -Eric, with a quick movement, threw back the white veil from the face of -the almost fainting bride and then he received the greatest shock of his -life. - -It was not Lillian! - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII -THE MESSENGER WITH GOOD NEWS - - -Eric Darrell might have been frozen—he seemed so petrified with surprise. - -Instead of Lillian’s sweet face, marked by horror, he saw that of the -dashing widow, Mrs. Collingwood, she with whom Prescott had communicated -in the opium joint. - -It dawned upon the detective. - -All along there had been a great mistake—many things remained to be -explained away, but the one main point was assured—Lillian must be -innocent of the charge. - -He was a man of extraordinary sense, as well as a man of action. - -Recovering himself, he turned gracefully to Paul Prescott, who was -glaring at him. - -“Mr. Prescott, there has been a grave mistake here on my part. I thought -this lady was some one else. I beg your pardon. Let the ceremony -proceed. I withdraw my objection. When it is over we will have a mutual -understanding.” - -These words restored everyone to good humor. The artist dropped his -frown, the dominie found his place in the book, and the bride again stood -up beside the man she was taking for better or worse and the ceremony -went on. - -Now was a chance for Eric to do some tall thinking, and he did so. - -He saw many things in a new light, and had about arranged all he wanted -to say when the marriage service was over. - -“I pronounce you man and wife,” said the minister, and, bending over, the -artist kissed his bride. - -Then the three females retired again, the preacher hurried away, and Eric -found himself alone with the man whom he had had under surveillance for -so long a time. - -The artist eyed him. - -“Who are you, sir?” - -“I am a detective, Mr. Prescott—I have been in your presence before.” - -“By Jove! you are the man who bearded me in my studio.” - -“Yes, and the man who rode up in the hack with you to Eighty-fifth -Street.” - -“That old gent with the cane?” - -“Also the friend of your driver who came up here with you.” - -“And you are hired by Colonel Rogers—but if so, why the deuce did you -stop the ceremony and then allow it to go on?”. - -The artist was amazed. - -Well he might be. - -The detective knew he had good reason for surprise, and was in a measure -ready to gratify that curiosity. - -In return he hoped the artist would reveal certain strange things to him. - -So Eric told all that was necessary—he did not even mention the lady’s -name. - -Prescott smiled—he thought he could guess who it referred to. - -“If you go to that house from here, my friend, you will learn something,” -he said, quietly. - -“But what does all this singular action of yours mean, sir? You must -admit everything seemed to prove you guilty, even to the lady’s initial, -L.” - -“Her name is Laura. As I said before, I was at the burial of her first -husband. The story is a long one and I can only give you an outline of -it—I might not do that only that I feel in such a jolly humor on this, my -wedding night. - -“Jerry Collingwood and I were rivals—he won Laura by a trick, and she -found it out after her marriage, despising him for it. Then came his -tragic death, perhaps you remember it. - -“After that, Laura went to live with her uncle, Colonel Rogers—she found -him a stern man, and he was soon plotting against her. - -“She was strangely influenced by him—he had a power over her, which he -magnified in her mind, and she obeyed him unquestioningly until by -accident we met again. - -“I need not tell you all we passed through—Rogers wished her to marry his -son, and we finally realized that he would give us trouble unless we took -the bull by the horns. - -“So we arranged this elopement—how well it has been carried out I leave -to you to decide. - -“Laura is now my wife—any man who dares to whisper a word against her -good name, were he a dozen times a colonel, shall answer to me for it at -the muzzle of the revolver. We have outwitted the wily Rogers, and he -will have to give an account of his stewardship.” - -“That is all?” - -“Yes.” - -“It is enough. Prescott, even when I had reason to believe you guilty of -the most heinous sin on the calendar—that of stealing the affection of an -honest man’s wife—there were points about you I admired. Since learning -what your true work was, I can say without flattery that I am sincerely -glad to know you—glad that you have accomplished what you set out to -perform, and trust that your future as a Benedict may be free from -clouds.” - -“Thank you, sir. I have waited a long time for Laura, but she is mine at -last. Won’t you stay and break a bottle of champagne?” - -“Thanks, but I must be off. I have another engagement I must fill.” - -“I can imagine where.” - -“Yes,” dryly, “and probably this will be as happy a night to another man -as it is to you—he has found a wife as well as yourself.” - -“And the lady you refer to is the sweetest and best little woman in the -world—save one”—hastily correcting himself—“the man must be a fool who -could doubt her constancy.” - -“You don’t know all, Prescott. Her husband is the truest, noblest man I -know. He rejected it all again and again, but he is human and he saw and -heard things that would convince a skeptic.” - -“Probably he understands all by this time, and he will eat humble pie -too.” - -“I hope so. Good night, Mr. Prescott. Bring the doughty colonel to his -knees.” - -“I’ll wring his nose if he gives me any further trouble, the old -nuisance.” - -“Success to you.” - -Eric Darrell left the vine-embowered cottage with feelings greatly -differing from his entrance. He was light of heart. - -Not only was this on account of Joe and his wife, but his faith in -womankind had been saved. - -Had Lillian been guilty Eric was determined never again to believe in a -woman. - -This would have made him a cynic and a scoffer all of his days—now he -could remember with a delicious thrill that Marian was at Joe’s house, -and he would soon meet the original of the picture that had charmed him -so. - -He did not remember of having felt so good for a long time back. - -That was the result of the reaction. - -As yet he could form no distinct idea of the true state of affairs—all -was chaotic confusion, but above everything he saw the prime fact that -Lillian was innocent. - -That covered all. - -How Joe must rejoice. - -It would be a new lease of life to him. - -So the detective walked out to the street, and found the hack waiting. - -The driver greeted him. - -“Glad to see you on deck—it was a mistake after all. Now drive me to the -corner you brought me from and the fee is yours.” - -“Good.” - -Away they rattled. - -The detective felt inclined to smoke, and was soon puffing a cigar out of -the window, as he did not want to saturate his clothes with the strong -odor, fearing lest Marian might be one with her sister in objecting to -tobacco. - -Then he wondered what time it was. - -They had started at ten minutes to ten and made wonderful time, so that -it could not be very late, he thought. - -Taking out his watch as they crossed the bridge over the Harlem, he found -that it was fifteen minutes after eleven. - -Would he be in time? - -He did not know how long these informal affairs were apt to last, but at -a rough guess figured that they would still be on hand at midnight and he -ought to be there before that. - -He urged the driver on. - -Finally the vehicle drew up. They had arrived. When Eric found that it -lacked fifteen minutes of twelve, he was satisfied, handed the driver his -fee, and hurried along the street. - -He drew near the house. - -Lights still shone in every window. Something caused him to feel very -queerly—he could not say what it was. - -Did Joe know all? - -Perhaps not—he might still be in a fog and wondering why all the plans -had miscarried. Eric did not hesitate. - -He immediately ran up the steps. - -Then he noticed that the parlor was deserted—the good people could not -have gone, for he could hear the laughter and buzz of voices—ah! they -were doubtless in the diningroom below. - -He rang the bell. - -A colored man answered it. - -“1 wish to see Mr. Leslie on important business. Take my card to him.” - -The man knew his business, closed the door and went away with the card. - -One, two minutes passed. - -Then Eric heard footsteps within. - -The door opened. - -There could be no mistaking that figure—it was Joe who stood there. - -Eric’s eyes sought his face instantly—he saw a look of mute pain there -which told him better than words that Joe did not yet know the truth. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV -CONCLUSION - - -At sight of his friend Joe held out his hand warmly. - -“Eric, old man, I have wondered where you have been. Everything has gone -wrong. She is still here, and yet the hour is long past—that villain -must have backed out.” - -“No, he carried out his plans to the letter; he had his carriage waiting, -ran off with a lady at ten o’clock, at eleven was married to her in a -cottage beyond the Harlem, and is now a Benedict as well as yourself, -Joe—but it was not your wife he was after.” - -“Not my wife?” slowly, as though the wonderful news almost paralyzed his -brain—“not Lillian he sought?” - -“Joe, it was all a terrible, a cruel mistake which fortune put upon you.” - -“Good heavens! do you mean it?” - -“Lillian, your sweet wife, is as innocent as you ever believed her in -your most charitable moods. That I will swear to—you will learn all -before this night is over, and I believe the mystery of the locked trunk -will be revealed. Just now I am famished for a bite to eat and a cup of -the coffee I get a scent of. Suppose you invite me in—I am not in -evening dress, but a few minutes in your room will arrange my toilet and -make me presentable. I want to see this thing out—to rejoice with you, -old boy, over the wife you thought you had lost but who is found again. -Besides, you know, I want to meet Marian, and I know she is here.” - -What could Joe do? - -He dragged his friend upstairs and himself assisted to brush him into -presentable shape. - -Ten minutes were consumed thus, and then Eric was ready to go down. - -All this while Joe had plied him with questions and the detective told a -good deal of what had happened to him. - -There were some things of which he would not speak, however, and hence -Joe found himself in a state bordering on bewilderment when he finally -went downstairs. - -By this time the guests had finished supper and were again flocking into -the parlors. - -There were between twenty-five and thirty in all. - -Eric was introduced all around. - -He noticed that there was some little secret among a number of those -present—Lillian, all blushes and confusion, was being consulted by an old -gentleman with a white beard. - -Although Eric had declared he was almost famished he would not leave the -rooms now for supper—something was on the _tapis_, and he was bound to -see it out. - -Supper could wait. - -Ah! it came at last. - -The elderly gentleman rapped on a table. Silence ensued. - -All eyes were bent on him, all but those of Joe Leslie, and his blazing -orbs rested on the blushing face of Lillian—before he learned all he -wanted to prove that he no longer entertained the slightest suspicion -regarding her. - -“Friends, we have spent a very pleasant evening at the house of our -neighbor—we all cherish Joe Leslie and his charming wife as among those -whose names will never leave the tablets of our memory—a devoted couple, -loving, kind and gentle, whom it is an honor to know. - -“Before we part to-night, it is my pleasure to officiate at a little -surprise—I am going to let our friend Leslie see himself as others see -him—in brief, I shall introduce him to himself. - -“My grandchild Barbara and Mrs. Leslie have always possessed an artistic -temperament. They consulted with me about it, and I took some of their -amateur work to a friend who is a well-known artist. - -“The upshot of it all is that for a month past Barbara has been flitting -over here at ten o’clock every morning through the gate we have in our -back fence, and the two have been taking lessons in painting with -astonishing success. - -“This evening I was astonished to find a fine oil painting of myself, -true to nature, on my drawing-room wall—I had not dreamed my grandchild -was so gifted. - -“And now for our fair Lillian’s birthday gift to her husband—bring them -forth, friends.” - -Out from the mysterious closet came two gold-framed paintings—they were -placed on easels prepared for them, in front of the astonished Joe. - -The faces were those of himself and his wife, astonishingly well done. - -He hardly glanced at his own, but his eyes were glued upon the -counterfeit resemblance of his dear wife—done by her hand too. - -Eric was amazed. - -He looked from the painting to the original—the work was no amateurish -daub, but worthy of a master. - -Could it be possible she had painted it? She was a genius. - -At first delighted expressions arose, and then, as the old gentleman -raised his hand, these died away again. - -All eyes were turned upon Joe. - -He stood there as if petrified—his eyes were glued upon the picture of -his wife, and he hardly seemed to breathe. - -Then he slowly turned his gaze upon the same face in flesh and blood. - -She looked at him, still blushing—tears were in her sweet eyes—she smiled -through them. - -Joe forgot where he was—he only remembered that he had wronged that dear -little woman by harboring thoughts that reflected on her love and purity -of heart. - -Another instant he was at her side, had clasped her hand, and falling on -his knees before her, kissed the little member whose cunning had wrought -such wonders upon the canvas. - -The others believed it was mute adoration that took him to her -feet—regard for genius—and they thought all the more of Joe Leslie -because he could appreciate a gift as well as a good wife. - -There was one present who knew what was in Joe’s mind as he bent his head -before his wife, unable to speak, though his lips moved as they formed -the word “forgive.” - -To cover Joe’s terrible confusion Eric made some remark appropriate to -the occasion, and of a nature to create a laugh. - -This answered the purpose and presently the good people were chatting -gaily. - -Joe soon found occasion to seek his friend Eric, and squeeze his hand -until the detective winced under the pressure. - -“Thank heaven, Eric, for this blessing. All is bright again. I have the -dearest wife in all New York to-night. Tried and found true.” - -“And she has a deuced fine sister too,” said Eric with a wink. - -“That’s the way the land lies, eh? Try it, old fellow. Nothing would -suit me better; we would be brothers in truth then. And I declare, now -that I come to think of it, I believe you two would make a fine match.” - -“Nonsense, Joe. When Miss Marian hears that I am a detective she will -shrink from me. People honor judges who sentence people to death, -sometimes innocently, and great lawyers, who are often on the side of -criminals, but at the same time pretend to look down on the officers of -the law whose sagacity leads them to arrest those who break the statutes -of the state.” - -“I don’t know about that—she adores a hero in any type.” - -“Come, don’t you go to making me out as such—I’m only an every-day chap -and never expect to do anything heroic.” - -“Save your worry. If I tell her anything at all it will only be the -truth.” - -As it turned out, Miss Marion was rather capricious—she heard Joe tell -long yarns of his friend’s bravery, she respected him as a man, even -while openly disliking his profession, but Eric soon saw she was giving -him no sort of encouragement. - -This was hard because he was already deeply in love with the girl. - -He went his way, taking his disappointment as best he could—they met -occasionally, but Eric did not pursue the game. - -One night when Joe and the two ladies were on the way home in a street -car, it was suddenly halted—there was a fire ahead. - -Marian had never seen a large fire and Joe, good-natured always, readily -agreed to take them where they could have a view. - -The giant shouldered a way for them through the crowd, and soon they -stood in a doorway watching the flames play riot with the tenement near -by. - -It was a terrible sight and a pitiful one to those who looked on—many -poor families were driven out, carrying what they could lay hands on, one -a trunk, another a feather bed, and a third some old gowns. - -Fright made their faces wrinkled, and such looks the ladies had never -seen before. Suddenly a cry went up. - -The flames were roaring, engines pumping and much noise sounding, but -this shriek pierced the hearts of all—it was a mother’s wail. - -“My child! my child—save her!” - -All eyes were fastened upon a window up in the third story where the face -of a flaxen-haired little girl appeared—blanched with fear, and yet -curious to see what was going on. - -The ladder wagon had not arrived, and the flames were devouring the frail -tenement. - -Surely the child was lost—no one could save her there. It was an awful -period of suspense to the thousands who looked on. Lillian and her -sister held their breath and leaned on Joe for support. - -Then the child vanished. - -“Heavens! she has gone—the floor has probably fallen in,” gasped Joe. -“No, no, look! there is a man at the window—he has seized the child and -is tying her to himself. Look! he climbs out of the windows. Ugh! if he -loses his grip both will be dashed to pieces.” - -They gaze as if fascinated, both of the gentle ladies praying for the -daring man’s success. - -He swings himself boldly along the ledge—none but a quick-witted man -could have seen the chance that existed, but he had. - -Reaching a certain spot he took hold of the pipe that ran down the -building—it must have burned his hands, but he lowered himself by it to -the floor below. - -Flames were beneath, but he had arranged his plan—a tall telegraph pole -slanted in here and a dexterous man could leap in among its numerous -arms—he coolly calculated his chances and sprang out. - -There was a cry of horror. - -“He is down—no, no, by Jove, he clings there with one hand. See how -bravely he exerts himself—as cool as a cucumber through all. Now he -seizes a new support; he will slide down the pole. Hurrah! both are -safe, thank heaven.” - -Then Joe turned to Marian. - -“What do you think of that man?” he asked. - -“He is a hero—I love him,” she said impulsively. - -“Good! I shall let him know that fact some day. Here he comes now with -the child on his shoulder, his face blackened, his hair scorched, but, -thank God, the same Eric as of old.” - -The man passed them by—it was Eric Darrell! - -Marian turned white and then rosy red. - -“Joe,” she said almost fiercely, “if you ever repeat my words, I’ll—go -back to Chicago.” - -Whether Joe repeated them or not no one ever knew, but Eric heard enough -to encourage him to renew his suit, and when Marian did return to Chicago -it was as Mrs. Darrell. - -They are just as happy as Joe and Lillian—Eric is no longer a detective, -but has been studying for a doctor, as his wife believes he will make a -name in the profession. She will never forget watching him save the -widow’s child at the risk of his life—outwardly she loves him as a true -wife, but in secret she adores her Eric as a hero of heroes. - - THE END - - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE LESLIE'S WIFE*** - - -******* This file should be named 64125-0.txt or 64125-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/4/1/2/64125 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Joe Leslie's Wife - or, a Skeleton in the Closet - - -Author: Alexander Robertson - - - -Release Date: December 24, 2020 [eBook #64125] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE LESLIE'S WIFE*** -</pre> -<p>Transcribed from Henneberry Company edition by an anonymous UK -volunteer.</p> -<h1>JOE LESLIE’S WIFE</h1> -<p style="text-align: center"><span -class="GutSmall">OR</span></p> -<p style="text-align: center">A SKELETON IN THE CLOSET</p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center"><span -class="GutSmall">BY</span></p> -<p style="text-align: center">ALEXANDER ROBERTSON, M.D.</p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center"><i>Author of</i> -“<i>Gold-Maker of Lisbon</i>,” “<i>Little -Sweetheart</i>,”<br /> -“<i>Phantom Smuggler</i>,” “<i>Diana -Thorpe</i>,” “<i>Frozen</i><br /> -<i>Hearts</i>,” “<i>Nora’s Legacy</i>,” -<i>etc.</i></p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p style="text-align: center"><span -class="GutSmall">CHICAGO</span><br /> -THE HENNEBERRY COMPANY<br /> -554 <span class="smcap">Wabash Avenue</span></p> -<h2><a name="pageiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -iii</span>CONTENTS</h2> -<table> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span -class="GutSmall">CHAPTER</span></p> -</td> -<td></td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span -class="GutSmall">PAGE</span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">I</p> -</td> -<td><p>The Office of a New York Detective</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page17">17</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">II</p> -</td> -<td><p>Two of a Kind</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page28">28</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">III</p> -</td> -<td><p>The Tell-tale Scrap of Paper</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page39">39</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">IV</p> -</td> -<td><p>The House on Twenty-seventh Street</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page50">50</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">V</p> -</td> -<td><p>The Man Dressed as a Bull-fighter</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page61">61</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">VI</p> -</td> -<td><p>Marian</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page73">73</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">VII</p> -</td> -<td><p>A Brand from the Burning</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page83">83</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">VIII</p> -</td> -<td><p>The Jehu Adds to the Mystery</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page94">94</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">IX</p> -</td> -<td><p>Joe’s Secret</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page105">105</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">X</p> -</td> -<td><p>That Meerschaum Pipe</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page116">116</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XI</p> -</td> -<td><p>All is Forgiven</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page127">127</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XII</p> -</td> -<td><p>The Opium Joint</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page138">138</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XIII</p> -</td> -<td><p>A Terrible Doom</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page149">149</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XIV</p> -</td> -<td><p>Another Link in the Chain</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page160">160</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XV</p> -</td> -<td><p>Comparing Notes</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page171">171</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XVI</p> -</td> -<td><p>The Locked Saratoga</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page182">182</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XVII</p> -</td> -<td><p>The Artist is Defiant</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page193">193</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XVIII</p> -</td> -<td><p>Fortune’s Favors</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page204">204</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XIX</p> -</td> -<td><p>The Time Draws Near</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page215">215</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XX</p> -</td> -<td><p>For Plunder</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page226">226</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XXI</p> -</td> -<td><p>The Cottage Beyond the Harlem</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page237">237</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XXII</p> -</td> -<td><p>Almost</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page248">248</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XXIII</p> -</td> -<td><p>The Messenger with Good News</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page259">259</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td><p style="text-align: right">XXIV</p> -</td> -<td><p>Conclusion</p> -</td> -<td><p style="text-align: right"><span class="indexpageno"><a -href="#page268">268</a></span></p> -</td> -</tr> -</table> -<h2><a name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -17</span>CHAPTER I<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE OFFICE OF A NEW YORK -DETECTIVE</span></h2> -<p>The little clock in the dingy office of Eric Darrell was just -pointing out the hour of four when there came a rap on the -door. Within the proprietor sat alone, his feet elevated -upon the top of a desk, and from his position it was evident that -his thoughts were far away, for although he took an occasional -whiff at his cigar, it was in an absent-minded way.</p> -<p>At this summons, his interest was at once aroused—his -feet came down from their elevated position, and an expression -appeared on his face that might have been a smile.</p> -<p>“A woman, by Jove!” he muttered, giving <a -name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 18</span>his -handkerchief a flirt over the desk where his feet had been so -recently deposited.</p> -<p>There was no guess-work about this, neither had the detective -been able to distinguish anything feminine about the knock.</p> -<p>Over the door was a peculiar little contrivance, which by -means of several small mirrors would tell the occupant of the -office who summoned him—a useful affair under the -circumstances, as the detective might at some time have a visitor -bent on taking his life, and under such circumstances he would be -warned.</p> -<p>Jumping to his feet he approached the door—had it been a -man he probably would have sung out: “Come in,” and -been done with it.</p> -<p>A lady stood there.</p> -<p>She was deeply veiled, and yet there was that about her dress -that bespoke the lady.</p> -<p>Darrell saw this at the first glance, and also judged from her -figure that she was young.</p> -<p>“Is this the office of Mr. Darrell?” she asked, in -low, pleasing tones.</p> -<p>“Yes, madam,” replied the other, respectfully.</p> -<p>“Is he in?”</p> -<p>“I am Eric Darrell, at your service. If you wish -to see me on business will you come in?”</p> -<p><a name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 19</span>He -stepped aside as he spoke.</p> -<p>“Thank you, I will.”</p> -<p>As the lady entered the room, the detective closed the door, -and with the pressure of his thumb secured it so that no one -could enter without knocking. It was not his intention to -be rudely interrupted in his interview—he had from time to -time all sorts of visitors, and did not mean that one of the men -he employed should come in upon them while they were engaged in -talking.</p> -<p>The lady had already seated herself, and seemed to be looking -around the room, through her veil, with considerable -interest.</p> -<p>Perhaps it was her first visit to the office of a detective, -and she was taken with the strange assortment of mementoes that -hung around the room.</p> -<p>Eric Darrell swept his eyes about him, and something akin to a -smile came over his face as he viewed his curiosity -shop—there were scores and scores of murderous tools and -ingenious contrivances, each of which was connected with some -crime or criminal in the past history of New York, and in the -pursuit of his chosen business he had been brought into -connection with the affair or the individual.</p> -<p><a name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 20</span>The -detective was a little proud of his collection, as well as the -Rogue’s Gallery over the desk, where some hundreds of faces -were represented, many extremely brutal and some good-looking, -while the pictures of women were not infrequent.</p> -<p>“My clerk is out this afternoon, madam—we are -quite alone, so that you may speak without any fear of being -overheard,” he said, as he took a chair, and sat down -facing his unknown client.</p> -<p>“I am glad of that, Mr. Darrell, for what I have to say -to you must be kept a dead secret.”</p> -<p>The detective was more than ever convinced that he had to deal -with a young woman—her figure was exceedingly pleasing, and -her voice a sympathetic one.</p> -<p>“Madam, I am daily entrusted with secrets by all manner -of persons. You can rely upon it that anything you tell me -in confidence will be as safe as though whispered in the ear of a -father confessor. That is my business—we detectives -rival the family doctors in being made the repository of -secrets.”</p> -<p>This was well put and quite reassuring, as he had intended it -should be.</p> -<p>The lady must have confidence in him now.</p> -<p><a name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -21</span>“Mr. Darrell, I want your assistance in a little -domestic matter. I am a young married woman—have been -married a year, and my husband is a man you would call one in a -thousand—a truthful, honorable gentleman, a favorite with -every one he knows.</p> -<p>“I love him deeply, esteem his noble qualities, and -believe we could be happy through life, but there is a canker -sore eating my heart—Joe has a secret, a terrible secret, -and the knowledge of it is making me miserable.”</p> -<p>She seemed a little overcome, and Darrell waited; meantime he -grimly thought to himself how many Joes here in this wicked city -of New York kept terrible secrets from their wives—yes, and -the boot was on the other leg too.</p> -<p>His business had brought him into contact with many such -scenes.</p> -<p>“Pardon my feeling so badly, Mr. Darrell. These -things are an old story to you, but with me it means the wrecking -of my whole life, and I am weak enough to be troubled by -it.”</p> -<p>He hastened to reassure her that he fully sympathized with her -feelings.</p> -<p>Thus encouraged she went on:</p> -<p>“If ever a woman had reason to trust her <a -name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 22</span>husband I -have—and yet, as I said, Joe has a secret from me, the -knowledge of which is making me miserable.</p> -<p>“I would not have him ever suspect that I came to -consult you about it, but I am determined to know the -truth—I am his wife—if he is gambling in secret, -connected with any secret society or going to see some other -woman I am resolved to know the worst.</p> -<p>“It is hard for me to explain my position, Mr. -Darrell—I believe in and trust my husband as much as nearly -any woman could, but I know he is keeping something from me, -which excites my curiosity greatly.”</p> -<p>This was an old story with Darrell.</p> -<p>He had seen other Joes before.</p> -<p>In his own mind he was immediately convinced that the man was -guilty.</p> -<p>He believed Joe to be an unmitigated scoundrel to treat his -young and pretty wife in this way—for the detective had -already decided this question and believed the owner of this -voice and figure must also be handsome.</p> -<p>So he began to dig for facts, a little ruthlessly perhaps, -because it was business.</p> -<p>Your professor of anatomy does not waste <a -name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 23</span>time when -getting down to a certain nerve or muscle which he wishes to -expose to his class—the knife is applied without stint.</p> -<p>So the detective asked questions in order to expose as much of -the game as possible. “You have no hint of the truth, -madam?”</p> -<p>“None.”</p> -<p>“Before marriage, was your husband a man of the -world?”</p> -<p>“He was always steady and quiet. I have never -heard that my Joe ever had an entangling alliance before we were -married.”</p> -<p>Even this did not reassure Darrell—he was a little -skeptical with regard to such a man, being inclined to reflect -that still water runs deep.</p> -<p>His daily business brought him in contact with so much of the -evil of life that he had a rather poor opinion of mankind in -general—though ready to bow before woman’s goodness, -even after having had experience with numerous confidence women -and others, who were more difficult to manage than male -criminals.</p> -<p>For instance, here was a case in point—a confiding, -loving wife—a cruel, deceiving husband.</p> -<p>“I understand, madam. How long have these strange -visits been going on?”</p> -<p><a name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -24</span>“I do not know.”</p> -<p>“How long have you been aware of them?”</p> -<p>“For two weeks. By accident I discovered that Joe -was in the habit of leaving his office at half-past four, and he -never reaches home until an hour and a half later.</p> -<p>“Even this did not do more than pique me a little to -think he dallied so long, when he should have hurried home to -me—but three days later, again by accident, I saw him enter -a house on Twenty-seventh Street.</p> -<p>“At first I could not believe my eyes and I felt as -though I would swoon. It was just five o’clock, and -he seemed in a dreadful hurry.</p> -<p>“What impressed me as being the strangest part of the -business, was the fact that he did not ring or even knock on the -door, but with a key let himself in as though he belonged -there!”</p> -<p>Of course—Darrell’s eyebrows went up, but he made -no remark—he could see through a millstone with a hole in -it.</p> -<p>“I don’t know why I hurried home but I did so with -a trembling heart. Joe came in at his usual time, and I -endeavored to be myself so that he might suspect nothing.</p> -<p>“On the next day, however, something <a -name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 25</span>impelled me -to go to Twenty-seventh Street again.</p> -<p>“Opposite to this house was a French restaurant, and -about ten minutes to five I entered here and ordered supper, -sitting at the window and yet far enough back not to be seen.</p> -<p>“It lacked but one minute to five when Joe came down the -street from the elevated station, walking very fast, and went in -that house.</p> -<p>“I sat there until twenty minutes of six, when he came -out again, and walked more slowly down the street.</p> -<p>“Mr. Darrell, I shall say nothing about my -feelings—you can understand them well enough. What I -want you to do is to discover who lives in that house, and why -Joe Leslie spends the better part of an hour there every -day.”</p> -<p>“Who—Joe Leslie—good heavens! it can’t -be the Joe Leslie I know!”</p> -<p>The lady seemed surprised at his words, and swept her veil -aside.</p> -<p>Then Darrell saw he had made no mistake in believing her to be -pretty—she was more than that, really handsome.</p> -<p>“My husband is Joseph Gregory Leslie.”</p> -<p>“Then he is the man I know—a man whom I have -always believed the best of men, liked by <a -name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 26</span>every one -acquainted with him. It seems incredible that he should be -engaged in anything of this character.”</p> -<p>“Because you know him, will you refuse to take my -case?” she faltered.</p> -<p>“Not at all, Mrs. Leslie—in fact, I shall do the -work all the more eagerly, hoping it may all prove to be a -mistake.”</p> -<p>“I too hope so, but my heart is filled with fears. -I seem to have lived years since making this discovery. At -first I meant to ask my husband plainly to explain it, but -something held my tongue—for my life I could not—and -only as a last resort have I come to you.”</p> -<p>“Kindly write the number of the house here—you -know it, of course.”</p> -<p>“Indeed it is burned on my brain as with letters of -fire,” and she obeyed him.</p> -<p>“Now, Mrs. Leslie, you are to leave this matter in my -hands and think of it as little as you can. At home appear -as natural as you may, and believe that I will serve your -interests faithfully, first, last and all the time.</p> -<p>“Joe is a friend of mine, and yet if he is a -villain—which I cannot believe—I will discover the -proofs of it and hand them to you.”</p> -<p><a name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -27</span>“Mr. Darrell, I thank you,” she said, with -tears in her eyes.</p> -<p>“There is no occasion for it, madam—this is -business with me, leaving sentiment aside—I shall charge -you my regular price for such work; but at the same time I -honestly hope your husband will be able to prove his -innocence.”</p> -<p>“Amen!” she said, solemnly.</p> -<p>At this moment there came a loud rap on the door—Mrs. -Leslie uttered a little scream, which was pretty well muffled by -the cobweb of a handkerchief she thrust up to her mouth.</p> -<p>As for Eric Darrell, the detective, he glanced up at the small -tell-tale mirror just inside the transom over the door—his -face was screwed up into a pucker, and pressing his finger on his -lips he said in a low voice:</p> -<p>“Here’s a pretty kettle of fish! The man who -knocks is your husband, Mrs. Leslie.”</p> -<h2><a name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -28</span>CHAPTER II<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">TWO OF A KIND</span></h2> -<p>The pretty little lady came very near swooning when she heard -this.</p> -<p>Darrell arose from his chair.</p> -<p>“Come with me through the inner office,” he said -in low tones.</p> -<p>She followed him, trembling like a leaf, and looking back as -though she expected the door to be broken in, and an angry -husband to make his appearance on the scene.</p> -<p>“He must have followed me—he will be so -angry—oh! what shall I do—how shall I look him in the -face again?” she moaned.</p> -<p>“He need not see you now—here is a door that lets -you out into the passage around the corner, and you can descend -the stairs without being discovered. As for looking him in -the face again, you have no reason to shun him, my dear -madam—you are innocent of wrong-doing at any rate, and if -anybody is going to be <a name="page29"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 29</span>ashamed let it be him. -Good-bye, madam, trust me to the utmost.”</p> -<p>She gave him one pitiful look that haunted the old bachelor -for many days, and then, allowing her veil to fall over her -pretty face, passed on toward the stairs.</p> -<p>Meanwhile, the knock on the other door had been twice -repeated—the man without was evidently growing -impatient.</p> -<p>Mr. Darrell walked over to the door and opened it.</p> -<p>“What! you, Leslie, my boy? It’s good for -sore eyes to see your face.”</p> -<p>They shook hands warmly.</p> -<p>Leslie walked in.</p> -<p>The detective had seen on the instant that his old-time friend -was disturbed—Joe’s countenance had a gloomy look, -totally at variance to the cheerful expression that generally -marked it.</p> -<p>Of course Eric Darrell wondered to what he owed this -visit.</p> -<p>Was it brought about by the fact that Joe’s wife had -just been seated in the very chair he now threw his long form -upon?</p> -<p>Since Joe’s marriage he had seen very little of -him—their lines ran apart and seldom crossed, <a -name="page30"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 30</span>yet they had -once been pretty good friends. Again the detective closed -the door and fastened it against interruption.</p> -<p>Whatever the cause of Leslie’s visit, he meant to have a -quiet chat with him.</p> -<p>If the husband of the pretty lady who had just quitted his -office demanded to know why Lillian Leslie had visited him, he -would have to confess the truth, but he knew enough to keep a -close tongue until the lay of the land was made manifest.</p> -<p>Before sitting down himself he took up a box of cigars and -offered it to Joe.</p> -<p>The other looked at it rather sheepishly and then declined -with a wave of the hand.</p> -<p>“Ah! sworn off, eh? Something I never expected -such an old smoker as you to do; but every man to his -taste. Now, old fellow, to what am I indebted for this -visit—a desire to talk over old times, or -business?”</p> -<p>Leslie seemed to swallow a lump in his throat, and playing -nervously with the paper-cutter on the desk—which was a -dagger taken from a notorious assassin whom Darrell had assisted -to the gallows years before, said huskily:</p> -<p>“Eric, you are the only man in the world I <a -name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 31</span>would come to -with domestic troubles. What I am about to confide in you -now I do as to a friend. At the same time I ask for your -assistance in a professional way.”</p> -<p>Then he seemed lost in deep thought for a minute, and was no -doubt collecting his energies to speak to the point.</p> -<p>As for Eric Darrell, he surveyed the other in deepest -surprise.</p> -<p>What was coming?</p> -<p>Was Joe Leslie deep in the mire, and had he come to have his -old friend extricate him?</p> -<p>One thing seemed certain—he did not appear to know that -his pretty wife had been in this very room less than five minutes -before.</p> -<p>Believing this, the detective considered it a peculiar freak -of fate that these two should visit him on the same day and -almost the same hour, each without the knowledge of the -other.</p> -<p>At length Joe had recruited his energies to equal the -occasion.</p> -<p>He looked up.</p> -<p>The detective was leaning back in his chair and calmly -observing him, wreaths of blue white smoke curling up from his -Havana.</p> -<p>“Eric, you never met my wife?” he said.</p> -<p><a name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 32</span>The -other did not by any start betray himself.</p> -<p>“That is your fault, old man. You were married in -Chicago, and after settling down here you never invited us old -bachelors to visit you,” he replied, quietly.</p> -<p>“Forgive me. But see, here is her -photograph. Take a look at the girl who captured the man -who used to laugh at all Benedicts.”</p> -<p>Darrell took the picture.</p> -<p>It was the same face he had so recently sat <i>vis-a-vis</i> -with in this very office, with one particular -difference—the photograph was of a happy, loving girl, -while the other had been the face of an anxious woman.</p> -<p>Mentally he noted this fact, while looking long and earnestly -at the photograph.</p> -<p>“Well, what do you think of her?” asked -Leslie.</p> -<p>He was a tall man, perhaps thirty-five years of age, not -handsome, but with a face that won him friends everywhere, for -Joe Leslie had a warm heart and was ready to champion the cause -of any poor devil in distress.</p> -<p>“She’s handsome, Joe—a beauty.”</p> -<p>“Anyone can see that—look deeper, man.”</p> -<p>“I can see qualities there such as might make <a -name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 33</span>her a wife to -be proud of, and whom any man might well hesitate to -offend.”</p> -<p>At this Joe groaned.</p> -<p>The shrewd detective thought he had driven one nail -home—that his allusion must have hit Leslie in a tender -spot—but for once he made a mistake.</p> -<p>Just then he was not thinking of his own -shortcomings—that groan was the result of mental agony -brought about by something else.</p> -<p>“Eric, I am in trouble,” he said.</p> -<p>The other knew it before he spoke.</p> -<p>To himself he was saying:</p> -<p>“Now, here’s a surprising thing—I am already -retained by the wife, and the husband has come to confess his -sins. Shall I listen—he must not bind me to a promise -not to tell.”</p> -<p>Aloud, he said:</p> -<p>“I’m sorry for that, Joe. Tell me all about -it and heaven knows I will aid you all I can.”</p> -<p>“Thank you, old friend—I knew it before you -spoke—that was why I finally determined to come here and -unbosom myself.”</p> -<p>“It’s coming,” muttered Darrell, smiling -grimly.</p> -<p>He fully expected to learn the secret of that <a -name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>mysterious -house on Twenty-seventh Street.</p> -<p>“To think,” said Joe, looking around him at the -walls and ceiling, “that here in this den where I spent so -many careless, happy bachelor hours with you, I should now be -detailing the tribulations of married life.”</p> -<p>“Singular—of course,” nodded Eric, -apparently observing the ashes on the end of his cigar, but all -the while watching Joe’s face.</p> -<p>“For of course,” Joe continued, “what I have -to say to you concerns—my wife.”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>The detective was wondering how Joe meant to bring out his -confession.</p> -<p>He did not dream of anything else.</p> -<p>“You have seen that face, Eric”—tapping the -photograph—“would you say there was any deceit -there?”</p> -<p>This was something of a staggerer—the other had not -expected the electric fluid to strike in such a quarter at -all.</p> -<p>“Deceit—in that little woman—well, I’m -an old bachelor, Joe, but my judgment is generally conceded -sound, and I tell you your wife is a woman of a thousand. -Her face speaks of purity and charity—one could not look -into the <a name="page35"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -35</span>depths of those eyes and not read truth -there.”</p> -<p>“Good heavens, man! you describe Lillian as I have -believed her—one would think you had met her,” cried -Leslie, starting out of his moody fit.</p> -<p>“A good photograph can be easily read nowadays, my -boy,” replied Darrell, quietly; at the same time conscious -that he had made a break that had better not be repeated.</p> -<p>Joe gave a great sigh, and resumed his despondent attitude, -nervously playing with the paper-cutter.</p> -<p>“Eric, perhaps there are men who love their wives better -than I do mine, but I am completely wrapped up in Lillian, and if -I lost her I’d go to the dogs devilish quick.</p> -<p>“You know my nature—I’m not a suspicious -fool, nor am I constitutionally jealous, but I suppose I have a -certain amount of the latter in my disposition—every man -but an idiot has.”</p> -<p>“That’s so. Remember Othello’s -declaration about keeping a corner in the object of his love for -other people’s uses. I reckon that’s the first -corner we have any record of.”</p> -<p>Joe’s face had flushed at the reference made by his -companion.</p> -<p><a name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 36</span>Quietly -he went on:</p> -<p>“As heaven is my judge I do not wish to harbor any -unjust suspicion toward my wife—I would shield her with my -life from the folly of her imprudence, if such it prove to -be—but I am a man, and I cannot shut my eyes to certain -facts set before me. I have done everything in my power to -explain the matter to myself, offering all sorts of excuses for -her, but it is useless, and I feel now that I must know the truth -or go crazy.”</p> -<p>“My dear fellow, this is indeed serious.”</p> -<p>“Serious, Eric—may you never know the awful -feeling that has pressed upon my heart during the last few -weeks.”</p> -<p>“Has it been that long?”</p> -<p>“Yes, for two weeks I have noticed a difference in -Lillian—she has hardly looked me in the face at all. -Poor child, she is not accustomed to deceit, and a secret weighs -upon her.”</p> -<p>Darrell came near laughing, as he believed he had the key to -the puzzle. Unaccustomed to deceit, forsooth—when it -was his own mysterious actions that had disturbed Lillian.</p> -<p>“Two weeks, you say, Joe?”</p> -<p>“Well, I knew something about it before <a -name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 37</span>then. -Accident revealed it to me. I will tell you all, and you -can judge for yourself.</p> -<p>“You know we live in a comfortable little house up on -Eighty-sixth Street. I generally spend my days down-town at -business, but I had a call up-town one morning, and my cabman -drove me past my own house—I took a cab because the party I -wished to see lived at a point inconvenient to the elevated, and -besides I had a bushel of papers, more or less, to take him.</p> -<p>“While passing my house I naturally looked in.</p> -<p>“At that moment Lillian was opening the door and a -fine-looking man entered whom she seemed to greet -cordially. I wondered who he was, but forgot all about him -until I came home in the evening. Somehow his face came up -again before me—I waited to see if she would speak, and -even made an opportunity for her to tell me of her -visitor—she said nothing and I thought looked a trifle -confused.</p> -<p>“Eric, believe me, I dropped the matter then and -there—who could look into those eyes—well-springs of -truth as you have just observed—and believe deceit rested -there?</p> -<p><a name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -38</span>“The next day I again found it necessary to use -the cab in going to the house of my client, and, as I passed my -own dwelling, I was somewhat nettled to see the same -military-looking gentleman ascending the steps.</p> -<p>“I looked at the time—it was ten exactly, the same -hour as on the preceding day.</p> -<p>“Again, that evening, I gave Lillian the opportunity to -tell me of her visitor, but she made no mention of it.</p> -<p>“Eric, the demon of jealousy had his birth in my heart -in that bitter hour—my wife had a secret from me—she -was receiving clandestinely a gentleman whom I did not even -know.</p> -<p>“I battled with the fever, heaven knows how terribly, -but it conquered me, and although I despised myself for doing so -despicable an act I set about watching Lillian.”</p> -<p>The large man buried his face in his hands and groaned aloud -in his suffering.</p> -<h2><a name="page39"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -39</span>CHAPTER III<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE TELL-TALE SCRAP OF PAPER</span></h2> -<p>Darrell had by this time come to the conclusion that he was -entering upon one of the oddest cases in his experience.</p> -<p>He had his sympathies aroused also, and while he generally -worked for conviction, in this instance it would be otherwise, -his desire being to prove the parties innocent.</p> -<p>Presently Leslie went on:</p> -<p>“I pretended to go to my office, but, instead, hovered -in the neighborhood, sometimes in the drug-store on the -corner.</p> -<p>“Thus I have discovered that regularly every morning at -ten o’clock, Saturday omitted, this fine-looking foreign -gentleman enters my house, and the door closes behind him.</p> -<p>“At eleven he appears again—it is always my wife -who lets him in and sees him to the door.</p> -<p>“Eric, this thing is killing me—sooner than -believe Lillian could be false to me I <a name="page40"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 40</span>would discredit my own mother; and -yet here is something very, very strange—something that -must be explained before my peace of mind comes back to me -again. In a few words, I want you to find out who this man -is, and why he calls to see my wife invariably at ten -o’clock when I am supposed to be down-town money-making, -and why she has never breathed one syllable of all this to -me.”</p> -<p>“I will do it, Joe, for old friendship’s sake, and -I most heartily pray it may turn out all right.”</p> -<p>“Oh! I haven’t any doubt of that. My dear -fellow, don’t imagine for an instant that I suspect my wife -of anything wrong, but—well, you see—hang it, Eric, I -must know the truth, and if my thoughts have wronged Lillian I -shall go down on my knees before the little woman.”</p> -<p>On his part, Mr. Darrell had, while Joe was speaking, -conceived a sudden idea that would possibly explain the -matter.</p> -<p>He did not mention it, because the explanation hinged upon his -other client’s case, but he kept it in mind all the -same.</p> -<p>It was to this effect:</p> -<p>Perhaps Lillian had sought the advice of some <a -name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 41</span>other -detective before coming to him, and it was this party calling at -a certain hour every day to deliver his report, whom Joe had -seen.</p> -<p>Possibly little or no progress had been made, and hence she -had finally determined to change, just as a patient, becoming -dissatisfied with his doctor, calls in another physician.</p> -<p>Luck alone had brought her to his office—perhaps it was -the sweet little cherub that watches over the affairs of -lovers.</p> -<p>At any rate it was a piece of good fortune for all parties -concerned.</p> -<p>He proceeded to question Joe, desiring to learn all he could -of the case.</p> -<p>“You say you had never seen the gentleman -before?”</p> -<p>“Never.”</p> -<p>“Not in your wife’s album?”</p> -<p>“You mean that he might be one of her old -beaux—no, not even there. He is a stranger to -me.”</p> -<p>“But if you met him you would know him?”</p> -<p>“Well, rather.”</p> -<p>“Can you describe him to me?”</p> -<p>“I can do better—show you a picture of him just as -he leaves my front door.” With that he <a -name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 42</span>held out a -card, upon which was a round photograph, or rather picture, which -Eric saw had been taken with a Kodak camera, just coming into -general use at that time.</p> -<p>The scene was a door-step with a number over the door—a -man was descending—the lower part of his body could not be -seen, but his body and head were well taken. He carried -something under his arm like a flat book.</p> -<p>Eric Darrell studied the face as well as he could upon such a -small surface—he wanted to know it again.</p> -<p>Then he looked further.</p> -<p>Just above, a lady stood outside the door, as if seeing the -gentleman depart. It was Lillian Leslie without a -doubt.</p> -<p>“How in the deuce did you get this?” he asked in -some surprise, “it’s as clever a piece of business as -I know of.”</p> -<p>“I hired a young fellow to do it for me. He took -this man several times afterward. See, there is one that -shows his face better, because there is little else—it was -taken close.”</p> -<p>Darrell examined this picture also.</p> -<p>“Seems to me I’ve seen this man on the street or -somewhere—I can’t just place him though,” he -muttered.</p> -<p><a name="page43"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -43</span>“Is there anything more you wish to tell me, -Joe,” he asked aloud.</p> -<p>“Unfortunately—yes.”</p> -<p>“Proceed.”</p> -<p>“It seemed as though fate had been pleased to conspire -against my peace of mind. I picked up a piece of paper from -the floor to toss into the grate in the library when certain -words caught my eye, and instead I put it in my -pocket.”</p> -<p>“When was this?”</p> -<p>“Last evening.”</p> -<p>“Have you the paper still?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Let me see it, if you have no objection.”</p> -<p>“Certainly not. I want everything to be placed -before you now.”</p> -<p>“Everything but your own secret,” thought the -detective, as he took the paper.</p> -<p>It was evidently a portion of a torn note and had been twisted -around.</p> -<p>Darrell smoothed it flat and then read in a woman’s fine -chirography:</p> -<blockquote><p>“—we will hope for the best. At -any rate, fair Lillian, your secret shall never be betrayed by -your sincere friend, <span class="smcap">Barbara</span>.</p> -<p>“P.S. Be sure and burn this. B.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p><a name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -44</span>“What do you think of that?” asked -Joe. “It has a peculiar look. One thing is -certain—Lillian made a mistake—she did not burn it -up.”</p> -<p>“But tore it to pieces instead.”</p> -<p>“You found it in your library?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Is there a waste paper basket there?”</p> -<p>“Yes, but we throw papers in the grate and when they -accumulate touch a match to them.”</p> -<p>“Perhaps you might find the balance of this -letter.”</p> -<p>“In the grate?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“That would be impossible.”</p> -<p>“Why so?”</p> -<p>“Unfortunately, one of the first things I did upon -arriving home yesterday evening was to apply a match to the -papers in the grate, and they have all been consumed.”</p> -<p>Eric shrugged his shoulders.</p> -<p>“That’s hard luck, I take it, but men of my line -never cry over spilt milk. What’s the use? Now, -regarding this scrap—it is signed Barbara. Have you -any idea who the author is?”</p> -<p>“Yes, certainly—a young married lady who <a -name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 45</span>lives back of -us. I have always entertained much respect for Mrs. -Goodwin, and am surprised to think she would enter into a -conspiracy with Lillian to deceive me.”</p> -<p>The detective hardly knew what to think.</p> -<p>Here was a man whom he had known and considered a first-rate -fellow in the past, grieving over the fact that his wife was -keeping something from him, when, all the time, he was nursing a -secret within his guilty heart.</p> -<p>What was Darrell to make of it?</p> -<p>Those who live in glass houses should be careful how they -throw stones.</p> -<p>“It’s pretty hard, Joe, I admit, but when it comes -to secrets, who among us is above reproach?”</p> -<p>“Eh?”</p> -<p>Joe Leslie seems to color up in a manner altogether -unnecessary.</p> -<p>“You, for instance, old man—I warrant you do lots -of little things that you would hardly care for your wife to -know. But”—seeing the other’s evident -confusion—“let that pass. I will undertake to -clear up this mystery for you, Joe, as speedily as -possible.”</p> -<p>“What shall I do?”</p> -<p><a name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -46</span>“Try and act as though your suspicions were not -aroused—do everything just as you would under ordinary -circumstances. Even treat this false friend Barbara -warmly—anything but to give our game away in the -start.”</p> -<p>“I presume I can go on in the same old rut, provided it -is not for long.”</p> -<p>“I’ll promise you that the whole thing will soon -be cleared up. There is a screw loose somewhere, and -I’m going to find it.”</p> -<p>Again Joe blushed at the emphasis laid on that word, though -Eric was not looking at him, and it did not seem as though he -meant any personal reflection.</p> -<p>A guilty conscience, Darrell concluded, needs no accuser, and -this man feels the finger of suspicion pointed at him, though he -cannot tell from whom it comes.</p> -<p>Used to reading human nature, the detective knows guilt when -he sees it.</p> -<p>Although he refrains from making any remark upon the subject, -he is in reality quite out o£ patience with his friend who -has thus early betrayed his trust—he could never have -believed it of Joe Leslie—he ought to be ashamed of -himself, doing anything to make such a sweet <a -name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 47</span>woman -unhappy, and if it turns out to be so the detective is determined -that he shall eat the husks of remorse, drinking the bitter cup -to the very dregs.</p> -<p>“Let me keep these, Joe?” holding up the pictures -and the scrap of paper.</p> -<p>“Certainly, and I most earnestly pray they may be the -means of proving Lillian’s innocence. My life will be -wrecked if she proves false.”</p> -<p>He did not seem to think of what a position his own secret -action placed him in.</p> -<p>“We will hope for the best, Joe.”</p> -<p>“Whatever you discover must be a secret between myself -and you. I shall in my own way decide what must be -done.”</p> -<p>Darrell looked at his face while he spoke. He found -nothing vindictive there—instead, he saw a look of deep -pain.</p> -<p>To himself he thought:</p> -<p>“If I had done anything wrong, I would like to be tried -by a judge like Joe Leslie—he would be merciful. If -his wife has erred, he is not the man to shoot her down—he -would fight like a tiger in her defense—but I believe under -such painful circumstances Joe would cry like a baby—and -forgive her.”</p> -<p><a name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 48</span>That -was his estimate of the man he had known so long—he forgot -just then that Joe was also under a cloud, and that there was -something in his life that needed the calcium light of an -investigation thrown upon it.</p> -<p>Thus the detective’s opinion went up and down like a -shuttle-cock—he hardly knew how to take this good-natured -giant.</p> -<p>The latter was plainly ill at ease, and having said all he -desired, picked up his hat to go.</p> -<p>“Sure you won’t smoke, Joe?”</p> -<p>Another wistful glance and a shake of the head.</p> -<p>“I promised Lillian I would never smoke another cigar -until she gave me voluntary permission; and as she hates tobacco -smoke I presume I must keep my promise always. That is one -of the little penalties a man sometimes has to pay when he -captures a darling. You can’t have your pudding and -eat it too—so some of our bachelor freedom must -go.”</p> -<p>“Well, the chains are golden ones, forged by love, and -if ever I meet a little woman like your wife, by Jove! I’ll -be tempted to have her forge some.”</p> -<p>“You talk as though Lillian and you were old <a -name="page49"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -49</span>friends. You must meet her, Eric—I’ll -be proud to have you know her—when this thing is -settled.”</p> -<p>“All right, my boy, I’ll keep you to your -word. Perhaps she may have a sister, you see.”</p> -<p>“She has that, and very much like Lillian.”</p> -<p>“Consider the thing fixed and invite me when her sister -is on from Chicago.”</p> -<p>“I certainly will—what did I do with my -hat—ah, here it is on the desk—I will see you again -to-morrow, Eric—”</p> -<p>He ceased talking in the middle of a sentence, bent his head -down, for the light was gradually fading in the detective’s -office, and then turning suddenly, said:</p> -<p>“Hello! Darrell, old man, where did you get -that—who’s been writing down the number of my -Twenty-seventh Street house?”</p> -<p>Darrell had forgotten to remove the paper upon which Lillian -had written the address, with her gloves on, and Joe Leslie now -held it in his hand.</p> -<h2><a name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -50</span>CHAPTER IV<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE HOUSE ON TWENTY-SEVENTH -STREET</span></h2> -<p>This was what might with considerable propriety be called a -<i>contretemps</i>.</p> -<p>If Joe Leslie recognized the writing as that of his wife, the -game was up.</p> -<p>He had no doubt had many letters from her during their -courtship days, and knew the style of the chirography well.</p> -<p>One thing favored Darrell.</p> -<p>Any one who has endeavored to write with gloves on will bear -witness to the fact that as a general rule they could not swear -to their own hand when cold.</p> -<p>So the chances were about ten to one that Joe could not -recognize the hand.</p> -<p>The detective was ready to accept the chances. He -maintained his cool demeanor through the emergency.</p> -<p>That was the result of education in his business. -Raising his eyebrows with an expression of surprise, he said:</p> -<p><a name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -51</span>“You don’t mean to say that house is yours, -friend Joe?”</p> -<p>“That’s just what I do!”</p> -<p>The detective was looking for signs of suspicion about the -other.</p> -<p>Surprise and curiosity he plainly saw, but it was not so easy -to discover the other.</p> -<p>“Come, now, what have you been looking up my house -for?”</p> -<p>“On my honor, Joe, I’ve never set eyes on the -building and don’t know whether it’s stone or brick, -three story or two.”</p> -<p>“Then what in the deuce—?”</p> -<p>“Patience! Is your house in the market?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Then perhaps it is one of a number given me by a real -estate agent to look up for a friend of mine. I’ll -preserve the slip,” taking it from Joe and folding it -up.</p> -<p>“It looks like a woman’s writing.”</p> -<p>“Yes, all writing does after a man has fallen into the -habit of looking for letters day by day—letters that are -delayed—Come, you married men are very -suspicious.”</p> -<p>With that he dexterously whipped the subject around and began -talking about something <a name="page52"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 52</span>of decided interest, so that Joe, -completely hoodwinked, speedily forgot about the singular little -coincidence that had brought this address under the eyes of the -owner of the house.</p> -<p>He was not quite done with Joe yet.</p> -<p>“You must own a good deal of property in and around the -city, Joe?”</p> -<p>“I do—property left to me by my mother.”</p> -<p>“You have no need to work.”</p> -<p>“Well, perhaps not. Some day when I take the -notion I mean to figure up my income from this property, and if -it’s a good sum, by Jove! I’ll fling business to the -winds and take my little wife to Europe for a year—that is, -if—”</p> -<p>Darrell did not let him finish.</p> -<p>“Why, man alive, you talk as though you didn’t -hardly know what property you owned, yourself.”</p> -<p>“Neither do I—it’s all come to me since I -married, and I’ve been so much taken up with my wife that I -haven’t found time to attend to it as I should.”</p> -<p>Darrell winked hard.</p> -<p>He knew certain facts that would seem to indicate that Joe -found time to spend an hour every afternoon with some one besides -Lillian. <a name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -53</span>If so then this was rank perjury.</p> -<p>What was he to think of a hypocrite?</p> -<p>“Jove! that’s a queer case. I don’t -suppose your wife has any idea of where your property -lies—never saw such places as this Twenty-seventh Street -house, for instance?”</p> -<p>“Heavens! no. That house is an eyesore to -me. The neighborhood is not a good one and I will only let -it to decent tenants. No, Lillian will never know I own a -house there.”</p> -<p>Darrell was satisfied.</p> -<p>He had made his point.</p> -<p>Soon after Joe bade him good evening, and hurried away.</p> -<p>It was not far from five o’clock.</p> -<p>Darrell snatched a disguise from a hook and changed his -appearance in one minute.</p> -<p>All he wanted was to effect such a change that Joe might not -recognize him.</p> -<p>Then he left the office and bolted down stairs after his -friend.</p> -<p>Joe was discovered in the crowd, making his way toward the -elevated station, and knowing his destination Darrell arrived -there first.</p> -<p>They got in the same car.</p> -<p>At this time in the evening it was pretty crowded and both had -to stand up.</p> -<p><a name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 54</span>At -Twenty-seventh Street a number left the train and those we follow -with the rest.</p> -<p>Darrell observed Joe eagerly consult his watch.</p> -<p>“He’s late this evening and no doubt expects a -scolding,” was his mental comment upon seeing the frown -upon Joe’s usually good-natured face.</p> -<p>The giant walked along so fast that Eric could hardly keep his -place behind him.</p> -<p>They approached the fatal number.</p> -<p>Truly Joe acted like a guilty wretch—he glanced up and -down the street as if to make sure no acquaintance was -passing.</p> -<p>Deception was a novelty to him—this was the first time -Darrell had ever seen his friend acting in a mean role.</p> -<p>When they reached the steps Joe ascended them, took a key out -of his pocket and deliberately opened the front door.</p> -<p>The detective was passing at the time, but his quick glance -failed to reveal anything of interest.</p> -<p>Evening was coming on, and the shadows of the approaching -night had evidently gathered in the hall of the house—he -could just see the glass globe of the hanging gas jet in the -hall, but it was not lighted.</p> -<p><a name="page55"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 55</span>For -that matter there was no light about the house at all, though the -neighbors were beginning to illuminate their houses.</p> -<p>Passing down the street a little distance, Eric Darrell -crossed over, and came up the other side.</p> -<p>He now noticed that there was a light in the second story -front room, though almost ready to swear it had not been there -previous to the entrance of the proprietor.</p> -<p>The inside blinds were closed in such a way that Darrell could -see nothing.</p> -<p>He was deeply interested.</p> -<p>Whatever this strange mystery attached to Joe’s daily -visit here might mean, Darrell could not forget that the other -was his friend.</p> -<p>He would act as a surgeon might when one whom he regarded -highly was brought before him for attention—his fingers -would be very tender, but the cruel knife must do its duty.</p> -<p>He was walking slowly along when he almost ran into a female -who stood on the edge of the pavement opposite the house.</p> -<p>Her black attire and the veil she wore attracted his attention -immediately.</p> -<p>Besides, she was looking upward toward the <a -name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 56</span>windows where -the glimmer of light could be seen.</p> -<p>A suspicion flashed into his mind.</p> -<p>He touched the arm of the lady in black. -“Lillian—Mrs. Leslie,” he said in a low -voice. A cry came from under the veil.</p> -<p>“Who speaks to me?” gasped the lady.</p> -<p>“It is I—Eric Darrell. This is no place for -a lady, especially at such an hour. You may be insulted -here.”</p> -<p>“But he is here—Joe, my husband, and where he is -his wife should not be afraid to go,” she said with some -bitterness.</p> -<p>“Theoretically true, madam, but there are lots of places -in this wicked city where men daily pass and ladies dare not -go. You promised to leave this to me and you must keep your -word. Take my arm and let me see you to the elevated -station.”</p> -<p>She might have rebelled, but there was a touch of gentle but -firm authority in his tone, and being a woman she yielded, -knowing he was right.</p> -<p>On the way to the elevated station she was silent, but -finally, upon reaching the steps, she turned to her -companion.</p> -<p>“Mr. Darrell, does my husband know that I have sought -your advice?”</p> -<p><a name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 57</span>So -intensely interested was she in the answer, that she even held -her breath.</p> -<p>“To my knowledge, Mrs. Leslie, Joe does not even suspect -you of ever having seen me.”</p> -<p>“Thank heaven,” she almost gasped, a world of -relief showing itself upon her face, for, the better to look at -her companion when expecting his answer, she had brushed her veil -aside.</p> -<p>“You need not borrow trouble on that score. Act -naturally, as though you suspected nothing and had no reason to -evade his eye.”</p> -<p>She moved uneasily at his words.</p> -<p>Darrell had spoken them with a purpose, just as the surgeon -probes for the bullet before making any attempt to extract -it.</p> -<p>He believed he had met with a certain share of success -too.</p> -<p>“What did he want with you?” she asked, as if to -cover her own confusion.</p> -<p>“Merely a matter of business.”</p> -<p>“Did he mention me?”</p> -<p>“He said I must come up and meet you -sometime—whatever this may turn out, Mrs. Leslie, I know -Joe fairly worships you—never doubt that fact. Some -things seem hard to put together, but when the truth shines upon -them they will be found very simple.”</p> -<p><a name="page58"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -58</span>“Like Columbus and the egg, for -example.”</p> -<p>“Yes, indeed. Now, if at any time you and I should -meet in Joe’s presence, don’t forget to treat me as a -stranger.”</p> -<p>“I will not.”</p> -<p>“Then I shall say good evening, and as a last word, -advise you to leave this to me.”</p> -<p>“I shall, Mr. Darrell.”</p> -<p>She flitted up the station stairs and Darrell, with a long -sigh, turned down the street again.</p> -<p>Somehow the pretty wife of his friend quite fascinated him, -and he found himself wishing the sister would be like her.</p> -<p>Walking down the street, he soon reached his old stamping -ground.</p> -<p>The light burned in the second story room and he believed Joe -had not left the house.</p> -<p>For perhaps ten minutes things went on this way.</p> -<p>Then the light suddenly vanished.</p> -<p>A minute later Joe Leslie came out.</p> -<p>Darrell listened intently to see if he spoke to any one at the -door but a wagon rattling by prevented his making sure.</p> -<p>Then Joe descended the steps and set briskly off for the -elevated station.</p> -<p><a name="page59"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 59</span>The -detective did not follow him.</p> -<p>He desired to do a little work around that region, and knew -Joe was bound for home.</p> -<p>The house seemed to be dark and deserted, but others were in -the same condition, the shades being drawn and shutters -closed.</p> -<p>New York people, many of them, act as though their houses were -meant to be dungeons, being hermetically sealed to shut out the -light.</p> -<p>Darrell surveyed the building a few minutes, crossed over, -looked at it more closely, started up the steps, then shook his -head negatively.</p> -<p>“Not yet—I’ll wait a little,” he -muttered.</p> -<p>Glancing up and down the street he saw a small grocery store -on the corner.</p> -<p>People must eat, and these venders of daily provisions -generally know more about those who live in the neighborhood than -any other class.</p> -<p>The gossip and small talk of the street passes current here, -and the proprietor hears all.</p> -<p>So Darrell made for the grocery.</p> -<p>It was not a very extensive establishment—the owner and -his clerk were not busy, and Darrell, picking out the former, -asked:</p> -<p>“Can you tell me who lives at No—?”</p> -<p>The man looked at him with a smile.</p> -<p><a name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -60</span>“A young woman named Mrs. Lester, whose husband I -believe is in California—she was in here once or -twice—quite a fine-looking lady,” returned the -groceryman.</p> -<p>“Thanks,” replied the detective, turning and -leaving the store as suddenly as he entered.</p> -<p>“Jacob, what number did he ask about?” said the -proprietor, turning to his clerk.</p> -<p>The boy gave it, at which the other whistled.</p> -<p>“That’s what they call a bull on me. I was -five numbers out of the way. But let it pass. He -didn’t want to buy nothing.”</p> -<p>The blunder was destined to give Darrell trouble however.</p> -<h2><a name="page61"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -61</span>CHAPTER V<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE MAN DRESSED AS A BULL -FIGHTER</span></h2> -<p>When Eric Darrell left the little grocery on the corner, it -was with a bad feeling at his heart.</p> -<p>It seemed as though a cold, clammy hand had suddenly come in -contact with that member of his anatomy, and chilled it.</p> -<p>Could this thing be?</p> -<p>If Joe Leslie turned out to be that moral leper, a bigamist, -Darrell believed he would never put any trust in human nature -again.</p> -<p>Did it not look like it?</p> -<p>Nothing was lacking.</p> -<p>Good heavens! even the names were almost alike—Leslie -and Lester.</p> -<p>He was horrified—dazed—dumfounded.</p> -<p>Then his teeth came together with a snap, and he swore he -would solve this mystery—the man might be living two -lives—others had done it before—perhaps many in New -York are doing it to-day.</p> -<p><a name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 62</span>In his -time Darrell had met with just such cases as this, and he -believed his experience justified him in solving the puzzle.</p> -<p>So her husband was in California.</p> -<p>It was a likely story.</p> -<p>California must be very near by if he could drop in six times -a week.</p> -<p>He passed the house again and found that there were still no -signs of light.</p> -<p>Evidently those who lived there, perhaps enjoying the luxuries -of the season, knew how to hide their light under a bushel.</p> -<p>Darrell remembered what Joe had said—he had long since -despaired of renting the house, and probably did not try very -hard.</p> -<p>Then again about his income—no wonder he did not know -how he stood if he had to keep two separate establishments -running.</p> -<p>They might do that economically out in Salt Lake City among -the Mormons but it is quite an expensive luxury in New York.</p> -<p>So the detective made his way down to Twenty-third Street and -entering a dairy kitchen where a thousand were being served to -the music of an orchestra, had his dinner.</p> -<p>He took his time over it, read the evening <a -name="page63"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 63</span>paper, and -when he finally passed out it was well on to eight -o’clock.</p> -<p>Then he smoked a cigar and watched the passers by for half an -hour more.</p> -<p>Then he sauntered away.</p> -<p>At nine o’clock he found himself one of a little crowd -gathered at the door of a hall.</p> -<p>A masquerade was to take place here, and as carriage after -carriage drove up, depositing nymphs and devils, cavaliers and -knights, upon the pavement, the crowd laughed in a good-natured -way.</p> -<p>Some of the rougher element might have indulged in jeers or -remarks that would have brought on trouble, but for their fear of -the law, which was represented by two stalwart policemen, armed -with their long night sticks which are a dread to the heathen of -the slums.</p> -<p>Darrell was interested too, and stood with the rest, looking -on.</p> -<p>While thus engaged, a gentleman and lady left a hack and -walked toward the entrance.</p> -<p>He represented a Spanish bull fighter, and with his splendid -figure made a remarkably good <i>matador</i>, while his -companion, as a lady of cards, caused a ripple of admiration -among the lookers-on.</p> -<p><a name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 64</span>Both -were fully masked, and, having wraps over their costumes, only a -portion of the latter were seen; but it was evident that the lady -was possessed of a lovely figure, her arms were rounded and -perfect, while her neck, glimpses of which could be seen, was -dazzlingly white, and royally built.</p> -<p>Darrell looked at her with interest.</p> -<p>Then his eyes fell on her escort.</p> -<p>He started.</p> -<p>Surely that figure was owned by none other than Joe -Leslie.</p> -<p>What was he doing at the ball?</p> -<p>Was this his wife?</p> -<p>Of course it must be—the figure and beautiful neck -corresponded with what Darrell remembered of Mrs. Leslie.</p> -<p>Still, he could not help but think it odd, even at that brief -moment, for Joe to bring his lovely wife here to this ball.</p> -<p>True, it was a respectable affair, and many good people -attended it, but none of the first families in New York would -dream of being seen at the public masquerade—at least if -they came they went away without unmasking.</p> -<p>As the couple passed him he could not resist saying aloud:</p> -<p><a name="page65"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -65</span>“Hallo! Joe!”</p> -<p>The man seemed to start, and muttered something to his -companion, at which she laughed, but he did not look around to -see who had spoken.</p> -<p>Others were following them.</p> -<p>Darrell stood a while longer, and then left the scene.</p> -<p>Somehow or other he was troubled—he knew not exactly -why.</p> -<p>If that was Lillian with her husband, it was all well and -good—although surprised at Joe taking his wife to such a -carnival, so long as her husband was with her it was all -right.</p> -<p>But was it Lillian?</p> -<p>This thought kept crowding into his brain. He could not -expel it.</p> -<p>After a little he became angry with himself for brooding over -the matter so.</p> -<p>“Hang it, I can settle the matter easily,” he -muttered, as he found himself at the foot of the stairs leading -to the elevated station.</p> -<p>So up he ran.</p> -<p>It was not a great while later when he found himself walking -along the street on which the Leslies lived.</p> -<p><a name="page66"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 66</span>He had -never seen their house before, but having the number speedily -found it.</p> -<p>Of course it was one of a row. How neat and clean -everything looked up in this region when compared with the -neighborhood of the Twenty-seventh Street house.</p> -<p>His sympathies naturally ran in favor of Lillian—he -seemed to believe she was the more innocent of Joe’s -dupes—provided the case was really as bad as it seemed.</p> -<p>Making sure he had the right number, as the houses were built -pretty much alike, he ran up the steps and pulled the bell.</p> -<p>A minute later a girl came to the door. “I wish to -see Mr. Leslie.”</p> -<p>“He is out, sir.”</p> -<p>“Ah!”</p> -<p>Darrell’s suspicions took firmer ground.</p> -<p>The girl held the door open a crack, as though it were secured -by a chain bolt.</p> -<p>“Mrs. Leslie will do—can I see her?”</p> -<p>He almost held his breath waiting for the answer—it -seemed as though the fate of a seemingly happy household depended -upon it—whether Joe Leslie were saint or sinner.</p> -<p>“Mrs. Leslie is in—what name, please?”</p> -<p><a name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -67</span>“You may say—stay, here is my card,” -believing the girl would have no chance to read it on the -way.</p> -<p>He handed her a calling card which simply bore his name.</p> -<p>In a minute she came back.</p> -<p>“Mrs. Leslie will see you, sir.”</p> -<p>The door opened.</p> -<p>Eric Darrell found himself under the roof of Joe -Leslie’s little “bird’s nest,” as the -latter was fond of styling it.</p> -<p>Everything around him showed evidences of good taste and -plenty of money.</p> -<p>Poor bachelor Eric heaved a sigh as he noted the comfortable -air of the cozy house.</p> -<p>“What a fool,” he muttered, “but some men -never know when they’re well off. With a wife and a -home like his, Joe ought to be the happiest man in New -York. Seems to me these things generally go to the ones -least capable of appreciating them.”</p> -<p>By this time the philosopher, in following the servant along -the hall, came to the open library door, through which she -motioned him to enter.</p> -<p>He did so.</p> -<p>Here his old bachelor soul was worse rattled <a -name="page68"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 68</span>than -ever—such a dream of bliss may have come to him over his -post-prandial cigar, but he had never believed it could be -realized to a human being here below.</p> -<p>The soft lights, the cases of books, the cheery fire in the -large grate, and, chief of all, the pretty little lady seated at -the table engaged in some delicate fancy work—it all took -poor Eric’s breath away.</p> -<p>He had sense enough to walk up and shake hands.</p> -<p>“You see the plight I am in—you will forgive my -not rising, Mr. Darrell,” she said, referring to her lap -full of silk threads and such odds and ends.</p> -<p>“Certainly, Mrs. Leslie, don’t move, I beg. -I will find a seat near by,” he returned.</p> -<p>She was looking at him eagerly.</p> -<p>“Mr. Darrell, it is not accident that brings you up here -to-night?” she said, and there was a question in her eyes -as well as in her voice.</p> -<p>He cannot get out of this.</p> -<p>“I came on a little business.”</p> -<p>“You asked to see Mr. Leslie?”</p> -<p>“In reality I expected to see you.”</p> -<p>“Ah! you have already solved our terrible <a -name="page69"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -69</span>mystery—tell me the worst—does Joe visit -that awful house to play cards?”</p> -<p>It is hard work dealing with a woman—she is apt to ask -so many questions and demand an answer—then, if important -facts are told her she may in a fit of pique or anger disclose -them to the very one who should not know.</p> -<p>Darrell knows all this.</p> -<p>He understands how to manage the gentler sex, and in the -present instance does not mean to tell one whit more than is -necessary.</p> -<p>“I am sorry to say, Mrs. Leslie, that the case is not -yet closed—indeed, the complications are growing more -serious—but,” as he observes the look of pain on her -sweet face, “I expect and hope to soon clear it all -up.”</p> -<p>“Heaven grant it,” she replied.</p> -<p>Luckily Lillian had considerable reserve force in her nature, -and now that this was brought into play, she gave promise of -rising to meet the exigencies of the occasion.</p> -<p>Darrell admired her courage.</p> -<p>He found it harder to believe evil of her than he did of Joe, -for he had great respect for the gentler sex, and believed all -men had a good share of the old Adam in them—some fought <a -name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 70</span>the good -fight and conquered—others lay down their arms and -surrendered, while many ran to meet the evil half way, so -misshapen were their souls.</p> -<p>Alone, when speculating upon this strange double case, he -might figure out this thing or that by force of logic; but when -looking upon that truthful, lovely face, and into those calm -eyes, he was ready to exclaim:</p> -<p>“Shame upon you, Eric Darrell, for ever even thinking -this little woman and wrong could have anything in common. -She’s an angel if ever there was one on earth, and I hope -her sister is built upon the same pattern.”</p> -<p>“Where is Joe?” he asked, suddenly.</p> -<p>“You haven’t seen him then?”</p> -<p>“I—no, indeed, not to speak to since he was in my -office this afternoon.”</p> -<p>“I—thought he had gone to you—he spoke your -name in connection with the matter.”</p> -<p>“What matter, may I ask?”</p> -<p>“The sad affair that took him from me -to-night.”</p> -<p>Sad affair!</p> -<p>As Darrell saw again in imagination the gay surroundings of -the hall where the <a name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -71</span>grand <i>bal masque</i> was being held, he ground his -teeth in silent rage, but knowing that a pair of sharp eyes were -upon him he did not allow his fury to find a vent.</p> -<p>“Indeed! I am just as much in the dark as ever, -Mrs. Leslie—enlighten me.”</p> -<p>“I presume it’s the same sad business he went to -see you about to-day.”</p> -<p>Darrell thought not.</p> -<p>“You know he has a young clerk and cashier in his -employ, Georgie Kingsley, of whom Joe is very fond. Of late -he has been led to believe the boy is getting a little -wild—reports have been reaching Joe of little things, -showing that Georgie is keeping bad company, and gambling. -I know this has worried Joe of late.”</p> -<p>Darrell thought something else might be giving him a nervous -spell too—no man can live a double life except at a great -mental strain, for the risk of sudden exposure must be -terrible.</p> -<p>“So he’s gone to try and save poor Georgie -to-night, has he? Noble-hearted old Joe.”</p> -<p>She could not help but catch something of the sneer under his -words, and trembled as she realized that the detective had grave -doubts.</p> -<p>“He said he would probably go to your room and get your -company.”</p> -<p><a name="page72"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -72</span>“He changed his mind, no doubt,” muttered -the detective—indignation was apt to make him tell more -than discretion warranted.</p> -<p>“What do you mean—you know something that you do -not want to tell me. I insist on your speaking. Have -you seen my husband?”</p> -<p>“I believe I have.”</p> -<p>“Where was it?”</p> -<p>“Entering the hall where a <i>bal masque</i> was being -held—quite a large affair.”</p> -<p>“Alone?” breathlessly.</p> -<p>“No—with a lady. Good heavens! Mrs. -Leslie, take it calmly, I beg of you!”</p> -<h2><a name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -73</span>CHAPTER VI<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">MARIAN</span></h2> -<p>He need not have been so alarmed.</p> -<p>True, the blood seemed to leave Lillian’s face, and she -gasped for breath, but a moment later she appeared so calm that -even the detective was amazed.</p> -<p>His admiration increased, for he saw this woman was no pretty -doll, to faint at the first breath of adversity.</p> -<p>“Do you know this as a fact, Mr. Darrell?” she -asked in steady tones.</p> -<p>“I do not, positively, and I think we ought to give Joe -the benefit of the doubt.”</p> -<p>“I shall do more than that. Until with his own -lips he acknowledges such a thing to me, I will believe him -innocent—I will trust him as I have always done, as the -best and truest man on earth. And yet it cuts home to even -have such suspicions aroused—oh, if Marian were only -here!”</p> -<p><a name="page74"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -74</span>“Your sister?”</p> -<p>“Yes, the sister I love so dearly, and who would be such -a comfort to me. She always believed in Joe. It would -be a great shock to her.”</p> -<p>Eric was struck by a sudden thought.</p> -<p>They always came with a rush, and at times might fall under -the name of an inspiration.</p> -<p>“Have you your sister’s photograph handy, Mrs. -Leslie? Your husband spoke of her so much and said I must -meet her some day. I am quite interested, and would like to -see her picture.”</p> -<p>“That is it on the mantel.”</p> -<p>She did not evidently suspect the awful thought that came into -his brain.</p> -<p>He walked over and looked at the photograph. It -attracted him very much.</p> -<p>The face was very like Lillian’s, only the hair and eyes -were dark.</p> -<p>“I shall expect an invitation here when your sister -comes on, Mrs. Leslie. She is in Chicago now, I -believe.”</p> -<p>“That is her home, but she is now traveling in -California with a party of friends.”</p> -<p>California!</p> -<p><a name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 75</span>The -mention of that far-away State sent a cold chill down his -back.</p> -<p>Was it not the grocery man who had said the beautiful Mrs. -Lester’s husband was in California?</p> -<p>Somehow he made the application, and the effect was a decided -chill.</p> -<p>It was growing blacker for Joe.</p> -<p>“I shall take a run down and see if I can find -Joe—he may be at my room waiting for me—who -knows? Can I trust you to keep this matter from him, Mrs. -Leslie—supposing this is all a mistake and that he is -innocent, would you ever want him to believe that you harbored -such suspicions?”</p> -<p>“No, no, I would not,” she sobbed.</p> -<p>“Then do your part—you can act it I am sure. -Appear natural—show no unusual coldness or warmth of -affection—try not to meet his eye or your own may betray -you. If he insists on finding out what ails you, retreat in -the usual plea of a headache.”</p> -<p>“I will not fail you, Mr. Darrell. You go about -your work with the prayers of a faithful wife following -you.”</p> -<p>He believed it then—he would have staked <a -name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 76</span>his life on -her truth—and yet in the near future such terrible doubts -were to arise.</p> -<p>“Surely that talisman ought to keep any man who is half -a man, from evil—a loving mother and a faithful wife are -the lodestones that have saved many a weak man from the pit of -destruction. Good-night, Mrs. Leslie. Remember, -should the worst come, you can depend upon Eric Darrell as your -brother.”</p> -<p>He had said more than he intended to, but he was not -cold-blooded like a fish, and the evident distress of this angel -on earth had wrought up all his feelings.</p> -<p>Just then he felt as though he could have pommeled Joe Leslie -with the greatest of pleasure.</p> -<p>Any man was a brute who would give a woman like this sweet -creature, pain.</p> -<p>So Eric strode away angry with the wickedness of the world in -general, and this friend of his in particular.</p> -<p>If Joe Leslie turned out a rascal he could see no palliating -circumstance connected with the case, and according to his ideas -the man ought to be drawn and quartered.</p> -<p>Hardly knowing where he was going, Darrell <a -name="page77"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 77</span>brought up at -the hall where the <i>bal masque</i> was in progress.</p> -<p>It was still early—not later than half past ten, and the -affair had only started.</p> -<p>Any one could get in on payment of the regular price, two -dollars, although none were allowed on the main floor but -masks.</p> -<p>Darrell went in.</p> -<p>He had seen these things before, and hence had little interest -in the ball itself.</p> -<p>Most of the characters were old too, although here and there -some genius had devised something new, and worth looking at.</p> -<p>Eric had other ideas in view.</p> -<p>Monks, flower girls, Indians, Chinese, knights, fortune -tellers, dames and the endless chain of historical personages -such an event gathers, passed before him without exciting more -than a slight smile or a single glance of admiration.</p> -<p>He was looking for the couple upon whom he meant to bestow his -interest.</p> -<p>Soon he sighted them.</p> -<p>From that time on Eric seldom took his eyes off the pair.</p> -<p>He imagined he detected certain little peculiarities in the -man’s walk that marked him as Joe Leslie.</p> -<p><a name="page78"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 78</span>As for -the woman, Eric became quite interested trying to make her -out—in figure she certainly resembled Lillian, and this -only added to his eager pursuit.</p> -<p>Another point he noticed—her hair was dark.</p> -<p>Was she the one who had entered his mind?</p> -<p>He noticed that when they danced it was always -together—other couples might separate but the Spanish bull -fighter and the Lady of Cards seemed inseparable.</p> -<p>Probably they were greeted with more or less lively sallies in -the badinage that passed current among the dancers, but the size -of the bull fighter deterred any envious swains from attempting -to relieve him of his partner.</p> -<p>Darrell noted the envious actions of some of the male maskers -who could not find partners, and made up his mind there would be -trouble yet unless the couple withdrew early.</p> -<p>The detective had managed to get below by bribing a -keeper.</p> -<p>He did not go out upon the floor, but remained under the -gallery.</p> -<p>It was not very light here.</p> -<p>Now and then some promenading couple would pass by, chatting -and laughing, a red clad <a name="page79"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 79</span>Mephistopheles fanning a pretty -shepherdess, or a portly friar joking with Queen Elizabeth.</p> -<p>One thing is always noticeable about these <i>bal -masques</i>—the ladies never assume a grotesque costume, -always endeavoring to appear charming, according to their own -ideas, and leaving the funny part of the business to the male -sex.</p> -<p>The couple whom Darrell was anxious to watch had mingled with -the crowd dancing and for some little time he lost sight of -them.</p> -<p>He began to grow a little anxious and was just thinking of -changing his quarters, when all of a sudden they appeared in view -close by.</p> -<p>They were heading for the dark spot under the gallery where, -only a few persons had gathered.</p> -<p>The lady was holding both hands up to her head, as if to keep -her, mask from falling while her tall escort forced a -passage.</p> -<p>Eric shrank back behind a pillar.</p> -<p>The two came within ten feet of where he stood, and there -halted.</p> -<p>“Can you fix it?” he heard her ask.</p> -<p>“I will try, Marian,” was the reply.</p> -<p>That name—it confirmed the detective’s worst -fears—he could believe anything now. The Lady of -Cards handed her mask to her <a name="page80"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 80</span>companion, who immediately endeavored -to refasten the string that had broken loose.</p> -<p>Meanwhile she stood with her face bared, looking out upon the -throng.</p> -<p>What a miserable thing it was that the light was so poor under -the gallery.</p> -<p>Darrell just then would have given a hundred dollars for one -good square look at her face.</p> -<p>Oh, for an electric torch to suddenly light up the scene and -reveal those features to his gaze.</p> -<p>He used his eyes to the utmost, but it was not at all -satisfactory, for her face was in the shadow; but he had an idea -she was very like the picture he had looked at recently—the -photograph of Lillian’s sister.</p> -<p>Presently the bull fighter had succeeded in re-securing the -string.</p> -<p>He tied the mask on for her.</p> -<p>His manner was very courtly and gentle, but one spectator did -not enjoy it at all.</p> -<p>This was Eric.</p> -<p>His thoughts would go, in spite of him, to that heavenly room -where he had left a sweet and faithful wife waiting for her Joe -to return.</p> -<p>Somehow Eric felt savage to-night, and he wondered whether it -would not serve this man <a name="page81"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 81</span>just right if he did get into trouble -with some of the envious young beaux who followed him about as -though only waiting a good chance to carry off his partner by -force.</p> -<p>A traitor deserved such punishment.</p> -<p>“I’ll never believe in a man again,” said -Eric to himself, filled with shame and disgust for his sex; -“by Jove! they’re all alike, a miserable crowd of -deceivers, every one.”</p> -<p>He forgot that he belonged to the same sex, and that his very -indignation proved his words exaggerated, since he could not -share in such evil plottings, and there must be others like -him.</p> -<p>He wandered up and down.</p> -<p>Now and then he saw the couple, but much of the time they were -lost to his view.</p> -<p>Darrell remained near the exit.</p> -<p>It was nearly twelve o’clock, when the order to unmask -would be given.</p> -<p>Some who did not care to remain and be recognized were already -flitting.</p> -<p>He believed those whom he watched would do likewise, and it -was his desire to get outside at the same time to hear the -directions given to the driver if any were uttered.</p> -<p><a name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 82</span>Just at -this moment, close by, he heard sounds of an uproar.</p> -<p>These things are generally prevented at public balls by the -presence of the police, but no officers were in sight -now—perhaps they had gone into the refreshment room.</p> -<p>Darrell instantly had a suspicion of the truth, and his eyes -were immediately directed toward the <i>melee</i>.</p> -<p>Just as he suspected, in the struggling crowd he saw the tall -form of the Spanish bull fighter—the man was dealing blows -right and left and had already sent several audacious assailants -rolling in the dust of the hall floor.</p> -<h2><a name="page83"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -83</span>CHAPTER VII<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">A BRAND FROM THE BURNING</span></h2> -<p>The detective was a man.</p> -<p>He admired courage and grit, no matter in whom it was found, -and when he saw the Spanish bull fighter holding his own against -the number who had assailed him he could not but express this -feeling.</p> -<p>It seemed as though these young bloods were furious because -the other kept his partner to himself, and allowed her to dance -with no one else—it is always the case that a pack of such -hot heads may be found at a public gathering, and trouble often -ensues.</p> -<p>Perhaps the Lady of Cards, secure behind her mask, had flirted -with some of them, and had driven them wild.</p> -<p>It is human nature to covet what we cannot have and their -anger toward the giant bull fighter had grown intense.</p> -<p><a name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 84</span>As we -have seen, it culminated in what threatened to be a riot.</p> -<p>The woman was frightened now—she trembled, and cowered -behind her protector.</p> -<p>He stood up like a rock before her.</p> -<p>Twice his arm had shot out and on each occasion one of his -assailants had gone down. They pressed him hard.</p> -<p>The bull fighter turned to the right and left and defended -himself gallantly, while he shielded his companion as best he -could.</p> -<p>It was a singular spectacle to be seen at a New York public -ball.</p> -<p>When passion rules men’s minds their surroundings have -no effect on them.</p> -<p>They would fight in a tomb, over the dead.</p> -<p>Seeing that in all probability the rascals would get the -better of the man, Darrell pushed that way; at this moment one of -the men grasped the lady by the wrist.</p> -<p>She screamed.</p> -<p>The bull fighter turned like a mad tiger, saw what was -transpiring, threw the assailants who were clinging to him, and -plunged at the man who was grasping the lady’s arm and -endeavoring to drag her away, for the music still kept <a -name="page85"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 85</span>up, and many -were dancing all unconscious of the <i>melee</i>.</p> -<p>There was a tremendous rush, the bull fighter caught the -wretch and whirled him, spinning like a teetotum, ten feet -away. Never did a dancing dervish spin so merrily.</p> -<p>Then came an awful crash, as the man struck a swaying column -of dancers, who immediately toppled over upon him.</p> -<p>By this time the detective was at the side of the bull -fighter.</p> -<p>“Keep back, you young fools! Keep back, I say, or -I’ll land the whole of you in the Tombs!” His -words were heard.</p> -<p>Backed up as they were with the shining barrel of a revolver, -they commanded respect.</p> -<p>By this time the management had succeeded in getting the -officers from the supper-room to the spot, and upon seeing them -come, the young fellows who had been the cause of the disturbance -slunk away, losing themselves in the crowd.</p> -<p>The management apologized to the bull fighter when they -learned what had occurred, but his companion seemed to have -received a nervous shock—at any rate they retired for their -wraps.</p> -<p><a name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 86</span>Darrell -moved outside.</p> -<p>There was something more he desired to learn and the chance -must soon come.</p> -<p>He waited.</p> -<p>Just at twelve they came.</p> -<p>The hour for unmasking had arrived, and there was quite a high -time within.</p> -<p>This displeased the detective, for he was afraid lest he might -not hear what he desired.</p> -<p>The couple walked down the pavement in search of the carriage, -which was waiting near by, the driver having received -instructions.</p> -<p>They soon reached it.</p> -<p>Darrell hovered near.</p> -<p>The bull fighter assisted his companion in and then entered -himself.</p> -<p>“Where to, sir?” asked the driver, probably not -knowing but what they had another engagement at some private -ball.</p> -<p>A burst of laughter from the house deadened the reply, but -Darrell’s keen ears caught:“—Twenty-seventh -Street.”</p> -<p>It was enough.</p> -<p>He felt down-spirited.</p> -<p>In so far as he could see ahead, the case was a settled -one—Joe Leslie was guilty.</p> -<p><a name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 87</span>He -seemed to feel it as keenly as though it were a brother of -his.</p> -<p>Poor Lillian! that it should come to this in one short -year.</p> -<p>It would have seemed incredible, but he was used to meeting -with strange things, and being of a philosophical train of mind -could take things pretty much as they came.</p> -<p>So Darrell turned homeward.</p> -<p>There was nothing more to be done that night.</p> -<p>He remembered that on the morning he had engaged to watch the -house in which the Leslies lived.</p> -<p>That strange man would come and must be tracked to discover -his identity.</p> -<p>It was a task Darrell did not like.</p> -<p>Every time he thought of it he saw the face of Lillian before -him, and in the depth of those liquid eyes there appeared such a -world of truth that the detective was fain to shake his head.</p> -<p>Experienced man of the world as he was, he could not believe -her guilty.</p> -<p>There must be some mistake.</p> -<p>So he made his way to his rooms, feeling depressed over the -events of the night.</p> -<p><a name="page88"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 88</span>He -hated the thought of his next meeting with the lady—how -could he face her and tell her what he had seen and heard?</p> -<p>“Hang the foolish fellow—how could he treat such -an angel in that way?”</p> -<p>Hold on, Mr. Darrell, before twenty-four hours have flown you -will perhaps have changed your mind and concluded that even -angels may be of the earth, earthy.</p> -<p>When he arrived at his apartments it was about half-past -twelve.</p> -<p>As he opened the door he saw a card below. When he had -applied the burning match to the gas, he picked this up.</p> -<p>“Hello!” was his exclamation.</p> -<p>His eyes had fallen upon a name.</p> -<p>“Joseph Gregory Leslie.”</p> -<p>Turning the card over he found, scribbled in pencil, the -words:</p> -<p>“Called to see you—may come in later -to-night. Some important business.”</p> -<p>When he had read this the detective scratched his head and -mused.</p> -<p>“How is this—he must have run down here -first. Come in later, eh? Well, who knows but what -after he has seen <i>Marian</i> home he may run down?”</p> -<p><a name="page89"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 89</span>He -stopped to listen to a carriage rumbling along the -street—at this time of night they were not very frequent -here, and when it stopped in front of the house he smiled.</p> -<p>“Ah, he has seen her home and come down to carry out his -promise to Lillian. The story of the erring clerk may not -be all moonshine.”</p> -<p>He put his head out of the window.</p> -<p>The carriage lamps shone below.</p> -<p>It was a hack, drawn by dark horses.</p> -<p>So had the other been.</p> -<p>Darrell had not the slightest idea but that they were one and -the same—he flattered himself that he could read Joe Leslie -like a book, for the man was a poor plotter.</p> -<p>Just as he suspected, there were footsteps on the stairs.</p> -<p>Some one was coming.</p> -<p>A knock sounded on his door.</p> -<p>Opening it, who should be standing there but Joe Leslie in the -flesh?</p> -<p>“You are home at last—I have been here twice -before and found you out,” he said.</p> -<p>Darrell believed once would answer, but of course he made no -such remark.</p> -<p>“Well, come in and sit down.”</p> -<p><a name="page90"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -90</span>“No, I haven’t time.”</p> -<p>“What do you want with me?” asked Darrell, just as -though he did not already know.</p> -<p>“Can you give me an hour or so?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“I have a favorite clerk—I am afraid he has fallen -into bad company. For his mother’s sake I want to -rescue him before it is too late.”</p> -<p>Darrell admired the motive however much he distrusted the -man.</p> -<p>“Wait a minute and I will go with you.”</p> -<p>He kicked off his slippers and drew on his shoes. Then a -coat and hat followed. The minute was not yet over when he -announced himself in readiness.</p> -<p>Truly, Eric Darrell would do for a lightning change artist on -the stage.</p> -<p>They passed down the stairs of the house, which had apartments -for gentlemen only.</p> -<p>New York is full of these bachelor dens, some of them having -suites of rooms furnished in a gorgeous manner that speaks of the -sybarite taste of the rich young or old owner. The -bachelors of to-day live for their own comfort, surrounded by all -the luxuries money can purchase for them.</p> -<p><a name="page91"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 91</span>No one -thinks of pitying them any longer, least of all do they -themselves feel forlorn.</p> -<p>People who love a home may sigh at such a picture, but it is -the truth in all large cities and New York above the rest. -On the way down Joe spoke:</p> -<p>“You know the places where such a young man is apt to be -found, Eric?”</p> -<p>“Well, I ought to—my business carries me into them -every week,” replied the other.</p> -<p>“Then let us make the rounds.”</p> -<p>He spoke wearily.</p> -<p>Why not?</p> -<p>When a man has been dancing for several hours, he cannot feel -as fresh as a daisy—it does not stand to reason.</p> -<p>They entered the hack.</p> -<p>Darrell gave his first address to Joe who repeated it to the -driver.</p> -<p>Away they went.</p> -<p>“Hello! what’s wrong with your hand?” asked -the detective. The carriage lamps gave enough light for him -to see that Joe had his handkerchief wrapped around the knuckles -of his right hand.</p> -<p>“Took a tumble up a dark flight of stairs <a -name="page92"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 92</span>when I was -looking awhile back and bruised my knuckles.”</p> -<p>Darrell smiled but made no remark. He thought he knew -how that hand had become bruised—it was in a more honorable -business than falling up stairs—in defending a weak and -helpless woman against ruffians.</p> -<p>“You know some of these places then, Joe?”</p> -<p>“My driver knew of several, but I had hard work getting -in.”</p> -<p>Darrell thought so.</p> -<p>“Perhaps they did not think I wanted to play, and may -have been suspicious of my intentions.”</p> -<p>“No doubt. If you rescued some young fellow from -their clutches, it meant less money for their pockets.”</p> -<p>They lapsed into silence.</p> -<p>Soon the vehicle stopped.</p> -<p>They entered a gambling den.</p> -<p>Joe quickly declared his clerk was not there and they -proceeded to another.</p> -<p>Four had been visited, and in the last one he discovered the -young man at the green baize, his face flushed with wine and -excitement.</p> -<p>The detective drew him out and brought him to his employer, at -sight of whom he turned white and put his hands to his eyes.</p> -<p><a name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 93</span>Joe -Leslie talked to him beautifully—even that hard-hearted -detective, Eric Darrell, who had seen so much of the world, had -to turn his head away and wink hard to dry up his tears.</p> -<p>As for the boy—he was hardly more—what he heard so -affected him that he caught hold of Joe’s arm and sobbed -outright.</p> -<p>“As heaven is my judge, Mr. Leslie, from this hour I -will never again yield to temptation in any shape. What you -said about my mother has taken the scales from my eyes and I -see.”</p> -<p>Even Darrell knew he would stand firm.</p> -<p>Joe Leslie had saved one soul.</p> -<h2><a name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -94</span>CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE JEHU ADDS TO THE MYSTERY</span></h2> -<p>It gave Eric Darrell a strange feeling to hear Joe talk in the -vein he did.</p> -<p>Of all men on earth—or women either—he despised a -hypocrite.</p> -<p>Could he believe Joe sincere in what he said about deceit, -when such a load of suspicion was resting over his own head?</p> -<p>Eric was badly rattled.</p> -<p>He believed and yet doubted.</p> -<p>Something must soon come up to decide the question one way or -another.</p> -<p>On the way to his rooms, where Joe was to put him down, the -latter fell asleep in the corner, so no words passed between -them.</p> -<p>When the hack came to a stop Joe woke up. “Hello -here, where are we?”</p> -<p>“At my den;” and Eric got out as the driver opened -the door.</p> -<p><a name="page95"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -95</span>“Then I can have another nap before I reach my -home.”</p> -<p>“Good night, Joe.”</p> -<p>“Don’t forget to-morrow morning, Eric.”</p> -<p>“I shan’t, you may depend upon it.”</p> -<p>As a sudden thought flashed through his mind he turned and -looked at the driver.</p> -<p>Surely this was not the same man who had driven Joe from the -<i>bal masque</i>.</p> -<p>The detective did not remember the number of the other -vehicle, but had seen the man—both wore the regulation tall -stove-pipe hat, without which no cabby is ever seen in New York, -if he has any respect for himself, but there was a decided -difference in the height of the men.</p> -<p>This again puzzled Eric.</p> -<p>“What is your name, driver?” he asked, as the -other was about to mount his box.</p> -<p>“John Mulligan, sor.”</p> -<p>“German, of course?” smiling.</p> -<p>“Yis, sor, direct from Cork.”</p> -<p>“Where can you be found in the morning about ten -o’clock?”</p> -<p>The man gave his stand.</p> -<p>“Then consider yourself engaged by myself from ten to -twelve, and wait for me.”</p> -<p><a name="page96"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -96</span>“All right, sor.”</p> -<p>The hack rattled down the street.</p> -<p>Darrell looked after it and shook his head—he did not -know really what to think.</p> -<p>In all the strange cases he had handled in the past, he could -not remember one which had presented such a confusing front as -this.</p> -<p>It faced both ways.</p> -<p>He was not yet ready to believe either side until stronger -proofs were presented.</p> -<p>At any rate another day would surely develop new features -bearing on the case, and from these he would be able to get -conclusions.</p> -<p>He retired at a quarter to three.</p> -<p>It was his intention to rise at eight, and when he jumped out -of bed the clock lacked but a few minutes of the hour.</p> -<p>Before nine he had breakfasted in a neighboring cafe.</p> -<p>The other inmates of the bachelor apartment house had no idea -of the occupation the detective followed.</p> -<p>He was a quiet fellow and did not seek -acquaintances—besides, in New York, people get acquainted -only through regular channels—two families might live next -door for several years <a name="page97"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 97</span>and their ways and hours are so -different that the members hardly know their neighbors by -sight.</p> -<p>It was now getting on toward the time when he ought to be up -town.</p> -<p>He ran down to his office first, and blossomed out as a -first-class masher, of the type who frequent the -matinees—real lady killers.</p> -<p>Then he next made his way up town on the elevated road, and -got off at Eighty-ninth Street.</p> -<p>In a short time he was in the drug store near the home of the -Leslies.</p> -<p>The proprietor was talkative and friendly.</p> -<p>It was just three minutes of ten when a gentleman passed along -the pavement in the direction of the house under -surveillance.</p> -<p>He turned and came into the drug store ostensibly to buy a -cigar, but in reality, as the detective guessed, to pass the -time.</p> -<p>Just as the clock was about striking he hurried out and was -soon mounting the steps leading to the Leslie mansion.</p> -<p>Eric shrugged his shoulders.</p> -<p>“There’s no accounting for tastes,” he -muttered.</p> -<p>“Yes,” laughed the druggist, “he picked out -the poorest weed in the box.”</p> -<p><a name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 98</span>But -Darrell was thinking of something else. He had in mind the -stalwart figure and pleasing face of Joe Leslie.</p> -<p>Between the two he saw no choice.</p> -<p>Still, this man was in a way distinguished by his poetical -appearance—his face was smooth, all but a wavy mustache, -and he wore his hair down upon his shoulders.</p> -<p>Eric spent some time talking to the druggist, but he kept -watch upon the Leslie domicile. At eleven the stranger came -out. He was given egress by Mrs. Leslie, and Darrell was -put in mind of the photograph Joe had shown him.</p> -<p>His business now was to discover who this gentleman was.</p> -<p>He followed him to the elevated railroad, and went in the car -next to that which the man under surveillance entered.</p> -<p>Thus, at about eleven twenty-three, he followed the other -along Twenty-third Street and saw him enter a certain building -among the handsome stores.</p> -<p>Still pursuing his man, carefully keeping him under his eye, -he watched until the other had entered a room on the top -floor.</p> -<p>There was a door-plate in sight.</p> -<p><a name="page99"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 99</span>Going -closer the detective read:</p> -<p>“Paul Prescott—Artist.”</p> -<p>He knew the name—the owner had quite a reputation as a -painter, but Eric had never as yet heard of him as a lady -killer.</p> -<p>His next work was to get some information concerning Mr. -Prescott.</p> -<p>There were other offices below, and entering one which seemed -to be that of an ivory carver, he introduced the subject by -saying that he had occasion to make use of an artist at his home, -and wished to make certain inquiries concerning the gentleman -above.</p> -<p>“I do not like to say anything,” remarked the -ivory carver.</p> -<p>“Oh, I’m not going to ask about his -work—that stands on its own merits—but as he would -have to be a member of my family for a time if he undertook the -job, I would like to know if he is a perfect -gentleman.”</p> -<p>“I have no occasion to believe otherwise.”</p> -<p>“Married?”</p> -<p>“N—no.”</p> -<p>“You seem to hesitate—am I to infer that you have -any reason to believe otherwise?”</p> -<p>“I used to think he was, but of late he told me he was a -widower.”</p> -<p><a name="page100"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -100</span>“Oh, that’s it. I suppose he has lots -of people visit his studio?”</p> -<p>“Quite a number.”</p> -<p>“Ladies and gentlemen?”</p> -<p>“Ladies particularly—he’s very fond of the -gentle sex, and they quite make a hero of him.”</p> -<p>Darrell smiled.</p> -<p>He had seen stage favorites whom the silly women of New York -were wont to rave over, and knew just how foolishly they could -act.</p> -<p>Thank heaven all women are not alike, and yet their weak -points are more or less developed in the whole sex, as with -men.</p> -<p>He sighed as he thought of it, and then he turned again, loyal -to the resolve he had made not to condemn Lillian without the -most absolute proof.</p> -<p>As he left the building he remembered the hack driver.</p> -<p>Could he reach his stand before twelve?</p> -<p>He started off—a street car assisted him up Sixth -Avenue, and he arrived just five minutes before the noon -hour.</p> -<p>John was there.</p> -<p>He had the same horses as on the previous night, and showed no -marks of his late hours.</p> -<p><a name="page101"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 101</span>At -sight of the detective he made no sign of recognition, which was -quite natural, for the latter’s disguise was complete.</p> -<p>“Hello, John, I want your vehicle,” Eric said.</p> -<p>“I’m engaged just now, sor.”</p> -<p>“Yes, warming your heels. John, I’m the -gentleman who engaged you last night.”</p> -<p>The man made a peculiar face.</p> -<p>“Tell that till the marines, sor. Ain’t I -got eyes—phat good are they if I don’t -see?”</p> -<p>“Well, they’re no good if they can’t see -that—five dollars, pay for the two hours you’ve -waited.”</p> -<p>The man looked at the bill and took it. “Faith -an’ now I know ye’re the gentlemon,” he said -with a leer.</p> -<p>It is strange yet true that such a man can always see better -with a bank bill over his eyes. “Did my friend Leslie -get home all right?”</p> -<p>“Yes, sor.”</p> -<p>“Anybody waiting up for him?” carelessly.</p> -<p>“His wife I reckon, sor—leastways she let him in -directly the kerriage stopped.”</p> -<p>This was a point for the detective.</p> -<p>He made a note of it.</p> -<p>“Have you driven for Mr. Leslie before?”</p> -<p><a name="page102"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -102</span>“Several times, sor.”</p> -<p>“Fine fellow.”</p> -<p>“That’s where yees are correct—he’s a -man I could do lots for.”</p> -<p>This was not flattery—the true ring could be detected in -such praise—it came from the heart.</p> -<p>“How did it come he had another driver earlier in the -night?”</p> -<p>“Him—Mr. Joseph Leslie—sure I took him from -his house and brought him back and divil another driver did he -have at all. Phat are yees drivin’ at? I -dunno!”</p> -<p>“I made a mistake, John—I see it now.”</p> -<p>To himself, however, this hunter of men was saying:</p> -<p>“Probably Joe has bought this fellow up, body and -soul—that would account for his desire to serve -him.”</p> -<p>Nothing could be more easily done, for the man looked like one -who would be faithful.</p> -<p>If this were the case it would be love’s labor lost to -attempt to get any intelligence out of such a man.</p> -<p>Still, Eric Darrell prided himself on his manner of cross -questioning, and he began to work the jehu in a manner that was -novel to say the least.</p> -<p><a name="page103"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 103</span>Thus -he found that to all appearances John had driven down town, and -taken the gentleman to several places besides the apartment house -where he held forth.</p> -<p>Altogether they had visited three houses where games of chance -were going on but there was so much trouble effecting an entrance -to these places that it had consumed much time.</p> -<p>If this were true it would make the puzzle darker than -ever.</p> -<p>The question was, could John be trusted?</p> -<p>He had to watch the man keenly in order to read him at -all.</p> -<p>An Irishman can dissemble about as well as the next one, and -this jehu was a particularly bright boy, from the “ould -dart.”</p> -<p>“Did you meet any one you knew about a quarter of -twelve?” asked the detective.</p> -<p>“Did I—yes, it was just striking the midnight hour -when I spoke to Mike Crotty, the night police at the corner av -Broadway and Worth Street.”</p> -<p>“I know him—what remarks passed?”</p> -<p>“We both spoke av the bells—and Mike towld me -about a dancing in the moonlight he saw wanst in ould Ireland, -when the fairies came out <a name="page104"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 104</span>to howld their only ball—it -was at this hour he seen it and lost his mind. Whin he -found it again the beastly work had stopped and the fairies were -gone.”</p> -<p>“Well, I guess it’s too late for me to do what I -meant to. I won’t need you to-day, John. -Sometime I may want your help.”</p> -<p>With these words Eric Darrell coolly turned and walked -away. The Irishman looked after him quizzically.</p> -<p>“He’s an odd genius, but, d’ye know, I -rather like the man. Just as if I don’t know where -he’s gone. Hope he finds Mike Crotty on deck this -fine day.”</p> -<h2><a name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -105</span>CHAPTER IX<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">JOE’S SECRET</span></h2> -<p>Mike Crotty was on deck. Eric readily found him.</p> -<p>The man was a stranger to him, but there is a mystic tie -between the detectives and police in a great city—they work -in harmony.</p> -<p>Soon the two men were conversing with the greatest -freedom.</p> -<p>Crotty had often heard of Detective Darrell, and was only too -glad to supply any information that lay in his power. He -remembered meeting the hackman and spoke of the bells ringing out -the midnight hour.</p> -<p>There could be no mistake.</p> -<p>When Eric left the officer, he was a badly puzzled man to be -sure. Instead of having solved the mystery it was assuming -even darker proportions, and the chances seemed equally -divided.</p> -<p>Was Joe guilty or not?</p> -<p><a name="page106"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 106</span>If, -as these men agreed, he was at a certain place just as the solemn -midnight hour rang out, how could he have been at the <i>bal -masque</i>—it was at that hour of unmasking the Spanish -bull fighter and his consort, the Lady of Cards, drove away in -another vehicle and yet—that man possessed the stalwart -figure of Joe Leslie—Eric believed he would know it -anywhere—he had answered to the name of Joe, while his -companion was Marian.</p> -<p>The difficulties in the way might have daunted a less -persevering officer than Darrell.</p> -<p>They only spurred him on to renewed exertions. He -gloried in a puzzle.</p> -<p>To a man of his nature it was the most pleasurable work in the -world, studying the intricacies of a mystery, grasping a thread -in the labyrinthine maze, following it along inch by inch, until -the whole thing resolved itself into a solved problem.</p> -<p>Then, when the end came, how proud he would be to survey his -work.</p> -<p>He began to give Joe the benefit of the doubt. This was -one point gained.</p> -<p>It is a rule in American courts never to adjudge a man guilty -until he has been <a name="page107"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -107</span>proven so—the law looks upon him as innocent, and -all efforts of the prosecutor are directed toward proving the -charges.</p> -<p>In some other countries the opposite is the case and the -accused has to prove his innocence.</p> -<p>Eric Darrell was gradually applying this former principle to -the case in question.</p> -<p>Perhaps Joe might be innocent, and this cloud hanging over him -be the result of circumstantial evidence.</p> -<p>At any rate the detective hoped so.</p> -<p>He looked at his watch mechanically.</p> -<p>Just now the thought came into his head that he must find out -all about Joe before another night had spread its mantle over the -city.</p> -<p>The time dragged along.</p> -<p>He had some work to do in his office, and this consumed -something like an hour.</p> -<p>Then he made his way slowly in the direction of Twenty-seventh -Street.</p> -<p>It was about four when he came in sight of the house around -which clustered so much that was mysterious.</p> -<p>Sauntering along, he kept watch for Joe, feeling almost sure -the other would come.</p> -<p>Sure enough, at the regular time his tall figure came in -view.</p> -<p><a name="page108"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -108</span>Darrell managed it so that at this moment he was nearly -opposite the house.</p> -<p>He could see Joe without looking in a particular manner across -the street, and he saw that the other appeared nervous and -worried.</p> -<p>Was his guilty secret wearing on his mind?</p> -<p>Something undoubtedly disturbed him.</p> -<p>Any one could see that from the expression on his face.</p> -<p>As usual, when he came in front of the house, he turned and -looked up the street, as though he were afraid lest some one whom -he knew would recognize him.</p> -<p>Then he went up the steps.</p> -<p>There was no ringing the bell.</p> -<p>With a key he opened the door as though proprietor there.</p> -<p>Then Darrell, passing on, lost sight of him. The -detective crossed the street beyond, and came on down, intending -to pass the house again.</p> -<p>He changed his mind.</p> -<p>When just opposite, looking up he saw that fortune beckoned -him.</p> -<p>The door was ajar.</p> -<p>Joe had been a trifle careless, and made a mistake when he -thought he closed the door.</p> -<p><a name="page109"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 109</span>What -could be better?</p> -<p>Mr. Darrell was a man quick to make up his mind, and he -instantly saw a chance here to further his plans.</p> -<p>Without hesitating an instant he advanced up the steps, stood -upon the door-step, and seemed to glance around carelessly, when -in reality he was listening to catch any sound that might come -from the interior.</p> -<p>Another moment and he had entered.</p> -<p>Perhaps some one saw him, but he had put on an air of -proprietorship such as Joe wore, and curious eyes must have -simply reached the conclusion that his coming was but another -link in the chain of mystery surrounding the house.</p> -<p>Once in the hall, the detective quietly closed the door, -making sure it was fast.</p> -<p>Enough light came in through the glass above to show him the -stairs.</p> -<p>There was carpet on the floor.</p> -<p>Near by were folding doors, and, as they stood ajar, Darrell -poked his head through, not merely out of curiosity, but because -he felt that he had an interest in the matter.</p> -<p>The parlor was furnished.</p> -<p>It was no empty house into which he had come thus -surreptitiously.</p> -<p><a name="page110"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 110</span>He -listened.</p> -<p>Not a sound from within.</p> -<p>How strange it seemed.</p> -<p>What could it all mean?</p> -<p>Vague and even terrible ideas flashed into his mind—was -Joe connected with some secret cabal or society that met here -every day?</p> -<p>Perhaps some awful secret was gnawing at his vitals, and daily -sapping his life.</p> -<p>What was that?</p> -<p>A door slammed above.</p> -<p>Eric was glad to hear it, for he realized that the house had -something human about it.</p> -<p>As near as he could judge the sound came from upstairs.</p> -<p>Then he would not have to grapple with the demons of the -underground world.</p> -<p>At times even the oddest fancies will surge through the most -prosaic mind.</p> -<p>One of the thoughts that had come to him was that possibly Joe -had become connected with some gang of counterfeiters—he -had heard of things just as strange—and although it seemed -a preposterous idea in connection with Joe, still it had already -become apparent that there was something very strange connected -with him and why not this as well as any other?</p> -<p><a name="page111"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -111</span>Lately Eric had been reading Doctor Jekyll and Mr. -Hyde, and his mind was full of strange fancies concerning the -awful change that was wont to come over that unfortunate being, -who lived two lives, each unknown to the other.</p> -<p>It did not seem possible that Joe Leslie could be doing this -exactly, but he might be carrying on two characters -successfully.</p> -<p>At his business and his home up-town he was known as Joseph G. -Leslie—on Twenty-seventh Street he might be Mr. -Lester. To tear the mask away and expose the truth was what -brought the detective here now.</p> -<p>In the interest of justice he was bound to do this much.</p> -<p>Then again he thought of Lillian.</p> -<p>In his indignation he wished she could be there to face her -husband when his guilty secret was laid bare.</p> -<p>It might seem cruel—so does the hot iron of the doctor -when applied to the marks left by the teeth of an enraged dog, -but it is done with kindness—heroic treatment saves one -from something more terrible beyond. Perhaps, if faced by -Lillian, Joe would break down and receive a shock that would last -him all the rest of his natural life.</p> -<p><a name="page112"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 112</span>So -the detective made up his mind not to betray his presence now if -he could help it, but reserve the <i>denouement</i> to a later -date, when it could be made more dramatic.</p> -<p>All he meant to do now was to secure certain evidence for -future use.</p> -<p>The stairs, being carpeted, gave forth no sound when he began -ascending.</p> -<p>He felt rather peculiar about this whole business—had -this man been a stranger he would not have experienced this same -uneasiness; but Joe Leslie—to think that he should be upon -the track of his old friend, and with such a purpose in view.</p> -<p>Once the stairs creaked under his weight and he stood -still—the sound was preternaturally loud in an empty house; -but there was no result, so that he presently continued his -course of exploration.</p> -<p>Vehicles rumbled past the house—he could hear them -plainly, as though some window were open near at hand.</p> -<p>Just as he reached the top of the stairs a cough reached his -ears—it was a man who gave utterance to it, probably -Joe.</p> -<p>No voices?</p> -<p><a name="page113"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 113</span>How -singular!</p> -<p>Eric Darrell’s wonder arose with each passing -moment—strange to say, he was trembling all over now with -excitement.</p> -<p>No living soul had ever seen this man in such a condition -before, which fact went to prove how deep his interest was in the -game he was now pursuing.</p> -<p>Not for worlds would he have stopped, now that his hand was on -the plow.</p> -<p>The end must be near, and Joe’s deep secret could not -long remain such—it must be met and dragged to the -light.</p> -<p>Darrell looked around him, since he was now at the head of the -stairs.</p> -<p>The house seemed to be furnished throughout, and yet there -seemed an air of desertion and loneliness about it, as though it -lacked the daily care of a housekeeper—little things seemed -to be lacking that would indicate the fact of its being a -habitation that was occupied—where human beings lived and -moved.</p> -<p>Somehow this fact impressed itself on the detective’s -mind.</p> -<p>He did not have much time for thought, as action was -necessary.</p> -<p><a name="page114"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 114</span>When -the brave soldier finds himself face to face with the enemy, he -does not spend the minutes in reflection, but acts.</p> -<p>So with Eric—he had looked forward to this period for -quite a time, and now that it had arrived, he was not the one to -tarry.</p> -<p>Where was Joe?</p> -<p>As nearly as he could place them the sounds had come from the -front room.</p> -<p>He crept silently along in that direction—the door was -open, and nothing prevented his seeing the interior of the -apartment.</p> -<p>It was furnished, but did not contain a single -occupant—light crept through the inside blinds, sufficient -to show him this fact, and his wonder was simply increased to a -fever heat.</p> -<p>In the name of heaven, what did all this strange mystery -mean—where was Joe—what freak induced him to come -here, and—</p> -<p>An odd, crackling sound reached his ears—ah! it -proceeded from a small room used as a dressing-room, the door of -which was closed.</p> -<p>Eric crept over to it and listened—all was as still as -death within.</p> -<p>Baffled in this endeavor, he leaned against the door, pressing -his ear close to the panel, to <a name="page115"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 115</span>catch any voices—if -conspirators were gathered there they must talk—this -silence could not be long maintained.</p> -<p>The door must have been on the latch—at any rate it was -not fastened, and as Eric leaned against it this impediment to -his vision slowly gave way, opening a foot or so, and Joe -Leslie’s terrible secret was revealed to the -detective’s eyes.</p> -<h2><a name="page116"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -116</span>CHAPTER X<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THAT MEERSCHAUM PIPE</span></h2> -<p>In his time Eric Darrell had seen many strange sights, and -experienced odd sensations; but the spectacle that now presented -itself to his wondering eyes created a feeling within him such as -had never yet come upon him.</p> -<p>He gaped in amazement, scarcely able to believe his -senses.</p> -<p>To such a high pitch had his expectations been drawn that he -looked for something of a startling nature.</p> -<p>The shock was tremendous, and yet it rather proceeded from a -sudden revulsion of feeling, than because the scene exceeded his -expectations.</p> -<p>There was but one occupant in the small apartment, upon the -threshold of which he stood when the door gave way so -unceremoniously.</p> -<p>This was Joe.</p> -<p>He was dressed differently than when Eric <a -name="page117"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 117</span>had seen -him enter the house, and seemed to have on an old suit of -clothes, while a soft hat was drawn down upon his head.</p> -<p>He lay back in an easy chair, from which he started up in -wonder and alarm as the door was thus burst open.</p> -<p>Darrell noted one thing.</p> -<p>In his hand Joe held a large meerschaum pipe and the white -smoke was curling upward from the end of it in wreaths.</p> -<p>Before him was the conspirator, caught in the act, -red-handed.</p> -<p>No wonder Joe turned fiery red.</p> -<p>The inside blind was closed, but the window appeared to be -open.</p> -<p>Joe had a lamp lighted—doubtless the gas was turned off -from the house, as it generally is from an empty or unoccupied -building—and most men prefer to see when smoking.</p> -<p>Over Eric Darrell there swept a wave of feeling. All his -old regard for this good-natured giant rushed back to him.</p> -<p>He held Joe’s secret.</p> -<p>Thank heaven it was not more serious.</p> -<p>As for Joe himself, not recognizing the other, he sprang up in -a belligerent way.</p> -<p><a name="page118"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -118</span>“Hello, here! What’s wanted?” -he demanded.</p> -<p>“Joe!”</p> -<p>“The deuce take it—who are you?” -uneasily.</p> -<p>“Eric.”</p> -<p>That was enough.</p> -<p>Leslie advanced, holding out his hand in a sort of hesitating, -shamefaced way.</p> -<p>“Ah! old man, glad to see you, but I declare I -didn’t know you at first.”</p> -<p>“Nor I you, Joe,” calmly.</p> -<p>“That’s so—I do look like a tramp, -don’t I?” with a glance at his own person.</p> -<p>“It wasn’t that, but I was amazed at finding you -engaged in such a business when you declared to me you had quit -smoking.”</p> -<p>Joe turned still redder in confusion.</p> -<p>“Darrell, you’re mistaken—I’ve never -told a living man that!” he cried.</p> -<p>“What! didn’t you refuse my cigar?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“And say—”</p> -<p>“I had quit smoking cigars at the request of my -wife. Well, I have, and not a cigar has passed my lips -since that day.”</p> -<p>Eric burst out laughing.</p> -<p>“Ah! Joe, my boy, I see it all. You were <a -name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 119</span>unable to -keep to the letter of your promise and you have been maintaining -this bachelor’s hall ever since, where once a day you have -crept in to have a good smoke.”</p> -<p>“Eric, what you say is true—I am a slave to the -weed, and I dare not confess it to my wife. She despises -such slaves. My ears have tingled many a time at the -sarcastic way in which she referred to such poor devils, at the -same time thanking heaven that she had a husband with stamina -enough to give up the vile habit when he became -civilized.”</p> -<p>Joe groaned and looked at his meerschaum pipe with a strange -mixture of disgust and veneration.</p> -<p>He had a sympathetic auditor, for Eric was just as deep in the -mud as he was in the mire, so far as smoking was concerned.</p> -<p>“What you say may be true, Joe, and yet it would be well -for you to drop on your marrowbones at once and confess all to -your wife.”</p> -<p>“Good heavens! do you mean it?”</p> -<p>“I do, indeed.”</p> -<p>“But I can’t—she will despise me. I -had better make a determined effort to throw off this wretched -habit, even if it kills me.”</p> -<p><a name="page120"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -120</span>“You make a mistake in one thing, old man. -I believe your wife, instead of reproaching you, will throw her -arms around your neck and tell you to smoke after this when you -please.”</p> -<p>“Goodness gracious! why should she do this?”</p> -<p>“Because she will be so delighted to discover that it is -no worse.”</p> -<p>“No worse—it is as bad as it could be in her -estimation. I shall feel like a criminal,” and the -good-natured giant shuddered.</p> -<p>He was not accustomed to deceit.</p> -<p>“Well, you mark my words—she will reproach you -less than you believe.”</p> -<p>“You speak in riddles—why should she be delighted -to know it is no worse—why are you here—Heavens -alive, man, has she employed you to watch me—does she -already know I am engaged in this shameful deceit?”</p> -<p>He poured these questions out.</p> -<p>Already a light was beginning to shine before his eyes.</p> -<p>The detective smiled.</p> -<p>“Thank your stars, Joe Leslie, that when you face your -sweet wife you have nothing more serious to confess than this -fault.”</p> -<p>“What did you suspect—what does she think?” -he asked, almost breathlessly.</p> -<p><a name="page121"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -121</span>“That you were false to her.”</p> -<p>“Darrell, I’d sooner be torn to pieces than be -such a wretch,” he declared, vehemently.</p> -<p>“I believe you now, Joe, but must confess that up to -this very hour things looked black for you.”</p> -<p>“How was that?”</p> -<p>“Circumstances were against you.”</p> -<p>“Tell me all, Eric—everything.”</p> -<p>The detective sees no reason why he should not. He -believes in this man thoroughly now, and would trust him through -everything.</p> -<p>So he begins and tells him all.</p> -<p>Joe’s head rests upon his hand—the detective could -not see his face, but he knew how it worked with feeling, and -when he described how Lillian was dreadfully shocked when she -heard of the <i>bal masque</i> and Joe’s apparent presence -there, he was not at all surprised to see a large tear drop upon -the arm of the chair.</p> -<p>With tears in his eyes Joe looked up.</p> -<p>“Darrell, you ought to know me better than that. I -am not that kind of a man. My whole life is wrapped up in -my wife, and if I should lose her, either by death or any other -means, it would kill me outright.”</p> -<p><a name="page122"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -122</span>“I believe it, Joe, I do indeed.”</p> -<p>Then he finished his story.</p> -<p>Joe was greatly wrought up.</p> -<p>“I shall go to Lillian at once—she shall hear the -truth from my lips first, not yours. Perhaps she will -forgive me. If she says the word I will break my -pipe”—with a sort of sob—“and quit the -whole infernal business if it kills me.”</p> -<p>“I can arrange it so that she will beg you to smoke, -Joe. Depend upon it, Lillian has learned that there are -evils a thousand times worse than the one habit to which you are -addicted.”</p> -<p>“See here, Eric, you don’t believe this thing of -my being at the <i>bal masque</i>?”</p> -<p>“I do not, and yet just see how circumstantial evidence -will hang a man. The chain of evidence was complete. -You went out on an apparent quixotic errand; I saw a man with -your figure escort a lady into that place; his name, singularly -enough was Joe, and I heard some one say she was a Mrs. Lester or -something of that kind, while I heard her tell the driver -Twenty-seventh Street.”</p> -<p>“Good heavens!” muttered poor Joe, appalled.</p> -<p>“Worse still, your wife showed me a picture of her -sister, at my request. I pretended to be <a -name="page123"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 123</span>interested -and spoke of your joking me, and my promise to call when that -sister came from California.</p> -<p>“To my horror I heard that man whom I supposed to be -you, call that dark-haired lady at the masquerade by that -name.”</p> -<p>“Marian?”</p> -<p>“Yes. You can imagine the awful feelings it -aroused within me; the whole thing seemed so plain that I was -appalled. Joe Leslie dropped from the high place he held in -my esteem and at that time I almost hated you.”</p> -<p>“I don’t wonder at it, old fellow, and think all -the more of you for it.”</p> -<p>“Later on I became vacillating—several things -occurred that broke me up completely, among others the statement -made by your driver.”</p> -<p>“How was that?”</p> -<p>“He declared you were down town all the evening and to -prove it stated that he had talked with an officer I know just at -midnight.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I remember.”</p> -<p>“I proved this true, and that aroused my suspicions for -the first time. If you were down town you could not be at -the <i>bal masque</i> at the same minute—for it was a few -minutes before <a name="page124"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -124</span>midnight that the melee occurred and the man I thought -to be you floored his assailants.”</p> -<p>“I see. I must hunt up this Joe Lester and -discover who and what he is. Perhaps we have been playing -the two Dromios again.”</p> -<p>Joe had knocked the ashes from his pipe and locked the -treasure up in a closet in the larger front room, where his -clothes were hanging.</p> -<p>The artful villain was wont to change his garments when he -entered here, in order that he might not go home saturated with -tobacco smoke.</p> -<p>Eric saw the whole thing plainly.</p> -<p>He felt in exuberant spirits.</p> -<p>So far as Joe was concerned, the whole business had turned out -delightfully.</p> -<p>Just then the detective’s mind did not turn in any other -direction.</p> -<p>He forgot all about the other side of the case, and seemed to -consider the matter settled.</p> -<p>Peace would again come upon the disturbed family relations of -his friend Joe, and all be as lovely as of yore.</p> -<p>Of course Lillian would be only too glad to close up the -matter by forgiving her husband.</p> -<p>His sin was not a grievous one, and so great would be her -relief at finding him faithful and true that she would gladly -forget it all.</p> -<p><a name="page125"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 125</span>Under -these circumstances Darrell watched Joe get into his clothes with -sincere satisfaction.</p> -<p>He had never been more worried over anything than he was with -this, and now that it had all turned out so well, he felt a -satisfaction that seemed to permeate his whole system.</p> -<p>When Joe had dressed himself, he seemed to have made up his -mind about a certain thing.</p> -<p>Taking the beloved meerschaum pipe out of the closet, he laid -it in a case and tucked the whole under his arm.</p> -<p>“What’s that for?” asked Eric.</p> -<p>“She shall smash it to pieces—I cannot.”</p> -<p>“Well, I don’t believe Lillian ever will. -Make a clean breast of it, old fellow.”</p> -<p>“I intend to.”</p> -<p>“Then you are safe—she is too gentle not to -forgive, and I expect to see you soon smoking a cigar on the -street like other men.”</p> -<p>“No, no, I can’t do that—I would feel like a -wretch to ever do that.”</p> -<p>“Mark my words, she will insist on it—her scruples -must vanish, and I expect she will really enjoy the flavor of a -fine cigar soon, when her Joe is at the other end of -it.”</p> -<p>Joe smiled dismally—he realized that he had <a -name="page126"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 126</span>business -before him that would try his nerves, for as a man he had pride -and must now humble himself before the woman he loved! But -his mind was made up, and he actually felt already as though a -load had been taken from his shoulders—just as the prodigal -son, as soon as he decided to return to his father, experienced a -new feeling of peace.</p> -<p>They left the house and parted at the elevated station, one -going up, the other down town.</p> -<p>As he reached the platform, the detective suddenly felt a cold -shiver go over him at sight of a man.</p> -<p>It was Paul Prescott, the artist.</p> -<p>There rushed over Eric the memory of that other half of the -mystery, and he groaned—this time his sympathy was with Joe -and not his wife.</p> -<h2><a name="page127"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -127</span>CHAPTER XI<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">ALL IS FORGIVEN</span></h2> -<p>Joe Leslie never felt so mean in all his life as when he -approached his house up town on this evening.</p> -<p>He knew he had been playing a miserable part in deceiving his -wife with regard to his smoking, but subterfuge was something -generally foreign to Joe’s nature, and this made it seem -all the worse to him.</p> -<p>Still, he did not sneak along in a cringing way. Never -had he walked more uprightly—for he could look people in -the face now, at least, and was determined to make a clean breast -of it.</p> -<p>Lillian was watching from the parlor window, herself hidden -from view.</p> -<p>She thought she had never seen Joe looked so manly, as when he -walked up to the house, and her heart seemed cold to think that -it may have been the smiles of some rival that brought this look -of pleasure to his face.</p> -<p><a name="page128"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 128</span>Thus -a man may feel mean, and at the same time appear joyous.</p> -<p>When Joe entered the house he saw a light back in the -library.</p> -<p>Straight in that direction he walked.</p> -<p>Lillian was seated there apparently reading—how was he -to know she had hastily flown hither from her lookout?</p> -<p>Joe softly closed the door. Another minute and he stood -before his wife.</p> -<p>“Lillian, my wife, look up.”</p> -<p>Somewhat startled, she did so.</p> -<p>“Why, Joe!”</p> -<p>“I want you to know what a base man you have for a -husband, Lillian.”</p> -<p>“You mean—” she gasped.</p> -<p>“That I have a confession to make, and I am determined -to make it now.”</p> -<p>“A confession, Joseph—” and the little woman -gained her feet.</p> -<p>Her face was white with a sudden fear—she even believed -Joe was about to tell her some terrible truth—that he had -never loved her—perhaps had been married ere he knew -her.</p> -<p>At any rate she was dreadfully alarmed.</p> -<p>“Yes, I have been a villain to treat the best <a -name="page129"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 129</span>little -woman in all the world so, but this old love was with me long -before I knew you—it had become a part of my very -life. I never knew how strong it was until lately. -God knows I have tried to shake it off, and be faithful to my -promise, but I am weak. I have sinned, Lillian, my wife, -and I stand here humbly to ask if you can ever forgive -me.”</p> -<p>He stood there with bowed head, proud even in his -humility.</p> -<p>“But oh, Joe, to think—that woman—” -and she burst into a torrent of tears.</p> -<p>He seized her hands and took them down from her face.</p> -<p>“Good heavens, Lillian, I forgot that you believed -that. It is no woman—I have never been unfaithful to -you in word or deed—that was not I whom Darrell saw at the -<i>bal masque</i> last night, dear. I am yours, wretched -man that I am, but yours alone, always.”</p> -<p>“But what—I don’t understand—you say -you have sinned and yet that you are innocent. Oh, Joe, -please tell me everything.”</p> -<p>“I would be a base wretch if I did not. Do you -remember making me give a promise before we were married, -Lillian?”</p> -<p><a name="page130"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -130</span>“Not about your cigars, Joe?”</p> -<p>“That’s it,” eagerly; “and for a time -I suffered terrible torments in keeping it to the letter; but -after a while the devil tempted me. He said, ‘You -promised to give up cigars—nothing was said about your -pipe.’ Lillian, like a weak fool I gave in, and daily -almost, for months, I have gone to the house I own in -Twenty-seventh Street, changed my clothes and enjoyed half an -hour’s smoke.</p> -<p>“It was a cruel deception on you, and I have felt like a -sneak in doing it. Thanks to Darrell my eyes have been -opened and I am here to confess all, asking -forgiveness.”</p> -<p>Lillian could hardly believe her ears—she turned a face -illumined upon her husband. “Joe, dear Joe, is this -your dreadful secret?”</p> -<p>“It is,” solemnly.</p> -<p>“You are sure you have told me everything?”</p> -<p>“There is not another thing I have ever kept from you, -my darling.”</p> -<p>“And you love no one else?”</p> -<p>“Not a living soul but my wife.”</p> -<p>“Oh! I am so glad.”</p> -<p>With these words she flew into his arms, and Joe, bending -down, gravely kissed his own.</p> -<p><a name="page131"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -131</span>“You are sure you can forgive me, -dearest?”</p> -<p>“Forgive you—oh, Joe, I shall <i>love</i> tobacco -after this.”</p> -<p>“See, I have brought my pipe here for you to -destroy—I couldn’t quite do it myself, for I’ve -had it many years. But you shall be the -executioner.”</p> -<p>“Not for worlds—if this is the only rival I have -to fear I can share my place in your heart with it. You -shall smoke after dinner, and I myself will fill your -pipe.”</p> -<p>He kissed her fingers tenderly.</p> -<p>“Ah! dearest, what a fool I have been all this while, to -suffer as I have when by confession I might have long since been -absolved. But I am sincere in my resolve to stop -smoking.”</p> -<p>“And I am just as firmly resolved that you shall -not. I am cured of my folly. But for that foolish -prejudice you would never have been led to deceive me.”</p> -<p>They held sweet communion for some little time, and all seemed -as lovely as during the bright days of their courtship.</p> -<p>Then the dinner bell rang.</p> -<p>Together they went down, Joe’s arm around his wife, as -though they were lovers.</p> -<p><a name="page132"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 132</span>After -the meal was over they again sought the library, and chatted.</p> -<p>“Now for your pipe, Joe, dear,” said Lillian.</p> -<p>He protested.</p> -<p>It was of no avail—she was determined that he had -suffered enough—better love with a cigar in the house than -the absence of both.</p> -<p>Few men will condemn Joe’s weakness.</p> -<p>In other respects he could be adamant, but he owned up to -being very fond of a smoke.</p> -<p>So Lillian took his bag of tobacco out of the case which also -held the pipe, filled the bowl and brought it to him.</p> -<p>He kissed her on the spot—what else could he do?</p> -<p>“A match, please, dear, since you insist upon it—I -am out of them.”</p> -<p>“And the holder is also empty—stay, here is a -scrap of paper that will do.”</p> -<p>She took a piece out of the waste basket and, without looking -at it, twisted a lighter.</p> -<p>This she held in the gas jet, and, lighted, brought it over to -Joe, who calmly laid it on his pipe, puffed a few times, and -then, blowing out the flame, knocked the red ashes off the -lighter, laying it on the table for possible use again.</p> -<p><a name="page133"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 133</span>Then -he eyed his wife quizzically.</p> -<p>She was looking at him with a smile.</p> -<p>“I feel like a brute, Lillian, to inflict such a torment -upon you. Say the word, and the whole thing goes -forever.”</p> -<p>“Not I,” she replied; “I never knew how -fragrant the odor was. If you must smoke, my husband, you -shall do it as other gentlemen do, in your own home, but always -smoke the best cigars and few of them.”</p> -<p>This was charming, Joe thought.</p> -<p>He had not been so happy for months.</p> -<p>It often happens that the skies are clearest just before the -worst of storms.</p> -<p>Joe saw no cloud on the horizon.</p> -<p>All the same it was there, and ready to blot out the sunshine -like magic.</p> -<p>It came about in a peculiar way.</p> -<p>Lillian had settled down to read a book she was interested in, -and Joe had his paper.</p> -<p>While he read he mechanically fingered the lighter with the -charred end, and untwisted it.</p> -<p>Finally he looked over his paper at his wife and mused.</p> -<p>How good she was to make his penance so light and how happy he -ought to be in the possession of such a dear little woman.</p> -<p><a name="page134"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -134</span>Evidently Joe had forgotten something.</p> -<p>He found his pipe had gone out during his musing, and taking -hold of the paper she had twisted for him, was about to make a -lighter out of it again, when he received what seemed to be an -electric shock.</p> -<p>A name had caught his eye on the paper. He held it up -closer.</p> -<p>Yes, there could be no mistake—it was a note his wife -had twisted up—by some mistake it had come into his waste -basket.</p> -<p>What was left of it after the burning he read:</p> -<blockquote><p>“if you can contrive to conceal it from your -husband until then, all will be well. I think I can rely -upon your discretion—everything goes on well, and our -secret is, I believe, safe.</p> -<p style="text-align: center">“Faithfully yours,</p> -<p style="text-align: right">“<span class="smcap">Paul -Prescott</span>.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>When poor Joe had taken this in he felt as though he had been -plunged into an icy bath.</p> -<p>The joyous spirit of contentment that had pervaded his whole -being was gone.</p> -<p>Suspicion, jealousy, unrest, came trooping in with renewed -force.</p> -<p>His own late experience should have been a lesson to him, but -it was not.</p> -<p><a name="page135"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 135</span>The -first thing he did was to fold the paper up and put it in his -pocket.</p> -<p>Why he did this he often wondered later on, when the right -course would have been to have handed it to Lillian for -explanation.</p> -<p>He looked at his paper again, but did not see that he had it -upside down.</p> -<p>Thought was busy.</p> -<p>He was trying to convince himself that it was none of his -business anyhow—that he had had his secret and why not -Lillian.</p> -<p>Then again he remembered that she was his wife—what -concerned her concerned him.</p> -<p>At any rate Joe’s sudden happiness was -overcast—clouds had covered the sky.</p> -<p>He began to feel miserable.</p> -<p>As it was not his design that Lillian should see this, he -assumed a cheerfulness he was far from feeling.</p> -<p>The evening passed.</p> -<p>Joe wished to get in a closet at one end of the room, but -found it locked.</p> -<p>“I wonder where the key of this door is. I’m -sure I didn’t take it.”</p> -<p>Accidentally he chanced to look toward Lillian while speaking, -and was almost startled to see the color fly into her face.</p> -<p><a name="page136"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -136</span>“I believe I left it up-stairs, Joe. If you -really want it I might go up and see if I can get it.”</p> -<p>“Oh! no, dear, it doesn’t matter. Another -time will do as well,” he said carelessly.</p> -<p>At the same time, for the life of him he could not help -associating her action with the letter received from Paul -Prescott.</p> -<p>It worried him.</p> -<p>He was diverted from this state by Lillian, who asked about -the clerk, so Joe told all that had been done the night -before—he had spoken of it ere now, but had not given -particulars.</p> -<p>Woman-like she was interested, and declared she loved him -better because of the mercy he had shown for the boy.</p> -<p>Then Lillian retired.</p> -<p>Joe sat there a long time thinking.</p> -<p>Finally he got up and went over to the closet as if to effect -an entrance, trying several of the keys on his bunch but with no -success.</p> -<p>Then he walked up and down.</p> -<p>At times he was dejected and again his face seemed to speak of -sudden passion.</p> -<p>Human nature is a strange thing.</p> -<p>A man enters an omnibus and frowns to hear <a -name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 137</span>the growls -of those comfortably settled as they make room for -him—presently another comes in, and his growls at being -forced to squeeze into a smaller compass exceed the rest.</p> -<p>Joe, upstairs, discovered the missing key on the dainty -dresser of his wife’s room—he took it in his hand, -started for the door, stopped, made an impatient gesture, and -returned the key to the place where he found it.</p> -<p>“Suspect her—never,” he muttered, and yet at -the very moment his feelings had gotten beyond his -control—it was pride that kept him from venturing to pry -into her secret and discover what lay hidden in the library -closet.</p> -<p>Thus Joe had won and lost a victory.</p> -<h2><a name="page138"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -138</span>CHAPTER XII<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE OPIUM JOINT</span></h2> -<p>Eric Darrell watched the man whom he had thus met on the -platform of the elevated station. He wondered what magical -power Paul Prescott possessed over Joe Leslie’s wife.</p> -<p>The man was odd looking, as a genius is ever supposed to be, -but there was nothing about him to indicate that he might be a -masher or a heart-breaker.</p> -<p>Darrell looked him over, taking a mental measurement of the -man, as he had a dim idea the time might be near at hand when -they would be on opposite sides.</p> -<p>The other left the train. Darrell followed him.</p> -<p>Presently he saw a woman join the artist and hand him a note, -which he seemed to read with great eagerness, then he hurried -off.</p> -<p>The keen eyes of the detective had noted something of extreme -importance.</p> -<p><a name="page139"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 139</span>When -Prescott believed he put the note away in his pocket, in reality -it fluttered down to the pavement as he hastened away.</p> -<p>In just five seconds by the watch it was in the possession of -Eric Darrell.</p> -<p>He then continued on his way to his rooms.</p> -<p>Reaching his den he changed his appearance, and appeared in -his natural figure. Then he took out the paper just found -and eagerly scrutinized it; not that he was particularly -interested in the secrets of Paul Prescott, but the artist had -crossed his path, and hence all that he did should be -scrutinized.</p> -<p>As he suspected, the writing was in a lady’s -chirography—so many ladies write alike, as though taught by -a certain school, that individuality is lost.</p> -<p>This is what the detective read, and it opened his eyes in an -astonishing manner:</p> -<blockquote><p>“My beloved Paul—I consent at last to -your proposition—in flight alone we can be safe. I -shall be ready when you come to take me. <i>He</i> will be -like a tiger let loose—I know his passion. I believe -he would have killed me ere now had he suspected our -secret. Carry out your plan—I understand, and am -willing to fly from an uncongenial home to the one you will make -for me.</p> -<p style="text-align: center">With love, your own</p> -<p style="text-align: right">L.”</p> -</blockquote> -<p><a name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 140</span>That -was all. Heaven knows it was enough. Darrell let the -paper drop on the table with a sharp cry of pain.</p> -<p>“Poor Joe! poor honest old Joe! You thought you -were deceiving your wife past forgiveness because you chose to -smoke a pipe in secret, and here she conspires to leave you in -the lurch. Joe is the ogre referred to, savage as a -tiger. Woman—well, I’ll be hanged if I want to -know her sister after all. I never was so deceived in all -my life. It is a shame—an accursed shame, and that -villain shall pay dearly for it all.”</p> -<p>Then he examined the note again, endeavoring to read between -the lines.</p> -<p>His indignation grew apace.</p> -<p>Joe had proven himself pure gold, and he had more confidence -in him than ever, but there was something here that needed -investigation, and the case looked black for Lillian.</p> -<p>The note was signed with an L.</p> -<p>However, Darrell, always cautious, was not ready to condemn -without a hearing—what he had already seen this night -taught him the fallacy of circumstantial evidence.</p> -<p>First of all he must secure a scrap of Mrs. Leslie’s -handwriting and compare it with that which he held in his -hand.</p> -<p><a name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 141</span>That -could be done in the morning he had no doubt—it would not -prove a formidable task to one of his executive ability.</p> -<p>There was an ugly look about the business he did not like, and -he was anxious to be at the truth.</p> -<p>About eight o’clock, having had his supper, and made -certain inquiries that put him into possession of facts he -desired to know, Darrell found himself watching for Paul Prescott -at the lodgings of the artist.</p> -<p>It was the desire of the detective to acquaint himself with -some of the customs of the man whom he meant to investigate.</p> -<p>This was always his plan when engaged in such a -business—he found it paid to size a man up and see what his -habits were.</p> -<p>When a man was suspected of being a forger, or a check raiser, -or a defaulter, Darrell’s very first action was to discover -who his usual companions were, where he passed his leisure time, -and whether he was addicted to little vices. His secret -character always told the story.</p> -<p>A young man might be a Sunday-school teacher, and apparently -as straight as a die to all outward appearances, but if Darrell -on <a name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -142</span>tracking him found that he secretly frequented gambling -houses he knew he had his man.</p> -<p>What does it avail if the outside of the peach is fair to gaze -upon when all is rotten below?</p> -<p>So he now desired to learn what this peculiar looking artist -really was.</p> -<p>He had a good reputation among people generally, but then this -counted as little.</p> -<p>Much dross might be taken for pure gold did not the assayer -apply his tests.</p> -<p>That was what Darrell did—looked into each man’s -private character, unknown to the individual under the -scrutiny.</p> -<p>He seemed to take it for granted that the artist would come -out, and in this he appeared to make no mistake. Sure -enough Prescott appeared.</p> -<p>He was evidently off for the evening, but did not dress as -though he meant to spend it in fashionable society.</p> -<p>Darrell followed him to a certain club where artists were wont -to congregate, and here the other seemed quite a favorite.</p> -<p>At half-past eleven Prescott left this place. He did not -head toward home.</p> -<p>On the contrary he seemed ill at ease, and <a -name="page143"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 143</span>looked -around him once or twice as though he were afraid lest some of -his fellows at the club should be near.</p> -<p>This action in itself was suspicious to Eric—it -indicated that the artist had certain habits which he desired to -keep a secret even from those who would have thought the least of -it.</p> -<p>Darrell’s curiosity was at once aroused.</p> -<p>He realized that now the game would probably be worth the -hunting.</p> -<p>At any rate, since the opportunity was now given him, he was -determined to learn more about the artist than he had known -before.</p> -<p>Paul Prescott headed down town, boarding a Third Avenue street -car near Fourteenth Street. On the same car, out in front, -stood Eric, enjoying the bracing night air.</p> -<p>He could see without being seen, and managed to keep an eye on -the artist. When he saw the other finally rise he knew he -was about to leave the car, and the detective forestalled -him.</p> -<p>Once on the pavement he waited for his man and then shadowed -him.</p> -<p>Darrell was not greatly surprised at what he learned—the -place he entered was an opium joint, kept by a Chinaman and an -American in <a name="page144"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -144</span>partnership, probably the largest about town. -Here a good class of customers were wont to resort, and among -others several actors, a doctor, a well known jurist, a writer, -together with several women, whose attire and jewelry proved them -to belong to the upper circle.</p> -<p>Many a man’s history received a downward impetus dating -from the hour he first entered this den of iniquity.</p> -<p>Darrell knew it well.</p> -<p>He had been in it a number of times in the course of the last -year—those whom he hunted had come here.</p> -<p>A clerk had robbed his employer for money to pay the opium -fiend—once the habit gains full sway and the victim will do -anything on earth in order to get money to pay for a few pipes -and an hour of the peculiar drunken fancy.</p> -<p>Knowing the ropes was of assistance to the detective now.</p> -<p>He went in, and assuming the eager, trembling manner of an -habitue demanded a bunk and a pipe. All the while he used -his eyes.</p> -<p>The room was supplied with lounges and settees—the usual -bunks were in another apartment where the Chinese and cheaper -grade of <a name="page145"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -145</span>smokers could indulge their pet vice for a smaller -sum.</p> -<p>This place was furnished with something of Oriental splendor, -and the detective could not but admire the barbaric taste of the -proprietor.</p> -<p>The couches spread around were soft and inviting, Turkish in -their make—some had curtains partly drawn, so that the -occupant was half screened.</p> -<p>Three of these were occupied by women. This was no -uncommon sight.</p> -<p>That two of them wore veils was evidence that they had not yet -been hardened by the drug; but all this would come in time.</p> -<p>The third had thrown her veil back, and her set face could be -seen, the eyes staring into vacancy, as though sightless.</p> -<p>Wretched sinners that they were, drawn onward by the -inexorable god at whose altar they worshiped, there was no escape -for them—just ahead lay the black gulf of despair, toward -which they were hurrying so rapidly, and soon it must close over -them.</p> -<p>Then—eternity!</p> -<p>Darrell never entered here without a feeling of commiseration -for the poor souls thus linked with the skeleton arms of -death.</p> -<p><a name="page146"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 146</span>Had -the opportunity ever offered he would gladly have tried to save -one or more of them; but he was well aware what a difficult and -well nigh impossible task it is to endeavor to save a man against -himself.</p> -<p>Luckily Eric possessed a peculiar disposition—what -little opium he smoked had no effect on him, and he had no -longing for the drug as the generality have.</p> -<p>On the contrary it almost nauseated him, and he could only -have become an habitual opium fiend by long and persistent -practice.</p> -<p>He glanced around to see where the artist had deposited his -frame, and discovered Prescott on the couch next the second -veiled lady.</p> -<p>Whether this was accident or design the detective was unable -to decide as yet, but he had an idea and steadily nursed it.</p> -<p>His feeling of mingled disgust and pity was greatest for these -women—he knew the one whose face he saw was a well-to-do -widow up on Lexington Avenue, and perhaps the others were friends -who had come here first in a spirit of bravado and daring -curiosity, perhaps upon a wager, and whom the fascination of the -drug had already chained to the chariot wheels of <a -name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 147</span>the ogre -Opium. Those wheels revolved slowly but -remorselessly—sooner or later they would crush out the life -of all who clung to them.</p> -<p>Had Prescott anything in common with this rich and brazen -widow and her friends?</p> -<p>That he knew the former Darrell had already guessed, for her -set expression had momentarily changed at sight of the man, and -the detective caught a look of deep cunning, which was returned -with a smile and a nod from the man.</p> -<p>Eager to learn all he could of the artist’s private -character, the detective determined to watch for all he was -worth.</p> -<p>He was also ready to find out who the two veiled women were, -who set aside all modesty and came to this public opium joint -because they could not properly prepare and enjoy the drug at -their homes.</p> -<p>At a certain hour no doubt a closed carriage would be waiting -to convey them all home—perhaps the dashing widow had some -male friend present who would serve as an escort.</p> -<p>Prescott received his pipe, prepared his pill and was soon -smoking quietly.</p> -<p>Silence rested upon the place—people came not here to -converse, but to dream with open <a name="page148"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 148</span>eyes, seeing the beautiful things -that danced before their eyes like a bright <i>ignis fatuus</i>, -always eluding their grasp, yet luring them deeper and deeper -into the toils.</p> -<h2><a name="page149"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -149</span>CHAPTER XIII<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">A TERRIBLE DOOM</span></h2> -<p>Before Eric Darrell had been in the place ten minutes he made -a discovery that had a strong bearing on the case.</p> -<p>This was in reference to the artist.</p> -<p>Paul Prescott had shown all the signs of an opium -smoker’s eagerness to have a draw at the subtle drug when -he came in.</p> -<p>Nevertheless, Eric had already decided that much of this was -assumed.</p> -<p>His own experience showed how such a thing could be; hence, he -believed another might copy the same signs of distress with equal -success.</p> -<p>Then Prescott had a reason for coming here other than the -desire to smoke.</p> -<p>What could it be?</p> -<p>Darrell had eyes, and he was able to form conclusions very -speedily.</p> -<p>He knew that the presence of the dark-veiled woman in the bunk -adjoining that taken by the artist, was what had drawn him.</p> -<p><a name="page150"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -150</span>Circumstances pointed to this fact—their heads -were close together, one resting upon the right, the other upon -the left side.</p> -<p>The detective’s thoughts were busy.</p> -<p>He remembered the note.</p> -<p>Could this veiled creature be the party signing that -missive?</p> -<p>According to the conclusions he had already drawn this could -not be so, for he had made up his mind that the writer must be -Lillian, and only waited to prove this fact.</p> -<p>Who then was the veiled lady?</p> -<p>Bah! such a man as Paul Prescott might be engaged in half a -dozen little love affairs at one and the same time.</p> -<p>He would finally abandon all the rest for the charmer who held -his fickle heart most heavily chained, or else whose bank account -was the most promising.</p> -<p>To a man of Darrell’s steadiness of purpose, there was -something almost revolting about such a character as this, and -yet he found certain things to study in the artist’s -face—points that rather puzzled him when scrutinized.</p> -<p>The man was worthy of being analyzed. There might be -more to him than even appeared upon the surface.</p> -<p><a name="page151"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -151</span>Darrell was wide awake, although he pretended to be -already under the magic influence.</p> -<p>He was soothed by the odor of the opium, without giving way to -it, and watched the couple across the way.</p> -<p>The hanging curtains partly concealed him, and he was sure a -note passed from one to the other. If the girl thus heavily -veiled was in the charge of the widow, the latter did not seem in -a condition to watch over her ward, for she had given herself up -wholly to her dreams.</p> -<p>In the silence of this den of human misery, where each victim -was bound to his neighbor by the same chains that made him a -slave, a long stride was taken on this night toward the oblivion -of death.</p> -<p>Strange scenes sometimes occur in these places, and one was on -the tapis for this night.</p> -<p>So interested had the detective been in watching the couple -opposite, that he seldom glanced at any of the others.</p> -<p>By mere chance his eyes alighted upon the second veiled woman, -and at the same moment he saw that something was wrong.</p> -<p>She had swept her veil aside, and the light revealed a face at -once handsome and dissipated—she had been a beauty earlier -in life.</p> -<p><a name="page152"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 152</span>Just -now this face was distorted. Pain racked it.</p> -<p>Eric Darrell saw the awful hand of death there—he knew -the wretched woman must have some heart trouble which was -aggravated by the opium, and that she was dying.</p> -<p>He beckoned to the Yankee who represented the American side of -the firm.</p> -<p>Then he pointed to the struggling woman. The other -sprang to her.</p> -<p>There was a gasp and all was over—death had come to her -in the opium den.</p> -<p>By this time Eric was out on the floor, and it was well he -happened to be there, for the man showed the white feather at -once, fearing lest a thing of this kind would ruin his -business.</p> -<p>Luckily a strong hand was at the helm.</p> -<p>The orders Eric gave were obeyed—no one was allowed to -leave the place.</p> -<p>Most of those present manifested no interest in the -game—their minds were wholly taken up with heavenly -visions—death might come and go without their notice.</p> -<p>Eric knew what must be done.</p> -<p>The woman was elegantly dressed—she was no doubt the -wife of a wealthy citizen, and if it <a name="page153"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 153</span>were known that she had expired in -this fashionable opium joint the shame would be terrible. -He aroused the widow.</p> -<p>The other veiled lady was trembling, having gained her feet, -but she would answer no questions, only sob and wring her hands, -while the artist pretended not to notice any one, though eagerly -taking it all in.</p> -<p>When the dashing widow was brought out of her dreams and made -to realize the truth, she too seemed overwhelmed.</p> -<p>Eric took hold of her.</p> -<p>His strong mind controlled hers, and he soon made her see how -essential it was that this awful business be kept a dead -secret.</p> -<p>She must confide in him, giving the name and address of the -deceased—he would then see that the body was taken there -unknown to a living soul save the driver, and the secret would be -locked in the breast of her husband.</p> -<p>The world she moved in would attend her funeral, and never -dream that she had died in any other place than at home.</p> -<p>This gave the widow hope.</p> -<p>She whispered the lady’s name and residence to the -detective, who wrote them down.</p> -<p><a name="page154"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 154</span>He -was surprised to discover that her husband was a prominent -business man down town.</p> -<p>It was an awful business, but he managed it with great -circumspection—the body was placed in a hack, and the -driver did not know but what she was merely sick.</p> -<p>Eric had also discovered the name and address of the other -veiled lady—the widow had given it upon his assurance of -good faith. It was Mrs. Collingwood. Her address was -Lexington Avenue.</p> -<p>Darrell’s actions were right to the point in a business -light.</p> -<p>His main desire was to save the poor husband all the shame and -mortification possible.</p> -<p>Leaving the hack at the curb he was presently in the presence -of the gentleman, to whom he broke the awful news as gently as -possible.</p> -<p>At first the other was dreadfully shocked, but upon learning -what bold measures the detective had taken to conceal the actual -facts, he overwhelmed the other with thanks.</p> -<p>Between them they got the body into the house, Darrell -speaking to the supposed sick lady in a reassuring way.</p> -<p>The driver was heavily feed and cautioned to <a -name="page155"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 155</span>hold his -tongue under any and all circumstances. Darrell assisted -the stricken husband to get his dead up into her room.</p> -<p>Then in the library he heard the full particulars from the -detective.</p> -<p>Afterwards, he insisted on telling his story—how his -once lovely and affectionate wife had secretly taken to the -deadly drug from injections given to make her sleep during a -spell of sickness. The harrowing tale has been often -repeated in such a city as New York—her power of resistance -became less and less strong, until he could do nothing with -her.</p> -<p>Knowing that she had heart trouble he had been expecting such -a catastrophe, but nevertheless, it had fallen with crushing -force.</p> -<p>He was greatly indebted to the detective for his -assistance—it was possible that the real facts might be -covered up, and with the help of his family physician the death -be given as simply one from heart disease.</p> -<p>When Eric felt the gentleman’s grasp at parting, and saw -the tears upon his sad face, he knew that his visit to the opium -joint had not been without its reward, since he was enabled to -bring deep satisfaction to this soul long <a -name="page156"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 156</span>harrowed by -the fear of such a catastrophe.</p> -<p>Meanwhile, he had the address of the veiled woman with whom -the artist had been in communication at the opium joint.</p> -<p>At his leisure on the morrow he could look her up and learn -all there was connected with his case.</p> -<p>Such a scene as the one thus briefly described has occurred at -an opium den in the great metropolis—who the ill-fated lady -was no one knew, at least the facts were never made public, and -only a few guessed the truth by watching the death column in the -dailies.</p> -<p>The opium habit gains strength slowly in our midst, but there -are more people slaves to the vice than the public suspects.</p> -<p>Knowing the joint would in all probability be closed for the -remainder of the night, Eric made no attempt to go there but -sought his apartments to rest.</p> -<p>The committee appointed to examine into the strange case of -Leslie vs. Leslie could report progress.</p> -<p>On the morrow the work would be resumed, and a long stride -taken toward the end.</p> -<p>This man had a wonderful power over his <a -name="page157"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 157</span>mind, and -could control it at will. When he was ready to sleep he -dismissed all thought and secured solid rest, so that when he -woke up his mind was as clear as a bell. To such a fact he -owed much of his success.</p> -<p>With the morning he was up and out.</p> -<p>It was a fair day, and Eric hoped he might look upon this as -an emblem of luck—that his case might prove as clear.</p> -<p>His first thought was to get some specimen of Mrs. -Leslie’s writing.</p> -<p>To do this he must visit the house but waited until Joe would -probably be on his way down to his business.</p> -<p>Then he went to the dwelling up town.</p> -<p>He asked to see Mrs. Leslie and was shown in. Being left -alone for a short time he glanced around as if in hope of seeing -an opportunity to carry out his design.</p> -<p>A desk caught his eye—if he only had the opportunity to -look through it he felt sure he could find what he wanted, for it -was undoubtedly the property of Lillian Leslie.</p> -<p>There were several books on the library table. These he -examined hastily.</p> -<p>He hoped to find one that Lillian might have <a -name="page158"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 158</span>written her -name in, for he believed that it would be easy to compare the -writing and pronounce sentence from that.</p> -<p>In this, however, he was disappointed.</p> -<p>Joe’s name was in several, the books being inscribed, -with love, to his wife. This only proved his great -love.</p> -<p>Eric was ready to swear by it now, and did not mean to let the -case drop until he had sifted it thoroughly—such honest -affection as Joe’s should never be made sport of in a -friend of his, even by the prettiest witch that ever trod the -earth—at least not with his approval.</p> -<p>The rustle of female attire drew his attention, and, turning, -he found himself face to face with the lady of the house.</p> -<p>He had not sent up his name and she appeared quite surprised -at seeing who it was. “You, Mr. Darrell?”</p> -<p>“At your service, Mrs. Leslie.”</p> -<p>“What do you wish this morning, sir?”</p> -<p>There was something of coldness in her tones. He could -not tell whence it sprung, as there were several things that -might cause it.</p> -<p>Perhaps she felt humiliated in his presence because she had -let him see her weakness, jealousy of her husband’s -affection.</p> -<p><a name="page159"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 159</span>Then, -again, if she were guilty she might fear him because he was a -detective and Joe’s friend.</p> -<p>He suspended judgment and resolved to study this fair creature -more closely than he had as yet had a chance to do.</p> -<h2><a name="page160"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -160</span>CHAPTER XIV<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">ANOTHER LINK IN THE CHAIN</span></h2> -<p>All these things had flashed through Darrell’s mind with -a rapidity that lightning alone could equal, for there is nothing -more rapid than thought.</p> -<p>He maintained his suave manner.</p> -<p>“I have come this morning, Mrs. Leslie, for several -things. In the first place I wish to congratulate you on -the fact that Joe’s terrible secret, as I made it out, was -after all so simple a thing. Your wifely trust and devotion -had their reward and I can appreciate the feeling of satisfaction -you now possess because of your trust which I could not wholly -beat down, in spite of the proofs I brought, and which must have -appeared ‘strong as holy writ’.”</p> -<p>This was artful of Eric—he thought to destroy the -barrier by a little flattery, knowing all the while that Lillian -had really been jealous.</p> -<p>It told too.</p> -<p><a name="page161"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 161</span>The -fair lady smiled upon him once more.</p> -<p>“I am happy because our bugaboo turned out to be only a -pipe, and Joe has gone off this morning with a cigar—he -shall smoke when he pleases after this.”</p> -<p>“And you?”</p> -<p>“I find that the odor from a good cigar is rather -attractive. At any rate, Joe has done so much for me that I -can afford to give in to one little vice of his. To think -of the poor dear fellow hiding himself away like that. It -makes me almost cry to think how miserably cruel I have been to -him. But I mean to make it up to Joe in the future, Mr. -Darrell.”</p> -<p>Eric swallowed a lump that seemed to be sticking in his -throat.</p> -<p>This, the woman whom he suspected of being false to her -husband—he did not know how it was, but whenever he came -into her presence he seemed to be in some way charmed.</p> -<p>She was a siren.</p> -<p>The same power, exercised by the nymphs of the sea in olden -days, causing the sailors to jump over to their death, is given -to certain of the gentler sex to-day.</p> -<p>Adam sunk all his manhood and forgot his <a -name="page162"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 162</span>duty to his -Maker when tempted by Eve, and from that day to this few men -there are strong enough to do the right when a beautiful woman -smiles upon them and teaches them the lesson of love.</p> -<p>It would be impossible to describe the influence Lillian had -upon nearly all who came in contact with her—her manner was -soothing and pleasant, so that general admiration followed her -acquaintance.</p> -<p>Darrell was a man of strong purposes and he put down with a -firm hand any feeling that interfered with his stern sense of -duty.</p> -<p>In a business way he was here to see whether Lillian was what -she appeared to be, or deceptive by nature.</p> -<p>Hence he was not to be charmed from his purpose in any -way.</p> -<p>The human feeling of admiration must give way to the -professional energy.</p> -<p>“You spoke of several reasons for calling to see me, Mr. -Darrell—will you kindly state what the others are?” -she asked.</p> -<p>“With pleasure, and I trust you will not feel offended, -my dear Mrs. Leslie. It is a custom on my part in a case -like this, to take from the <a name="page163"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 163</span>party with whom I have been engaged, -a little note, stating that they have been well satisfied with my -services. I hope you may not think it out of the way and -give me this.”</p> -<p>She appeared troubled.</p> -<p>“I do not know that I ought to—such an affair is -essentially private.”</p> -<p>“I only desire the paper for my own satisfaction, and -not to show. You can merely state that you are entirely -satisfied with the services of Eric Darrell, and if you prefer, -simply sign your initials.”</p> -<p>Crafty man—the initial was what he wanted above all -else.</p> -<p>Her face brightened.</p> -<p>“I do not know that I would object to that, Mr. Darrell, -since my identity is concealed. Do you want it -now?”</p> -<p>“If you please,” humbly, but secretly exulting -over his success.</p> -<p>She went to the desk, opened it and sat down—after a -minute’s thought she wrote something upon a sheet of -paper.</p> -<p>“Will that do, Mr. Darrell?” handing it to -him.</p> -<p>He glanced at it and read:</p> -<blockquote><p><a name="page164"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -164</span>“This is to certify that Mr. Eric Darrell has -accomplished the work for which I have employed him, in a -thoroughly satisfactory manner, and that I am well satisfied with -his services.</p> -<p style="text-align: right">L. L.</p> -<p>“New York, October 7, 188–”</p> -</blockquote> -<p>Darrell smiled.</p> -<p>“A thousand thanks, madam.”</p> -<p>“It answers your purpose?” quietly.</p> -<p>“Yes, yes.”</p> -<p>Although he smiled Eric Darrell felt as though he could have -wept just then.</p> -<p>The one glance he had taken had revealed the fact that the -capital L made by Mrs. Leslie was very similar to the one which -he had seen signed to the note Paul Prescott had let fall.</p> -<p>It was a shock to the detective, even though he had in a -measure expected it.</p> -<p>That point gained he put the matter aside for the present and -continued to appear pleasant, though it was only with an effort -he could do so.</p> -<p>For a little he chatted with the lady, and endeavored to study -her.</p> -<p>Darrell thought that if his suspicions were proven true, -Lillian Leslie must be the perfection of an actress—he had -never seen two such <a name="page165"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 165</span>extremes meet in an -individual—she was the incarnation of good and evil.</p> -<p>“By the way, are you acquainted with a Mrs. Collingwood -of your street here?” he asked after a while, in a careless -tone.</p> -<p>“Yes, I know her.”</p> -<p>She looked surprised, as though wondering where he could have -met her.</p> -<p>“Last night I made her acquaintance. She is -accounted a rather handsome woman, I believe.”</p> -<p>This was put out as a sort of feeler, for he had not even seen -her face.</p> -<p>Lillian answered in a manner that declared what little -interest she had in the lady:</p> -<p>“I believe so, but we were never friends, and I do not -know much about the lady.”</p> -<p>That ended it.</p> -<p>Darrell soon took his leave, having gained the point for which -he had come.</p> -<p>When he entered a car on the elevated road he found a corner -to himself, and then, unable to wait longer, proceeded to compare -the two notes.</p> -<p>Just as he thought, the writing was of the same order, and -there was much resemblance in the capital letters.</p> -<p><a name="page166"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -166</span>Still, Eric had seen enough to know that only an expert -could decide this question beyond all cavil.</p> -<p>Before now he had seen the chirography of two persons resemble -each other, and this was not to be accepted as conclusive -evidence.</p> -<p>At the same time it was a point that would bear upon the final -result.</p> -<p>He kept it in mind.</p> -<p>Other threads must now be taken up in turn, until the main -current was reached which would sweep him on to the sea.</p> -<p>He put away the document just received from Mrs. Leslie.</p> -<p>While still looking at the other, some one sat down beside -him.</p> -<p>Darrell’s thoughts were fixed upon the subject which -occupied his attention, and he did not even know there was some -one in the next seat until a hand clutched his arm.</p> -<p>“Where did you get that paper?” said a hoarse -voice close by his ear.</p> -<p>Turning his head at this he was surprised to see Paul Prescott -beside him.</p> -<p>Fortune plays some queer tricks at times, and this was one of -them.</p> -<p><a name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 167</span>What -an odd chance that this man, of all in the great city, should sit -down in the same car, at the very moment Darrell had that fatal -paper in his hand.</p> -<p>The circumstances were indeed so singular that Eric could not -but start; but his excellent control over his nerves stood him in -good stead again.</p> -<p>He looked in the artist’s face—it was flushed and -eager and angry—evidently he had not missed the letter up -to now.</p> -<p>“My dear sir, does it belong to you?” asked the -detective, quietly.</p> -<p>“It does, sir.”</p> -<p>“Then take your property.”</p> -<p>“Very good, sir; but I have a right to ask, yes, demand -of you, to explain under what peculiar circumstances this -document chanced to come into your possession.”</p> -<p>“I do not question your right to ask that, and I shall -readily tell where and when I picked the letter up.”</p> -<p>So he gave the time and place to a dot, but did not say -anything about having seen it drop from the pocket of the -owner. Prescott remembered that this was when and where he -had <a name="page168"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -168</span>received the message, and he had no doubt of the truth -of the story.</p> -<p>At the same time he looked at the man by his side with a -frown.</p> -<p>“You read this?” he asked.</p> -<p>“Naturally so—you could not blame me.”</p> -<p>“And had your curiosity aroused?”</p> -<p>“Well, yes, but that has nothing to do with it. -Let us forget the circumstance.”</p> -<p>“Willingly, since it concerns the private affairs of a -very dear friend.”</p> -<p>No more was said.</p> -<p>Eric read his paper and the artist seemed occupied with his, -but every now and then he turned his eyes toward the detective as -though his curiosity was aroused.</p> -<p>When the artist arose at Fourteenth Street, to leave the car, -Eric handed him a card he had prepared for such occasions.</p> -<p>It gave his name and the address of his -apartments—nothing more.</p> -<p>“If you should ever desire to see me, sir, you will find -me there by letter or person,” he said quietly.</p> -<p>At this Prescott smiled broadly.</p> -<p>“I hope you don’t think I dream of sending <a -name="page169"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 169</span>you a -challenge for finding my letter,” he said.</p> -<p>“Well, you looked as black as a thunder cloud, and I -didn’t know but what you might be meditating something of -the sort.”</p> -<p>“It was rude in me to act that way, and I beg your -pardon for it.”</p> -<p>Frankly said.</p> -<p>The detective liked him better for it, and there was something -about the other’s face quite attractive after all.</p> -<p>Somehow Eric did not seem to hate and despise him as he had -done before.</p> -<p>When the artist had gone he fell into a fit of musing -again.</p> -<p>Various theories were built up, only to be discarded again as -unequal to the occasion.</p> -<p>He remembered that the letter had been given to Prescott by a -woman, who was evidently in the pay of the party signed L.</p> -<p>Whom could Lillian send?</p> -<p>He did not know the internal arrangements of the lovely little -house up town, and this was what was now on his mind.</p> -<p>The office of Joe Leslie was his destination, and he made his -way thither after leaving the elevated road.</p> -<p><a name="page170"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -170</span>Leslie was in John Street, and carried on a business in -precious stones, of which he was one of the best judges in the -city.</p> -<p>He was a man of considerable wealth, but being of an -unostentatious nature he did not put on much style, preferring to -live quietly and well.</p> -<p>When Eric Darrell ascended the stairs of the large building in -which his friend had his offices, he was forcibly reminded of -times gone by when Joe was a bachelor, and the two had been warm -friends, passing through numerous scenes of pleasure in -company.</p> -<h2><a name="page171"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -171</span>CHAPTER XV<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">COMPARING NOTES</span></h2> -<p>Joe was in.</p> -<p>When the detective sent his card by the same clerk whom he had -helped Joe rescue from the clutches of the gamblers, he was shown -to the private office.</p> -<p>Here he found his friend seated at his desk, and busily -engaged with a pile of letters that had come in the morning -mail.</p> -<p>Joe greeted him cordially and begged him to wait a few -minutes, when he would be through with his task.</p> -<p>This suited the detective exactly, since it gave him a chance -to watch the other.</p> -<p>He was able to read a face pretty thoroughly and he saw very -quickly that Joe was still greatly troubled in his mind.</p> -<p>He had gotten rid of one burden, but another had come in its -stead.</p> -<p>What could it mean?</p> -<p><a name="page172"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 172</span>There -was little need for Eric to ask that.</p> -<p>He knew, beyond all doubt, that the old suspicions had arisen -again in Joe’s mind, perhaps strengthened by some -circumstance.</p> -<p>Finally Joe leaned back in his chair and looked at his -visitor.</p> -<p>“Eric, for a short time last night I was really and -truly happy—it seemed to me that the clouds had all rolled -by. Then, by a strange circumstance, they were brought -forward again and now I am worse off than ever.”</p> -<p>“That is too bad—I am sorry for it.”</p> -<p>“Before, it was my foolish habit that gave me -sorrow—now it is a dreadful thought that I endeavor to -banish from my mind, but which rises up again and again in all -its hideous deformity until I almost feel as though I am mad.</p> -<p>“Still I keep my thoughts clear, for I know that this -awful question must be grappled with, and fought to the -death.</p> -<p>“My whole future is concerned in it, and I mean to lay -the ghost forever, or else know the very worst.”</p> -<p>“Spoken like a true man, Joe. Shake hands on that -as a bargain. I am, in this matter, hoping to prove your -wife’s innocence, but I <a name="page173"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 173</span>shall take up any evidence that -comes along, and apply it where it belongs.”</p> -<p>“I want you to, old fellow, no matter what the pain it -brings.”</p> -<p>“To begin with, you know all my hopes are to the end -that Lillian may prove to be as innocent as a babe.”</p> -<p>“Heaven grant it,” Joe groaned.</p> -<p>His tone betokened despair.</p> -<p>The detective judged from this that his friend must have made -some discovery since last they met.</p> -<p>“At the same time, Joe, you know as it looks at present, -things are decidedly against your wife.”</p> -<p>“I try to deceive myself, Eric, into the belief that it -is not so, but I cannot, I cannot. She shall have a fair -trial—I will give her the advantage of every doubt, and -then—”</p> -<p>He could not finish the sentence.</p> -<p>Poor fellow! how Eric pitied him, and in that moment, -believing Lillian guilty, cursed the hour she ever crossed -Joe’s path, to blight a life devoted to her.</p> -<p>Never mind—the end was not yet.</p> -<p>“Tell me what you have discovered, Eric,” <a -name="page174"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 174</span>said -Leslie, throwing off the terrible feeling that almost overcame -him.</p> -<p>“After you, my boy.”</p> -<p>“How do you know I have anything to tell?” in a -surprised tone.</p> -<p>“Your looks give it away. Proceed.”</p> -<p>So, being encouraged to speak, Joe gave a brief account of the -charming scene that had taken place in his home on the preceding -night.</p> -<p>Eric was quite interested, and his reflections upon the little -woman were flattering to her.</p> -<p>Then came the climax.</p> -<p>The note with the charred edge was produced, and submitted to -examination.</p> -<p>Eric looked upon it as furnishing quite a link in the chain of -evidence—he believed the secret referred to must indeed -mean that which they were looking up.</p> -<p>When Joe heard the opinion of his friend, he was not much -encouraged—indeed, his spirits were reduced to a lower ebb; -but he shut his teeth and said nothing.</p> -<p>“Now I want your opinion, Joe, as a man of some legal -acumen. It is a little question I desire to have -settled,” he said.</p> -<p>With that he took out the document he had received from -Lillian.</p> -<p><a name="page175"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -175</span>“You recognize the handwriting?”</p> -<p>“I do—it is my wife’s,” with a -shiver.</p> -<p>“I had another paper, but gave it up to the owner; but, -as it fortunately turned out, ere doing so I traced the signature -with a piece of tracing paper—see, here it is.”</p> -<p>He put the two together.</p> -<p>“Bend over, Joe.”</p> -<p>“What do you want me to decide?” nervously, as -might a man who feared lest his words might convict one he -loved.</p> -<p>“Examine these signatures.”</p> -<p>“I am doing so.”</p> -<p>“If asked your opinion frankly as an outsider, would you -incline to the belief that one hand had made both of -these?”</p> -<p>“You insist on a reply?”</p> -<p>“I think you had better give it.”</p> -<p>“Then, according to my humble opinion, those letters are -alike, and the chances are decidedly in favor of the same party -having made both.”</p> -<p>“My opinion exactly—I would not swear to it but I -put the chances in that way.”</p> -<p>Then he turned the paper over to Joe.</p> -<p>“What of this?” asked that worthy.</p> -<p>“There is nothing out of the way in it. I only <a -name="page176"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 176</span>had your -wife write it out and sign her initials in order to compare it -with the other document.”</p> -<p>“Tell me about the other.”</p> -<p>“I will reproduce it, word for word.”</p> -<p>Drawing some paper to him he wrote rapidly for a few -minutes.</p> -<p>Then he placed the duplicate of Prescott’s letter in -front of Joe.</p> -<p>“This looks like a deep conspiracy, Eric—you say -this was signed that way?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Was it—in—her handwriting?”</p> -<p>“There were enough points of resemblance to make it -striking.”</p> -<p>“Heavens!” and he beat his fist against his -forehead in despair—then recovered his calmness after an -effort.</p> -<p>“You say you have lost this document?”</p> -<p>“I had compared them in the elevated coming down here, -and was still looking at that one when a hand was laid on my arm -and a man asked me what I was doing with his property. I -saw he was the owner and gave it over—we had a few words -and separated.”</p> -<p>“Was that man known to me?”</p> -<p>“By sight, yes.”</p> -<p><a name="page177"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 177</span>Joe -shuddered visibly, as though he understood the suggestive words -of the other.</p> -<p>“Then it was <i>he</i>?”</p> -<p>“Paul Prescott, the artist.”</p> -<p>“Curses on him for a meddler! Lillian has a -weakness for art, and I have often jokingly told her she should -have married a painter.”</p> -<p>“That explains his power in a measure—he has fed -her on art and won her regard by posing as a hero.”</p> -<p>Joe struck the duplicate paper fiercely.</p> -<p>“Eric, you may think me crazy to doubt it, but unless -Lillian declares in my presence that this is the product of her -pen I will never believe it.”</p> -<p>“Joe, my friend, I honor you for such a feeling, and I -hope as I never hoped before in my life that this thing will -prove a false alarm. All the same I shall do my duty by you -every time, as a true friend.”</p> -<p>“A thousand thanks. I feel fifty years old to-day -instead of thirty-six—it is my birthday, you know, -Eric,” with a sad smile.</p> -<p>“I wish you many happy returns, my dear -fellow—just three years younger than I am. I wish I -had a gift to give you.”</p> -<p>“The best gift this world could give me would <a -name="page178"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 178</span>be the -proof that my wife is the true and faithful wife I have always -believed her. Great heavens! Eric, when I think of it all, -a spasm comes over me—my fingers twitch as though they -would love to encircle the throat of that arch-devil and choke -his life out.”</p> -<p>Eric was surprised.</p> -<p>He had not believed this of Joe, looking upon the other as a -sort of good-natured giant whom any one could impose upon. -Now he saw him angry he made up his mind that if ever Paul -Prescott and Joe came in contact it would go hard with the -artist.</p> -<p>“Well, I declare, you will make a modern Othello yet, -Joe.”</p> -<p>“No, no,” with a shudder, “I might kill him, -but I would never raise a finger against her if she deceived me -time and again. I couldn’t; I must love her -always.”</p> -<p>Eric shrugged his shoulders.</p> -<p>“Every man to his taste. Your character is one in -a thousand, Joe. As for me I confess I have more of the -tiger about me, and if a man or woman foully wrongs me I look -forward with pleasure to revenge.”</p> -<p>“Don’t let us talk about it—the worst I -would <a name="page179"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 179</span>do -to her would be to seek a separation—but for him,” -and his face grew grandly dark and gloomy, but he did not -finish.</p> -<p>“I wish to ask you a few questions about your home, -Joe.”</p> -<p>“Do so.”</p> -<p>“In the first place you have a girl.”</p> -<p>“Yes, two of them.”</p> -<p>“What positions do they occupy?”</p> -<p>“One is in the kitchen—the other a sort of -upstairs girl, to take care of the rooms, answer the door, and -wait upon the table.”</p> -<p>“Describe the cook.”</p> -<p>Joe laughed.</p> -<p>“She is as fat as she is long, almost, and as -good-natured as she is fat.”</p> -<p>Eric made a gesture.</p> -<p>“That point is settled. Now the other.”</p> -<p>“Nanny is a woman too, but much smaller, and ladylike in -her ways. She came here from Chicago with us.”</p> -<p>“Ah! a favorite of your wife’s?”</p> -<p>“Yes. Nanny was in her mother’s employ as a -girl. She is faithful to us.”</p> -<p>“Ahem! Just the person, in fact, to be entrusted -with a message of a secret nature, that must be handed to a -certain party?”</p> -<p><a name="page180"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 180</span>At -this Joe turned red and white by turns. “I presume -so,” he admitted, uneasily.</p> -<p>“Is Nanny about my height, rather slim, and quick in her -actions?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Dresses in black?”</p> -<p>“My soul! man, you seem to drive the nails into my -coffin with each question.”</p> -<p>“Answer, Joe.”</p> -<p>“She does dress in black—most maids do in New York -now.”</p> -<p>“Wear a white apron?”</p> -<p>“No,” with a gleam of hope.</p> -<p>“Neither did this girl. I knew she was a maid by -the courtesy she made when handing Prescott the letter, and also -from the little white cap she wore.”</p> -<p>Poor Joe’s last chance seemed gone—the other had -knocked away the pins upon which his house was built.</p> -<p>“That was probably Nanny, but I can not and will not -believe Lillian wrote that note. Some other party had hired -Nanny to give it to that man.”</p> -<p>Darrell knew Joe was hugging a phantom to his heart, but he -could not take pleasure in <a name="page181"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 181</span>arguing with the deceived -husband—besides, Joe’s actions proved that he -believed more than he would admit either to himself or his -confidential adviser, and if the blow did come it would not be -such a terrible shock as if he had received no warning.</p> -<p>The end was not far away.</p> -<h2><a name="page182"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -182</span>CHAPTER XVI<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE LOCKED SARATOGA</span></h2> -<p>The detective was not yet through.</p> -<p>He wished to find out a few other things connected with the -case, through information which Joe alone could give.</p> -<p>When the latter had told his story concerning what had -happened at his house on the preceding night, he had touched -lightly on the incident of the closet.</p> -<p>The keen detective had however made a mental note of the -circumstance, and he was bound to know more of the matter.</p> -<p>“What sort of a closet is it?” he asked.</p> -<p>“Quite a roomy affair.”</p> -<p>“You keep what there?”</p> -<p>“A number of odds and ends, and I believe a large -Saratoga trunk.”</p> -<p>“Ah! your wife’s?”</p> -<p>“She brought it from Chicago. On our little <a -name="page183"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 183</span>trips to -Boston and Washington we used my leather one.”</p> -<p>“Then this trunk has been there all the -while?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Think now—have you ever known Lillian to enter -that closet for anything since she came to you?”</p> -<p>Joe turned white.</p> -<p>“She might have done so dozens of times.”</p> -<p>“But have you known her to?”</p> -<p>“I have not.”</p> -<p>“Is there anything kept there she would want?”</p> -<p>“Not that I know of.”</p> -<p>“Under the circumstances does it not strike you as -singular that she should not only enter the closet but lock it -and take the key upstairs?”</p> -<p>“Eric, I have thought so myself,” sadly.</p> -<p>“Now, Joe, you are withholding something from me that -has a bearing on this matter.”</p> -<p>“How do you know it?” quickly.</p> -<p>“Well, perhaps a little bird told me, or else I read the -secret in your face. At any rate you have no business to -keep it from me, I am trying to do my duty—heaven knows if -I could I would have your wife as spotless as the noonday sky, -and if she proves otherwise I shall lose <a -name="page184"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 184</span>faith in -all womankind forever; but I must be able to weigh every particle -of evidence for and against her.”</p> -<p>“I beg your pardon, Eric, but I felt so badly over the -circumstance that I hardly had the heart to relate it to -you.”</p> -<p>“Then it is against her?”</p> -<p>“I am afraid so.”</p> -<p>“The sky grows very black—poor Joe—poor -Lillian—my heart is in sympathy with you.”</p> -<p>Joe had buried his face in his hands and seemed quite -overcome.</p> -<p>The detective waited.</p> -<p>When his friend had in a measure recovered from the shock, he -spoke.</p> -<p>“Now tell me the circumstances.”</p> -<p>Joe’s voice was a little unsteady, but it gained -strength as he proceeded:</p> -<p>“When I came down this morning it was late for me, but I -had not slept well, and felt a raging headache.</p> -<p>“Lillian was in the library, and left me to go down to -see if she could not have a cup of strong tea made, which always -acts as a sedative with me when I have a headache.</p> -<p>“My thoughts had never gone from that closet <a -name="page185"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 185</span>and I had -already seen that the key was in the door for Lillian had brought -it down.</p> -<p>“Hardly had she left the room than I was over there and -had the door open.</p> -<p>“I examined the interior but found it all as I had been -in the habit of seeing it.</p> -<p>“This surprised me. Could I after all have done -her an injustice with my suspicions?</p> -<p>“I was beginning to think so, when I suddenly noticed a -little thing.</p> -<p>“The key of her Saratoga trunk was missing.</p> -<p>“I remembered seeing it in the trunk a few weeks -before.</p> -<p>“Why should Lillian take it?</p> -<p>“Instinctively I tried the lid—it was -fast—the trunk was locked.</p> -<p>“I left the closet, and was sitting in the library when -the breakfast bell rang, and Lillian came in to go down with -me.</p> -<p>“She was full of spirits, while I felt as though I were -about to attend my own funeral.</p> -<p>“During the progress of the meal I spoke about there -being a chance of our soon going out to Chicago to pay a visit, -and she seemed to be very quiet over it, unusually so, I -believed.</p> -<p>“‘By the way, I miss the key of your -trunk—<a name="page186"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -186</span>will you let me see if the interior is in good -condition?’ I said as steadily as I could, although I felt -my face turn red.</p> -<p>“She looked at me as though surprised.</p> -<p>“To-morrow you can do so, Joe—to-day you are in -poor condition for anything. Take your mind off everything -that excites it. I wish you would stay at home to-day and -nurse your headache.’</p> -<p>“I professed to have business of unusual importance down -town, and shortly after left the house for my office.</p> -<p>“Now, Eric, give me your honest opinion—my mind is -hardly in a fit condition to see and judge for myself.”</p> -<p>The detective had listened intently.</p> -<p>He could grasp the threads and draw them into one compact -cord.</p> -<p>The issue was before him.</p> -<p>“Joe, it is beyond all question that her secret lies in -that trunk—if we knew what it contains, nothing more would -be needed.”</p> -<p>“Yes, I suppose so,” rather wearily.</p> -<p>“From the tenor of the letter Prescott received I am -inclined to believe some one is about to run away with him, or he -with her, rather.”</p> -<p>Joe groaned dismally.</p> -<p><a name="page187"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -187</span>“If in that trunk I should find some of her -dresses and jewelry—well, I should be strongly inclined to -believe it meant flight.”</p> -<p>“No, no,” hoarsely, clutching his throbbing brow -with both hands, “not that. Lillian would never be -guilty of that. She may have flirted with the -man—women are weak, I know—but that is the worst I -will believe of her—the worst.”</p> -<p>Darrell shrugged his shoulders.</p> -<p>“Very good, Joe, but you must permit me to place my own -estimation on things. My eyes are not blinded by -love—I can weigh things calmly, and place their right -estimation upon them.”</p> -<p>“Eric, I said I would leave it all with you and I do, -but until it is proven beyond all doubt, do not ask me to believe -in her guilt. It will kill me if it is so.”</p> -<p>“Trust in me, Joe, old fellow, I will act for you as -though you were my brother.”</p> -<p>“And—whatever comes, Eric—be gentle with -Lillian—let me be the one to—oh! my God! I -cannot believe it, and yet it seems as though a burning iron were -branding it on my brain.”</p> -<p>The detective was done for the present.</p> -<p>From Joe’s offices he went to his own.</p> -<p><a name="page188"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 188</span>Here -he could sit down and review the situation in regular order.</p> -<p>Darrell generally made notes of his subject, so that he might -ever keep the circumstances before his mind.</p> -<p>He now jotted down a few more headings, and then surveyed the -case as seen through these spectacles which he had drawn on.</p> -<p>Looking over his shoulder we can also get a resume of the case -by reading what he filled up a page in his note book with.</p> -<p>They were arranged under heads in numerical order, beginning -at the start:</p> -<p>1—Paul Prescott, an artist, makes daily visits to -Joe’s house when Joe is down town.</p> -<p>2—Lillian Leslie has a secret from her husband.</p> -<p>3—The paper dropped by Prescott is in her writing, and -seems to promise an elopement. It is also signed L, her -initial.</p> -<p>4—The girl who gave Prescott the letter corresponds with -Lillian’s faithful maid, who has been in the family for -many years.</p> -<p>5—The fact of her having the closet key upstairs is -significant in itself.</p> -<p>6—Her trunk is locked and the key gone—<a -name="page189"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 189</span>she says -she will produce it when Joe has leisure to examine the -trunk—there is no hurry—the morrow will -do—evidently <i>something</i> is to occur between now and -to-morrow.</p> - -<div class="gapspace"> </div> -<p>This was the indictment.</p> -<p>Against it, on the opposite page, he had written the -defense—it came under one head:</p> -<p>“1—Lillian is my ideal of womanly -perfection—if she prove guilty my faith is gone -forever. I have never yet been able to <i>believe</i> her -guilty while in her presence—it is only when away that -these terrible facts make me fear it is so.”</p> -<p>A peculiar case this. If Lillian could plead her own -cause, she would undoubtedly win it.</p> -<p>For a long time Eric Darrell sat and looked at his notes.</p> -<p>They covered about all of the case.</p> -<p>He could not but see how overwhelming the evidence was against -Lillian and how meager her defense.</p> -<p>Still he kept hoping for the best, trusting that something -would turn up to send the balance over to the other side. -Had it been any one other than Lillian, the detective must have -declared that there could be no hope—the case <a -name="page190"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 190</span>would be -virtually closed. With such a client, however, he had hope -to the end, because all his sympathies were enlisted in behalf of -Joe and his wife.</p> -<p>He was not the man to waste time in useless speculation, and -when he had calmly reviewed the situation, he made up his mind -what ought to be done.</p> -<p>Would it be possible to save Lillian even though she were -guilty?</p> -<p>He could not face her—his first thought had been to see -her and speak of the terrible nature of the indictment hanging -over her like the sword of Damocles, suspended by a single -hair—perhaps she was influenced by some strange power the -artist possessed—mesmerized, made a slave by some peculiar -phase in a powerful organization—Eric had known of such -things, although he did not pretend to understand them.</p> -<p>When he came to think it over, however, he concluded that he -could not muster up courage enough to say these things to her -face.</p> -<p>He was certain that, strong-nerved man as he was, he would -utterly fail when he sat opposite those eyes, and felt them upon -him.</p> -<p>Was there any other source to which he might apply?</p> -<p><a name="page191"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 191</span>He -ran over the field.</p> -<p>What of Paul Prescott?</p> -<p>The thought seemed absurd at first but presently he began to -realize that there was a chance back of it.</p> -<p>The man was a character and might not be as bad as appearances -indicated.</p> -<p>Perhaps moral suasion might influence him, and in case that -failed a threat would possibly have the desired effect.</p> -<p>The more he thought over the matter the better he looked upon -the idea.</p> -<p>At last he determined to try it.</p> -<p>There could be no harm done.</p> -<p>At the same time he had a chance to accomplish a great -work.</p> -<p>A new thought had entered Eric’s head.</p> -<p>Even if Lillian was guilty he might through some work, -skillfully arranged, so manage it that the disturbing element -should be removed, and their lives flow on smoothly again.</p> -<p>This was his highest hope.</p> -<p>That he would find Lillian innocent had ceased to enter into -his calculations.</p> -<p>He only hoped for a half way victory. It was noon when -he went out, and stopping in a <a name="page192"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 192</span>restaurant he had dinner. His -plan was arranged.</p> -<p>If he could effect a meeting with the artist, the worst would -soon be known, and he would also discover what sort of man -Prescott was.</p> -<p>He knew where the latter had his studio, and presently was -bound for Fourteenth Street to interview the artist. What -would come of that interview no one could tell, but Eric hoped -for a favorable issue.</p> -<p>At any rate he did not think his case would be destroyed by -what he was now about to undertake.</p> -<p>At half past one he entered the building where Paul Prescott -had his studio.</p> -<p>A few minutes later he stood at the door and gave a loud -knock.</p> -<h2><a name="page193"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -193</span>CHAPTER XVII<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE ARTIST IS DEFIANT</span></h2> -<p>“Come in!” said a voice.</p> -<p>Eric opened the door.</p> -<p>An odor of tobacco greeted him.</p> -<p>Prescott, in his studio dress, was before a painting, putting -some touches here and there.</p> -<p>So interested was he that he did not turn his head when the -door closed.</p> -<p>Darrell looked at the painting and was charmed—it was a -glimpse of the Delaware Water Gap, and so true to nature that one -could almost believe he was on the spot.</p> -<p>Finally the artist stepped back a pace. “There! -that is done. I beg your pardon—” and he -wheeled around.</p> -<p>As he saw who his visitor was he uttered an exclamation of -surprise.</p> -<p>“Ah! you, Mr.—Mr.—”</p> -<p>“Darrell.”</p> -<p><a name="page194"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -194</span>“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Mr. -Darrell?”</p> -<p>Evidently he was inclined to be a little suspicious of the man -who had had that letter in his possession.</p> -<p>At the same time his curiosity was aroused. Eric saw -this. He was ready to take advantage of it.</p> -<p>Coolly seating himself he said:</p> -<p>“Mr. Prescott, I have called to see you in reference to -that paper which you received from my hands this -morning.”</p> -<p>“Ah! indeed,” with a frown.</p> -<p>Not at all dismayed the detective went on: “I believe -you claimed it as your property?”</p> -<p>“I did—have you any reason to doubt my -word?”</p> -<p>“Not at all, sir. If it was your property, then -the letter must have been addressed to you.”</p> -<p>“It was.”</p> -<p>“Mr. Prescott, you are looked upon in society as an -honorable man—your name has never yet been tarnished. -As a friend I beg of you to pause ere you cross the -Rubicon.”</p> -<p>“What’s all this about? It seems to me you -are interesting yourself in a business that does not concern you -in the least,” coldly.</p> -<p><a name="page195"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -195</span>“That is where you are mistaken, sir—it -does interest me greatly.”</p> -<p>“In what way?”</p> -<p>“I know the lady who wrote that note.”</p> -<p>The artist shrugged his shoulders.</p> -<p>“Well?”</p> -<p>Eric was somewhat surprised.</p> -<p>He had expected that the man would show signs of -consternation.</p> -<p>On the contrary he maintained his self-possession, and even -smiled.</p> -<p>“You contemplate a step that is bound to bring -trouble.”</p> -<p>“It is not my fault,” with a sneer; “some -people are so wrapped up in themselves that they can see no one -else. This lady—her name shall not be mentioned, as I -would not have it the subject of a quarrel—prefers my -company to that in which circumstances have thrown her. She -is restrained of her liberty, and I would give it to her. -That is all. Through the interference of some interloper, -such as yourself, we may be prevented from carrying our immediate -plans into execution, but the postponement can only be -temporary. We must triumph!”</p> -<p>Eric was more than ever amazed.</p> -<p><a name="page196"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 196</span>This -man did not appear shamefaced—he even gloried in his foul -work.</p> -<p>Surely this was the acme of villainy.</p> -<p>How was he to meet it?</p> -<p>Could he cow the artist?</p> -<p>Already he had made up his mind that this was impossible, for -the man seemed to be as daring as he was bad.</p> -<p>What then?</p> -<p>There was nothing left but to let the game take its -course.</p> -<p>If Joe and this man ever came into personal contact there -would be trouble, for the artist looked like a man who would back -up his acts with blows.</p> -<p>“You refuse to change your plans, then?”</p> -<p>“Most decidedly.”</p> -<p>“Well, you may rue it ere long.”</p> -<p>“See here, what makes it your business—there was -no name attached to this note—how do you know who wrote -it—what in the devil have you got to do with it, anyhow, -and what is to hinder me from giving you a sound thrashing on -account of your confounded impudence in the affair?”</p> -<p>His manner was threatening.</p> -<p><a name="page197"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 197</span>Eric -did not wince.</p> -<p>“Mr. Prescott, listen to me, I am a man not acquainted -with fear, nor do I descend to fisticuffs. You see I am -armed—now you can keep your distance and talk reason or -else take the consequences.”</p> -<p>At sight of the revolver the artist started.</p> -<p>He seemed to suspect for the first time what manner of man he -was dealing with.</p> -<p>“Are you a—detective?”</p> -<p>“I am, sir!”</p> -<p>“In <i>his</i> employ?”</p> -<p>“Mr.—the gentleman referred to is an old friend of -mine. I have sworn to see him through this -trouble.”</p> -<p>“Were you following me when this paper fell?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“You saw it drop?”</p> -<p>“I did.”</p> -<p>“And the maid who gave it—perhaps you followed her -home.”</p> -<p>“No matter—I believe I know all there is to be -known of this affair, sir. I am here to advise you to drop -it before you get hurt.”</p> -<p>“Would you like to hear my opinion of you, -sir?”</p> -<p><a name="page198"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -198</span>“It would in no wise alter the one I hold of you, -Mr. Prescott. Still it is not my plan to indulge in -personalities. Remember that what I do is done as a -business and from friendship. I wrong no honest man and -deceive no trusting woman.”</p> -<p>“You make me out a scamp, which I am not, in my own -estimation,” he said hotly.</p> -<p>“That is another subject which we need not discuss, sir, -since our ideas would be sure to be at variance. You go -your way and I go mine; but at the last I wish to distinctly warn -you that we are prepared to give you your deserts if you persist -in your course.”</p> -<p>“You can go to the man who employs you and tell him for -me that Paul Prescott defies him, and will fight him to the -end!”</p> -<p>This was strange language—there was certainly nothing -cringing here.</p> -<p>“Very good. Your blood be on your own head. -You are watched when you least expect it.”</p> -<p>“Be careful you don’t go too far and get -hurt.”</p> -<p>“Bah! I was in that opium den last night and saw -the tragedy.”</p> -<p>Prescott started at this, and looked uneasy. “You -there?”</p> -<p><a name="page199"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -199</span>“I was the man who took charge of the remains of -that unfortunate lady.”</p> -<p>“Is it possible—I never suspected I had seen you -previous to our meeting in the car. What did you -accomplish?”</p> -<p>“The thing I desired. The world will never know -that lady died anywhere but in her own house.”</p> -<p>“Then you have done a good thing, sir.”</p> -<p>“We detectives are employed to do deeds of mercy as well -as those of justice and duty. I bid you good day, Mr. -Prescott.”</p> -<p>He had nothing more to say.</p> -<p>The man was not one to argue with, and having made up his mind -all the powers of heaven and earth could not change it.</p> -<p>This Eric read on his face, and saw in his -manner—Prescott was as stubborn as a mule in all he -undertook, which perhaps in a measure accounted for his -success.</p> -<p>The detective was disappointed.</p> -<p>He had hoped for much and gained nothing, since the other was -so set in his ways as to be defiant.</p> -<p>As Darrell had said there was nothing left now but to let -matters run their course.</p> -<p><a name="page200"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 200</span>The -puzzle had become deeper than ever to him, and he now accepted it -without any very strong attempt at solving the enigma.</p> -<p>He could not understand how Lillian could love such a man as -Prescott in preference to her husband, except on the theory that -the artist possessed some terrible power over her which she was -incapable of resisting.</p> -<p>Sadly he left the building.</p> -<p>The game must go on now to the inevitable -conclusion—some one would get hurt, but that was to be -expected.</p> -<p>What he regretted most of all was the shock to poor Joe.</p> -<p>Strange how such an honest, good fellow, making a husband -beyond all reproach, should be thus afflicted.</p> -<p>It often happens in life. Then men who deserve little -are given wives a thousand times too good for them.</p> -<p>All are not mated who are married, any more with regard to -their character than in their stature—we often see a little -man and a tall woman going along arm in arm and smile as we think -how incongruous it seems, never reflecting that their natures may -be more in harmony than the well-mated pair ahead.</p> -<p><a name="page201"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 201</span>The -detective believed that the guilty couple had some plan matured, -and that they meant to make their flight that night.</p> -<p>Indications pointed to it.</p> -<p>He resolved then, to checkmate them, and make the thing a -failure.</p> -<p>Under no condition should Lillian be allowed to go forth.</p> -<p>Eric endeavored to picture Joe’s wife in her confusion, -when the mask was torn off.</p> -<p>Would she prove a firebrand?</p> -<p>He did not believe it. It seemed utterly impossible for -a sweet, mild-mannered little woman like Lillian to develop into -a fury.</p> -<p>No doubt, when she found that her secret was known, she would -collapse in a heap at the feet of her husband, and he—well, -Eric believed Joe was fool enough to take her in his arms and -forgive her.</p> -<p>How could he learn what their plans were?</p> -<p>He was thus pondering when he saw a figure in front of him -that he thought he recognized. It was the trim maid who had -given Prescott the note before.</p> -<p>Of course Eric might be mistaken—there were many other -like maids besides Mrs. Leslie’s <a -name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 202</span>particular, -but having the subject in his mind he jumped to the conclusion -that this must be the same party he had seen before.</p> -<p>She was walking along slowly, looking up at the numbers of the -great buildings as if searching for a particular one.</p> -<p>Undoubtedly she was looking for the building in which the -artist had his studio.</p> -<p>Quick as a flash a plan came into the detective’s -mind.</p> -<p>What should she be looking for Prescott for but to deliver a -note?</p> -<p>He intercepted her.</p> -<p>When he saw her face he discovered that she was an exceedingly -youthful looking person to be about thirty years of age, as Joe -had declared—had he been asked to guess it he would have -said seventeen.</p> -<p>Appearances are deceitful, however, especially when women are -concerned.</p> -<p>As he came face to face with the girl, he smiled—she did -not look offended.</p> -<p>“I beg your pardon, but are you looking for the office -of Paul Prescott?”</p> -<p>She seemed surprised.</p> -<p>“How did you know, sir?”</p> -<p><a name="page203"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -203</span>“Because I am a friend of his with authority to -receive the note you have and keep it for him. I presume it -is from the same party as the one you gave him last -evening.”</p> -<p>“You know about that, too?”</p> -<p>“Of course—I saw it. Give me the note and -tell the lady Paul has it, as he will in half an hour.”</p> -<p>“But—I—”</p> -<p>“The note, girl.”</p> -<p>She met his eyes, placed a note in his hand and turning sped -away, while the detective chuckled to think what a cunning little -god Fortune was after all.</p> -<h2><a name="page204"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -204</span>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">FORTUNE’S FAVORS</span></h2> -<p>At least luck favored him and Eric could not say anything -against the sudden whirl of the wheel that had left him in such -an advantageous position.</p> -<p>He was naturally anxious to scan the note he held and learn -its contents.</p> -<p>Looking around he saw a candy and ice cream saloon near by, -where many ladies and few gentlemen passed in.</p> -<p>He believed, as the fall day was warm, that he could enjoy a -plate of cream, so he entered, selecting a table in a corner that -was isolated.</p> -<p>Here he gave his order, and while enjoying his cream opened -the note.</p> -<p>It was sealed in the envelope, but the gum had stuck poorly, -and he could easily open it with his knife blade.</p> -<p>Once the contents lay open before him he read: “To-night -then it shall be. We are to have <a -name="page205"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 205</span>company at -our house. I cannot get my trunk out without arousing his -suspicions so I have sent everything to the place you named in -packages by my maid. Have the carriage around the -corner. I will slip out while the gayety is at its height, -meet you at the door and in a minute we will be beyond his -reach. He has been cruel to me, I fear him, and yet I love -you, Paul, and will be yours forever.”</p> -<p>This time no signature.</p> -<p>The writer was learning caution.</p> -<p>Even initials might be dangerous.</p> -<p>As for Eric, he read this note over again with the deepest -pain and surprise.</p> -<p>“She means to leave him—there is no doubt of that, -but what can she have reference to when she speaks of his -cruelty? Joe cruel—Joe, the kindest, mildest, dearest -fellow, I ever knew. He could only be cruel by -kindness. Either he has done too much for her, or else she -is not in her right mind. If that man is cruel then -Prescott is a devil, I’m sure. I would that the -writer of this could find out the truth—it would serve her -well if we let her go on and reap as she has sown but for the -sake of my poor friend she must be saved.”</p> -<p><a name="page206"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 206</span>He -took out an old envelope and with a pencil copied the note -verbatim.</p> -<p>Then he enclosed the original in the envelope, sealed it up, -saw that the address was correct, and was ready to have it -delivered.</p> -<p>When he issued forth from the confectionary, he looked about -him until he saw a bright appearing district messenger boy -sauntering along in the manner peculiar to his kind.</p> -<p>This youth he beckoned to his side.</p> -<p>“Can you spare five minutes, boy?”</p> -<p>The other grinned and nodded.</p> -<p>“Make it up later, mister.”</p> -<p>“All right. Here is a note, it is to be taken to -the top floor of this number and delivered into the hands of Mr. -Prescott, the artist. You can take the elevator -up.”</p> -<p>“All right, boss.”</p> -<p>“You are to tell him a girl dressed in black and wearing -a little maid’s cap on her head gave you the -note.”</p> -<p>“Fine looking’ maid you are, mister.”</p> -<p>“Never mind—do as I say. Here’s -fifteen cents. If you come and report to me the result, I -have a quarter more for you.”</p> -<p>“Hey! I’m off like the limited -express.”</p> -<p><a name="page207"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 207</span>So -saying he took note and money and plunged into the building with -hot haste, determined to win the prize offered.</p> -<p>Eric waited patiently.</p> -<p>He knew he would see the boy again.</p> -<p>That silver quarter would serve as a magnet to draw him back -to the spot.</p> -<p>Eric had not studied human nature thus long without being able -to guess certain things, and in this instance his surmise proved -correct.</p> -<p>Before the ten minutes had elapsed he saw the messenger boy -come flying along in a way that must have amazed any person who -had grown accustomed to the usual methods of these lads.</p> -<p>“Here you are, sir. Right side up with care. -Found him in, and delivered the note.”</p> -<p>The grin on the boy’s face declared also that he had -been paid for his work by the artist, but this was none of -Eric’s business.</p> -<p>He took out a quarter.</p> -<p>“See here now, boy, I want you to prove what you -say. What did you do?”</p> -<p>“Knocked on the door—a cove opened it—asked -him if Paul Prescott was in—said as how he was the -same—handed him the letter—he <a -name="page208"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 208</span>opened it, -grinned, and gave me a shiner. Then I vamosed the ranch and -came to you.”</p> -<p>“Did he ask you where you got it?”</p> -<p>“I told him the girl in black racket, which was really -the worst I ever heard, but the fellow seemed to swallow it -without question.”</p> -<p>“Describe the gentleman.”</p> -<p>This was the crucial test.</p> -<p>The boy obeyed without hesitation, and speedily proved that he -must have seen and conversed with the artist himself.</p> -<p>After that Eric had no good reason for longer withholding the -promised reward, which was quickly stowed away in the lad’s -pocket.</p> -<p>The artist’s interview had not resulted in all that he -expected, but he could not say it had been barren of -profit. Then again what followed had made up in a measure -for his defeat.</p> -<p>He knew the enemy’s plans.</p> -<p>Thus it would not be such a tremendous job to defeat -them. Should Joe know?</p> -<p>He believed it would be policy to put him on his guard, and in -that way the plotting of the enemy would prove less -profitable. So it was to end to-night.</p> -<p>A carriage was to be in waiting at the corner, <a -name="page209"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 209</span>and while -Joe’s attention was taken up with entertaining his guests, -his wife would slip out and meet her lover.</p> -<p>Here was a chance for a little diplomacy.</p> -<p>For instance, perhaps it could be arranged that the real -Prescott be kidnapped or otherwise kept out of the way, while Joe -dressed himself up to resemble the other.</p> -<p>Then he could carry off his own wife, and at the proper time -reveal his identity, and teach her a terrible lesson.</p> -<p>That would all be decidedly picturesque and highly dramatic, -but there were a number of obstacles to it that would have to be -overcome ere they could accomplish the best result.</p> -<p>These difficulties were of such a nature that it seemed as -though they could not be overcome.</p> -<p>Darrell cast around him to see whether there was not some -other means handy.</p> -<p>How would it do to have the artist arrested on some charge -when on the way to the place of meeting?</p> -<p>He decided against this on the spot, for it was very apt to -make the whole affair public gossip for the newspapers, something -Joe would rather cut off his right hand than have occur.</p> -<p><a name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 210</span>Next -in order he thought that Lillian might be given something to make -her sleepy or have such a headache that she could never carry out -her part of the arrangement; but this was offensive to his -official taste—he felt as though it was retreating before -the attack, and it was not his intention to do this.</p> -<p>Finally he decided to see Joe—perhaps the other would -suggest something that might open up a plausible -scheme—some little hint dropped in conversation would give -Eric the clew he was looking for.</p> -<p>Joe was still in his office.</p> -<p>He looked surprised to see his friend, and yet made no -remark.</p> -<p>In spite of his effort to appear cheerful, the keen eye of the -detective could see the traces of acute suffering in his -face.</p> -<p>“I’ve been to see that man, Joe,” he -said.</p> -<p>“You have?”</p> -<p>“Yes, I thought it might be best for all concerned if I -could shame him into giving up his design.”</p> -<p>“That was too bad, Eric, I would have forbidden it had I -known your intention.”</p> -<p>“I know it. The thought came to me after I had -seen you. I am sorry now I went.”</p> -<p><a name="page211"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -211</span>“You failed?”</p> -<p>“I did indeed.”</p> -<p>“Well, don’t be afraid to tell me. You see -I’m calm and collected.”</p> -<p>Eric could not but notice this, but he did not like it.</p> -<p>In his mind it seemed like the awful stillness that precedes -the hurricane.</p> -<p>He had no excuse for withholding anything so he told Joe what -had occurred. “That man is an accomplished -scoundrel,” the other said, quietly.</p> -<p>“I believe that myself, but don’t be afraid of our -not mastering him. I discovered one of his weak points -after leaving him.”</p> -<p>“Trust you for that—what was it?”</p> -<p>Eric proceeded to tell of his adventure. “Show me -the duplicate,” said Joe, trembling with emotion.</p> -<p>When he had hastily read the copy Darrell had made, he uttered -a low cry of despair. “Yes, it is so,” he -muttered.</p> -<p>“What?”</p> -<p>“We are to have company to-night. It is my -birthday, as I told you, and my wife said she had invited a few -relatives and friends in to <a name="page212"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 212</span>spend the evening—an informal -affair with a little supper of coffee, cakes and ice cream. -Yes, it is all a deep-laid scheme—and on my birthday -too. Oh! Lillian, my wife, how could you!”</p> -<p>His arms lay upon the table, and he let his head fall heavily -upon them.</p> -<p>Eric turned to the window and smoked his cigar in silence.</p> -<p>He had the deepest respect for the grief of his -friend—it was the keenest misery a human soul can meet here -below—death causes many pangs, but not the bitter blank -that comes when one is betrayed by the individual he or she had -been ready to die for.</p> -<p>Yes, from the hour the base Judas betrayed his loving Master, -human misery has never known a lower depth than this.</p> -<p>For five minutes Joe fought his battle all alone, and then he -looked up.</p> -<p>His face was set and calm, as though he had conquered -again.</p> -<p>It was a bitter struggle and wearing upon him but he must go -through to the end.</p> -<p>“Eric, I am ready to converse again. Pardon my -weakness, old friend, but this is a cruel business. I did -not think I was such a baby.</p> -<p><a name="page213"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -213</span>“Baby! Great heavens! man, you bear it -twice as well as I could. Such a thing would have murdered -me outright.”</p> -<p>They began talking again.</p> -<p>Eric spoke of his unformed plans, and between them they began -to patch up a scheme by means of which the end they sought would -be attained without publicity.</p> -<p>What it was we shall not disclose just now, leaving that for -the proper time.</p> -<p>At any rate it seemed to give poor Joe some satisfaction to -think he was able to circumvent the villain who had destroyed his -peace of mind.</p> -<p>“After all, it might be better for me to challenge that -man, and kill him,” he said moodily.</p> -<p>“Yes, or leave Lillian a widow, at the mercy of any -adventurer. Besides, in that way the whole dreadful story -would get into the papers, and you could not live in New York -even if that artist failed to murder you. No, you will find -that the plan we have arranged is the best after all.”</p> -<p>“You are undoubtedly right, Eric—consider it -settled, and prepare to carry it out. We will end this -agony this night and that devil shall learn what he risks in -attempting to steal another man’s treasure.”</p> -<p><a name="page214"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -214</span>“You will not fail me, Joe?”</p> -<p>“It shall be the effort of my life, Darrell, to -succeed. Have no fears of me—my pride has been -aroused. It is not the weak lover but the outraged husband -who speaks now.”</p> -<h2><a name="page215"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -215</span>CHAPTER XIX<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE TIME DRAWS NEAR</span></h2> -<p>For once Joe Leslie was thoroughly aroused, and the detective -knew he need have no fears of him again.</p> -<p>Whatever he was given to do he would carry out to the -letter.</p> -<p>So they noted with something of satisfaction that the day was -drawing to a close, and the night coming on, for their hour could -not be reached until darkness had for some time settled down over -the great city.</p> -<p>Both were anxious to have the thing over.</p> -<p>It did not give them much pleasure, and all their satisfaction -arose in the thought that justice and right would triumph when -the man who had plotted against the peace of a home went down -among his idols of clay.</p> -<p>In these modern days men have to do strange things when the -sanctity of their house has been invaded by a human serpent.</p> -<p><a name="page216"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -216</span>Sometimes the stern arm of the law is called upon for -assistance.</p> -<p>Now and then, however, we read of some outraged husband going -back to old time principles and being a law unto himself on such -an occasion.</p> -<p>Long ago they had a means of avenging such wrongs by meeting -in the lists with lance or sword—in short, fighting a -duel.</p> -<p>The modern way is perhaps the best if least chivalric since it -is all in favor of the man who has been wronged, and does not -risk his life.</p> -<p>We have seen that Joe was not modern in his ways.</p> -<p>The last thing he desired on earth was to make his misery -public.</p> -<p>His love for his wife was wonderful—he only blamed the -man who had gained such power over her mind as to make her -irresponsible. Just as though there were wizards -to-day—the times of Salem witchcraft have not returned to -haunt us again, thank heaven.</p> -<p>Joe really did believe—and the shrewd detective allowed -the same idea to permeate his own mind to a certain -extent—that it was a case where a weak mind was dominated -by a masterful one. <a name="page217"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 217</span>He had known such cases, and seen -examples of hypnotism that had astonished him.</p> -<p>Thus he excused Lillian.</p> -<p>While Eric did not go that far, he believed there were -extenuating circumstances connected with the case, and was -willing to look upon it all in a most lenient way.</p> -<p>Probably he would have acted in a different manner had it been -his own wife who was concerned in the affair.</p> -<p>That was a matter that brought the business down to mere -speculation, and when it reached this point it became -unprofitable.</p> -<p>When the detective left his friend he had everything -arranged.</p> -<p>As far as human sight could see beyond, all was ready for the -business in hand.</p> -<p>Should Paul Prescott attempt to put his little game into -practice he would find himself brought up rather suddenly.</p> -<p>There was an hour or so of daylight left, and this Eric put to -good advantage, as he had a number of little things to do.</p> -<p>One cannot engage to carry out a scheme like this without many -accessories being needed, and the wise man looks for these before -the time arrives for their use.</p> -<p><a name="page218"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -218</span>Gradually the day gave way to evening. Darrell -believed all was arranged.</p> -<p>He felt satisfied that before another day came around, -Joe’s condition would be changed—this night was the -crisis—either his spirits must go down or else rise -suddenly.</p> -<p>All depended on one person.</p> -<p>This was Lillian.</p> -<p>To him she was the one object that could affect his -future—the lodestone that drew him on.</p> -<p>When he had made his preparations and eaten a light supper -down town, Eric started for the scene of the coming comedy.</p> -<p>He could not pierce the future any more than any other human, -and hence knew not whether it would remain such or prove to be a -tragedy.</p> -<p>Coming events may often cast their shadows before, but there -are times when the sun is so nearly in the zenith that this -shadow does not amount to very much.</p> -<p>Besides, what does a shadow amount to anyhow—it is not -tangible, and presents no opportunity for solution.</p> -<p>For once at least in his life the detective confessed himself -unable to insure the future.</p> -<p><a name="page219"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 219</span>He -knew certain facts, and that others would coalesce, but what the -result would be he did not pretend to be chemist enough to -decide.</p> -<p>Time alone would tell.</p> -<p>That was the physician who could be depended upon to bind up -broken hearts, to solve the deepest mysteries and set everything -right.</p> -<p>Given time, nothing was impossible.</p> -<p>As the shades of evening descended, Darrell brought up in the -neighborhood of the building on Fourteenth Street where the -artist’s studio was located.</p> -<p>He was passing slowly by when a hack drove up and stopped at -the curb.</p> -<p>“Engaged?” he asked the driver.</p> -<p>“Sorry, sir, but I am,” returned that -worthy. A jehu always hates to lose a fare.</p> -<p>“Can’t accommodate me up town?”</p> -<p>“Right away?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Where to?”</p> -<p>“About Eighty-fourth and Third Avenue.”</p> -<p>The man’s face lighted up—Darrell was -answered—he saw a chance of doubling his fare. -“I reckon the other’d make no objection. Pay me -first, and I’ll tell him I was taken by you.”</p> -<p><a name="page220"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -220</span>“How much?”</p> -<p>“One, fifty.”</p> -<p>Without a murmur the detective handed over the amount, -submitting to be robbed in order to carry out his point.</p> -<p>Of course he was disguised.</p> -<p>No one would for a moment imagine that this old gentleman was -the same athletic individual who had visited Prescott in his -studio, and argued with him over a revolver.</p> -<p>The clocks were striking seven as he entered the hack and made -himself comfortable.</p> -<p>Along the wide pavement hundreds were still hurrying, although -the swarms from all the great stores had long since passed -by.</p> -<p>Presently from out the building the artist came. He -looked worried, and well he might.</p> -<p>When a man sets out to steal another man’s wife he risks -a great deal.</p> -<p>It must weigh upon his mind, even the personal danger -involved, though his conscience be free.</p> -<p>Darrell recognized this fact, and did not wonder at the look -of anxiety he saw upon the countenance of the artist.</p> -<p>The latter looked up and down the street ere <a -name="page221"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 221</span>catching -sight of the hack at the curb. Then a smile came upon his -face.</p> -<p>He walked up to the driver, spoke a few words, frowned when -the other mentioned having another passenger, saw no other -vehicle in sight that he could engage, glanced in at the seeming -old man, and then, grumbling, entered.</p> -<p>“I trust I have not inconvenienced you, sir,” -remarked the old gentleman, anxiously.</p> -<p>“Not at all, not at all,” replied the artist -courteously, though his manner had belied his words.</p> -<p>They rumbled along.</p> -<p>Block after block was left behind.</p> -<p>It is a long distance from Fourteenth Street up to the point -where they were bound, and when half an hour had gone by they had -not yet reached their destination.</p> -<p>Indeed, it was not far from eight o’clock when the -driver pulled up at the corner.</p> -<p>The old gentleman got out slowly.</p> -<p>He bade his traveling companion good night and turning walked -away, his cane beating a lively tattoo upon the stone -pavement.</p> -<p>Darrell was satisfied with his investment thus far—he -had been carried up town, had seen the <a -name="page222"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 222</span>artist well -upon his way, and knew both driver and vehicle by sight.</p> -<p>There could not very well be any mistake after this—he -believed things were well laid out, and that all they needed was -a chance to execute their plan.</p> -<p>He again changed his looks, so that in case the artist saw him -he would not realize that he had met him before.</p> -<p>With the facilities at his command it was not a difficult -thing for him to do this, and by means of a few deft turns he -completely altered his character, and might defy recognition, -even were keener eyes concerned than those of Paul Prescott, the -artist.</p> -<p>When this had been done Darrell walked up the avenue, and soon -came to the corner where, as he expected, he found the -vehicle.</p> -<p>Prescott was not in sight.</p> -<p>Some two hours must elapse before the time arranged would -pass.</p> -<p>The driver had also vanished, no doubt being in a liquor store -near by, where he could wet his whistle, lounge at his ease and -watch his team at the same time.</p> -<p>His horses would have a good chance to rest <a -name="page223"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 223</span>before they -were needed again, and this was probably one reason why the -artist had him on hand at such an early hour.</p> -<p>When young Lochinvar carried off his bride he managed to have -a good steed, knowing that everything depended on the swiftness -of his flight, as pursuit would be sudden and furious.</p> -<p>So Paul Prescott, with an eye to possible emergencies, had -chosen a vehicle that was drawn by a good team of animals.</p> -<p>He showed his wisdom here.</p> -<p>In case of pursuit it might be his salvation.</p> -<p>When the detective sauntered past the house upon which his -interest was centered he saw that it was lighted up.</p> -<p>Company was expected.</p> -<p>Lillian had invited a few particular friends in to see them, -on account of its being Joe’s birthday.</p> -<p>As yet they had not begun to arrive, but would soon appear -upon the scene.</p> -<p>Darrell heard a vehicle coming, and stopped in a dark spot -near by.</p> -<p>“The first of the guests,” he muttered.</p> -<p>As the carriage stopped in front of the house he gave a -start.</p> -<p><a name="page224"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -224</span>“Jupiter! guests with trunks—that’s -odd.” There was a trunk up beside the driver, who at -once leaped to the ground.</p> -<p>As he opened the door a vision of jaunty wraps and bonnets -sprang out and flew up the steps to ring the bell, while Darrell -held his breath as he guessed the truth.</p> -<p>The door opened.</p> -<p>“Marian!”</p> -<p>A flutter of feminine apparel, a little shriek of girlish -delight, and the sisters were locked in each others’ arms, -to the wonderment of the man who watched below.</p> -<p>Then the jehu carried in the trunk, the door closed, the -carriage rumbled away and the street resumed its wonted -appearance.</p> -<p>Eric was puzzled.</p> -<p>He had not counted on this.</p> -<p>Had any of the others?</p> -<p>What effect would it have on the anticipated elopement, he -wondered.</p> -<p>Here was the lover with his vehicle on hand, and such a nature -as Paul Prescott’s would not brook interference.</p> -<p>The affair became more complicated.</p> -<p>Darrell would have given something to have had the next two -hours over.</p> -<p><a name="page225"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 225</span>As it -was he had to possess his soul in patience and wait.</p> -<p>Things that he did not dream of were fated to turn up in that -time, and he was bound to have his hands full.</p> -<p>Guests soon began to arrive. Several came in carriages, -while others were not far enough away to bother with -vehicles.</p> -<p>It was no fashionable gathering, but one of warm friends, of -whom Joe Leslie had many.</p> -<p>His business and social life was such that he drew people to -him, making many friends and few enemies, which is after all the -only true way to go through this world.</p> -<h2><a name="page226"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -226</span>CHAPTER XX<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">FOR PLUNDER</span></h2> -<p>At about a quarter to nine Darrell once more sauntered past -the house.</p> -<p>He could see into the parlor, as the inside shutters were -turned, and with a number of others he was attracted by the -bright scene.</p> -<p>Although perhaps he would not confess it, the bachelor -detective was eagerly hoping for even a fleeting glimpse of -Marian.</p> -<p>He got it too.</p> -<p>After having seen the photograph Lillian had shown him, he -knew he could not be mistaken.</p> -<p>The girl stood for half a minute in direct focus from his -place of observation, and the gas-light fell full upon her face -and figure.</p> -<p>Darrell drew in a long breath.</p> -<p>“That settles it,” he muttered, “I’ll -try—unless this other affair takes the heart out of -me.”</p> -<p>He had lived between thirty-five and forty years without ever -having a serious love scrape; but <a name="page227"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 227</span>an inward monitor told him his time -had come at last.</p> -<p>The little god plays all manner of pranks with his victims, -and although Eric Darrell had eluded his sway so long, it would -all be made up to him presently.</p> -<p>As Marian stood there she was joined by a second figure.</p> -<p>This was Joe.</p> -<p>Eric scanned his face eagerly, as best he could under the -circumstances.</p> -<p>“Thank heaven! Joe is calm. He has aroused -his energies. No danger of his giving out when the crucial -test comes,” he muttered.</p> -<p>Joe Leslie did appear self-possessed, but it was easy to be -seen that he was not himself this evening.</p> -<p>His wife accounted for it to the friends about her by stating -that Joe had been overworking himself lately, and that morning he -complained of a severe headache.</p> -<p>She did not seem to suspect that she had given him cause for -his breakdown.</p> -<p>None are so blind as those who refuse to see. It might -be this or innocence that caused her to ignore the truth.</p> -<p><a name="page228"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 228</span>Eric, -with a sigh, passed on.</p> -<p>He had seen Lillian join the others, and the trio gave him a -strange feeling.</p> -<p>“So fair, and yet so false. How can a man trust a -woman when he has such a terrible example before his -eyes—and her sister too.”</p> -<p>He soon forgot all this. Something else attracted his -attention, and he found that there was need of his care. A -couple of sinister-looking men passed the house and looked -in.</p> -<p>He saw them conversing eagerly together a minute or two later -just beyond.</p> -<p>At first an idea sprang into his head that they might be men -hired by Prescott to create a disturbance and delay pursuit after -the latter had succeeded in reaching his carriage with -Lillian.</p> -<p>If this were so, he must take them into his calculations and -watch them closely. That their conversation concerned the -house where the little gathering was taking place was beyond all -doubt, for their motions attested this.</p> -<p>Then they moved off.</p> -<p>Eric did not believe they had gone, and he followed them with -his eyes.</p> -<p>They slipped into a vacant lot near by, and the detective -began to get a new idea.</p> -<p><a name="page229"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -229</span>Perhaps these fellows were not in the employ of the -artist after all, but skirmishing around on their own hook.</p> -<p>That meant knavery.</p> -<p>He was aroused.</p> -<p>To follow them was his first thought.</p> -<p>Stealing down to the vacant lot he too vanished amid its -blackness.</p> -<p>At first he could see and hear nothing, but in a few minutes -he caught a clew, and found that the two men had gone to the -fence separating the vacant lot from Joe’s back yard.</p> -<p>Some old wagons and drays were scattered here and there about -the place, for it presented an admirable wagon yard.</p> -<p>Such is cosmopolitan New York.</p> -<p>The palace often touches the hovel.</p> -<p>Some of the aristocrats up town can look out from their -magnificent houses, and survey the shanty of the squatter built -on the rocks, where the agile goat browses on old shoes and empty -cans.</p> -<p>Some day this will not be, but it is so now, and a source of -wonder to foreigners.</p> -<p>Darrell began to pick his way through the wagon yard, careful -to proceed without noise, <a name="page230"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 230</span>for when men are bent upon an -unlawful errand it does not take much of a sound to cause -palpitation of the heart, and he did not want to have their death -on his hands—just yet.</p> -<p>They seemed to be surveying the scene from the rear.</p> -<p>It was undoubtedly their intention to make some sort of a haul -here.</p> -<p>The silver might be lying around loose, or even some jewelry -in the upper rooms—men of their trade do not discriminate, -so long as what they seize upon has a specific value.</p> -<p>First, last and all the time, what they want is the cold -cash.</p> -<p>It was certain that they must be frightened away, and that at -once.</p> -<p>His other business was too important to allow him the pleasure -of playing with these fellows, much as he might have enjoyed -it.</p> -<p>Under these circumstances he worked his way close to where -they crouched.</p> -<p>He could hear them working with a chisel or burglar’s -tool of some sort—they were prying off a board from the -fence, so that they might easily pass through when they -desired.</p> -<p>It would be a good route for flight, also, after their object -was attained.</p> -<p><a name="page231"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 231</span>So -interested were they in the task that they did not have the -faintest suspicion of the presence of any one.</p> -<p>Darrell could hear their low words.</p> -<p>“Bill, this here promises to be a lucky strike,” -said one, in a low tone.</p> -<p>Bill muttered a reply.</p> -<p>“Well, I’m of the opinion, Bill, as we’ll -have a good whack at some valuables. Ye see, the guests are -all in there—if we can deceive the gal below and slip -upstairs there ought to be fat pickings for fellers of our -size.”</p> -<p>“Softly, partner, softly—there’s another in -this here game you ain’t counted on.”</p> -<p>As these words reached their ears, the two men muttered -exclamations of dismay.</p> -<p>“Who the deuce is it?”</p> -<p>“Where in thunder is he?”</p> -<p>“I’m right here. You fellows are treading on -my corns. This is my pasture—get out.”</p> -<p>“Not much we won’t. We’ll slit your -wizen first, I reckon. We’re in this here game now -for keeps,” growled the man named Bill.</p> -<p>“Then you must go snacks. I’ll furnish the -information, and you do the work—an equalization of -labor—ain’t that fair?”</p> -<p><a name="page232"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -232</span>“What d’ye know, critter?”</p> -<p>“Where the silver is kept—it ain’t been -brought out yet awhile, and by a little bold work the hull of it -can be spirited away.”</p> -<p>At this the two men can hardly restrain their delight.</p> -<p>“Lead us to it, and the third is yourn.”</p> -<p>“You’re on the steal, then?”</p> -<p>“Ready to take anything that counts.”</p> -<p>“This is the steel I deal in.”</p> -<p>One of the men, the fellow nearest him, felt something like a -piece of ice pressed against his left temple.</p> -<p>He put up his hand.</p> -<p>The investigation did not afford him any particular pleasure, -for what he touched sent a shiver through his whole frame.</p> -<p>It was a cold revolver.</p> -<p>“Move a hand or a foot and you are a dead man. And -you also,” to the other fellow.</p> -<p>The board had just come off in this latter chap’s arms, -and light from the house poured through the opening in a stream -that was strong enough to show him the situation.</p> -<p>He dared not drop the board, and he was also prevented from -attacking the unknown.</p> -<p><a name="page233"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 233</span>Eric -was master of the situation.</p> -<p>“Now see here, men, listen to me.”</p> -<p>“Go ahead!” growled one.</p> -<p>“In mercy’s name don’t press that -trigger,” groaned the other.</p> -<p>Darrell had to smile at the sudden termination to which -circumstances had brought the bold raid of the two sneak -thieves.</p> -<p>They had come after plunder, but found something more awaiting -them.</p> -<p>The little scheme, concocted on the spur of the moment, had -been driven into obscurity.</p> -<p>“I am a detective, watching this house.”</p> -<p>Both men groaned.</p> -<p>“Fools we was.”</p> -<p>“And although I’m going to let you go this time, -if I see either of you here again you’ll make a bee-line -for the Tombs.”</p> -<p>“Don’t worry, mister—if we get off this time -we’ll make ourselves scarce. It gives me a chill to -think of Sing Sing.”</p> -<p>“You ought to get the chill before you start on such an -expedition, and not after you are caught. You know that -when ‘the devil was sick, the devil a monk would be; but -when the devil got well, the devil a monk was -he’.”</p> -<p><a name="page234"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -234</span>“Kin we go, mister?”</p> -<p>“Yes—pass out the front door, gentlemen, just as -you came in. And, remember, once goes a long way with -me—if you show up here again, down you go to Centre -Street.”</p> -<p>“Thank ye, boss.”</p> -<p>The men crept quickly away—indeed, their haste was -really ludicrous, for they seemed to have a deep-rooted fear lest -he might be tempted to change his mind.</p> -<p>But under the circumstances Eric was quite satisfied to see -them safely off the premises.</p> -<p>His other work would take up his attention, and he could not -expect to amuse himself with such side-shows as these.</p> -<p>He once more made his way to the street.</p> -<p>As before a little knot of curious people stood in front of -the house gazing in. The glimpses they caught of beautiful -women and brave men were a revelation to them. It was like -looking into Paradise. Otherwise the street was quiet.</p> -<p>A train boomed past on the elevated road below. Eric -looked at his watch. It was a quarter past nine.</p> -<p>Three-quarters of an hour still remained, and then would come -the grand climax.</p> -<p><a name="page235"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 235</span>He -began to breathe easier, for time was passing, and he felt sure -their plans would come out all right.</p> -<p>Sauntering to the corner he saw the hack still there as he had -left it.</p> -<p>The driver was sitting inside now.</p> -<p>He knew his orders and only waited for the proper time to -arrive.</p> -<p>Where was Prescott?</p> -<p>Eric had expected to see him scouting around the Leslie -mansion, but if the artist was there he had kept his person well -concealed. Not yet had Eric doubted the motives that -brought the other here.</p> -<p>Everything seemed to fit as snugly as though it had been made -for it—when a carpenter makes a neat job he dove-tails the -corners, and Darrell looked upon the many little things that -connected so wonderfully, as the finishing touches of the -joiner.</p> -<p>If a thunder cloud burst upon him it would certainly take him -unawares, while the cool rain might be very acceptable.</p> -<p>He began to count the minutes.</p> -<p>Seldom had this man ever felt any such thing as nervousness in -his life, but just now he <a name="page236"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 236</span>certainly experienced a spell of -it. The minutes seemed hours.</p> -<p>People walked along the street—he scrutinized every one -as though he expected to see a ghost appear.</p> -<p>In reality he was looking for Prescott.</p> -<p>It worried him to know that the man was somewhere around and -yet out of sight, though he did not doubt but what he would be on -hand when needed.</p> -<h2><a name="page237"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -237</span>CHAPTER XXI<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE COTTAGE BEYOND THE HARLEM</span></h2> -<p>Sometimes things do not run quite as smoothly as we hope -for.</p> -<p>The best laid plans of mice and men often go -wrong—there’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and -the lip.</p> -<p>So it happened on the present occasion.</p> -<p>It was all owing to a certain clock which had taken a notion -to get ahead of its fellows and was some ten minutes fast.</p> -<p>A lamp set Chicago on fire.</p> -<p>So this unlucky clock upset the beautiful plans of the wily -detective, as he believed, and came near leaving him in the -lurch.</p> -<p>By chance he was down near the corner when suddenly he saw a -female hurrying that way.</p> -<p>A long cloak concealed her figure, but a handsome dress of -white silk peeped below—a heavy veil had been snatched up -to hide her face and serve in lieu of a hat at the same time.</p> -<p><a name="page238"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 238</span>Where -she came from he hardly knew, but a terrible fear almost palsied -him.</p> -<p>It was Lillian!</p> -<p>She had come ahead of time—Joe would not be ready, and -as a result confusion must ensue.</p> -<p>Luckily the detective was a man able to grasp an -emergency.</p> -<p>He never yet had seen the time when he was so taken by -surprise that his mind refused to do its work.</p> -<p>Just then there was need of quick thought, and action must -follow on its heels.</p> -<p>Hardly had the woman paused upon the corner than a dark figure -sprang out of the shadows near by.</p> -<p>“Paul!” she whispered.</p> -<p>“Good heavens! you are ten minutes ahead of time, -darling. I would have met you at the place appointed -had—” the rush of a train drowned what else he -said.</p> -<p>Then the detective saw him assist the now shrinking figure -toward the carriage.</p> -<p>“He will be furious,” he heard her say, as she -looked apprehensively around, as though anticipating the -appearance of an enraged husband on the scene.</p> -<p><a name="page239"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 239</span>If -these were her sensations now, what of the future—remorse -must soon kill her.</p> -<p>“He had better keep his hands off, or I will teach him a -lesson! The cowardly cur, to bully you so. Enter, -darling—you are safe with me.”</p> -<p>Eric’s first impulse was for blood.</p> -<p>He felt strongly inclined to spring forward and grapple with -this boaster, who breathed such lies of Joe in his wife’s -ears.</p> -<p>Then another thought came.</p> -<p>Such a public scene would immediately collect a crowd at the -corner, and Lillian’s name would be dragged in the -dust.</p> -<p>The world has no mercy upon a woman who leaves her husband and -runs away with another man—the latter loses no caste, but -she, poor creature, can never climb up again.</p> -<p>That is the law of human justice—woman was given a -nobler, purer nature than man, and when she sins it is -unpardonable.</p> -<p>It has been so ever since the world was, and will be the same -always.</p> -<p>While Eric struggled between what he desired to do and what -policy dictated, the choice was taken from him altogether.</p> -<p>Fate decided.</p> -<p><a name="page240"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -240</span>Prescott had placed his charge in the hack and entered -himself.</p> -<p>The driver slammed the door, and mounted nimbly to his -box.</p> -<p>If Eric meant to act it must be now, or the chance was gone -forever.</p> -<p>Already the vehicle was moving.</p> -<p>Now or never!</p> -<p>Obeying a sudden impulse to make the most of a bad bargain, he -ran after the hack.</p> -<p>It had not gained much headway as yet, and Eric caught on -behind.</p> -<p>Here he conceived another one of those sudden fancies, and saw -an opportunity to climb up on top of the vehicle.</p> -<p>Fortunately for his purpose it presented good opportunities -for such gymnastic feats.</p> -<p>No one but a boy or an exceedingly agile man could have -accomplished this thing; but the detective certainly filled the -bill so far as the latter condition was concerned.</p> -<p>He pulled himself up—his feet secured a hold upon the -springs, and his hands grasped a clutch above.</p> -<p>Then he drew himself upon the top.</p> -<p>A few boys along the pavement noticed this <a -name="page241"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 241</span>but they -only supposed this was some peculiar way in which a man could -gain a seat beside the driver.</p> -<p>Those inside were too busily engaged in exchanging confidences -to notice anything.</p> -<p>As for the jehu, he was so much taken up with his horses, -avoiding obstructions for which Third Avenue is notorious, that -he never dreamed of the odd passenger he had picked up, until -Eric plumped down on the box beside him.</p> -<p>“Great Scott! where did you drop from?” he -ejaculated is dismay, looking up as if he really suspected the -unknown had rained down.</p> -<p>“Don’t worry yourself—I only climbed up over -the back,” returned Eric coolly.</p> -<p>“Then just you climb down again in a hurry, or -I’ll toss you over,” and the man, firing up after his -sudden scare, looked ugly enough to carry his threat into -execution.</p> -<p>“Some other time, old fellow—just now this place -suits me as well as any, and here I stay.”</p> -<p>The rattle of the swiftly moving vehicle over the granite -blocks would prevent any one from hearing this interesting -dialogue—the parties interested were shouting in each -other’s ears.</p> -<p>Perhaps there was something about Eric that <a -name="page242"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 242</span>aroused a -spirit of animosity in the other; but if so there must also have -been that which warned him to be exceedingly careful.</p> -<p>He showed signs of anger, and yet dared not raise his hand in -open rebellion</p> -<p>“What d’ye mean stealing a ride this -way?”</p> -<p>“Just because I please. Look down here and -you’ll see something.”</p> -<p>The quarrelsome jehu obeyed.</p> -<p>He looked—and wilted.</p> -<p>“Jupiter!”</p> -<p>This man was not the first who ever felt his courage ooze from -his finger ends at sight of a revolver.</p> -<p>“Understand me,” said the detective, sternly, -“that is for you if you give me any trouble.”</p> -<p>“A crazy man escaping—a burglar at -large!”</p> -<p>“No, sir, a detective running down his game. We -understand each other, I hope. I want a ride on your -vehicle, and if you give me any trouble I’ll land you in -the Tombs double quick as accessory to a murder.”</p> -<p>The word was quite enough.</p> -<p>It blanched the man’s cheeks and from that time on the -detective knew he would not have any trouble with him.</p> -<p><a name="page243"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 243</span>The -horses were doing their prettiest.</p> -<p>To the surprise of the detective, instead of starting down -Third Avenue, the course was up it.</p> -<p>Evidently then the artist did not mean to go either to his -studio or lodgings.</p> -<p>He had other plans in view.</p> -<p>Now Eric was given a chance to think, and he improved it -well.</p> -<p>So suddenly had this crisis been sprung upon the detective -that he had thus far only acted from impulse.</p> -<p>He must shape some sort of plan, in order to yet win the -game.</p> -<p>Those inside the hack had not the slightest suspicion of his -presence.</p> -<p>The rattle of the vehicle and their own agitation would -prevent their paying any attention to anything happening -outside.</p> -<p>As the night air was cool, all the openings had the glass in -them—this was another point in the detective’s -favor.</p> -<p>No doubt Paul Prescott was thrilled with the great victory he -had won, and believed nothing could keep him from accomplishing -the end toward which he had planned so long, little suspecting -the danger hovering near.</p> -<p><a name="page244"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 244</span>On -went the vehicle.</p> -<p>Harlem was gained, that new city that has of late years sprung -up beside the river, a part of New York, and yet really distinct -from it.</p> -<p>Darrell had once more become the cool man as of yore, ready to -grapple with this burning question, and throttle the hydra headed -monster that had crossed the track of Joe Leslie’s -wife.</p> -<p>He smiled to think what poor Joe must be doing just -then—finding Lillian really gone and the detective not on -hand. Had he given the whole thing away? Would all -his guests know that his wife had deserted him for another?</p> -<p>This was a possibility that made Eric grit his teeth and feel -angry at the peculiar chance that had cheated him of his -prey. If things had only worked as they should, the wheels -would have gone along nicely. However, Eric had learned -long ago the folly of crying over spilt milk, and when a disaster -occurred he generally set about retrieving his fortunes as well -as possible.</p> -<p>They were nearing the Harlem.</p> -<p>Would the vehicle cross the bridge and proceed up into the -country beyond?</p> -<p>Pursuit—it was folly to think of any one being able to -pursue them, at least for some time <a name="page245"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 245</span>to come, and a trail grows cold with -waiting. No wonder then the artist felt jolly.</p> -<p>He believed his plan had been a complete success, and that the -prize was his own.</p> -<p>Ah! the Harlem at last.</p> -<p>Those curved lines of lights indicated the bridge that -stretched across.</p> -<p>The horses’ feet fall upon the planking—their -course then was over the river.</p> -<p>As for Eric, he was quite indifferent now whither they took -him.</p> -<p>He had made up his mind to see this thing through and to save -Lillian for his friend and it did not matter whether the climax -came to pass in the city or country.</p> -<p>He meant it should be severe.</p> -<p>As Joe Leslie’s best friend he would teach this masher a -lesson he would never forget if he survived it. The driver -once or twice tried to strike up a conversation with him, but -Eric ordered him to pay no attention to anything but his -horses. Then a thought coming to him, he told the man that -if the gentleman inside should notice his presence and demand to -know who he was, that the driver should claim him as a friend and -let it pass.</p> -<p><a name="page246"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 246</span>This -the man said he would do—he had a horror of being concerned -in a murder trial, and this was what the other threatened him -with.</p> -<p>They crossed the bridge and continued on—houses were -plenty, gas lamps dispelled the darkness at intervals, but at the -same time there seemed to be something of the country about -them—the great metropolis with its two millions of -inhabitants, its bustle and electric lights lay behind them.</p> -<p>For a short time longer the night ride was continued, and -then, to the satisfaction of the detective, it ended.</p> -<p>They came to a quiet street.</p> -<p>The artist poked his head out of the window which he had -dropped in the door.</p> -<p>“To the left—first house you come to.”</p> -<p>“Ay, ay, sir.”</p> -<p>“Hello, there! who the deuce have you with you, -driver?” as he caught sight of Eric.</p> -<p>“A friend, sir. Thought it’d be a lonely -ride back, and took him for company,” replied jehu.</p> -<p>“All right, I suppose.”</p> -<p>That was over then, and no damage done. Now for the -next.</p> -<p>The hack drew up in front of a picturesque <a -name="page247"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 247</span>cottage, -just back from the road—as far as Eric could see it was -bowered in vines and just the place an artist might be supposed -to select, if he used his artistic taste at all.</p> -<p>Lights were in the rooms.</p> -<p>They must be expected.</p> -<p>Down jumped the driver—Eric followed close upon his -heels, for he did not mean to give the fellow any chance to -betray him, and he knew it would be human nature for the jehu to -endeavor to warn his liberal patron.</p> -<h2><a name="page248"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -248</span>CHAPTER XXII<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">ALMOST</span></h2> -<p>Again the detective showed his knowledge of the -animal—man.</p> -<p>The driver had been thinking of this very thing, and as the -artist came out of the hack first he made a great ado over -helping him. At the same time he started to say:</p> -<p>“You’d better be careful, -sir—there’s—”</p> -<p>At this moment came a pinch on his arm from the detective, and -he realized that the other was up to his little game.</p> -<p>“What’s that?” demanded Prescott.</p> -<p>By this time Eric had managed to touch one of the jehu’s -hands with the barrel of his revolver.</p> -<p>The contact sent a shudder through the other.</p> -<p>“There’s bad step here—the lady might be -hurt,” finished the driver.</p> -<p>“Oh! I’ll look after her, my man.”</p> -<p>He handed the jehu some bills. “There’s the -<a name="page249"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 249</span>amount -agreed on and ten dollars more, because you’ve been -faithful.”</p> -<p>“Thanks, your honor,” stammered the man.</p> -<p>He acted as though he was tempted to blurt out the truth and -take the consequences, but Eric managed to whisper something to -him that quieted this suicidal thought.</p> -<p>“You’ve got your money—keep quiet, and -I’ll put you in the way of ten more.”</p> -<p>That was enough.</p> -<p>The man’s sordid nature was touched—he was -mercenary to an unusual degree.</p> -<p>After that he was for earning the new fee, even at the expense -of treachery to his former patron. Prescott assisted the -lady companion of his flight out with much solicitude.</p> -<p>Still Eric did not interfere.</p> -<p>He was strongly tempted to knock the artist down, seize the -lady perhaps as she swooned, and placing her back in the vehicle, -drive to the desecrated home of his friend.</p> -<p>Something restrained him.</p> -<p>He would see more.</p> -<p>What meant the lights in the house? Something here -needed investigation, and he was the man to look into it.</p> -<p><a name="page250"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 250</span>He -saw the couple enter the yard and proceed in the direction of the -front door.</p> -<p>It opened.</p> -<p>A woman’s form stood there.</p> -<p>“Welcome, Mr. Prescott. We heard the wheels and -were sure it was you. Welcome to your home, Mrs. -—”</p> -<p>The rest died out as they went in, and the detective heard no -more.</p> -<p>He was amazed. How daring the artist was. How -openly he carried out his plans.</p> -<p>Most men would have taken a train and sped away like the wind, -fearing the terrible vengeance of an outraged husband.</p> -<p>He did not seem to realize the danger he incurred, or else had -a contempt for it.</p> -<p>Eric was in doubt whether this man was a fool or a brave -fellow.</p> -<p>Perhaps he was cunning enough to know that in all probability -the husband would seek for him at a distance, and overlook the -near places. This would be wisdom.</p> -<p>Eric now turned to the man.</p> -<p>“See here, my fine fellow, I have your number, and if -you play me false I’ll land you behind the bars inside of -twelve hours if it takes <a name="page251"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 251</span>every officer on the force to do -it. You hear what I am saying. Serve me well and what -I promised is yours. I have already paid you money -to-night.”</p> -<p>“You?”</p> -<p>“Certainly—I was the old man who rode up from -Fourteenth Street with you.”</p> -<p>“Jerusalem!”</p> -<p>The driver saw that he had to deal with a shrewd man—he -admired such a person, and could well afford to fall in behind -him.</p> -<p>After that there would be no kick on his part against what -fate had decided for him, but he would pull in the traces -meekly.</p> -<p>Satisfied that the man would be there when he wanted him, Eric -now turned his attention toward the house.</p> -<p>He entered the gate.</p> -<p>As he had supposed from the glance he had obtained, the place -was an ideal one for the full expression of love in a -cottage.</p> -<p>Flowers probably bloomed here from May until bleak -November.</p> -<p>Honeysuckles and wisteria covered the cottage—rose -bushes and dozens of varieties of flowers filled the beds, but -just then beautiful <a name="page252"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 252</span>chrysanthemums were taking their -rank as the fall flower.</p> -<p>It was a place to bring a bride, but would these beauties of -nature appeal to a heart that was heavy with sin?</p> -<p>Eric could not for the life of him see how one could look upon -nature again, after ruining the life of a noble man, but his -experience had taught him to be surprised at nothing.</p> -<p>He did not speculate now.</p> -<p>Before him was duty.</p> -<p>It lay in a direct line, and the path was narrow, but he meant -to tread it.</p> -<p>That duty covered his professional pride, and the feeling he -entertained for his friend. Straight up to the house he -went. Light streamed from the windows and showed him the -way—it also tempted him to look in. He saw a cozy -little room neatly furnished.</p> -<p>Handsome paintings adorned the walls, rather out of place in a -modest cottage like this, but then it was to be the abode of an -artist, whose pictures commanded large sums, and he could afford -to decorate above the ordinary—these were doubtless -favorite subjects of his which he did not hold for sale.</p> -<p><a name="page253"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 253</span>No -one seemed to be in this room, and he could not see in the other -well, for the lamp was standing directly in the window, so that -he could not look past it.</p> -<p>He found a path leading around the house and started along -it.</p> -<p>Before he had gone far, the rattle of a chain, followed by a -deep growl, told him he had better retrace his steps -again—not wishing to come into contact with the concealed -dog, he did so.</p> -<p>This time he went to the front door, which was almost -concealed under the bower of vines.</p> -<p>Feeling around he found the knob. Upon trying it he was -pleased to find that the door was not secured, and answered to -his touch.</p> -<p>He opened it boldly. A hall was before him. Just -then it was unoccupied, and the uninvited guest was able to step -in, close the door, and look around for some place of -concealment. This he easily found.</p> -<p>The hall offered numerous opportunities for hiding if one felt -inclined that way, and Eric speedily ensconced himself in a place -where he was not apt to be seen. He remained here awaiting -developments for a few minutes.</p> -<p>Nobody seemed to be moving. He heard <a -name="page254"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 254</span>voices in -the room where the lamp in the window had prevented him from -seeing what the room contained.</p> -<p>One of these was the voice of Prescott.</p> -<p>The other seemed to belong to a man also, and Eric wondered at -this.</p> -<p>He had not supposed the artist would have a friend awaiting -him here—generally when a man runs off with another’s -wife he desires to shun society of all sort. There was -reason enough for this, which made the action of the transgressor -the more peculiar.</p> -<p>He wondered whether there was not something about this whole -affair that he did not understand.</p> -<p>Later, he found out that this was so—that a man may see -all the surface indications and yet not get at the real facts in -the case.</p> -<p>He waited in his concealment for a while, and then made up his -mind to push matters.</p> -<p>Why should he not appear before Paul Prescott and boldly -announce his intention of wresting from his power the victim of -his spell?</p> -<p>There was nothing to prevent him.</p> -<p>He made his way toward the door that led from the hall into -the room, which as he afterward discovered was the library.</p> -<p><a name="page255"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 255</span>A -<i>portiere</i> hung there in place of the door, and a more -excellent opportunity for hiding and spying could not well have -been offered.</p> -<p>Behind this he could find a small opening and thus see without -being seen.</p> -<p>When he looked into the room he found there were but two men -there.</p> -<p>One of these was Prescott—the other a small man of -severe countenance.</p> -<p>The first thought of the detective was that the latter had a -clerical look—his clothes seemed on the order of a -clergyman, white tie and all.</p> -<p>Then he concluded that he must be mistaken. Surely, a -minister would be the last one in all the world whom Prescott -would desire to have here.</p> -<p>This must be some friend whom he had asked to greet them at -the cottage in order to encourage Lillian.</p> -<p>The men were laughing.</p> -<p>Prescott seemed in unusual spirits.</p> -<p>Perhaps he had been imbibing—when a man in his sober -senses commits such a sin against society and his Maker he must, -generally, fortify himself with some ardent spirits.</p> -<p>At any rate he had the appearance of a man who was quite -satisfied with himself.</p> -<p><a name="page256"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 256</span>The -world had abused him, in some respects, but to-night he was in a -humor to bid the whole universe defiance.</p> -<p>Success had come to him—the best he had ever dreamed of -was now at his hand.</p> -<p>Others before Paul Prescott had believed themselves on the -pinnacle of hope and power, only to find it all a dream and an -illusion.</p> -<p>So Darrell reflected as he watched the man whom he meant to -speedily humble.</p> -<p>While the two were yet talking, a door in the back part of the -library opened.</p> -<p>Through this came three females. The first one was very -like Prescott—indeed, it was easy for the detective to -determine that she must be the artist’s sister.</p> -<p>After her came a sedate woman, neatly dressed, with her hair -parted and brushed straight back on either side—a model of -a housekeeper.</p> -<p>There was one more.</p> -<p>At sight of her Eric started, and an exclamation bubbled to -his lips.</p> -<p>She was dressed in white silk—the long cloak had been -discarded, and the heavy black veil that had screened her was now -supplanted by a gauzy white one, through which the faintest <a -name="page257"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 257</span>glimpses -only could be seen of her face. She was a picture -indeed.</p> -<p>Eric held his breath.</p> -<p>He saw Prescott rush forward and take her hand with the utmost -eagerness. Then the other led her forward. They stood -in front of the second man, who held a book in his hand.</p> -<p>“Good heavens!” muttered the detective.</p> -<p>He rubbed his eyes.</p> -<p>What mockery was this? A marriage—when she was -already another man’s wife! He could hardly believe -his sight.</p> -<p>The voice of the preacher aroused him, and started him into -life.</p> -<p>This must not be. It was sacrilege.</p> -<p>Knowing the facts of the case he would be abetting a crime if -he allowed this thing to go on without raising an objection.</p> -<p>So, while the minister was still talking, Eric suddenly sprang -into the room.</p> -<p>“I forbid this marriage!” he cried.</p> -<p>A scene of confusion followed.</p> -<p>The women fell back—Prescott swore and the minister -looked amazed.</p> -<p>An interruption like this seldom occurs. “Upon -what charge do you dare stop this sacred ceremony?” -demanded the preacher.</p> -<p><a name="page258"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -258</span>“The woman has been married before.”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p>“Her husband is living!”</p> -<p>At this there came a shriek from the bride.</p> -<p>“It is false, false as Hades! I helped to bury her -husband myself,” shouted the artist.</p> -<p>Eric, with a quick movement, threw back the white veil from -the face of the almost fainting bride and then he received the -greatest shock of his life.</p> -<p>It was not Lillian!</p> -<h2><a name="page259"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -259</span>CHAPTER XXIII<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">THE MESSENGER WITH GOOD NEWS</span></h2> -<p>Eric Darrell might have been frozen—he seemed so -petrified with surprise.</p> -<p>Instead of Lillian’s sweet face, marked by horror, he -saw that of the dashing widow, Mrs. Collingwood, she with whom -Prescott had communicated in the opium joint.</p> -<p>It dawned upon the detective.</p> -<p>All along there had been a great mistake—many things -remained to be explained away, but the one main point was -assured—Lillian must be innocent of the charge.</p> -<p>He was a man of extraordinary sense, as well as a man of -action.</p> -<p>Recovering himself, he turned gracefully to Paul Prescott, who -was glaring at him.</p> -<p>“Mr. Prescott, there has been a grave mistake here on my -part. I thought this lady was some one else. I beg -your pardon. Let the ceremony proceed. I withdraw my -objection. When it is over we will have a mutual -understanding.”</p> -<p><a name="page260"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 260</span>These -words restored everyone to good humor. The artist dropped -his frown, the dominie found his place in the book, and the bride -again stood up beside the man she was taking for better or worse -and the ceremony went on.</p> -<p>Now was a chance for Eric to do some tall thinking, and he did -so.</p> -<p>He saw many things in a new light, and had about arranged all -he wanted to say when the marriage service was over.</p> -<p>“I pronounce you man and wife,” said the minister, -and, bending over, the artist kissed his bride.</p> -<p>Then the three females retired again, the preacher hurried -away, and Eric found himself alone with the man whom he had had -under surveillance for so long a time.</p> -<p>The artist eyed him.</p> -<p>“Who are you, sir?”</p> -<p>“I am a detective, Mr. Prescott—I have been in -your presence before.”</p> -<p>“By Jove! you are the man who bearded me in my -studio.”</p> -<p>“Yes, and the man who rode up in the hack with you to -Eighty-fifth Street.”</p> -<p>“That old gent with the cane?”</p> -<p><a name="page261"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -261</span>“Also the friend of your driver who came up here -with you.”</p> -<p>“And you are hired by Colonel Rogers—but if so, -why the deuce did you stop the ceremony and then allow it to go -on?”.</p> -<p>The artist was amazed.</p> -<p>Well he might be.</p> -<p>The detective knew he had good reason for surprise, and was in -a measure ready to gratify that curiosity.</p> -<p>In return he hoped the artist would reveal certain strange -things to him.</p> -<p>So Eric told all that was necessary—he did not even -mention the lady’s name.</p> -<p>Prescott smiled—he thought he could guess who it -referred to.</p> -<p>“If you go to that house from here, my friend, you will -learn something,” he said, quietly.</p> -<p>“But what does all this singular action of yours mean, -sir? You must admit everything seemed to prove you guilty, -even to the lady’s initial, L.”</p> -<p>“Her name is Laura. As I said before, I was at the -burial of her first husband. The story is a long one and I -can only give you an outline of it—I might not do that only -that I feel in <a name="page262"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -262</span>such a jolly humor on this, my wedding night.</p> -<p>“Jerry Collingwood and I were rivals—he won Laura -by a trick, and she found it out after her marriage, despising -him for it. Then came his tragic death, perhaps you -remember it.</p> -<p>“After that, Laura went to live with her uncle, Colonel -Rogers—she found him a stern man, and he was soon plotting -against her.</p> -<p>“She was strangely influenced by him—he had a -power over her, which he magnified in her mind, and she obeyed -him unquestioningly until by accident we met again.</p> -<p>“I need not tell you all we passed through—Rogers -wished her to marry his son, and we finally realized that he -would give us trouble unless we took the bull by the horns.</p> -<p>“So we arranged this elopement—how well it has -been carried out I leave to you to decide.</p> -<p>“Laura is now my wife—any man who dares to whisper -a word against her good name, were he a dozen times a colonel, -shall answer to me for it at the muzzle of the revolver. We -have outwitted the wily Rogers, and he will have to give an -account of his stewardship.”</p> -<p>“That is all?”</p> -<p>“Yes.”</p> -<p><a name="page263"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -263</span>“It is enough. Prescott, even when I had -reason to believe you guilty of the most heinous sin on the -calendar—that of stealing the affection of an honest -man’s wife—there were points about you I -admired. Since learning what your true work was, I can say -without flattery that I am sincerely glad to know you—glad -that you have accomplished what you set out to perform, and trust -that your future as a Benedict may be free from -clouds.”</p> -<p>“Thank you, sir. I have waited a long time for -Laura, but she is mine at last. Won’t you stay and -break a bottle of champagne?”</p> -<p>“Thanks, but I must be off. I have another -engagement I must fill.”</p> -<p>“I can imagine where.”</p> -<p>“Yes,” dryly, “and probably this will be as -happy a night to another man as it is to you—he has found a -wife as well as yourself.”</p> -<p>“And the lady you refer to is the sweetest and best -little woman in the world—save one”—hastily -correcting himself—“the man must be a fool who could -doubt her constancy.”</p> -<p>“You don’t know all, Prescott. Her husband -is the truest, noblest man I know. He rejected it all again -and again, but he is human and he <a name="page264"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 264</span>saw and heard things that would -convince a skeptic.”</p> -<p>“Probably he understands all by this time, and he will -eat humble pie too.”</p> -<p>“I hope so. Good night, Mr. Prescott. Bring -the doughty colonel to his knees.”</p> -<p>“I’ll wring his nose if he gives me any further -trouble, the old nuisance.”</p> -<p>“Success to you.”</p> -<p>Eric Darrell left the vine-embowered cottage with feelings -greatly differing from his entrance. He was light of -heart.</p> -<p>Not only was this on account of Joe and his wife, but his -faith in womankind had been saved.</p> -<p>Had Lillian been guilty Eric was determined never again to -believe in a woman.</p> -<p>This would have made him a cynic and a scoffer all of his -days—now he could remember with a delicious thrill that -Marian was at Joe’s house, and he would soon meet the -original of the picture that had charmed him so.</p> -<p>He did not remember of having felt so good for a long time -back.</p> -<p>That was the result of the reaction.</p> -<p>As yet he could form no distinct idea of the true state of -affairs—all was chaotic confusion, <a -name="page265"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 265</span>but above -everything he saw the prime fact that Lillian was innocent.</p> -<p>That covered all.</p> -<p>How Joe must rejoice.</p> -<p>It would be a new lease of life to him.</p> -<p>So the detective walked out to the street, and found the hack -waiting.</p> -<p>The driver greeted him.</p> -<p>“Glad to see you on deck—it was a mistake after -all. Now drive me to the corner you brought me from and the -fee is yours.”</p> -<p>“Good.”</p> -<p>Away they rattled.</p> -<p>The detective felt inclined to smoke, and was soon puffing a -cigar out of the window, as he did not want to saturate his -clothes with the strong odor, fearing lest Marian might be one -with her sister in objecting to tobacco.</p> -<p>Then he wondered what time it was.</p> -<p>They had started at ten minutes to ten and made wonderful -time, so that it could not be very late, he thought.</p> -<p>Taking out his watch as they crossed the bridge over the -Harlem, he found that it was fifteen minutes after eleven.</p> -<p>Would he be in time?</p> -<p><a name="page266"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 266</span>He -did not know how long these informal affairs were apt to last, -but at a rough guess figured that they would still be on hand at -midnight and he ought to be there before that.</p> -<p>He urged the driver on.</p> -<p>Finally the vehicle drew up. They had arrived. -When Eric found that it lacked fifteen minutes of twelve, he was -satisfied, handed the driver his fee, and hurried along the -street.</p> -<p>He drew near the house.</p> -<p>Lights still shone in every window. Something caused him -to feel very queerly—he could not say what it was.</p> -<p>Did Joe know all?</p> -<p>Perhaps not—he might still be in a fog and wondering why -all the plans had miscarried. Eric did not hesitate.</p> -<p>He immediately ran up the steps.</p> -<p>Then he noticed that the parlor was deserted—the good -people could not have gone, for he could hear the laughter and -buzz of voices—ah! they were doubtless in the diningroom -below.</p> -<p>He rang the bell.</p> -<p>A colored man answered it.</p> -<p>“1 wish to see Mr. Leslie on important business. -Take my card to him.”</p> -<p><a name="page267"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 267</span>The -man knew his business, closed the door and went away with the -card.</p> -<p>One, two minutes passed.</p> -<p>Then Eric heard footsteps within.</p> -<p>The door opened.</p> -<p>There could be no mistaking that figure—it was Joe who -stood there.</p> -<p>Eric’s eyes sought his face instantly—he saw a -look of mute pain there which told him better than words that Joe -did not yet know the truth.</p> -<h2><a name="page268"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -268</span>CHAPTER XXIV<br /> -<span class="GutSmall">CONCLUSION</span></h2> -<p>At sight of his friend Joe held out his hand warmly.</p> -<p>“Eric, old man, I have wondered where you have -been. Everything has gone wrong. She is still here, -and yet the hour is long past—that villain must have backed -out.”</p> -<p>“No, he carried out his plans to the letter; he had his -carriage waiting, ran off with a lady at ten o’clock, at -eleven was married to her in a cottage beyond the Harlem, and is -now a Benedict as well as yourself, Joe—but it was not your -wife he was after.”</p> -<p>“Not my wife?” slowly, as though the wonderful -news almost paralyzed his brain—“not Lillian he -sought?”</p> -<p>“Joe, it was all a terrible, a cruel mistake which -fortune put upon you.”</p> -<p>“Good heavens! do you mean it?”</p> -<p>“Lillian, your sweet wife, is as innocent as you ever -believed her in your most charitable <a name="page269"></a><span -class="pagenum">p. 269</span>moods. That I will swear -to—you will learn all before this night is over, and I -believe the mystery of the locked trunk will be revealed. -Just now I am famished for a bite to eat and a cup of the coffee -I get a scent of. Suppose you invite me in—I am not -in evening dress, but a few minutes in your room will arrange my -toilet and make me presentable. I want to see this thing -out—to rejoice with you, old boy, over the wife you thought -you had lost but who is found again. Besides, you know, I -want to meet Marian, and I know she is here.”</p> -<p>What could Joe do?</p> -<p>He dragged his friend upstairs and himself assisted to brush -him into presentable shape.</p> -<p>Ten minutes were consumed thus, and then Eric was ready to go -down.</p> -<p>All this while Joe had plied him with questions and the -detective told a good deal of what had happened to him.</p> -<p>There were some things of which he would not speak, however, -and hence Joe found himself in a state bordering on bewilderment -when he finally went downstairs.</p> -<p>By this time the guests had finished supper and were again -flocking into the parlors.</p> -<p><a name="page270"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 270</span>There -were between twenty-five and thirty in all.</p> -<p>Eric was introduced all around.</p> -<p>He noticed that there was some little secret among a number of -those present—Lillian, all blushes and confusion, was being -consulted by an old gentleman with a white beard.</p> -<p>Although Eric had declared he was almost famished he would not -leave the rooms now for supper—something was on the -<i>tapis</i>, and he was bound to see it out.</p> -<p>Supper could wait.</p> -<p>Ah! it came at last.</p> -<p>The elderly gentleman rapped on a table. Silence -ensued.</p> -<p>All eyes were bent on him, all but those of Joe Leslie, and -his blazing orbs rested on the blushing face of -Lillian—before he learned all he wanted to prove that he no -longer entertained the slightest suspicion regarding her.</p> -<p>“Friends, we have spent a very pleasant evening at the -house of our neighbor—we all cherish Joe Leslie and his -charming wife as among those whose names will never leave the -tablets of our memory—a devoted couple, loving, kind and -gentle, whom it is an honor to know.</p> -<p><a name="page271"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -271</span>“Before we part to-night, it is my pleasure to -officiate at a little surprise—I am going to let our friend -Leslie see himself as others see him—in brief, I shall -introduce him to himself.</p> -<p>“My grandchild Barbara and Mrs. Leslie have always -possessed an artistic temperament. They consulted with me -about it, and I took some of their amateur work to a friend who -is a well-known artist.</p> -<p>“The upshot of it all is that for a month past Barbara -has been flitting over here at ten o’clock every morning -through the gate we have in our back fence, and the two have been -taking lessons in painting with astonishing success.</p> -<p>“This evening I was astonished to find a fine oil -painting of myself, true to nature, on my drawing-room -wall—I had not dreamed my grandchild was so gifted.</p> -<p>“And now for our fair Lillian’s birthday gift to -her husband—bring them forth, friends.”</p> -<p>Out from the mysterious closet came two gold-framed -paintings—they were placed on easels prepared for them, in -front of the astonished Joe.</p> -<p>The faces were those of himself and his wife, astonishingly -well done.</p> -<p>He hardly glanced at his own, but his eyes <a -name="page272"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 272</span>were glued -upon the counterfeit resemblance of his dear wife—done by -her hand too.</p> -<p>Eric was amazed.</p> -<p>He looked from the painting to the original—the work was -no amateurish daub, but worthy of a master.</p> -<p>Could it be possible she had painted it? She was a -genius.</p> -<p>At first delighted expressions arose, and then, as the old -gentleman raised his hand, these died away again.</p> -<p>All eyes were turned upon Joe.</p> -<p>He stood there as if petrified—his eyes were glued upon -the picture of his wife, and he hardly seemed to breathe.</p> -<p>Then he slowly turned his gaze upon the same face in flesh and -blood.</p> -<p>She looked at him, still blushing—tears were in her -sweet eyes—she smiled through them.</p> -<p>Joe forgot where he was—he only remembered that he had -wronged that dear little woman by harboring thoughts that -reflected on her love and purity of heart.</p> -<p>Another instant he was at her side, had clasped her hand, and -falling on his knees before her, kissed the little member whose -cunning had wrought such wonders upon the canvas.</p> -<p><a name="page273"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 273</span>The -others believed it was mute adoration that took him to her -feet—regard for genius—and they thought all the more -of Joe Leslie because he could appreciate a gift as well as a -good wife.</p> -<p>There was one present who knew what was in Joe’s mind as -he bent his head before his wife, unable to speak, though his -lips moved as they formed the word “forgive.”</p> -<p>To cover Joe’s terrible confusion Eric made some remark -appropriate to the occasion, and of a nature to create a -laugh.</p> -<p>This answered the purpose and presently the good people were -chatting gaily.</p> -<p>Joe soon found occasion to seek his friend Eric, and squeeze -his hand until the detective winced under the pressure.</p> -<p>“Thank heaven, Eric, for this blessing. All is -bright again. I have the dearest wife in all New York -to-night. Tried and found true.”</p> -<p>“And she has a deuced fine sister too,” said Eric -with a wink.</p> -<p>“That’s the way the land lies, eh? Try it, -old fellow. Nothing would suit me better; we would be -brothers in truth then. And I declare, now that I come to -think of it, I believe you two would make a fine -match.”</p> -<p><a name="page274"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -274</span>“Nonsense, Joe. When Miss Marian hears that -I am a detective she will shrink from me. People honor -judges who sentence people to death, sometimes innocently, and -great lawyers, who are often on the side of criminals, but at the -same time pretend to look down on the officers of the law whose -sagacity leads them to arrest those who break the statutes of the -state.”</p> -<p>“I don’t know about that—she adores a hero -in any type.”</p> -<p>“Come, don’t you go to making me out as -such—I’m only an every-day chap and never expect to -do anything heroic.”</p> -<p>“Save your worry. If I tell her anything at all it -will only be the truth.”</p> -<p>As it turned out, Miss Marion was rather capricious—she -heard Joe tell long yarns of his friend’s bravery, she -respected him as a man, even while openly disliking his -profession, but Eric soon saw she was giving him no sort of -encouragement.</p> -<p>This was hard because he was already deeply in love with the -girl.</p> -<p>He went his way, taking his disappointment as best he -could—they met occasionally, but Eric did not pursue the -game.</p> -<p><a name="page275"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 275</span>One -night when Joe and the two ladies were on the way home in a -street car, it was suddenly halted—there was a fire -ahead.</p> -<p>Marian had never seen a large fire and Joe, good-natured -always, readily agreed to take them where they could have a -view.</p> -<p>The giant shouldered a way for them through the crowd, and -soon they stood in a doorway watching the flames play riot with -the tenement near by.</p> -<p>It was a terrible sight and a pitiful one to those who looked -on—many poor families were driven out, carrying what they -could lay hands on, one a trunk, another a feather bed, and a -third some old gowns.</p> -<p>Fright made their faces wrinkled, and such looks the ladies -had never seen before. Suddenly a cry went up.</p> -<p>The flames were roaring, engines pumping and much noise -sounding, but this shriek pierced the hearts of all—it was -a mother’s wail.</p> -<p>“My child! my child—save her!”</p> -<p>All eyes were fastened upon a window up in the third story -where the face of a flaxen-haired little girl -appeared—blanched with fear, and yet curious to see what -was going on.</p> -<p><a name="page276"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 276</span>The -ladder wagon had not arrived, and the flames were devouring the -frail tenement.</p> -<p>Surely the child was lost—no one could save her -there. It was an awful period of suspense to the thousands -who looked on. Lillian and her sister held their breath and -leaned on Joe for support.</p> -<p>Then the child vanished.</p> -<p>“Heavens! she has gone—the floor has probably -fallen in,” gasped Joe. “No, no, look! there is -a man at the window—he has seized the child and is tying -her to himself. Look! he climbs out of the windows. -Ugh! if he loses his grip both will be dashed to -pieces.”</p> -<p>They gaze as if fascinated, both of the gentle ladies praying -for the daring man’s success.</p> -<p>He swings himself boldly along the ledge—none but a -quick-witted man could have seen the chance that existed, but he -had.</p> -<p>Reaching a certain spot he took hold of the pipe that ran down -the building—it must have burned his hands, but he lowered -himself by it to the floor below.</p> -<p>Flames were beneath, but he had arranged his plan—a tall -telegraph pole slanted in here and a dexterous man could leap in -among <a name="page277"></a><span class="pagenum">p. -277</span>its numerous arms—he coolly calculated his -chances and sprang out.</p> -<p>There was a cry of horror.</p> -<p>“He is down—no, no, by Jove, he clings there with -one hand. See how bravely he exerts himself—as cool -as a cucumber through all. Now he seizes a new support; he -will slide down the pole. Hurrah! both are safe, thank -heaven.”</p> -<p>Then Joe turned to Marian.</p> -<p>“What do you think of that man?” he asked.</p> -<p>“He is a hero—I love him,” she said -impulsively.</p> -<p>“Good! I shall let him know that fact some -day. Here he comes now with the child on his shoulder, his -face blackened, his hair scorched, but, thank God, the same Eric -as of old.”</p> -<p>The man passed them by—it was Eric Darrell!</p> -<p>Marian turned white and then rosy red.</p> -<p>“Joe,” she said almost fiercely, “if you -ever repeat my words, I’ll—go back to -Chicago.”</p> -<p>Whether Joe repeated them or not no one ever knew, but Eric -heard enough to encourage him to renew his suit, and when Marian -did return to Chicago it was as Mrs. Darrell.</p> -<p>They are just as happy as Joe and Lillian—<a -name="page278"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 278</span>Eric is no -longer a detective, but has been studying for a doctor, as his -wife believes he will make a name in the profession. She -will never forget watching him save the widow’s child at -the risk of his life—outwardly she loves him as a true -wife, but in secret she adores her Eric as a hero of heroes.</p> -<p style="text-align: center">THE END</p> -<pre> - - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOE LESLIE'S WIFE*** - - -***** This file should be named 64125-h.htm or 64125-h.zip****** - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/4/1/2/64125 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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